Welcome back to this new episode dedicated to the format of our most beloved superheroes! In this new episode we talk about a complex, very intricate character, who during his life was many things, until he reached the pinnacle. The protagonist of this episode of Aperit-Hero is Green Arrow, to his friends Oliver Queen!
We really have a lot of tormented heroes, just as these heroes really do lots of traumas. Traumas that remind us that these characters we admire so much are human themselves, as in the case of Ghost Rider. But now we're talking about a character in himself very humanone of those heroes who have nothing super about them except their ingenuity, their equipment and their own great determination. Today's protagonist is one of them, played by Canadian actor Stephen Amell. Today we talk about Oliver Queen, known to the world as Green Arrow. In this episode we will talk specifically about its most famous live action transposition seen in the TV series Arrowwhich ended 4 years ago.
A new beginning | Aperit-Hero: Green Arrow, being better people
The story of Oliver Queen begins in the quietest way possible, the son of a very rich family, billionaire. He grows up in a family context where he lacks nothing, always spoiled and irresponsible, so much so that he broke the hearts of several girls he took to bed for pure fun, making the girl he had a relationship with suffer, Laurel Lance. His life changes the moment he decides to make another of his, leaving with his father on a ship to take his girlfriend's sister to bed, Sara Lance. It was supposed to be another chance to have fun, until the ship crashes and the only survivors of the crash are Oliver and his father Robert Queen. While they are shipwrecked, Robert decides to sacrifice himself to save the life of his son, but just before putting a bullet in his head he gives him a list with names of people to delete. Robert asks him the favor of making up for his mistakes, clearing the city and the name of the Queen family from shady deals.
So Oliver remains alone on a remote island in the middle of the North China Sea, called Lian Yu. On this island Oliver meets Yao Feifrom whom Oliver learns the art of archery. He subsequently ends up under the protective wing of Slade Wilsonalias Deathstroke. The two build a bond of brotherhood, both help each other to survive on the island and eliminate some men who kept innocent people tied up and enslaved on the island. The challenges, however, do not end there, he faces other enemies who put the young archer in serious difficulty, even ending up in Russia e in Chinese. All enemies that he faced to become even stronger, all training that Oliver survived. Precisely with these teachings he will return to his hometown, Star Cityto complete the work that his father had assigned to him on his deathbed.
You have failed this city | Aperit-Hero: Green Arrow, essere persone migliori
Returning to Star City, the news begins to spread throughout the city. Oliver Queen is alive, this is what we read on the news and in all the newspapers in Star City. But, of course, Oliver has changed. Of course, he always maintains his party air in public, but with the people around him, with his ex-girlfriend Laurel, his best friend Tommy, his mother Moira and his sister Thea, the tormented young man behaves completely different. Now Oliver tends to reason much more, to think and is much more introverted, but what has marked him most is the memory of the island. That island broke her soul, changed it, made it something more. When he returned to the city, in fact, he did not forget at all what happened and the task that his father entrusted to him. A task that will lead it to grow even more and become something the city needs, a defender.
Oliver then decides to take the old robes of his first master, Yao Fei. He dresses in dark green, complete with a hood and a mask that covers his eyes, so as not to be recognized. But the most important part is obviously his bow with arrows. He uses what he learned in Lian Yu to eliminate all the men on the list. As he does so, he encounters some difficulties along the way, such as the constant surveillance of his bodyguard, John Diggle. He is the first to find out about the true identity of the mysterious masked vigilante archer the town ends up calling for Arrow. After gaining his trust, Diggle then decides to become his right-hand man, the one who works behind the scenes to help him on the field.
“We were brothers once” | Aperit-Hero: Green Arrow, being better people
Once he had completed the job his father had assigned him, Oliver was thinking of abandoning the hood, abandoning Arrow and return to his life as a common person. He wanted to stop fighting, stop fighting and rest, after the death of his childhood friend Tommy Merlin and the clash with his father Malcolm Merlyn. But the one who had become his closest friend John Digglehad convinced him to continue being what he had become: a hero. However, things were not at all as easy as they seemed, especially because in Star City Oliver was not the only one to return alive and changed. The first person to return was in fact Sara Lance, who also survived the accident on the ship and also the island of Lian Yu, on which she had trained together with Oliver. Another ghost from her past returns, though this one is a ghost capable of making our tormented archer's heart beat again.
