Post by Doctor Cyber on Jun 18, 2012 16:19:44 GMT -5
Real name: Oliver Queen
Alter Ego: Green Arrow
Status
Occupation: Mayor of Star City
Martial Status: Single
Legal Status: US Citizen, with no criminal record.
Group Affiliation(s): JLA, reserve. Team Arrow
Origin
Place of Birth: Star City
Known Relatives: Parents (deceased [I’m still in search of their names]), Conner Hawke (son), Robert (Son), Mia Dearden (adopted daughter), Roy Harper (former ward).
History
Born into the lap of luxury, Oliver Queen was an only child in what most would consider to be a decent household. While his father kept himself busy with work and his mother with society events, neither were ever too busy to spend time with their son or keep up with his interests. As a child, Oliver loved to the stories of Robin Hood, so one Christmas his parents bought him an archery set and paid for him to have lessons. Oliver loved the set and continued studying archery for several years, up until he started High School.
Upon graduating from high school, Oliver went across the country to study business at Hudson University in New Carthage, New York. Four years and one B.A. later, Oliver Queen moved back to his hometown of Star City, California to work on his Master's Degree at Star City University and began preparations to take over his father's company. It was while in college that Oliver became involved with various political movements, such as the Civil Rights and Feminist Movements. It was also about this time that he began to build his reputation of being a womanizer and playboy, dating many women over the next several years.
Three years later, Oliver would get his Masters in Business as well as a civilian's pilot license, the hobby being introduced to him by one of his many girlfriends. He served in various executive positions in his father's company until three years after graduating; he was given control of the company and made CEO of Queen Enterprises. Oliver tried to be a responsible businessman as well as a friend of the people and philanthropist. He donated large sums to various charities, even setting up a Queen Foundation to help the less fortunate. He also began to help out new or failing businesses, such as Horton Chemicals. While negotiating with the owner, Abigail Horton, Ollie sensed a kindred spirit in the old woman who sought to keep her plant open to keep jobs in Star City, no matter how much she was offered by the other chemical companies. The two became fast friends and were seen around town together often. The tabloids linked the two together romantically (despite Abigail's being old enough to be his mother!). Oliver did however begin to date Abbie's daughter over the next year, but they broke up after realizing how very little they had in common.
At this time, Oliver began to question his life and what he was doing. He had always fought against greed and corruption and the establishment. And yet now, he was a rich CEO who could have any woman he chose, practically ruled Star City like a king and had as much in common with the hippies he'd grown up with now as fire did with water. He had in short become what he hated most: part of the establishment. This depressed Oliver and like many depressed people unable to reconcile their lives; he turned to any release he could find to keep his mind off what he was. Oliver found his release in wine, women and song. Well, not so much song as the wine and women... at any rate, Oliver's reputation as a lush, a playboy and a cruel CEO grew even stronger over these years.
It was some months later on the yacht Kristina that Ollie's destiny would begin to manifest. First, he would meet and become friends with Howard Hill: an archer/stuntman who had trained Oliver's old hero Erroyl Flynn and also worked as his stuntman. A few nights later, in a drunken stupor, Ollie would fall overboard in the South Pacific and would later wash up on an island in the Solomon Chains.
Oliver realized he had little chance of surviving... after all, the most strenuous thing he had ever done before was stir a martini. But the will to survive does many things to a man. And Oliver Queen was never one to accept defeat. For the first time in his life, he truly labored. Remembering his childhood hobby, he crafted himself a crude bow and some arrows and hunted... and to his surprise... he flourished at it. For months he was shipwrecked there, and during those months his skill with the bow increased. Until a group of marijuana farmers came there, to check on a crop they kept hidden on the island. No longer a helpless playboy but a hardened survivor, Oliver confronted the growers, made them take him back to civilization and left the marijuana farmers telling a story about "The Green Guy" that caught them to the shore patrol.
Oliver returned to Star City and to work (barely) at Queen Enterprises as CEO. But the time on the island made Ollie look at the world differently and he began to lose interest in his job and is more intent on his hobby. He even joined a group of fellow archer enthusiasts, playing a version of golf that used blunt arrows instead of clubs. His first time playing, Ollie used pointed arrows and wound up impaling his ball. He kept a hold of it as a memento.
Weeks after his return, he was invited to a charity costume ball. This ball being the week of Halloween there were very few costumes left so Oliver was sent the one costume they had in his size when he called about getting one.... a Robin Hood costume.
The night of the ball, Oliver found himself bored by the party. His life of quiet contemplation on the island had matured the boy in him somewhat and as he contemplated his life out on a balcony, he heard screams from inside. A thief had entered the party in disguise and held the people at gunpoint, taking a woman hostage as he left with all the money. Thinking fast, Ollie reached into his quiver and waited for the man to leave. He fired a shot, pinning the man to a tree, giving the hostage a chance to run. The thief spotted Ollie and tried to aim at him. Ollie reached for another arrow and to his horror, found that he picked up the golf-ball arrow from earlier in the day. Figuring it was his only shot, Ollie shot it, hoping to knock the man out or hit him in the eye. But a sudden breeze and the extra weight (or maybe a sign of God's twisted sense of humor) shifted the arrow lower, causing the thief to get hit in the groin.
Called "The big green arrow guy" by the thief, the name Green Arrow was given to the masked hero by the media. While Ollie would much rather had gotten a name like "Shaft" (despite all the legal troubles he might have gotten from Isaac Hayes and Richard Roundtree), he decided to become a crime fighter by night, mainly because he missed the excitement of his life on the island and it was just another game to him.
Still in time, Ollie began to take his role as a hero more seriously. Especially after he found himself with a young partner: a boy named Roy Harper. This happened after Ollie was contacted by Brave Bow, an Navajo elder who was near death and feared for the boys welfare after his death. Roy was the orphaned son of a forest ranger, and Brave Bow knew that Roy would be cast from the tribe after his death. Knowing Roy to be a big fan of the Emerald Archer, he hoped maybe he might be willing to help the young man. Oliver was indeed willing and officially adopted Roy as his ward. Roy took up the name Speedy and wore a red version of Ollie's own costume.
It was also about this time that Oliver began to use his fortune to found his "trick arrows" for emergency situations. Handcuff arrows, self lighting fire arrows and fire-extinguisher arrows, among others.
After a year of fighting crime with Speedy in Star City, Oliver gained some national attention fighting alongside the first five members of the JLA. Although he called it "slumming" when interview by the press, he really was impressed by the five other heroes after their first encounter. Impressed enough that he went on become the team's anonymous financial backer, using Simon Carr as a middle man. He was later given (and accepted) an invitation to become their sixth member as Green Arrow.
It was while in the JLA that Oliver met two people who would forever change him; Hal Jordan and Dinah Lance. The former, Green Lantern, would team up with Ollie on many occasions over the coming years and become his best friend. The later, would also team up with him on many occasions and become much more than a friend. It was also about this time that Ollie ditched his fake beard and grew a real one. He also adopted a new costume, which was much more Robin Hood-like in appearance.
There were other changes too: ones not quite as positive as the gaining of new friends. Things took a turn for the worse when, through a combination of neglect from Ollie spending so much time as Green Arrow, most of his fortune going into various charities and the machinations of a business rival, Ollie lost his fortune. He and Roy were forced to sell their mansion along with some of the equipment (the Arrowcar going to a collector of unusual cars) and move into an apartment in the slums of Star City.
