Characters / Green Arrow: Speedy

Green Arrow Main Character Index
Title Character
Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
Supporting Cast
Black Canary | Speedy
Rogues Gallery
Cheshire

Teen Titans Main Character Index
Heroes
Original Teen Titans and Titans West (Dick Grayson | Wally West | Donna Troy | Roy Harper)
The New Teen Titans (Beast Boy | Starfire | Raven) | Arsenal's Titans | 1996 Teen Titans
2003 Teen Titans (Tim Drake | Conner Kent | Cassie Sandsmark | Mia Dearden) | Ancillary Titans
Post-Flashpoint Teen Titans | DC Rebirth Teen Titans | Teen Titans Academy students
Supporting Cast
Enemies
Deathstroke | Cheshire

Speedy I (Roy Harper)

Roy Harper / Speedy I / Arsenal / Red Arrow / Black Lantern / Omega Lantern

Created By: Mort Weisinger and George Papp

First Appearance: More Fun Comics (Vol 1) #73

Appearances: More Fun Comics #73-107 | Leading Comics #1-14 | World's Finest #7-78 | Adventure Comics #103-205, #207-269 | Teen Titans Vol 1 | Green Lantern Vol 2 #85-86 | Superman Family #192-194 | New Teen Titans: Terra Incognito | Crisis on Infinite Earths | New Teen Titans Vol 2 #19-21 | The Cheshire Contract | Rocks and Hard Places | Exiles | New Titans | Titans Hunt | Total Chaos | Deathstroke: Nuclear Winter | The Darkening | Terminus! | Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! | Damage | Darkstars | Forever Evil (1995) | The Crimelord-Syndicate War | Green Arrow: Where Angels Fear To Tread | The Siege of the Zi Charam | Meltdown! | Arsenal Special | Batman Plus Arsenal | Teen Titans (1996) | Titans Then And Now | Millenium Giants | DC One Million | Titans Hunt (1998) | Arsenal | JLA/Titans | Titans (1999) | Sins of Youth | Green Arrow Vol 3 | Quiver | Archers Quest | Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day | Outsiders (2003) | Teen Titans: Lights Out | The Insiders | The Return of Donna Troy | Infinite Crisis | Green Lantern Vol 4 | Justice League of America Vol 2 | Final Crisis | Justice League: Cry for Justice | Titans Vol 2 | Red Hood and the Outlaws | Red Hood/Arsenal | Titans Hunt (2015) | Titans (Rebirth) | Green Arrow (Rebirth) | The Return of Roy Harper | The Lazarus Contract | The Rise of Star City | Heroes in Crisis | Dark Nights: Death Metal | Infinite Frontier | The Flash (Infinite Frontier) | Teen Titans Academy | Green Arrow (2023) | WildC.A.T.s (2022) | World's Finest: Teen Titans | Knight Terrors

Red and Yellow go well together, don't ya think?

^{Click here to see Roy as the "Omega Lantern"}

^{Click here to see Roy in his DC Rebirth design}

^{Click here to see Roy in his New 52 design}

^{Click here to see Roy as Red Arrow}

^{Click here to see Roy in his Titans (1998) design}

^{Click here to see Roy in his initial Red Arrow costume}

^{Click here to see Roy in first Arsenal costume}

^{Click here to see Roy as Speedy in World's Finest: Teen Titans}

^{Click here to see Roy as Speedy during the New Teen Titans}

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, because life is messy... Simple right and wrong, I can handle. I know where I stand and what needs to be done. Less opportunity to screw up, you know? A good cause, a good fight...that's what works for me."

A troubled boy, Roy Harper was taken in by Oliver Queen as his ward. Using his own skill with a bow, he fought alongside his mentor as Speedy. Speedy would go on to be a founding member of the Teen Titans. After a falling out with Oliver, Roy would go off on his own, remaking himself as Arsenal. Even later, after joining the Justice League (and a brief sort-of screw-up by Hal Jordan), he'd go by Red Arrow.

In the New 52, he became a member of the Outlaws, a group of anti-heroes led by Jason Todd, the second Robin. Roy would work with Jason for a while before rejoining his best friend, Dick Grayson, and the rest of the adult Titans.

Roy died during Heroes in Crisis before getting revived in Infinite Frontier.

