Title Character
Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
Supporting Cast
Black Canary | Speedy
Rogues Gallery
Cheshire
open/close all folders
Supporting Characters
Black Canary (Dinah Lance)
Cheshire Cat (Lian Harper/"Shoes")
Click here to see her as "Cheshire Cat"
Debut: New Teen Titans (Vol 2) #21
I have no memories of a childhood. No visions of an early birthday, candles or cake. No idea what the world looks like from up on my father's shoulders. No memories of paper lanterns or of lions dancing to the rhythm of fireworks. All I have is a recurring dream. And a mask.
Roy's daughter by Cheshire, an international assassin whom he had a brief relationship with during his time with the C.B.I.. Her father, the Arrow Family, and the Titans are all very protective of her, so God help you if you do anything to harm, hurt, or mistreat her in any way.
Lian was killed by Prometheus and the Electrocutioner during Justice League: Cry for Justice. However, she was later resurrected during the crossover Convergence. During DC Infinite Frontier, however, it was shown that her father still thought she was dead, but (as shown in in DC Festival of Heroes) she was alive but memoryless, living in Gotham's Alleytown as one of the "Alleytown Strays" and being mentored by Catwoman. She has taken the codename "Cheshire Cat," as Cheshire's mask is one of the only things she can remember from her previous life.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Zigzagged. When she debuted in New Teen Titans, she was as red-haired as her old man to highlight the truth in Cheshire's claims about Roy being the father, but in most of her appearances since she's black haired to highlight the connection with her mother. She's a redhead in Young Justice and as Red Hood in Kingdom Come.
- Age Lift: When she died, she was around five or six years old, but her appearance in Catwoman as "Shoes" shows her to be a young teenager.
- Back from the Dead: Was revived by Dreamslayer during Convergence, or as he puts it, she was plucked out of time just before she was killed. Unfortunately, when she's finally restored in the main DC continuity through DC Infinite Frontier she's dead again. Except that's only what he thinks, as she's actually alive, although without her memories and going by the name "Shoes" as one of the Alleytown Strays being mentored by Catwoman.
- Break the Cutie: Subverted. In one memorable arc, Lian was kidnapped by a child sex ring and branded with their mark. While Roy and the Outsiders managed to rescue her before anything else happened, it seemed Lian suffered some permanent trauma from the experience. However, in her later appearances she seemed just as happy and well adjusted as she did before.
- Children Are Innocent: Slightly subverted when her dad was helping Grant Emerson deal with the sexual abuse Grant's foster dad inflicted on him. While she's too young to know all the explicit details, Lian still recognizes Grant's truly unhappy and genuinely reaches out to him alongside Roy in a way that helps Grant finally talk about the pain he's in.
- Collateral Angst: She was brutally killed off at the end of Justice League: Cry for Justice after a building fell down on top of her and crushed her to death. Lian's death was used to give her father more to angst over besides his missing arm, and was the driving motivation for his descent into drug abuse and violence.
- Criminal Amnesiac: Downplayed. As one of the Alleytown Strays, Lian as "Shoes" becomes a thief out of need than lack of morals. Even after Catwoman takes the Strays on as apprentices, their targets have been shown to be drug dealers, corrupt cops, and other gangs.
- The Cutie: She's often considered one of the most adorable and precocious kids in the DCU, and is frequently doted on by her many surrogate aunts and uncles as well as by her father.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Inverted. Green Arrow (2023) reveals that Lian did this to Roy. Not only has she been faking her amnesia, but she implies that she's been avoiding her family for years out of fear of something deliberately trying to keep them apart. When Roy finally sees her again for the first time since her supposed death, she tries to pretend she doesn't know him before finally running into his arms with tears in her eyes.
- Daddy's Girl: To say she's this is an understatement. Roy and Lian absolutely love each other, and while their family life isn't perfect, they're widely considered to have one of the best father-daughter relationships in the DCU.
- Despair Event Horizon: She crossed it after multiple attempts at reuniting with Roy ended in her being teleported away, resigning herself to watching him from a distance while lying about her identity and pretending to have amnesia just so she could have some semblance of a life. And considering she was seeing Roy after both Rise of Arsenal and Red Hood and the Outlaws, it only hurt worse seeing him cross the very same horizon.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Or rather, dropped a house on her.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Her speech patterns in Titans (1999) included this.
- Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Lian was the type of child capable of understanding why people hated her mother so much and didn't hold it against them, and showed she was still capable of loving her mother despite being angry at her actions. So imagine how surprising it was when she openly disliked the DEOrphans.
- Green-Eyed Monster: While living with her father and the other Titans, she started to get jealous of the DEOrphans and Tempest's baby son Cerdian living at the Tower because she wasn't used to sharing the attention she was getting from Roy and the others. She later gets over this and is much more friendly when she's with Jai and Iris West.
