List of Arrow characters

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The main cast featured in a promotional image for the second season. From left to right, Laurel (Cassidy), Slade (Bennett), Felicity (Rickards), Oliver (Amell), John (Ramsey), Thea (Holland), and Roy (Haynes). Not pictured are Tommy (Donnell), Quentin (Blackthorne), Moira (Thompson), and Malcolm (Barrowman).

Arrow is an American television series, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. The series premiered in the United States on October 10, 2012, for The CW television network, and it finished its third season on May 13, 2015. A fourth season premiered on October 7, 2015. Arrow follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who, after five years of being stranded on an isolated island, returns home and becomes a bow and arrow wielding, hooded vigilante. His friends, former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), I.T. expert and skilled hacker Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), fellow vigilante Sara Lance / Canary (Caity Lotz), aspiring vigilante Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), attorney-turned-vigilante Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), and later half-sister Thea (Willa Holland) aid Oliver in his pursuit of justice. They also receive support from Laurel and Sara's father, Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne), who works at the police department. Each episode features flashbacks to Oliver’s time as a castaway, and how it shaped him into the man that returned home to fulfill the promise he made to his late father, Robert, (Jamey Sheridan)—to atone for his family’s sins against Starling City. As time goes on, the series explores the ways in which Oliver's quest to restore order to the city affects the lives of those who are closest to him, and how he transforms into the hero he will ultimately become.

The following is a list of characters that have appeared on the television series. Many are named for, or are based on DC Comics characters.

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Main characters

Character Actor Season appearances
Starring Recurring Guest
Oliver Queen / Green Arrow Stephen Amell 1–present

Oliver Jonas "Ollie" Queen is the main protagonist of the series; a billionaire playboy turned vigilante archer. In season 1, Oliver returns to Starling City after being presumed dead for five years. He begins a crusade as a hooded vigilante to neutralize or kill if necessary, the wealthy members of an organization of criminals using a list he discovered on his father's body. Oliver finds himself facing a larger conspiracy, the "Undertaking", orchestrated by Malcolm Merlyn and involving Oliver's mother Moira, The Undertaking eventually destroys the Glades, one of the poorest and most crime-ridden sections of Starling City. He attempts to reconnect with his family and becomes friends with his ex-girlfriend Laurel and she becomes even closer to Oliver's best friend, Tommy. He takes Diggle and Felicity on as partners to help in his crusade. At the end of the season, he supposedly kills Malcolm, the Glades is destroyed and Tommy dies, leaving Oliver grief-struck, which leads him to return to the island where he spent some of the five years he was a castaway. In flashbacks to the time he disappeared, Oliver is shipwrecked on the island of Lian Yu, (Purgatory) after his father's yacht sinks and he begins to learn the skills needed to survive from various people, including Slade Wilson/Deathstroke and Yao Fei, all the while being hunted by mercenaries led by Edward Fyers.

In season 2, after the "Undertaking", Oliver returns to Starling and reignites his crusade. He now goes by the alias "Arrow", and in honor of Tommy, vows to never kill again. He fights criminals taking advantage of the Glades after its destruction while trying to redeem himself as a hero, but is challenged in this crusade when those closest to him are endangered. He co-runs Queen Consolidated with Isabel Rochev and becomes friends with Alderman Sebastian Blood. Oliver finds himself investigating a larger plot orchestrated by Slade Wilson, involving Mirakuru, a strength-enhancing drug. It is Wilson's intention to destroy everything and everyone Oliver cares for. Sebastian and Isabel are also working for Slade and help bankrupt Oliver, causing him to lose his home and his business. Oliver gains help from Sara Lance, now the vigilante "Canary", and he takes Roy Harper, Thea's boyfriend, as a protégé. After Felicity injects Slade with the Mirakuru cure, Oliver defeats Slade and locks him up in an underground prison on Lian Yu. In flashbacks, Oliver is hunted by Dr. Ivo's armed crew seeking the Mirakuru and he accidentally causes the death of Shado, his lover on the island. Slade also loved Shado, which explains Slade's motives in the present. A flashback before the island reveals that Oliver impregnated a girl named Samantha Clayton, and Moira paid Samantha to tell Oliver the child died and to move to Central City, leaving him unaware of his impending fatherhood.

In season 3, Oliver has become a public hero to the citizens of Starling City and has taken Roy on as a full sidekick but lives in his foundry safe house due to losing his mansion. Oliver is faced with the moral question of whether he can be Oliver Queen and live his life while the city needs the Arrow. This is only further challenged when he realizes he is in love with Felicity but she has caught the attention of Ray Palmer and works with both of them. After Thea returns to Starling City, they decide to reopen their nightclub together. Oliver is also inadvertently embroiled in a conflict with Ra's al Ghul due to Malcolm's manipulations. During a fight with Ra's, he suffers a mortal wound and nearly dies but is saved by Maseo and Tatsu Yamashiro. Ra's demands that Oliver becomes his heir, because Oliver is the only man who has survived a death match against Ra's (according to the League‘s prophecy, only the man who survives his assault would succeed Ra's). When he rejects the offer, Ra's begins killing people in Starling City posing as the Arrow to force Oliver to accept his offer. When Ra's nearly kills Thea, Oliver chooses to join the League, abandoning his former identity to become "Al Sah-him" (Arabic: سهم‎‎; "Arrow") and pretends to be a darker and more cruel version of himself in order to get closer to Ra's to bring the organization down from the inside. Ra's also has Oliver wed his daughter, Nyssa al Ghul, to keep Ra's bloodline in charge of the League. Oliver later kills Ra's and inherits the mantle but immediately passes it to Malcolm and decides to retire from being the Arrow and live a happy life with Felicity, knowing that Laurel, Diggle, Ray, and Thea will protect the city in his absence. The season's flashbacks explore Oliver's time in Hong Kong, where Amanda Waller forces Oliver to become an A.R.G.U.S. agent after witnessing his combat capabilities on the island and uses the Yamashiros as his handlers. During this time, it is revealed that Oliver had returned to Starling City while on a mission; he discovered Thea's drug problems, witnessed the start of the relationship between Laurel and Tommy, and saw Felicity two years before they eventually meet.

In season 4, Oliver's retirement is short-lived as Laurel and Thea ask for his assistance in stopping a group known as "The Ghosts" who have been wreaking havoc in Star (formerly Starling) City. He agrees to help, knowing the leader of the Ghosts is Damien Darhk, leader of H.I.V.E. Oliver now goes by the name "Green Arrow", ostensibly a new vigilante following in the footsteps of the former Arrow, who Star City believes to have died. He also plans to propose to Felicity and run for the office of mayor. Oliver also has an associate connection with John Constantine. While on a mission with Barry Allen in Central City, Oliver meets a boy, William, by chance in a coffee shop and discovers that he is Samantha Clayton's son; Oliver ultimately learns that he is William's father after he has Barry run a paternity test. Despite his desire to acknowledge William, Samantha refused to grant Oliver full access; she sees Oliver as troubled due to his past as a playboy, in addition, she still hates his mother. The revelations of his fatherhood and the fact his mother kept it a secret from him not only complicates his relationship with Felicity and his duty as Green Arrow, but also threatens to jeopardize his mayoral campaign. As a result, Darhk kidnaps William, his relationship with Felicity becomes estranged, and he is forced to resign from his campaign following his enemies' discovery of his son. After an attack by H.I.V.E leaves Felicity permanently paraplegic, Oliver becomes vengeful and as a result, his fight with Darhk becomes a vendetta. Oliver also discovers that Thea is dying after learning the Pit's restorative effect on her is waning, leaving him to desperately search for a cure for his sister until Nyssa offers one in exchange for killing Malcolm. Oliver and Malcolm fight, resulting in Oliver cutting off Malcolm's left hand and giving the Demon's Head ring to Nyssa, and Nyssa giving Oliver the cure. Instead of Nyssa remaining leader of the League of Assassins, she disbands it, causing Malcolm to seek vengeance against Oliver, making them enemies once again. After Darhk is successfully prosecuted, Malcolm aids him in escaping, with help from Andy Diggle, by restoring his magic and fatally stabs Laurel with Oliver's own arrow while he is helpless to stop it. Laurel later dies of her injuries moments after admitting that she still loves him leaving Oliver devastated and broken. During his quest to stop Darhk, Oliver learns that the pure forces of light can counter Darhk's powers due to those endowments deriving from the forces of darkness and H.I.V.E.'s plan of ruling a post-apocalyptic world. The season's flashbacks explore Oliver's training with A.R.G.U.S. and his infiltration of the Shadowspire organization on Lian Yu.

