History YMMV / TheFlash

** Barry's return could have resulted in him and Wally both operating as the Flash, as well as a larger focus on the Flash Family as a unit, making use of their very contrasting approaches and characters to make them distinct within said family, and the franchise as a whole being more expansive and unique. Instead, all but Barry were DemotedToExtra and later erased from existence, and the book reverted to something resembling the Silver Age but without the wacky comedic nature, and becoming a more generic superhero story.
** The other Forces, though introduced at the tail end of ''Flash War'' and kicking off a story that fans ''didn't'' want, suffered greatly as a result, but they weren't bad ideas. Much like the Speed Force, the Strength Force and Sage Force could have been used to revive and revamp a number of characters by giving a source for their super-strength (such as Liberty Belle, Al Prat and his sons, Hourman, Steel, etc.) or psychic powers (Psimon, Omen, Gorilla Grodd, The Top, etc). Instead of being linked to existing characters with these powers, however, they've mostly been used to give unwanted/unneeded temporary upgrades to unrelated characters or empower new characters, making it work less as an extension of the Speed Force's meta origin and more a plot tumor.
** The Flash has uniquely avoided the overuse of KryptoniteFactor the same way other DC superheroes like Superman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter had. While the Flash ''does'' have an easily exploited weakness (cold; due to the scientific nature of "cold" being the lack of kinetic energy in atoms, anything that induces cold would reduce the Flash of their kinetic energy, weakening their speed and slowing them down), this ''rarely'' comes up, save for helping to establish why Captain Cold is such a successful BadassNormal, or having the Flash struggle during cold weather. Because it's not well-known, it's resulted in Captain Cold being mistakenly assumed to be a lame gimmick villain by non-fans, but it's also helped avoid a KryptoniteIsEverywhere situation where the Flash is constantly harassed by cold/ice-themed villains[[note]]not that the Flash ''doesn't'' have a fair share of those; Captain Cold aside, Cold's sister Golden Glider often uses ice-weapons, as does her numerous Chilblaines, and there was the time Wally dealt with Icicle's grandkids, and Jesse has a complicated FriendlyEnemy situation with Icicle Jr.; likewise, Dr. Alchemy and the various villains who've used their gimmick is ''capable'' of generating ice, as can Weather Wizard[[/note]]. For people put off by how Kryptonite Is Everywhere affects Superman and Green Lantern ("yellow is everywhere", in his case), this is probably a plot point that they're ''thankful'' is wasted, if not for the fact it's been countered by having so many evil speedsters.

*** Arguably, Barry himself falls into this, and a big reason for the negative heat his character gets likely falls into this. After his revival, Barry's experience could have used to depict him as OlderAndWiser like Jay and Max, or show him as a mature hero deserving the revere he received, or in any way reinvented. Instead, Barry returned to the Status Quo he held before his death, repeatedly pushed the Flash Family away (particularly seen with how he dismisses Bart and treats him as an annoyance, his ''grandson''), and the only reinvention he got was giving him a new backstory that fell into the superhero cliché of dead parents. This new backstory ends up becoming the ''entire'' basis of his personality and character, causing him to feel like a manchild unable to move on and ultimately resulting in causing ''Flashpoint''. This in-turn resulted in him and, to some extent, the franchise as a whole reverting to how they were in the earliest Silver Age comics (unmarried, hiding his secret identity, fighting the Rogues, etc), but with the aforementioned new backstory still dominating his character focus.
** Though she's well-liked by fans and was once a fixture in various team books, Jesse Quick is the only 'main' member of the Flash family to never get a solo series. This possibly crosses into TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot, as two one-off stories penned by Christopher Priest seemed to set up a pretty good concept for an ongoing series (complete with supporting cast including her mom and a hinted love interest with a model hired for her firm), but none ever materialised. This was mitigated to some extent by her getting used in ''Titans'' and ''Justice Society'', and even briefly the Justice League, but the only time she was a lead was a back-up feature co-staring her husband in ''JSA All-Stars''. Notably, she doesn't even have her own fictional city ''or'' a Reverse-Flash of her own like the boys do, despite means to set up Christina Alexandrova as one.
** Then there's Jesse's AU nibling, the non-binary Jess Chambers/Kid Quick, also the Flash of the Future State Justice League, who was an immediate EnsembleDarkhorse upon their introduction, due to providing more LGBTQ+ representation within the Flash franchise, expanding Jesse's branch of the Flash Family, and having a ''really'' cool design. Yet despite the immediate popularity, DC have so far failed to do ''anything'' with them, even as their fellow Future State JL teammates Jon Kent, Yara Flor, and Jace Fox got solo books. Joshua Williamson has expressed interest in developing them further, but so far nothing has been done.

