Vigilante (concept)

For other uses of "Vigilante", see Vigilante (disambiguation).

"Well, I'm—I'm conflicted about this. I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm a police officer, duly sworn. I don't condone vigilantes or vigilantism. Once people start taking the law into their own hands, you're on the road to anarchy. But there's worse things out there than anarchy, and sometimes, as much as I hate to admit it... the police aren't enough to deal with it all."

—Quentin Lance^[src]

A vigilante is an individual who takes the law into their own hands, believing that the police and the court system are unable to or unreliable at bringing criminals to justice. However, not all vigilantes are fighting for justice, some do it out of personal revenge or antagonistic reasoning. It is also common for vigilantes to take on a moniker to be known by, some by personal choice and others by having been named by the public.

Some vigilantes eventually gain a level of popularity and admiration from the general public that they begin to be seen as a "superhero". Despite the name suggesting this term is reserved for individuals with superhuman powers, it may also be used to define individuals without any but instead rely on combat skills, intellect or gadgetry.

While most vigilantes typically exist outside of the government, some have been given amnesty due to the positive effects that came from their actions. Some have gone so far as to be fully pardoned and even deputized as superheroes officially working more closely with law enforcement.^[1]

History[]

Star City[]

Oliver Queen's crusade[]

After the Queen's Gambit sank in North China sea, Oliver Queen was stranded on Lian Yu and learnt archery from Yao Fei Gulong. When he returned home, he started to become a vigilante under the names on The List his father gave him. He later got assistance from John Diggle and Felicity Smoak to act as a vigilante team. He is known as the Hood in 2012, the Arrow in 2013 and Green Arrow in 2015.

Central City[]

S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion[]

In 2013, the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded due to malfunction. The explosion created people with powers and are named as Meta-humans. The explosion also caused Barry Allen to receive super speed and became a vigilante to stop rogue meta-humans. He later got assistance from Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow to act as a beacon of hope for Central City. He is also known as The Streak in his early vigilante career and gained the name The Flash as well as the stylized name Scarlet Speedster.

National City; Earth-38[]

Sabotage of Flight 237[]

In 2015, the Flight 237 was about to crash and destroy the city. Kara Danvers, a Kryptonian refugee stepped up and saved the aircraft. With the help from Winn Schott, she got a suit similar to Superman and became the hero Supergirl.

Timeline[]

Uprise of Vandal Savage[]

In 2166, an immortal emperor known as Vandal Savage ruled the world and killed Rip Hunter's family. He later went back in time to 2016 and recruited 8 vigilantes and criminals who are insignificant to the timeline. They later time-traveled across time to hunt down Vandal Savage and his allies. Rip Hunter named his team as Legends as they will be significant to the timeline if they succeeded in the mission. After defeating Vandal Savage and destroyed the Time Masters, they started to protect the timeline from Time pirates and aberrations.

Gotham City[]

Disappearance of the Dark Knight[]

Three years after Bruce Wayne left Gotham City, Kate Kane returned home and accidentally discovered the secret identity of Bruce Wayne. When her ex-girlfriend was kidnapped by the Wonderland gang, she asked Luke Fox to alter the Batsuit to fit her and became Batwoman.

After Kate mysteriously disappeared, following the explosion of her private jet, she is presumed dead and a woman named Ryan Wilder discovered the Batsuit among the wreckage and briefly assumed the mantle of Batwoman, but she gave the suit back to Luke Fox and Mary Hamilton after concluding that she is not worthy to use it. But after saving Gotham's citizens, Ryan received Luke and Mary’s blessing to operate as Batwoman in Kate’s place, at least until Kate returns, becoming the second Batwoman and part of the Bat Team in the process.

Freeland; Earth-TUD5[]

Reappearance of Black Lightning[]

Nine years after retiring to put himself in less danger, Jefferson Pierce finds that his daughters Jennifer and Anissa Pierce have been kidnapped. Giving him a wake up call to return to action as Black Lightning in order to fight for Freeland once more. Once again being helped by Peter Gambi who made him a new suit for his return.

