Green Arrow: Every Trick Arrow Explained

Where does he get those wonderful toys?

by Andrew Pollard
Green Arrow Nth Metal
DC Comics

It may be a quote directed towards Batman from Jack Nicholson's Joker back in 1989, but the phrase "where does he get those wonderful toys?" is likely one that many a Green Arrow rival has pondered.

Much like the Dark Knight has his famed utility belt and advanced technology to fall back on, the Green Arrow has a whole host of arrows up his sleeve. Well, in his quiver, but you get the idea.

In addition to his standard arrows, the decades have seen Oliver Queen develop explosive arrows, tech-driven hacking arrows, zipline arrows, and a wide variety of more rational, logical arrows that are used on a relatively frequent basis by the Emerald Archer. Much like Batman and his toys, these 'trick arrows' have grown to become just as much a part of GA lore as his trademark Van Dyke facial hair.

Away from these more standard pieces of kit though, Ollie also has some more outlandish and powerful items of weaponry at his disposal - ranging from world-decimating arrows, to some absolutely bonkers arrows.

Digging deep into the Green Arrow's arsenal then, here's at look at just what wonderful delights the Master Bowman so often has at his fingertips.

10. The Aqua-Lung Arrow

Green Arrow Nth Metal
DC Comics

In case of being required to take an emergency deep water dive, what better thing to have at your disposal than the aqua-lung arrow?

To give some context to this, this most bizarre of arrows was put front 'n' centre in 1958's World's Finest #97. In a story titled The Menace of the Mechanical Octopus, Green Arrow and Speedy find themselves fighting a giant robotic octopus.

Deciding there's only one way to safely enter the water for just such a battle, Ollie pulls out his patented aqua-lung arrow.

It looked stupid, it made absolutely zero sense, and it was clearly the sort of story that belonged in the Silver Age.

Thankfully, the end of the Silver Age would see the Green Arrow embark on one of his very best runs, with Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams coming together to give the character a much-needed revamp. To no one's surprise, the aqua-lung Arrow was not in Oliver Queen's arsenal.

Plus, with the aqua-lung arrow, wouldn't it be just as useful - and, for sure, more practical - to not stick an arrow shaft on a scuba mask, and just have the mask itself kept in the quiver?

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.