List of The Flash characters

Grant Gustin

Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen is a socially awkward Assistant Crime Scene Investigator for the Central City Police Department that also moonlights as the superhero Flash.

In season one, Barry was a traumatized child (portrayed by Logan Williams) when his mother (Nora Allen) was murdered by the Reverse-Flash, with his father, Henry Allen, being framed for the crime. Barry was subsequently adopted by Joe West and spent his whole life trying to discover what really happened that night. Moments after an explosion at the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator, Barry is struck by lightning in his laboratory and doused by chemicals affected by the accident. When he recovers from a nine-month coma he has superhuman speed. He uses his new powers to fight crimes and hunt other metahumans, other humans with powers, in Central City as the masked superhero known as the Flash, while trying to unravel the mystery of his mother's murderer's identity for his father's sake. Barry has long harbored feelings for Iris West since childhood and kept them to himself. He eventually reveals his feelings, leading to complications regarding Iris' relationship with Eddie; however, he learns from a 2024 newspaper in the Time Vault at S.T.A.R. Labs that he may eventually marry Iris. He also shares a close father-son bond with Joe and often asks for advice regarding his feelings for Iris and also what course of action to take as a hero. Initially however, Barry resented Joe's refusing to believe in the circumstances of Nora's murder and Henry's innocence. As a result of this, Barry was hesitant to accept Joe as his surrogate father. Although Joe had come to have this view toward Barry years before. Barry also becomes good friends with Cisco, Caitlin and his idol Dr. Wells who acts as his mentor while on missions. Dr. Wells gave Barry advice on how to adapt and increase his range of powers. However, he later becomes suspicious of Dr. Wells, and eventually learns his mentor is actually Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash in disguise, leading him to develop a deep resentment toward the imposter. At last, Barry discovers Eobard's plot to use the Flash's speed and the particle accelerator to generate a portal to his own time, while at the same time Barry can travel back to the night of his mother's murder and prevent it. Barry agrees but is warned by his older counterpart not to interfere and instead chooses to fight the Reverse-Flash and stop him from returning to the future. He is almost killed during the fight until Eddie sacrifices himself to erase Eobard from existence which causes a wormhole to emerge that Ronnie also stops but at the cost of his own life.

In season two, Barry becomes reclusive following the deaths of Eddie and Ronnie, but a near-death experience convinces him to work with his friends again. He also discovers a recording left containing Eobard's confession to Nora's murder which allows Henry's freedom. Barry later becomes the target of various metahumans working for the enigmatic speedster Zoom and is confronted by Jay Garrick, a speedster from Earth-2 who also operated as the Flash and informs him that Zoom seeks to kill Barry in order to be the only speedster in the multiverse. He also struggles with his choice not to save his mother and struggles to move on, from her death and his hatred towards Eobard, and is left uneasy when Eobard claims on his confession recording that Barry will never be happy which Barry believes may be true as Eobard knew his future self. Eventually Barry realizes that hating Eobard won't let him move on with his life and chooses to forgive his nemesis, and opts to prove him wrong by finding happiness. Having moved on from Iris on good terms, Barry sparks up romance with partner Detective Patty Spivot; they later decide to separate after Patty learns of Barry's secret identity before leaving Central City, as they think that doing so will keep her safe. Barry also grudgingly works with Dr. Harrison "Harry" Wells of Earth-2 due to his role in creating Zoom, and eventually accepts him as an ally after Barry learns that Zoom kidnaps Harry's daughter. Barry later encounters a younger Eobard, who has yet to murder his mother, but also learns that any attempts to alter events he has caused will alter the timeline too significantly and is forced to let him go, accepting he will keep facing Eobard again until he catches up to his older self. After befriending Harry's daughter and escaping Earth-2 with her, Harry, and Cisco, Barry is grief-stricken following Jay's apparent murder by Zoom. However, Barry and the team later discover that Zoom is Jay himself and subsequently learn of his true identity, Hunter Zolomon, needing Barry's speed to cure himself of a terminal illness caused by his usage of the Velocity drugs. In order to get himself faster to stop Hunter, Barry travels back in time, so that he can ask Eobard — who disguises as Harrison Wells then — for help, feeling that his long-time archenemy will be willing to do so; in the process, Barry slightly alters time resulting in Hartley Rathaway's reformation and becoming his ally. After sacrificing his powers to save Joe's son Wally from Zoom, Harry offers to help Barry recreate the events that gave him his speed, but he disappears as the particle accelerator explodes. Finding himself trapped in the Speed Force, its sentience reveals its origins to Barry and works to help him move on from his mother's death before he returns home. After saving the city from Hunter's army, despite having finally accepted his mother's death, Barry suffers yet another tragedy after Hunter kills his father at his childhood home where his mother was killed. Barry then avenges his father by luring the Time Wraiths to his enemy, transforming Zoom into a corpse-like creature before they drag him into the time stream. Barry is further grief-stricken for his father when he discovers that Hunter's masked prisoner, the real Jay Garrick, is also the Earth-3 counterpart of Henry. Barry, unwilling to suffer the loss of another parent, travels back to the past and saves his mother from Eobard, altering his past in hopes that his parents would live.

