TOOLS OF THE TERMINATOR: Deathstroke's Power Staff

Deathstroke's Power Staff as a melee
weapon.
Art by Mick Zeck

From Deathstroke the Terminator's very first panel in New Teen Titans (1980) #2, we were introduced to his two signature weapons. One was his sword, the Deathstroke, from which he took his professional name (more on the Deathstroke sword can be found by clicking this link). His other trademark weapon was his multi-purpose/multi-function, Power Staff. 

Deathstroke's telescoping Power Staff was a regular part of the Terminator's arsenal in his earliest years, but it was curiously missing during his sometimes chaotic New 52/DC You continuities. Depending on the era and the writer, the Power Staff is constructed of either the super-metal, Promethium, or, according to current Deathstroke scribe, Christopher Priest, some type of Titanium alloy.

Deathstroke regularly wields the Power Staff much like a traditional bo staff for close-quarters melee combat against a single opponent. In addition, the Power Staff can be disassembled to form two smaller battle staves, similar to the ones used by Nightwing. But when the staff is assembled it is also good for maintaining a manageable combat distance when battling against waves of multiple opponents.

The Battle Staff can also be used for tactical maneuvering. By taking advantage of his superhuman strength and agility, Deathstroke can use his Power Staff to pole vault over tall fences or to quickly scale walls or stairs. However Deathstroke utilizes the Power Staff in up-close combat, it means a horrible headache for someone.

But it is called a Power Staff for a reason. That reason is that in addition to its multitude of melee capabilities, Deathstroke's Power Staff is also capable of firing destructive energy blats from either end. If Deathstroke finds himself outnumbered by triple-digits, the Power Staff can fire bolts of energy in two directions allowing him to take out large numbers of opponents in quick order. As shown in the image below, the Power Staff's energy blasts are powerful enough to take down a military-grade helicopter. Furthermore, the blasts are capable of temporarily holding off the likes of Superman and Green Lanterns. Needless to say, Deathstroke's Power Staff is capable of some major firepower.

Deathstroke's Power Staff as a powerful firearm.
Art by Steve Erwin

Deathstroke has also made efficient use of his Power Staff when battling against various DC Universe speedsters. Speedsters, particularly Wally West, seem to be especially vulnerable to being tripped at high speeds and crashing with devastating results as illustrated in the image below. Deathstroke used his own enhanced reflexes and combat expertise to hurl the Power Staff entangling Kid Flashes legs and taking him out of the picture. Years later, after West had assumed his uncle Barry Allen's identity as the Flash, Deathstroke appeared to be making his escape with West in hot pursuit. As West rocketed around a corner, he was met with Deathstroke's Power Staff against his shins resulting in a severe crash. A new super-hero identity, but the same old Wally.

Deathstroke's Power Staff used to take down Kid Flash, Wally West
Art by George Pérez.

Though we don't see it as much as we used to, Deathstroke's Power Staff is as synonymous with the Terminator as his trademark bifurcated mask. Whether used as a melee weapon or an energy blaster, the Power Staff is capable of doing a major amount of damage no matter who wields it. But in the deadly hands of Deathstroke the Terminator, the Power Staff could reasonably be considered a weapon of mass destruction.

TOOLS OF THE TERMINATOR: The God Killer

Though popularized in the Wonder Woman (2017) film (looking much less bad-ass by the way) the God Killer sword actually began its existence within the pages of a Deathstroke story. As the DC Comics' Convergence event, the publisher released a series of 8-page DC Sneak Peek editions to preview all of the post-Convergence/DC You storylines. DC Sneak Peek: Deathstroke (2015) was published on its own digitally and in print as the backup story for Convergence: Shadow of the Bat (2015) #2. In that preview, Deathstroke was offered a contract by Hephaestus, divine blacksmith of Mt. Olympus, "to kill a god." Hephaestus put down a deposit in the form of gold coins falling from the sky and presented Slade with the only weapon capable of ending a god, the mystical God Killer sword. Long story short, Deathstroke took the job, fought alternately against and alongside Superman and Wonder Woman, and fulfilled the contract by killing the Greek Titan, Lapetus, with the God Killer. This post takes a closer look at the deadly blade and the destruction that comes with it.

