Dark Archer

An expert assassin with his bow and arrow, Merlyn hires himself for a hefty fee, working with such villains as Maxie Zeus and Syonide. He has battled Green Arrow and Black Canary on several occasions.

During his first few years as Green Arrow, Oliver Queen's heroic reputation found itself capturing the attention of another experienced bowman known as Arthur King, who was also taking up the stage name called Merlyn the Magician. Openly challenging Green Arrow to an archery duel, Merlyn found himself shocked when Green Arrow bested Arthur in the match. This was also a loss where Arthur couldn’t accept properly and was never seen again by the public after the match. But Arthur’s experiences with the bow took another turn when using his skills as a hired assassin, also sharpening his skills to be the greatest assassin and if he ever came across the Green Arrow again. By the time his reputation grew, Arthur took on the assassin name of his former alias, Merlyn and later found himself recruited into the League of Assassins. It would also be noted that during his time with the League, Merlyn was one of Cassandra Cain's tutors who taught her the art of of archery under strict conditions

He legally changed his name to Malcolm Merlyn.

Merlyn has been recognized to be one of the greatest archers in the world, however his skills vary when being compared to Green Arrows display of marksmanship and archery. Originally Merlyn developed his skills through showmanship and sport, later using them for the purposes of killing and combat. Because of this, Merlyn wasn't the greater archer when being compared with Green Arrow because of how Green Arrow developed his skills through survival and combat. But it would be after the events with Neron where Merlyn's skills developed itself being comparable to Green Arrows own. It's also fully unclear if Merlyn did offer his soul for greater archery skills or not.

Much like Green Arrow, Merlyn has the discipline, coordination, and the skill to be the deadliest archer in the world. He has been known to shoot a target dead center at a distance greater than 500 or more feet with the naked eye. Merlyn could even deflect or strike moving targets comparable to arrows or any thrown objects that doesn't have the the same speed compared to a fired bullet. Even though Merlyn has used other forms of weaponry, It would seem that Merlyn's skills are only limited to a bow and arrow. Even his hand to hand is limited to basic street fighting.

By the time he joined the League of Assassins, Merlyn became an experienced assassin where he was honored the title of being one of Ra's Al Ghul's personal hit squad known as the Seven Men of Death. His experience has once proven him to be challenge against the Justice League after studying and analyzing his designated target, but occasionally Merlyn finds his experiences failing when encountering Green Arrow and other known heroes.

Weapons and Equipment So far it would seem that Merlyn has only been seen with a normal bow, a regular bow, and a compound bow. Much like Green Arrow, Merlyn also has his own collection of trick arrows, but recently he's been seen using normal arrows. Both bows and arrows are of Merlyn's own design and customized by him to give a stealth appearance. The armor he wears is light armored, black or dark blue, and fitted with several compartments where his arrows could be stored. Even though Merlyn has mostly been seen using a Bow and Arrow as his primary weapon, occasionally he's also armed with a small pistol.