John Diggle (Prime Earth)

John Diggle is a former soldier of the U.S. Military and the first vigilante partner of Green Arrow. Before starting his vigilante career with Green Arrow, John was working as part of security for Queen Industries.

History

Early Career

As a child, Diggle's father, a police officer of 25 years, was gunned down in the streets of Seattle.^[1] At some point, John also lost his brother to cancer.^[2] He also grew up with William Tockman before he had begun his criminal career as the Clock King.^[3]

Diggle eventually joined the United States Army and ranked up into the Special Forces as a Green Beret. After leaving the military, John took up a career as a Security Guard for Queen Industries. One night while he was on the job protecting Moira Queen in Gotham City during the Zero Year, Moira was targeted by the criminal, Killer Moth. However, he was eventually stopped by the combined forces of Batman and Green Arrow.^[1]

About a month later, while sitting in his apartment one night, Diggle was paid a visit by the new vigilante Green Arrow, who was bleeding out and needed help. After Diggle patched him up, Oliver, told Diggle he believed he was an honest man for risking his own life to save Oliver's mother, and asked him to join in his crusade against crime. Diggle was initially reluctant towards the offer, however he accepted and the two worked together for approximately a year, cleaning up crime in Seattle.^[1]

After some time, Diggle would put the vigilante life behind him, having had a falling out with Oliver, due to his alcoholism causing him to neglect his duties as Green Arrow. This led to John impersonating him, to kill Ricardo Diaz, Sr., a powerful crime lord and the father of the man who would eventually take the name Richard Dragon.

Outsiders War

Years later, Diggle returned to Seattle to seek the help of crime boss William Tockman to take down Richard Dragon, who still believed that the Green Arrow had killed his father years ago. He also recruited the help of Naomi Singh and Henry Fyff. Tockman eventually turned on Diggle, stating that Dragon offered him a better deal. The villains let Fyff and Singh go, but kept Diggle as leverage against the Green Arrow.

While captured and tortured by Richard Dragon, Diggle admitted the truth that he was the one who killed Dragon's father and that his crusade against the Green Arrow was in vain.^[4]

Oliver returned to Seattle and learned of Diggle's captivity. At the last second, the Green Arrow saved Diggle from being murdered by Richard Dragon, and the two men teamed up to finally stop Dragon once and for all. At this point, Diggle would rejoin Team Arrow, alongside Felicity Smoak, a new member of the team.

Rebirth

At one point, Diggle learned that Oliver had slept with his ex-fiancé, who he had recently broken things off with. Diggle was furious and wanted to kill Oliver. Instead, he left Team Arrow and made every effort to kill himself, which brought him to engage in various dangerous activities, including hang gliding and deep sea diving. Eventually Diggle found himself marching through a war zone to free climb and base jump off of a salt cathedral. Before he could reach it, he was captured by a terrorist organization. Just before they were able to kill him, Diggle was saved by Malcolm Merlyn, an enemy of Green Arrow and member of the League of Assassins.^[5]

Merlyn recognized Diggle as a friend of Green Arrow, however Diggle reassured him that Oliver was no friend of his and that he was dead to him. Merlyn then spared Diggle's life, nursed him back to health, and trained him as a mercenary.^[5]

Diggle eventually began working once again as a soldier for hire, operating his own Private Security Force, when he received an anonymous message about Oliver Queen's death. After he learned that Queen was not actually dead, the two men got in a fight, with Diggle blaming Oliver for sleeping with his ex-fiancé, years prior. However, this was resolved, and they joined forces yet again to take down the Ninth Circle.^[6] Diggle then rejoined Team Arrow.

During a climactic battle with the Dark Archer, as Green Arrow prepared to kill the villain, Diggle betrayed Oliver and saved Merlyn's life, knocking Oliver out. Diggle revealed that Merlyn had saved his life years earlier and that he owed him his life. He then took Merlyn to a bunker of his in the Olympic Mountains, where he nursed Merlyn back to health. Merlyn foreboded that Diggle would not be able to play both sides for very long and would eventually have to choose who he really aligned with. When his back was turned, Merlyn escaped his restraints and knocked Diggle out, escaping the bunker.^[5]

Dawn of DC

John DIggle Prime Earth 005 — Connor Hawke breaks Diggle out of prison

Wanting nothing to do with Oliver or Team Arrow, Diggle relocated to Corto Maltese. He was eventually imprisoned for an unknown crime, but did not attempt to escape or contact Oliver for help, believing he was where he was supposed to be. Connor Hawke came to the prison, having bribed officials to secure his release, but Diggle refused to leave with him. He said that he he didn't care what Oliver was up to, until Connor told him they were planning to bring Merlyn down once and for all.^[7]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Computer Operation^[8]
Disguise^[9]
Firearms: Diggle is a highly trained marksman and possesses skill in multiple types of firearms. He was able to kill two armed men with clean headshots before they could react.^[10]^[9]
Hunting^[11]
Investigation^[12]^[9]^[13]
Peak Human Condition^[1]^[9]^[5]
Martial Arts: As a former soldier and having previously trained with Green Arrow and Malcolm Merlyn,^[5] Diggle is a highly skilled martial artist, capable of swiftly defeating large groups of armed enemies.^[9]
- Boxing^[1]
- Stick Fighting: Diggle was able to hold his own against Green Arrow, while wielding a baton.^[6]
Medicine: Diggle was able to perform three surgeries on Malcolm Merlyn, as well as treat two of his infections.^[5]^[1]
Military Protocol: Diggle is a highly trained Special Forces soldier. He was a Green Beret and has served two tours in Afghanistan.^[1]
Multilingualism^[13]
Stealth^[1]
Survival^[11]
Swimming^[5]
Tactical Analysis: Diggle states that it was Merlyn who taught him to always have a contingency plan.^[14]
Weaponry: Diggle is skilled in the use of multiple weapons including various firearms, batons, and knives.^[6]^[11]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Bulletproof Vest

Weapons

Various Firearms
Combat Knife
Expandable Baton

Notes

John Diggle was created for the television series Arrow, first appearing in the pilot episode. However, in the rebooted Prime Earth continuity, his first appearance in the New 52 DC Universe was in Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino's Green Arrow (Volume 5) #24.

This character is or was a member of the Green Arrow family of vigilante super-heroes, who fight crime using archery and martial arts. They are a loose connection brought together through family bonds and shared experiences. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Team Arrow members."

[G25-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 ^1.7 Green Arrow (Volume 5) #25

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[4] Green Arrow (Volume 5) #32

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[GA08-11] 11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 Green Arrow (Volume 6) #8

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[GA03-13] 13.0 ^13.1 Green Arrow (Volume 6) #3

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