Anatoly Knyazev (Arrowverse)

Anatoly Knyazev is a recurring character in the TV series Arrow. For most of the time, he is a close friend to Oliver Queen. However, after their falling-out, he returns to Star City as a villain. He is an anti-hero in the second and fifth seasons and one of the secondary antagonists of the sixth season.
Knyazev is a Russian crime lord and the former leader of the Solntsevskaya Bratva. After having been captured by Professor Ivo, Knyazev was able to flee with help from Oliver Queen, forming a bond between them. They crossed paths again when Oliver arrived in Russia to take down the crime lord Konstantin Kovar. However, after Oliver returns to Starling City and becomes the vigilante Green Arrow, he is no further willing to accept Anatoly's criminal empire, causing a falling out between the two.
He is portrayed by David Nykl. His younger version is portrayed by George Klimovich.
== Summary ==
The Pakhan of the Solntsevskaya Bratva, Anatoly was a friend of Oliver Queen, having been rescued by him from the Amazo and the island of Lian Yu.
Later Oliver joined the Bratva for a harrowing mission in Russia, which resulted in Anatoly becoming the Pakhan. Anatoly brought Oliver back to Lian Yu and arranged for the fishing boat that would "rescue" him (having Oliver found in Russia would raise too many questions), But while Oliver became a hero, Anatoly's career as a professional criminal meant that the two would become inevitably estranged, having been bitter enemies before eventually reconciling.
==Biography==
===Past===
Anatoly is a former captain of the Russian criminal organization Solntsevskaya Bratva.
===Story===
Anatoli Knyazev was mentioned in the episode "Vertigo" in the first season, but did not appear. His first on-screen appearance was in the episode "Crucible". Before Oliver Queen returned to Starling City, he was captured by Anthony Ivo and held prisoner aboard his ship, the Amazo. Knyazev was also a prisoner of Ivo, and this is where he and Oliver became acquainted. The two men became friends while imprisoned, and it is implied that Oliver learnt Russian from Anatoli. Years later, Anatoli would describe Oliver as "my favorite American". At some later point, Oliver saved Knyazev's life, and the latter considered himself forever in Queen's debt after that . Returning to Russia after his imprisonment, he rose up the ranks of the criminal underworld until he became the head of Solntsevskaya Bratva, a mafia outfit based out of Moscow.
In the episode "Keep Your Enemies Closer", Oliver and Diggle travel to Moscow afterAmanda Waller informs them that Diggle's ex-wife, A.R.G.U.S agent Lyla Michaels, disappeared while following Deadshot's trail. Upon arriving in the city, Oliver suggests they first make contact with Knyazev to gather information and make a plan. Anatoli greets them warmly and extends his full hospitality. He digs around and finds out that Deadshot had been captured and imprisoned in a gulag, and that Lyla had also been captured and imprisoned in the same prison after trying to break in and bring Lawton back to A.R.G.U.S. He then provides Diggle with a way inside the prison and a way out after Lyla and Deadshot are retrieved.
Anatoli Knyazev appears in the CW TV show Legends of Tomorrow. He is portrayed as a young boy in the episode "Fail Safe. " He is played by George Klimovich. The episode takes place in 1986 as Rip Hunter and his crew pursue Vandal Savage through time and space.
==Trivia==
*This is an adaptation of the DC comic villain KGBeast. KGBeast was originally a Batman villain, but he is made an ally and enemy of Oliver Queen.
==See Also==
*Anatoly Knyazev on Villains Wiki
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