The Earth-2 version of the character (also portrayed by Gustin) is a non-metahuman who works as a CSI at Central City Police Department in addition to a PhD graduate. He is married to Iris but is despised by Joe.^[2] He is insecure and more awkward than his Earth-1 counterpart, but after learning that his counterpart is a hero, he is inspirited to try to help those in need; he helped rescue his doppelgänger and Harrison Wells' daughter from Zoom.

In season three, Barry saves his mother from Reverse Flash, but then he opens a new timeline which makes him no longer the Flash. In the new timeline, Barry is just an ordinary person working for CSI without any connection to Iris' family and the new timeline's memory is overwriting Barry's memory while he is using his speed force. Ultimately he has to release Eobard to restore the timeline. However, something has been changed even after he restores the timeline, namely, Iris and Joe's not talking to each other for years and may even rewritten his own destiny with Iris. This provokes Barry to time travel again to make things right, only to be intercepted by Earth-3's Flash (Jay Garrick) who advise him to live with his mistake from creating the 'Flashpoint' timeline. Barry is troubled when Wally has dreams of being a speedster 'Kid Flash'. This is the hero Wally was in Flashpoint. When Wally receives his power, Barry and Joe are troubled by him wanting to help Barry save the city.

He is based on the DC Comics character of the same name.

• First appearances:
  "Pilot" (Earth-1)
  "Welcome to Earth-2" (Earth-2)

Candice Patton

Iris West is the daughter of Detective Joe West and best friend-turned-girlfriend of Barry Allen.

In the beginning of the first season, Iris works as a barista at a local espresso prior to being hired as a reporter. Though she had wanted to follow her father's footsteps in police work, Joe forbade Iris, so she majors in journalism at college, eventually becoming an investigative journalist at Central City Picture News after graduation. Iris is fascinated by the Flash and seeks to find out more about the superhero. As she didn't initially learn of Barry's love for her, she begins dating her father's partner, Eddie Thawne, while Barry is in a coma. When Barry does confess having feelings for her, she is emotionally conflicted between Barry and Eddie as deep down she also loves the former. She discovers that Barry is the Flash after the speedster saves her from the Reverse-Flash, but also feels betrayed because Barry kept this secret from her, and she is more so at her father, who didn't want Barry to tell her and didn't tell her about Barry's feelings for her. Despite her possible future with Barry, Iris chooses to be with Eddie, and she and Barry decide to let things proceed between them naturally, not letting their lives to be dictated by fate.

