John Diggle (Arrowverse)

John Diggle
Arrowverse character
First appearance	Arrow: "Pilot" (1.01) October 10, 2012
Created by	Greg Berlanti Marc Guggenheim Andrew Kreisberg
Portrayed by	David Ramsey
Years	2012–present
In-universe information
Alias	Freelancer Spartan Green Arrow
Family	Andy Diggle (brother) Carly Diggle (sister-in-law) Andrew Diggle, Jr. (nephew)
Spouse	Lyla Michaels
Children	Sara Diggle (pre-Flashpoint) John Diggle Jr. (post-Flashpoint)
Affiliations	Team Arrow Suicide Squad A.R.G.U.S.
Abilities	Expert marksman Skilled tactician Peak human physical condition
Sidearm	Hand gun Crossbow

John Thomas Diggle, also known as Spartan, is a fictional character created originally by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg for the CW television series Arrow, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. He is portrayed by actor David Ramsey. The character debuts in the pilot episode as a military veteran and Oliver Queen's new bodyguard. He later becomes Oliver's best friend and confidante in his crusade as the Green Arrow.

The character also appears in the Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham video game, as well as Arrow's tie-in novels, digital comics, and spin-offs. Ramsey reprises his role in the Arrow spin-off series The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. While originally created for Arrow, a character of the same name has been incorporated into the Green Arrow comics published by DC since 2013.

Storylines

Arrow

Season 1

Further information: Arrow (season 1)

John Diggle is introduced as a former United States Army Special Forces soldier, honorably discharged with the rank of master sergeant. He is hired as the bodyguard of billionaire Oliver Queen, and later becomes his confidant in his mission to save Starling City. Diggle tries to help Oliver balance his normal life and vigilante life, and occasionally helps him in the field. Diggle provides Oliver with medical assistance, limiting his need for hospital treatment. Already a skilled fighter, Diggle receives additional training from Oliver. Diggle has a grudge against Floyd Lawton / Deadshot who killed his brother, Andy. Diggle dates his brother's widow, Carly, and is a father figure to her son, Andrew "A.J.", during this season.

Season 2

Further information: Arrow (season 2)

Diggle and Felicity Smoak continue to help Oliver with his crusade and John continues to be Oliver's adviser and field partner, along with Sara Lance and Roy Harper. Diggle has a relationship with his ex-wife Lyla Michaels, is an unofficial member of A.R.G.U.S., and is a member of the Suicide Squad under the codename "Freelancer". He also develops an uneasy alliance with Amanda Waller who occasionally asks him for field assistance with A.R.G.U.S. missions. It is revealed that Lyla is pregnant with Diggle's child.

Season 3

Further information: Arrow (season 3)

Diggle continues to help Oliver and his team, but has to devote more of his time to his new baby with Lyla, whom he names Sara after Sara Lance is killed. After Lyla is seriously injured in an attack, they decide to remarry. When Oliver is presumed dead at Ra's al Ghul's hands, Diggle leads Felicity, Roy, and Laurel Lance until his friend's return. After Oliver's return, Diggle accompanies him to Nanda Parbat to help him free Malcolm Merlyn, but the two are captured. Diggle and Lyla marry after a near-death experience with the Suicide Squad, when Lawton sacrifices himself for them. Diggle and Lyla decide to quit Team Arrow and A.R.G.U.S. for their daughter's sake. After Oliver leaves the team to join the League of Assassins as part of a deal to revive a deceased Thea Queen, Diggle becomes the team leader, though he is not yet ready to forgive Oliver for kidnapping Lyla as part of a deception to gain acceptance by the League.

Season 4

Further information: Arrow (season 4)

Diggle continues to protect Starling City, now renamed Star City, with Laurel and Thea. Now going by the codename "Spartan", he discovers that the organization that targets the newly-named Star City is H.I.V.E., who had hired Lawton to murder Andy. Diggle eventually forgives Oliver after their fight with a H.I.V.E. metahuman operative named Jeremy Tell. With Quentin Lance's help, Diggle learns that Damien Darhk had Andy murdered, and that he was a drug cartel leader and Darhk's territorial rival prior to his death. However, Diggle discovers that Darhk actually faked Andy's death and recruited him as a H.I.V.E. soldier, leading Diggle and his brother to become enemies. Guilt-ridden over his brother's role in causing Laurel's death, Diggle seeks revenge against Andy and Darhk. Diggle kills Andy after the latter nearly causes Lyla and Sara to be killed. He initially lies to Lyla, saying that he killed Andy in self-defense, but Oliver encourages Diggle to admit the truth to his wife. Diggle rejoins the US Army after confiding to his wife and Darhk's defeat.

