Tommy Merlyn (Earth-2: Pre-Crisis)

"You don't understand what I've seen. You don't know how I found our sister. Every time I close my eyes, I see her body lying there, cold on a dirty floor. So I swore that I would get vengeance on The Glades for what it did to Thea, and I am not going to let her down. Not again!"

- Tommy Merlyn to Oliver Queen

Thomas "Tommy" Merlyn was the CEO of Queen-Merlyn Enterprises and the criminal known as the Dark Archer.

Early Life
Thomas Merlyn was born to Malcolm Merlyn in Starling City. As a child, he became friends with Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance, the latter of which he later had a sexual relationship with. At some point during his adulthood, Merlyn attended and dropped out of business school.

Following Queen's death, Merlyn attempted to take care of Thea Queen in his place, which was made easier when his father married Moira Queen and they both moved into Queen Mansion. This marriage also resulted in the merger of their companies, with Merlyn becoming the CEO of the newly-created Queen-Merlyn Enterprises. Despite his best efforts to take care of Thea, she eventually became addicted to Vertigo and died as a result on her eighteenth birthday.

Early Years
This loss resulted in Merlyn snapping and vowing revenge on The Glades, becoming the criminal known as the Dark Archer and developing a plan to destroy the neighborhood with a machine. To help him with this plan, he recruited police sergeant Dinah Drake and Head of Security for Queen-Merlyn Enterprises, Rene Ramirez. At some point after Oliver's death, Tommy also got married and divorced twice.

In 2019, his activities as the Dark Archer caught the attention of The Hood and Black Canary, who pursued him for months, though they were ultimately unsuccessful in determining his identity.

Oliver Queen's Return
When the Oliver Queen of Earth-1 arrived at Queen Mansion pretending to be his Earth-2 counterpart, Merlyn was delighted to learn that he was alive and welcomed him back, though he was soon disheartened to tell him that Thea had died in the time he had been gone. Later that day, the family had dinner together and Merlyn recounted how he had been married and divorced twice since he had left.

Some time later, Merlyn infiltrated Queen-Merlyn Enterprises and stole some dwarf star particles to power his machine, killing several scientists in the process. Believing that Malcolm Merlyn was the Dark Archer like his Earth-1 counterpart, Oliver went to interrogate him, but was soon attacked by Tommy. Following a brief fight, Queen defeated Merlyn and soon learned of his identity before he fled.

The Undertaking
After this encounter, Merlyn went to Verdant but was followed by Queen, who he soon witnessed catching a bottle cork in mid-air. Leaving for the parking lot, he soon noticed Queen following him and revealed in a conversation that he had deduced his identity as The Hood, before Ramirez sedated him.

They then moved him to an abandoned building, where he was shackled to prevent escape. When he woke up, Merlyn soon explained that he was planning on destroying The Glades for what happened to Thea, but Queen insisted that this is not what she would have wanted. Afterwards, Merlyn travelled to a rooftop in The Glades and activated his machine, though he was soon confronted by the Green Arrow, who proceeded to beat him in a fight. Queen then convinced Merlyn to turn off the device and turn himself in to the police.

Death
Following his arrest, Oliver, Moira, and Malcolm visited Tommy in an interrogation room, where Moira soon promised to get him released. As Oliver was about to return to Earth-1, a wave of antimatter began to destroy the precinct, resulting in Tommy running out of the room to talk to Oliver, though he was soon vaporized by the antimatter.

Abilities

 * High-Level Intellect: Merlyn was an exceptionally intelligent individual, as shown by his ability to strategize a seven-year-long plan to destroy The Glades.
 * Deception: Merlyn was able to successfully deceive everyone in his personal life about his identity as the Dark Archer.
 * Manipulation: Merlyn was able to manipulate Dinah Drake and Rene Ramirez into helping him destroy The Glades.
 * Tactics: Merlyn was an exceptional tactician who was capable of orchestrating a seven-year-long plan to destroy The Glades, all while evading capture attempts by The Hood and Black Canary.
 * Peak Physical Condition: Merlyn was in peak physical condition and so was able to preform feats such as kicking the side off a concrete pillar and recovering from being knocked out in a matter of seconds.
 * Acrobatics: Merlyn was extremely agile whilst in battle and was therefore able to effectively take on much more well-trained opponents such as the Green Arrow.
 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: Merlyn is an expert in hand-to-hand combat and as such is capable of facing well-trained opponents such as the Green Arrow.
 * Archery: Merlyn was an expert archer, to the extent where he was able to easily match the Green Arrow in a duel by firing arrow's directly at one's fired by his opponent.
 * Swordsmanship: Merlyn was capable of effectively wielding a sword in combat, as shown during his final battle with the Green Arrow.
 * High Pain Tolerance: Merlyn had an extremely high pain tolerance and could recover from numerous severe beatings within seconds.
 * Stealth: Merlyn was able to successfully infiltrate Queen-Merlyn Enterprises to steal dwarf star particles without being caught.

Former Equipment

 * Dark Archer Suit: Merlyn wore a protective suit whilst operating as the Dark Archer.
 * Bow and Arrows: Merlyn used a bow and arrows as his main weapon whilst operating as the Dark Archer. Among these arrows included a grappling arrow, which helped him flee from the Green Arrow.
 * Sword: Merlyn used a sword for close-quarters combat.