Connor Hawke

Origin

As the result of a one night stand, Connor Hawke was born the son of a young Oliver Queen and Sandra “Moonday” Hawke. Oliver was not ready to be a father, though. He was there on Connor’s first day of life but fled after that, leaving Sandra to raise Connor alone. Connor’s mother was not the most responsible individual either, and he spent a lot of time moving around with his mother as she moved on to her next thing. The most stable period he ever had was likely staying at his grandfather’s cattle ranch in Idaho. He was become something of a problem child, being impulsive and undisciplined. Eventually, his mother told him who his father was. He was not only told about Oliver Queen, but he was told about Green Arrow too. What he was not told was that Ollie knew about him and fled the responsibilities of being a father. Soon, his mother left him at the same ashram his father once stayed at to find some inner peace.

From then on, Connor was raised in the ashram, mostly by Master Jansen. It was there that he discovered he possessed an extraordinary natural ability for martial arts, which he then studied for many years. He changed drastically from the troubled and unruly child he had been into a quiet and disciplined young man.

Creation

Though created by Kelley Puckett and Jim Aparo, Connor Hawke was handled in a number of issues of his introductory series by Chuck Dixon. The exact extent of Dixon’s influence on the character is debatable and has been argued emphatically; one of the only certainties pertaining to the character and Dixon was controversy arising due to Dixon’s well-known homophobic comments and vehement attempts to avoid anything he viewed as “objectionable”, which included same-sex relationships but famously not teenage pregnancy, rape, drug abuse, or graphic violence.

In any case, writing duties near the creation of a character do not necessarily signify any real creative power over said character, nor does it mean that a writer regards, or even can regard, a character as their own. Dixon’s contribution to the character can be viewed as any other writer’s: he wrote some issues of Green Arrow with Connor in them.

Puckett and Aparo remain, officially and incontrovertibly, Connor Hawke’s creators and the plotters of his initial character arc, even if not technically the writers of every individual issue’s script.

Character Evolution

Solo Green Arrow

As Green Arrow, Connor Hawke was a stark contrast to Oliver Queen. His calm, zen demeanor was nothing like Ollie’s volatile temper. His martial arts prowess surpassed his skill with a bow. He was more naive to the ways of the world than cynical, a trait he seems to share with his mother. His down to earth adventures often surreal and strange experiences with spirits, legends and magic. The diversity of DC’s stable of characters was in mind with Connor as well, and emphasis was put on his identity as a multi-racial person. Though his father was white, his mother was equal parts black and Korean. Artists took special consideration in depicting him with features and a darker complexion to reflect his mixed heritage.

Part of the Arrow Family

With Oliver Queen’s resurrection came a stronger focus on the Arrow Family as a whole in the new Green Arrow ongoing series, and Connor Hawke’s character was put into a new context. He came to be portrayed as the sensible member of a family of hot-headedly opinionated people, often acting as a confidante and the one willing to understand. He also behaved as a moral compass for his father. Artist Phil Hester and colorists no longer illustrated Connor with his multiracial strongly in mind, resulting in the character usually appearing merely white like his father.

Major Story Arcs

Zero Hour

For further details: Zero Hour

One day, Oliver Queen returned to the ashram he once found peace at in search of solace after believing he killed Hal Jordan to save the universe. Through this, Connor finally met his father, but he did not say anything to Oliver about it. As far as he knew from his mother, Oliver had no idea he even existed. He had no idea Oliver knowingly abandoned him, so he played himself off as Green Arrow’s biggest fan, which was perhaps not far from the truth. He was able to help Oliver find some peace

Where Angels Fear to Tread

When Oliver left the ashram, Connor decided to leave with him. He did not only want to spend more time with his father. He wanted to be Green Arrow’s sidekick. He had spent years training himself to use the bow and even fashioned a costume. Along the way, he met Eddie Fyers, an associate of Oliver’s and former federal agent. Eddie had no problem figuring out Connor’s true connection to Ollie. Ollie was confronted with the truth by the spirit of Hal Jordan and took it out on Connor. He rejected Connor for lying to him and took off, going undercover in the Eden Corps. Ollie did not survive this. He died over Metropolis, trying to stop a bomb. Connor saw it happened, because he never gave up on his father and was still trying to help.

