Deadpool

**Deadpool** appeared in the 1990 Marvel Comics called *New Mutants*.

Wade had conflicting memories of his childhood. He once recalled that his father abandoned his mother while she was pregnant with him and she took out her anger on him until, as an adult, he beat her instead. He later recalled that his mother died when he was five and that his father, an army officer, became abusive, causing Wade to grow up to be a thug and criminal. When his father got his act together and tried to rein in his son, one of Wade's friends shot and killed him. However, he told a writer that his father was a teller of bad jokes who abandoned him and his mother while he was a boy. His mother turned to humor, alcohol and home shopping networks as a coping mechanism. He believed that he ran away from home so that his mother wouldn't need to spend what little money she had left on him.

However, it was eventually revealed that his parents were still together, living in Canada and had kept Wade's room as he had left it but Wade himself did not recognize the house, his parents or his room when he returned there as an adult.

After leaving home, he appears to have joined the U.S. Army Special Forces but despite his superior skills, he was drummed out for not following orders that conflicted with his moral code. After a failed suicide attempt just before his nineteenth birthday, Wade was invited to join a clandestine group of CIA-sponsored mercenary assassins thanks to his military record, assured that his targets would all deserve death.

Little is known of Wilson's subsequent activities with this group. At one point he was active in Tangier, Morocco where he romanced a woman named Francie. When this relationship soured, he traveled throughout Asia, and was hired in Japan by a crime lord, the Boss, to infiltrate a sumo-wrestling ring owned by a rival criminal, the Oyakata. Wilson spent three years as a wrestler under the Oyakata's tutelage and became romantically involved with his mentor’s daughter, Sazae. When the Boss finally ordered the Oyakata's murder, Wilson refused to complete his assignment, allegedly the first time he had ever done so, and relocated to the United States.

In America, Wade met and fell in love with mutant teenage prostitute Vanessa Carlysle, with whom he shared dreams of a better life. Wilson was subsequently hired by Middle Eastern interests to assassinate a blind British Government operative named Althea, also known as Blind Al. Upon arrival to the Zaire base where she was stationed, he killed everyone except for Al who had fled.

Those who put the contract out on Al sought vengeance for his failure by targeting Vanessa, who was rescued by Zoe Culloden, an employee of the inter-dimensional firm Landau, Luckman, Lake, and LeQuare. Culloden was keeping Wilson under surveillance, believing he was destined to play a vital part in a potential threat to the world. Learning that he had developed 34 inoperable cancerous tumors, Wilson broke up with his girlfriend Vanessa rather than force her to remain with a terminally ill man. He even gave up his chemo treatments, not wishing to prolong things.

Back in Canada, he was offered hope in the form of Department K, a special weapons development branch of the Canadian government. Wilson became a test subject in Department K’s branch of the joint U.S./Canadian superhuman enhancement project, the Weapon X Program; his cancer was temporarily arrested via the implantation of a healing factor derived from another Department K agent, the mutant adventurer Wolverine.

Wilson was active in a covert field unit alongside the near-invulnerable Sluggo and the cyborgs Kane and Slayback. Vanessa herself was later affiliated with the team after having manifested mutant shapeshifting abilities, calling herself Copycat.

During one mission, Wilson killed his teammate Slayback. Shortly thereafter, his healing factor began to destabilize, bringing his cancer back from remission and causing deformities in his flesh. As a result, he was rejected from the Weapon X Program and sent to the Hospice, allegedly a government facility where failed superhuman operatives were treated. However, unknown to the Canadian government, the Hospice's patients served as experimental subjects for Doctor Killebrew and his sadistic assistant Ajax (known then as the Attendant), with the patients placing bets in a "deadpool" as to how long each subject would live. Killebrew subjected Wilson to various torturous experiments for his own deranged satisfaction.

In due course, Wilson formed a romantic relationship with the cosmic entity Death, who regarded him as a kindred spirit. Wilson started trying to kill himself, to join Death - going so far as to start taunting Ajax by saying his real name (Francis) over and over, which earned him the respect of his fellow Hospice patients. Then Ajax, angered by Wilson’s taunts, lobotomized Worm, the closest thing Wilson had to a friend. At Death’s prompting, Wilson killed Worm to end his suffering.

However, under Killebrew's rules, any patient who killed another was to be executed; Ajax subsequently tore out Wilson’s heart and left him for dead, but Wilson’s thirst for vengeance was so strong that it jump started his healing factor, regenerating his heart, although not curing his scarred body. Wilson then escaped the now-empty room and attacked the guards, making his way to Ajax. Wilson shot him in the chest with two automatic rifles, leaving him for dead. Taking the name Deadpool, he escaped from the Hospice with his fellow patients.

Following his escape, Deadpool served for a time as an enforcer alongside the surgically altered criminal Hammerhead. He soon returned to his freelance mercenary activities, donning a costume in keeping with his new identity. At some point during his mercenary career, he was employed as an assassin by Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime. He also clashed with Wolverine, at that time a spy for the Canadian government. At some point during these years, Deadpool caught up with Blind Al and kept her a prisoner in his home. Al’s attempts to escape only resulted in death for those whose help she sought, leaving her no choice but to resign herself to captivity.

