Jericho (DC Comics)

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Jericho
Jericho as depicted in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984). Art by George Pérez.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Tales of the Teen Titans #43 (June 1984)
Created by	Marv Wolfman George Pérez
In-story information
Alter ego	Joseph William Wilson
Species	Metahuman
Team affiliations	Teen Titans Wildebeest Society Justice League Defiance Core Policy Group
Abilities	Motor function control of others through eye contact Possession Mind control Astral projection Telepathy "Soul-self" ("Titans Hunt" storyline) Skilled in hand-to-hand combat

Jericho (Joseph William Wilson) is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was originally a superhero, the son of Deathstroke, and a member of the Teen Titans during The New Teen Titans period by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Since the early 1990s Jericho has gone through periods of both sanity and insanity.

Joe Wilson going by the name "Kane Wolfman" appeared as a recurring character on the sixth and seventh seasons of The CW Arrowverse show Arrow, played by Liam Hall. He also appeared as a recurring character on the second season of the DC Universe series Titans, portrayed by Chella Man.

Jericho first appeared in Tales of the Teen Titans #43 and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.^[1]

Jericho was created in the early 1980s, a few years after Marv Wolfman and George Pérez relaunched the Teen Titans series and turned it into a major hit for DC Comics. At the time, Wolfman and Pérez were interested in distancing the team from the Justice League, many of whose members had been mentors to the Titans. This meant introducing new characters such as the mystical Raven and the technological Cyborg, as well as changing some of the existing characters, such as having Dick Grayson trade in his identity as Robin in favor of becoming Nightwing. Jericho was part of this process of establishing the team as its own feature rather than, in Pérez' words, a "Justice Little League". Wolfman had decided on the name, which he got from an unused story from the previous Titans series,^[2] and with the idea of Jericho being the son of Deathstroke, but could not think of any other aspects of the character. Pérez worked out the design, powers, and personality of Jericho and also suggested making the character mute. He also insisted that Jericho's emotions be conveyed entirely through visuals, without the use of thought balloons. Pérez claims that Jericho is the first character which he created by himself.^[3]

When Wolfman and Pérez were creating the character, they considered making Jericho gay. Pérez had this to say: "While Marv and I did discuss the possibility of Joseph Wilson being gay, Marv decided that it was too much of a stereotype to have the sensitive, artistic, and wide-eyed character with arguably effeminate features be also homosexual".^[4] It is eventually revealed that he is not interested in women, saying in sign language to Kole, who was in love with him, that he is gay in Convergence, which was confirmed by artist Nicola Scott.^[5] The DC Rebirth version of Joseph is confirmed to be bisexual,^[6] as is his Titans TV series version.

Joseph Wilson is the youngest son of Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) and Adeline Kane, and had a happy early childhood. As a child, he is captured by the Jackal, who was sent by the president of Qurac in retaliation for Deathstroke killing an important colonel. One of the Jackal's men slits Joseph's throat, leaving him mute.^[7] Following this incident, Adeline divorces Slade, taking Joseph and his older brother Grant with her. Joseph later learns that he possesses the metahuman ability to possess the bodies of others via eye contact, a result of biological experimentation performed on his father years before, and joins his mother in espionage as part of the organization Searchers Inc.

During the storyline "The Judas Contract", Joseph joins the Teen Titans under the name Jericho to help them battle Deathstroke. Jericho is later possessed by the souls of Azarath, which are tainted by the essence of the demon Trigon and influence him to take control of the Wildebeest Society. Due to the spirits' possession, Jericho gains new powers: a powerful lion soul-self and a healing factor that repairs his throat and restores his ability to speak. Jericho captures the Titans and attempts to have the spirits possess them before Deathstroke kills him.^[8]

Years later, it is revealed that Jericho's consciousness survived by possessing his father right before he was killed. He laid dormant until learning that Donna Troy had been killed in battle. Taking control of his father's body, Jericho seeks out the Titans, wanting to spare them his fate.^[9] Cyborg transfers Jericho's consciousness to a computer disk, which is stored in Titans Tower.^[10]

