John Diggle

For the comic book series issue of the same name, see Diggle (issue).

John Diggle
Biological Information
Status	Unknown
General Information
Occupation	Bodyguard Member of Team Arrow (in secret) Vigilante (in secret) Army special forces (formerly) Member of the Suicide Squad (formerly)
Family	Andy Diggle (brother; deceased) Carly Diggle (sister-in-law) A.J. Diggle (nephew) Lyla Diggle (wife) Sara Diggle (daughter) Unnamed (cousin)
Actor	David Ramsey

"Damn it Oliver, you would be dead ten times over if it wasn't for me!"

— Diggle to Oliver^[src]

John Andrew "Dig" Diggle (born c. 1978) or "Johnny" to Lyla, is a bodyguard, ex-soldier and a member of Team Arrow. John is also the older brother of the late Andy Diggle, the brother-in-law of Carly Diggle, the uncle of A.J. Diggle, the bodyguard, chauffeur, partner and good friend of Oliver Queen, a good friend of Felicity Smoak and the late Sara Lance, the husband of Lyla Diggle and the father of Sara Diggle.

As a member of Oliver's team. John is his partner and plays a number of roles including field support, decoy and guidance to Oliver in times of doubt. John has a deep hatred for Floyd Lawton for killing his brother Andy and was on a mission to find him and kill him, though he later became his uneasy comrade as members of A.R.G.U.S.'s Suicide Squad. John was known in the squad under the codename Freelancer.

Biography

Early life

Before he was hired to protect Oliver Queen, he was in the army. While with his unit in Afghanistan, the group ended up in a trap. The men of the unit were all killed, but John killed the entire group of assailants.. After one of his times back home Diggle saw the "ghost" of a fellow soldier who had died, a symptom of survivor's guilt, and only made it go away once he figured out what the ghost was trying to tell him. While in Afghanistan, he married fellow soldier Lyla Michaels. Their marriage fell apart sometime after they returned to the States, and John went back to Afghanistan for his third tour of duty. During his time in Afghanistan Diggle also met Ted Gaynor, a fellow soldier who saved his life from the enemy.

Sometime after divorcing Lyla, during Oliver's third year of going missing, Diggle got a job for personal security with connections from his brother, Andy, guarding Tommy Merlyn's party.

Season 1

Diggle was assigned by Moira to protect Oliver from any future "kidnappings". Oliver however, continuously ditched Diggle to uphold his promise to Robert Queen by targeting The List. Diggle eventually came to know about Oliver's secret and was asked to join him. Reluctant at first, Diggle agreed to do so. Diggle eventually convinced Oliver to branch out on helping people and targeting people not on The List, the first being the Royal Flush Gang.

Later on, when Oliver grew infatuated with Helena Bertinelli, he told Oliver Helena is beyond saving, which proved to be true. Sometime after this, around Christmas, Diggle told Oliver to take a break and spend time with his family. This plan however, was cut short when a new archer threatened to kill innocent people if The Hood did not face him in combat. Diggle eventually rescued Oliver, who was heavily injured and sent him to the hospital with the cover story being Oliver had a motorcycle accident.

Oliver later revealed The List is not entirely composed of one percenters. One of the people on the list was Ted Gaynor, someone Diggle had a rich history with in the military. Diggle and Oliver had a fight about this but eventually learned The List was correct and aided Oliver in killing Ted.

Later on a drug called Vertigo started causing countless deaths and Oliver and Diggle decided to trace the manufacturer using Oliver's Bratva connections. During a meet, Oliver was injected with the Vertigo, impeding his ability to aim with a bow and arrow. They eventually tracked him where the Vertigo was being made but Diggle refused to let Oliver go being he was affected by the drug. Oliver, defiant, went without the bow.

Diggle eventually suspected Moira was caught up in something dangerous and recorded a conversation of her and Malcolm Merlyn. He shared this recording with Oliver and Oliver decided to interrogate Moira as The Hood.

