| Barry Allen | |
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_3.jpg) Grant Gustin as Barry Allen inThe Flash | |
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| Full name | Bartholomew Henry Allen[1] |
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| Species | Metahuman |
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Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen, also known by his alter egoThe Flash, is a fictional character inThe CW'sArrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2013 episode "The Scientist" of the television seriesArrow, and later starring inThe Flash. The character is based on theDC Comics characterof the same name, created byRobert Kanigher andCarmine Infantino and was adapted for television in 2013 byGreg Berlanti,Andrew Kreisberg andGeoff Johns.Grant Gustin portrayed Barry Allen, with Logan Williams and Liam Hughes portraying younger versions.
In the series, Barry is 25 and portrayed as a smart, goofy and tardy character, who works at the Central City Police Department as a forensic chemist. When he was younger, he witnessed the murder of hismother by theReverse Flash, which resulted in the false imprisonment of hisfather for the crime. Later in life, while working at the Central City Police Department he is struck by lightning created by the explosion of theS.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator sending him to a nine-month coma. After waking up he finds himself in S.T.A.R. Labs and developsmetahuman powers; the power of speed and he becomes friends with Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow. Throughout the series, he constantly trains to become the fastest speedster across the multiverse. Barry uses his powers, along with his team's help, to fight criminals and other metahumans who have misused their powers. He is a friend and frequent ally ofStar City-based vigilante archerGreen Arrow andKryptonian superheroineSupergirl.
Gustin appeared as Barry Allen and his superhero persona in crossovers on the television seriesArrow,Legends of Tomorrow,Supergirl,Batwoman and the animated web seriesVixen, all set within the Arrowverse. The character has also appeared in a digital comic book series. Gustin received critical acclaim for his performance and won anIGN award.[2]
Crime-scene investigator Barry Allen was introduced in thesecond season ofArrow, in which he arrives inStarling City to personally investigate a superhuman-related crime. He is a fan of the Arrow's exploits and learnsOliver Queen is the vigilante; they become friends. Sometime after Barry returns toCentral City, he is struck in his laboratory by lightning which was affected bydark matter from the explosion ofS.T.A.R. Labs'particle accelerator.[3]
InThe Flash, Barry finds himself with superhuman amount speed, using his powers to fight crime and hunt othermetahumans in Central City as a masked superhero known as the Flash ofEarth-1 with the assistance ofCaitlin Snow,Cisco Ramon andHarrison Wells at S.T.A.R. Labs. When he was a child, his motherNora Allen was murdered and his fatherHenry Allen was incorrectly sentenced for the crime. Barry was fostered by detectiveJoe West, the father of his friend and childhood crushIris West.
In thefirst season, Barry awakens from a nine-monthcoma and eventually identified "Wells" as his mother's murderer as well as the futuristic speedsterEobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash in disguise. Eobard killed Nora after the plan to travel back in time to kill Barry as a child was foiled by the Flash of the future and left stranded in the present day. After capturing Eobard with the assistance of Oliver,Martin Stein andRonnie Raymond, Barry is given the opportunity to rescue his mother by helping Eobard return to the future. He initially decides to go through with Eobard's offer but Barry decides not to at the last minute as he's warned by his older self not to interfere and instead returns to the present and fights with Eobard, stopping his nemesis from returning to the future. Barry is almost killed but police detectiveEddie Thawne sacrifices himself to destroy Eobard.
In thesecond season, the Flash is recognized as Central City's hero after asingularity event occurs but the event brings the interdimensional speedsterHunter Zolomon / Zoom from aparallel earth who seeks to eliminate all speedsters throughout themultiverse. Barry discovers Eobard's confession of Nora's murder that clears Henry of all charges, and inherited Wells's fortune and resources. Though rich, Barry chooses to continue working for the Central City Police Department while using Wells's money to fund his and his allies's activities with additional assistance from Harry andJesse Wells. After Zoom kills Henry, Barry defeats Zoom and travels back in time to save his mother's life.
