by the terrorist called the Jackal, sent by the Qurac president in retaliation for Deathstroke killing an important colonel. Jackal attempted to obtain information from Slade Wilson, who was secretly leading a double life as a mercenary. After Deathstroke refused to cooperate with Jackal, citing a violation of his professional code of ethics, Wilson managed to rescue his son, but not before one of Jackal's men cut Joseph's throat. As a result, Jericho was rendered mute. Following the incident, Jericho's mother Adeline divorced Slade (she had previously tried to kill him, but only succeeded in blinding him in one eye) and took Jericho and his older brother Grant with her. At some point, Jericho learned to communicate through sign language (identified in Action Comics #584 as American Sign Language). While still a child, Jericho discovered that he possessed the mutant metahuman power to take possession of any humanoid being by making eye contact with them, a result of biological experimentation done on his father years before. He first manifested his powers when he was saving a friend in danger, but Jericho was left traumatized by the event and his powers would lie dormant until his late teens. By then, Jericho worked with his mother in her espionage organization, Searchers Inc., and received training in combat and stealth. During a mission, Jericho's powers fully awakened again to save his mother from an assassin, and he embraced his abilities to further aid his mother in her work. Titans Sometime later (in a storyline called "The Judas Contract"), Adeline and Joseph discovered that Deathstroke had accepted a contract on the Teen Titans. Adeline and Joseph approached Dick Grayson to help him rescue the Titans, with Joseph adopting the identity of Jericho. The rescue mission was a success, and Jericho subsequently joined the team, but the Titans were initially wary of him because of his relationship to Deathstroke and the betrayal of Terra. Jericho proved to be a sensitive and pure-hearted individual and was a loyal Titan for many years. Shortly after he joined the Titans, another new member, Kole, joined and Jericho immediately developed a bond with her. Jericho also developed a close and affectionate relationship with Raven, having possessed her once and learned about her demonic heritage. Jericho was the first Titan to understand Raven, bonding over their pasts with their fathers and finding comfort with one another. Corruption Unbeknownest to anyone,