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| ~ The sound effect that signals Jericho's powers. |
Joseph Wilson, better known as Jericho, is a minor antagonist in DC Comics. He is the son of Deathstroke and a mutant born with the ability to possess others and for a long while was a Teen Titan himself. However eventually Jericho's powers backfired on him, causing him to become a villain.
Biography[]
Origin[]
Jericho first joining the Titans.
Jericho was the son of the second Head Mistress of H.I.V.E., Adeline Kane Wilson, and Slade Wilson. For years Joesph had no idea his father was a supervillain and mercenary. Jericho's throat was slashed when he was very young, leaving him mute for most of his life. Joseph first discovered his powers when he locked eyes with an injured friend in his youth and found himself in his friend's body. He walked his friend to safety and to get medical attention, although the experience was very traumatizing for him, repressing his powers. Adeline eventually divorced Slade and established her own wet works team called Searchers Inc. Joseph worked closely with his mother and received military training from Searcher Inc. and took up the codename "Jericho". One day when his mother was about to meet her end at the hands of an assassin, Jericho, who could not reach them in time, could do nothing but stare down the man from across the room. When he did, his powers manifested and he was able to possess him, saving his mother. It was the first time since his childhood Joseph was able to use his powers. It is believed Joseph was born a mutant as a result of the gene therapy Slade had been through before Joseph was born. After discovering he was a mutant, Jericho kept helping his mother as she was keeping track of Deathstroke. They eventually reached out to Deathstroke's arch-enemy Dick Grayson offered to help him stop Deathstroke.
Corruption[]
Jericho getting more than he bargained for from Trigon.
For years Jericho was a member of the Titans and used his powers to stop many super villains and became a close friends with his fellow Titans and in a relationship with the Titan, Raven, Jericho's link to Raven would ultimately be what made him lose control. When Raven felt her father, the evil demon Trigon, trying to use her as a anchor to the world, Jericho used his powers to enter her and help her confront him on a spiritual level in Azarath, Raven's homeworld. Trigon was eventually defeated, or at-least driven back, but Raven had now been brought to the attention of the souls of Azarath, who had been corrupted by Trigon and tried to possess her but she had well protected herself against possessions due to the threat of Trigon and so the soul of Azarath instead possessed Jericho.
The souls of Azarath were too weak at first to affect Jericho and so they remained dormant for a long time, eventually though they were able to overtake him. They used Jericho to possess many of the Titans and each time Jericho possessed one of them, one of the souls of Azarath was left behind in his teammate after Jericho left. Jericho also invaded the Wilderbeest Society, a group of supervillains, and used them as a large-scale group to place the rest of Azarath into. Nightwing and Deathstroke teamed up to stop Jericho and fought their way through the Wilderbeests to stop him and tried to reach out to him. Jericho became his old-self briefly and asked Deathstroke to kill him, who obliged his son's request.
Years later, Deathstroke found out Jericho has inadvertently possessed him but was lying dormant in Slade's body. When Deathstroke tried to have him exorcised it awakened Jericho and he used Deathstroke to confront the Titans. Jericho eventually revealed who he really was to the Titans and left Deathstroke body-hopping from one Titans to the next but Raven used her powers to absorb Jericho into her mind and keep him subdued. Sometime later when confronting Brother Blood, the Titan Cyborg downloaded Jericho out of Raven's mind and on to a computer disk. Raven eventually was able to steal a resurrection ritual from Brother Blood and used it to not only bring back Jericho but restore his spirit to what it had originally been so long ago. Jericho was restored although his powers were somewhat warped at first from the process.
Jericho being neutralized.
Jericho's soul was restored but his mind was another matter, as the years of possessing supervillains had caught up with him upon his restoration and he left the Titans almost as soon as he was welcomed back to try to deal with his psychological issues. Jericho went mad despite his best efforts to compartmentalize and tried to assassinate a politician in a series of suicide bomb attempts. When the Titans found out Jericho was behind the bombing and was mentally unstable, they tried to stop him but were unable. The hero Vigilante hunted down Jericho when the Titans failed, though he had been asked to spare Jericho's life. Vigilante stopped Jericho by cutting out his eyes, the catalyst of his possession ability.
Once Jericho eyes were gone and his power neutralized he had a long time to safely work through his issues. Jericho's eyes would eventually be restored by the Black Lantern Corps but luckily by then Jericho had come to terms with his psychological issues and dedicated himself to helping make-up for his crimes to the Titans and the world.
Other Media[]
Teen Titans[]
Jericho in Teen Titans.
Jericho appears in the cartoon Teen Titans, although he is not seen as a villain in the show and only in his capacity as a Teen Titan. Also the link between him and Slade is never made. Jericho appeared only in the last few episodes of the series and so many details about Jericho are never explored though his powers are quite clearly demonstrated as he uses them to help Beast Boy defeat the Brotherhood of Evil.
He is also a mute in the series, and the only time he spoke was when possessing Cinderblock (who ironically is also mute), he then possess Private H.I.V.E, and makes eye contact with Control Freak and makes him battle Trident.
Arrow[]
In the CW series Arrow, Joe Wilson is a major antagonist in the sixth and seventh seasons. However, he never used his alias and don't possess his powers.
Powers and Abilities[]
Jericho's most notable power is his ability to possess those that lock eyes with him, leaping into their bodies and taking direct control of them. Originally Jericho was only able to control motor functions once in a body leaving them still able to hear, see and talk but unable to do little more than struggle to control their limbs, however over time Jericho gained mastery of this power and is able to cut off his host's consciousness completely. Jericho can leap from body to body in rapid succession without needing to return to his normal state and can project directly from one host into another. While in his possession state, Jericho is entirely intangible. Further training allowed Jericho to assert his control over another without actually entering their body, mentally dominating them from the outside. Once in a body Jericho may elect to give his host control and simply talk to them from within. Certain mental training disciplines can be used to counter Jericho's powers such as Superman's training in Torquasm-Vo and Raven deep meditation techniques. Aside from his possession/hypnotic powers Jericho was trained to be a black-opts style fighter courtesy of his mother and has received the same martial train as Deathstroke, though with about half the time to master and remaster it as his father has had.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The same incident that rendered Jericho mute also cost Deathstroke his eye as Adeline did not take Slade endangering their son lightly and shot him.
- Due to issues with DC's canon prior to the New 52 event, it is unclear if Jericho is retired, dead, relapsed, or just off on his own somewhere.
- Jericho is named after a famous ancient city located in modern-day Palestine, notable for being one of the oldest continuous settlements in the world.
