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Red Arrow[nb 1] (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 defection from his former mentor. He is currently a member of the Justice League, but has unwittingly betrayed them to the Light.[7]
Personality
Roy's personality is in sharp contrast to that of his former mentor, Green Arrow. Unlike Green Arrow's lax and friendly disposition, Roy is far more serious and is not at all tolerant of juvenile acts.[8] He is fiery, short tempered and possesses a dry sense of humor. He also detests being called a sidekick and snaps at anyone who calls him one.[9]
Out of the original four teenage pupils, Roy is the most brash and outspoken. He demands respect, despite his own inability to show respect to anyone else.[8] After becoming a solo hero, he came to the conclusion that the Team was not in his league.[9] He is also shown to be extremely impatient and gives little thought to the consequences of his actions.[8]
He initially speaks dismissively and rudely towards his friends when they attempt to convince him to join their team, as he wants no connection with the League.[10] Despite this, he is also protective of them, warning Artemis not to hurt them when he realizes that she is lying to them about her background.[4] After getting help from Aqualad to guard Lex Luthor from the Society of Shadows, he showed respect for the Team. He is now willing to help them when they need it.[9]
Physical appearance
Roy in his first costume.
Roy has auburn hair and blue eyes. He is tall in stature, around the same height as Aqualad. Due to the rigorous training with Green Arrow, he is quite muscular, primarily in the upper body region. Because of his rather serious personality, it is uncommon for a smile to be on his face, instead a frown or a deadpan look being his standard facial expression.[9]
While under the guise of Speedy, he dons a yellow sixteenth century-style hat complete with the feather, yellow gloves, boots, belt and a red suit.[8] He later abandons the hat after quitting as Green Arrow's partner.[10]
After re-branding himself as Red Arrow, the suit itself is redesigned. It is now predominantly black, with a red chest and collar. His quiver (red) is now attached with two gray shoulder straps connected across the chest, and his gloves (black) are fingerless.[4]
History
Early life
When Roy's parents died, he inherited a considerable fortune.[11] Roy trained rigorously before tracking Green Arrow down to show him his skill with the bow. Green Arrow was impressed and took Roy on as his ward and partner,[12] and also set up a trust fund for him.[11] Roy became Speedy in 2007.[13] His relationship with Green Arrow was such that he quickly came to see himself as Green Arrow's partner rather than a mere sidekick.[8]
Present
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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.[8]
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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 are 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.[8]
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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.[10]
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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.[4]
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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 gives the assignment to the Team: protecting Roquette in the local High School.[4]
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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.[4]
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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 is 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. Unfortunately, Ra's was aware that Red Arrow was eavesdropping, and gave instructions to kill him. Cheshire and Sportsmaster engaged Roy, forcing him to flee. He 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.[9]
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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.[14]
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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.[15]
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When Klarion, Wotan, Blackbriar Thorn, Felix Faust, and Wizard cast a spell to split the world into two dimensions, one for adults and one for children, Red Arrow was brought into the adults' dimension, where he helped dealt with the chaos.[2]
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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 to join the Team first.[16]
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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.[16]
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.[16]
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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 Artemis, and Aqualad and Kid Flash followed that trail. Red Arrow did not trust her, and secretly planted a tracer on Artemis's quiver.[16]
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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.[16]
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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.[16]
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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 of 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.[1]
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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.[1]
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On the stairs of the Hall of Justice, Red Arrow, along with felow heroes Doctor Fate, Plastic Man, Atom, and Icon, was inducted into the Justice League after months of solo work. 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 lead into the Hall of Justice to meet the rest of the Team, only to find the room empty.
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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 realised that all along, he was the mole.
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Powers and abilities
Like his former mentor, Green Arrow, Speedy/Red Arrow is a master with a bow and arrow.
- Expert marksman: 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.[8]
- 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.[4] He has also managed to go head-to-head with Cheshire and block some of her attacks, though only for a short time.[9]
- Stealth: Speedy/Red Arrow has shown some level of stealth. He snuck on to Infinity Island without any guards noticing him.[4]
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 bows. As Speedy, he used a recurve bow.[8] After assuming the name Red Arrow, he used a new compound bow[9] as well as a redesigned recurve bow.[14] 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.[9]
Red Arrow's trick arrow.
