After 34 Years, DC Kills Off Iconic Teen Titans Hero

Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots. 

Warning: SPOILERS for the upcoming Deathstroke the Terminator #6 are ahead!The Teen Titans have battled a lot of villains over the decades, from Mister Twister and H.I.V.E., to Brother Blood and Trigon. Of this lineup, Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke, arguably ranks as their arch-nemesis since first antagonizing the superhero team in 1980's New Teen Titans #2. That makes it all the more ironic that two of his children have been Teen Titans. The first was Joe Wilson, a.k.a. Jericho, and Rose Wilson, a.k.a. Ravager, followed afterward.

Like her father, Rose, who first appeared in 1992’s Deathstroke #15, started out as an antagonist, but has since served in several incarnations of the Teen Titans after rebelling against Slade. However, 34 years after being introduced into DC Comics lore, it’s been confirmed that Rose has been killed off in Deathstroke’s current ongoing title.

Adeline Kane Killed Rose Wilson In Deathstroke The Terminator

Deathstroke The Terminator (2026), Written By Tony Fleecs, Artwork By Carmine Di Giandomenico

As seen in the preview pages for Deathstroke the Terminator #6, by Tony Fleecs and Carmine Di Giandomenico, Adeline Kane, Slade’s ex-wife, did indeed hit Rose with a kill shot at the end of the previous issue. This comes as a shock not just to Slade, but also Adeline’s allies Deadshot (Floyd Lawton) and Deathblow (Michael Cray), who were just there to bring down their fellow assassin. Unfortunately for the former, he gets a knife to the hand in the midst of Slade's rage.

Since Rose’s mother was a brothel owner from Cambodia named Lili Worth, Adeline, the mother of Joe and Grant Wilson (the first Ravager), has no familial connection to the young woman. Killing Rose, one of the darker Teen Titans heroes, was all part of Adeline’s latest revenge scheme against Slade. This also sees her taking the Deathstroke mantle for herself, as well as strangely being able to communicate telepathically with her ex-husband using the voice of his late ally Billy Wintergreen, who was killed in Deathstroke the Terminator #1.

Although accelerated healing has been one of Rose’s powers in the past, it’s unclear if she no longer possesses it in the pages of Deathstroke the Terminator, or if her variation of the ability isn’t enough to deal with being shot in the head. Whatever the explanation, Rose is indeed dead at Adeline’s hands, though that doesn’t mean she’ll stay that way. Resurrections are commonplace in superhero stories, so it’s possible she’ll be brought back into play later on in Deathstroke the Terminator or another comic book series.

Rose first joined the Teen Titans in 1995’s New Titans #122, though she didn’t become Ravager until 2004. Additionally, during one of her reconciliatory periods with Slade, she served on his Titans group, a.k.a. Defiance, during the DC Rebirth era alongside Jericho, Terra, the Tanya Spears version of Power Girl, and the Ace West version of Kid Flash. Outside the comics, Rose has appeared in various direct-to-video movies, TV shows, and video games, including her sole live-action depiction in Titans season 2, where she was played by Chelsea Zhang.

Deathstroke the Terminator #6 will be released by DC Comics on Wednesday, August 19.