---

• Action Dad: Fathered a child with Supervillain Cheshire.
• All of the Other Reindeer: When Roy was three his father died in a forest fire, so he was raised on a Navajo reservation in Arizona. Growing up he wasn't really accepted by most of the kids his age. He got along well with the Native kids but was too "Indian" for the white kids at the school he attended, but there were still some problems as he got older and realized HE was white too. As an adult he was officially accepted as a member of the Navajo, shocking agent Dakota Jamison (a Sioux woman) by revealing his tattoo marking him as a member of the tribe wasn't just for show, and was generally considered Navajo in everything but blood and skin.
• The Aloner: Tried to be this after Rise of Arsenal until Cheshire manipulated him into joining Deathstroke's team under false pretenses.
• Always Someone Better: Roy has sadly felt like this throughout his life, being behind Oliver, Connor, and Nightwing. Though it's worth noting that Roy has repeatedly proven to a better father than Oliver could ever hope to be. It's also noted out of all five of the founding Titans he's probably a better parent than the rest of them.
• Arm Cannon: His weapon as Arsenal.
• Artificial Limbs: After Prometheus hacked his right arm off, Cyborg designed him a new one. However, this prosthetic isn't permanent, as Roy's right arm is still infected with the flesh-eating bacteria Prometheus laced his blade with. It's designed to "work around the nerve endings". It also causes him great pain to use it, impairs his ability as an archer drastically, and he can't wear anything over it unless it's his costume.
• Back from the Dead: After being turned into a zombie during Dark Nights: Death Metal, by DC Infinite Frontier Roy's inexplicably fully healed and alive but has no idea how or why it happened.
• Badass Normal: Well, he was trained by Ollie, after all.
• Big Brother Mentor: To younger Titan teammate Damage. He nominated Grant for membership in the new Titans team to make it up to him for how things went when Roy led the team. Thanks to Roy (and Lian), Grant was able to admit his foster father had abused him so badly when he was younger. Roy was willing to help Grant because he remembered what his teenage years were like and how often he was left to his own devices, and wasn't about to do the same.
• Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: Played with. Roy learned from Brave Bow what to do as a father. Roy learned from Ollie what he shouldn't do as a father.
• The Casanova: Pre-New 52 he was far more sexually active than Green Arrow was, with numerous partners who were all gorgeous women. Post-New 52 Roy was only ever shown sleeping with Starfire in a relationship which was dubious at best, highlighting just how pathetic he was supposed to be in this continuity.
• Children Raise You: Pre-New 52. While he was already shown to have cleaned up his life after going cold turkey (assisting with various anti-drug programs and finding work as a government agent), Roy truly considers the privilege of raising Lian to be the best thing that ever happened to him. He pushes himself even harder and tries to be the best person he can be for the sake of giving Lian a father she can love and be proud of.
• Collateral Angst: A rare male example, and one who's been put through this twice to get a reaction out of other characters.
  • Despite barely having a role in Justice League: Cry for Justice, he gets mutilated by Prometheus and left without an arm. This, coupled with Lian getting killed, only serve to give Green Arrow more of a desire to kill Prometheus in the last issue. Roy's fall from grace later gives something for Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Dick Grayson to collectively feel bad about (especially in regards to the latter two who indirectly had a hand in making it happen).
  • He is killed by accident by Wally West (later retconned as being Savitar's fault) in Heroes in Crisis, once again being used as an excuse to wring more angst out of Green Arrow. This time, it's also used for angst from Red Hood and from Wally, who was far more haunted by Roy's death than any of the other deaths at Sanctuary.
• Color Character: As Red Arrow.
• The Complainer Is Always Wrong: In Rise of Arsenal everyone disregards his anger at Mia for the role she had in Lian's death as just his grief talking. No one wants to admit that Mia leaving Lian by herself was still an irresponsible thing to do, and don't take into consideration that maybe she shouldn't have gone near Roy since he'd obviously be very unhappy with her.