After Oliver was shot and brought to their hideout with the help of Felicity, they treated Oliver overnight.

After Vertigo resurfaced, Oliver attempted to catch The Count, only to be caught and captured by the true manufacturer, his psychiatrist. Diggle eventually tracked down and freed Oliver and killed the doctor.

When the Undertaking was taking place, Diggle helped free Oliver from Malcolm's captivity and helped him take down Merlyn. They also partially succeeded in stoping the Undertaking by disabling one of the earthquake machines.

Season 2

In "City of Heroes", John and Felicity travel by plane to Lian Yu, to convince Oliver to return home. Oliver initially refuses, but he and Felicity convince him not to return as the vigilante, but as Oliver Queen, because he's needed more than ever as his mother's trial is coming up and a takeover of Queen Consolidated is imminent. Later, Oliver finds out that John lied to him, and only wanted him back to catch the group calling themselves, The Hoods. In a board meeting, The Hoods come after Oliver Queen, trying to kill him, but John intervenes. John and Felicity are later left wondering why Oliver avoided attacking The Hoods. Oliver tells them that they aren't considering the body count, Felicity asks him why he cares now, and John realizes it was "since Tommy". Later Oliver, Felicity, and John go to the upgraded HQ to plan to take down The Hoods, who have now captured Thea.

In "Identity", John and Oliver visit the Glades Memorial Hospital, and he tells Oliver how people from the earthquake ended up there. John and Oliver see Sebastian Blood talking to press outside as they leave the hospital. John tells Oliver that Sebastian has very strong opinions and that he believes the Glades have been abandoned, and that no one gives a damn about the people in the Glades. After a quick chat between Oliver and Sebastian, they leave, with some of the protesters becoming violent. Later, John and Oliver, as The Hood, take on China White and Bronze Tiger. John drives away in one of the trucks, but is soon after attacked by China White, and they face off. As China White gains the upper hand, Oliver shoots a trick arrow at her, pinning her to a nearby pole.

In "Broken Dolls",

In "Crucible",

In "League of Assassins",

In "Keep Your Enemies Closer", it is revealed that Lyla Michaels and John met in Afghanistan, and then got married. At the end of John's second tour, they rotated back Stateside, where their marriage could not survive the peace, and they divorced. John went back to Afghanistan for a third tour, while Lyla joined A.R.G.U.S. In the episode, Lyla is missing in Russia, having been captured during an intel operation in a Russian gulag. John is recruited to break her out, because A.R.G.U.S. does not have sufficient resources for the operation, and her superiors already consider her disavowed and dead. Oliver and Anatoly arrange to get John arrested and sent to the prison, where he finds Deadshot, whom he teams up with to break Lyla out of jail. Afterwards, John chooses to spare Deadshot's life rather than kill him in cold blood. In return, he is informed that an organization called H.I.V.E. hired Deadshot to kill his brother Andy. After returning to the States, John and Lyla rekindle their relationship.

In "State v. Queen", John collapses after being unknowingly dosed with Vertigo. He is taken to the Arrowcave to recover. While recuperating, he and Felicity deduce that Count Vertigo is distributing the drug to the citizenry of Starling City through flu vaccination trucks.

In "The Scientist",

In "Three Ghosts", John goes on a recon mission to gather information about Cyrus Gold. Cyrus finds him and overpowers him in a brief confrontation, but John manages to escape.

In "Blast Radius",

In "Blind Spot",

In "Tremors", When Oliver revealed his identity to Roy, he remained skeptical about Oliver's choice. However he later welcomes Roy onto the team.

In "Heir to the Demon",

In "Time of Death", While Felicity was growing jealous of Sara, Diggle comforted her with little success. Later he went out with the rest of Team Arrow to stop William Tockman. After being told that the pressure valves would destroy three city blocks, he managed to cool them down just in time.

