Damien Darhk

"Hmm, you know. I'll be honest. Which I have to admit, I don't have much practice in. I don't like this situation. Not one bit. For one thing, Mr. Thawne has this habit of treating me like a henchman. And do you know what all henchmen have in common, Captain Hunter? No thoughts on this one? The thing that all henchmen have in common is that they all end up dead. A fate that I am fastidiously trying to avoid. Maybe it's that I just hate taking orders. Or being threatened."

- Damien Darhk

Damien Darhk (born before 1915 - died 2016), also known as "Kenneth Bender", was a former member of the League of Assassins, and the ex-best friend/nemesis of Ra's al Ghul, as well as a former "Heir to the Demon". After escaping death at Ra's hands, Damien stole water from the Lazarus Pit, and formed his own version of the League called H.I.V.E.. However, Damien's methods were far more extreme which killed thousands of people. Using the Lazarus Pit, Damien continued his schemes for over a century, plotting to end the world in a nuclear fire to give it a fresh start. Damien spent years gathering the resources and followers to build a shelter to survive such an apocalypse. Around 2011, he obtained the Khushu Idol which gave him numerous powers and abilities and made him virtually unstoppable.

In 2016, Damien brought H.I.V.E. to Star City to build his ark, destabilizing the city and minimizing outside interference. Furthermore, he was responsible for the destruction of Havenrock with a nuclear weapon and the deaths of tens of thousands. He was opposed by Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and had frequent encounters with the emerald archer, in both identities until he eventually learned his "enemies" were the same person. He also forced Quentin Lance to aid him threatening to kill his daughter Laurel Lance/Black Canary if he didn't comply and eventually did so when Quentin betrayed him. Just as Damien almost succeeded his wife was murdered and his ark destroyed and he was opposed by the people of Star City, until finally killed by Oliver in revenge for killing Laurel.

A version of Damien from 1987 met a time travelling Eobard Thawne and learnt of his future death from Sara Lance/White Canary, and joined forces with Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash and Malcolm Merlyn/Dark Archer, forming the Legion of Doom, and they now travel through time to obtain the Spear of Destiny, a powerful artifact capable of altering reality, eventually managing to gather the fragments and rewrite reality to their wims, where Damien was the mayor of Star City and had killed many heroes. Eventually the Legion was defeated by the Legends and Damien was returned to his own time with his memories erased by Sara, restoring the timeline and Damien's actions until his eventual death in 2016.

Biography
Damien was born some time before 1915.

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. Even John Constantine considered fleeing whatever city Damien was in a preferable option than opposing him.

In 1942, Darhk tried to launch an atomic bomb on New York City at the behest of Eobard Thawne and Adolf Hitler. He worked with the Nazi's to capture Albert Einstein though when the attempt failed, he went and took Mileva Maric prisoner so that she could create an atomic bomb for them. Damien also supplied the Uranium needed to complete the bomb and was put in charge of the attack. In New Jersey before he could board the U-boat, he and his men were attacked by the Legends. During the fight Sara Lance separated from her team and confronted Darhk as she wanted to kill him for the death of her sister in 2016 though Darhk was confused at her hostility. He was easily able to identify her techniques as those from the League of Assassins and was able to overpower her. The Legends were forced to retreat though were able to rescue Mileva. Darhk had the submarine head for New York City.

They ran in the Waverider underwater and Darhk attacked them. When the atomic bomb was ready, he immediately commanded it to be launched. The Waverider intercepted it and contained the blast, saving New York. The Nazi officer was angry at Darhk for his failure as Damien was angry at the incompetence of the men which seemed to calm the officer and suggest that they would just try again with another atomic bomb. Darhk smirked and told him that there wouldn't be another bomb as his partner wanted to move on to other things now. Damien was about to be killed by the officer's men, angry at his refusal, when he was saved by Eobard who killed the submarine's whole crew.

In October 1975, Damien planned on buying a nuclear warhead from the possession of Vandal Savage, accompanied by two of his Ghosts. 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 organization, 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.

