SHADES OF SLADE: Flashpoint's Pirate Deathstroke

Yesterday's post on the Deathstroke Files titled, "DEATHSTROKE COVERED: Joe Bennett and John Dell's Flashpoint: Deathstroke And The Curse of the Ravager (2011) #1," began the spotlight on DC Comics' pirate version of Deathstroke from Flashpoint. Today's SHADES of SLADE post takes a closer look at the alternate Slade Wilson, who was both a scourge of the high seas and a devoted father on a mission.

The Flashpoint Crisis (the fifth of the DC Multiverse's seven official crises), began as the Flash, Barry Allen," in a moment of weakness, attempted to go back in time to prevent his mother from ever being murdered at the hands of Eobard Thawn, aka the Reverse-Flash, aka Professor Zoom. While the Flash succeeded in saving his mother, he also fundamentally changed reality in such a way that while some vestiges of the world he knew where still present, the new status quo had become a nightmare version of Earth-0.

In the new reality of the Flashpoint Crisis, though Barry Allen's mother was alive, Allen himself never acquired superspeed powers thus never became the Flash. Gotham City's Joe Chill did gun down Martha Wayne in Crime Alley, but instead of killing her husband Thomas, Chill murdered her son, Bruce, thus putting Thomas Wayne on the path to becoming a callous and brutal incarnation of Batman. Instead of being raised in the loving arms of a young Kansas farm couple, an infant Kryptonian refugee instead fell into the hands of Gen. Sam Lane who looked at the child as nothing more than a lab specimen ordering experiments to be conducted on the child, depriving him of the humanity necessary for him to become the planet's greatest hero. Wonder Woman and Aquaman were not heroic allies in this reality, but instead were superpowered tyrants engaged in a devastating war, which resulted in the Amazons conquering and annexing the United Kingdon and the cataclysmic sinking of Western Europe into the Atlantic Ocean by Atlantis.

But the global chaos of Arthur and Diana's war brought opportunity to some willing and able to grasp it as a new age of metahuman pirates was unleashed on the high seas. One such metahuman was Deathstroke, Captain of the pirate ship, the Ravager. Deathstroke is an infamous pirate with a well-deserved reputation for brutality, but that reputation is an honorable one. Deathstroke doesn't kill unless it is necessary to do a job and he honors all of his fallen crew members with a dignified burial. Honor is especially important when it comes to his pirate rivals as evidenced from his battles with Travis Morgan, the Warlord to whom he refers as his "esteemed enemy." When he defeated the Warlord on his second ship, the Skartaris, Deathstroke expressed pleasure when Morgan had escaped because he desired a rematch because so he could take the Warlord out on his best ship, the Tara, because "anything less just seems unfair."

Deathstroke, Captain of the Ravager, along with members of his crew,
Clayface, King Shark, Icicle, and Briggs.
Art by Joe Bennett

Though he and his crew were pirates out for loot and plunder, Deathstroke had a more pressing agenda. His daughter Rose had been taken captive and his mission was to recover her. The reason that Deathstroke and his crew engaged the Warlord was that Slade had intel that Morgan was transporting a metahuman female in a containment pod, whom he hoped was Rose. I turned out that the pod did have a young female, but it was not Rose, but a young woman named Jenny Blitz, whom I assume was the Flashpoint reality's iteration of the Wildstorm Universe's Jenny Sparks. I won't spoil the remainder of the story, but suffice it to say that more swashbuckling, mutiny, double-crosses, death, and, yes love are all yet to come in this tale (and no I didn't spoil anything, I simply enumerated the required elements of every single pirate story, including this one).

One interesting tidbit about Flashpoint's pirate Deathstroke is that this version also had some legs to it outside of its initial three-issue miniseries. Pirate Deathstroke has made more than one cosplay appearance at different conventions and even at Halloween since his 2011 debut. He even appeared in a short scene from the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013) voiced by Teen Titans' (2003) Slade voice actor, Ron Perlman. Pirate Deathstroke's look was such a hit that NetherRealm Studios included a Flashpoint Deathstroke skin in a DLC pack. Flashpoint Deathstroke received much love from the fans, and never once had to resort to the worn out "Yar, me maties," shtick. Though, if he wanted to do so, he could have pulled that off too.

