98 Fun Facts About Arrow TV Series

On which network did Arrow premiere on October 10, 2012?

Arrow premiered on The CW on October 10, 2012, and ran eight seasons to January 2020, becoming the founding show of the network's Arrowverse.

How many years does Oliver Queen claim to have spent shipwrecked on Lian Yu?

Five years is Oliver's public story, but the flashbacks reveal he left the island more than once in that time before fishermen found him in 2012.

What was Oliver's hometown called during Arrow's first three seasons?

Starling City was the show's name for Oliver's home through season three; the season-four premiere renamed it Star City as Oliver took the name Green Arrow.

By what name is Oliver's vigilante known in season one?

In season one the police and press call the vigilante The Hood as he hunts names from his father's notebook; he only becomes The Arrow in season two.

What is the name of the season-one conspiracy led by Malcolm Merlyn?

The Undertaking was Malcolm Merlyn's plan to level the Glades with an earthquake machine, avenging his wife's murder in that district years earlier.

Whose death at the end of season one leads Oliver to vow never to kill again?

Tommy Merlyn dies in the season-one finale saving Laurel during the Glades earthquake, and Oliver swears off killing in his best friend's memory.

Which former Lian Yu mentor returns as the main villain of season two?

Slade Wilson, played by Manu Bennett, was Oliver's ally on the island until the Mirakuru serum and Shado's death turned him into the vengeful Deathstroke.

Which government agency and its leader are introduced in season two?

Waller later forces Oliver to work for her in Hong Kong in the season-three flashbacks and sends him back to Lian Yu in season four's.

To whom does Oliver lose control of his family's company at the start of season three?

Ray Palmer, played by Brandon Routh, outbids Oliver for Queen Consolidated in the season-three premiere and renames it Palmer Technologies before leaving for Legends of Tomorrow as the Atom.

Whom does Oliver duel on a mountaintop in season three's midseason finale?

Ra's al Ghul, played by Matt Nable, runs Oliver through with a sword in 'The Climb' after Oliver takes the blame for Sara Lance's death to shield Thea.

In which city do the season-three flashbacks place Oliver, working for Waller to stop a lethal pathogen?

Hong Kong is where Waller's agents take Oliver after Lian Yu; there he hunts China White and the Alpha-Omega bioweapon alongside Maseo and Tatsu Yamashiro.

Which terrorist group, led by Damien Darhk, is the main threat of season four?

H.I.V.E. under Damien Darhk pursues Genesis, a plan to launch the world's nuclear missiles and rebuild from an underground ark, killing Laurel Lance along the way.

What discovery leads to Oliver and Felicity's break-up in season four?

He has a son, William, and hid it from Felicity at Samantha Clayton's insistence; when she learned the secret in season four she ended their engagement.

Which serial killer, revealed to be district attorney Adrian Chase, is season five's villain?

Prometheus, a throwing-star killer played by Josh Segarra, stalks Oliver to avenge his father, Justin Claybourne, one of the names Oliver crossed off in season one.

Which former Central City detective takes up the Black Canary mantle in season five?

Dinah Drake, played by Juliana Harkavy, is a former Central City police detective with a metahuman sonic scream whom Oliver recruits after Laurel Lance's death.

In the season-five flashbacks, which Russian crime syndicate does Oliver join?

The Bratva initiates Oliver in the season-five flashbacks, where Anatoly Knyazev sponsors him and Talia al Ghul trains him before he returns to Lian Yu to be 'rescued'.

Which terrorist hacker leads the criminal cabal in season six before being killed by Ricardo Diaz?

Cayden James, played by Michael Emerson, assembles a cabal of Star City criminals to avenge his son's death, then is stabbed by Ricardo Diaz once Diaz takes over.

What is Oliver's inmate number when he is sent to federal prison at the end of season six?

Inmate 4587 is Oliver's number at Slabside prison, and the season-seven premiere takes it as its title after he confessed to being Green Arrow in the FBI deal.

Who is revealed as leader of the Ninth Circle in season seven?

Emiko Queen, Oliver's half-sister, played by Sea Shimooka, posed as the new Green Arrow while Oliver was in prison before her Ninth Circle leadership came out.