Deathstroke with the God Killer
Art by Tony S. Daniel

Though he didn't have it for long, Deathstroke wielded the God Killer with devastating results. The sword itself was forged by Hephaestus at the behest of Apollo and was to be used to eliminate the Titan Lapetus in the event of Apollo's death. The sword was made of the mysterious super element known as Eighth Metal, which was used to forge weapons and armor for the gods, including Apollo's Sunblade and Wonder Woman's mystic bracelets. The God Killer is capable of discharging a blast of destructive energy causing an extreme amount of damage. It is also capable of absorbing any type of force and then redirecting it at twice its original magnitude. In addition, the Eighth Metal composition allows the God Killer to reconstruct itself were it to ever be damaged or destroyed. 

The God Killer is semi-sentient as was evident when Deathstroke first used it. Slade described the experience as being guided by the blade to accomplish its goals rather than being a just a weapon. The God Killer actively compels its wielder toward their intended target. The blade is also capable of reading its wielder and then altering its form to best suit them. The God Killer once even became two smaller swords allowing Deathstroke to take on multiple opponents simultaneously. The sword can also act as a conduit for the thoughts and memories of any divine being (god or Titan) that has touched it. Once these thoughts have been absorbed into the God Killer, they can then be accessed by the next wielder of the sword whether they are god or mortal.

Deathstroke with the God Killer. This doesn't end well
for Lapetus.
Art by Tony S. Daniel

Regardless of who wields it, the God Killer sword is one of the most dangerous weapons that has ever been created in the DC Universe. It becomes even more dangerous in the deadly hands of someone like Deathstroke the Terminator. But if you think about it, any weapon created specifically to kill a god shouldn't be anything less.

TOOLS OF THE TERMINATOR: A Sword Called...Deathstroke!

The Deathstroke
Art by ACO

Since Deathstroke the Terminator's debut in the pages of The New Teen Titans (1980) #2, there has been at least one constant companion (with the exception of stints during the New 52) for Slade Wilson and his business of blood. That faithful companion is none other than his iconic battle sword with the yellow/orange cross-guard. Over time, this sword has become as closely associated with Deathstroke the Terminator as the trademark bifurcated color pattern of his mask so I thought that it was time to take a closer look at this infamous instrument of death.

When Christopher Priest took the reigns of the Deathstroke (2016) title as part of DC Comics' Rebirth publishing initiative, he not only returned the sword itself, which had been missing for much of the "New 52" and "DC You" runs, he greatly expanded its history and its connection to Slade himself. On Priest's own website, he wrote detailed new information including the origin of the sword and how it came to be owned by Slade (much of this information can also be found nearly word-for-word in dialog from Deathstroke (2016) #9). Priest wrote about the sword as follows:

Deathstroke's sword was originally named "Scrymgeour." Eòsaph Mar cut down a thousand of King Charles' men with it after Jenny Geddes threw her stool at the head of the minister in St [sic] Giles' Cathedral, inciting the Bishops' Wars. Or, at least, that's the story Deathstroke told. One of dozens. Slade Wilson actually won the sword from a rich collector in Glasgow with a full house, queens full of nines. An antique Grete war sword the blade was forged of three seperate pieces hammer-welded together, the bottommost a flattened diamond cross-pattern. The blade became mangeled during the "Judas Contract" incident and HIVE re-cast it in Type-II, or "Volatile," Promethium—a dangerous mutagen capable of absorbing unlimited amounts of energy—which Deathstroke  stole from S.T.A.R. Labs. It is suspected that particle bleed may have played a role in activating dormant metagenes in Slade's children. The blade cannot be damaged or destroyed by any known means.

An additional piece of information about the sword was revealed during a flashback scene in Deathstroke (2016) #9 when one of the other card players explained that the sword was eventually named "Deathstroke" as illustrated in the image below.

