Laurel Lance (Arrowverse)

Laurel Lance, aka The Black Canary, is a main character and secondary protagonist in the CW tv series, ''Arrow. ''The daughter of SCPD Captain Quentin Lance, and his wife Dinah, Laurel lived a happy life with her younger sister Sara. She later met and befriend Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn, the former of whom she would form a romantic attachment to. When her life turned upside following her sister and Oliver's presumed deaths, her parents spilt up and she threw herself into her work before developing a romantic relationship with Tommy. Following his death and the return of Oliver and sister, The White Canary, Laurel would later train to become the Black Canary, a vigilante and love of Green Arrow's life.

Lawyer by day and superhero by night, Laurel became a central figure in the Arrowverse until her death at the hands of Damien Darhk in Arrow's fourth season. Laurel later returned in the fifth season. She also makes guest appearances on The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Vixen.

Early life
Laurel was born in 1985 to Quentin and Dinah Lance, and she had a younger sister named Sara. When she was 7 years old she met and became friends with Oliver Queen, she also met and became friends with Tommy Merlyn at that time as well. When Laurel was 20 years old, at one of Tommy's parties, when her sister Sara snuck out of their house to spend alone time with Oliver, their father and the cops later arrived and Sara was grounded. Sara would later come to believe that it was Laurel who tipped off their father to sabotage her chances with Oliver as Laurel apparently knew about the crush that Sara had with him at the time, however, it remains unknown as to whether or not Laurel actually did this. One month after Tommy's party, Laurel and Oliver began dating and fell in love despite Oliver's reputation as a "frat boy" as her father liked to call him.

In 2007, when she was 22 years old, Laurel broached the topic of them getting a place of their own, citing that they had been together even longer than their friends who were already moving in together. Oliver initially agreed, but later panicked, instead of telling Laurel that he was not ready to move in with her yet, he impulsively cheated on her by having a one-night stand with Samantha Clayton. Oliver then invited sister, Sara, on the Queen's Gambit with him. Shortly after the Queen's Gambit went down, she found out from Oliver's mother, Moira, that Sara was on the Gambit when it went down and, and she realized that Oliver was cheating on her with her sister.

Devastated and angered by her Oliver and Sara's betrayal, Laurel found herself unable to mourn for her sister because of her mutual anger and grief ultimately becoming emotionally numb to it. Following her sister's death over the next 5 years, her parents divorced and her father became an alcoholic with Laurel bailing him out the last 5 years. Laurel also went law school, eventually graduating with offer to work at a prestigious law firms in the country in San Francisco. Laurel eventually turned down that offer to work City Necessary Resources Initiative, CNRI for short. Laurel also became involved in a causal relationship with Tommy over the last 5 years, never becoming serious with him despite Tommy's desire too.

