• Above Good and Evil: They are a Well-Intentioned Extremist group that is willing to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
• Arc Symbol: Their logo is this for Season One. Said logo is the map of the Glades, and it is what clued Oliver in about their Evil Plan.
• Dark Messiah: The group claims that they'll save Star(ling) City by destroying The Glades, the part of the city that has the highest crime rate.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Malcolm formed the group after the tragic fate of his late wife. Frank Chen joined after his daughter was raped and left for dead.
• Even Evil Has Standards: They want to save the city, so they don't want it destroyed like much of the later antagonists do.
• He Knows Too Much: If anyone catches on to their existence, they'll dispatch them.
• Kill the Poor: Their main objective.
• Love Makes You Evil: What drives both Malcolm Merlyn and Frank Chen to further the group's goals is because of unfortunate things that have happened to their respective loved ones in the Glades.
• The Main Characters Do Everything: Malcolm, Moira and Chen are the only active members of the group.
• Nebulous Evil Organisation: They are not a very open group.
• Rich Bitch: A group that has a Kill the Poor mentality? Yeah, they qualify as this for sure.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: The group has several connections.
• Two Girls to a Team: The group only had two female members; Moira Queen and an unnamed woman.

Frank Chen

Species: Human

Played By: Chin Han

First Appearance: "Dodger" (Arrow 1x15)

Appearances: Arrow

A wealthy businessman who joined Tempest after his daughter was raped and beaten in the Glades.

• Celebrity Paradox: Thea alludes to Avengers: Age of Ultron in the second annual Crossover with The Flash (2014) which Word of God would later confirm. This means that the Marvel Cinematic Universe exists in the Arrowverse. His actor plays Councilman Yen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
• Frame-Up: Moira makes it seem like he was the sole conspirator to hire assassins to kill Malcolm, while they were actually plotting together.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: He finally starts actually turning on Malcolm, just in time to be killed by him when Moira frames Frank for their mutual assassination plot on Malcolm.
• Karmic Death: Frank ratted out on Robert Queen's misgivings to Malcolm, setting off a chain of events that would lead to Frank's own demise when Moira frames him for trying to kill Malcolm.
• Papa Wolf: Joins Tempest to get revenge for his daughter, who was raped and beaten by thugs in the Glades, leaving her paralyzed.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Although as the Undertaking comes closer to fruition, he begins having serious doubts about the morality of the plan.

• Cult: With how members (except the high command) call each other "Brother", it gives off this image.
• Elite Mooks: The Mirakuru army in the Season Two finale.
• Gang of Hats: The Mirakuru soldiers all wear some variation on Deathstroke's mask.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: A group calling themselves "Blood Cult" are obviously up to no good.
• Undying Loyalty: The rank and file have this for their commanders. The Mirakuru soldiers, on the other hand, have loyalty only to Slade Wilson, and not to Sebastian Blood.

Slade Wilson

Species: Human^note Enhanced via Mirakuru from 2008 to May 2014

Known Aliases: Deathstroke

Played By: Manu Bennett

Appearances: Arrow | Invasion! (2016) ^note (Arrow)

An ASIS agent sent to Lian Yu with his partner Billy Wintergreen to save Yao Fei, he was betrayed by Billy during the mission and left to fight against Edward Fyers alone, until Oliver washed up on the island. The two began a fight against Fyers in an effort to stop his plot and leave the island, but continued to become embroiled in conflicts and conspiracies that revolved around it.

Later, his and Oliver's involvement in these conflicts with the mad scientist Anthony Ivo got him killed, leading to Oliver injecting him with a "miracle" serum developed by WWII-era Japan called the Mirakuru. As a result, Slade came back to life with superhuman abilities, but went completely insane and tried to make Oliver suffer. He continues this crusade into Season Two's present day, where he becomes the main villain for that arc.

However, after a short return as a villain in Season 3, the effect of the Mirakuru slowly completely leaves his body and he comes to regret his horrible deeds. When Oliver asks for his help against Prometheus in Season 5, Slade willingly assists him, trying to atone for his crimes. Another Season later, Oliver returns the favour, with the two finally parting as friends again.

• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: During his time on Lian Yu away from his family, Slade fell in love with another woman (Shado). And when he got back to them, things were never the same, and Slade ultimately decided to avenge the death of said woman.
• Action Dad: Has a son named Joe. However, come the present day, he denies he's ever been married. Oliver is able to convince Slade to help him rescue his own son William by giving Slade information about Joe's current whereabouts. Once they did, Slade learns that he has another son named Grant.
• Adaptational Heroism: This Slade Wilson is more an Anti-Hero than a villain, whereas his comics counterpart is mainly a villain who occasionally will veer into Anti-Hero territory. No longer the case as of the present-day scenes in "Three Ghosts". His Heel–Face Turn in Season Five, however, puts him back in this category.
• Adaptational Intelligence: While Deathstroke is typically quite intelligent, he's usually muscle for hire rather than a chessmaster.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: Rather than being experimented on by the government, he was stranded on Lian Yu with Oliver and ended up as one of the Mirakuru victims. The story behind how he lost his eye was also changed, instead of his wife shooting it out after he endangered their son, Oliver merely stabs it out during the climax of a fight. And he was active for a much shorter time as a mercenary before running into Oliver than the comics.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the comics, Deathstroke and Green Arrow's origins have nothing to do with each other. Here, Oliver's actions inadvertently create Deathstroke, and Slade's training is a big part of what got Oliver on the path to becoming Green Arrow.
• Age Lift: He's commonly depicted as a man entering old age, emphasized with his gray hair and beard. Here, he's in his 40s (in the present day scenes at least).
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: When his Mirakuru army attacks the city, Slade uses Queen Consolidated as his headquarters to watch the carnage.
• Annoying Arrows: Once he's been empowered by Mirakuru, arrows have little effect on him. The only long term damage they did was when Oliver used one to stab out his eye.
• Anti-Hero: He has verged back into this territory as of Season 5, where he has a Heel Realization after the Mirakuru left his system and is willing to aid Oliver in his fight against Prometheus.
• Apologetic Attacker: Apologizes to Moira Queen, commending her courage, before stabbing her through the heart with his blade.
• Appropriated Appellation: A.R.G.U.S. designate him Deathstroke. It's a Meaningful Name, and he quite likes it.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • To Oliver, even more so than Malcolm. Their We Used to Be Friends dynamic makes him Oliver's most personal enemy, he's the only one of Oliver's primary enemies who hates Oliver more than the inverse, and his murder of Moira in Season Two is by far the greatest blow one of Oliver's adversaries has dealt him thus far. This has finally changed as of Season 5 onwards, where Slade regains his sanity, allowing Oliver and Slade to return to their original Bash Brothers dynamic.
  • The conflict between Green Arrow and Deathstroke becomes even more significant when it's revealed Deathstroke has been an anti-Arrow symbol in many generations which extends past Oliver and Slade. A green hooded archer and a yellow/orange-and-black masked swordsman identities have been used by several characters waging war (Yao Fei and Billy Wintergreen, Oliver and Slade, Connor Hawke and Grant Wilson, and later Mia Smoak and John Diggle Jr.).
• Archnemesis Dad: Inverted example. His son hates him (for understandable reasons), but in this case Slade is the hero who was trying to stop his son from going down the same dark path he went. When Slade stated that he was no longer Deathstroke, Joe disowned him and tried to kill him.
• Arc Words: "Promise" is a word that is heavily associated with him. He promises to make Oliver pay for what he's done, he promised to avenge Shado, he promised to never leave his son (which he ended up breaking), he promised Sebastian Blood he would make him mayor of Starling City.
• Armored Villains, Unarmored Heroes: He dons the armored Deathstroke suit in combat, while Oliver wears his kevlar Arrow suit that offers much less protection.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The Leader and most powerful member of the Mirakuru army.
• The Atoner: In Season Five, Slade, after the Mirakuru is completely out of his system and after he's taken time to reflect, regrets his crimes and wants to make up for them by helping Oliver save his son.
• Awesome Aussie: He works for ASIS.
• Ax-Crazy: Another side-effect of the Mirakuru, warping his psyche into a very unstable and twisted one.
• Back for the Finale: Slade returns in the Grand Finale, albeit via unaired footage of a Post-Crisis flashback, where Oliver saves his mother in time.
• Badass Boast: "Death would be a release from this life, and his sentence is yet to be carried out. I am going to tear everything he cares about away from him. Destroy those who choose to follow him. Corrupt those he loves. Once he has lost everyone and everything he values, I will drive an arrow through his eye."
• Badass in a Nice Suit: In his civilian guise in the present day he is seen wearing a fancy suit, a far cry from his military fatigues on Lian Yu.
• Bad Boss:
  • At the end of "Blind Spot", after Blood nearly lets Laurel expose the truth, he slaughters all three of Blood's bodyguards and threatens to kill him if he screws up again.
  • In the island flashbacks, once he has taken over the Amazo, he is shown killing crew members for not finding Oliver, Sara, and the others.
• Bash Brothers: With Oliver on Lian Yu, before Ivo came along. They return to this dynamic during the Season Five finale and onwards.
• Beard of Sorrow: His beard has become this in Season Five; Slade's time in prison led to him having a Heel Realization and coming to regret his cruelty towards Oliver. Upon their reunion, Slade is a far more somber man than he once was.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: Slade pre-Mirakuru is a loyal, gruff, generally good guy who served as a mentor to Ollie. As Deathstroke, he is a ruthless villain with a nasty vendetta.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Slade's own hallucination of Shado is shown to be the one convincing him that Oliver killed her, meaning his subconscious is continuing to provide him a reason to kill Oliver that he has no reason to dispute.
• Big Bad: Slade is revealed to be this for both Season Two's present day and flashback arcs. While he was initially a hero at the start of the flashback arc, after being driven insane by the Mirakuru drug running in his veins and learning of how Shado died Slade kills the Amazo's captain and chops of Ivo's hand usurping his place as Big Bad and attempts to leave the island on-board the Amazo. After his defeat at Oliver's hands on Lian Yu Slade becomes the benefactor to both Brother Blood and Isabel Rochev in an attempt to systematically destroy Oliver's life and, eventually, his city as well.
• Big Bad Slippage: In the Season Two flashbacks, he starts off stranded with Oliver, trains him, and eventually becomes mentally unstable from a drug, eventually becoming the Big Bad of Season Two's entirety.
• Breakout Character: Originally a supporting character in Season One flashbacks, his importance kept growing until he became the Big Bad of present day Season Two. He remains one of the most popular antagonists of the entire Arrowverse to this day (only rivaled by Eobard Thawne), and is hands down the most beloved Arrow antagonist.
• Brought Down to Badass: Even Brought Down to Normal, he's still one hell of a tough opponent, and keeps Oliver on his toes until he's finally restrained to a pillar by a couple of trick arrows.
• Brought Down to Normal: In the Season Two finale, "Unthinkable", Felicity gets close enough to inject him with the Mirakuru cure, finally evening the playing field between him and Oliver.
• The Bus Came Back: After being Put on a Bus indefinitely, save for "The Return" in Season Three, Oliver decides to release Slade in the Season Five finale "Lian Yu" to help fight Prometheus.
• Came Back Wrong: Granted, he didn't fully die, but he was on the verge of death when he is injected with Mirakuru. From there in, he Became Their Own Antithesis.
• Celebrity Paradox: Legends of Tomorrow Season Two has the titular team meeting J. R. R. Tolkien, and naturally, all the man's work were given a Shout-Out, including The Hobbit. His actor plays a major antagonist in its film adaptation.
• The Chessmaster: Slade has become quite the manipulator since the island, and is always a few steps ahead of Oliver. Then in "Deathstroke", he takes it further. By the end of the episode, Queen Consolidated has been taken over by Isabel Rochev, Oliver has lost the trust of several friends, Detective Lance has been arrested, and Slade is about to turn a busload of prisoners into an army of super-soldiers.
• Chewing the Scenery: Manu Bennett is clearly having a blast.
  Slade: I KEEP MY PROMISES, KID. I KEEP MY PROMISES!
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Though he'd probably kill you before he admitted it.
• Cold Ham: Every single one of his lines during his time as a villain are pretty cheesy on their own, but Slade says them so seriously and means every word of it so it circles back to being absolutely terrifying.
• Cold Sniper: When using a firearm.
• Combat Pragmatist: He was willing to kill Oliver purely because he thought the dumb rich boy would trip up and get him killed.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: His codename Deathstroke does appear, being assigned to him by ARGUS, but otherwise he's almost always referred to as Slade.
• Composite Character: While most of his characterization comes from his namesake, his history with Oliver comes from the New 52 version of Tommy Merlyn, who is a former friend of Oliver that shared his traumatic experiences, suffered severe burns, and devoted his life to ending Oliver's.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Malcolm Merlyn was a corrupted individual out to destroy Starling city, who is one of the many Oliver is hunting down. Slade is from Oliver's past, who has a personal vendetta against Oliver and is out to destroy the city because of Oliver, wanting to get revenge. Also, while Malcolm was a highly trained Badass Normal, Slade is a superhuman who is out of Oliver's league. In contrast to all of the current Arrow Big Bad's, Slade is the only one to be the main antagonist of both the flashback and present day arcs for a season. Finally Slade is thus far the only Arrow Big Bad to not be connected in anyway with the League of Assassins.
• Cool Mask: He finally puts it on in "Blind Spot", where we first see him in the new Deathstroke outfit, metallic upgrade of the mask included. In "The Promise", we see him don the original mask for the battle of the Amazo; he wears it one last time in "Unthinkable" when he's fighting Oliver aboard the sinking ship.
• Costume Evolution: He's first seen in black and gray fatigues. In Season Two's flashbacks, he begins wearing a black-and-yellow mask just like Wintergreen's. In the present, he gains a full suit of armor and wears a metallic mask with his signature missing eyehole. When he joins forces with Oliver at the end of Season Five, he wears a mask just like his last one, but the orange has given way to red.
• Create Your Own Villain: Oliver inadvertently had a part to play in Slade's descent to villainy, having been forced by Ivo to choose who would die between Sara and Shado. As Oliver tried to protect Sara when the gun was pointed at her, leading Ivo to shoot Shado. Slade learning of this led to his Sanity Slippage and he vowed revenge on Oliver and swore to take away everything he loved and cared for.
• Cynical Mentor: He's not overly confident in Oliver's ability to survive... at first.
• Deadpan Snarker: More so than Oliver. At least we know where he gets it from.
• Decomposite Character:
  • Subverted. It initially seemed like Slade's Deathstroke persona went to his partner, Billy Wintergreen. Slade is the anti-hero to Wintergreen's villain. No longer the case after Wintergreen's death and the events of "Three Ghosts", but especially starting in "Blind Spot", when we finally see him in full Deathstroke gear and mask.
  • In addition, Deathstroke is treated as a Legacy Character with multiple characters taking up the mantle, as well as multiple groups donning the Deathstroke mask such as Slade's Mirakuru army or the Deathstroke gang in the future. In total there have been at least three Deathstrokes (Slade, Grant, John Diggle Jr), with four if you count Billy Wintergreen.
• Dented Iron: His first bullet wound gets infected, and in Season Two, he requires a Mirakuru injection in order to survive his burn wounds.
• Disappeared Dad: He is one.
• Disproportionate Retribution: For what he feels is Oliver's role in Shado's death, he is determined to make Oliver suffer by gradually killing off his friends and family and destroying his entire city. See also Misplaced Retribution.
• Doomed by Canon: While initially heroic, anyone familiar with the comics should know what happens.
• Dual Wielding: Thus far, every weapon he can duel wield, he has. Stops doing so once he loses his right eye, in a bit of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome.
• The Dreaded: He terrifies both heroes and villains. Oliver becomes despaired and tears himself apart at the fear of what Slade could do to those he cares about. Even Amanda Waller gets tears in her eyes upon learning he's alive.
• Dystopia Justifies the Means: He wants to give Starling City a slow, painful destruction through his Mirakuru army just so he can psychologically hurt Oliver.
• Empowered Badass Normal: He finally becomes one after being injected with Mirakuru.
• Et Tu, Brute?: In Season One, he has a big case of this towards Billy Wintergreen.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely loves his son Joe and does everything in his power to try to stop him from turning out like his father. When it doesn't work, he's suitably heartbroken, but he still doesn't give up on redeeming his son.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Upon finding out that Malcolm Merlyn brainwashed his daughter Thea into killing Sara, he sounds subtly disgusted and even sympathetic, at least for a moment before finding a way to turn even that into a Kick the Dog at Oliver.
• Evil Counterpart: Both Oliver and Slade were captives on the island and subjected to its punishing influence, and both lost someone close during that time that haunts them for years to come. But while Oliver went on to become a heroic vigilante who dedicated himself to saving his city, Slade became a brutal mercenary who dedicated his efforts to bringing Oliver's city down. Eventually, Slade pulls a Heel–Face Turn and proves he's actually a Shadow Archetype, even telling Oliver that they weren't that different in that they were both haunted by "survivor's guilt"; Slade advises Oliver that the only way to get past the pain is to forgive himself.
• Eviler than Thou: Compared to Brother Blood, who is actually a Well-Intentioned Extremist. After his Face–Heel Turn, he takes over the Amazo by killing its captain, then terrifies Dr. Ivo and cuts off his hand before locking him in his own prison.
• Evil Former Friend: In the present-day scenes in Season Two, to Oliver. Granted, he doesn't see it that way.
• Evil Is Not Well-Lit: His scenes in the present are shot in very low-key lighting until "Time of Death," when he shows up in the Queen Mansion to confront Oliver.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Just when you thought that his low voice couldn't get any more intimidating...
• Ex-Big Bad: While not as prominent as Malcolm Merlyn, Slade is another Big Bad who manages to survive his defeat (Oliver has him incarcerated at an ARGUS base on Lian Yu) and remain around for a good while, both as a threat and later as an ally. While he at first proves to be trouble when he returns in Season 3, by Season 5 he has regained his sanity and once again becomes Bash Brothers with Oliver.
• Eyepatch of Power: He wears one in the present-day scenes. Underneath, his right eye is just gone, as we discover at the end of "The Promise".
• Eye Scream: Torn between injecting him with a cure or stabbing him with an arrow, Oliver stabs Slade with the arrow after Slade promises his revenge.
• Face–Heel Turn: Initially a gruff but well-meaning Mentor Archetype, after losing the woman he loved and the Mirakuru serum driving him insane, he becomes a Psycho for Hire assassin obsessed with destroying Oliver.
• Fake Defector: Multiple times in the season 5 finale, though ultimately proves to be a true ally to Oliver.
• Faux Affably Evil: While in his civilian guise, he gives off a Wicked Cultured vibe and seems fairly reasonable, even going so far as to still call Oliver "kid", but he's trying to create an army of Psycho Serum Mooks and is an international Psycho for Hire, and his whole revenge plot is driven by a hallucination of Shado lying to him about how she died. When he's in his Deathstroke outfit, he comes off as even more coldly sinister.
• Foil:
  • Of a sort to Yao Fei. While Yao Fei is a Sink-or-Swim Mentor, Slade is a very harsh, less outwardly compassionate, but more straightforward and honest mentor.
  • Also one to Oliver himself. Both had the same origin of being subjected to the island, and both are haunted over failing to save a loved one. But both ended up going very different paths, Oliver trying to save a city, while Slade trying to bring it down. In the Season Two finale, Oliver reflects that Slade's turnout was not so different from his own, being so distracted that he couldn't see the real threat right in front of him.
• Freudian Excuse: In "The Promise", when Ivo gets him to blame Oliver for her death, he hits the Despair Event Horizon in addition to making his Face–Heel Turn.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: From an ASIS agent tasked with rescuing a man on an island in the North Chinese Sea to an armored, superpowered mercenary that brings Starling City to the brink of destruction.
• Genius Bruiser: While his genius side isn't seen much in the flashbacks, it takes a certain kind of intelligence to engineer his entire plot in the present, and to constantly adapt to changing scenarios. The bruiser part is pretty much self-explanatory.
• Generation Xerox: Much to his distress, his son Joe became a villainous mercenary-for-hire just like him, on top of being a budding crime lord. As it turns out, Joe was deliberately invoking this trope, as his way of coping with his father's abandonment of him.
• Hallucinations: As shown in "Deathstroke", his extensive use of Mirakuru has led to a Lady Macbeth hallucination of Shado telling him to do evil acts. This continues long after he is cure of the serum.
• Godzilla Threshold: In the final episodes of Season 5, Oliver becomes so desperate to stop Prometheus that he turns to Slade for help. Luckily for him, the Mirakuru has worn off and he is ready and able to help.
• Handicapped Badass: After he was burned by firing from the Amazo, his hands and the right side of his face were damaged. He later healed due to a Psycho Serum, but in Season Two's present day, he's lost the use of his right eye, like his comic book counterpart, due to Oliver stabbing an arrow into it. Even when depowered, he's a good fighter.
• Heartbroken Badass: After learning that Shado was killed by Ivo, he became this.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: As with the nature of Slade, he can uniquely be depicted as a hero, Anti-Hero, or a straight-up villain. Always walking the grey area between good and evil, Slade can be at whatever morality the plot requires him to.
• Heel–Face Turn: As of the Season 5 finale, Slade has overcome the effects of the Mirakuru and his hatred for Oliver. He acts as a loyal ally to Oliver throughout the episode, and in the premiere of Season 6, he and Oliver part on good terms.
• Heel Realization: In the Season 5 finale, the Mirakuru having long since been flushed out of his system, Slade claims to have had this. He states that all his actions under its influence feel like "a bad dream". Jury's up as to whether or not it's genuine, seeing as in the Season Two finale he claimed that the Mirakuru isn't what made him hate Oliver — but he seems sincere throughout the episode, aiding Oliver as The Lancer and even giving Oliver a much-needed talk regarding his survivor's guilt over his father's death.
• Hero Killer: Barring actual murders, he is treated as an extremely serious threat, being the chronologically first truly superhuman villain on Arrow. Technically speaking, Slade is a villain killer, but that doesn't do much to make the heroes any less fearful.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: The Island flashbacks show him as a tough, grizzled military man who openly prefers swords and uses them to great effect. Inverted when he becomes Deathstroke and continues using a sword in contrast to Oliver's bow, and then played straight again when he rejoins Oliver's side.
• He's Back!: The Slade we knew from the Island flashbacks, prior to succumbing to Mirakuru induced insanity, makes his return in the Season Five finale. He claims what he did while under the effects of Mirakuru feels like "a bad dream" and is willing to aid Oliver in fighting Prometheus.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Telling Laurel that Oliver is the Arrow lets her encourage Oliver to keep fighting Slade until his downfall.
  • Oliver tells Slade to his face that, while he trained him to be a killer, he actually made him a hero, and thanks him for that.
• I Gave My Word: He makes sure to fulfill promises he makes to anyone he does, albeit to the letter. This includes promises made to Oliver and members of the Blood Cult high command. He still intends to keep it, even though he's unlikely to ever escape from the ARGUS supermax prison on Lian-Yu.
• I Just Want to Be Free: In "Deathstroke", Slade admits that after escaping the island, he tried to put it all behind him, presumably starting up his occupation as a Hired Gun. However, he still feels stuck on that island, especially since the warped hallucination of Shado lingers with him. Thus, while he wasn't compelled to destroy Oliver during Season One, he returns with a vengeance in Season Two.
• Immune to Bullets: A side-effect of the Mirakuru, and first demonstrated in the past during his rampages against Ivo's troops. However, in the present day it seems his armor offers an additional layer of protection in this regard.
• Implacable Man: Thanks to the Mirakuru, anything thrown at Slade will, at best, inconvenience him. His sheer willpower also allows Slade to keep fighting through the otherwise debilitating Mirakuru cure.
• Insult of Endearment: He tends to call Oliver "Kid" throughout their interactions, whether it's as a reluctant mentor, a fierce enemy, or even as a staunch ally.
• Invincible Villain: Slade plays Oliver like a puppet at every turn, successfully taking away everything he cares about, and kicking the crap out of Oliver every time they fight. He was only defeated by a slip-up of letting his guard down, causing him to be depowered so that Oliver could fight him evenly.
• Insane Troll Logic: How his vendetta against Oliver comes off in the present day; he's still focused on Shado's death instead of the whole "Oliver nearly killed me and took my eye" thing, and even acknowledges how obsessed he is, but he made "a promise". Oliver only seems to fully grasp how far Slade's gone when Slade reveals his Shado hallucination in the present day. He also extends his targets from Oliver's family to the entirety of Starling City under similarly insane logic, constantly expanding his definition of those Oliver loves.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In the Season 2 flashbacks, Slade's Facial Dialogue makes it clear that he's smitten with Shado, and is jealous of how she's chosen the younger and more attractive Oliver, yet he does nothing to get between Shado and the 'kid' he loves as a brother. Unfortunately this only fuels his later hatred against the man who would not give everything for Shado as he would.
• Jerkass: Completely justified by the circumstances on the island, as he has to quickly toughen up Oliver, a playboy civilian without the years of military training that he (or his opponents) have. He then descends back down once the Mirakuru takes over.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kind of, after Oliver actually accomplishes something. And, even in the present when he's evil, he's still shown to have some heart, given his decision to save Isabel rather than let her die, and his admiration of Moira's bravery.
• Katanas Are Just Better: He now carries one when he's suited up. It throws pretty well, too.
• Knight of Cerebus:
  • Once he shows up in the present day, Oliver's life gets considerably darker very quickly.
  • The island flashbacks take on a darker tone when Slade becomes a bad guy.
• Lack of Empathy: Best summed up in this exchange:
  Sebastian: What the hell is going on? Onc of your juiced-up jack boots just killed my entire office staff, and snapped the district attorney's neck!
  Slade: And?
• Legacy Character: In part to Billy Wintergreen's time as Deathstroke. He himself inspires many others to pick up the Deathstroke mantle later on.
• Leitmotif: He has an instantly recognizable distorted guitar hum whenever he appears. This theme is shared by his successor Deathstrokes in the Bad Future, Grant Wilson and JJ Diggle.
  • As well as a secondary motif, a fast-paced whooshing noise, that seems to serve as his action theme. The two pieces often come back-to-back, with the hum announcing his presence, and the whooshing announcing him kicking some ass.
• Lightning Bruiser: Even before being injected with Mirakuru, he is very agile despite his bulky frame.
• Loving a Shadow: Or rather, loving an illusion of Shado who keeps telling him to commit atrocities.
• Made of Iron: Throughout the course of the show, he's shot twice, caught in the wake of a missile, and burned alive by a second missile, but keeps on powering through. And that's before he becomes superhuman.
• The Man Behind the Man: To Brother Blood. And to Isabel Rochev, though she says she's more working ''with'' him.
• Mask of Sanity: As shown in his brief moments of breaking down, his Faux Affably Evil Wicked Cultured act is just that: an act. In "Seeing Red", when giving Oliver a Meaningful Echo Sadistic Choice between his mother's life or his sister's, he starts raving about how Shado told him what happened on Lian Yu with the Sadistic Choice that led to her death, even though Oliver and everyone else present knows that nobody is there. Fittingly enough, it falls altogether in the finale; see Villainous Breakdown.
• Master Swordsman: His weapon is a sword, and he teaches Oliver close quarters combat skills with one.
• Misplaced Retribution: He feels that Oliver is responsible for Shado's death and should suffer (along with his city) for it, despite Ivo being the one who killed her.
• Monster Progenitor: In the present day, his blood is the source of Mirakuru for the Blood Cult. He might also fit the "strongest" part, as he's clearly stronger than Roy. Further evidence of this is seen in "Streets of Fire"; since the Mirakuru soldiers have even fewer apparent enhancements than Roy and Cyrus Gold, it seems that the more the Mirakuru is passed from user to user, especially when diluted to split among many, the less effective it is.
• The Musketeer: Is equipped with two swords and a gun. He finally wields them simultaneously in Season Six.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Once the Mirakuru wears off, he's horrified by the things he did and apologizes to Oliver in the Season Five finale.
• My Greatest Failure: In "Promises Kept", flashbacks to after Slade was rescued from Lian Yu reveal that he made a promise to his son to never leave him again. Unfortunately, the Mirakuru gradually overwhelmed him, and after learning Oliver was alive, Slade snapped, slaughtered an entire ASIS training facility sans Joe, and promptly broke his promise. The guilt returns when the Mirakuru finally cleared from his system, and only doubled when he learned that Joe decided to follow in his footsteps.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The 4-way crossover between all the CW superhero shows included Deathstroke in the clips, getting fans very excited. Turns out it was just a dream version of him, and Manu Bennett didn't even reprise the role.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: First, he's a highly trained special forces warrior who carries swords into modern battles, uses stealth, and wore a balaclava to hide his features, ergo, ninja. Then, when he takes the Amazo from Ivo, he commits a literal act of piracy while also establishing a preferred drink of rum and wears an eyepatch in the present day. And while he's not a zombie, he is the nightmarish hybrid of Wolverine and Captain America's powers. Hell, given he technically came back from the dead when he was given Mirakuru, he could actually count as a zombie to some extent.
• No-Sell: Slade isn't fazed by a sucker punch to the face by Roy. Keep in mind that Roy also has the Mirakuru in him.
• Not Brainwashed: While the Mirakuru is likely a significant factor to his Face–Heel Turn, he does not lose any of his psychopathy after finally being cured of it. It takes at least two years of reflection for Slade to see the folly in his actions.
• Not Quite Dead: Believed to have died after being injected with Mirakuru, but soon recovered. Later, he's believed to have died on the island after Oliver stabs him in the eye. Then we see him in "Three Ghosts".
• One-Man Army: He's a damn good fighter that he effortlessly slaughters a mercenary firm in less than 2 minutes. And that's without the Mirakuru.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: His first action as a villain was to cut off Ivo's hand. The writers knew that this would make him too likeable, so his next villainous act was to torture Oliver.
• Perma-Stubble: Even on an island with no electric razors of any kind, Slade keeps his stubble in-check. Given his skill with blades, he probably shaves with one of his many knives, maybe two at the same time.
• Pet the Dog: He seems genuinely concerned about Thea's growing darkness in Season Three.
• The Power of Hate: Even after getting the Mirakuru removed from him, Slade still manages to hold his own against Oliver evenly, and spouts off this as to why.
• Promoted to Opening Titles: Got promoted to series regular for Season Two. It should be noted, however, that Slade's role in Season Two was more of a Fake Guest Star, much like how Misha Collins and Mark Sheppard are billed as series regulars on Supernatural but used similarly in tone.
• Psycho for Hire: True to his comic book incarnation, he works as an international assassin; unlike his comic book self, he uses the funds for a specific purpose, namely his grand plan of revenge against Oliver, though it seems the revenge part is a recent move, given he supposedly tried to put things behind him once he escaped the island.
• Psycho Serum: He got dosed with Mirakuru and survived, becoming the first character chronologically to gain super strength from it.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Inverted. He was Oliver's mentor prior to his Face–Heel Turn.
• Put on a Bus:
  • At the end of Season Two, he is locked away into an A.R.G.U.S. supermax prison built in Lian Yu and hasn't been seen since... until "The Return", anyway.
  • At the start of Season Six, Slade leaves for Calgary, hoping to reconnect with his son. He comes back for special arc later, only to leave again in hopes of finding Grant and Joe. Word of God is that he's off limits again, since he's set to become a major player in the DCEU's Legion of Doom.
• Race Lift: Slade Wilson in the comics is white. Here, he's part Maori like the actor that plays him.
• Revenge by Proxy: He plans to get back at Oliver by gradually destroying everyone and everything he loves.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Deathstroke is usually a Teen Titans or Batman villain. Though granted, he has clashed with Green Arrow over the years.
• Sanity Strengthening: After spending three years in prison, free of the Mirakuru, Slade is mostly back to his old self, albeit more than a little broken over losing Shado and regret over his campaign against Oliver.
• Scars Are Forever: Has a couple of notable ones on his face, including his right eye being ruined in the present day.
• Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere: At the end of Season Two, he is locked inside an A.R.G.U.S. "supermax" within Lian Yu, as it was the only place he wanted to escape from and did, but felt he never left.
• Shadow Archetype: Slade is exactly how Oliver could have turned out, but managed to avoid. Both of them are haunted by near-identical traumatic experiences of losing a girl they loved. While Oliver resisted the urges to seek revenge and overcame them, Slade let himself be consumed by it. Oliver even compares how similar they were in being distracted by the hallucinations of their deceased beloved. Their present-day motives also become polar complete opposites, with Oliver trying to save a corrupted city, while Slade does everything he can to tear it down.
• Smug Super: He truly believes he is unbeatable thanks to the Mirakuru, and he ain't quiet about it either.
• Start of Darkness: Losing Shado seemed to lead to this, and being injected with a Psycho Serum didn't help either.
• Strong and Skilled: Slade was The Mentor to Oliver Queen, who would go on to become the World's Best Warrior. However in addition to his skill Slade also became an Empowered Badass Normal thanks to being injected with Mirakuru. He was an extremely difficult opponent due to both his top notch skill and his superhuman strength. He was only beaten by being Brought Down to Badass and leveling the playing field, and even then he put up quite a fight.
• Super-Strength: The Mirakuru amped up his strength to superhuman levels. He was able to toss grown men aside like rag dolls, crushes the Butcher's skull with his hands, snaps an assault rifle, and impales a man's chest with his fist by punching him.
• Super-Toughness: He got both post-injection.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Slade is a very sarcastic man and is quite tall in his own right at 5'11, which is only an inch shorter than the six foot tall Oliver.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Post-Heel Realization, Slade, far from the callous villain he was in Starling City or the gruff snarker he was on Lian Yu, has become a somber, calm man, having made a degree of peace with himself and Oliver.
• Tragic Villain: If it weren't for the Mirakuru and losing Shado, Slade might never have been a villain at all. He even admits that he tried to put what happened on Lian Yu behind him, but felt that he couldn't escape it.
• Troll: Apparently, the Psycho Serum weaponized this previous trait. While "Time of Death" has him subtly trolling Oliver all throughout his polite conversations with Moira and later Thea, "Deathstroke" largely consists of Slade using both this and Schmuck Bait to take Oliver's company, turn Thea against him, and run Oliver ragged on a wild-goose chase.
• Two-Faced: A rare non-villainous case after being too close to an explosion, with his head completely black on its right side due to an ointment, which makes his face look like Deathstroke's mask. It is played completely realistically, as he is shown to be in constant agony, and appears to be dying from it as of "State v. Queen". He later recovers and loses this feature, though.
• Two First Names: His last name is actually a more traditional given name than his first.
• Villain Decay: In Season Three he was demoted to a Villain of the Week, to the point that Manu Bennett himself voiced his disappointment.
• Villainous Breakdown: Granted that he's not the most stable adversary, but his Mask of Sanity finally drops in "Unthinkable" after Felicity injects him with the Mirakuru cure; he engages Oliver in a brutal one-on-one battle, ranting and raving the whole time, until Oliver restrains him with a couple of trick arrows and gets Amanda Waller to call off the drone strike. Later, Oliver imprisons him on Lian Yu and rebukes his Breaking Speech by thanking him for helping to make Oliver a hero; he takes this very badly, and the last we see of him (until Season Three, that is), he's yelling that he will find a way to escape and keep his promise to destroy Oliver's life, even though there's no evident way for him to do so.
• Villain Over for Dinner: At the end of "Time of Death", Oliver arrives at the Queen Mansion to find Moira in the middle of a meeting with... oh, take a wild guess.
• Villain Respect: Commends Moira for having true courage before killing her. Slade deciding on killing Moira with his sword rather than a gun, can be interpreted as him giving her a 'clean death'.
• Warrior Therapist: Having recovered from the Mirakuru-induced insanity, Slade becomes level-headed and introspective, and plays this role to Oliver in "Lian Yu."
• We Used to Be Friends: With Billy Wintergreen. And post-Island, with Oliver, though he doesn't see it that way. In Season Five, they manage to, if not re-establish their friendship, then at least make some amends.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: His son Joe has a surprising cameo in Elseworlds, but Slade's whereabouts (who was last seen leaving to find his son) aren't commented on. Post-Crisis, this applies even more, as he doesn't even show up for Oliver's funeral even though he is confirmed to no longer be imprisoned on Lian Yu.
• What Have I Become?: Early on, he is shocked at what the Mirakuru has turned him into.
• Wicked Cultured: He gives off this vibe in the present-day scenes of "The Promise" while talking amiably with Moira and Thea in the mansion.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Slade suffered an agonising, near-fatal injury, only being saved by a Psycho Serum that warped his mind, then lost the woman he loved and came to believe that his best friend was responsible for her death. Even escaping from Lian Yu gave Slade no peace; he lost his eye fighting Oliver, had to endure a nightmarish swim back to shore, and suffered severe hallucinations that drove him insane. After all that, it's really not surprising that Slade is willing to burn Starling City to take what he believes to be a well-deserved revenge against Oliver.
• Would Hit a Girl: His vendetta against Oliver is to gradually take down the important women in his life. He only succeeded with one thankfully, though he initially thought he killed Sara. He also showed no signs of restrain when chasing down Caitlin Snow.
  Flashback!Slade: Sara was only the first, she was only the first! Your sister! Laurel! Your mother!
• You Are What You Hate: Post Face–Heel Turn, he embodied many characteristics of the villains he and Oliver faced;
  • He becomes an Evil Former Friend without thinking twice, much like Bill Wintergreen. The Deathstroke mask they both have is just a bonus.
  • He starts mass producing the Mirakuru, much like Dr. Ivo's apparent original goal. Him hijacking the Amazo is just a bonus.
  • After his and Oliver's battle in the Amazo, he becomes a mercenary much like Edward Fryers.
  • He starts wearing a mask and recruiting people to join his cause, much like Oliver did when he came back to Starling (officially at least). Speaking of which, he was also returned to Lian Yu after initially "escaping" from it.

Isabel Rochev

Species: Human^note Enhanced via Mirakuru from April 2014 before getting de-powered shortly before her death in May of the same year

Known Aliases: Ravager

Played By: Summer Glau

Voiced By: Rosalba Sotelo (Latin-American Spanish), Mamiko Noto (Japanese)

First Appearance: "City of Heroes" (Arrow 2x1)

Appearances: Arrow

Vice President of Acquisitions at Stellmoor International, Isabel comes to Starling City to purchase and liquidate Queen Consolidated. She ends up having joint ownership of the company with Oliver, and the two begin a reluctant working relationship.

It turns out that Isabel is working with (not for as she insists) Deathstroke as part of a plan to get back at Robert Queen's family, as she was once his mistress, but Robert decided that his family was more important and left her. This lead to her planning her revenge on the Queens by taking over their company and destroying their family.

