- "Love is a bullet to the brain, or an arrow to the heart."
- —Carrie's new philosophy[src]
Carrie Hartnell Cutter (born November 21, 1987)[1], also known as Cupid, is a former police officer of the Starling City Police Department. For a time following her police career, she became obsessed with The Arrow and practiced archery (using arrowheads in the shape of a heart). This obsession escalated and she began killing/threatening people in an attempt to get his attention. After he took her down, she was taken in by Amanda Waller as a part of the Suicide Squad. However, she managed to work off her sentence and was released from A.R.G.U.S. custody, only to start a killing spree and be stopped by Team Arrow.
Biography
Early life
Carrie Cutter was born on November 21, 1987 to Oscar and Isabel Cutter in Starling City. She had a normal, happy childhood with loving parents. Carrie received top marks at school and also participated in, and helped win, many gymnastics competitions for the school. She attended Starling University from 2004 to 2008 on a full ride scholarship. There, Carrie met Jesse Ruckert, who she eventually got engaged to. However, not long after graduation, he disappeared.[1]
Work as a police officer
Carrie's SCPD officer review history.
In 2008, Carrie joined the SCPD as a beat cop, eventually becoming the S.W.A.T. unit's first female member two years later. It's implied that she once arrested Rene Ramirez.[2] At an unspecified point, Carrie's unit was called in to sort out a bomb threat in The Glades, where they were forced to engage the Culebra crime gang. A while later, Carrie became obsessed with a colleague and received therapy from Avery Pressnall at St. Walker's Hospital.[1]
Obsession with the Arrow
When Slade Wilson's army attacked Starling City, Carrie was assaulted by one of the Mirakuru-enhanced henchmen. The Arrow passed by and saved her by shooting the henchman. After this, Carrie began to develop an obsession with him. She began to train in archery, recruited Kirby Bates, a hacker, and began collecting data on the Arrow, by visiting crime scenes where he had been involved. In her apartment, Carrie had accumulated a collection of sketches and news articles on The Arrow, as well as a collection of his arrows.[1]
Around six months later, Carrie went to another of the Arrow's suspected crime scenes, at the Wildcat Gym, where Laurel Lance walked past her. She also later walked past a van that John Diggle was parking whilst backing up the Arrow and Ted Grant. Later that night, Carrie injured two policemen who were escorting Isaac Stanzler. When Isaac asked her who she was, she introduced herself as Cupid, before killing him with an arrow.[3]
Carrie clothed Isaac in a costume similar to that of the Arrow and left him in the streets for the real one to find. She included a letter with the address of her apartment in the arrow tip. As Oliver and Diggle searched Carrie's apartment, she watched them from a nearby building. Carrie called a cellphone she left there and told the Arrow she wanted to be with him and help him fight crime. She also sent a picture of a mob boss she had captured earlier and suggested they should punish him together. Felicity managed to trace Carrie's SIM card, allowing Team Arrow to discover her identity. Carrie was traced to Sherwood Florist based on the fertilizer in the picture she sent.
The Arrow and Arsenal broke into Sherwood Florist and split up. Carrie snuck up on Roy and easily knocked him out. Using his earpiece, Carrie taunted and tried to flirt with the Arrow. She held the mob boss hostage by making him stand on a chair with a bomb vest and wired detonator around his neck. When the Arrow refused her advances, she kicked the chair away and fled the scene while the Arrow saved the mob boss. Visiting Kirby Bates, a hacker she hired, Carrie discovered Verdant as the base of the Arrow's operations. She began to kiss Kirby and then killed him by stabbing an arrow in his neck. Carrie attended Verdant's grand reopening and walked past Roy without him recognizing her. After ordering a Cupid's Kiss from Thea, Carrie was called by Oliver and she lightheartedly joked about using a club as a base. Oliver tried to persuade her to meet him to get her away from Thea. She agreed, but warned him she would kill everyone in the club if he did not show up.
