The Arrow is the poster child of The CW’s Arrowverse, a superhero shared universe for the small screens. It was the first superhero show which became a trendsetter for not just DC shows but also forced Marvel to up its game in terms of comic book content meant for TV. Arrow has consistently been one of the highest rated TV shows on CW, it dipped a little in season 4 but then it picked up the top spot in season 5 when Prometheus broke Oliver Queen and made him confess to some of his deepest and darkest secrets he kept it to himself.
While we all know and love the Green Arrow aka Oliver Queen, it is his most recent incarnation that is the most lovable version. The Arrow wasn’t always the good guy. He started out as a vigilante that pretty much operated in the grey areas of both the law and his own morality. Presenting the 10 times the Arrow did something really messed up and got away with it….
He lies to his Team pretty much every time
While he does have (or had) a team now, it wasn’t always the case. 5 years on a desolate island with nothing but his own instincts to survive made him distrustful of everybody else. But he is the Arrow now. He has a team behind him. Even after all his ‘Hero’ years in Star City, he still almost always never reveals any critical information to his teammates. Infact, he did not care as much as others like Diggle and Felicity when the other team members (Wild dog, Curtis, Black Canary) left the team after knowing that they were under constant surveillance under the orders of Oliver. Do you really think a guy like that would share anything with anyone?
He used to be a Serial Killer
When Arrow was called the Hood, he did some really gnarly stuff, to begin with, including cold-blooded murder. He acted as Judge, Jury, and Executioner all by himself. What gave him the right to kill people in the first place? Five years on an island? If that is the case then why didn’t Robinson Crusoe grab a gun and start killing criminals in the name of justice? If Dexter was termed a killer for killing criminals, why won’t he??
Well, he did pay for what he had done by taking law into his own hands and now he is a reformed man thanks to the people surrounding him who cares for him and he cares for them.
He cheated on Laurel with her sister
He had this one coming. To cheat on someone is one thing but to lie to them on their face while making her sister do the same is another. He was a playboy and a billionaire but that doesn’t change the fact that he not only destroyed his relationship with Laurel but the sacred bond between two lifelong sisters/best-friends. He did not deserve Laurel but she was totally besotted by him that she ignored the advanced made by their common friend Tommy Merlyn. Well, Oliver now stands alone as both Laurel and Tommy are dead.
He was an absent father
Granted, Moira Queen deserves some of the blame. But if Oliver knew about the child then why didn’t he dig for a deeper set of balls and stand up to the situation like a man should? Mommy Dearest paid off Samantha to leave town. Oliver could have done something about his son growing without a father. He didn’t.
And even after knowing about her and the fact that he was a father, he continued to be a vigilante and trading off his family with saving Star city from larger threats. It’s only after losing Samantha in season 5 finale at Lian Yu when Prometheus triggered explosions, he promised her that he will always be there for William. And true to his word, he became an over protective father, he even dropped the mantle of Green Arrow and allowed Diggle to crry out the work.
He is Under-Qualified to be Mayor
Oliver wanted to do some good. He became the Green Arrow. When he wanted to do better, he became the Mayor of Star City. But the Mayoral position of a city is not a piece of cake. It takes years of political experience and an inept aptitude of handling several situations at the same time to do what a Mayor does. Oliver has trouble even handling his son’s Mathematics homework. How did he make it to the Mayor’s Office?!?! Well, as they say politics is more about showmanship than statesmanship.
The No-Kill Vow is broken….several times
The No-Kill Vow is a sacred rule of Batman. But since The CW doesn’t have access to the cape and cowl, they decide to make the Green Arrow TV’s bootleg version of the caped crusader. Naturally, that also includes a No-Kill Vow. The only problem is – While Batman never, ever breaks that rule, Green Arrow has no problem doing it. Batman had the chance to finish off Joker in Dark Knight, but he did not. Green Arrow always find an excuse to go back to his old habits.
He is the reason of the Lance Family’s sorry state
If Oliver hadn’t played merry go round with Sarah Lance on the Queen’s Gambit, Sara would have never disappeared in the first place. After Sara’s apparent death, Quentin became an alcoholic, Laurel also followed down her father’s path into the bar and soon died and the Lance Family broke apart. It won’t come as a surprise to me if Quentin is secretly conspiring Oliver’s death.
He was unfaithful to Laurel while she loved him with everything she got, he did not really care about Sarah and it was more a fling for him instead of a serious relationship that he would take to the next level. He used both sisters and as a result Lance family is reduced to now Quentin Lance.
Everyone knows he is the Green Arrow
Tony Stark is Iron Man. Everyone knows that. Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow. Nobody knows that… wait that ain’t right!!! The thing about the green Arrow is almost everyone he comes across knows who he really is. More than 20 people all around the world already know Mayor Queen is a masked vigilante. For a guy wearing a mask and a hood, he is doing a bang-up job of keeping his secret identity a secret. Even the Star city knows it now no matter what his explanation is about a photo revealing his superhero identity.
He makes cops do illegal stuff
The Cops we are talking about is Quentin Lance and Dinah Drake. Vigilantism is clearly against the law. You can’t take the law into your own hands. Quentin used to be the Police Commissioner of the SCPD. Dinah Drake is a high ranking cop of the SCPD. Both aid the Green Arrow when he takes the law into his own hands. Dinah is even a vigilante herself. Does the word of law hold no value to anyone now??
Both of them have followed the instructions of a vigilante cum Mayor and indulged in unlawful practices ironically to preserve law and order in the Star city. When SCPD guys die, he just gives a speech and we just move on.
He is Ra’s Al Ghul
Oh no, he IS Ra’s Al Ghul. Not was, IS!!! The Ra’s Al Ghul is the position of the leader of an ancient order of assassins that doubles as an international terrorist organization. After killing the previous Ra’s Al Ghul, that mantle is his for the taking. Malcolm is not the rightful Demon’s head. It is Oliver. So, Oliver is the rightful heir to one of the bloodiest positions on the planet.
Even after dethroning Ra’s Al Ghul from such an influential position and subsequently eliminating him, he should have the most powerful person given the fact that he is Mayor as well, but he is always helpless and one step behind guys like Cayden James who was bossing around him as if he was a nobody.
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