Earth-Prime[]

Anti-Monitor Crisis[]

During the Crisis, the Paragons and Oliver Queen went back in time to the Dawn of Time and formed Earth-Prime. After defeating the Anti-Monitor, Barry Allen formed a group of the greatest of heroes.

Earth-TUD25[]

The Last Son of Krypton[]

After taking refuge on Earth following the destruction of his home planet Krypton, Clark Kent would become the world-famous superhero known as Superman, debuting in Metropolis. Clark would later move to his hometown of Smallville, along with his wife Lois and their two sons.

Known vigilantes[]

Heroes[]

Name	Alter ego	Universe	Status	Affiliation	Notes
Barry Allen	The Flash	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Team Flash Paragons New multiverse Team Flash Paragons The League
Helena Bertinelli	Huntress	Earth-1	Inactive	Team Arrow (formerly)	Turned rogue; incarcerated
Adrian Chase	The Hood	Earth-2	Inactive	Laurel Lance	Presumed deceased
John Constantine		Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Legends (reluctantly) New multiverse Legends
Alex Danvers	Sentinel	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Superfriends New multiverse Superfriends
Kara Danvers	Supergirl	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Superfriends Paragons New multiverse Superfriends Paragons The League	Secretly an agent of the D.E.O.
Ralph Dibny	Elongated Man	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Team Flash New multiverse Team Flash
John Diggle	Spartan Green Arrow (briefly)	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly)	Retired
Querl Dox	Brainiac 5	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse The Legion (formerly) Superfriends New multiverse The Legion (formerly) Superfriends
Dinah Drake	Black Canary	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active (as of 2040)	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New Team Arrow (formerly) Canaries (formerly; erased timeline) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) Mia Queen's team	Sent to 2040 with her former history erased
Jay Garrick	The Flash	Earth-3	Active	Team Flash (occasionally; formerly)	Retired to train a new Flash
Ted Grant	Wildcat	Earth-1	Inactive	Team Arrow (occasionally; formerly)	Retired
Scythian Torvil	Hawkman	Earth-1	Inactive	Legends	Retired
Roy Harper	Arsenal	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) Canaries (formerly; erased timeline) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly)	Retired
John Diggle, Jr.	Connor Hawke/Green Arrow	Earth-16	Active	Team Arrow
Nate Heywood	Steel	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Legends Team Flash (formerly) New multiverse Legends
Curtis Holt	Mr. Terrific	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New Team Arrow (formerly) New multiverse Team Arow (formerly)	Retired
Michael	Rip Hunter	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Legends (formerly) New multiverse Legends (formerly)	Deceased
Mon-El		Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Superfriends The Legion New multiverse Superfriends (formerly) The Legion
Jefferson Jackson	Firestorm (formerly)	Earth-1	Inactive	Legends (formerly)	Retired; now focused on his family
J'onn J'onzz	Martian Manhunter	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Superfriends Paragons New multiverse Superfriends The League
Clark Kent	Superman	Earth-TUD25	Active
Clark Kent	Superman	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Superfriends (occasionally) New multiverse Superfriends (occasionally) The League
Clark Kent	Superman	Earth-96 (original multiverse) Earth-96 (new multiverse)	Active	Original multiverse Paragons (formerly)
Clark Kent	Superman	Earth-167	Inactive		Retired; gave up his powers to start a family
Kate Kane	Batwoman	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Luke Fox Paragons New multiverse Luke Fox Paragons The League	Passed the mantle on to Ryan Wilder
Kuasa	Vixen	Earth-1	Active	Legends (occasionally)	Shares the mantle with Mari
Laurel Lance	Black Canary	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Team Arrow	Deceased
Laurel Lance	Black Canary	Earth-2	Active	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly)	Reformed criminal turned vigilante
Quentin Lance	Detective (formerly)	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly)
Sara Lance	The Canary (formerly) White Canary	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) Legends New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) Legends Paragons The League
Mari	Vixen	Earth-1	Active	Team Arrow (occasionally)	Shares the mantle with Kuasa
Malcolm Merlyn	Dark Archer	Earth-1	Inactive	Team Arrow (formerly)	Anti-hero; deceased
Nia Nal	Dreamer	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Superfriends New multiverse Superfriends