• Dating Catwoman: He had an affair with supervillainess Cheshire, whom he even had a child with. Said child was however killed during Cry for Justice, and the relationship was undone after the New 52. However, Convergence sees his pre-New 52 self being reunited with his daughter.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Out of the three fathers he had, his foster dad Raymond Begay (Brave Bow) was arguably the most attentive and loving (though in Roy Sr.'s case, he died when Roy was three). He properly taught Roy to honor and respect the traditions of the Navajo tribe and he was clearly the one adult person in their community who never made Roy feel like an outsider because of his skin color. The only reason he sent Roy to live with Ollie was because Raymond was dying of cancer and worried how Roy would be treated once he passed away. Even then, Raymond went as far as to contact Roy's hero and convinced the man to take Roy in showing how much he must've loved Roy as a son. Raymond's only real shortcoming as a father was not checking to see if Ollie could be both a good mentor and a good parent.
• Despair Event Horizon: When through one when his daughter was killed in Rise of Arsenal.
• Doting Parent: He may have hired nannies from time to time, but he was REALLY good at being a single parent. He's aware of the fact Lian has the potential to be much more smarter and capable than he'll ever be, so he nurtures her and tries to be as honest as he can for the sake of her development.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: After repeated browbeating about his former addiction while the fact he was already getting counseling for his problems is ignored, Roy checks in to Sanctuary... and is killed in the first issue of Heroes in Crisis.
• Drugs Are Bad: He's infamously expelled by Oliver due to being a heroin addict.
• Evil Redhead: After Rise of Arsenal and up until the end of Titans.
• Expy: Evolved into one of Robin during The Silver Age, after starting out as a Boy Adventurer.
• Fatal Flaw: Self-depreciation. Roy has terrible self esteem born out of the abandonment issues he suffered through when he was a kid. As an adult, Roy is constantly worried about slipping back into his drug addiction and fears he's neither a good person, superhero or a good father to Lian. Things got worse after Lian died, when he went back to using heroin after the pain in his right arm became too unbearable because of the infection and the horrible prosthetic Cyborg made. He started blaming himself for Lian's death, compounded by hallucinations telling him it was his fault she died and people like Cheshire and Deathstroke manipulating him by telling him it was his fault. Even when Convergence showed Roy now logically understood her death wasn't his fault, he still has nightmares where he fails to save her.
• Fiery Redhead: He's more prone to angry outbursts than his mentor who, while outspoken, is downright passive compared to Roy. On the Teen Titans, he was also the loudest member, though by adulthood he and Wally West share this role.
• Foil:
  • To his ex-lover Cheshire. Whereas Roy's a multifaceted individual who tries to learn from his mistakes to be a better person, Cheshire desperately tries to live solely as "Jade" and "Cheshire" while using her alter ego as a crutch to avoid her guilty conscience. Both of them love their daughter, but while Roy tries his hardest to be a good father and let Lian know she is loved and valued, Cheshire's unwillingness to curb her homicidal tendencies cost her having Lian in her life and have even led to her forsaking Lian.
  • To Dick Grayson. While both were taken in and raised as the sidekick and ward of a playboy billionaire, Dick is initially presented as being a much better-rounded person and a more effective superhero, as a result of his better upbringing under Bruce and Alfred and his better relationship with them. Meanwhile, Roy's relationship with Ollie has mostly been presented as troubled at best, and he's much more self-destructive than Dick. However, digging a little deeper shows that Dick is also prone to self sabotage and just as capable of being as cold and manipulative as his mentor. Roy, though aware of his own failings, is more willing to make the effort needed to overcome those failings and be a better person having learned what not to do based on Ollie's actions. It was acknowledged that Dick was more suited for the dirty work being done by the Outsiders, while everyone else saw Roy wasn't cut out for it and he eventually left when he couldn't take compromising his morals any further.
    • Following Donna Troy's death in Graduation Day, Dick was the one wallowing in his own grief while Roy did everything he could to pull him out. Things got incredibly rocky between them, but Roy never stopped trying. Following Lian's death in Cry For Justice, Dick only made Roy's situation worse by abandoning him while Roy was spiraling, then had the gall to act like he did his absolute best to stop Roy from giving into despair.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Due to critical research failure and a glaring case of Continuity Snarl, Titans #23 painted Roy out as this during the early years of the Fab Five, to the point that the others knew about Roy's heroin addiction and simply told him to "get help or get out".
