Richard Fisk's parents, Wilson and Vanessa Fisk, sent him away to Switzerland. While there, he attended a school, where he studied hard to make his parents proud. At the same time, he developed his body with regular exercise and told his peers about how rich and successful his father, the Kingpin, was. Then one day he read a newspaper which said his father was the Kingpin of crime and decided to ride a ski lift into the wilderness, never to be seen again. Once the world had believed that Richard Fisk had perished he created the secret identity of the Schemer. As the Schemer the first thing he wanted to do was dethrone the Kingpin and take a piece of the action that he controlled.^[10]

Richard successfully drove his father to a breakdown which resulted in his lapsing into a comatose state. Richard had a change of heart and, seeking a way to cure his father, joined Hydra, rising to the rank of Supreme Hydra of the Nevada faction. Richard cured his father using Hydra's resources, and Wilson Fisk apparently took control of Hydra, but the Fisks eventually discovered that they were being used by the Red Skull and were forced to team up with Captain America to defeat him.^[11] Richard was critically injured and placed in suspended animation by his father, who later cured him by siphoning some of Spider-Man's life force into him. Father and son were finally reconciled, though this peace would not last.^[12]

Later, Richard adopted another secret identity in the form of the Rose. After living the life of the idle rich away from his father's criminal empire, Richard was lured back into the criminal world by a reporter, Ned Leeds, who at the time was brainwashed into thinking he was the Hobgoblin. Ned proposed a complicated scheme where he and Richard would take down the Kingpin in false identities, giving Richard the chance to topple his father and Ned an exclusive crime story for the Daily Bugle. Ned had already assumed the role of the Hobgoblin, and convinced Richard to become the Rose, acting as a mid-level crime boss in Kingpin's territory.^[13] Unknown to Richard, he was actually being manipulated by the real Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley, who used Leeds as a brainwashed body double to lure Richard into his own plans for takeover of the New York underworld.^[14]

As the Rose he employed two henchmen, Mr. Varley and Mr. Johnston to help fix the results of football games. Spider-Man helped expose this and Bugle sports writer Wendy Thorton was able to get an exclusive on these illegal match fixings.^[15]

When Ned was killed and the Hobgoblin seemingly died with him, Richard Fisk was forced to admit his schemes to his father and go back into the Kingpin's service without succeeding in his plans.^[16] Later still, Richard assumed the identity of the Blood Rose. This was part of a complicated scenario where his friend Alfredo had plastic surgery to pose as Richard in his father's organization, but went too far and got lost in the role. Richard was forced to become the Rose again, and then Blood Rose, in order to stop "Richard Fisk".^[17][18]

Emotionally drained and morally devastated by this point, Richard collapsed into alcohol. He remained a nominal part of his father's organization, but was otherwise beaten and washed up. At one stage he formed an alliance with an old friend Sammy Silke and they tried an assassination attempt on his father Wilson, which failed. Upset at what he had tried to do, his mother Vanessa arrived from Switzerland and promptly killed him.^[19] Wracked with guilt over her son's death, Vanessa retreated back to Switzerland where she wasted away and eventually died.^[20]

Some time later, the Jackal brought Fisk back to life in a new cloned body. Using the Rose identity once more, Fisk decided to stay with the Jackal, serving him at New U Technologies alongside other resurrected enemies of Spider-Man.^[7] Richard was among those the Jackal brought back to life through cloning who died once again after their decay was triggered by Doctor Octopus.^[8]

Following this second death, Rose went to Hell, where he received a high ranking position. When Johnny Blaze asked Rose for help in usurping Mephisto's throne, Rose refused, fearing how Mephisto would punish him if he helped Johnny and he failed, but he did give Johnny a map to the throne room.^[21]

In a desperate attempt to resurrect Vanessa, the Kingpin embarked on a quest to secure both Life and Destiny and Death and Entropy Tablets, which would grant him the power for a one-time resurrection. Despite his initial desire to reunite with his wife, Wilson Fisk ultimately came to the realization that Vanessa might not be pleased with her resurrection. Acknowledging that he had to move on from her, Wilson decided instead to revive Richard as an act of redemption for himself and Vanessa.^[9]

Conventional firearms.

Conventional automobiles.

• Writer Tom DeFalco originally conceived the Rose as a "middle management crime figure," and his lack of a secret identity wasn't a deliberate mystery. After readers were engaged by the mystery of the identity of the Hobgoblin, DeFalco decided that he needed to make the Rose a known character. He had settled on Roderick Kingsley, but the Rose’s identity didn’t get revealed until DeFalco had left Amazing Spider-Man, so the plans changed.^[22]