Jericho (person)

Joseph Wilson was the second son of Slade Wilson and his wife Adeline. Slade was a former member of the U.S. army who was the subject of an experimental medical treatment that unintentionally gave him use of a large portion of his brain power. The result was that Slade had super-human reflexes and strength. He used these abilities to become a super-powered mercenary called Deathstroke, the Terminator, all without the knowledge of his wife, a former Army officer herself.

The Wilson's first child Grant took after his father and was born prior to Slade's participation in the medical experiment. Joe, their second child, was more gentle with an artistic nature, and was conceived after Slade gained his powers. While Slade was away on another "business trip," agents of a terrorist known as the Jackal broke into the Wilson home, and took Joe hostage. They wanted information from Wilson as to who had hired him for a job. After revealing to Adeline his alternate identity as Deathstroke, the two parents met with the Jackal, who while holding a knife to Joe's throat, demanded the information from Wilson. Wilson refused and then killed the Jackal, but not before he could cut Joe's throat. The resulting injury cost Joe the use of his vocal cords, so he grew up mute.

After the death of Joe's older brother Grant while he tried to destroy the Teen Titans in his costumed identity as the Ravager, Deathstroke set about to fulfill the contract for Grant. To this end, Deathstroke used a girl named Terra infiltrate the Titans, learn their secrets and then betray them. All of the Titans were captured with the exception of Dick Grayson, who was the original Robin. As Grayson prepared to go after his teammates and friends, he was approached by Adeline Wilson and Joseph Wilson who offered to help him. The Wilsons were estranged after the Jackal incident, and Adeline was bent on ending Deathstroke's reign of terror.

It was at this time, that it was revealed that Joe was a mutant, whose DNA had been effected by the experiments done to his father. Calling himself Jericho, Joe had the ability to possess someone and control the actions of their body. His ability required him to look into the eyes of his victim and then he would become intangible and inhabit their form. If they were conscious, they would still possess their own voices and could talk, but Joe could use their voices if they were unconscious. Grayson, who had taken on the identity of Nighwing at this point, and Jericho tracked down the Titans and helped free them. After the ensuing battle, Jericho became a member of the Titans.

Jericho served as a member of the Teen Titans for a number of months, aiding in their adventures. During that time, Wilson's empathy for others drew him to Raven, one of his teammates. Raven is the daughter of a human woman and an extra-dimensional demon named Trigon. The demonic side of Raven's nature continued to grow stronger, causing her anguish. Wilson attempting to help ease her pain, possessed her to try and figure out what was happening. He was cast out of her almost immediately and his actions began a set of circumstances that would ultimately lead to his demise. First, Wilson's possession of Raven caused her to lose the last vestiages of her strength to resist her evil nature and she was taken over by it, allowing Trigon to come to Earth and conquer it. Raven in her evil form and Trigon were opposed by the souls of Azareth, a community from another dimension who had opposed Trigon and were destroyed because of it. With the help of the Teen Titans, the souls of Azareth were able to defeat Trigon.

Unfortunately, the defeat of Trigon tainted the souls of Azareth with his evil and they needed a person to act as a vessel for them. They sought Raven, but she was protected by her soul-self. However, because of his power, Jericho was an easy target for their possession, so they resided within him, growing in power and influence.

Over the next months, Jericho continued to aid the Titans while the souls of Azareth continued to strengthen. Finally, they completely took over Jericho, giving him the ability to call upon a soul self like Raven's only in the shape of a lion. Their power also healed the severed vocal chords, allowing Wilson the ability of speech. Jericho however hid all of these things from his teammates.

The souls of Azareth needed superhuman bodies to reside in and Wilson began a complicated plan to capture metahumans for them to possess. Taking control of the Wildebeast Society, a group of criminals possessing advanced weaponry, Jericho began to capture the members of the Teen Titans both old and new to use as vessels for the souls.

After capturing most of the Titans, the few left tracked their teammates back to the Wildebeasts' lair to find that they had been betrayed by one of their own. The souls began their transfer into the bodies of the Titans and Wilson once again became the dominant personality for a few moments. The remaining Titans had been accompanied by Wilson's father Deathstoke, the Terminator and Jericho begged his father to kill him, knowing that it was the only way to defeat the souls before they took over his friends. Deathstroke complied plunging his sword through his son, killing him.