• Friend to All Children: He doesn't get to showcase it much beyond his role as Lian's father, but he has a natural capacity for helping kids out as demonstrated during his trip to Ireland where he found himself temporarily looking after several orphaned siblings.
• Good Parents: In contrast to Lian's mother Cheshire, who would most likely kill her own daughter if it proved necessary to her own survival, and Roy's mentor Green Arrow, a selfish Jerk with a Heart of Gold who neglected Roy a lot when they were out of costume. While not a perfect father, he's still considered one of the better parents in the DCU.
• Gun Kata: As Arsenal.
• Guns Akimbo: As Arsenal.
• Handicapped Badass: He lost his arm to Prometheus during Cry for Justice and had to replace it with a robotic arm as a result. This has been since undone with the New 52.
• Happily Adopted: Post-Crisis he probably had the most stable home life when he was living with Raymond Begay, as Raymond was far more supportive and attentive as a father than Ollie ever was.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Following Lian's death he turned antihero, then seemed to straddle the line between antihero and villain when he and Cheshire were planning to kill Deathstroke, then back to hero at the end of Titans.
• Heroic BSoD: Following his arm being hacked off and Lian getting killed.
• Heroic Seductress: A male version of the trope. In the first Titans volume, Roy nominated Damage for membership. Damage was currently being hunted down by federal agents because of his accidental destruction of public property. When Tempest showed up to recruit Damage, he asked the head agent what crimes Damage was being charged with. For some reason, the agent couldn't find Damage's files... because at that moment, Roy was making out with a government agent and deleting Damage's files while her eyes were closed.
• Hidden Depths: At first glance most people assume he's merely a shameless, worry-free hound dog. Deep down Roy has a lot more going on than many people believe him capable of.
  • He honors his Navajo upbringing without acting as though being a white guy accepted as a member of a Native American tribe makes him better than others.
  • He's deeply regretful for his past as a heroin addict and worked hard to overcome his addiction, even dedicating some of his time to rehabilitation programs.
  • Having gone through three father figures, two who died and one who neglected him, as well as never knowing a bare idea of who his mom is, are part of the reason why he tries so hard to be a better father.
  • He really did love Cheshire, but he struggles with those feelings because of what a horrible person she became and fears he's as bad as Eva Braun.
  • Despite how often he Really Gets Around and the shakiness of his relationships, Roy has a lot of respect for most women and is friends with numerous strippers and sex workers.
  • After Donna Troy's death in Graduation Day, Roy's the one who tried to move forward and had to be the one to talk Nightwing out of wallowing in despair.
• I Have No Son!: Done twice to him. First by Green Arrow when he discovered Roy was a heroin addict, and then by Black Canary in Rise of Arsenal when she officially considered him a lost cause. That came back to bite her in the ass big time when Mortis got a hold of her in Birds of Prey.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Believes it was his fault Lian died, and other people, like Cheshire and Deathstroke, are eager to blame it on him to exploit his broken mental state, even though Lian's death was the result of Prometheus' malfunctioning machine and being left alone by Mia. By Convergence though, Roy has finally accepted Lian's death was not his fault.
• Ignored Epiphany: Via Status Quo Is God. A notable mini arc in the first Titans series was about Roy coming to terms with Cheshire being tried for her wanton genocide of Qurac and finally putting his lingering feelings of her behind for good after realizing she'll always be a murdering psychopath. However, most writers tend to ignore that for the sake of milking more Wangst out of their not-a-relationship, especially in Rise of Arsenal and the second Titans.
• Improvised Weapon: Though he prefers his bow, he has a knack for improvising miscellaneous objects as weaponry.
  • He's said to be trained in Moo Gi Gong, a Korean weapon system that sorts 108 specific weapons (swords, spears, cudgels, etc.) into twenty types based on application (stabbing, blunt, edged, etc.). This training is intended to teach students to wield almost any object as a real weapon.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Roy had every right to be mad at Mia for Lian's death, calling her out on how he trusted Lian in Mia's care and Mia just left the girl all alone while she went after a supervillain. That she thought trying to apologize at Lian's funeral was a good idea makes his anger more understandable.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Often depicted as more of a jerk than Robin, but still with a softer side.