Season 1
A lawyer for the nonprofit agency CNRI, Laurel Lance has become famous for defending the weak and going after the worst of the worst in Starling City. In the past years Laurel has faced a huge amount of hardships. He boyfriend Oliver Queen, cheated on her with her sister Sara aboard his father's ship, the Queens Gambit. The boat flipped, resulting in the deaths of Oliver and Sara. Laurel barely even had anytime to grieve before her mother left her and her father, leading to her father developing an addiction to alcohol. As her whole workd came crashing down around her, Laurel threw herself into her work, forgetting what fun or joy was, finding her only source of comfort in the form of Tommy Merlyn, Oliver's best friend. They formed a friends with benefits relationship, never allowing herself to admit her feelings for him. Now, five years later, Oliver has returned to Starling City after being discovered on the island of Lian Yu. Oliver, still in love with Laurel, attempts to reconnect with her. But Laurel refuses to forgive and forget. Oliver eventually decides to distant himself from her in order to stop her from figuring out that he was the vigilante. But both have a hard time denying their attraction to each other. The Hood begins to assist Laurel on her cases, helping take down Starling's most corrupt businessmen as she attempts to avoid him during the day. She's mostly successful, until she ends up defending him when he's accused of being the vigilante. She suspetcs that he is, and she learns about the various injuries he recieved on the island. The two share a kiss before running away. She decides that Oliver isn't the same playboy he was when he left, and she forgives him for Sara's death. And while she doesn't want a relationship with him, the two work on being friends. Laurel eventually develops a real romantic relaitonship with Tommy, which becomes strained as she continues to work with the Hood. Her father uses her as bait to catch him, ruining their relationship. Laurel continues her relationship with Tommy and works with the Hood to take down Starling's worst, continuously risking her own life to help others. Laurel also proves to be a very capable fighter, fending off multiple opponents at once. Laurel's life becomes complicated once more when her mother, Dinah returns to Starling, believing Sara to be alive. This turns out to be untrue, and Laurel looses her mother all over again. Laurel's relationship with Tommy soon comes to an end when he sees the obvious attraction between her and Oliver. Believing they're meant to be together, he ends their relationship. Laurel goes to Oliver to have convince Tommy that Oliver doesn't love Laurel anymore but refuses; saying he doesn't love her would be a lie. The two finally give into their feelings for each other and resume their relationship. The night of the Undertaking, Laurel goes to CNRI to try and save her clients files, knowing that those cases mean the world to them. The building begins to collapse around her and she becomes trapped under debris, until Tommy arrives and rescues her. He shifts the debirs to rescue her, telling her to run as he's right behind, be shifting the debris further destabilized the building, and the remained crumbles around him, mortally wounding him. Laurel attempts to go back and save him, but Quentin stops her, knowing she won't be able to make it in. Despite her and Oliver's best efforts, Tommy dies. After the funeral, Laurel and Oliver seek comfort in each other, both extremely affected by Tommy's death. But Oliver is unable to cope and abandons Laurel, leaving her all alone with no one their for her.

Season 2
Depressed and alone, Laurel joined the D.A.'s office after the destruction of CNRI. Laurel is visibly thinner and is typically seen with a drink in her hand, leading those around her to treat her like she'll break. Oliver soon returns to Starling City and meets with Laurel, who believes that Tommy was killed because of the Hood and Malcolm's fight. With Malcolm dead, only the Hood (now known as the Arrow) is left, and she's determined to bring him in. She nearly succeeds in doing so, but he's rescued by a mysterious woman in black. Laurel's later kidnapped by the Dollmaker, who attempts to murder her to torture Quentin. As she prepares to die, Laurel realizes it wasn't the Arrow's fault Tommy died, it was her own. If she hadn't gone into CNRI, Tommy wouldn't have had to save her. Realizing she killed the man she loves, Laurel begins to drink more and more as she's often followed by the mysterious woman in black (revealed to be her sister Sara, who survived the crash of the Gambit). Quentin lies to Laurel about Sara's survival, and she quickly learns he's lying as he pushes her out. As a result, Laurel nearly looses her father. Laurel's later forced to prosecute Moira Queen, a woman she's cared for since she was a small child. As a result, Laurel's friendship with the Queens becomes strained. After loosing the case, Laurel's job also comes into jeopardy. Loosing everyone and everything she touches, Laurel begins to think she's cursed as she falls further into addiction. After drinking gets worse, Laurel looses her job becomes a full blown alcoholic, beleiveing theres nothing left for her and she attempts to numb her pain. She later grows close to a Sebastian Blood, but begins to suspect there's something off about him. She teams up with the Arrow to bring him in, but no evidence turns up. Oliver realizes that Laurel is his blindspot, and begins distancing himself from her. Laurel attempts to bury her emotions with alcohol, having been abandoned by every one in her life. But all of her emotions come rising to the surgace upon learning of Sara's survival. Angry at Sara for not telling her she was alive, Laurel ignores Sara, but eventually gives in and tries to reconnect with her, only to discover Sara's already in a relationship with Oliver. Laurel becomes infuriated, due to her still loving Oliver and the fact that his relationship with Sara ruined her life years prior. Laurel shuts everyone out until Quentin convinces her to try again. She admits how she feels to Sara, and the two reconnect. Laurel makes amends with everyone in her life and enters into a rehab program, going to meetings with her father. Laurel later believes she's getting her job back, only to learn that her boss is just using her as bait to catch the Huntress. Laurel escapes from her and teams up with Canary to save the hostages, but is taken by the Huntress. Laurel escapes and convinces the Canary to spare Helena. She later blackmails D.A. Spencer into giving her her job back, becoming A.D.A. of Starling City. Laurel later becomes a pawn in Slade Wilson's game when he reveals to her that Oliver is the Arrow, Upon seeing Sara's scars after Deathstroke attacks her, she deduces her identity as the Canary. Laurel then becomes a key ally of theirs, rescuing Oliver from Slade's army. Deathstroke later kidnaps, wanting to kill the one that Oliver loves the most, but she's rescued by Sara. She later bids her sister a goodbye, who returns to the League of Assassins. But not before passing on her Canary jacket to Laurel. Just after Sara leaves, Laurel watches in horror as her injured father collapses in front of her.

