The Arrowverse shows are campy, to say the least. One of the biggest fights in Legends of Tomorrow features the titular team turning into a giant teddy bear and fighting a demon. The later seasons of The Flash aren’t much better, putting just about everyone who has powers in a leather costume and sending them out to fight speedsters. That doesn’t mean the entire Arrowverse fails to take itself seriously, though. In fact, the franchise is full of badass moments, including Eddie Thawne sacrificing his life to remove Reverse-Flash from the timeline and Ray Palmer staring down the Legion of Doom despite being totally outmatched.
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The Arrowverse show with the most hardcore scenes is the flagship series, Arrow. Oliver Queen and Co. have to battle villains who don’t mind taking out an innocent person or two to achieve their goals. Fortunately, Arrow‘s heroes always rise to the occasion and prove why they’re the only ones capable of defending Star City.
1) Oliver Standing Up to Ra’s al Ghul
The League of Assassins plays a major role in Arrow, and Ra’s al Ghul is the head of the organization. He sets his sights on Thea Queen at the start of Season 3 because she’s framed for killing Sara Lance. Oliver doesn’t want anything to happen to his sister, so he picks a fight with the Demon’s Head. Despite losing in terrible fashion, Oliver going up against Ra’s proves what kind of hero he is.
2) Oliver Cutting Off Malcolm Merlyn’s Hand
Not long after taking Ra’s down, both Malcolm Merlyn and Nyssa al Ghul attempt to take his place. It leads to a turf war that spills into Star City. Since Oliver is technically still married to Nyssa, he takes her place during her fight with Merlyn and cuts his hand clean off, ensuring he can’t cause any trouble for a while.
3) Oliver Keeping His Secret
After returning home from Lian Yu, Oliver gets kidnapped in Arrow Season 1, Episode 1, alongside his best friend, Tommy Merlyn. While Tommy is out cold, Oliver decides to flip the script on his captors, taking them out with ease. However, he can’t leave any of them alive, so he breaks one goon’s neck, setting the stage for his dark path.
4) Felicity Stabbing Deathstroke
Oliver’s past comes back to haunt him in Season 2 when Slade Wilson comes to town. Deathstroke spends the whole season terrorizing Oliver, even going as far as to kill his mother in front of him. Just when the villain looks ready to take out another one of Oliver’s loved ones, Felicity Smoak surprises everyone by injecting the bad guy with Mirakuru. The risk Felicity takes gives Oliver an opening to teach his old friend a lesson.
5) Oliver Getting Revenge for Laurel Lance
Damien Darhk brings magic to Star City in Arrow Season 4, and Team Arrow has a hard time keeping up. Laurel Lance, who has finally come into her own as a hero, loses a battle with Darhk and dies after taking an arrow to the chest. Despite wanting to put his killing days behind him, Oliver has to get revenge for Laurel, giving the villain the same fate as the Black Canary.
6) Deathstroke Teaming Up With Oliver
Slade spends a few years in prison on Lian Yu after losing his fight with Oliver. However, he gets out when he agrees to team up with the Green Arrow to take down Prometheus, who is holding Team Arrow hostage. The two warriors cut down anyone who gets in their way in the Season 5 finale, bringing the show full circle.
7) Prometheus Breaking Oliver
The reason that Oliver needs help in Season 5 is that Adrian Chase makes his life a living hell. At one point, Chase kidnaps Oliver and tortures him until the hero admits that he enjoys killing people. Oliver gets out after that and doesn’t want to be a hero anymore, which proves just how impactful a villain Prometheus is.
8) Oliver Not Giving Up On Quentin Lance
In Arrow‘s final season, the Monitor sends Oliver on a mission to prepare for “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” The Green Arrow’s travels take him to a Groundhog Day-like reality, where he spends his entire stay trying to prevent Quentin Lance’s death. There’s one sequence, in particular, where Oliver stares down an army of goons and doesn’t stop fighting until the last one is on the ground.
9) Roy Harper Stepping Up
Roy Harper becomes Oliver’s sidekick in the early seasons of Arrow, but he becomes more than that when he takes his mentor’s place in the Arrow suit. After taking the blame for all the Arrow’s crimes, Roy goes to jail to keep Oliver’s slate clean and gets hurt along the way. There’s nothing more badass than being there for a friend.
10) Team Arrow Finding William
The final badass moment in Arrow sees all the members of Team Arrow come together after Oliver’s death for one final mission. Some goons kidnap Oliver’s son, William, and it takes everyone working in tandem to get him back. The amount of pressure everyone feels makes it clear how much of an impact Oliver had on all of them.
Arrow is streaming on Netflix.
Do you think these are the most badass moments from Arrow? What other scenes come to mind? Let us know in the comments below!
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