Damien Darhk

"Oh, you don't know who I am, do you?... I'm Damien Darhk"

- Damien Darhk Damien Darhk is the leader of H.I.V.E., and a former member of the League of Assassins. He is the ex-best friend/rival of the previous "Ra's al Ghul", as well as a former "Heir to the Demon".

Heir to the Demon
At one point, Damien Darhk and an unnamed man were horsemen of Ra's al Ghul. The former thought himself worthy of taking the mantle, though the latter was the chosen one. Damien was to be killed but managed to escape, taking with him waters of the Lazarus Pit and some loyal followers.

Association with Vandal Savage
In October 1975, Darhk planned on buying a nuclear warhead from the possession of Vandal Savage. He put in an initial bid of $100 million, but was outbid by Rip Hunter's team. As a fight ensued, he left the premises of a Norwegian military storage facility.

H.I.V.E.
Damien founded his own organization called H.I.V.E. to continue the league's ways the way he saw fit. He also became accustomed to the ways of sorcery, becoming well-known and feared throughout the mystic world for his power. In early 2014 Damien attempted to gain possession of Malcolm Merlyn's prototype earthquake generator, sending Milo Armitage to obtain it using Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger to acquire the device itself. Then gave Gholem Qadir safe haven in Markovia to purchase it from Armitage, presumably for Qadir to take the fall in case the plan was compromised. However Damien's plan failed when The Arrow and Roy Harper destroyed the device.

In late 2014 Damien hired A.R.G.U.S. operative Mark Shaw to steal a secret file from A.R.G.U.S. detailing a list of all their field operatives and their families, but this plot was foiled by John Diggle. In early 2015 Damien visited Starling City and stayed in at a hotel of which he had the entire top floor shut down and guarded by his operatives. It's unclear what his intentions were but Damien caught on early that Ra's was planning to destroy Starling City with the Alpha-Omega bio-weapon to kill him, and Damien left leaving behind his assistant to take the fall.

Attacks on Star City
Later in 2015 Damien returned to Starling City, renamed "Star City" now, with a mission to see the city destroyed and sent his operatives to rob banks and jewelry stores to build up enough wealth for the operation. After accomplishing that Damien had his men steal weapons and munitions mainly from Kord Industries and began a killing spree that saw many civilians killed. Damien also managed to force the co-operation of police Captain Quentin Lance, using his daughter Laurel as leverage should he disagree, to aid him wherever he needed.

As the surviving city leaders, Quentin included, held a private meeting to discus how to combat H.I.V.E., known publicly as "The Ghosts", but Damien intruded and made his intentions clear to them. He and his organization intended to let the city die and told them all to call their loved ones and say goodbye, as they would all be dead soon and left. True to his word Damien organization coordinated attacks which left D.A. Susanna poisoned and the other leaders either shot or stabbed, but deliberately had his men leave Quentin alive but with a broken arm to take suspicion off himself. Darhk later assembled his men to discus the heist of cluster bombs and the recurring problem of Team Arrow and demanded Alvarez, the leader of the heist, to explain himself. However upon being unsatisfied with his excuse Damien killed him then Black Canary, Speedy and Diggle attacked but Damien was able to escape.

Damien later continued his plan to blow up the reopened train station by placing the cluster bombs on the train itself and destroyed the brakes after departure. A few miles away from their target Damien was unable to get a response from one of his men, Slater, but was confronted by an apparent impostor of The Arrow. However Damien was surprised and confused since Roy Harper/The Arrow was killed in prison months ago but regardless "The Arrow" demanded Darhk stop the train. After Damien introduced himself to "The Arrow" he immediately tried to kill him but none of "The Arrow"'s shots made contact and Damien quickly subdued him, but before he could kill him Diggle intervened and knocked Damien out. However Damien vanished from the train before the two men blew it up. Damien later watched "The Arrow"'s public broadcast with him declaring his intentions to fight for the city and to be the symbol of hope The Arrow never was, and proclaimed himself the "Green Arrow". Damien later performed a blood ritual with a goblet, apparently to heal his wounds, as Quentin came to see him on his request and ordered him to make sure Green Arrow was dead before the rest of H.I.V.E. arrived.

