Ravager (DC Comics)

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Ravager
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Cover to New Teen Titans #2, the original Ravager's first appearance. Art by George Pérez
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance (Grant)
New Teen Titans vol. 1 #1 (November 1980)
(unknown)
Batman #440 (October 1989)
(Walsh)
Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984)
(as Ravager)
Deathstroke the Terminator #1 (August 1991)
(LaFarge)
Deathstroke, the Hunted #0 (October 1994)
Created by (Grant)
George Pérez, Marv Wolfman, Romeo Tanghal
(Walsh)
Marv Wolfman, George Pérez
(LaFarge)
Marv Wolfman, Sergio Cariello
In-story information
Alter ego

Grant Wilson
Bill Walsh
Wade DeFarge
Rose Wilson

Isabel Rochev (Arrow)
Team affiliations (Grant and Walsh)
H.I.V.E.
Black Lantern Corps
Supporting character of (unknown)
Two-Face
Notable aliases (LaFarge)
The Jackal
Abilities (Grant)
Enhanced strength and reflexes
The Ravagers
Series publication information
Schedule Monthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre Superhero
Publication date July 2012 – July 2013
Number of issues 13 (including issue #0)
Creative team
Writer(s) Howard Mackie (#1-7, 0), Michael Alan Nelson (#8-12), Tony Bedard (#10-12)
Artist(s) Eduardo Pansica and Daniel HDR (#7), Geraldo Borges (#7, 11)
Penciller(s) Ian Churchill (#1-3, 5-7, 0), Daniel Sampere and Stefano Martino (#4), Julius Gopez (#5), Tyler Kirkham (#6), Ig Guara (#8-10), Diogene Neves (#10-12)
Inker(s) Norm Rapmund (#1-6, 0, 8-10) Vicente Cifuentes (#10-12)
Collected editions
Vol. 1 The Kids From N.O.W.H.E.R.E ISBN 1-4012-4091-7
Vol. 2 ISBN 1-4012-4313-4

Ravager is the name of five fictional comic book characters in the DC Universe, four villains and one hero. Four have appeared in series featuring the Teen Titans and have a connection to the villain Deathstroke, Slade Wilson. The unrelated super-hero team The Ravagers was introduced to the DC Universe in 2012 as part of The New 52 publication initiative.

Fictional character biography[edit | edit source]

Grant Wilson[edit | edit source]

The first Ravager is Deathstroke's older son Grant Wilson, who dies attempting to assassinate the Teen Titans under a contract from the H.I.V.E., causing Deathstroke to hold the Titans responsible for his death. Because of a serum procedure the H.I.V.E. undertook to imitate his father's abilities, he gains enhanced strength and reflexes.

In Teen Titans, vol.3, #31 (February 2006), Grant was temporarily resurrected by Brother Blood to guard Kid Eternity. In the Teen Titans tie-in to the Blackest Night crossover, Grant Wilson was reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps, attacking his father and half-sister, Rose Wilson.[1]

The New 52[edit | edit source]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Grant's history was changed. He appears to have been beaten and killed in an explosion by Midnighter, but returned after a few years trying to kill his father. Grant surreptitiously manipulates Deathstroke, by allying himself with the fathers of one of Slade's victims and sending a number of villains called Legacy to weaken the mercenary before really facing him. In the aftermath, even having a chance to kill Deathstroke, Grant hesitated and simply walked away.[2] Grant later appeared being mind-controlled by Jericho.[3] He was later killed off by Deathstroke in his try to kill Jericho[issue # needed].

DC Rebirth[edit | edit source]

Grant's backstory is later expanded upon in the Deathstroke: Rebirth universe. In his younger years as a child, he had a strained relationship with his father Slade, who was hard on him, and was distant from his younger brother Joe. His strained family life provokes him to running away as a teenager, unknowingly encountering young members of H.I.V.E who have been spying on his family and took the chance to recruit him. Grant established a relationship with one of the young women and came to join H.I.V.E in his adult life. In the "Lazarus Contract" storyline, Deathstroke try to revive Grant by stealing Wally West and Wally West II's superspeed to time travel and change the past, but was unsuccessful.[4][5][6][7]

