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Malcolm Merlyn (Prime Earth)

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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page.

It's been a long time. But surely you remember Tommy's father... Malcolm Merlyn, the original Dark Archer.
— Malcolm Merlyn src

Malcolm Merlyn, born as Arthur King, is the supervillain known as the Dark Archer, or simply Merlyn. It is a master bowman, former member of the League of Assassins and the father of the second Dark Archer, Tommy Merlyn.

Origins

In his youth Merlyn, then known as Arthur King, was a circus performer under the stage name "The Magician". His act consisted of performing amazing feats of archery whilst blindfolded. Oliver Queen attended one of his performances as a child, starting his own lifelong passion for archery.[2]

At one point in his life, when he was about 25 years old, Malcolm Merlyn joined the League of Assassins, an ancient, international order of the world's greatest killers. He was trained by Ra's al Ghul himself. His commencement ceremony into the organisation involved him digging an eight feet long, six feet deep and four feet wide grave, which he would himself have to lie inside. In that grave, he said goodbye to who he was, and came out a changed man. Merlyn would eventually become a deadly assassin utilising his archery skills.[3] He operated out of Star City, California; with the cover identity of a white-collar businessman. Merlyn became very wealthy and associated with the city's elite, including the Queen family; his son, Tommy Merlyn, became Oliver Queen's best friend.[2] At some point, he started an affair with Moira Queen.

Merlyn was disdainful of Tommy and Oliver's playboy lifestyle and showed his son little affection. Tommy became a businessman in the hopes of impressing him, but Merlyn believed his son had chosen the wrong path and become mundane by pursuing money.[2] Ironically Tommy would eventually also become a mercenary, using his father's alias.[3]

Tommy and Oliver both disappeared, presumed dead, when a Queen Industries oil rig they had been effectively exiled to was attacked by terrorists. A year later Oliver reappeared, having become the vigilante Green Arrow after surviving alone on Starfish Island with nothing but his bow. Oliver approached Merlyn and asked him to further train him in archery, remembering him from the circus. Merlyn initially happily agreed, believing that Green Arrow could be the true heir to his legacy that Tommy wasn't. However, when Oliver learned that Merlyn was an assassin he was horrified and refused to join him. Merlyn agreed to spare Oliver's life and let him go to follow his own path if he could beat Merlyn in an archery contest. Oliver narrowly won, beginning a years-long feud between them.[2]

The New 52

Merlyn and the Seven Men of Death were tasked by Talia al Ghul and her Leviathan Organization to destroy Batman Incorporated.[4] He defeated members of the group with ease, but his bow was subsequently broken by a surprise shot from Damian Wayne. Merlyn later appears as one of the many villains recruited into the Crime Syndicate's Secret Society.[5]

DC Rebirth

Emerald Outlaw

Merlyn was contracted by Cyrus Broderick, a director of the Ninth Circle criminal organisation, to frame the Green Arrow for multiple high-profile killings, in order to "take" everything away from Oliver Queen[6] after he destroyed their base of operations, The Inferno, which hosted their "bank" and resources. Using arrows resembling Arrow's, the Dark Archer succeeded in tarnishing the hero's image.[1] However, when he killed a famous football player, Cy Samson, the Green Arrow saw Merlyn, and the two archers engaged in a fierce duel across the stadium, with Oliver believing the hooded Malcolm to be Tommy. Malcolm then reveals himself to Oliver, and proceeds to best him in the duel, whilst taunting his foe. The intervention of Black Canary and the Seattle Police Department force Merlyn to flee, though not before firing an arrow at the police chief, who Green Arrow manages to just save, though the hero's bow is shattered in the process.[3]

Their Dark Designs

Leviathan Dawn

Dawn of DC

Merlyn was presumed dead after the destruction of the Leviathan Organization, but in fact he survived, albeit severely injured and requiring extensive cybernetics to repair his damaged body. He orchestrated an elaborate scheme to make Green Arrow miserable by ensuring he would always be separated from Team Arrow. Merlyn disguised himself as an an older version of Green Arrow and claimed to be from a post-apocalyptic future where Team Arrow were responsible for the Great Disaster. He made deals with Parallax and Amanda Waller to create and implant miniature devices in Team Arrow's necks that would randomly teleport them around time and space if they ever gathered together in large numbers.[7]