Damien and H.I.V.E. later hired Lonnie Machin to stop Jessica Danforth from running for mayor of Star City and though Damien was impressed by his skills of masquerading, he was unimpressed by his sloppiness. However Machin begged for another chance to ensure Jessica did not run for mayor which Damien reluctantly agreed, but reminded him there would be no 3rd chance. However Machin kidnapped Jessica's daughter Madison and Damien was outraged that Machine had gone too far and terminated their partnership. Later Quentin barged in to tell Damien he was done with him but Damien reminded him of his daughter and provided him with Madison's location, but also reminded him the next time they meet to mind his tone.

Seeking to kill Green Arrow Mina Fayad, a operative of H.I.V.E., hired meta-human mercenary Jeremy Tell to kill him though Darhk was skeptical of Jeremy's abilities, and ordered him to prove himself by killing an operative who was almost captured rather than kill himself. Tell then literally pulled a card out of the tattoo's on his arm and killed the operative and despite knowing to kill Green Arrow would be costly, Damien agreed. After Tell's first failure he scolded him and Fayad for being compromised on a mission of her own earlier and ordered Tell to kill him, as a demonstration, but Damien intercepted Tell's card and used it to kill Mina and gave Jeremy once last chance to accomplish his task.

Quentin then met with Damien in private, seeking advice on restoring Sara Lance's humanity after being revived in the Lazarus Pit. Damien gave Quentin father-to-father advice, warning him that he needed to put down Sara and send her back to the grave, the two not knowing Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak had discovered their alliance from a surveillance photo.

Darhk then tasked Quentin with using a device that would delete the names of everyone H.I.V.E had a hand in assassinating, including Andy Diggle. After the task was finished, Quentin began to question Darhk about Andy, which surprised and amused the latter, who wondered why Quentin was so interested in a crime lord but nevertheless giving him a classified folder about Andy.

Team Arrow soon learned that Darhk had been holding Ray Palmer captive after intercepting his distress call to Felicity in order to use his technology for their plans, even threatening to harm Felicity if he didn't cooperate. Quentin met with Darhk to request magic to help Sara after her recovery with a frustrated Darhk saying that he would help but that it was the last time he would ever summon him. Quentin gave the directions to Team Arrow, who had John Diggle capture Oliver in disguise as a "Ghost". They managed to successfully rescue Ray, although Oliver barely managed to escape being strangled to death by chains under control from Darhk's telekinesis.

As Oliver Queen stepped up his mayoral campaign, Darhk took a more active interest when Queen announced his plan to restore the Star City Bay area. At a Police black-tie function, Darhk approached Queen and offered his financial and PR backing in exchange for Queen scrapping his Bay restoration project but Queen politely rebuffed him. The following evening Darhk met with Quentin to question him about his supposed disloyalty, which Darhk expressly warned him against. In the meantime, the Green Arrow and his team continued to plague Darhk's operations in Star City culminating in a surgical strike against the HQ of the Ghosts by the Green Arrow and his team in an effort to rescue Andrew Diggle. Darhk quickly became aware and sardonically confronted Speedy in a hallway, throwing her off with his magical powers before attempting to siphon the life out of her. To his horror, Darhk's power had no negative effect whatsoever on Speedy and instead caused Darhk to release her and double over in severe pain as dark patterns spread across his face before disappearing. Damien later stood in the crowd during Oliver's presentation where he didn't decline his previous proposal much to Damien's annoyance.

Darhk later personally led a team of Ghosts to raid an A.R.G.U.S. facility to steal a chemical bomb, only to be confronted by Team Arrow, who disarm the Ghosts of their guns with a magnetic arrow. During the fighting, Darhk was in the midst of draining the Green Arrow's lifeforce when the vigilante was rescued by the Flash. He was both amused and confused about what just happened.