Flashpoint Deathstroke skin from the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Deathstroke in Midway/NetherRealm Studios' Games

April 23, 2019, marks the much-awaited release of NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's Mortal Kombat 11. Beginning in 1992, the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise became an arcade sensation by depicting savage action, blood, and the now infamous "FINISH HIM" followed by a gory, player-initiated "Fatality," in which the victor takes the life of his vanquished opponent in a cruel and extremely brutal fashion. 

The stock parental, religious, and governmental overreactions to Mortal Kombat were as predictable and clichéd as they were utterly misinformed as organized groups composed of members from all three institutions called for the game to be banned. Though these groups were unsuccessful in their efforts to ban the game, Nintendo succumbed to their pressure requiring its Super Nintendo port of Mortal Kombat be modified. Acclaim Entertainment, the software company handling the home versions of the game, was made to replace the red blood effects with white and grey sweat. Acclaim also had to alter some of the more controversial Fatalities with milder versions (i.e. Sub-Zero's Spine Rip was replaced by his Ice-Shatter Upper-Cut). Sega, on the other hand, allowed Acclaim to keep everything intact for the Genesis port and reaped copious amount of cash by doing so. Due to the public uproar Mortal Kombat brought and expecting further institutional opposition, the video game industry created the ESRB video game rating system to assuage the supposed moral outrage by giving parents more information on a game's content at the point of purchase. As we can all agree, the ESRB video game rating system has done a bang-up job at keeping inappropriate videogame content out of the impressionable hands and minds of our youth as evidenced by the number of eleven-year-olds that have mastered GTA Online and the God of War franchise. Anyway...

Let's take a look at Deathstroke's appearances in Midway/NetherRealm Studios games beginning with 2008's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

Title screen from Midway's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

The plot of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe begins after simultaneous invasions of Earthrealm and the DC Universe (by Shao Kahn and Darkseid respectively) are thwarted Raiden and Superman (also respectively). As both Kahn and Darkseid attempt to escape (Kahn via a portal and Darkseid via Boom Tube) both invaders were struck by energy blasts (lightning from Raiden and heat vision from Superman) just as they enter their respective escape portals. The uncanny combination of the energy blasts, the portals, and the intersecting multiversal locations of the events merged Earthrealm with the DC Universe as well as merging the villains Shao Kahn and Darkseid into the demonic Dark Kahn. In this new reality, heroic and villainous Mortal Kombatants joined forces to oppose the united front of superheroes and supervillains from the DC Universe, with each group viewing the other as an invading army bent on conquest.

Midway chose Deathstroke to be on the DC Universe roster serving as a counterpart for Mortal Kombat's Baraka. His game bio appears below.

DEATHSTROKE'S BIO

Slade Wilson was given enhanced abilities as part of a military experiment, and has such confidence in his skills as a mercenary and assassin that his chosen costume highlights the fact that he only has one eye. Adept at both sword and gunplay, his superhuman physical abilities are matched by his tactical genius and his facility for manipulating both allies and enemies alike.

Deathstroke was not treated with much respect as far as the DC story mode is concerned. In the first battle of the story, he was defeated by the Flash and was later defeated by a rage-powered Joker. The story from the Mortal Kombat side was no better to him as he faced defeat from the cold hands of Sub-Zero.

So, one of the deadliest assassins in all of the DC Universe goes 0-3 in one-on-one fights in the story mode for this game? BS! Luckily for Deathstroke fans, there were other game modes in which players could take control of Deathstroke and secure a different outcome for such a kickass character. Deathstroke's move sets for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are depicted below.

DEATHSTROKE'S FATALITIES

It should be noted that the North American version of Deathstroke's Gunshot Fatality was censored.  In an effort to keep the ESRB rating at "T for Teen," the camera momentarily pointed away from the action on screen just as Deathstroke pulled the trigger at close range. I suppose that this was somewhat of a victory for the supposed moral saviors of this country despite that fact that no one asked to be saved by them.

If one were skilled enough to complete the single player ladder mode, then the following character ending would be your prize. This ending is, of course, non-cannon as it was Superman and Raiden that defeated Dark Kah, not Deathstroke. Notice how the members of the DeathStrike Clan have more than just a passing resemblance to Mortal Kombat's Lin Kuei.

