My name is Barry Allen and I am the fastest man alive. When I was a child, I saw my mother killed by something impossible. My father went to prison for her murder. Then an accident made me the impossible. To the outside world, I'm an ordinary forensic scientist. But secretly, I use my speed to fight crime and find others like me. And one day, I'll find who killed my mother and get justice for my father. I am The Flash.
„
~ Barry's opening narration in The Flash first season
Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen is the titular main protagonist of The Flash (2014-2023), and a guest character on Arrow (2012-2020), Supergirl (2015-2021), and DC's Legends of Tomorrow (2016-2022). He was originally a forensic scientist at the Central City Police Department who took this job after his mother was murdered by the Reverse-Flash.
When the particle collider broke during a thunderstorm at S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry was struck by lightning, granting him the ability to run at the speed of light, become known as The Flash. He uses his CSI job to solve crimes and secretly used his powers to fight crime and fight other metahumans like him. Both jobs were inspired by how he was unable to save his mother. He is usually assisted by his friends at S. T. A. R. Labs and his family, which would one day become known as Team Flash. Barry is the son of the late Henry and Nora Allen, the husband of Iris West-Allen, the father of Nora West-Allen and his future son Bart West-Allen, the son-in-law and adoptive son of Joe West and the son-in-law of the late Francine West, the adoptive brother/brother-in-law of Wally West and half-brother-in-law of Jenna West, and the archenemy of Eobard Thawne (commonly known as the Reverse-Flash). He is also the best friend of Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, and the late Frost and close friend/former enemy of Eddie Thawne/Cobalt Blue.
After being inspired by his mentor and close friend, Oliver Queen, he became a better and more experienced hero. His love story with Iris West is the central part of his story arc, as they transition from best friends to eventual lovers and spouses. During the Anti-Monitor Crisis, Barry is discovered to be the Paragon of Love. After Oliver's sacrifice, Barry created a team of superheroes to come together if any supernatural or other worldly threats as big as the Anti-Monitor, and a secret protocol (Injustice) that would be enacted if one of the teammates went rogue.
Among the crossovers, Barry is one of the two main protagonists of Arrow vs. Flash and Heroes Join Forces, the main protagonist of the Invasion and Armageddon, and the deuteragonist of Crisis on Earth-X, Elseworlds, and Crisis on Infinite Earths.
History[]
Pre-Crisis[]
Background[]
Becoming the Flash[]
Solving his mother's murder[]
Meeting Oliver Queen and Team Arrow[]
Meeting Kara Danvers and Superfriends[]
Fight with Zoom[]
Post-Crisis[]
Alternate Timelines[]
Personality[]
Physical Appearance[]
As opposed to the blond-haired, blue eyed portrayal of Barry like the classic comics, the Arrowverse version of Barry has dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Barry has notably attracted the attention of other female characters, such as Stacy Conwell, Felicity Smoak, Linda Park, Patty Spivot, and Iris West.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
Speed Force Connection/Meta-Human Physiology: When the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion on On December 11th, 2013, Barry was stuck by a wave of antimatter-endowed lightning bolt and the chemicals stored in the beakers on the shelves in his lab. The dark matter altered his DNA and rewrote his genetic code, thus granting him a convention to the Speed Force. It also augmented his bones, joints, tissue and entire physiology well-beyond peak human condition to easily handle the rigors of his powers. At the hospital, his heart moved so fast the doctors misdiagnosed it as cardiac arrest. So his Adoptive father had him moved at Star Labs, who studied Barry in an attempt to help him understand his powers. As the nine years went by, Barry became one of the most powerful speedsters in the multiverse, eventually becoming the Fastest Man Alive. High-level friction, inertia, air pressure, reduced oxygen, vectors, and kinetic impact no longer affect him. After the rebirth of the Speed Force after Oliver Queen used his Specter Magic to enhance the Speed Force during crisis, The flash's powers were augmented up to the point of becoming one of the strongest heroes in the multiverse. His children, Nora and Bart could potentially be just as powerful.
Accelerated Healing Factor
Superhuman Immunity
Superhuman Longevity
Astral Projection
Electrogenesis/Electrokinesis: As Barry runs, he produces yellow electricity/lightning (manifestation of the Speed Force). as he starts running. He can boost his lightning as much as his speed. They can be able to generate strikes with enough force on his foes but not himself. It is also possible for him to produce strong static shocks to electrify the surface, thus stunning his targets. He was also taught by Harrison Wells that he can hurl lightning at about five billion joules (the equivalent of five lightning bolts). After learning from Wally, Barry learned how to make electrical constructs in battle such as swords and shields. While he could only generate lightning while running, as time went on Barry was able to generate his own lightning without moving. His electricity can also acta as n electromagnetic source, creating barriers around his surroundings. He can also unleash destructive electro blasts in his surroundings, destroy a speedster's power and block energy blasts.
