Will Harper


 * This article is about the Cadmus created clone. For the original sidekick of Green Arrow, see Arsenal.

Red Arrow (real name Roy Harper) is a superhero archer from Star City. His alias was Speedy whilst partnered with Green Arrow, but became Red Arrow after his separation from his former mentor.

He is a Cadmus-created clone of the original Roy Harper, and unwittingly served as the Light's sleeper agent to infiltrate the Justice League. He later married Cheshire, and they have a child together, named Lian Nguyen-Harper.

Personality
As part of his programming, Roy's personality is in sharp contrast to that of his former mentor, Green Arrow. Unlike Green Arrow's lax and friendly disposition, Roy was far more serious and is not at all tolerant of juvenile acts. He was fiery and short-tempered. He also detested being called a sidekick and snapped at anyone who calls him one.

Out of the original four teenage pupils, Roy was the most brash and outspoken.

After he found out he was a clone, Roy's life collapsed. He felt himself an empty carbon copy of the original, not worthy of attention or care. He allowed himself, and his relationship with Cheshire, to deteriorate because of his search for Speedy. Cheshire's revelation that he had a daughter gave his life meaning again, and he regained part of his former character.

Physical appearance
Roy has auburn hair with blue eyes. He is tall in stature, around the same height as Aqualad. Due to his rigorous training with Green Arrow, he has become very muscular, most noticeably on his upper body. Because of his rather serious personality, it is uncommon for him to ever smile, instead a frown or a deadpan look being his standard facial expression.

While under the guise of Speedy, he donned a yellow sixteenth century-style hat complete with feather, yellow gloves, boots, belt and a red suit. He later abandoned the hat after quitting as Green Arrow's partner.

After re-branding himself as Red Arrow, the suit itself was redesigned. It is predominantly black, with a red chest and collar. His quiver is now attached with two gray shoulder straps connected across the chest, and his black gloves are fingerless.

By 2016, Roy's depression had led to a lack of grooming, sleeping and training, resulting in him losing noticeable muscle, gaining dark circles under his eyes, growing his hair shaggy, and sporting a stubble on his chin. With Cheshire's help, he started working on his body and skills again. He also shaved the stubble off and cut his hair back to his previous style.

Early life
Soon after Roy Harper became Speedy, he was captured by Luthor's men when investigating his dealings with North Rhelasia, and cloned by Cadmus. The clone was implanted with the memories and abilities of the original Speedy as well as a subconscious mission to join the Justice League. Cadmus then laid breadcrumbs for Green Arrow to find; after three months, he was led to Speedy, but was unaware of the switch.

July 2010
Speedy and Green Arrow responded to Icicle Jr.'s attack on a suspension bridge in Star City. Eventually, Speedy knocked him out with a trick arrow. Green Arrow joked about Icicle's glass jaw, but an unamused Speedy was more focused on heading to the Hall of Justice. He was ready to become a full-fledged member of the League.

Green Arrow took Speedy to the Hall of Justice, where they joined Batman, Robin, Flash, Kid Flash, Aquaman and Aqualad. Inside, Green Arrow and the other members of the League were called into a meeting. Speedy immediately sensed something amiss, and became infuriated when it turned out to be little more than a "glorified backstage pass". He revealed that Green Arrow had told him all about the League's real base, the Watchtower, and tried to get the others to see his point of view. When this failed, Speedy quit, throwing down his hat and storming out of the Hall of Justice to become his own man.

He subsequently returned to Star City, where he interdicted Brick's shipment of advanced weapons at the docks. News of his new solo act hadn't reached everyone; Brick still believed he worked with Green Arrow. An annoyed Speedy eventually encased him in high-density polyurethane foam. When Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash came to try to convince him to join the Team, he refused. He told them that the Team was a joke and a means by which the Justice League could keep the sidekicks busy and in their place. He wished to have no part in it.

August 2010
After Serling Roquette of Star City's Royal University was kidnapped by the League of Shadows, Red Arrow traveled to Infinity Island to rescue her. He infiltrated the base and successfully rescued her, but not in time to prevent her from completing the Fog for the Shadows.

Hoping to receive help in protecting Roquette, Red Arrow traveled to Mount Justice. He was not pleased to see Green Arrow and his new protégé, Artemis. Roy was distrustful of her, knowing full well that she was not Green Arrow's "niece" as was claimed by both Green Arrow and Artemis. He did not pursue the matter, and eventually gave the assignment to the Team: protecting Roquette in the local High School.

Red Arrow intercepted Artemis when she returned to Gotham City. He confronted her about her "niece" lie, but would keep it a secret as both Batman and Green Arrow would only lie for a very good reason. That would change, however, if she hurt the Team.