In "The Promise", Diggle and the rest of Team Arrow went to take down Slade at the Queen Mansion. After Oliver got him outside, he was knocked unconscious by an unknown accomplice before he could take the shot. Slade later assures Oliver that he is alive for now. 

In "Suicide Squad", John and Lyla are recruited by Amanda Waller to lead the Suicide Squad on a mission to destroy a nerve gas in the possession of Gholem Qadeer. John argues with Lyla about Waller's methods when the A.R.G.U.S. director kills Shrapnel for attempting to flee the mission. He is disgusted by Waller's callous disregard for the lives of her agents, while Lyla supports her boss. He manages to get an invitation to a party at Qadeer's mansion, which Deadshot uses to infiltrate the premises and locate the nerve gas. When A.R.G.U.S. sends a drone to destroy the mansion, John persuades Deadshot not to sacrifice himself for the mission. He persuades the guests to leave by denouncing Qadeer in front of them, and he, Lyla, and the squad flee. He later reconciles with Lyla, saying that she is more important to him than sticking rigidly to his principles. In a flashback sequence, John is seen serving as a soldier in Afghanistan. He helps capture Gholem Qadeer and saves his life when their group is attacked. He is also seen meeting Lyla for the first time.

In "Birds of Prey",

In "Deathstroke",

In "The Man Under the Hood", John along with Sara, Oliver and Felicity broke into Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division. Working to get everyone in outside before they set off the bombs. When Oliver went to kill Slade Wilson Diggle backed him up by shooting Isabel before she can kill Oliver.

In "Seeing Red",

In "City of Blood", Diggle and Felicity attended Moira Queens funeral. Afterwards they continued to search for Oliver. They were forced to go to Amanda Waller for help. Later he along with Oliver, Felicity and Laurel went to cripple Slade Wilson's army. He was about to set of the charges before Isabel Rochev stopped him and threatened to kill him.

In "Streets of Fire",

In "Unthinkable",

Return of the Church of Blood

After The Arrow and Roy grappled on to a drug plane, Felicity attempted to hack the plane's Wi-Fi, though when she couldn't get a clean signal, Diggle suggested "plan B", namely invading the plane and placing an auto-pilot device in the cockpit. However, while they were doing so, Roy was shot by one of the men they had not knocked out. As he fell from the plane, Oliver suggested Dig prep for surgery. When they returned to the foundry they performed the surgery. Deciding that all they could do was wait, Dig left to tend to a pregnant Lyla.

Sometime later, Dig went to visit Lodai, their supplier. He commented on Lodai's paranoid guards, and promised to bring more money for the goods "next time", a claim that Lodai had heard numerous times. He called Oliver to update them, mentioning how their transactions were much easier when Oliver was a billionaire.

Following her run-in with a member of the Church of Blood, Laurel returned to the base to tell the team of her news regarding a resurfaced Brother Blood. Despite the original Brother Blood, Sebastian Blood, being dead, Diggle suggested Oliver go check out St. Walker's Church, an abandoned orphanage that Sebastian had been raised in. After Oliver didn't check in, Dig went to provide backup. He attempted to enter the church, but was distracted by a follower, only for another to come up behind and knock him out, identifying Diggle as one of the two people Brother Blood had been looking for. Diggle was then taken to Brother Blood himself. Blood revealed his identity as Clinton Hogue. He began questioning John as to why he was inquiring in to Sebastian Blood, but was interrupted by The Arrow. Dig was untied and they ran off, running in to some more followers. Oliver threw down a flechette that caused an eruption of smoke, allowing them to climb to their safety. Once they reached the surface, some Vertigo that had entered Oliver's system began acting, causing him to believe Diggle was various ghosts of people gone by. The two began fighting and Oliver gave Diggle a number of bruises and bad injuries. However, he was able to hobble away to Verdant, where he was found by Sara Lance. He was taken inside before she left to find Oliver. He explained what had happened while they placed Oliver on to a bed. Once Oliver woke up, he apologised for giving Diggle the injuries, before running a blood test and finding traces of mushrooms in Oliver's system.