Changing his destiny
In 1987, Damien was in the middle of a black market deal that the CIA had stumbled upon. Before he could handle the situation, Eobard Thawne arrived and killed everyone leaving only the two of them. Thawne told Darhk that he was looking for a partner but Damien told him that he preferred to work alone. Thawne told him that he knew what he was planning with his Ark and offered to give Damien actual power instead of symbols of power. Damien then went to the Nuclear Treaty being done in Washington D.C. and joined Ronald Reagan's administration as an advisor. He would go to be a key part of the disarming the nuclear arsenals of the US and USSR. This created an aberration which summoned the Legends. Darhk was in the White House when he was spotted by Ray and Mick who alerted the team. Sara then snuck off to try and kill Damien but she was spotted by the Secret Service and Darhk managed to get away.

Later that night, he met with an agent of the KGB, Boris, in order to negotiate a trade that would be held during the peace dinner at the White House. His meeting was stumbled upon by a young Martin Stein who was hoping to use Darhk's White House connections to pass his research proposals to the President but the young man realized what Darhk was doing in the park with the KGB agent. Damien then stabbed the young man to keep his position a secret. During the dinner, Damien took some of his HIVE ghosts with him and traded nuclear launch codes to the KGB while they gave him an artifact that they had in their possession. However, the Legends and Obsidian showed up to disrupt their meeting. Damien taunted them with the fact that he planted a bomb at the dinner to destroy all hopes of peace between the superpowers before he killed Boris and opened fire on the KGB to start a fight. He then shot Obsidian and was then confronted by Sara Lance who he remembered back from 1942. At first, he thought she was still young through the Lazarus Pit but she revealed that she was a time traveler. She then taunted Darhk about how his plans in the future were derailed and he was killed while he listened in both anger and shock. Before anything else could be done, he was whisked away by Eobard Thawne.

However, he discovered that the medallion had been swiped away from him by Sara during her revelations to him about his future. Damien tried to assure Eobard that he would get the medallion back for him but the speedster told him that the Legends had already left 1987 and it was now beyond his reach. With knowledge that all his plans and hopes for the future end in failure and in his demise, he asked for Eobard to take him along so that he could change his destiny. Eobard agreed to the alliance and showed Damien his Time Sphere. He went inside as Thawne activated it with his speed and the two went off into the timestream.

The Legion of Doom
Both Damien and Eobard went to the year 2016, just after his death where they met up with Malcolm Merlyn. Damien wasn't too impressed with Malcolm as he was binge drinking and living in squalor though Eobard told him that the man used to be Ra's Al Ghul but had fallen on hard times. Merlyn was surprised to see Damien as he had just watched his final moments on television just seconds before their arrival which Damien told him that he was driven to change. The two of them then offered Merlyn his own chance to change his destiny along with their own and the man agreed.

The newly allied trio then went off to Chicago in 1927 where they met up with Al Capone. They warned him of the impending arrival of the FBI led by Eliot Ness and offered their help in seeing that his empire didn't fall. This was a plan to create an aberration to lure in the Legends so that they could get the medallion they took from Damien back in 1987. Damien laid in wait at the docks and saw that it worked when the Legends arrived to save Ness from being killed by Capone.

Darhk was at Al Capone's night club where he bumped into the Legends as they were trying to find the ledger of Capone's dealings so that history could be placed back on track. Before they could do anything about him, Thawne arrived and incapacitated them and they managed to take both Martin Stein and Sara Lance hostage. After Malcolm Merlyn failed to cut a deal with them for the amulet, Darhk arrived to convince them a different way. He said that he would torture them for the amulet and Sara told him to do his worst. Darhk was amused that she thought he meant her and took Stein away. When the Legends arrived to save their friends, they barely managed to escape as Capone and his men tried to kill them. However, it was revealed that it was all theatre as Capone asked Damien if he was convincing enough. Damien told Capone that he sold it and that everything was going according to plan.

When Thawne and Merlyn regrouped with Darhk from their siege of the Waverider, they revealed that they had succeeded in getting the medallion. With the one that Thawne already had, he revealed to them that they were two parts of the same one. He told them that it was a compass that led to the Spear of Destiny and it had the power to rewrite reality itself. Thawne then revealed that their next step was to find someone that Damien had met before, Rip Hunter.

