10 Comics Characters You Didn’t Know Were Rip-Offs

9. Deadpool (Deathstroke)

Deadpool, AKA the Merc with the Mouth, is a darkly comedic, cancer-ridden anti-hero who straddles the line between sociopath and saint. He breaks the fourth wall, breaks jaws, and flirts with everyone. He's the Joker, but as a (good?) guy.

However that's not how he started. Originally, Wade Wilson was a hard-nosed assassin, a no-nonsense monster who sliced and diced without pleasure or guilt. He was a human Terminator. Which, hey, isn't there a DC character named Terminator? Oh, right, there is - Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, the Terminator. What are the odds that two characters who look identical, with names that are two letters off, and the same occupation came about at two different companies? None. Deadpool was, down to his mask design, entirely ripped off of Slade Wilson. And he wasn't a great copy.

However, not long after he was created, writers decided to take Deadpool off in a different direction. Since his comedic turn, he's become more and more popular, getting paired with Spider-Man (and yes, sometimes in that way), heading his own corps - made of different Deadpools from across the universe, including one that's just a head - getting his own video game, and finally becoming the star of the first big, R-rated superhero film.

Not bad for a poorly made rip-off, eh?