He is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow.

  • First appearance: "Pilot"
Laurel Lance / Black Canary Katie Cassidy 1–4
Katie Cassidy

Dinah Laurel Lance is an assistant district attorney and Oliver Queen's ex-girlfriend and on/off love interest. In season 1, Laurel is a lawyer for CNRI, a legal aid firm, and girlfriend of Tommy Merlyn. She had been Oliver's girlfriend prior to the shipwreck. When Oliver returns, she despises him for having an affair with her sister Sara which apparently led to her death, but gradually comes to accept him upon learning of his suffering on the island and remembering her sister's rebellious faults. She also occasionally works with the Hood/Arrow—unaware that he is Oliver—with cases the courts are unwilling to move on. Oliver and Laurel eventually reignite their relationship after Tommy breaks up with her. Tommy dies saving Laurel when CNRI is destroyed along with much of the Glades.

In season 2, Laurel is hired as an assistant district attorney and is assigned to help prosecute Moira Queen. She also does not deal well with Tommy's death and starts taking drugs and drinking, pushing her friends and family away. She is attracted to Alderman Sebastian Blood, but discovers he has a secret; Blood arranges for her drug problem to be discovered and she is fired. Laurel eventually chooses sobriety after an argument with Oliver and inspiration from her returned sister Sara's vigilante alter-ego Canary, and gets her job back with the district attorney's office. Laurel learns Oliver's secret from Slade Wilson. Slade hopes to use her as a pawn against Oliver, but instead Laurel confronts Oliver with this knowledge and decides to keep his secret. She also learns Sara's secret. Laurel is abducted by Slade, who plans to kill her in front of Oliver, but he is defeated.

In season 3, Laurel is working to prosecute the criminals Oliver catches. She also worries over her father's continuing field activities while he still recovers from his injury from Slade's attack and urges him to use his new political powers to serve the city. When Sara again returns to Starling City, she is killed in front of Laurel. Grief-stricken and vengeful, she makes a disastrous and amateurish attempt to replace her late sister as the Canary. Oliver refuses to train her, so Laurel seeks former boxer/vigilante Ted Grant's help with combat training. She also wears Sara's Canary jacket in remembrance of her and eventually becomes the "Black Canary".[1] In her new role as a vigilante, she partners with Roy Harper to help liberate the Glades from crime lord Danny Brickwell during Oliver's absence, ultimately working outside of the law while remaining a prosecuting attorney. She eventually learns that Malcolm Merlyn is directly responsible for Sara's murder and tries to avenge both hers and Tommy's deaths. He overpowers her but she is saved by Nyssa, who ultimately offers to help Laurel further her training and gradually she becomes a skilled combatant with familiarity with the League of Assassins' tactics. In addition, Cisco Ramon helps Laurel by providing her an ultrasonic collar using components from both Sara's and Hartley Rathaway’s weapons, improving Laurel's tactics with sonic weaponry.

In season 4, after Laurel learns the details of Thea's resurrection after Ra's attack, she hopes to bring Sara back in the same way by seeking the League of Assassins' help at Nanda Parbat but her sister remains lacking a soul after the resurrection. However, with Oliver and John Constantine's help, Laurel finally reunites with her sister after retrieving Sara's soul from the afterlife, and later, with Cisco's help, Laurel refines Sara's costumed persona as the White Canary. Laurel discovers that Damien Darhk is extorting her father to work with H.I.V.E., resulting in her own fight against Darhk becoming personal. Laurel is the second person after Felicity to find out her father is dating the latter's mother Donna Smoak, and she gives them her blessing after she sees Donna's positive influence over her father. While fighting alongside her team, Laurel is stabbed with an arrow by Damien, who has regained his powers, as revenge upon her father for betrayal, and is rushed to the hospital by Oliver. She has a heart-to-heart talk with the team, and while speaking with Oliver about how he was the love of her life, she starts seizing and passes away at 11:59 p.m., moments before her father arrives. Her death is mourned by her friends, particularly Oliver and John, as John blames himself for her death and letting Andy betray them. When a teenager named Evelyn Sharp begins masquerading as Black Canary to avenge her family her actions brand Black Canary as a criminal, but Oliver is able to savior Laurel's image by revealing her secret to the public. Her secret as Black Canary is engraved on her gravestone.

Laurel's full name is Dinah Laurel Lance, and she is based on the DC Comics character Black Canary.

  • First appearance: "Pilot"
Tommy Merlyn Colin Donnell 1 2–3
Colin Donnell

Thomas "Tommy" Merlyn is Oliver's best friend, the son of Malcolm Merlyn, and paternal half-brother of Thea, although this isn't revealed until season 2. In season 1, Tommy is a spoiled brat and playboy like Oliver until his father cuts him off, forcing him to find a job and become a more responsible person. Tommy dates Laurel during the first season, though Oliver still has feelings for her. Tommy learns Oliver's secret in "Dead to Rights" when Oliver, as the vigilante, saves Malcolm from assassins. Their relationship becomes strained, with Tommy seeing Oliver as a killer, and when he later breaks up with Laurel, thinking that she belongs to Oliver. Tommy is killed rescuing Laurel from a collapsing building that is damaged by Malcolm's earthquake machine during the Undertaking in "Sacrifice", through which sacrifice Laurel realizes that she loves Tommy instead of Oliver.

In season 2, Oliver vows to never kill again in Tommy's memory, while Laurel turns to drugs and alcohol to deal with Tommy's death. During Oliver's fight with Cyrus Gold, he sees an image of Tommy, who calls him a hero and urges him to defeat his enemy.

In season 3, Tommy appears twice in flashbacks: he travels to Hong Kong looking for Oliver in "Sara", but fails to find him; and in "The Return", he is in Starling City, throwing himself a birthday party and trying to get Thea away from using drugs but also grows closer to Laurel, showing the start of their relationship.

He shares his surname with the DC Comics character Merlyn. A version of Tommy was introduced as a former friend-turned-enemy of the titular character in the Green Arrow comics in The New 52.[2]

  • First appearance: "Pilot"
John Diggle / Spartan David Ramsey 1–present
David Ramsey

John Diggle is a former United States Army Special Forces soldier and Oliver's friend and partner. During season 1, John is hired as Oliver's bodyguard and becomes his confidant to help him in his mission to save Starling City, trying to help Oliver balance his normal life and vigilante life, and occasionally helping him in the field. Having been trained in first aid, John would provide Oliver with medical aid, limiting his needs for hospital medical treatment. Already a skilled fighter, John receives additional training from Oliver. John also has a grudge against Floyd Lawton / Deadshot who killed his brother Andy. John also dates his brother's widow, Carly, and being a surrogate father figure to their son, A.J., during this season.

In season 2, John and Felicity continue to help Oliver in his crusade and John continues to be Oliver's adviser and field partner, along with Sara and Roy. John has a relationship with his ex-wife Lyla Michaels, is an unofficial member of A.R.G.U.S., and is a member of the Suicide Squad under the codename "Freelancer". He also develops an uneasy alliance with Amanda Waller who occasionally asks John for field assistance with A.R.G.U.S. missions with Lyla. It is revealed that Lyla is pregnant with John's child.

In season 3, John continues to help Oliver and his team but has to devote more of his time to his new baby with Lyla, whom he names Sara after Sara Lance is killed. After Lyla is seriously injured in an attack, he and Lyla decide to remarry. When Oliver is presumed dead at Ra's al Ghul's hands, John becomes an acting leader of the team, leading Felicity, Roy, and Laurel until his friend's return. After it, John accompanies him to Nanda Parbat to help him free Malcolm, but the two are captured. John and Lyla eventually do marry but after a near death experience with the Suicide Squad, only narrowly being saved when Deadshot sacrifices himself for them, John and Lyla decide to quit Team Arrow and A.R.G.U.S. for their daughter's sake. After Oliver leaves the team to join the League of Assassins, as part of a deal to revive a deceased Thea, John becomes the team leader. He is not yet ready to forgive Oliver for kidnapping Lyla as part of a deception to gain acceptance to the League.