** ''Flash #761'' has a massive one for ''every bad character moment from the Rebirth era''. [[spoiler:With the Negative Speed Force, Eobard Thawne can induce negative thoughts in others, driving them to behave in ways that are out of character. He was the one who made Barry keep the missing Speedsters a secret, who made Wallace go along with Damian's atrocities in ''Teen Titans'', drove Barry to act selfishly during ''Perfect Storm'' and pitted Wally and Barry against each other during ''Flash War''. And most damningly, '''he was the one responsible for Wally's actions in ''Heroes in Crisis''.''']] While it's an AssPull, it's one that does ''massive'' damage control over some of the most controversial events in the recent Flash series. [[spoiler:Although some have been quick to point out Thawne only takes credit for Wally staging the murder mystery and ''not'' accidentally killing everyone in the first place or how incredibly abusive Sanctuary treated him and the rest of the heroes before they died. Nor does Thawne take credit for Iris agreeing to have Wally sent to Sanctuary, the fact ''no one'' reached out to Linda about Jai and Irey's disappearance, or the fact no one even made an effort to help Wally look for Irey and Jai in the first place. In other words, this wasn't ''enough'' of an AuthorsSavingThrow to some fans who believe this was just a cheap band-aid to fix what happened to Wally. However, ''ComicBook/TheFlashInfiniteFrontier'' did further damage control by revealing the explosion itself wasn't even caused by Wally, but by Savitar's attempt to hijack the Speed Force.]]

* DracoInLeatherPants:
** In recent years a lot of the Rogues (the exceptions seeming to be both Captain Boomerangs and the second Trickster). While some of them are sympathetic and most of them ''do'' have standards, that doesn't change the fact that several of them have done some genuinely awful things from time to time. The fact that many of them went through a HeelFaceTurn at different points probably plays into things.
** Inertia. While he does have [[CloningBlues tragic]] [[IJustWantToBeLoved elements]] and [[AndIMustScream went through a fate nobody deserved]], he's still a sociopath, even more insane then Zoom, and he organized the murder of Bart Allen. Some will also defend him on the grounds that he's a child, but this in itself forgets that, much like how Bart was raised at super-speed and is physically older than he is, Inertia was the opposite (he aged slower so his actually OlderThanHeLooks), and actually has the mental age of an adult, so it's not as if he's a kid who doesn't know any better. Some ''do'' argue that Inertia had a demonstratively sympathetic presentation during ''Impulse'' (as much of his evil came from having an abusive childhood raising him to be a monster) and believe that his subsequent MoralEventHorizon were a case of bad writing misunderstanding his character, but regardless, he's still a child-killing sociopath who gloated about owning slaves in the future.

** The larger Flash Family in general, as outside of Wally they're among the biggest things people wanted to see revived. When they show up, fans tend to pop, and its not uncommon for people to urge DC to give them their own team book. Individual entries follow.

** Impulse, to the point he's one of the most unifying figures in the Flash fandom. This became somewhat enforced when he was briefly promoted to being the main character, and subsequently ''lost'' a lot of fan love because of how much his character [[NotAsYouKnowThem had changed for the story]].

** Eobard Thawne has become incredibly popular over recent years to a point he falls under LoveToHate at this point. Some fans (especially from the TV show) even admit that they find Thawne to be a much more entertaining character than Barry himself.

** The Rogues, who tend to be popular enough to support a tie-in miniseries but have never been given an ongoing about their adventures, as much as many fans express interest in the idea. The fact they're a group of AntiVillain bank thieves with awesome gimmicks and colorful personalities makes them a lot of fun when written well. Among them, Golden Glider is an especially prominent example as she's one of the more popular ones ''despite'' the fact she was left out of their adventures in the 2000s when she was depicted as Captain Cold's dead sister.