Attacking Oliver Queen
Darhk would later send a drone to attack the Star City bay which was in the process of being cleaned by volunteers. However, due to his actions, Oliver Queen revealed his identity to the public as well as his connection to H.I.V.E. Much to his visitors from the organization's annoyance. In an act of revenge Darhk attacked Oliver's Holiday Party, and took John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, and Thea Queen. Later, as he is speaking with the visiting H.I.V.E. agents he got a call from Queen on his phone. Oliver attempted trading himself for his friends, but Damien decided to kill them in a gas chamber to take what Oliver had to fight for. However, Black Canary and Green Arrow (Malcolm Merlyn) interfered and saved Oliver's compatriots. Darhk immediately left the scene and fought with Green Arrow, only to be attacked by Oliver. After almost killing Ollie, Damien was knocked out by Malcolm and presumed dead, after the latter exploded the facility. Darhk, who escaped death, showed his associates an underground cornfield, and told them the air in it was pure and breathable thanks to the algae he engineered from Star City Bay. He then told the agents it was time for them to begin Phase Four of their plan, and sent ghosts to kill Queen. While the attack was occurring, Damien Darhk returned home to his family for Christmas.

Darhk confronted Green Arrow at his home, using his telekinesis to pierce Green Arrow with two arrows before learning from him that he helped rescue his wife and daughter from Lonnie Machin. Darhk showed no gratitude towards this, only mentioning that he would spare him a few more weeks to enjoy time with his family. Later that night, Ruvé and Darkh announce their plans for the end of the world.

Personality
Damien apparently used to be arrogant and overconfident as he believed himself to be the worthy successor to the then Ra's al Ghul. He is immensely intelligent, cunning and calculating as he managed to stay ahead of Ra's for years, evading him every time his ex-best friend tried to kill him. According to his late assistant, he is not a person who can be caught off guard so easily.

Damien is also a perfectionist carefully planning out all his schemes and expects his subordinates to follow through without any mishaps. He will ruthlessly kill them for such failures if he believes they have not performed their duties to an adequate standard.

Damien believes that the world is resistant to change and sees himself as one who brings about progress. He views his attacks on Star City as an act of mercy comparing it to putting down a dog on the street. He believes that to build something new and great the old must first be torn down first. Despite being marked for death by his old allies in the League of Assassins he has continued to follow the philosophy of the League and carries on with his own interpretation of it through his organization, H.I.V.E.

Like many assassin, Damien is cold, cruel and ruthless but does have a sense of honor and good morals. For example, Damien has morals against kidnapping innocent children and says it is a line he would never cross. He became disgusted with Lonnie Machin for kidnapping Jessica Danforth's daughter Madison. Although he hired Lonnie to stop Jessica from running for mayor of Star City he never told him to kidnap her daughter. He ended their partnership after this. Part of this might be related to Damien having a child of his own and understanding the pain of having a child in danger. He also advised Quentin Lance to put his daughter back to her final rest as he believed that was more merciful than her enduring the consequences of her resurrection from the Lazarus Pit. He advised Quentin to do this as "one father to another".

Despite normally being serious and cruel, Damien is shown to have a sense of humor, despite it being rather sick, as shown when he smiled widely and mocked an A.R.G.U.S. guard whose life force he was draining, before remarking that it was very fun and that he could do it all day. Damien is even amazed in the face of confusion as the Flash saved Green Arrow in fast speed and Damien had no idea what happened. This also indicates he is ignorant about metahumans.

His ruthlessness seems to be limited to enemies and keeping his men in place. It does not seem to extend to his H.I.V.E. associates or family. When one of his associates calmly and sarcastically congratulated Damien for being famous when Oliver Queen outed his photo to the public, he did not kill him. He also seems to care for them as he told them to run while he fended off the "Green Arrow". He also seems to be only ruthless to those who try to get in his way and would even help them when they learned not to get in his way. One example being Oliver, whom Damien targetted Oliver's loved ones to teach him to not get in his way and even offered to replace Felicity with a blonde girl if Oliver had a preference for blondes.