In season 4, John, going by the codename Spartan,[3] discovers that the organization that targets Star City is H.I.V.E, who hired Lawton to murder his brother Andy. John is determined to find out the truth behind his brother's death and who was within the organization that ordered the hit, but is also at odds with Oliver due to kidnapping Lyla and endangering Sara despite Lyla having forgiven him. Eventually, he forgives Oliver after their fight with a H.I.V.E. metahuman operative named Jeremy Tell. With Quentin Lance's help, John learns that Damien Darhk had his brother murdered and that he was a drug cartel leader and Darhk's territorial rival prior to his death. However, John discovers that Darhk actually faked Andy's death and recruited him as a H.I.V.E. soldier, leading John and his brother to become enemies. Guilt-ridden for his brother's role in causing Laurel's death, John seeks revenge against his brother, Darhk and whoever else responsible of her murder; in his fury, John kills his brother after Andy nearly got Lyla and Sara killed, and he later lies to Lyla that he killed Andy in self-defense (who was already incapacitated). Oliver was there after John kills Andy and he knows that his friend killed his brother deliberately, and encouraging John to do the right thing by admitting the truth to his wife.

While John Diggle was originally a character created for the show, his popularity led to a character of the same name modeled after Ramsey's appearance to be created for the Green Arrow comics in The New 52.[4]

  • First appearance: "Pilot"
Thea Queen / Speedy Willa Holland 1–present
File:Willa Holland.jpg
Willa Holland

Thea Queen is the daughter of Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn, though both Malcolm and Thea were unaware of their relation to each other until season 2, and the younger half-sister to Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn. In season 1, Thea is battling a drug and alcohol problem which she used to fill the pain of losing her brother. After court ordered community service from taking "Vertigo", she grows to be more responsible. Thea's addiction with Vertigo also causes a bitter animosity between Oliver's vigilante alter-ego and the drug's creator, The Count. She also falls in love with Roy Harper, a lifelong street criminal who she meets when he steals her purse. Though he initially has no romantic interest in Thea despite an obvious physical attraction to her, mainly out of resentment because of her wealth, Roy later begins to genuinely fall in love with her.

In season 2, Thea runs the Verdant nightclub in Oliver and Tommy's absences and continues seeing Roy, but is frustrated by Roy's need to save people, though she gradually comes to accept it. She is however the subject of exclusion as most characters keep secrets from her including her true paternity which she eventually discovers when Slade Wilson abducts her. She then breaks up with Roy when he cheats on her, though he only does this to keep her away from him during his Mirakuru problem. Despite reconciling with Roy after having learned of his illness, she breaks up with him again after discovering his allegiance to the Arrow. After her mother's death, she decides to leave Starling City. Malcolm comes to save her and convinces her to leave with him.

In season 3, Thea begins the season in Corto Maltese receiving combat training from Malcolm, though she soon decides to return to Starling with Oliver. She also reopens her nightclub after Malcolm secretly buys the foundry from Queen Consolidated for her. She learns Oliver's secret identity as the Arrow when he shows her his hideout under the nightclub and begins to distrust Malcolm after learning that he already knows about Oliver's secret. After Thea is told that her father used her as a pawn against both Oliver and Ra's al Ghul by drugging and manipulating her into killing Sara Lance, she arranges for him to be captured by the League in retaliation. She reconciles with Roy but is nearly killed by Ra's and is brought back to life in the Lazarus Pit in exchange for Oliver joining the League of Assassins. Thea blames herself for letting her brother join the League. Roy breaks up with her when he leaves Starling City after faking his death, hoping that Thea can make a life of her own without him. He also leaves her his red costume which she wears to become a vigilante herself as his successor.

In season 4, Thea works with Oliver and his friends in the fight against the terrorist organization H.I.V.E. Despite the enjoyment of being a vigilante, Thea's behavior has become increasingly volatile and reckless when in the field, which Oliver realizes is a side effect of being in the Lazarus Pit. In addition, Thea helps Laurel to bring Sara back from the death in hopes of making amends towards the Lance family. Because of this, Thea is telepathically linked with Sara after her resurrection upon the Lazarus Pit. It is also revealed that Thea's Lazarus Pit side effect is able to counterattack Damien Darhk's life force drain in addition relieving her bloodlust temporarily. Thea is dying as the result of the Pit's restorative effect waning. With Tatsu Yamashiro's help, Nyssa al Ghul gives Oliver the 'Lotus', an elixir used by the Crescent Order that permanently reverses the effects of the Lazarus Pit, saving her life. Damien Darhk's wife, Ruvé Adams, eventually brainwashes Thea's new boyfriend Alex Davis into kidnapping her to a miniaturized H.I.V.E. facility built from stolen technology belonging to Oliver's ally Ray Palmer.

Her brother's nickname for her ("Speedy"), her middle name of Dearden and the alias "Mia" she used during her time at Corto Maltese, are easter egg connections to one of Green Arrow's sidekicks in the comics.[5] In the fourth season, Thea goes by Speedy for her hero persona.[6]

  • First appearance: "Pilot"
Moira Queen Susanna Thompson 1–2 3
Susanna Thompson

Moira Queen is the mother of Oliver and Thea, the former acting CEO of Queen Consolidated, mayoral candidate and wife of Robert Queen and later Walter Steele. She also had a brief affair with Malcolm Merlyn after his wife's death, which resulted in Thea’s birth. During season 1, Moira is involved in a criminal conspiracy orchestrated by Malcolm to destroy the "Glades", with him forcing Moira to handle all interference and supply him with the resources needed. Her involvement also causes her to keep many secrets from her family which, when revealed, causes Walter to divorce her and her kids to become distant. Moira eventually confesses her involvement and Malcolm’s, which results in her being arrested.

During season 2, Moira is put on trial for her involvement with Malcolm but she is acquitted as Malcolm returns, alive, and forces the jury to acquit her before she makes Malcolm go on the run by informing Ra's al Ghul of Malcolm's survival. Moira eventually becomes a mayoral candidate against Sebastian Blood on Walter’s advice, but the secret of Thea's parentage is revealed, causing a rift between Moira and her children. It is revealed that she had been aware of Oliver's secret identity as the Arrow since the night of her arrest. She is murdered by Slade Wilson as part of his own plot of revenge against Oliver, as she made the same choice as Robert did for Oliver by sacrificing herself to prevent her son from having to choose between her and Thea. In a flashback, it is revealed that she paid a woman, Samantha Clayton, who got pregnant with Oliver's child to tell Oliver she lost the baby and move away to Central City never to speak to him again.

In season 3, Thompson returned to the series to record Moira's voice for when Oliver calls home from Hong Kong.[7]

In season 4, it is later revealed that Samantha never cashed Moira's check, and the attempted bribe resulted in Samantha hating the Queens; as the result, Samantha denied Moira access to her grandson, William, when she was alive, leaving Oliver hurt when he finds out but he is unable to acknowledge his son due to his mother's actions. This leaves Oliver painfully angered of Moira for deceiving him once more.

She is based on the minor DC Comics character of the same name.

  • First appearance: "Pilot"
Quentin Lance Paul Blackthorne 1–present

Quentin Lance is a police captain, formerly detective, sergeant and officer, the father of Laurel and Sara, and former husband of Dinah Drake-Lance. During season 1, Quentin resents Oliver for causing Sara's presumed death, followed by the deterioration of the relationships with his family, and becomes an alcoholic who throws himself into his work to avoid the pain. When Oliver returns, he openly shows his hatred of him and refuses to see through his past mistakes. He also hates the Arrow for being against everything Quentin believes in and tries numerous times to arrest him, one of which involves using Laurel which causes her to become distant for a time. Quentin is from time to time forced to work with the Arrow and eventually comes to accept him for the hero he is.

During season 2, Quentin is demoted to officer but is now an ally of the Arrow and becomes an informant on a number of cases and occasional field partner to him. He also struggles to recover from his alcoholism and the relationships with his family. After Sara is revealed to be alive and the vigilante "Canary", he helps her adjust to life after she returns to Starling City, and also helps Laurel cope with her pain over losing Tommy. However, Quentin discovers that he cannot renew his marriage with Dinah due to the fact that she has remarried at some point after their divorce. Quentin later regains his detective title. Quentin passes out from internal bleeding from a battle with Slade’s forces and falls into a coma.

