Damien Darhk

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

- Damien Darhk to Oliver Queen

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". When he was put on trial, he falsified his identity as Kenneth Bender, who is citizen of Markovia.

Leaving the League
At one point, Damien 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. 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.

Association with Vandal Savage


In October 1975, Damien planned on buying a nuclear warhead from the possession of Vandal Savage, accompanied by two of his H.I.V.E. soldiers. He put in an initial bid of $100 million, but was outbid by Martin Stein. When Damien met him he suspected Martin wasn't as he appeared as he wasn't familiar with him or his organisation, as he was aware of everyone. Stein's associate Mick Rory started to get angry with him as Damien did to him, forcing Savage to intervene. As a fight ensued, he left the premises of the Norwegian military storage facility.

Early operations
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. Damien 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 Damien 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 Lonnie 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 Lonnie kidnapped Jessica's daughter Madison and Damien was outraged that Lonnie 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 Damien 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.

Damien 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 Damien 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 Damien 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 Damien to request magic to help Sara after her recovery with a frustrated Damien 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 Damien's telekinesis.

As Oliver stepped up his mayoral campaign, Damien took a more active interest when Oliver announced his plan to restore the Star City Bay area. At a Police black-tie function, Damien approached Oliver and offered his financial and PR backing in exchange for Oliver scrapping his Bay restoration project but Oliver politely rebuffed him. The following evening Damien met with Quentin to question him about his supposed disloyalty, which Damien expressly warned him against. In the meantime, Green Arrow and his team continued to plague Damien's operations in Star City culminating in a surgical strike against the HQ of the Ghosts by Green Arrow and his team in an effort to rescue Andrew Diggle. Damien 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, Damien's power had no negative effect whatsoever on Speedy and instead caused Damien 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.

Damien 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, Damien was in the midst of draining Green Arrow's life-force when the vigilante was rescued by the Flash. He was both amused and confused about what just happened.

Attacking Oliver Queen
Damien 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 Damien 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 Oliver 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. Damien immediately left the scene and fought with Green Arrow, only to be attacked by Oliver. After almost killing Oliver, Damien was knocked out by Malcolm and presumed dead, after the latter exploded the facility. Damien, 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 returned home to his family for Christmas.

Damien 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. Damien 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 Adams and Damien discussed their plans for the end of the world.

After the League of Assassins was disbanded, Malcolm met with Damien. Malcolm claimed he had information on who Oliver loved more than anything, to which Damien said he had already hurt Felicity Smoak. Malcolm retorted that it was not Felicity, it is his son William that he loved the most, leaving Damien surprised. Damien later tracked down William in Central City and kidnapped him, bringing him to Darhk's home.

In an effort to blunt Oliver Queen's campaign to clean up the city, Darhk convinced his wife Ruve to enter the mayoral race against Queen. To help her, Damien hired the "Demolition Crew" to stage an elaborate attack on a mayoral debate between Ruve and Queen with the intention of killing Queen and leaving Ruve as the only candidate. The Demolition Crew failed to come through for Damien once their activities were discovered and foiled by the Green Arrow and his team and Ruve immediately fell behind Queen in the race.

Darhk met with Felicity and Oliver with Darkh showing Oliver a video of William playing at the Darkh residence and that he had kidnapped him by proclaiming he was a friend of Samantha Clayton. Green Arrow and Vixen later attacked Darkh at his home but were both overpowered until the remaining members of Team Arrow showed up. Darkh called Oliver and using William as leverage, forced him to suspend his campaign for mayor and endorse Ruve, which he did but still found that Darkh hadn't given up William. Team Arrow learned that Darkh's source of power was a totem that Quentin had seen him praying over and attacked him at his home in order to retrieve William and destroy the totem. Vixen destroyed the totem by channeling enough strength from the animal spirits, rendering Darkh's powers useless and him easily overpowered by Green Arrow and knocked unconscious. Darkh was then promptly arrested by the SCPD.

Trial and Imprisonment
During his trial, Darhk listens on as Fitzmartin, Darhk's attorney, destroys the credibility of Diggle and Thea's testimonies by proclaiming Diggle helped her purchase $74,000 worth of cocaine with an affidavit signed by Thea's dealer. However, Fitzmartin loses the case when Quentin comes forward as a witness due to his credibility as a police chief and exposes that he had been helping Darhk commit illegal activity due to Laurel's life being threatened. Darhk is then imprisoned without bail or the possibility of release but after he is escorted into his cell, he casually pulled a ring from between his teeth and slid it into his finger before smiling, implying his plans were still in effect.

Malcolm visited Darhk in prison as the latter pondered why his resources aren't trying to help him escape prison. Malcolm informs Darhk that H.I.V.E. has turned against him due to his brutality and they are moving forward with Genesis without his help. In prison, Darhk is beaten up by Michael Amar and two of his gang members but Darhk managed to turn the tables by discovering the whereabouts of Amar's grandmother and threatening her life to turn him against his own men, who he stabs to death with a shiv in front of him, the two now working together.

