Original multiverse Vigilante Member of Team Arrow (in secret; formerly) Busboy at Verdant (formerly) Assistant manager of Verdant (formerly) Mechanic (formerly) Ally of Team Flash (in secret; formerly) Ally of Birds of Prey (in secret; formerly) New multiverse Vigilante Member of Team Arrow (in secret; formerly)
Roy as Arsenal
"You know, when I first met Oliver, he gave me a purpose, but he also gave me all of you. It makes sense that having a team is what helps me in the future, so why wait?"
— Roy Harper
Roy William Harper, Jr., (born July 13, 2357) is a male Human who is a street-savvy young man from the Glades. He is the son of the late Roy Harper, Sr. and Mrs. Harper, the fiancé of Thea Queen, and the former sidekick/good friend of Oliver Queen.
Growing up in the Glades, Roy became an ally to Oliver, who was a vigilante initially referred to as the Hood, later known as the Arrow. Prior to Slade Wilson's siege on Starling City, Roy was injected with the Mirakuru, becoming a human weapon and gaining a variety of powers, including superhuman strength, durability, and an accelerated healing factor, though it came at a cost with a slow deterioration of his mental state. He was later cured by Oliver using a [counter-serum developed by S.T.A.R. Labs. Joining Team Arrow, Roy became Oliver's sidekick and vigilante partner using the codename Arsenal, also known as Speedy or the Red Arrow up until the point where Roy masqueraded as the Arrow and faked his death. Having no choice, Roy left Team Arrow and Star City to begin a new life under the alias Jason.
Before leaving, Roy left his Arsenal suit to Thea, which she uses as her own vigilante persona as "Speedy". Roy would later return to vigilantism briefly when Noah Kuttler extorted him to steal technological components. However, he was freed from Noah's control and later relocated to another place. In 2391, Roy was found and captured by corrupt Star City SCIS Department officers under Ricardo Diaz's payroll, who attempted tortured him into testifying that Oliver was Green Arrow but were unsuccessful. Eventually, Roy was rescued by Team Arrow and later left Star City along with Thea and Nyssa al Ghul in order to track down the remaining Lazarus pits, returning to vigilantism once again.
Ultimately, Roy's name (regarding his status as a vigilante) was cleared when Oliver publicly confessed to being Green Arrow.
Sometime during his mission, Roy was fatally injured and had to be healed in one of the Lazarus pits, and as a side effect of his previous exposure to the Mirakuru he gained a bloodlust that couldn't be cured by the Lotus elixir. Sometime before 2411 (in a possible future) Roy self-exiles himself on Lian Yu; to presumably atone for the death of two innocent men he killed during a bloodlust episode. In 2411, Roy returned to Star City with William Clayton to assist the Canaries.
After Crisis ended, he attended Oliver's funeral. He proposed to Thea and was ready to start a life with her and she happily accepted on the condition he would never leave like he did again.
Roy did not like to steal and only does it because he is in a bad situation at the time. He resents the wealthy because he believes most of them are greedy, arrogant and selfish. Roy is intelligent and has pride, and he is above taking things for free. Despite his initial dislike of Thea Queen at the time, he saved her from two thugs before they can steal from her, showing that he tries to do the right thing. Roy also has a fear of needles which was demonstrated during his admittance to hospital during a mission. He has stated he will never beg for his life because his enemies do not deserve the satisfaction. After Oliver Queen (under the guise of the Hood) saved his life, he seeks to find out his identity. Not only did he physically save Roy's life, but also gave him a purpose, something Roy completely lacked before. In gratitude, Roy completely turned his life around, putting his thieving, criminal ways behind. He became a vigilante himself going around helping people, although he sometimes got in trouble with law enforcement for it, although they quickly release him, possibly realizing his good intentions. Later on, like Oliver, Roy developed a sense of justice and honor, he has morals, guilt and remorse for his actions. Roy can sometimes be short tempered and hot-headed.
Roy as a Mirakuru soldier
As a result of being injected with the Mirakuru, Roy became aggressive, violent and easily provoked. Despite his rough start with Thea, Roy is proven to (genuinely) care for her, as it was his love for Thea that kept him from succumbing to the Mirakuru's side-effects, allowing him to control his anger. As a result, Roy began to grow more patient and determined; for example, when he was trained in archery and hand-to-hand combat, Roy didn't lose his temper when he his arrows repeatedly missed his mark and simply commented he thought he would have hit at least something. However, when he was shot in the hand, Roy once again lost control of his rage, forcing Oliver to resort to using Thea's nickname, "Speedy", to snap him out of it.