Diggle returned home, where Lyla told him of her mission to Kahndaq. He refused to let her go, instead suggesting that he should go. She was happy with the deal, but let him know that he'd be going with the Suicide Squad. He called Oliver to check in and let him know he'd be going before meeting up with the rest of the Squad. They headed out to Kahndaq, during which time Diggle met Ravan Nassar. When they arrived, they all parachuted to the ground. They headed in to a city, where they disguised themselves (except for Deadshot, who scoped from afar). Before someone could be executed, Deadshot shot him and the rest began eliminating Onslaught members. As they began to escape, a truck blew up due to an IED from Ravan. Dig was annoyed as they had no way to Onslaught leader Khem-Adam, but they managed to find a survivor to interrogate. Inside a building in the city, Diggle ate some food provided by an old man, while the others interrogated the captured man downstairs. He headed downstairs and stopped them from torturing him, instead talking it out. The man revealed Khem-Adam's location in the Ahk-Ton Desert. They headed out on camels, before they blew through a side of the Amon-Shu Caves. They began eliminating Onslaught members, while Ravan and Diggle helped to rescue the kidnapped girls. Khem-Adam was taken by The Canary and Nyssa al Ghul, and the Suicide Squad headed back to America, burying Ben Turner in the Ben Turner in the Iron Heights cemetery.

Caleb Green's vengeance on Oliver Queen

Dig soon returned home, meeting Felicity and Roy in the base. He claimed to feel like sleeping for a whole week on Oliver's bed, but they were interrupted by the news, on which Oliver, masked, was fighting a man in the streets. Before they could be caught by the police, Diggle suggested that Roy use a grappling arrow to climb up the building. They did so, but were soon caught by police. However, Felicity was able to intervene, impersonating a police chief. They returned to the foundry, where Diggle joked about Oliver wanting a new look with the hockey mask, refusing the cover himself. They soon discovered the identity of the man, Caleb Green, and his motives. After Oliver decided that the only course of action was to return to Lian Yu, John was in disbelief.

Season 3

Diggle's daughter, Sara.

Diggle assisted The Arrow and Roy in the field as they captured Vincent Stilgrave. Later he got into a heated argument with Oliver, who forbid Diggle from putting his life in danger as he's about to become a father. When Oliver visited Diggle and Lyla in the hospital, Diggle admitted that Oliver was right that he should be with his daughter.

Despite being told to be with his family, Diggle told Oliver he will help go after the man who killed Sara. Diggle had the belief it was a member of the League of Assassins who killed Sara but was told they'd never go after their own kind. Given access by Lyla, Diggle used A.R.G.U.S. in search of possible suspects for Sara's murder, to which he found Simon Lacroix, a mercenary archer who wears a full face mask. At Sara's burial, Diggle informed Laurel that he and Lyla decided too name their baby Sara, to which Laurel was thankful to hear. After hearing Simon Lacroix wasn't Sara's murderer, Diggle told Oliver he'll stay until the killer is caught.

Lyla asked Diggle to follow Oliver to Corto Maltese and check up on an agent, Mark Shaw. Diggle made contact with Shaw and verified his identity with a security key that contained the identities of all A.R.G.U.S. operatives and their families, only for Shaw to double-cross him and steal the key in order to sell it. Diggle and Oliver inform Lyla and she teold them to wait while she sends an A.R.G.U.S. tactical team to handle the situation. However, they ignored her and attacked Shaw as he met with his buyers. Enraged, Diggle chased down Shaw, beat him, and demanded to know what gave Shaw the right to endanger his family by selling the key. Shaw replied that it was his only escape from A.R.G.U.S. and Amanda Waller, who he felt had taken over his life. Later, when Diggle returned to his family, Lyla said she had to go to A.R.G.U.S. to report to Waller, and Diggle looked briefly troubled.