Oliver would take several trips around the country with Hal and occasionally with Dinah in the coming year; going where the road would take them and helping people along the way while sorting out their lives.
It was during this time away that Roy would, while trying to infiltrate a gang of drug dealers, fall prey to the lure of heroin himself. When Ollie found out, his reaction was to lash out at Roy, shocked that his adopted son could be so stupid. The truth was that Ollie blamed himself for not having been there but the damage was done. While Ollie was out hunting the men who got Roy "hooked" it fell to Dinah and Hal to help Roy get treatment. Roy remembered that Ollie ran to go punch people while he was suffering and a wedge existed between the two for many years to come.
Ollie's relationship with the JLA over the next two years was on again/off again. He quit being Green Arrow for a time after killing a sniper by accident. He crashed his Arrowplane, destroyed his bow and then secretly entered a monastery. He stayed there for a month, leaving only after Hal found him and told him that Dinah was near death and needed a blood transfusion. He quit again a year later, shortly after getting a job with the Daily Star Newspaper, writing a column called "Queen's Gambit." During that year, Oliver had grown disillusioned with the JLA, his travels and times in the slums making him think that superheroes should focus more or helping the common man than on dealing with great cosmic menaces. His rather vocal expression of his opinions and championing various causes often brought him into conflict with other team members, especially Hawkman. Still, things were good for the most part during those years. Dinah let him move in with her at her Star City apartment and he rejoined the JLA for the third and final time before he and Dinah both quit.
Deciding they both needed a change, the couple moved to Seattle where they converted a three-floor brownstone into a flower shop/house for the two of them; Sherwood Florist. Dinah ran the business, which was registered in her name, with Ollie officially on staff as a delivery man.
Over the next year that the two would establish themselves as the protectors of Seattle, taking on various gangs, drug dealers, Russian spies, the Mafia and The Tong. It was also during this time that Ollie would first meet two people that would change his life: a mercenary named Eddie Fyers and a Yakuza assassin known only as Shado.
He encountered them both while investigating a case involving several men who were killed with arrows and the trafficking of illegal drugs. It was during this case that Ollie willingly killed for the first time, after Dinah was captured and tortured by the drug dealers they were trying to find. Ollie also wound up with a "bonus" from the job... a bag full of laundered drug money from that later found its way into various Seattle and Star City charities. Rob from the rich, indeed...
During the next year, Ollie journeyed to Japan to aid Shado in her fight against the Yakuza. It was during this time that he was wounded, and while delirious, Shado lay with him and became pregnant with his son. He teamed with her again a year later to save her son from the clutches of the Yakuza, whom had kidnapped the boy in order to blackmail Shado into acting as their assassin once more. The boy was rescued and Oliver left Shado again, totally unaware and uninformed by her that the child he had risked his life to save was his own son.
Ollie traveled a lot during these two years. He went to Nottingham, England to help find a missing woman. He went to Alaska to find a missing tanker captain, who had caused an oil-spill. He even went to Gotham to help Batman with a case or two. But Seattle was still his main focus and as he made more and more enemies among the local criminal syndicates, he was captured and tortured nearly to death. The experience left Ollie very distraught and he nearly hung up his costume and bow for good. He changed his mind after Dinah, who until then had said she hadn't wanted children, said she changed her mind after realizing how close she and Ollie had come to losing each other.
The two tried to conceive a child, shortly before Ollie was offered and accepted a job from Eddie Fyers. Fyers, who claimed to be working for the DEA, recruited Ollie to go to Central America and place a tracking device in a ship believed to be carrying drugs. In actuality, the entire sting was a set-up and the tracking device was actually a compact but powerful plastic explosive and the boat was actually an American Navy vessel.
In a double blow, Oliver would be later be arrested on charges of treason and sabotage, not minutes after learning from Dinah that she was unable to have children due to the injuries caused by her being tortured just after they had moved to Seattle. He escaped in transit to prison, thanks to a little unknowing aid from Fyers. Oliver went underground... literally, taking refuge among the homeless in the tunnels under Seattle. Hearing the news about Oliver, Shado came to Seattle and told Dinah about how she had born Ollie's son.
It was while among the homeless Ollie met a runaway named Marianne, who helped him find shelter and broke into his house to get him his bow and arrows. In thanks, he gave her enough cash to start college and told her that Dinah might give her a job and a place to stay. Working with Fyers, whom Ollie found out had also been set up; the two confronted the CIA officials who had framed them. The two had both been picked as patsies as part of a covert to close the Panama Canal long enough for the United States to come in and take over the region for "safety reasons". With the evidence to clear both their names secured, Ollie and Eddie parted ways.
Ollie spent a year traveling the world, after saying his goodbyes to Dinah and Marianne (who Dinah took on as an assistant in her store). He left to find himself and try and find peace with the fact that the woman he loved couldn't bare his children and that his own country had become so corrupt. Upon his return, Ollie wound up forming a band of Merry Men of a sort from the local homeless population, who helped him by giving him information of various crimes, including the unexplained murders of several homeless people.
But all good things come to an end and things came to an end between Ollie and Dinah that New Years Day. Marianne, who had quite a crush on Ollie, had kissed him at a New Year’s Party in full view of Dinah: something that probably wouldn't have bothered Dinah so much had Ollie been struggling when she walked into the room. Of course they didn't have much time to discuss it, since at the same instant; Ollie was attacked by an assassin. Aided by Shado, who had come to see Oliver after receiving word that the Yakuza was sending an assassin to kill him, Dinah and Marianne managed to subdue the assassin and discovered it was Roy, who had been brainwashed shortly after his daughter Lian was kidnapped. With Roy back in control of his senses, the three archers and Dinah worked to save Lian from the Yakuza. Roy and Ollie finally made their peace, as did Ollie and Shado. Sadly, Dinah wasn't quite as able to forgive Ollie, thinking that what happened with Marriane was a sign of him having lied about not knowing what happened with Shado or at the very least not being willing to commit. Dinah dumped Ollie that day, leaving him out in the cold, literally and figuratively.
Oliver left Seattle for good, journeying the country for a time looking for another cause to tie himself to... another right to wrong. He met with his old friend Hal while on this journey and they camped out together for the last time, the two trying to comfort each other; Hal for the loss of his home town, destroyed by the Cyborg and Mongul and Ollie for the loss of his one true love.
Despite the consultation he offered, Hal apparently went mad with grief and killed several of his fellow Green Lanterns and claiming the power of the Guardians of the Universe in order to rebuild the universe "the right way". Ollie stood with all the other heroes of the world... and several other worlds... taking a final stand against Hal, now called Parallax. In fact, it was Ollie himself who shot the killing blow against Hal.
Distraught over the loss of his best friend, Oliver returned to the monastery where he had gone the first time he had quit the JLA. It was here he met a young man named Connor Hawke. Over the next six months, as he stayed there, the two became quite close friends, Connor being a lifelong fan of Green Arrow.
Of course Ollie didn't know it at the time, but Connor was his son; the result of a tryst back in his college days. He didn't find out into several months later, after he and Connor left the monastery. Connor decided to help Ollie get back into the costume; he even made a Ollie a new costume and made a similar one for himself. The two teamed with Eddie Fyers and traveled together for a while. Ollie didn't learn the truth about Connor until he was summoned into the desert by Parallax, who told him the news by accident as he was trying to convince Ollie to come with him and relive "the good ol' days".