Trick arrows: Like his former mentor, Red Arrow utilizes many types of trick arrows. He has been shown using:
- Punch arrow: arrows that can "punch" an opponent,[8]
- Explosive arrow: arrows that explode on impact,[10]
- Foam arrow: arrows that can release a high-density polyurethane foam to engulf and incapacitate its targets or create a softer landing[10]
- Taser arrow: arrows that can electrocute and knock-out armored soldiers,[4]
- EMP arrow: arrows that can overwrite the feeds from security cameras,[4]
- Zip-line arrow: arrows that carry a zip-line, which he can slide down.[4]
While saving Dr. Roquette he also used a blue boat to escape from Infinity Island.[4]
Relationships
Green Arrow
Speedy with Green Arrow.
Green Arrow was Speedy's mentor. Speedy believed that they were partners rather than hero and sidekick, and for the most part Green Arrow seemed to share this view. Green Arrow had a large amount of respect for Speedy, and was the only one of the four mentors who actually thought that his pupil might be ready to join the League. However, when Batman and the rest of the mentors disagreed, Green Arrow was forced to back down, which led Speedy to feel betrayed by his mentor.[8]
Nevertheless, he continues to live in Green Arrow's shadow: even when operating solo, his enemies such as Brick continue to believe that he is little more than Green Arrow's sidekick.[10] He set up the Red Arrow persona because he wanted to be treated as an equal to Green Arrow.[17]
The relationship was eventually salvaged, and they began to work together again.[14]
Green Arrow typically refers to him as "Roy", even in front of members of the Justice League and the Team.[4][8]
Artemis
Red Arrow, Artemis and Green Arrow.
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. He said that he would not reveal her secret, since he assumed Green Arrow and Batman must have had a good reason for lying, but he threatened her not to hurt his friends.[4] Ever since their first encounter, he hasn't trusted Artemis. He relentlessly accuses Artemis of withholding dark secrets and tries to expose them, even stating that he believes she's the mole.[16]
The Team
It's been implied that Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash and Roy are friends of sorts, having worked together on several occasions, but their meeting on July 4 was the first time they were all together at once. But while the other three do their best to show friendly dispositions towards Roy, he does not necessarily return those feelings in a conventional sense. Due to being the eldest two of the sidekicks, Roy is closer to Aqualad than the other teammates.[18]
After leaving Green Arrow, Roy has demonstrated annoyance at the others for not following his lead and for being more accepting of their positions in the superhero community.[8] He doesn't seem to appreciate the high opinion the others have for him, and is even dismissive of the fact they have formed their own Team.[10] Still, on some level, Roy does consider them his friends, and is intent on protecting them, particularly from their new teammate Artemis, whom he considers a threat due to her mysterious origins. On at least two separate occasions, his first instinct when seeking help has been to turn to his friends, first to protect Serling Roquette,[4] and then to stop an assassination attempt by Cheshire and Sportsmaster. After Aqualad helped Red Arrow with this second matter, Roy admitted that the younger heroes have his respect, and he apologized for his attitude, citing that he's still getting used to the "solo act stuff". He then tells Aqualad that should they need his help, he'll be there for them.[9]
Cheshire
Cheshire seemed to be attracted to Roy when they first met. She was flirtatious when he interrogated her, and considered their meetings "dates".[9] She even kissed him on a mission, just to spite Artemis and sow distrust between the two.[16]
Appearances
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 team, first only acting in a guest star to the Team before he officially joined the Team in Issue #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, Lian Harper. Lian unfortunately was killed recently 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 has recently regressed into a full-blown heroin addict following the death of his daughter.
- This is the fifth animated iteration of Speedy, who debuted in the 1967 The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure's Teen Titans segments. Later, between 2004 and 2006, he was featured on six episodes of Teen Titans and in 2006 on one episode of Justice League Unlimited. More recently, Speedy appeared in two Batman: The Brave and the Bold episodes. This, however, is Red Arrow's first animated debut.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In 1.01 "Independence Day" and 1.03 "Welcome to Happy Harbor", Roy appeared as Speedy. He first appeared as Red Arrow in 1.06 "Infiltrator".
References
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External links
- Rejected character design of Speedy by Character Designer Jerome Moore.