In the second season, Iris becomes more involved with S.T.A.R. Labs Team alongside her father. With Barry moving on from her on good terms, Iris encourages Barry to pursue a relationship with her father's new partner and protégée Patty Spivot. She also learns that her mother is alive but dying from a terminal illness, and discovers that her mother has a son, Wally, after she abandoned her family; Iris realizes that her mother's son is also her father's and thus is her brother. Iris's relationship with her mother is further estranged after knowing that she spent most of her life raising Wally instead of her. Aware that her father envies Barry his relationship with Henry Allen, Iris contemplates whether or not to tell Joe about Wally; she fears that the revelation may hurt her father if he knows that his son grew up without knowing him. Iris eventually reveals to her father about Wally after keeping this a secret for a few weeks, and she meets her brother after he arrives to spend Christmas time with her and their father. She ultimately forgives her mother on her deathbed and accepts Wally, and she and Wally bonded after the former risked her life to save her brother from one of his drag races. Iris also ultimately moves on from Eddie's death, after watching his video message to her in which he admits his happiness in being with her, which Barry records while travelling back in time to the moment he is apprehending Hartley Rathaway. Iris has also begun to reconsider a relationship with Barry after his break up with Patty in addition to learning of her Earth-2 counterpart's marriage with Barry's.

The Earth-2 version of the character (also portrayed by Patton) is a detective for the Central City Police Department who is married to Barry.^[2] Distraught after her father's death, she is solaced after helping Team Flash deal with Zoom.

In the third season, Iris helps out even more with Barry and the team but questions whether she really is needed. Barry re-assures her with: "There would be no Flash without Iris West". She is having a relationship with Barry now but they are having cold feet.

She is based on the DC Comics character Iris West Allen.

• First appearances:
  "Pilot" (Earth-1)
  "Welcome to Earth-2" (Earth-2)

Danielle Panabaker

Dr. Caitlin Snow is a bioengineer who works at S.T.A.R. Labs.

In season one, she provides the medical support for Barry's team. Caitlin is initially the most temperamental and uptight person on the team, mainly out of grief for her fiancé Ronnie Raymond,^[5] believing Ronnie was killed in S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator explosion. However, she later discovers that her fiancé survived and is ultimately the metahuman Firestorm. Subsequently after embracing the loss of Ronnie, before learning that the latter is alive, she becomes much more compassionate and kinder. When she discovers that Ronnie is actually Professor Martin Stein, merged with Ronnie's body and Ronnie's mind locked away, Caitlin convinces Stein to let her team help. Eventually, she succeeds in separating Ronnie and Stein but, after an encounter with General Wade Eiling, Ronnie and Stein are forced to leave to keep her safe but Caitlin is understanding and hopes that they will be reunited again one day. When Dr. Wells is implicated to be the Reverse-Flash, Caitlin is the most skeptical but is convinced when Cisco and Joe find the real Dr. Wells' corpse and discover their mentor's true identity. In the finale when Ronnie returns to help Barry and Oliver Queen against Reverse-Flash, Caitlin and Ronnie marry.

In season two, Caitlin is widowed following Ronnie's sacrifice in saving the Flash and Central City from the singularity. She initially works at Mercury Labs but eventually goes back to S.T.A.R. Labs to aid in Barry's fight against Zoom, a speedster from the parallel Earth-2. Unlike when most of the team encounters Dr. Harrison "Harry" Wells of Earth-2, Caitlin isn't skeptical to trust Harry. Caitlin also develops romance with Jay Garrick, the Earth-2 Flash and Zoom's archenemy, but discovers that Jay is dying due to Zoom stealing his speed and attempts to help. Caitlin and Harry later develop a speed drug called "Velocity-6" which grants temporary speed but causes cellular degeneration. When Barry is on Earth-2 and the city is endangered by Geomancer, Caitlin is able to perfect it to Velocity-9 to grant Jay's speed back and repair his damaged cells. Following Jay's apparent murder by Zoom, she tries to cope by hiding her emotions, which some fear could lead her to be like her Earth-2 counterpart, Killer Frost. Caitlin is devastated and hateful toward Jay when the team discovers that Jay faked his death and is actually Zoom himself, whose real name is Hunter Zolomon, a serial killer on Earth-2. Hunter forces Barry to give up his speed and abducts Caitlin, having genuinely fallen in love with her, and brings her to Earth-2. After meeting her doppelgänger and almost being murdered by her, Zoom takes Caitlin back to Earth-1 so she can watch as he conquers it just like he did Earth-2. Hunter tries to manipulate her into turning evil like Killer Frost, believing Caitlin has a darkness inside her. Despite Zoom's ultimatum, Caitlin returns to S.T.A.R Labs unharmed to aid the Team Flash during the metapocolypse. However Caitlin has become emotionally unstable and suffers acute stress disorder seeing visions of Zoom and struggles to hold her grip on reality.

