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"My family is H.I.V.E.."
—Andy Diggle to his brother, John Diggle, on where he truly belongs[src]


Sergeant Andrew "Andy" Diggle, Sr.[1] (died May 4, 2016) was a former bodyguard and crime lord. He was the son of a late unnamed man and an unnamed woman, the step-son of Roy Stewart, the younger brother of John Diggle, the husband of Carly Diggle, the father of A.J. Diggle, and the uncle of John Diggle, Jr. (Sara Diggle in the pre-Flashpoint timeline).

Andy was thought to have been assassinated by Floyd Lawton, but was actually recruited by the terrorist organization H.I.V.E. to become one of their Ghosts. Years later, Andy was found to be alive and was seemingly reformed by Team Arrow, only for it to be revealed that he'd been loyal to Damien Darhk all along. Andy betrayed Team Arrow by helping Damien kill Laurel Lance and attempted to harm John's family to help H.I.V.E. carry out Genesis. John, having failed so many times to bring his brother back, was then forced to shoot Andy dead, much to his distress.

Biography


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Early life

Andy Diggle was born and raised in Starling City. He had an older brother, John Diggle. In 2005, Andy was a drug dealer and soon caught by John, who beat him until his knuckles bled. He convinced Andy to enroll in the army, hoping it would set him on the correct path.[2]

Military

While serving time in the army, Andy spent time in Afghanistan and went back to selling drugs, becoming a crime lord.[1] It was later revealed that Andy had been working with John and Andy's CO Lieutenant Joyner and Joyner's boss, Baron Reiter.[3]

At some point in his life, he married Carly, with whom he had a son, A.J..

In 2010, John helped Andy with security at a party for Tommy Merlyn's birthday at the Merlyn Mansion.[4]

Sometime after 2010, while working as a bodyguard, Andy was shot by Deadshot, who was hired by H.I.V.E. and presumed dead. His death however, was faked by H.I.V.E., who hired him for their operations.[5] His faked assassination was cleverly covered up by Lawton to make it look like he was targeting Andy's client but in reality, Andy was the target.[6] Unknown to Deadshot, his bullets were swapped with a non-lethal round that made the victim appear dead.[5]

Working for H.I.V.E.

While under the influence of H.I.V.E., Andy served as a "ghost". While attacked by Team Arrow, Andy had the opportunity to kill his brother but hesitated and ran off. Andy was captured by Team Arrow and held prisoner at their hideout. John questioned Andy about if everything in Damien Darhk, H.I.V.E.'s leader's file was true and Andy confirmed the evidence.[5][7]

Betraying Team Arrow

After Damien Darhk has been imprisoned, he uses his influence over an imprisoned gang-leader to make contact with Malcolm Merlyn. Merlyn later meets with a mysterious person, claiming that Darhk has reached out to him and has claimed that the person was Darhk's Ace-in-the-hole. This man is revealed to be no other than Andrew Diggle. Two days after meeting with Malcolm, Andy confides in his brother and reveals to him that Malcolm wanted him to help freeing Darhk from prison. He reveals that Merlyn but this is revealed to be a distraction, while Oliver and the Diggles attack the convoy, Merlyn and a few of his remaining loyalists attack the Arrowcave and steal Darhk's idol.

Believing that Andy has been a traitor all the time, Oliver grabs him and tries to force a confession put of him but is stopped by John who aims a gun at Oliver to save his brother. Despite Oliver’s belief that Andy would betray them, John was desperate to prove him wrong and brought him along to the prison riot against Oliver’s orders. When the team confronted Darhk, Andy officially betrayed the team by giving Darhk the final piece of the Khushu Idol that he had stolen when he realized that John had hidden it. After watching Darhk stab Laurel Lance, he fled.

When Darhk set in motion the plan to steal Rubicon from Lyla, Andy kidnapped his brother and tortured him. John eventually managed to take Andy by surprise and escape, but it was revealed that it was a ruse to have John, now carrying a tracker, lead them to Lyla. When John realized this, he separated from Lyla to lead Andy to him.