In season 3, Quentin has survived, albeit now with frequent chest pains, and has been promoted to captain, a power he uses to call off the anti-vigilante task force. However his frequent assistance to the Arrow in the field continues to strain his condition and forces him to rely on the political connections of his new position and his subordinates to continue serving the city. He is initially unaware of Sara's death as Laurel believed that telling him would cause him a heart attack, but he becomes suspicious after Sara's protégée, Sin, informs him that the woman in Sara's costume is not her. He ultimately learns the truth about Sara's death and that Laurel has become her vigilante successor, and becomes estranged from Laurel and again succumbing to his alcoholism. He irrationally blames the Arrow for Sara's death and becomes determined to bring him to justice. He eventually learns from Ra's al Ghul of Oliver's secret identity. In the season finale, he supports Team Arrow once more when Ra's al Ghul plans to unleash the Alpha/Omega bio-weapon on Starling.

In season 4, it is revealed that Quentin is forced to be in league with Damien Darhk and his organization, H.I.V E., after Darhk threaten Quentin with the lives of his family's. After Oliver discovers his secret alliance, he persuades Lance to play double agent for him while continue working with Darhk, so he can inform what Darhk is really up to. However, in the process, Quentin exposes himself and thus Darhk gradually becomes suspicious of him but is too late to stop Quentin from learning that an ancient artifact in his possession is to be a source of his supernatural powers. With Quentin's intel, Mari McCabe is able to destroy Darhk's mystical idol, leaving Darhk powerless and arrested by Quentin's subordinates. Quentin then publicly admits in court of his association with H.I.V.E. under Darhk's duress, determined to see that justice will be served but also endangering his career. He reconciles with Laurel, and reunites with Sara once more after Laurel, Oliver, and John Constantine bring her back from the dead. He begins seeing Felicity's mother Donna Smoak, whom Quentin is happy to be with and thus starts to move on from his divorce and alcoholism, and he receives Laurel's blessing of his new relationship after she finds out. Quentin eventually meets Felicity's father and Donna's former husband, Noah Kuttler, and he personally arrest Noah after Felicity turns her father in. After Darhk murders Laurel, Quentin seeks to bring her back the same way as she did for Sara, only to learn from Nyssa al Ghul that the Lazarus Pit has been destroyed shortly after Sara's return, leaving him unable to resurrect his eldest daughter and devastated. With Donna's support, Quentin is able to cope with his loss without succumbing to alcoholism as he did after Sara's deaths. After saving the city with Oliver, Quentin is fired from his department, and he decides to leave Star City in hopes to lead a new life with Donna.

The character is based on the DC Comics character Larry Lance, husband to Dinah Drake Lance and father to Dinah Laurel Lance.

  • First appearance: "Pilot"
Felicity Smoak / Overwatch Emily Bett Rickards 2–present 1
Emily Bett Rickards

Felicity Smoak is an I.T. expert, a partner (and eventual love interest) of Oliver Queen and his computer expert. Felicity is a graduate of MIT Class of 2009, ranked second in the National Information Technology Competition at age 19 and holds a master's degree in cyber security and computer sciences. Felicity was raised by her mother Donna Smoak, after her mother left her father Noah Kuttler when she was seven year old due to his life as a criminal. During season 1, she is initially an employee of Queen Consolidated and is asked by Walter to investigate the list and she is asked for occasional favors by Oliver. She learns Oliver's secret in "The Odyssey" when he is shot and has her take him to his lair where she and John patch him up. She stays on as Oliver’s computer expert throughout the season in hopes of finding Walter Steele by helping Oliver and ultimately, like John Diggle, she becomes one of Oliver's confidants. Felicity chooses to remain at Oliver's side after Walter is rescued.

In season 2, she continues to serve as Oliver's partner, upgrades his safehouse, and even has a new custom bow made for him. Felicity also helps out in the field occasionally as a decoy or to field-hack a computer, but sometimes gets herself in deeper trouble. Felicity and Oliver also start to develop romantic feelings towards each other despite the fact that he is in a relationship with Sara Lance at the time.

In season 3, Felicity continues to be Oliver's tech support but has been forced to work for another I.T. company after losing her QC job. She eventually returns to work at Queen Consolidated (renamed Palmer Technologies) under new CEO Ray Palmer as his Vice President. In addition, Felicity is conflicted by her feelings towards both Oliver and Ray. While Ray and Felicity become a couple, many people, including her mother, see that Felicity is in love with Oliver. Felicity finally admits her love to Oliver and the two consummate their relationship. However, Oliver's decision to join the League of Assassins causes a rift between them. At the end of the season, Oliver retires from being the Arrow and him and Felicity leave Starling to start a new life. In flashbacks, it is revealed that she was a part of the cybergoth subculture and a member of a hacktivist group on her college campus, and she had a crush on Oliver prior to first meeting him.

In season 4, Felicity, as Vice President, becomes Palmer Technologies' acting CEO after Ray's presumed death and becomes friends with one of its scientists Curtis Holt. After living seemingly happily in Ivy Town for several months, she and Oliver are called back to Star City to help with the 'Ghost' problem. Upon their return, Oliver decides to run for mayor. During Oliver's mayoral campaigns, Felicity is the first person before Laurel and Sara to find out that her mother is dating their father. She and Oliver also become engaged, but are attacked by H.I.V.E shortly thereafter, resulting in Felicity being shot and left permanently paralyzed from the waist down. After coming to terms with her paralysis and her rebellious past, Felicity is given het codename "Overwatch" by Oliver.[8] After the incident, Felicity is reacquainted with her father after eighteen years. However, after secretly learning that her father has become a cyber-criminal mastermind known as the Calculator and has an ulterior motive, Felicity introduces Quentin Lance to her father and has Lance arrest him. With Curtis's help, Felicity's mobility is restored an after chip is surgically implanted in her spine. She learns Oliver's fatherhood with Samantha Clayton and that Oliver had kept it a secret from her for months, causing her relationship with him to be estranged and postpone her wedding. Later, after an encounter with Cupid, Felicity decides to break up with Oliver and initially leaves the team until Laurel's death motivates her to return. Because of her recovery, Felicity decides to dedicate her company's technological innovations to help people, but it causes her to lose her position as CEO due to her company's board's interest in profiting with their technology.

A character by the same name appeared in the comics as Ronnie Raymond's step-mother who runs a software company.[9] A version based on Rickards' portrayal was introduced in the DC Comics universe in Green Arrow (vol. 5) #35.[10]

  • First appearance: "Lone Gunmen"
Roy Harper / Arsenal Colton Haynes 2–3 1 4-5[11]
Colton Haynes

Roy William Harper Jr. is a former street criminal, Thea's boyfriend and an supporter of the Arrow. During season 1, Roy is a small-time criminal who falls in love with Thea after robbing her, but doesn't see any other way to live until the Arrow saves him from a kidnapping. Roy then attempts to find the Arrow to help him. He also gets arrested multiple times by Quentin Lance. After given up his criminal ways, Roy works as a waiter at the nightclub Verdant.

During season 2, he continues to see Thea but often goes out to clean up the streets on his own until the Arrow convinces him not to and instead help him by gathering Intel without engaging. Roy is injected with Mirakuru by Brother Blood and becomes super strong but slowly becomes insane. The Arrow then takes Roy under his wing in hopes of saving him from becoming as corrupt as Slade Wilson. The Arrow is forced to reveal his identity as Oliver convinces Roy to stop Bronze Tiger. Roy trains with Oliver to become an archer in order to control his strength but is forced to break up with Thea. Slade kidnaps Roy and uses his blood to create his army which leaves him completely insane and causes him to kill a cop while under the influence of the drug. Roy is given his own mask and partakes in the final battle. However, he is slightly amnesiac, not remembering anything after breaking up with Thea, including his rampage.

In season 3, Roy is now Oliver's partner and participates in the field with him. He takes on the alter-ego "Arsenal" after a confrontation with Ted Grant's former vigilante protégé Isaac Stanzler, but the media also refers to him as "Red Arrow". He struggles to come to terms with his breakup with Thea. Despite their separation, Thea makes Roy her assistant manager at the night club, though they eventually get back together. After Sara's murder, the manner of her death brings Roy's repressed memories of his rampage to the surface and he later helps support the family of the police officer he killed. When Oliver is presumed dead Roy takes his place as the team's head archer, often teaming with Laurel on missions. After Quentin Lance resumes his manhunt against Arrow, Roy subsequently impersonates Oliver's alter-ego and fakes his own death, leaving Starling City to assume that Arrow is dead so that Oliver can be free. Roy passes on his Arsenal suit to Thea after leaving town, which she later uses as her own vigilante suit.

