Two of the most impressive killers in all of fiction have to be John Wick both in of efficiency and sheer numbers. However, when factoring in creativity, it seems as though Deathstroke has John beat as his craziest murder makes John Wick’s ‘pencil kill’ look tame by comparison.
John Wick is a professional assassin who worked as a hired gun for the Russian mob while under the control of an underground criminal organization known as the High Table. He made his debut in the film John Wick which was set after he retired from his life as a hitman to settle down with his wife. At the beginning of the film, John’s wife died and left him a puppy so that he wouldn’t have to be alone once she was gone. However, a gang of low-level criminals with connections to his former employer in the Russian crime syndicate broke into John Wick's house not long after his wife ed, and during their break-in they stole his car and killed his dog. After that, John Wick went on a killing spree, hunting down the people directly responsible for killing his dog and stealing his car as well as eradicating most of the Russian mafia’s presence in New York. Throughout the film, John Wick’s victims spoke of his past exploits in dread of what they would soon face, including one instance where John Wick killed three men in a bar with nothing but a pencil.
In Deathstroke Inc. #8 by Joshua Williamson and Paolo Pantalena, Deathstroke and his son, Respawn, are hiding out in a secret bunker after Deathstroke was framed for murdering Ra’s al Ghul. While in the underground fortress, Respawn takes a look at all of the weapons Deathstroke has displayed on the wall and is excited by the prospect of getting to use them. Deathstroke curbs his enthusiasm, however, by saying that those weapons aren’t toys, adding that anything that can kill someone isn’t a toy. Respawn challenges that comment by saying, “You telling me you’ve never killed someone with an action figure?” to which Deathstroke its, “Okay, maybe.”
The interaction between Deathstroke and Respawn implies that Deathstroke has, in fact, killed someone with an action figure. The idea of Slade killing someone with a literal toy is jarring to say the least as action figures usually aren’t particularly sharp or heavy since they’re geared towards children, meaning stabbing or beating someone to death with one would be an impressive feat. When comparing Deathstroke killing someone with an action figure with John Wick killing someone with a pencil, it is clear which one is crazier. A pencil is basically a little dagger if sharpened enough, and in the hands of someone like John Wick, it is no surprise that he’d be able to kill people with it. An action figure, on the other hand, is well out of the scope of being a potential weapon even in the hands of a trained killer.
While Deathstroke killing someone with an action figure seems almost impossible, it starts to make more sense given his superhuman abilities. Slade Wilson was injected with a type of super soldier serum during his time in the armed forces, granting him fast healing, heightened brain function, and super strength. Given his enhanced strength, it seems more likely that he’d be able to kill someone with anything, including an action figure. However, just the thought of that happening is absolutely absurd and slightly comical while also assuredly being outlandishly brutal, but more than anything, Deathstroke’s craziest murder makes John Wick’s ‘pencil kill’ look tame.