James Olsen	Guardian	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Guardian's team (formerly) Superfriends (formerly) New multiverse Superfriends (formerly)	Deputized
Ray Palmer	The Atom	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) Legends New multiverse Legends
Anissa Pierce	Thunder	Earth-TUD5 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Black Lightning's team New multiverse Black Lightning's team
Jefferson Pierce	Black Lightning	Earth-TUD5 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Black Lightning's team New multiverse Black Lightning's team The League
Jennifer Pierce	Lightning	Earth-TUD5 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Black Lightning's team New multiverse Black Lightning's team
Mia Queen	Green Arrow (2040)	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Canaries (erased future) Team Arrow New multiverse Mia Queen's team (possible future) Team Arrow (briefly)
Oliver Queen	Green Arrow	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Arrow New multiverse Team Arrow The League (honorary member)	Deputized; deceased
Oliver Queen	Green Arrow	Earth-16	Active	Team Arrow
Robert Queen	The Arrow	Earth-2	Inactive		Presumed deceased
Thea Queen	Speedy	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly)	Left to destroy three Lazarus Pits with Nyssa and Roy
Rene Ramirez	Wild Dog	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New Team Arrow (formerly) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly)	Retired; left to run for mayor
Cisco Ramon	Vibe (formerly) Mecha-Vibe	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Team Flash (formerly) New multiverse Team Flash	Took meta-human cure; no longer a field agent; later briefly regained powers via Mar Novu
Ronnie Raymond	Firestorm	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Flash (formerly) New multiverse Team Flash (formerly)	Presumed deceased
Rory Regan	Ragman	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly)	Leave of absence
Mick Rory	Heat Wave	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Legends (formerly) New multiverse Legends	Anti-hero
Kendra Saunders	Hawkgirl	Earth-1	Inactive	Legends (formerly)	Retired
Winn Schott	Man in the Van Computer Lad Toyman	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Superfriends (formerly) Guardian's team (formerly) The Legion New multiverse Superfriends (formerly) The Legion
Evelyn Sharp	Artemis	Earth-1	Inactive	Team Arrow (formerly)	Turned rogue; presumed deceased
Vincent Sobel	Vigilante	Earth-1	Inactive	Team Arrow (occasionally)	Anti-hero; deceased
Felicity Smoak	Overwatch	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse Team Arrow (formerly) New multiverse Team Arrow (formerly)	Deputized; retired to raise her daughter, Mia Queen
Leonard Snart	Captain Cold	Earth-1	Inactive	Team Flash (occasionally) Legends	Deceased
Caitlin Snow	Frost	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Team Flash New multiverse Team Flash
Martin Stein	Firestorm	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Team Flash (formerly) Legends	Deceased
Lyra Strayd		Earth-38	Inactive	Guardian's team (formerly)
Behrad Tarazi		Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Original multiverse Legends New multiverse Legends
Zari Tomaz (original timeline)		Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive (original timeline)	Legends (original timeline)	History of her being a vigilante erased from existence
Eddie Thawne		Earth-1	Inactive	Team Flash (formerly)	Deceased
Eobard Thawne	Harrison Wells	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Team Flash (formerly)	Revealed to be a villain in disguise
Bruce Wayne	Batman	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Lucius Fox (formerly) Luke Fox (formerly)	Left Gotham City
Harry Wells		Earth-2	Inactive	Team Flash (formerly) Jesse Wells' team (formerly)
Harrison Wells	H. R. Randolf	Earth-19	Inactive	Team Flash	Deceased
Harrison Nash Wells	Pariah (formerly)	Earth-TUD12	Inactive	Team Flash	Merged into the Artificial Speed Force
Jesse Wells	Jesse Quick	Earth-2	Inactive	Team Flash (formerly) Jesse Wells' team	Presumed deceased
Iris West-Allen	Eye in the Sky (briefly) The Flash (briefly)	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Team Flash
Joe West		Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Team Flash
Nora West-Allen	XS	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Team Flash
Bart West-Allen	Impulse	Earth-Prime	Active	Team Flash
Wally West	Kid Flash (current timeline) The Flash (Flashpoint timeline)	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Team Flash (formerly) Legends (formerly)	Left Team Flash and later joined the Legends for a brief time
Ryan Wilder	Batwoman	Earth-Prime	Active	Bat Team
Tatsu Yamashiro		Earth-1	Inactive	Team Arrow (formerly; occasionally)	Retired
Hunter Zolomon	Jay Garrick/The Flash	Earth-2	Inactive	Team Flash (formerly)	Revealed to be a villain in disguise; deceased

