Does Slade deserve a happy father's day?

 Is Deathstroke a good father? The answer is way more complicated than you think.

Due to the nature of comic books, characters flip flop personality traits almost all the time. Slade was show to be a good father and a absolute horrible dad multiple times. Let's take a look at some classic moments. 

At the beginning, Slade was show to be a good father, when we first see his origin the comic tries to sell us this idea. Fun note, in Deathstroke #50 by Christopher Priest this moment is referenced making it still canon. 

However, later when we see how Joseph lost his voice, we learn that was Slade's fault. Now, is it fair to call this man a good father? One thing we can be certain, or at least for now, he does love his kids and has no problem showing this, the problem is that his ego, his pride as a mercenary, gets in the way. 

Later he would have to kill Joseph, something that haunted him for the longest time. Making him even think he does not deserve to be alive. But Slade would get a second chance as a father when Rose was discoverded. 

Wade DeFarge, Slade's half brother, tried to kidnap Rose in order to get to Deathstroke, after that storyline, Rose was sent to live with the Titans for her protection. This would end with her decision to live a normal life, away from her father's world. And that would be a good conclusion for her character, if not by Geoff Johns Teen Titans and nature of comic books. 

Slade would make her his "sidekick", wanting backup to hunt the Titans once again. There is a lot of things wrong here, both Slade and Rose are character assassinated and regressed during this run. Anyway, point is, for now Slade is 100% a terrible father.  No plot twist changes this. 

Yes, this comic had the audacity of having a plot twist, Slade didn't want to kill the Titans, he wanted to make sure they would take care of rose. I don't think i have to explain how unnecessarily convoluted this plan was and how the plot twist does not change the horrible things he did. Moving on. 

Some time later, Slade would create his own Titans(again) and go into a series of almost suicidal missions, all in other to revive Jericho, this time well and stable. Did he make a series of horrible acts during this? Yes. Does all of that make him a terrible human being? 100% Yes. But this proves, he loves Joseph, we would risk his life for him. He cares for his kids, but Slade is so twisted he can't show that in a normal manner. 

And then Flashpoint happened. 

The whole premise of Deathstroke mini series during this event was he searching for Rose, the plot depends on how much he cares for her. And again, he's doing a bunch of horrible things during it. 

Intermission: The father of Deathstroke

During the New 42 we got a whole issue dedicated to Nathaniel Wilson, Slade's father. This is probably the best issue from the N52 series, showing why Slade is the way he his. Due to his father abusive nature, Slade grown up with an inferiority complex and anxiety. 

Slade's father would get "rebooted" as a CIA agent later but since that recton is no longer valid will be skipping that.

The New 52

The New 52 are kind of a mess, and a repetitive one. At the beginning both Jericho and Ravager I are shown as antagonists for Slade, but later that would be changed, Grant would simply be forgotten and Jericho would go back into being a good guy. Well, at the end, the same conclusion as the last exemples, Slade cares for his children, but, this time he's a "hero"(?). He did nothing during his N52 series besides saving the world and helping people. No evil schemes until Deathstroke Annual 1. 

Again, comics are weird. 

Rebirth 

Here, things get really complex. The whole series is about fatherhood. And we get somewhat of a definitive answer to this post question earlier. Slade loves his children but he has no idea about how to show this. This is the most cohesive conclusion possible for this side of the character at this point. 

He wants to do the right thing for his kids, even if it costs his own life. He's just clueless about how to do those things without acting like a super villain. 

A while back, Slade discovered Respawn, a clone made with his and Talia's DNA. Immediately he saw the kid as a another chance of being a good father for once. But in his own way, he wanted to train Respawn, make sure he would be able to protect himself. Unfortunately things did not end up as he intended, but i already talked about how awful what happened was in another post. 

In Conclusion

Slade went from being a good father who let his ego get in the way, to an horrible dad, to a good day again and then to a father with good intentions but incapable of showing this in a healthy way. I guess the reader is the one to decide here, due to complexity of today's topic. To me, the answer is not back or white, but gray.  

Well, that's it for now, happy father's day!