Oliver left Fyers and Connor on bad terms, upset that Connor hadn't told him right away that he was his son. From there, Ollie fell in with a group of terrorists called the Eden Corps working to bring them down from within. Connor and Eddie called in Roy (now Arsenal) who joined them in the hunt for Ollie. When they found him, Ollie fought back against them, appearing to have actually joined the Eden Corps in their plan to blow up Metropolis in the name of Gaia.
Actually, his fighting them had been Ollie's final way of gaining the trust of the Corps leaders. But his plan had dire consequences. Ollie, in an attempt to keep the bomb from being set, grabbed the deadman switch that kept it from being triggered. Superman appeared and tried to get Ollie to let him cut his arm off with his heat vision and save him. Ollie refused and kept the bomb from going off until the plane burst into flames away from Metropolis. Nobody was ever found and Connor, after talking to Dinah and making a memorial for Ollie, took up the title of Green Arrow for himself.
Had it not been for Hal Jordan, which might well have been the end of the story of Oliver Queen. Hal, still much the same man despite the forces that overtook him and the power he had assumed, still felt sadness that he had not been there for his best friend. Using the power of the Guardians, Hal breached the barriers between this world and the next and was able to touch the soul of Oliver Queen and offer him a way to live again. Ollie refused, having finally found the peace he sought in the afterlife. Still, he was unable to completely refuse his friend who just wanted to help. He agreed to allow Hal to create a copy of him; one who remembered only "the good old days". This Ollie, who had the spirit, mind and body of the original Oliver Queen but no soul, would wind up wandering the streets of Star City as a homeless bum, who used trash to make trick arrows while still trying to protect his people.
This soulless Ollie wound up living with an elderly man who he had saved named Stanley Drover. Stan was retired and quite wealthy and more than willing to help fund the activities of the city's greatest hero, to say nothing of the man who saved his life. Back in his old "Robin Hood" costume and armed with his famous trick arrows, "Ollie" began to make quite an impression in Star City as he went after a corrupt councilman who had a taste for underage girls and cocaine. It was here that he would rescue, and then later offer a job and a place to stay to a young lady named Mia; a teenage runaway who had been forced into prostitution.
Word spread, and eventually the JLA found out that the original Green Arrow lived. It was Batman who took it upon himself to investigate the strange truth of what had happened to Ollie. A truth that would come from a most unlikely source.
Jason Blood, in his alternate form as Etrigan the Demon, came hunting for Ollie. Blood revealed to Ollie and Batman that Ollie wasn't really Ollie but a Hollow- a living physical shell with no proper soul. This was a problem as hollows tended to attract bad magical mojo and were much sought after by the wrong kinds of magician. Thankfully, Hal came to Ollie's rescue again and got Ollie out of dodge before Blood could see good on his threats to destroy the Hollow Ollie. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to do much when it turned out that Ollie's benefactor, Stanley Drover, was "the wrong kind of magician."
Stanley, it turned out, had been seeking magical power for quite some time and his rescue from muggers by Ollie proved fortunate in more ways than one. It was his intent to put his soul into Ollie's body while summoning a powerful, but friendly demon before having his way with Mia. Thankfully, the plot was thwarted in part by Connor (who, thanks to his parental bond to Ollie) was able to bypass the spells that kept Jason Blood, Batman and Dinah at bay and by Ollie's soul, which decided to return to Earth if only to stop Stanley's plans.
It all worked out in the end, though. Stanley was dead and his will left Oliver as his soul heir, giving Oliver access to a largish brownstone and a multi-million dollar fortune. Connor moved in along with Mia, taking a job at the Star City Youth Center Ollie had become sole manager of. And Ollie, now intact with all his memories but in the body of a relatively spry thirty-five year old with the body of a twenty-five year old, set about trying to rebuild a life.
Since then Ollie has endured tragedy and pain at the hands of the Society, a huge swath of Star City was destroyed and the Dark Archer Merlyn critically wounding him.
He then spent the next year recovering and making himself better suited for the role of Green Arrow, deciding that the skill set of being ‘just’ an Archer, even one of his near supernatural skill, was not enough for the world he lives in. As such he hired a range of martial arts masters including the Sensei Natas who taught Deathstroke ‘almost everything he knows’.
Since then Ollie has returned to Star City and is currently it’s Mayor, using his office to draw attention to the devastated city, using shock value tactics such as performing gay marriages via his interpretation of the town charter. He also exercises the power of his office to do things such as blackmail corrupt businessmen, or have the Star City SWAT unit back up his actions as Green Arrow while publicly condemning his alter ego. Also over the course of his hiatus Ollie amassed a quite large personal fortune by manipulating stocks of companies he sees as unscrupulous. Oliver Queen is now worth billions.
And that's about where things stand now. Ollie mostly tries to stick to protecting Star City, but is always on call to travel elsewhere when a friend or the Justice League needs him. He has a good job where he knows he is making a difference every day when he isn't making a difference at night. And while he doesn't have the family he always dreamed of... and he's not too crazy about Mia becoming a superhero... and he's really not sure exactly where things stand with Dinah at this point... well, it's not Heaven, but it ain't bad.
Characteristics
Age: 30
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 186lb
Eyes: Green
Hair: Blond
Unusual Features: Arguably the finest beard known to man.
Personality: Ollie can come across as a tad immature, making jokes and acting the wiseass at all the wrong times, but beneath that he is one of the most dedicated and passionate heroes going. An idealist and a romantic he actually believes in feeling and emotion over thought and logic. No matter what Ollie will always do what he thinks is right, fighting for the little guy and standing up for the weak against the strong whether it’s in the mayor’s office or in the alleys.
Powers
Known Powers: None.
Known Abilities:
-Archery; A skill so advanced, it is nearly supernatural; Oliver Queen is without doubt the world's greatest archer. He is the peak that all archers aspire to equal. Olive can easily hit any target in perfect conditions (no wind, fair weather) and has a near perfect aim in other, high stress situations (such as in rainy weather, high winds, hanging from a rope, hanging upside down, while getting shot at, etc). He can even shoot a bow using his toes or mouth to draw back the string. He can also make reflected shots, bouncing his arrows off something else to hit a target. Oliver's sight is accurate enough to hit a perfect bull’s-eye (using a standard size target with a fist-sized bulls eye) from 450 yards with a longbow and about half that with a short bow or compound.
- Ranged weapons; although nothing next to his skill with a bow Ollie is skilled with a variety of other ranged weapons. Although his distaste for guns is only surpassed by Batman’s he is still capable of using one at need. He is also capable of using thrown weapons, having once brought down a man from 50 feet away with a soda can, though how repeatable this is could be called into question.
- Fletcher; Ollie is more than capable of crafting a bow and a supply of arrows in the wild from only raw wood and feathers and indeed crafts almost all of his own arrows.
- Science; While not in nearly the ballpark as some other inventing heroes (Blue Beetle and Batman to name a few), Oliver did take college level chemistry classes as part of his undergraduate studies and remembered enough of it to design such trick arrows as the Cryogenic (freezing) arrow.
- Wilderness skills; Forget those idiots on TV... Oliver Queen is a real survivor. He lived for nearly a year unaided on a deserted island. He learned how to make small shelters, make fires, hunt, track animals and forage for edible plants. You could drop Oliver nearly anywhere in the world and he could probably find a way to live there. The product of his self-taught survival training, Ollie has become one of the world's finest trackers, be it in a city or wild setting. He is capable of following animal tracks in the wild as well as shadowing more civilized prey in the urban jungle.
