Digger Harkness, nicknamed Captain Boomerang by Cisco Ramon, is a boomerang-wielding mercenary and a member of the Suicide Squad.
Biography
Digger Harkness was a member of ASIS specializing in weapons and technology. However he went rogue and started selling his services to the highest bidder after which he got captured by A.R.G.U.S. Because of his skills he got recruited for the Suicide Squad.
Member of the Suicide Squad
Harkness was once a member of the Suicide Squad. During an operation in Tanzania, the team was facing the warlord outgunned, so Lyla Michaels gave the call to kill them all. However, Harkness' explosive in his neck malfunctioned and didn't kill him.[1] After this he developed a grudge against Lyla, who had killed his team and tried to take his life.
Revenge on Lyla Michaels
Several years later, as an A.R.G.U.S. agent, Kai Wu, walked in an alley, Digger approached him and threw his boomerang, killing the man.[2] He then stole the man's identity card.
Oliver Queen and Roy Harper investigated his house which was wired with explosives. An intervention team of A.R.G.U.S showed up as well. However, Harkness had left moments before. He used the identity card to get access to A.R.G.U.S where he quickly killed the security guards trying to stop him. Confronting Lyla Michaels, John Diggle and a squad of agents a huge firefight erupted where he used his boomerangs to corner Lyla and Diggle. Arsenal and The Arrow showed up and fought him. He was able to hold his own and almost hit Oliver with a boomerang when it got caught by The Flash. Surprised, he detonated a smoke bomb and quickly escaped the place.
Team Arrow protected Lyla and tracked down his supplier. Expecting them to come after his supplier of boomerangs, he gave the cellphone used to contact him to a Russian mobster in a bar. He then traced the cellphone of his supplier back to the Arrowcave and sneaked in while Diggle, Barry, Roy and Oliver were gone. Confronting Lyla, he got in a firefight with her, managing to throw a boomerang into her chest. Felicity threw a explosive at him which forced him to retreat.
Believing Lyla was dead, he planted five bombs over Starling City and planned to leave by train. Suddenly, all the passengers disappeared in a blur and Arrow and The Flash were confronting him. He told them about the bombs and then activated them hoping he could escape. However, Arrow fought him while the Flash and Team Arrow dealt with the bombs. After a fierce fight he got ultimately beat and pinned to the wall by arrows. He mocked Arrow and told him he would never tell him how to disarm the bombs. Disappointed, he realized the bombs had been disarmed already. He then mocked Arrow, stating that his refusal to kill him makes him weak. Oliver retorts that it means he still has some humanity left. As Arrow turned his back, Harkness reached for a boomerang, but Arrow shot him through the hand. He was later imprisoned in the A.R.G.U.S. supermax on Lian Yu.
Return to the Squad
Harkness was later among the Suicide Squad when they watched The Flash take on the meta-human known as King Shark. Waller told him and the rest of the members of the squad to suit up, at they were going in to stop the shark.[3] They arrived outside of the man's former apartment and Harkness tried to do his part to take him down by throwing a boomerang at him. However, the shark simply bit the boomerang in half.[4]
Personality
Digger Harkness is a man that betrayed ASIS to make money. After his capture he agreed to work in the Suicide Squad. However, he became furious when Lyla killed his team and tried to finish him off.
Bound on revenge, Harkness is highly motivated to kill her and talked about the boomerang as a metaphor that everything comes back at you sooner or later. He is convinced that the end justified the means and even planted bombs in the city and risked the lives of countless people to escape. He mocked Oliver for his humanity and said he did not have what it takes to stop extreme people like him.
Captain Boomerang is one of the few foes to ever tactically outsmart the Arrow.
Abilities
- Master boomerang thrower: Harkness is a master at throwing his edged boomerangs and is able to hit moving targets with incredible precision. During firefights and combat he uses the ability of the boomerang to fly back to throw it over the cover of his opponent and then strike them in the back.
- Master hand-to-hand combatant: Harkness is a master at hand-to-hand combat. Using his edged boomerangs as close quarter weapons he was able to cut down multiple armed guards in mere seconds. He was even able to fight both Arsenal and The Arrow simultaneously knocking Roy down and almost hitting Oliver.
- Master tactician: Harkness is a great tactician. He was able to use his knowledge of A.R.G.U.S to break in and almost kill Lyla. He was able to lure Team Arrow away from the Arrowcave to get close to an unprotected Lyla. He used bombs in an effort to get away from Starling City.
- Demolition expert/Explosives: Harkness is highly skilled with explosives.
- Skilled technology user: Harkness was able to track the Arrowcave using the signal from mobile phone that he left to Klaus Markos.
Equipment
- Boomerangs: Harkness used edged boomerangs to take out his targets. In close combat he used them like cutting weapons. He also has boomerangs that are made to explode on impact from C4 in specialized grooves, acting like grenades.
- Smoke Bombs: Harkness used a smoke bomb to quickly escape.
- Bombs: Harkness used bombs to wire his apartment and planted five of them in Starling City.
Appearances
Arrow
Season 3
- "Draw Back Your Bow"
- "The Brave and the Bold"
- "The Return" (mentioned)
Comics
The Flash: Season Zero
- "Fish Fry"
- "Blood Loss"
Behind the scenes
- In the comics, "Digger" is simply a nickname, his real name being George Harkness. In Arrow, it appears that Digger is his actual name.
- Equally, in the comics, Harkness is often a somewhat buffoonish figure, whereas here he is a clear and deadly threat to The Arrow and The Flash alike.