• Adaptational Early Appearance: The original version was introduced at the time Mia Dearden (Thea) had long replaced Roy Harper as Speedy. Here, she appeared at the time where Roy was not even an ally of Oliver yet.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the comics◊, she was blond. Here, she's the brunette Summer Glau.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's an Ice Queen to the core.
  Felicity: [to Oliver] She looks angry in all her photos.
• Asshole Victim: It's really hard to feel bad for her when Nyssa snaps her neck.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Though she doesn't get to live to enjoy it, she tears the Queens apart just like she wanted, and tells Oliver she doesn't care what happens to her afterwards.
• Best Served Cold: So cold, in fact, that the person she's actually trying to take revenge on is long dead by the time she starts enacting it. Though it may be she's actually taking revenge on the family that Robert left her for.
• Brought Down to Normal: Injected with the cure in the final episode and unable to fight back, she is summarily executed by the League.
• But Not Too Foreign: A Russian who has lived in America since she was nine.
• Cassandra Gambit: She warns Oliver that handing over full control of the company to her while he deals with Thea's kidnapping is a bad idea.
• Celebrity Paradox:
  • Cisco Ramon is frequently seen wearing The Big Bang Theory t-shirts. Her actress guest-starred on that show As Herself.
  • An episode of The Flash (2014) mentions the Terminator franchise. Summer Glau was one of the main characters of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
• Co-Dragons: With Brother Blood to Slade.
• Composite Character:
  • In the comic books Isabel Rochev is a Green Arrow villain known as The Queen. Here she's combined with the Ravager, who in the comics was Rose Wilson, the daughter of Deathstroke.
  • She also has elements of Terra, who was a mole posing as an ally to the heroes, before being revealed to be in league with Slade Wilson the whole time.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: It turns out she's been working for Slade the whole time and is now devoting the company's resources to his Evil Plan, making her very much this.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Her fight against Nyssa and Sara lasts for about ten seconds, before they both overpower her. To add insult to injury, neither of them had Mirakuru.
• Dating Catwoman: She sleeps with Ollie early in the season. Though it did happen before he learned she was evil.
• Dark Action Girl: She gives Oliver a run for his money when he finds out she's working with Slade, and it's very likely she threw the fight as part of Slade's plan. However, Oliver beats her in their second round, though Diggle is the one to (temporarily) finish her off.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: As of "The Scientist", she seems to be this towards Oliver. Turns out it was an act.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Despite Robert Queen being long dead, she's trying to punish his family because he chose them over her.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Isabel insists that she's working with Slade and not for him, and only because her own goals benefit from his assistance.
• Evil All Along: And unlike with Brother Blood, we don't find out until "Deathstroke", Episode Eighteen of Season Two. Also, she's fully in the loop with Slade and amused that Blood isn't.
• Femme Fatale: Uses seduction and manipulation to work her way into Oliver's trust, because even when he didn't like her, she made him believe she wanted the company to run well.
• Hypocrite: She calls Felicity "smug".
• Ice Queen: Nothing appears to be able to shake her. Except alcohol, which gets her to warm up. In general, she's nicer outside of the office. Except she's not — when her true colors are revealed, she proves incredibly icy, though she shows more emotion and is deeply vengeful against the Queens, wanting to punish Oliver for "the sins of the father".
• It's All About Me: As her quest for petty revenge can demonstrate.
• Jerkass Has a Point: She seems to have a considerable dislike for Oliver because he's making her job difficult, resisting the takeover of Queen Consolidated. He also has no real background in business, so she dislikes him as a CEO. Except that's just an excuse — she hates him for being Robert Queen's son.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: She begins her meeting by saying Oliver, the man who she's doing business with, "majored in dropping out of college". She does seem to soften up and becomes nicer to Oliver, until The Reveal in "Deathstroke". Her sympathy was all an act to earn his trust and she really is a Jerkass. The most evident part of this is mocking Oliver and threatening Felicity and Diggle at Moira Queen's wake.
• Kick the Dog: Turning up to gloat to Diggle and Felicity at Moira Queen's wake is just one of many examples.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Nyssa does the deed while she's in the middle of Evil Gloating that she's already gotten her revenge and doesn't care if she dies.
• Love Father, Love Son: Slept with Robert and Oliver Queen.
• Manipulative Bitch: She plays Oliver like a puppet, and flawlessly orchestrates the takeover of his company.
• The Mistress: Formerly to Robert Queen.
• Morality Pet: She's one of the few things Slade still cares for after going off the deep end, to the point that he saves her even though he didn't really need her at this point.
• Neck Snap: Nyssa offs her with one.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: She tells Oliver that Robert Queen was aware that Thea wasn't his and loved her anyway, not realizing that it might help the situation in the Queen household. A Subverted Trope, sadly — hearing this doesn't make Thea any less angry.
• Perpetual Frowner: When briefing Oliver, Felicity mentions that in every single photo she found, Isabel looks angry.
• Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: She's this for Robert Queen, believing herself to have been his soulmate and unable to stand that he chose his family over her in the end, hence why she's so snide towards them.
• Psycho Serum: Granted that she was already a psychotic bitch, but she gets a Mirakuru injection after Diggle shoots her in "The Man Under the Hood".
• Put on a Bus: Despite being billed as a recurring guest star, as of "The Scientist" she quietly disappears from the scene, not reappearing until ten episodes later. This gets lampshaded after Oliver returns to the office and she scolds him for being absent.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Her Ravager costume is mostly black with red accents.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: While Isabel Rochev is a Green Arrow villain, Ravager is a Teen Titans villain.
• Sins of Our Fathers: At one point, she was Robert Queen's mistress. According to her, Robert was about to leave Moira for her, but ultimately chose to remain with his family and cut her out of his life. With Robert long dead, Isabel now takes out her vengeance on his son and surviving family.
• Smug Snake: She takes pride in how successful she was in destroying Oliver's legacy and taking his entire company. She smiles sweetly in amusement every time Oliver tries to gain an edge over her.
• Superhuman Transfusion: Slade is seen having rolled down his sleeve, showing that he personally injected Isabel with his own blood.
• Training from Hell: Apparently, she's been through this at Slade's hands.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: The Ravager is Slade's illegitimate daughter in the comics. Here, she's merely his minion.
• Walking Spoiler: We learn a lot about her in "Deathstroke".
• Woman Scorned: Robert choosing his family over her is what drives her to take Revenge on his family after his death.

Sebastian Blood

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Brother Blood

Played By: Kevin Alejandro

First Appearance: "Identity" (Arrow 2x2)

Appearances: Arrow

A charismatic city alderman, Sebastian Blood ran for the position of mayor and is an advocate for those affected by the Undertaking. However, he is also the secret leader of the Blood Cult, injecting both his followers and unwilling subjects with a mysterious serum to create a superpowered army.

• Abusive Parents: As part of his Redemption Equals Death, it's revealed that his father, who he was earlier vilified for killing, was actually horribly abusive.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Accompanying his Age Lift, this Brother Blood is quite handsome compared to his comics counterpart.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: He really does care about Starling City and thought he was the one to save it, and the only reason he betrayed Slade was when he realised he would destroy the city. Brother Blood in the comics usually only cares about himself and what power he can gain.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the comics, Brother Blood had no connection with Deathstroke.
• Adaptational Wimp: This version of Brother Blood is only a lackey to the real Big Bad and not capable of combat himself. He's instead a Non-Action Big Bad who uses manipulation behind the scenes to antagonize the heroes.
• Adapted Out: No mentions of his mystical Blood Magic or other supernatural powers that his comics counterpart possesses.
• Age Lift: A fair bit younger than how Brother Blood is typically portrayed as.
• Alliterative Name: As Brother Blood.
• Arc Words: Strongly associated with "blood". His surname is "Blood", has his followers steal from a blood bank, believes that blood is power, and runs a blood donation campaign.
• Authority in Name Only: The Church of Blood bears his name and he was made to believe they were his followers, but in reality Slade runs the show.
• Big Bad Wannabe: At the offset of the season he initially acts as the main threat Team Arrow faces, with his army of loyal soldiers working for him and his access to Mirakuru; however as soon as Slade returns it becomes apparent that Blood is nothing more than his pawn. By the end of the season Isabel takes over as Slade's primary enforcer, the new Mirakuru soldiers become loyal to Slade instead of him and his dream of taking over the city in his own image becomes moot since Slade intends to destroy all of it to get back at Oliver.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While waiting for Oliver at a party that he had funded for Blood, the man went on a rant in front of people, accosting him and the Queen family. Not only that, when Oliver went to the Glades after his exiled return, Blood took great glee in putting Oliver down. And let's not forget that he's secretly Brother Blood, the leader of a cult seeking to "save" the city by taking it over.
• Break the Haughty: At the end of the season when Slade's plans come to fruition and he learns they never shared a goal. Blood actually wanted to rebuild the city, Slade just wanted to destroy it. The Mirakuru soldiers only listened to him insofar as his plans were in line with Slade's.
• Composite Character: Using a mask for fear tactics and experimenting on criminals brings to mind Scarecrow, especially the Nolan version who also wore a suit.
• Consummate Liar: Most if not all of what this guy says to people, Laurel in particular, is a lie to make himself look better.
• Cool Mask: It looks like a monstrous brown skull. He's willing to let one of his subordinates die wearing it to throw our heroes off the scent. According to "Streets of Fire," it's based on how he saw his father and was made as his way of coping with his distress.
• Corrupt Politician: According to "Deathstroke", his reason for helping Slade Wilson is that he was promised he would be mayor. He is not happy when their plan leads to that becoming a less than likely prospect. Ultimately, he abandons this, as he truly does love his city, but his willingness to blackmail in order to keep his part in things unknown makes him to still fall under this regardless.
• Dark Messiah: His followers seemingly worship him, almost like a god. As seen in "Blind Spot", they're even willing to die for him. While this may have been true for his initial followers, especially the likes of Brother Daily, the Mirakuru army created by Slade have absolutely no loyalty to him at all, and instead pledge their allegiance to Slade for freeing them.
• Death by Secret Identity: In addition to the Redemption Equals Death trope below, the last time we see him before Isabel jams her blades right through his body, he's threatening to blackmail Oliver by exposing his identity as the Arrow in case Oliver tries leaking his involvement with Slade as Brother Blood to the public.
• Decomposite Character: The traits of being the Leader of a cult dedicated to worshipping a demonic entity and possessing Blood Magic were transferred to Damien Darhk.
• Decoy Antagonist: He was made to look like the Big Bad of Season Two, until Slade showed up.
• The Dragon: Serves as this to Slade. He was made to be The Face of the Church of Blood, until Slade stepped out of the shadows to take a more active role.
• Eat the Rich: Seems to invoke this mentality in his supporters, using the Undertaking to justify it.
• Evil All Along: Revealed at the end of "Crucible", though it shouldn't come as a real shock to the audience.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Like Malcolm Merlyn as the Dark Archer before him, he wears a mask and uses a voice changer in his Brother Blood persona.
• "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner: As he is being stabbed by Ravager.
  Blood: I love this city.
• Flunky Boss: He's always accompanied by his Mooks.
• The Heavy: Of the first half of Season Two's present day. He seemed to be the Big Bad at first, but "Three Ghosts" revealed that he's actually working for Slade.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: He tries to right his wrongs in helping Slade Wilson by giving Oliver the Mirakuru cure at the crucial moment. However, Oliver makes it clear that one act isn't enough to completely overlook all his previous crimes. Despite this Oliver would refer to Sebastian as a friend after the latter's death, suggesting that he had forgiven him to an extent.
• Hero Killer: Not necessarily him personally, but Ollie is clearly terrified of the implications of his work.
• Hollywood Atheist: Shows nothing but disdain for Maya Resik's religious devotion, and tells her that "your gods are dead" in his skull mask to scare her to death.
• In Name Only: The only semblance he has to comics Brother Blood is leading a cult known as the Blood Cult. Nothing else is remotely similar, with this Brother Blood instead taking more after Scarecrow.
• Legacy Character: Implied by Slade, claiming anyone can wear the mask.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Unlike his cohort, Isabel Rochev, Deathstroke didn't tell him about the Arrow's true identity. Or the true plan.
• Mad Scientist: He experiments on civilians and criminals he's taken off the street to get a working Mirakuru serum.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Masked? Check. Malevolent? Check.
• Mook Lieutenant: While he thinks he's The Dragon, he's more of a mouthpiece and notable face with a personality.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Come on. The man's name is Mr. Blood. Although "Brother Blood" does have a creepiness all its own...
  Felicity: His last name is "Blood". That can't be a good sign.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: He himself judges hiring the Count to kill the Arrow to have been this, since it not only failed, but also led to the Arrow killing again.
• Non-Action Guy: This Brother Blood isn't capable of combat himself. It appeared he was able to hold his own against the Arrow in a fist fight, but it turns out that was Brother Daily wearing the mask in his place.
• No Party Given: Though it's not explicitly stated, Blood's remarks at a debate imply that he is a Democrat.
• Parental Abandonment: According to him, his mother killed his abusive father in self-defense, then ran off. In reality, he's a Self-Made Orphan who killed his own (actually abusive) father and put his mother away in an asylum, under the lie that she was his aunt, to get rid of her. Then he kills her, too, when he learns she spilled the beans to Laurel.
• Powder Keg Crowd: He is speaking to one when Oliver first meets him and, possibly intentionally, sparks a small riot that breaks Oliver's car window.
• Race Lift: Brother Blood was from a Baltic country in the comics, but on the show, he's played by a Hispanic actor and it's implied that he has mixed Baltic-Hispanic heritage: his mother Maya is Hispanic, but her married name is Resik.
• Red Baron: In his own personal circle, he's known as Brother Blood.
• Redemption Equals Death: He genuinely tries to reform by assisting the heroes, stealing the Mirakuru cure from his old boss and giving it to Oliver, knowing fully well the risk of Slade killing him for betrayal. If there was any doubt before on his sincerity, this is cleared up when Sebastian gets killed for his act of heroism, pulling a Face Death with Dignity where he gets killed by Ravager and with his dying breath declares "I love this city".
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: In the comics, Brother Blood is a Teen Titans villain.
• Self-Made Orphan: He was responsible for killing his father, while locking up his mother in a mental asylum. After he finds out she assisted his enemies, he kills her two by giving her a heart attack.
• Shed the Family Name: In a sense. His father's surname was actually "Sangre" which is Spanish for blood. Sebastian himself decided to adopt the English translation for his own surname, very likely as a result of his contempt for his father.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He seems to be adored by everyone, including usually suspicious people like Oliver and Quentin. Only Laurel and his mother Maya Resik see through the facade, and he kills the latter to keep her quiet and makes the former look and feel like she's just delusional from taking drugs.
• Visionary Villain: He is genuinely trying to restore Starling City, even if he uses the most twisted of means of achieving this.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's horrified to learn Slade's true plan is to destroy all of Starling City, which prompts him to turn against Slade and deliver the Mirakuru cure to Oliver. Blood thought the plan was to tear down the "worst" parts of the city and rebuild.
• With Us or Against Us: Even though Oliver's fundraiser is actively raising money for the Glades after the Undertaking, his failure to show up gives Blood the opportunity to paint him as the face of the Idle Rich problems the city has.

Father Roger Trigon

• Adaptational Heroism: This Trigon is not evil incarnate and a more Well-Intentioned Extremist cult leader who cares for his followers. Contrast comics Trigon who slaughtered the cult that birthed him.
• Adaptational Species Change: A human hailed as the Devil, rather than the Devil himself.
• Adaptational Wimp: As this version is a normal human, he lacks comics Trigon's godlike power.
• Benevolent Boss: Takes in orphans and cares for them.
• The Corrupter: Encouraged Sebastian Blood to kill his parents.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He is the reason for Sebastian Blood and Cyrus Gold turning to villainy.
• Mythology Gag: His followers believe him to be the Devil and he even dresses as the Devil at one point, referencing his comics counterpart who is the Devil himself.
• Posthumous Character: He passed away a few months before Season 2.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: This version is a cult leader, rather than the actual Devil, which would be quite out of place for a grounded show like Arrow.
• Predecessor Villain: He was the founder of the Church of Blood, making him partly responsible for everything that Sebastian Blood did in Season 2.

Cyrus Gold

Species: Human (enhanced via Mirakuru)

Known Aliases: The Acolyte

Played By: Graham Shiels

First Appearance: "State v. Queen" (Arrow 2x7)

Appearances: Arrow

A follower of Brother Blood, and the first one to survive being injected with his mysterious formula.

• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the comics, Solomon Grundy had no relation to Brother Blood and his Blood Cult.
• Adaptational Wimp: Not remotely as strong as his comic counterpart, who in some instances can take on Superman. Here he's just a really tough Villain of the Week for the Arrow, who lasts for two episodes.
• Adaptation Species Change: From a zombie in the comics to an enhanced human in the show.
• Annoying Arrows: Literally in his case. The Mirakuru enhanced his muscle density to the point where arrows dented on contact with him.
• Badass Preacher: According to Blood, Cyrus was once a preacher.
• Bald of Evil: Lex Luthor would be proud.
• The Brute: The powerhouse of the Blood Cult.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: In the comics, Cyrus Gold is much better known as Solomon Grundy. Although this does get a Mythology Gag.
• Composite Character: In the comics, the Acolyte and Solomon Grundy are two completely separate characters.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Through the use of Mirakuru, he develops super strength/durability.
• Implacable Man: Becomes super-strong and nigh impossible to bring down.
• Malevolent Masked Men: He wears a flat black mask.
• Mythology Gag: Diggle finds a book containing the iconic Solomon Grundy rhyme in Gold's apartment, which is later referenced again in a Bond One-Liner by Oliver.
• In Name Only: There isn't really any similarity to him and comics Solomon Grundy aside from both of them being very tough and strong.
• Outside-Context Problem: The first ever super-powered villain to appear in the Arrowverse. No one other than Oliver has any experience dealing with the likes of him, and even Oliver had no guaranteed means of taking down Mirakuru-enhanced individuals at that point.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: Having a super zombie would have been out of place on a grounded, crime-themed show like Arrow, so he was instead made into a human enhanced with a Super Serum.
• Psycho Serum: The source of his power. Ironically, he appears to be killed when Oliver destroys the centrifuge containing it, spraying his face with a large amount.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: In the comics, Solomon Grundy (Gold) is usually a Green Lantern or Batman villain.
• Super-Strength: He's able to hit Oliver so hard that he bounces off the ceiling.
• Super-Toughness: Oliver's arrows crumple when they hit him.
• Uncertain Doom: Gold's body shows signs of movement after he's doused in chemicals. Given his comic book counterpart, this may be a sign of Foreshadowing.
• Unskilled, but Strong: He spends most of his appearances overpowering the Arrow and cops using brute strength, but Oliver is eventually able to get the upper hand with his better training to use his strength against him, making Gold miss his superpowered swings, before knocking him back to his apparent demise.
• Whole-Costume Reference: Pretty clearly takes inspiration from Jason Voorhees. Fitting, considering the comic version's resemblance to Frankenstein's Monster.

Officer Daily

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Brother Daily

Played By: Jesse Hutch

First Appearance: "Crucible" (Arrow 2x4)

Appearances: Arrow

A police officer who assists Brother Blood by covering up his crimes and disposing of evidence.

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He serves as a mole in the police department for his "brothers".
• Dying Smirk: After successfully Taking the Heat for Brother Blood, he gave Oliver and Laurel a smug grin and died.
• Friend on the Force: Evil version. He is this for the Blood Cult.
• The Mole: In the SCPD for the Blood Cult.
• Thanatos Gambit: Brother Daily gives his life to throw our heroes off the trail. Quentin has identified the Dirty Cop who tipped off Cyrus Gold, Laurel thinks she's wrong about Sebastian Blood, and Team Arrow think they've nipped the Evil Plan in the bud with the destruction of the Super Serum and the death of the Man in the Skull Mask.

Tobias Church

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Charon

Played By: Chad L. Coleman

First Appearance: "Legacy" (Arrow 5x1)

Appearances: Arrow

A dreaded gangster who's already devastated Hub City and Bludhaven before setting his sights on Star City.