In season 4, after building a new life in Hub City, Roy is forced to return to his vigilante role after the Calculator extorts him to steal technological components and Thea is out of commission.

He is based on the DC Comics character Roy Harper.

  • First appearance: "Dodger"
Slade Wilson / Deathstroke Manu Bennett 2 1 3

Slade Wilson is a former ASIS soldier who was ship-wrecked on Lian Yu, a mentor to Oliver Queen and is a protagonist/antihero in season 1 but becomes the main antagonist of season 2 and a minor antagonist of season 3.

During the season 1 flashbacks, Slade is a combat mentor to Oliver on the island and teaches him most of his fighting skills to fight Edward Fyers and his mercenaries in their combined attempts to escape the island and stop Fyers' plans. Though Slade openly doubts Oliver's abilities to survive or fight, often giving him demeaning nicknames, the two become close friends and fight together well. He also becomes romantically drawn to Shado, though she doesn't return the affection but is aware and amused by it.

In season 2, he appears in the flashbacks as a protagonist turned antagonist and appears in the present day as the main antagonist. In the flashbacks, he is severely wounded by Dr. Ivo’s mortar attacks and Oliver injects him with Mirakuru, a strength enhancing serum left on the island in WWII by Japanese, in order to save his life. When Shado is killed, Slade blames Oliver for her death and turns on him. In the present, Slade is alive, now operating as the mercenary Deathstroke, and plots to destroy Starling City with an army of Mirakuru soldiers working with Sebastian Blood and Isabel Rochev. He manages to undermine Oliver's life by causing him to lose his money and his business, revealing some of Oliver's secrets to Laurel and Thea and killing Moira before unleashing his army on the city. Oliver defeats him when Felicity injects him with the Mirakuru cure and he is imprisoned in a A.R.G.U.S. supermax on Lian Yu itself.

In season 3, Slade is temporarily released by Malcolm Merlyn and attempts to imprison Oliver and Thea in the supermax and return to Starling but the two are able to beat Slade and re-imprison him.

He is based on the DC Comics character Deathstroke.[12]

  • First appearance: "Betrayal"
Malcolm Merlyn / Dark Archer John Barrowman 3–present 1 2
John Barrowman

Malcolm Merlyn is a wealthy businessman, member of the League of Assassins, father of Tommy and Thea and one of the main antagonists of the series. During season 1, Malcolm plots the Undertaking, the destruction of the Glades, after his wife Rebecca was murdered there. When Robert Queen threatened the Undertaking, Malcolm arranged to destroy Robert's ship, Queen's Gambit, resulting in Robert Queen's death and the assumed deaths of Oliver and Sara which indirectly lead to their journeys of becoming the Arrow and the Canary. In the present day, he uses Moira to gain access to all the resources needed and tries to reshape his son into a better person by cutting him off which works but causes tensions between them. When the Arrow interferes with his plan, Malcolm also becomes a vigilante who similarly uses a bow and arrow but with a black costume to oppose him and proves to be far more skilled than him. He also suspects Oliver to be the Arrow and is ultimately proven right after defeating him a second time. In the season finale, he is seemingly killed by Oliver though he manages to destroy much of the Glades and inadvertently kills Tommy, and is also publicly exposed for his crime by Moira.

In season 2, Malcolm returns alive and in secret to suborn the jury in Moira's trial to find her innocent of the Undertaking. He discovers that he is Thea's biological father after following Adam Donner's investigation of Malcolm's past affair with Moira. In an attempt to keep Malcolm from Thea, Moira informs Ra's al Ghul of his survival, forcing Malcolm to flee Starling City. During Slade's attack on the city, Malcolm returns to save Thea from the Mirakuru soldiers and convinces her to leave Starling with him.

In season 3, Malcolm is revealed to have trained Thea to be a warrior in Corto Maltese. Despite being both the League's target and a fugitive of the law, Malcolm returns to Starling City, though his presence and survival is not known to the general public. He also secretly purchased the foundry from Queen Consolidated, the site of Thea's nightclub Verdant. It is revealed that his name in the League of Assassins is "Al Sa-Her" (Arabic: الساحر), which translates to "The Magician", after Malcolm performed a magic trick for a young Nyssa al Ghul upon his arrival in Nanda Parbat. He also continues to train Thea to the point where she can even defeat him in combat. Malcolm plots to rid himself of Ra's al Ghul and drugs Thea into killing Sara so Oliver will take the fall for her murder and challenge Ra's to a duel, as al Ghul's death will eliminate Malcolm's blood debt. However this plan fails and almost gets Oliver killed, who barely survives his fight with al Ghul and returns only after a whole month. Malcolm learns that crime lord Danny Brickwell was responsible for the murder of his wife, but Oliver persuades him to choose justice over vengeance for Thea's sake, allowing Brick to be tried for his crimes. Malcolm is tasked to train Oliver in swordplay following the latter's return in preparation of them battling Ra's al Ghul together. When Oliver tells Thea that she killed Sara, and that Malcolm is directly responsible because he brainwashed her to do it, she betrays Malcolm to the League; he is captured, taken to Nanda Parbat, and tortured but is freed when Oliver accept his offer to take Ra's place. After Thea is killed by Ra's, Malcolm accompanies Oliver to Nanda Parbat to revive her but Oliver is forced to take Ra's offer and join the League. However Malcolm secretly begins working with Oliver, planning to cripple the league from within and stop Ra's plan to unleash the Alpha/Omega bio-weapon on Starling City. Malcolm subsequently leads Team Arrow to save the city until Oliver's return. After Ra's is killed by Oliver in a final sword fight, he hands the leadership of the League to Malcolm, which Nyssa suspects is what Malcolm has schemed all along since Sara's death though he claims he only desired to rid himself of Ra's. Despite their renewed animosity following Ra's defeat, both Malcolm and Oliver harbor deep respect for each other: Malcolm regards Oliver as a surrogate son and Oliver himself remembers the man Malcolm was before the death of his wife, though is unable to forgive him for everything that he has done.

In season 4, Malcolm helps Laurel resurrect Sara in order to have his family's blood debt with Laurel's settled, and helps Thea in controlling her bloodlust. He provides information to Oliver and Barry Allen about Vandal Savage. To keep Damien Darhk from figuring out Oliver's secret, Malcolm occasionally masquerades himself as Green Arrow. However, despite occasionally helping Oliver, Malcom remains an amoral man and is despised by Oliver's team and their allies, particularly Barry Allen despite having no personal history with Malcolm. His aiding to Oliver is either for protecting Thea from Oliver's enemies or his own agendas. Malcolm ultimately loses both his left hand and his power after Nyssa wins the League's leadership with Oliver's help, leading him to align himself with Darhk for revenge against Oliver. In the process, Malcolm reveals Oliver's secrets to Darhk. As a result, Damien makes Malcolm a H.I.V.E. member and providing him a cybernetic prosthesis for his lost appendage. In order to protect himself and Thea from Damien's plans Malcolm steals Damien's idol back, working with Andy Diggle, which results in Laurel's death. Despite the League's disbandment, Malcolm remains a leader to its remnants.

He is based on the DC Comics character Merlyn.

  • First appearance: "An Innocent Man"

Recurring characters

This is a list of recurring actors and the characters they portrayed in multiple episodes, which were significant roles, sometimes across multiple seasons. The characters are listed, in alphabetical order by actor, by the season in which they first appeared.

