Arrow

Released: October 10, 2012 - January 28, 2020

Created by: Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg

Prominent Actors/Actresses: 

Oliver Queen/Arrow - Stephen Amell

Thea Queen - Willa Holland

Sara Lance/White Canary - Caity Loitz

Laurel Lance/Black Canary - Katie Cassidy

Dinah Drake - Juliana Harkavy

Felicity Smoak - Emily Bett Rickards

Talia Al-Ghul - Lexa Doig

Nyssa Al-Ghul - Katrina Law

Emiko Queen - Sea Shimooka

Shado - Celina Jade

Slade Wilson - Manu Bennett

Amanda Waller - Cynthia Addai-Robinson 

Lyla Michaels - Audrey Marie Anderson

Citation: Berlanti, Greg, creator. Arrow. Seasons 1-8. Featuring Stephen Amell, Willa Hollard, Caity Loitz, and Katie Cassidy. Aired October 10, 2012, in broadcast syndication. Warner Bros., 2020, DVD. 

Arrow is a superhero drama that tells the story of Oliver Queen and his journey to becoming the Green Arrow. Over the course of the series, Oliver has many influential female advisors, such as Shado (who teaches him how to shoot a bow) and Talia (who teaches him how to separate his personal life from his heroics), who aid him in his transformation into a hero. Additionally, Oliver also shares the spotlight with numerous female allies, such as Felicity (his wife), Sara and Laurel Lance (his former lovers), Thea (his sister), and Dinah (his close friend). In the show, all of these female heroines, except Sara and Laurel (who wear revealing skintight black leather suits with blonde wigs), dress in practical costumes during their crime fighting escapades. In addition to his close allies, the series also highlights Amanda Waller and Lyla Michaels, who are other powerful female associates of Oliver's and the heads of A.R.G.U.S., a secret governmental black operations agency. The series seventh season also features a formidable female as the main antagonist and the leader of a mysterious shadow organization named the Ninth Circle, who later turns out to be Oliver's lost sister, Emiko. Despite the inclusion of a variety of strong female characters, the show does utilize the damsel in distress trope, as seen in Slade Wilson's kidnapping of both Felicity and Thea. Furthermore, Talia's sister, Nyssa, is forced against her will by her father, Ra's Al-Ghul to marry Oliver in order to complete his transformation into becoming his heir.