September 2010
Roy followed up on a lead that Cheshire was out to disrupt the peace summit between North and South Rhelasia. She was indeed nearby, ready to shoot the independent arbitrator in the gridlocked negotiations as he arrived by car. A well-placed arrow sent the rocket propelled grenade flying up instead. The police arrested both him and Cheshire, but at the behest of the arbitrator, Lex Luthor, Red Arrow was released. Luthor offered to hire him as a bodyguard, but Roy declined any money from him. The bemused Luthor accepted the free offer.

Red Arrow visited Cheshire in jail to interrogate her. He was unsuccessful in getting information, as she only fed him vague answers and teases. When Sportsmaster broke Cheshire out of prison, Red Arrow pursued them across the rooftops. They eventually made it to the escape helicopter. Red Arrow shot an arrow with a line at the departing chopper, but Cheshire cut it off. Red Arrow managed to fire an arrow with a high-density foam tip, to make himself a safe landing site on a rooftop.

He was down, but not out; the arrow he shot at the helicopter had a tracer. He tracked Cheshire and Sportsmaster to the base of the League of Shadows, where he discovered the man behind Luthor's assassination attempt: Ra's al Ghul. However, Ra's was aware that Red Arrow was eavesdropping, and gave instructions to kill him. Cheshire and Sportsmaster engaged Roy, forcing him to flee. Sportsmaster mocked him and called him "Broken arrow", which was one of the code phrases implanted in him by Cadmus. Sportsmaster then programmed additional instructions and removed information from the archer. When it was finished, the fight continued as if nothing happened. Red Arrow was thrown into the moat surrounding the base, and managed to survive an explosive javelin Sportsmaster threw into the water. Safely reaching the other side, the exhausted Red Arrow finally admitted he was out of his league, and contacted Aqualad for help.

Aqualad and Red Arrow joined the peace summit, hoping to foil Cheshire there. She was disguised as a waitress, but was spotted by Aqualad. Together, the two heroes stopped her bomb, but the explosion created a hole in the building allowing Sportsmaster and League of Shadows assassins to join the fray. Leaving Taipei police to deal with the mooks, Red Arrow engaged Cheshire and left Sportsmaster to Aqualad. He activated the sprinkler system by shooting an explosive arrow at the ceiling, allowing Aqualad to clear the room with his Atlantean magic. Although his water dragon took out numerous assassins, Cheshire obscured her and Sportsmaster's escape with a smoke bomb.

When the smoke cleared, a sole assassin leapt over the two heroes, straight for the Rhelasian leaders. They were saved when Mercy shot at the killer with her cybernetic arm. Awed at the technology involved, both Rhelasian leaders signed the peace treaty. Upon reflecting on their successful mission, Red Arrow and Aqualad discussed what had transpired. During his battle against Aqualad, Sportsmaster had revealed that he had a "very inside" source that told him the Team was in Bialya. Aqualad wanted to investigate the matter quietly, over Red Arrow's objections. However, Red Arrow left it at that, and admitted to his friend that the Team now deserves his respect—that was why he called the Cave instead of Green Arrow or the Justice League.

October 2010
Red Arrow helped to ward off a giant plant creature in Star City, alongside Green Arrow and Black Canary. The three heroes were unable to save a bus full of children, but luckily, Guy Gardner caught it in time.

Red Arrow participated in a meeting with Batman, Red Tornado, Robin and Aqualad to determine the identity of the mole within the Team. He trusted Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash, but suspected Artemis, because he knew she was not related to Green Arrow. He also did not trust Miss Martian. The meeting proved inconclusive, however.

December 2010
After secretly observing Green Arrow and Artemis take down Black Spider, Red Arrow grudgingly admitted to his former mentor that she was improving. Their conversation was cut short by the police band, who alerted them to a robbery of a local supermarket. They stopped the robbers together, "for old time's sake". After the criminals were apprehended, Green Arrow explained to Roy that he had been accepted into the Justice League, and would be inducted by the end of the year. But to set a good example, he was urged to join the Team first.

Red Arrow's arrival at the Cave was met with enthusiasm from Kid Flash, but not so much from Artemis. At a time where she already felt insecure about her position in the Team, she felt another archer would make her unneeded.

Green Arrow provided the Team with a mission, and assigned Red Arrow, Kid Flash and Aqualad to track Sportsmaster. Artemis volunteered to go too, despite Green Arrow's concern.

On their way to New Orleans, Red Arrow made it clear to Aqualad that Artemis was still his top suspect as the mole, as she continued to lie about her past.

