- For other uses of Dark Archer, see Dark Archer (disambiguation).
Tommy Merlyn (died October 2019) was a criminal known as the Dark Archer, the son of Malcolm Merlyn, the step-son of the late Moira Queen and the step-brother of the late Thea Queen.
Biography
Early life
Tommy was good friends with Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance. At some point, his father Malcolm Merlyn was married to Moira Queen.
In 2012, following Thea Queen's overdose from Vertigo, Tommy vowed revenge on the Glades. Due to that, Tommy became a criminal known as the Dark Archer.
At a later point, Tommy recruited police sergeant Dinah Drake and his father's head of security Rene Ramirez to assist him in his plan to destroy the Glades, later dubbed the "Undertaking" by Oliver Queen of Earth-1.
In 2019, he was constantly pursued for months by the Hood and Black Canary, who were unsuccessful at unmasking and/or figuring out his identity.[1]
Oliver's return and downfall
Tommy welcoming Oliver home.
Shortly after Oliver Queen returned from the island, Tommy infiltrated Queen-Merlyn Enterprises to obtain dwarf star particles, a material necessary to power the device that would help his plan come into fruition, killing several scientists in the process. Later, Tommy attacked Oliver while the latter interrogated Malcolm Merlyn with Oliver wrongfully believing Malcolm to be the Dark Archer (like Malcolm's counterpart from Earth-1), although Oliver managed to knock Tommy out after a brief fight and learn the truth of the Dark Archer's identity.[1]
Oliver captured by Tommy.
Tommy later attended his nightclub Verdant along with Oliver but left the scene during the party, prompting Oliver to follow him. Having deduced that Oliver discovered his identity, Tommy had Rene sedate him. Tommy later moved Oliver to his lair and shackled him to ensure that he wouldn't escape. Once Oliver awoke, Tommy explained the reasons for his becoming the Dark Archer, Oliver deducing that it was fueled by grief over Thea's loss and vengeance against the Glades, as he believed that it was responsible for Thea's death. Once Tommy left, Oliver managed to escape, though Tommy was undeterred as keeping Oliver at bay wasn't essential to his plan. Several hours later, Tommy prepared to activate the destructive device, but Oliver stopped him, luring him into another fight mere seconds after the device was activated. Once again, Oliver managed to best Tommy in combat but Tommy revealed that only he knew the code to disable the device and that it was too late. With no other option, Oliver tried reasoning with Tommy, explaining that his methods wouldn't bring Thea back, and Oliver himself could relate to the grief as he had lost many of his loved ones, before ending with a request for Tommy to be a morally good person. Moved by the speech, Tommy disabled the device, revealing his newfound desire to become better, and turned himself into the police. [1]
Tommy consumed by the antimatter.
Oliver, Malcolm, and Moira later visited Tommy at the police department. However, as Oliver prepared to leave, a wave of antimatter engulfed the police station, and all of Earth-2, disintegrating everyone in its path. As Tommy ran out, unsure of what was going on, the antimatter wave hit him, vaporizing and subsequently killing him instantly.[1]
Personality
Tommy initially shared many of the traits that his Earth-1 counterpart was known for, even becoming good friends with the Oliver Queen of his Earth. When Oliver went missing and was declared dead, Tommy was one of the individuals most affected by the ordeal.
After Thea Queen overdosed on her 18th birthday, Tommy's personality shifted entirely, with his developing a cold demeanor and hatred toward the Glades and Starling City as a whole (reminiscent of Malcolm Merlyn following the death of his wife, Rebecca) believing it's hostile and dangerous environment to be the main reason for Thea's death, intensified due to Oliver's absence, Tommy's anger started to take hold in the form of his alter-ego, the Dark Archer, with his emotions consuming him to the point that he was driven to murder innocent individuals. These feelings eventually gave way to madness as he began a plot to destroy the entire Glades (in a plan dubbed "the Undertaking") believing that it would be a benefit to Starling City.