** Recently, Bart Allen's fandom has became increasingly vocal about how his character is misrepresented by people. A lot of people treat Bart as an innocent FunPersonified sweet kid, and particularly enjoy dialling up his Woobie nature, which has bled into how some write him in canon. It's somewhat lost that Bart in-canon was a RebelliousTeenager [[VitriolicBestBuds who butted heads with Wally, Max, Jesse, and pretty much anyone who he cared about]], and had a [[{{Troll}} mischievous]], [[BrattyHalfPint bratty side to him]], and most of his interpersonal fights had him as the aggressor. Bart ''is'' ultimately a sweet natured boy, but he also daydreamed about putting his best friends in wood chippers when they annoyed him, and would actively pick fights with his cousin any chance he could. And this is exactly why his fans liked him, and so they dislike that he's been watered down and misrepresented as a rather FlatCharacter (not helped is that much of this comes from exaggerating Bart's AttentionDificitOohShiny tendencies and presenting him with a very Hollywoodised idea of ADHD, whereas his original solo series presented him with a much more realistic depiction of the condition, adding some complaints about misrepresenting a neurodivergent character's condition).

* FandomRivalry:
** Similar to the Green Arrow comics and ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', there is quite a split between fans of the Flash comics and fans of the [[Series/TheFlash2014 2014 TV series]], ''particularly'' after the second season onward. The show takes inspiration from the New 52 era and is focused on Barry Allen (in fact, is largely responsible for cementing Barry as the 'dominant' Flash in public domain), and its treatment of Wally West is controversial even within its own fandom, so a ''lot'' of this is an extension of the Wally/Barry fandom split, but even besides that the show features a ''lot'' of AdaptationDecay and InNameOnly, and so a lot of fans resent that the show's version of many characters that suffer this (particularly Zoom) is the dominant one in public memory because of the wider audience the show reaches[[note]]particularly, as the show suffered massive SeasonalRot from season 2 onward, some are worried that it [[AudienceColoringAdaptation colours how some characters are perceived]][[/note]]. Conversely, because of how different they are, many show-originating fans tend to scoff at the comics, particularly those that predate the show, with some believing that TV!Barry is a 'superior' protagonist because he [[CompositeCharacter combines 'the best' aspects of both Barry and Wally]], and consider the various changes to be vast improvements.
** ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'' created one with Flash fans and Tom King fans, thanks to Tom King's poor understanding of the Speed Force, his lack of research into Wally West's recent history, the fact he clearly didn't read the set-up that was given in ''Flash War'', and among other things, [[ItWasHisSled having Wally West suffer a nervous breakdown that caused his powers to kill everyone and then, during his psychotic break, rearranged the bodies to hide what happened, then engaged in a lengthy suicide plan before being talked down and arrested]]. While many of Tom King's fans consider this his weakest story and blame it largely on ExecutiveMeddling from those RunningTheAsylum, for many fans who weren't a big fan of his in the first place, it is a ''permanent'' black mark on his reputation.

** Fandom has recently fell into huge HypeAversion due to an overuse of evil speedsters. Both the second TV series and New 52 comics heavily relying on Speed Force antics already tired fans when it came to speedster villains or anything related to the Speed Force itself (beyond it being the source of superspeed) so when it was announced that the Rebirth series' first arc would be dealing with ''yet another'' evil speedster, fans mostly reacted with unamused groans. Even though Godspeed's unique design attracted some interest at first, [[EvilFormerFriend his story]] and [[KnightTemplar motivations]] turning out to be ''very'' similar to the fan-favorite villain Hunter Zolomon's caused this reaction and further confirmed the how speedster villains beyond Reverse Flashes are unnecessary.
** The reveal of Black Hole's leader being revealed as Raijin and Meena's FaceHeelTurn also faced this reaction not only by old fans but also by TV show fans who recently started reading comics. From Raijin's "evil organization", his ThemeNaming to his design, it's very clearly inspired by both comics and TV show versions of Savitar. Meanwhile there are obvious similarities between Meena and Christina Alexandrova by the same extension.

