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Jericho (comics)
Encyclopedia
Jericho is a fiction
al character
, originally a superhero
who was a member of the Teen Titans in the acclaimed 1980s period of The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman
and George Pérez
, published by DC Comics
. Since the early 1990s, Jericho has gone through periods of both sanity and insanity.
), being a musical prodigy as a child. When he was a child, he was held hostage by Jackal, a terrorist who was after his father. Deathstroke refused to give Jackal the information he wanted because it went against his professional code of ethics. Deathstroke managed to rescue his son, but not before one of Jackal's men cut his throat. As a result, he was rendered mute
.
As a result of that incident, and the fact that Slade had lied to her, Joseph's mother Adeline divorced Slade (after attempting to kill him by shooting him, but only succeeding in blinding him in one of his eyes), and took her two sons (Joseph and his older brother Grant) with her. At some point, Joseph learned to communicate through sign language
(identified in Action Comics
#584 as American Sign Language
) to compensate for his lost voice. In his late teens, Joey discovered that he possessed the metahuman
power to take possession of any humanoid being he could make eye contact with, as a result of biological experimentation done on his father years before, using it to save his mother from an assassin.
to help him rescue the Titans, with Joseph adopting the identity of Jericho. The rescue mission was a success, and Jericho subsequently joined the team, but the Titans were initially wary of him because of his relationship to Deathstroke, and the betrayal of Terra
.
Jericho was a loyal Titan for many years. Shortly after he joined the Titans, another new member, Kole
, joined. Jericho immediately developed a bond with her. Sadly, this did not last long: when Jericho along with a few other Titans went on a mission to space, Kole was killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths
. After returning and discovering the tragic news, Jericho then began to feel a sad quality within Raven and sought to ease her troubled spirit.
, tainted by the essence of the demon Trigon
, Raven
's father. Unable to possess Raven herself, the souls entered Jericho. They were weak at first, but gained strength with time and eventually merged with him.
The souls needed individual vessels to survive and Jericho sought to acquire superhuman ones for them, taking over the Wildebeest Society and using them to abduct current and former Titans to act as vessels. Jericho also gained new powers: a powerful lion soul-self and a healing ability that repaired his throat and allowed him to speak again.
In the "Titans Hunt" storyline, Nightwing
and Troia
, accompanied by some new allies, found and confronted him. During the battle, the real Jericho resurfaced and begged his father to kill him. There was no help for him and, to spare his son any more suffering, Deathstroke killed him. A statue of Jericho was later erected in the Titans Tower
memorial in San Francisco
.
had been killed in battle. Taking control of his father's body, he sought out the latest group of Titans; hoping to convince them that children shouldn't be superheroes, as they could easily be killed like he was, and wanting to spare them his fate. He also killed his father's closest friend, Wintergreen
, and mounted the man's head on a wall.
Further demonstrating his mental instability, while in Deathstroke's body he viciously attacked his former friends, and even shot Impulse
in the knee.
During the combat, he jumped from body to body until Raven absorbed him. During a battle with Brother Blood
, she repelled him when she unintentionally absorbed her teammates, Deathstroke and Rose into her soul-self. Jericho managed to use the bodies of Wonder Girl and Superboy
against the team, but when he tried to enter Cyborg
, Cyborg used his cybernetic eye to transfer Jericho's spirit to a computer file, now stored in Titans Tower
. Beast Boy
says that they check on Jericho every day.
After the "One Year Later
" jump following the events of Infinite Crisis
, Raven took the disk with Jericho's essence and, using the same ritual the Church of Brother Blood previously employed to raise her from the dead, resurrected Jericho in an new body, missing the throat scars from his childhood injury. However, for reasons never explained, despite the fact he no longer had the physical damage of his old body, Joey remained unable to speak, and continued to use sign language to communicate. Jericho joined the latest incarnation of the team, taking the opportunity to bond with his half-sister Rose
, who was the new Ravager. After possessing the body of Superboy's dangerous clone Match
, Jericho moved to S.T.A.R. Labs
until a way was found to control Match.
Later Jericho, still trapped in Match's body, seemingly escaped from S.T.A.R. Labs in visible distress and asking for his friends' help. The Titans managed to help him escape Match's body, but it soon became apparent how much the experience had twisted Jericho's mind, leaving him bent on the Titans' destruction.
