11. Felicity Smoak
Team Arrow’s first computer geek, Felicity Smoak is one character that we cannot envision the show not having. She was the mother hen of the group and a romantic interest for Oliver. She was the mother of his child and the one woman we can look to as a loyal member of the team who was also feisty and fierce.
For a while, fans were not thrilled about Felicity as a romantic foil, and that did lead to some dissent early on, it did not take long for people to realize that she was an effective member of the team. Without her, I can only imagine where Oliver and his team would have ended up.
She was certainly strongest as a supporting character and her role weakened a bit when that was changed. While it felt like there were times when she did not meet her full potential, Felicity is one of those characters who made an impact on every single character she interacted with.
Felicity was the protection the team needed and her intelligence was the asset that allowed them to succeed more often than not. And it was heartbreaking to realize that she would not be as much of a presence in the final season because she was truly the heart when it came to Oliver Queen in the end.
I like Felicity, but there is are some characters that just edged her out, particularly one we’ll get to a little bit later on, and that had a lot to do with that character’s journey.