Meeting at the place Oliver first saved her, Carrie once again expressed her desire for them to become lovers. He tried to tell her that she isn't well, but Carrie refused to listen. Oliver tried to empathize with Carrie, explaining he understands what it's like to love someone you can't be with (referencing his situation with Felicity). Angered by his rejection, Carrie attacked him and the two got into a fierce brawl. After getting knocked down, Carrie kicked the lock of a metal grate and the two fell down, landing on a train track, with Oliver losing his bow during the fall. Carrie quickly defeated and cuffed Oliver to the tracks, stating that if she could not have him, no one would. Oliver tried to reason with her but she prepared for them to die together as a train drove towards them. Oliver dislocated his thumb to escape from the cuffs and pulled Carrie away just in time, saving her again, much to her shock and joy. Carrie was handed over to Amanda Waller for the Suicide Squad so she would have something to focus her talents and energy on.[1]
Work as part of the Suicide Squad
As part of Task Force X, Carrie traveled to the Republic of Kasnia with Lyla Michaels and Floyd Lawton to rescue United States Senator Joseph Cray, who was taken hostage while opening a hospital. John decided to tag along to help Lyla, as they just had been married. Carrie, John, Lyla, and Floyd parachuted down in Kasnia and as they prepared, Carrie asked Lyla about her recent wedding. Carrie explained how for her wedding with the Arrow, she will spend less on the flowers to save more money for the dress and soon, she and the Arrow would "make strong, beautiful babies". Floyd bluntly told her a love-life and family is not possible for people who do what they do, but John disagreed.
While Floyd took down the guards with his sniper rifle, Carrie, John and Lyla burst into the hospital and killed the terrorists in a firefight. As they prepared to free the hostages, Senator Cray suddenly pulled out a gun. He shot at Carrie but Floyd tackled her to the ground and took the bullet for her. Carrie was visibly touched as the Squad escaped, falling in love with Floyd. Over the radio, Senator Cray revealed that the hostage situation was just theater to make him a hero and eventually allow him to run for president. Floyd assured a distressed John and Lyla that they will survive to get back to their daughter. His speech seemed to arouse Carrie, who made some flirting remarks towards him.
Later, Carrie, John, and Lyla took down most of the mercenaries at the hospital but Senator Cray threatened to activate some bombs. Floyd positioned himself on the rooftop and shot the detonator out of his hand. After a short fight, the Squad took out most of the mercenaries and began guiding the hostages out of the building. Carrie and John told Floyd to get down, as the building would explode soon. Floyd revealed he lied and will cover their escape from the rooftop so they can make it out alive. Floyd supported them as Carrie, John and Lyla fought their way out of the building and got the hostages to safety. As the building exploded, seemingly killing Floyd, Carrie screamed in despair. She attempted to run towards the burning wreckage but John held her back.[4]
Eventually, Carrie worked off her sentence through the Suicide Squad missions and was released from A.R.G.U.S. custody.[5]
Anti-love crusade
Struggling with the death of Floyd Lawton and her failure at finding love, Carrie became convinced that love was just a lie and that this was something she had to demonstrate to the people. Setting up her base at the storage facility of Colao Wedding Dress Services, she began to collect data on celebrity couples who were to be married soon. Carrie first kidnapped Blaine and Shannon. She made them both admit their love for each other before shooting them simultaneously with her bow. Carrie left their bodies on the streets, positioned in the shape of a heart, with a note that read "Love is Dead".
Next, Carrie targeted Allison Lee and Robert Joyce. After their wedding, Carrie tied them up and drove them away in their car, sadistically taunting them. Soon, Carrie noticed Green Arrow and Speedy pursuing her by motorcycle. In the ensuing chase, Speedy managed to board her car. However, Carrie drove through the wall of a warehouse, knocking the archer off. Blocking the steering wheel, Carrie leapt out of the car and ambushed Green Arrow from behind, knocking him down. She aimed an arrow at him but he blocked her shot and they engaged in a fight. Carrie stated that Green Arrow was nothing like The Arrow, who she once loved. Green Arrow used a trick arrow to ensnare her and attended to her hostages. Carrie cut herself loose and escaped by scaling the wall with a grappling hook arrow.
