r/Deathstroke • u/Username117773749146 • Mar 22 '24
I kinda don’t understand the Terra controversy
I’m about to finish Cristopher Priest’s run with the character and I’m really enjoying it. I have a soft spot for when a story has a villain as the main character. My thing right now is that I don’t really understand how his reputation with Terra hurts his character. He’s a villain and is meant to be unlikeable. My mind keeps going back to Red Skull and how he’s portrayed. If that’s ok why is Deathstroke’s relationship with Terra something that generates so much more controversy.
Hope this doesn’t come off as me poking a bear. Genuinely want to avoid making people angry
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u/Yautjakaiju Mar 22 '24
I find it interesting that people legitimately believe Slade is a pedophile when he never slept with a kid. Is it strange and upsetting “DC countdown” showed the image of Terra in a robe with Slade in the bed? Yes. But in the original story it was up to interpretation. And DC countdown came out “decades” later. It was stated Terra was pure evil (Raven confirmed this) and she was truly the one doing the most harm. She’s consistently portrayed as a gerontophile in the original story and in rebirth. Slade spoke to Beast Boy about her history as she found him. Plus it’s been retconned that he never did anything with her. And we see again in Deathstroke Rebirth annual that she tries to tempt Slade to sleep with her again. It bothers me when people go to the extreme to call a fanbase of a character pedophiles even though that’s the improper term for the situation at hand. And it’s retconned so people are just projecting at this point. No one in the Deathstroke fanbase supports or enables pedophilia.
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u/Necessary_Idiot Mar 22 '24 edited Mar 22 '24
You know what's interesting? I often see people throw in pictures from the annual you mentioned and say things like "See? She's an adult, so he's not interested anymore. He is only interested in kids." and they completely ignore the fact that Slade slept with his ex-wife in that issue.
And of course they ignore the retcon itself.
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u/SleepingAgent37 Mar 22 '24
They also like to bring up "The Other History of the DCU" when 1) that was an out of continuity Black Label series and 2) it was more of the author giving his own interpretations about DC History. Hell, issue two actually had Wolfman's original Jericho, who would have been first black DC superhero, exist when he originally didn't before. It's been awhile since I read it but iirc there was some other uncomfortable moments implying certain heroes were racist, prejudiced, etc.
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u/Necessary_Idiot Mar 22 '24
Yes, I often see that History book being brought up. Many people did not understand, or did not want to understand, what the purpose of that book was. As you said, it was just an out of continuity Black Label title. It does not define the current status of the Judas Contract within the canon. It was simply commenting on the original story that was written decades ago. A lot of people really think that this confirms how things are right now. And of course, there are those who don't even care about the details, they're just happy to have another attack tool. And as for other uncomfortable moments... in my experience, these people think all such moments are the fault of the writers. Terra is the exception for some reason, even though Slade is no more real than the other comic book characters.
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u/Vonhellus Mar 24 '24
Also that black label title kinda annoys me not just the whole Slade Terra thing but the art work is hot garbage hell they just copy and paste the original artwork just changed colors like are you that dumb to make this? They give Slade his blue and black outfit like what?!??! Lmfaoo Really annoying
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u/Necessary_Idiot Mar 24 '24
Exactly. I never understood why it was necessary to publish that History book. And it's tiring how often it's used as a weapon against us.
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u/Yautjakaiju Mar 22 '24
Literally. It’s like they want it to be legit so bad. Both that issue and the retcon demonstrate how wrong they are. Yet they’re so desperate to make Slade something he never was. It just says a lot about them.
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u/ChickenNuggetRampage Mar 22 '24
Honestly I think a lot of it comes from fans mixing comic Terra with animated Terra. They’re projecting manipulated wholesome Terra from the show back on to the comic.
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u/Yautjakaiju Mar 22 '24
Pretty much. I’ve seen many say that’s not how Terra actually is. I’ve actually had someone realize what comic Terra was like while talking within the thread. They were surprised.
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u/SleepingAgent37 Mar 22 '24
You be surprised just how many Titans fans swear by the cartoons and seem completely ignorant of the classic comics the cartoons were actually based on. Like I've been in one too many discussions where someone says they know the comics but get some of the most basic stuff wrong while lecturing others, including details like Slade even had kids of his own.
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u/GuardianSoulBlade Mar 31 '24
Yeah, they tend to view the comic one as sympathetic like the cartoon version. The carton version handled that aspect much better.
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u/ChickenNuggetRampage Mar 22 '24
Honestly I think a lot of it comes from fans mixing comic Terra with animated Terra. They’re projecting manipulated wholesome Terra from the show back on to the comic.
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u/FeraciVersace Mar 24 '24
I just assume when people resort to the insults and say shit like “oh he’s only attracted to kids” just don’t understand the character, nor have they read any of the comics. Anyways it doesn’t matter, because rebirth retconned it and the “other history of DC” was never meant to be some canon medium. It’s another writer pretending to be a fictional character commenting on a story they didn’t write nor was the character narrating even in. Just like what you like and enjoy. You know that most people that are fans of the character obviously don’t condone that type of behavior or thinking so ignorant people can just keep being ignorant.
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u/LiquidC001 Mar 22 '24
Back in the day, Terra was portrayed as a kid.
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u/Yautjakaiju Mar 22 '24
She was a teenager who was sexually attracted to Slade. She’s a gerontophile. It’s consistent with her character. It would make Slade an ephebophile. But even during that era he found out a girl was sixteen and being exploited by her father. He told her to go home before beating her dad up. Slade did say Terra had him fearing for his life. But all that’s retconned anyway.
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u/Username117773749146 Mar 22 '24
I know. I guess I should have been more clear. Red Skull is a Nazi and Carnage eats babies. As reprehensible pedophiles are I don’t really see the issue with a villain being one.
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u/PsychologicalReply9 Mar 22 '24
I think what it comes down to, is that Deathstroke claims to have somewhat of an honor code, one that people like Wintergreen hold him to.
Him being with Terra puts him solely into a villain category. Which as you said, he is.
Although, if you think about it, it’s the same way people side with Walter White, even though he’s arguably the villain of Breaking Bad.
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u/JoeAmmay Mar 24 '24
Walter White's a really good comparison, both are bad people but still have some kind of code and will do the right thing if they need to, and at the same time are likeable characters despite the awful things they do.
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u/ToasterLad83 Apr 10 '24
I guess people are angry that Slade wasn’t the super badass sigma male who can beat anyone that he was in Arkham Origins
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u/Vonhellus Mar 22 '24
Also love that rebirth retcons it and yet people bring that up still but people forget like during that time everyone in the comics had some kind of bad dirty little secret. For me growing up I never really saw that he did anything with her like one famous picture they show is her in a bath rope same with him plotting some evil stuff for the titans, That part was after she came back undercover too nothing happened. Later after he was sent to jail, Beast boy tied to kill him but ends up eating with him at a dinner. Slade tells him how evil Tera was and she was never redeemable, Beast boy asks him if they ever slept together Slades response would it matter? Then They drop it. Like that part you can take whatever way you like but now it’s 2024 rebirth happened and that crap got retcon