- Like Mother, Unlike Daughter: Don't get her wrong, Lian loves her mom very much, but even as a child Lian has far more empathy then Cheshire and expresses disgust at her mom's horrific actions.
- Little Miss Badass: She has the makings of one despite being so young. In one instance, she was being held hostage by Vandal Savage. Black Canary told Lian to show Vandal "the finger trick" she was taught. Lian then innocently snapped Vandal's thumb in two.Arsenal: Oh daddy's proud right now, angel. Daddy's very proud!
- Kingdom Come showed a future where Lian grew up to be an archer crime fighter, Red Hood, like her father.
- She is currently being mentored by Catwoman and going by the codename "Cheshire Cat" in Gotham.
- Morality Pet: She was considered one to her mother Cheshire, as many people felt the love she had for Lian was quite possibly her only redeemable feature. That is, until Cheshire conceived Lian's baby brother as a replacement when she was being blackmailed into joining the Secret Six.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Whenever she stops being happy and sweet it's a sign something's deeply wrong. After learning her babysitter Chandra lost her grandparents in the nuclear explosion Cheshire caused which destroyed Qurac, Lian angrily threw her mother's picture at the wall screaming "Bad mommy!"
- Parental Abandonment: Not on Roy's part. Festival of Heroes revealed Cheshire allowed everyone to think Lian was still dead and then left her amnesiac daughter in some random church in Gotham City, thinking this would be better for Lian. Lian then spent several years as a homeless orphan who had to learn pickpocketing in order to survive. Green Arrow (2023) appears to have retconned this with the implication no one had any idea Lian was alive all this time, and she kept it that way because of something horrible trying to keep the Arrow Family apart.
- Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Due to the totally confusing DC timeline, when she reappears as "Shoes" she's somehow several years older putting her in the same age group as characters like Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain. This is despite the fact that when Lian originally died, Stephanie and Cass were both college-age, yet have somehow not significantly aged enough to match the timeframe of Lian's development if she were alive the whole time. Green Arrow (2023) eventually confirmed that the reason she's older despite everyone else being close to the same age they were at the time of her "death" was because she'd been forcibly teleported all over the DC Universe to keep her from her father until she was left in the past.
- Race Lift: Subverted. When she first appeared in the 1980s as a baby, she had red hair and more resembled her father. When she appeared in the alternate universe comic Kingdom Come, she was also sporting freckles while her eyes now resembled her mother's. Then at some point in the 1990s Lian's hair changed to black and she now looked more like her mother. In at least one gag interview, Roy has acknowledged the way her hair shifted but doesn't know why nor does he see what the big deal is.
- Retgone: Flashpoint erased the events of her death from happening... by erasing her entire existence from ever happening in the DCnU. After over a decade she's finally restored in DC Infinite Frontier. But still dead...except not really, she's alive, but without her memories.
- Satellite Character: To the Arrows. While she's considered part of their family thanks to Roy, in truth Dinah's the only one she's had any real interactions with while Nightwing, Donna Troy, and the other founding Titans were more involved in her life. Most if not all of Lian's characterization and development before her death happened in Titans-related comics, whereas she barely appeared in any Green Arrow-centric comics. It's easier to view her as a Titan character first and an Arrow character second.
- Tagalong Kid: Averted. Just because her dad's a superhero and they lived with the Titans didn't mean Roy was going to bring her along on missions. The few times she's ever involved in hostile situations (the Hangmen trying to abduct her, Cheshire getting attacked by ninjas, Cheshire trying to escape from prison), it was never because she was consciously put into those situations by her dad or because she actively inserted herself into them.
- Took a Level in Cynic: As a result of the trauma she endured living on her own, separated from her family for so long, she's no longer the cheerful child she once was.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: For a brief while near the end of Jay Faerber's run on Titans she was growing increasingly nasty towards the DEOrphans because of how much attention they were getting, and also seemed to be getting jealous of Cerdian. The latter could be viewed as a side effect of her traumatic experience with her Jokerized mother, while the former is often interpreted as Faerber expressing his dislike for how the DEOrphans took too much focus away from the stories he wanted to tell. When the orphans were Put on a Bus, Lian returned to her usual self.
- Twofer Token Minority: On her father's side she's Irish-American plus Roy's Navajo upbringing, while on her mother's side she's Vietnamese, French-Canadian, and a little Australian too.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: There were a few times when Lian wasn't exactly happy with how often her father was away, but it wasn't a problem that occurred too often with them.
- Wise Beyond Their Years:
- She's still very much a child, but has an affinity for keeping up with the many identity changes her superhero aunts and uncles go through, and once answered the question "Who leads the Justice League" by answering "Owacle."