The Earth-2 version of the character (also portrayed by Panabaker) is the metahuman villainess Killer Frost, who is married to Deathstorm (Ronnie Raymond of Earth-2) and is later grief-stricken following his murder by Zoom. The two work for Zoom along with Reverb.^[2] Unlike her Earth-1 self, Caitlin did not finish medical school and becomes a criminal afterward, and she had a brother named Charlie until his death. After she and Ronnie are exposed to the particle accelerator explosion on her Earth, Caitlin develops the powers of cryokinesis and becomes Killer Frost while Ronnie merges with Martin Stein and becomes a pyrokinetic entity like his doppelgänger. Caitlin's cryokinesis also caused her skin to turn pale, her hair white and her lips and eyes blue, rendering her unable to so much as touch anyone without exposing them to absolute sub-zero temperatures and killing them. The only person immune to this is Ronnie due to having almost supernova level pyrokinetic heat. Initially betraying Zoom's Earth-1 enemies, Caitlin decently helps them escape from Earth-2. Though Zoom initially spares Caitlin's life as the result of his affection for her Earth-1 counterpart, he eventually kills her when she tries to murder her doppelgänger out of revenge upon Zoom for killing Ronnie.

In season three, she is a pediatric ophthalmologist in the Flashpoint timeline. In the resets timeline with some changed events, Caitlin is revealed to have developed cryokinetic abilities. However she has very little control over it and her physical appearance has begun to resemble that of her Earth-2 doppelgänger with her lips turning blue and her hair turning white. While highly distressed at this, Caitlin steals power cuffs of Cisco which dampen her power. When she reveals to Cisco that she stole them, he asks her why she needed them. Cisco vibes Caitlin as Killer Frost and reveals her secret to the team.

When Barry comes under attack from Savitar she uses her powers to rescue the former, but this has worsen her condition and her friends are struggling to help her.

She is based on the DC Comics character Killer Frost.

• First appearance:
  "Pilot" (Earth-1)
  "Fast Enough" (Earth-2)

Rick Cosnett

Eddie Thawne is a recent transfer to the Central City Police Department from Keystone City.

Introduced in season one, Eddie is a detective who is partnered with Joe West and dates Iris West. He had a troubled childhood and was initially jealous of Barry Allen because of the latter's childhood bond with Iris, as Barry is jealous of Eddie because he is with Iris. However, Eddie is suspicious of Barry's true feelings for Iris despite denials. Despite the tension between them, Barry and Eddie do eventually become good friends. For a time, Eddie sees the Flash as a menace and takes charge of a task force dedicated to capturing the hero. Later, Eddie modifies his negative perception of the Flash after a near-death experience with the Reverse-Flash. He learns of Barry's secret identity and helps Joe and Barry in an investigation of Harrison Wells as the Reverse-Flash; Eddie later finds out that he is a forefather of Eobard Thawne and discovers that Iris may eventually marry Barry instead of him. However, after a conversation with Martin Stein, Eddie discovers that the future is not yet set and that he is in control of his own destiny. Eddie chooses to stop his sociopathic descendant from killing Barry by killing himself, dying in Iris' arms while causing Eobard to vanish. His body is sucked into a wormhole (later revealed as a doorway to Earth-2) caused by Eobard's manipulations. In season two, Eddie has sporadic appearances. He briefly appears in a vision as a result of Barry's guiltiness towards his death, and a memorial is set up in the precinct in his honor. Eddie later appears again when Barry travels back in time, and Barry offers to make Eddie a video message to Iris so that Iris can let Eddie go and move on from him peacefully.