Unfortunately, however, things don't always go well. In fact, he is also returning from Lian Yu Island Slade Wilsonwho this time sought revenge against Oliver for letting the woman he loved, Marriage, Yao Fei's daughter, died. Thus begins one of the most difficult battles for Arrow, against the one he once thought was his brother. And among other things he is also one of the enemies who was most capable of seriously harm Oliver. She knew his identity and his family, she knew who he cared about, which is why she had chosen to touch his weak point. She had given him a choice: save his mother Moira or his sister Thea. The choice fell on the latter, with her mother dying before their eyes, pierced by the sword. Oliver's hatred and revenge thus pushed him to fight with all his strength against him Deathstrokemanaging to defeat him but without killing him.
Something more | Aperit-Hero: Green Arrow, being better people
After defeating one of his closest friends, it seemed that Oliver had truly faced the biggest challenge of his life. But unfortunately things weren't like that, there was something even bigger than Deathstroke. In fact, a sect has arrived in the city, which many will know as the League of Assassins. A group of ninja led by a very ancient man, 600 years old. His name is Ra's Al Ghul. This man has a concept of justice very similar to what Arrow has, that is kill to save the world. One of his greatest enemies is also part of this sect, Malcolm Merlynwho is revealed to be the real father of Thea Queen. This therefore involved her first, who was killed to directly hit Oliver, after also killing Sara.
To bring everyone back there is a so-called Lazarus Pit, capable of bringing the dead back to life. Ra's Al Ghul used it for many years and each time this well rejuvenated him, but at a high price: his mental stability. At this point the archer is forced to face another great challenge, which involved him personally. To destroy the sect, Oliver Queen decides to become part of it, also making his teammates believe that he had switched to their side. This is all to come up with a plan, discover Ra's' weaknesses and finally succeed in killing him. Which he actually succeeds in, but after returning he has to make everyone believe that Arrow is dead and for this Roy Harper, the boy who Oliver had trained to become his sidekick, is sacrificed. Thanks to Roy's faked death in prison, everyone believes Arrow is dead, which is why Oliver assumes the identity of Green Arrow and then becoming sindaco in Star City.
A Broken Hero | Aperit-Hero: Green Arrow, being better people
And if you thought the worst had come, you are very wrong. The longer it goes on, the more difficult life becomes for Oliver. After defeating Ra's Al Ghul, other enemies arrive who, over time, come to break the poor archer's soul more and more. From one of his old relationships he discovers that he had a son, who he discovers is called William. Since he entered his life, unfortunately things get complicated for the little one too. As much as he wanted to stay away from us so as not to involve him in too great dangers, unfortunately Damian Dahrka man with telekinetic powers, manages to discover the existence of Green Arrow's son and involves him, also ending up sending his partner to a wheelchair Felicity Smoak. As if that wasn't enough, during one of the attempts to stop Dahrk, Laurel Lance, who took the identity of Black Canary, ends up pierced by one of Green Arrow's arrows that her opponent had grabbed. Revenge comes when Oliver, after saying goodbye to Laurel, kills Damien Dahrk. But it didn't end here.
After Damien Dahrk, a new mysterious hooded man arrives, who calls himself Prometheus. In an attempt to find out who it was, a man who later became Oliver's lawyer, Adrian Chase, tried to cover up for his boss, with the police trying to find out who Green Arrow was. That same Adrian Chase turns out to be the man behind Prometheus' mask, the reason? Adrian was the son of one of the men on the list that Oliver killed. Yet another revenge story, but this time Adrian manages to strike even deeper. He manages to capture Oliver and imprison him in a cell. She forces him to confess that to him likes to kill, a revelation that makes Oliver want to abandon his role as Star City's hero and hang up his bow and arrows. But this was not enough, because Adrian decides to kidnap his son and take him to the island of Lian Yu. At that moment the whole team goes to the island, the hellish place where Oliver learned to fight and survive. On that island everyone gets stuck in an explosion, except for Oliver and his son. The only ones to make it out alive after Adrian shot himself in the head to detonate the bombs.
Madness | Aperit-Hero: Green Arrow, being better people
After the island exploded, Oliver took on the responsibilities of caring for his son…