In thethird season, Barry alters the timeline by changing the past, resulting in the alternate timeline "Flashpoint". Though he is somewhat able to restore the timeline, this creates new threats, including the god-like speedster Savitar as well asKiller Frost who both have grudges against Barry. When he accidentally travels to the future and sees Iris killed by Savitar, Barry is desperate to change the future to prevent that from happening by working withVibe,Wally West andJay Garrick. He learns Savitar is a future version of himself. After saving Iris and defeating Savitar, Barry takes his place in theSpeed Force in order to repent for his creation of Flashpoint.
In thefourth season, Barry is freed from by Team Flash after being stranded in the Speed Force for six months. The team later encounters an adversary with the fastest mind alive:Clifford DeVoe / The Thinker. The Thinker has orchestrated Barry's return from the Speed Force as well as the bus metas. DeVoe frames Barry for murder shortly afterwards; not wanting to risk compromising his loved ones and allies by revealing his secrets, Barry allows himself to be sentenced to life imprisonment. However, private detectiveRalph Dibny uses shapeshifting power to help clear Barry of all charges. Following the Thinker's defeat, the team is approached byNora West-Allen, Barry and Iris's daughter from the future.
In thefifth season, Nora arrives from the future, wanting to change the events that lead to Barry's disappearance in the future. However, Nora's presence has altered the timeline and unleashed the serial killerCicada bent on killing metahumans. Furthermore, Sherloque helps the team eventually learn Eobard orchestrated Nora's arrival and Cicada. Barry and Nora succeed in subduing Eobard but are forced to let his nemesis go and Nora is erased from the timeline to avoid the Negative Speed Force's corruption.
In thesixth andseventh seasons, Barry deals with various antagonists while working with new alliesChester Runk,Allegra Garcia and Nash. Barry and Iris learn that the date of thecrisis in which Barry disappears has moved up from April 2024 to December 2019, and that the Flash must die in order to save billions while dealingRamsey Rosso as the bloodthirsty metahuman Bloodwork. Following Rosso's defeat, Barry surviving the crisis, and the multiverse's destruction and rebirth, Team Flash try to navigate the world post-crisis all while the secret organizationBlack Hole, and quantum engineerEva McCulloch move forward with plans. Barry later discovers that Oliver enhancing his speed during the crisis has damaged the Speed Force which dies and all speedsters will permanently lose their speed. Barry gets the idea to create an artificial Speed Force to save his speed. Barry eventually develops an artificial Speed Force and finishes his fight with Mirror Monarch before dealing with the emergence of several new Forces, theStrength,Still andSage forces, that were born by Barry and Iris recreating the Speed Force. Trouble soon ensues when the Speed Force goes mad and begins to threaten the city but Barry is able to tame it. Soon after, the new speedsterGodspeed from the future threatens Barry but he is joined by his future children, Nora andBart West-Allen, to take the villain down.
Theeighth season sees Barry dealing with the reemergence of Eobard, the psychic alienDespero, the malevolent entityDeathstorm that feeds on people's grief, and the rise of the Negative forces via Eobard Thawne.
Theninth and final season sees Barry dealing with the speedsterRed Death, the return of Ramsey Rosso and the Negative Speed Force which resurrected Eddie as the speedsterCobalt Blue.
In theseason one episode "Worlds Finest" ofSupergirl, Barry accidentally enters the universe ofKara Danvers / Supergirl andClark Kent / Superman after passing through an extradimensional breach while testing atachyon accelerator. He teams up with Kara in order to take downLivewire andSilver Banshee, after which Kara assists him in returning to his universe.
In the crossover "Crisis on Earth-X", Barry and Iris's friends come to Central City for their wedding, only to be interrupted when villains from Earth-X disrupt the proceedings. After defeating the invaders from Earth-X, Barry and Iris are married byJohn Diggle.
