Arrow: Ranking Every Character From Worst To Best
11. Tommy Merlyn
Oliver Queen's best friend and lifelong playboy, Tommy Merlyn had a zest for life that very few people in Starling City could replicate. After all, he was young, he was rich and he was single - so why wouldn't he be happy? Well, the answer to that question is simply because he fell in love with a woman who he feared would never see him for anything other than the playboy that he once was.
His desire to prove to Laurel (and Oliver) that he was ready to grow up set him up for quite the character journey - a journey that he successfully completed. Although he was only a significant part of the show for one season, he underwent more development in that short space of time than most characters have gone through over the seven-season run.
As heartbreaking as it was to see Tommy leave us in the Season 1 finale, this early exit made him a rare breed of character, as he was one of the few who didn't stick around long enough to get tainted by the lacklustre later seasons.