- Political knowhow; Oliver keeps tabs on the news and keeps track of who is in charge and what they are doing. He is familiar with the ideas behind how political parties and political action committees are run. He even knows how to run a campaign, having aided more than a few politicians back in his CEO days and has put the knowledge to good use in running Star City. Displaying a tendency to stay a step ahead of his political rivals.
- Pilot
- First Aid; His ‘hobby’ has given him more than enough hands on training in this for both himself and others for him to be capable of dealing with most of the wounds he will encounter on his nightly excursions.
- Business; Oliver has a deep understanding of the ins and outs of larger corporations and how they work. He knows the finer points of business technique, the financial sciences, management theory and playing the stock market.
- Disguise/Actor; he is more than capable enough in both to slip by all but the most observant and those who know him best.
- Hand to hand combat/Swordsmanship: although previously he relied on just being tougher than the next guy relying on a mix of boxing, street fighting and hitting people over the head with his bow. Recently though Oliver found this wasn’t enough to protect what he loved and cared about and so spent his recovery on… self improvement, training with some of the world’s greatest martial arts masters, even up to Natas; one of the men who trained Deathstroke. As such he is now a martial arts master (in Judo, kickboxing and Karate among others) and highly skilled with the sword he now carries alongside his bow.
- Luck: Although not a skill Ollie is absurdly lucky the fact he is still alive after the life he has had is remarkable in itself, the fact he is still whole let alone the level of his success is truly remarkable.
Strength Level: Although not a metahuman by any stretch Ollie is a strong man, able to draw and loose a bow with a 108 pound draw 29 times in a minute. A tough man who engages in regular exercise.
Weaknesses: - Only Human; Ollie is highly skilled, tough as old boots and willing to go that extra mile when almost anyone else would give in, but he is still just a mortal man with all the weaknesses and vulnerabilities that entails.
- Idealistic Sucker; Ollie's heart is his biggest weakness. He is a complete sucker for hard luck cases and can often be talked into risking himself for good causes simply because it's the right thing to do. Tales of the underdog in need and the little guy getting pushed around boil his blood like nothing else and somebody who knows this can easily manipulate Ollie.
- Temper; Ollie can be very quick to anger if he has the right buttons pushed. Aside from flying off the handle and ranting like a lunatic, this may cause Oliver to go out and take chances he might otherwise not take. Once he is angry about something, Ollie becomes very bullheaded and there is little anyone can do to change his mind once it is made up.
- Depressive; Oliver has a hard time dealing with "bad times" unaided. Every crisis in his life, he responded by either running away from his problems, leaning on someone else for support or turning to the bottle; all classic symptoms of someone who suffers from depression. Oliver also has a rather negative world view and tends to view most people with a high level of skepticism, despite a part of him that longs for innocent, more idealistic days.
- Worst kept secret Identity ever; Oliver has what is easily the worst-kept secret identity in the world. He never made much effort at keeping it hidden- no changing the voice or disguise past the mask. Throw in the fact that he was outed to the world by the US government during the whole treason debacle, spent some time as a fugitive and that when he died he had a front-page obituary in The Daily Planet... well, it's a miracle that anyone has bought the half-ass line he gave the press upon his return about having spent the last few years rebuilding his fortune, insisting that his return coming as the original Green Arrow also returned to Star City is just a coincidence and claiming that there is no connection between the two of them upon pain of lawsuit. You can fool some of the people all of the time, but anyone with five minutes, a modicum of computer know-how and the will to do so could easily compare photos of Star City's favorite vigilante and his sidekicks to those of Ollie and his children and figure out the truth.
- Anti-The Man; Ollie has some issues with authority. Specifically, anyone with a uniform or a badge who thinks that they have the right to boss people around just because they have a uniform or a badge. While Ollie generally respects the police and other officials in general, anybody who takes exception to his presence in a bad situation just because he doesn't have a badge... oh, they are going to get a stern talking to (re: five minute lecture upon the increasing fascism of America). Ollie has a deep paranoia regarding and intolerance for the idle rich. The Paris Hiltons, Nicole Richies and all the other people with more money and power than common sense and scruples. To Ollie's mind, all these people are getting fat off other people's suffering and hard work. And to be fair, Ollie does know of what he speaks having once been a part of that world. Still, he does tend to assume the worst of any rich people he meets claiming they want to help him, no matter how good that person really may be.
- Rugged Individualism; Arguably a strength as well as a weakness Ollie will almost always try to fix things alone before even considering asking for help. He is always looking for the next challenge and has made a mess of his life because of this several times. Luckily for Ollie his closest friends and allies know when No means Yes.
- Always the Archer; despite his recent training Ollie was, is and always will be an archer at heart and his body reflects this. He is right handed and it shows, easily his stronger hand and while competent with both sword and bow in either hand he will almost always choose to use his right. His balence is also slightly off, difficult to tell having spent a good deal of his training learning martial arts which teach centering and absolute control, but to a true master, such as Batman, Lady Shiva or Deathstroke the flaw can become apparent. A crack in his new skill set.
Misc
Equipment: Bow: Oliver is in possession of a range of bows and crossbows but on the main he uses his own custom made bow of yew wood with a 108 lb draw. The Howard Hill bow having been passed down to Conner.
Transportation: By and large Ollie gets around on foot on Patrol, he has been thinking about a motorbike, tentatively called the Arrowcycle, although the ribbing he would get from Roy is holding off the purchase.
Weapons:
Arrows: Although Ollie has progressed a long way from the days of the boxing glove arrow and the handcuff arrow and indeed the vast majority of the arrows that he uses are of the pointy variety of California Ash and Steel, he still carries or can lay his hands on a variety of Trick arrows at need. Some of the most common are:
-Net Arrow; five weighted spikes spin out from the arrow as it flies unfurling a net of titanium cable around 5’ in diameter.
-Glue Arrow; guess.
-Explosive Arrow; Rarely used on living creatures unless of the meta variety the impact of one of these is enough to blow a hole in a concrete wall.
-Greek Fire Arrow; Enough to cover a man-sized target or a 5’ area with flame that water and cold can’t put out and will set aflame almost anything you try and smother it with. Fortunately Ollie, whenever he carries these, carries at least a corresponding number of.
-Extinguisher Arrow: The Extinguisher Arrow is a solid, heavy metal shaft with a special bulbous head. The special arrow contains enough standard fire extinguishers chemical to put out a 10'x10' area of flame. The arrow may be impacted directly with a living being engulfed in flame without adverse side effects.
-Grapple Arrow: A normal arrow whose tip has been replaced with a four-pronged grappling hook. The grappling hook, which is made of light-weight but strong metal, folds around the head of the arrow and expands to full and locked position en route to its target. Attached to the grappling hook is a thin, high strength cable forty feet in length. The length of the cable is housed inside the shaft. The hook and cable combination is capable of holding four hundred pounds of weight when properly anchored (of course, that does not mean that the object to which the apparatus has been attached is capable of holding that much weight).
-Cryonic Arrow: An endothermic reaction that covers around three square feet with a thick sheath of ice within moments of impact.
Although this does not represent the full range of what Ollie has at his disposal they are the only arrows he is likely to being with him without prior knowledge of his opponent and never more than a handful of each.
Sword: The sword is a Katana, it is not magical, nor made of exotic materials, just as California ash and steel have always been good enough for Ollie’s arrows, a blade of folded steel with a hilt of lacquered wood are all he needs. But like the arrows it is the work of a master craftsman, light, perfectly balanced and sharper than a razor.