Red Arrow took the lead in the mission, scouting ahead and following Sportsmaster as he rented a boat and made it to a railroad. He ordered the others to stay at a discreet distance, but Artemis got in close and encountered Cheshire. Red Arrow helped her with the fight, and seeing them together made Cheshire decide to play them against each other. She flirted with Red Arrow as she had before, referring to their encounters as "dates" again. When she knocked him to the ground, she even kissed him passionately to further upset her sister.

Sportsmaster had been listening in on Cheshire's comm link, and made his getaway with a suitcase he was after. Red Arrow planted a tracer on the boat and pursued on his jet ski, but Sportsmaster took him down with explosives and removed the tracker.

Artemis claimed to have put a tracer on Cheshire, and Aqualad and Kid Flash followed that trail. Red Arrow did not trust her, and secretly planted a tracer on Artemis's quiver.

Red Arrow traced the signal on Artemis to a warehouse in the docks of New Orleans. While he investigated the premises, Sportsmaster got ready to ambush him. Luckily for him, Artemis shot an explosive arrow at the door, giving away Sportsmaster's presence. He berated her for not alerting the rest of the Team, and took on Sportsmaster. After Kid Flash joined the fight, Sportsmaster, Cheshire and other villains at the scene turned to ice, allowing their escape.

Red Arrow was not happy the mission was a failure, and knew who to blame: Artemis. He confronted her about the tracer she claimed to have put on Cheshire; it was found on a train wagon. Kid Flash did not take it well, and accused her of envying Red Arrow. As the others left, Red Arrow reminded Artemis he suspected her of being the mole, and this was not over.

Still intent on exposing the mole, Red Arrow joined Robin and his three main suspects—Artemis, Superboy and Miss Martian—investigating a string of robberies in Europe. They went undercover as "The Daring Dangers" in the Haly International Traveling Circus, as robberies coincided with their tour dates.

Robin was right; there was a thief in the circus. He used athletic skills to break in a warehouse, and firebreathing skills to ward off the Team. Red Arrow noted the warehouse was full of ammunition, and made sure everyone evacuated before it collapsed.

As the circus left Bruges, Red Arrow's bossy and accusatory behavior made him clash with the others. Superboy made it clear he did not like Red Arrow, and Artemis urged him to keep an open mind.

In a showdown on top of the train, they discovered the thief was Parasite. He took off with his stolen equipment, and now that he had Kryptonian and Martian powers, made off for Geneva's Large Boson Collider ahead of the train.

At the particle accelerator, Superboy charged into Parasite ahead of plans. After Miss Martian went in too, Red Arrow chose a high position to shoot a foam arrow at their opponent. It didn't work as planned; Parasite used his stolen telekinesis to take away Red Arrow's bow, lift him in the air, and slowly crush him.

Parasite lost his grip on Red Arrow when Artemis shot a gas arrow at him. After it exploded, Roy was free, but since he was in the air, he fell. Though he was out of danger, the fall also took him out of the fight.

When all was over and Parasite arrested, Red Arrow thanked Artemis for saving his life. Working with the Team, he realized Sportsmaster had sent him on a wild goose chase all those months ago: there was no mole in the Team.

On the stairs of the Hall of Justice, Red Arrow, along with fellow heroes Doctor Fate, Plastic Man, Atom, and Icon, was inducted into the Justice League after months of solo work, he was handed his membership card by Green Arrow. Even though he had previously defected from the League on Independence Day, he was just as excited to be a member of the League as he was six months ago. He was led into the Hall of Justice to meet the rest of the Team, only to find the room empty.

During the League's induction party, Red Arrow placed pieces of biologically engineered Starro fragments on each member of the Justice League, making them all slaves of the Light's mind control. As he forced Batman to grant security clearance to Vandal Savage, he was released from the Light's control, and realized that all along, he was the mole. While Vandal was basking in his victory, Red Arrow slipped away and used the zeta-tube to travel to the Hall of Justice.

From the Hall, he headed to the subway under the National Mall. Aquaman, Flash and Green Arrow pursued him, and were his better. His former mentor knocked him off his feet with an explosive arrow and Flash punched him in the face. In an attempt to hit Aquaman, Red Arrow only broke his bow. He used the diversion of a passing train to slip away in a drainage pipe.

From there, he headed to one of his equipment caches, where he laid low. Over seven hours later, Aqualad found him there. Red Arrow did not trust anyone, and wanted to make sure his old friend was not working for the Light. Aqualad put him at ease by telling him something he had told Red Arrow, his love for Tula.