• Kid Hero: He started out as this in The Golden Age, having survived the plane crash that killed his family, learning hunting skills and archery from his family's Native American manservant before he ever met Oliver Queen.
• Kid Sidekick: To Green Arrow.
• Ladykiller in Love: He's a notorious hound dog and makes it no secret he loves women and enjoys having sex, but he's been in several different relationships and the two which were the most serious for him were with Cheshire and Donna Troy. It was shown years afterwards he was still hung up about Jade, due to her being Lian's mother and his unresolved guilt for how he walked out on her. Those feelings were at least one reason why his relationship with Donna didn't work out. Though in fairness, Jade and Donna both had their own problems which interfered with their relationships (Jade's traumatic upbringing and mental health issues, Donna losing her son and her worries about losing her memories thanks to Dark Angel). His relationship with Donna was specifically ended by her, over her fears she'd been dating him to prove to herself she wasn't just some squeaky clean, perfect knockoff of herself. When he dated Hawkgirl, that fell apart entirely because Kendra couldn't let go of her feelings for Carter Hall. The most stable relationship he ever had was with Grace Choi, which was more akin to a Friends with Benefits type of arrangement as Grace demonstrated a much keener understanding of Roy than the other women in his life did while they were dating.
• The Lancer: If he's in the Green Arrow comic, he's Ollie's. If we see him in Teen Titans, he's this to Nightwing. Later becomes this to Jason Todd in Red Hood and the Outlaws.
• Long-Range Fighter: Like his mentor, he's a master of archery. Unlike Green Arrow, however, he has no qualms using guns after he sets out on his own.
• Luke, You Are My Father: Once upon a time, Roy Harper dated Cheshire. And one day, Cheshire came with a number of reveals in her bag: that she found out that Harper was working for the government and dated her to try to capture her, that she found out that Harper is also the Titan known as Speedy, that he had left her pregnant and that he now has an offspring that he has never knew about. And, as punishment, he won't ever know or see his offspring, know their name, or even the gender.
• Mighty Whitey: Refreshingly averted. Despite being raised on a Navajo reservation since he was an infant to the age of 13, Roy never developed a complex about it or was treated as somebody who had to "Save" his community. Roy's Navajo upbringing was treated as legitimate and important to him, and something he treated with respect without getting especially preachy. He was a person raised and viewed as Navajo despite his skin, but that was it.
• Misblamed: In-Universe, people like Cheshire and Deathstroke enjoy blaming Roy for Lian's death. Mainly as a means to manipulate and browbeat him into doing what they want.
• Missing Mom: In most of his origin stories, Roy's mom is nowhere to be found. In his second Pre-Crisis origin and his Rebirth origin, it's outright confirmed Mrs. Harper died alongside her husband. Every other version she's a non-entity. Devin Grayson's take on Roy was perhaps the most extreme, to the point Roy literally has no information and no memories about the woman who gave birth to him.
  Roy: I don't have a mom. I don't even have a story about a mom.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: His lovable bad boy persona belies a person who is much more smarter and emotionally complicated than he lets on. Lian's emotional maturity and empathy at such a young age are directly the result of his choice to be honest with her, and he has a very clear and concise understanding of Navajo culture he's not afraid to utilize.
• Odd Friendship: With Waylon Jones, aka, Killer Croc. Roy tried suicide by mook by trying to picking a fight with the man eating villain and intentionally not fighting back. Croc picked up on this, gave Roy a What the Hell, Hero? speech, and decided to help Roy with his alcoholism by becoming his A.A. sponsor.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: His substance abuse issues are repeatedly brought up as an example of what a loser he supposedly is, though this trope was more exaggerated in the New 52/Rebirth continuity.
  • Post-Crisis, Roy was shown capable of laughing about his former addiction in certain situations (like if he's the one joking about it or if he knows other people are simply teasing him) while other times he looks back with regret or it's used as an insult against him.