After Nyssa returned and announced Malcolm is still alive, Diggle asked what her source was. Later Diggle along with Nyssa and the team went to Ken Zhi Jansen's temple though Diggle only found his grave. After Oliver tagged Malcolm with a tracker, he was told to track Malcolm and was told that even an idiot could run it. Later, Oliver had Diggle secure the perimeter as Oliver couldn't risk Thea seeing him.

When Brother Eye shut down the power in Starling City, John arrived by Verdant to go down the arrowcave though he had to bring his child as Lyla was out on a mission and the nanny called in sick. Oliver told Diggle he wasn't comfortable with a baby down in the cave. John left his child in the care of Donna Smoak. When Oliver was worried Felicity was taking too long, Diggle told Oliver that an A.R.G.U.S. agent dropped by not to long ago to pick up his child and that he'd tell him to go back and check on them. Diggle later arrived to stop Brother Eye from robbing the truck of cash.

Diggle, Oliver, and Roy looked for a drug dealer under the alias of "Pakko", where they found the word "Guilty" written with blood. Diggle later believed that Ted Grant was the culprit despite Laurel vouching for him. After Roy revealed his nightmares which he believed was true, Diggle stopped him when he tried to leave though Oliver told Diggle to let him go. Diggle later told Oliver that he should cut Roy loose as he believes he isn't fit to be on the team, believing he really did murder Sara. Diggle and Oliver later went to rescue Laurel and Ted, who were kidnapped by Isaac Stanzler. Diggle later pulled Ted out of the car, who went unconscious briefly went Laurel lost control of the car.

He later helped Oliver as Felicity was gone and a mysterious archer had killed Isaac Stanzler with an arrow with a spade-shaped point. Oliver was frustrated with Felicity hooking up with Palmer. John talked with him about it. Oliver discovered a small letter in the arrow that had killed Isaac Stanzler. The address of an apartment was in it. The two of them broke into the apartment and searched it. Surprised, they noticed there were articles of newspapers on the walls about the arrow. There was even a shrine where arrows of Oliver's were displayed. Without their knowledge, a red-haired woman was watching them from a nearby building. Oliver realized the spade arrow was actually a heart. Carrie called them with a cell phone that was laying on the table. She told Oliver she wanted to be with him and then send him a picture of a mob boss with a bomb vest she wanted to kill. Felicity identified the uknown woman as Carrie Cutter a former SWAT officer. John stayed at Verdant as Roy and Oliver went to Sherwood to confront Carrie and free the mob boss. John found out Carrie had been obsessed with a former Colleague and had received therapy from a psychiatrist. John tried to comfort Oliver and invited them to diner with him and Lyla. John later found out Carrie had killed a hacker and learned that he had made a algorithm for her that traced the Arrow his activities back to Verdant. He quickly informed Oliver after which he looked for Thea to protect her. Oliver went back and called her and managed to agree a meeting with her and made her leave the club. John and Felicity were following Oliver through his earpiece as he went to the place he first saved her. They heard the conversation through Oliver his earpiece as he tried to convince Carrie he could not be with anyone. Carrie called him a liar and attacked him. She made both of them fall down into a train tunnel which disrupted the signal of Oliver his earpiece. Diggle and Felicity were no longer able to follow Oliver his signal as he was down below. Oliver got defeated by Carrie who cuffed him. Carrie wanted both of them to get run over by a train in an attempt to be together in death. Oliver managed to dislocate his thumb and pulled both of them away from the speeding train. John was relieved learning Oliver had survived and he later told him Carrie had joined the Suicide Squad. John told him he knew Carrie could notice it when people lie and said that perhaps Oliver was lying to himself when saying he could not be with someone. John invited Oliver for a late dinner and was joined by Oliver and Roy just as they begun.

