Ranking Every Arrowverse Big Bad From Worst To Best

Appeared In: Arrow (Season 1)

Committed to making Oliver Queen's first year as a vigilante hell, the Dark Archer served as Arrow's very first Big Bad. Portrayed by John Barrowman, the villain first surfaced when he began killing some of The Arrow's former targets, effectively framing Starling City's saviour for murders that he didn't commit. With his hooded mask and all-black uniform (which would later be revealed to be the standard League of Assassins' uniform), the Dark Archer was undoubtedly one of Oliver's most physically threatening foes. But he backed up that reputation with his superior fighting skills and ended up besting The Arrow in battle throughout Season 1.

While the comic iteration of Merlyn was one of the Green Arrow's best-known villains, Arrow gave him a compelling new backstory that only complemented the character. Seeking revenge for his wife's death, Malcolm Merlyn plotted an "undertaking" during which he would unleash an Earthquake device on The Glades, wiping the crime-infested area from Starling City forever. This intricate plot made the show's debut season an intriguing mystery as we put the pieces of The Undertaking together and tried to figure out who was responsible and why they were doing it.

While the showrunners' decision to let him stick around after Season 1 unfortunately led to Merlyn turning into a complete parody of himself, that doesn't take away from the near-perfect villain that he was in the show's freshman year. As the Dark Archer, he never failed to out-think or out-manouevre Oliver, and because of this, he was the perfect example of a calculatingly brilliant antagonist.