Jericho briefly escaped the Titans to plague the Presidential Election of 2008 of the main DC Universe, going so far as to use Green Lantern's
body to fight the Justice League upon being discovered. The will-based powers of Hal prove to be his undoing, as Hal was able to push Jericho out of his body. Jericho was brought to the JLA Satellite for safe-keeping. Mento mindprobed Jericho, discovering that he was suffering from a particular and severe form of dissociative identity disorder
, caused by years of reckless body-hopping. Unable to purge his mind of the lingering echoes of the personality he had to submerge when taking possession of an individual, he had his mind overruled by the most evil and strong willed patterns, causing him to take on a criminal, ruthless personality opposed to his former gentle self. The JLA decides to send him back to S.T.A.R. Labs, hoping for a cure.
Jericho managed to escape the JLA, and returned to the Titans, inhabiting Nightwing's body. The JLA arrived to reclaim him, and he started jumping into the bodies of whoever tried to capture him. This backfired when Jericho jumped into Superman's body. Although stronger than he once was, Jericho found himself unable to control Superman's alien body. Jericho briefly managed to gain control of himself over the evil impulses, and seemingly vanished into nothingness.
body, now a member of the undead Black Lantern Corps
, saving Rose from the attack of Adeline, Wintergreen, and Wade Defarge. Jericho revealed to Rose that his eyes grew back after Vigilante's attack, and that he used his power to enter Grant's body when he attempted to kill him. Jericho then entered his mother body, tricking the Black Lanterns into destroying each other. In the aftermath, Jericho reconciled with his father, reasoning that Deathstroke would be the only one who could kill him if he were ever to succumb to the murderous personalities inside his mind.
and Doctor Impossible
to create a diabolical invention with healing factor called the "Methuselah
Device" to save Jericho who was dying from leprosy. Once Jericho was placed in the machine, they activated the Methuselah, which restores Jericho body. Deathstroke offers its abilities to all the Titans, offering to restore their deceased loved ones as payment for their services. Some Titans accept, but other Titans refuse and the team fights. Deathstroke walks away with his son, but Jericho possessed him disgusted at what his father did to achieve his restoration, intending to destroy first the Methuselah Device, then himself and Deathstroke. While the Titans fight over the Methuselah, its power source, a metahuman named DJ Molecule, is released. DJ Molecule blasts Deathstroke, knocking Jericho out of his body. Jericho is then slashed by Cheshire. When Cinder sacrifices herself to destroy the Methuselah, Jericho is carried out by Arsenal. Arsenal and Jericho then decide to form a new team of Titans, to restore the legacy that Deathstroke besmirched.
in order to signal to his allies that he has taken possession of a person.
However, this power is most effective on human or meta-human bodies; when Jericho once possessed Superman
when the hero's mind was briefly transferred into the body of a crippled, angry scientist who used Superman's body to vent his rage against the world, he was unable to maintain control of the Kryptonian
brain for long, although it was still long enough to allow the Titans to reverse the transfer. He is skilled in hand to hand combat and able to hold his own against his father.
Jericho's power depends on eye contact with living beings; if he is blinded, or the being he attempts to possess is not a natural creature, his power fails (in this way, he was tricked by his teammate Cyborg
during a training exercise, when the latter closed his natural eye and Jericho failed to take possession by attempting to contact his artificial eye (Jericho has since overcome this limitation and was able to control Cyborg through his electronic eye). Jericho has also shown the ability to regrow his gouged out eyeballs: this feat apparently came with the price of a still impaired vision, but the return of his possession ability in their full capacity.
When possessed by the spirits of Azarath, Jericho had a powerful lion soul self and healing ability and was a criminal mastermind.
series. He meets Beast Boy
and becomes an honorary Titan and has to fight off both Fang and Private H.I.V.E.. In the next episode, "Titans Together," he is one of four heroes who endured an attack from the Brotherhood of Evil
and rallied under Beast Boy to launch a final assault against the Brotherhood.
Like his early comic persona, Jericho in the animated series can possess any being he can make eye contact with. He is mute on the show as he is in the comic books. However, while in Cinderblock's body, he was able to speak, though this is purely due to the fact that Cinderblock's body has functional vocal chords, though Cinderblock is not shown to speak by himself. However, his power was useless when Gizmo
put a bag over his head, unable to make eye contact with anyone. He was saved when reinforcements arrived with Cyborg
, Starfire
, and Raven
.
Though Deathstroke
, known as Slade in the show, is one of the show's most important villains, the animated series never mentions his and Jericho's connection.
and Kole
."