Diggle later joins Team Arrow, excluding Roy, to Central City to determine who committed a homicide involving a boomerang, given that the boomerang is made of iron oxide, which is highly abundant in Central City. When Oliver returned to their hideout, Diggle was startled by the sudden appearance of Barry, who had gained superspeed and was calling himself the Flash. The only things Diggle could say was how fast Barry had become and that he had a cousin who developed a stutter after being struck by lightning. Barry suggested they team up to find their boomerang murderer and to catch Roy Bivolo, a metahuman who could induce rage in people. As Barry carried Felicity all the way to STAR Labs to analyze the boomerang, a perplexed Diggle asks Oliver how he isn't freaked out by Barry's abilities. He still brings it up while waiting in the truck as Oliver searches the warehouse where Bivolo was last holed up, though Oliver assures him that Barry is still the same person they met a year ago. Later, after Barry becomes affected by Bivolo's powers and Dr. Harrison Wells subsequently deduces Oliver's identity as the Arrow, Diggle joins the others at STAR Labs. Cisco boasts that he suspected Oliver as one of the many he theorized to be the Arrow. After Wells and Joe West snap Barry out of his rage, he and Oliver captured Bivolo and imprison him in STAR Labs' Pipeline. Afterwards, Team Arrow parts ways with Team Flash.

A week later, Diggle keeps watch on a neighbourhood where their boomerang suspect is held up while Oliver and Roy storm his hideout. Sadly, their man had already left and the pair are confronted by an ARGUS squad, revealing that the murder victim was an ARGUS agent. Though ARGUS told them to let this go, Oliver refused to. Diggle was sent to Lyla to find out who the culprit is, expecting that she would remain tight-lipped. Though Lyla insisted that ARGUS had it handled, the boomerang killer attacks ARGUS, forcing Diggle to call Oliver. They managed to drive the attacker away with the sudden appearance of the Flash. Under pressure from Oliver, Lyla identifies the man as Digger Harkness, an ex-ASIS agent who was recruited into the Suicide Squad, only to go rogue after a mission in Tanzania went south and Lyla ordered the Squad's termination, only for Harkness' bomb to malfunction. Returning to the Arrowcave to safeguard Lyla, with pieces of Harkness' boomerangs, Teams Arrow and Flash agree to another team-up. Barry then quickly reassembles the boomerangs and Cisco identifies their manufacturer, Klaus Markos. Barry later consulted with Quentin on Markos' last known whereabouts. As the team prepared to infiltrate Markos' hideout, Diggle was assigned to guard the perimeter due to his concern for Lyla. The only thing the raid produced was a cellphone, which Felicity used to track Harkness. But upon arriving at his hideout, they only find his cellphone, revealing Harkness had played them. They returned to the Arrowcave, only to find that Harkness had found the place by tracking the cellphone, his attack leaving Lyla critically wounded. Barry quickly rushed her to the hospital. While the rest of the team tracked down Harkness, Diggle remained by her side until she regained consciousness. He then proposed to her.

In "Left Behind", Diggle dons Oliver's costume after the latter disappears fighting Ra's al-Ghul and masquerades as the Arrow in order to make it appear that the vigilante is still protecting Starling. He advises Felicity to prepare for the possibility that Oliver is dead. He then goes on a mission to prevent Brick from seizing police evidence that is being used to keep many of Starling's criminals in jail, during which he ends up facing off with Brick himself. Despite shooting Brickwell directly in the head, he is savagely beaten before Arsenal intervenes. Afterwards, he discovers that Felicity let Brickwell escape with the evidence in order to save him and Roy, and angrily protests that she had no right to make that decision without their consent. When Malcolm Merlyn gives Team Arrow proof that Oliver indeed died at Ra's' hands, Diggle insists on continuing Oliver's work without him; Felicity disagrees and says that there is no point in continuing. Diggle later speaks with Laurel, reflecting on his relationship with Oliver and admitting that he still thought of himself as Oliver's bodyguard, saying that he had failed to protect him.

