ROSE

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

 

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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