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al character
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, originally a superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
who was a member of the Teen Titans in the acclaimed 1980s period of The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman
Marv Wolfman
Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
and George Pérez
George Pérez
George Pérez is a Puerto Rican-American writer and illustrator of comic books, known for his work on various titles, including Avengers, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman.-Biography:...
, published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. Since the early 1990s, Jericho has gone through periods of both sanity and insanity.
Development
Jericho was created in the early 1980s, a few years after Marv Wolfman and George Pérez relaunched the Teen Titans series, turning 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 Nightwing. Jericho was part of this process of establishing the team as its own creature rather than, in Pérez' words, a "Justice Little League". Marv Wolfman had had decided on the name, which he got from an unused character from the previous Titans series, and with the idea of Jericho being the son of Deathstroke the Terminator, then the primary villain in the Titans series, but could not think of any other aspects of the character. George Pérez worked out the design, powers, and personality of Jericho and also suggested making the character mute. In something of a departure, 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 solely by himself.Childhood
Joseph was the youngest son of Slade Wilson (Deathstroke the TerminatorDeathstroke
Deathstroke the Terminator , originally simply the Terminator, and known by the Teen Titans as Slade, is a fictional character, a supervillain and sometimes antihero in the DC Comics Universe. He is a mercenary and assassin who first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2...
), being a musical prodigy as a child. When he was a child, he was held hostage by Jackal, a terrorist who was after his father. Deathstroke refused to give Jackal the information he wanted because it went against his professional code of ethics. Deathstroke managed to rescue his son, but not before one of Jackal's men cut his throat. As a result, he was rendered mute
Speech disorder
Speech disorders or speech impediments are a type of communication disorders where 'normal' speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute.-Classification:...
.
As a result of that incident, and the fact that Slade had lied to her, Joseph's mother Adeline divorced Slade (after attempting to kill him by shooting him, but only succeeding in blinding him in one of his eyes), and took her two sons (Joseph and his older brother Grant) with her. At some point, Joseph learned to communicate through sign language
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
(identified in Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#584 as American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
) to compensate for his lost voice. In his late teens, Joey discovered that he possessed the metahuman
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
power to take possession of any humanoid being he could make eye contact with, as a result of biological experimentation done on his father years before, using it to save his mother from an assassin.
Titans
Sometime later (in a storyline called "The Judas Contract"), Adeline and Joseph discovered that Deathstroke had accepted a contract on the Teen Titans. They approached Dick GraysonDick Grayson
Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
to help him rescue the Titans, with Joseph adopting the identity of Jericho. The rescue mission was a success, and Jericho subsequently joined the team, but the Titans were initially wary of him because of his relationship to Deathstroke, and the betrayal of Terra
Terra (comics)
Terra is the name used by three fictional characters published by DC Comics. The first Terra was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, and debuted in New Teen Titans Terra is the name used by three fictional characters published by DC Comics. The first Terra was created by Marv Wolfman and...
.
Kole
Kole Duval is a girlKole Weathers is a fictional superheroine in the DC Universe. She is a former member of the Teen Titans.-Fictional character biography:...
, joined. Jericho immediately developed a bond with her. Sadly, this did not last long: when Jericho along with a few other Titans went on a mission to space, Kole was killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
. After returning and discovering the tragic news, Jericho then began to feel a sad quality within Raven and sought to ease her troubled spirit.
Corruption
Unbeknownest to anyone, Jericho was possessed by the souls of AzarathAzarath
Azarath is a fictional dimension featured in the Teen Titans comic book series and animated series. It is the birthplace of the character Raven.-Fictional history:...
, tainted by the essence of the demon Trigon
Trigon (comics)
Trigon is a fictional demon, a comic book character published by DC Comics. Trigon first appeared in New Teen Titans #2 and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.-Fictional character biography:...
, Raven
Raven (comics)
Raven is a fictional superheroine who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26 , and was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez...
's father. Unable to possess Raven herself, the souls entered Jericho. They were weak at first, but gained strength with time and eventually merged with him.
The souls needed individual vessels to survive and Jericho sought to acquire superhuman ones for them, taking over the Wildebeest Society and using them to abduct current and former Titans to act as vessels. Jericho also gained new powers: a powerful lion soul-self and a healing ability that repaired his throat and allowed him to speak again.
In the "Titans Hunt" storyline, Nightwing
Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
and Troia
Donna Troy
Donna Troy is a comic book superheroine published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #60 , and was created by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani...
