Felicity Smoak & Chloe Sullivan: Why they are basically the same character

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sora_thekey

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Edited By sora_thekey

I recently got into Arrow (I'm still mid-season two) and, up until now, my favorite character is Felicity Smoak. I also watch Flash (That finale!) and her appearances are spectacular in it, but I've realized that she reminds me of my favorite character in Smallville: Chloe Sullivan.

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While I know their input to their respective shows are founded on different backgrounds, both characters serve pretty much the same purpose: They are to their heroes as Oracle is to Batman.

Chloe Sullivan, originally, was set up in the show as a Lois Lane stand-in. Since she is a completely original character for the show, it was easy to tweak her story enough to the point where Lois became her cousin. At first she was the intrepid, aspiring reporter who happened to be best friends with the show's protagonist and, at some points, even his love interest (Iris West?). When she found out her protagonist had a secret, she then became his confidant.

Felicity Smoak is a computer whiz with a troubled past that works for the protagonist's company and happens to get involved heroism, at first, by doing favors. She is nothing like her comic book counterpart (where, originally, she's Firestorm's stepmother) and pulls off a combination of sexiness and quirkiness.

Why are they alike?

Computer Skills

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Their biggest resource is their knowledge around the computer. They fill that void that every show/movie has with their super computer hacker characters. The interesting thing is that, while not almighty behind a computer screen, they are doing a play-by-play to their heroes, being an asset in missions. That ability goes from getting mug shots of whoever the antagonist is to GPS tracking devices that will allow them to find where the explosive/person/item is... So a lot of illegal stuff that helps but no one in real life should do unless you're looking for a jail sentence.

Nurses

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Sometimes they also tend to their sick. And by that I mean that they are the ones helping out with the bullet wounds. Although they are most likely arrow wounds. Which brings me to the next point...

Love Interests

Both of these brilliant blondes are also or have been love interests for their protagonists. Chloe had a thing for Clark and Felicity definitely has a thing for Oliver. (No spoilers, I'm still mid-Season 2.) The more interesting thing is, if Felicity ends up with Ollie, these two characters will be even more similar since (Season 10 spoiler) Chloe ends up marring her show's Oliver Queen and has a child with him.

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Personality

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Now, not only do they give the same input to their respective shows. They are also alike in personality. Both of them resort to a fast-paced, no-breathing, excited-type way of talking. They are both very sarcastic, spunky and funny. I think the biggest difference in this aspect is that Felicity stumbles a bit more when explaining something while Chloe tends to know exactly what to say.

Leaders

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I'm not sure about this one in Arrow, but as Watchtower, Chloe became a leader and beacon to her show's League of Justice. She coordinated them, and helped along the way. (With a com system.) Her super hero name is even an homage to that of the JLA's home base. I know that CW's DC universe is now filled with heroes and I'm sure Felicity must help out more of them besides Arrow. She's dating the Atom now, right?

Self-Defense

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Both of these girls also know how to defend themselves. While they do get saved from time to time, Felicity learns to fight and Chloe gains super powers. Chloe was even Brainiac's host for a while. Still, they each get swept off their feet (literally) by speedsters sometimes. You could say they have the whole package.

...Plus, they are both attractive. So yeah, basically the same character.

In the comics, both of these girls have been recently introduced thanks to their shows. Since Barbara Gordon is now wearing her cowl again, I say they team-up and become DC's new Oracles. That could be the name of the book!

-- Geo (sora_thekey) 24/7 geek! -- Follow me on Twitter: @Geo_sorathekey

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deactivated-5d3f071d30d9f

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It´snt really big suprise but still a good articule.

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MadeinBangladesh

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great blog

Felicity has turned terrible

~MiB

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sora_thekey

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#3  Edited By sora_thekey

@madeinbangladesh: Gah! Spoilers... Thanks though! @vitalius: Thanks.. It's funny because it's obvious for me too, yet I only found two forum posts in other websites about this. That's why I wrote the blog.

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@madeinbangladesh: Gah! Spoilers... Thanks though! @vitalius: Thanks.. It's funny because it's obvious for me too, yet I only found two forum posts in other websites about this. That's why I wrote the blog.

Ohh Sorry. Not really much of a spoiler though She doesn't turn into a villain she just became a terribly written character

~MiB

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Rag_man

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I like Felicity, but the Felicity and Ollie's romance is cringeworthy. Why the writers thought this a good idea is beyond me. And what an ultimate F.U. to Palmer.

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deactivated-5cecb3b554104

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In Chloe's defense, her crush on Clark was adolescent, whereas adult Felicity's inability to approach Oliver came off as just insecure. Personally, I thought Chloe had the better smile of the two.

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terry2012

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#7  Edited By terry2012

Good blog.

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@sora_thekey: To be fair she both are copies of Oracle. But all CW shows have that similiar things on each show.

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AllStarSuperman

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Chloe was way better. Season 3 turned Felicity into a b!tch.

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#10 the_stegman  Moderator

Yeah, I noticed this from day one of Arrow. Though, as Smallville went on, I liked Chloe more. But as Arrow is going on, I'm liking Felicity's mopey, whiny a** less and less.

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joshmightbe

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I firmly believe the only reason the Ollicity thing gets play is as a sort of vindication for the Smallville fans who wanted Chloe to get with Clark.

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sora_thekey

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#13 the_stegman  Moderator
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joshmightbe

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@sora_thekey: I liked the character but I wouldn't say I was a big fan. I just know many people really wanted Chloe to end up with Clark even tho every Superman fan knows he's gonna end up with Lois except for in the New 52 where Lois decided Superman saving the world a bunch didn't entitle him to a personal life.

Chloe wouldn't have pulled that s**t.

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sora_thekey

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@the_stegman: To be honest, by the fourth season the show dropped exponentially.. But I kept watching, because of Chloe. By the time she left the show the quality had gone up, so I was happy. Then the Green Arrow/Watchtower story appeared and it made sense. I still love her Braniac episodes.. and her son being Roy.

After writing this I feel like I should read the Season 11 comic book.

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Pizzaman

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Chloe is way better than Felicity.

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the_stegman

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#17 the_stegman  Moderator

@sora_thekey: Season 11 is pretty awesome. And I stopped watching Smallville when Lex "died". I loved Lois though.

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