Rose Tattoo (Wildstorm)

Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo, in art from Authority Revolution #8 (2005), by Dustin Nguyen
Publication information
Publisher	Wildstorm Comics
First appearance	(I)Stormwatch Volume 1 #37 (1996) (II)The Authority Revolution #8 (2005)
Created by	(I)Warren Ellis and Tom Raney (II)Ed Brubaker and Dustin Nguyen
In-story information
Alter ego	Rose Tattoo
Team affiliations	The Authority Stormwatch
Notable aliases	Murder, Spirit of Murder, Spirit of Life
Abilities	Superhuman aim The ability to kill anything with weapons made by herself

Rose Tattoo is the name of two characters appearing in books owned by Wildstorm Productions, an imprint of DC Comics. Both characters exist within the Wildstorm Universe.

Rose Tattoo was the spirit of murder; an ageless representation of a pure idea, who had presumably existed as long as the idea itself before she was killed.

In the 1960s, Rose was a member of the superhuman conspiracy founded by "The High" to create a new world order. While on a mission, Rose was discovered by a young Henry Bendix (a field agent doing favors for Richard Nixon at the time) and he immediately fell in love with her. While the time between their first meeting and Bendix's restructuring of Stormwatch is largely unaccounted for, Rose kept very quiet and remained obedient to Bendix until he called on her. When she initially appeared, she was in a small building in Sicily, Italy, having created a candle-lit 'altar' of dead, bleeding victims.

Rose was a member of Stormwatch for some time, killing those Bendix wished, some of whom were criminals, many of whom were innocent bystanders. Rose kept to herself and Bendix had ordered the others not to talk to her. Rose also drove a Stormwatch guard mad, by seducing him and then simply talking to him.

Rose was meant to be a key player in Bendix's plan to establish his own new world order, but unfortunately The High's 50-year-old dream of a finer world got in the way. While raiding The Changers compound, Rose killed one of the Changers whilst he was in negotiations with Stormwatch Black. Jack Hawksmoor (of Stormwatch Black) then snaps her neck, killing her.

Rose Tattoo would eventually find a new host. Working for Henry Bendix yet again as his personal assassin, she was responsible for the death of the Doctor, Jeroen Thornedike. Rose Tattoo was able to murder Thornedike by secreting an overdose of heroin passed into him through her bodily fluids during sex. After fighting a newly regrouped version of The Authority, the new Doctor, Habib Ben Hassan, changes her from the Spirit of Murder into the Spirit of Life and recruits her as a member of The Authority.