Speed Force Aura
Speed Force Sharing: Due to spending time in the Speed Force, Barry is able to share his speed force with other individuals, as seen when he shared it with Cisco Ramon and Caitlin when they were invading the A.R.G.U.S.'s safe house, the Castle, where Fallout was being held prisoner.
Speed stealing/Speed Force siphoning: Much like the Barry Allen of Earth-90, Barry learned to (temporarily) steal the speed of another speedster, making himself move faster. However Barry's temperament, he only does this with enemies and not any of his allies.
Energy absorption: He can also absorb Speed Force energy that he injects himself with, for more power.
Speed-Force Awareness: Barry can "sense" whenever another being with the Speed Force in their system is nearby. However, when she connected to the Negative Speed Force, Barry couldn't sense her or even Eobard Thawne.
Superhuman Durability
Superhuman Mental Process
Superhuman Perceptions
Superhuman Reflexes
Superhuman Speed
Aerokinesis
Inter-Dimensional Travel
Speed Mirages
Superhuman Agility
Superhuman Momentum
Bodily Vibration
Intangibility
Invisibility
Seismokinesis
Time Travel
Temporal Awareness: Barry is one of the few individuals who can retain certain memories of the original timeline. He is the only one who can remember the Flashpoint and Reverse-Flashpoint, the fact that John Google and Lyla Michaels had a daughter not a son. After he learned that Nora was working with Thawne, he banished her back to 2049 and warned her that if she ever returned to 2019 he would know. However, he can't sense any speedster who uses the negative Speed Force, which Reverse Flash created so Barry could not detect him.
Temporal Dilution
Temporal Regression
Time Remnent Construct
Telepathic immunity (future): According to Nora, her father will become so powerful that he will be immune to telepathic mind control, such as Grodd's. However since her timeline was erased and the people of Earth 1 were transferred to a new world, it is unknown if this will come to pass.
Superhuman Stamina
Abilities[]
Genius-level intellect
Master tactician
Leader
Skilled Scientist
Bilingualism
Computer Specialist/Expert Computer Hacker
Cooking
Expert Investigator/Forensics
Master Manipulator/Deception
Master Engineering
Master Physicist
Meditation
Speed Force Knowledge
Master Hand-to-Hand Commbatant
Martial Artist
Expert Swordsman
Expert Marksmanship
Singing
Dancing
Artistic
Indomitable Willpower
High Pain Intolerance
Possessions[]
Facilities[]
Central City Police Department
His foresnics lab
S.T.A.R. Labs: In wake of Harrison Wells' death, Barry inherited S.T.A.R. Labs and all of its locations associated with it.
Hall of Justice: The Hall of Justice is a hangar that is used as the base of operations for The League. On Earth-1, he used that world's version of the hangar with the rest of his teammates, the Legends, Team Arrow, and Supergirl when dealing with
Allen House: Allen house was the home of the Allen family, until the death of Nora Allen, and the wrongful incarceration of Henry Allen. As of 2015, the house was owned by a divorcée, Sherry. The house still contained a mirror that had photographic memory of the night Barry's mother was killed. Barry visited the house again in mid-2015, where he was told by Joe that they found blood belonging to him as an adult, hunting that he will time travel into the past and try to save his mother again. It was located in Central City prior to his home universe's destruction and a new version was created on Earth-Prime. In that universe, it was Barry's childhood home as well. In Season 9, Barry from 2023 saw his younger self and advised him against trying to save their mother, presumably trying to prevent him from creating Flashpoint.
West House: Barry lived in the house with his adoptive father/father-in-law Joe in his childhood after his mother's death. He also lived in the house in most of Season 1 after Iris moved in with Eddie so Joe wouldn't be lonely, Season 2 and the first half of Season 3.
Cisco Ramon's Apartment: Barry temporarily lived at Cisco's apartment when he moved out of the house West house. However, Barry eventually left Cisco's house after buying an apartment for himself and Iris. After a fight with Iris, Barry temporarily moved back in with Cisco until he and Iris reconciled after escaping Music Meister's reality. On both occasions, Barry slept on Cisco's couch.
West-Allen Apartment: Barry bought a loft for him and Iris to live in as a 2017 Christmas present.
According to Barry's Facebook profile, one of his favorite songs is Lady Gaga's "Poker Face". Barry claims that he doesn't know how this ended up on his Facebook profile, though he still knows all the lyrics.
