Barry Allen (DC)

Barry Allen as the Flash in Flash v4 #1.

Barry Allen is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Barry Allen in Showcase v1 #4.

Barry Allen was the male son of Henry and Nora Allen where he lived in Central City. He became a police scientist with a reputation of being slow and typically late to work with this frustrating his fiancée Iris West. On one night, he was preparing to leave work when he was struck by lightning that had hit a case full of chemicals that spilt on him. A result of this event was Allen being gifted with the ability to run extremely fast along with matching reflexes. He later donned a red tight suit with a lightning bolt whereupon he adopted the name of the Flash with this being based on his childhood comic hero namely Jay Garrick. As a result, he became a costumed crime fighter with his uniform provided by Ira West who designed the Flash suit and the ring that stored it which he kept hidden when he was in his civilian identity.

During his youth, he grew up in the small city of Fallville where he had a childhood sweetheart in the redhead Daphne Dean. (The Flash v1 #126) Whilst at college, one of his class mates was the brilliant Wiley Summers. (The Flash v1 #111) At some point, he had a co-worker by the name of Charlie Conwell with the man becoming a friend. (The Flash v1 #224)

Whilst at the police laboratory, lightning struck the room and caused a number of the chemicals present to spill on him. He gained the ability to travel at super-speed where he began to experiment with his new abilities. Allen later saved his date Iris West from a stray bullet that was fired by the villainous Turtle Man. This inspired him to become a superhero where he drew inspiration from the adventures of the Flash and made a costume for himself. (Showcase v1 #4)

In Flash v1 #167 (1967), a being known as Mopee the 'Heavenly Help-Mate' claimed responsibility for directing the lightning that gifted Barry Allen his powers.

After creating his radio-reception watch, he decided to test it and picked up police emergency in Paris and used his superspeed to reach there. The Flash found a diabolical criminal by the name of le Chat Noir (The Black Cat) who threatened to detonate an atom bomb from the Eiffel Tower. He managed to remove the bomb and apprehend the criminal with the Flash looking to return to Central City but then he received another distress in Cairo involving the abduction of Princess Tara at the Khufu Pyramid. The Scarlet Speedster arrived to find that the criminal el Claw (The Claw) where he helped apprehend the villain and restored the pyramid that was damaged in their fight. Before he could return home, he received another distress from Mt. Everest after an avalanche affected the mountain where he saved the person at the lookout. He then answered a distress signal from a ship in the Pacific that was being targeted by pirates in a submarine where he managed to save the crew from a torpedo. With this completed, he quickly returned to Central City so that he as Barry Allen could reach his luncheon date with Iris West. (Showcase v1 #13)

Whilst patrol, he met another speedster named Doralla Kon who was an alien from another dimension. She was a scientist from the world of Alkomar who had designed a ship to take her to the nearest planet via magnetic and cosmic rays. However, instead of going to Sthanthor, the ship instead took her to another dimension where she arrived on Earth. Unknown to her, the people of this dimension moved at different speeds compared to her ow where she was locked constantly in a state of super-speed. Thus, she found everyone to be motionless except for the Flash who taught her to adjust her speed to that of the rest of the people. Thankful for his aid, she asked if he could help her tour the world where she came to meet Iris West. During the tours, areas around with them suffered from mysterious explosions with Barry's eventual investigation being that this was tied to Doralla whose attempts at slowing down her speed created a side effect whereby a shimmer caused bodies of water to explode. Regretful over her unwitting actions, Doralla Kon provided the Flash some gems to help repair the damage she had caused and departed on her ship to another dimension with Barry bidding her farewell. (The Flash v1 #145)

He then attended an election rally at Central City where his old friend Charles Conwell was running for District Attorney. During his speech, a sniper fired a bullet with Barry unable to intercept it in time leaving his friend gravely injured. After apprehending the sniper as the Flash, he came to learn that the perpetrator was an agent of the Maxel Mob. Conwell came to win the election in a landslide but he never regained consciousness and in fact passed away at the hospital. (The Flash v1 #224)

Whilst watching television with Iris, they saw an incident where a stone gargoyle was dislodged from a building with it going to fall on Al and Rita Desmond. Transforming into the Flash, he quickly went to save the pair but the gargoyle disappeared before it could hit the couple. Afterwards, he responded to a fire at Rita Desmond's car and saved her where she revealed that her husband had reverted to his Dr. Alchemy evil persona. Intending to save Desmond, the Flash pursued his trial to find a building that was engulfed in a mystical green flame. Finding Dr. Alchemy, the villain stated that he was in the thrall of the demon Vadtara who was the dreaded Fire Demon of ancient mythological lore. The creature had been in the stone gargoyle which after disintegrating had possessed Desmond and used as Dr. Alchemy form in an attempt to purify Central City in elemental fire. The Flash appealed to Al Desmond's persona in his mind giving the man the strength to fight back against the demon's influence and remove the Dr. Alchemy persona from himself. Thus, the flames stopped and the Flash helped return Al back to his wife now that the crisis had been averted. (The Flash v1 #230)