Connor personally broke the news of Ollie’s death to Black Canary. She took a moment to gather herself, and then she decided to give him one of Ollie’s prized possessions. It was a bow used by Errol Flynn as Robin Hood. He then found he could not return to the ashram. Master Jansen was having to sell it because they had lost their tax exempt status. Once he found out Connor did everything he could to help.

Run of the Arrow

Connor Hawke was now the world’s Green Arrow, and he set out to do his father’s work of helping the little guy, which included trying to save the ashram from being turned into a corporate theme park. But he did not do it alone. He was joined and aided by Eddie Fyers in his travels. As Green Arrow, Connor had many strange adventures. He fought the avatar of a jaguar god, secret cults, alongside doppelgangers of Bruce Lee and Elvis, dinosaurs, aliens, a mystical rainmaker, and evil spirits. He even lost his virginity to a ghost.

Connor made good friends with the Green Lantern of the time, Kyle Rayner. They were able to bond over how they both did not have fathers there for them growing up. This friendship led to Connor being nominated for and recruited into the Justice League. On the day he was supposed to be interviewed for League membership, he rescued the Justice League from the Key. He later went undercover in Lex Luthor‘s Injustice Gang, proving crucial in bringing the Justice League’s enemies down. He eventually demoted himself to reserve status with the League, feeling that he did not fit in well with their huge adventures despite proving himself more than capable. One of Connor’s most persistent adversaries was Milo Armitage, his new stepfather. His mother had gotten married to an arms dealer who was anything but reformed. This often left Connor in the uncomfortable position of having to bring Milo to justice but also safeguard his mother’s happiness.

Hard Traveling Heroes: The next generation

Connor decides to travel with Kyle Rayner to find his father after they found out Eddie had information on where he may be. Once they find and meet Aaron Rayner, he convinces Kyle that he wants him to set up a communications satellite. It turned out they were actually setting up a particle beam to fire on Washington D.C. Eddie figured out that Aaron Rayner was actually a big part of a techno-theft ring. In the end he revealed that he lied about being Kyle’s father and his real name was Zachary Rayner, Kyle’s uncle.

The Iron Death

Connor and Eddie were in Tokyo, Japan together when they are stopped by a group of fighters, who look like regular thugs. They tell Eddie to leave with them and convince Connor to stay to out of it or they will kill him. Eddie chooses to protect Connor and goes with them. A group of kids near his age agreed to help Connor find Eddie. Meanwhile, Eddie is forced to take a job to kill a woman. The woman he is sent to kill is Black Canary.

The group called Octopus Nine-Nine hired Eddie to get rid of Black Canary backs she was onto their plan. They planned to break Japan’s alliance with the west by using American weapons to make it seem like a fighter jet was positioned to attack. Eddie and Black Canary run into an injured Shado, who mistook them for the gangsters, Connor finds them and saves them. Once they clear the situation up Shado explains what their leader, Singhman R’han is planning to do. After that they find out where R’han is hiding, stop, him and force him to tell where he’s hiding the nuclear weapon.

Hate Crimes

While Connor is out shopping with his mother and Master Jansen in New York City, trouble gets stirred up. Connor had to think fast and grab a weapon to stop an attack from two people with advanced tech who were firing particle beams at anybody but “real Americans”. Kyle steps in to save Connor and the two riders ran off. Elsewhere I fight over some racial slurs being thrown around breaks out. When the police intervene and shoot an innocent bystander it grows into a riot.

Kyle and Connor are eventually able to stop the riot. They also found out the two men that were shooting up the market really worked for Milo Armitage, Connor’s stepfather. Later Kyle reads in the new that Austin Phipps and Cyrus Bramphlet are going to have a debate broadcast on a big screen in Central Park. The two had already cause a lot of trouble with their heated debates on races and illegal immigrants. Kyle was afraid that if this debate was actually allowed to happen someone could get killed.