How far into the future are the flash-forwards introduced in season seven set?

Twenty years ahead, in a 2040 Star City, the flash-forwards follow adult William and Mia; the final season then brings them back to the present.

Which actress plays Mia, Oliver and Felicity's daughter, in the flash-forwards?

Katherine McNamara plays Mia, introduced in the 2040 flash-forwards under the alias Blackstar before she takes up her father's Green Arrow mantle.

What does Oliver become after sacrificing himself during Crisis on Infinite Earths?

The Spectre is what Jim Corrigan makes Oliver after his death; with that power he defeats the Anti-Monitor and rebirths the multiverse, restoring Moira and Quentin Lance to life.

What codename does John Diggle adopt on Team Arrow?

Spartan is the codename John Diggle takes in season four, when he starts wearing a helmet after three seasons fighting unmasked as Oliver's partner.

How was Emily Bett Rickards' Felicity Smoak originally cast?

As a one-off guest star in the third episode, 'Lone Gunmen', Rickards' Felicity was so well received that she recurred through season one and became a regular in season two.

What codename does Felicity eventually adopt on Team Arrow?

Overwatch is the codename Oliver gives Felicity in season four, quipping that 'Oracle' was already taken, a nod to Barbara Gordon's DC alias.

Which Team Arrow member is a technological savant and Olympic decathlon medallist?

Curtis Holt, played by Echo Kellum, is a Palmer Technologies inventor and former Olympic decathlete who becomes Mr. Terrific, the T-sphere-wielding member of the team.

Which vigilante codename does Rene Ramirez use?

Wild Dog is the hockey-masked street vigilante Rene Ramirez, played by Rick Gonzalez, a discharged Marine whom Oliver recruits in season five.

Which Smallville actor's Green Arrow did the producers deliberately NOT continue when creating Arrow?

Justin Hartley played Oliver Queen on Smallville from 2006, and a spin-off was floated, but Arrow's producers chose a clean reboot and cast Stephen Amell instead.

Who directed the Arrow pilot, having also directed the pilot of Smallville?

David Nutter, who had directed the Smallville pilot in 2001, signed on to direct Arrow's pilot in January 2012, a week after the network ordered it.

In which city was Arrow primarily filmed?

Vancouver, British Columbia, stood in for Star City throughout the run, with the Lian Yu flashbacks shot around Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver.

Which Oscar-winning costume designer created Oliver's original vigilante suit?

Colleen Atwood, a multiple Oscar winner for films such as Chicago, designed Oliver's first hooded suit; Amell asked that he be able to put it on alone.

Which character gives Oliver his domino mask in the episode 'Three Ghosts'?

Barry Allen, played by Grant Gustin ahead of The Flash, leaves Oliver the domino mask as a parting gift in 'Three Ghosts', replacing the grease paint he had worn.

Which composer, who first worked with Greg Berlanti on Everwood, scored Arrow?

Blake Neely, Berlanti's composer since Everwood in 2002, scored Arrow and went on to write the themes for The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow.

How many US viewers watched Arrow's premiere, The CW's biggest telecast in three years?

4.14 million US viewers watched the October 2012 premiere, the most-watched telecast on the network since The Vampire Diaries debuted in 2009.

How many episodes made up Arrow's abbreviated final season?

Ten episodes made up season eight, announced in March 2019 as the final run after Amell asked to move on; the last of them aired in January 2020.

Which fast-food chain from the Superman comics appears in Arrow from its third episode onward?

Big Belly Burger, the chain where Diggle's sister-in-law Carly works, debuted in the third episode, 'Lone Gunmen', and Guggenheim cited it as a deliberate wider-DC touch.

Which pair of DC creators are credited with creating Green Arrow, the character Arrow is based on?

Mort Weisinger and George Papp introduced Green Arrow in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941, the same issue that debuted Aquaman.

Which Batman film series did the creative team cite as inspiration for Arrow's tone?

Christopher Nolan's Batman films, with their grounded, largely powerless hero, were the model Berlanti, Guggenheim and Kreisberg cited for Arrow's realistic tone.

Which Arrow character did Joseph David-Jones play, having earlier played him on Legends of Tomorrow?