Season One

  • Audrey Marie Anderson portrays Lyla Michaels,[13] an A.R.G.U.S. agent and John Diggle's wife who served with him in Afghanistan where they first met. Within A.R.G.U.S., she uses the codename "Harbinger"[14] and is the field leader of the Suicide Squad. Lyla and John also have a child, born in season 3, who they name Sara in honor of Sara Lance. Lyla and Sara are kidnapped by Oliver when he masquerades as a devoted League of Assassins member christened Al Sah-Him. Though this strains the friendship between John and Oliver when the truth comes out, Lyla is more forgiving and understands that it was necessary in his battle to destroy Ra's al Ghul and the League from the inside. In season 4, after Amanda Waller's death, Lyla becomes her successor as A.R.G.U.S.'s leader and work to reform it.
  • Jessica De Gouw portrays Helena Bertinelli / Huntress,[15] who seeks revenge against her mob boss father and his associates for murdering her fiancé. Oliver makes a connection with her and tries to help her. They develop feelings for each other until Helena sees Oliver talking with Laurel, Helena realizes Oliver still has feelings for Laurel. It causes a rift between Helena and Oliver. In the end Oliver stops Helena from killing her father and puts him in jail, making an enemy of Helena who wanted revenge not justice.
  • Sebastian Dunn portrays Edward Fyers, a mercenary on the island seen during the season 1 flashbacks.[16] He is killed in battle on the island. In season 3, it is revealed that Fyers worked for Amanda Waller.
  • Kelly Hu portrays Chien Na Wei / China White,[9][17] a Chinese Triad leader who seeks revenge against Arrow for defeating her in combat after their first encounter. However, Oliver actually first encountered her in Hong Kong two years prior of him donning his vigilante mantle during the season 3 flashbacks, and helps capture her when she comes to Starling City.
  • Celina Jade portrays Shado,[18] the daughter of Yao Fei. She helps train Oliver in archery and martial arts while on the island in the season 1 flashbacks. They also become lovers. She is killed by Ivo during the season 2 flashbacks. Slade, who had secretly been in love with her, blames Oliver for her death and vows revenge. She later appears as hallucinations in Slade's mind in the present time. Jade also portrayed Shado's twin sister, Mei, who Oliver meets in Hong Kong during a season 3 flashback.
  • Alex Kingston portrays Dinah Drake Lance, mother of Laurel and Sara, and former wife of Quentin.[19] Dinah is a college professor who teaches European history. Prior to Sara's disappearance, Dinah actually finds out of her youngest daughter's relationship with Oliver, and is guilt-ridden for failing to stop her after the incident. After Sara's presumed death, Dinah's marriage with Quentin is deteriorated and they ultimately divorce. She then leaves her family to find her lost daughter, whom she correctly believes that she is still alive. After Dinah settles in Central City, she meets someone there and they are eventually married. Despite still separating herself from Quentin after Sara's return, Dinah remains close to him and their daughters, and encourages Quentin to move on from their past.
  • Byron Mann portrays Yao Fei,[20] a skilled former Chinese general who assists Oliver on the island during season 1. To help Oliver survive, Yao Fei attempts to train Oliver in archery and other survival skills. He is killed by Fyers. The character's name was derived from a DC Comics superhero character.[21]
  • Michael Rowe portrays Floyd Lawton / Deadshot,[9] a mercenary who killed Andy Diggle under H.I.V.E.'s orders. Lawton is also a member of the Suicide Squad,[13] although he is killed on a mission in season 3. In season 4, it is revealed that Lawton didn't kill Andy, but instead, H.I.V.E. used him to fake the latter's death.
  • Colin Salmon portrays Walter Steele,[22] Moira's husband, Oliver's step-father, and Felicity's former employer. He was President of Queen Consolidated until he disappeared in episode 9, but was found alive in episode 21. He and Moira separate at the end of season 1, but he returns in season 2 to help her run for Mayor. It is also revealed that Moira had confided Walter of Thea's true paternity at some point after they marry. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Starling National Bank.
  • Jamey Sheridan portrays Robert Queen, Moira's late husband, Oliver's father, and Thea's legal father. Despite his marriage to Moira, Robert was not a faithful husband, having many illicit affairs outside of his marriage including with his company's intern Isabel Rochev. Robert is secretly aware that Thea is not his biological daughter but Malcolm Merlyn's, but Robert accepted Thea nonetheless and also acted as a surrogate father to Malcolm's son Tommy after his and Malcolm's relationship become distant. As a young man, Robert gained his wealth through corrupted means, but he gradually become remorseful of his greed, leading him to join Malcolm's secret society Tempest to improve Starling City's condition in hoped of making amends. He and Oliver were both lost at sea when Malcolm sabotages the Queen's Gambit. Robert sacrifices his life by killing himself, increasing Oliver's chances of survival and returning home to Starling City so that Oliver could right Robert's wrongs.[23]

Season Two

  • Cynthia Addai-Robinson portrays Amanda Waller, leader of A.R.G.U.S. and commander of the Suicide Squad. In season 2, Waller often forces John Diggle to work for her on missions other A.R.G.U.S. agents are unwilling to perform and tries to have Starling City destroyed during Slade Wilson's attack to contain the Mirakuru soldiers, only to be stopped by John and Lyla.[24] She has used the codename "Mockingbird".[14] She is killed in season 4 after the Shadowspire soldiers infiltrate A.R.G.U.S. In the season 3 flashbacks, she rescues Oliver from Lian Yu after witnessing his progressive skills in combat, and forces him to work for her and thus, in the process, further his trainings two years prior to his return to Starling City.
  • Kevin Alejandro portrays Sebastian Blood / Brother Blood, a savvy politician who is working with Slade Wilson, a friend of Oliver Queen and romantic interest of Laurel Lance. He is a city alderman who is running for mayor to create his vision of a Starling City. He leads a sinister double life as a criminal, wearing a skull mask based on the nightmares he had of his late-father, called "Brother Blood". Seemingly benign, over the course of season 2 Sebastian is gradually revealed to be narcissistic and directly responsible for the murders of his parents. Oliver and Laurel believe they discover Sebastian's secret in "Blind Spot" but he misdirects them by having Laurel kill a decoy in the skull mask. However Laurel re-discovers his secret in "City of Blood" and Oliver tries in vain to reason with Sebastian. In "Streets of Fire", he is betrayed by Slade, causing him to give the Mirakuru cure to Oliver. He is killed by Isabel Rochev for his betrayal.[25]
  • Summer Glau portrays Isabel Rochev, the VP of Acquisitions at Stellmoor International who acquires half of Queen Consolidated in the second season premiere.[26] She later secures full control of Queen Consolidated in a hostile takeover. It is revealed she was Oliver's father's mistress during her internship and has been working with Slade from the beginning to get revenge. Like Oliver, Isabel was also trained by Slade in martial arts, but she was later injected with the same Mirakuru drug that was given to Slade. In the season 2 finale Isabel is killed by Nyssa al Ghul. The character shares her name with the DC Comics villain "The Queen", who, in the comics, became CEO of Queen Industries following the death of founder, Robert Queen.[27]
  • Grant Gustin portrays Barry Allen / The Flash,[28] a young CSI from the Central City Police Department with a tragic past who seeks solving the unexplained crimes and occurrences and is also a fan of the Arrow's exploits. Oliver first meets Barry when the latter arrives to personally investigate a superhuman-related crime in Starling City. Eventually, he discovers that Oliver is his vigilante idol, saves his life and helps him to begin uncovering the Mirakuru plot orchestrated by Slade Wilson. Ultimately, both Barry and Oliver become good friends and they now and then offer each other advice and support since. He is later struck by lightning which also shatters shelves of chemicals nearby and spills all over him during a severe thunderstorm, which coincides with an explosion from a sabotaged particle accelerator a few blocks away from his laboratory. The accident gives Barry the power of super speed, and he is inspired by Oliver's examples to become a hero known as the "Flash". He occasionally teams up with Oliver on missions and remains a trusted friend and ally to him. Barry is the lead of the spin-off series The Flash.
  • Katrina Law portrays Nyssa al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul.[29] Nyssa is said to have encountered a dying Sara on Lian Yu sometime after Oliver and Slade's fight on the Amazo, and brought Sara to the League where they became lovers, though her father never approved of their relationship. In season 2, when Sara leaves the League, Nyssa works to force her return, threatening her family, but ultimately accepts her departure and later helps Oliver fight Slade's army when Sara decides to return to the League. In season 3, when Sara is murdered, Nyssa goes on a vengeance quest to kill Malcolm, correctly assuming he is her killer, but he claims otherwise. She befriends Sara's sister, Laurel, but her animosity with Oliver intensifies because Oliver is unwilling to let her execute Malcolm often leading to antagonism when they are forced to work together. When Ra's declares Oliver his successor and releases Malcolm, Nyssa, feeling betrayed, leaves Nanda Parbat for Starling City and begins training Laurel to become a better fighter. Nyssa is later captured by Oliver, Maseo Yamashiro and a team of assassins to bring her back to Nanda Parbat by force, for stealing the Alpha-Omega virus from the League. Instead of having Oliver kill Nyssa for her betrayal, Ra's decides that the two should marry, to her evident dismay and is now known as "Nyssa Queen". However, Nyssa aligns herself with Oliver and his team to save Starling City, defying her father out of her spite against him. She later returns to the league, now under Malcolm's leadership and reluctantly bows to him despite making it clear to him that she will kill him one day. In season 4, Laurel comes to Nanda Parbat, wanting to bring Sara back to life via the Lazarus Pit, but Nyssa begs her not to, as the Sara that would come out would not be the same as the one that Nyssa had loved and lost. After Laurel uses the pit on Sara, against Nyssa's wishes, Nyssa retaliates by using a potion Ra's Al Ghul left to destroy the Lazarus Pit. Eventually, after ascending as the leader of the League, she elects to disband it, believing no one else should be held prisoner.
  • Caity Lotz portrays Sara Lance / Canary, Laurel's sister with whom Oliver had an affair. Sara, along with Laurel and their mother Dinah, is based on the DC Comics superheroine Black Canary. She was believed to have drowned with the sinking Queen's Gambit, but she resurfaces in season 2 as another vigilante, the "Canary", who is connected to the League of Assassins.[30] She was originally portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood in the pilot.[31][32] According to Kreisberg, she is "the beginning of the Black Canary story".[33][34] She eventually wins her freedom from the League and returns to Starling City, to become part of Oliver's team in addition to working as a bartender at his nightclub. In "Seeing Red", she breaks with Oliver over a dispute concerning Roy, and, in "Unthinkable", Sara rejoins the League in order win their backing against Slade Wilson's army. In "The Calm", she returns to Starling City on a mission for the League, but is killed by a mysterious archer. In "The Climb", it is revealed that Thea killed Sara while drugged and controlled by Malcolm, as part of a plot to force Oliver into combat with Ra's al Ghul. Lotz dubs Cassidy's lines when Laurel impersonates Sara as the Canary, and later appears as a hallucination of Laurel's in "Canaries". In season 4, Laurel, Thea, and Malcolm resurrect Sara using the Lazarus Pit, but she returns soulless and mentally fractured until Oliver brings in his old friend John Constantine to help restore her soul. However, Sara's behavior remains volatile and she suffers with an insatiable bloodlust, which prompts her to seek solitude away from home.
  • Dylan Neal portrays Dr. Anthony Ivo during flashbacks in season 2.[35] He is the first character in the series who tells Oliver, Slade and Shado about the "Mirakuru"; he later murders Shado. After one of his hands has been cut off by Slade, he is killed by Oliver on the island.
  • David Nykl portrays Anatoli Knyazev, based on the character KGBeast. Anatoli was kidnapped by Dr. Ivo and is brought to Lian Yu where he meets Oliver Queen and becomes a friend and instrumental in Slade's defeat on the island. Sometime between the flashbacks and the present, Anatoli makes Oliver a Bratva captain and continues to assist him in the present.[36]
  • Danielle Panabaker portrays Caitlin Snow,[37] a bioengineering expert from S.T.A.R. Labs. Caitlin helps Felicity in recreating the Mirakuru antidote, and later on occasionally helps Team Arrow on missions. She is part of the main cast in the spin-off series The Flash.
  • Graham Shiels portrays Cyrus Gold,[38] who is the first to survive injection with Mirakuru in the present day. Oliver defeats him in "Three Ghosts".
  • Bex Taylor-Klaus portrays Cindy a.k.a. "Sin", a wayward youth who Sara takes under her wing in Starling City after her father is killed on the island. She later befriends Roy Harper and Thea Queen.[39]
  • Carlos Valdes portrays Cisco Ramon / Vibe,[37] a mechanical engineering genius at S.T.A.R. Labs with the metahuman ability to detect anomalies within reality. He is part of the main cast in the spin-off series The Flash. Cisco helps upgrade the arsenals of Oliver, Laurel, and Sara, aids Ray with his Atom suit, and designs a new safe house for Oliver.

