Upon being marooned on Lian Yu, Oliver began to change, so much so

he stated the day he went missing was the day he died. He originally
retreated into a shell, exhibiting depression after Sara apparently died;
albeit by accident (which he realized was his fault) and his father Robert
committed suicide right in front of him. After he is helped and taught by
Yao Fei Gulong how to survive, he endured torture to protect Yao Fei
and disguised himself as a mercenary to sneak into Edward Fyers' camp
in an attempt to rescue him. Upon meeting Slade Wilson, Oliver began
his journey to becoming a warrior. Slade had decided he should perform
a coup de grace on Oliver to spare him the suffering on the island, but
Oliver responded by breaking his hand to break free of his restraints,
and punching him, inspiring Slade to train him instead. Oliver is shown
to be a quick learner. After seeing a maneuver Slade taught him to steal
a gun from an armed enemy once, Oliver was able to perform it on one
of Fyers' men, and later when Shado taught him archery. Eventually,
Oliver excelled in his skills in hand-to-hand combat after training from
the two of them.

Overtime, after these events, Oliver gained a much needed sense of

direction, loyalty, principles and honor. He sacrificed two chances to
return home, first by choosing to convince Yao Fei Gulong to leave the
island with him and second choosing to kill Fyers to save Shado instead
of accepting the former's offer to call in a rescue. Nevertheless, he
remained indomitably focused on his goal to return home to Starling
City and his family. After he was forced to live in Hong Kong by Amanda
Waller, and Maseo Yamashiro and his wife Tatsu were assigned his
handlers, Oliver initially refused to work for A.R.G.U.S.. He relented only
when Amanda threatened Maseo's family, including his son, Akio. Oliver
grew to care for Maseo's family in particular his playing a vital role in
saving Tatsu's life and caring for Akio when on the run from general
Matthew Shrieve.

However, overtime, Oliver became riddled with evermore trauma, horror

and guilt, for his unintentional role in Shado's death, Slade's
consequential enmity against him which would haunt him in the years
that followed and Sara's apparently dying a second time. When Oliver
finally returned to Starling City during the mission to capture Chien Na
Wei and recover the Omega super-virus, he later decided he'd go home.
When he found a message his father left for him, he learnt of Robert's
connection to the corrupt people on The List. Upon being told by Robert
he could right his wrongs, Oliver was inspired to make a difference in
the world. He returned to Maseo's side to assist his comrade and when
he'd return home, he'd begin his crusade for justice for Starling City to
honor Robert's sacrificing himself so he could survive.

During his third year of being marooned, when corrupted general

Matthew caused the bio-weapon to be released over Hong Kong,
resulting in Akio's death, Oliver gave into his emotions, his anger. He
tortured Shrieve in cold blood for hours, in vengeance for the
destruction he'd caused, and primarily for Akio's death. Realizing later
such actions would not make him human, filled with self-loathing and
pity, the darkness that had overtaken his life, and to protect his family,
Oliver decided to delay his return. To atone for his actions, he'd live in
self-imposed exile resolving to better himself so to become the man his
father believed him to be. He started vigilantism, targeting drug dealers
in Coast City, believing that was his best course of action. After being
send by Amanda Waller to uncover Baron Reiter's plot back on Lian Yu,
Oliver had grown a sense of responsibility, as he couldn't leave Reiter's
prisoners at his mercy, when John Constantine offered him. He also
after some time, told Taiana the truth about his brothers death, showing
that he can take responsibility of his actions. But he still wasn't mentally
okay, as he was willing to kill himself, if Reiter didn't kept Taiana alive,
since he needed to keep Oliver alive.

After Oliver made a promise to Taiana to kill Kovar in Russia, is she

didn't survive, he was determined to do that. Even though he was a killer
and had commited multiple different crimes, he was hesitant to join
Bratva, since he still thought they were a criminal organization not to be
trusted. He later did join and was willing to blackmail different people,
claiming that he would kill their loved ones if they didn't do what he said,
as he did with Pyotr Friedkin. When he was saved by Talia al Ghul, Oliver
still believed he wasn't the man his father raised and couldn't keep his
promise to him. However, Talia started to show how to be in terms with
his inner so-called monster and helped Oliver to become in terms with
himself by giving him his first suit and bow. She helped to create Oliver
an identity for his monster that was someone else and something else.
As Oliver became the Hood, he channeled all his darkness and hate and
pity in Hood and killed and tortured many people in Russia. It helped him
to get piece, a he started to believe that he didn't kill anyone, but the
Hood did. Although Anatoly tried to warn that it wasn't true, that the
Hood and Oliver weren't different person, he didn't listen nor believe
him, since it helped him to be in peace with himself and be more
effective in vigilantism. After successfully killing Kovar, Oliver wanted to
return to Starling City, as he believed he was finally ready to begin his
quest to honor his father's wishes. and by mid-to-late 2012, when Oliver
returned to Starling City, he was a completely different person compared
to before he was marooned on Lian Yu.

Although it took five years for Oliver to admit it to himself, due to so

much pain and loss Oliver endured in his five years of hell, he started to
enjoy killing, as it was his way to cope for everything he had suffered. If
he had the opportunity to kill, he didn't hesitate, but all that time Oliver
didn't admit it to anyone, not even himself, since he believed it was the
Hood who killed and all the people that he killed deserved it.