  • The New 52 continuity exaggerated this even after Roy was turned into an alcoholic instead of a drug addict. Barely an issue went by without someone referencing Roy's drinking problems and how it made him such a loser, even when it was clear he was seeing a therapist on his own. Following Rebirth his drug problems were brought back alongside his alcoholism, but to the point almost every story he was in kept talking about it. This eventually led to his death, as the repeated browbeating about his abuse issues made Roy believe he had no choice but to seek help from Sanctuary where he was accidentally killed in Heroes in Crisis.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He has shown a very high and very undeserved tolerance towards Cheshire because of their past relationship and because she's Lian's mother. The moment he found out she became aware that Lian was alive much sooner than he did and kept it a secret, he comes close to starting a fight with her. It makes you wonder how he would react if he learned how Lian's brother was conceived.
• Outliving One's Offspring: After the death of Lian, though she was thankfully brought back.
• Papa Wolf: To Lian, obviously, one of the most adorable and well-adjusted kids in comic book history. Despite requiring nannies from time to time, he never deprived her of love and attention and the two have had an amazingly adorable and loving relationship. And if you do anything to harm a hair on her head, then it doesn't matter who you are, he will make you regret it.
• Parents as People: He is still considered a good father but it was clear Roy had some problems raising Lian on his own. Sometimes his work as a hero got in the way of spending time with her, but Roy made a conscious effort to make sure Lian knew he loved her and would be there for her as much as he could. Unlike Green Arrow, who realized too late how badly he'd been neglecting Roy. The fact that Roy understands he's not a perfect father makes him a much better dad than pretending he's perfect.
• Parents Know Their Children: Roy Harper spent years first knowing Lian was dead, then having every memory of her erased, then regaining those memories and being told she was out there somewhere but having no idea where. Within five minutes of being acquainted with a mysterious adolescent vigilante calling herself "Cheshire Cat," Roy immediately knew she was his daughter despite how much she had clearly changed since her supposed death.
• Perma-Stubble: In the late 90s and early 2000s. This was considered a part of his rugged appeal, but when it came back after Rise of Arsenal it was just evidence of Roy's physical and emotional deterioration.
• Properly Paranoid: Roy's admitted to himself that he's terrified of the idea of Lian being forced to grow up without him because of the possibility of that loneliness leading to her becoming "the new Cheshire." Thanks to Lian having her death faked and being forcibly separated from her parents, that's exactly what ended up happening. As a result of growing up alone due to everyone believing she was dead and being literally incapable of going near her dad, that abandonment led to her adopting "Cheshire Cat" as a persona in her adolescence. Even if she's a heroic individual, it's still the last thing Roy wanted to happen for her.
• Really Gets Around: Has dated Cheshire, Troia, Grace Choi, Huntress, and Hawkgirl.
  Nightwing: Is there anyone you won't sleep with?
  Arsenal: You mean among the pool of women super heroes with the bodies of Olympians? No, dude.
  • He's also shown to be on a friendly, first name basis with several exotic dancers and strippers.
  • Keep in mind all those previous relationships occurred in the pre-Flashpoint universe. In the New 52 and Rebirth timeline, the only people Roy has ever shown to have slept with are Starfire and Cheshire.
• Real Men Wear Pink: He's every bit the lady's man his former mentor is, if not more so, and he can be brash and a bit of a jerk. That doesn't stop him from having scenes with his daughter that manage to redefine the word "adorable".
• Recovered Addict:
  • What people often tend to overlook about Roy is that he overcame his heroin addiction by going cold turkey with help from Hal Jordan and Black Canary. Unfortunately, most tend to ignore this and instead refer to Roy as a useless junkie. He fell off the wagon after his arm was chopped off and Lian died, due to Doctor Mid-Nite having him pumped full of pain medication while he was unconscious for several days (and a possible result of the drugs mixing with bacteria infecting his arm). Once Roy awoke he began hallucinating and started stealing meds to deal with the existing pain, which was further exacerbated by the horrible prosthetic Cyborg gave Roy. Roy finally relapsed fully into heroin use when the pain and the hallucinations got to him. By Convergence he'd beaten his addiction again, this time it's implied by himself.
  • He was this again in the New 52 and Rebirth, and yet again his past as an addict was constantly held over his head while the "recovered" part was downplayed by those around him until Roy finally checked himself into Sanctuary just to make everyone shut up.
• Red Hot Masculinity: Roy is a roguish lady's man with Perma-Stubble and tattoos. He primarily wears red superhero outfits, especially in his Red Arrow alias.
• Red Is Heroic: He has red hair and typically prefers red-colored costumes in contrast with Ollie's green.
