Yao Fei Gulong

Yao Fei was an expert archer, the father of Shado, and the mentor of Oliver Queen. He was a prisoner on the island, Lian Yu, having been considered extremely dangerous by the Chinese government. However it was revealed by his daughter, that the Chinese military forced him to be their scapegoat, for massacring innocent people, and he was sent to the island for crimes he did not commit. In "Darkness on the Edge of Town", he refused to be Edward Fyers's scapegoat for shooting down a Ferris Air jet, until Edward threaten to kill Oliver, Slade Wilson, and his daughter Shado. After he was done filming a video message, of him shooting down a Ferris Air jet, Edward killed him after no longer having any further use for him. His death was avenged by Oliver.

Earlier life
Not much is known about Yao's past, however it is known that before reaching Lian Yu he was a general in the People's Liberation Army of China. The military massacred a large number of people, and Yao was forced to take the blame.

Time on Lian Yu
Following the massacre, Yao was sent to live on Lian Yu, and soon after became a prisoner of Edward Fyers, who wanted him to be the face of a war-related plan, until around 1999. About a year after being captured by Edward, Slade was put in a cell with Yao. Slade helped Yao escape his cell. The two went to go find Slade's partner, Bill. However, it turned out that Bill joined Edward. The two then escaped Edward' camp together. It isn't known what exactly happened after that but Yao and Slade had plans on escaping the island together on the supply plane.

Season 1
In "Honor Thy Father", In 2007, Yao came across Oliver Queen, whom he hit in the side using a bow and arrow.

Yao, who appeared to be attacking Oliver, was actually helping him. He took him to his hideout at a cave where Oliver awoke. Oliver questioned Yao as to why he shot him, and was given the answer of protection. Yao made Oliver drink water, then quickly pulled an arrow out of his chest. While Oliver slept, Yao ran off. Yao later found Oliver trapped in a net. Yao scolded him and freed him of the net. Yao warned him that "they" would kill him then ran off with Oliver following. "

Later, Yao arrives at the hideout to see Oliver looking at a photo of Laurel. He brought a cage with a bird inside and put it beside Oliver and says "Shengcún" repeatedly. When Oliver asks what that means he repeats himself not explaining what it means then walks off.

During the flashback, Yao is sitting by a fire at the hideout toasting a bird's leg on a stick. Oliver awakens and attempts to take a grab at the stick but Yao single-handedly throws him aside. Yao then hints at Oliver to kill the bird but Oliver refuses. Yao responds again with "Shengcún". The flashback later continues with Oliver begging Yao for food. Yao watches as Oliver proceeds to kill the bird. While he eats the bird, Yao approaches saying "Shengcún". When Oliver mistakes the word to mean "bird", Yao tells Oliver that "Shengcún" means "survive". Oliver is surprised at the fact that he speaks English, as throughout their stay together in the cave, he did not speak a word of English and all his lines were done using Mandarin Chinese, despite Oliver not being able to understand the language at all. Although he began to speak English to Oliver, he feigned a lack of proficiency on the language until he joined Edward's army.

Yao went on to tell Oliver that a bird shouldn't be the last thing he kills if he wanted to survive on the island. He held up Laurel's photo telling Oliver to forget her and told him he would not survive if all he did was stare at her photo.

The next morning, Yao Fei shot a rabbit with an arrow. Yao then pointed at the dead rabbit and said "Dinner", asking Oliver to pick up the body. Oliver did not want to, asking if he could use the bow instead. Yao, bemused, gave Oliver the bow and asked him to shoot an arrow at a tree. Oliver missed his target, prompting Yao to tell him he'd die badly. Following this, he asked Oliver to retrieve the rabbit, however on his way over, Oliver was captured by soldiers. Not wanting Oliver to reveal his whereabouts, Yao went to the soldiers' camp and arrived at the tent just in time to stop Bill Wintergreen from killing Oliver. Immediately upon entering, Yao threw down Edward and another soldier and then quickly shot an arrow at Oliver's tied hands, freeing him. Yao then shot another arrow at Bill, which easily caught. Yao and Bill then immediately engaged in combat. Yao used his bow as a weapon against Bill, and the latter used his sword. Yao eventually was able to get Bill on the ground with a punch giving Yao and Oliver time to escape. Yao then took Oliver back to the cave. Yao reveals that he was surprised Oliver did not break under torture. He handed Oliver an herb and left. Before Oliver could follow him, Yao Fei caused an avalanche at the mouth of the cave, to keep him safe.