Damien Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn then went off to Los Angeles in 1967 to track down the Spear of Destiny. They walked through Hollywood before they went and killed two bikers that tried to rob them and stole their motorcycles. Their murders of these men caused a small aberration as one of them was supposed to go on and make a new engine for motorcycles which summoned the Legends. The two of them followed the trail from the medallion to a film set where they found Rip Hunter, going by the name Phil, where he was shooting a movie with George Lucas. They moved to try and take him captive but the Legends arrived and were surprised to see that Rip was there and fought against them to get him back. The fight saw that Rip was arrested and brought to the police station and also went on to cause an aberration which had George Lucas quit film school. Darhk and Merlyn tried to pick up Hunter at the station but the Legends managed to get him to the Waverider. The two of them saw that Rip didn't have the spear so they went on to question his film crew and learned that George Lucas had it. When they tracked him down, they found that Nate, Amaya and Ray were with him and surprised them before taking them prisoner. Nate found he didn't have his powers anymore and Ray didn't have his suit due to the aberration and the two also took Amaya's totem. Darhk then angrily interrogated Lucas for where the spear was and he quickly confessed that he thought it was a useless movie prop and threw it in the trash. He then asked Lucas where the city dump was located.

Darhk and Merlyn brought the four to the dump and forced them to start digging through the trash for the spear. To motivate them, they turned on the trash compactor so that they would hurry and find it faster. The four found it but knew that Damien and Malcolm would kill them as soon as they got it. They inspired George Lucas to believe in the impossible again and he yelled that he wanted to direct which corrected the aberration and gave Nate his powers back and Ray his suit. They then managed to overpower Damien and Merlyn as well as take the medallion from them. Sara Lance and Jefferson Jackson also arrived and the two saw they were outnumbered. But Eobard Thawne showed up and tipped the scales back in their favor. Rip Hunter then showed up, dressed in his old coat and tried to pass himself off as his old self but the act was quickly seen through as they went and captured him. When 'Phil' asked if Eobard would torture him, he said he wouldn't before he pointed to Damien and Malcolm and said that they would.

They tortured Rip but they didn't manage to get any new information about the spear. Damien and Malcolm were then berated by Eobard for losing the medallion to the Legends and forcing them into this dead end. When Malcolm tried and failed to use hypnosis on Rip, Damien again recommended torture sparking up an argument between him and Malcolm. Eobard audibly chastised himself for trying to rely on the two of them before he sped off. Damien then complained to Rip about how Eobard was treating him like a henchman which he didn't like at all. He then noticed something about Rip and proceeded to pull out his tooth which had a barcode embedded in it. Damien analyzed it and saw that it was information about a security deposit box for a bank in Switzerland. Eobard then told him and Malcolm to secure it before he sped off again. Damien thought the best way to get the spear from the bank was to just go in and kill everyone but Malcolm argued that they should use Rip to get through security and easily leave the bank with the spear. Damien then mocked Malcolm, calling him soft, before Malcolm told Damien that he didn't find him threatening at all.

He relented to Malcolm's plan and took Rip to the bank where they had him go through security under their watchful eye. As they waited, Malcolm brought up the fact that Eobard was most likely hiding something given the fact that he never stays in one place. Damien then retorted that Malcolm shouldn't try making them start turning on each other as it could bring down everything but Malcolm heatedly shot back that Eobard didn't see them as equals but his lackeys. Rip got through most of the security but when asked to speak his vocal password, he froze as he didn't know it. Damien then moved in and killed the security official and he and Malcolm killed the other guards before they were forced to flee. Back at the hideout, Damien angrily told Malcolm that they failed because they followed his plan when they should've gone with his own. The two then engaged in a fight but stopped when Rip shouted at them that this is what Eobard wanted. Damien and Malcolm agreed and decided that they had to work together if they were going to get what they wanted without Eobard betraying them. Together, they infiltrated the bank following Damien's original plan to kill their way through and got to the box but inside wasn't the spear. Eobard showed up, having learned where they were from Rip, and explained that it was a device that held memories, presumably Rip Hunter's. They then locked the vault trapping them inside and revealed that they were tired of Eobard ordering them around and wanted to be treated as equals as he needed them as much as they needed him. Eobard tried to threaten them but grew scared when his watch alerted him. He then revealed that there was a dark speedster hunting him as he wasn't supposed to exist since his ancestor killed himself to try and erase him. The two agreed to help him escape if he agreed to treat them as equal partners and Eobard quickly agreed. They set a trap for the speedster which ended up working and trapping it in the vault.

