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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. |
History
Roy Harper is Arsenal, formerly operating as Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy. He was a member of the Titans and a former member of the Outlaws.
Early Life and Career
Roy Harper was adopted by Big Bow as a child and lived with him on Spokane Indian Reservation, learning how to shoot a bow and arrow from him. He often got into trouble with the police but, because it usually happened on the reservation, Big Bow was always able to get him out of trouble. One day, Roy stole from a liquor store off the reservation and got blackout drunk, waking up to find a bow in his hand and Big Bow dead. Not knowing his mentor had been killed by an aggressive police officer, Roy fled the reservation.[3]
Roy somehow made it to Seattle, where he lived in a mall by hacking the camera feeds. It was at this mall he picked the pocket of Oliver Queen, who, when he came to get the wallet back, was intrigued by the strange boy, later taking him on as his sidekick and dubbing him Speedy. While Speedy, Roy designed Green Arrow's elaborate trick arrows, much to the man's frustration.[4] As Speedy, Roy joined the original Teen Titans (Robin, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Omen) and worked with them for a while before having his memories of the team erased following an encounter with Mr. Twister.
Outraged by Roy's persistent party-boy behavior, Oliver angrily fired Roy as his sidekick. Roy left and took residence in an abandoned apartment building and, in his despair, became addicted to heroin.[5] Oliver returned briefly in an attempt to reconcile, but was so disgusted with what his former charge had become, left again. After being dragged into an evil plot orchestrated by Count Vertigo, Roy was officially reunited with Oliver, who apologized for firing him. Oliver offered to give their partnership another shot and help Roy get clean, but Roy adamantly refused, vowing to strike out on his own.[3]
Roy became a depressed alcoholic and death seeker following the death of the second Robin, who he briefly befriended beforehand. He attempted to commit a variation of suicide by fighting Killer Croc. Croc figured out what Roy was doing, stopped him, and gave him a pep talk, which Roy thanked him for.[6] Soon after, Roy began a recovery program with Killer Croc as his sponsor.[7] He would gain Lilith Clay as his counselor, not remembering their former bond as Titans.
Once his state improved, his desire to surpass Oliver Queen pushed him to leave for Qurac which was under the rule of a dictator. There, he formed a team called Iron Rule in hope to help the people overthrow the dictator. As a group of mercenaries, they only had one rule to follow: no matter the job, leave things better than the way they found them.
The team was successful and earned a lot of money. However, for some members, it wasn't enough. One day, as Roy was absent, the rest of the team attempted to take over the town they were residing in. Because the inhabitants resisted, they were slaughtered in retaliation. When Roy came back and found out there wasn't a single survivor, he avenged the towners by launching a lethal blast against his former team.[8][9]
Between that event and his capture, Roy took the alias of Arsenal. Roy was sentenced to death for various war crimes.[10] [11]
Red Hood and the Outlaws
Roy was saved by his former friend Jason Todd and the alien princess Starfire on the day of his execution. The three of them would eventually form the first team of Outlaws.[11]
A few weeks after their meeting, Roy and the Outlaws headed to China for some unfinished business. According to Todd, the All-caste, a mythical training league he fell into after his resurrection, was in trouble and he was intent on stopping it. The trio travelled the world, helping Jason find and destroy any of the power hungry Untitled. Eventually, in a bar in a small town, they run into an Untitled posing as a police officer. Jason and Roy battle and kill the creature but gather unwanted attention due to the mythical being taking the human disguise of a known civilian. Escaping, they attempt to meet up with Starfire but find instead that she had been ambushed by an alien slayer calling himself Crux.[7]
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Red Hood and Arsenal: Heroes for Hire
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Return of the Titans
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The Return of Roy Harper
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Titans Rebirth
Roy and the Titans encountered Wally in Nightwing's Gotham apartment, but did not remember him thanks to the machinations of Abra Kadabra. After punching the speedster, electricity coming off of Wally managed to restore Roy's memory of his old teammate.
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Heroes in Crisis
Roy's struggle with addictive vices continued to plague him. After the Titans separated, Roy flew back to Star City and assisted friend and mentor Green Arrow in his local heroism, helping him save a group of citizens from an exploding building. He was scheduled to have lunch with Oliver and Dinah, though it didn't go as planned. They arrived late to the lunch and just as Roy was about to confide in them about his problems, the conversation was interrupted by the Citizen and was unable to be finished as Green Arrow and Black Canary now had to investigate him. They go their separate ways as they all leave the restaurant. Soon after Roy sought help at Sanctuary, a rehabilitation center for heroes. He was killed by Wally West,[12] along withall inside the facility. His funeral was held on the hilltop where he decided to get sober.
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Acrobatics[13]
- Archery[11]
- Firearms[14]
- Gadgetry: Arsenal has been shown as an expert mechanic and engineer. he designed and built his trick arrows as well as those of his mentor, as well as weaponry, robots, and defense systems.[15]
- Genius Level Intellect[16]
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
- Leadership: Roy Harper has led the Iron Rule, a group of mercernaries. He also briefly led the Teen Titans. [8][17]
- Template:Marksmanship[15]
- Mechanical Engineering[15]
- Weaponry[14]
- Computer Hacking: Roy was able to hack into Queen Industries main R&D hub. He was also able to jailbreak thirty new apps on a cell phone and give it voice recognition.[18]
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
- Stolen Composite Bow
Notes
- Arsenal (Roy Harper) was created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, first appearing in More Fun Comics. However, in the rebooted Prime Earth continuity his first appearance as part of the DC Universe is in Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort's New 52 Red Hood and the Outlaws series.
Trivia
- Roy has various tattoos he doesn't remember getting.[21]
- Roy considers Jason Todd to be his best friend.[22]
Related
- 263 Appearances of Roy Harper (Prime Earth)
- 186 Images featuring Roy Harper (Prime Earth)
- 22 Quotations by or about Roy Harper (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Roy Harper (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ Green Arrow Vol 6 45
- ↑ Green Arrow Annual (Volume 6) #1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Green Arrow (Volume 6) #20
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Green Arrow (Volume 6) #18
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 6) #19
- ↑ Red Hood and the Outlaws #3
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Red Hood and the Outlaws #4
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Red Hood/Arsenal #11
- ↑ Red Hood/Arsenal #12
- ↑ Red Hood/Arsenal #13
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Red Hood and the Outlaws #1
- ↑ Heroes in Crisis #8
- ↑ Red Hood and the Outlaws #29
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Red Hood and the Outlaws #23
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 5) #0
- ↑ Red Hood and the Outlaws #16
- ↑ Green Arrow (Volume 5) #0
- ↑ Red Hood and the Outlaws #1
- ↑ Titans (Volume 3) #1
- ↑ Red Hood and the Outlaws #8
- ↑ Red Hood/Arsenal #2
Team Arrow member 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." |
Teen Titans member This character is or was primarily a member of the younger superhero team known as the Teen Titans, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Teen Titans members" category. |
Outlaws member This character is or was primarily a member of the anti-hero team known as the Outlaws, in any of its various incarnations. They are a group of outcast heroes led by Red Hood, who fight against evil and do what bigger groups like the Justice League will not. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Outlaws members" category. |
Titans member This character is or was primarily a member of the superhero team known as the Titans, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Titans members" category. |