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Quote1 It's been a long time. But surely you remember Tommy's father... Malcolm Merlyn, the original Dark Archer. Quote2
Malcolm Merlyn src

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

Origins

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.[1] Merlyn would eventually become a deadly assassin and expert in the art of archery. His son, Tommy Merlyn, would eventually also become a mercenary, using his father's alias.[1]

At some point, he started an affair with Moira Queen.

Merlyn began a mortal blood feud with Green Arrow when Oliver beat him in an archery contest at a circus shortly after returning from Starfish Island.[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.[3] 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.[4]

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[5] 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.[6] 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.[1]

Their Dark Designs

Leviathan Dawn

Dawn of DC

Malcolm Merlyn Prime Earth 004

Merlyn after Leviathan

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. He claimed this was to prevent the Great Disaster from occurring, but in fact it was to make Green Arrow miserable by preventing him from ever being with his family.[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.[2]

Powers

Abilities

  • Archery: Merlyn holds master proficiency in the art of archery, his skills superior to those of the likes of Oliver and Emiko Queen, Shado and his son Tommy.[1] The Dark Archer 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.
  • Aviation[7]
  • Deception: Merlyn was able to orchestrate an elaborate deception, tricking multiple people into serving his goals.[7][2]
  • Demolitions[12]
  • Disguise[2]
  • Driving[7]
  • Escapology[13]
  • Espionage[12]
  • Lock Picking[13]
  • 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.[12]
  • Martial Arts: A member of the League of Assassins and having trained under Ra's al Ghul,[12] 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.
  • Marksmanship
  • Peak Human Condition: Trained by the League of Assassins, Merlyn has maintained his physical form to top condition throughout the years.
  • Stealth: For the majority of his killings, Merlyn was unseen by anyone, his arrows the only evidence of his presence.
  • 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.[12]

Other Characteristics

Equipment

  • Time Machine[7]


Related

Footnotes


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