The Greatest Assassin

[Deth Lok]

Simple poll. From the following three characters who is the most formidable and therefore the best assassin. The response to this will end an argument so choose wisely!

Deadshot
Deathstroke
Lady Shiva

[Retro315]

Simple poll. From the following three characters who is the most formidable and therefore the best assassin. The response to this will end an argument so choose wisely!

Deadshot
Deathstroke
Lady Shiva

Wow. I mean, what constitutes "greatness" in the world of assassins?

I'd say it's Deadshot. He's the best marksman DC has, and he has no code of honor. To him it's just people and challenges. And I'd guess (although I can't exactly back the claim yet) that if I read Ostrander's run on Suicide Squad, Floyd would have the best bodycount. And to top it off? No loyalty to anybody but a weird "not-quite-loyalty" to Catman and Scandal, Jeanette, Rag Doll and Bane.

Deathstroke is a better physical specimen, but his code of honor means he probably cuts in half the amount of assassinations he's willing to do. He's still impressive as hell, because as a super-soldier/super-thinker he's capable of adapting tactics to fight some really powerful super-heroes.

Lady Shiva is very professional and very talented with martial arts, but her mastery of close-range fighting styles and bladed weapons is a lot more limiting than Deadshot, who can just shoot and kill from a mile away. She also has something of a code of honor, although it's less sticky than Slade's.

So for me ... Deadshot > Shiva > Deathstroke.

And then probably Codename: Assassin, then Merlyn.

Guys like Deadline, NKVDemon, KGBeast? Well they were decent ... but now they're all dead. (Well, Deadline's not, but he's an embarrassment). David Cain I'm not that up-to-spec on, but since he's supposed to be the king-sh** assassin, he's got to be right up there with Deadshot and Shiva, possibly higher than Slade.

And Codename: Assassin is on the rise. Apart from a few pesky people, everyone he assassinates stays dead. He's like if Jean Grey was combined with Jason Bourne, a government hitman with no scruples. (His failure to kill Jimmy, Guardian, and Flamebird all had major league deus ex machinas attached. Jimmy is apparently invincible. Guardian is telepath-proof now. Flamebird's "flamebird" entity pretty much napalmed Drew's telepathic presence.)

Interestingly enough about Codename: Assassin - is how crazy similar his costume is to that of Deathstroke. I really, really, really want a story where we find out that they're products of the same super-soldier program (although different sections of research).

[The Cool Thatguy]

Deadshot does have a code of honor, but it's pretty damn narrow. So yeah, in terms of willingness and effectiveness, Deadshot is the best.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Didn't Deadline used to be badass in Starman? Being able to fly and phase is a pretty good combo.

[HaroldAllnut]

Didn't Deadline used to be badass in Starman? Being able to fly and phase is a pretty good combo.

Deadline never showed up in Starman, to my knowledge.

[marshal99]

Deadline never showed up in Starman, to my knowledge.

Will Payton's starman series , not the later Jack Knight one.
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He , alone with Bolt was supposed to be one of the highest paid mercenaries around. (although Deadshot kicked deadline's ass in suicide squad)
http://image2.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/83407045856.64.GIF