They were then visited by Stacy Conwell who was the daughter of Barry's dear deceased friend Charlie Conwell. She had promised her father to continue her education at Central City Junior College and was waiting for the acceptance of her application. Iris then told her that she was welcome to stay at their home with Barry, Iris and Wally being careful on not revealing the Flash and Kid Flash's superhero identity. Kid Flash revealed that the Myrmitrons had returned and instituted their plan for revenge against the Flash by growing Bio-X from a bionic pellet. The organic construct grew at an incredible rate where despite its human form was a thing that was to be a fuse to destroy the world in 12 hours. Bio-X was teleported somewhere in Central City with Wally informing Barry of this threat with the two resolved to stop the destruction of the world. The Flash and Kid Flash pursued Bio-X who was counting down to destruction but Barry came to use cryogenic equipment to freeze the living construct to prevent it from expiring at its intended time thus saving the planet. Afterwards, Stacy Conwell received an acceptance letter from college with Iris and him allowing her to stay after reading a letter from her father asking his old friend to care for her like a daughter. (The Flash v1 #232)

The villainous Reverse-Flash's Time-Tripper intended to catapult the two of them backwards in time to the moment before creation where they would both die together. The Flash managed to break through the machine and tumbled out but became lost among the different dimensions as a result. He attempted to vibrate his molecules to stabilise his body where he came to find himself within the mystical realm of Limbo that lay beyond the streams of time itself. Once there, he was confronted by the Lord of Limbo who sought to make Barry Allen one of his many slaves and to join the ranks of others lost in the domain where death had no meaning. With the aid of the other slaves, the Flash managed to escape back into the timestream and evade the Lord of Limbo with the villain forced back into his domain whilst Allen returned to Earth. (The Flash v1 #284)

The 30th Century was beginning to fall apart: natural disasters were occurring despite the technology that had been created to stop them, and reality itself was fraying. Flash returned to the 20th century to warn his fellow heroes. Just as he started to warn Batman, he was pulled into the Antimatter Universe by the Anti-Monitor, where he was mentally tortured by the Psycho-Pirate. Finally, he used the Psycho-Pirate to turn all of the Anti-Monitor's servants, the Thunderers, against him. This gave him enough time to destroy the Anti-Monitor's anti-matter cannon by running around it and destroying the outer casing. He ran so incredibly fast that he entered the Speed Force forever. (Crisis on Infinite Earths v1 #8)

Rebirth

The Flash reborn in Flash v3 #9.

In reality, Allen joined the Speed Force where he shed his identity where he became completely lost with his sense of individuality vanishing. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #1) Following his death, his nephew Wally West came to chosen to inherit the mantle of the Flash. (Crisis on Infinite Earths v1 #12)

In this timeline, his mother Nora Allen was killed with it being claimed that his father Henry Allen had killed her. However, Henry Allen had proclaimed his innocence with Barry seeking to prove his father being not responsible for the death. Despite his efforts, his father died in prison with Barry unable to vindicate him. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #2)

In an attempt to stop Superboy-Prime, the speedsters attempted to shunt him into the Speed Force. However, the rogue Kryptonian threatened to break from their grip but Barry Allen along with Johnny Quick and Max Mercury emerged where they managed to force Superman Prime into the Speed Force to end his rampage. (Infinite Crisis v1 #4)

He came to chase the bullet fired backward through time that killed Orion, and being chased by the Black Racer and what appeared to be the Morticoccus Virus. (Final Crisis v1 #2) He simply said to Wally West and Jay Garrick "Run!". Barry and Wally accelerated one month into the future, only to find that Darkseid had conquered the world. They are soon discovered by a group of Female Furies composed of the Anti-Life corrupted Wonder Woman, Batwoman, Catwoman and Giganta. Evading the Furies, they headed to Iris's apartment, where Barry was able to break the Anti-Life Equation's hold over her with a kiss, assuring Iris that everything was going to be all right. (Final Crisis v1 #4) Shortly afterward, Jay Garrick made his way to Iris' home and reunited with Barry and Wally. Once Jay was there, Barry explained his plan: because they had led the Black Racer to the present, Barry would lead him to Darkseid and let his soul be claimed. Although Barry wanted to go alone, Wally insisted on going with him, and Barry relented, asking Jay to keep Iris safe. (Final Crisis v1 #6) Managing to hit light speed, Barry and Wally lead the Black Racer to Darkseid's base in Bludhaven. Aware of the threat the speedsters posed, Darkseid fired his Omega Beams through his Anti-Life slaves, but the two Flashes managed to outrace them. At the last second, Barry told Wally to save himself, but both Flashes went through together, running past Superman (who was naturally surprised to see Barry) and vibrated through Darkseid, causing the Omega Beams to hit Darkseid and allowing the Black Racer to remove Darkseid's essence from Dan Turpin. (Final Crisis v1 #7)