• Rejected Apology: He quickly made it clear he did not forgive Mia for Lian's death. That she tried to apologize for it at Lian's funeral really didn't help her case.
• Ret-Gone: The Golden Age Green Arrow and Speedy "never existed" in the new Earth history post-Crisis on Infinite Earths. This has caused some problems for the Seven Soldiers of Victory continuity when it's referenced — until the Stargirl Spring Break Special restored them to the team's history via saying Ollie and Roy were sent back in time during a battle with the Clock King.
• Sanity Slippage: After Lian was killed, Roy began suffering hallucinations which started as his old friend/deceased dealer before shifting into an undead version of Lian. These hallucinations plagued Roy's mind and browbeat him about returning to his old heroin addiction and killing Electrocutioner to avenge Lian's death. It was clear these hallucinations were a result of Roy's trauma and the bacterial infection from where Prometheus hacked off his arm. Unfortunately, every single person around Roy was too dense and too stupid to realize what was going on and never figured out he was hallucinating before he went back on drugs.
• Satellite Character: He was essentially demoted into one during the New 52 after joining the Outlaws. Aside from a couple of appearances in the Green Arrow comics, Roy became defined solely by his supposed friendship with Red Hood. Compared to Starfire, who eventually got her own short-lived series just before the start of Rebirth, Roy was only a major character if the comic had Red Hood in the title.
• Sidekick: As Speedy.
• Slasher Smile: Had a rather off-putting one during Titans, though this was sometimes attributed to his drug-induced stupor.
• Surpassed the Teacher: When facing Roy in "Rise of Arsenal" Oliver acknowledges that Roy had long since surpassed him in hand-to-hand combat ability.
• Team Dad: When he was leading the New Titans, he found himself unintentionally acting as a father figure towards Impulse, Damage, and Rose Wilson. This carried over in Titans (1999) when he proposed Damage join the new team, as his way of making up for not doing more for Grant the first time. He did it again when asks Rose to become Lian's nanny.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Cheshire and Red Hood both have a negative influence on him, and neither one of them has a very positive opinion of Roy.
  • Before Flashpoint, Cheshire had a negative influence on him specifically after Lian died wherein she forced him to conspire with her to kill Deathstroke by saying he "owed" her for Lian's death.
  • After Flashpoint, Red Hood played this role. The Roy who was with him wasn't particularly a villain, but he had no issue committing morally dubious actions (like considering taking advantage of Starfire's perceived memory issues to have sex with her) and doing whatever Red Hood wanted with little to no argument.
• Vindicated by History: An in-universe example. Dumping Cheshire because he was investigating her for the C.B.I. was something of a dick move. However, the increasing amounts of horrific actions she later committed (such as nuking Qurac) made it clear they would've never had a chance at a life together because she's simply too unhinged and emotionally constipated to be trusted.
• What Does She See in Him?: Regarding Cheshire. While she is rather attractive and seductive, pretty much everyone lacks the ability to understand why Roy still holds some form of emotional attachment towards her given she's a sociopath, though Roy seems to believe it's because he doesn't want Lian to see her mother in jail or executed.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: His right arm is said to be infected with dormant flesh-eating bacteria called "nanomites" which were laced in Prometheus' blade. It's for this reason that he was given a removable prosthetic meant to work "around" his nerve endings.
• Yes-Man: What he essentially was to Red Hood. Compare the Roy who once rightfully punched Ollie down after he shamelessly tried to take credit for Roy going cold turkey, to the Roy who did pretty much everything Red Hood asked him too with little to no argument.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Roy's got a reputation as either a shameless hound dog or a pathetic loser just because he did drugs once, yet it's been proven multiple times he's much more capable and honorable than people give him credit for at first glance. He willingly stood by the Titans and even tried to lead them despite that the team was gradually stagnating, and eventually trashed his own reputation to give the others an excuse to leave before they were all humiliated. He used his past as a drug addict to work for anti-drug programs. He's an attentive and loving father, and Roy's probably the best parent out of all the Titans and the Arrow Family. And he managed to keep it together and worked to get Nightwing out of his slump after Troia was killed. Black Canary's even described Roy as heroic simply because he doesn't hide that he's human instead of trying to be perfect.

