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Biography[]
(Submitted by Oracle)
Malcolm al Ghul: 1856 - 1891[]
Malcolm Merlyn is a master of deception and misdirection. Uncovering the truth of his past when he's carefully created a fabricated version of it was difficult. I hope you appreciate what I've done to get this information.
On official records, Malcolm wants you to believe that he is child of Jasper and Nora Merlyn, a suburban couple of Scottish descent who lived a peaceful, quiet existence in Evergreen City. That's the lie that Malcolm Merlyn wants you to believe. The truth is he is the product of a pairing between a handsome Scottish radical philosopher and aspiring revolutionary from the Scottish Enlightenment movement named Gaspar Glenroy and Nyssa al Ghul who was romancing Gaspar in an attempt to seduce him to joining the Safinat Dakhma.
Ultimately, Gaspar did join but he proved himself unworthy of marrying Nyssa when he offended her father's intelligence. Ra's al Ghul had Gaspar locked in a dungeon for almost two decades before releasing Gaspar, offering him a chance at a pardon if he could defeat a champion of Ra's al Ghul's choosing. Gaspar accepted, but as his arms had grown too weak to lift a sword, he chose a duel with bows. Ra's then called forth his champion, a boy who was not yet a man. The boy was Malcolm, having just completed his training and ready for his trial of admittance into the Safinat Dakhma.
Gaspar wished it to be known he objected to Ra's al Ghul's use of a child but when Ra's al Ghul told Gaspar that he faced Ra's al Ghul's own blood, Gaspar agreed to go through with the duel. Just prior to the duel commencing, Malcolm gave Gaspar a knowing smirk. Malcolm then made a big show of dedicating his victory to his mother, who was obliged to give her son a thankful nod. Malcolm made sure Gaspar saw that. Ra's then declared the duel to begin. Gaspar died without having nocked his arrow or wiping the dumbstruck look off his face. So was born the Magician, his trick was making his father disappear.
Embracing the name the League gave him, Malcolm gave himself the surname "Merlyn" as an homage to the famous wizard and faithful adviser to the fabled King Arthur. Though his grandfather had objections to Malcolm's use of deceptions and misdirection in his kills, not finding much honorable about his grandson's tactics, Ra's al Ghul did come to appreciate Malcolm's sheer cunning. Malcolm was the favored heir to the Demon's Head in just twenty years' time and was bestowed the honor of being given access to the Lazarus Pits.
But in 1891, Malcolm was put in a difficult position. Several years prior to this, Nyssa had intentionally had her servants drown her in the waters of the Lazarus Pits. When she was revived, Nyssa swore she’d been subject to a potent vision of the future. Though Ra’s al Ghul dismissed her claims, Nyssa became obsessed with attempts to repeat this experience despite Ra's al Ghul's strict forbidding of it and having executed any servant that agreed to aid Nyssa in any sort of attempt. Desperate, Nyssa asked the impossible of her son who had a reputation of performing the impossible.
When Ra's al Ghul had the barricaded door to the Lazarus Chamber smashed open, he found the still damp Nyssa al Ghul with a head of all white hair and Malcolm at her side crying. As Ra's closed in he saw that Nyssa was completely catatonic. Furious, Ra's exiled Malcolm on the spot.
Malcolm Merlyn: 1891 - 1970[]
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The Magician: 1970 - Present[]
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- Peak Conditioning: Malcolm is in excellent physical condition. He has demonstrated enough strength to topple the highly durable Danny Brickwell with only a few strikes. Malcolm's reflexes are fast enough to catch or deflect an incoming arrow shot at him by Green Arrow.
- Archery: 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 with a bow for showmanship and sport, later using them for the purposes of killing and combat out of sentimental reasons more than practicality. He has been known to regularly shoot a target dead center at a distance greater than 500 or more yards with the naked eye.
- Martial Arts: Malcolm is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, due to his training with the League of Assassins and was an experienced combatant with over a hundred years of combat experience. His skills have allowed him to defeat multiple opponents in combat at the same time, including highly trained and powerful teams such as Team Arrow. Malcolm is not quite as skilled as Shiva, Black Canary, or Batman, but Malcolm also rarely fights fair.
- Stick Fighting: Malcolm is a highly proficient stick-fighter. These skills often translate to the use of his bow as a melee weapon in desperate situations.
- Fencing: Despite his preference for archery, Malcolm is a trained and highly skilled swordsman, often practicing fencing in his spare time to maintain his skills. He owns and uses several different types of swords. Malcolm might actually be more dangerous with a sword than he is with a bow as even Oliver, a world-class swordsman and archer, has said he was never able to best Malcolm in any of his fencing lessons with the League.
- Thrown Weapons: Malcolm is highly proficient in the use of knives. He's successfully hit John Diggle's gun out of his hand with a knife throw from fifty yards, while in mid-leap from a high-rise rooftop in heavy rain.
- Marksmanship: Despite his preference for archery, Malcolm was highly skilled in the use of firearms.