Shortly afterward, although his family and friends were overjoyed that he was back, Barry himself was uneasy, as he was unable to explain how he alone escaped the Speed Force, while others such as Max Mercury and Johnny Quick were still trapped inside. Deciding not to waste this second chance, Barry went to the Flash Museum to catch up on what he had missed. While there, he met up with his old friend, Hal Jordan, who had also died and returned. Barry discussed his unease over his return with Hal, and how he felt that he did not need to come back. Barry told Hal to tell Wally and Jay that he wasn't going to the parties that had been set up in honor of his return, then sped off on patrol. While running, a rogue speedster Wally had encountered named Savitar somehow escaped the Speed Force through Barry. When Barry managed to catch him, Savitar disintegrated before Barry's eyes. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #1) Wonder Woman had used her connections to arrange for a cover story to explain Barry Allen's civilian absence. Iris was aware of this with it being said that Barry Allen had returned from Witness Protection in order to explain his death and absence for many years. He later accompanied Hal Jordan to Fallville to investigate the speed surge among the speedsters where the pair discovered the Black Flash's deceased body. The pair were attacked by Christina Alexandrova who was angry at her master Savitar's demise after his contact with Allen. Alexandrova's body began to disintegrate after being in contact with Barry whereupon his body began to transform as he was being turned into the new Black Flash. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #2) Barry was kept contained in a container to prevent his energy from killing others but he succumbed to surges in his power. He convinced Hal to release him where he decided to run in order to re-join the Speed Force as he believed that it was calling to him and that he was not meant to had returned to life. Whilst there, he encountered Johnny Quick and Max Mercury who died after encountering Allen but warned of the return of Professor Zoom. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #3) Zoom revealed the depth of his plan: after Barry briefly aided Kid Flash against Superboy-Prime during the Infinite Crisis, Thawne was able to send a subliminal pulse into the Speed Force to draw back what was left of Barry's self-awareness. This led to the hero's reappearance during the Final Crisis. Afterward, Zoom transformed himself into "a new kind of speedster and created his negative Speed Force to contaminate Barry and the other heroic speedsters. Before Barry could fight any further, Zoom faded away. Wally entered the Speed Force to retrieve his uncle, and after venturing deeper into the Speed Force, Max revealed to Barry that it was Allen himself who created the speedsters' source of power. Barry unknowingly did the same throughout his career to create the normal Speed Force. Meanwhile, Wally managed to reach Barry and Max, and the three began their escape. As the heroic speedsters were recharged with energy, Barry, Wally, Jay, Max and Bart charged towards Zoom. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #4)

The seven speedsters battled against Zoom, and despite being outnumbered, Zoom pulled Barry away. He revealed that everything horrible that happened to Barry's life, including the murder of Barry's mother, was caused because of Zoom. He, then, decided to destroy everything by killing Barry's wife, Iris, before they even met. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #5) Barry chased after Zoom and was joined by Wally, who told Barry to push as hard as he could to break the time barrier. Doing so, they reached Thawne, becoming the lightning bolt that turned Barry into the Flash as they were able to stop Zoom from killing Iris. As the two Flashes pushed Zoom back through time to the present, the two Flashes saw that the Justice League, the Justice Society and the Outsiders have built a device specifically for Thawne. Barry tossed him in and activated the device, severing his connection to the negative Speed Force. The Flashes tied Zoom up to stop him from running. With the threat ended, everyone celebrated by welcoming Barry back and the speedsters in general. Later, Barry closed the case on his mother's death and opted to take all the other cold cases they had after his death. Barry spent some time with Iris before racing to Washington to celebrate his return to the Justice League, apologizing for being late. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #6)

Hal sums it up by telling Barry, "I died a sinner. You died a saint." The conversation moves on to the world becoming "more dangerous" after Barry's death and observing that the deaths of Arthur Curry and Martian Manhunter cost the Justice League its "heart and soul". As they leave the cemetery, Barry expresses hope that their dead comrades will be returned to them. He specifically cites Batman noting, "If there's an escape, you can bet Batman's already planning it." (Blackest Night v1 #0)

His message also inadvertently warned the Rogues, who all realize that their deceased members would come after them and decide to strike first at Iron Heights Penitentiary, unaware that Sam Scudder, the original Mirror Master, who is now a Black Lantern, is watching them. While doing so, Barry meets a Black Lantern version of Professor Zoom for a brief battle. Barry decides to go to Gorilla City to seek aid from its ruler Solovar, unaware the gorilla leader had been killed years before. Finding the city attacked, Barry assumed Grodd had struck only to be horrified to learn Solovar was now a Black Lantern. Their fight was shortened by Barry racing to Coast City. (Blackest Night: The Flash v1 #1) After he stops at the city's memorial, where he witnesses the arrival of the Black Lanterns' demonic lord, Nekron and his disciples Scar and Black Hand. (Blackest Night v1 #4)

Barry himself soon finds himself being targeted by a black ring and is forced to flee or risk joining the others as Black Lanterns. (Blackest Night v1 #5) When it was decided to deputize an individual for each Lantern Corps for 24 hours, the Flash was chosen as the deputy for the Blue Lantern Corps. During the battle, Barry is forced to fight his own grandson, who his ring detects is still alive but would eventually die if not free from the black ring soon. Barry is shown to be skilled with his ring in creating energy constructs based on his imagination (possibly because of the understanding with his friend Hal Jordan's ring), as he is able to create images of Bart as Impulse and Kid Flash against him in order to make him feel again. Barry's plan almost works as Bart reacts to the images of his past and the constructs begin to attempt to take the black ring from him, but later is interrupted by the Black Lantern Professor Zoom and Solovar. Wally and Walker later join Barry to fight against them. (Blackest Night: The Flash v1 #2)

Afterwards, Barry and Hal begin searching the country for Prometheus, who had escaped after destroying Star City. The pair goes to the Shade, who then reveals that he helped Ollie track down Prometheus and that he killed the villain in cold blood. After confronting Ollie with this knowledge, he flees through use of a transportation key that Prometheus had used to escape during a previous encounter with the JLA. Barry then vows that he and the League have to track down Ollie before he kills again. (Justice League: Rise and Fall Special v1 #1) With Hal and Dinah by his side, Barry searches the city for Green Arrow, and at some point, tells Ollie's son Connor Hawke about his father's crime. After eventually tracking down Ollie, the trio confronts him, with Barry telling his old teammate that he hates him more and more every time he sees him. Barry makes the foolish mistake of trying to grab Ollie and is electrocuted after touching the archer's booby-trapped quiver. (Green Arrow v3 #31)