, accompanied by some new allies, found and confronted him. During the battle, the real Jericho resurfaced and begged his father to kill him. There was no help for him and, to spare his son any more suffering, Deathstroke killed him. A statue of Jericho was later erected in the Titans Tower
Titans Tower
Titans Tower is a fictional building in the DC Comics universe. Its various incarnations have been home to the superhero team called the Titans...
memorial in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
Return
Several years later, it was revealed that Jericho's spirit had survived by jumping inside his father right before he was killed. He had lain dormant until hearing that his friend Donna TroyDonna Troy
Donna Troy is a comic book superheroine published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #60 , and was created by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani...
had been killed in battle. Taking control of his father's body, he sought out the latest group of Titans; hoping to convince them that children shouldn't be superheroes, as they could easily be killed like he was, and wanting to spare them his fate. He also killed his father's closest friend, Wintergreen
Wintergreen (comics)
William Randolph Wintergreen, is a fictional character in DC Comics Teen Titans comics.-Fictional character biography:He was introduced in New Teen Titans #2 as the butler of Deathstroke the Terminator...
, and mounted the man's head on a wall.
Further demonstrating his mental instability, while in Deathstroke's body he viciously attacked his former friends, and even shot Impulse
Bart Allen
Bartholomew "Bart" Allen is a superhero in the . Allen first appeared as the superhero Impulse. He would later go on to become the second Kid Flash and the fourth Flash. Allen's first cameo appearance was in The Flash #91, while his first full appearance was in issue #92...
in the knee.
During the combat, he jumped from body to body until Raven absorbed him. During a battle with Brother Blood
Brother Blood
Brother Blood is the name of two fictional comic book characters in the DC Universe. The first Brother Blood debuted in New Teen Titans vol. 1 #21 , and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.-First Blood:...
, she repelled him when she unintentionally absorbed her teammates, Deathstroke and Rose into her soul-self. Jericho managed to use the bodies of Wonder Girl and Superboy
Superboy (Kon-El)
Superboy is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. A modern update of the original Superboy, who is a younger version of Superman, the character first appeared in Adventures of Superman #500 , and was created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett.Originally...
against the team, but when he tried to enter Cyborg
Cyborg (comics)
Cyborg is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, and first appears in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26...
, Cyborg used his cybernetic eye to transfer Jericho's spirit to a computer file, now stored in Titans Tower
Titans Tower
Titans Tower is a fictional building in the DC Comics universe. Its various incarnations have been home to the superhero team called the Titans...
. Beast Boy
Beast Boy
Garfield Mark "Gar" Logan, known as Beast Boy or Changeling, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics...
says that they check on Jericho every day.
After the "One Year Later
One Year Later
"One Year Later" was a 2006 storyline event running through the DC Universe. As the title suggests, it involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Comics Universe following the events of the Infinite Crisis event, to explore major changes within the continuities of the many...
" jump following the events of Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
, Raven took the disk with Jericho's essence and, using the same ritual the Church of Brother Blood previously employed to raise her from the dead, resurrected Jericho in an new body, missing the throat scars from his childhood injury. However, for reasons never explained, despite the fact he no longer had the physical damage of his old body, Joey remained unable to speak, and continued to use sign language to communicate. Jericho joined the latest incarnation of the team, taking the opportunity to bond with his half-sister Rose
Rose Wilson
Rose Wilson is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. She is a member of the Teen Titans and the illegitimate daughter of Deathstroke the Terminator.-Fictional character biography:...
, who was the new Ravager. After possessing the body of Superboy's dangerous clone Match
Match (DC Comics)
Match is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. He is a clone of Superboy. Match appeared in the Superboy title, issues of Young Justice and the Sins of Youth and Joker's Last Laugh crossover events...
, Jericho moved to S.T.A.R. Labs
S.T.A.R. Labs
S.T.A.R. Labs, is a fictional research facility, and comic book organization appearing in titles published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Superman vol. 1 #246 , and was created by Cary Bates and Rich Buckler.-Publication history:...
until a way was found to control Match.
Later Jericho, still trapped in Match's body, seemingly escaped from S.T.A.R. Labs in visible distress and asking for his friends' help. The Titans managed to help him escape Match's body, but it soon became apparent how much the experience had twisted Jericho's mind, leaving him bent on the Titans' destruction.
