Vigilante (character)


 * For other uses, see Vigilante (disambiguation)

An unnamed man, publicly nicknamed Vigilante, is a rogue psychotic vigilante who began operating in Star City after the events of Genesis Day. He was previously dubbed "Mr. Ski Goggles" by Felicity Smoak.

Begin of his activities
Emerging as a vigilante after the Genesis Day, Vigilante tried to stop Triad gun running deals, and also tried to stop their money laundering through Star City Trust Bank. These actions brought the attention of Felicity Smoak who was researching Star City vigilantes.

Antagonism with the Green Arrow
After the Spooky Crew, a gang of skull-masked criminals, began robbing banks, Vigilante went after them. During their heist at Star City National Bank, he killed Rickie Jenkins. That night, they hit Star City Allied Bank. However, before Vigilante could kill any of them, Team Arrow intervened, with Green Arrow asserting his opposition to what Vigilante was doing, causing the latter to quickly escape. Later on, he targeted the Papp Motel, where the leader of the gang, Eric Dunn, was recovering. Unfortunately, the Green Arrow was there, meaning Dunn and the Green Arrow ran to safety, not being affected by any of Vigilante's bullets. The following night, Team Arrow posed as the gang, pretending to rob Star City Trust Bank. Vigilante saw through the ruse and knocked Artemis out, taking Mr. Terrific as a hostage. Allowing the rest of the team to go, Green Arrow shot an arrow at Vigilante before he could kill Mr. Terrific, strapping him to a pillar. Before he could be unmasked, an explosive went off, allowing him time to escape.

Vigilante once again engaged with Green Arrow and Spartan at a warehouse, but before his bullets could hit them, they were saved by The Flash.

Vigilante continued his antagonism against Green Arrow when the latter was tracking down the identity of a mass shooter who attacked the City Hall. After the Arrow interrogated a member of the Bertinelli crime family, Vigilante shot the mobster and claimed that he's doing Green Arrow a favor, with one less criminal on the streets. Green Arrow accused the masked avenger of being a criminal himself and the Vigilante opened fire at him before escaping.

Targeting mayor Queen
When Oliver Queen faces impeachment. Vigilante decides to target him and prepares his weapon. He attacks Queen's limo by shooting it causing it to flip, tells the others in the limo that if Oliver surrenders he'll let them live. He is attacked by Dinah Drake and Thea Queen but he manages to subdue them. Oliver faces him and Vigilante shoots him and says to him he has one more day to live. After the attack, Vigilante is cornered by Prometheus (who had tracked him from a piece of his goggles that broke from the attack) on a rooftop. Prometheus orders him that Oliver Queen is his, to which Vigilante says he will kill him first. The two engage in a fight which ends with Prometheus throwing Vigilante off the building. As Oliver delivers his speech, Vigilante from a building prepares to kill him. But before he could, he is attacked by Spartan, Mr. Terrific, and Wild Dog. They engage in a fight, to which Mr. Terrific takes him down with one of his T-Spheres, but Vigilante manages to escape.

Alternate reality
When the Legion of Doom used the Spear of Destiny to rewrite reality, Damien Darhk became the mayor of Star City. In this reality, Vigilante tried to oppose his rule and was killed by Darhk or by his henchmen. His mask was placed in his office beside other vigilantes and heroes who Darhk had killed and kept their masks as trophies.

Personality
Not much is known about this individual's personality, except that he is extremely violent, cruel and ruthless, even towards criminals who have only committed minor offenses, he is also willing to kill criminals in cold blood, even if they have not physically harmed anyone.

The individual is a hypocrite, claiming that he is exactly like Oliver Queen (under the guise of Green Arrow) only more effective, however the difference is; even when the latter started his career as a vigilante, he never killed his enemies unless it was absolutely necessary, and gave his enemies a second chance, to atone for their wrongs.

The individual is also a sociopath, as he has no sense of morals, honor, justice or principles. When Oliver (in the guise of his civilian identity) was threatening to face impeachment from his career as the Mayor of Star City, he tried to kill the latter simply because he covered up the death of police detective Billy Malone, claiming it was government corruption. When Oliver never actually physically harmed anyone directly or indirectly, he was reluctant to cover up the true circumstances, regarding Billy's death, the only because the-then district attorney Adrian Chase insisted that they keep the true circumstances of Billy's death on the people of Star City; because the public what the one that Green Arrow was manipulated/tricked into killing a SCPD police detective by Prometheus, they would lose hope.

Abilities

 * Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Vigilante is shown to have excellent combat skills. He is able to defeat multiple bandits and thugs, ex-soldier John Diggle, and an Olympian awardee like Curtis Holt, who is trained personally by Oliver Queen. He was able to fight on par with the Green Arrow.
 * Expert marksman: Vigilante prefers guns and rifles as his favorite type of weapons, and has great proficiency with them, as was shown in battle against Eric Dunn's group and Team Arrow. His aim is so precise, he was able to shatter one of Artemis' launched arrows by firing a bullet straight down the head.
 * Hacking: Vigilante has at least basic hacking skills.
 * Intimidation: Vigilante is shown to effectively terrorize people, both his enemies and unwilling allies like a gun shop owner. The latter said that Vigilante was much more frightening than Spartan.
 * Peak of human physical condition: The Vigilante seems to be in top physical condition and well-trained fighter, as he was able to kill one of Eric Dunn's followers, and later injure and defeat the other. He was able to battle Green Arrow with an injured shoulder for some time, albeit being pushed back. He can also lift Prometheus over his head during his confrontation with him.
 * Stealth: Vigilante is shown to have great skills in stealth, being able to sneak closely to Mr. Terrific and Artemis, silently defeat both of them. His skill also allows him to seamlessly disappear from sight without a trace, making it difficult to keep up with him.

Equipment

 * Vigilante suit: Vigilante's suit is comprised of black leather and computerized orange goggles that resemble ski goggles.

Weapons
Vigilante uses guns while on patrol in Star City.
 * Heckler & Koch MP5K: Vigilante's main submachine gun.
 * FN SCAR-L: Vigilante's main assault rifle with a mounted FN MK 13 Mod 0 grenade launcher.
 * Glock 17: Vigilante's main sidearm.
 * Nemesis Arms Vanquish: A suppressed sniper rifle handled but not fired.

Trivia

 * According to Felicity Smoak's files, Vigilante considers himself a red hat hacker or "hacktivist".
 * His true identity has been kept secret longer than Prometheus.

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Vigilante is the alter ego used by multiple characters, most notably Adrian Chase, who in Arrow is the District Attorney of Star City. Just like Chase in the comics, "the Vigilante" is not the first man to operate under that alias in universe, as Oliver Queen, back during his actions as the Hood, was also nicknamed "the Vigilante" by SCPD.
 * Vigilante's modus operandi has similarities to that of Hunter Zolomon from the comics. Hunter claimed that Wally West could not operate as the Flash truly effectively until he experienced personal tragedy, which is why he fought Wally as Zoom. Vigilante says something similar to Oliver Queen, claiming that if he still shows mercy to the criminals, the only explanation is that his personal tragedies never truly hardened him into a person capable of doing "what's necessary."