Connor Hawke, played by Joseph David-Jones, is Bronze Tiger's biological son adopted by the Diggles, working for Knightwatch in the 2040 flash-forwards.

Which actor plays both the Monitor and his opposite, the Anti-Monitor?

LaMonica Garrett plays both Mar Novu, the Monitor who recruits Oliver in the final season, and Mobius, the Anti-Monitor bent on unmaking the multiverse.

What vigilante codename does Roy Harper, Thea's boyfriend, take on in Arrow?

Colton Haynes was promoted to series regular for season two after recurring in season one.

In which body of water does the show place Lian Yu, the island where Oliver was shipwrecked?

The North China Sea is where the show places Lian Yu, whose name is Mandarin for 'purgatory'; the island flashbacks ran through season five.

Which actor's performance as Damien Darhk was singled out for praise in the otherwise mixed fourth season?

Neal McDonough's gleefully theatrical Damien Darhk was the consensus bright spot of season four, whose Lian Yu flashbacks and magic-heavy plot reviewers found weaker.

Which alien race abducts Oliver, Thea, Diggle, Sara and Ray in 'Invasion!', Arrow's 100th episode?

The Dominators, the four-show crossover's alien invaders, trap the abducted heroes in a shared dream of an Oliver who never boarded the Queen's Gambit in the 100th episode.

Which actor reprised his NBC role as John Constantine in the season-four episode 'Haunted'?

Matt Ryan reprised Constantine in 'Haunted' to restore Sara Lance's soul after her Lazarus Pit resurrection, his first appearance after NBC cancelled his series.

Which cast member co-wrote the digital comic Arrow: The Dark Archer with his sister?

John Barrowman wrote Arrow: The Dark Archer with his sister Carole, a 2016 digital-first comic exploring his own character Malcolm Merlyn's past.

Felicity Smoak is loosely based on a character from which DC comic series?

Firestorm's comic supporting cast included a Felicity Smoak, a computer-company manager introduced in The Fury of Firestorm in 1984, whom the show reinvented as an IT expert.

Which audio company sponsored Blood Rush, the six-part series of shorts released alongside season two?

Bose sponsored Blood Rush, a 2013 set of six web shorts starring Colton Haynes and Emily Bett Rickards that aired during Arrow's season-two commercial breaks.

Which future Oscar nominee plays Chase, the DJ who romances Thea Queen in Arrow's third season?

Austin Butler took the part years before his Oscar-nominated turn as Elvis Presley, and his DJ proves to be a spy for the League of Assassins.

Which 1980s action star plays Russian general Konstantin Kovar in Arrow's fifth-season flashbacks?

Dolph Lundgren broke through as another Soviet heavy, the boxer Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, some thirty years before he played Kovar.

Which yacht sinks in a storm in Arrow's pilot, leaving Oliver shipwrecked on the island of Lian Yu?

Queen's Gambit did not go down by chance: Malcolm, the future Dark Archer, had the yacht sabotaged to silence Oliver's father.

In Arrow's fourth season, what do Laurel and Thea use to bring Sara Lance back from the dead?

The Lazarus Pit can heal wounds and revive the dead, but Sara comes back feral and needs an occult detective to restore her soul.

Which nickname does Oliver give his sister Thea that later becomes her vigilante codename in Arrow?

Speedy is a nod to Mia Dearden, one of the hero's sidekicks in the comics, whose surname the show also gave Thea as a middle name.

Which Arrow character, played by Susanna Thompson, is murdered near the end of the second season?

Moira Queen offers her own life when the villain makes Oliver choose between his mother and his sister.

Which Arrow spin-off, launched in October 2014, was the first of several shows to share its world?

The Flash grew out of a cameo: its hero first turned up in Arrow's second season as a visiting crime-scene investigator.

Which British screen hard man plays the gang boss Danny 'Brick' Brickwell in Arrow's third season?

Vinnie Jones was a professional footballer before he acted, winning the 1988 FA Cup with Wimbledon's notorious Crazy Gang.

Which actor, already in shape from the series Rent-a-Goalie, won the role of Oliver Queen in Arrow?