Cosnett was originally slated to portray Jay Garrick in the pilot before the character was changed to Eddie Thawne.^[6]

• First appearance: "Pilot"

Carlos Valdes

Francisco "Cisco" Ramon is a mechanical engineering genius who works at S.T.A.R. Labs. He is also a metahuman superhero codenamed Vibe.

In season one, Cisco is the youngest member of the team of scientists at S.T.A.R. Labs who has a very relaxed and comedic wit. Cisco also has a tendency to nickname the metahuman villains they face, some of whom actually do adopt these names for themselves, and develops equipment and arsenal for Barry Allen and his vigilante allies. He especially forms a friendly bond with Ray Palmer (the Atom) because of their genius intellects and shared tendency to nickname enemies, and is an admirer of Dinah Laurel Lance (Black Canary). Cisco is on bad terms with his brother Dante Ramon, the family's favorite despite the most emotionally insecure. Despite his close friendship with Barry, Cisco is also afraid of the metahumans and fears that his friend may go rogue like his enemies. He develops various measures including cryonic and heat guns to counter the Flash’s powers, but they are eventually stolen by criminals Leonard Snart and Mick Rory as means for them to against the Flash. Although he is considered a surrogate son of "Harrison Wells"/Eobard Thawne, he is initially the first person to discover Wells' true identity for which he is killed until Barry resets the timeline; yet Cisco retains the memories of the events that led to his murder. Cisco learns from Eobard that this is because he was also affected by the particle accelerator's explosion and thus is now a metahuman, having the ability to see into alternate timelines and realities and other powers, but is afraid of what may happen because of them.

In season two, Cisco is hired by Central City Police Department as its technical advisor and metahuman task force's armorer, building various means for the police to counter super-criminals. He frequently works with Joe West in combating them. Cisco also develops metahuman abilities that allow him to see visions (or vibes). He uses this ability to locate Earth-2 metahumans through touching something of their possession; he is not yet in full control of his new powers. Martin Stein is the first to discover his secret and later Cisco is forced to reveal his powers to the rest of the team, because of Harry Wells of Earth-2. Cisco adopts the codename "Vibe", and receives a retrofitting visor from S.T.A.R. Labs that can help him control his powers. He initially struggles to trust Harry due to his experience with Eobard, but after discovering Harry needs help rescuing his own daughter, realizes Harry is not like Eobard. Despite it, he still cannot get along with Harry due to contrasting personalities, even admitting that Eobard was a nicer guy. However, both Cisco and Harry are film enthusiasts and they occasionally quote their favorite movies when having conversations. He dates a local barista, Kendra Saunders, until separating following the discovery of Kendra's heroic destiny as Hawkgirl. After encountering his corrupt Earth-2 doppelgänger, Reverb, Cisco fears that he is on the path to becoming as villainous as his counterpart. However, because of the escalating threats from Zoom, Cisco tries to harness his powers for heroic purposes. Cisco also meets his brother's Earth-2 doppelgänger Rupture, after Zoom frames him for Reverb's death; after this, Cisco and Dante reconcile. During an encounter with the Black Canary's villainous Earth-2 doppelgänger, Black Siren, Cisco briefly displays a powerful sonic attack against her, but with little control over it. Cisco also develops the ability to open portals to parallel universes that he is familiar with.