Villainous vigilantes[]

Name	Alter ego	Universe	Status	Works with	Notes
Helena Bertinelli	Huntress	Earth-1	Inactive		Incarcerated
Manchester Black		Earth-38	Inactive	The Elite	Deceased
Colton		Earth-1	Inactive	The Hoods	Incarcerated
Carrie Cutter	Cupid	Earth-1	Inactive	Suicide Squad	Incarcerated
Jeff Deveau		Earth-1	Inactive	The Hoods	Incarcerated
Bertrand Eldon	Executioner	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Inactive		Deceased
Joseph Falk	The Savior	Earth-1	Inactive		Deceased
Pamela Ferrer	Menagerie	Earth-38	Inactive	The Elite	Incarcerated
Phillip Karnowsky		Earth-38	Inactive		Incarcerated
Lonnie Machin	Anarky	Earth-1	Inactive		Incarcerated
Malcolm Merlyn	Dark Archer	Earth-1	Inactive		Reformed; deceased
Tommy Merlyn	Dark Archer	Earth-2	Inactive		Reformed; deceased
Hartley Rathaway	Pied Piper	Earth-1 Earth-Prime	Active	Team Flash (occasionally)	Reformed in Pre-Crisis timeline
Isaac Stanzler		Earth-1	Inactive		Deceased
Unnamed	Mo	Earth-38	Inactive	The Elite	Incarcerated
Unnamed	Hat	Earth-38 Earth-Prime	Inactive	Original multiverse The Elite	Original multiverse Incarcerated

Known vigilante teams[]

Heroes[]

Legends
Superfriends
The Legion
Team Flash
- Barry Allen/The Flash (co-leader)
- Iris West-Allen (co-leader)
- Caitlin Snow
- Frost
- Joe West
- Cecile Horton
- Allegra Garcia
- Chester P. Runk
Bat Team
- Luke Fox/Batwing
- Mary Hamilton
- Ryan Wilder/Batwoman (leader)
- Sophie Moore
Mia Queen's team

Former vigilantes[]

Heroes[]

