Kate Bishop working to redesign Clint's trick arrows. I imagine she'd want to stream line the build quality since she would have access to high tech parts. Also probably want her own quiver design + arrow picking mechanism.
AND obviously she would have the branding cohesive across all arrows - probably the fletching colors.
Oliver has the boxing glove arrow. This opinion hasn’t changed. It will never change.
Roy is particularly proud of the Phantom Zone arrow. A) that he was able to obtain it and B) that he was able to pass it on to Mia
Connor famously eschews trick arrows, but if he had to pick one, that ricochet arrow he had in the 80th Anniversary special suits him nicely. It showcases his skills and is like projectile kung fu.
Mia also doesn’t much care for trick arrows, but I can see her creating a Glitter Bomb Arrow, which explodes in a massive cloud of red and yellow glitter, a biological hazard and a menace.
Emi likes explosive arrows. Because explosions are fun and one can be a teenager and a silent ninja, but not often at the same time.
The scene in Hawkeye where Clint was making trick arrows was so awesome and it just proves to those people who said "Tony never cared for Clint" that he did care, he gave him some of his best tech for his arrows and Ant-Man gave some of the Pym tech, it just goes to show that even though we didn't get to see them interact on screen they were close enough to keep their friendships and teamwork alive
Also shoutout to The Trickster's Quiver, a compendium of all the weirdest Green Arrow and Hawkeye trick arrows that was invaluable in putting this list together.
5: Fountain Pen Arrow
This one is less bizarre than the other arrows on this list, if only because it does actually have a utility that may actually make it useful outside of the one very specific thing it does in the story. The only issue with it is that it's kinda bad at what it intends to accomplish.
The Fountain Pen Arrow is designed to attach itself to the back of a car, drawing a line of ink wherever said car goes. The issues with this are readily apparent, and with modern surveilance being what it is there's no wonder this arrow got phased out. The only question I have is this - why specifically a fountain pen? Surely an Oil Slick Arrow would be way more beneficial? Is Oliver Queen just really fancy, or what?
4: Vacuum Arrow
Now we're getting into the 'why, exactly did you make this one?' section, although in the Vacuum Arrow's case there's also the factor of 'AND WHY DID YOU PUT IT ON AN ARROW?' as well. Behold:
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a tiny vacuum cleaner with a helicopter on top attached to an arrow. Why exactly this is the thing that impresses Lois Fucking Lane is beyond me. (Also lol on that person for implying Green Arrow isn't DTF anywhere, anytime, the next few decades of comics are NOT going to be kind to you)
3: Atomic Warhead Arrow
The one everyone knows. If you know one bizarre Green Arrow trick arrow, it's this one. What more can be said about it? Every single time it's used, it's at a point where a normal explosive arrow would be just as useful. Every single damn time, Ollie fires it at a target twelve feet away, because oh yeah, IT'S AN ARROW. Forget Nuking the Fridge, Oliver Shoots the Nuke. Most importantly: Oliver Queen keeps it in a house with his infant son in the Injustice timeline.
2: Fake Cat Arrow
Admit it, that title threw you, didn't it. Yes, the penultimate arrow on our trip into the strange warped mind of Oliver Queen is... an inflatable cat that can be deployed at range. Don't ask where the arrow shaft is.
Okay, so the actual backstory to this is even more bizarre - one of Green Arrow's friends on the force (Y'know, in that time when GA's connection to Robin Hood was more stylistic than political) is deathly afraid of cats, and it's interfering with his job. Luckily, Green Arrow and Speedy decide to help him out. Unluckily, it seems that Oliver Queen went to the Caesar Milan school of therapy, so he decides the best thing to do is ambush him in the middle of an active gunfight and torment him with a fake cat until he's 'cured'. Silver Age heroes, everybody!
1: The World's Three Most Dangerous Arrows
Okay, so it's probably bad form to put three arrows on the Number 1 spot, but I kinda have to do this because The World's Three Most Dangerous Arrows, found in Adventure Comics #248, is both the only GA story to put his trick arrows in prime focus as opposed to a MacGuffin that solves whatever plot Ollie is caught up in, and also the best Green Arrow story I've ever read.
Okay, let's set the scene: through an accident with a watch (don't ask), Ollie thinks he has an inoperable cancer (there's actually a really funny bit where the doctor calls up Green Arrow and tells him they mixed up the x-rays and he doesn't actually have cancer... then tells him they mixed up Green Arrow's x-ray with Oliver Queen's. Now, most superheroes in stories where they think they're about to die have deep introspective reflection on their legacy (see All-Star Superman) or go on a great quest to accomplish one final great feat and possibly find a successor (see The Question's arc in 52).
Oliver Queen, on the other hand, sees this as the perfect opportunity to use three arrows he deemed too dangerous to ever be used. Now, dear reader, you may be thinking: what could possibly be so dangerous about these arrows that Oliver Jonas Queen, a man who has used an Atomic Warhead Arrow multiple times, deems them too dangerous? Well, fear not, none of these are all that deadly. Except if you happen to be the one firing them. Yes, that's right, Green Arrow made three arrows that utterly remove the inherent advantage of ranged combat by being more dangerous to the bowman than the person they're firing at.
So, don't keep you in suspense, what are the World's Three Most Dangerous Arrows? Well, up first we have the Electronic Arrow, sorta like Hawkeye's taser arrow except instead of that it causes a freak thunderstorm. The danger is apparent: lighning is a bad thing to be standing near.
Up next we have the Satelite Arrow, an arrow that hovers in the air and displays photos of the scene in Green Arrow's car, the Arrowplane (yes, the name is confusing, it's fine). Here the risk is a bit more esoteric - namely, the GIANT ROCKET attached to the end of the arrow so that it'll blow up directly into the bowman's face. So, pretty esoteric.
But finally, the creme de la creme, the piece de resistance (I don' t speak French at all), we have the Super Boomerang Arrow. Now, Boomerang Arrows are a dime a dozen - Hawkeye has some, Ollie has some, they're basically a staple of weird comic book arrows. The Super Boomerang Arrow, however, is far stranger: Once fired, the Super Boomerang Arrow travels in a complete circle, slowly gaining speed until it strikes the bowman's back with enough force to instantly kill him. Even if you do (as Ollie does) get out of the way, the Super Boomerang Arrow will continue circling, slowly increasing in speed until it hits something, and only then.
Yes, you clever people who've worked this out: OLIVER QUEEN INVENTED A PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE. AND HE STUCK IT ON AN ARROW. And the only reason he uses it is because he thinks he's dying and instead of being self-reflective and sad he decided 'Hey, one last chance to show people some cool shit.'
In conclusion, this is why Oliver Queen is one of my favourite male superheroes.