Season Three

  • Eugene Byrd portrays Andy Diggle, the brother of John Diggle who is first seen as a bodyguard in a season 3 flashback, but was previously known to have been killed by the H.I.V.E. organization, which hired Floyd Lawton as their hitman.[40] It turns out that Andy led a double life in the military as a drug lord associated with the organization Shadowspire at Afghanistan, which was how he came to H.I.V.E.'s notice. H.I.V.E. faked Andy's death, and he eventually became one Damien Darhk's "Ghosts". John suspects that, rather than having been brainwashed by Darhk, Andy joined H.I.V.E. of his own free will, while trying to reconcile with his brother and to save him from damnation. Andy later helps John and Lyla stop Shadowspire from obtaining a weapon from A.R.G.U.S and is welcomed back into the family by his brother. Unfortunately it's later revealed that his redemption was a facade to get closer to Team Arrow and later works with Malcolm Merlyn to get Damien out of prison, and restore his powers leaving his brother devastated after Andy's actions result in Laurel's death at Darhk's hands. As the result, John hunts Andy and sees his brother sociopathic; after Andy nearly got Lyla and Sara killed, John ultimately kills his brother in retaliation.
  • Rila Fukushima portrays Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana, based on the DC Comics character of the same name.[41] She is a mentor to Oliver during his time in Hong Kong. Devon Aoki was originally cast in the role but left due to a scheduling conflict.[42][43] She is the wife of Maseo Yamashiro and mother of his son. In the present day, her relationship with her husband is estranged after the death of their son and she then joins the Crescent Order after returning to Japan. She nurses Oliver back to health after he is nearly killed by Ra's al Ghul. She supports Team Arrow during their war with the League of Assassins. After a short sword-fight with her husband, she ends up killing Maseo and mourns him. She later helps Nyssa and Oliver in curing Thea from the effects of the Lazarus Pit.
  • Vinnie Jones portrays Danny "Brick" Brickwell, a gang leader in Starling City. He earns the nickname "Brick" from being shot multiple times, without ever being put down.[44] Brick organizes the takeover of the Glades in Oliver's absence and is later revealed to have killed Malcolm's wife Rebecca, and thus is the indirect catalyst for the events of the series. Damien Darhk later extorts Brick into joining H.I.V.E. after escaping from prison with him.
  • Matt Nable portrays Ra's al Ghul (Arabic: رأس الغول‎‎; "The Demon's Head"), the main antagonist of the third season and leader of the League of Assassins who has lived for at least two centuries having been born some decades before 1854 due to the use of the Lazarus Pit, a pool which can heal wounds and even bring the dead back to life. He is also the father of Nyssa al Ghul.[45] Ra's has never acknowledged Sara as a member of the League and disapproves of Nyssa's relationship with her. In order to protect Thea, Oliver lies that he killed Sara Lance and challenges Ra's to a trial by combat. Ra's easily defeats and nearly kills him by stabbing him through the chest. Ra's wants to make Oliver his heir—the new Ra's al Ghul, because Oliver is the only man to survive a death match against Ra's (and, according to the League's prophecy, only the one who survives Ra's blade is destined to become his successor). Ra's become fixated with Oliver, considering him as the one foretold by the prophecy who would take his place in the League, and neglecting other candidates (including Nyssa, who should be her father’s heir by familial bond); Ra’s estranges with his daughter as the result. When Oliver refuses his offer, Ra's orders the League to kill the people of Starling City, to get Oliver to accept. Ra's stabs Thea and leaves her near death, with a cure via the Lazarus Pit only available if Oliver agrees to become his heir. Oliver finally accedes, and Ra's names him "Al Sah-Him". After Oliver captures Nyssa, Ra's forces an engagement between her and Oliver. He also orders Oliver to unleash the Alpha/Omega bio weapon of Starling City, oblivious that Oliver was in league with Malcolm and Nyssa as he attempts to take down the League from the inside. In the season finale, Oliver kills Ra's. In addition, Malcolm becomes Ra's successor of the League's leadership, and thus its prophecy is fulfilled as Malcolm himself also survives Ra's assault during his captivity.
  • J.R. Ramirez portrays Ted Grant / Wildcat, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Grant is a former boxer who now runs a gym for underprivileged youth.[46] He begins providing Laurel with combat training, and in the process Ted becomes Laurel's friend and confidant. He is also a former low profile vigilante who watched over the Glades.
  • Charlotte Ross portrays Donna Smoak, Felicity's mother.[47][48] A former cocktail waitress from Las Vegas, Donna was previously married to cyber-criminal Noah Kuttler which led to Felicity's conception prior to leaving him and then lied to their daughter that he abandoned them; as the result, Donna's relationship with her daughter was estranged for seventeen years until they reconcile. Later, Donna meets and happily dates Quentin Lance and thus starts to move on from the relationship with her former husband, but remains bitter over Noah over his criminal past. Her relationship with Quentin has proven crucial to the latter, as she helps Quentin to cope with the loss of his eldest daughter, Laurel Lance.
  • Brandon Routh portrays Ray Palmer / Atom, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Ray is a scientist, inventor, minister and businessman who is the new head of Queen Consolidated, succeeding Isabel Rochev as CEO after her crimes are posthumously exposed.[49][50] Ray arrives to seek improvements to Starling City after it had survived previous terrorist attacks, he has the intention of renaming it as "Star City". In addition to being a CEO of his new company, Palmer also involves himself with the city's legislative body in his goal of making it a better place. After his fiancée, Anna Loring, was killed by one of Slade Wilson's Mirakuru soldiers, Palmer uses the company's research and technical inventions to develop a suit powered by a white dwarf matter, which, in his theory, can alter the wearer's size down to the subatomic level. Palmer seeks to use it to become a high-tech vigilante, named Atom. He renames Queen Consolidated "Palmer Technologies" and names Felicity his Vice President. Palmer also becomes Oliver's rival for Felicity's affection, and ultimately he and Felicity become lovers for a time, until Ray realizes that Felicity is in love with Oliver. Ray also assists in Team Arrow's fight against Ra's al Ghul to stop him unleashing the Alpha/Omega bio weapon. In the season finale Ray is working on the suit with the intention of giving it the power to shrink but a malfunction causes the entire top floor of Palmer Technologies to blow up. It is revealed later that Ray is alive but was being held captive by Damien Darhk for months until he is freed by Team Arrow and then joining their fight against H.I.V.E.
  • Karl Yune portrays Maseo Yamashiro, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. He is Oliver's handler, and later good friend, during his time in Hong Kong.[51] He is the husband of Tatsu Yamashiro and father of her son Akio. In the present, he is estranged from his wife after the death of their son and joins the League of Assassins as "Sarab". However he remains loyal to Oliver and covertly ensures his survival after his duel with Ra's al Ghul, and still loves Tatsu. Despite this he is still loyal to Ra's and becomes a key leader in the League's mission to force Oliver to take Ra's place, going as far as to kill the Starling City mayor to frame him. He is eventually killed by Tatsu after a sword-fight.