Personality

Contrary to his seemingly tough exterior, John is a very perceptive and wise individual, being the first to notice that something was different about Oliver Queen after he came back from the Lian Yu. This was what prompted Oliver to have him as his comrade. John hated personal security because he was simply serving spoiled rich kids instead of making a difference in the military. This was what inspired him want to join Oliver Queen's crusade after a conversation with his sister-in-law Carly Diggle made him realize Oliver was making a difference and was offering him a chance to do the same.

Since becoming Oliver's first partner, John has provided Oliver with a greater sense of direction, such as when he suggests tracking down other dangerous individuals and saving and helping other people from danger instead of hunting down the men in his father's book. John also seems to fully be aware of his place. When Oliver agreed to help catch the Royal Flush Gang, something John barely convinced him to do, he didn't argue against Oliver breaking into the police station to gather the necessary information despite his obvious discomfort with the idea when he plainly stated "Please tell me you're not going where I think you're going" and left it at that. He also provides Oliver with wise counsel, even if Oliver doesn't agree with him sometimes. He is also seen to be very good friends with Felicity Smoak and the two seem to have a sibling-like relationship.

Due to his time in the military, John is a disciplined and level-headed person who tries to approach everything with a calm demeanor, even in times of crisis. He has a sense of justice and honor, and is extremely loyal to the people he cares about, particularly his ex-wife Lyla Michaels whom he decides to remarry. Later on Lyla gives birth to his baby daughter whom is named Sara in honor of John's good friend Sara Lance.

John is also able to isolate his emotions from his ability to think logically from his time in the military. Instances where he does otherwise occur when Floyd Lawton is involved once it's revealed to him Lawton killed his brother. In spite of this, he refused to let that get in the way of his principles of never leaving a man behind when they were partnered together in Task Force X. He also tried to talk Lawton out of his death wish while on a suicide mission from the Suicide Squad by bringing up his daughter Zoe Lawton, and the chance to see her again one day, succeeding in doing so. He also later confessed Lawton, the man who killed his brother showed much more character than Amanda Waller, the woman supposedly protecting the United States did during that mission. Because of this, he sometimes serves as the voice of reason for Oliver who, sometimes being very impulsive isn't thinking his actions thoroughly.

John's continued work with Lawton as well as the fact that Lawton has a daughter, to whom he provides money for with his job has had John experience a change of view of him, considering him something of a friend, or at the very least, a comrade. When Lawton sacrificed himself during the mission in Kasnia, so he and Lyla could return to their daughter, John made peace with Lawton's memory sharing a drink with Oliver with a toast, "to Lawton".

John viewed Oliver as a close friend, almost like a brother, and even had him as his best man at his wedding. However, when Oliver became Al-Sah-Him and kidnapped Lyla right in front of his daughter, their relationship became heavily strained, angering him to the point where he nearly beat a criminal to death. Despite Oliver attempting to explain to him that it was a ruse, John still is disgusted by his actions.