** On a similar note, the Speed Force's reputation for being non-stop retcons, NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, and an inconsistent mess, resulting in the BrokenBase of if it was ever a good idea in the first place. This is borderline CommonKnowledge as until relatively recently, this ''wasn't true''; the Speed Force during Waid's era didn't have much ''new'' introduced after the basics were established (it was the source of their power, it acted in ways based on how they perceived it, and it served as the Speedster's 'heaven', drawing them into it as they used more of it's power, but Wally West could circumvent this through ThePowerOfLove). Morrison and Millar's run ''did'' add the 'energy suit' ability and the Black Flash, but even this was respectfully just an enhancement of one of the Flash's already present and long-established RequiredSecondaryPowers and a physical representation of it's status as their afterlife. However, when the Flash entered the ''lengthy'' chain of AudienceAlienatingEra eras noted above, (starting roughly somewhere in 2006, when Bart Allen became The Flash after ''absorbing'' the entire Speed Force...somehow), the Speed Force became a writer's punching bag, being repeatedly mis-written and mischaracterised (many writers choosing to write it as a scientific anomaly and energy source, ignoring its mystical nature), and exploited for any quick plot that was needed, until it became so vaguely defined that many fans got sick of it.
*** There's also some element of OlderThanTheyThink as well, as many of the things blamed on the Speed Force (such as the often ridiculous feats the Flashes pull off, such as running on clouds or turning invisible) actually originated from the Flash abusing one of their lesser-stated RequiredSecondaryPowers: having full, complete control over all of their atomic vibrations, something that they had ''long'' before the Speed Force was introduced. Essentially, it's old-hat for the Flash to pull off ridiculous AssPull abilities with their powers, but it's relatively new for these to be blamed on the Speed Force.

** Originally played straight but then subverted with Wally West; when he was the Flash, he became the most well known at the time in part because of his appearances in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', until recent years when Barry came back and DC began pushing him to make fans forget about Wally. Even now, among comic circles it is still debated on who is the 'iconic' Flash.

** In recent years, Wally West. Being a CosmicPlaything and CreatorsPest left the feeling that the ''universe itself'' hated him, and despite his lengthy career as the Flash and the fact he has surpassed Barry in feats, power, and accomplishments, CharacterShilling resulting in indirectly insulting him, combined with being erased from existence resulting in people in-universe forgetting his career, resulted in many heroes treating him like he was an inferior copy of Barry. Obviously, fans who have read his run feel quite differently.

** There is ''a lot'' of fanon surrounding Wally, especially in fanfics. His father being horribly abusive, (which ''does'' have ''some'' basis in canon but not to the UpToEleven qualities in fanworks), is common.

** Barry messing up timelines, often with disastrous affects. In-universe he only does this twice. ''Flashpoint'' is considered a definitive fuck up on his part in most circles, even though he was mostly trying to fix Thawne's meddling, but that doesn't matter to the fans. He's forever an [[PlayedForLaughs (comedic) inconsiderate jerk]] who messes with timelines for lulz. NOT helped by his Arrowverse counterpart, who has messed with the timeline on multiple occasions. In fact, Arrowverse Barry arguably caused the use of this meme to be taken UpToEleven.

** Similar to the Green Arrow comics and ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', there is quite a split between fans of the Flash comics and fans of the [[Series/TheFlash2014 2014 TV series]], ''particularly'' after the second season onward. The show takes inspiration from the New 52 era and is focused on Barry Allen (in fact, is largely responsible for cementing Barry as the 'dominant' Flash in public domain), and its treatment of Wally West is controversial even within its own fandom, so a ''lot'' of this is an extension of the Wally/Barry fandom split, but even besides that the show features a ''lot'' of AdaptationDecay and InNameOnly, and so a lot of fans resent that the show's version of many characters that suffer this (particularly Zoom) is the dominant one in public memory because of the wider audience the show reaches[[note]]particularly, as the show suffered massive SeasonalRot from season 2 onward, some are worried that it's became an InkStainAdaptation that colours how some characters are perceived[[/note]]. Conversely, because of how different they are, many show-originating fans tend to scoff at the comics, particularly those that predate the show, with some believing that TV!Barry is a 'superior' protagonist because he [[CompositeCharacter combines 'the best' aspects of both Barry and Wally]], and consider the various changes to be vast improvements.