Jericho briefly escaped the Titans to plague the Presidential Election of 2008 of the main DC Universe, going so far as to use Green Lantern's
Hal Jordan
Harold "Hal" Jordan is a DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern, the first human shown to join the Green Lantern Corps and a founding member of the Justice League of America. Jordan is the second DC Comics character to adopt the Green Lantern moniker...
body to fight the Justice League upon being discovered. The will-based powers of Hal prove to be his undoing, as Hal was able to push Jericho out of his body. Jericho was brought to the JLA Satellite for safe-keeping. Mento mindprobed Jericho, discovering that he was suffering from a particular and severe form of dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
, caused by years of reckless body-hopping. Unable to purge his mind of the lingering echoes of the personality he had to submerge when taking possession of an individual, he had his mind overruled by the most evil and strong willed patterns, causing him to take on a criminal, ruthless personality opposed to his former gentle self. The JLA decides to send him back to S.T.A.R. Labs, hoping for a cure.
Jericho managed to escape the JLA, and returned to the Titans, inhabiting Nightwing's body. The JLA arrived to reclaim him, and he started jumping into the bodies of whoever tried to capture him. This backfired when Jericho jumped into Superman's body. Although stronger than he once was, Jericho found himself unable to control Superman's alien body. Jericho briefly managed to gain control of himself over the evil impulses, and seemingly vanished into nothingness.
Deathtrap
Jericho later returns, having entered Cyborg's body through his mechanical eye, using an "imprint" left over from the last time. He used Titans Tower's defenses to try to kill the Teen Titans, but their new member Static used his electrical powers to short out the Tower's systems, creating feedback that knocked Jericho out of Cyborg. Jericho escaped once more and, spurred on by the multiple personalities inside him (particularly that of his father), sets into motion a "Deathtrap" scenario. Jericho unsuccessfully attempted to murder both the Teen Titans and the Titans (his former teammates), who eventually apprehend him. While in police custody, he was confronted by the new Vigilante. Determined to end the villain's rampage permanently (but having promised Rose Wilson that he would not kill him), Vigilante gouged out both of his eyes, rendering him unable to use his possession abilities. The trauma of the incident caused Jericho to revert back to his true personality, but he was left haunted by the various personalities in his mind.Blackest Night
In a Teen Titans tie-in to the Blackest Night crossover, Jericho is seen in possession of Grant'sRavager (comics)
Ravager is the name of five fictional comic book characters in the DC Universe. All five are villains, and four have appeared in series featuring the Titans and have a connection the villain Deathstroke, Slade Wilson.-Grant Wilson:...
body, now a member of the undead Black Lantern Corps
Black Lantern Corps
The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of revenants appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The group is composed of deceased fictional characters that seek to eliminate all life from the DC Universe.-Publication history:...
, saving Rose from the attack of Adeline, Wintergreen, and Wade Defarge. Jericho revealed to Rose that his eyes grew back after Vigilante's attack, and that he used his power to enter Grant's body when he attempted to kill him. Jericho then entered his mother body, tricking the Black Lanterns into destroying each other. In the aftermath, Jericho reconciled with his father, reasoning that Deathstroke would be the only one who could kill him if he were ever to succumb to the murderous personalities inside his mind.
Brightest Day
Deathstroke hired Doctor SivanaDoctor Sivana
Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is a fictional comic book supervillain. Created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck, he first appeared opposite superhero Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #2 by Fawcett Comics...
and Doctor Impossible
Doctor Impossible
For the Doctor Impossible created by Austin Grossman, see Soon I Will Be Invincible.Doctor Impossible is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain that first appeared in Justice League of America, vol. 2 #1...
to create a diabolical invention with healing factor called the "Methuselah
Methuselah
Methuselah is the oldest person whose age is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Extra-biblical tradition maintains that he died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656 , at the age of 969, seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood...
Device" to save Jericho who was dying from leprosy. Once Jericho was placed in the machine, they activated the Methuselah, which restores Jericho body. Deathstroke offers its abilities to all the Titans, offering to restore their deceased loved ones as payment for their services. Some Titans accept, but other Titans refuse and the team fights. Deathstroke walks away with his son, but Jericho possessed him disgusted at what his father did to achieve his restoration, intending to destroy first the Methuselah Device, then himself and Deathstroke. While the Titans fight over the Methuselah, its power source, a metahuman named DJ Molecule, is released. DJ Molecule blasts Deathstroke, knocking Jericho out of his body. Jericho is then slashed by Cheshire. When Cinder sacrifices herself to destroy the Methuselah, Jericho is carried out by Arsenal. Arsenal and Jericho then decide to form a new team of Titans, to restore the legacy that Deathstroke besmirched.