Barry's favorite pizza is pepperoni, olive, and jalapeño.
As a child, Barry's favorite food was macaroni and cheese.
Barry's favorite candy bar is a "Chocolate Nougat", which he made a molecular structure of in the 6th grade.
Barry wanted to be an astronaut growing up, according to Joe.
Barry and Cisco Ramon have watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan together multiple times. At the end, Cisco always says to Barry, "I have been and always shall be your friend".
Barry's favorite childhood storybook was The Runaway Dinosaur.
He enjoys musicals.
Matt Barr, Jeremy Jordan, James Mackay, Mike Kalinowski, and David A Gregory screen-tested for the role of Barry Allen before Grant Gustin was cast. Jordan would eventually play Winn Schott in Supergirl (2015).
The first draft of the Pilot episode included a scene with Albert Desmond, a character known as Doctor Alchemy in the comics, as a child being defended by Barry from bullies. However, this scene was removed from the final version that aired. Instead, a character named Julian Albert was introduced as a different version of Desmond later on.
The twentieth episode of Arrow's second season was initially planned as a Back Door Pilot for a potential spin-off centered on The Flash. However, due to Grant Gustin's impressive performance as Barry Allen and the concern that interrupting the show's momentum towards the season finale, it was decided to turn it into a standalone pilot.
According to Iris, Barry was a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z in high school and was even a member of the anime club.
Barry was also part of the science, astronomy, yearbook, and Key Club.
It is unknown why the Flash suit was constantly placed on the mannequin in the cortex even though Cisco figured out how to put the suit in the ring.
There is still a scorch mark on Barry's Lab since the night he was hit by the particle accelerator.
Barry's lightning bolt insignia can be seen on his chair at the Hall of Justice and in the Tower on "Supergirl."
On Barry's wall, one of the articles on his mother's murder is written by Evan Gibson, an ally of Green Arrow in the comics.
Evan Gibson's article on Barry's father's trial mentions him being questioned by the 52nd police precinct.
If one looks closely, Evan Gibson is also the one who writes the article in the future newspaper regarding the Flash going missing in crisis. However, by episode 20 ("The Trap"), Iris West-Allen is the one who writes the article.
Barry's chest piece was turned white on the foreground with the lightning bolt on top.
Barry in both shows cheat when they need a centrifuge and manually speed-shake a test tube instead.
In "Flashpoint" the replacement Captain is Julio Mendez, played by Alex Desert. In the 1990 series Julio Mendez was Barry's partner in the crime lab, played by the same actor.
In "Going Rogue," Felicity asks if he ages faster when he speeds up. The same question is brought up in the 1990s show by Barry and, again, never answered.
Barry describes Supergirl as more powerful than a locomotive like her cousin in the comics is described.
Barry was referred to as the "Blur" by Captain Cold and Cat Grant in the Supergirl (2015) crossover. In Smallville, Clark Kent went by "The Blur" before he was Superman when all he did was super speed much like the Flash.
Barry, Oliver and Kara always believe in protecting the people first over the bad guy.
Oliver's and Barry"s stories are almost parallel to teach other.
They are both motivated by the death of a parent (Robert and Nora) and watched their surviving parent get killed in front of them (Henry and Moira)
They have an archenemy who is more skilled than they are the reason their parents are deceased. (Dark Archer and Reverse-Flash
Their surviving parent was imprisoned in Iron Heights (Moira and Henry) who are killed by the main antagonist the end of their respective 2nd season that further motivated them to stop their enemies (Slade killed Moira in front of Oliver and Zoom killed Henry in front of Barry)
They both saved troubled teenagers boys who were changed by their rescues and later become their proteges/surrogate brothers.
Oliver saved Roy from dying at the hands of "The Savior", causing Roy to become obsessed with the Green Arrow and eventually becoming Oliver's protege and forming a brotherly relationship with Oliver.
Barry gave up his speed to Zoom in order to save his stepbrother, Wally West. Wally was drag race but found his life changed by Barry saving his life. The two everyday had no problem referring to each other as brothers, with Wally even becoming Kid Flash.
They both have female counterparts Thea Queen and Jesse Wells who become Speedy and Jesse Quick. Ironically, the girls end up dating their male counterparts.
Both they're 1st seasons involved a love triangle (Tommy X Laurel X Oliver and Eddie x Iris x Barry)
Ironically, both Eddie and Tommy act as red herring for the audiences. They want you to think that Eddie is the Reverse-Flash and Timmy is the Darhk Archer because they both have the last names of Oliver and Barry's archenemies from the comics; Eobard Thawne and Malcolm Merlyn. Instead they're related to the villain of Season 1. Tommy is Malcolm's son and Eddie is Eobard Thawne's ancestor)
They ultimately get the girl at the end (Iris and Felicity ) and have daughters who grow up without their fathers in the bad future but have a happier one in post-Crisis (Mia Queen and Nora West-Allen)
A best friend who is like a brother to them. (Cisco, John, and Tommy) abs a father figure who is their friend in the police force (Quentin Lance fot Oliver and Joe West for Barry).