The Earth-2 version of the character (also portrayed by Valdes) is the metahuman villain Reverb, who works for Zoom along with Killer Frost and Deathstorm before he — along with Deathstorm — is killed by Zoom.^[2] Cisco has more experience and control of his powers than his Earth-1 self, which has been proven when he has even been aware of Vibe's existence and powers before the latter appears on Earth-2; in addition to having the same sensory ability, he can manipulate sonic vibrations to create powerful shock waves of considerable strength, thus implying Vibe's own progressing abilities. It is implied that Cisco's power level surpasses both Killer Frost and Deathstorm, as they are intimidated by him. His visor technology is obtained by his Earth-1 counterpart following his death, and Harry later uses its components to modify Vibe's own visor.

In Season 3, Cisco is getting to grips with his brother's death (which is a result of Flashpoint), but his grief is worsen when Cisco learned that Barry is inadvertently responsible for Dante's death; their friendship was strained for a while. But he and Barry make up when he changes time during the Dominators Invasion. He is starting to use his powers better and gains a new precognitive ability .

He is based on the DC Comics character of the same name.

• First appearances:
  "Pilot" (Earth-1)
  "Welcome to Earth-2" (Earth-2)

Tom Cavanagh

Dr. Harrison Wells is the mind and money behind the S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator in Central City.

In season one, he activates a particle accelerator that malfunctions, releasing dark matter energy that kills several people and grants various individuals metahuman abilities, including Barry Allen. Six months later, Wells is a recluse and a pariah, confined to a wheelchair. Along with Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow, he helps develop Barry's powers as the Flash and mentors the youth in pushing speed to the limit to come up with novel solutions to take down metahuman criminals. However, Wells is revealed to have many secrets: he is faking paralysis, possesses the computer Gideon with futuristic information, and is willing to kill to protect his protégé and cover his own tracks. He turns to be the Reverse-Flash, a mysterious tachyon-powered speedster that occasionally terrorizing the Flash and the S.T.A.R. Labs team despite being close to all of them, especially Barry and Cisco. Despite being a father figure alongside Joe West and Henry Allen to Barry, Wells is eventually revealed to be Eobard Thawne, the Flash's archenemy from the future and Eddie Thawne's descendent. He transmuted the appearance of the real Harrison Wells, killing the scientist and his wife Tess Morgan (Harrison's partner in scientific research) whilst doing so; the investigation into Tess' death by Joe and Cisco leads to the discovery of Harrison's corpse and Eobard's façade. Although his tachyon equipment restored most of his former abilities, Eobard orchestrated the events that would turn Barry into the Flash himself in order to use Barry's connection to the Speed Force to create a wormhole and return to his own time period. However, the Flash foils the Reverse-Flash's plan to return to the future, resulting in the two speedsters engaging each other again. As the Reverse-Flash attempts to kill the Flash, Eddie sacrifices himself, which causes Eobard to cease to exist. Eobard has sporadic appearances as Wells in season two. He had a will that left S.T.A.R. Labs to Barry along with a recorded confession that would clear Henry of all charges in the event of his death. Barry later has a time travel trip to ask him to help him get faster; Eobard refuses at first, but agrees to help after Barry convinces him that his plan is successful in the future.

