Roy Harper

Roy Harper: 1988 - 2003
Roy Harper, Jr. is the son of Roy Harper, SR, an Oregon State Forest Ranger, and his wife Mary Harper, who died in childbirth. The death of Mary Harper was not the only tragedy young Roy was destined to know. When Roy, Jr. was three, his father was killed in a forest fire, trying to evacuate members of a nearby Native American tribal reservation. After hearing of the dead ranger’s orphaned son, Chief Raymond Brave-Bow offered to adopt Roy, raising the boy like he would have raised his own sons, who had been killed in the same fire that claimed the life of Roy’s father. Together, Raymond and Roy became each other’s surrogate family, spending much of their time hunting in the charred remains of the same forest that took so much from each of them.

It was on these hunting trips that Raymond learned of Roy’s natural talent for archery, hunting, tracking, and wilderness survival. Raymond bolstered that talent, teaching Roy traditional tribal techniques and by the time he was twelve, Roy considered himself to be tribe’s greatest hunter and scout (Yeah… he was never the humble sort).

Because of Roy’s “personality” (for lack of a better word), several of Raoy’s peers became tired of this white boy thinking he was better than them and on a hunting trip, two of the more troubled boys in the tribe conspired to teach Roy a lesson. They beat him unconscious, chained him to a tree, and left him to the elements for the remainder of the night. They planned to come for Roy in the morning, hoping to have instilled some humility in him, but when they returned Roy had escaped and fled to Star City, where a modern day Robin Hood character had been sighted. In Star City, Roy lived on the streets for two weeks before he managed to track down this vigilante archer and gain an audience with him. Impressed with the boy’s tenacity, Green Arrow lent the boy his bow to see what he could do and was impressed with the boy’s incredible speed, though his accuracy could use some work. Since Batman had a teenage partner, why couldn’t Green Arrow? Naming Roy “Speedy” (much to Roy’s chagrin), Star City’s quivered duo was born.

Arsenal: 2003 - Present
Roy became Speedy, the sidekick to the Green Arrow (though I’ve got a stack of magazines that misprinted he was the Flash’s). Most of the JLA were doubtful of Speedy’s worth, suspecting that G.A. had just taken a random kid off the streets and given him a bow so he too could have a teenage partner like Batman and because of this, the JLA would not allow Green Arrow to admit Speedy into the Titans until the summer of 2005, the same year as Jason. Roy and Jason hit it off and a bromance was born. In their two Titanic summers, their Titans destroyed much of the good publicity that the previous team had generated for costumed crime fighters. Still they did some good. Then, October of 2005 happened. I think it is fair to say Roy took it the hardest.After the funeral, Roy quit the Titans by throwing his feathered cap in Green Arrow’s face at a press event. Roy turned up in Gotham, looking for the Joker, eating Big Belly Burgers at Jason’s gravesite. One night, with a Bellybuster in hand, Roy stumbled on Cheshire digging up Jason’s body. Though Roy knew the assassin from his time with the Titans, he did nothing to stop her; instead he grabbed a shovel, hoping it was possible to bring his friend back. Worse, when Cheshire asked Roy to come with her, Roy did not say no. Okay, long story made short: Ra's al Ghul feared Roy was a plant and had Cheshire drug him; and then ensured his loyalty to the League by having him sire a child with Cheshire. This worked for a while, but when Roy learned that the League had brainwashed Jason to kill Batman, Roy convinced Cheshire to smuggle their newborn daughter to Star City, and then tried to stop the League by assassinating Ra’s al Ghul. Roy was almost successful, but he was stopped by none other than Jason Todd. To prove Jason’s commitment with the League, Ra’s al Ghul gave Jason a sword… and Jason gave Ra’s Roy’s arm in return. Crippled but not killed, Roy managed to escape death that night by running into the desert. It took him months to get back into civilization. Eventually, Roy made his way back to Star City and tried to live a life with Lian. Later, when Dick needed help tracking Jason down, he had Cyborg make Roy a new arm. With it, Roy took a new name, Arsenal.

Trivia

 * As a member of the second generation of Titans, Roy was considered to be a member of the "Brat Pack", a clique amongst the Titans where the Titans with mentors would be scolded far less than those without.
 * As one of the Wild Childs (the Gen-2 Titans), Roy was at the center of several scandals and antics just like every other member, such as sneaking into the girls locker room with the other guys. Roy's most notable antic during his time as Speedy, was breaking into the Hall of Justice with Jason Todd to street race the back-up Arrow Rod and Batmobile through Washington DC.
 * When Roy escaped the League of Assassins, Ra's had his arm planted in a terrorist attack and framed Prometheus for it. Green Arrow, thinking that Roy had died there, tracked down Prometheus and killed him, later falling in to a drunken depression.
 * His identity as Arsenal is known to ARGUS.

Links and References

 * Appearances of Roy Harper
 * Character Gallery: Roy Harper