Season 3
Laurel has become a key ally of Team Arrow, prosecuting any criminal they catch, and she always successfully puts them away. Laurel has become increasingly worried about his father's healing, repeatedly worried about him. Laurel remains happy that she has her family and plenty of friends, and gleefully meets up with Sara. Laurel leaves with a wide smile on her face, which quickly turns to tears as Sara's body falls from the roof above and lands in front of her. Laurel brings her deceased sister to the Team. Laurel falls apart due to her sister's death, having just got her back. She becomes set on finding her killer, becoming increasingly violent, breaking the arm of a man she believes to have enough and attempting to murder the man she thinks killed Sara. She decides not to tell her father about Sara's murder until they finder her killer, fearing what it would do to him. Laurel attempts to hold onto Sara by training to replace her as the Canary. When Oliver refuses to help her, she turns to Ted Grant, a former vigilante known as Wildcat. He agrees to train her, and due to her already having a foundation as a capable fighter, she quickly advances, though at the cost of her relationship with Oliver. Upon learning that he had been seemingly killed by Ra's al Ghul, Laurel became to only ally he had who refused to accept that he was dead. With Team Arrow disbanding after failing to take down Daniel Brickwell, Laurel decided that someone had to help their city. She couldn't wait to train anymore. Starling had no one left. Except for her. Laurel took Sara's weapons, put on a suit and ventured out into the night, making her debut as a vigilante by taking down two of Brick's men in a matter of seconds. But Laurel still didn't have enough training, and quickly got in over her head, leading to rescue at the hands of Roy. Diggle and Roy quickly berated her for attempting to be her sister, but she refused to give up. She helped Roy save the Aldermen that were held hostage, taking down several men and even saving Roy. She was even able to hold her own against Brick (the man who had taken down Diggle earlier) before escaping by jumping out the window. She and Roy continued to travel through the Glades saving dozens of lives and phsyically exhausting themselves. She later had the idea of using the people of the Glades and against Brick's army, and led the charge against them herself. She later smiled as she witness Oliver's return to Starling City. However, Oliver remained unsupportive of her lifestyle, worried for her safety. Laurel then had to venture out on her own as the Canary, leading to her being serverly wounded at the hands of Count Vertigo. She begins to hallucinate and sees Sara, who beats her and taunts, calling Laurel an imposter. She was rescued by Oliver, and nearly decided to give up before Felicity talked to her. She reminded Laurel that Sara wore her mask to fight her own demons, but Laurel wears hers to fight for others, she has a light inside of her Sara never had. Laurel decides that she's not going to be Sara, and begins forging her own identity as the Black Canary. She takes down Vertigo and is officially welcomed onto Team Arrow by Oliver himself. She eventually tells her father about Sara's death, which breaks their relationship. She begins working with Team Arrow and training with them, though she dissaproves of Oliver working with Malcolm. Thea later visits her, and confesses that she killed Sara while under Malcolm's drug influence. But the enraged Laurel just feels sorry for Thea and comforts the poor girl, before deiciding something must be done about Malcolm. Laurel becomes even more infuriated upon discovering that Oliver has known that Thea killed Sara, and that he's lied right to her face about it for months. She confronts him, and he lies again, leading to Laurel tearfully telling Oliver she can't remember why she ever loved him. And while Laurel and Oliver's relationship has become incredibly strained, she doesnt let it interfere with doing what's best for Starling. She continues to operate with him as the Black Canary, standing with him even when Ra's poses as him during a killing spree. As a result, Laurel's hunted throughout the streets of her beloved city by the SCPD in a manhunt led by her own father. He attempts to arrest her before she's saved by Nyssa al Ghul, and with every relationship in her life falling apart, Laurel turns to Nyssa. The two bond over their love for Sara and quickly become friends, with Nyssa training Laurel to even further her skills by teaching her Leafue techniques. In return, Laurel teaches Nyssa how to be normal, taking her to get milkshakes and french fries. Oliver later joins the League, forcing Laurel to fight against the love of her life. Knowing she needs to be prepared for the upcoming fight, Laurel meets with Cisco Ramon, a member of Team Flash and a Black Canary fanboy. She reveals her knowledge of Barry being the Flash and Oliver as the Arrow before telling him her identity. She asks Cisco for helping in creating a new and improved sonic device in exchange for a picture of him and Black Canary. As a result, he creates the Canary Cry, a device in the form of a choker that reacts with Laurel's vocal chords to create a high pitch frequency, which she uses for the first time in a battle against Oliver. By the end of the third season, Laurel's become a capable crime fighter, even able to hold her against members of the League. After repairing her relationship with father, Oliver leaves Starling in Laurel's care.

