Roy Harper
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Roy Harper aka Speedy, Arsenal, Red Arrow |
| Occupation: | superhero, government agent, at different points member of the Teen Titans, Checkmate, Suicide Squad, Outsiders, Justice League |
| Relationships: | Lian Harper (daughter) |
| Fandom: | DC Comics, Teen Titans (TV Series), Young Justice, Arrow |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Roy Harper is a DC Comics character.
Canon
He appears in various continuities. Aside from the main comic universe (as well as Earth-Two), he is also a main character in the Teen Titans cartoon and in the Young Justice cartoon set on Earth-16, he appears in the CW televesion series Arrow, and he appeared in a Justice League Unlimited episode (so he's part of that DC Animated Universe continuity), as well as in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon (not part of that continuity).
Comics
In the comics he started out as Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy and became a member of the Teen Titans. Best known from that era is the drug addiction storyline.[1] After he became clean with the help of Dinah Lance (aka Black Canary), he eventually became an agent of Checkmate. While undercover for them he had an affair with Cheshire, though he was at first not aware of her pregnancy. Eventually he found out and their daughter Lian came into his care.
Since the post-Flashpoint continuity he has appeared in the Red Hood and the Outlaws title.
In canon: Roy had brief canonical relationships with Donna Troy during their time as Teen Titans, with the assassin Cheshire (resulting in their daughter Lian Harper), with Grace Choi during their time as Outsiders, also with Helena Bertinelli (aka Huntress).
Teen Titans Cartoon
Speedy was a minor character in the Teen Titans Cartoon. He first appeared as a rival to Robin in S02E09 Winner Take All and later became a member of Titans East.
Young Justice
Arrow
Roy dates the sister of Oliver Queen; Thea Queen. In the second season he joins Oliver Queen's team after he affected by a drug that enhances his strength/durability/stamina/speed and rapid cell regeneration.
Fandom
Roy & Lian Harper
Many fans are unhappy with DC killing his daughter Lian for short lived publicity, added manpain and to make Roy yet another "grittier" loner vigilante (also with relapse into addiction), instead of a father raising a daughter as single parent. There is for example a deviantArt group BringBackLianHarper. In the notes for their Bring Back Lian Harper Ribbon JudeDeluca says:
- "[...] C. This is for the Bring Back Lian Harper movement, the original being on facebook and the twin group here on DA. This movement was started because of the horrible treatment DC Comics gave Roy Harper and his daughter Lian. Roy had his arm hacked off and Lian was crushed to death in "Justice League: Cry for Justice". They didn't even have a role in the story except for a couple of pages. Now, they're doing a "Rise of Arsenal" miniseries, and from the looks of things Roy's either going to go anti-hero or villain.
- "C1. Yes, DC has been abusing a lot of characters lately, especially the Titans. But, apparently, Roy and Lian were the straw that broke the camel's back. And then shot in the knee and left in a ditch.
- "C2. This movement is also to say "no" for the constant use of violent maiming and horrific death angle being used, the whole attempts at spinning meaningful stories out of editorially-mandate shock value scenes. Instead of working hard, they re-hash the same "tortured superhero" formula for immediate gratification and big sales, instead of actually working to add characterization and inspirational stories.
- "C3. Roy deserves better. Lian deserves better. A lot of characters do."[2]
(needs some more links for citation)
Pairings
In DCU fandom he is often slashed with Dick Grayson, more rarely with Connor Hawke. In the post-Flashpoint New 52 continuity he is sometimes paired with his teammates Jason Todd and Starfire. He's also shipped with Garth.
In Arrow; Roy/Thea is a popular pairing in the fandom. A rarer pairing in fanon is of him with Oliver Queen.
Young Justice fandom predominantly ships Roy Harper/Kaldur'ahm and Roy Harper/Wally West but Roy Harper/Jade Nguyen is also popular as a background pairing.
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfiction
Fanart
- Roy and Lian by 89g
- Speedy and Robin by beastboyjoe and Santini
Arrowverse:
Vids
- ROY HARPER; YOU CAN BE THE BOSS
- Run | Roy Harper
- Roy Harper + Mirakuru || Red Arrow ||
- Animal I Have Become
- roy & oliver | invincible
Zines
Meta
- Writing Roy Harper (Speedy/Arsenal/Red Arrow) by ilyena_sylph at superhero_muses (Nov 2007)
- Writing Dick Grayson/Roy Harper by pervyficgirl and second_batgirl at superhero_muses (Sep 2007)
- Dick Grayson/Roy Harper (DC Comics) by derryderrydown, a Dick/Roy ship manifesto (Dec 2004)
Archives and Fannish Links
- Roy Harper tag on AO3
- Roy H./Speedy/Arsenal works at FFN (JL comics/cartoon/game)
- Roy H./Speedy I works at FFN (TT comics)
- Arsenal & Red Arrow works at FFN (YJ cartoon)
- Speedy works at FFN (TT cartoon)
- speedy-fans at Deviantart
- CBR Thread
LiveJournal Communities
Mailing Lists
- RoyHarper (defunct, Yahoo Group)
Resources
- Roy Harper at wikipedia
- titanstower.com page on Arsenal
- Red Arrow on the DC Database at wikia
- Roy Harper on the Arrow wiki on wikia
References
- ^ Snowbirds Don't Fly: Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 and #86, from scans_daily July 2009.
- ^ JudeDeluca. Bring Back Lian Harper Ribbon