During the Dark Crisis, when the Justice League attempted to jump from Multiverse-2 to Earth 0, Merlyn used the device in Green Arrow's neck and a dark energy teleporter to divert him to a distant alien world.[8] The teleporter played a message from Merlyn, disguised as the older Oliver Queen, telling Oliver that Team Arrow needed to stay apart in order to prevent the Great Disaster. As Merlyn predicted, Oliver was willing to make that kind of noble self-sacrifice and initially decided to remain in exile. However, he eventually ended up in the 31st Century with Lian Harper and Connor Hawke, who convinced him that they needed to get back to the others and face whatever was coming together.[9][10]

Oliver Queen Robot Prime Earth 1

Merlyn as "Green Arrow"

To prevent this, Merlyn sent Parallax to kidnap Oliver and bring him to Star City at a point in time after the Great Disaster.[11] Merlyn showed Oliver the ruins of the city and took him to the Arrowcave, which was also trashed except for the carefully preserved costumes of Team Arrow, who he claimed were dead. He attempted to convince Oliver to stay away from his family and told him they were always destined to be alone. Merlyn told Oliver that deep down he knew he should never have left the island, which is why he had always been too afraid to go back. He unveiled another teleporter and offered to send Oliver anywhere in time and space he wanted.

However, unbeknownst to him Oliver in fact went back to the island whenever he needed to get perspective, a secret he had never told anyone. The fact Merlyn did not know this proved he was not Oliver's future self and so Oliver shot him through the eye with an arrow, revealing that he was a cyborg. Merlyn admitted that it had all been a scam to make sure Oliver would be alone and miserable. Oliver demanded to know who he was. Merlyn replied "Your greatest enemy" and pushed Oliver through the teleporter.[7]

The teleporter briefly sent Oliver to Star City at some point in the past, where he was attacked by a crowd of his past selves, before sending him to the circus where they first met. Merlyn followed Oliver and swore to battle and hound him through all reality, but Oliver refused to go along with his games anymore. He grabbed a taser arrow from Merlyn's quiver and used it to short out the device in his neck, which sent him hurtling into the Timestream, dragging Merlyn along with him. With the device destroyed, they were stranded outside of time and so Merlyn decided to reveal his true identity and kill Oliver while he was incapacitated by the electrocution. However, Oliver was saved by Connor and Lian, who jumped into the Timestream to rescue him. They pulled Oliver out of the Timestream and back to the present. Oliver wanted to kill Merlyn once and for all but Connor asked his father to spare him and so Oliver left Merlyn trapped in the Timestream for eternity, although Merlyn swore that he would escape.[12]

Merlyn escaped the Timestream and returned to the ruined Arrowcave in the future, but found that the time machine was destroyed and he was trapped. He came to believe that being stranded as Oliver once was would allow him to understand his enemy; and spent years surviving in the wasteland, wearing Oliver's old costume and using his Trick Arrows. After Merlyn spent decades in the future Oliver came through the portal to the future, carrying a mask containing the patient files from Sanctuary. Merlyn, now much aged and partially insane, told Oliver he had accepted that Oliver was the better archer, but would still kill him. He took the mask and used it to create holograms of Team Arrow, who attacked Oliver.[2]

Oliver was able to reactivate the teleporter and bring Team Arrow to the future. They fought their holographic counterparts until Black Canary used her cry to disrupt the mask and deactivate the hologram. Merlyn tried to shoot Black Canary but Oliver tackled him. They briefly fought and then each simultaneously grabbed their bows. They fired at each other, but Oliver was slightly faster and hit Merlyn square between the eyes with a taser arrow, while Merlyn's arrow only grazed his cheek. John Diggle came to the future and arrested Merlyn, then took him back to the present to be imprisoned.[13]