Season 4
Now a full fledged member of Team Arrow as the Black Canary, Laurel's had to deal with rising crime rights and several crisises in the renamed Star City as the city gets worse and w in the absence of Oliver. Laurel, who has grown to be extremely close with both Thea (now her roommate and best friend) and Diggle. Laurel's skills as the Black Canary have greatly improved, now being able to take down several Ghosts. The Ghosts are led by Damien Darhk, a former member of the League of Assassins who's attempting to take over Star City. Darhk killed the DA, several cops, and the rest of the city leadership. With no one left to lead Star City, Laurel decides to go with Thea to convince Oliver and Felicity to return to Star City to join in the fight against Dahrk and his team. Laurel heard about the Lazarus Pit that resurrected Thea and decides use it to bring back Sara. Laurel digs up Sara's body and travels with Thea to Nanda Parbat, where (against Nyssa's wishes), convince Malcolm to use the Pit on Sara. They successfully bring her back, but she's returned a mindless monster, who's only memory is of Thea killing her. Laurel decides to not tell anyone until she can fix her, but eventually gives in and tells her father. He nearly shoots Sara, saying it's not his daughter anymore, but Laurel stops him. Sara eventually escapes from Laurel's basement, and attacks several women who look like Thea before going after Thea herself. Oliver discovers what Laurel did and the two get into a fight, where Laurel calls him a hypocrite who never treats her like an equal. Despite everything she's done for his family, he doesn't care about hers. Oliver helps Laurel capture Sara and decides to bring in John Constantine to resurrect Sara's soul. Oliver and Laurel work together to do so, successfully saving her sister and the Lance family is reunited. Oliver later calls Laurel and the two make amends, finally seeing each other as equals and finally repair their relationship that was damaged nine years prior. Laurel attempted to help Sara through her issues, but Sara couldn't handle her bloodlust and left Star City. She also later discovered that her father was working with H.I.V.E. under the threat of her life, but Laurel assures him she can handle herself. Laurel continued to assist Team Arrow on multiple occasions, saving the lives of Diggle, Felicity and Thea. Laurel became the voice of reason on Team Arrow after the other members became preoccupied; Oliver was on a vendetta against Darhk after his attack on his son and Felicity, who was dealing with her paralyzation, Thea was still dealing with the fallout from her resurrection and Diggle was dealing with the return of his brother. Laurel as became an ally of Team Flash, when she played a part in bringing down Vandal Savage. Laurel built up a bond with the members of the other team. She later convinced her sister Sara to find her purpose by joining Rip Hunter's Team, proving Sara with a new suit that allowed her to become the White Canary. Laurel started training one on one with Oliver, but their was relationship became strained when she learned he had fathered a child nine years prior with another woman, during their relationship. Laurel was visibly hurt, and suggested to her father that her feelings for Oliver were resurfacing. Laurel decided to not let her feelings get in the way of their mission, and helped Team Arrow bring in Damien Darhk. Laurel then personally prosecuted Darhk, preventing him from being released. Her performance earned her a shot at being the D.A. of Star City, and Oliver planned for her to spy on Darhk's wife. Laurel then comforted Oliver after his breakup with Felicity, and shared several tender moments with him after saving his life. Laurel then decided that she wasn't ready to leav the Team, knowing that she was the Black Canary now, not D.A. Laurel Lance. She remained on the Team and went with them to stop Damien Darhk's prison break at Iron Heights. Laurel takes down several prisoners before Darhk regains his powers and paralyzes Team Arrow. He then stabs Laurel with one of Oliver's arrows. Oliver rushes Laurel to the hospital where the doctors do everything to save her. She reaffirms her love for Oliver and asks him to not let her be the last Canary before she dies. Laurel's death had a huge affect on the members of Team Arrow. Felicity returned to the Team, Thea became filled with rage and a desire to kill Malcolm, Oliver fell into a state of dispair, her father quit his job and resumed drinking, Sara vows to bring back her sister by murdering Damien Darhk in the past, and Diggle shoots and kills his own brother to avenger Laurel. Oliver reveals Laurel's identity as the Black Canary to all of Star City, leaving it on her tombstone. Laurel's death inspires multiple people to become vigilantes all across the city, with Evelyn Sharp even impersonating her. Laurel's death later caused John and Thea to leave Team Arrow, but no until after Oliver avenged her by stabbing and killing Darhk in the exact same way he killed Laurel.