- By age 4 Lian has retained a lot about the Navajo culture which she learned from Roy and shows more respect to the nation than most adult white people. She helps Roy reach out to Grant Emerson and the two get him to verbalize the abuse his foster dad put him through by discussing and applying Navajo beliefs about tears and songs used to express emotions.
- In Devin Grayson's Green-Man and Autumn-Son story, Lian accurately notes that Ollie was actually terrified when he found out about Roy's heroin addiction.Lian: Green-Man pretended to be angry so Autumn-Son wouldn't see he was scared.
John Diggle
John Diggle
Debut: Green Arrow (Vol 5) #24
"Sure, I stayed in the shadows. I didn't have a codename or a gimmick. But together we made a difference."
A former Green Beret who served two tours in Afghanistan, John Diggle began working in private security after retiring from the army. During the events of Batman: Zero Year, while he is working for Queen Industries, he crosses paths with Green Arrow, and they work together for several months in a campaign to dismantle Seattle's criminal underworld. Six years later, Diggle reenters Ollie's life, rejoining Team Arrow on an intermittent basis.
- Badass Normal: He's made it his thing, see the folder quote.
- Canon Immigrant: Originally unique to the TV series, the New 52 introduced him to the comics.
- Decomposite Character: As mentioned with Expy Coexistence, season 7 of Arrow retroactively made him this by revealing he's the Arrowverse version of John Stewart.
- Everyone Has Standards: Although he wasn't particularly happy with Ollie at the time, he was still disgusted with those who abandoned Ollie when he lost his fortune.
- Expy Coexistence: Season 7 of Arrow revealed that Diggle was really a case of Canon Character All Along: John Stewart. Obviously, they're not the same guy in the DCU.
- I Owe You My Life: Merlyn saved his life once.
- Power Trio: Serves as part of one alongside Green Arrow and Black Canary, particularly during the first Ninth Circle arc.
- Red Baron: "The James Bond of Private Security."
- Remember the New Guy?: Described as working with Ollie during very early his Green Arrow career, before leaving after a disastrous encounter with Richard Dragon.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ollie.
Felicity Smoak
Felicity Smoak
Debut: Green Arrow (Vol 5) #35
"How about you take down the hoodie? I already know who you are."
A hacker hired by John King to bring down Oliver Queen. Unfortunately for King, Smoak was inspired to turn over a new leaf and offer her services to Queen, after she determined that he was Green Arrow.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Not discussed in any detail, but she did a lot of bad things and apparently double-crossed The Cheetah at one point.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: It is never confirmed if she dyed her hair like her television counterpart (for what it's worth, she has black hair as a Firestorm supporting character pre-Flashpoint), but she is still depicted as a blonde who didn't quite have it in her to be a hacker mercenary for hire.
- Heel–Face Turn: She admits to having committed a lot of crimes in the past but wants to make up for it by helping Green Arrow.
- Playful Hacker: Eventually.
- Put on a Bus: She completely disappeared from the Green Arrow comics (along with Mia Dearden and all of Oliver's support team apart from Emiko Queen) after the conclusion of The Kingdom.
- Ret-Canon: Originally a Firestorm supporting character, a version closer to the Arrowverse version was introduced into the comics in The Kingdom arc.
Speedy I/Arsenal/Red Arrow I (Roy Harper)
Roy Harper/Speedy I/Arsenal/Red Arrow
Red and Yellow go well together, don't ya think?
Debut: More Fun Comics (Vol 1) #73
"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, because life is messy... Simple right and wrong, I can handle. I know where I stand and what needs to be done. Less opportunity to screw up, you know? A good cause, a good fight...that's what works for me."
A troubled boy, Roy Harper was taken in by Oliver Queen as his ward. Using his own skill with a bow, he fought alongside his mentor as Speedy. Speedy would go on to be a founding member of the Teen Titans. After a falling out with Oliver, Roy would go off on his own, remaking himself as Arsenal. Even later, after joining the Justice League (and a brief sort-of screw-up by Hal Jordan), he'd go by Red Arrow.
In the New 52, along with never having been Red Arrow, he's also a founding member of the Outlaws, a group of anti-heroes led by Jason Todd, the second Robin. Roy would work with Jason for a while before rejoining his other Robin friend, Dick Grayson, and the rest of the adult Titans.
Roy died during Heroes in Crisis before getting revived in Infinite Frontier
Speedy II (Mia Dearden)
Mia Dearden/Speedy II
Debut: Green Arrow (Vol 3) #2
"Oliver Queen... I'm doing this whether you want me to or not... I'm telling you... this is the life I'm choosing. I want to fight by your side. Please... let me do it at your side."
