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During the Avengers movie I recall seeing Hawkeye use four types of arrow: normal piercing arrows, exploding arrows, an arrow equipped with an electronic hacking module and an arrow with a rappelling/zip cord attached.

This is a rather diverse set of arrows. What other arrow variants has this character used throughout their history?

(All forms of media are welcome)

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  • Also in the movie appeared to be one that shot a couple bullets sideways once it hit its target. It was fired at one of the invaders.
    – Izkata
    May 13 '12 at 15:51
  • He also used an arrow which melts one of the flying vehicles and causes it to fall apart.
    – Jack B Nimble
    May 13 '12 at 18:28
  • @b_jonas Was Hawkeye only in the Avengers? I didn't add that tag as I am not familiar with the character history to know if he served or acted with any other teams or ever went solo. As for the usefulness of the Hawkeye tag, I used it as it was already there.
    – Xantec
    May 14 '12 at 19:44
  • Hawkeye is a long-standing Avenger, including leadership roles with several Avenger-affiliated teams. Tag added.
    – Tynam
    May 16 '12 at 9:03
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There have been an awful lot of types of arrow in the comics, ranging from obvious to silly. The movie showed him using:

Conventional sharp or piercing arrowheads (pretty much all kinds)

  • Side-firing/area-effect-shot arrowhead (not seen in the comics, although similar to some that are)
  • Explosive arrows (in the comics he's also used 'thermal' arrows with blasts hot enough to melt metals)
  • Bridging line/cable/zip cord arrows
  • The hacking-module arrow (which was original to the movie as far as I know; it's more sophisticated than anything in the comics)

The following list have all been used in the comics at some time. (List based on his character sheet in the 90's Marvel RPG; it was pretty comprehensive at that time. As the comics damped down on the silly-arrows list after that period, it includes everything he's used since then that I know of.)

  • Blunt-tip (for when he doesn't want to puncture anything)
  • Acid arrows
  • Bola and Net arrows
  • Boomerang / ricochet arrows
  • Electrical arrows (essentially a taser on a stick)
  • EMP arrows
  • Firefighting foam arrows
  • Flare and flashlight arrows
  • 'Nullifier' energy-damping arrows
  • Rocket-assisted arrows (for that extra range...)
  • Smoke arrows
  • Sonic arrows (essentially the noise part of a flashbang; since he's nearly deaf in the comics, he can make good use of this)
  • Tear gas arrows

He's also had Adamantium and Vibranium arrows in the past. (Yes, really. But he saved them for emergencies.)

He's also used some alternate arrowheads designed to stick to other surfaces; these are often combined with other arrow types, especially the zip line:

  • Magnetic arrowheads (also used as improvised EMP disruption)
  • Putty arrowheads
  • Suction-cup arrowheads
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  • In addition to the standard explosive ones, he used what appeared to be a magnesium burn "thermal" arrowhead on one of the Chitauri vehicles in The Avengers movie, as well.
    – Gabe Willard
    May 13 '12 at 19:23
  • @Gabe: I'd forgotten that; good point. I also forgot 'boxing glove head', probably because I wanted to. I choose to consider it as covered under "blunt tip".
    – Tynam
    May 13 '12 at 20:44
  • He uses at least one new type of arrow in Civil War when he fights the Vision.
    – Rogue Jedi
    Jun 1 '16 at 1:17

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