Ravager (Batman)[edit | edit source]

This Ravager first appeared in Batman #440 (October 1989) during the first part of the story arc which introduced Tim Drake; he kills several people in their homes, including two policemen in their beds, in order to catch Batman's attention. This Ravager is hired by Two-Face to kill Batman, but fails. This is his only appearance.[8]

Bill Walsh[edit | edit source]

File:Deathstroke 4.jpg
Bill Walsh battling Deathstroke, in Deathstroke the Terminator #4. Art by Mike Zeck

The third Ravager is Bill Walsh, a former rival of Deathstroke's who takes up the title to lure Deathstroke into battle. Years before assuming the name Ravager, Walsh was involved in the kidnapping of Slade's younger son, Joseph (who became the hero Jericho), which ultimately resulted in Joseph's throat being slit and his becoming mute. As Ravager, Walsh attempts to kill Slade with a bomb. Slade instead kills Walsh and defuses the bomb.[9]

Wade DeFarge[edit | edit source]

The fourth Ravager is Slade's half brother, Wade DeFarge, a small-time hitman who uses the name in mockery of Slade. This leads to more than he bargained for, as Deathstroke orchestrates a series of events that lead to him being killed and supplanted by Rose Wilson, Deathstroke's daughter, who Deathstroke then manipulates into becoming the new Ravager.

In the Teen Titans tie-in to the Blackest Night crossover, Wade DeFarge was reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps, attacking Rose and Slade. He fights Rose, who attempts to incinerate him, but then finds out that Rose was possessed by her brother Jericho.[1]

Rose Wilson[edit | edit source]

Main article: Rose Wilson

The fifth Ravager is Rose Wilson, Slade's illegitimate daughter. At one period, Deathstroke manipulates and brainwashes her into becoming his apprentice. After a brief stint training with Nightwing in an attempt to make the Secret Society of Super Villains leave Blüdhaven alone, Rose realizes that Deathstroke does not have her best interests at heart and leaves him. One year after the events of Infinite Crisis, she has joined the Teen Titans, as seen in Teen Titans vol. 3 #34 (May 2006).

The Ravagers[edit | edit source]

The Ravagers (rather than Ravager) also exist as the name of a team in DC comics. In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the Ravagers are introduced as a group of super-powered teens who have escaped the plans of Harvest in The Culling. The Ravagers title first appeared as part of The New 52's Second Wave in 2012. The team was formed after the Teen Titans and the Legionnaires stuck in the present day were abducted by Harvest, and then later stopped the villain and escaped.[10] The team includes Beast Boy, Terra, Thunder and Lightning, Ridge and Fairchild.[11]

In other media[edit | edit source]

Television[edit | edit source]

Animation[edit | edit source]

  • Rose Wilson appears in the Teen Titans Go! voiced by Pamela Adlon. In episode "Cool School", she was originally detained at the Jump City Juvenile Correction Facility where she breaks out of confinement and runs into the Teen Titans. She easily defeats all of the Titans using insults that touched upon their sensitive areas, except for Raven, with whom she becomes friends after discovering their mutual aptitude at witty, sarcastic humor. The two then hang out together, much to the other Titans' chagrin. Eventually Rose thinks of harming a civilian, which Raven doesn't allow, causing a fight between them. Rose overpowers Raven and is about to finish her off when the other Titans come to her rescue. When the Titans figure out that Rose's own weakness is earnest affection, they begin to reaffirm their friendship, which sickens Rose into defeat. She later appears in "Operation Dude Rescue", where she teams up with Starfire, Raven, Jinx, and Terra to save Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg from The Brain. At first, Rose refuses to join them, but is then convinced to join them and tells Raven that she missed her, repairing their friendship. She also makes a cameo appearance in "Black Friday", where she's seen waiting in line outside Jump City Electronics on Black Friday. She also makes cameo appearances in a flashback in "Bottle Episode", and in "The Titans Show", where she fights the Titans alongside the villains in the highlight of Control Freak's Island Adventures reality show.
  • Ravager appears in DC Super Hero Girls as a Super Hero High student and cameo non speaking characters.

