The Arrowverse is packed with several shows that have been going on for years. In order to keep people invested in their stories, the writers have had to pull out several twists along the way to shock the fans, leaving them to wonder what was going to happen next. Those kinds of twists are what made television such an attractive medium -- wondering which new developments will be shaking the ground. When handled correctly, these twists can be a great way to change the nature of the show. With the proper setup and impact on the narrative, a twist can ramp up the tension and even bring together some of the most iconic comic book characters. As such, the Arrowverse has brought together some of the most iconic plot twists in today's superhero television era.
When handled poorly, though, the twists can end up being forgotten or ignored. Without the right amount of thought placed on them, they can hurt a show rather than make it better. They end up being contrived and only exist to try and keep people watching -- but they end up doing the opposite. We've all seen those twists that make us just roll our eyes in disbelief. The Arrowverse has had its fair share of plot twists throughout the years, and we're not only counting down their 25 biggest ones, but we're also ranking them from worst to best. Any plot twist that happened on Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, or Supergirl is fair game for this list. We're not including Black Lightning, as it technically doesn't exist in the Arrowverse.
25 FELICITY'S DAD IS A VILLAIN
The origins of Felicity Smoak were a fairly big topic in Arrow. Being one of the best IT girls on the planet, it was interesting to see what shaped her to become the lovable dork she was. One of the darker parts of her past involved her dad, who was largely absent from her life.
However, he eventually decided to return but, as it turns out, was a villain known as the Calculator. The twist was kind of a letdown, as it was more of a distraction than anything else.
24 MON-EL IS THE PRINCE OF DAXAM
When it comes to Mon-El's inclusion on Supergirl, it was anything but subtle. Mon-El had a fairly serious relationship with Kara when he came to Earth, but he had a big secret that he was hiding from her. He eventually revealed that he was the prince of a planet known as Daxam and was involved in an arranged marriage.
The problem is that just about everyone watching the show saw the twist coming. It was obvious that there was something Mon-El wasn't being entirely truthful about, so no one was surprised.
23 SEBASTIAN BLOOD IS WORKING WITH SLADE
Sebastian Blood was a man that came to Starling City during Arrow season two. He became the mayor of the city and was trying to rebuild it following the catastrophe known as the Undertaking. However, it was eventually revealed that, not only was the notorious villain known as Brother Blood, but that he was also working with Slade Wilson.
It was clear for most viewers early on that Blood wasn't the "big bad" for the season, so it was a small revelation that he was working under the leadership of Deathstroke.
22 DAMIEN DARHK HAS A DAUGHTER
Damien Darhk finally found his proper footing as a member of the Legion of Doom and antagonist to the Legends of Tomorrow. After his defeat in season two, he returned in season three in an antagonistic role. However, he wasn't alone this time around and had a new daughter alongside him.
With the revelation that there was a new character working with Darhk, it wasn't a big deal that she was his daughter as well. Besides, it was something that meant more for Darhk's arc in the long run.
21 THE GIRL IS NORA WEST-ALLEN
There was a young girl that showed up during season four of The Flash. After having some sporadic appearances throughout the show, fans started to wonder what her purpose was in the show. It was eventually revealed that she was the future daughter of Barry and Iris: Nora West-Allen.
Having Speed Force powers just like her father, she became displaced throughout time. However, by the time the writers decided to reveal her identity, everyone guessed who she was, considering the show hadn't dealt with Barry's future too much.
20 BARRY ALLEN IS SAVITAR
The main villain for season three of The Flash was Savitar, known as the God of Speed. Being one of the most menacing villains to ever appear in the show, there were a few theories as to what his real identity was.
Near the end of the season, it was revealed that Savitar was actually a future version of Barry Allen. Not only was the reveal extremely obvious, but it led to one of the more lackluster conflicts in the series.
19 ANDY DIGGLE IS ALIVE
When we first meet John Diggle in Arrow, we discover that he had an older brother who fell in the line of duty several years back. Diggle spent a lot of time getting over his grief only to find out in season four that his brother was alive and working for Damien Darhk.
This is one of those twists that sounds decent on paper, but isn't all that great in execution. Arrow has a trend of just bringing back people that are dead by the time the show starts to offer some "shocking" developments, but Andy Diggle's presence doesn't add that much to the show.
18 QUENTIN LANCE WORKING WITH DAMIEN DARHK
For season four of Arrow, Damien Darhk was the new villain trying to take down Star City. This time around, he came out of the gate swinging rather than waiting until the latter half of the season to show his face.
What's worse was that it was revealed that Quentin Lance was working for Darhk. However, that twist was downplayed by the fact that Quentin clearly wasn't doing it because he didn't want to, and he ended up turning against Darhk in the end anyway.
17 RIP HUNTER LOST IN TIME
At the start of season two of Legends of Tomorrow, each of the team was displaced throughout time to be protected from a nuclear bomb that was going to strike the Waverider. The team eventually got back together to try and solve issues in the timeline.
The one character that was missing, though, was Rip Hunter. As it turns out, his consciousness was lost throughout time and essentially torn apart to protect the location of the Spear of Destiny from the Legion of Doom. Considering how no one believed he was gone, it wasn't an astounding twist.