Barry reintegrates himself into life in Central City. Under the cover of having been in witness protection, Allen returns to the Central City Police Department's crime lab and returns to the streets as the Flash. While readjusting to life as the Flash, a man appears out of thin air in the costume of Flash rogue the Mirror Master, and promptly dies on the street. When Barry arrives on the scene to investigate, he sees the man is neither original Mirror Master Sam Scudder, or the current Rogue, Evan McCulloch. Hearing of another portal appearing, Barry transforms into the Flash and runs to investigate. When he arrives, a group of people in costumes similar to the Rogues, called The Renegades appear and tell Barry that they are from the 25th century, and that he is under arrest for murdering the "Mirror Monarch." Barry tells the crew that he hasn't killed anyone, to which their leader, "Commander Cold," tells him, "Not yet. But you will." (The Flash v3 #1)

In the crime labs, Barry and Patty continue investigating the case. David Singh then walks in, saying that the kid is in child services and that he's alright, but they can't find his parents. And the kid isn't saying a word. In the front lobby, the kid is curled up in one of the chairs. Patty tells Barry that he should talk to him, maybe he can make the kid more comfortable. But just then the kid leaps from his chair and clings to Patty. She once again says that she can't get involved, but as Barry asks her again, she accepts and brings the boy down to the cafeteria for something to eat. Once again at the crime lab, Barry and James Forrest brainstorm on the tire tracks found at the scene of both crimes. However, they don't get far, because Barry gets a text from Iris, reading: "Need You Home. 911." Barry races home, to find his entire family all in his living room. Iris says that they need to talk about how Barry has been going nonstop, about why Barry wasn't at the picnic. Barry explains that he's been really busy and that there is someone really dangerous on the loose out there. Jay reminds him that every second counts and that he needs to slow down and live his life. Wally West then says that Barry taught him that same principle that Jay just said years ago. He then asks, why won't he live it. Then, Iris asks Bart Allen if there is anything he wants to say. Bart declines, and Barry apologizes to him for being so distant. Bart jumps from his seat and just wants to know why Barry could not be the person he's supposed to look up to and respect. He runs off, and Barry chases after him. Hot Pursuit rushes up to Bart on the street and grabs him, but before he can take him, the Flash steps in his way. Hot Pursuit explains that Bart is the anomaly and must be sent back to the future. (The Flash v3 #11) As Flash and Hot Pursuit fight, Hot Pursuit's club detects the actual anomaly. Hot Pursuit goes after the anomaly, and Flash and Kid Flash follow him. The anomaly is, in fact, Professor Zoom, who is attacking Patty. The Flash takes Patty to safety, and Patty reveals to him that Zoom transformed himself into the boy the police found in Jay Nicolosi's murder scene. The Flash then returns to attacks Zoom. Hot Pursuit uses his stick to drain the Speed Force out of Zoom and tells the Flash and Kid Flash to evacuate the building because when the Speed Force process ends, everything within one hundred feet will age to dust. The Flash and Kid Flash evacuate the building but Zoom overcomes Hot Pursuit's club and kills him. The Flash and Kid Flash pursue Zoom to a park, but Zoom disguises himself as an old man, and the two heroes lose him. The Flash and Kid Flash then check up on Hot Pursuit's empty suit, and the Flash reveals to Kid Flash that Thawne is the one who killed his mother. In the police station, Barry checks on Patty. Although Patty is unscathed, she feels she made a mistake in coming back to Central City, revealing that when she worked as Barry's assistant, she had a crush on him. However, she felt that since he was obsessed with his mother's case, she felt that she had to back away until Barry could close that chapter of his life. But when Barry finally became more open, he fell in love with Iris. In that moment, Iris appears, and Patty leaves, not wanting to have an awkward moment. Later on, Barry and Iris are having a talk in the coffee house. She is concerned because he is turning into a workaholic again. He explains that he grew out of that because he managed to stop blaming himself for his mother's death. However, with the revelation that Professor Zoom - one of his enemies - traveled through time and killed his mother, those feelings have come back. Iris says that he has friends and family, and he can forgive himself for the actions of his enemy. Later that day, Barry goes to leave flowers on his mother's grave and apologize for his part in her death. He then walks away as the day ends. Suddenly, Professor Zoom begins his plan to destroy the Flash once and for all. (The Flash v3 #12)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a new history of event. Barry Allen

It was known that he had grown up in Broome Hill. (The Flash v4 #27) When he was younger, he came to make a friend in Manuel Lago but the two lost touch in latter years. (The Flash v4 #1)

After a 4 month long months in a coma after the accident, Barry was stunned to regain conciousness only to discover he'd gained super-speed abilities. Struggling to gain control over his new powers, he first stumbled from the hospital to his apartment, and then from his apartment to his old CSI lab, where he quickly clothed himself and was confronted by August Heart, who thought somebody was in the lab who wasn't allowed only to discover his best friend's presence, to his elation. August offered to inform Director Singh that Barry had returned, but Barry turned him down, telling him that he had a person case he wanted to investigate first. (The Flash v5 #70)

During the fight, the Anti-Monitor took control of the Flash and bonded Barry Allen with the Black Racer to make him host to an aspect of death. (Justice League v2 #44)

His first step in his Force Quest alongside Iris was travelling to the country of Badhnisia to hunt for knowledge regarding the new Force powers. Once there, he came into conflict with a pair of thieves named Gemini who destroyed a church containing the clue. (The Flash v5 #58)

