Deathstroke
Dane Lisslow
Bad Batman
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Real Identity: Slade Wilson
Appearances: Monsters, Animal, Doppelganger, Hero, Epitaph, Twist, and Alone
Powers/Skills: Mastery of Martial Arts, Planning, Above Average Physical Attributes, Infiltration, and Law Enforcement
Voiced By: Robin Atkin Downes
Slade Wilson served in the U.S. Army and received exemplary evaluations. He later became an agent with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and earned repeated commendations.. He was loaned out to MI6 for joint operations and met Alfred Pennyworth. Pennyworth took him on as a protege. As time went on, Pennyworth recognized Wilson lacked any empathy and compassion. He was too reckless and too unpredictable. Pennnyworth, in good conscience, couldn't let Wilson continue to abuse his authority and reported him. Wilson was discharged from the CIA. He blamed Pennyworth and tried to kill him. Pennyworth dodged an explosion and certain death. Wilson drove off and vanished. He lost his life, his family, and the CIA burned him. With nothing else, he became an assassin for hire and took the codename Deathstroke. In order to avoid detection, Deathstroke repeatedly changed his face.
Deathstroke became known as an elite mercenary willing to do whatever it took to complete a contract and thus, not to be underestimated. Trained in martial arts such as Goju Ryu, Savate, Krav Maga, Kenpo, Muay Thai, and Tae Kwon Do. Many years later, Deathstroke was drawn to Gotham City after learning Alfred Pennyworth was seeking him out. Clients heard an MI6 agent was asking about Deathstroke and believed he had been compromised. Many turned on and tried to kill Deathstroke. Adding to pre-existing feelings of having been betrayed, he sought revenge and vindication. Concluding Batman was Bruce Wayne, Deathstroke decided to prove to Pennyworth he was wrong about him by becoming the superior version of the prodigy who replaced him, Bruce Wayne. He even concluded Wayne's life was not unlike one he saw for himself. Wilson paid off the Key to create credentials for a Dane Lisslow identity, an anagram of his name, then infiltrated the local authority, becoming District Attorney Harvey Dent's second-in-command. Wilson began to execute his grand plan to usurp Wayne as Pennyworth's favorite son, twisting everything to his satisfaction.
Captain Dane Lisslow became the commanding officer of Harvey Dent's Special Crimes Unit. He created a backstory about a son named Glen who lives in Bludhaven with his mother. In the Old Gotham battle, Lisslow was confused when it turned out the Golem wasn't Batman. Dent didn't care and ordered the SCU to open fire on the Golem and the armored thugs. Lisslow was later present outside Blackgate Penitentiary after it was taken over by its inmates. He and Dent were befriended by Bruce Wayne. Wayne and Lisslow hit it off sharing stories about injuries from various martial arts training. Lisslow confirmed his hands were scarred from goju ryu, practiced savate during college and broke his left elbow in Israel in a krav maga tournament. Soon after, Lisslow led the SCU to Tapper Chemicals and attempted to arrest Batman, Katana, Professor Pyg, Mister Toad and Man Bat. Attempted and failed. The next day, Lisslow and Dent were invited to Wayne Manor, where Wayne formally endorsed Dent for the next Mayor of Gotham City.
Anarky hired Deathstroke to neutralize Batman once and for all then serve Dent's anti-hero agenda as Gotham's true champion. Deathstroke made his debut one evening by swinging into a restaurant and saving Bruce Wayne and severa patrons from a band of armed men. The next day, Dent held a press conference confirming to the public he hired Deathstroke and he would be a member of the Special Crimes Unit. In their initial search, Batman and Katana found nothing on him. Pennyworth decided to check with his MI6 contacts. Batman and Katana encountered Deathstroke after they disrupted an illegal transaction at the docks. Batman thanked Deathstroke, but he quickly clarified Batman was next. He declared they weren't on the same side and Batman's first weakness was that he was a hero. Katana was his second. Deathstroke led them on a chase. Batman was momentarily distracted saving a welder Deathstroke targeted. Katana pursued him alone and fought him on scaffolding. Deathstroke easily knocked her down and destroyed the structure with an explosive.
Batman rushed Katana to the Gotham Hospital. Pennyworth passed along limited intelligence he could find on Deathstroke and Batman deduced someone other than Dent was pulling the strings. At City Hall, Dent, Anarky and Deathstroke met on the roof. Dent was pleased but concerned with Deathstroke's theatrics at the docks. When Anarky pulled a gun on Deathstroke, Deathstroke knocked him out and took Dent hostage. Deathstroke took Dent to the Gotham Sky Tram and used Dent as bait and hung him out a gondala. Deathstroke was amused when Batman arrived, having used a Sky Watch Team news helicopter as cover, and presented him with a quandry designed to strip him of his heroic visage. Batman could either save Dent by killing Deathstroke or let Dent die. Deathstroke refused to concede, even after Batman grapneled his leg and saved Dent at the same time. He cut the line and plummeting to his doom. Dent attempted to spin the crisis as his own plan to reveal Deathstroke's true nature but reporters reiterated he was the who hired Deathstroke in the first place.