A former child prostitute, Mia Dearden was saved by Green Arrow and told to go to Oliver Queen for help. Seeing through his disguise, and Ollie seeing her skill with a crossbow, Mia is raised by Oliver as his ward and becomes the second Speedy.
Red Arrow II (Emiko Queen)
Emiko Queen/Red Arrow II
Debut: Green Arrow (Vol 5) #18
"My family is far from perfect. In fact, it's perversely screwed up. But it's mine. And I'm going to claim it and defend it."
Oliver's teenage half-sister, born to Robert Queen and Shado.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy:
- In the Futures End timeline, she becomes the new Green Arrow after Oliver's death.
- She eventually takes the name Red Arrow, a title held by Roy Harper in the pre-Flashpoint timeline.
- Age Lift: She looked very young when she first appeared, with her size and features placing her roughly in the same age range as Damian Wayne, maybe younger. In the DC Rebirth relaunch, she suddenly looks much older, and now sports a more teenage appearance.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Initially, though she grew out of it.
- Cruel to Be Kind: When Shado tries to kill Ollie, Emiko seemingly finishes him off herself. It's later revealed she did so in order to make it seem like he was dead so that Shado wouldn't kill him.
- Deadpan Snarker: Snark-to-snark combat with her brother, naturally:Emiko: "This is pretty messed up, isn't it? My mom was having an affair with our dad, while your mom was having an affair with Merlyn? Everybody is trying to kill each other. Meanwhile, your loyalties are split between familial and romantic love. So much drama!"Ollie: "It's a good thing you're here to provide sarcastic commentary on everything and make it seem like no big deal."
- Expy:
- Continuing the Green Arrow franchise's proud history of cribbing ideas from the Batman mythos, Emiko is basically Damian Wayne's Distaff Counterpart. The hero's mixed-race relative who was raised in secret by assassins? Check. Bratty Half-Pint personality? Check. Inflated sense of ego? Check. Doted on by her villainous mother? Check. A big dork? Check.
- Her Rebirth self is very largely influenced by Thea Queen from Arrow. While both were already the younger half-sister of their Oliver Queen, Emiko was originally presented as a much younger sister to Ollie while Thea had more of a snarky relationship because of their closer ages. Also, Emiko's insistence on calling herself Red Arrow is a trait lifted from Thea, although Thea dropped it early on. Finally, Emiko's shorter haircut is one Thea sported following her adoption of the Speedy moniker.
- Heel–Face Turn: She pretended to be Green Arrow's partner so she could get close to him, but her love for her big brother proved so strong that she ended up betraying her mom and siding with him.
- Gambit Roulette: When it came time for she and her mother to kill Oliver, she used a tranq arrow and left a homing device on him, hoping that his friends would be able to find and save him. She even admits in hindsight that there was a very good chance this plan would fail and that he'd really die.
- Insistent Terminology:
- Early on, she objects to the term "sidekick," preferring to be known as Green Arrow's "apprentice" instead.
- After her Face–Heel Turn, she begins calling herself Red Arrow, and becomes very pissed whenever someone fails to do the same.
- The Mole: She was initially sent by her mother to infiltrate Team Arrow and spy on them from the inside.
- Not Afraid to Die: Once threatened to kill herself, Green Arrow and Clock King, rather than let the villain succeed in his plans. Clock King gave up when he realized that she wasn't bluffing.
- Shoot Your Mate: As a final test of loyalty, Shado tries to make Emiko disfigure Black Canary's face with a heated-up arrowhead. Emiko ends up freeing her instead.
Red Canary (Sienna)
Sienna/Red Canary
Debut: Dark Crisis #3
A college student from Seattle and big fan of Black Canary. When the Justice League, including Green Arrow and Black Canary, were presumed dead, Sienna showed up at the Hall of Justice. When the world's villains began running rampant, she pulled together a makeshift outfit and gear and joined in the fray, aiding the world's heroes.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: She's an Asian-American successor to Dinah.
- Always Someone Better: Her brother Leo is this to her, as he's a good student while she's average.
- Ascended Fangirl: Sienna is a confessed fan of Black Canary, and has posters of her in her dorm room. She was so shaken by Dinah's "death" that she showed up at the Hall of Justice. She later gets to be a superhero herself, and team up with Black Canary.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Sienna hasn't decided what she wants to be yet, is an average student, and just wants to play music and fight bad guys.
- Intergenerational Friendship: After meeting during the Dark Crisis, Sienna befriends Sideways. Enough that they have each other's numbers. He's a teenager while she's an adult, so it just fits.
- Loser Protagonist: Sienna is a mediocre student overshadowed by her brother, is only a beginner superhero who Damian Wayne talks down to, and can't even keep her roommate happy since she messes up their dorm room. Small wonder that she prefers being Red Canary.
- Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: She's a college student who would rather fight supervillains than go to class.