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Sample Post
CODEWORD:
Alter Ego: Green Arrow
Status
Occupation: Mayor of Star City
Martial Status: Single
Legal Status: US Citizen, with no criminal record.
Group Affiliation(s): JLA, reserve. Team Arrow
Origin
Place of Birth: Star City
Known Relatives: Parents (deceased [I’m still in search of their names]), Conner Hawke (son), Robert (Son), Mia Dearden (adopted daughter), Roy Harper (former ward).
History
Born into the lap of luxury, Oliver Queen was an only child in what most would consider to be a decent household. While his father kept himself busy with work and his mother with society events, neither were ever too busy to spend time with their son or keep up with his interests. As a child, Oliver loved to the stories of Robin Hood, so one Christmas his parents bought him an archery set and paid for him to have lessons. Oliver loved the set and continued studying archery for several years, up until he started High School.
Upon graduating from high school, Oliver went across the country to study business at Hudson University in New Carthage, New York. Four years and one B.A. later, Oliver Queen moved back to his hometown of Star City, California to work on his Master's Degree at Star City University and began preparations to take over his father's company. It was while in college that Oliver became involved with various political movements, such as the Civil Rights and Feminist Movements. It was also about this time that he began to build his reputation of being a womanizer and playboy, dating many women over the next several years.
Three years later, Oliver would get his Masters in Business as well as a civilian's pilot license, the hobby being introduced to him by one of his many girlfriends. He served in various executive positions in his father's company until three years after graduating; he was given control of the company and made CEO of Queen Enterprises. Oliver tried to be a responsible businessman as well as a friend of the people and philanthropist. He donated large sums to various charities, even setting up a Queen Foundation to help the less fortunate. He also began to help out new or failing businesses, such as Horton Chemicals. While negotiating with the owner, Abigail Horton, Ollie sensed a kindred spirit in the old woman who sought to keep her plant open to keep jobs in Star City, no matter how much she was offered by the other chemical companies. The two became fast friends and were seen around town together often. The tabloids linked the two together romantically (despite Abigail's being old enough to be his mother!). Oliver did however begin to date Abbie's daughter over the next year, but they broke up after realizing how very little they had in common.
At this time, Oliver began to question his life and what he was doing. He had always fought against greed and corruption and the establishment. And yet now, he was a rich CEO who could have any woman he chose, practically ruled Star City like a king and had as much in common with the hippies he'd grown up with now as fire did with water. He had in short become what he hated most: part of the establishment. This depressed Oliver and like many depressed people unable to reconcile their lives; he turned to any release he could find to keep his mind off what he was. Oliver found his release in wine, women and song. Well, not so much song as the wine and women... at any rate, Oliver's reputation as a lush, a playboy and a cruel CEO grew even stronger over these years.
It was some months later on the yacht Kristina that Ollie's destiny would begin to manifest. First, he would meet and become friends with Howard Hill: an archer/stuntman who had trained Oliver's old hero Erroyl Flynn and also worked as his stuntman. A few nights later, in a drunken stupor, Ollie would fall overboard in the South Pacific and would later wash up on an island in the Solomon Chains.
Oliver realized he had little chance of surviving... after all, the most strenuous thing he had ever done before was stir a martini. But the will to survive does many things to a man. And Oliver Queen was never one to accept defeat. For the first time in his life, he truly labored. Remembering his childhood hobby, he crafted himself a crude bow and some arrows and hunted... and to his surprise... he flourished at it. For months he was shipwrecked there, and during those months his skill with the bow increased. Until a group of marijuana farmers came there, to check on a crop they kept hidden on the island. No longer a helpless playboy but a hardened survivor, Oliver confronted the growers, made them take him back to civilization and left the marijuana farmers telling a story about "The Green Guy" that caught them to the shore patrol.
Oliver returned to Star City and to work (barely) at Queen Enterprises as CEO. But the time on the island made Ollie look at the world differently and he began to lose interest in his job and is more intent on his hobby. He even joined a group of fellow archer enthusiasts, playing a version of golf that used blunt arrows instead of clubs. His first time playing, Ollie used pointed arrows and wound up impaling his ball. He kept a hold of it as a memento.
Weeks after his return, he was invited to a charity costume ball. This ball being the week of Halloween there were very few costumes left so Oliver was sent the one costume they had in his size when he called about getting one.... a Robin Hood costume.
The night of the ball, Oliver found himself bored by the party. His life of quiet contemplation on the island had matured the boy in him somewhat and as he contemplated his life out on a balcony, he heard screams from inside. A thief had entered the party in disguise and held the people at gunpoint, taking a woman hostage as he left with all the money. Thinking fast, Ollie reached into his quiver and waited for the man to leave. He fired a shot, pinning the man to a tree, giving the hostage a chance to run. The thief spotted Ollie and tried to aim at him. Ollie reached for another arrow and to his horror, found that he picked up the golf-ball arrow from earlier in the day. Figuring it was his only shot, Ollie shot it, hoping to knock the man out or hit him in the eye. But a sudden breeze and the extra weight (or maybe a sign of God's twisted sense of humor) shifted the arrow lower, causing the thief to get hit in the groin.
Called "The big green arrow guy" by the thief, the name Green Arrow was given to the masked hero by the media. While Ollie would much rather had gotten a name like "Shaft" (despite all the legal troubles he might have gotten from Isaac Hayes and Richard Roundtree), he decided to become a crime fighter by night, mainly because he missed the excitement of his life on the island and it was just another game to him.
Still in time, Ollie began to take his role as a hero more seriously. Especially after he found himself with a young partner: a boy named Roy Harper. This happened after Ollie was contacted by Brave Bow, an Navajo elder who was near death and feared for the boys welfare after his death. Roy was the orphaned son of a forest ranger, and Brave Bow knew that Roy would be cast from the tribe after his death. Knowing Roy to be a big fan of the Emerald Archer, he hoped maybe he might be willing to help the young man. Oliver was indeed willing and officially adopted Roy as his ward. Roy took up the name Speedy and wore a red version of Ollie's own costume.
It was also about this time that Oliver began to use his fortune to found his "trick arrows" for emergency situations. Handcuff arrows, self lighting fire arrows and fire-extinguisher arrows, among others.
After a year of fighting crime with Speedy in Star City, Oliver gained some national attention fighting alongside the first five members of the JLA. Although he called it "slumming" when interview by the press, he really was impressed by the five other heroes after their first encounter. Impressed enough that he went on become the team's anonymous financial backer, using Simon Carr as a middle man. He was later given (and accepted) an invitation to become their sixth member as Green Arrow.
It was while in the JLA that Oliver met two people who would forever change him; Hal Jordan and Dinah Lance. The former, Green Lantern, would team up with Ollie on many occasions over the coming years and become his best friend. The later, would also team up with him on many occasions and become much more than a friend. It was also about this time that Ollie ditched his fake beard and grew a real one. He also adopted a new costume, which was much more Robin Hood-like in appearance.
There were other changes too: ones not quite as positive as the gaining of new friends. Things took a turn for the worse when, through a combination of neglect from Ollie spending so much time as Green Arrow, most of his fortune going into various charities and the machinations of a business rival, Ollie lost his fortune. He and Roy were forced to sell their mansion along with some of the equipment (the Arrowcar going to a collector of unusual cars) and move into an apartment in the slums of Star City.
Oliver would take several trips around the country with Hal and occasionally with Dinah in the coming year; going where the road would take them and helping people along the way while sorting out their lives.
