Robert Queen

"I'm so sorry. I thought I'd have more time."

- Robert to Oliver Queen

Robert Queen (1958-2007) was the husband of Moira Queen, and the father of Oliver Queen, and Thea Queen. He shoots himself dead to save his son and increase his chances of survival after they are shipwrecked.

Biography
Robert Queen was a billionaire who created and was the CEO of Queen Consolidated. When Robert first opened his factory in the Glades, he was approached by a Starling City councilman who blackmailed him by threatening to shut down the factory if Robert did not financially compensate him in return. Robert got angry, as he was an honest businessman who did not respond to bribes. The two got into a heated argument which soon turned violent, and Robert accidentally killed the councilman.

After the incident with the councilman, Robert turned to his close friend Malcolm Merlyn and the two created the organization Tempest, which was created to help Starling City by strong arming the corrupt wealthy people who were poisoning the city through their illegal actions. However, Malcolm was unsatisfied by the slow results, and came up with a new plan called The Undertaking, which would destroy the crime ridden Glades, and the thousands of people in it. Robert was horrified at Malcolm's plan, and met with Frank Chen, another one of the members of Tempest, and the two men agreed to meet with each other in China to take control of the majority of real estate in the Glades, thus preventing the Undertaking. Frank, however, betrayed Robert to Malcolm, who had the Queen's Gambit sabatoged before Robert used it to travel to China. The yacht overturned, and he, along with one of the crew members and his son, Oliver, were able to make it to a life boat. They only had one bottle of water, which Robert gave to Oliver, much to the annoyance of the crew member. When all hope seemed lost, Robert shot the crew member along with himself, apparently, to save his son. Oliver buried his father on the island. It was later revealed that the ship was sabotaged by Tempest. Oliver then returned to the city five years later to fulfill his father's dying wish: To save Starling City from the people who were poisoning it.

Season 1

 * Pilot
 * Legacies
 * The Undertaking

Comics

 * Arrow #1: Special Edition (mentioned)
 * Arrow #5 (flashback/memory)

Trivia

 * According to Moira Queen Robert was cheating on her, however Moira is a liar, it was very likely a lie, it is very likely they were arguing about, getting out of Tempest, that Robert wanted to turn them in. Despite the fact that he would implicate himself and Moira, in the process.

Behind the scenes
Robert's birth year is currently in dispute. In "Pilot" it was mentioned as 1948, but in the equally canon Arrow #1: Special Edition and Honor Thy Father, it was mentioned as 1958 on his gravestone. However it's referred to as 1958 in more recent content, meaning that the producers probably changed their mind.

Robert Queen