Malcolm brought Darhk his idol (the same one previously owned by Baron Reiter on Lian Yu) but the stone to power it was still separated and Darhk ordered Malcolm to hunt it down. Darhk and Murmur organize a prison riot by Murmur slipping shivs to prisoners via books and stabbing the guards in order to lure Team Arrow to the prison. There, it is revealed that Andy had been a spy for H.I.V.E. and once he learned Team Arrow was in possession of the stone, all he needed to know was its' location. With his magicial powers restored, Darhk restrained Diggle, Oliver, and Laurel, also revealing that he was aware of their secret identites. Oliver shot an arrow at Darhk but he stopped it with his telekinesis and responded by stabbing Laurel in the stomach to send a message for Quentin for turning against him as Darhk, Malcolm and Andy escaped.

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 assassins, 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 definite (if sick) sense of humor. He grinned while mocking an A.R.G.U.S. guard whose life-force he was draining, declaring that it was fun and he could do it all day. Though confused when the Flash saved Green Arrow, as it happened so fast he had no idea what happened, he was also amused.

His ruthlessness is reserved for his enemies and keeping his men in place, and does not extend to his H.I.V.E. associates or family. He has protected his associates from the Green Arrow, and weathered their sarcasm during setbacks without violent outbursts, such as when Oliver Queen showed his photo to the public. Where possible he will use persuasion to force his enemies to back down, only resorting to violence if they persist in getting in his way - though his methods of persuasion can themselves be quite violent.

Despite these negative traits of his, Damien is a loving husband and father, he cares about his wife Ruvé and his daughter Nora, as he will kill anyone who dares try to harm them.

Powers

 * Magic: Most of Damien's powers are mystical. It comes from an idol with which he regularly performs a ritual before it by speaking an incantation and bleeding into a goblet. It also seems to be very painful and must be repeated periodically to maintain his power. It is revealed by Mari McCabe Damien must remain close to the idol to remain empowered for longer durations, described much like wireless connection and obtaining electronic signal. The idol still has a great range from which Damien can venture away from it, as he has drawn power while being several city blocks away from it. His command of magic was such that John Constantine, a master sorcerer himself, dreaded the very idea of facing him. However if the idol is destroyed, all of his powers will be gone which will leave him vulnerable. It is revealed that the head of the statue is the totem Baron Reiter found.
 * Life-Force absorption: Damien has the ability siphon the life-force from people's bodies and kill them, simply by touching them. The absorbed life-force seemed to prevent or near-instantly heal him of fatigue, moderate physical injury and the effects of toxins (such as tranquilizers). This power might have be linked to the Lazarus Pit, as it seems not to work on those who have been resurrected in its waters such as Thea Queen and most likely Sara Lance as well. (See Weaknesses, below.)
 * Telekinesis: Damien is able to grip, move, and generally exert great amounts of force on objects and people without physically touching them. He could stop multiple arrows or even bullets, move projectiles with deadly force, animate chains , lift someone off the ground and even choke someone with a powerful grip. His telekinetic grip allows him to restrain and immobilise anyone in his sight and keep them like this even while not looking at them. This power can affect entire groups of individuals simultaneously. He often gestured with his hands when using this power, but he did not need to, as was seen using his powers while only looking at his target. He even once crushed a TV screen just by looking at it while angry, and on another occasion he managed to strangle someone who was in a different country while they were talking over a video screen, suggesting that he only needs to see his targets to use his powers on them.
 * 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. He once used this to disappear from in front of Thea and appear behind her in an instant. While heavily wounded and trapped in an exploding building, he used an incantation to either heal or disappear, appearing completely unharmed later. The range of this power is unknown, but seems likely that it was limited.
 * Enhanced strength: Damien has greater strength than a regular human. He had easily outmatched the Green Arrow and threw him into a metal pole with enough force to deform it. He could also snap one of Green Arrow's arrows in half with one hand and pinned an adult human against a wall effortlessly.
 * Accelerated healing: Darhk is shown to have advanced healing powers granted from his idol. After he was shot through the abdomen with two arrows and began bleeding out, his reconnection to his power from the idol fully restored him.
 * 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.

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, if not all other members of the league.
 * Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Damien is a master hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, with over a century of experience.
 * Genius-level intellect/Master tactician/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. Damien has displayed high intelligence and has multiple lifetimes of knowledge. He has demonstrated expertise in advanced science (despite finding it boring), and claims to have extensive knowledge of political, criminal and secret organizations.
 * Occult knowledge: Damien has vast knowledge of magic and mysticism.
 * High tolerance for pain: Damien has a high tolerance for pain, as he was able to pull out deeply penetrated arrows from his chest, and still move and stand with litte effort. This was presumably due to his League of Assassins' training.

Weaknesses

 * Thea Queen: For reasons still unknown, but presumably related to the Lazarus Pit, Thea was 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, severely weakening 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 still unknown if this weakness extended to others who were resurrected by the Pit, like Sara Lance.

Equipment

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

Arrow
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Trivia

 * Damien was aware that Malcolm Merlyn was Ra's al Ghul, and that his ex-best friend is dead; implying that he had some remaining connections within the League of Assassins before the league fell. This is further shown when he is already aware of Malcolm's loss of power over the League in just one day after its disbanding.
 * 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. Ironically, Damien himself has stated that he personally despised the Nazis but admired their scientific pursuits.
 * Damien is the second main antagonist to directly be responsible for the death of a main character following Slade Wilson.

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Damien 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.
 * Darhk's using his telekinesis to choke people and how he can kill people with telekinesis by knowing where they are and seeing them through a video screen is similar to Darth Vader's powers, as well as his using them to intimidate and punish others.
 * 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.