Seemingly within a heaven, he met his mother who showed that he could rest now and that his legacy had brought about generation of heroes that took his name. Barry, however, quickly deduced that this was simply a construct designed by Paradox to entrap him and shattered the illusion. Despite this, he found himself trapped outside of time where its effects were slowly weakening him. After constructing an armour to keep him operating, the Flash determined that he needed help to stop Paradox and sought out the only person to had defeated the villain. This was Eobard Thawne and using the Cosmic Treadmill Barry went back in time to seek the aid of his greatest foe on the night Thawne killed his mother. (The Flash v1 #752)

Thus, Barry's mind became trapped in his own body as Thawne attempted to fulfil his dreams of being the Flash. Trapped inside, he attempted to fight Thawne several times with Eobard looking to secure his control over his new body. Within his mind, Barry came to be connected to the Speed Force where he remembered Jesse Quick and Max Mercury both speedster from before the change in reality where they counselled him. They looked to teach him how to become one with the Speed Force in order to fight off Thawne's control over his body. (The Flash v1 #759)

After the defeat of Perpetua, the Multiverse was restored and made into an infinite frontier with countless worlds within its expanse. In this time, Barry Allen was invited to join the ranks of Justice Incarnate by President Superman where he was to serve as a representative of his Earth along with helping to chart the new Multiverse. To replace him on his Earth, he decided that his protégé Wally West would be the new Flash where he was proud of him taking the mantle once again. Though away from Earth, Barry told Wally that if he ever needed help then he would be there. (Infinite Frontier v1 #0)

Overview

Personality and attributes

In his superhero guise, he was known as the Fastest Man Alive and as the Scarlet Speedster. (Showcase v1 #4)

He was said to had hated the heat. (The Flash v5 #28)

When he was young, he often dressed up for Halloween as his parents took him door-to-door to collect candy. However, after his mother died, he did not feel like dressing up anymore until he met Iris West. (The Flash v5 #55)

According to Batman, Barry Allen was one of the most optimistic men he had ever known. As a forensic scientist, he looked at life differently than most in his position as he saw his job in the crime lab being the protection of the innocent rather than damning the guilty. (Flash v2 #205) Batman stated that Barry Allen was the kind of man that he had hoped to had become if his own parents had not been murdered. (Justice v1 #8) He was noted for being honest and meticulous in his approach to work. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #2) Barry claimed that he had faith in redemption for everyone even for criminals. (The Flash v5 #37)

Even before becoming the Flash, he had walked everywhere in Central City as he loved to take in the sights and sounds. This led to him knowing every alley, every street and every brick in the city with it being more than his home as he considered it all part of his life. (The Flash v5 #52)

It was said that Barry always looked to a person in the eye when he was speaking to them. Allen never yelled or never said that he was disappointed in another person with him having a great deal of patience. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #1) He never saw himself as a hero but empathised with others and saw what's special in them. (The Flash v5 #45)

Barry noted that for as long as he could remember he had always sought answers to the point that he drove his mother crazy due to his inquisitiveness. It was one of the reasons he loved science as it was quantifiable with it seeking to answer interminable questions. This became the driving force of his career behind his career in the Crime Lab with it being the core of his identity. (Flash v4 #29) Wally claimed that Barry was the kind of person who knew everything and during his training of West he would pull out small pieces of useless information that he called Flash Facts. (JLA v1 #3)

His mother had once told him, "Life is locomotion. If you're not moving, you're not living. But there comes a time when you've got to stop running away from things and you've got to start running towards something. You've got to forge ahead. Keep moving, even if your path isn't lit. Trust that you'll find your way." (The Flash v4 #1)

In the Justice League, he at first did not like Hal Jordan as he found him reckless and that he stared at Wonder Woman too long whilst also laughing whenever they were outnumbered by their enemies. Barry claimed that this changed when he heard Jordan refer to a foe as a 'perp' whereupon he determined that the Green Lantern was a cop. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #1)

He was noted to had collected the adventures of the fictional superhero The Flash Jay Garrick in the comic magazine Flash Comics where he enjoyed reading of his adventures. (Showcase v1 #4) When he was growing up, Barry loved a good mystery novel with it being the reason he wanted to become a detective who solved cases with evidence and quick thinking to find the culprits. (The Flash v5 #36) When he was using his super-speed, he was known to use his radio to listen to scientific audio books. (The Flash v5 #45)

One of his old friends and co-workers was Charlie Conwell who came to run for D.A. in Central City. (The Flash v1 #224) He had a grown up blonde haired daughter named Stacy Conwell. A letter from his friend Charlie asked that Barry look after her and treat her as a daughter as she was a good kid. (The Flash v1 #232)

He was said to had taken 2 years for him to end up asking out Patty Spivot. (The Flash v4 #1)

The children were the twins Don Allen and Dawn Allen who came to be heroes known as the Tornado Twins and were direct descendants of the Flash. (Adventure Comics v1 #373)

It was shown that Barry Allen was a descendant of Ulysses Sutter who founded the Twin Cities. It was this connection that allowed his ghost to possess Allen. (The Flash v4 #28)

The Flash Costume Ring was an item very dear to Barry as he forged it from his parents wedding rings after his mother died and his father was sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. Allen was so desperate to put the pieces of his fractured life together with this being seen as maybe the only way he could achieve such an impossible act. Thus, not only did it house his costume, it brought him hope during his darkest times and added a positive memory to an otherwise emotional day for him. (The Flash v1 #763)

Powers and abilities

The death of his mother led to his dedication to a life of studying forensics to the point that the crime lab was a second home for him. From there, he had developed the skill to picture a crime scene even before he completed any tests. From that, he could picture the origin of every blood spot and the intent behind any attack. (The Flash v5 #21) In time, he became noted for being the best forensics scientist that Central City ever had. (The Flash: Rebirth v1 #2)