Powers

 * Magic: Most of Damien's powers are mystical. He keeps an ancient statue in his office, performing a ritual before it by speaking an incantation and bleeding into a goblet. This ritual seems to heal his wounds and may provide some of his other abilities, though it's possible he has multiple sources of power. His command of dark magic is such that John Constantine, a master sorcerer himself, dreads the very idea of facing him.
 * Life-Force absorption: Damien can siphon the life-force from people's bodies and kill them, simply by touching them. The absorbed life-force seems to prevent or near-instantly heal him of fatigue, moderate physical injury and the effects of toxins (such as tranquilizers). This power may be linked to the Lazarus Pit, as it does not work on those who have been resurrected in its waters. (See Weaknesses, below.)
 * Telekinesis: Damien is able to manipulate objects without touching them, with great power and accuracy. He can stop multiple arrows or even bullets, fire projectiles with deadly force, animate chains, lift a person off the ground and choke someone with a powerful grip. He often gestures with his hands when using this power, but does not need to.
 * Teleportation: Damien can disappear and appear somewhere else, a power he uses to catch his enemies off-guard. During his first confrontation against the Green Arrow, he vanished without a trace. The range of this power is unknown, but seems likely to be limited.
 * Enhanced strength: Damien has greater than human strength. He has thrown Green Arrow into a metal pole with enough force to deform it, and with one hand snapped one of Green Arrow's arrows in half and pinned an adult human against a wall.
 * Longevity: Ra's al Ghul revealed that Damien stole water from the Lazarus Pit when he left the league. This has allowed Damien to live for hundreds of years without ageing, maintaining his health, vitality and appearance. It is possible the waters of the Lazarus Pit have begun to lose their potency for Damien, as they did for Ra's - his blood magic and life-force siphoning power may also contribute to his prolonged life.

Weaknesses

 * Thea Queen: For reasons currently unknown, but presumably related to the Lazarus Pit, Thea is immune to Damien's ability to drain the life force of others. When he used this power on her, it initially had no effect; when he tried harder, he instead found his own life force depleted, and it nearly killed him. The only noticeable effect on Thea was to temporarily quell her bloodlust, which is a side effect of her resurrection in the Pit. It is unknown if this weakness extends to others resurrected by the Pit, like Sara Lance.

Abilities

 * Peak of human physical condition: Aside from his magically enhanced strength, Damien in top physical condition.
 * League of Assassins training: Damien is a highly skilled fighter and assassin, trained in the use of a variety of melee and ranged weapons. As an "heir to the demon", his skill surpasses most other members of League.
 * Master hand-to-hand combatant: Damien is a master martial artist. He has easily outmatched both the Green Arrow and Malcolm Merlyn, even when his opponents were armed.
 * Master tactician and leader: The founder and leader of H.I.V.E., Damien has been able keep his organisation a secret from the world at large and avoid capture by Ra's al Ghul and the League. He has also successfully hidden his true plans from Team Arrow.
 * Genius-level intellect and accumulated knowledge: Damien has displayed high intelligence and has multiple lifetimes of knowledge. He has demonstrated expertise in advanced science (despite finding it boring) and mysticism, and claims to have extensive knowledge of political, criminal and secret organisations.

Equipment

 * Lazarus Pit: Damien used the Lazarus Pit's waters to live well beyond his lifetime and run H.I.V.E..

Trivia

 * Damien is aware that Malcolm Merlyn is the current Ra's al Ghul, and that his ex-best friend is dead.
 * During their first confrontation, Damien immediately realized that Speedy had been trained by Malcolm, implying that he knows Malcolm (or at least his fighting style) well.
 * During an argument at an arms auction in 1975, Damien was derisively nicknamed "The Master Race" by Mick Rory because of his blonde hair, blue eyes and nazi-esque uniform.

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Darhk is an enemy of the Titans responsible for reforming the H.I.V.E. into a more cohesive terrorist organization, as opposed to being a generic robe-wearing cabal. He had no magical powers like in the show, but was instead a business savvy manipulator, glued to his cell phone. He did however gain immortality after receiving blood from Deathstroke's ex-wife, Addie Wilson.
 * In the DC comics, a character named Dr. Ebeneezer Darkk was the first person other than Ra's al Ghul to lead the League of Assassins.
 * Ironically, Doctor Darrk had a falling out with Ra's al Ghul, similar to the show's version of Damien Darhk, making it possible that the character is actually an amalgamation of the DC comic versions of Damien Darhk and Doctor Darrk.