Top 5 superheroes with the most tragic origin stories

1. Green Arrow

Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne both come from similar socio-economic backgrounds, but Arrow has developed a much deeper backstory for Oliver than the any live-action Batman material.

From the very beginning of the show, Oliver survives the sinking of the Queen’s Gambit, and is forced to watch as his father shoots himself in front of him in order to save his son.

Then you have Lian Yu – the island where Oliver is forced to survive and on which he endures many hardships, even witnessing the deaths of some of his newfound friends. The death of Shado would eventually create his own nemesis in Slade, who would go on to kill his mother.

Then you have Oliver’s secret life outside of the island where he was forced to work under Amanda Waller. He finds himself in the middle of the death of Akio – which breaks up Maseo and Tatsu’s relationship. Furthermore, you then have Oliver’s involvement with the Bratva, in which he was subjected to a number of hardships in order to prove himself.

The point is that even before becoming the Green Arrow, Oliver literally goes through multiple lifetimes. You add that to the events of the Arrowverse and you can really see how these tragedies and hardships affect Oliver as a person and the people around him when he becomes Green Arrow. You also understand how meaningful his actions as Green Arrow are, which is why I think the character has the most tragic backstory out of any and all superheroes.

What do you think of the list? Which other superheroes do you think have the most tragic backstories? Let us know in the comments below!