Stephen Amell was among the first actors to audition, and a producer said everyone who followed simply paled in comparison.

What does John Diggle find at a meteor crash site in the closing minutes of Arrow's series finale?

A box glowing green was a nod, actor David Ramsey said, to fan theories that Diggle would become the show's version of Green Lantern.

Which serum gives Roy Harper superhuman strength in Arrow's second season while eroding his sanity?

Mirakuru was a secret human-enhancement serum that Japanese soldiers had been transporting, as the Lian Yu flashbacks reveal.

Which district does the Dark Archer hit with an earthquake machine in Arrow's first-season finale?

The Glades is the district where his wife Rebecca was murdered, and flattening it is his idea of avenging her.

Which hired assassin does John Diggle hunt in Arrow, believing the man murdered his brother?

Deadshot turns out to have been used to fake the killing, a twist revealed only after he dies on a Suicide Squad mission.

What name does Laurel Lance's villainous Earth-2 double use on arriving in Arrow's fifth season?

Black Siren first appeared on a sister show before crossing over, and she is eventually redeemed and takes up the heroic mantle herself.

Which vigilante, played by Jessica De Gouw in Arrow, wages war on her own mob-boss father?

Huntress wants revenge for her murdered fiancé, and when Oliver has her father jailed instead she turns on him too.

Which deadly narcotic, sold in Arrow by a dealer called the Count, hooks Oliver's sister Thea?

Vertigo costs its dealer his life: Oliver kills the Count in season two when the man takes Felicity hostage.

In which job does John Diggle first enter Oliver Queen's life in Arrow, hired by Oliver's mother?

Bodyguard was only the start: Diggle, a former Special Forces soldier, was invented for the show and named after comics writer Andy Diggle.

In Arrow's first season, what does Oliver Queen use to pick targets among the city's corrupt elite?

His father's notebook holds a list of names, and corrupt businessman Adam Hunt is the first one Oliver goes after.

What is the family company Oliver is heir to in Arrow called, a change from its comic-book name?

Queen Consolidated is the show's own name for the firm; in the comics Robert Queen founded Queen Industries.

From which university did Arrow's Felicity Smoak graduate with a master's degree in cyber security?

MIT is also where she dated hacktivist Cooper Seldon, who resurfaces years later leading a group called Brother Eye.

To which stronghold of the League of Assassins is Sara Lance summoned back in Arrow's second season?

Nanda Parbat comes from the comics, where it is a hidden mountain city whose name echoes the Himalayan peak Nanga Parbat.

On which island does Malcolm train Thea Queen to fight before Felicity tracks her down in Arrow?

Corto Maltese is where Thea lives under the alias Mia until Oliver tells her how Robert Queen really died and she agrees to come home.

What is the name of the nightclub Oliver opens in the same building as his hideout in Arrow?

Verdant passes to Thea after Oliver disappears, and Roy Harper works there first as a waiter and then as her assistant manager.

Which mayoral candidate in Arrow's second season leads a double life as a criminal in a skull mask?

Sebastian Blood modelled the mask on nightmares he had of his late father, and he does become mayor, briefly, before he is killed.

Which daughter of the League of Assassins' leader comes to take her lover Sara back in Arrow?

Nyssa found Sara close to death and brought her into the League, where they fell in love despite her father's disapproval.

Which daughter of Yao Fei teaches Oliver archery on Lian Yu in Arrow's first-season flashbacks?

Shado later becomes Oliver's lover, and her murder is what turns his island mentor into a sworn enemy.

Which former KGB agent befriends Oliver on Lian Yu and later makes him a mob captain in Arrow?

Anatoly Knyazev changes sides more than once in later seasons, yet he is among the mourners at Oliver's funeral in the finale.

Which stepfather of Oliver Queen runs the family firm in Arrow's pilot and is kidnapped mid-season?

Walter Steele is found alive late in the first season, separates from Oliver's mother, and later turns up as a bank's finance chief.

Which agent codenamed Harbinger is John Diggle's wife and the Suicide Squad's field leader in Arrow?

Lyla Michaels met Diggle while both were serving in Afghanistan, and they name their daughter Sara after their fallen friend.

