Deadpool

Deadpool was created as a comic-book character by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza and first appeared in The New Mutants #98 (cover dated February 1991; published December 11, 1990). Within the narrative, Wade Wilson is a human mercenary diagnosed with terminal cancer who undergoes an experimental procedure (linked in canon to the Weapon X program) that grafts an artificial healing factor onto his cancerous cells. The procedure cures or controls his cancer and grants accelerated regeneration at the cost of severe bodily scarring and chronic mental instability. The name "Deadpool" derives from the betting game "dead pool," a phrase cited by co-creator Rob Liefeld; the civilian name Wade Wilson was an intentional nod to DC Comics' Slade Wilson/Deathstroke as an inside joke by creators.

Across comics and film adaptations Deadpool is portrayed as heavily scarred and disfigured after his experimental treatment, typically wearing a red-and-black masked costume (a design inspired in part by Spider-Man) and carrying mercenary gear such as swords and firearms. The masked visual identity emphasizes a mercenary/masked-antihero aesthetic; in-universe dialogue and creator commentary note his grotesque scarring (one quip describes him as "Ryan Renolds crossed with a Shar Pei").

Deadpool's primary gift is an artificially conferred accelerated healing/regenerative ability derived from the experimental procedure; he is also depicted as a highly skilled combatant—expert swordsman and marksman—and a fluent polyglot. Behaviorally, he is characterized by persistent wisecracking, meta-referential humor, and morally ambiguous mercenary work; sources describe chronic mental instability as a canonical consequence of his treatment. He functions narratively as an anti-hero and recurring cross-title character within Marvel continuity and in adaptations (films, games).