Master Jansen came to Connor and Kyle while they were in the coffee shop to show them a tape of Bramplet and Phipps debating, he could tell that there was something wrong about it. Kyle asked a friend of his too look over the tape and found out that neither Phipps nor Bramphlet were real people and were actully one person, Nicholas Kotero.

The team headed straight to Milo Armitage to find out how to stop the debate from being broadcast. They couldn’t get him to agree or even admit that he was involved at first, but when Connor reveals to his mother what he’s been doing she forces him to help the two stop the whole thing. Next they headed over to the television station to stop the debate from airing. Once they convince them not to air it, Connor and Kyle headed to central park to stop a possible riot from breaking out there and find Kotero. With a heartfelt speech, Connor convinces the people to get passed their differences and puts an end to Kortero’s plan. Kotero then reveals himself and attacks Connor, but is easily subdued and then arrested.

Brotherhood of the Fist

For further details: Brotherhood of the Fist

As a martial artist, Connor met his first great defeat at the hands of an assassin called the Silver Monkey. They fought in a challenge to win the rights over the ashram, and he was unable to win, much to his own shame. Later, the Silver Monkey returned to fight Connor again. Milo Armitage had hired the man to get Connor out of his life for good. It was this time that Connor found the will within him to defeat the Silver Monkey, but this only brought more trouble.

The defeat of the Silver Monkey brought shame to the secret cult of fighters he belonged to, and Connor soon found himself being assaulted by other themed monkeys seeking to elevate themselves by defeating the one who beat the Silver Monkey . Other martial artists were targeted as well. Connor defeated all comers and teamed up with Batman, Robin and Nightwing to get to the root of the problem, the Paper Monkey. The Paper Monkey turned out to be Lady Shiva, who wanted to test Connor’s skill herself in a fight to the death.

In this battle, Connor Hawke proved himself to be one of the very few martial artists who could hold his own against Lady Shiva and give her as good as he received. Robin’s interference caused the fight to end in a draw, and Batman warned Connor that his status as the number two martial artist in the world would only bring more trouble.

Full Circle

After some self-reflection on his time as Green Arrow, Connor returned to the ashram to challenge again for the rights to the monastery. His confidence in himself had been renewed, and he soundly defeated the chosen fighter named Seljuk placed before him. The ashram returned to Master Jansen, and Connor asked to return their as a student. He felt he still had more to learn and consider. He had no intention of giving up his life as Green Arrow, but he needed time to consider how to be his own Green Arrow and not his father’s.

Enter the Dragon

When Richard Dragon returned to the United States and began causing trouble in Detroit, word of it traveled through the martial arts community and Connor heard. He and Eddie Fyers immediately made their way to Detroit. Connor knew well of Richard’s skill and believed that he might be the only one who could stop Richard if necessary. The two men met in the streets of Detroit and fought. Richard commented that Connor’s fighting style was too dojo and not enough street, but despite that, the two men were too evenly matched for a victor to emerge. Lady Shiva was watching and realized this, so she ended their fight by having both men abducted. Connor had just been dragged into Richard’s feud with Shiva. Connor became a prisoner being forced to fight for his freedom in a martial arts tournament. The winner would get to become a legend by fighting Lady Shiva to the death, and this was a match Richard needed to have. He saw that the tournament was going to come down to himself and Connor, and that he would likely have to kill Connor to move on to Shiva. Rather than allow that to happen, he fooled Connor into a false escape attempt.

The escape attempt turned into an ambush where Richard broke Connor’s leg to render him unable to fight. Lady Shiva then released Connor and Eddie. The two returned to the ashram.

Quiver

For further details: Quiver

While in the ashram, Connor had a very startling dream that his dad was in danger, despite the fact that his father should be dead. He journeyed to Star City and confirmed it. Oliver Queen was alive again and about to become some sorcerer’s pawn. He fought his way through demons to save his dad, nearly getting overwhelmed and killed before Ollie freed himself and joined his son. After this, Connor got to live the dream he wanted years ago. He stayed in Star City with his father and became Green Arrow’s partner, the second Green Arrow. Not only that, he helped out at Ollie’s youth center as well.