16 VIGILANTE'S IDENTITY
In season five of Arrow, there was a new vigilante in Star City, aptly named Vigilante. While many fingers pointed to Adrian Chase being the man behind the mask, it wasn't until season six where his identity was revealed to be the old partner of Dinah Drake that passed away in Star City years ago.
The reason this one ranks so low on the list is that his identity was a "bottom of the barrel" choice, and it presents some problems with having him so prevalent in the previous season before Dinah Drake ever made an appearance.
15 CAT GRANT DISCOVERS SUPERGIRL
Cat Grant, as fans of the comics know, isn't that dumb of an individual. Despite how self-loving she is in the Supergirl series, she's still fairly sharp. Her assistant, Kara Danvers, bears a striking resemblance to the Girl of Steel, and that's something that Grant picks up on right away.
It was an expected twist that most fans knew was coming, but what bumps it a bit higher on the list was that she figured it out so early, leaving the show more room for more interesting conflicts.
14 HARRISON WELLS IS THE REVERSE-FLASH
While the Reverse-Flash is arguably still the best villain to appear on The Flash, the context of his reveal wasn't all that surprising. From the very start of the series, there was always something "off" about Harrison Wells.
Even Oliver Queen picked up on some of his weird behaviors. While Barry's discovery of his identity led to a powerful final battle and a tense conflict (which is why it's a bit higher on the list), it's still brought down by the fact that the show wasn't subtle with the twist at all.
13 RIP HUNTER OUTLAWED
All of the marketing behind Legends of Tomorrow hinged around Rip Hunter, the Time Master, bringing together a group of heroes to save time itself. However, in the show's first episode, we find out that Rip isn't exactly what he said he was.
As a matter of fact, he got married and was outlawed by the Time Masters as a result. He's little more than an outlaw by the time of the show. This was a good way of setting apart this show from other time travel shows, and made Rip a more interesting protagonist.
12 OLIVER QUEEN HAS A SON
Oliver Queen was a bit of a playboy before his time on Lian Yu changed his attitude forever. He slept around with several different women, but there was one that had a bigger impact on his life: Samantha Clayton. After it was discovered she was pregnant, Moira Queen did everything she could to cover it up.
Eventually, Oliver found out that he had a young boy who never knew his father. He tried keeping his son distant, but ended up having to step up after Samantha was offed by Prometheus -- an event that changed Ollie's life forever.
11 MALCOLM MERLYN IS THE DARK ARCHER
When Oliver Queen returned to Star City and became "The Hood," there was almost no one that could best him in combat. At least, that was the case until the Dark Archer showed up and made a fool out of him. It turned out that the Dark Archer was none other than the businessman, Malcolm Merlyn, who had personal ties to the Queen family.
Once this reveal came to light, Oliver had to dive through an entire book of secrets involving both his family and the Merlyns. It was a great way of firing up the tension in Arrow's first season.
10 ADRIAN CHASE IS PROMETHEUS
Arrow season five introduced two big threats to Team Arrow: Vigilante and Prometheus. On top of that, Star City had a new DA in the form of Adrian Chase. Fans of the comics knew that Vigilante was actually Adrian Chase, so the expectation was that the same would be true in the show.
However, the writers pulled a fast one and had the two characters fight each other, with Prometheus winning and taking off the hood. After that reveal, Oliver Queen's troubles only got greater from there.
9 MOIRA QUEEN IS WORKING WITH MALCOLM MERLYN
When Oliver Queen returned to Star City, he figured out that there were some secrets with Malcolm Merlyn. The more digging he did, however, the more he discovered that his mother, Moira Queen, was also part of these secrets. The two had been connected in bringing a rise to the Undertaking.
This twist forced Oliver to deal harshly with the ones he knew as his family. It arguably changed his life more than Malcolm being the Dark Archer. Even after the Undertaking, he was still forced to deal with his mother's betrayal.
8 MARTIN STEIN HAS A DAUGHTER
Martin Stein was one half of Firestorm and a member of the Legends of Tomorrow. After the team had caused some issues with the timeline, Martin started having strange memories of a young girl. When he returned home, he found out that the team's actions in the past caused him to have a daughter.
This twist forced Martin to deal with the morality of causing time aberrations as well as forcing his daughter to question what her purpose was in the world. It also gave Martin great room for development.
7 SARA LANCE IS ALIVE
One of the greatest regrets Oliver Queen had when he came back to Star City was that Sara Lance, the sister of his girlfriend, had passed away on the boat wreck. At least, that's what everyone thought before season two. It was then that Sara Lance came back to Star City after being rescued by the League of Assassins.
She returned as "The Canary" and worked with Oliver and the rest of his team to face the armies of Slade Wilson. It was an impressive twist the first time, but having her "pass away" again and be resurrected wasn't as cool the second time.
6 JAY GARRICK IS ZOOM
Jay Garrick was the Flash of Earth-2, who came to Earth-1 to help fight the menace known as Zoom. Despite some clever tricks to cover up his tracks, it was revealed that he was actually Zoom the entire time.
While the specifics of how time remnants and Speed Force drugs work are extremely fuzzy, seeing someone deranged like Hunter Zolomon be able to keep up such a facade for so long was impressive. It's also worth mentioning that Zoom was an appropriately horrifying villain.