Speedy

When word gets out that the Titans East are in town, they'll think twice!

―Speedy in For Real

Speedy is a member of Titans East and an ally of the Teen Titans.

Character History

Speedy's real name is not given in the Teen Titans series, but his appearance is clearly based on that of Roy Harper. He is described as employing "a versitable arsenal" of arrows, in a nod to his future persona. As depicted in the series, Speedy is serious and businesslike as in his Arsenal years in comics, leading Beast Boy to comment on his similarities to Robin, a nod to the early comics as Speedy and Green Arrow started out as being just like Batman and the first Robin before changes to the characters separated them from the Dark Knight and Boy Wonder.

Speedy was abducted in the episode "Winner Take All", where he fights Robin in a tournament hosted by the Master of Games. Robin asks him if winning is really important enough to justify any means. Speedy eventually loses to Robin, but is rescued and returned to Earth when the Master of Games is defeated. He is subsequently made an Honorary Titan by Robin and is given a Titans Communicator.

Speedy later joins the Titans East, the second team of Teen Titans that are based in Steel City. When he reappears in "Titans East - Part 1", more of his traditional bad-boy personality is seen, as he refuses to apologize for buying fish tacos, which offends Aqualad to no end. He was mind-controlled by Brother Blood in "Titans East - Part 2" and forced to serve Brother Blood in his quest to destroy the Teen Titans but is saved by the Titans after Brother Blood is defeated by Cyborg.

His next appearance was in For Real . When the Titans East were looking over Titans Tower and Jump City while the Teen Titans were away fighting the Brotherhood of Evil, they came into conflict with Control Freak . After chasing him out of the tower, they decided to track him. Before they could, they got reports of Andre Le Blanc robbing the bank. They confronted him, and Speedy managed to cease the criminal's bombs from exploding by shooting arrows at the sparks. After Aqualad stopped the thief from running off, they were going to continue their search for Control Freak but had to split up to stop trouble around the city. Speedy rescued a little boy's cat from a tree with a well-aimed shot, but his temper quickly shot up when the boy called him Robin. Later, Control Freak transported them to a different part of the city for his "Ultimate Titans Challenge". Speedy's mission was to stop a dozen missiles from destroying a bridge without his arrows. With quick thinking, he got a tow truck to pull him back like a sling shot and shot him towards the missiles. Speedy guided each missile to destroy the next and he threw the last one up with a bang. Later, the citizens of Jump City were praising their new heroes, and Titans East began to feel at home.

When the Brotherhood of Evil launches their plan to eliminate young superheroes around the world, Speedy was being chased by Cheshire. He tried to shoot his energy arrows at her, but she proved to be quick and sliced his bow in three pieces. Speedy tried to contact Robin for help, but Chesire kicked the communicator out of his hand and knocked him unconscious. He is later flash-frozen as a victory trophy in the Brotherhood of Evil's lair. However during the final battle between the Brotherhood and the Titans, he is freed and helps the Titans secure their victory against the Brotherhood by defeating Fang. Speedy is later seen in Titans Tower, where he is socializing with the other Titans present. When they are alerted of Doctor Light robbing a bank, Speedy and all the Titans participated in bringing Doctor Light to justice.

Appearances

Other Appearances

Speedy appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Patriot Act". Speedy clearly states that he is Green Arrow's "ex-partner", and is visually designed as a slightly older, better built version of his Teen Titans incarnation - his costume is the same; he is voiced by Mike Erwin here as well.

Speedy is also featured in issue 30 of the Justice League Unlimited comic book in which he and Booster Gold have to protect the Watchtower from Doctor Polaris. Speedy is set to appear soon in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.

Speedy is also in the new animated series, Young Justice. He goes from Speedy to Red Arrow. However, this incarnation turns out to be a clone, and Red Arrow rescues the real Speedy, who was locked up for eight years. His arm is missing due to amputation.

Personality

Speedy is one of the more witty members of the Titans. He enjoys to tease his fellow teammates (especially Aqualad), and takes pleasure in annoying his teammates. He can be a little short tempered though (especially at Mas and Menos). His greatest pet peeve is when people mess with his hair.

Powers and abilities

Speedy, like his mentor, has a wide variety of trick arrows, most famously his punching glove arrow which is

capable of knocking out villains. Speedy also has several other arrows ranging from sleeping gas arrows, exploding arrows, heat-seeking arrows, ice arrows, sonic arrows and regular arrows.

Along with his excellent archery skills, Speedy has mastered several different types of hand to hand combat including judo, kickboxing, and karate, and while not being his preferred mode of combat, he was able to fend off Robin before his bow was destroyed.

Speedy also has extraordinary leg muscles shown in Titans Together, when he was able to jump at least 10 feet in the air to take down Fang.

Trivia

Speedy's bow was broken by Cheshire in "Calling All Titans" when she overpowered him. However, in the episode "Titans Together", Speedy somehow regained possession of his bow when he was freed from his suspended animation.

Roy Harper can speak Japanese, and can understand Russian.

As Arsenal, Roy Harper displayed proficiency with a greater range of weapons, such as guns, truncheons, and boomerangs. He also became a master of Moo Gi Gong, allowing him to use virtually any handheld object as a makeshift weapon.

The reason that Green Arrow and Speedy stopped working together was because in GA's absence, Speedy became a heroin addict. After his recovery, Speedy made it his mission in life to battle drug lords and pushers.

In the original Teen Titans comics Speedy use to go out with fellow Teen Titan Wonder Girl. Although they are not a real couple in Teen Titans Go! Speedy might have had an interest in her.

Speedy appears in Teen Titans 2 for the GBA as a non-playable assist character.
Speedy has the same mask as Robin and Mumbo.
In the comics, Speedy and Cheshire formed a romantic relationship and had a daughter, Liam.
In issue #50 of Teen Titans Go! Speedy claims that he has "graduated to the big leagues" and Cyborg states that Speedy has moved on from the Teen Titans, but Speedy also states that the titans are like his family.
Speedy is one of the supporting characters in the new cartoon "Young Justice". However, the real Speedy hasn't had a major role because he was abducted right after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick. He was cloned and the clone struck out as Red Arrow. The Justice League searched for the real Speedy, but gave up after a few years. Red Arrow was furious at them and kept looking for Speedy. Eventually, he married Cheshire and they had a daughter, Lian. Eventually, Cheshire located the real Speedy and they finally found him, locked away in a pod. the real Speedy was missing his arm so they could have an endless supply to force grow the clone.
Speedy's personality in Young Justice is vastly different than his personality in Teen Titans. In Teen Titans, Speedy enjoys to annoy others and make witty comebacks. In Young Justice, he is probably the most serious member of the Justice League, and hates when people make jokes.TechFlash1