Sometime later, Yao came back and unsealed the cave, surprised Oliver survived. He put down some provisions for Oliver, as well as a prisoner - Edward Fyers. To meet up with Edward's men, the three of them trekked through the forest. Edward explained to Oliver what Lian Yu actually was, and what it was used for. As Yao asked Edward to radio his troops to bring a plane, he mocked that Yao was unable to see how incredibly easy it was to capture him. Edward Fyers' men, including Deathstroke, emerged from the woods. Yao promptly engaged him in combat, however he was soon overwhelmed and forced to surrender.

Soon after the following events, Oliver was able to steal the suit of one of Edward's men in order to rescue Yao. As he entered the camp, he met Yao, albeit masked, unknowingly to Oliver. He was soon knocked out by Edward's men, and woke up in a cage. Outside the cage was Edward, who revealed the identity of the mystery soldier, none other than Yao himself, who had allegedly been working for Edward the entire time.

After this, Yao brought Oliver to a fighting ring. Under Edward Fyers' orders, Yao beat Oliver, and used a moved that to make it appear as if he killed Oliver. They took Oliver to a river. Yao stepped up to the ledge, slipped a map in to Oliver's jacket, and pushed him in to the water.

Sometime later, Edward requested Yao's help to train new recruits in archery. He later met Oliver in a tent. Oliver tried to reason with Yao, but Yao knocked him out before Edward could see them conversing. For handing Oliver to Edward, Yao was later given five minutes with his imprisoned daughter, Shado.

Yao, still with Edward, met up with Oliver and Slade Wilson. Edward threatened to kill Yao Fei's daughter if they did not comply with his wishes. He promptly requested she be killed, leading in to a big fight. In the crossfire, Yao was shot and they were forced to leave him behind by his request.

As Oliver, Shado, and Slade, began to talk in the crashed plane, Yao arrived. His daughter hugged him, and he was questioned as to how he escaped. He blankly revealed that he didn't, and the plane was quickly surrounded by Edward Fyers' men.

After the three were captured, they took them back to Edward's camp. As bargaining, Edward would kill them if Yao did not record footage for him to send to the Chinese government, making it seem as if he was to blame for Ferris Air bombings. Following the recording, Edward, having no further use for him, promptly shot him in the head and killed him.

Abilities

 * Master archer: Yao was an expert marksman, portrayed through outstanding precision with his signature bow and arrow, using them as effectively as Oliver Queen uses them as The Hood. In fact, his greater experience in archery as well as providing Oliver with mentorship on the skill may prove his superiority in comparison to him. As noted by Edward Fyers, he initially thought Yao looked ridiculous with such primitive and crudely made weapons, until seeing for himself that Yao took out three of his best men with them. He was impressed enough to order 25 compound bows in the next supply drop and want Yao to train his men in using them.
 * Peak human physical conditioning: Yao had shown to be in top physical condition for a man of his age.
 * Master hand-to-hand combatant/martial artist: In addition to his excellence in the use of long-ranged weapons, Yao had proven his proficiency in close-ranged hand to hand combat likewise. This was constantly proven by his ability to take down various armed men, including the mercenary Deathstroke.

Equipment

 * Bow and arrows : Yao's signature weapons of choice, he demonstrated his mastery of this weapon many times.
 * Quiver: Yao used his quiver to carry his arrows, as does Oliver.

Appearances
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Comics
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 * Arrow #23 (mentioned)

Trivia

 * Yao Fei gave Oliver his first scar.
 * In the DC Comics universe, Yao Fei is a superhero known as Accomplished Perfect Physician, and a member of the Great Ten, a team of Chinese superheroes. There is also another member of that team known as the "Celestial Archer", who like Yao Fei in Arrow, is a master archer. This version of Yao Fei seems to combine the abilities of both Great Ten members.
 * Oliver currently wears a similar design to Yao Fei's clothing as the Starling City vigilante, The Hood (most likely in his honor).
 * Oliver at one point confirmed to John that Yao Fei trained Oliver. However, before his death his training was minimal, and was more of a mentor to him.
 * Oliver and Yao Fei share a signature move, gripping their opponent with their legs and throwing them.
 * Yao Fei was Oliver Queen's first mentor.