• Acrofatic: He is quite agile and fast for a man of his bulk.
• Alternate Self: He has one on Earth-TUD25 as Bruno Mannheim.
• Arc Villain: He was the main villain at the start of Season Five, before Prometheus took center stage.
• Asshole Victim: Prometheus hunts him down and kills him. Nobody is going to miss him.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: When he reaches a new city, he has a habit of killing the leader of any other gangs and then merging them into one super gang. He also wants to take down the Green Arrow to assert his dominance.
• Badass Normal: Has no super powers, but can go toe-to-toe with Oliver.
• Big Bad Ensemble: In Season Five with Prometheus; Church wants to conquer the city, while Prometheus wants to destroy Green Arrow.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Compared to Prometheus, Church is very much outmatched and ends up being killed off without much trouble.
• Canon Foreigner: He has no comic counterpart, though he bears a few similarities to minor Batman villain Tobias Whale.
• Celebrity Paradox: The Walking Dead (2010) was mentioned quite a few times on The Flash. His actor was a main character on that show for three seasons.
• The Chessmaster: Even before he made his presence known, he already had his men infiltrate the police and the other major gangs, and none of them were the wiser until it was too late.
• Death by Secret Identity: An odd case, since he does manage to pass on the secret to Prometheus before getting offed.
• Disc-One Final Boss: He is fought in a climactic battle where he is arrested... five episodes into the season. And then he's killed off by Prometheus.
• The Dreaded: He's already devastated two cities before coming to Star City.
• Evil Plan: He wants to use Star City's harbor to smuggle in drugs and them ship them off to the other cities he has under his thumb effectively having the most ambitious criminal operation there's ever been.
• Face Death with Dignity: He clearly didn't want to die but judging from how he told Prometheus "you will be the only one who knows" before his death, he at least appeared to be accepting of his own demise as long as another villain found out Green Arrow's identity and made Oliver Queen's life hell.
• Faux Affably Evil: He loves to talk all smooth and act chummy with his victims before brutally beating them up or killing them.
• Genius Bruiser: A master strategist who is no slouch when it comes to physical combat.
• In Name Only: There are a few DC characters who have held the title "Charon", but none of them are remotely like Tobias Church.
• Killed Off for Real: Courtesy of Prometheus.
• Large and in Charge: A tall and bulky individual who leads his own gang.
• Meaningful Name: He earned his alias "Charon" because he puts coins on the eyes of his victims. ^note In Greek Mythology, Charon was the ferryman of the Underworld and you needed two coins to pay his fee.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He is good enough to engage Oliver himself in combat. Naturally, nobody under his command dares to piss him off.
• Scary Black Man: Aside from his cunning, his imposing physical appearance is his asset.
• Thanatos Gambit: With his life on the line, he reveals Green Arrow's identity to Prometheus, both to bargain for his life with information, as well as to ensure Green Arrow will fall too.
• Villainous Legacy: Despite being killed off early in Season Five, his presence is still felt as other criminals try to fill the power vacuum left by his death or help themselves to his ill-gained wealth.
• Villain Respect: Says he has earned respect for Wild Dog, for his spirit and smack-talking while being tortured.
• The Worf Effect: While Church is an effective fighter, Prometheus is far more proficient.

Scimitar

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Scimitar

Played By: Curtis Braconnier

First Appearance: "Human Target" (Arrow 5x5)

Appearances: Arrow

A mysterious masked assassin in the employ of Tobias Church.

• Advertised Extra: He was hyped up in promotions for 5x05, but he only appears in that one episode where he may or may not have been killed off.
• All There in the Script: Is only named in the closing credits.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: Fans have noticed he seems to more closely resemble the Scimitar from Marvel comics, who similarly uses a blade in combat.
• Arrow Catch: He is introduced catching an arrow fired by Prometheus at his boss, Tobias Church.
• Canon Foreigner: Despite what Wendy Mericle says, Scimitar has no comic counterpart.^note There is a similarly named villain called Symitar, who was an Arc Villain for Black Canary and Huntress in the early 90s for several issues; however, even putting the spelling aside, the character bares no resemblance to the Arrow character and hasn't been seen or referenced since that story, so this is no doubt a coincidence
• Cool Helmet: He wears one that completely covers his face.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Takes on both Mr. Terrific and Artemis and defeats them handily.
• Dual Wielding: Utilizes two swords in combat, in addition to other weapons.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Uses a voice modulator to hide his identity, or maybe just to sound scary.
• Hired Gun: Acts as a combination of Church's bodyguard and assassin.
• No Name Given: His real name is unknown. In fact, even his codename wasn't said in the episode and was only named in the closing credits.
• Professional Killer: He is tasked with killing Mayor Queen.
• Psycho for Hire: Hired by Church as his own freak.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His costume is mainly black, with his helmet having some red highlights.
• Uncertain Doom: Is shot down by the Human Target, Christopher Chance but not overtly confirmed as dead.

• Badass Crew: A very nasty team of villainous vigilantes.
• Evil Counterpart: They are an anti-Team Arrow, being composed of a team of villainous vigilantes that work to hinder the heroes. Specifically, the team even includes a Canary and a young sidekick archer, to mirror Team Arrow.
• Evil Mentor: Talia is one to Prometheus, while Prometheus is one to Evelyn.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Led by a serial killer, the team consists of a teenaged vigilante and a metahuman from an alternate Earth, and they're backed by a League of Assassins exile.
• Token Super: To mirror Team Arrow, Prometheus has a team full of Badass Normals, except for Black Siren, who is also a metahuman capable of sonic screams.
• You Killed My Father: Nearly all of them are out to get revenge over the death of a parent.

See the Arrowverse: Simon Morrison page

Evelyn Crawford Sharp

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Artemis, "Black Canary"

Played By: Madison McLaughlin

First Appearance: "Canary Cry" (Arrow 4x19)

Appearances: Arrow

A teenage girl and amateur vigilante who briefly assumes the identity of Black Canary after Laurel's death. Oliver manages to take her off the streets, and she later becomes one of his new recruits to the team in Season Five. However, she turns against him because of lingering resentments over the fact he didn't save her parents from Damien Darhk and the reveal he was the Hood in Season One, and joins Prometheus in an effort to take him down.

• Academic Athlete: She was a star student and gymnast at her high school.
• The Ace: What she used to be as a student: an Academic Athlete and Extracurricular Enthusiast who never even missed a day of school. She transfers these skills to her crusade against H.I.V.E. as the brief new Black Canary.
  Felicity: Basically, a 16-year-old badass in the making.
• Action Girl: Not quite at Thea or Laurel's level, but she can hold her own in a scrap and knows how to use a gun.
• Adaptational Modesty: Her Artemis costume covers a lot, compared to the mid-riff baring one she is known for.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Evelyn Crawford is a redhead, while the Artemis she is based on is blonde. This Composite Character is a brunette.
• Adaptation Name Change: Her surname in the comics is Crawford. Here, she goes by Sharp, though Crawford is her middle name. She also uses Artemis as her vigilante alias, rather than Starling.
• Affably Evil: Despite teaming up with Prometheus and selling out her entire team, she's affable enough to spend a pleasant Christmas dinner with Rene, Rory, and Dig.
• Age Lift: In the comics, she's as old as Black Canary. Here, she's a teenager, younger even than Thea.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Though she's gradually defrosting. Or so it seems until she betrays the team and joins Prometheus fully; then she's right back to being an Ice Queen.
• Ascended Extra: She appears as a one-off character late in season 4 before becoming a major recurring character in the following season.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's in league with Prometheus, which is revealed to the team in "What We Leave Behind".
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Oliver, after finding out he was the Hood. To such an extent that she is willing to work with Prometheus against him.
  • It's also implied she had one towards Team Arrow as a whole after she and her parents were essentially left behind by them to die in the explosion of H.I.V.E.'s facility. Her profile in "Canary Cry" even has the phrase "Who do we turn to when our heroes fail us?"
  • After joining Prometheus, she seems to have renounced her previous idolization of Black Canary, given her working with Black Siren to trap Laurel's father, Quentin.
• The Bus Came Back: She disappears midway through "What We Leave Behind", but returns in "Kapiushon", where it's revealed that Prometheus double-crossed Evelyn and has been keeping her prisoner as further proof that everything Oliver touches dies. Except not. She's actually still in league with him and helped Prometheus play a twisted game with Oliver to break his spirit.
• Composite Character: Has the name of the hero Starling, but her introductory episode gave her a similar arc to Misfit. In Arrow Season Five, she dons the moniker Artemis, which was used by Artemis Crock when she acted as Green Arrow's sidekick in the Young Justice (2010) animated series before adopting her Tigress identity.
• Deadpan Snarker: By far the snarkiest member of Oliver's new recruits, and probably of Team Arrow in general. Every other sentence that comes out of her mouth drips with sarcasm.
• Dead Person Impersonation: She's introduced unofficially donning the Black Canary mantle shortly after Laurel's death by stealing the latter's vigilante gear.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Initially appearing as a Villain of the Week in Season Four, she joins the team in the following season at Oliver's request.
• Domino Mask: Sports one during her stint as "Black Canary", and later after joining the team as Artemis.
• Evil Counterpart: In much the same way that Prometheus is a counterpart to Green Arrow, Evelyn can be seen as one to Speedy; like Thea, she's a petite young woman and skilled combatant of dubious morals. The difference is that Thea, even at her most anti-heroic, is still one of the good guys, realizes when she's on a slippery slope, and tries to better herself. Evelyn, if anything, only gets worse, having started out as a troubled young woman and devolving into a willing accomplice in Prometheus's rampage and traitor to her former friends.
• Extracurricular Enthusiast: At Star City High School, she was the junior class president, captain of the academic decathletes, and a gymnast.
• Face–Heel Turn: Once she finds out that Oliver used to be the Hood, she joins forces with Prometheus and proceeds to give him intel on Team Arrow and their loved ones, all without a shred of remorse.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Prior to receiving her shortbow from Oliver, Evelyn mainly fought barehanded. Since then, she's gradually gained experience in a variety of weapons.
• Hate Sink: As of "Kapiushon", Evelyn has established herself as possibly the most despicable villain in Season Five; unlike Talia or Prometheus, who have some kind of Freudian Excuse for their grievances with Oliver, Evelyn has shown little more than self-righteous condemnation of him, willingly helping Prometheus to break his spirit with a twisted mind game (one where Oliver shows genuine concern for Evelyn despite her betrayal) and smugly rubbing it in after Oliver finally breaks.
• Hero-Worshipper: Of Black Canary due to the hero's efforts to rescue Evelyn and her family from H.I.V.E.. After Laurel's death, Evelyn even stole the Canary Cry to take up the Black Canary mantle in her own crusade, only to end up nearly tarnishing her hero's legacy with her vendetta. Thankfully, she is ultimately talked down by Green Arrow asking Evelyn what Laurel would have wanted her to do. In the end, she attends Laurel's funeral from afar.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Evelyn seems to genuinely believe that Prometheus is interested in helping Star City. Teaming up with him turned out to be a (possibly) fatal mistake.
• Hypocrite: She considers Oliver to be something that Star City needs to be saved from, due in no small part to the murders he committed as the Hood. Her chosen method is to side with Prometheus, who has an impressive bodycount of both police and innocent people (both groups that Oliver, even at his worst, explicitly avoided harming).
• In Name Only: As Artemis, she is Green Arrow's young archer sidekick... and that's about it. She wears an all-black costume and undergoes a case of Adaptational Villainy with her betrayal of Team Arrow.
• Insane Troll Logic: Her motivation for joining forces with Prometheus is to "save" the city from Oliver by aiding a notorious serial killer.
• Irony: Evelyn betrayed Oliver for Prometheus because she felt that Oliver's murderous past made him untrustworthy. Prometheus ends up betraying Evelyn and leaving her to die when he destroys Lian Yu.
• Irrational Hatred: While Prometheus had at least a semi-understandable reason for his vendetta against Oliver (aside from pure sociopathy), why Evelyn despises him so much is completely incomprehensible.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Evelyn started out as an angry young woman out to avenge her family, but seemed to be a mostly decent, if misguided, person. In Season Five, however, she joins up with Prometheus and becomes a full-fledged villain who takes a sadistic pleasure in Oliver's misery.
• Knight Templar: Joins up with Prometheus to "save" the city from Oliver.
  You're not a hero, you're a fraud. This city needs to be saved from you.
• Legacy Character: Both exploited and defied. Evelyn herself is the one who exploits this by stealing Laurel's signature weapon shortly after her death. Meanwhile, Oliver and the rest of the previous Team Arrow never wanted her to become the new Black Canary.
• Le Parkour: Being a gymnast before entering vigilantism made it easier for her to adjust with the group's necessity to frequently jump around structures.
• Master Actor: Her performance in "Kapiushon" was enough to fool Oliver, even when she had to play dead to further torture him.
• The Mole: She's Prometheus inside man for Team Arrow.
• Moral Myopia: She turns on Oliver after decrying him as a serial killer. She then teams up with Prometheus, who murders innocent people to satisfy his personal grudge against Oliver.
• Movie Superheroes Wear Black: Her Artemis outfit is all-black, unlike the Young Justice (2010) version which was green.
• Out of Focus: She receives the least attention of Oliver's new recruits, being mainly in the background in contrast to Curtis, Rory, and Rene's more colorful personalities. Considering she's secretly in league with Prometheus, this is likely intentional. Occurs after she reveals her allegiance to Prometheus as well, as after that point she appears only a handful of times in the rest of Season Five and vanishes for multiple episodes at a time without any indication as to what she's been doing.
• Put on a Bus: She went with Prometheus back in "What We Leave Behind" and disappeared until "Kapiushon".
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Unless she somehow managed to escape, Evelyn was double-crossed by Prometheus in "Lian Yu" when he left her at Team Arrow's mercy, and subsequently killed in the explosion that destroyed the island.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: In contrast to her usual rough leather clothes, she briefly appears in an extremely figure-hugging red dress to lure a suspect into a trap with Ragman.
• Smug Snake: Post Face–Heel Turn, barely a scene goes by where Evelyn isn't wearing a smug smirk and gloating about Prometheus's superiority over Oliver. However, it's proven more than once that Evelyn herself is no match for Oliver or any of his team without the support of Prometheus or his allies.
• The Straight and Arrow Path: Oliver has trained her to be his next archer sidekick, so she's packing a shortbow.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She is clearly meant to evoke Roy and Thea, Oliver's previous young archer sidekicks. However, past the physical similarities, she quickly diverges from her predecessors when she betrays the team.
• Tagalong Kid: At no older than 17 (and possibly as young as 16), she's the youngest member of Team Arrow to date.
• Teen Genius: We're told she's a prodigy but it doesn't come up much, except as a possible explanation for how she cracked the Canary Cry, which Cisco designed to be used by Laurel only and nobody else.
• Token Mini-Moe: On top of being much younger than the rest of the team, she's also quite a bit shorter. Even Felicity, no giant herself, has a few inches on Evelyn.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: Evelyn's hair is normally loose, but she wears it in this style while in vigilante mode.
• Turn the Other Cheek:
  • Oliver, Felicity, Thea and Quentin don't seem to mind that she nearly ruined Laurel's (or rather, the Black Canary's) reputation. The only one who shows a possible resentment is Diggle, who refers to her as a "Laurel Lance wannabe" when talking to Oliver about working with his new team. The reason why most (or all) of them probably don't bring it up is for one thing, they understood her reasons for doing it, and also they can't really judge her given all their questionable decisions. But of course she joins the team months after that happened, so it is possible that they all mostly got over it during that time.
  • In "Kapiushon", Oliver expresses a willingness to forgive Evelyn's treachery after she's suffered a stint as Prometheus's prisoner. Subverted when it's revealed that she was just helping Prometheus break Oliver's spirit; the most she gets afterward is Oliver being unwilling to leave her stranded on Lian Yu.
• Uncertain Doom: Last seen locked in a cage on Lian Yu shortly before the island was ravaged by several massive explosions, and never confirmed alive or dead for the rest of the series. It's only mentioned in "Fallout" that Nyssa went to search for her afterwards. She was originally meant to appear in the finale and reveal her fate in the Post-Crisis events, but her actress was unable to make it.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • Oliver avenged her parents by killing Damien Darhk, and trained Evelyn to help protect Star City. Neither of those things kept Evelyn from betraying Oliver and the entire team to Prometheus. In "Kapiushon", she even seems to enjoy seeing him cross the Despair Event Horizon.
  • Twice, Oliver expresses concern for Evelyn despite her betrayal. Both times, Evelyn just taunts him or smugly maintains that Oliver is no match for Prometheus.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Before her parents died at Darhk's hands, Evelyn was a model student and normal teenager. Afterwards, she's a would-be murderer who goes on to work for a deranged serial killer, betraying and hurting other people with a smug smirk.
• You Killed My Father: She wanted revenge on H.I.V.E. for killing her parents, but also harbors a great deal of resentment towards Oliver for failing to save them when he had the chance (he was more focused on saving his friends at the time). Turns out her resentment is so great it's eventually enough to drive her to join Prometheus.

See the Arrowverse: Black Canary page

See the Arrowverse: League of Assassins.

See his folder below in Brick's Slabside Gang

See the Arrowverse: A.R.G.U.S. & Task Force X page.

• Adaptation Species Change: In the comics, Helix were a group of mutated metahumans who were the result of experimentation in their prenatal stage. All were born with powers that made them freaks and severely affected their ability to function in society. Here, they are all very much human, with the lone exception of Vigilante, who has a Healing Factor.
• Ambiguously Evil: They're definitely sketchy, but they at least claim to be well-intentioned, Felicity is able to use their resources for some good, and they have genuine grievances with A.R.G.U.S. That said, their willingness to force a quid pro quo arrangement on Felicity in return for helping her find Prometheus doesn't paint exactly a positive picture. In Season Six, they lose the ambiguity and are presented as flat-out villains.
• Deal with the Devil: Felicity enters a dubious alliance with them in Season Five to take down Prometheus. In exchange for their help, she does things like hack government drones for them.
• The Hacktivist: They are somewhat Ambiguously Evil in its early appearances, as they have genuine issues with A.R.G.U.S and Felicity was able to use some of its resources for good when working it them, until Season Six, where they decide to burn down Star City.
• In Name Only: The name is literally the only thing they have in common with the comics version of Helix.
• Knowledge Broker: They have dirt on everyone thanks to their illicit hacking of the NSA — they give a cache of it to Felicity, who quickly goes Drunk On Power with it.
• Out of Focus: After they free Cayden James, they quickly leave Star City for parts unknown...only to come back with a literal vengeance in Season Six.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: Fitting with the grounded theme of the show, this version of Helix are human hactivists rather than mutated metahumans with weird powers (except for Vigilante in Season Six).
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: They play a very similar role to Brother Eye, being a group of cyber terrorists who believe themselves to be righteous, and have dealings with Felicity Smoak.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Well, it's what they claim, but they won't look for an infamous and deranged serial killer without a quid pro quo arrangement. Thrown out the window in Season Six, where Cayden James has dedicated all of their resources to one simple and brutal goal — to burn Star City to the ground.

Alena Whitlock

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Kojo Sledgehammer

Played By: Kacey Rohl

First Appearance: "Second Chances" (Arrow 5x11)

Appearances: Arrow

A hacker and fangirl of Felicity. Later helps her building up Smoak Tech.

• Affably Evil: For an illicit hacktivist, she's very polite and friendly. Fortunately, she drops the "evil" part in Season Six.
• The Bus Came Back: In Season Six. And later in Season Seven as well, when Felicity asks her to become a part of her company.
• Fangirl: Of Felicity, or rather of her hacktivist work in college.
• Fluffy the Terrible: Her moniker — Kojo Sledgehammer — doesn't suggest a very dangerous hacker.
• Heel–Face Turn: She turns against Helix when they go from being hacktivists to would-be mass murderers.
• Nerd Glasses: Wears these much like Felicity.
• Shadow Archetype: Shows what Felicity would be like without any moral restraints, at least until Cayden James goes too far for her.
• Toxic Friend Influence: She initially leads Felicity down a very dark path due to the allure of the illegally-obtained data.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She would have been the cause of vigilantes being persecuted in 2040 due to rebuilding "Archer" against Felicity's wishes and later selling it to Galaxy One, but it's ultimately negated due to the future changing.

Sheck

Species: Human

Played By: Tobias Jelinek

First Appearance: "Reversal" (Arrow 6x4)

Appearances: Arrow

A high-ranking associate of Cayden James who rescued Black Siren on Lian Yu.