Upon gaining his powers, his molecular structure was altered allowing him to vibrate with eye-blurring speed whilst being propelled by a mysterious force causing him to sprint at incredible speeds allowing him to outrace his shadows and break the sound barrier. Barry's reflexes also allowed him to see objects in slow-motion allowing him to grab objects in air with immeasurable speed. As the Flash, he was able to travel at such speeds that gravity had no effect on him allowing him to run up or down buildings. Similarly, he travelled at such speeds that he could run across water as his feet did not sink into the water. He could also travel at supersonic speeds to create a vortex-like hurricane around targets or locations. (Showcase v1 #4) With his super speed vision, he could see a bullet moving through the air in slow motion and before it could hit its target. (The Flash v1 #224)

It was shown that he could choose different frequencies that he could vibrate to when phasing through objects. (The Flash v4 #1) Through physical contact, he was able to determine the vibrational frequencies of a world determining whether it was his own reality or an alternate world. (Batman v3 #22) The Flash was able to vibrate his body to make it into a tuning fork allowing him to match the frequency of dimensional transportation allowing him to follow teleportation. (Justice League of America v1 #140) Similarly, he could use his super-speed causing himself to become invisible and match the wavelength frequency of other objects that were invisible such as a hidden Power Battery. (The Flash v1 #168)

The Flash was able to gather compressing air by collecting the air-molecules at super-speed and could shoot them like a battering ram at a target. He could also rotate his arms at super-speed to set up a tremendous gust of wind that had the dual effect of stopping projectiles in mid-air and slamming a target to the ground. (The Flash v1 #153)

Through speed-reading, he could absorb large amounts of information into his short-term memory which remain in his mind just long enough for him to make use of it. Using this technique, Barry was able to learn enough about building work to rebuild a destroyed apartment building. (The Flash v3 #2) It was said that his mind moved so fast that it made it a challenge to control his mind for a telepath. (The Flash v5 #0)

Such was his speed that he was capable of emptying the entire city of Tokyo in 30 seconds. (Supergirl v6 #17) Allen was capable of travelling at such speeds that he was able to tour the Multiverse in order to note the vibrational frequencies of each Earth. (Infinite Frontier v1 #0)

Through unknown means, Allen was able to use the Speed Force to purge the Anti-Life Equation from a person's body and thus free them from its mind control. (Final Crisis v1 #4)

The Flash was able to enter into a super-charged state due to overuse of the Speed Force. (The Flash v5 #86) There was a danger of living in this state as he could not operate on a normal level with the Piped Piper referring to this as being a 'Super Saiyan' form. (The Flash v5 #87)

He was once infected with the Negative Speed Force that was the source of Eobard Thawne's power. Use of these abilities were completely different from his normal ones and he struggled with their use. The aura around it was noted for being unpredictable and was able to turn bullets to ash before they hit him. However, it was incredibly destructive to the environment around it and able to cause a lot of collateral damage in its use. (The Flash v5 #28)

Barry was once bonded to the New God Black Racer that was an incarnation of death and became host to its power. (Justice League v2 #44)

He had a ring that had a button that opened a hidden compartment that ejected his superhero costume that expanded to full-size due to being treated with certain chemicals. (Showcase v1 #4)

At one point, he created a radio-reception watch that allowed him to pick up police signals and dispatches. With it, he was able to intercept communiques globally thus alerting him to crime and being able to respond to them. (Showcase v1 #13)

Barry had created a program that filtered radio signals and police wires picked by the radio receivers in the lightning bolts by the side of his suits headset. This was used to alert him of any emergencies or suspicious events occurring in Central City. (The Flash v5 #39)

Notes

• The Barry Allen Flash was created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino where he made his first appearance in Showcase v1 #4 (October, 1956).
• In a Q&A, Wolfman had sated that he had left a loophole that would have allowed Barry Allen to return Post-Crisis without the need of a retcon.
• In an interview on CBR, writer Geoff Johns commented on the characters return, "Barry Allen, the character now, is very different from the Barry Allen of old. He means something different than he did when he was still running around. Everyone has pre-conceived notions of who he is, of what he's done and what he's sacrificed. He's a little removed from everything when he returns, when he first stops for a second, after he finally realizes that he's still here. He didn't think his return was permanent and yet he's still here. He's wondering where everything goes next. Where does he run? And he sees so many things have moved on... He's not tragic, he's conflicted. Emotionally, he's standing still. There's definitely an ominous tone here. Barry Allen is a wrench being thrown into the Flash Universe and that's what the series is about. That's how he feels. That's what's happening."
• Writer Joshua Williamson in an interview on MTV stated, "I relate to Barry Allen as an optimist,” he continued. “This guy just really wants to help people, in spite of himself at times. He can’t help himself. He wants to help people. He wants to see the best in people, even if it means sacrifice. That goes back to who Barry Allen is. He will martyr himself, and I relate a lot to that. It’s this idea that Barry Allen is always almost trying to do too much, and I feel like all of those things made me really relate to him."
• In an interview on CBR, Williamson commented on a new super-powered Flash state, "And we were talking about that ending and how we wanted to visualize it and we were like, 'How do you visualize that the Speed Force has become super-charged?' And we started talking about Dragon Ball and Super Saiyans and it's funny because I thought people would respond to that, that Pied Piper calls it that [chuckles]. But that's what it was! You see it and it's a really cool visual! So yeah, there was a lot of conversations about how we could visualize it and I sent the artist a lot of art from Dragon Ball Z to show him what I was talking about and then I also sent him a lot of art from Mark Waid's run. There's a great story he did called 'Terminal Velocity' where Wally goes so fast that he kind bumps up against the Speed Force and he ends up looking like that. He gets kind of super-charged and he has this kind of glow and I wanted to show a connection between the two, and so it was supposed to look like that as well."