Laurel's death also effects Team Flash, noticeably seen when going up against her Earth-Two counterpart, the villainous Black Siren. Caitlin even tells Harry that they loved Laurel, and have a hard time taking her down. They ultimately decide not to tell anyone about Black Siren, fearing it would ruin the memory of Laurel. Barry later goes and visits her grave.

Season 5
Laurel inspires Felicity and Oliver to recruit a new Team, who will be trained by Oliver himself to ensure no one dies like Laurel did. Oliver also has a state built to honor Black Canary, who is regarded as hero as both Laurel Lance and the Black Canary. Her father has resumed drinking again, though Thea wants him to honor Laurel and helps him get into rehab. Laurel's death also has severe side effects on Legends of Tomorrow, where Sara endangers countless missions in her hunt against Damien Darhk throughout time. Sara attempts to bring Laurel back several times, but she realizes that she needs to let her go for the greater good.

Laurel later appears in a dream world created by the Dominators. They create a perfect world where the members of Team Arrow never became heroes and got everything they wanted in life. In this reality, Laurel is alive and well, the fiancée of Oliver. Oliver never went on the Gambit and never cheated with Sara, so their relationships with Laurel were never compromised. Oliver later begins to realize that this world isn't real, but he doesn't care about that. He realizes that Laurel is the woman he loves and wants to elope with her while he still can. During their fight against their personal demons, Sara confronts Damien Darhk and gets to carry out her need for revenge by stabbing and killing Darhk in the exact same place he did to Laurel. But, Team Arrow soon realizes that they can't stay, but Oliver and Sara can at least say goodbye to Laurel. Laurel is the last person they say goodbye to, being the greatest obstacle in their way of going home. Sara breaks down realizing that she can't save her, and hugs Laurel before running away, afraid she'll change her mind. Oliver himself begins to cry, realizing that he can't stay with Laurel. He tells her he loves her and says she deserved better than him. He kisses her goodbye one final time. In the end, Sara and Oliver consider it a gift that they got to say goodbye to her.