- Cunning: Malcolm is an exceptional tactician, evidenced with his successful execution of the Undertaking at the command of Ra's al Ghul. He was also one of the only assassin to tactically outsmart Tim Drake and escape capture on New Year's Day, 2013. Because Tim is still not sure how Malcolm did this, Tim continues to fear the day he must face Malcolm in the field again.
- Legerdemain: Malcolm is exceptionally trained in the art of stage magic including sleight-of-hand, escape artistry, and hypnotism, his skills in these areas were one of the reasons he was called "The Magician" by the League of Assassins. Malcolm used to perform a coin disappearing trick for his son, Tommy Merlyn, frequently. His skills as hypnotist also allow him to retrieve lost memories from the Lazarus baths via hypnotic-regression therapy or avoid telepathic interrogation through self-hypnosis and mental compartmentalization.
- Manipulator: Malcolm is highly talented in the art of deception. He is able to fool and convince others of his agenda, even experts of seeing through deception such as Ra's al Ghul have fallen for his ruses. However, his actions and nature as a liar make it difficult for people to ever believe him.
- Interrogation: Malcolm is a trained torturer due to his time in the League of Assassins, having once studied under El Penitente. However, Malcolm oddly prefers diplomatic solutions or trickery before resorting to torture.
- Occult Knowledge: Malcolm was well aware of the existence of magic and mysticism from a young age, knowing the existence of the Lazarus Pits. In his long life, Malcolm gained a higher understanding and knowledge of the arcane fabric of the world and how to exploit to his benefit. Malcolm devised an esoteric system of geomancy to accurately locate other, undiscovered Lazarus Pits, become a master of first circle of alchemy and potion-brewing, and is familiar with the necessary means and methods for the killing of supernatural beings such as vampires and werewolves.
- Indomitable Will: Malcolm has an extremely high tolerance for pain like most members of the League of Assassins, which he taught to his daughter, Thea. Malcolm is able to pour boiling water on his own hand without flinching, even resisting the temptation to douse it in ice afterward. Malcolm's threshold for pain allowed him to survive the torture inflicted upon him by his longtime rival Damien Darhk.
- Stealth: As a highly trained assassin, Malcolm was a master in the art of stealth, as his ability to break into buildings and disappear without a trace was another reason why he is called "The Magician" by the League of Assassins. Malcolm's skills have repeatedly made of mockery of the Quiver's security, despite several relocation and countless upgrades. Malcolm has even managed to show up in my Clocktower more times than I care to admit to deliver a message to Dinah... somehow he's always chomping on an apple.
- Arrows: Malcolm creates his own arrows. The arrows he uses have rather nasty arrow heads with three Teflon-coated titanium blades behind the arrowhead, supposedly designed for splitting bones. The shaft are made of "specialized polymer stronger than typical carbon fiber." Oh, and they also have fast-acting poison capsules concealed inside designed to break open on impact. As such, it is safe to assume that the arrows he uses are far deadlier than those used by Green Arrow.
- Bow of the Magician: Malcolm has his own superbly designed bow that he uses. Supposedly it was the bow that Green Arrow designed his own bows' design upon.
- Assassin Armor: Malcolm wears an armored suit similar to the standard armor used by members of the League of Assassins, aside from some minor differences. It is unknown what materials it's made out of as that is a guarded secret of the League but it is known to have magic wards and sigils built into his weaving and stitching.
- Smoke Bombs: Ever dramatic, Merlyn likes to always have a few on hand to quickly escape the scene.
- Throwing Knives
- Trick Arrows: Though he used to mock Oliver's trick arrows as gimmicks, Merlyn has taken to using some explosive and grapnel arrows.
- Voice Filter: Sometimes Malcolm will use this device to change his voice for the purposes of intimidation, changing his voice to a deep, low growl.[1]
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Trivia and Notes[]
Trivia[]
- He was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory during World War II.[2]
- Malcolm trained Oliver during his time in the League.
- He served as Green Arrow's counterpart in the Salvation Syndicate.
- He is responsible for Oliver's left arm injury. In training with him Oliver once took an arrow to his left side, chipping his bone which never healed properly.
- He drugged Oliver Queen and Mei Gulong with love potion in order to create a scandal. He was afraid Oliver Queen would become the next leader of the League of Assassins.
- According to Roy, after being exiled, he earned his way back into the League.
- He took Nathan Scofield to the League, and trained him to become an assassin.[3]
Notes[]
- His appearance is based on John Barrowman who portrays him in the Arrowverse. His sexuality and nationality are also references to Barrowman, who is gay and Scottish.
- His Arkham patient number is a reference to his character's first appearance in Arrow Season 1, Episode 4 which premiered on the 31st of October in 2012.
- His name, his ex-wife's name, being a son of Jasper, being father of Saracon, using a voice amplifier, and sneaking into the Quiver are all nods to the Arrow TV series.
- His rivalry with Damien Darhk is a reference to DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
- In the comics his real name was unknown before the New 52. Arthur King was one of his aliases in the comics.
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