They returned to the hideout where Eobard began to decode the device for Rip Hunter's memories and said that they could easily restore them by plugging it into his brain. Damien asked why they weren't doing that now and Eobard revealed that they could also alter his personality which they did to make Rip Hunter their newest ally.

When Rip Hunter had his memory restored, he informed the Legion that the spear was in fragments entrusted to members of the Justice Society of America that he placed in three separate time periods. Damien went with Hunter to 507 A.D. where Stargirl was posing as Merlin in the legendary court of Camelot. Damien masqueraded as the Black Knight and abducted knights of the kingdom and had them turned into their puppets through advanced cyber mind control technology. Damien even crossed swords and brought down the legendary King Arthur himself. With Arthur under their control, they went into the castle where they ran into the Legends. Damien gave them an ultimatum: Give them the spear by dawn or they'll unleash their brainwashed army on Camelot and destroy it.

Rip Hunter was getting tired of waiting and wanted to attack the kingdom that night but Damien told him to have patience as it was easier to attack out in an open field than lay siege to a castle. He then warned Rip to show him more respect as the tech may control the army but didn't control him.

When dawn broke, Damien looked out onto the battlefield to see that Guinevere had assembled the knights to try and resist them. He also saw that Stargirl and Ray Palmer were there too. When the battle started, it seemed like their army would overwhelm Camelot's but the rest of the Legends arrived to turn the tide and even found a way to disrupt their control of the army. When Rip was brought down by the now freed Arthur, he called out to Damien for his help but he just sneered at the former Time Master and said that he didn't do rescues. He then tried to flee but Ray went after him. When they were far enough, Damien stopped to meet him face to face and mocked him, saying that he was a glorified nerd and not a knight. Ray then attacked him with the fallen Sir Galahad's sword that he charged with the energy from his suit and managed to bring Damien down. However, Damien quickly brought out a hidden blaster and shot Ray before he went and made his escape.

The Spear of Destiny
Damien was sent along with Merlyn to find the Calebros Manuscript and he had returned to the Vanishing Point to find that the Legends had infiltrated their headquarters and stole the spear fragments from under Eobard's nose. He blamed Eobard for their current problem but the speedster pointed out that it might actually be a positive development as now they didn't have to go after the spear piece by piece. Darhk was skeptical that they would be able to get the spear now as they were and told Thawne that they had to change their game. They went back in time and acquired Leonard Snart before he joined the Legends and informed him of his doomed future. He agreed to help them get the spear and already had a plan which involved Mick Rory. Learning of the Legends' plan to get the blood of Christ and destroy the spear, they surprised them at the grave of Sir Gawain in 1916. They ambushed them with World War I German soldiers and forced the Legends to retreat.

Darhk and Snart them waited at the site where the blood was on a battlefield. He thought it was impressive that the Legends managed to get a cease fire from the two armies and then demanded the spear be handed over or they would kill them. Rory then took the spear and joined back with his old friend but Sara Lance told them that she wouldn't let them get away. Darhk agreed and thought they could use a distraction so Snart re-sparked the fighting between the two warring sides with a grenade. Darhk, Snart and Rory were then picked up by Thawne who sped them off the battlefield. Back at the Vanishing Point, Darhk admitted that he was impressed with Snart's plan to turn Rory against the Legends and get the spear for them. Merlyn then returned, having acquired the Calebros Manuscript which had the incantation needed to activate the spear. They then all grabbed hold of the spear as Merlyn read the chant and they all began to re-write reality to their whims.