The Sound of Violence

While on a routine patrol of Star City with Ollie, Connor was ambushed by a villain known only as Onomatopoeia and suffered a gunshot to the head. The shot did not kill him, and Ollie was able to get him to the hospital in time. News that Green Arrow had been shot and was being treated made the news, alerting Onomatopoeia that Connor was still alive. The killer came to finish the job, only to be stopped by Ollie. Connor’s surgery was a success, and he soon made a complete recovery.

Straight Shooter

Connor stuck around as the second Green Arrow, keeping the name. He was not Ollie’s sidekick. He was an equal partner. He fought an assassin named Constantine Drakon when the man broke into the Queen home looking to tie up some loose ends. The man had great martial arts skill, but his inhuman speed was the true problem. Connor defeated him with the help of Mia Dearden, shooting through Mia’s shoulder to hit Drakon in the throat, then blowing up the kitchen with him inside.

New Blood

In the Arrow household, Connor became the lone voice of reason and sanity as tensions rose. Mia was forced to kill a man to free Star City from a curse, and if that was not enough stress put on her and Ollie, she was injured and diagnosed with H.I.V. soon after.

Neither were dealing with it well, and neither wanted to talk about it. Connor was the only one who did and wanted them to face these things head on. He eventually confronted Ollie about not dealing with the new reality of Mia’s situation and coaxed Mia into talking about it with him.

She told him how she felt dirty and that no one would ever want her now, so he kissed her. It was not the start of something. It was simply a moment between two people who cared for each other.

Infinite Crisis

For further details: Infinite Crisis

Connor became a target of members of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, who were looking to take some vengeance on Oliver Queen by hurting his loved ones. Connor and Mia were attacked in their house by Dr. Light, who toyed with them until Ollie and Black Lightning arrived. Connor, Black Lightning and Mia were then trapped inside the house as Dr. Light made off with Ollie. Mia was left badly injured, and Connor and Black Lightning were doing all they could to keep her alive until Merlyn destroyed the house with explosives that had been rigged up earlier. Connor was found in the rubble by EMTs and Black Lightning, alive but hurt. When he woke up, he ran back to the rubble to find Mia.

Rescuing Mia, he got her the medical attention she needed and then found Ollie, who had also been severely injured in the attack. Knowing they were still in danger from the Secret Society, he waited until they were stable enough to move and took them both into hiding to an uncharted island in the Western Pacific. It was there that they were all able to recuperate and train to become better upon their returns to Star City.

Dragon’s Blood

After the island, Connor returned for a brief time to the ashram to find his centre again. It was there he received an invitation to an archery tournament in Beijing being held for the world’s greatest archer’s by Zhao Industries. Once there, he found himself competing against the likes of Shado and the Bamboo Monkey. It was at the tournament that he was acknowledged as being equal to Oliver in his archery skill.

However, the entire tournament was a manipulation. Zhao’s true aim was to find an archer capable of killing a mythical dragon with a sacred arrow. Connor became the chosen archer and was blackmailed into doing so by threatening the life of Shado’s son, who was also Connor’s half-brother. Connor succeeded in slaying the dragon and discovered the point of all this was so that Zhao could bathe in the dragon’s blood, receiving god-like power. But when Connor caught up to him, Zhao was dead and it was his assistant bathing in the blood. The two men fought in the pool of blood, with Connor receiving just enough of its power to hold his own. In the end, Connor killed the man with the same arrowhead he used to kill the dragon.

As he walked away, he remarked that the dragon’s blood transformed the man into a god, but it was the man’s blood that transformed him into a killer.

Green Arrow & Black Canary

When Ollie is captured by Amazons and replaced by the shape shifted Everyman Connor helps Dinah (Black Canary) and Mia (Speedy) rescue him from Themyscira but disaster strikes when Connor is struck down by a bullet meant for his father. The bullet was coated in a poison that completely wiped Connor’s brain and left him memoryless and comatose.