It was during this time away that Roy would, while trying to infiltrate a gang of drug dealers, fall prey to the lure of heroin himself. When Ollie found out, his reaction was to lash out at Roy, shocked that his adopted son could be so stupid. The truth was that Ollie blamed himself for not having been there but the damage was done. While Ollie was out hunting the men who got Roy "hooked" it fell to Dinah and Hal to help Roy get treatment. Roy remembered that Ollie ran to go punch people while he was suffering and a wedge existed between the two for many years to come.
Ollie's relationship with the JLA over the next two years was on again/off again. He quit being Green Arrow for a time after killing a sniper by accident. He crashed his Arrowplane, destroyed his bow and then secretly entered a monastery. He stayed there for a month, leaving only after Hal found him and told him that Dinah was near death and needed a blood transfusion. He quit again a year later, shortly after getting a job with the Daily Star Newspaper, writing a column called "Queen's Gambit." During that year, Oliver had grown disillusioned with the JLA, his travels and times in the slums making him think that superheroes should focus more or helping the common man than on dealing with great cosmic menaces. His rather vocal expression of his opinions and championing various causes often brought him into conflict with other team members, especially Hawkman. Still, things were good for the most part during those years. Dinah let him move in with her at her Star City apartment and he rejoined the JLA for the third and final time before he and Dinah both quit.
Deciding they both needed a change, the couple moved to Seattle where they converted a three-floor brownstone into a flower shop/house for the two of them; Sherwood Florist. Dinah ran the business, which was registered in her name, with Ollie officially on staff as a delivery man.
Over the next year that the two would establish themselves as the protectors of Seattle, taking on various gangs, drug dealers, Russian spies, the Mafia and The Tong. It was also during this time that Ollie would first meet two people that would change his life: a mercenary named Eddie Fyers and a Yakuza assassin known only as Shado.
He encountered them both while investigating a case involving several men who were killed with arrows and the trafficking of illegal drugs. It was during this case that Ollie willingly killed for the first time, after Dinah was captured and tortured by the drug dealers they were trying to find. Ollie also wound up with a "bonus" from the job... a bag full of laundered drug money from that later found its way into various Seattle and Star City charities. Rob from the rich, indeed...
During the next year, Ollie journeyed to Japan to aid Shado in her fight against the Yakuza. It was during this time that he was wounded, and while delirious, Shado lay with him and became pregnant with his son. He teamed with her again a year later to save her son from the clutches of the Yakuza, whom had kidnapped the boy in order to blackmail Shado into acting as their assassin once more. The boy was rescued and Oliver left Shado again, totally unaware and uninformed by her that the child he had risked his life to save was his own son.
Ollie traveled a lot during these two years. He went to Nottingham, England to help find a missing woman. He went to Alaska to find a missing tanker captain, who had caused an oil-spill. He even went to Gotham to help Batman with a case or two. But Seattle was still his main focus and as he made more and more enemies among the local criminal syndicates, he was captured and tortured nearly to death. The experience left Ollie very distraught and he nearly hung up his costume and bow for good. He changed his mind after Dinah, who until then had said she hadn't wanted children, said she changed her mind after realizing how close she and Ollie had come to losing each other.
The two tried to conceive a child, shortly before Ollie was offered and accepted a job from Eddie Fyers. Fyers, who claimed to be working for the DEA, recruited Ollie to go to Central America and place a tracking device in a ship believed to be carrying drugs. In actuality, the entire sting was a set-up and the tracking device was actually a compact but powerful plastic explosive and the boat was actually an American Navy vessel.
In a double blow, Oliver would be later be arrested on charges of treason and sabotage, not minutes after learning from Dinah that she was unable to have children due to the injuries caused by her being tortured just after they had moved to Seattle. He escaped in transit to prison, thanks to a little unknowing aid from Fyers. Oliver went underground... literally, taking refuge among the homeless in the tunnels under Seattle. Hearing the news about Oliver, Shado came to Seattle and told Dinah about how she had born Ollie's son.
It was while among the homeless Ollie met a runaway named Marianne, who helped him find shelter and broke into his house to get him his bow and arrows. In thanks, he gave her enough cash to start college and told her that Dinah might give her a job and a place to stay. Working with Fyers, whom Ollie found out had also been set up; the two confronted the CIA officials who had framed them. The two had both been picked as patsies as part of a covert to close the Panama Canal long enough for the United States to come in and take over the region for "safety reasons". With the evidence to clear both their names secured, Ollie and Eddie parted ways.
Ollie spent a year traveling the world, after saying his goodbyes to Dinah and Marianne (who Dinah took on as an assistant in her store). He left to find himself and try and find peace with the fact that the woman he loved couldn't bare his children and that his own country had become so corrupt. Upon his return, Ollie wound up forming a band of Merry Men of a sort from the local homeless population, who helped him by giving him information of various crimes, including the unexplained murders of several homeless people.
But all good things come to an end and things came to an end between Ollie and Dinah that New Years Day. Marianne, who had quite a crush on Ollie, had kissed him at a New Year’s Party in full view of Dinah: something that probably wouldn't have bothered Dinah so much had Ollie been struggling when she walked into the room. Of course they didn't have much time to discuss it, since at the same instant; Ollie was attacked by an assassin. Aided by Shado, who had come to see Oliver after receiving word that the Yakuza was sending an assassin to kill him, Dinah and Marianne managed to subdue the assassin and discovered it was Roy, who had been brainwashed shortly after his daughter Lian was kidnapped. With Roy back in control of his senses, the three archers and Dinah worked to save Lian from the Yakuza. Roy and Ollie finally made their peace, as did Ollie and Shado. Sadly, Dinah wasn't quite as able to forgive Ollie, thinking that what happened with Marriane was a sign of him having lied about not knowing what happened with Shado or at the very least not being willing to commit. Dinah dumped Ollie that day, leaving him out in the cold, literally and figuratively.
Oliver left Seattle for good, journeying the country for a time looking for another cause to tie himself to... another right to wrong. He met with his old friend Hal while on this journey and they camped out together for the last time, the two trying to comfort each other; Hal for the loss of his home town, destroyed by the Cyborg and Mongul and Ollie for the loss of his one true love.
Despite the consultation he offered, Hal apparently went mad with grief and killed several of his fellow Green Lanterns and claiming the power of the Guardians of the Universe in order to rebuild the universe "the right way". Ollie stood with all the other heroes of the world... and several other worlds... taking a final stand against Hal, now called Parallax. In fact, it was Ollie himself who shot the killing blow against Hal.
Distraught over the loss of his best friend, Oliver returned to the monastery where he had gone the first time he had quit the JLA. It was here he met a young man named Connor Hawke. Over the next six months, as he stayed there, the two became quite close friends, Connor being a lifelong fan of Green Arrow.
Of course Ollie didn't know it at the time, but Connor was his son; the result of a tryst back in his college days. He didn't find out into several months later, after he and Connor left the monastery. Connor decided to help Ollie get back into the costume; he even made a Ollie a new costume and made a similar one for himself. The two teamed with Eddie Fyers and traveled together for a while. Ollie didn't learn the truth about Connor until he was summoned into the desert by Parallax, who told him the news by accident as he was trying to convince Ollie to come with him and relive "the good ol' days".