Initially, Roy did not get along with Oliver at all to the point of being hostile and rude towards him; due to the fact that he believed that the latter was nothing more than a coward, after discovering Oliver was the Arrow, Roy gained a lot of respect for the latter, even humbly thanking Oliver for saving his life and making him realize he could rise above his circumstances in the Glades.
However, despite Roy's respect for Oliver, he does not follow his orders without question and is not above standing up to or calling out his mistakes; as seen when he (correctly) blamed Oliver for Thea getting kidnapped by Slade Wilson; as Oliver did not inform Thea the truth about him.
After becoming a member of Team Arrow, Roy developed a close friendship with John Diggle and especially Felicity Smoak, whom he trusted and often confided in. On the other hand, Roy had a negative relationship with Sara Lance, partly because his mind was twisted by the Mirakuru, but mainly because of their clashing personalities.
When Roy was pressured into breaking up with Thea after losing control on a mission, he was devastated, angered, heartbroken and depressed. He left Team Arrow, having lost all respect for Oliver. When captured by Slade Wilson and Isabel Rochev, Roy didn't resist, having given up on himself and the possibility of having a normal life. When Roy overdosed on the Mirakuru, he went on a dangerous rampage, determined to kill Thea in a twisted attempt to end his pain. He lashed out at Oliver, Thea and Team Arrow when they attempted to get through to him, proving that he is no longer in control of himself.
Once Roy was cured of the Mirakuru, he made amends with Oliver and joined Team Arrow in their battle against Slade's army without hesitation, proving that his loyalty to the team has been restored. Roy also reconciled with Thea and planned to start a new life with her after the Siege, though this fell apart when she discovered his vigilante activities.
Roy as Arsenal
"Dying is the coward's way out. Every day that you stay alive, you try to redeem yourself for that messed-up thing you did because this world is a better place with a hero like you."
After taking on the mantle of Arsenal and becoming more active on the field as Oliver's partner, Roy has become far more calm, level-headed and tactical, though still has his moments of losing his temper. He has developed a solid working relationship with Team Arrow and supports it's members through their problems.
Despite Roy's dislike for Sara, he was devastated over her death, when he began suffering nightmares of him (apparently) killing Sara, Roy was overwhelmed with guilt and remorse, causing him to suffer sleep deprivation. When Oliver helped Roy regain his memories while the latter was under the influence of Mirakuru, Roy learned that he, in fact, didn't kill Sara but a SCIS officer, Gabe Vincent, much to his devastation.
Unlike most members of Team Arrow, Roy is willing to push aside any grudge he has with his enemies if the situation calls for it; for example, he was willing to accept Malcolm Merlyn's help in defeating Danny Brickwell during the latter's takeover of the Glades.
Despite his enormous good deeds to Star City as the vigilante Arsenal, Roy remained deeply haunted from murdering Gabe Vincent, even though he wasn't in control of his actions at the time, Roy sought atonement by anonymously leaving money and groceries for Vincent's wife and son, which helped assuage his guilt, though was evidently still affecting him even. This mindset ultimately drove Roy to turn himself in as the Arrow and fake his death in prison, absolving Oliver, proving the Arrow is dead, and allowing him to start a new life elsewhere. Wanting the best for Thea, Roy ends his relationship with her, advising Thea to move on and not live a life on the run with him.
Roy is very protective and fiercely loyal to the people he cares about; when Noah Kuttler blackmailed Roy into stealing technology for him, Roy only complied to ensure Noah wouldn't reveal that he was still alive, which would result in Oliver falling under suspicion again. Even when stealing on Noah's behalf, Roy still tried to avoid hurting civilians and Team Arrow when they interfered. Also, when Ricardo Diaz tried to force Roy to testify that Oliver was Green Arrow, Roy refused to betray his friend and former mentor, even when Diaz threatened to torture Thea right in front of him. Despite initially wanting to start a new life with Thea, Roy grew supportive of her desire to right her father's wrongs and even decided to help her in this mission.
A middle aged Arsenal
In an erased future, in the year 2411, Roy has become cold and distant, as evidenced by the fact that he self-exile himself on Lian Yu to forget about the mission to destroy all Lazarus Pits (which probably ended up in failure) he is also hostile toward strangers the point of being distrustful and aggressive, such as when he pointed an arrow at William Clayton (who was looking for Roy) prior to him discovering that the former is in fact Oliver Queen's son.
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
Former powers[]
Artificially enhanced physiology: After being injected with the Mirakuru, all of Roy's injuries, such as the wound in his leg from being shot with an arrow, were completely healed, and each of Roy's physical capacities were greatly augmented to a superhuman degree. The Mirakuru serum granted him superhuman levels of strength, speed, reflexes, stamina, durability and healing.