Abilities

• Peak of human physical condition: As a former soldier, bodyguard and vigilante John is shown to be in top physical condition. He engages regularly in intense exercises and spars with Oliver Queen in the Foundry during his spare time.
• Extensive military training: John is well-trained in the armed forces disciplines, and has mentioned that he was once a part of Special Forces. He has considerable experience in live combat, having done three tours in Afghanistan.
• Expert hand-to-hand combatant: John is a skilled fighter, having developed his skills during his time as a soldier. He is skilled enough to match China White in combat and keep up with Oliver during their sparring sessions.
• Weapons proficiency: John can handle most type of firearms, having been trained in the army. He is proficient enough in handling small caliber to high caliber firearms such as an assault rifle, grenade launcher or a sniper rifle. He is also capable of handling Oliver's bow and arrows, although not being as effective and efficient.
• Expert marksman/Firearms: As a former soldier John is shown to be skilled with firearms.
• Expert stick fighter: John is shown to be an expert stick fighter. He wields an extendable baton as CQC weapon. He regularly trains with Oliver using sticks. In a training session, he and Oliver teamed up in a practice fight with Sara Lance.
• Skilled swordsman: Despite never been seen training with swords, John was able to defend himself for a while against Oliver in a sword duel.
• Expert archer: John is shown to be an expert archer, he is very proficient in archery when he posed as The Arrow, however, John's archery skills are not at Oliver's level.
• Expert military operator: As an ex-Special Forces soldier, John is well-versed in intelligence gathering, decoding ciphers and other coded messages, infiltration, and espionage.
• Bilingualism: John is capable of fluently speaking English and Arabic.
• Expert tactician/Leader: Due to his time in the military and with Team Arrow, John is an expert at formulating plans and executing them.
• Skilled pilot: John was trained to fly helicopters during his time as a soldier, and used this training to transport Arsenal and Black Canary during Danny Brickwell's takeover of the Glades.

Equipment

• Guns/Firearms: John primarily makes use of a pistol, wielding it quite effectively. He also is proficient in using assault rifles, sniper rifles, explosives and grenade launchers.
• Flick knife: Along with his sidearm, John also carries a small flick knife.
• Telescopic baton: John has also been shown to use a telescopic baton, specifically fighting Ravager.
• Ski mask: Although Diggle does missions with Oliver's team without a mask, he sometimes uses a ski mask to conceal his identity.

Appearances

Arrow

Season 1 "Pilot" "Honor Thy Father" "Lone Gunmen" "An Innocent Man" "Damaged" "Legacies" "Muse of Fire" "Vendetta" "Year's End" "Burned" "Trust but Verify" "Vertigo" "Betrayal" "The Odyssey" "Dodger" "Dead to Rights" "The Huntress Returns" "Salvation" "Unfinished Business" "Home Invasion" "The Undertaking" "Darkness on the Edge of Town" "Sacrifice" Season 2 "City of Heroes" "Identity" "Broken Dolls" "Crucible" "League of Assassins" "Keep Your Enemies Closer" "State v. Queen" "The Scientist" "Three Ghosts" "Blast Radius" "Blind Spot" "Tremors" "Heir to the Demon" "Time of Death" "The Promise" "Suicide Squad" "Birds of Prey" "Deathstroke" "The Man Under the Hood" "Seeing Red" "City of Blood" "Streets of Fire" "Unthinkable" Season 3 "The Calm" "Sara" "Corto Maltese" "The Magician" "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak" "Guilty" "Draw Back Your Bow" "The Brave and the Bold" "The Climb" "Left Behind" "Midnight City" "Uprising" "Canaries" "The Return" (flashbacks) "Nanda Parbat" "The Offer" "Suicidal Tendencies" "Public Enemy" "Broken Arrow" "The Fallen" "Al Sah-him" "This Is Your Sword" "My Name Is Oliver Queen"

The Flash

Season 1

• "Flash vs. Arrow"
• "Who is Harrison Wells?" (mentioned)
• "Grodd Lives" (mentioned)
• "Rogue Air" (mentioned)

Comics

Arrow

• "Time's Arrow"
• "Detour"

Arrow: Season 2.5

• "Return"
• "Descent"
• "Acolyte"
• "Ascension"
• "Following"
• "Outnumbered"
• "Awakenings"
• "Gone"
• Blood part 11
• Blood part 12
• "Assault" Suicide Squad: Crisis in Kahndaq
• "Assurances" (mentioned)
• "Echo"
• "Vengeance"

Behind the scenes

• His surname Diggle is likely named after Andy Diggle, the author of Green Arrow: Year One, upon which Arrow's first season is largely based, as is his brother who bears the exact name.
• John Diggle was later adapted to the mainstream Green Arrow comics starting with Issue 24 of the current series.

Gallery

Promotional images

Season 1

Season 2