Movies[edit | edit source]

File:RoseCOTE.jpg
Rose and her father in Crisis On Two Earths.
  • Rose Wilson makes her animated debut in the direct to DVD movie Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths voiced by Freddi Rogers. In the movie, she has red hair instead of white (likely due to the parallel Earth). She is the daughter of Slade Wilson, the President of the United States on the parallel earth of the Crime Syndicate and uses her notoriety to publicly denounce the Syndicate and her father's policy of appeasement (it is suggested that Ultraman personally killed Rose's mother). Later on, J'onn J'onzz saves her from an assassination attempt by Archer and volunteers to be her personal bodyguard. The two quickly fall in love. Once the Syndicate is defeated, they part ways. When Wonder Woman suggests him to seek out Rose's mainstream counterpart, J'onn speculates, "With my luck, she'll be evil", hitting that she may become a criminal like the Syndicate.

Live Action[edit | edit source]

  • Summer Glau portrays Isabel Rochev during Season 2 of The CW's Arrow. She dons the moniker of Ravager and is trained by Deathstroke to get vengeance on the Queen family before the events of the show. In the second-season episode, "The Man Under the Hood" Rochev is mortally wounded by John Diggle in an altercation to save Roy Harper from Deathstroke. Later, she is saved by a blood transfusion from Deathstroke, thanks to the serum in his veins. In "City of Blood", Rochev is seen, as Ravager, attempting to exact revenge on Diggle, now with the same powers as Deathstroke. Afterwards, in "Streets of Fire", Felicity Smoak arrives and plows into an unsuspecting Ravager with her vehicle, allowing for Diggle's getaway. Seemingly unfazed, Ravager is next seen assassinating city employees by order of Deathstroke, the last of which is Star City's mayor Sebastian Blood, who betrayed them. In the Season 2 finale "Unthinkable", Ravager is among those captured by the Arrow, The Canary, Roy Harper, Nyssa al Ghul and a group of ninjas from the League of Assassins. She later proves uncooperative and boasts about Deathstroke killing Oliver's mother, so Nyssa snaps her neck, killing her.[12]
  • In the novel Arrow: Vengeance, which details the backstory of Deathstroke in the Arrow show, it is revealed that Wade DeFarge was Slade's commanding officer in the government, and half brother to the late Billy Wintergreen. DeFarge had sent Slade and Wintergreen on the fateful mission that resulted in them going to Lian Yu, Billy betraying Slade, Slade being forced to kill Wintergreen, and get injected with the Mirakuru. Later, when Slade returns from the island, he abuses government resources to learn about Oliver Queen, with whom he is obsessed with due to the Mirakuru affecting his mind. DeFarge discovers this, along with Slade's killing of Wintergreen, and confronts him in his home just as Slade finds out Oliver is alive and well, causing Slade to lose control and kill DeFarge, along with his wife Adeline and son Joseph. However in the season 5 finale of Arrow when trying to get Slade's help in saving Oliver's own son Oliver gives Slade information on Joe including his current location making this novel's canonicity questionable.
  • Jamie Andrew Cutler portrays Grant Wilson in The CW's Arrow spinoff Legends of Tomorrow episode "Star City 2046". In a potential future, this version takes up the name Deathstroke in tribute to his father, and starts an uprising that drives Star City to ruin. He has defeated the aging Oliver Queen and sliced off his arm. Grant is later defeated by Oliver, Connor Hawke, and the time-travelling Legends.[13]

Video games[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Teen Titans (vol. 3) #77 (November 2009)
  2. Deathstroke #7
  3. Deathstroke #19
  4. Titans Rebirth #11
  5. Teen Titans Rebirth #8
  6. Deathstroke (vol. 4) #19
  7. Teen Titans Rebirth Annual #1
  8. Batman #440
  9. Deathstroke, the Terminator #4 (November 1991)
  10. The Ravagers #1
  11. Teen Titans Annual #1
  12. Schedeen, Jesse (April 30, 2014). "Arrow: "City of Blood" Review". IGN. Retrieved April 30, 2014. 
  13. Abrams, Natalie (February 25, 2016). "Legends of Tomorrow boss and Joseph David-Jones dissect Green Arrow reveal". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 25, 2016.