MERLYN (Arthur King)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Arthur King
Group Affiliation(s): League of Assassins; Killer Elite; The Society; Seven Men of Death
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 185 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Justice League of America #94 (November 1971): "Where Strikes Demonfang?"
Creators: Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin

HISTORY

Arthur King, or Merlyn, was said to be the worlds greatest archer and was idolised by young Oliver Queen. After Queen became Green Arrow, Merlyn challenged the new hero to a public Archery contest to determine the best archer. Green Arrow lost, but it was Merlyn who was forgotten. Later, he joined the League of Assassins and was ordered by the Sensei to kill Batman. Merlyn would almost certainly have killed Batman had Green Arrow not defeated him. Finally accepting loss, Merlyn retreated from public eye.

Merlyn later did a deal with Neron to amp his ability, and attacked the Justice League along with other assassins as the 'Killer Elite', but was defeated. Later encounters with super-heroes included his spell on the Zandian Olympic team and other missions with the Killer Elite.

At some point, Merlyn began to accept jobs from the Calculator with his old friend the Monocle. On their last mission together, they were sent to silence the Shadow Thief, so he could not testify in court. Monocle was killed in an encounter with Manhunter and Merlyn was incarcerated. He escaped soon afterwards and assisted Doctor Light in his campaign against Green Arrow, distracting him for long enough for Doctor Light to destroy much of Star City, before impaling Green Arrow with several arrows and leaving him for dead.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Merlyn in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #15 (May 1986)