Thorn (comics)
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| Thorn | |
 Thorn on the cover of Birds of Prey # 79 |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #105 (Oct. 1970) |
| Created by | Robert Kanigher Ross Andru |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Rhosyn Forrest |
| Abilities | Split personality, aggressive persona is a skilled fighter |
Thorn is a fictional character in DC Comics, a superhero who suffers from multiple personalities.
[edit] History
Rhosyn "Rose" Forrest is the daughter of Metropolis police officer Phil Forrest, who was killed by a criminal gang named the 100. When Rose went to sleep, her Thorn personality would emerge and stalk the streets as a vigilante, attempting to bring the 100 to justice. When she succeeds in bringing the 100 to justice, the "Thorn" personality subsides. Eventually, however, the gang escapes and forms another group, called the 1000, and her alternate personality resurfaces. She has since worked with Superman and Booster Gold to try to put these criminals behind bars. She was briefly under the control of Lord Satanus.
Thorn has no actual superpowers, but she is highly athletic and was taught martial arts by her father. She is known to carry a pair of combat daggers, a barbed whip, and a bandolier of tiny, thorn-shaped weapons, some of which contain explosives, miniature smoke bombs, or blinding magnesium flares.[1]
A 2004 Rose & Thorn miniseries by Gail Simone provided a slightly different origin story. In this version, the 100 killed both her parents, but Rhosyn was now revealed to have, at age 12, fought back and mutilated their murderer, Mr Quince, cutting his hand off. She was then placed into a psychiatric care home, where she constantly flew into violent outbursts. Rhosyn's split personality is a result of unethical experimental treatments by a psychiatrist named Dr Chritlow. The experiments forced her to repress her more violent, base emotions; these emotions were then given to the buried "Thorn" personality, who emerged whenever the submissive Rose felt angry or threatened. Her Thorn personality finally broke out after Rose's room-mate Kimmy was burned to death by another patient; Enraged, Thorn viciously mutilated the culprit. Once released into the public, Thorn began taking over more frequently, taking up a role as ultra-violent vigilante in a quest to take down the 100 and avenge her parents. By the end of the miniseries, it was hinted she'd killed the head of the 100 while he was in the hospital.
In the miniseries, Gail Simone gave Rhosyn an uncle and godfather, Detective Curtis Leland, who was secretly taking bribes from the 100 and had been unable to stop them killing Rhosyn's parents. Wracked with guilt and determined to protect his goddaughter, he disposed of two 100 grunts that Thorn had dispatched. Curtis was killed while trying to prevent Quince from killing Rhosyn. In his final moments, he put a signed confession in his pocket so the police could arrest them.
It was also revealed that Rose and Thorn are not the only two personalities in Rhosyn's mind. The other two shown have been "Mom," a caring and maternal figure much like how Rose remembers their mother, and "Wild Rose", an Irish vigilante even more vicious and punitive than Thorn.
She encountered the Birds of Prey in the Hero Hunters storyline. As of Birds of Prey #98, she is employed at Dinah Lance's flower shop, Sherwood Florist II.