Learning that Oliver was about to marry Felicity at the Hochman Hotel, Carrie decided to target them next. After rigging the building with C4, she proceeded to listen to their vows before confronting them in the chapel. Carrie told Oliver that love made him weak and then shot an arrow in his chest. However, Oliver got back up, revealing that his Kevlar vest protected him. Carrie then revealed the C4 detonator and told them that love was false, resulting only in death. Oliver and Felicity's marriage made them look like a fairytale and by killing them, she would show the people this truth. However, Felicity opposed Carrie, giving a rousing speech of how her and Oliver's love was the best thing to ever happen to her and asserted that even if she died today, she would not regret this. Carrie was deeply moved by her speech and Speedy took the opportunity to shoot the detonator out of her hand. Carrie simultaneously fought Diggle and Speedy and quickly subdued them. She went for the detonator but got ensnared by a trick arrow. As she tried to free herself, Oliver used Diggle's gun to shoot her with a dart that stunned her.
Afterwards, Carrie was arrested by the SCPD. As they took her away, she told Oliver and Felicity, "You two give the rest of us hope."[5]
New allies
Following her anti-love crusade, Carrie was placed in Iron Heights. While there she met Chien Na Wei and Liza Warner, eventually partnering up to steal Tobias Church's money. The three then escaped and went on another killing spree, this time targeting gangs once affiliated to Church. First targeting the Chinese Triad, massacring many gang members. They next targeted the Bertinelli Crime Family. This, however, would be interrupted by the Green Arrow. Carrie and her allies would later target other gangsters who did know the location of the money. Following this they hired many criminals to defend them should anybody interrupt them. Team Arrow would arrive to prevent their escape and fight ensued, during which Carrie manage to injure Rene Ramirez and Curtis Holt. She only stopped when the ACU arrived and arrested her.[2]
Return to Task Force X
At some point, Carrie must have been returned to A.R.G.U.S., as Barry Allen and Leonard Snart came across her cell while on a heist there. Barry noticed that it was where the Suicide Squad members were kept.[6]
Personality
Seemingly playful and flirtatious, Carrie Cutter is revealed to go to extreme lengths to satisfy her desire to be with The Arrow, including killing. She seemed to build her entire world around the vigilante, explicitly stating she did not touch Roy and even killed Kirby Bates when he tried to get intimate with her. Carrie referred to Oliver as her "lover" and "boyfriend", believing they were meant for each other. Carrie seemed to ignore laws and moral boundaries alike, killing Isaac Stanzler and injuring two police officers just to get his attention. She even threatened to kill everyone in Verdant if Oliver did not show up.
Carrie's psychiatrist diagnosed her with attachment disorder; Carrie lacks the ability to form real, lasting relationships and pushes everyone away, fixating on a single person who she feels mirrors her emotional state. She desires honesty and sincerity and can notice when people lie to her.
Carrie quickly becomes angry whenever people confront her with her mental disorder. She believed there was nothing wrong with her and despised the psychiatrist who treated her. After Oliver rejected her, Carrie grew enraged and tried to kill him. In a final act, Carrie wanted to die with Oliver by standing in front of an oncoming train, saying that if she can't have him, then no one can, and they would be together in death. When Oliver got free and saved her again, Carrie came to believe that he did so out of love for her.
As a result of being placed in Task Force X, her personality and behavior seem much more stable, though Carrie still believes she can have a future with the Arrow, even cheerfully detailing the wedding she imagined they would have. After Floyd Lawton took a bullet for her, Carrie quickly became fond of and shifted her desires onto him.
After Floyd's death, Carrie was heartbroken and devastated, growing disillusioned with love. She began to believe Floyd's mantra that love was a bullet to the brain and felt that if she couldn't find love, then no one could. To make this point, Carrie began to kill couples on their wedding day in cold blood, believing her murders were for the greater good. However, after talking with Felicity Smoak, who highlighted the strengths of true love, Carrie was deeply moved and began to doubt her stance. This indicates that her newfound attitude is simply an overreaction to cope with her own failed love life since the Arrow rejected her and Floyd Lawton died.
When Carrie was arrested, she told Oliver and Felicity they give hope to people like her, hinting she may be moving past her anti-love beliefs.
Abilities
- Peak of human physical condition: As a former police officer, Carrie is shown to be in top physical condition. During her fight against the Arrow, she displayed incredible feats of speed and dexterity. Despite falling down more than 12 feet, she got up and kept fighting without any visible injuries.