Alternate Versions

• In Elseworld's Flashpoint (1999), a possible version of history showed Barry Allen becoming the world's first superhero in 1956 where he helped fight crime and served his nation in stopping the Cold War along with pushing the Communists from Vietnam in 1963. His career came to an end when he took a bullet aimed at President John F. Kennedy with him being paralyzed from the neck down. He was unable to run fast though he became the fastest mind on Earth and founded a high-tech research firm called Allen Industries. Allen later got married with his wife being Iris West and by 1988 he was involved in a leading a manned exploration of Mars with Vandal Savage who headed Immortality Inc. His contact with the Speed Force empowered Wally West cured Allen of his paralysis though he was still too slow to save Van. Ashe raced to intercept the flashpoint energy, each connection made himself faster along him to circle the globe and save the world until he returned the artifact whereupon he took the relic with him into the flashpoint itself.
• In Superman & Batman: Generations II v1 #3 (2001), an alternate universe setting was shown designated as Earth-3839 where on this Earth Barry Allen had a daughter known as Carrie Allen who became the Flash after Wally West where she operated in the 1980s and 1990s.
• In Superman/Batman v1 #14 (2005), the timeline was altered by the actions of the Legion of Super-Villains who sought to change history by raising Superman and Batman. Their actions included Lightning Lord being on the day when Barry Allen was meant to get his powers and killing him thus preventing Flash from being created.
• In Countdown to Final Crisis v1 #18 (2007), an alternate version of Barry Allen was shown to inhabit Earth-51 in the Multiverse. This was described as the perfect world where the heroes had defeated all the villains and ushered in an era of peace with many superheroes embracing their civilian lives. He was shown as being married to Iris West-Allen and close friend to Ray Palmer with them visiting them one day. At the time, Palmer was visited by the Monitor called 'Bob' and the Challengers from Beyond who was on a quest to find Ray to save the Multiverse. However, the Monitor intended to kill Ray with Barry attempting to intervene but 'Bob' simply aged Allen to dust leaving his skeleton behind that crumbled to dust with the Earth-51 Iris left in tears at the death of her love.
• In Trinity (2008), an alternate reality was created when the Trinity were removed from history. On this world, no Justice League was formed but rather the Justice Society International was created that was aggressive in its role in policing it from danger. Barry Allen joined their ranks as the Flash but was inexperienced when they battled Felix Faust. During the fight, he attempted to vibrate away from a mystical attack but failed with shards of rock embedded in his legs making him unable to run again. He was confined to a wheelchair and hid from the world with people believing he had died where he saw the aggressive means the Justice Society accomplished their goals. Barry in time disagreed with their approach as he saw themselves as heroes but the group seemed more concerned with security rather than liberty. As a result, he formed an underground branch of heroes called the League that he led on this Earth.
• In Flash v3 #6-12 (2011), an alternate world counterpart Barry Allen arrived in the present with him being known as Hot Pursuit. He stated that he was a version of Barry from within the fifty two worlds of the Multiverse. This version was shown to not naturally harness the Speed Force but instead built a Cosmic Motorcycle with the aid of his nephew Wally West. Through it, he was able to travel through time and the Multiverse where he sought to remove any anomalies. This version of Barry Allen later discovered the approaching Flashpoint that threatened to change all of the Multiverse and sought to stop the damage leading him to arriving on the mainstream Earth. Ultimately, it was revealed that Professor Zoom was the anomaly and Hot Pursuit attempted to stop him only to be killed by Thawne who aged the alternate Barry Allen to dust.
• In Justice League v3 #27 (2017), it was shown that in an alternate timeline that Jessica Cruz and Barry Allen became romantically involved. The pair had three children; a son and daughter named Jason and Jenny who could manipulate the Emotional Spectrum whilst they had another daughter named Nora Allen who was a speedster named Cruise. They lived in a time 22 years in the future in a world that was ruled by the Sovereign. They along with the other children of the Justice League went back in time to get their help of their parents.
• In Dark Nights: Metal v1 (2017), an alternate version of the world designated as Earth-52 was shown in the Dark Multiverse. On this world, Batman lost many more of his loved ones and as he grew older he believed he would only fail unless he acquired the power of the Speed Force. This saw him attack the Flash where he defeated the speedster and strapped him on his Batmobile that used designs from the Cosmic Treadmill in an effort to give him the Speed Force. The act merged their bodies transforming Batman into the Red Death where he used his new super-speed to brutally kill villains on his world. Within their merged form, the essence of Barry Allen constantly attempted to stop the corrupted Bruce Wayne from his acts but failed. The Red Death later joined the Batman Who Laughs in serving Barbatos as they invaded the mainstream prime Earth.
• In Wildstorm: Michael Cray v1 #3 (2017), an alternate version of Barry Allen was shown to inhabit a world based on the Wildstorm Universe. On this Earth, Barry Allen was shown to be a paranoid schizophrenic with a split personality leading to him talking to himself. He was a genius inventor who operated at the Boston CSI division where he secretly created chemicals that reacted with his smart armour that made him super-fast. He believed the dangers of artificial intelligence but all his warnings were ignored leading to him secretly killing the scientists working on the project using his speed suit. All the murders were masked by him using his civilian identity to hide his activities by portraying the deaths by other means.
• In Flash: Fastest Man Alive v1 #1 (2020), an alternate version of Barry Allen appeared in an world in the Multiverse. He came to be attacked by a woman named Shift who was revealed to be from the future where she came from the 25th century's Speed Force Resistance. She had come from a time where Eobard Thawne tapped into the Speed Force after being inspired by his hero the Flash but was driven mad in the process whereupon he became a tyrant in this future. To stop him, Lt. Beth Arden travelled back in time to kill the Flash using her 'Shift' suit that shunted her into the timestream any time Barry Allen came near to striking her. He eventually convinced her of his sincerity and she urged him to help her by going into the future to stop Thawne.
• In The Flash v1 #783 (2022), an alternate version of Barry Allen known as the Night-Flash who was an amalgam of the Flash and Batman where he inhabited another world in the Multiverse. On this world, Barry was the son of Henry Allen who developed a serum that promoted rapid healing which made his family wealthy. A crimelord known as Knives Maroney broke into Henry's lab and attempted to steal the formula, but Henry refused to hand it over. Unfortunately, Barry's mother Nora had brought him to the lab to visit Henry, and Knives took them hostage. He murdered Nora and threatened to kill Barry as well if Henry did not hand over the formula. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the lab. Barry and Knives were both doused in Henry's formula and hit by the lightning. The lab caught fire and everyone but Barry and Knives were killed. Barry was given superhuman speed by the accident and used his new powers to protect his city as the Night-Flash. Meanwhile, Knives gained superspeed from the accident and became Night-Flash's archenemy, but he also began aging in reverse. By the time Barry was an adult, Knives had become a child.