Deathstroke survived and realizing crossing Batman off wouldn't as easy as he thought. A new plan was concocted. Under a cover story of his son Glen being kidnapped, Dane Lisslow was forced to be a patsy and created a costume based on Batman's. He then assassinated Bruce Wayne during one of Dent's public campaign appearances. This Bad Batman later appeared outside a Bodega market and attacked police officers. He declared Gotham City belonged to Batman and he was the law. Once Wayne's funeral announcements were sent out, Bad Batman stole a hearse from the Banker Funeral Home and a gun from the Armory. Four days later, Bad Batman drove to the funeral and shot at all the guests present. Batman pursued Bad Batman but he ditched the hearse and escaped. Batman later found a foot print and concluded Bad Batman was 6'4'' and 250 pounds. Batman deduced Lisslow was Bad Batman and would try to get him alone, kill him, and take the credit as a hero. Batman tracked Bad Batman's gun and investigated the Armory. Lisslow came to Batman's timely rescue and led him into the catacombs.
Batman confronted Lisslow and asked why he did it. Lisslow clarified he was 255 pounds and remarked his reasons didn't matter. Deathstroke won. Lisslow yelled loud enough for the SCU to hear him that Batman was going to kill him. During the battle of Batmen, explosives were set off. Dent was seriously injured and Batman was blasted out of the catacombs. The next morning, a body was recovered and believed to be Lisslow's. It was merely a body stolen from the morgue. A $1 million bounty was placed on Batman. Oracle had been searching for answers on her own and independently concluded Lisslow was the Bad Batman. However, she discovered Lisslow doesn't exist. Batman took a closer look at Lisslow's documentation and saw the Key's forgery work, especially in the Social Security Number and employment records. The Key caved and admitted Wilson paid for the documentation. Upon seeing them search for 'Slade Wilson' in the Batcave, Pennyworth told Batman and Katana about his past with Wilson. Batman put the pieces together and saw Deathstroke's plans coming into focus.
Batman decided to twist back and approached Gotham News reporter Madison Randall for an interview. He made the location of the interview apparent to lure Deathstroke out into the open. Unwilling to allow Dent to kill Batman, Deathstroke infiltrated the Special Crimes Unit and posed as an officer. On the roof, Dent confronted Batman. Deathstroke made his move and knocked Dent out. James Gordon landed and exited a helicopter, gun drawn. The battle took to the helicopter and in a stunning turn, it crashed and exploded with Batman and Deathstroke still inside. Deathstroke was thrown down into an alley with the Batman's belt. When he came to, Deathstroke examined the belt and found a locator for the Batmobile and Batcycle. He entered the Batmobile and directed its navigation system to return to the Batcave. Deathstroke defeated and bound Pennyworth then advised Batman to come alone. Deathstroke effectively sealed the Batcave from intrusion by cutting the elevator cables and disabling hydraulics.
Deathstroke then found Batman's C4 cache and spread it around the Batcave as part of his plan to destroy everything Wayne had built up. While Batman took the Batcycle, Katana gathered Oracle, Man Bat and Metamorpho at the entrance to the Cauldron then drove to the Batcave as well. As Batman made his way through Wayne Manor, Deathstroke apologized for the Dane Lisslow charade and the Armory incident. Deathstroke gave Batman two choices - lay down his life with honor or watch everything he built be destroyed. Batman took the third choice and attacked him but Deathstroke revealed the C4 was tied to a detonator with a 16-digit kill code. Only he could stop the explosives. The battle continued throughout the cave. Pennyworth, Katana, Oracle, Man Bat and Metamorpho scrambled to find all the C4 and stop the countdown while Batman pursued Deathstroke. At the last second, Batman tricked Deathstroke into shooting a brick of C4. Caught in the blast, Deathstroke lost his right eye. Metamorpho covered all the C4 and took the brunt of the explosion.
Defeated and still conscious, Deathstroke declared he still knew Batman's secret identity. As soon as he was turned over to the Gotham City Police Department, Deathstroke would reveal it and Batman's mission would be over. Pennyworth turned to Man Bat and Metamorpho to generate an element to erase Deathstroke's mind. Man Bat recalled an enzyme called PKM-Zeta. At first Batman disagreed but Pennyworth reminded him all these "outsiders" risked their lives to help him and make sure his mission to protect Gotham continued. Metamorpho exposed Deathstroke to the PKM-Zeta. Deathstroke passed out and came to in a state of amnesia. He didn't know where he was or who he was.