In order to divert suspicion of his activities as the Dark Archer, Tommy developed a façade in his civilian persona, successfully fooling his family and closest friends for many years.
Despite Tommy's numerous negative characteristics, unlike Earth-1 Malcolm, Tommy never fully succumbed to darkness as he was able to finally see reason when Oliver convinced him to change his ways, even going so far as to abandon his plans to destroy the Glades, revealing that his criminal activities was purely out of grief for Thea and Oliver. After preventing the Undertaking from happening, Tommy expressed remorse for his actions and resolved to become a morally good individual once again.
Abilities
- Peak of human physical condition: Tommy was in top physical condition, able to challenge Oliver in battle and survive the beating Oliver put on him without much injury.[1] He was able to catch an arrow shot at him
- Acrobatics: Tommy has shown great feats of agility, even in combat.
- Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Tommy was an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, as his combat skills were proven to be even greater than that of his father's Earth-1 counterpart, being able to fight on par against Oliver Queen (who had been trained by Ra's al Ghul himself) whereas his father's Earth-1 counterpart was easily defeated by Oliver. He was, for quite some time, able to block quite a few of Oliver's blows and land his own along with even disarming him of his bow, before ultimately being beaten despite putting up a considerable fight.[1]
- Master stick-fighter: When he first fought Oliver, Tommy proved able to wield his bow as an improvised quarterstaff with outstanding skill, being able to fight against Oliver using his bow in a similar manner and even disarm him.[1]
- Master swordsman: In his final fight with Oliver, Tommy was able to wield a sword with remarkable skill, able to trade blows against and pressure Oliver for a brief amount of time before being disarmed.[1]
- Master archer: Tommy was shown to be an exceptional archer, able to counter each and every shot fired by Oliver with his own to the point where the arrows collided with one another.[1]
- Master Strategist/tactician/manipulator: Tommy masterminded the Undertaking.
- Stealth: Tommy is trained in stealth. This is seen when he infiltrated Queen-Merlyn Enterprises to steal dwarf star particles, stealthily killing all the guards present. He even managed to get the drop on Green Arrow during their first fight.
- High pain tolerance: Tomy has a high tolerance for pain. He was able to take two beatings from Green Arrow and still got back up.
Equipment
- Dark Archer suit: Tommy wore a suit as his villain alter-ego, the Dark Archer, to hide his identity from his victims.[1]
- Customized PSE X-Force Super Short Short Draw LF Compound Bow: Tommy used the same type of compound bow as his father's Earth-1 counterpart when operating as the Dark Archer.[1]
- Hunting arrows: Tommy used a number of arrows that he utilized as the Dark Archer, often mercilessly firing arrows to kill victims.
- Trick arrows: Tommy used a grappling arrow to escape from Green Arrow during their first fight.
- Sword: Tommy used a sword, resembling a scimitar, as his main weapon of choice in close-quarters combat.
Appearances
Arrow
Season 8
- "Starling City"
- "Welcome to Hong Kong" (mentioned)
Behind the scenes
- In DC Comics, specifically the Prime Earth continuity, Tommy Merlyn was Oliver's best friend who later became a mercenary archer known alternatively as Merlyn or the Dark Archer.
- Tommy is the second multiversal iteration of Tommy Merlyn to appear and have a villainous alter ego, with his Earth-X counterpart first. Interestingly, both versions of Tommy took on personas that previously existed on Earth-1 but were donned by another civilian, with Tommy-X and Adrian Chase taking on the alter ego Prometheus and Tommy-2 and Malcolm Merlyn taking on the alter ego Dark Archer.
References
| Other versions of Tommy Merlyn (Earth-2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To see other versions of this character, click the Earth name below for that Earth's counterpart of Tommy Merlyn. | ||||
| New multiverse | ||||
| Earth: Prime | ||||
| Original multiverse | ||||
| Earth: 1 • 2 • X | ||||
| Transmultiversal multiverse | ||||
| Earth: | ||||