Slade Wilson seated at the bottom of the page...and the rest is history.
Art by Cary Nord

Slade used the sword for years, but it was all but destroyed during the events of the "Judas Contract." As described by Priest in the quote from above, when H.I.V.E. repaired the sword they added the super-metal Promethium giving it extra-physical properties (think of Promethium as a combination of Marvel Comics' Adamantium and Vibranium). The sword became virtually indestructible and capable of cutting any substance. It also gained incredible energy absorption abilities, the limits of which have yet to be seen. The sword's new abilities are illustrated below.

Deathstroke's Promethium sword is capable of cutting Superman
Art by Carlo Pagulayan

The sword can easily handle Superman's powerful heat vision.
Art by Carlo Pagulayan.

So to recap:

• The sword was originally called Scrymgeour, named for the medieval Scottish clan to whom the warriors that wielded it belonged.
• The sword was eventually renamed "Deathstroke," and was, therefore, the inspiration for Slade Wilson's professional nom de guerre.
• Slade won the sword in a card game. The sword-winning hand was a full house of queens and nines.
• The sword's extra-physical properties, granted by the super-metal, Promethium, make the sword indestructible, capable of absorbing massive amounts of energy, and may be partially responsible to the emergence of superpowers in Slade's children, Joseph (Jericho) and Rose Wilson.

TOOLS OF THE TERMINATOR: The Ikon Suit

When the character designs for the DC Rebirth Deathstroke series by ACO were released, it was assumed by many that the new, streamlined look was simply a cosmetic choice designed to differentiate the series' look from the heavily armored, Liefeldish motif used in prior series. But, in issue #2 of Deathroke (2016), the world was introduced to the "Ikon Suit."

The Ikon Suit was designed by Deathstroke's former special ops associate, David Isherwood. Once Isherwood presented the prototype suit to him, Slade casually dismissed using it, instead choosing just to store it in a footlocker. Isherwood would go one to perfect a version of the suit, which he used to fight crime in Canada as the hero Doctor Ikon. Isherwood's completed suit would find its way to Jericho, Isherwood's former lover, after Isherwood's apparent suicide. Jericho continues to use Isherwood's own suit for his own superhero activities. Slade would later be manipulated into donning his prototype Ikon Suit complete with an artificial intelligence system programmed with his old friend, Wintergreen's, voice and personality, which Isherwood included simply to irritate Slade. Deathstroke now wears an upgraded version of his Ikon Suit.

According to the encyclopedia entry on the DC Universe streaming service, the “'Ikon' suit absorbs kinetic energy and blocks it, making it impervious to bullets or the fist of a superhuman opponent."

The Ikon Suit in action against Superman

Art by Carlo Pagulayan

The FANDOM-hosted DC Database provides even more details:

The Ikon Suit is a gravity sheath, a point defense system which creates a gravitational tidal effect: the greater the surface area, the weaker the defense shield. The suit is virtually impenetrable against anything around the size of a human fist. It is controlled by gestures — along with the EEG (Electroencephalography) leads in the mask. By overclocking the system, one can even attain flight. The suit also has a sophisticated A.I. programmed into it. The Ikon suit also has a major drawback: each suits' programming can be manipulated by any other suit with the master programming. This allows one Ikon suit user to activate or deactivate other suits at their discretion.

Another fault point of the Ikon is it's [sic] Gravity Sheathe can be disrupted and penetrated by Inertron, a heat and light absorbent material that has anti-gravity properties which easily enable it to penetrate it's [sic] point defense shield. Dr. Isherwood developed the Ikon Suit for Deathstroke. He gave the prototype a glance and tossed it into his footlocker, not taking their work seriously at first. A more advanced version of the Ikon Suit is currently worn by Slade, while Jericho proceeded to use the model that Ikon wore.

In any event, Deathstroke's Ikon Suit is one of the cooler additions to the Terminator's mythos.


UPDATE: This post was originally titled "Ikonic: Deathstroke's Ikon Suit."