• Canon Foreigner: Like most of the members of Helix, he never existed in the comics.
• The Dragon: To Cayden James.
• Et Tu, Brute?: He's furious at being shot by Vincent and attempts a Taking You with Me, but is Killed Mid-Sentence by a second shot.
• Feet-First Introduction: When he rescued Black Siren.
• Flat Character: Apart from being loyal to Cayden James, we learn absolutely nothing about him as a character before he is killed by Vincent Sobel.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: By Vigilante, who saves Rene's life in the process.
• No Name Given: Among the production staff, he was known as "Boots", until Cayden James addressed him by name in "Divided".
• Red Herring: Initially thought to be Cayden James himself.

A team of criminal leaders recruited by Cayden James, intending for their combined forces and resources to bring down Oliver Queen. Following Cayden James' incarceration and later death, all surviving members are recruited by Ricardo Diaz into a similar faction.

• Big Bad Duumvirate: Most of them are past villains from previous in the series, with only a few who are newly introduced in Season Six.
• Co-Dragons: The members aside from James act as this with the exception of Ricardo Diaz.
• Connected All Along: They originally appeared to be several unrelated villains causing trouble for Team Arrow, but they're later revealed to all be working together, with the majority as Co-Dragons under Cayden James.
• Legion of Doom: Cayden James recruits a whole team of Star City's nastiest villains with the shared interest of getting revenge on Oliver Queen, most of whom are past villains that have appeared on Arrow before.
• Lighter and Softer: Very relatively speaking, they are this to Season Five's Big Bad, Prometheus. They're still powerful, horrible, dangerous people who have committed atrocities and are very capable of even worse, but they don't quite create the same kind of dark, oppressive atmosphere that Prometheus did, and many of them have shown some form of moral standards and restraint at least once before, while he was a monstrous and petty man to the end.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The leader of Helix, a metahuman from an Alternate Universe, a borderline psychotic Vigilante Man, the former Pakhan of the Bratva, a mysterious crime lord, and a high-ranking Helix member.
• The Smurfette Principle: Black Siren is the only female of both iterations of the group.

Cayden James' Faction

• Dwindling Party: The first one to die is Sheck, courtesy of Vigilante. The latter is then outed as a traitor and executed by Black Siren on Cayden James's orders one episode later. Cayden James himself then bites it another episode later, murdered by Ricardo Diaz. And eventually Black Siren and Anatoly leave Diaz's side after he commits acts too heinous for even them to tolerate leaving Diaz the last man standing.
• Evil Counterpart: Much like Prometheus's team in Season Five, many members are dark mirrors to members of Team Arrow in Season Six. Specifically both teams have: a hacker/Gadgeteer Genius (Cayden James to Felicity and Curtis), a canary (Black Siren to Dinah Drake), a gunslinger (Vigilante to Diggle and Rene), a martial artist (Ricardo Diaz to Oliver), and Anatoly.
• Power Copying: Early in Season Six, they steal one of Team Arrow's T-Spheres, which they reverse-engineer and use for their own combat purposes.

Ricardo Diaz's Faction

• The Cartel: They give off this vibe, especially since Diaz is hispanic.
• Superior Successor:
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The successor to Cayden James' cabal, recruiting virtually all of the surviving villains into this organization.
• True Companions: Diaz refers to his men as his brothers, family.
• We Are Everywhere: They have associates everywhere within the city.

Cayden James

Species: Human

Played By: Michael Emerson

First Appearance: "Reversal" (Arrow 6x4)

Appearances: Arrow

The mysterious founder of Helix, who's been illegally detained by A.R.G.U.S. Once he escapes, he begins to cause trouble on a massive scale.

• Affably Evil: He has a soft-spoken exterior, addresses Black Siren and Felicity politely, and when ordering his men to execute Felicity and Alena, asks them to do it "as humanely as possible".
• Alas, Poor Villain: For the majority of his appearances, he wasn't portrayed too sympathetically despite having the motive of wanting to avenge his son's death, since he decided to go about his vengeance through tormenting Star City as his Disproportionate Retribution. Towards the end, however, we find out about the inhumane treatment he was subjected to by ARGUS and in his final confrontation with Oliver, he comes to his Heel Realization that the real reason his son died was because he wasn't there for him. Once he's in captivity, he's become repentant for his misdeeds and gives up the location of his associates... only for Ricardo Diaz to show up soon after and coldly murder Cayden, who at this point is basically tied down and helpless to do anything else but sit there to be shanked by Diaz.
• And I Must Scream: ARGUS kept him locked in what was basically a shipping container with inadequate nutrition. Small wonder he snapped.
• And Starring: He's always credited as "And Michael Emerson as Cayden James".
• Arch-Enemy: Thinks of himself as one to Oliver Queen, but the latter has no idea why James bears such a hatred. It turns out in 6x07 that he believes Oliver, as the Green Arrow, killed his son.
• Ascended Extra: Goes from being a minor character to a major villain.
• Bad Boss: When Black Siren bristles at his criticism of her methods, he tells her to show some "gratitude" since without him, she would've either starved or bled to death on Lian Yu. Later, he has Vigilante killed for being a mole, threatening Black Siren to force her to kill him when she shows hesitation.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Initially serves as the main antagonist of Season Six. However, it turns out Ricardo Diaz is the Hidden Villain who killed his son and went through a great deal of trouble to make sure Cayden was convinced that Oliver was to blame. He also leaked a doctored image of Oliver as Green Arrow to the media in the season premiere, setting off Samandra Watson's investigation. When James ends up in custody, Diaz kills him and takes over as the true Big Bad.
• Catchphrase: "Savor the anticipation".
• Celebrity Paradox: Lost was explicitly mentioned during the Arrow premiere. His actor was a main cast member there (its Breakout Character even).
• Chekhov's Gunman: He first appears as the unseen character leader of Helix that Felicity helps the group rescue in exchange for helping them find Adrian Chase. He appears as the leader of the Big Bad Ensemble in season 6.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: The first major antagonist on Arrow who is not proficient in combat, though this does not make him any less dangerous. He's also the first Big Bad who's a true Canon Foreigner with no comics counterpart at all. Then it turns out he was just an Unwitting Pawn of the true Big Bad.
• The Cracker: He's a genius computer hacker who wreaks city-wide havoc.
• Create Your Own Villain: The inhumane and illegal A.R.G.U.S. detainment is what caused him to go from Hacktivist to outright global-scale terrorist. Felicity aiding Helix in releasing him is what started his reign of terror, much to her horror when she finds out.
• Creepy Monotone: He very rarely raises his voice, nor does he show much in the way of emotion at all.
• Decoy Antagonist: For a long while it looked as though he would be the Big Bad of Season Six, being The Chessmaster who played Team Arrow like puppets. Turns out he was the puppet himself and the real villain is Ricardo Diaz.
• Disappeared Dad: He had a son, but wasn't involved much in his life.
• Disc-One Final Boss: He's usurped as the main threat of Season Six after he's taken into custody, at which point Diaz shows up, reveals he was behind the whole scheme, and kills James, taking over as the true Big Bad of the season.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He blames Green Arrow for costing him his son (whom Green Arrow has never even met), so he resolves to burn Star City to the ground. It becomes a case of Misplaced Retribution when it's discovered that Oliver was in Hub City when his son was killed.
• The Dreaded: Enough that A.R.G.U.S. keeps him in an off the books black site. They don't want him to be found.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He had a son, Owen, whom he loved even if he wasn't involved in his life much. Owen's death is what drives his vendetta against Green Arrow, whom he believes is responsible. Only in "The Devil's Greatest Trick" does he learn Oliver was framed, and he is killed by the true Big Bad — Ricardo Diaz.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted; he finds Black Siren's violent methods unnecessary, but he isn't that bothered by them and he doesn't reign her in, merely expresses annoyance. Later, he even orders her to execute Vigilante for betraying them, and she, normally a bloodthirsty sociopath, shows more hesitation than he does.
• Evil Counterpart: To Felicity. Yet another evil hacker that Team Arrow goes up against, hellbent on tearing apart Star City. But in contrast to the rest, he's not a Villain of the Week that gets taken down with ease, but the very dangerous Big Bad, or rather, The Heavy for the first half of the season.
• Expy: Of previous characters Michael Emerson has played, including Benjamin Linus and Harold Finch.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears a menacing pair of specs.
• The Heavy: While he is in a Big Bad Duumvirate, he is still the leader of his cabal and the most prominent threat alongside Black Siren in Season Six. Diaz deceived him into his vendetta against Oliver, which isn't revealed until the second half of the season.
• It's Personal: According to him, Green Arrow cost him his son, which is why he is targeting Team Arrow and Star City. Team Arrow is completely baffled by this — as far as they know, his son is alive but missing, and they've never encountered him. Turns out Diaz hired an assassin to kill him and framed Oliver for it.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Goes from being a well-intentioned extremist to a homicidal maniac.
• Manipulative Bastard:
  • He plays Felicity and Aleana like a harp, predicting exactly what they do to stop him — it was all a Batman Gambit so Felicity would lower the firewall of the Internet, allowing him to upload some software and have a ready-made scapegoat in one stroke.
  • He deliberately allied himself with Black Siren, knowing that her presence throws Team Arrow off their game, since she constantly reminds them of Laurel, despite being the exact opposite of her. He also deliberately recruited Diaz, Anatoly, and Vigilante to further mess with Team Arrow.
• Non-Action Big Bad: In his partnership with Black Siren, he's the brains and she's the brawn. He later uses a reverse-engineered form of Curtis' T-Spheres to act as a defense for himself, though he himself is still far less field-capable than Mister Terrific.
• Omnicidal Maniac: After he escapes ARGUS custody, he's quite prepared to kill 3% of the world's population. That was all a front to get Felicity to take down the Internet's firewall for him; his true goal, to destroy Star City, is smaller in scale if no less murderous.
• Outliving One's Offspring: His son was killed while he was being held by ARGUS. He's been led to believe that Oliver was responsible, but it's later revealed that he's being played by Diaz.
• Outside-Context Villain: Green Arrow is completely flabbergasted why James is out for his blood. Even when James reveals he blames him for the loss of his son, it doesn't clear things up; as far as Team Arrow knows, they've never even met his son. That's because when his son was killed, Oliver was in Hub City. Diaz framed Oliver for it, knowing what James would do when he found out.
• Redemption Equals Death: After he realizes that his neglect got Owen killed, he allows himself to be taken into custody, gives up the bank where he kept the money he was exhorting and gives Oliver the most likely location of his former comrades. Then Diaz comes in and kills him, rubbing it in that he killed Owen.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Much like previous Big Bads Deathstroke and Prometheus, his campaign is motivated by vengeance at Oliver for his belief that he caused the death of a loved one. And as with Deathstroke and Shado, the truth is much murkier than he realizes.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Is very calm and detached, while being beyond scary.
• Too Clever by Half: Diaz states that this is Cayden's Fatal Flaw as a villain; he is always the smartest guy in the room and makes sure to tick everyone off into their little boxes believing that nothing can get past him. However this means he is completely blind sighted when Diaz betrays and murders him as he likely never saw past his façade as a thug for hire rather then the cunning Manipulative Bastard that Diaz really is.
• Tragic Villain: While his actions are far too heinous to be considered an Anti-Villain, he nevertheless evokes some sympathy. He used to be a hacktivist, genuinely interested in helping the people. After tampering with a corrupt pharmaceutical company, A.R.G.U.S. illegally detained him and locked him up indefinitely in utterly inhumane conditions without any trial. To top it all off, during his incarceration his son was killed by Ricardo Diaz who framed Oliver Queen for it. All of this caused something in James to snap, to the point of becoming a callous terrorist and mass murderer, hellbent on revenge for his son only to finally be killed by the very same man who cost him his boy.
• Underestimating Badassery: One weakness of his, as Ricardo Diaz put it before killing him, was that he liked to put people in boxes and imagined that he knew them inside and out. This ultimately proves to be his undoing as Diaz turned out to be far more than the run-of-the-mill crime lord Cayden thought he was and actually turned out to be The Chessmaster who killed Cayden's son, manipulated Cayden against the Green Arrow, and ultimately ended up killing Cayden himself.
• Unwitting Pawn: Diaz killed his son and framed Oliver for it, knowing that it would send Cayden into a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, and also leaked a doctored image of Oliver as Green Arrow to the media, setting the authorities on him.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He used to be one; his detention at A.R.G.U.S. turned him into something else.

See Arrowverse: A.R.G.U.S. & Task Force X page

See the Arrowverse: Black Canary page

See the Arrowverse: Criminal Groups & Organizations page

Vincent "Vinnie" Sobel

Species: Metahuman

Known Aliases: Vigilante, "Mr. Ski Goggles"

Played By: Johann Urb, Clayton Chitty (Arrow Season Five flashback only)

Voiced By: Mick Wingert

First Appearance: "Vigilante" (Arrow 5x7)

Appearances: Arrow | Invasion!^note The Flash

An active vigilante operating in Star City after Genesis Day. He has been dubbed "Mr. Ski Goggles" by Felicity Smoak, before the media officially dubs him "Vigilante". He's later revealed to be Dinah Drake's supposedly dead boyfriend, whose near death experience changed him.

• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the comics, Vigilante had no connection Black Canary. Here they are estranged lovers before both of them took on their masked personas and met each other once more.
• Adaptation Name Change: None of the Vigilantes from the comics were named Vincent Sobel. Since he is an original character, the name change may not for him.
• Adaptation Species Change: All of the Vigilantes from the comics were humans with exceptional skill, while this Vigilante is a metahuman.
• Adaptational Badass: In the comics, Vigilante is a Legacy Character with the mantle being held by multiple people, though very few of them have displayed the proficiency of this Vigilante who is constantly able to get the better of extremely skilled combatants like Team Arrow. By comparison, the only trained Vigilante was Patricia Trayce, who was Deathstroke's partner for a brief period and was trained by him.
• Adaptational Villainy: A fair bit more villainous than the usual "Adrian Chase" version of Vigilante, who for the majority of his career had a Thou Shalt Not Kill rule toward his enemies, with the unhesitation of gunning down cops and civilians only emerging very late after he had hit the Despair Event Horizon. and most certainly didn't treat the deaths of innocent civilians as "collateral damage". Zig-zagged in Season Six, where at first it seems he's gone full-blown villain with him allying with other criminals, only for it to later be revealed he's in fact pulling a Double Agent and working to take them down, as well as being a great deal more noble with him saving Rene's life at risk of blowing his cover.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: This Vigilante is not unlike Marvel's The Punisher, being a darker version of the main superhero with no qualms against killing and a preference for guns.
• Big Bad Ensemble: In Season Five with Prometheus, another masked man killing people in Star City. However, Prometheus is the primary threat, with Vigilante disappearing after losing a fight with him and another with Team Arrow late in the season. He returns to fill this role in Season Six, being unconnected to Cayden James or any of his partners in crime...until it turns out he's been in on Cayden's plan along with every other villain in the season. Then it turns out he's a Double Agent and the Token Good Teammate, for a relative value of "good".
• Black-and-White Insanity: He sees the world this way, describing the city as "out of control". He believes that vigilantes shouldn't go soft on criminals, like Team Arrow does, because they don't deserve second chances. He passes cold judgment on them, regardless of the level of crime and the circumstances for their actions, even going after Mayor Oliver Queen for one isolated incident that he labels as corruption. He also doesn't care about killing civilians who get in the way, passing it off as "collateral damage".
• Canon Character All Along: Vincent Sobel appeared to be a new character, but it turns out he's the Arrowverse version of Vigilante.
• Canon Foreigner: Despite earning the mantle of Vigilante, he was an original character created for the show and never originated from the DC comics.
• Chekhov's Gunman: In season 5, Vincent only appeared in a flashback of how Dinah got her powers, and his death is what caused her to go on Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Black Siren blasts sonic waves through his ear at point-blank range until he dies, with the implication being that it was too much damage for even his healing factor to regenerate.
• Decomposite Character: In the comics, he is the alter-ego of Adrian Chase; here, though his suit indeed takes after the comics design. However Adrian Chase turns out to be Prometheus and actually named Simon Morrison, while Vigilante is revealed to be Vincent Sobel, a former police detective.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He coldly executes criminals, regardless of the level of their crime. This becomes even more apparent when he targets Mayor Oliver Queen, labeling him as "corrupt" over one incident where he covered up the crime of fellow vigilante the Green Arrow.
• Double Agent: This is the real reason he's been working with Helix, so that he can find a way to tear them apart from the inside. Sadly, come 6x12, his ruse is discovered and he's killed by Black Siren, with Dinah watching helplessly while she's pinned under rubble.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He first appears in "Legacy", on Felicity's computer screen as one of the possible vigilante candidates for the Team Arrow recruits, before appearing in person six episodes later. This also applies to his true face, which is seen in exactly one flashback almost a full year before The Reveal in the present day.
• Empowered Badass Normal: His status as a One-Man Army comes from his training as a policeman. His survivability comes from the Healing Factor he received upon his "death", which was when the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite his Fallen Hero status, he still cares for Dinah, showing some reluctance to fight her and leaving her a matchbox with a paper rose, something he used to make for her as a memento.
• Evil Counterpart: He treads the line between this and Shadow Archetype, given his Heel–Face Revolving Door tendencies. Either way, he's one to Oliver. See Shadow Archetype below for more details.
• Evil Versus Evil: He comes to blows with Prometheus after Vigilante tries to kill Oliver.
• Expy: A crimefighting partner whose near-death experience drives him to killing criminals to prevent them from hurting more people, wears a closed helmet to protect his identity, and his new outlook drives a wedge between him and his former ally. Is that you, Jason Todd?
• Eye Scream: His left eye was damaged by the gunshot that was assumed to have killed him, and now appears to be blind.
• Fallen Hero: He used to be an honorable police detective in Central City, but after he was killed and resurrected as a metahuman, he became a borderline sociopathic Knight Templar.
• Foil: To Prometheus, with both of them being Evil Counterparts to Oliver Queen. But while Prometheus is a straight-up polar opposite to Oliver, Vigilante is a Shadow Archetype and what Oliver could have become if he strayed down a darker path as the Hood. Prometheus tries to hinder the Green Arrow's efforts to clean up the city, while Vigilante is trying to save the city in his own immoral way but crossing lines that Oliver doesn't. Furthermore, both are fond of doing Stealth Hi Byes, except Prometheus tends to use it to appear on the scene, while Vigilante uses it to vanish from the fight.
• Foreshadowing: Most of his scenes seem to set up being Adrian Chase like in the comics. The only hint during season 5 was when he saw Dinah and simply disarmed her in battle, as opposed to shooting her like Oliver and Thea.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Felicity's initially thought Vigilante was just a specialist at the Star City Trust Bank until he became something else. It turns out that he used to be Vincent Sobel, a cop from Central City who was thought to have been shot dead right in front of his partner and lover, Dinah Drake, when the particle accelerator exploded; he actually became a metahuman able to heal from almost any wound and spent the next four years engaging on a brutal mission to take down corruption.
• Goggles Do Something Unusual: He wears orange ski goggles as part of his black mask, which also function as thermal and night-vision goggles that allow him to see body heat from other criminals; useful, since his Establishing Character Moment has him shutting off the lights in a warehouse to hunt them down. It also gives him an early warning when Prometheus attacks him in "Fighting Fire With Fire".
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Under his mask, his left eye is surrounded by a nasty scar despite his Healing Factor and seems to be blind, reflecting his Fallen Hero status.
• Guns Are Worthless: Averted. He's one of the few gun wielding characters who is as proficient with guns as Team Arrow is with their weapons. He displays Improbable Aiming Skills with them, being able to shred an arrow with a bullet.
• The Gunslinger: In a show where most gun users are outshone by archers, Vigilante proves to be just as badass as Oliver using bullets alone.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: He's totally honest about joining Helix to destroy it, and he even stops killing criminals, though only because that'll get him back in Dinah's good graces. He's still totally unrepentant about his past kills — criminals and innocent people alike — or all the times he tried to kill Team Arrow before. When he and Oliver finally meet face-to-face, he sees no need to apologize and makes his contempt for Oliver quite clear.
• Head Bob: As his face is completely obscured, his head constantly bobs about in accordance with his speech.
• Healing Factor: Courtesy of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion. Sadly this doesn't save him from having his brain scrambled by a powerful sonic blast.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: He starts off as an honorable cop, but having a near-death head trauma makes him snap and he turns into a Knight Templar who coldly executes criminals. Then it seems he's gone full villainous when he allies with Cayden James, before finally he's revealed to be The Mole and one of the good guys.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: His working with Helix came as a big surprise, making it unclear just what his endgame was. However, in 6x11, "We Fall", he claims that he's been working as a Double Agent in an attempt to destroy Helix from the inside, and the next episode proves he wasn't lying.
• Hypocrite: Kills people for supposedly being corrupt or immoral, while being in league with a terrorist, a Serial Killer, a Russian mobster and a drug dealer. However, it turns out he joined them as a Double Agent to take Helix down.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: He manages to shred an arrow shot by Artemis using a bullet he fired.
• Jerkass with a Heart of Gold: He remains blunt and crude at all times, writing off the innocent people he killed as collateral damage and belittling Oliver at every opportunity. However, he shows a softer side around Dinah, and he's fairly cordial to Oliver and the rest when they work together in 6x12, though he shows no regret for his past attempts on their lives.
• Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Unlike Green Arrow, he has no faith in the courts or the police, so he's taken it upon himself to "clean up" Star City. It gains a sad twist when we learn that he's basically a burnt-out cop, as he laments how he and his former partner made no real difference, despite her insistence otherwise.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: It's revealed why he has such a rigorous sense of Black-and-White Insanity is because the incident that nearly killed him and deeply traumatized him, left him unhinged and not quite right in the head.
• Knight Templar: What makes him so dangerous — he'll kill innocent bystanders to get to his targets and write it off as "collateral damage".
• Leitmotif: His theme is reminiscent of an emergency alert. Given his true identity, this is actually quite fitting.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to Prometheus, who's a full-blown sadistic monster, Vigilante is doing what he thinks is right in his own distorted morality. Upon his unmasking in front of Dinah in Arrow 6x05, he laments that they made no real difference as cops and insists that his mission is necessary to clean up corruption.
• Made of Iron: His scenes in season five usually consist of him taking considerable punishment, but always managing to get away seemingly no worse for wear. Season six ultimately reveals he has a Healing Factor, actually making this trope a subversion.
• No Name Given: He isn't called anything but "Vigilante", though Felicity does dub him "Mr. Ski Goggles" at one point. In Episode 6x05, his real name is revealed to be Vincent Sobel, Dinah Drake's former partner and lover.
• Nominal Hero: In Season Six, he acts against Cayden James, and even allies himself with Team Arrow, but otherwise, he hasn't changed, showing no remorse for his past deeds and only showing mercy to criminals in order to get in Dinah's good graces (although she believes that she convinced him to change).
• "Not So Different" Remark: He's not unlike Oliver was back in Season One as the Hood, who had yet to adopt a Thou Shalt Not Kill policy. However, while Oliver avoided civilian casualties and only went after bad guys and their mooks, Vigilante will kill anyone who gets in his way.