New reality
When the Legion used the spear, Damien altered reality so as he was now the mayor of Star City and he also made it so that he retained his magical abilities. He also had it so Sara Lance and Amaya Jiwe were now his personal hitmen and were loyal to him though Malcolm thought his decision as well as Thawne's to have Stein and Jackson as loyal employees was foolish. Darhk had his two assailants go out and bring in a vigilante that was causing him problems who turned out to be this new reality's Felicity Smoak. He had her killed and then took her mask to add it to his collection of other masks from the various heroes and vigilantes that had stood against him and were now dead.

However, he and Malcolm were worried about the fact that Thawne had custody of the spear and had destroyed the Calebros so that he was the only one that could activate his power. They were worried that Thawne would use it against them and brought in Snart for an alliance to safeguard against him. However, the plans had to change as the Legends were starting to remember their former lives and Rory was starting to get second thoughts. Darhk had Sara and Amaya go and deal with Rory, Nate and Ray but the two of them managed to get their own memories back and rejoined the Legends. When they all learned through Rory that the Legends were going to try and steal the spear back from Thawne before he could destroy it, they felt that it would give them the opportunity to steal it first.

They went to Star Labs as the Legends got Jackson and were trying to get Stein back but were confronted by Thawne. They surprised Thawne and Darhk managed to grab the spear but it was taken from him by Sara. The spear was then given to Amaya by Rory and Darhk watched in horror as Amaya was about to use it to revert reality back to normal but Snart froze her and killed her with his Cold Gun before she could. However, his celebration was cut short when Thawne stole the spear back and then destroyed it with his new reactor. Thawne then warned him, Merlyn and Snart to not try to cross him again as they were no match for him.

Darhk had returned to Star Labs in time to see that the Legends were there and were trying to steal back Ray's ATOM suit in order to revert the Waverider back to its normal size after Thawne shrunk it. He quickly held both Jax and Ray at bay with his magic and told them that he felt Thawne made a mistake letting them live back at the reactor. However, he was happy to now be the one who would kill the Legends. Before he could kill them, the Waverider flew into the room and Rip had Gideon fire upon him. However, the small ship's weapons hardly fazed Damien who was only amused by the attempt. Yet, the firing did serve as a distraction for Mick Rory to appear behind him and knock him out from behind.

Return to the Timeline
The Legends realized that to stop the Legion from rewriting reality, they had to risk going back in time to 1916, just before they had acquired the spear from their past selves. Darhk had just been joined by Snart after he visited Mick Rory and learned of the Legends' plan for obtaining the blood of Christ when they were suddenly visited by Thawne and Merlyn. Darhk was confused as he thought that Merlyn was hunting for the Calebros and Thawne revealed that he was from their future. He told them of the other set of Legends and told him, Merlyn and Snart to deal with them while the speedster went off to get backup.

The three of them managed to find the Waverider and then used their weapons to attack it in order to breach its shields. They attacked it just as it tried to make a time jump when the ship was caught in a Time Storm and crashed. When the Legends emerged, Damien headed over for them with the others and fired upon them. He and Merlyn tried to shoot down both Ray Palmer and Firestorm but they were too fast and they found their weapons had malfunctioned. Merlyn then suggested to him that they go 'old school' which Damien agreed as he felt that killing had been to 'impersonal' lately.

H.I.V.E. operations
In early 2014 H.I.V.E. 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 the organization's plans 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, though they were presumably related to Genesis, 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. agents, 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, an 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 Darhk showing Oliver a video of William playing at the Darhk residence and that he had kidnapped him by proclaiming he was a friend of Samantha Clayton. Green Arrow and Vixen later attacked Darhk at his home but were both overpowered until the remaining members of Team Arrow showed up. Darhk 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 Darhk hadn't given up William. Team Arrow learned that Darhk'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 Darhk's powers useless and him easily overpowered by Green Arrow and knocked unconscious. Darhk 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 magical powers restored, Darhk restrained Diggle, Oliver, and Laurel, also revealing that he was aware of their secret identities. 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. Laurel died of the injuries Damien afflicted upon her hours later.