Accelerated healing factor: Roy was able to quickly recover from wounds that would be deemed fatal for any normal human being. Bullets/stab wounds and high velocity impacts have no ill effects on Roy and would completely heal from a span of a few hours or less. However, like all Mirakuru-enhanced humans, Roy was not able to regenerate missing limbs/organs. Fatal wounds such as a bullet to the head could kill Roy and regular dosages of strong poisons like Tibetan pit viper venom could heavily sedate him.
Enhanced durability: Roy is durable enough to punch through solid concrete and military-grade steel that is durable enough to withstand regular bombs. He can also withstand hits from Mirakuru-enhanced beings and possibly any other individuals with low-level superhuman strength.
Enhanced stamina: After receiving the Mirakuru serum, Roy displayed incredible stamina and endurance. He was able to receive multiple gunshot wounds without flinching, and when shot in the hand at point blank, all it really seemed to do was piss him off. After awaking from the comatose state he was left in, Roy was able to traverse the city, assault multiple people, get into a fight with team Arrow and escape, and eventually make it back to club Verdant without showing any signs of fatigue.
Enhanced reflexes: Thanks to the Mirakuru serum, Roy is able to react much faster than any normal human could. He was able to catch an arrow shot at him by Oliver Queen, and could fight on par with Sara Lance and Oliver Queen at the same, both of which are highly trained combatants.
Enhanced senses: It can be assumed that like Slade Wilson, the Mirakuru greatly enhanced Roy's senses, allowing him to see, hear, and smell far better than any normal human could.
Enhanced speed: Roy is faster than the finest human athlete, this was made evident by his ability to catch up and even outrun normal vehicles at top speed. It is also possible that his speed allowed him to traverse the city and quickly reach club Verdant while in a seemingly catatonic state.
Enhanced strength: The Mirakuru serum allowed Roy to lift approximately 1 ton of weight, and he was able to easily fling full-grown men several feet through the air. He was able to use his strength to easily break bones, punch through solid concrete and military grade steel, and could almost effortlessly tear a car door off of the frame. His strength allowed him to overpower his opponents with minimal effort, easily equaling that of 12 men.
Abilities[]
"The facilities at Aerodyne are no joke, and Roy is incredible at parkour."
Peak of human physical condition: Even before his tenure as Oliver Queen's protégé and a vigilante, Roy is in top physical condition. Due to his youth, Roy is faster than Oliver. After his training, Roy's reflexes became sharp enough for him to catch an arrow in midair. His strength is capable of knocking out opponents with one strike as well as snapping their bones apart, and as a result of his resilience he can land to the ground from large heights and withstand getting stabbed or slashed by melee weaponry and continue with no complaint.
Acrobatics/Free-running: Roy's former rough and criminal lifestyle forced him to learn free running to better escape his pursuers. He also uses his natural athletic and acrobatic skills to either escape from or fight off his opponents. Roy is proven to be more agile and nimble than Oliver due to his much longer experience of using these skills on the streets. Since re-joining Team Arrow, Roy's skills have seemingly improved to the point of mastery.
As Oliver's protégé, Roy was taught archery. During the Siege of Starling City, Roy proved to be a capable archer, quickly shooting the Mirakuru soldiers with the cure. Roy further refined his archery ability when Oliver started bringing him out in the field. He grew skilled enough to subdue Simon Lacroix/Komodo, a highly proficient archer in his own right, by firing an arrow laced with tensile cable that wrapped around the latter's ankles.
Expert hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Having grown up in the Glades, Roy has taught himself to fight back. He often employs acrobatics to catch opponents off-guard and even cause considerable damage to them. Roy was able to fight off two thugs at the same time, albeit not as efficiently as more seasoned combatants; such as Oliver, Malcolm Merlyn, and Sara Lance. After being trained by Oliver and becoming a vigilante, Roy developed an expertise in martial arts, incorporating escrima, capoeira, karate, wing chun, boxing, muay thai, judo, sambo, jeet kune do and taekwondo into his preferred style. Roy can efficiently take on multiple opponents simultaneously, including members of the League of Assassins. Roy was also able to briefly hold his own against Nyssa al Ghul before shooting her unconscious. While imprisoned, Roy was able to easily subdue four prisoners while handcuffed, only sustaining a minor injury from a knife wound. He is also capable of fighting off a couple assassins from the Thanatos Guild.
Expert stick-fighter: Roy is a highly trained stick-fighter, as seen from his battles with Simon Lacroix and Digger Harkness. Like Oliver, he often uses his bow as a melee weapon.
Skilled marksman: Due to living in the Glades, Roy knows how to use handguns and rifles.