DEATHSTROKE'S ENDING

Deathstroke emerged from the inter-universal conflict both wiser and more cautious. Assassins from another universe would be unwanted competition. To maintain superiority, Deathstroke created a band of powerful assassins outfitted in his image. He now serves as Grand Master of this fearsome DeathStrike Clan.

In 2009, Midway Games Inc. filed for bankruptcy allowing Warner Bros. to acquire the companies assets, including Mortal Kombat. Netherrealm Studios was formed in 2010 with Mortal Kombat co-creator, Ed Boon serving as the new Warner Bros. division's creative director. NeatherRealm Studio's first project was the reboot of its signature franchise, Mortal Kombat (2011). Fresh off of the success of this game, NetherRealm Studios' Warner Bros. sister company, DC Comics, wanted the same NetherRealm magic for its superhero properties. In 2013, NeatherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released Injustice: Gods Among Us, which pitted different versions of classic DC Comics heroes and villains against one another but also included a certain flame-headed, harpoon-throwing ninja that was familiar to most fans of Mortal Kombat.

Title screen for NetherRealm Studios' Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition

Injustice: Gods Among Us' plot unfolds across two vastly different versions of the DC Universe. In one universe, the Joker planned to detonate a nuclear device in the middle of Metropolis. To prevent interference with his plans, the Joker distracted Superman by drugging him, causing him to hallucinate that his pregnant wife, Lois Lane was in fact Doomsday. Superman attacked this "Doomsday without mercy, killing both his beloved wife and their unborn child. Wracked by grief, Superman suffered a psychotic break. He tracked down the Joker, who was being interrogated by Batman. Superman struck Batman aside and ran his fist completely through the Joker's ribcage, killing him in cold blood. Blaming his past stance of never taking human life for what happened to Lois, Superman decided the only way to truly eliminate crime was to take over the entire world and exterminate all criminals once and for all. Hero and villain alike, Superman murdered all who opposed him. Joined by those who swore allegiance to him Superman became the High Councilor of the new One Earth government, known colloquially as the Regime.

The only opposition hero to evade capture by the Regime was Batman who, along with the secret financial backing of Superman's supposed best friend, Lex Luthor, operated a resistance movement known as the Insurgency. Batman had monitored a parallel Earth similar to his, in which the tragic events of Metropolis were unfolding, but had not yet happened. Batman then pulled Justice League members from this other Earth to his world to help him take down Superman and end the One Earth Regime once and for all.

NeatherRealm Studios chose Deathstroke for this game as well. His official game bio appears below.

DEATHSTROKE'S BIO

Volunteering for a U.S. military experiment that almost killed him, Slade Wilson found his physiology enhanced to a superhuman degree. Dishonorably discharged, Slade became the world's most feared assassin. 

Super-human strength and agility
Weapons expert
Master strategist
Regenerative healing
Skilled martial artist

Deathstroke's participation in this game's story mode is an appropriately mixed bag. His first appearance in the game is as a standard villain on the still unaltered version of Earth. Hired by Lex Luthor, Deathstroke tried to ambush Batman at Arkham Asylum but was defeated when the two battled. When we next encounter Deathstroke it is the one from the One Earth world. The Justice League's Green Lantern freed him as he was being tortured by the Regime's versions of Cyborg and Raven. Once free, he made contact with the Insurgency's Luthor and agrees to work with them to rid the world of Superman because the Regime was "bad for business." While Insugency Luthor and Deathstroke were talking strategy, the Justice League's Cyborg beamed to the One Earth world, misunderstood the conversation he overheard, and attacked and defeated Deathstroke (Yikes! an 0-2 start for our man) and then the Insurgency Luthor before the rest of the League arrived to set him straight.

Insurgency's Deathstroke later accompanied Justice League's Cyborg on a mission to the Regime's Hall of Justice with the goal of gaining control of the Watchtower transporter system. Once they established control of the Hall, the duo teleported to the Watchtower where Deathstroke's Chapter 7 began. Deathstroke defeated, in succession, the Regime's Shazam and the Flash (Alright! All even at to 2-2) as well as sabotaged the Watchtower's reactor core. Luthor next sends Deathstroke to Ferris Aircraft to acquire some components to weaponized Batman's Kryptonite laser technology. At Ferris, Deathstroke defeats the Regime's Killer Frost and Wonder Woman (Deathstroke is back, with a 4-2 record). 