With Red Arrow, the Team reconvened. They used their contacts with Atlantis, Cadmus and Serling Roquette to come up with a cure for the Starro-tech. Red Arrow was vaccinated so further exposure would not affect him.

With the similarly immunized Black Canary and Red Tornado, Red Arrow headed to the Watchtower and pretended to be mind controlled. Klarion saw through it straight away, and ordered Hal Jordan to constrain them. They were given a new chip, but played possum again. When Klarion discovered they had been played again, he summoned Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, John Stewart, Hawkwoman and Wonder Woman to fight the three. Red Arrow managed to take down Martian Manhunter with an incendiary arrow, but was beaten by Batman and knocked unconscious.

January 2011
With the Light defeated, Red Arrow had to come to grips with the fact that his entire life was a lie. Black Canary and Green Arrow tried to console him, but he wouldn't have it. He felt the only thing he could do now was find the real Roy Harper.

2011-2015
Red Arrow continued looking for Speedy, even after the Justice League gave up. The search has consumed his life. He has physically and possibly mentally exhausted himself. His funds dried up, as his search was an expensive one. He married Cheshire, who gave up crime for a while. She left him, eventually, because she thought his search was driving him mad. She didn't tell him about their daughter, Lian.

February 2016
Red Arrow foiled a robbery in progress. The grateful shopkeeper offered him a reward, but Red Arrow declined, claiming that his gratitude was reward enough. Unbeknownst to him, Red Arrow had surreptitiously kept a stack of money. This act was witnessed by Green Arrow, who had been looking for his former sidekick.

While returning to his hideout, Red Arrow was confronted by Green Arrow, Black Canary, Nightwing, Wally West and Jim Harper, the former Guardian. Green Arrow accused him of stealing money from the people he saved, but he countered that searching for Speedy was expensive. Black Canary was aghast at how Red Arrow allowed his previously muscular body and well-honed skills to atrophy, but he brushed off her concerns as well.

The assembled group then attempted to convince Red Arrow to abandon his fruitless search for Speedy. They had searched for years, but finally concluded that the Light didn't keep him alive. Red Arrow would have none of that—he was intent on continuing his search, and suggested that they try to rehabilitate Aqualad instead. He then left for home.

Red Arrow arrived at his derelict hideout, and was accosted by his estranged wife, Cheshire. She wanted him to stop his all-consuming search for Speedy as well. He refused, saying that she lost her right to backseat drive his life when she left him to return to criminal activities.

Cheshire then laid down all her cards. She had given birth to a daughter, Lian Nguyen-Harper, and Roy needed to be a part of her life. He was visibly shocked when she presented the sleeping Lian to him. To help him exorcise Speedy's ghost, Cheshire had called in all her chips. She had a lead—one last chance for Red Arrow to find the original Speedy.

Cheshire's tip brought them all to a Tibetan monastery. After fighting themselves past the guards, Lian laughed; this attracted the attention of every guard in the monastery. Red Arrow stated his original feelings about not bringing her; he thought it would be better to have left Lian with Artemis.

But even all the guards were not enough to stop them. They defeated them, but Red Arrow voiced his concerns about the obvious delight Lian took in watching them beat up the guards. Red Arrow blasted open the door the guards were protecting and found a cryogenic pod. They opened it, and Red Arrow caught Speedy as he fell out of the pod.

Red Arrow took Speedy to the Royal Memorial Hospital in Star City and has been watching over him with his mentor Green Arrow.

March 2016
Roy and Oliver sat at the real Roy's bedside at Royal Memorial Hospital to explain his capture, and the events of the eights years during which he was in captivity. The original Roy thanked his clone for finding him, but snapped at his former mentor for giving up the search for him. Red Arrow left shortly after Ollie, who had gone to the chapel to ponder his errors. As Ollie questioned his ability as a mentor, listing all three of his prior sidekicks as examples of his failure, Red Arrow disagreed with Ollie, and told him the real Roy would eventually realize that too. They returned to the hospital room, only to find the original Roy had escaped the hospital by jumping out a window.

Red Arrow and Green Arrow tracked the original Roy to a weapons cache. The computer at first would not recognize Red Arrow's retina scan, as the real Roy was already inside. After Green Arrow overrode it, they entered, but too late. Roy used the Zeta-Tubes to escape, and left a grenade behind, destroying the tubes. Red Arrow checked the computer to learn where Speedy had gone, and the two of them concluded that he had gone to Metropolis to hunt down Lex Luthor.

Red and Green Arrow arrived at the burning LexCorp building to find that Speedy had not killed Luthor, but instead had bargained for a robotic arm. He rejected the name Speedy, and took the moniker of Arsenal.