They've redeemed a villain. (Captain Cold and Slade Wilson)
Barry running fast on a treadmill and static electricity forming around him, is a visual reference to the Cosmic Treadmill from the comics and a nod to the older Flash show.
The lightning bolts on Barry's cowl were changed to wings in Season 6.
Following the death of the Speed Force, Cisco invented this wristwatch-like device to monitor Barry's speed output
The Flash Ring bears a lightning bolt symbol similar to the one sported on the chest piece of the Flash suit.
Barry in both shows cheat when they need a centrifuge and manually speed-shake a test tube instead.
In "Flashpoint" the replacement Captain is Julio Mendez, played by Alex Desert. In the 1990 series Julio Mendez was Barry's partner in the crime lab, played by the same actor.
In "Going Rogue," Felicity asks if he ages faster when he speeds up. The same question is brought up in the 1990s show by Barry and, again, never answered.
She even referred to Barry running so fast, he could potentially turn to dust, which was a reference to his ill-fated death in Crisis on Infinite Earth comics comics.
Additionally, this was nerely his fate during Elseworlds and the original Crisis until both incidents were avoided. It also happened to be the fate of Eliza Harmon, who ran so fast she vanished and was turned to dust after fatally injecting herself with velocity-9 drug.
Barry describes Supergirl as more powerful than a locomotive like her cousin in the comics is described.
Barry was referred to as the "Blur" by Captain Cold and Cat Grant in the Supergirl (2015) crossover. In Smallville, Clark Kent went by "The Blur" before he was Superman when all he did was super speed much like the Flash.
Barry running fast on a treadmill and static electricity forming around him, is a visual reference to the Cosmic Treadmill from the comics and a nod to the older Flash show.
Unlike the comics, Barry's children aren't twins and are actually composite characters.
Bart is a composite character of:
The character of the same name, who is Barry's grandson.
Barry's son, Don Allen.
Barry's daughter, Nora is a composition of:
Barry's daughter with Iris, Dawn, from New and Prime Earth
His daughter with Jessica Cruz, Nora Allen II from the alternate timeline in Justice League: Legacy
His granddaughter Jenni Ognats.
In the comics Barry Allen is one of the fastest men alive and turn off the world's greatest superheroes who became a founding member Justice League. He married Iris West and had two children with her Dawn and Don.
Some of his impulsiveness is taken from his canon grandson, Bart. They also share the role of Don Allen, with Barry taking on Don's role as Bart's father and Bart as being the Flash'a son.
Barry seems to be a composite character of the original Barry Allen/The Flash and his nephew, Wally West.
Barry is closer in personality and appearance to Wally West. He is in his early 20s like comic book Wally , ever having some of his enemies, such as Savitar and the same love interest, Linda Park as well as a tech savvy best friend (Cisco and Harley).
Additionally Wally is Barry's adoptive brother instead of his nephew.
Almost all versions of Harrison Wells had some form of fondness for Barry.
In Season 1, even though Thawne is not technically Wells, he admitted to Barry's 2014 self that he has grown to care for his former protege and feels the same fatherly pride that Joe West and Henry Allen have for him, much to Barry's disgust. He specified he likes this version of Barry, not his older self.
Harry Wells from Earth-2 admitted that Barry reminded him of his daughter in “Fast Lane" and admits to Barry before he dies a second time that Barry’s friendship with him changed.
Herr Wells, who dislikes mostly everyone especially Cisco, expressed fondness for Barry, by flaunting around “I love the Flash!” before acknowledging Barry’s wife and daughter.
Harrison “H.R.” Wells affectionately addresses to Barry as “B.A” and comforts him in “All’s Wells End’s Wells.”
Harrison Nash Wells also seems fond of Barry when they first meet and says one of the reasons he is exposing Mar Novu is saving Barry Allen. He later gives the ultimate sacrifice to fuel the Artificial Speed Force and give Barry his powers back (albeit temporarily)
Harrison Wells from Earth-Prime/Earth-1 is kind to Barry when they first meet and he later encourages Barry to run towards love so the Speed Force could be reborn and give Barry his speed back.
Iris hated Barry's 1st girlfriend Becky Cooper but this may have been signs of her jealousy and romantic feelings for Barry (that Iris refused to acknowledge).