Season two features the Earth-2 version of Harrison "Harry" Wells, the father of Jesse Wells. Like Eobard, he was responsible for the creation of metahumans on Earth-2 using a particle accelerator which also exploded, including the psychopathic serial killer Hunter Zolomon as the rogue speedster Zoom. However, he refused to take responsibility for the metahumans, while making a profit with developing metahuman detector technology. But when Zoom kidnaps Jesse, Harry travels to Earth-1 to assist Barry in the fight against Zoom's extorted metahumans and locate Jesse. Team Flash, specifically Cisco and Joe, distrust him because of the prior betrayal by Eobard, and Harry himself is mistaken by people unaware that Eobard's actions ruined his Earth-1 doppleganger's name and legacy. Harry also meets the Reverse-Flash's younger self, suspecting that the encounter between them is what caused Eobard's future actions towards his Earth-1 self. Harry is extorted by Zoom into developing a device to steal the Flash's speed for Zoom in exchange for his daughter's life, a feat that even the Reverse-Flash had failed to achieve. But Harry confesses to his collaboration with Zoom so Barry and Cisco decide to travel to Earth-2 with Harry to rescue Jesse. After their mission is complete, Harry and Jesse seek refuge on Earth-1 from Zoom's pursuit. After Barry's speed is sacrificed to Zoom to save Wally West, Harry recreates a miniature particle accelerator to help Barry regain these powers based on Eobard's plans. Although the accelerator explosion causes Barry to disappear, and its dark matter affects both Wally and Jesse, Harry eventually locates Barry at the Speed Force; he is able to bring Barry back with Cisco and Iris West's help, and Barry wakes Jesse from the coma. After Zoom's defeat, Harry and Jesse return home to Earth-2 with Jay Garrick, promising to help the Flash of Earth-3 return to his own Earth. Harry returns early in season three after Jesse is revealed to have developed super-speed as a result of the accelerator, but Harry tries to have the team talk his daughter out of pursuing heroics. After Barry and Jesse are forced to team up, Harry becomes more supporting of it. Harry and Jesse return to Earth-2 a few days later so Jesse can protect Earth-2 Central City but before leaving Harry helps the team locate his alternate counterpart from Earth-19 to substitute in his absence.

Season three introduces the Earth-19 version of Harrison "H.R." Wells. H.R. is one of 16 other versions of the man that cracks the cryptogram sent by Harry through the Multiverse and expresses interest in aiding Team Flash, and is brought to Earth-1 by Cisco to substitute for Harry's absence. Additionally other versions of Wells, including one from Earth-17, are also featured. When dealing with the criminal corperating with H.R., Cisco figures out that H.R. is not a scientist even though he works at S.T.A.R. Labs in Earth-19 too. Barry suggests letting H.R. stay for a few more weeks see if they could still work together or otherwise they will send him back to Earth-19. In each episode, H.R. proves his worth despite not being a scientist, that he is generally intelligent and intuitive, helps forming plans and locating super-criminals. He also agrees to train Wally to be a hero after seeing the youth's potentials as a speedster.

Harrison Wells is an original character created for the series while Eobard Thawne is based on the DC Comics character of the same name.^[9]

• First appearances:
  "Pilot" (Eobard Thawne)
  "Tricksters" (Earth-1)
  "Flash of Two Worlds" (Earth-2)
  "The New Rogues" (Earth-17, Earth-19, and two unnamed Earths)

Jesse L. Martin

Joseph "Joe" West is a police detective, father of Iris and Wally West, and a foster father to Barry Allen following Nora Allen's death and Henry Allen's incarceration.^[11]

Introduced in season one, he is one of the few who knows Barry's secrets; he becomes his reluctant partner against metahuman criminals, and offers Barry supports in both crimefighting and life issues, mainly revolving Barry's feelings for Iris which he has been aware of since they were children. He also helps Barry in the attempts to prove Henry's innocence. Suspicious of Harrison Wells' intentions, Joe secretly investigates Wells and he and the team ultimately discover Wells' true identity.