In the crossover "Elseworlds",Arkham Asylum doctor John Deegan rewrites reality, which results in Barry and Oliver swapping lives. In the new reality, they are the only ones that know that they are in the wrong lives and have each other's powers, which results in them going toGotham City with Kara to confront Deegan.[4][5]
In the crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", theMonitor recruits Barry, Oliver, Kara,Kate Kane / Batwoman,Sara Lance / White Canary,Ray Palmer / Atom, and several others from throughout the multiverse to stop theAnti-Monitor from destroying reality. Barry's fate during the crisis is altered by the intervention ofEarth-90'sFlash who sacrifices himself in Barry's place. Following Oliver's sacrifice and the Anti-Monitor's defeat, Barry leads a new group of heroes who agree to work together to protect their new world, dubbedEarth-Prime, in memory of Oliver.
In theseason four episode "Dude, Where's My Gar?" ofTitans, whenGarfield "Gar" Logan / Beast Boy from Earth-9 travels the multiverse for the first time via the Red, he encounters a yellow flash zipping by. A portal opens, revealing Barry running through the Speed Force. Barry's lightning accidentally hits Gar and knocks him into Earth-2, where he briefly encountersCourtney Whitmore / Stargirl.
Possible future
In a possible future, Barry as the Flash is one of the several heroes remembered in the era called the "Age of Heroes".
Sometime before 2032, the Flash Museum was built to honor Barry and Team Flash for their heroics. The museum included exhibits for Barry's old enemies; including Reverse-Flash, Zoom, Savitar, DeVoe and Cicada. Following Barry's disappearance in a future crisis an in a now-erased future, Barry's daughter, Nora West-Allen went to the Flash Museum on a regular basis to learn about her father who was never able to raise her.
Barry's suit as the Flash is altered and upgraded every season. The suit is designed byCisco Ramon and its original design was intended as a uniform for firefighters.[6] The suit during the first season was a modernised version of the traditional Flash suit with a matching dark maroon colored helmet, which features the same maroon emblem and gold lightning symbol as the suit does.[7] During the second season minor changes were made to the suit, the alteration being the background color of the emblem is now white with a gold lightning symbol which is more true to the comics.[8] Besides the alteration of the emblem in second season, there appears to only minor changes made throughout the three seasons.[9] The suit in thefourth season appears to be a brighter red, with added leather paddings and golden accents.[10] Thefifth season made one of the most significant changes, that is the removal of the chin strap and switching the fabric softer more body fitting look, created byRyan Choi, in the future. The suit in thesixth season is fairly similar to though now with gold piping along the torso and an entirely new cowl which features the return of the chinstrap as well as modified ear pieces designed to look more like the classic Hermes wings from the comics. The seventh season sees the Cowl to have nanotech for easier removal. The eighth season has the suit upgraded with the Golden Boots straight from the comics.[11]
Barry andIris's relationship has often been compared toSuperman andLois Lane, she is introduced as his one true love. Barry and Iris were close friends since they were 9 years old, and he had stated since the start that she was his first love since he met her. However, in a twist of fate Barry's mother is murdered and Iris's father steps in as his legal guardian due to her friendship with the young boy. After growing up he confesses his feelings however because of her commitment to her first boyfriend it takes a while before they can fully admit and assume their love. It is later shown that a newspaper article is written by Iris West-Allen in 2024, thus indicating their future romance and marriage.[12] Iris and Barry's relationship changes due to alterations of the timeline when Barry time travels, however, their love seems to always prevail and they are eventually married, Barry says in his wedding vows "That's you. You've always been there, as a friend, as a partner, as the love of my life. You're my home, Iris, and that's one thing that will never change.".[13] At the end of season 4 they are introduced to their first born, Nora. And because of the constant changes due to time travels they discover that they will eventually have another son, Bart.
Barry datesLinda Park briefly in the first season, who is both friends and colleagues at the Central City Picture News withIris West. Their relationship slowly dies out as she suspects him to still be in love with Iris, and also due to his general tardiness stemming from fighting crime as the Flash, they eventually break up and decide that they are better off as friends.[12] In the second season, Linda is targeted by her Earth-2 doppelgänger, Doctor Light, sent by Zoom to kill the Flash, prompting Barry to reveal his identity to Linda to enlist her help in capturing Zoom, finally revealing why their relationship did not work.