The two came to blows with John coming out on top, but John couldn’t bring himself to kill his brother. When Andy threatened his wife and daughter, however, John shot him dead.[8]

Alternate reality

In an alternate reality created by the Dominators, Andy is still alive and is mentioned by John (who is the Hood) to work in personal security.[9]

Legacy

Despite everything Andy had done, John remained haunted over killing his own brother. Out of shame and guilt, he initially lied to Lyla that he killed Andy in self-defense,[8] but eventually came clean. While Oliver, Lyla, and Team Arrow understood his decision, John remained unable to cope with it. After Damien Darhk's death, John decided to leave Team Arrow and reenlist in the army, hoping to gain some perspective and come to terms with Andy's death and their past.[10]

Over five months later when John was framed by J.G. Walker for theft of weapons of mass destruction, he experienced a hallucination of Floyd Lawton as a guilty conscience for killing Andy. Because of this, John initially chose to remain in prison, feeling it was his penance for killing his brother.[11] However, Oliver broke John out and convinced him to do his penance as Spartan by working with Team Arrow to save Star City, which H.I.V.E. tried to destroy.[12]

Personality

"I told John to trust you. To give you another chance. But I was wrong. Because men like you don't change."
Oliver Queen to Andy Diggle[src]

Before H.I.V.E. faked his death, Andy was a normal person who loved his brother. He went on to become a drug dealer but was caught by John. He tried with all his efforts to kick his drug dealer habit, but he wasn't able abandon it as it was who he was. He did try hard enough to make John believe he had abandoned drugs for good. He also loved his his wife Carly, and his son A.J..

After H.I.V.E. faked his death, Andy became very cold and indifferent. When John confronted him with the files of him being a drug lord, he apathetically told him all of it was true with no guilt or remorse whatsoever. The love he had for his wife and son had vanished too as he shows no sorrow when John shows him pictures of them and John even remarks that a real man would have asked to see photos of their family. Once John took Lyla's advice to treat him like a brother rather than a criminal, Andy started opening up and becoming more responsive. He later seemingly redeemed himself when he helped John save Lyla. However, this redemption proved to be nothing more than a façade as Andy was still in contact with H.I.V.E. and ascended to a high-ranking position. When confronted about his new betrayal by John, Andy scoffed at John's continued refusal to make the "necessary" choices. Forfeiting all personal ties to his family, he declared his only family is H.I.V.E. with pride. Showing how far his morals have dropped and hight his desire for power had become, he with tortured his older brother with sadistic pleasure and even threatened to kill John's wife and daughter, which lead to his deserved death.

Abilities

  • Peak of human physical condition: As a former soldier, and a H.I.V.E. operative, Andy was in top physical condition.
  • Military training: Andy served in the army and received extensive military training.
  • Expert hand-to-hand combatant: Andy was highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. He was gaining the upper hand against Thea (under the persona of Speedy) in a prolonged fight before she managed to shoot him.
  • Expert of deception: Andy was shown to be great at deception, as he was able to fool his brother and others for months that he wasn't under Darhk's influence anymore though he was unable to fool Oliver who wasn't convinced about his loyalty.
  • High tolerance for pain: When Green Arrow started hurting him, Andy was still able to pretend to be on Team Arrow's side. He even took an arrow to his upper chest, just to prove his loyalty.

Equipment

  • The Ghosts suit: Diggle wears a protective suit, used by the members of the Ghosts, to hide her identity from his victims. It is unknown what materials it is made out of.

Appearances

Arrow

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7


DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Season 3

Comics

Arrow

Behind the scenes

  • Andy is likely named after Andy Diggle, the author of Green Arrow: Year One, upon which the first season of Arrow is largely based.
  • Andy's date of death is frequently contradicted:
    • in the Arrow comic chapter "Aftermath", Andy is stated to have died on April 8, 2009. However, this was retconned in-show in the Arrow episode "The Return", in which he is still shown to be alive in 2010.
    • The date is further confused when John Diggle is told by an A.R.G.U.S. agent in "Restoration" that Floyd Lawton was hired "to do a hit back in o' nine".
    • Furthermore, in "Brotherhood", John claims that Andy let his family believe he was dead for eight years, putting it in around late 2007.
    • Also in "Broken Hearts", Laurel Lance mentions that Andy was declared legally dead in 2011.

References

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