• Not So Invincible After All: Despite his Healing Factor, he still dies when Black Siren blasts sonic waves through his ears at point-blank range.
• Obvious Judas: Cayden James even points out on how much a criminal-killing Vigilante stood out next to all the actual criminals in Helix and thus he more or less anticipated his betrayal.
• Out of Focus: He disappears from Season Five after Prometheus is unmasked. Word of God is that the crew weren't able to bring in the actor for his true identity, forcing them to delay the reveal in favor of focusing on Prometheus and his endgame, hoping the actor became available in Season Six. Sure enough, he returns in Episode 6x05 and unmasks himself, though he's undergone a case of The Other Darrin; not that it matters much, since the resemblance is there and he was only shown unmasked during a single flashback in Season Five.
• Red Herring: Vigilante's presence made the audience suspect that he would be the alter-ego of Adrian Chase, when in fact "Chase" was just a false name used by Simon Morrison, aka Prometheus, all along.
• Redemption Equals Death: He's killed by Black Siren while aiding Team Arrow in taking down Helix — though given he never saw the need to atone for his past crimes, it's debatable if it "redeemed" him.
• Recurring Boss: Team Arrow have tangled with him on multiple occasions, but he always manages to slip away at the last second, allowing him to return and cause trouble for them again.
• The Reveal: Episode 6x05 reveals his true identity: Vincent Sobel, the former partner and lover of Dinah Drake.
• The Mole: After being revealed to be allied with the bad guys, it turns out he is actually attempting to undermine them from the inside and secretly helps New Team Arrow out.
• Senseless Sacrifice: He spent months infiltrating and ingratiating himself within Helix trying to bring them down from the inside, but once Cayden completes his thermonuclear bomb and holds the city hostage with it, Vince risks blowing his cover to help Team Arrow locate it and save hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. His efforts ultimately help Oliver and company locate the bomb, but also cost him his cover and he is tortured by Cayden and Black Siren. Instead of trying to finish Vince's mission and secure the bomb, Dinah, Rene, and Curtis choose to rescue him, thereby dividing the team's manpower and leaving Oliver and John overwhelmed by Anatoly Knyazev and Ricardo Diaz's men guarding the bomb, allowing them to safely escape and relocate the bomb, while Vince is still killed by Black Siren. In the end, Cayden and his associates still have their bomb to threaten the city, and the good guys are back at square one without a man on the inside.
• Serial-Killer Killer: He's a dangerous vigilante who goes about hunting criminals, which ranges from murderers and pedophiles, but also to lesser crimes like corrupt politicians.
• Shadow Archetype:
  • To Oliver. Vigilante represents the ruthless killer that Oliver is scared of becoming, or rather the one he used to be given the lack of a Thou Shalt Not Kill rule. Aside from both being vigilantes, they both have a tendency to shut off lights and both have extreme disappearing abilities. Ironically, Vigilante sees Green Arrow as an incompetent version of himself, who is too soft for the job and incapable of doing what is necessary.
  • To Rene. Both of them end up as new vigilantes operating in Star City, inspired to take up arms after the defeat of Damien Darhk. Both of them wear masks and primarily fight with guns. Both also tend to be a bit reckless and butt heads with Oliver. The difference are that Rene lost his wife to crime, while is a father who is trying to keep the city safe for his daughter. Vigilante himself almost died and its his lover who thought he was dead. In addition, as irresponsible as Rene is he can still be reasoned with, while Vigilante is out-of-control and can be just as a threat as the criminals he hunts.
  • He's also one to Dinah Drake. Both were formerly cops who became vigilantes after being given metahuman powers, but Dinah retains her standards and is willing to reform, while Vigilante is hellbent on carrying out his extreme justice and disregards civilian lives. He does eventually show some restraint, turning the criminals he apprehends over to the police out of respect for her morals.
• Shoot the Bullet: He can shred mid-flight arrows using bullets.
• Stealth Expert: Vigilante has pulled off some borderline impossible disappearing acts, managing to consistently escape from Team Arrow, and even giving Prometheus the slip after their fight.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Vigilante has this as one of his trademark moves. He will vanish without a trace from a fight as soon as the heroes turn away for a second. This makes it very difficult to keep up with him. He has also pulled off the most impressive disappearing feat in the entire franchise; having been entangled by one of Green Arrow's bola trick arrows and restrained to a pole, all it takes is for a flashbang rigged to his mask as a distraction, and he vanishes while tied to the pole!
• Stealth Pun: His name is this. "Vince Sobel" sounds an awful lot like the word "vincible", a word that is most often used in reference to its antonym, "invincible", which alludes to the character's Healing Factor (which doubles as Foreshadowing, given that Vince is introduced before it's established he and this implacable Vigilante Man are revealed to be one and the same). Ultimately, in the end, he does turn out to be vincible.
• Strong and Skilled: Vigilante is an incredibly formidable opponent, with hand-to-hand combat skills able to rival Oliver and Prometheus, while being The Gunslinger who has Improbable Aiming Skills. However in Season Six it's revealed he doesn't operate on skill alone, as he's actually a metahuman with a Healing Factor that lets him survive his most brutal injuries.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Season Six has him becoming one to Savitar from The Flash. Much like him, Vincent is a dangerous metahuman and a Fallen Hero with facial burns and a discolored eye.
• Taking the Bullet: Jumps in the way of a bullet meant for Dinah, revealing his Healing Factor in the process when he survives the head shot.
• 'Tis Only a Bullet in the Brain: His debut appearance in a flashback has him getting shot point blank in the head. However as he had just been hit by dark matter seconds ago, he ended up developing a Healing Factor that allowed him to survive said injury. Although this is the one Wound That Will Not Heal and leaves him facially disfigured.
• Vigilante Man: He's a costumed individual operating outside the law who kills criminals he apprehends. There's a reason why his comics counterpart is the trope image.
• Walking Armory: He has carried a large assortment of guns, from machine guns to automatic handguns, bazookas, and sniper rifles.
• Walking Spoiler: When his identity was first revealed, as a) he made multiple appearances without it being known and b) was presumed dead.
• Wild Card: It's not clear at first if he is really a Double Agent trying to take Cayden James down, or if it is yet another ruse. By the end of his final episode, it's clear that he was sincere.
• With Us or Against Us: Tells this to Team Arrow in an early encounter.

Alex Faust

Species: Human

Played By: Dominic Bogart

First Appearance: "Fallout" (Arrow 6x1)

Appearances: Arrow

A terrorist and associate of Black Siren.

• Adaptational Distillation: He actually appeared in the tie-in novel Arrow: Fatal Legacies prior to appearing on the show, where he was a much more complex and competent, being a Legacy Character to Adrian Chase and was Crazy-Prepared with plans to take down multiple members of Team Arrow. The show reduced him to Black Siren's sidekick and is for the most a Flat Character.
• Canon Foreigner: Has no comics counterpart.
• Canon Immigrant: He actually debuted in the Arrow tie-in novel Fatal Legacies, before getting introduced onto the show proper, making him the first expanded universe character to get this honor.
• Cop Killer: Helps shooting and blowing up an entire precinct.
• Dirty Coward: As soon as the odds are against him, he runs away like a scared rabbit.
• Flat Character: He likes to blow things up, he's a Dirty Coward, and... that's pretty much all there is to his character.
• Giggling Villain: Has way too much fun watching things explode.
• Hollywood Healing: Averted, as his arm is still in a bandage after two episodes of being shot by Oliver.
• Mad Bomber: Blackmailed the city with a missile strike and even had C4 in one of his teeth to escape imprisonment.
• Messy Hair: Has long unkempt locks that dangle beside his head.
• Number Two: To Black Siren.
• One-Steve Limit: He's not the first character with the surname Faust to show up in the Arrowverse, with Felix Faust being a villain on Constantine.

See the Arrowverse: Star City - Citizens page

See the Arrowverse: Star City - Citizens page

See the Arrowverse: Star City - Independent Criminals page

Species: Human

Derek Reston (King) Played By: Currie Graham

Mrs. Reston (Queen) Played By: Sarah-Jane Redmond

Kyle Reston (Ace) Played By: Kyle Schmid

Teddy Reston (Jack) Played By: Tom Stevens

First Appearance: "Legacies" (Arrow 1x6)

Appearances: Arrow | The Flash

After Derek Reston lost his job when Robert Queen moved his industrial factory to China, he and his family turned to a life of crime robbing banks as the Royal Flush Gang.

• Adaptational Villainy: The Derek Reston of the comics was mind controlled into building the Ace android. Here, he's an actual member of the Gang.
• Adaptational Wimp: In the comics the Royal Flush Gang are a team of supervillains with a variety of colorful superpowers and/or gadgets, and necessitate the involvement of the Justice League. This version of the Royal Flush Gang got reduced to being a gang of bank robbers and are only a Villain of the Week for Oliver Queen in his first year as a vigilante.
• Adapted Out: Unlike the comics (and despite the Meaningful Name), there is no Ten of Spades in the group at any point.
• Ambiguous Situation: It is unclear if the motorbike riding Royal Flush Gang that showed up in a Cold Open of The Flash are the same characters or different individuals using the same gimmick.
• Anti-Villain: They were driven to rob banks after Derek was laid off from a Queen Industries plant with no pension or severance, causing them to lose their home. Up until their appearance in Arrow, they still made sure no one was harmed in their robberies.
• Bit-Part Bad Guys: Their appearance on The Flash reduces them to this, where they get defeated in the Cold Open before the real plot of the episode has even begun.
• Composite Character: The comic Derek Reston's only ties to the Gang was that he was mind controlled and forced to build the Ace android during it. Here, he's King.
• Cool Bike: The three use BMX bikes to make their escape, and they almost would have made it were they not facing a hero with Super-Speed.
• Demoted to Extra: They're the Villain of the Week in their tenure in Arrow. In The Flash, the titular hero dispatches them in the Cold Open.
• Determinator: Kyle/The Ace of Spades was able to take an arrow to his chest (without padding), break it, and keep going to fight Oliver.
• Disappeared Dad: The father, the previous King, was killed when he took the bullet for his eldest son.
• The Family That Slays Together: Or rather The Family That Robs Banks Together. They're criminals but a close family.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: King is Melancholic, Ace is Choleric, Jack is Phlegmatic and Queen is Leukine.
• It's All My Fault: In King's Last Words, he blames himself for turning his family, especially his eldest son, into criminals.
• Just a Gangster: Happens with both Kyle and Derek. Kyle insists on going on one last heist to fulfill their original goal when Derek points out that they still enough money to try to settle down elsewhere. Derek himself ends up refusing an honest job from Oliver in exchange for breaking up the gang, not wanting to have any more association with the Queen family.
• Last-Second Chance: Oliver offers Derek a job to give him a chance to walk away in order to try and make up for his father's misdeeds, but Derek ultimately caves to Kyle's protests and refuses out of loyalty to his family.
• Legacy Character: The previous King of Spades, Derek, was killed during a heist in Star(ling) City. Since the Gang appear with a King but without an Ace, it's clear that the previous Ace (Kyle) took on the position.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Kyle (The Ace of Spades) starts carrying one once he knows the Vigilante is hunting him.
• Malevolent Masked Men: To hide their identities, they wear masks.
• Neutral Female: Queen's part in the group doesn't involve direct activity. Instead, she's a fake hostage.
• No Name Given: For Mrs. Reston, the Queen of Spades.
• One Last Job: They have a villainous version in going on one last heist to secure enough money.
• Psycho Party Member: Kyle/Ace of Spades.
• Redemption Rejection: Derek is offered a chance to walk away and a job, but turns it down.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: In the comics, the Royal Flush Gang are Justice League villains. This incarnation goes up against Green Arrow and then later The Flash.
• The Smurfette Principle: Mrs. Reston/Queen of Spades is the only female member of the group/family.
• Taking the Bullet: Derek/The King of Spades, an Anti-Villain, ultimately dies by taking a shotgun blast meant for Kyle/Ace.
• Thou Shall Not Kill: King and Queen tries to enforce this to their sons. Unfortunately, Ace is more pragmatic and willing to compromise.
• Villain's Dying Grace: King dies by Taking the Bullet for Ace and admits to The Hood that it's his fault for turning his son into a criminal.

• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Frank had Helena's fiancé killed, who was The Mole of the FBI. When Helena found out about this she's pissed and relentlessly pursued the ones responsible, including her own father. This destroyed the family's standing in the criminal hierarchy.
• Divided We Fall: As mentioned above, Frank's reign destroyed the family's standing thanks to his rift with his daughter.
• The Mafia: They are a stereotypical Italian-American crime syndicate.

Frank Bertinelli

Species: Human

Played By: Jeffrey Nordling

First Appearance: "Muse of Fire" (Arrow 1x7)

Appearances: Arrow

A prominent crime boss in Starling City and father of Helena.

• Adaptational Villainy: Traditionally, his death (along with the rest of his family) is what drives Helena into becoming The Huntress. Here, Helena wants to kill him herself.
• Adaptation Name Change: Helena's father and the head of the fallen Bertinelli family in the comics is either named Guido (Huntress series) or the similarly named Franco (Cry For Blood).
• Affably Evil: He first appears to be a typical Bitch in Sheep's Clothing but he's eventually revealed to be very sadistic.
• Archnemesis Dad: Eventually becomes this to Helena.
• Celebrity Paradox: Sex and the City was mentioned during The Flash (2014) Season 5. His actor played a Guy of the Week there for one of the show's Four-Girl Ensemble.
• Composite Character: Seems to be a combination of the fallen head of the Bertinelli family and Santo Cassamento, Helena's biological father and Archnemesis Dad.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: He was unceremoniously killed in a gun fight, much to Helena's dismay.
• A Father to His Men: If his men shows him Undying Loyalty, he will treat them as family.
• The Mafiya: He leads one.
• Open-Minded Parent: He is, though he and his daughter have a very complicated relationship.
• Related in the Adaptation: Played with. In the comics, the head of the Bertinelli family is revealed not to be Helena's biological father, but he raised her anyway. As far as we know, they're biologically related here.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Traditionally, he's a Posthumous Character that was part of Helena's Death by Origin Story into becoming The Huntress. Here, he lived long enough to see become The Huntress before dying at the third quarter of Season 2.

Helena Bertinelli

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Huntress

Played By: Jessica De Gouw

First Appearance: "Muse of Fire" (Arrow 1x7)

Appearances: Arrow

Daughter of crime boss Frank Bertinelli, Helena began a murderous crusade against her father's criminal empire after he had her fiancé murdered for planning to turn evidence over to the police, which had actually been Helena's plan. After a temporary alliance with Oliver, who tried to make her a less brutal and murderous vigilante, she fled Starling City once her identity was exposed and her father escaped custody and disappeared.

