Place of origin New Earth | Species Human | |
 | ||
Created by Mike FriedrichNeal AdamsDick Dillin Full name Arthur King / Malcolm MerlynThomas Merlyn Team affiliations Anti-Justice LeagueInjustice LeagueThe SocietyLeague of AssassinsThe 100Killer Elite Similar John Diggle, Speedy, Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen, Black Canary | ||
Merlyn is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. While he occasionally serves as an enemy for Batman and Black Canary, he is the archenemy of the Green Arrow.
Contents
- Publication history
- Fictional character biography
- Powers and abilities
- Television
- Arrowverse
- Film
- Video games
- Merchandise
- References
Publication history
Created by Mike Friedrich, Neal Adams, and Dick Dillin, the character made his first appearance in Justice League of America #94 (1971)
John Barrowman and his sister Carole have written a digital comic called Arrow: The Dark Archer, now released as a physical paperback, which focuses on Malcolm Merlyn, the character that John plays on The CW's live-action television series Arrow. It is illustrated by Daniel Sampere. The digital comic reveals Malcolm's birth name as Arthur King, Merlyn's real name in the mainstream comics.
Fictional character biography
Years before Oliver Queen would become Green Arrow, he was inspired to take up archery by the archer Merlyn the Magician. Once Green Arrow began to become famous, the two met again, as Merlyn challenged the hero to a public archery contest and defeated him. With that victory under his belt, Merlyn vanished for years, only to resurface as a member of the League of Assassins. Merlyn and Green Arrow faced again as Merlyn tried to fulfill a contract to assassinate Batman. Green Arrow was able to deflect one of Merlyn's arrows with an arrow of his own, saving Batman's life. Merlyn admitted that Green Arrow had improved since their last encounter, but escaped before he could be captured. Unable to return to the League of Assassins, he became a freelance assassin.
Merlyn later appeared in Action Comics as part of the Queen Bee's unofficial "Injustice Gang" opposing the JLA.
Finding work with one of Metropolis' crime syndicates, The 100, Merlyn fought against a weakened Black Lightning, but lost the battle.
Merlyn was apparently a part of the League of Assassins when the assassin David Cain's daughter, Cassandra, was born. Merlyn would seem to have taken part in the child's highly abusive training (along with other members of the League, such as Bronze Tiger), unknowingly giving her the skills to become the future Batgirl. He then served under Tobias Whale as a member of the 100.
He was among those who sold his soul to the demonic Neron during the events of Underworld Unleashed. He then joined the Killer Elite (along with Deadshot, Bolt, Chiller, and Deadline). All tried to perform various assassinations, but were stopped by Justice League America. The group later encountered the Body Doubles. Merlyn and the others were soundly defeated.
The villain next made an appearance in the pages of Young Justice as an archer working for the Zandian national Olympic team. He is the instructor to the young Zandian archer Turk (a half-wolf metahuman). Turk and Merlyn attempt to sabotage the games in their favor, but they are defeated by the Young Justice team.
Merlyn would next appear in the pages of Identity Crisis, and was one of the main voices for the villains during that miniseries. He recognizes the Monocle and Deadshot as his closest allies, and correctly predicts that the murder of Sue Dibny would have dire consequences in the villain community. When he is captured by the Justice League along with Deadshot and Monocle, Deadshot was able to use his ties to the Suicide Squad and Amanda Waller to secure their release (much to the frustration of the newest Manhunter).
The villainous archer reappeared with Monocle and Phobia in an attempt to kill the Shadow Thief at his trial, and in the process the villains found themselves battling Manhunter. Merlyn has since resurfaced in the pages of Green Arrow as part of a multipronged attack against Green Arrow and his family.
Afterward, he appears to be under the employ of Talia al Ghul as a tutor to her son Damian Wayne, though he would later confess that he was learning more from Damian.
He has a minor role in The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, in which he is hired by the Sensei to take out a spring where Ra's could revitalize himself. He fulfills his tasks well, but is defeated in the final confrontation between Ra's al Ghul and Batman.
He was later seen among the new Injustice League. He was later captured by the vigilante Cupid, who planned to kill him in front of Green Arrow, whom she was besotted with. To this end, she slashed Merlyn's throat with an arrow. Green Arrow was able to get Merlyn medical attention in time to save his life, but the villain's throat was damaged to the point where he would never be able to speak again.
In Batman Incorporated #4 (2012), Merlyn (Arthur King) appears in the employ of Talia al Ghul, as part of the League of Assassins, and battles the members of Batman, Inc. During the Forever Evil storyline, Arthur King is among the villains recruited by the Crime Syndicate of America to join the Secret Society of Super Villains.
Coinciding with the then-recently debuted series Arrow, DC Comics in 2012 introduced a new Merly in Tommy Merlyn, the son of Malcolm, as part of its The New 52 relaunch. The character first appeared in the prequel story Green Arrow #0, which, set five years before the present-day narrative, saw Oliver Queen's best friend Tommy caught up in a a hostage crisis on a Pacific Ocean oil rig with a villain named "Iron Eagle". Tommy was caught in an explosion. In the present day, Tommy, is next seen waking up in a hospital. He is next seen in the 2014 Green Arrow storyline "Kingdom", in which he appears as a heavily burned archer and a mercenary sent to capture Mia Dearden. The same storyline also introduced a new character in John King, who reflected Arrow's contemporaneous depiction of Merlyn as a wealthy businessman Malcolm Merlyn.
Following a decline in sales from The New 52, DC relaunched once again with the DC Rebirth event, which attempted to restore aspects of traditional continuity that were popular with fans. The relaunched Green Arrow series brought back Arthur King and gave him his television series alias Malcolm Merlyn. He is depicted as a master archer whose skills exceed those of Oliver, Shado, Emiko Queen, and Tommy. He appears as a League of Assassins hired by the Ninth Circle to tarnish the Green Arrow's reputation.
Powers and abilities
While Merlyn possesses no metahuman powers, he is at his prime in terms of human physical conditioning, possessing advanced strength and reflexes as well as having an incredibly high tolerance for pain, which make him an extremely vicious opponent. His League of Assassins armor is made of Kevlar, and provides further protection when he is in the field. Having been trained by the League of Assassins, Merlyn is a master of hand-to-hand combat, martial arts and stealth. He is one of the DC Universe's best archers, whose archery skills are equivalent, if not superior, to Green Arrow, Connor Hawke, Red Arrow and the Celestial Archer. He has been known to use trick arrows to kill his enemies, including explosive arrows that detonate on impact. He has also been shown to possess a jet pack mounted in his quiver. In addition to being an archer, Merlyn is also extremely proficient with swords, throwing knives and other melee weapons, and is highly skilled in devising battle plans and strategies.