Oliver left Fyers and Connor on bad terms, upset that Connor hadn't told him right away that he was his son. From there, Ollie fell in with a group of terrorists called the Eden Corps working to bring them down from within. Connor and Eddie called in Roy (now Arsenal) who joined them in the hunt for Ollie. When they found him, Ollie fought back against them, appearing to have actually joined the Eden Corps in their plan to blow up Metropolis in the name of Gaia.
Actually, his fighting them had been Ollie's final way of gaining the trust of the Corps leaders. But his plan had dire consequences. Ollie, in an attempt to keep the bomb from being set, grabbed the deadman switch that kept it from being triggered. Superman appeared and tried to get Ollie to let him cut his arm off with his heat vision and save him. Ollie refused and kept the bomb from going off until the plane burst into flames away from Metropolis. Nobody was ever found and Connor, after talking to Dinah and making a memorial for Ollie, took up the title of Green Arrow for himself.
Had it not been for Hal Jordan, which might well have been the end of the story of Oliver Queen. Hal, still much the same man despite the forces that overtook him and the power he had assumed, still felt sadness that he had not been there for his best friend. Using the power of the Guardians, Hal breached the barriers between this world and the next and was able to touch the soul of Oliver Queen and offer him a way to live again. Ollie refused, having finally found the peace he sought in the afterlife. Still, he was unable to completely refuse his friend who just wanted to help. He agreed to allow Hal to create a copy of him; one who remembered only "the good old days". This Ollie, who had the spirit, mind and body of the original Oliver Queen but no soul, would wind up wandering the streets of Star City as a homeless bum, who used trash to make trick arrows while still trying to protect his people.
This soulless Ollie wound up living with an elderly man who he had saved named Stanley Drover. Stan was retired and quite wealthy and more than willing to help fund the activities of the city's greatest hero, to say nothing of the man who saved his life. Back in his old "Robin Hood" costume and armed with his famous trick arrows, "Ollie" began to make quite an impression in Star City as he went after a corrupt councilman who had a taste for underage girls and cocaine. It was here that he would rescue, and then later offer a job and a place to stay to a young lady named Mia; a teenage runaway who had been forced into prostitution.
Word spread, and eventually the JLA found out that the original Green Arrow lived. It was Batman who took it upon himself to investigate the strange truth of what had happened to Ollie. A truth that would come from a most unlikely source.
Jason Blood, in his alternate form as Etrigan the Demon, came hunting for Ollie. Blood revealed to Ollie and Batman that Ollie wasn't really Ollie but a Hollow- a living physical shell with no proper soul. This was a problem as hollows tended to attract bad magical mojo and were much sought after by the wrong kinds of magician. Thankfully, Hal came to Ollie's rescue again and got Ollie out of dodge before Blood could see good on his threats to destroy the Hollow Ollie. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to do much when it turned out that Ollie's benefactor, Stanley Drover, was "the wrong kind of magician."
Stanley, it turned out, had been seeking magical power for quite some time and his rescue from muggers by Ollie proved fortunate in more ways than one. It was his intent to put his soul into Ollie's body while summoning a powerful, but friendly demon before having his way with Mia. Thankfully, the plot was thwarted in part by Connor (who, thanks to his parental bond to Ollie) was able to bypass the spells that kept Jason Blood, Batman and Dinah at bay and by Ollie's soul, which decided to return to Earth if only to stop Stanley's plans.
It all worked out in the end, though. Stanley was dead and his will left Oliver as his soul heir, giving Oliver access to a largish brownstone and a multi-million dollar fortune. Connor moved in along with Mia, taking a job at the Star City Youth Center Ollie had become sole manager of. And Ollie, now intact with all his memories but in the body of a relatively spry thirty-five year old with the body of a twenty-five year old, set about trying to rebuild a life.
Since then Ollie has endured tragedy and pain at the hands of the Society, a huge swath of Star City was destroyed and the Dark Archer Merlyn critically wounding him.
He then spent the next year recovering and making himself better suited for the role of Green Arrow, deciding that the skill set of being ‘just’ an Archer, even one of his near supernatural skill, was not enough for the world he lives in. As such he hired a range of martial arts masters including the Sensei Natas who taught Deathstroke ‘almost everything he knows’.
Since then Ollie has returned to Star City and is currently it’s Mayor, using his office to draw attention to the devastated city, using shock value tactics such as performing gay marriages via his interpretation of the town charter. He also exercises the power of his office to do things such as blackmail corrupt businessmen, or have the Star City SWAT unit back up his actions as Green Arrow while publicly condemning his alter ego. Also over the course of his hiatus Ollie amassed a quite large personal fortune by manipulating stocks of companies he sees as unscrupulous. Oliver Queen is now worth billions.
And that's about where things stand now. Ollie mostly tries to stick to protecting Star City, but is always on call to travel elsewhere when a friend or the Justice League needs him. He has a good job where he knows he is making a difference every day when he isn't making a difference at night. And while he doesn't have the family he always dreamed of... and he's not too crazy about Mia becoming a superhero... and he's really not sure exactly where things stand with Dinah at this point... well, it's not Heaven, but it ain't bad.
Characteristics
Age: 30
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 186lb
Eyes: Green
Hair: Blond
Unusual Features: Arguably the finest beard known to man.
Personality: Ollie can come across as a tad immature, making jokes and acting the wiseass at all the wrong times, but beneath that he is one of the most dedicated and passionate heroes going. An idealist and a romantic he actually believes in feeling and emotion over thought and logic. No matter what Ollie will always do what he thinks is right, fighting for the little guy and standing up for the weak against the strong whether it’s in the mayor’s office or in the alleys.
Powers
Known Powers: None.
Known Abilities:
-Archery; A skill so advanced, it is nearly supernatural; Oliver Queen is without doubt the world's greatest archer. He is the peak that all archers aspire to equal. Olive can easily hit any target in perfect conditions (no wind, fair weather) and has a near perfect aim in other, high stress situations (such as in rainy weather, high winds, hanging from a rope, hanging upside down, while getting shot at, etc). He can even shoot a bow using his toes or mouth to draw back the string. He can also make reflected shots, bouncing his arrows off something else to hit a target. Oliver's sight is accurate enough to hit a perfect bull’s-eye (using a standard size target with a fist-sized bulls eye) from 450 yards with a longbow and about half that with a short bow or compound.
- Ranged weapons; although nothing next to his skill with a bow Ollie is skilled with a variety of other ranged weapons. Although his distaste for guns is only surpassed by Batman’s he is still capable of using one at need. He is also capable of using thrown weapons, having once brought down a man from 50 feet away with a soda can, though how repeatable this is could be called into question.
- Fletcher; Ollie is more than capable of crafting a bow and a supply of arrows in the wild from only raw wood and feathers and indeed crafts almost all of his own arrows.
- Science; While not in nearly the ballpark as some other inventing heroes (Blue Beetle and Batman to name a few), Oliver did take college level chemistry classes as part of his undergraduate studies and remembered enough of it to design such trick arrows as the Cryogenic (freezing) arrow.
- Wilderness skills; Forget those idiots on TV... Oliver Queen is a real survivor. He lived for nearly a year unaided on a deserted island. He learned how to make small shelters, make fires, hunt, track animals and forage for edible plants. You could drop Oliver nearly anywhere in the world and he could probably find a way to live there. The product of his self-taught survival training, Ollie has become one of the world's finest trackers, be it in a city or wild setting. He is capable of following animal tracks in the wild as well as shadowing more civilized prey in the urban jungle.
