Obscurity of DC Presents: Obscure Book Club, Week 73 (August 27-September 2) --- RESPAWN!

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Why hello there, @ObscurityofDCClub and other members of the DC Community! Welcome to Week 73 of Obscurity of DC’s Obscure Book Club! This week, we’ll be starting a 2-week focus on…

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RESPAWN!!!
AGE SUGGESTION: 12+

Number of Issues: 5

Description from dc.fandom.com: Respawn was created with the genetic material of Deathstroke and Talia al Ghul. After escaping torture and captivity at the hands of Ra’s al Ghul, he starts wearing a similar costume to Deathstroke and competed in the Lazarus tournament.

Now that that’s over with, here are some discussion questions:

  1. Why do you think Respawn was never given a true name?
  2. Why do you think Respawn hated Damian so much, even though Damian never did anything to him?
  3. Why do you think he chose the name “Respawn” as his codename? What does the name represent?
  4. Ravager uses the words “chaotic” and “undisciplined” to describe Respawn. Do you think those traits make him more dangerous or less dangerous? Explain.
  5. Why do you think Respawn uses a chain as his weapon of choice?

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I just skimmed through the Lazarus tournament when it came out, so these answers are more based on the character description given here and may be countered by the actual story. I remember enjoying the character and the revelation when I read it and don’t think any of these are incorrect. If possible, I will reread this story and update my responses.

  1. I think he wasn’t given a real name because he was created as an experiment/weapon and not as a person. When Slade took him under his wing, I feel that after Grant and Joeseph’s tragedies and Ravager being a foe half the time, he didn’t want to get too attached and hurt again so kept him from becoming too human.

  2. I think Respawn hated Damian because he knew that Talia loved Damian and only thought of Respawn as a tool.

  3. I never actually thought of why he chose that name so I will jestingly say that it came from the tube he was grown in which read Re: Spawn.

  4. I feel that being chaotic makes him more dangerous as it’s hard to predict what he will do, but the being undisciplined makes him less dangerous since I feel discipline can overcome a lot of brute strength and raw talent.

  5. I feel he uses a chain as a weapon either because it was the first thing he grabbed when he started to fight and just kept it or it symbolizes his rejection of just being a weapon and he enjoys the irony of using “his chains” (just being a tool) to assert his independence.

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Amazing answers!

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  1. It probably wasn’t their intention to treat Respsawn as a person and more as a tool for their use. It probably helps to know they were only torturing a spawn of Wade Wilson. Honestly looking at @idle453.87595 I understand your belief that Slade’s bad track record with his children left him cautious to not love his children as he should. It’s probably best to remember that this is how Slade always treated his children. He’s always been detached from his children and he only “cared” about them when they were working with him or were like him. Deathstroke had viewed Respawn as another Grant. Somebody he could properly teach.

  2. He hated Damian because, in his view, Damian was nurtured and loved while Repsawn was treated like an experiment. He was jealous and resented him for it. Damian low-key accepted him as brother and Respawn refused to accept that because he never saw himself as the son of Talia but just the son of Deathstroke.

  3. Same reason why Jason chose Red Hood. As a way to mock the ones who hurt him. Respawn kept coming to life every time the League of Shadows tried to kill him, so the name came from his perseverance to keep coming back.

  4. He’s got potential and his skills cannot go understated. That being said there is a lack of coordination on how he fights. He’s overconfident that his strength and speed alone can win most of his fights. He’s reckless and that’s probably what got him killed.

  5. Awesome. Chains usually are used by those who break control from others. Hardware uses them and so those Kratos from God of War. They are perfect weapons for somebody who usually is fast and wants to close the distance on his opponents.

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Awesome answers!

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As others have said, he was created as a weapon, and an experiment, not a child. Ra’s saw the fact that Talia raised Damian as a child to be a flaw in her approach, so he did the exact opposite with Respawn.

On the surface, it’s essentially Blood Brothers. Damian had all the opportunities and privilege in life that Respawn was denied, and he sees Damian as rejecting or resenting these opportunities. Damian is essentially the version of Respawn that is squandering what he has. Even deeper, Respawn was used as spare parts to heal Damian when he was injured during training. Literally the organ bank understudy.

Ra’s literally instilled this hate in him intentionally.

Its a reference to video games, where you simply respawn when you die. As a half-clone of Slade, he “doesn’t have [his] full healing factor, but [he] can heal from a lot.” Thus, he respawns from near death, repeatedly. Even more so when he enters the Lazarus Tournament; as he theoretically didn’t bother to give himself a name prior to that.

Yes. :wink: He’s more dangerous because he’s unpredictable. To fighters like Hawke and Robin, that makes him a wildcard opponent they can’t plan for ahead of time. But once they realize that unpredictability comes with lack of discipline, he is far easier to overcome. His one track mindedness leads to rage fighting, leaving him wide open to any trained opponent not caught up in the same blind rage.

He claims it is the chain he was bound by during his years of torture by Ra’s, and that he is carrying it to eventually kill Ra’s with the same chain, because poetry and stuff.

Doesn’t hurt that it’s a somewhat uncommon weapon in battle, and can be wielded with less skill, as centripetal force will whip it around an enemy, even if not perfectly aimed, and prevent them from using their more formidable weapons against him. He grew up in a land of sword wielding assassins, so being able to disarm or restrain one or more blades from a distance seems an obvious defensive strategy.

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The formatting in the list is now fixed

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