• Adaptational Modesty: Her Huntress costume covers a lot of her body compared to the Jim Lee comicbook version of her costume. This is hilariously lampshaded when she posed as a stripper wearing the Lee costume from the comics.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, she's a dark antihero at the very worst (this varies depending on the continuity) and never a full-fledged villain, though she's still willing to use lethal force unlike most DCU heroes. Here, she's even more ruthless, killing innocent people and being willing to attack Oliver's loved ones in pursuit of her vendetta. When she returns in season two, however, the end of her episode implies she will atone for her past actions after her father had been killed by accident and not by her hands. Interestingly, the season two finale indicates that Oliver still thinks of her as a friend.
• All for Nothing: All she does in the name of getting revenge on her father, and he's randomly killed before she can finish the job.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She possesses an aloof, even icy demeanor.
• Antagonistic Offspring: Eventually to Frank.
• Anti-Villain: She wants her father, a mobster who had her fiancé murdered, to die. But her methods of getting it — killing everyone in her path, including cops — are not remotely acceptable.
• Appropriated Appellation: Quentin comes up with her nickname as a sarcastic barb, but she ends up liking it enough to use it later on.
• Arrow Catch: She manages to pull this off in "The Huntress Returns" after studying the move.
• Ax-Crazy: Borderline. She takes a bit too much pleasure in the thought of making her father suffer.
• Badass Longcoat: Her Huntress costume sports these.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Despite engaging in fierce bouts of hand-to-hand combat, Helena is never shown to suffer bruises, scrapes, swelling, or any other damage as a result.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Her feud with her father.
• Broken Bird: Her fiance was killed because he was mistaken for an FBI informant. In reality, she was the informant.
• Celebrity Resemblance: Diggle even points out that she looks remarkably like the T-Mobile Girl.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She was a recurring character in the first two seasons, with her final appearance in season two hinting that she could potentially redeem herself and become a hero one day. However, she never makes another appearance in the show after that. She only returned for Arrow Season 2.5.
• Clark Kenting: She's worse than Oliver with this, as her outfit doesn't even include any headgear. Not that she cares.
• Color Motif: She's heavily associated with purple.
• Crazy-Prepared: She was taught by her father to prepare for anything, and even when she's caught off guard by a trap, she had taken the liberty of filling the room with her own mooks
• Create Your Own Villain: Oliver blames himself for creating the Huntress.
  Oliver: "I failed the Helena, I created the Huntress."
• Creepy Crosses: She's a villainess with a lot of cross motifs.
• Dating Catwoman: Briefly romances Oliver. Granted at that point Oliver thought he could save her from villainy, and Oliver wasn't very heroic himself at that point. Even after they break up, Oliver shows a marked reluctance to kill her when (as the other members of Team Arrow point out) he would do so if she was any other criminal, implying that he still has strong feelings for her.
• Dark Action Girl: By her third guest spot on the show, when the two previous ones were her developing into becoming one.
• Distaff Counterpart: Of the Hood, effectively. A lot of her first episode is highlighting how alike they are.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: See Aloof Dark-Haired Girl.
• Freudian Excuse: Her fiancé's murder sent her over the edge in a big way.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Introduced wearing a purple dress.
• Heel–Face Turn: Her remorse in her last appearance and her eventual adoption of Bianca Bertinelli seem to indicate that she would become an atoner.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: As part of her "costume". Justified, as her "costume" is basically her motorcycle leathers and she isn't particularly interested in being a symbol like Oliver.
• Hypocrite: She gets angry at Oliver for still having feelings for Laurel, yet almost immediately after that she goes back to her crusade to avenge her fiancé's murder.
• Ignored Epiphany: Oliver tries to show her how to accomplish her mission without killing people. It doesn't take.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Her original M.O. was drive-by shootings, which caused her to wound innocent bystanders. She wasn't much better with bows and arrows but does quite well with her crossbow.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: As of "The Huntress Returns", she's taken to torturing Oliver's friends and threatening his family to try to force him to help her kill her father. She also kills numerous cops.
• Knight Templar: Her father is evil. Her father must suffer and die. What do you mean, further moral considerations?
• The Lost Lenore: She's deeply affected by her fiancé's murder.
• Mafia Princess: The daughter of the head of the Bertinelli crime family.
• Meaningful Echo: Much like Oliver, her first real appearance occurs as a result of a family member having her and a friend abducted. Likewise, the encounter ends with all kidnappers dead, the last one with a Neck Snap and the words "No-one can know my secret."
• Ms. Fanservice: Especially in the opener to "The Huntress Returns", where she pretends to be a stripper in order to get at her father's lawyer.
• My Greatest Failure: Zig-zagged. She originally thought her fiancé, Michael Staton, was killed because her father was just that brand of evil. Then it's reveals that he was killed because he was an informant for the FBI. Then she realizes they killed the wrong person — she was the informant.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Being a member of the Birds of Prey is referenced with the episode of the same name, but aside from Huntress, Canary, and Laurel Lance appearing together, there is nothing about their team being featured.
  • When she poses as a stripper in "The Huntress Returns", she's wearing her costume from the comics. When departing the scene on the same episode, she dons the Badass Longcoat from Birds of Prey (2002).
• "Not So Different" Remark: She says as much to the Hood when he appears out of costume in her apartment. He only really disagrees on her motivation and her eagerness to kill.
• Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Lampshaded by Diggle in "The Huntress Returns", and repeated by Felicity in the same episode.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: She was trained by Oliver, who'd hoped to turn her into a partner. However, her focus on revenge and eagerness to kill drove them apart.
• Purple Is Powerful: Specifically asked Oliver to put purple in her costume.
• Pygmalion Snap Back: What happens despite Oliver's best efforts.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Pale skin, dark hair and undeniably beautiful.
• Related in the Adaptation: Played with. In the comics, the head of the Bertinelli family is revealed not to be her biological father, but he raised her anyway. As far as we know, they're biologically related here.
• Revenge: Her primary motivation is that the mob killed her fiancé.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Huntress generally isn't a villain at all, but when she strays into grey area, she's usually associated with Batman or Black Canary.
• Samus Is a Girl: Initially seen only in a motorcycle jumpsuit and helmet.
• Secret-Keeper: Creating dramatic tension when she turns against Oliver, as she doesn't hesitate to threaten to reveal it if Oliver gets in her way. When she does have a chance to reveal the Hood's indentity to the police however, she disguises it as a sardonic taunt to they won't believe her.
• Secret Identity: She maintains one ruthlessly. She also wears a biker helmet and outfit as a disguise, at least initially.
• Shadow Archetype: To Oliver, going down a very similar dark vigilante path, but unlike him made no attempts to restrain herself and instead embraced the darkness that was consuming her.
• She Who Fights Monsters: Despite only going after the mafia so far... well, let's just say there's a reason this entry is under the Villains heading.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only known female Bertinelli to date.
• Statuesque Stunner: She stands 5'8.
• Stripperific: Parodied. In one scene, she goes undercover as a stripper... wearing her costume from the comics.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: She's 5'8, which is tall for a woman. And she's very, very blunt.
• Took a Level in Badass: In her first couple of episodes, she was a normal woman with a gun and a vendetta. By the time of "The Huntress Returns," she could pull off an Arrow Catch. By the time of "Birds of Prey," she was more or less a match for the Canary in hand-to-hand combat. The tie-in comics reveal that after she left Starling City, she went to train with a secret order of assassins in Sicily.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Was not pleased when somebody else killed her father.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: Even though her father didn't die by her hand, his death didn't make her feel any better.
• Villainous Breakdown: Of the calm variety, in "Birds of Prey". After her father is accidentally killed in the crossfire while she's fighting the Canary, the realization that she'll never get to finish her revenge causes her to submit to being arrested.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Though not so much woobie after "The Huntress Returns", when she really crosses the line. Cemented with her breakdown in "Birds of Prey". It isn't hard to feel for her as she breaks down after her father's death and her resulting arrest.
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: To Oliver in "The Huntress Returns". She's wrong, but fortunately for her, she can pull off an Arrow Catch. On the other hand Oliver is called out more than once by Diggle and later Sara on his reluctance to kill Helena—in the end Oliver has to admit that he simply can't bring himself to kill her.

Pino Bertinelli

Species: Human

Played By: Vince Murdocco

First Appearance: "Legacy" (Arrow 5x1)

Appearances: Arrow

A member of the Bertinelle family, whose exact relation to Helena and her father is unknown. He takes over the family after Frank Bertinelli's death.

• All There in the Script: Pino is only named in the credits of the sole episode he appears in, and is only referred to as Mr. Bertinelli in the episode.
• Bodyguard Betrayal: Gets shot In the Back by one of his own men who was on Church's payroll.
• Remember the New Guy?: Apparently, Pino had taken over the Bertinelli crime family and their operations, all while not being a big blimp on the Green Arrow's radar.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Has barely a few minutes of screentime before being killed under Tobias Church's orders.

Jerry Bertinelli

Species: Human

Played By: Louis Ferreira

First Appearance: "Divided" (Arrow 6x10)

Appearances: Arrow

Helena's cousin and the last active member of the family, who desperately tries to hold together what little of the Bertinelli's power remains.

• Affably Evil: Acts in a very charming and well-mannered way, even towards his enemies.
• Anti-Villain: By far the most sympathetic member of his family. He never wanted the life of a gangster, but was pressured into it by his family.
• Boom, Headshot!: How he ends up, courtesy of Ricardo Diaz. With an MP, no less.
• Dead Guy on Display: It isn't seen, but Black Siren plans doing this to him in order to make an example.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has a pretty sharp tongue.
• Enemy Mine: Teams up with the Green Arrow in order to stop Cayden James. Unfortunately, nothing comes of it, with him and all of his men ending up dead.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Has a daughter he loves deeply. She is the reason he complies to Cayden James' demands in the first place.
• Last of His Kind: Cayden James even calls him that, since the rest of his relatives were all killed or incarcerated.
• Nerves of Steel: Is always calm and collected, even when surrounded by enemies.
• Nothing Personal: When he is forced by Cayden James to turn on Oliver, he even apologizes to the latter.
• Not What I Signed on For: After most of his men are dead and Oliver gets subdued by Vigilante, he and his remaining men try to get out of this (how he puts it) freak show, only to be stopped by Cayden James.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Never shows any signs of sadism or other negative traits, instead being motivated by loyalty to his family and the trying to keep his daughter safe.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He is not afraid to face danger himself alongside his men, and he survives longer than any of them.

• The Cartel: They produce and sell Vertigo, which is a strong drug.
• Drugs Are Bad: Vertigo is depicted as being unambiguously harmful. Recreational doses cause erratic highs and addiction, while in its pure form it induces excruciating pain that tends to lead victims to take their own life. The first Count boasts that 56 lives were lost in the creation of the narcotic.
• Fantastic Drug: Grants users a high at the cost of disorienting them with a dizzy spell.
• Legacy Character: As Werner Zertle tells Oliver, there will always be someone to pick up the mantle of manufacturing the deadly narcotic.
• Mind Rape: Their M.O. using the Vertigo drug on their victims to make them suffer.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: The "vertigo effect" power Count Vertigo had in the comics is instead turned into a drug that they administer into their victims.

Cecil Adams

Species: Human

Known Aliases: The Count, Count Vertigo I

Played By: Seth Gabel

First Appearance: "Vertigo" (Arrow 1x12)

Appearances: Arrow

A psychotic drug dealer who invented Vertigo, a new deadly and potent narcotic sweeping through the streets of Starling City.

• Abled in the Adaptation: While he does come across as psychotic, he doesn't have the comic Count Vertigo's manic-depressive disorder.
• Adaptational Distillation: His complex comic backstory of being an heir to a royal family has been replaced with simply being a local druglord.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Count Vertigo is usually blonde. Here, he's brunette.
• Adaptation Name Change: From Werner Vertigo to Cecil Adams, with "Vertigo" simply being his alias. Subverted as Werner ended showing up as the second Count Vertigo.
• Adaptational Nationality: In the comics he is a native of Vlatava, a fictional European country that got taken over by Soviets. Here he seems to be American.
• Adaptational Villainy: His sympathetic traits are completely removed.
• Adaptational Wimp: His comic counterpart is an exceptional fighter, a Manipulative Bastard, as well as having his trademark "Vertigo Effect" powers which induce dizziness in victims. This version of Count Vertigo is a Non-Action Big Bad who can't even last a minute against Oliver in a straight fight and is nothing more than a recurring Villain of the Week.
• Adapted Out: No signs of his "Vertigo Effect" powers, with "Vertigo" instead being a drug that he manufactured.
• Age Lift: The Count is usually portrayed as an evil middle-aged man. Here, he's in his 30s based on the actor's age.
• The Aggressive Drug Dealer: In his final appearance, he secretly addicts hundreds of citizens, then broadcasts that the only cure from the pain of the agonising withdrawal symptoms is to buy Vertigo.
• And Starring: Always receives an "And" billing in the guest star lineup.
• Ax-Crazy: When he realizes that the Arrow has adopted a Thou Shalt Not Kill policy, he remarks that "You're missing out on one of life's great pleasures."
• Badass Longcoat: Most of his outfits.
• Bad Boss: In his Establishing Character Moment, he murders one of his dealers just for giving up his name, even though the police have known it for months.
• Deadpan Snarker: When Oliver asks what he wants.
  The Count: "World peace... and personal satisfaction. Though not necessarily in that order."
• Death by Secret Identity: He deduces the Arrow's identity after Felicity investigates him and he remembers Oliver posing as a Vertigo buyer. One phone call to Oliver warning him that he holds Felicity hostage later, he ends up with three arrows in the torso and a ticket for Destination Defenestration.
• Decomposite Character: His Vertigo powers were ultimately given to Sean Sonus, who also had a conflict with Black Canary like the comics Count Vertigo.
• Disney Villain Death: If Oliver's arrows didn't kill him, falling from the top floor of Queen Consolidated certainly did.
• Driven to Madness: How he's defeated in Season One. He gets better by the time of the Undertaking, and fully returns in Season Two.
• Expy: Seth Gabel, his actor, admits that his performance was based on Heath Ledger's Joker, and with his psychotic personality it's easy to see. A further allusion is being immune to his pen drug, given he recovered from Oliver overdosing him.
• Evil Is Hammy: One of the hammiest villains in the Arrowverse, only overtaken by the likes of Captain Cold and the Trickster.
• Fantastic Drug: Invented one called Vertigo.
• Faux Affably Evil: He can be surprisingly polite when doing business with clients. Of course it's all an act.
• For the Evulz: Likes to inflict pain on his victims by injecting pure Vertigo into their bloodstreams, which affects the thalamus and makes them feel like their entire body is wracked with pain. Then he hands them a gun with one bullet:
  The Count: One bullet in the chamber. Who are you gonna kill? You... or me?
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Oliver defeats him in Season One by injecting him with a large dose of his own drug.
• Improbable Weapon User: He carries a double-needle syringe that he can use to forcibly inject pure vertigo into his foes—it's the vampire-like puncture marks that earned him the name "The Count". On the other hand, he also uses a more conventional snubnose revolver.
• In Name Only: The only semblance he has to his comics counterpart is his title and the effect of his Vertigo narcotic on victims. Nothing else remotely resembles the comics Count Vertigo.
• Killed Off for Real: In Episode Seven of Season Two, from three arrows to the chest and a fall out of a very high window onto a car. This guy's not coming back.
• Leitmotif: "The Count".
• Mad Scientist: His experiments to create Vertigo killed 56 people, mostly hookers and the homeless. He views this as a measure of its value, comparing it to a wine's value being measured by its age.
• Named by the Adaptation: The original Count Vertigo's first name wasn't known, although Vertigo was his surname. Here, his full name is revealed to be Cecil Adams.
• No Name Given: He's only ever referred to as The Count or Count Vertigo. His real name is finally revealed, two and a half seasons after his death, to be Cecil Adams.
• Obfuscating Insanity: Subverted. At the beginning of "Unfinished Business", he appears to break out of the mental institution where he was being held. Then it seems that he may have faked his escape. Upon investigation, it turns out that his escape was entirely faked by the doctors to divert suspicion away from themselves. The Count is really just insane. However, he gets better in Season Two.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: His Vertigo powers from the comics were instead made into a drug he administers into others.
• Pure Is Not Good: Pure vertigo can completely disorient a given opponent, and by injecting it into the thalamus region of the brain he can inflict unbearable pain upon people.
• Sadistic Choice: He injects test subjects with Vertigo, and gives them a pistol with one bullet. They can choose to kill him or themselves. Everyone takes the suicide option.
• Shout-Out: His real name, Cecil Adams, was the name of one of John Kramer's apprentices in the Saw films.
• The Sociopath: All in all, he's a dick with no regard to the feelings of others and a guy who gets a rush from killing.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Quentin is disgusted by Oliver's decision to inject him with so much Vertigo he goes insane.
• Villainous Friendship: With The Dollmaker.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Speaks in an almost Transylvanian accent to go with his vampire gimmick.
• You Have Failed Me: Injects mooks that have failed him with Vertigo.

Werner Zytle

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Count Vertigo II

Played by: Peter Stormare

First Appearance: "The Calm" (Arrow 3x1)

Appearances: Arrow

The second Count, who gathered a band of criminals in the wake of the Arrow's cleaning up of Starling's criminal network. He tinkered with the original Count's Vertigo formula to make it even more potent and dangerous.

• Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, Werner Zytle had a Dark and Troubled Past that led him to villainy. Here, he is rather gleeful over his status as a crime boss and the new Count Vertigo.
• Adaptational Wimp: While more formidable than the first Count, he's still not up to his comics counterpart's threat level who had genuine superpowers, while Werner is ultimately a Badass Normal.
• Age Lift: Is considerably older than his comic counterpart.
• Ax-Crazy: His Establishing Character Moment has him taking over leadership of his gang by stabbing a fellow criminal in the neck with a Vertigo dart, tormenting him for a bit, then stabbing him more fatally, followed up with a vow to kill the Arrow. Quentin Lance even calls him "a real nutbar".
• Beard of Evil: He's actually rather similar in appearance to Barton Mathis/the Dollmaker, sans the glasses.
• Breaking Speech: He declares that there will always be another Count to take his place when Oliver captures him.
• Celebrity Paradox: An episode of The Flash mentions Jurassic Park. While it wasn't stated which specific film, Peter Stormare was on The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Quentin Lance calls him a "nut bar".
• Composite Character: Of the New 52 Count Vertigo and Scarecrow, with his version of Vertigo acting more like Fear Gas.
• Crazy-Prepared: In his first appearance, he had some shades of this but by his second, he manages to escape from custody by endangering a reporter's family, who blows himself up in order to kill the Arrow, and later, Zytle tries to do the same with hostages he had been using to create Vertigo to escape from the Arrow and also him as well.
• Cultured Badass: He recites lines from classical literature and has appreciation for classical music.
• Dark Is Evil: Often appears in lol-lit areas at night.
• Double Tap: One dart from him can force a person to undergo the effects of vertigo. A second dart can kill them.
• Evil Old Folks: An aging crime boss who can weaponize vertigo.
• Faux Affably Evil: Despite being a total sadist and as ruthless as his predecessor, Zytle is a cultured and polite individual, though it's mostly an act.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: He uses a simple bare-knuckle fighting style, although he also uses throwing darts filled with vertigo.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He used to be just a pill pusher. Now, he's Count Vertigo.
• I Know What You Fear: He tinkered with the original formula of Vertigo so that the person drugged sees their greatest fear.
• Legacy Character: For the original Count. Zytle tells Oliver there will always be someone to pick up the mantle of creator of the narcotic.
• Leitmotif: He's constantly heard whistling "In the Hall of the Mountain King".
• Minored in Ass-Kicking: He's a minor crimelord and a skilled chemist, who also happens to be good enough of a hand-to-hand fighter to hold his own against seasoned martial artists like Oliver for a great deal of time.
• No Kill like Overkill: He tries to kill Oliver by blowing up the restaurant he was in with a bazooka. He subsequently attempts to kill the remaining gang leaders of Starling City by blowing up the entire stadium they were in.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Werner does not mess around. When he tries to kill the Arrow, he does so with an RPG. When confronting the Arrow, he sneaks up on him, disorients him with a forced drug dosage, and then goes straight for knockout attacks. When trying to eliminate rival mob bosses, he does so with a huge stinkin' bomb on a timer that barely allows him and his goons to get to safety.
• Supernatural Fear Inducer: He modified the Veritgo so that his version also served as a hallucinogen that makes people see their greatest fear.
• Villain Ball: His usual No-Nonsense Nemesis act goes out the window a bit when he's fighting Laurel. Granted, she was a rookie and he had a bit of leeway, but it ended up costing him.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Seems to be a mix of German and Russian.

• Adaptational Villainy: They are a heroic group in the comic books. Here, they're mercenaries.
• Didn't Think This Through: Knox and Gaynor give Diggle a Grenade Launcher as part of the heist, but never stopped to think of the possibility of him using it against them.
• From Camouflage to Criminal: Ted Gaynor and Paul Knox fought with Diggle in Afghanistan, with Gaynor being Diggle's commanding officer while Knox was a marine.
• Karmic Thief: They steal from banks of companies owned by who they believe are Upper Class Twits.
• Private Military Contractors: They're mercenaries mostly composed of veterans.

Ted Gaynor

Species: Human

Played By: Ben Browder

First Appearance: "Trust But Verify" (Arrow 1x11)

Appearances: Arrow

A former colonel in the United States Army and the founder of Blackhawk Squad Protection Group. He was Diggle and Lyla's commanding officer during their first tour.