After the "One Year Later" time skip, Raven takes the disk and resurrects Jericho in a mystical ritual, healing him of the throat injuries from his childhood that left him mute. Jericho rejoins the Teen Titans and bonds with his half-sister Rose, who had become the latest Ravager.^[11] After possessing Match, Jericho moves to S.T.A.R. Labs until Match can be controlled.^[12]

Jericho, still trapped in Match's body, escapes from S.T.A.R. Labs in distress and asking for his friends' help.^[13] The Titans managed to help him escape Match's body, but the experience twists Jericho's mind, leaving him bent on the Titans' destruction.^[14] Mento reads Jericho's mind and discovers that he has a form of dissociative identity disorder caused by the remnants of those he possesses remaining in his mind. The Justice League return Jericho to S.T.A.R. Labs, hoping for a cure.^[15]

In The New 52 continuity reboot, two versions of Jericho appear. Unlike previous comics, Jericho is not mute and is fully capable of speech.

The first version appears as an antagonist in the second volume of Deathstroke. He and his mother were believed to have died when North Koreans attacked their home. Slade Wilson (now calling himself Deathstroke) had made many enemies worldwide and had repeatedly placed his family in the crosshairs. Jericho at some point exposed himself to the Gen-factor, which gave him his powers.

The second version appears in the third volume of Deathstroke, which erases the previous version from continuity. Due to his powers, Jericho was captured by his grandfather, Charles Wilson. Under the alias of Odysseus, Charles experiments on Jericho, awakening new psychic powers within him. Jericho is eventually rescued, but struggles to control his powers and is pursued by Odysseus.

Jericho later reappears after the DC Rebirth relaunch, once again mute and with his origin restored, though slightly modernized. This version of Jericho is also bisexual.^[6] Unlike his blissful childhood in the original comics, Jericho's family life was strained by the time he was a young teenager, as his father and mother were constantly fighting over his father's long absences due to his work with the government.^[16]

As a young adult, Jericho works as an executive vice-president for a tech firm that his mother owns in Los Angeles, and is engaged to his interpreter Etienne. Although mute and still using ASL, Jericho uses mobile technology that vocalizes his thoughts.^[17]

Jericho can possess people after making eye contact with them; his body turns insubstantial and enters the subject. While he is in possession, Jericho has access to all of that host's powers (physical, mental, and magical), and is also able to tap into their memories. Jericho's victim remains conscious and can express themselves vocally, but they are otherwise unable to control their body's actions while they are possessed by Jericho. If the person is unconscious or asleep upon possession, Jericho can use their voice to speak, albeit with their accent or any other speech impairments, and only using the words they know. Jericho sometimes uses the American manual alphabet letter "J" as his sign name to signal to his allies that he has taken possession of a person. Once the person's mind regains consciousness, they regain their awareness and ability to speak independently.

Despite his pacifistic nature and dislike for physical violence, he is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat and able to hold his own against his father, Deathstroke.

When possessed by the spirits of Azarath, Jericho had a powerful lion soul self and a healing ability.

In The New 52, Jericho receives an array of psychic abilities aside from his possession powers, such as being able to telepathically control his brother Grant and his mother Adeline.

Despite conflicting continuity between Deathstroke vol. 2 and 3, Jericho still retains his telepathy to read minds and control others. After being experimented upon, Jericho demonstrated even more powerful abilities to rupture other human beings apart with a psychic blast, much to his horror.^[18] Although his telepathy can be blocked by others with mental powers, Jericho can read their aura to see if they hold malicious intents and can also project an energy field to defend against attacks.^[19][20]

In DC Rebirth, Jericho demonstrates the ability to separate his incorporeal, spiritual self from his physical body when he uses his powers to possess other people. Unlike his usual way of possessing others, Jericho describes this ability like a near-field communication, being able to possess people within a certain distance from him. In addition, his physical body is dormant and immobile, leaving it vulnerable to attacks if no one is there to protect it.^[21]

• An alternate universe variant of Jericho appears in Tiny Titans.
• An alternate universe variant of Jericho appears in Teen Titans: Earth One. This version was manipulated and brainwashed by Elinore Stone of S.T.A.R. Labs into spying and fighting against his fellow "Project Titans" members.^[22]

