Dinah Drake


 * For the characters with the same first name, see Dinah. For other people who used the "Canary" identity, see Canary.

Dinah Drake, known undercover as Tina Boland, is a meta-human vigilante and a former police detective of the Central City Police Department. She was eventually recruited into the ranks of Team Arrow by Oliver Queen, who was searching for a successor to the Black Canary mantle. Later, on John Diggle's advice, she set her roots down in Star City by getting an apartment and a job in the Star City Police Department.

Early life
Dinah was born and raised in Central City, where she later joined the CCPD, becoming a detective, and specializing in undercover jobs. Her first undercover assignment was with the street gang called the Pilgrims, where she was trained in bo-staff fighting.

Becoming a meta-human
In 2013, Dinah was an undercover cop going by the name Tina Boland in order to go after Sean Sonus. Sonus discovered that Tina was an undercover cop and he tortured her for 2 weeks. Sonus captured her partner Vincent Sobel and killed him. The S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded subsequently, which give both Sonus and Dinah their powers. She screamed as the particles from the accelerator went into her system, giving her sonic screaming abilities. In her grief over Vincent's death she used her sonic scream, attacking Sonus.

She handed in her badge after her partner's funeral and went rogue becoming a vigilante all across America never settling down her roots. While doing this, she always kept track of Sonus's movement.

Recruited in Team Arrow
In late 2016 to early 2017, knowing Sonus was in Hub City, she indirectly caught the attention of Team Arrow when Curtis showed them video footage of her fighting and using her sonic scream against a group of criminals. Agreeing that she was perfect to be the next Canary, Curtis, Rene, and Oliver went to recruit her.

Personality
Before being subjected to inhumane torture and witnessing Vincent Sobel's death, Dinah was presumably a happy and carefree individual who cared deeply for the ones she loved. She even went far to legally change her name to keep her family safe as she went undercover in Sean Sonus's gang. Dinah never revealed to anyone she was a meta-human following the particle accelerator's explosion and cut all ties with her former life the day following Vince's funeral.

Unable to understand herself and the powers she gained, Dinah started to travel all over the USA, protecting those who needed help. Still wired like a detective, she kept track of Sean's movement, which paid off in killing him. However, she admitted to Oliver that killing him didn't give her closure, despite making sure that one less killer was on the street.

Dinah stated to John that since Vincent's death she never had a normal life, so he convinced her to move on and take up a job at the SCPD, which she eventually agreed to. After joining the team she was shown to have a jovial personality among the members and she was shown getting along with them very well, especially with Curtis and Rene. Dinah is very similar to Helena Bertinelli and Laurel Lance. The difference between Helena and Dinah, both of them had the same vendetta, but Dinah has a lot of remorse. She can be forgiven and took responsibility for everything.

When Oliver took on Prometheus in a final battle on Lian Yu, she was given a device that amplified her sonic scream and negated the effects of a sonic dampener. She was then given the Black Canary title by Quentin Lance.

Powers

 * Meta-human physiology: After Dinah was struck by the energy of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion, her DNA and cells were altered to augment her vocal cords.
 * Superhuman sonic scream: Dinah is able to emit a high frequency scream able to easily turn over a moving armored truck and kill a man at close-range.  Her scream seems to be more refined than Laurel Lance's. She is able to reach at least 250 decibels, equaling Laurel's own scream as the two meta-human's sonic-clash ended in a stalemate.

Abilities

 * Expert hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: As former field police detective, Dinah is a highly proficient fighter, as noted by various sightings of her. In one such sighting, she was shown able to easily dispatch three much larger men with ease. She was able to hold her own against Chien Na Wei.
 * Expert marksman/Firearms: As a former police officer, Dinah is trained in the usage of at least standard firearms. During the shoot out with Sean Sonus' men, she was able to effectively fire even while dodging incoming shots.
 * Expert stick fighter: Dinah's first undercover assignment was with the street gang, called the Pilgrims, where she used bo-staff fighting. Dinah used a bo-staff while sparring with John Diggle, who praised her skills.
 * Free-running/Acrobatics: Since becoming a vigilante, Dinah had developed free-running skills and could drop from a height of several feet without injuring herself.
 * Indomitable will/High pain tolerance: Despite her personal demons, Dinah is shown to be a very resilient woman. Despite weeks of constant torture from Sean's men, she remained defiant throughout. She is also very driven, having spent three years alone hunting down her lover's killer.
 * Keen intellect: Dinah is a very sharp-witted individual. During her undercover work within Sean's gang, she proved to have excellent subterfuge, having spent three years without being caught. She is also a very skilled tracker, having formulated a network to figure out where Sean was hiding.
 * Peak of human physical condition: As a trained policewoman, Dinah is in top form. She is shown to be very nimble, performing noticeable free-running/parkour off a building to escape her assailants.

Weaknesses

 * Dampening device: Dinah's powers can be neutralized by using a dampening device.
 * Vocal cords: Presumably like Laurel, if someone is able to grip Dinah's throat tight enough she is unable to use the scream to defend herself.

Equipment

 * Mask: As a member of Team Arrow, Felicity presented Dinah with a mask to wear in the field to better protect her identity.
 * Leather jacket: On missions, Dinah wears a protective leather jacket for her gear.
 * Gloves: Dinah wears gloves that are suitable for her in fist-fighting.
 * Bo-staff: Dinah carries a bo-staff and she first was seen using it while training with John Diggle.
 * Sonic amplifier: A device created by Curtis Holt that allows her to more easily focus her sonic scream and negates the effects of a sonic dampener.

Arrow
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Season 5
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Trivia

 * When she was introduced to Quentin Lance, he had a subtle reaction to hearing her name, as his ex-wife as well as his late eldest daughter have the exact same first name.
 * She is the only known character who has worked for both the CCPD and SCPD.

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Dinah Drake (later known as Dinah Drake-Lance) is the first person to take on the legacy mantle of Black Canary and is also the mother of her successor, Dinah Laurel Lance. In the New 52 reboot, Dinah Lance (née Drake) is the only Black Canary ever existed on Prime Earth, with the two previous versions being combined into one.
 * On the show, the character is split into two altogether separate individuals; Dinah Drake, the meta-human Black Canary-in-training and Dinah Lance, the civilian mother of Sara and Laurel Lance, the White Canary and first Black Canary, respectively.