* FanNickname:
** Jesse Quick's unpopular third outfit, after the leather jacket and ZettaiRyouiki outfits, is referred to as the 'Q-boob' outfit, for how the 'Q' weirdly circles one of her, well, boobs.
** When first introduced, the New 52 Wally West was called "Nu Wally" to distinguish him from the Pre-New 52 version. After the original Wally's return, [=NuWally=] (the most common nickname for him), Small!Wally or, if the person in question is trying to be cutesy, Smol!Wally (which is pretty much the same as the second). Some fans have suggested calling New 52 Wally by the name Ace instead (as in Wall''ace'') but it hasn't picked up much steam. In an ironic bit of inversion, he was often just called by his full name "Wallace", rather than have him use the Wally nickname, which shortly after became AscendedFanon.
** ''The Flash: Afterbirth'' is sometimes used to differentiate between the original miniseries and the 2016 one-shot.
* FashionVictimVillain: Rainbow Raider. To be fair, he's colorblind.

** Irey West, especially in her original incarnation as the (Kid) Flash of the ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' universe. It's not hard to find fanfic and fanart of her either as Impulse, Kid Flash or the Flash.
** The biggest would have to be Jay Garrick (pre-Flashpoint). While he's mostly a supporting character, even within JSA, and doesn't really develop, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't like him. As a mentor character, he's one of the more popular, and people are always glad to see him whenever he appears. And, like Wally West, he's come to symbolise more in the Rebirth era, specifically referred to as someone who brings hope.
** The larger Flash Family in general, as outside of Wally they're among the biggest things people have wanted to see revived. Though Jay and Bart are already stated, Jesse Quick and Max Mercury are both fairly popular, the former for being (for a while) the only female speedster, being something of a CoolBigSis to Bart and something of a DistaffCounterpart to Wally (who's costume choices also make her something of the MsFanservice of ''The Flash''), while Max is well liked for similarly being a likeable mentor figure like Jay, but with more mystery to him as he's supposedly been around for ''centuries'' under different names, and also being a ''huge'' DeadpanSnarker who hides it behind his 'Zen master of Speed' persona. Johnny Quick isn't ''quite'' as popular, mostly because he, like Barry, is seen as better dead[[note]]as in, like Barry, many people think his character works better serving as a fallen mentor that his protege, in his case Jesse, can maintain as something of a figure to try and live up to[[/note]].

* CommonKnowledge: The Speed Force and its relation to the ScienceHero Flash characters. Most DC fans know ''of'' the Speed Force but see it as a poorly explained handwave for all the scientifically impossible things that The Flash can do. However, many seem to be ignorant of the fact the Speed Force is explicitly a ''mystical'' phenomena (in fact, this was a major part of why when it was introduced, so many characters refused to believe it really existed, and Wally's acceptance of it is partially why he's so damn powerful). It ''is'' actually well explained during Waid's run and several of the runs that follow, its just in [[Series/TheFlash2014 adaptations]] and comics from the late 2000s, the New 52, and Rebirth era where how it works has became inconsistently depicted.

* CreatorsPet: On one side of the Barry-vs.-Wally fandom rivalry, this is the main issue for Wally fans (for Barry fans, see HypeBacklash). Since his return, Barry has been pushed as the forefront of the Flash franchise, treated and touted as the iconic Flash, and the only character to receive any kind of attention. Pretty much every outside media has focused solely on Barry Allen, to the point it's treated as if he is the ''only'' Flash, with Jay Garrick at-best getting acknowledged as the AU Flash, while Wally, if he appears at ''all'', is relegated to being Kid Flash. Understandably, fans of Wally (and the larger Flash Family) do not appreciate this, especially as adaptations have gone so far as to take Wally's stories and character developments and give them to Barry, in order to eliminate any need for Wally within the work, which many feel like an attempt to erase Wally for Barry's sake.

* AngstWhatAngst:
** You'd think Barry and Iris might occasionally think of their children Don and Dawn, and the fact the two of them are ''dead'', every once in a while, but nope. Even in the continuities where they remember the two exist at all, instances of acknowledging the twins are vanishingly rare.
** In "Finish Line", Joshua Williamson's last arc, when Barry meets Max and Jesse in the Speed Force, they immediately forgive Barry for Flashpoint, claiming he's already suffered enough for it (something that is demonstrably not true). So, they forgive him for accidentally erasing them from existence and trapping them in the Speed Force for ''years'' and forgetting about them, which according to Jesse also caused her father to become permanently erased from history as he was already dead prior to Flashpoint, never mind that Jesse was married and had ''just had a child'' right before Flashpoint, too. While it's probably better we didn't get more guilt-derived angst for Barry, one can't help but think Jesse (who's never been one to mince words or easily forgive slights) would be a ''lot'' angrier.