The bullet was fired by a member of the league of Assassins who had been tricked by Shado. Even with this tragedy Dinah and Ollie get married, only to discover that Connor has been taken from the hospital whilst they had been away. They discovered that Shado had in fact made a deal with Dr Sivana in order to save her son from dying of Leukemia.

The newly married team of Green Arrow and Black Canary found an awakened Connor thanks to Dr Sivana. Shado’s son was not as lucky and Robert is aged by Sivana and becomes a mindless drone. Once again, Shado had to turn to Green Arrow and family to help her save Robert from this fate. After Connor was saved from Dr. Sivana, However, the treatment and experimentation came with other results. Connor’s mind was no longer what it was, leaving him detached from many of his memories and the emotions that came with them. Also, he had developed an inhumanly rapid regenerative ability and resistance to pain. Despite still possessing his skill with martial arts, he mysteriously no longer had any aptitude for using the bow. In an attempt to regain who was he, Connor returned to the ashram where he had been raised.

Blackest Night

For further details: Blackest Night

Connor rejoined the Arrow Family as the Black Lantern Corps was terrorizing Earth and arrived in time to face Ollie, who had been taken by a black power ring and turned into one of the newest crop of Black Lanterns. He did what he could to hold off Ollie along with Black Canary and Speedy, but Ollie’s invincibility and endless supply of black arrow constructs proved to be a serious problem.

A psychic attack through one of Ollie’s black arrows forced Connor to relive all his memories in a sudden burst, including some of Ollie’s such as the memory of leaving him as an infant. This mental trauma actually served to reconnect him to all the memories of his life for good or ill. In the end, Connor ended the fight by using liquid nitrogen to freeze Ollie solid.

Fall of Green Arrow

For further details: Rise and Fall

An attack by Prometheus had left Star City devastated, Roy Harper maimed and Lian Harper dead, and word spread quickly that Ollie murdered him in revenge. Ollie intended to do the same to all the villains who played a part in Prometheus’ plan, and his fellow heroes were in pursuit to stop him. However, Connor was not among them. Star City was in chaos from all the destruction and dead. People were rioting and suffering. Connor threw himself into the middle of it, trying to stop the pain and violence where he could.

Father and son crossed paths while Ollie was on the move evading the Justice League. To Ollie’s surprise, Connor had no plans to try to stop him and dissuade him from his course of action. But it was not because Connor agreed with him. Connor told him that his own moral descent did not matter much compared to everything happening now in Star City. Connor had neither the time nor the inclination to help his father’s latest lapse in judgment. From having all those memories revisited during Blackest Night and then the latest tragedies, he could no longer bring himself to forgive his father’s sins. The two went their separate ways with Ollie continuing on his quest for revenge and Connor trying to save more lives.

Post FlashPoint

New 52

In Earth 2, Connor Hawke also known as Red Arrow, is a Member of The World Army. Its currently unknown about his exact origin or when he officially joined The World Army. All that is known, is he goes by the Codename: Red Arrow and that he is a master archer and marksman.

War with Steppenwolf

He along with World Army Members The Atom, Wesley Dodds and his Black Ops Unit The Sandmen were sent to Dherain to attack Steppenwolf. But before the officially begin their attack they have to deal with The Members of The Wonders of The World Green Lantern, The Flash and Doctor Fate who are also launching an attack on Steppenwolf. But before can reach a common ground on how to work together and attack their enemy they are attacked by Steppenwolf’s Hunger Dogs.

Powers

Accelerated Healing: Due to the genetic machinations of Doctor Sivana, Connor now has an accelerated healing factor, and a higher resistance to pain. His healing factor has also kept him young.

Clairvoyance: Connor’s zen training endowed him with gift of vision. Although he seldom demonstrates this craft, he once received a vision that informed him that his father, Oliver Queen, was actually alive when he had believed him dead.

Enhanced Durability: Connor can withstand the impact of multiple gunshots to the chest with minimal injury.