In other media

Television

• In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Alan Tudyk.
• In Young Justice, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced initially by actor George Eads and later by James Arnold Taylor.
• In the Arrowverse, Barry Allen made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
  • In Arrow, Barry Allen made his first appearance in the live-action television series second season where he was portrayed by actor Grant Gustin.
  • In The Flash, Barry Allen served as the protagonist of the 2014 live-action television series spinoff show from Arrow where he was once again portrayed by Grant Gustin.
  • In Vixen, Barry Allen as Flash appeared in a guest role in the animated web series where he was voiced by actor Grant Gustin.
• In Justice League Action, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Charlie Schlatter.
• In Peacemaker, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in a cameo scene in the setting of the live-action television series where he was portrayed by Ezra Miller.

Films

• In Justice League: Doom, Barry Allen appeared as the Flash in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Michael Rosenbaum.
• In Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Justin Chambers.
• In Justice League: War, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Christopher Gorham.
• In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in the animated film where he was once again voiced by actor Christopher Gorham.
• In Justice League vs. Teen Titans, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in the animated film where the role was reprised once more by actor Christopher Gorham.
• In the DC Extended Universe, Barry Allen made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
  • In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Barry Allen made a cameo appearance in the 2016 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Ezra Miller. He initially appeared to Batman where he gave a warning about the future but the incident appeared as a vision to Bruce Wayne. A second appearance showed him in a security footage that Lex Luthhor had acquired during his search for Metahumans where Barry in his civilian guise stopped a robbery with his superspeed whilst attempting to not reveal his true identity.
  • In Suicide Squad, Barry Allen in the Flash suit appeared in the live-action film with actor Ezra Miller reprising the role where he was shown in a flashback to be responsible for apprehending Captain Boomerang.
  • In Justice League, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed once more by actor Ezra Miller.
• In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Barry Allen appeared in the 2020 animated film where he was once more voiced by actor Christopher Gorham. He participated in the Justice League's attack on Apokolips to stop Darkseid's upcoming invasion of Earth. However, Darkseid was prepared for the heroes and had an ambush that massacred the Earth's heroes. The Flash managed to escape being killed by phasing away from an attack but was captured. At the time, a critical power reactor was destroyed by the heroes and Darkseid decided to place the Flash on a cosmic treadmill to force him to endlessly run to power the machine. The resistance force later came to free him where most of the heroes managed to escape back to Earth. Despite their efforts, over 30% of the planetary magma was gone and the Earth's rotation had stopped with it expected that billions more would die. By this point, John Constantine had learnt of Barry Allen's involvement in Flashpoint and urged the speedster to run again to change history once more as any other timeline was preferable to their current one. Reluctantly, Barry agreed and ran where his actions caused the erasure of this timeline and Earth.

Video games

• In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Taliesin Jaffe.
• In Infinite Crisis, the Barry Allen Flash appeared as a playable character in the MOBA game where he was voiced by actor Michael Rosenbaum. He had a number of alternate costumes available to him including the standard Flash, Hypersonic and Olympian.
• In DC Legends, the Barry Allen Flash was a playable character in the iOS video game.
• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Barry Allen Flash appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Neal McDonough.
• In Injustice 2, the Barry Allen Flash appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game sequel where he was voiced by actor Taliesin Jaffe.
• In DC Unchained, Barry Allen as the Flash appeared as a playable champion in the setting of the mobile video game.

Appearances

• Showcase v1: (1956)
• Flash v1: (1956)
• Flash v3:
• Final Crisis v1:
• The Flash: Rebirth v1:
• Blackest Night v1:
• Blackest Night: The Flash v1:
• Flash v4:
• Justice League v2:
• Justice League of America's Vibe v1:
• Flash v5:
• Justice League v3:
• Justice League v4:
• Flash: Fastest Man Alive v1: (2020)
• The Flash v1:
• Infinite Frontier v1: (2021)

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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