- Political knowhow; Oliver keeps tabs on the news and keeps track of who is in charge and what they are doing. He is familiar with the ideas behind how political parties and political action committees are run. He even knows how to run a campaign, having aided more than a few politicians back in his CEO days and has put the knowledge to good use in running Star City. Displaying a tendency to stay a step ahead of his political rivals.
- Pilot
- First Aid; His ‘hobby’ has given him more than enough hands on training in this for both himself and others for him to be capable of dealing with most of the wounds he will encounter on his nightly excursions.
- Business; Oliver has a deep understanding of the ins and outs of larger corporations and how they work. He knows the finer points of business technique, the financial sciences, management theory and playing the stock market.
- Disguise/Actor; he is more than capable enough in both to slip by all but the most observant and those who know him best.
- Hand to hand combat/Swordsmanship: although previously he relied on just being tougher than the next guy relying on a mix of boxing, street fighting and hitting people over the head with his bow. Recently though Oliver found this wasn’t enough to protect what he loved and cared about and so spent his recovery on… self improvement, training with some of the world’s greatest martial arts masters, even up to Natas; one of the men who trained Deathstroke. As such he is now a martial arts master (in Judo, kickboxing and Karate among others) and highly skilled with the sword he now carries alongside his bow.
- Luck: Although not a skill Ollie is absurdly lucky the fact he is still alive after the life he has had is remarkable in itself, the fact he is still whole let alone the level of his success is truly remarkable.
Strength Level: Although not a metahuman by any stretch Ollie is a strong man, able to draw and loose a bow with a 108 pound draw 29 times in a minute. A tough man who engages in regular exercise.
Weaknesses: - Only Human; Ollie is highly skilled, tough as old boots and willing to go that extra mile when almost anyone else would give in, but he is still just a mortal man with all the weaknesses and vulnerabilities that entails.
- Idealistic Sucker; Ollie's heart is his biggest weakness. He is a complete sucker for hard luck cases and can often be talked into risking himself for good causes simply because it's the right thing to do. Tales of the underdog in need and the little guy getting pushed around boil his blood like nothing else and somebody who knows this can easily manipulate Ollie.
- Temper; Ollie can be very quick to anger if he has the right buttons pushed. Aside from flying off the handle and ranting like a lunatic, this may cause Oliver to go out and take chances he might otherwise not take. Once he is angry about something, Ollie becomes very bullheaded and there is little anyone can do to change his mind once it is made up.
- Depressive; Oliver has a hard time dealing with "bad times" unaided. Every crisis in his life, he responded by either running away from his problems, leaning on someone else for support or turning to the bottle; all classic symptoms of someone who suffers from depression. Oliver also has a rather negative world view and tends to view most people with a high level of skepticism, despite a part of him that longs for innocent, more idealistic days.
- Worst kept secret Identity ever; Oliver has what is easily the worst-kept secret identity in the world. He never made much effort at keeping it hidden- no changing the voice or disguise past the mask. Throw in the fact that he was outed to the world by the US government during the whole treason debacle, spent some time as a fugitive and that when he died he had a front-page obituary in The Daily Planet... well, it's a miracle that anyone has bought the half-ass line he gave the press upon his return about having spent the last few years rebuilding his fortune, insisting that his return coming as the original Green Arrow also returned to Star City is just a coincidence and claiming that there is no connection between the two of them upon pain of lawsuit. You can fool some of the people all of the time, but anyone with five minutes, a modicum of computer know-how and the will to do so could easily compare photos of Star City's favorite vigilante and his sidekicks to those of Ollie and his children and figure out the truth.
- Anti-The Man; Ollie has some issues with authority. Specifically, anyone with a uniform or a badge who thinks that they have the right to boss people around just because they have a uniform or a badge. While Ollie generally respects the police and other officials in general, anybody who takes exception to his presence in a bad situation just because he doesn't have a badge... oh, they are going to get a stern talking to (re: five minute lecture upon the increasing fascism of America). Ollie has a deep paranoia regarding and intolerance for the idle rich. The Paris Hiltons, Nicole Richies and all the other people with more money and power than common sense and scruples. To Ollie's mind, all these people are getting fat off other people's suffering and hard work. And to be fair, Ollie does know of what he speaks having once been a part of that world. Still, he does tend to assume the worst of any rich people he meets claiming they want to help him, no matter how good that person really may be.
- Rugged Individualism; Arguably a strength as well as a weakness Ollie will almost always try to fix things alone before even considering asking for help. He is always looking for the next challenge and has made a mess of his life because of this several times. Luckily for Ollie his closest friends and allies know when No means Yes.
- Always the Archer; despite his recent training Ollie was, is and always will be an archer at heart and his body reflects this. He is right handed and it shows, easily his stronger hand and while competent with both sword and bow in either hand he will almost always choose to use his right. His balence is also slightly off, difficult to tell having spent a good deal of his training learning martial arts which teach centering and absolute control, but to a true master, such as Batman, Lady Shiva or Deathstroke the flaw can become apparent. A crack in his new skill set.
Misc
Equipment: Bow: Oliver is in possession of a range of bows and crossbows but on the main he uses his own custom made bow of yew wood with a 108 lb draw. The Howard Hill bow having been passed down to Conner.
Transportation: By and large Ollie gets around on foot on Patrol, he has been thinking about a motorbike, tentatively called the Arrowcycle, although the ribbing he would get from Roy is holding off the purchase.
Weapons:
Arrows: Although Ollie has progressed a long way from the days of the boxing glove arrow and the handcuff arrow and indeed the vast majority of the arrows that he uses are of the pointy variety of California Ash and Steel, he still carries or can lay his hands on a variety of Trick arrows at need. Some of the most common are:
-Net Arrow; five weighted spikes spin out from the arrow as it flies unfurling a net of titanium cable around 5’ in diameter.
-Glue Arrow; guess.
-Explosive Arrow; Rarely used on living creatures unless of the meta variety the impact of one of these is enough to blow a hole in a concrete wall.
-Greek Fire Arrow; Enough to cover a man-sized target or a 5’ area with flame that water and cold can’t put out and will set aflame almost anything you try and smother it with. Fortunately Ollie, whenever he carries these, carries at least a corresponding number of.
-Extinguisher Arrow: The Extinguisher Arrow is a solid, heavy metal shaft with a special bulbous head. The special arrow contains enough standard fire extinguishers chemical to put out a 10'x10' area of flame. The arrow may be impacted directly with a living being engulfed in flame without adverse side effects.
-Grapple Arrow: A normal arrow whose tip has been replaced with a four-pronged grappling hook. The grappling hook, which is made of light-weight but strong metal, folds around the head of the arrow and expands to full and locked position en route to its target. Attached to the grappling hook is a thin, high strength cable forty feet in length. The length of the cable is housed inside the shaft. The hook and cable combination is capable of holding four hundred pounds of weight when properly anchored (of course, that does not mean that the object to which the apparatus has been attached is capable of holding that much weight).
-Cryonic Arrow: An endothermic reaction that covers around three square feet with a thick sheath of ice within moments of impact.
Although this does not represent the full range of what Ollie has at his disposal they are the only arrows he is likely to being with him without prior knowledge of his opponent and never more than a handful of each.
Sword: The sword is a Katana, it is not magical, nor made of exotic materials, just as California ash and steel have always been good enough for Ollie’s arrows, a blade of folded steel with a hilt of lacquered wood are all he needs. But like the arrows it is the work of a master craftsman, light, perfectly balanced and sharper than a razor.
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