Barry Allen (DC)

Barry Allen as the Flash in Flash v4 #1.

Barry Allen is a male comic superhero that 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.

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.

Rebirth

The Flash reborn in Flash v3 #9.

Overview

Personality and attributes

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)

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).

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 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 other media

Television

• 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.

Films

• 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.

Videogames

• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Barry Allen Flash appeared as a playable character voiced by actor Neal McDonough.
• 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.

Appearances

• Flash v1:
• Flash v3:

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry

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