Season 5

Further information: Arrow (season 5)

Diggle is betrayed by his commanding officer, J. G. Walker, following a failed attempt to sell nuclear weapons. Framed for Walker's crimes, Diggle is arrested. Oliver and Lyla break him out of state prison, and Diggle stays at H.I.V.E.'s former base until his innocence can be proven. Diggle remains guilty about killing Andy and continues to serve as Spartan to redeem himself. Due to the events of The Flash episode "Flashpoint", Diggle's family history is altered: his daughter Sara has been erased from existence and replaced by John "J.J." Diggle, Jr., as a result of a timeline change caused by Eobard Thawne, correcting the Flashpoint reality created by Barry Allen. Felicity is later able to prove Diggle's innocence by restoring the digital files that Walker had destroyed. However, Andy's betrayal and death at Diggle's hands has taken a toll on him; he struggles to control his rage and occasionally pulverizes criminals to vent it, fueling Oliver's concern over his erratic behavior. Diggle later befriends Oliver's chosen successor to Laurel's mantle, Dinah Drake, a Central City detective, and encourages her to set down roots in Star City. Diggle, along with the rest of Team Arrow, is later captured by Adrian Chase and taken to the island Lian Yu. Chase later detonates the explosive-rigged Lian Yu by shooting himself dead, with Diggle still on the island.

Season 6

Further information: Arrow (season 6)

Diggle is revealed to have survived the explosion by taking shelter in a plane like the others. However, he was wounded by bomb shrapnel and suffers a degenerative nerve injury that affects his motor control that requires taking daily medications, resulting him to develop a drug dependency. When Oliver decides to retire from being the Green Arrow, he appoints Diggle as his successor, oblivious that Diggle is currently not in condition to remain in action. Oliver returns to vigilantism until Diggle is fully recovered from his injury. Curtis Holt develops an implant for Diggle to help him control his tremors as he progressively recovers. After Oliver decides to remain being the Green Arrow, Diggle accepts the job offer from Lyla as one of the commanding officers in A.R.G.U.S., using his new position to lead his subordinates to maintain order in the city's police's place due to they have been compromised by crime lord Ricardo Diaz. Near the end of the season, Diggle is fully healed and no longer needing Holt's implant. His A.R.G.U.S. team later joins forces with FBI agent Samandra Watson's subordinates, and working with Team Arrow, they ultimately take back the city from Diaz.

The Flash

In season 1, Diggle arrives at Central City with Oliver and Felicity to locate a criminal who uses lethal boomerangs (Digger Harkness), but ends up assisting Team Flash (Barry's team) in defeating Roy Bivolo. In season 2, Diggle and the rest of Team Arrow aid Team Flash during their fight with Vandal Savage. Later in the season, when the metahuman King Shark escapes from his A.R.G.U.S. prison and arrives at Central City to kill Barry, Diggle and Lyla arrive to warn the latter. After King Shark is defeated by the combined efforts of Team Flash, Diggle and Lyla, he is taken back to A.R.G.U.S. In season 3, Diggle learns of the alteration of his life, his daughter's erasure and his son's status as a time aberration, and despite the hurt caused by these circumstances, he chooses to forgive Barry. In season 4, Clifford DeVoe infiltrates the A.R.G.U.S. facility holding the metahuman Fallout by impersonating Diggle and kills most of the security; overcharging and killing Fallout to be a nuclear battery for his satellites. Afterwards, Barry brings Diggle to S.T.A.R. Labs to reveal the location of the facility.

Legends of Tomorrow

In season 2, Diggle aids Team Arrow, Team Flash and the Legends in their fight against the alien race of Dominators, who leave Earth after being defeated. In season 3, Diggle, who is an ordained minister, officiates Barry Allen and Iris West's wedding, simultaneously marrying Oliver and Felicity as well.