** ''Speed Metal'', which earned much love from the Flash Fandom, basically finishes what was started at the beginning of Rebirth, with it firmly reuniting Wally West with the Flash Family, have him patch things up with Barry and the latter apologising for how he was shoved into the shadows by his return, pass the torch ''back'' to Wally, gives Wally back his much-missed 90's costume, establishes him firmly as TheHero of the Flash franchise, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and makes a solid]] TakeThat to Creator/DanDiDio, whose [[CreatorsPest dislike for Wally]] was behind [[DorkAge everything that's happened to the franchise since 2006]].

** Barry's return, and every subsequent story between that and ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''. A good portion of fans enjoyed these stories for how they reinvented the franchise and modernised Barry's character, along with Francis Manapul's SugarWiki/AwesomeArt. However, many dislike how Barry's run caused Wally and the greater Flash family to be DemotedToExtra and subsequently erased all together, along with the aforementioned reinvention of the franchise being seen as far less interesting, and consider this chapter a major DorkAge.

** New 52 Wally; RaceLift aside, many were annoyed at his InNameOnly backstory and characterisation that many saw as stereotypical. Others were open to the reinvention or didn't see his behaviour as necessarily being as problematic as it was accused. This became a moot point however when Rebirth reworked him into being classic Wally's cousin rather than his "replacement" and he was recharacterised as a WellDoneSonGuy.