With which agency does Oliver strike the deal in Arrow's sixth season that sends him to prison?

The FBI helps him break the crime boss who has bought the city's officials, and in return Oliver gives himself up so his team go free.

Arrow's Oliver and Felicity marry during a crossover about invaders from which parallel world?

Earth-X is a world where the Axis powers won the Second World War, ruled by a dark double of Oliver himself.

Where are Oliver and Felicity trying to start a new life together as Arrow's fourth season opens?

Ivy Town is where Oliver is about to propose when Laurel and Thea arrive to talk him into coming home.

In which city did Donna, the mother of Arrow's Felicity Smoak, work as a cocktail waitress?

Las Vegas waitress Donna later dates Quentin Lance and helps him cope with the loss of his elder daughter.

Which animated-series heroine makes her live-action debut in Arrow's fourth-season episode Taken?

Vixen draws the powers of the animal kingdom from a family totem, and the actress who voiced her played her on screen too.

What gives Damien Darhk his supernatural powers in Arrow's fourth season until it is smashed?

A mystical idol is also what the mercenaries in that season's flashbacks are hunting for on Lian Yu.

Which former Suicide Squad assassin fights beside Oliver during the prison riot in Arrow's seventh season?

Bronze Tiger leads guards and prisoners to safety, and is thanked with a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo left in his cell.

Which Ghostbusters actor plays John Diggle's stepfather, a general, in Arrow's seventh season?

Ernie Hudson, the films' Winston Zeddemore, plays a general whose stepson has wrongly blamed him for years over a death in the field.

Which crime boss, played by Kelly Hu, holds a grudge against the hero for beating her in Arrow?

China White later breaks out of prison with two other women criminals, and by the final season she is back working for the Triad.

Which maximum-security prison holds Oliver Queen at the start of Arrow's seventh season?

Slabside hides a secret lower level where inmates are kept in inhumane conditions and used as experimental test subjects.

How does Roy Harper first cross paths with Thea Queen in Arrow's first season?

He robs her, an unlikely start to a romance that ends in the finale with his proposal, which she accepts.

Which executive, played by Summer Glau, seizes Oliver's family company in Arrow's second season?

Isabel Rochev had been the mistress of Oliver's father as a young intern, and the takeover is one part of a wider revenge plot.

Felicity Smoak's long-lost father Noah Kuttler is revealed in Arrow as which cyber-criminal?

The Calculator is turned in by his own daughter and arrested by Quentin Lance, who happens to be dating his ex-wife.

Which bioweapon does the League of Assassins try to unleash on Oliver's city in Arrow's third season?

Alpha/Omega is the same virus Oliver chased years earlier in the flashbacks, handed to the League by his old handler Maseo.

In Arrow, the Dark Archer's League of Assassins name, Al Sa-Her, translates into English as what?

The Magician is the name he bears while the League hunts him, yet by the end of the third season he is leading it himself.

Which master of disguise acts as Oliver's body double and later impersonates a judge in Arrow?

Human Target takes the judge's place to set Oliver free at his trial, then tells the team not to call on him again for a year.

Which assassins does Ricardo Diaz hire as his new allies against Oliver in Arrow's seventh season?

The Longbow Hunters are Red Dart, Kodiak and Silencer, and Silencer is caught and secretly bugged so she leads the heroes to her boss.

Which former boxer, who runs a gym for underprivileged youth, trains Laurel Lance to fight in Arrow?

Ted Grant, known in the comics as Wildcat, had once been a low-profile vigilante himself, watching over the city's poorest district.

Which crossover sees Arrow's Oliver strike the deal with the Monitor that later costs him his life?

Elseworlds ends with Oliver trading his own future for the lives of two fellow heroes, a debt called in at the seventh season's close.

Which Arrow recruit to Oliver's team is the sole survivor of the nuclear destruction of Havenrock?

Ragman wears ancient rags that can shield against a blast, and he leaves the team when they lose their power doing exactly that.

Arrow's version of Oliver Queen became a downloadable costume in which 2013 DC fighting game?

Injustice: Gods Among Us first gave the outfit away as a prize to early voters in a promotional contest, with the show's lead voicing it.