Abilities

Archery:Connor is a student of the Kyudo Discipline. His skill with the bow and arrow are not as refined as his father, but he has displayed abilities such as speed and precision with a bow. He was crowned champion of the “Dragon’s Blood Tournament”, which gathered the best archers together. Connor edging out the assassin Shado, who’s skill rivaled his father Oliver Queen.

Martial Artist: Connor is a World Class Master Martial Artist, and one of the top five Martial Artist on Earth. He’s also a master of Kyudo archery and Akido.

• Aikido: Connor is an Aikido Disciple which utilizes a method of unarmed self-defense which encourages a discipline and a nonviolent attitude. Through Aikido, Connor’s dexterity and strength comes from the suppleness in his practice which uses a rhythmic good posture, perception, and coordination. With Aikido, Connor uses an opponent’s force by bringing it into his own circle, neutralizing aggressive action by gaining control of the attacker.

He has been documented as one of the greatest fighters in the world. He can even fight blind. Connor has gone up against both Lady Shiva, who taught Batman and Robin (Tim Drake), to a near standstill; even Batman noted he was never able to accomplish this in unarmed combat. Other notable feats include, his defeat of the Paper Monkey of the Monkey Fist Clan, Shiva also a member, was the only other person more skilled than Paper Monkey. His defeat of the Bamboo Monkey is also noteworthy, as Bamboo had defeated both Tim Drake/Robin and Dick Grayson/Nightwing, who had been trained by the worlds best fighters as well as Batman. Conner also fought Richard Dragon to a draw. Richard is regarded as the greatest Martial Artist, having been trained alongside a young Lady Shiva, and went on to teach Catwoman, The Question, Nightwing and even the Huntress. Connor is also able to mimic any fighting style he sees, also giving him an edge in combat.

Character Appearances

Ongoing Series

• 1994-1998: Green Arrow Vol. 2#91-137, 0, 1,000,000
• 1996-2003: Green Lantern Vol. 3 #76, 77, 92, 96, 104, 110, 117, 162, 164
• 1996-2000: Robin Vol. 4#25, 55, 65, 78, 79
• 1997-2005: JLA Vol. 1#5, 8-15, 38, 40, 116, 117
• 1998-2001: Nightwing Vol. 2#23, 52
• 1998: Arsenal #2, 3
• 1998: The Flash Vol
• 2001-2007: Green Arrow Vol. 3#1, 8-11, 13-15, 21, 24, 25, 27-32, 34-50, 52, 56-59, 66-68, 73-75
• 2002-2007: Birds of Prey Vol. 1#43-46, 85, 108
• 2002: Batgirl Vol. 1#30-32
• 2004-2005: Identity Crisis#1, 6
• 2005: Richard Dragon#8-12
• 2006: Green Lantern Vol. 4#7, 8
• 2006: 52 #1, 8
• 2007-2009: Green Arrow/Black Canary#1-5, 11-15
• 2010: Green Arrow#30, 31

Mini Series

• 1995: Underworld Unleashed #1, 2
• 1998:JLA: Paradise Lost #2, 3
• 1999: JLA/Titans #2, 3
• 2000: Superman & Bugs Bunny #3, 4
• 2007: Connor Hawke: Dragon’s Blood #1-6

Weapons and Equipment

• Custom-Made Bowe
• Trick Arrows: Before joining the Justice League Connor loathed using trick arrows like his father. He found them to be useless, weighty and inconvenient. However, after a particularly crippling battle aboard the Watchtower he found a case of his fathers arrows and began to see their usefulness.
• Fighting Blades: He’s also been shown to use small blades.
• Ninja Stars

Other Media

Television

Legends of Tomorrow

Connor Hawke appears in the Legends of Tomorrow episode Star City 2046, and is portrayed by Joseph David-Jones. He is the Green Arrow of the future in a Grant Wilson (Slade Wilson’s son) -ruled Star City after Oliver Queen was presumed dead.

Unlike the comics, he is the son of John Diggle, and his true name is John Diggle Jr.