Arrow: The Best Villain From Each Season | Screen Rant
While Arrow might have come to an end its legacy lives on thanks to endless Arrowverse spin-offs and the return of some of its most vital characters. The series boasted a range of comic book villains that were both incredibly adapted and given multiple menacing moments of genuine consequence.
Each series might have had a big bad and for the most part, they were resultingly the most interesting antagonist of the piece. However, in some cases, the show managed to balance a number of plot threads, with some of these foes standing out more than others thanks to the impact they had on Oliver Queen's life, their combat skills, and costumes, as well as their own arc.
Season 1 of Arrow needed a villain that would immediately push Oliver Queen's back against the wall and force him to become the hero he needed to be. With a personal connection to both his best friend, mother, and sister, and a fighting style similar to the protagonist, Malcolm Merlyn was the man for the job.
Masquerading as The Dark Archer at night and a businessman by day, the villain's plans concerned the destruction and reimagining of the Hood's beloved city. Providing both a physical and emotional challenge to Oliver, Merlyn was brought back throughout successive seasons due to his memorability and complexity. Although Arrow sometimes unpopularly used Batman villains, Dark Archer proved that Green Arrow's foes were just as vital to the success of the piece.
A wide range of actors have now adapted Deathstroke to the screen, but none have managed to build up to the antagonist quite like the portrayal in Arrow. After becoming a regular in the flashbacks of Oliver's time on Lian Yu, Slade Wilson returned in the modern day to tear his former friend's life apart.
There's an internal struggle within Deathstroke, thanks to the impact of the ability-enhancing drug that he is under the influence of, which is coupled with his elite training and survivalist skills that he honed on the island. This combination is absolutely deadly and is a small taste of why he is such a threat to Oliver, becoming one of the few villains to change his family forever.
Ra's Al Ghul may be a Batman villain but no details were left out of the adaptation of the character from page to screen when Arrow Season 3 sought to use the League of Assassins to its advantage. The character helped to create one of the most shocking scenes in the show even to this day, with the supposed death of Oliver Queen.
As an ancient threat, the introduction of Ra's Al Ghul and his cult allowed the show to move into new territory. The antagonist radiated strength in every scene though and brought about a presence that hasn't been matched since. In terms of truly terrifying audiences, Ra's has to be one of the best villains of the show and served his purpose well.
The introduction of magic and mythology paved the way for Damien Darhk who has consistently been an entertaining threat for Oliver to face. Although his menace might have worn off in more recent appearances, the popularity of the character still hasn't been reduced.
As one of the few sorcerers in the Arrowverse, Darhk is wholly unpredictable. Couple that with his penchant for going the extra mile to get what he wants, and the result is a character that genuinely caused great loss to the Hood's team and one that reshaped the hero into something grittier once more.
Prometheus brought back memories of The Dark Archer from the first season of the show and played upon many of the same themes. However, the identity reveal might have been more important thanks to the impact that the man beneath the mask would have on Oliver.
Adrian Chase managed to turn the city and its resources against Green Arrow in a way no other villain had previously managed. Unlike the wit and wisdom of the big bads before him though, Chase found himself with a level of desperation that made him memorable for a whole different reason. It was the madness within him that created the erratic nature of the character thus defining himself against Malcolm Merlyn.
Black Siren was actually introduced before Season 6, even appearing elsewhere in the Arrowverse. While she wasn't even the big bad of this series, she was one of the standout characters who would go on her most important journey throughout the sixth outing of Arrow.
Black Siren worked alongside Ricardo Diaz, committing unspeakable acts of cruelty. Her connection to the Earth-1 version of Black Canary continued to scar Oliver Queen, who had lost his friend and former lover. But it's her redemption that begins in Season 6 that also makes her far more compelling moving forward.
No one quite predicted the plot twist that Ricardo Diaz was pulling the strings behind Cayden James' operation, but The Dragon made a remarkable impact throughout Season 6 of the show. Arguably he did even more damage throughout the seventh season though.
Although he may have found himself in prison and even as part of a variation of the Suicide Squad, Diaz continued to play mind games with Oliver and his family. No one has had the emotional impact on those surrounding the Green Arrow quite as The Dragon has and Diaz's resiliency made him even more terrifying. Despite the events that unfolded he was seemingly unstoppable, with a quiet terror falling over his victims.
Season 8 of Arrow was a far different experience for fans, as Oliver Queen wrapped up his adventures with a set of time-traveling escapades that would see him do battle with his many foes from the past. But the overarching threat that hung over the hero was the Anti-Monitor.
Threatening to cause a crisis within the Multiverse, it was the actions of this cosmic being that proved to be the final straw for the Green Arrow. Anti-Monitor was responsible for Oliver Queen's death and although Oliver may have risen to the title of Spectre, no other villain was able to defeat the first vigilante of this franchise for good.
Source: Screenrant
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