Konstantin Kovar (Arrowverse)

Villainous Benchmark

Full Name

Konstantin Kovar

Alias

General Kovar

Origin

Arrow

Allies

Ishmael Gregor

Misha Yurievich
Malcolm Merlyn

Powers / Skills

Hand-to-hand combat

Gunmanship
Cunning intellect
Leadership
Charisma

Goals

Build a casino to further his influence over the town.

Dismantle the Russian government to take it over himself.
Kill Oliver Queen (all failed).

MEH or Worst Act

Attempting to poison a room filled with Russian officials so he could take over the country.

Torturing Oliver psychologically to goad him into committing suicide.

Kill Count

2 (confirmed)

Dozens (attempted)

Crimes

Murder
Physical and psychological torture
Blackmail
Organized crime
Attempted enforced suicide
Kidnapping
Weapons dealing
False imprisonment
Destruction
Theft
Smuggling
Treason
Corruption
Embezzlement
Extortion
Vandalism
Drug trafficking
Conspiracy
Forgery
Bribery
Stalking
Abuse of power
Human trafficking
Attempted usurpation

Type of Villain

Charismatic Crime Lord

“	Good, evil, hero, monster… My friend, truth is a matter of perspective.	„
	~ Kovar to Oliver.

“	You're not going to make that boat. This island will remain your prison forever.	„
	~ Kovar’s final words to Oliver before being killed by the latter.

General Konstantin Kovar is the main antagonist of the flashback storyline in Season 5 of the 2012-20 superhero television series Arrow, which is part of DC‘s Arrowverse.

He is a wealthy businessman and government strongman who rules over the village of Krasnoyarsk in a mafia-like fashion. He is eventually attacked by Oliver Queen, whom he sells to the criminal organization Bratva. However, after the Bratva and Oliver find out that Kovar plans to kill most of the Russian government during the opening of his new casino, they invade the opening where Oliver seemingly kills Kovar. Unbeknownst to them, Kovar survives and plots vengeance which he exacts when he ambushes Oliver who has returned to Lian Yu to return to civilization.

His Evil Ranking[]

His Villainous Deeds[]

During his rise to power, Kovar became a government strongman who ruled over the village of Krasnoyarsk and used both his position in the military to start a criminal organization.
Through his organization, he has committed various crimes, including illegal fighting rings, smuggling weapons and human trafficking.
He intended on building a casino to further his influence in the town.
He sent some Bratva thugs to kill Oliver Queen for killing one of the best "money-makers" in his empire.
After capturing Oliver and another Bratva member when they tried to bomb his casino, Kovar met Oliver himself while snapping the neck of his partner.
He had his men torture Oliver for a week to find out why he's trying to kill him.
He made a deal with the Bratva's Pakhan Ishmael Gregor to lay off the hostilities in exchange for a percentage of his casino's profits.
After Oliver tried to hold Kovar's life as a ransom for escape, Kovar quickly overpowered him and beat him to near-death.
He intended on dismantling the Russian government before taking it over himself, viewing the country as having grown weak in the wake of the Soviet Union's downfall.
He made a deal with Malcolm Merlyn by giving him information on Unidac Industries in exchange for sarin gas.
After inviting many Russian government and military officials to his casino, he intended on using sarin gas to kill them and take over the government. He also didn't care about any of the innocents who would end up being killed during the gas attack.
He killed Galina Venediktov for betraying him by snapping her neck.
After Oliver nearly killed him, a vengeful Kovar hunted him down and tracked him to Lian Yu where he captured him. He proceeded to torture him with Red Death, which made him relive his most painful memories as if they were happening. He intended on using it to persuade him to kill himself.
Realizing that Oliver didn't kill himself and had escaped, Kovar sent his men to find him so he could kill him personally. During a final fight before his death, Kovar burnt Oliver's back with a nearby fire and tried to stall him long enough so he would miss his boat ride home.

Why He Doesn’t Stand Out[]

Although his actions cross the baseline, he still fails the Heinous Standards of the Arrowverse. His actions aren’t really that bad when you compare him to several other villains in the franchise, mostly being limited to murder, drug dealer, abuse of power and chemical warfare, which are all common crimes in the Arrowverse. While he did plan to overthrow the Russian government to gain for power for himself, it’s not shown how bad it would be and he’s only shown trying to kill a few people with the sarin gas. In addition to this, he has a vast amount of resources but doesn’t use them to his fullest ability.

Trivia[]

Originally Kovar was considered Pure Evil for a time due to it being believed his actions of attempting to overthrow the Russian government and psychologically torturing Oliver were enough for him to stand out, until it was revealed he massively failed the Heinous Standards of the Arrowverse and he was disqualified from Pure Evil.