Vigilante Should Be Easy To Unmask On 'Arrow'

Arrow Season 5 keeps throwing out new questions and adding more mysterious characters that keep the audience guessing about what exactly is going on. One such question that seems to be getting more important is, who is Vigilante on Arrow? The CW series is accumulating quite the roster of unidentified characters, but fans have some pretty definitive theories about who the recently revealed masked foe might be when he's not covering his face and threatening the Green Arrow. First of all, a reminder — Vigilante is different from Prometheus, who also wears a mask. But from the clues doled out so far, Prometheus is probably a figure from Oliver Queen's past.

Introduced in the appropriately named episode "Vigilante," this new antagonist is different. While he's certainly a rival to Oliver, choosing to launch an attack at a political rally, his motives don't seem to be related to the Green Arrow's past. Vigilante might not even know that Mayor Queen is also Star City's premiere extralegal crimefighter.

But we may be able to glean some clues about his ultimate plan in DC Comics, since Vigilante is a character who goes all the way back to 1941. That's when he was introduced in Action Comics as Gregory Sanders, a cowboy-inspired gunslinger. It's later comic book history that has fans confident in theories about who Vigilante really is, despite Oliver failing to get a look underneath his mask. In a different version of the character appearing in DC Comics, Vigilante's alter ego is Adrian Chase, a district attorney who turns to a life of crime-fighting after a personal tragedy leaves his whole family dead.

And who was introduced on Arrow Season 5? The CW's very own version of Adrian Chase, the Star City district attorney. Coincidence or pointed reference to the original comics?

It's possible that this could be Arrow's most ambitious red herring yet, but during the "Vigilante" episode, Adrian had a key scene that hinted at a more sinister side. While interrogating a bank robbery suspect, he went dark, warning her that he can be "somebody you do not want to screw with." Sure, no one wants to get on a local elected official's bad side, but that warning sounds a lot more like something that would come from a tough, badass crimefighter than a district attorney.

Until Oliver is able to unmask Vigilante or the character decides to reveal his identity to another member of the team, Adrian Chase is still the best guess for the face hiding under this mask.