Some years after escaping the Hospice, Deadpool, perhaps seeking compensation for the injuries inflicted upon him by Killebrew, returned to the Canadian government and was treated by Doctor Walter Langkowski, the bestial Sasquatch of Canada’s super-team Alpha Flight. He also acquired a teleportation device around this time.

Deadpool soon found government work unsuited to his temperament, and he abandoned this endeavor. Hired by the criminal genius known as The Wizard, Deadpool at first went to the wrong address and received a job impersonating the criminal Hobgoblin. When again contacted by The Wizard, he joined with fellow criminals the Taskmaster and the Constrictor (Frank Schlichting) in a short-lived version of the Frightful Four.

Afterwards, Wade was hired by Francis Talbot to use a time machine and a gun that erased people from existence in order to alter American history so that his family could profit the most from America's various wars, eventually making Talbot a world leader. This brought Deadpool into conflict with Cable for the first time. Cable managed to erase Talbot from existence, thereby restoring history to its rightful place, though seemingly intertwining Cable and Deadpool's fates.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Genetically Enhanced Physiology:** Deadpool's powers come from the experimentation he was submitted to by the Weapon X program.
	+ **Healing Factor:** Deadpool possesses a superhuman healing factor derived from that of the mutant Wolverine which allows him to regenerate damaged or destroyed bodily tissue with far greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. His head or any other limb can be reattached using this ability. While beheaded, Deadpool can still move his body normally. In small doses, Deadpool's blood has demonstrated the ability to heal others and extend their lifespans beyond their natural limits. When combined with Star Cells injected intravenously, it confers immortality.
		- **Foreign Chemical Resistance:** Deadpool's body is highly resistant to poisons and most drugs. For example, it is extremely difficult, though not impossible, for him to become intoxicated (Blind Al made several references to Deadpool being hung-over since he once drunkenly spoke to the Teletubbies on the TV he was watching). He can, momentarily, be affected by certain drugs (tranquilizers) if exposed to a large enough dosage.
		- **Disease Immunity:** The unique regenerative qualities of Deadpool's healing factor also extend to his immune system; he is immune to all diseases, infections, disorders, imperfection, and resistant to elemental extremes.
		- **Immortality:** Deadpool's healing factor provides him with an endless lifespan by halting the aging process. His life span is extended to such a degree that an alternate reality version of him was alive and still in business as Deadpool 800 years in the future. He was also cursed with immortality by T-Ray on behalf of Thanos, in order to keep him away from Death.
		- **Telepathic Immunity:** The healing factor causes his brain to be in a constant state of flux and regeneration, rendering him immune to psychics such as Cable, Emma Frost, and the Red Onslaught. Deadpool can be looped into a telepathic psi-link to communicate with others mentally, as he did while a member of X-Force, but actually reading his mind can be confusing, even to an accomplished telepath like Psylocke. This would not prevent him from being attacked psychically though.
		- **Possession Resistance:** Similar to the telepathic immunity, Deadpool is able to remain in control of himself while supernatural beings are trying to take control of him. During Xaphan's attempt to take control of him, Wade was able to fight for control of his body. No one can touch his soul.
	+ **Superhuman Strength:** Deadpool is rated as having a low degree of superhuman strength allowing him to lift 800 pounds.
	+ **Peak Human Speed:** Deadpool can run as fast as a trained athlete.
	+ **Superhuman Stamina:** Deadpool's musculature generates considerably less fatigue toxins than the muscles of an ordinary human being, granting him superhuman levels of stamina in all physical activities. He can physically exert himself at peak capacity for several days before fatigue takes over.
	+ **Superhuman Agility:** Deadpool's agility, flexibility, dexterity, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.
	+ **Superhuman Reflexes:** His reflexes are far superior to those of even the finest human athlete. His auto-reflexes allow him to easily dodge gunfire and attacks even when not consciously aware of them.
	+ **Superhuman Durability:** Deadpool's bone and muscle tissues are augmented to levels that are considerably stronger and harder than human and the tissues are impervious to injury to an extraordinary extent. He possesses golden-proportioned body, and even without training his muscles are brawny and his body shape doesn't change no matter how many calories he intakes.
* **Master Martial Artist:** Deadpool is an extraordinary martial artist, hand-to-hand combatant, and is a master in multiple unarmed combat techniques, including Savate. He has been shown fighting such amazingly skilled fighters as Wolverine and Taskmaster and even defeating them in hand to hand combat. This shows that Deadpool himself is among one of the most skilled fighters in the Marvel universe, although in some fights it has been attributed to him being unpredictable.
* **Master Assassin:** He is a master of assassination techniques, espionage methods, covert operations, infiltration methods, escape artistry, marksmanship, and is highly skilled with many bladed weapons (frequently carrying two swords strapped to his back) and a number of other weapons including firearms.
* **Multilingual:** In addition to English, Wade is fluent in Esperanto, German, Japanese, and Spanish.
* **Medium Awareness:** After accidentally being transported to the Foundations of Eternity by the Beyonder, Deadpool became consciously aware that he is a fictional comic book character - though he noted he had always known subconsciously - allowing him to break the fourth wall. Wade doesn't possess this ability at all times due to the constant changes in his brain. References to the fourth wall made by those with similar abilities to him can trigger his medium awareness.
* **Unpredictability:** It is difficult for anyone to know what Deadpool will do at any given moment, given that he himself barely knows what he'll do at any given moment. This makes it difficult for most opponents to predict what he will do. Taskmaster, whose abilities allowed him to analyze and copy the mercenary's fighting style, once believed Deadpool always dodged to the left. Deadpool proved him wrong, however, by completely changing his fighting style on a whim, throwing off Taskmaster's abilities.