High-level intellect/Expert tactician/Scout: Roy is intelligent and an accomplished tactician; he was able to come up with a plan to exonerate Oliver of being the Arrow and later fake his own death. Roy is also an extremely capable scout, combined with his training; Oliver regularly sent him out alone to scout Star City to keep track of criminal activities. Roy was capable of even tracking Nyssa al Ghul, a high figure in the League of Assassins, without her knowing. Roy is also good at math, able to deduce alongside Felicity Smoak the next number needed in the decoding of Malcolm's box.
Expert medic: Roy was trained by John Diggle in first aid, allowing him to stitch up wounds.
Expert thief: Roy has a history of B&E's and theft. He stole Thea Queen's purse and was able to escape, though he was later arrested and released. Despite this, he is rarely caught by the law. Roy has some skills in hot-wiring a shuttle, as he and Thea once rode in a shuttle he claimed to have "borrowed illegally".
Network: Roy had a large amount of contacts from his days in the Glades, which he was used to calling on whenever he needed the information of any kind. Using this network, Roy was able to discover Sin Simone's location, and therefore Sara's, despite both of them trying their best to remain under the radar. Oliver regularly put Roy's contacts to use, such as figuring out that Michael Amar/Murmur's crew were stealing diamonds to produce bullets.
Indomitable will/High tolerance for pain: A driven and determined person, Roy is nearly fearless and almost never gives up under most situations. With help from Oliver, Roy was able to control his violent instincts from the Mirakuru until cured. Having spent years living and fighting in the roughest neighborhood in Star City, Roy has been injured countless times, resulting in him developing an incredible tolerance for pain. When being tortured by corrupt police officers under Ricardo Diaz's payroll, Roy refused to testify against Oliver in court and remained defiant despite his injuries. He even endured having his right arm amputated without any anesthesia on Lian Yu after his helicopter crash, demonstrating a great deal of fortitude with regards to dealing with pain.
Possible future abilities[]
Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: In a possible future, by 2411, Roy's combat skills has greatly improved, as he was able to hold his own against and even best Connor Hawke.
Master archer: In a possible future, by 2411, Roy's capabilities in archery have become refined to the point where he disarmed a trap designed by Felicity by precisely shooting multiple tennis balls in the air in a matter of seconds; this trap was modeled after Oliver's training method.
Weaknesses[]
Former weaknesses[]
Mirakuru side effects: Although the Mirakuru enhanced Roy's physical abilities it greatly deteriorated his mind. Roy occasionally experienced violent and sometimes uncontrollable moments of rage. However, unlike Slade, Roy has much better control over these traits.
Equipment[]
Arsenal mask: Roy wears a dark red mask as his heroic alter-ego, Arsenal. It is made from a compressible micro-fabric and can effectively to conceal Roy's identity without any restrictions on his visual field. It is unknown if the mask was designed by Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak or Barry Allen, the latter of whom made Oliver's mask.
Arsenal suit: As Arsenal, Roy wears a protective suit designed by Lodai to hide his identity from his enemies when fighting crime. It is unknown what materials the suit is comprised of, with the exception of kevlar. After faking his death, Roy gave the suit to Thea Queen, claiming that red looked better on her. After returning to Star City to stop the Ninth Circle; Roy took back the suit.
Quiver: Roy has a brown quiver to carry his arrows.
Trick arrows: In the battle against Slade Wilson's army, Roy used trick arrows with Mirakuru cure heads. He also uses other trick arrows as Arsenal.
Customized recurve bow: Roy was trained in archery by Oliver and uses a red bow in battle, both for shooting and close-combat.
Escrima sticks: As his vigilante alter-ego, Arsenal, Roy carries two escrima sticks strapped to both his lower legs. He used them to fight Simon Lacroix and Digger Harkness.
Flechettes: Roy received his first flechette after the Arrow rescued him from the Savior, which he kept as a reminder of the incident. He later painted the flechette red and used it as a way to contact the Arrow before discovering Oliver's identity and joining Team Arrow. As Arsenal, Roy carries multiple red flechettes strapped to his left thigh.
Throwing knives: Roy has four throwing knives strapped around his right thigh.
Combat knife: Roy carries a combat knife attached to the back of his belt.
Former equipment[]
Wooden bow: During Roy's archery training, he used a wooden bow.
Voice filter: Roy uses a voice filter to disguise his voice; whenever he is talking to individuals who do not know his true identity.
Roy Harper's motorcycle: When Roy is on patrol as Arsenal, he is seen riding a motorcycle to get around the city.
New multiverse[]
Arsenal suit: Roy wears a dark red mask as his heroic alter-ego, Arsenal. It is made from a compressible micro-fabric and can effectively to conceal Roy's identity without any restrictions on his visual field. It is unknown if the mask was designed by Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak or Barry Allen, the latter of whom made Oliver's mask.
Quiver: Roy has a brown quiver to carry his arrows.