** Jesse James gets a sympathetic backstory in the ''Rebirth'' run, thanks to his monstrously awful parents, and what he goes through at Wolfe's hands. Doesn't justify his actions, but it does give him Woobie points a'plenty.
* DorkAge:
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%% Please DO NOT remove Dork Age entries just because you personally disagree. This is YMMV, so by its nature not everyone will necessarily agree with it. And please DO NOT ADD runs that haven't been completed yet just because you don't like it.
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** For the main ''Flash'' series, pretty much everything between 2006 and 2016 falls into this for varying reasons, and some stories after that too.
*** Right after ''Infinite Crisis'', Wally was lost to the Speed Force along with his family and this led to Bart becoming the Flash due to PlotRelevantAgeUp. Due to the character losing his individuality and FunPersonified nature, even his own fans hated it. This series ended as a massive failure, to the point that they had to kill Bart to forget it ever happened and everyone involved with Bart's character has stated active dislike towards it. The creative team of the book said they had no intention writing for DCU ever again due to a terrible experience.
*** Wally was brought back from the Speed Force after Bart's death, but this time the book, once again, faced criticism due to his twins turning out to be [[BaseBreakingCharacter Base breaking]] that some accused of being a SpotlightStealingSquad. Mark Waid left DC ''completely'' after an editorial clash and the book had to live on life support for a year with fill-in writers until Barry was brought back. Mark Waid says it's probably one of his works he was severely disappointed about.
*** Barry's return has met this reaction from many, particularly those that loved Wally's character, but also ''non''-Flash fans. With Barry's return brought about a sudden demotion of Wally into an extra at best (until being erased completely), while Barry's character was given several controversial rewrites, including giving him a DarkerAndEdgier backstory involving his mother's murder which many felt was unnecessary, to promoting him as the 'most important' of the Flash legacy that was felt as a disservice to the rest of the Flash family, who all in-turn were given a sharp DemotedToExtra status. General comic and DC fans dislike it for missing the point of the DCU and bringing back a character whose death was highly regarded[[note]]not to mention completely cheapening the emotional impact of his HeroicSacrifice[[/note]], and whose resurrection was considered altogether unnecessary. Not helping is that Barry's return also brought back Eobard Thawne, which led to the removal of other villainous speedsters like Hunter Zolomon, Inertia, the Black Flash and Lady Savitar. That Thawne came back with retcons to ''his'' history and [[NewPowersASThePlotDemands powers]], as well as the retcon of him basically being responsible for everything bad that's happened to Barry, doesn't help him from being seen as a overpowered.
*** The Brian Buccellato/Francis Manapul run. While the Flash book was considered one of the better titles (at least in the reboot's earlier days), its changes to the Rogues (now metahumans, something that annoyed Geoff Johns enough that he personally undid it with ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil2013''), as well as the entire Flash family outside of Barry being ''erased completely'' has given it a negative reputation to all but those who the series was a gateway to. The run ''did'' bring in many new fans (helped by the New 52's general promotion) and inspired the basis of the 2014 TV series and has art that's pretty much universally acclaimed, but many older fans felt like it lost a lot of what made the Flash such a great franchise, from the expansive cast to the nature of the stories themselves. Making Barry YoungerAndHipper and removing his Man Out Of Time and mentor status also resulted in his status as a FlatCharacter becoming even more apparent than before.
*** The Robert Venditti and Van Jensen run. Neither of the writers had ''any'' Flash lore beforehand and unlike Manapul and Buccellato run, ''they'' were given the task of reintroducing important characters like Wally West and Eobard Thawne. They dropped the ball completely, with incredibly divisive changes to Wally West and an extremely inconsistent Professor Zoom. Add on to that Brett Booth's divisive 90s [[Creator/ImageComics Image]]-inspired art, coming right after Francis Manapul's acclaimed pencils. In the end, the series' sales reached bottom again and ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' had to come in and fix the damage.
** For Bart Allen's character, it seems to be everything from 2003 onward, with only a minor respite in the middle. First, he became Kid Flash, abandoning his individualism and established dislike towards that name. At the same time, he became a know-it-all smartass, rather than an impulsive joker. Then Wally disappeared and he became the fourth Flash via PlotRelevantAgeUp, losing any semblance of fun and aging him out of his own generation. While an attempt was made to give him a new status quo, he died before anything could be done with it. Things were okay when he was brought back in ''Final Crisis'', returning to his more fun self, and for a while everything was okay, despite the lack of focus on him...then the New 52 happened. This version of Bart isn't even called Bart Allen, and he has no connection to the Flashes or the Speed Force, his backstory has been altered to be DarkerAndEdgier, and his characterisation flips on a dime with the only constant being how annoying he is. The New 52 version of Bart is named Bar Torr and his powers come from being stranded on a planet (it's never explained how he ''actually'' got them), he's a rebel leader who abandoned his crusade against his oppressors once his long-lost sister was injured (apparently he didn't know civilian casualties are a thing when you fight in civilian-populated areas) and his fun personality is an act...until it's not...until it is again, and apparently all of this was part of his plan or something. This version of "Bart" has been abandoned by DC, and is universally ''loathed'' by Bart's fans, Flash fans, DC Comics fans and just comic readers in general.
** Most of Williamson's run is ''not'' this, as his run largely tries to be an AuthorsSavingThrow for the franchise, but there's a lengthy stretch between ''Flash War'' and ''Finish Line'' that many felt became this. While reception to the previous stories was mixed-to-positive, fan reception to the Other Forces and Year of the Villain tie-in arcs were decidedly not positive, as many found the stories to be an annoying distraction from the pressing issue of the missing speedsters. During this period, Wally West also got sent off to Sanctuary, which led to the ''heavily''-despised ''Heroes in Crisis'' storyline, adding to the problems. This however isn't generally blamed on Williamson at least, as most realise he was affected by heavy ExecutiveMeddling and the issue more lies with editor Brian Cunningham refusing to let the Flash Family return, and Creator/DanDiDio's [[CreatorsPest infamous hate-boner for Wally West]].

** Calling Wally West "Kid Flash", or otherwise acting like he's second to Barry. While its up for debate about which one is ''better'', it's ''not'' OK for many to treat Wally as if he's never reached/surpassed Barry's level, or downplaying his history when he was the Flash for over two decades and the bulk of the Flash lore comes from his tenure[[note]]While Barry's legacy lasted three decades, due to the way stories were written and told during the Silver Age, most of his adventures are done-in-one short stories with questionable, limited continuity and characterisation. Also while the length of time he existed was longer, the number of comics actually ''published'' give Wally the advantage; Barry's tenure lasted from ''The Flash Vol. 1 #105-350'' (246 issues in total), while Wally's tenure, ''The Flash Vol 2'' lasted 247 issues ''plus'' 13 annuals and multiple other specials and one-shots[[/note]]. Former DC co-Publisher Creator/DanDiDio expressing this sentiment is/was a major reason why Wally West fans ''really hate him'', as many believe it demonstrated how little about the franchise he actually knew or understood.