Season Four

  • Tom Amandes portrays Noah Kuttler / Calculator, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Kuttler is Felicity's long-lost father, who is a career cyber-criminal whom Donna Smoak divorced from eighteen years previously. He has advanced computer science and hacking skills which rivals his daughter's, which he uses to blackmail Roy Harper out of hiding.[52] Kuttler is ultimately arrested by Donna's current romantic partner, Quentin Lance, after Felicity turns her father in. After escaping from prison, Noah finds himself being targeted by H.I.V.E. due to their awareness that he possibly can thwart their plans for world domination with his computer skills; he helps his daughter in stopping H.I.V.E. after Felicity and her friends saves him.
  • Jimmy Akingbola portrays Baron Reiter, based on the DC Comics character Baron Blitzkrieg.[53][54] He is the leader of Shadowspire in the series flashbacks,[55] and is searching for magical artifacts on the island, which is revealed to be the idol that Damien Darhk possesses in the present.
  • Echo Kellum portrays Curtis Holt, based on the DC Comics character Mister Terrific. Holt is a technological savant, inventor and medal-winning Olympic decathlete, who works with Felicity at Palmer Technologies.[56] He helps her rescue Ray Palmer from Damien Darhk. In "Beacon of Hope," he learns Oliver's secret identity and helps them defeat Brie Larvan. He then helps Felicity and Noah shut down Rubicon to stop H.I.V.E.
  • Janet Kidder portrays Ruvé Adams, the wife of Damien Darhk, who shares his dark ambitions and campaigns against Oliver for mayor of Star City.When Oliver drops out of the mayoral race she wins and becomes mayor. In "Lost in the Flood," she is held captive by Lonnie Machin and is stabbed in the chest with an arrow by him, she is killed by falling debris from the destruction of Darhk's nuclear bomb shelter in her dying breath she asks Oliver to leave her and save her daughter.[57]
  • Neal McDonough portrays Damien Darhk, a former member of the League of Assassins and a friend turned adversary to Ra's al Ghul. Years ago, Damian left the League after being denied leadership, taking a sample of the Lazarus Pit and several League members with him after Ra's failed to execute him as ordered. He is the current leader of his own clandestine group, H.I.V.E., which is the organization who hired Deadshot to assassinate Andy Diggle. Darhk and his organization is plotting to start a nuclear holocaust so that they can rule a post-apocalyptic world, a plan known to his party as "Genisis". According to Ra's, Damien also orchestrated Bronze Tiger's plot to steal Malcolm's prototype earthquake machine in "Tremors" and Mark Shaw's attempt to acquire the A.R.G.U.S. file in "Corto Maltese". In Season 4, he is introduced as the main antagonist. It is also shown in the season's premiere episode that he is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant (being a former member of the League) and that he has mystical abilities: he can remotely manipulate objects and people, and can drain the life force from a person through physical contact.[58] Darhk becomes enemies not only with Green Arrow but Oliver as well, believing the two working together and thus not knowing that they are the same man (although he does express suspicions). Darhk also kidnapped Ray Palmer to steal his technology for Genesis. He ultimately deduces the true identities of the entire Arrow team. Despite being a sadistic terrorist leader, Darhk is also a loving father and husband; his wife, Ruvé Adams, also shares her spouse's cruelty and is supportive of his endeavors. Through Malcolm Merlyn, Darhk learns that Oliver has fathered a son and uses him as a means to scuttle Oliver's mayoral campaign. Quentin Lance and Mari McCabe discover that a mystical idol in Darhk's possession is the source of his supernatural powers, and Mari destroys it, leaving Darhk powerless and imprisoned. He later escapes with the assistance of Malcolm and Andy, regaining his powers from his rebuilt idol in the process, and ends up killing Laurel Lance in retaliation upon Quentin for his role on Darhk's imprisonment.
  • Ryan Robbins portrays Conklin, a member of Shadowspire in the series flashbacks.[55] Conklin is highly suspicious of Oliver and his presence on the island, and regularly tries to convince his boss, Reiter, not to trust Oliver. He is later killed by Oliver when the two are left alone in a room and fight in hand-to-hand combat. In "Taken," a primordial energy takes the form of Conklin and stands at the entrance of the cave, speaking in tongues, but disappears when it notices the spell tattoo on Oliver's chest and deemed him worthy to pass.
  • Elysia Rotaru portrays Taiana Venediktov, a woman whose life Oliver saves in the flashbacks, faking her death to protect her from Shadowspire. Oliver kills her brother, who Conklin had sent to attack him, and initially tries to hide it from Taiana. After they get caught by Conklin, Oliver is tortured, and they are both imprisoned. While Taiana is taking care of his wounds, and after Shado appears in his dreams, telling Oliver to do the right thing, he confesses. She later helps Oliver escape as they manage to steal the idol from Reiter, but the idol's power begins to corrupt Taiana.[59][60]
  • Parker Young portrays Alex Davis, an employee of Oliver working on his mayoral campaign and love interest for Thea. When Oliver drops out of the mayoral race he starts to work for Ruve Adams. In "Genesis," it's revealed he is being controlled by her. In "Monument Point," Lonnie Machin kills him when he stumbles into a fight between Thea and Machin, due to Lonnie believing that Alex is clouding her mind.[61]
  • Alexander Calvert portrays Lonnie Machin / Anarky, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Machin is a deranged freelancing criminal who is willing to do whatever it takes to impress a potential employer. After his face was disfigured and burned by Thea, he becomes an anarchist and plans on getting his revenge on Damien Darhk for betraying him.[62]

Guest stars

The following is a supplementary list of guest stars, some recurring, who appear in lesser roles. The characters are listed, in alphabetical order by actor, by the season in which they first appeared.

See also

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Green Arrow (vol. 5) #0 (November 2012)
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  4. Green Arrow (vol. 5) #24 (October 2013)
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