Birds of Prey (inactive)
- Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle (deceased)
- Dinah Redmond (deceased)
- Helena Kyle/Huntress (deceased)
Team Arrow
- Oliver Queen/Green Arrow/The Spectre (deceased)
- John Diggle/Spartan (disbanded the team)
- Felicity Smoak/Overwatch (left the team)
- Dinah Drake/Black Canary (transported to the future with her previous history erased)
- Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (left the team to run for Mayor of Star City)
- Helena Bertinelli/Huntress (turned rogue; incarcerated)
- Roy Harper/Arsenal (retired; resumed vigilantism in a potential future)
- Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific (retired; left for a job in Washington D.C.)
- Thea Queen/Speedy (retired)
- Evelyn Sharp/Artemis (secretly a villain; status unknown)
- Laurel Lance/Black Canary (deceased)
- Rory Regan/Ragman (leave of absence; status unknown)
- Emiko Adachi/Green Arrow (secretly a villain; turned ally; deceased; resurrected in the new multiverse)
Ted Grant/Wildcat (retired)
Isaac Stanzler (deceased)
Team Flash former members
- Eddie Thawne (deceased)
- Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash (former leader of Team Flash; secretly a villain)
- Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm (deceased)
- Martin Stein/Firestorm (left to join the Legends; deceased)
- "Jay Garrick"/The Flash (secretly a villain; deceased)
- Harry Wells (retired; returned to Earth-2; relocated to Harrison Nash Wells' mind; deceased)
- Harrison "H.R." Wells (deceased)
- Nora West-Allen/XS (in the orginal multiverse; erased from existance; ally in the new multiverse)
- Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man (left the team to go on a mission)
- Cisco Ramon/Vibe (left the team to work for A.R.G.U.S.)
- Kamilla Hwang (left the team to open an art gallery)
Legends former members
- Carter Hall/Hawkman (deceased)
- Leonard Snart/Captain Cold (deceased)
- Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (retired)
- Scythian Torvil/Hawkman (retired)
- Martin Stein/Firestorm (deceased)
- Jefferson "Jax" Jackson (leave of absence)
- Ray Palmer/The Atom (retired)
- Nora Darhk (retired)
Superfriends former memers
- James Olsen/Guardian
Guardian's team (disbanded)
- James Olsen/Guardian (leader; left the team; relocated to Earth-Prime)
- Win Schott/Man in the Van (left the team; relocated to Earth-Prime)
- Lyra Strayd (left the team; status unknown)
Freedom Fighters (presumably disbanded)
- Winn Schott (leader; presumably deceased)
- Ray Terrill/The Ray (relocated to Earth-Prime)
- Jenny Knight/Phantom Lady (presumably deceased)
- John Trujillo/Black Condor (presumably deceased)
- Leo Snart (presumably deceased)
- Cisco Ramon/Vibe (presumably deceased)
Canaries (in an erased future)
Bat Team
- Kate Kane/Batwoman (former leader; kidnapped by Black Mask; saved by her team; left Gotham City, passing the Batwoman mantle ro Ryan Wilder; retired)

Criminals[]

The Hoods (inactive)
- Aglin (incarcerated)
- Baker (incarcerated)
- Colton (incarcerated)
- Jeff Deveau (incarcerated)
The Elite (inactive)
- Manchester Black (leader; deceased)
- Pamela Ferrer/Menagerie (incarcerated)
- Hat (incarcerated)
- Mo (incarcerated)

Trivia[]

The greatest irony is that while vigilantes do cause crazy supervillains to emerge in response to them, in truth they end up doing a much better job at cleaning up regular crime in their cities than the police; due to making direct and quick actions against crime, thanks to ignoring the process that would give the culprits time to escape.
- Rene Ramirez acknowledges this concept in "Inmate 4587", where due to Team Arrow's absence, crime in Star City skyrocketed within five months.
- It was even acknowledged that Batman's absence caused Gotham to need the Crows Security to be founded to deal with massive resurgence of crime. Since criminals were no longer in check due to their fear of the Bat.
- Flash is honored and respected as the hero of Central City, where even a holiday called Flash Day; possibly due to the fact arresting him is impossible due his speed. Ironically Team Flash is left alone, aside from Frost, whom was able to get absolvement for her crimes much like Oliver.
- Black Lightning is accepted as a hero and never is targeted by law enforcement. Largely due to his previous heroics in the 1990s. Instead, Lightning got targeted, since she was young and could be pinned for crimes by meta racists.
- The Superfriends are left alone, since they are comprised of aliens with powers. Though cops targeted Guardian out of racism after his helmet broke. The only major fallout was in "Nightmare in National City", where the government made the bonehead move of attacking the Nightmare Monster while the Superfriends were sending it back to the Dream World; then spinning public opinion against them when they had to interfere.
It's implied there are no vigilantes in the 31st century. According to Saturn Girl, the Legion of Super-Heroes doesn't count; they were founded during galactic turmoil as a peacekeeping force, and remain an officially recognized organization.

References[]

↑ "Emerald Archer"

[1] "Emerald Archer"

[1]