After the defeat of Wonder Woman and the destruction of the Watchtower, Deathstroke disappears from the game. The only indication of what may have happened after the fall of the One Earth regime may be found in his single-player ladder mode ending, but bear in mind that character endings from this mode are usually not canon.

DEATHSTROKE'S ENDING

With Superman's regime toppled, new governments formed to take its place. New governments meant new customers for Deathstroke, and business was booming. Soon there were more assassinations to carry out, revolutions to aid and unrest to create than he could manage on his own.

The One Earth regime's Elite Troopers, having committed atrocities in Superman's name, had gone into hiding from a populace bent on revenge. Impossible for most to find, but not for Deathstroke. Recruiting these renegades, he formed the New Titans: the world's premier political assassins.

Deathstroke is playable in both one-player ladder mode and two-player Vs. mode. Deathstroke's move set for PS3 and Xbox 360 is posted below.

If Deathstroke's Super Meter is built up to level 4, his Super Move, "Eye for an Eye," can be activated by pressing RT and LT on a PS3, 4, or Xbox 360. 

Well, that's it for Deathstroke in the games of Midway/NetherRealm Studios. Why? Because despite Deathstroke's obvious popularity, Warner Bros. in their infinite wisdom chose to replace Deathstroke with Deadshot in Injustice 2, for no other reason than to "take advantage of" the recent critically panned and fan "meh'd" Suicide Squad film (great decision guys). Until all parties involved come to their senses and include Deathstroke and his amazing Ikon Suit as a DLC character for Mortal Kombat 11, fighting game fans of Deathstroke should enjoy him in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Beware the Injustice That Is...Spamstroke!

Is it any surprise that Deathstroke became

a figure of controversy in the Injustice: 

Gods Among Us community?

There are a lot of things that can be said about the online fighting game community, but one thing that can't be said is that honor is not important. A large amount of time, effort, and training are spent by gamers to learn and hone their skills and by extension, building their gamer reputation within the community. For the elite players, big money can even be made participating in high-stakes professional gaming tournament play. 

One thing that really gets under a fighting gamer's skin is a player that fights without honor. In my own days in the early fighting game community (which admittedly was just me and a bunch of other similarly unfocused early 90s slackers huddled around a Street Fighter II arcade cabinet at the local Dairy Queen), people with little skill were looked down upon if they resorted to "dirty" tactics such as crouching and hitting low kick ten times in a row to gain a victory. We used to say that they were "playing cheap," or "bringing the cheese." These days if an unskilled player hits the same move over and over again to eek out a cheap or dishonorable win, they are said to be "spamming." "Spammers," as the community calls them, rank just above terrorists in the great hierarchy of dirtbags in the world, though admittedly not very far above terrorists.

When Injustice: Gods Among Us was first released in April of 2013 it became apparent to the fledgling Injustice community that Deathstroke was going to be a problem. Deathstroke had two gun moves (Machine Gun - [ ↓ , → , Medium Attack ] & Quick Fire - [ ↓ , → , Light Attack]) that fires super fast multiple gunshots that can cover the entire screen. Inexperienced or otherwise low-skilled players used these two moves excessively, (aka "spammed" the moves) in online play inflicting large amounts of damage from an all-to-safe distance for the sake of honorable competition. Highly skilled "honorable" players found themselves beaten all too often by spammers using Deathstroke that the character itself earned the disparaging nickname of "Spamstroke." By utilizing these tactics dishonorably, Deathstroke spammers made few fans and fewer friends within the Injustice community.

A Deathstroke player "spamming" the Bane player from across the screen
from a video that teaches Injustice players how to defeat spammers.

The Injustice community spoke out about the spamming tactic to the point that NetherRealm Studios, the makers of Injustice, included some changes to the game in a patch. Some of the changes were that Deathstroke's gun damage during his Character Trait mode (were all gun moves are unblockable for a short time) was weakened, while his cooldown period afterword (where all gun moves miss for a short time) was slightly extended. Furthermore, the inclusion of more teleporting characters and tactics served to turn the tables on Deathstroke spammers by essentially eliminating their damage-from-distance advantage, forcing them to engage in a more honorable fashion. Needless to say, higher-skilled players within the Injustice community found this a bit more to their liking. I simply wonder, who in the world ever expected a mercenary rouge like Deathstroke to fight fair in the first place, right?