Original timeline
According to Rip Hunter in the original timeline where Sara never left Star City to join his team and take on Vandal Savage in the future, Damien would have killed both her and Laurel as well as their father.

Placing a tracker on Diggle after he is kidnapped by Andy, Darhk is able to locate Lyla. Easily penetrating the secured truck with his magic, Darhk extracts the Rubicon from Lyla, a device capable of controlling any nuclear missile.

Having killed tens of thousands of people with a nuclear missile guided by the reprogrammed Rubicon, Darhk absorbed the dark energy channeled after their deaths, growing stronger than ever.

Death
After H.I.V.E.'s rampage through Star City while attempting to execute Operation Genesis, Damien was finally killed by Green Arrow, who was able to negate Damien's dark magic by drawing on the positive faith of the people of Star City and their belief in him, both as Oliver Queen and Green Arrow. Oliver thrust an arrow right into Damien's chest and looked down at him as he slowly died. His death was captured on someone's cell phone where it was televised for the world to see.

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. Although he demanding good manners and respect from others, he was not above mocking people and their suffering.

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 torturing 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. Part of this might be related to Damien having a child of his own and understanding the pain of having a child in danger. Although he threatened William's life to get Oliver to give up his mayoral campaign and his attempts to fight Damien, showing he feels only he is justified in carrying out such an action whereas he was angry at Lonnie for doing the same thing, and Malcolm was the one who technically kidnap William, Damien chose not to release him from his captivity and would never have done so had Oliver not followed his instructions, and would not have harm William even if Oliver had refused to not followed his instruction; due to Damien being a parent himself. 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 demeanor can be described as charmingly demented, as he is often quick to make light of whatever situation he is in, regardless of the danger or gravity of what is occurring. This trait typically manifests through his smiling and jovial tone of voice at times that most people would consider inappropriate or unusual. It is a rather unnerving trait that intimidates his enemies and befuddles his allies on a regular basis.

His ruthlessness was reserved for his enemies and keeping his men in place, and does not extend to his H.I.V.E. associates or family. He had protected his associates from 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.

Damien also had little tolerance for disobedience, failure and disloyalty, as multiple times he threatens to kill Quentin Lance's daughter Laurel, if he ever betrays him, eventually going through with his threat after the latter betrays him, even killed Phaedra Nixon and Milo Armitage high-ranking members of his organization for their treachery; for allowing him to rot in prison.

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, he also had no tolerance for those who disrespect members of his family, as he killed Tomas for disrespecting his wife. Ultimately, once learning of his wife's death and possible demise of his daughter, Damien lost all care for a better world, seeking to destroy it all regardless of who dies.

Ruvé's death and the destruction of Genesis had wracked all of Damien's hope for humanity, gaining a nilihistic and misanthropic perspective on everything. He truly believed that humanity was diseased and lacking in strength, unity and conviction, believing that Genesis was the only opportunity for the human race to restart through a peaceful utopian society (which ironically, most of its civilians are controlled through mind control) by starting anew. Damien still believes in what he was doing, claiming his goal to "cleanse (the world) of a millennia worth of rot" but now views the world as beyond saving, and its annihilation was a mercy. His grief over Ruvè had allowed himself to be engulfed over his insanity, as he was willing to kill himself and his daughter with the rest of the world but claims in the end the two would see Ruve again.

Damien has also showed a willingness to work with others instead of a leader position to gain what he wants, showing he can work without his pride getting in the way.

Damien is also a psychopath, he is devoid of most emotion, has no remorse or empathy for his victims, and is completely fearless. Damien also loves killing people, he has tortured and murdered just for fun without remorse.

