Richard Fisk, the son of Wilson and Vanessa Fisk, grew up very privileged and proud of his father. Believing his father was a businessman of the highest caliber, Richard was devastated to learn that his father was really the notorious mob boss, the Kingpin. Attending a school in Switzerland at the time he found this out, Richard became determined to make up for his father’s terrible deeds. However, before he could carry out his plans, he seemingly perished in a skiing accident. When his parents heard the news they were beside themselves. Wilson Fisk had mixed emotions about the character flaws in his son that would drive him to a suspected suicide, and ultimately thought his son was weak. Still, he did lose his only son, so he became extremely depressed.
Some time had passed, and the Kingpin had a new problem to face. A new crime boss going by the name of the Schemer suddenly rose up to challenge him. The resulting gang war between the two families brought enough attention to bring Spider-Man into the fray, but the final battle came down to the Schemer and Kingpin meeting one another. The most shocking revelation of all came when the Schemer unmasked himself to reveal that he was, in fact, the all too alive Richard Fisk. Using the money his father had given him, he secretly made his way back to New York, built a car of his own design as well as some special weaponry and he even formed his own crime family. His father couldn’t take the shock and fell into a coma. It was only at this time Richard realized that he did not mean to hurt his father in this way.
Richard then joined the international terrorist group Hydra in a way to get back in his father's good graces and eventually rose to the rank of Supreme Hydra. With Hydra's medical resources at his disposal, Richard was able to return his father to full health. The Kingpin then secretly assumed control of Hydra, but it was soon exposed that the true leader of the terrorist organization was the Nazi villain the Red Skull. The Fisks teamed up with Captain America and the Falcon to stop the Skull, and Richard was critically wounded in the final battle. The Kingpin had his son placed in suspended animation only to cure him by siphoning some life force from Spider-Man. After this instance, father and son seemed to be reconciled.
With the Kingpin finally recovered, Richard eventually joined his father’s organization with a new attitude and a new name, The Rose. Unfortunately, Richard began to have second thoughts and decided to destroy his father’s empire from within. He had several allies such as long time friend Alfredo Morelli and Ned Leeds, a reporter for the Daily Bugle and one-time super villain. Again, another gang war developed and Richard committed terrible acts that showed him his morality really wasn’t above his father’s any longer. He resigned the Rose identity and stood by his father’s side as a loyal son should.
Unfortunately for Richard, his conscious just kept getting the better of him as he decided that the Kingpin must pay for his atrocities. Again he, Alfredo, and a cop named Blume, brought about events that would set them against the most powerful mob boss in New York. Their plan went awry, however, when the crime fighter Daredevil and the terrorist group Hydra brought down the Kingpin first. Alfredo, who had plastic surgery to look like Richard, decided that he would betray his allies and take over as the new Kingpin, and Richard decided to terminate his alliance with Blume although it was really Alfredo who shot and killed Blume. Richard then took a third identity, calling himself the Blood Rose and started a bloodbath with the New York underworld. He even went so far as to try and take out Alfredo, but his attempt only wounded him even though his body wasn't found after he plunged into the water. Alfredo eventually returned as the villain Gauntlet, but his career was ended early when he ran into a vigilante known as Nightwatch. Richard was not heard from again for some time after that fiasco.
Years later, Wilson Fisk was restored to power and once again the Kingpin of Crime and Richard pledged his loyalty to his father as he took his place by his side. However, Richard ran into an old friend, Sammy Silke, who was now part of the “family”, and the two formed an alliance. This alliance ended with a botched assassination attempt on the Kingpin and Richard coming face to face with his mother, Vanessa Fisk, only to have her shoot him dead, eliminating him as a threat forever.
