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The 4: Season 1 'Arrow' Villains

One of the most exciting moments in any Arrow episode is when Oliver Queen gets dressed up as Green Arrow and begins his "speech" to the bad guy: "Malcolm Merlyn, you have failed this city!" The first season of Arrow had a lot of great villains and, now that the next season is almost here, I picked my top 4 villains from season 1!

MALCOLM MERLYN

Darkness on the Edge of Town

I know this is an obvious choice but come on, he is an awesome super villain! He is the main antagonist in the first season and he doesn't care if he has to kill someone, including friends, in order to get what he wants. He is responsible for that amazing season finale and the destruction of half of The Glades. He also is The Dark Archer and has equivalent, if not superior, archery skills to that of Green Arrow. I think he is a really complex character because, even though he is a mass-murder, you kinda felt bad for him because he lost his wife and I think he truly believed he was doing the right thing to avenge her. Also, Josh Barrowman made a surprise appearance at the Arrow Comic-Con panel and gave us hope that the Dark Archer is still alive (click here to see the panel).

The Count

Vertigo

He is one of the few villains that appeared in more than 1 episode. I like this villain because he is not just another name on Oliver's list. Oliver's hate for The Count was more personal. The Count created a drug, Vertigo, that messes with people's heads and Oliver's sister, Thea, was a victim of this drug. Thea wasn't an innocent teenager before she took the pill, but she almost died or went to prison because of it. I like that even after he was defeated, Vertigo was still a problem in Starling City.

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The Savior

Salvation

Joseph Falk was a psychotic person who gave death sentences to those who he believed had wronged The Glades. He then broadcasts these sentences on the Internet. The Savior thinks he is like The Hood because he is taking justice into his own hands, but I think he is a smaller version of Merlyn. I like this villain because of the way he used the subway to kill his victims, which made Oliver and Felicity feel like they were failing their mission. Also, I like how it helped the story move forward when Oliver realized that the symbol in the book was a subterranean map of The Glades.

The Huntress

Vendetta

Helena Bertinelli used to be caring and compassionate. She wanted to legally send her dad to jail because she knew he was not a good man. However, she became cold and vengeful when her father killed her fiance. She is now ready to kill anybody that gets in the way of her plan of revenge; it doesn't matter if they are innocent. At the end of season 1, she became an extremely horrible person, but I choose her as one of my 4 favorites because she has some power over Oliver because of their romantic connection. He tried to change her by teaching her how to help people and get justice, but she prefers her evil methods of getting rid of anything that comes between her and her form of justice.

Which villain from Season 1 was your favorite? Who would you like to see again next season?

All photos are property of The CW

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