In season two, Joe is in charge of the department's new metahuman taskforce, in which no one except Cisco and Patty Spivot yet joined due to the officers' fears of the metahumans, leading him to rely on Cisco's inventions when dealing with super criminals and becomes Patty's mentor in police work. He also gradually becomes a father figure to Cisco and Patty. In addition, Joe struggles with the relationship with his estranged wife, Francine. Unbeknownst to Joe, he also fathered a son, Wally, with Francine prior to her leaving her family. He learns of his wife's attempt at entrusting their son to him and Iris before she dies a few weeks after Iris finds out. Distraught after learning Wally's existence, Joe nonetheless seeks to build a relationship with him, and finally meets Wally after his son arrives to spend Christmas time with him and Iris. Though both Joe and Iris see Wally as a rebellious and reckless youth because of his past as a drag racer, and Joe later acknowledging that he was like Wally during his youth, they also see that Wally is a decent person taking care of his terminally-ill mother. Initially, Joe is not sure of how to be a father to Wally, but he gradually learns how to treat him the same way as he treats Iris and Barry, and becomes proud of Wally's aptitude in mechanical engineering and ultimately discovers his love for his son after Zoom kidnaps Wally and become close to him since. Although Joe is proud that Wally feels a need to help people in needs, he forbids his son from dropping out of college to follow his footsteps as a police officer as he did Iris, preferring that his children being safe and happy rather than dealing with the dangers and burdens associated with law enforcement. After Wally is exposed to the dark matter with Jesse Wells during the attempt to restore Barry's powers, Joe suspects that his son is turning into a metahuman due to his own knowledge on the particle accelerator explosion.

The Earth-2 version of the character, Joseph West (also portrayed by Martin), is a musician who, unlike his Earth-1 counterpart, does not share the same father-son bond with Barry and actually blames Barry for Iris's becoming a police officer. Joseph is later killed by Deathstorm and Killer Frost.^[2]

• First appearances:
  "Pilot" (Earth-1)
  "Welcome to Earth-2" (Earth-2)

Keiynan Lonsdale

Wallace "Wally" West^[12] is the unknown son of Joe and Iris's brother,^[13] described as "a bit of a wayward kid who has some attitude problems and some authority issues and is quick with a sassy remark".^[14] Wally was born after his mother's abandonment of her family (who later finds herself pregnant), leading Joe and Iris unaware of his existence for eighteen years until the latter finds out. Wally finally meets his father and sister during a Christmas party shortly before his mother dies; he has since struggled to bond with Joe and Iris. He also forms a brotherly bond with Barry Allen, who is fostered by Joe (despite his jealousy due to this fact), although he is suspicious of Barry's weird behavior as well. Formerly a drag racer, Wally is now enrolled in the same university Iris was in, majoring in mechanical engineering. After repeatedly being rescued by the Flash, Wally becomes fascinated with the superhero and eventually discovers that his father has a connection with him, but is unaware that he is Barry due to Wally's respect for his father's wishes to keep the Flash's secrets. He is also inspired by both his father and the Flash to help people, resulting in him ultimately becoming close to the former. Later, when Wally and Jesse Wells are locked in the Time Vault at S.T.A.R. Labs by their fathers for protection against Zoom, they work together to escape but are accidentally affected by the dark matter released from Jesse's father's attempt to restore Barry's powers; his father and later Barry, suspect that Wally is turning into a metahuman after the incident. Eventually, Wally discovers Barry's secrets when Zoom abducts and kills the latter's father, and fully accepts Barry after he rescues Wally's father from Zoom.

It was always intended for Wally to be the son of Joe and brother of Iris, which differs from the character's comic history, as the producers disliked second seasons of television series that would introduce cousins of characters that were never previously mentioned, feeling it was "weird".^[13] Keiynan Lonsdale originally auditioned for Legends of Tomorrow to portray Jefferson "Jax" Jackson.^[15] Though an alternate timeline version of Wally became the Flash in the third season premiere,^[16] it remains to be seen whether Wally will exhibit the same powers as his counterpart. In the post-Flashpoint timeline, Wally struggles to become a speedster after witnessing Jesse became one. After Alchemy seeking Wally out, the latter learns of his alternate life, and uses the villain's device to gain his speed against his father and Barry's wishes. Wally then becomes a speedster after Caitlin stabilizes his metamorphosis, and he eagers to join Barry as his partner.

He is based on the DC Comics character of the same name.

• First appearance: "Running to Stand Still"