20 Greatest Arrowverse Villains

Untrustworthy, cunning and always two steps ahead of everyone else, the Arrowverse’s first ever Big Bad was Malcolm Merlyn, played with Machiavellian glee by the incomparable John Barrowman. A complicated man, Merlyn was a villain who believed himself to be doing the right thing and would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

As the Dark Archer, Merlyn set the bar for the best kind of villains in the Arrowverse. Charismatic, menacing, ruthless and great with a one-liner, his original sinister scheme played out over the course of Arrow’s first season, culminating in The Undertaking itself: the destruction of The Glades through earthquake in order to force the crime-free regeneration of Starling City, as it was called back then.

All the names were different back then. As the Hood, Oliver was barely able to hold his own against Merlyn who, as Al Sa-Her - the Magician - had been trained by the League Of Assassins.

In later seasons, having been trained by Ra's al Ghul, the Arrow was more than a match for Merlyn. He became more of a secondary antagonist and occasional anti-hero, appearing here and there to liven up every scene he was in until his supposed death at the end of season five.