- Expert combatant/Martial artist: Carrie excels in close combat, proving herself a creative and dangerous fighter by using her slender build, flexibility, and speed to her advantage. As a former S.W.A.T. police officer, she has experience in making difficult arrests and dealing with dangerous criminals. Carrie was able to easily beat the heavily armed Arsenal and hold her own against the Arrow, despite fighting him unarmed while he used his bow as a melee weapon, though he was likely holding back. After the Arrow lost his bow, Carrie managed to restrain and cuff him.[1] Later, along with Chien Na Wei, Carrie could hold her own against Green Arrow, who was able to initially swiftly outpace them until he was knocked down and the ACU interfered.[2]
- Expert markswoman/Firearms: As a former police officer, Carrie is an expert in the use of firearms.
- Expert archer: Carrie is a skilled archer, able to shoot two police officers in their legs with precision shots.[3] While working for Task Force X, Carrie kept using archery instead of firearms, which she used to kill heavily armed mercenaries.[4] Later, Carrie was able to fire two arrows at once and hit two targets simultaneously in their hearts.[5]
- Expert markswoman/Firearms: As a former police officer, Carrie is an expert in the use of firearms.
- High-level intellect/Expert tactician: Carrie an excellent tactician, capable of designing complex plans. She was able to abduct a heavily guarded mob boss and lure the Arrow to their location by leaving trails of clues, exactly predicting his actions. She was also able to lure out the Arrow by threatening the clubbers in Verdant. Carrie also is highly adept at using her surroundings to her advantage. According to her psychiatrist, Carrie is able to notice when people lie to her.
- Explosives expert: Possibly due to her S.W.A.T. training, Carrie is highly skilled with explosives, using a bomb vest and a wired detonator to hold a mob boss hostage.[1] She was also able to rig an entire building with C4 bombs.[5]
- Expert deceiver/Manipulator: Carrie is skilled in manipulating others, seducing Kirby Bates into helping her.[1] She also used a clueless facade to distract a correction officer, allowing Liza Warner to kill him.[2]
- Gardening: Carrie is a skilled gardener, having been a member of the Sherwood Florist gardening club.[1]
- Stealth: Carrie has experience in stealth and stalking others, blending with her surroundings to avoid getting noticed. She was able to follow along with Team Arrow and Ted Grant tracking Isaac Stanzler without being spotted.[3]
Equipment
- Cupid suit: As Cupid, Carrie wore a suit consisting of tight black pants, a dark green top, and a long dark jacket. She kept her suit when working for Task Force X and Liza Warner's team.
- Custom made bow: Carrie is shown wielding a custom-made bow. It is unknown what type of bow it is.
- Quiver: Carrie wears a quiver, which she carries her arrows in, during her confrontations with The Arrow.
- Custom made arrows: As Cupid, Carrie uses custom-made arrows. These arrows had tips made from carbon fiber-reinforced polymer, and are heart-shaped and colored red.
- Handcuffs: Carrie keeps a pair of handcuffs on her person. She used these in her fight with the Arrow to cuff him to some railroad tracks.
- Flechette: Carrie carries small heart-shaped flechette in her sleeves. She used a flechette to cut herself free after being ensnared by a trick arrow.
- Trick arrows: Carrie used a grappling hook arrow to scale a wall to escape from Green Arrow.
Appearances
Arrow
The Flash
Season 3
- "Infantino Street" (mentioned)
DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Season 3
- "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4" (mentioned)
- "No Country for Old Dads" (pictured)
Comics
The Flash: Season Zero
- "Fish Fry"
- "Blood Loss"
- "A Little Help from Some Friends"
- "The Impossible Mission"
- "A Minor Setback"
- "A New Home"
Trivia
- Carrie shares many similarities with Evelyn Sharp/Artemis.
- Both were top students and gymnasts at their respective schools.
- Both are archers.
- Both have a personal grudge of some sorts with Oliver Queen/Green Arrow.
- Both join a team of villains during Season 5.
Behind the scenes
- In the DC comics, Carrie Cutter is the supervillain known as Cupid. She is an enemy of Green Arrow and Black Canary, the former of whom she is obsessed with. Carrie grew insane after volunteering for a top-secret program called Cobalt, which turned her emotions up to the extreme when it came to falling in love. Other effects included memory loss and increased strength.