Powers

  • Cybernetic Enhancement: After almost getting killed during the fall of the Leviathan Organization Merlyn's body was rebuilt with cybernetics, giving him several superhuman abilities. His eye, bottom half of his face, and his entire left arm are completely replaced with cybernetics.[12]
    • Superhuman Durability: Merlyn is far more durable than any normal human, thanks to his cybernetic parts. He was able to survive an arrow shot through his cybernetic eye and remained unaffected.[7]
    • Illusion Casting: Merlyn's cybernetics include a hologram projector, allowing him to disguise himself.[12]

Abilities

  • Archery: Merlyn holds master proficiency in the art of archery, his skills were superior to those of the likes of Oliver and Emiko Queen, Shado and his son Tommy.[3] However, Merlyn has admitted that Green Arrow is a better archer than he is.[2] Merlyn killed multiple citizens of Seattle whilst firing arrows from far distances away, them hitting their mark right on point.
  • Acrobatics: Merlyn is very agile, able to perform various, skilled feats of acrobatics.[2]
  • Aviation[7]
  • Deception: Merlyn was able to orchestrate an elaborate deception, tricking multiple people into serving his goals.[7][12]
  • Demolitions[14]
  • Disguise[12]
  • Driving[7]
  • Escapology[15]
  • Espionage[14]
  • Lock Picking[15]
  • Historiography: Merlyn has a near-encyclopaedic knowledge of Oliver Queen's life and personal history.[7]
  • Hunting: Merlyn sees himself as a hunter rather than an assassin and operates as so. When hunting Batman, Merlyn had stalked him for weeks in order to learn his patterns and routes through Gotham.[14]
  • Martial Arts: A member of the League of Assassins and having trained under Ra's al Ghul,[14][2] Merlyn is an expert and deadly combatant. He was able to easily kill, three imposing football players within seconds and swiftly best Oliver Queen with relative ease.
  • Peak Human Condition: Trained by the League of Assassins, Merlyn has maintained his physical form to top condition throughout the years.
  • Pedagogy: Merlyn trained John Diggle to become a mercenary.[16]
  • Stealth: For the majority of his killings, Merlyn was unseen by anyone, his arrows the only evidence of his presence.
  • Survival[2]
  • Swordsmanship: Merlyn carries a swordsword on his back for combat.[13]
  • Tactical Analysis: Merlyn is a skilled tactician and analyst, able to successfully tarnish the Green Arrow's reputation. He was even able to cause Batman trouble with preparation.[14]
  • Weaponry[12]

Other Characteristics

  • Missing Arm: Merlyn lost his left arm and replaced it with a cybernetic duplicate.[12]
  • Missing Eye: Merlyn lost his left eye and replaced it with a glowing cybernetic replica.[12]

Equipment

  • Time Machine[7]

Weapons


Related

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Green Arrow (Volume 6) #13
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Green Arrow (Volume 7) #11
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Green Arrow (Volume 6) #14
  4. ↑ Batman Incorporated (Volume 2) #4
  5. ↑ Forever Evil #1
  6. ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 6) #12
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Green Arrow (Volume 7) #5
  8. ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 7) #1
  9. ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 7) #2
  10. ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 7) #3
  11. ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 7) #4
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 Green Arrow (Volume 7) #6
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Green Arrow (Volume 7) #12
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Batman Secret Files #3
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Green Arrow (Volume 6) #34
  16. ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 6) #34


Green Arrow Villain(s)

This character has been primarily an enemy of Green Arrow, or his supporting cast including Black Canary and Team Arrow. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Green Arrow Villains."

Batman Villain(s)
This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

League of Assassins member
This character is or was a member of the League of Assassins, a international organization of the world's greatest killers, operating both for hire and their own agenda, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "League of Assassins members" category.

Secret Society of Super-Villains member
This character is or was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a cadre of super-villains who band together to accomplish feats no one super-villain can do alone, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Secret Society of Super-Villains members" category.

Suicide Squad member
This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.

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