Development

In February 2012, David Ramsey was cast in the pilot episode of Arrow as John Diggle, a "former military man now working as a bodyguard for hire who soon finds he is trapped in a battle of wits, loyalty and trust". The character was created by Arrow creators Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. Named after comic book writer Andy Diggle, and created specifically for the series, Guggenheim said Diggle was designed to be Oliver's equal in "many respects" such as their abilities and intelligence. He further explained that Diggle's mutual abilities were a means of setting him up early in the series as a confidant for Oliver's vigilante persona. Ramsey enjoyed the fact that he did not have to worry about matching the comic books, saying, it allowed him to "just kind of take [his character], and run with it". He compared Diggle to Alfred Pennyworth from the Batman comics, calling the character Oliver's "moral voice". Ramsey, who has trained in various martial arts such as Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do, and kickboxing, used his martial arts expertise to make Diggle believable, saying, "I think, honestly, it has to do with...having Diggle able to not just handle himself on screen but be able to really proficiently use the (martial) arts — and look like he is a trained soldier. You don't see the stunt guy. You actually see David Ramsey doing it." He has stated that since Diggle is older than most of Team Arrow and, to an extent, more experienced on the field and reconnaissance fighting, the other members "look to him for some leadership". While describing the other Arrow characters, particularly Team Arrow members like Felicity as "extraordinary", Ramsey said people would be able to identify with Diggle because "he's just a guy who decided to better himself." A running gag is that Diggle, whenever taken suddenly to places by Barry Allen at super-speed, vomits as a result of motion sickness, an exception being in the season 6 episode "The Devil's Greatest Trick".

Relationships

Regarding Diggle's relationship with Oliver in season 1 after realising he is a vigilante, Ramsey said that "the biggest change is that they start working together", adding that, "He [Diggle] makes it clear to Oliver that this isn’t about me being a yes man. This is about me understanding what you do and what it does to you as a person. What it does to your humanity." Juliana Harkavy, who plays Dinah Drake, described Diggle as Drake's "best friend" and "her family". After Diggle leaves Team Arrow and joins A.R.G.U.S. in season 6 due to his differences with Oliver, Ramsey said, "he obviously loves Oliver, but he sees that there’s more than one way to save the city. He’s still committed to Oliver, to a certain degree, but even more so than Oliver, to the people of the city."

Costumes

For the first three seasons of Arrow, Diggle does not have a vigilante costume. By the time season 4 begins, he has gained one, which consists of a helmet and black gear. Via social media, the helmet was criticised by fans for its resemblance to that worn by the Marvel Comics character Magneto. In response to the criticism, Ramsey said, "I know there's a lot of criticism that it looks like the Magneto helmet. But by the time you see Diggle in action – we also get into what the helmet can do – you won't be thinking of the X-Men at all." In season 5, Diggle replaces his helmet with a new one, which Ramsey said can do "extraordinary things", apart from being just about concealment. Concept artist Andy Poon said the new helmet offers Diggle "full protection". He added that, since Diggle's codename is Spartan, he decided to make the helmet resemble "an actual spartan helmet design". Poon, a comic book fan himself, thought the new helmet would fix "the issues regarding some of the fan feedback about [the older helmet] looking similar to other comic book characters". Early in season 6, when Diggle takes up the Green Arrow mantle at Oliver's request, he wields a crossbow named "Green Monster" that was created by Felicity and Curtis and fires arrows. Later in the season, Diggle gains both a new Spartan costume and helmet, which eschew the gray overtones of previous Spartan costumes, and instead have a black and red scheme.

Reception

Writing for the DC Comics website, Ashley V. Robinson named Diggle as one of her "all-time favorite characters". Jesse Schedeen of IGN praised Ramsey's performance in the episode "Brothers in Arms", calling it "easily Ramsey’s strongest episode in a long time".

In other media

Print media

The character appeared in Arrow 2.5, a bi-weekly digital comic series that bridged the gap between the end of season two and the start of season three. He also features in the tie-in novels published for the series, Arrow: Vengeance, written by Oscar Balderrama and Lauren Certo, The Flash: The Haunting of Barry Allen written by Susan and Clay Griffith, and its sequel Arrow: A Generation of Vipers from the same authors, as well as Arrow Fatal Legacies, co-authored by Marc Guggenheim and James R. Tuck, published in January 2018. This novel bridged the gap between the season five finale and the season six premiere of Arrow.

Video games

The character appears in the Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham video game as part of the Arrow DLC pack.

Other versions

While Diggle was originally created for Arrow, a character of the same name was introduced into the Green Arrow comics during the The New 52 run, in 2013. Looking at any elements of the show which would transfer to the comic-run, writer Jeff Lemire described the character of Diggle as "the breakout of that show", and wanted to incorporate elements of that into his story. When DC rebooted its continuity with Rebirth in 2016, Diggle continued to feature in the Green Arrow comics.