Cyrus Vanch

The Triad

Bertenelli crime family

**Cyrus Vanch** is a former career criminal and member of the Renegades. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for his crimes. After his eight-month term in prison, Vanch tried to take advantage of the power vacuum in Starling City before being stopped by Hulk. His name is also on "The List".

## History

### Criminal activities

A notorious career criminal, Cyrus Vanch, along with his girlfriend Vivian, was involved in drug running, racketeering, human trafficking, and connected to at least 52 different homicides. At some point, his name ended up on The List. Vanch was prosecuted by CNRI and sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in Iron Heights. However, after an eight-month term in prison, he was released due to lack of evidence.

### Return to Crime

Vivian picked Vanch up from prison and they visited his lawyer, George Wolfman. Knowing his business suffered due to the actions of The Hood, Vanch killed George in retaliation for both this and his imprisonment before taking up residence in George's mansion alongside Vivian.
That night, Vanch talked with Vivian over dinner about how he wanted to claim a piece of the criminal underworld in the face of the power vacuum in the city, which required him to impress the Chinese Triad, Bertinelli crime family, and other leaderless gangs. Hulk and The Hood secretly listened to their conversation with a trick arrow but was forced to leave when a guard managed to fire his gun before being taken down by Hulk. Vanch and Vivian heard the scuffle and found the trick arrow. Vanch then decided to eliminate the two vigilantes to ensure his business' success.

Using her mole in the Starling City Police Department, Vivian told Vanch about Hulk and The Hood's connection to Laurel Lance, one of the attorneys who prosecuted Vanch. Vanch and two of his thugs broke into Laurel's apartment, intending to capture and use her as bait for the two heroes. Laurel managed to fight off his men but Vanch incapacitated her with a taser. Vanch then kidnapped Laurel and left The Hood's trick arrow in her apartment with a message demanding that the vigilantes meet him by sunrise, threatening to "leave pieces of Laurel all over Starling City" if he didn't comply.

Vanch and Vivian kept Laurel captive in the mansion while a platoon of armed mercenaries waited for Hulk and The Hood outside. The two managed to easily dispose of them and entered the mansion. Having anticipated this by counting the amount of arrows and shots The Hood has, Vanch and Vivian easily captured him as he had no arrows left. They prepared to execute the vigilante when Hulk and Detective Quentin Lance, Laurel's father, burst in and killed their remaining thug. Hulk then swiftly knocked out Vivian with a controlled right cross. A furious Quentin tried to kill the unarmed Vanch but was dissuaded by The Hood. Quentin then spitefully punched Vanch, knocking him out, and arrested him. Vanch was returned to Iron Heights, this time serving his complete sentence with the new evidence against him.

## Joining the Renegades

Vanch eventually escaped from prison and began operating out of Blüdhaven as part of a mercenary group called the Renegades. In summer 2014, on Clinton Hogue's orders, the group kidnapped and held Felicity Smoak hostage. The Arrow, Arsenal, Hulk, and Huntress soon found them, crashing in from the ceiling. Vanch and Winnick Norton battled Arsenal. Winnick aimed a gun at Arsenal but accidentally shot Vanch instead when Hulk used his own body to deflect the bullet. Suddenly, Lyle Bolton electrocuted the others and took Felicity and the Huntress hostage. Before he could intervene, Oliver knocked Vanch down. Helena eventually knocked out Bolton and rescued Felicity. They tied up all of the mercenaries before anonymously tipping the police to their location, leaving the group to be arrested.

## Personality

Cyrus Vanch is a ruthless, sadistic career criminal who is willing to do whatever it takes to get power. He has a philosophy of taking down "the biggest guys" to achieve recognition and respect in his aim to take over Starling City's criminal underworld. Vanch maintained an affable, confident demeanor in his line of work to mask his sociopathic nature, as he would converse with his victims for some time before killing/harming them. He was completely devoid of empathy to anyone except his girlfriend, Vivian.

Vanch had a talkative nature and was fond of speaking his mind, a sharp contrast to Vivian. Vanch admired those with strong dispositions and held some measure of respect for Hulk as well as The Hood, whom he regarded as his most deadly opponents. He even complimented Laurel Lance for putting up a fight before capturing her. However, Vanch had a cowardly side as well; unlike Vivian, he was visibly afraid when cornered by both The Hood as well as Hulk and Quentin Lance.

## Skills

* **High-level intellect/Economic acumen/Skilled tactician**: Vanch was an infamous career criminal, able to run various illegal operations and avoid getting prosecuted. He was able to abduct Laurel Lance from her apartment building without being detected by her or anyone else in the building. Vanch seems to have good analytical skills, as he positioned enough men that The Hood would run out of arrows and projectiles in the hope he could kill him. However, he underestimated vigilante's adaptability as well as Hulk being there.
* **Skilled hand-to-hand combatant**: Vanch had some moderate combat skills, able to fight against Arsenal for a time, but was ultimately bested.
* **Weapons proficiency**: Vanch is shown to have skill with using a switchblade and a taser.