### Arsenal

* **Deadpool's Suit:** Deadpool wears a full body tactical suit.
* **Image Inducer:** Deadpool had access to an holographic image inducer that he can use to disguise his true appearance as necessary.
* **Bloodstone:** during the fight against the Bone Beasts Hive who had cursed Elsa's Bloodstone which began infecting, Deadpool removed the stone from Elsa as she was succumbing to it and put it on himself, granting powers, but also infecting as his healing factor was unable to fight it.
* **Deadpool's Katanas:** Wilson wields a pair of steel katanas. He is able to charge his katanas with an energy field through his suit, increasing the durability of his swords and increasing their cutting power to the point that they can easily cut through objects as hard as diamond.
* **Other Weapons:** Deadpool employs any number of weapons depending on his current assignments. Most often, Deadpool uses multiple types of guns, grenades, swords, sai, and knives. He has also been known to use more exotic weapons such as concussive grenades, taser wires, constricting bolas, etc.
* **Speech Bubble:** Deadpool's speech and thought balloons and captions are usually colored yellow, to represent his distinctive voice (although nobody knows exactly what is distinctive about his voice, only that it sounds different). Cable of Earth-5701 has described his voice as having a "gravelly, Demi Moore" quality before "killing" him, and later as being a "ridiculous, hollow Demi Moore rumble". Blind Al has also stated that Deadpool's voice sounds like a distinct mixture of "gasoline and gravel." In his earliest appearances, his speech balloons were normal balloons with red borders (soon changed to yellow borders); in later appearances, the interior was colored yellow and the text was written in a slightly mangled font. Deadpool's white caption box introduced in *Deadpool* (Vol. 2) was later revealed to be Madcap, who had fused with the mercenary on a molecular level after an accident. Under similar circumstances to their fusion, they were later separated. Deadpool's yellow speech bubble has been shown to malfunction, resulting in all other characters hearing it.
* **Teleportation Device:** Deadpool has utilized different teleportation devices to whisk him out of (and occasionally into) danger. Deadpool was able to 'bodyslide' to wherever Cable is present, through Providence. At different periods Deadpool has possessed different teleportation technologies which he sometimes uses for combat. Deadpool also briefly rode Macho Gomez' Space Sedan after he killed him in battle.

### Weakness

* **Mental State:** His healing abilities render his brain unreadable to telepaths, but its constant healing also makes him highly unstable and prone to violent outbursts without the slightest provocation, at least against those he knows could handle. Even with his healing factor, Deadpool can still feel pain from damage taken, although he has a notably high pain tolerance. While it has been shown that Deadpool's condition may not be the source of his instability, it only makes it worse. In several flashbacks to his childhood, he has shown signs of instability.
* **Annoyance:** Wade's incessant talking has also proven to make him a very irritating person to be around. Many heroes often find themselves at wits' end around him; this makes for poor ability to cooperate with him in team efforts. Domino once said that Deadpool's most lethal weapon is his mouth. He will blabber nonsense during the whole fight, distracting and maiming the opponent until the latter "surrenders or commits suicide."
* **Cure for Cancer:** Wade's healing factor was specifically designed to replace his bodies cells as fast as they were being destroyed by his illness. Should his cancer be cured then his healing factor would be rapidly producing redundant new cells, which, if left unchecked, would cause horrible growths over the body and would eventually explode, as demonstrated on the Super Skrulls with Deadpool's powers.
* **Phobias:** Deadpool has bovinophobia, which is the fear of cows. According to him, cows "scare the \*#$% outta me", as he believes their stare to be chilling, like they're "waiting". He may also be scared of chickens, like Domino. This may also have been an attempt to find common ground with her, as he was later able to put one in her path to stop her. During Deadpool's adventure to save the multiverse from the Awareness, it was revealed that his worst fear is to be truly and utterly alone.
* **Mystical Curse:** Deadpool was cursed for a short time by Loki, who claimed to be his father. The curse made him look like Tom Cruise, rendered his face totally invulnerable, and caused his life to "fall to ruin." The curse was removed when Deadpool reconciled with his true father, who he met in a bar without ever realizing who it was. This seems to contradict an issue of "Cable & Deadpool" when, in a conversation between Cable and Deadpool about their pasts and parents, Deadpool's father is shown dying when he was a teenager, however when questioned on the truth of the story by Cable, Deadpool responds, "I'll tell you the truth when you tell me."