• Broken Pedestal: Being Diggle's commanding officer, it took a while for him to see his true colors.
• Colonel Badass: At least during his time in Afghanistan.
• Evil Former Friend: Doubling as Treacherous Advisor for Diggle.
• I Have Your Wife: He coerced Diggle into working for his group by kidnapping Carly as hostage and threatening to do the same to A.J.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: He was originally a Blackhawk Squad villain instead of a Green Arrow villain.
• Treacherous Advisor: He was Diggle's former commanding officer prior to becoming a mercenary.

Paul Knox

Species: Human

Played By: Colin Lawrence

First Appearance: "Trust But Verify" (Arrow 1x11)

Appearances: Arrow

A member of the Blackhawk Squad Protection Group, and a former marine who fought with John Diggle and Ted Gaynor in Afghanistan.

• Bald of Evil: Has a shaved head and is an antagonist.
• The Dragon: He is essentially Gaynor's right-hand man.
• Neck Snap: How Oliver kills him.
• The Quiet One: He doesn't say much.
• Scary Black Man: He has a very gruff demeanor.
• Semper Fi: He was a member of the USMC.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: He and Diggle never got along even during in their time in Afghanistan.

Cavanaugh

Species: Human

Played By: Jae Lee

First Appearance: "Trust But Verify" (Arrow 1x11)

Appearances: Arrow

A member of the Blackhawk Squad Protection Group.

• Karmic Death: Killed by the brother-in-law/lover of the woman he kidnaps.
• Only One Name: Only addressed as Cavanaugh.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Diggle kills him by blasting him with a Grenade Launcher.
• Would Hit a Girl: It is he who executed Gaynor's order of kidnapping Carly.

Blake

Species: Human

Played By: ???

First Appearance: "Trust But Verify" (Arrow 1x11)

Appearances: Arrow

A member of the Blackhawk Squad Protection Group.

• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Oliver kills him by shooting an arrow to his neck.
• Only One Name: Only addressed as Blake.

Liza Victoria Warner/Lady Cop

Species: Human

Played by: Rutina Wesley

First Appearance: "Beyond Redemption" (Arrow 4x4)

Appearances: Arrow

A police officer and leader of the Rogue Task Force, which attempts to ingrain itself in the drug trade to make enormous profit before fleeing what they believe to be a dying city. In the comics she is known as Lady Cop.

• Adaptational Villainy: She is typically a heroic character in the comics, but not so much here.
• Amazon Brigade: Is part of one with Cupid and China White in "The Sin-Eater.
• Badass Normal: She is extremely well-trained in combat, to the point that she not only escapes the same trap that Oliver successfully used on Slade, but nearly kills him afterwards.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The brains in her Terrible Trio with Cupid (beauty) and China White (brawn), being the leader and planner and the one observant enough to figure the tomb with Tobias Church's money would be the one with the least amount of dust.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The brunette to China White's light blonde and Cupid's redhead.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: As leader of the Rogue Task Force, her armor came with double edged wrist blades.
• The Bus Came Back: Returns in Season 5 for a team-up with Cupid and China White.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: She is never once referred to as "Lady Cop".
• Even Evil Has Standards: Unlike some other members of her group, she is firmly against killing Captain Lance and claims to be against killing cops in general, although other members of her group have pointed out that they've already done that anyway. By her next appearance, however, she has ditched any standards she had.
• Evil Is Easy: She decides that maintaining her nobility is too hard and opts to relinquish any chances she had to turn good again.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Upon finding out that Quentin worked with Damien Dahrk, she loses any morals she might still have.
• Heel Realization: She finally has one after Lance's Patrick Stewart Speech, and turns herself in. However, see Heel–Face Door-Slam above.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: She does a lengthy one with Cupid on poor Curtis in "The Sin Eater."
• Killer Cop: She was once a police officer, but now carries the title still while killing people.
• The Lad-ette: She's not the most feminine compared to her partners Cupid and China White.
• Never My Fault: Liza insists on blaming and guilt-tripping Quentin for her relapse into criminal activity, completely ignoring any responsibility for her own actions. Quentin calls her out on this after she's taken back into custody.
• Race Lift: She is white in the comics, but black here.
• Redemption Rejection: Was offered the chance to change for the better, but upon her second appearance she decides that being evil is too much fun.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: She's typically a supporting character for the Atom, and not really a villain either.
• Smug Snake: After she Took a Level in Jerkass, she comes across very smug in her abilities.
• Spanner in the Works: She is entirely unaware of it, but it is thanks to the city-wide search for her group that the heroes are able to spot Lance talking with Damien Darhk at the exact moment the secret meeting is taking place, thus cluing them in on the characters' connection and resulting in Green Arrow gaining an ally in HIVE.
• Talking the Monster to Death: How she is ultimately defeated.
• Terrible Trio: In Season 5 she forms one with China White and Cupid.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Was once an Anti-Villain who held onto her morals, but upon her escape from prison, she comes back with a more violent personality and freely enjoys committing crimes.

See the Arrowverse: A.R.G.U.S. & Task Force X page

See the Arrowverse: A.R.G.U.S. & Task Force X page

• Enemy Mine: Oliver is very reluctantly forced to work with Brick's crew.
• Legion of Doom: In a way. Brick only recruits Oliver's past enemies into his crew.
• In Prison with the Rogues: Oliver is imprisoned in Slabside with several nasty enemies from his past.

Danny "Brick" Brickwell

Species: Human

Played by: Vinnie Jones

First Appearance: "Left Behind" (Arrow 3x10)

Appearances: Arrow

A gang leader renowned for having survived being shot on multiple occasions, he recruits an army of criminals to take over the Glades.

• Actually Pretty Funny: Despite originally wanting Yorke dead, he can't help but chuckle over the guy getting framed instead.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: In the comics, he looks like a living brick.
• Adaptational Nationality: He goes from American in the comics to an Evil Brit in the show.
• Adaptational Species Change: In the comics, Brick is a metahuman whose powers made him look like living brick. Here, he has no visible mutations.
• And Starring: Always appeared with a "Special Guest Star" citation.
• Annoying Arrows: Averted. Arrows are actually more effective than bullets against him.
• Arch-Enemy: To Malcolm Merlyn, for killing Rebecca Merlyn and setting his life on the path it ended up taking. When Merlyn found out the name of Rebecca's murderer, he wanted nothing more than to kill Brick then and there. Of course for Brick, he barely remembered said encounter with Rebecca.
• Arc Villain:
  • While not quite the Big Bad, he does put the Glades under siege and acts as the biggest threat to Team Arrow during Oliver's three episode absence after his near fatal duel with Ra's Al-Ghul.
  • Also during the first three episodes of Season 7, he is the main obstacle for Oliver during his stint in Level 1 of Slabside Maximum Security Prison.
• Ascended Extra: Went from the nameless murderer of Rebecca Merlyn to an Arc Villain of Season 3 and 7, as well as a secondary villain in Season 4.
• Badass Longcoat: Wears a black duster.
• Bad Boss: More often than not, his targets (see No-Holds-Barred Beatdown) are usually a person who have failed him. Ben Turner ultimately turns on him for this reason.
• Bald of Evil: His morality disappeared with his hair.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Whenever he serves as Arc Villain, it's always alongside the proper Big Bad of the season.
  • He is the main threat of a three episode arc in Season 3 while Oliver is absent from Starling City. He orchestrates a take over the Glades, and Team Arrow has to deal with him in Oliver's absence.
  • In the first half of Season 7, Oliver faces off against when they are imprisoned together in Slabside, this is while the rest of Oliver's friends are busy dealing with Diaz and the Longbow Hunters outside prison.
• Blood Knight: He enjoys brutal fights with his opponents.
• Born Lucky: No superpowers were involved in his famed resilience - dude's just got a horseshoe up his ass.
• Break the Haughty: After steamrolling over most of the Glades and most people that fight him, Malcolm Merlyn runs up to him and starts beating the shit out of him almost effortlessly.
• The Brute: He becomes the muscle behind Damien Darhk in the second half of Season 4. He is not happy about this arrangement and by the time of Season 7 he has put himself back in charge.
• The Bus Came Back: Reappears in season 7 as one of the inmates imprisoned alongside Oliver.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Merlyn plans to kill him by shooting him with his own gun, the same one he used on his wife Rebecca. But he doesn't know who he's talking about, since he's killed many people with that gun. When he reminds him, he remembers her as the "brunette", his first kill as part of an initiation to join a gang.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Able to No-Sell a bullet to the head. He's not a metahuman or a Mirakuru soldier. He's just really, really tough.
• The Chessmaster: He concocts an elaborate plan to take over the Glades, and it works, even if for a short while.
• Create Your Own Hero: He kills Rebecca Merlyn, which directly resulted in Malcolm becoming the Dark Archer. His actions resulted in the birth of the Arrow (who helped create the Huntress and directly inspired Spartan, Arsenal, Speedy, the Flash, and the Season Five recruits), the Canary (the precursor to the Black Canary), and Deathstroke (whose actions created both Cupid and the Atom).
• Chekhov's Gunman: He is revealed to be the unnamed criminal who killed Rebecca Merlyn, an act that sent Malcolm on his Start of Darkness.
• Covered in Scars: From his multiple bullet wounds.
• Dark Is Evil: He starts wearing black after joining H.I.V.E.
• Demoted to Dragon: He returns in Season 4, now acting as The Brute to Damien Darhk.
• Disc-One Final Boss: He seemed like the main threat of Season 7's Prison arc, but he later gets replaced and then killed off.
• Early-Bird Cameo: His name appears on the List a couple of years before appearing on the show.
• Evil Brit: Played by Vinnie Jones.
• Expy:
  • To Bane from The Dark Knight Rises. Both are bald, muscular leaders who enjoy killing failed underlings with their bare hands and are played by famous British actors. They're both known by short words beginning with B, which could both be used as terms for violence. Brick tries to take over Starling City when the hero is put of commission by the league, similar to that film.
  • To Marvel's Kingpin. He's a bald mob boss who's incredibly strong despite being a normal human.
• Faux Affably Evil: He can be quite polite and suave when he chooses to be, such as during his meeting with the mayor during "Midnight City", or when talking with Oliver when the both of them are in prison together.
• Gang Lord: Brick is the notorious gang leader. Originally just a simple thug, for his gang initiation, he chose to murder Rebecca Merlyn, setting her husband Malcolm off on his path to become a supervillain. In season three, now leading the gang, Brick takes advantage of the chaos and recruits an army of criminals to forcibly take over the Glades and transform it into his own private kingdom, with him personally killing anyone who gets in his way. Returning in season 7, with them now both incarcerated in Slabside prison, Brick manipulates Oliver to get rid of the guards and then transforms the prison into his new kingdom.
• Genius Bruiser: For a brutal mob boss and gang leader, he proves himself to be quite The Chessmaster.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: After Oliver gets rid of the guard Yorke, Brick transforms Level 1 of Slabside into his own little kingdom. However, after Oliver survives his Fight Club and attacks a few guards, the prison is forced to tighten security and thus he gets treated like any ordinary prisoner again.
• Initiation Ceremony: He fondly remembers his first initiation into a gang, where he had to kill some person to prove his worth. Unfortunately for everyone involved, that person was Rebecca Merlyn.
• In the Back: Stanley ends him by putting a knife into his back.
• Karmic Death: Brick murders Rebecca back when he was a small time criminal making his way up in the underworld. He himself would get shanked and killed by Stanley who, before he achieved notoriety as the Star City Slayer, was himself a relative nobody and a low man on the totem pole in prison.
• Killed Off for Real: Meets his end during "The Slabside Redemption", at the hands of Stanley.
• Large and in Charge: He towers over his posse.
• Made of Iron: Famous in-universe for having shrugged off multiple bullet wounds.
• Manipulative Bastard: In Season 7, he proves himself to be quite the manipulator, tricking Oliver to run all of his errands for him.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's never made clear if he's really superhuman in his durability or if he just somehow makes it look like he can take bullets through sleight-of-hand. What makes it even more unclear is that while he can seemingly withstand bullets, Malcolm Merlyn or Oliver Queen punching and kicking him in a fight can apparently knock him out cold. Considering how he was eventually killed by Stanley's prison shiv piercing his flesh, it would seem that his legendary durability was likely just a sleight-of-hand facade he had cultivated for himself.
• Might as Well Not Be in Prison at All: After Oliver gets rid of the only decent guard, Yorke, Brick is basically running Slabside as his personal kingdom.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: His preferred method of murder is to give his target a chance to shoot him (with his own gun), and then deliver one of these when, not if, they fail to take him down.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Upon finally having a private talk with Diaz, both remark how similar their circumstances were in that they were both close to ruling the city had it not been for Oliver.
• Only Known By His Nickname: Almost always referred to as "Brick", averting Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames.
• Race Lift: African-American in the comics, Caucasian in the show.
• Remember the New Guy?: Although Brick hasn't been mentioned since being named on the List, Roy mentions that he knew Brick and his gang while living in the Glades when he hadn't been mentioned at all in the show until that point.
• Small Role, Big Impact: His act of murdering Rebecca Merlyn was what led to all of the events in Arrow to occur. It is not an exaggeration to say that he created the Arrowverse.
• The Sociopath: Brick doesn't care one bit about other people, even his supposed friends he will kill without hesitation if they fail him. This is made most obvious during his confrontation with Malcolm where while he admits that he had to kill someone in order to be initiated into a gang, he mostly killed Rebecca because he couldn't stand her crying and thought she was weak.
• Stupid Evil: Felicity mentions how stupid his practice of always using the same exact pistol is, as it makes it easier for the police to track him and for her to find out he killed Malcolm's wife.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He makes it no secret that he despises working under Damien Darhk, but carries out his orders anyway just to ensure his own safety.
• 'Tis Only a Bullet in the Brain: Gunshots to his head don't faze him and he even encourages his victims to attempt it.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: During a gang initiation, he had to murder someone for the first time in his life. He happened to choose Rebecca Merlyn, whose death would drive her husband to turn himself into an assassin, murder his best friend Robert Queen (an act that created the Arrow (Oliver), Canary (Sara), Deathstroke (Slade) and a host of others), and destroy most of the Glades for his vengeance against the said murder. It can be said without exaggeration that that he set every tragedy in the series in motion.
• Would Hit a Girl: Killed Malcolm's wife off-screen and fought Laurel a few times on-screen.

Derek Sampson

Species: Metahuman

Played By: Cody Runnels

Appearances: Arrow

A drug-dealer who specializes in a drug called "Stardust", until after being thrown into a vat of Stardust, he emerges without feeling any sense of pain and gains advanced healing properties and body strength.

• Actor Allusion: His actor is Stardust, Amell's WWE rival when he participated in the 2015 SummerSlam. In Season Seven, Sampson is the champion of a prison fighting ring and fights against Oliver.
• Annoying Arrows: Justified due to his Healing Factor and his lack of pain.
• Brought Down to Normal: It's not explained how or why, but this apparently happened to him before or during his stint in prison, as he indeed feels the pain when Oliver breaks both of his arms. He also doesn't seem to have Super-Strength anymore.
• The Brute: Serves as this to Prometheus and later Brick when Sampson gets recruited by them.
• The Bus Came Back: After his Uncertain Doom at the end of "A Matter of Trust", he returns in "Honor Thy Fathers" having been released due to Adrian Chase's prosecutions being discredited. He then allies with Prometheus to help cause havoc in Star City.
  • And again in season 7 as one of the inmates housed alongside Oliver.
• Canon Foreigner: Derek Sampson has no counterpart in the comics; rather, the character mostly exists to give Stephen Amell's WWE rival Stardust a role on the show, after Amell himself participated in the 2015 SummerSlam against him.
• Create Your Own Villain: It's thanks to Rene's reckless actions and disregard for Oliver's orders that led to Sampson falling into a vat of Stardust and gaining superpowers.
• Co-Dragons: With Bronze Tiger to Brick, during their stint in Slabside.
• Feel No Pain: Played with - while his body doesn't register pain, his anatomy and its weaknesses are still the same as a human being. Lampshaded when the Green Arrow slices his tendons, making him unable to move.
• Freak Lab Accident: How Sampson gains his superpowers, courtesy of Rene.
• Healing Factor: Despite being shot by arrows and deliberately burning himself to prove his pain immunity to his goons, Sampson's body can regenerate small wounds. He appears to have healed the tendons that got cut by Oliver by the time of Season Seven.
• Killed Off for Real: Courtesy of Ben Turner, during the prison riot.
• Shout-Out:
  • His surname "Sampson" is a reference to the biblical figure Samson, a Hebrew Judge granted superhuman strength from God.
  • Stardust was the ring name of Cody Runnels.
  • Him falling into a vat of chemicals and transforming into a supervillain is very similar to the The Joker.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: Subverted. While his Healing Factor and immunity to pain allow him to shrug off relatively minor injuries, he's not invincible.
• Super Serum: Turns out coolant fluid mixed with Stardust is a formula for superpowers. Derek Sampson falls into a vat of the stuff.
• Super-Strength: He seems to gain this as well as his inability to feel pain, likely by using Uninhibited Muscle Power.
• Tainted Veins: After being exposed to the Stardust mixture, the veins throughout his body can be visibly seen.

Grant Wilson's gang.

• Future Badass: They have overrun Star City in the Bad Future.
• Legacy Character: They are the successors to Church of Blood's Mirakuru Army.
• Malevolent Masked Men: The entire gang dons costumes similar to the original Deathstroke.

Grant Wilson

Species: Human

Known Aliases: Deathstroke II

Played By: Jamie Andrew Cutler

First Appearance: "Present Tense" (Arrow 8x4)

Appearances: Arrow

Slade Wilson's son and Joe Wilson's younger brother, who takes his father's mantle in 2019, terrorizing Star City.

• Avenging the Villain: Not exactly avenging, since Slade is neither dead nor a villain by the time of Season Eight, but Grant is doing this in the name of his father who put the city under siege back in Season Two.
• Eat the Rich: Grant gains support for the Deathstrokes by proclaiming the rich to be a cancer that needs to be excised.
• Evil Mentor: At some point he trains JJ to be his successor, though this timeline seems to have been erased due to the Canaries being sent back in time and preventing the Bad Future.
• Legacy Character: Becomes the new Deathstroke after his father.
• Leitmotif: He and the Deathstroke Gang are accompanied by an ominous guitar riff.
• Like Father, Like Son: He follows his father's footsteps in becoming the new Deathstroke and putting Star City under siege like Slade did.
• Predecessor Villain: He's what caused JJ to have a Start of Darkness.
• Save the Villain: Oliver convinces Mia not to execute Grant Wilson. He doesn't particularly care about Grant; he just wants to prevent his daughter from becoming a cold-blooded killer.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in person for one episode, but it is his actions of taking over Star City that made the Bad Future possible to begin with.
• Time-Shifted Actor: Averted. He's played by the same actor who portrayed his future self in Legends of Tomorrow, which makes it particularly jarring since his present day self looks the same age.
• Vague Age: His age is a big mystery, by virtue that there was no Time-Shifted Actor used to cover the glaring 27 year gap between 2019 and 2046. Either he is way way Younger Than They Look in the present or drastically Older Than They Look in the future.
  • He was supposedly born in the first year that Slade was trapped on Lian Yu, which at oldest would put him at around 12 by the time of 2019. Yet he appears to be the same age (if not older) than his future counterpart in the first season of Legends.
  • If one assumes he was born earlier than that and kept a secret from Slade^note Flashbacks show that in 2004, Joe was still a kid who was played by then 13 year old actor William Franklyn-Miller, so if taking his actor's age for Joe, this means Grant could be anywhere between 1 to 12 years old at that point. So absolutely pushing it, at oldest Grant could be 27 by 2019, his age still doesn't align, as he hasn't aged a bit in 27 years since we last saw him in 2046^note which going by the same calculations would put him between 42 to 54 years old, which is way too old for his actor
  • Though of course, the other possibility is his date of birth was changed due to the constant time travel medelling.