Powers and abilities
Like his former mentor, Green Arrow, Speedy/Red Arrow is a master with a bow and arrow.


 * Marksmanship: With an archer's main weapon being the bow and arrow, the aim of the marksman can mean the difference between life and death. Speedy/Red Arrow is a highly skilled marksman, having been trained by the best.
 * Hand to hand combat: Green Arrow undoubtedly trained Speedy/Red Arrow in the basics of hand-to-hand combat should his bow ever fail him. He displayed impressive skill when he knocked out two League of Shadows's assassins guarding Doctor Roquette. He has also managed to go head-to-head with Cheshire and block some of her attacks, though only for a short time.
 * Stealth: Speedy/Red Arrow has shown some level of stealth. He snuck on to Infinity Island without any guards noticing him.

Equipment
Bow and arrow: Like his mentor, Green Arrow, Red Arrow uses a bow and arrow in combat. Red Arrow has been seen utilizing two different types of bows. As Speedy, he used a recurve bow. After assuming the name Red Arrow, he used a new compound bow as well as a redesigned recurve bow. He seems to use them interchangeably and likely for specific purposes, but seems to favor the recurve bow for general usage. When not in use, he would keep his recurve bow over his shoulder. His compound bow can be easily folded and stored in a briefcase.

Trick arrows: Like his former mentor, Red Arrow utilizes many types of trick arrows. He has been shown using the following:
 * Punch arrow: arrows that can "punch" an opponent.
 * Explosive arrow: arrows that explode on impact.
 * Foam arrow: arrows that can release a high-density polyurethane foam to engulf and incapacitate its targets, or create a softer landing.
 * Taser arrow: arrows that can electrocute and knock-out armored soldiers.
 * EMP arrow: arrows that can overwrite the feeds from security cameras.
 * Zip-line arrow: arrows that carry a zip-line, from which he can slide down.
 * Knockout gas arrow: arrows that contain knockout gas in the projectile point.

Green Arrow
Green Arrow was Speedy's mentor. Because of his programming, the clone was headstrong and driven, which lead to Green Arrow seeing him more as a partner than a sidekick. After being denied membership on July 4, he struck out on his own. In actuality, his decision to "go solo" was a subconscious directive from Speedy's Cadmus programming to make himself worthy of Justice League membership. The relationship was eventually salvaged, and they began to work together again.

After Red Arrow was revealed to be a clone, Green Arrow tried to support him, but eventually gave up his protégé's search for the original Speedy. This did not sit well with Red Arrow, who took off on his own. Green Arrow and the others worried for him, and tried their best to get him back on his old level.

Artemis
Artemis replaced Speedy as Green Arrow's protégé. On their first meeting, Red Arrow was not impressed, and immediately knew that Artemis was not Green Arrow's niece, as she and Green Arrow claimed, and later confronted her about this. After Sportsmaster informed him there was a mole on the Team, Artemis was one of his top suspects. He eventually backed down after seeing her in action.

The Team
Due to his Cadmus programming, Roy did not want to join the Team, only the League. He considered the Team only something with which the Justice League kept their protégés in their place. Still, on some level, Roy did consider them his friends, and was intent on protecting them, particularly from their new teammate Artemis. He has called on the Team on occasion, and after being admitted into the Justice League, joined them until his induction.

Cheshire
Although they started off as enemies, Cheshire seemed to have an oddly flirtatious, interest in Red Arrow following their first confrontations. Cheshire took particular amusement in baiting Red Arrow. She would later flirt with him again, now to drive a wedge between him and her sister, by kissing him and making sure she was watching.

Sometime after 2011, they married, though they have since separated. They have a daughter together, Lian.

Background in other media

 * In the comics, Roy has had three codenames: Speedy, Arsenal and Red Arrow. He is considered one of the founding members of the first teen hero team, the Teen Titans. However, in truth, he was a late-comer to the group, first only acting in a guest star role to the Team before he officially joined the Team in Teen Titans #19 as a replacement for Aqualad (Garth) who quit the Team for a period.
 * In the comics, Roy was in a romantic relationship with assassin Cheshire, which resulted in them having a child together, a baby girl named Lian. Tragically, Lian was killed in the mini-series Justice League: Cry for Justice.
 * Another major influence on his character was his addiction to heroin. Although he recovered from his initial addiction, he temporarily regressed into a full-blown heroin addict following the death of his daughter.
 * Although this is technically the cloned Roy Harper's first and only appearance, this would mark the seventh animated iteration of Speedy. He first appeared in the 1967 The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure ' s Teen Titans segments, and after that in Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited, Justice League:New Frontier, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and recently, in The New Teen Titans DC Nation shorts as well.