ROSEROSE
Real Name: Rose (last name unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: assassin
Affiliations: Charlie
Enemies: Dexter Bancroft, Black Widow (Natasha Romanova), Daredevil, SHIELD (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate), Susan Walker, Fred Wilson; her father, thirty unidentified telepaths
Known Relatives: unnamed mother and father (both deceased)
Aliases: Rosie
Base of Operations: Catskill Mountains, New York?
First Appearance: Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir Graphic Novel (July, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: Rose had powerful
psychic abilities, enabling her to read the minds of and control
others, even many other telepaths. She was psychopathic and
sadistic , she enjoyed forcing her victims to torture themselves,
controlling them, but leaving them aware of their actions and
feeling what they did. She savored the psychic energies released
in the torment of others.
Ultimately she sought her own death.
History:
(Abattoir (fb)) - Rose grew up in an abusive household. Her
psychic powers developed at an early age and she learned to
control people by the time she was ten years old. Initially she
had to catch them off guard, sleeping or daydreaming. She started
off just toying with classmates and performing harmless pranks,
but she eventually progressed to more severe actions, in one case
forcing another young girl in front of a moving car and killing
her.
By the time she was twelve, her father progressed from brutality
to sexual abuse. She told her mother, who accused her of trying
to split she and her father up, and told her to stop lying. Her
mother told her "Think you're special or something, don't
ya? Well, you ain't."
Not long after this, Rose's father punched her mother, knocking
her down a flight of stairs and killing her. Her father told the
police that she had been drinking heavily and fallen. That night,
Rose waited until her father was too drunk to resist her. Leaving
him with just enough awareness to know what she was doing, Rose
led him up to the roof of the building and forced him to jump to
his death. Rose realized she was something special after all.
Sometime later, Rose learned that other telepaths existed. She
met her first one at a Bar in Jersey, and she got him drunk and
slit his throat. "He had to die. They all do. Otherwise I
won't be special."
From there Rose went on a killing spree, slaying approximately 40 telepaths (including Susan Walker). Somewhere along the way she met another serial killer, Charlie, and recruited him to assist her with the physical part of the job. Charlie taught her to make an art out of the killings.
(Abattoir) - Nick Fury recruited Daredevil and
the Black Widow to try to capture the unidentified killer(s).
They transferred all known telepaths out of the tri-state area,
except Fred Wilson, a former SHIELD ESPer agent. Keeping their
plans secret from Wilson (to prevent him from giving away the
trap), they had him tailed by SHIELD agent Dexter Bancroft, and
had Bancroft tailed by the Black Widow, without his knowledge.
Daredevil backed up Natasha, allowing her 5 hours of sleep each
night for 8 days. Charlie struck Bancroft from behind and
prepared to load him in to his van, when the Widow arrived,
leaping from a height and landing on his head. She was surprised
when he began to get up and prepared to attack him with
everything she had, when Rose blindsided her with the door of the
van, stunning her so that Charlie could batter her unconscious.
The two then nailed Wilson as well and drove off in their van.
Fury, who had been monitoring the situation, held Daredevil back,
trying to allow his SHIELD agents to handle it, and wanting to
keep Daredevil as his ace-in-the-hole. However, the SHIELD agents
got stuck in traffic, and so Daredevil went after them,
physically taking a taxicab to follow them. However, the cab was
in a state of disrepair, and Charlie's van escaped him around the
Catskill Mountains. Due to a blizzard, SHIELD's helicopter was
unable to follow the van either.
While Daredevil drove around in ever-widening circles in an
effort to pick up the Widow's tracer, Rose and Charlie chained
the Widow and began torturing Bancroft. In the process, Rose
allowed the Widow into her own mind revealing her childhood to
her. After Rose forced Bancroft to kill himself, Natasha let his
thoughts slip, wondering where Matt was. Rose picked up on this
thought and realized they would have another visitor. Daredevil
soon arrived, his senses dampened by the blizzard, and narrowly
avoided being decapitated by Charlie. DD fought back savagely,
knocking Charlie down, but then Rose clocked him in the back of
the head with a crowbar. Charlie then nailed Daredevil in the
shoulder with his axe, and DD passed out from the shock.
Meanwhile Natasha had been working on her restraints, and managed
to get one wrist free. Charlie grabbed her, but Natasha fought
back to her utmost and managed to wrap her remaining chain around
Charlie's neck. Rose put her knife to Matt's neck and threatened
to slit his throat unless the Widow let Charlie go. Knowing
they'd both die horribly if she gave in, Natasha broke Charlie's
neck and challenged Rose to see just how special she was. Rose
leapt for the Widow, slashing with the knife, but Natasha dodged
her attacks and restrained her knife arm. However, she was
unprepared when Rose locked eyes with her and brought her again
under her control. Rose began forcing Natasha to slit her own
throat, but Matt leapt up and kicked Rose. Rose's control was
broken and Natasha lunged forward, jamming the knife into her
chest. As Rose died, she told Natasha "sometimes she could
almost hear herself trying to get out," and then kissed her
before fading away forever.
Comments: Created by Jim Starlin and Joe Chiodo.
I can't find Wilson after he was taken by Charlie and Rose, but I'm guessing they killed him before Bancroft, because the Widow commented that they weren't in time to save either of them.
I somewhat inadvertently caused a frenzy with a few of the guys at Spider-Fan (well, ok, just Henrique) by telling them they had missed a Rose in their summaries of all the Spider-Man foes.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Charlie was a serial killer that Rose met at some point and recruited to do the heavy work. He taught her to turn her killings into what they saw as works of art. He managed to defeat both the Black Widow and Daredevil in individual combat (DD was fighting in a blizzard, though...and Rose did distract DD with a crowbar to the head...and she blindsided the Widow with the door to the van...still...Charlie was a nasty customer). The Widow later managed to kill him, breaking his neck with a chain.
Charlie had no superhuman powers, but was a savage and lethal fighter, whose great size and strength were augmented by his madman's intensity. He was good with just his hands, although he liked to use an axe and a number of other weapons
--DD/BW: Abattoir
Dexter Bancroft
A SHIELD agent, Bancroft was appointed to watch over Wilson in a plan to catch the psychic killer. However, he was identified by the killers and taken out by Charlie. All of the back-up plans fell through or came about to late to save him, and he was forced to torture and then kill himself with a buck knife by Rose.
Bancroft was presumably trained in various forms of armed and unarmed combat, and had at least rudimentary psi-shield training--to no avail
--DD/BW: Abattoir
Fred Wilson
A former SHIELD ESPer agent, Wilson was chosen without his knowledge to become a target/trap for the psychic killer. Unfortunately, the plan fell through, and Wilson was killed by Rose and Charlie.
Wilson had low-level, unspecified psychic abilities
--DD/BW: Abattoir
Appearances:
Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir Graphic Novel (July, 1993) - Jim Starlin (writer), Joe Chioda (artist), Gregory Wright & Rob Tokar (editors)
First Posted: 12/06/2002
Last updated: 08/05/2013
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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