Abilities

 * Peak of human physical condition: After months of training with Ted and Nyssa, Laurel was in top physical condition with fast reflexes and was strong enough to lift a grown man on top of a desk.[67]
 * High-level intellect/Master Lawyer: Laurel was a respected and highly attorney, graduating law school with an offer to work at successful law firm in San Francisco and later offered the position of District Attorney. Her ability to use the legal system to her advantage allowed her help others and herself both inside and outside the court, while looking at every aspect before making up her mind. Laurel's experiences as a lawyer make her a capable investigator and she has exceptional instincts, as she was correct on her assumptions on Sebastian Blood's corruption. As after learning from Slade Wilson that Oliver is the Arrow she was able to gather the evidence to prove his claims and as a result figure out her sister's identity.
 * Expert hand-to-hand combatant: Originally Laurel was a capable hand-to-hand combatant, this was due to Quentin making her take self-defense classes. Once Laurel decided to become a vigilante, she began further training in Boxing and advanced combat training under Ted Grant. Her training allowed her to match street thugs such as the Red Scarfs, however, she still gets injured from time to time. Nyssa al Ghul, who stated that her fighting style was competent but could be improved offered her training in the ways of the League of Assassins. Over time, Laurel's fighting skills improved enough for her to hold her own against multiple fighters whether they were street thugs or members of the League. After five months, Laurel was now more than capable of defeating multiple enemies of advanced training such as H.I.V.E. soldiers or League members with only minor occasional assistance. Laurel's fighting style seems to be a mixture of Boxing, Judo, and techniques and tactics from the League of Assassins.
 * Expert stick fighter: Throughout her career as a vigilante Laurel had used several weapons such as a stick, her sister's batons, and finally her choice weapon of a tactical tonfa. Laurel's skill with her tonfa had been improved through trial and error, with her later ultimately becoming able to hold her own and later defeat members of the League of Assassins. During confrontations against H.I.V.E. soldiers Laurel had been shown to occasionally wield two tonfas in combat occasionally. While helping Mari against Eshu, Laurel used a metal bo-staff instead of her tonfa, yet she showed impressive skill while using the weapon during battle.
 * Expert Interrogator: As an ADA, Laurel is skilled in interrogating suspects this was demonstrated when she threaten to send one of Brick's men to Belle Reve where he can be killed if he did not aid her. Laurel was also capable of torture, such as when she pressed further on Kelso's injury when she was looking on information on Simon Lacroix. However, it should be noted that she did this under extreme emotional distress after Sara's death and does not believe in torture.
 * Expert driver: Laurel had the ability to drive multiple vehicles and is skilled at it, she is able to pursue enemies in various ways using different vehicles using either a car or a motorcycle.
 * Skilled markswoman/Firearms: Laurel's father taught her how to use gun and she legally owns several firearms. She used a shotgun on Mr. Blank to slow him down long enough for Oliver to rescue her and Tommy, she was also able to kill officer Daily in order to save Oliver's life as the Arrow.
 * Network: Being the assistant district attorney and the daughter of a police captain, she had her own connections with the district attorney's office and the SCPD. Laurel also had contact with Cisco Ramon, who provides her tech such as her new sonic device or her sister's White Canary suit.

Trivia

 * Laurel's death in Season 4 has recieved almost universal backlash from fans many of whom have stopped watching the show.
 * Like on the show, Dinah Laurel Lance is Black Canary in the original comic. She possesses the meta-human ability of a super sonic scream, which she can deploy to shatter objects and incapacitate her opponent. This ability is called the "Canary Cry". This has not happened in the show yet, though Sara and later Laurel produced a mechanical version of it. However her Earth-2 counterpart does indeed have this ability.
 * Laurel is mentioned to be a bad cook, with the only thing she is actually capable of making is macaroni and cheese. This is a trait that her comic counterpart also shares.
 * Her sister, Sara, owned a pet canary when they were children, which references her DC comic book alter-ego's costume, Black Canary.
 * Laurel saved the lives of every past/present member of Team Arrow up until her, something not even Oliver has done. She saved her father from the Ghosts, used her Canary Cry to save Oliver from Bug-Eyed Bandit, resurrected her sister Sara, helped rescue Ray Palmer from Damien Darhk, stopped Sara from killing Helena, knocked out one of Brick's men who was about to kill Roy Harper from behind, and rescued John, Thea and Felicity from Damien Darhk's gas chamber.