Powers and abilities
Jericho can possess a person 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 including physical, mental, and magical, and is also able to tap into their memories. Jericho's victims stay conscious and may even express themselves vocally, but they are not able to control the actions of their bodies as directed by Jericho. If the person was unconscious, Jericho could use their voice to speak, albeit with their accent and could only use the words they knew. Jericho sometimes used the American manual alphabet letter "J" as his Sign nameSign name
In Deaf culture and sign language, a sign name is a special sign that is used to uniquely identify a person, just like a name. There are some special cultural rules around sign names; for example, they must be agreed upon by you and people in the Deaf community...
in order to signal to his allies that he has taken possession of a person.
However, this power is most effective on human or meta-human bodies; when Jericho once possessed Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
when the hero's mind was briefly transferred into the body of a crippled, angry scientist who used Superman's body to vent his rage against the world, he was unable to maintain control of the Kryptonian
Kryptonian
Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race of the DC Comics universe who hail from the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman...
brain for long, although it was still long enough to allow the Titans to reverse the transfer. He is skilled in hand to hand combat and able to hold his own against his father.
Jericho's power depends on eye contact with living beings; if he is blinded, or the being he attempts to possess is not a natural creature, his power fails (in this way, he was tricked by his teammate Cyborg
Cyborg (comics)
Cyborg is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, and first appears in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26...
during a training exercise, when the latter closed his natural eye and Jericho failed to take possession by attempting to contact his artificial eye (Jericho has since overcome this limitation and was able to control Cyborg through his electronic eye). Jericho has also shown the ability to regrow his gouged out eyeballs: this feat apparently came with the price of a still impaired vision, but the return of his possession ability in their full capacity.
When possessed by the spirits of Azarath, Jericho had a powerful lion soul self and healing ability and was a criminal mastermind.
In other media
Jericho appeared in the "Calling All Titans" episode of the animated Teen TitansTeen Titans (TV series)
Teen Titans is an American animated television series based on the DC Comics characters of the same name. The show was created by Glen Murakami, developed by David Slack, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003, and the final episode "Things Change"...
series. He meets Beast Boy
Beast Boy
Garfield Mark "Gar" Logan, known as Beast Boy or Changeling, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics...
and becomes an honorary Titan and has to fight off both Fang and Private H.I.V.E.. In the next episode, "Titans Together," he is one of four heroes who endured an attack from the Brotherhood of Evil
Brotherhood of Evil
The Brotherhood of Evil is a group of DC Comics supervillains, archenemies of the original Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans.-Origins:The Brotherhood of Evil was founded by the engimatic villain the Brain. In the beginning, the group's motivation was world domination...
and rallied under Beast Boy to launch a final assault against the Brotherhood.
Like his early comic persona, Jericho in the animated series can possess any being he can make eye contact with. He is mute on the show as he is in the comic books. However, while in Cinderblock's body, he was able to speak, though this is purely due to the fact that Cinderblock's body has functional vocal chords, though Cinderblock is not shown to speak by himself. However, his power was useless when Gizmo
Gizmo (comics)
Gizmo is a fictional character, a supervillain from DC Comics. He was created by George Pérez and Marv Wolfman, and he first appeared in The New Teen Titans #3 as a founding member of the Fearsome Five, a supervillain team that frequently fought the Teen Titans and the Outsiders.-Mikron...
put a bag over his head, unable to make eye contact with anyone. He was saved when reinforcements arrived with Cyborg
Cyborg (comics)
Cyborg is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, and first appears in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26...
, Starfire
Starfire (comics)
Starfire is the name of several fictional comic book characters published by DC Comics. The most prominent Starfire is Koriand'r, the fourth character to use that name...
, and Raven
Raven (comics)
Raven is a fictional superheroine who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26 , and was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez...
.
Though Deathstroke
Deathstroke
Deathstroke the Terminator , originally simply the Terminator, and known by the Teen Titans as Slade, is a fictional character, a supervillain and sometimes antihero in the DC Comics Universe. He is a mercenary and assassin who first appeared in The New Teen Titans #2...
, known as Slade in the show, is one of the show's most important villains, the animated series never mentions his and Jericho's connection.
Sexuality
When Marv Wolfman and George Pérez were creating the character, they toyed around with the idea of making Joseph 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. Joseph has had romantic connections with women RavenRaven (comics)
Raven is a fictional superheroine who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26 , and was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez...
and Kole
Kole
Kole Duval is a girlKole Weathers is a fictional superheroine in the DC Universe. She is a former member of the Teen Titans.-Fictional character biography:...
."
External links
- Jericho at Titans Tower