• Jericho appears in Teen Titans.^[23] This version is an honorary member of the eponymous team.
• Joe Wilson appears in media set in the Arrowverse, portrayed by Liam Hall as an adult and William Franklyn-Miller as a child.^[24]
  • Primarily appearing in Arrow, this version has a more violent personality, plays a villainous role akin to his brother Grant Wilson, is the god-son of Billy Wintergreen, and is not mute. In flashbacks depicted in the sixth season, Joe followed in Wintergreen his father Slade Wilson's footsteps and joined the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). After Slade returned from a mission on Lian Yu, he and Joe worked with each other for some time until Slade massacred their comrades in a Mirakuru serum-induced frenzy and left to seek revenge on Oliver Queen. Following this, Joe became a criminal and traveled to Kasnia, where he rejected his birth name, took the alias Kane Wolfman, was taken prisoner by the local government, and joined a criminal organization called the Jackals, eventually becoming their leader. In the present, a cured Slade and Queen travel to Kasnia to find Joe, believing he is still imprisoned before discovering what happened afterward. Joe attempts to force Slade to kill Queen, but his father refuses and fights him and the Jackals instead. While escaping, Joe reveals Slade has another son named Grant and that their mother kept him secret from Slade. In the seventh season, Joe assumes Slade's Deathstroke suit, travels to Star City, and fights A.R.G.U.S. agents until he is apprehended by Oliver, the Flash, and Supergirl.^[25] After being taken into A.R.G.U.S.'s custody, Joe is recruited into the "Ghost Initiative".
  • Joe makes a cameo appearance in the crossover "Elseworlds" as a Central City Police Department police officer in an altered reality created by John Deegan.^[26]
• Jericho appears in Titans, portrayed by Chella Man.^[27][28] This version is the oldest child of Deathstroke who was rendered mute after enemies of Deathstroke's threatened Jericho to reach him, after which Jericho's overprotective mother Adeline took him and left Deathstroke. Five years prior, despite living away from his father and being unaware of his mercenary work, Jericho admired him. Seeking to exploit this, Deathstroke's enemy Dick Grayson befriends Jericho, invited him to join the Titans, and revealed the truth about his father. Uncertain about this, Jericho locates his father in the hopes of learning his side of the story, only to get caught in a fight between Deathstroke and Grayson, during which Jericho sacrificed himself to save the latter. While his body died, Jericho's spirit became trapped in Deathstroke's body for the next four years until his sister Rose Wilson grievously injures Deathstroke, causing Jericho's spirit to jump to her body.

• Jericho makes a non-speaking appearance in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract as a test subject of Brother Blood, who developed a machine capable of granting people superpowers. Once the experiment is finished, Mother Mayhem seemingly kills Jericho, though he turns up alive in the post-credits scene.^[29]
• Jericho appears in Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons: The Movie, voiced by Griffin Puatu as a teenager and Asher Bishop as a child.^[30] Seeking revenge on his absentee father Slade Wilson, a conflicted Jericho joins his sister Rose Wilson and H.I.V.E. to take over the world before reconciling with his parents.

• Jericho appears in DC Universe Online as part of the "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" DLC. This version is an associate of the Teen Titans.^[31]
• Jericho appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[32]
• Jericho appears as a playable character in DC Legends.^[33]

• Jericho appears in Teen Titans Go!.^[34]
• The Arrow incarnation of Joe Wilson appears in the non-canonical tie-in novel Arrow: Vengeance. In this version of events, following Slade Wilson's return from Lian Yu, he abused ASIS resources to find Oliver Queen. When his superior Wade DeFarge discovered this, Slade attempted to kill him, but Joe and his mother Addie were killed in the crossfire.
• Joseph Wilson / Jericho appears in Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons, voiced by Griffin Puatu as a teenager and Asher Bishop as a child.^[23] This version is the only son of Slade and Adeline who shares a close relationship with the former. Additionally, he was rendered mute after H.I.V.E. took him hostage to coerce Slade to join them and Joseph's throat was slit. Following this, Slade left him and Adeline, who sent Joseph to a private boarding school in Switzerland. The isolation and trauma left the now teenage Joseph angry and resentful as he was forced to address his burgeoning and unstable psionic powers alone, which cause him to enter a trance-like state and become more violent due to his lack of control over them.

• Titans Tower: Jericho Archived 2022-08-19 at the Wayback Machine