Speedy II (Mia Dearden)

Mia Dearden / Speedy II

Created By: Kevin Smith, Phil Hester, Ande Parks and Judd Winick

First appearance: Green Arrow Vol 3 #2 ("Quiver Part II: Long Time No See")

Appearances: Green Arrow Vol 3 | Quiver | New Blood | Teen Titans Vol 3 | Green Lantern: Rebirth | Infinite Crisis | Life and Death | Robin: The Virtual Cell | Seeing Red | Green Arrow/Black Canary | Justice League: Cry for Justice | Green Arrow (2011) | Green Arrow (2023)

Mia as Speedy II

Mia's Infinite Frontier design

^{Click here to see Mia's Post-Final Crisis design}

Debut: Green Arrow (Vol 3) #2

"Oliver Queen... I'm doing this whether you want me to or not... I'm telling you... this is the life I'm choosing. I want to fight by your side. Please... let me do it at your side."

A former child prostitute, Mia Dearden was saved by Green Arrow and told to go to Oliver Queen for help. Seeing through his disguise, and Ollie seeing her skill with a crossbow, Mia is raised by Oliver as his ward and becomes the second Speedy.

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• Action Girl: A competent fighter in her own right.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: While introduced as a blonde, she has dark brown hair in the New 52 (oddly, so do her live-action counterparts).
• Affirmative-Action Legacy: Roy's female successor as Speedy.
• Badass Adorable: She can be sweet and deadly. Usually both.
• Badass Cape: Her costume has a yellow cape that has a hood on it.
• Badass Normal: Also trained by Ollie.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Solid into prostitution at a very young age.
• Dating Catwoman: She had an affair with villain Dodger.
• Demoted to Extra: After having been a fairly prominent character among the Arrow Family for most of the 2000s, her role was greatly diminished after Justice League: Cry for Justice wherein she made minor appearances in Supergirl (2005) and the final Teen Titans arc until she was retconned out of the DCU following Flashpoint. After that she didn't reappear until The Kingdom arc of the New 52 Green Arrow series, and then promptly vanished again.
• Depending on the Artist: Her bust size. Also if she has Youthful Freckles or a boob window (FYI, it's not meant to be)
• Expy: Has a history of being affiliated with this
  • Her role as a teenage girl who ran away from an abusive father who is taken under the wing by Ollie was first used in Mike Grell's run as the character Marianne (which doubles as a Mythology Gag to Maid Marian
  • Her role as the teenage protege of a superhero archer was used by Marvel for Kate Bishop
  • When Arrow aired, Mia was no where to be seen. Instead, there was a suspiciously similar sibling of Oliver named Thea Dearden Queen whose nickname was Speedy. While she later did take on more of Mia's character traits, an unusual case of Expy Coexistence started to occur when Thea was adapted back into the comics as Emiko Queen.
    • There's also Mia Queen, Oliver's superhero daughter who's blond and grew up on the streets.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A good-natured and well-intentioned blonde girl.
• Handicapped Badass: Still a resilient fighter in spite of her HIV.
• Harmful to Minors: She's already a veteran prostitute at sixteen, and has HIV to boot.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She was a prostitute prior to being Speedy.
• I Just Want to Be Badass: She's the one who insisted Oliver train her as his new sidekick. Given the problems he had training Roy, he resisted until a city-wide emergency required all the help he could get.
• Kid Sidekick: Replaced Roy as Speedy.
• Lack of Empathy: She seriously believed it was a good idea to try and approach Roy and beg his forgiveness at Lian's funeral, without ever considering she'd be one of the last people he'd want to see considering how very angry he was at her for leaving Lian when she did, especially at Lian's funeral.
• Lovely Angels: She usually fights with Black Canary.
• Misblamed: In-Universe. Roy blames her for his daughter's death, although he has more grounds to blame her than the people who blame him.
• Ms. Fanservice: She has a very Form-Fitting Wardrobe and was previously a hooker.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Was saddened and guilt-ridden after the death of Lian happened on her watch.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She left Lian by herself to go after the Electrocutioner, and Lian was then killed when Star City was destroyed and Ollie's house fell down on top of her. Had Mia been with Lian or left her with someone else, there's a chance she wouldn't have died. While it's not the same as killing Lian herself, Mia's neglect still made her indirectly responsible for Lian dying, so Roy does have justification to blame her. While normally one would say he doesn't have justification for lashing out at her like he did and making her cry, she picked Lian's funeral as the place to try and apologize for what happened.
• Not Helping Your Case: Again, no loving parent would ever want to speak with a person who had a role in their child's death, especially at said child's funeral and especially if they were trying to seek forgiveness for the act. Mia unfortunately learned this the hard way.
• Paint It Black: She briefly donned a black version of her typically red costume (while oddly keeping both the Badass Cape and hood yellow).
• Put on a Bus: She was reintroduced into The New 52 reality in The Kingdom arc, as the runaway daughter of Corrupt Corporate Executive John King. Despite apparently being taken in by Ollie at the end of the story, she was nowhere to be found when Benjamin Percy took over the title one issue later.
• Red Is Heroic: Typically prefers a red-coloured costume, though she did don a black one for a time.

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