Powers

 * Dark Magic: Damien's powers came from the Khushu Idol, a totem that channels and harnesses primordial energies; specifically energies that come from death, destruction, and fear. The more Damien kills the more powerful he is at that moment, but gradually the power that he gains from that death will fade soon afterwards thus he must continue to kill in order to continue to use his magic. After causing the deaths of tens of thousands of people through the nuclear bombing of Havenrock, Damien's powers grew exponentially to a level even he wasn't aware of causing him to exercise more focus and control on using his powers. Damien acquired the Khushu Idol and its mystical powers at some point after 1987. To which, being removed from the timeline by Eobard Thawne means he does not have these abilities.  However, in the altered reality, he has magical abilities, but it is unknown if he uses the Khushu Idol or not.
 * Accelerated healing: Damien gains advanced regenerative abilities. He was shown to be able to heal after being shot at by bullets and arrows. His healing abilities also seem to prevent him from suffering from fatigue and has been able to quickly recover from the effects of sedatives.
 * Enhanced endurance:  Damien gains inhuman levels of resilience. He has been shot repeatedly and was completely unharmed from it.
 * Enhanced strength: Damien's physical strength becomes far greater than a normal human. Damien was strong enough to effortlessly lift a fully grown human over his head with a single hand, snap Oliver Queen's steel arrows with a single hand, and throw Oliver with enough force to deform a metal pole.
 * Life-Force absorption: Damien can siphon the life-force from people and kill them through physical contact. According to Damien the process is quite painful, in addition it allowed Damien to take the darkness of the person he absorbs to add to his powers at the moment. After causing the destruction of Havenrock, Damien's power was strong enough to absorb the life-force of Oliver Queen despite his use of Light Magic.
 * Telekinesis: Damien can move objects and people with his mind. With his Telekinesis he could stop multiple projectiles, launch them with force, choke people, crush objects such as a TV, and even strangle someone in different country through a video screen. After causing the destruction of Havenrock, Damien could use this power to disintegrate objects with his mind such as steel arrows and lead bullets. Damien also demonstrated the ability to contain and miniaturized an explosion with this power.
 * Teleportation: Damien can instantly relocate himself to another location, allowing him to catch his enemies off-guard or leave an area without a trace. The range of this power is unknown, but he could teleport himself with at least one other person.
 * Longevity: After leaving the League of Assassins, Damien stole waters from the Lazarus Pit allowing him to live far longer than normal human without aging while maintaining his health, vitality, and appearance. With the waters, Damien has lived for at least as long as his former friend, Ra's al Ghul, making him well-over a century old. Given how Damien did not have access to all of the waters of the Lazarus Pit and that they gradually lose their potency over time, it is possible that Damien's life-force absorbing abilities granted to him by his idol also allow him to maintain his youth.

Abilities

 * High tolerance for pain: Even without his magical powers, Damien had demonstrated a high threshold for pain due to his training with the League of Assassins; he was able to pull out arrows from his chest and still continue to remain physically active.
 * League of Assassins training: As a former member of the League, Damien was trained in all of their ways with his skills surpassing most members due to his former status as an "Heir to the Demon".
 * Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Due to his training in the League, Damien was a highly exceptional combatant with his prowess being equivalent to Ra's al Ghul himself. Damien has been shown to be a challenge to the likes of Oliver, Sara Lance, and Malcolm Merlyn. However, once Damien became a sorcerer he developed an overreliance on his powers causing his prowess as a combatant to decline. In spite of this, Damien still proved to be a difficult challenge for Oliver during his final confrontation with him.
 * Master interrogator/torturer: Damien was a highly skilled torturer due to his training with the League and due to his psychopathy and genuine pleasure in inflicting pain, he was more skilled in this area than most. His skills proved valuable in extracting vital information from an amnesiac Rip Hunter which lead to the restoration of his memories and conversion to the Legion of Doom. As a sorcerer, Damien had built up as fearsome reputation so much that a noted sorcerer like John Constantine feared facing him.
 * Master tactician/Leader: As the founder and leader of H.I.V.E., Damien kept his organization a secret from the world at large while simultaneously avoiding capture from his former friend, Ra's al Ghul and the League for over a century. Damien was very perceptive able to tell that Speedy was trained by Malcolm, Sara's fighting style was League of Assassins, and he was able to deduce the identities of Team Arrow. Due to his extended lifespan Damien had demonstrated an extensive knowledge of various subjects such as criminal enterprises, politics, and science.
 * Multilingual: Damien was capable of speaking English, German, and Russian.
 * Network: As the leader of H.I.V.E., Damien had access to an entire enterprise of soldiers, political figures, scientists, and businessmen. Despite being on the run from the League for over century, he still kept tabs on them as hewas aware of his former friends demise and the League's disbandment after only a day. During his prison break, Damien collected a large group of followers from his break out including Michael Amar and Danny Brickwell.
 * Occult knowledge: As a sorcerer, Damien possesses vast knowledge of mysticism including details on his idol, the Lazarus Pit, and the Anansi Totem. Damien was also collector of rare occult and historical artifacts even before attaining his powers.
 * Peak of human physical condition: Even without his physical strength, durability, and healing augmented by his idol, Damien is still in top physical form. During his fight with Sara Lance, Damien was able to repeatedly block Sara's bo-staff strikes with his forearms.
 * Weapons mastery: Due to his training with the League and his extended lifespan, Damien demonstrated high proficiency in archery, knives, firearms, and swords.