Barry andPatty Spivot begin dating in the second season, she was much like Barry with her quirky personality and sad past, which has caused them to dedicate their lives and careers to avenging and seeking the truth about their parents.[12] Patty made the decision to end the relationship because Barry was pushing her away emotionally, and she needed to attend Midway City University and study to become a CSI agent, which meant she had to leave Central City and consequently him.[14] Before leaving she had one final case with Barry, in which she tells Barry "I know you're upset but I was hoping it wouldn't be like this between us".[14]
Gustin also wasSavitar, an evil, scarred version of Allen who isseason 3's main villain.[17] Savitar is essentially Barry embracing his dark side. Savitar's origins are apredestination paradox as he's a temporal duplicate of Barry's future self usingtime travel for Savitar's defeat. Afterwards, the time remnant is spared but shunned for being an aberration and goes back in time to set in motion events that led to his own creation. He named himself after the Hindu god of motion who is "chronologically" the multiverse's first metahuman with speed. Long-held myths referenced Savitar throughout the multiverse, which even Jay believed, resulted in a cult that worshipped him. From his prison in the Speed Force, Savitar manipulates Julian Albert into acquiring the Philosopher's Stone soDoctor Alchemy can re-empower metahumans from the Flashpoint timeline. Savitar manipulates Kid Flash into freeing him from his prison, and convinces Killer Frost to be his personal enforcer. Savitar reveals his true identity to Barry, forcing his original self to confront his own dark impulses and temptations. Savitar's plan of Iris's murder (which would lead to his own creation) is ruined with the sacrifice of H.R. To save himself, Savitar manipulates Vibe to fragment himself throughout all of time and then goad his original self to give in to dark impulses. However, both efforts are foiled by Team Flash and Savitar is erased from existence after being shot by Iris. Past versions of Savitar makecameoappearances during the fifth and nine seasons.
Regarding Gustin's debut as Barry Allen inArrow and the potential for a series,IGN's Jesse Schedeen stated his concern: "Gustin doesn't come across as leading man material. His awkward bumbling intertwining with Felicity's was cute, but rarely did I get the impression that this character could or should be given his own spinoff series."[20] Schedeen eventually warmed up to the character, however, once the "dorkiness and social awkwardness" were downplayed a bit and the emphasis was placed on "his keen scientific mind".[21]
Grant Gustin as Barry Allen has received positive reviews by both fans and critics, withThe Flash being the most watched show inThe CW history.[22] Since the premiere ofThe Flash, Gustin has been nominated for 20 awards for his role as Barry Allen and had won a total of 5 of them. In 2015, Gustin won theTeen Choice Award for "Breakout Star", in that same year he won theSaturn Award for "Breakthrough Performance" and was nominated for "Best Actor on Television".[23][24][25] In the following year Gustin won theTeen Choice Awards for "Choice TV Actor: Sci-fi/Fantasy" and in 2017 and 2018 he took home theTeen Choice Awards for "Choice TV Actor: Action".[26][27][28]
Gustin's Barry Allen has been said to be the better Flash, compared toEzra Miller who starred in theWarner Bros.Justice League.[29] According to Nick Mangione fromGeek.com, "By the time Ezra Miller made his brief cameo appearance inBatman v. Superman, we had already seen the perfect Barry Allen". He goes on to say "More than heart, more than a perfect embodiment of the character from the comics, Grant Gustin is the one true Barry Allen because his show allows him to be. At least at this point, the same can't be said for Miller and the DCEU."[29]
While the first season received largely positive reviews, the later seasons received more mixed reviews. Erik Kain, a senior contributor onForbes, indicated that "The first season of 'The Flash' on the CW remains one of my very favourite seasons of a superhero show. I maintain that it's among the best ever made, with great characters and one of the most intriguing villains on TV."[30] Kain, however, opined that the show has since gone downhill and that "Miller's Barry Allen is better in almost every way than Gustin's, though that's largely because he's not weighed down by CW melodrama."[30]
All awards and nominations are for Grant Gustin's performance as Barry Allen inThe Flash:
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| Arrow | |
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| The Flash | |
| Supergirl | |
| Legends of Tomorrow | |
| Black Lightning | |
| Batwoman | |
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