Weaknesses

 * Khushu Idol: The very source of Damien's dark power was also his key weakness. If the idol is destroyed, Damien will lose his powers, becoming a normal human again. If the idol can be reassembled and the sacrifice ritual is performed, it will restore Damien's powers. Damien will also lose his powers if he does not regularly absorb negative energy from others. As the idol normally corrupts all near it, to keep his sanity, Damien regularly performed a blood ritual before it. As revealed by Mari McCabe, Damien must remain in close-range to the idol to remain empowered. The idol still has a great range, as Damien still had his powers from several city blocks away. Also, when destroyed, he seems to lose more than magic, being defeated by two normal men when he showed skill capable of defeating Sara before magic.
 * Light Magic: Due to the fact that Damien's magic comes from the absorption and manipulation of dark energy, if one can focus their natural life energy into positive sources of strength (i.e. hope and joy), Damien's magic will ultimately prove ineffective against the target and even physically repel him from trying to absorb the said person's life-force.

Former weaknesses

 * Thea Queen: For reasons unknown, but presumably the Lazarus Pit, Thea was immune to Damien's life-siphoning power. When he used this power on her, he instead found his own life force depleting, severely weakening him. However, since Thea has been cured of the Lazarus Pit's effects, she is likely no longer immune to Damien's ability to drain the life force of others.

Equipment

 * Khushu Idol: The Khushu Idol is a mystical totem and the source of most of Damien's powers.
 * Lazarus Pit water: Damien used the Lazarus Pit's waters to live well beyond his lifetime and run H.I.V.E..
 * Laser Pistol: Damien has a laser gun he uses and supposedly he got it from Eobard Thawne.

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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, or at least kept tabs on the League as much as possible as he was a target of them for over a century. 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.
 * After his cameo in "Pilot, Part 2", Damien Darhk became the first main antagonist of Arrow (and the Second in the Arrowverse, after Vandal Savage) that appeared at least once in every main series of the Arrowverse followed by Malcolm Merlyn.
 * 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, but wasn't above working with them as he planned to blow up New York in 1942, but showed little concern when Eobard slaughtered them all after they tried to kill him.
 * Damien is the second main antagonist to directly be responsible for the death of a main character following Slade Wilson. Damien interestingly referenced Slade to Oliver on how he spared him before Oliver killed Damien.
 * The incantation Damien used when he uses the idol, and when he nearly died in Dark Waters is "Kanjigar Septum Vohostrum".
 * He is the first antagonist to directly kill a member of Team Arrow when he killed Laurel Lance. Thea Queen did kill Sara before him but she was drugged by Malcolm and was unaware of her actions.
 * He is also one of the two main antagonists besides Ra's al Ghul to not have a history with Oliver and also being a recurring character on the show.

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.
 * Damien Darhk has similarities to DC's Ares: The God of War, as their powers feed on the psychic energies that come from death and conflict.
 * Though, unlike Ares, Damien Darhk cannot naturally channel the dark energies caused by war and conflict. Therefore, requires his Khushu Idol to do so.
 * 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.