* FandomHeresy: Praising Creator/DanDiDio is a sure-fire way to earn a ''lot'' of scorn from Flash fans who didn't join the fandom from the [[Series/TheFlash2014 TV series]] or [[GatewaySeries New 52 run]]. Even some who ''did'' if they went and read the earlier material after and enjoyed it. As [=DiDio=] is responsible for the DorkAge the franchise went under, he's directly responsible for the mistreatment of Wally West and the rest of the Flash Family, and his tendency to troll and [[TrollingCreator taunt Wally's fans at conventions]], giving him any praise is seen as an attack on Wally and the others (which to be fair, as the praise mostly comes from the most vitriolic of Barry's side of the Wally/Barry fan-war, it often ''is'').

** Josh Williamson's run got a lot of heat towards the second half, with many expecting it to go down as a DorkAge. However, a lot of the problems of the run were down to ExecutiveMeddling, which prevented him from doing the things he wanted (such as restoring Wally and the Flash Family to prominence). Once the figures behind the meddling left shortly before the end of his run and he got to do these things, it wasn't uncommon for some fans to ask that he continue now that he's free to do what he wants.
* {{Moe}}: Jesse Quick, due to her AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents and light-hearted WantedASonInstead interactions with her parents, and nature as a cheerful {{Bookworm}}, DependingOnTheWriter.

* MorePopularReplacement: The third Flash, Wally West, is considered by a lot of readers to be an improvement over his predecessor, Barry Allen. In fact, he is seen as '''the''' Flash by a considerable chunk of the fanbase and it's not uncommon for modern interpretations of Barry to [[CompositeCharacter incorporate some aspects of Wally's personality to his own]] in an attempt to make up for this (which, generally, ''isn't super popular'' with fans). Notably, since passing the torch back to Barry, the average sales of the book have declined, giving an indication of which one's more popular.

** On a similar note, the Speed Force's reputation for being non-stop retcons, NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, and an inconsistent mess, resulting in the BrokenBase of if it was ever a good idea in the first place. This is borderline CommonKnowledge as until relatively recently, this ''wasn't true''; the Speed Force during Waid's era didn't have much ''new'' introduced after the basics were established (it was the source of their power, it acted in ways based on how they perceived it, and it served as the Speedster's 'heaven', drawing them into it as they used more of it's power, but Wally West could circumvent this through ThePowerOfLove). Morrison and Millar's run ''did'' add the 'energy suit' ability and the Black Flash, but even this was respectfully just an enhancement of one of the Flash's already present and long-established RequiredSecondaryPowers and a physical representation of it's status as their afterlife. However, when the Flash entered the ''lengthy'' chain of DorkAge eras noted above, (starting roughly somewhere in 2006, when Bart Allen became The Flash after ''absorbing'' the entire Speed Force...somehow), the Speed Force became a writer's punching bag, being repeatedly mis-written and mischaracterised (many writers choosing to write it as a scientific anomaly and energy source, ignoring its mystical nature), and exploited for any quick plot that was needed, until it became so vaguely defined that many fans got sick of it.

** Pied Piper. Neglected by his rich parents, grew up with a disability that they didn't even ''notice'', and was for a while rejected by them when he came out about his sexuality. He fell into crime and was further exiled by his parents, especially when his criminal career took on a socialist, anti-capitalist trend. When he turned over a new leaf, he was constantly distrusted by heroes because of his past life, despite Wally vouching for him. He was also targeted by The Top for his sexuality, who tried to frame him for assassinating a rigged-to-win presidential candidate who had been making wolf-whistles against the LGBT community during the election. ''Then'' he was framed for murdering his parents after he'd patched things up with them, leading to him being sent to Iron Heights where he was abused by the warden and guards, until he finally broke out, and was briefly brainwashed by The Top again. When he finally reconnected with his best friend Wally, the two were DemotedToExtra by the lengthy DorkAge and we've barely seen him since.

* EightDeadlyWords: The New 52 and Rebirth runs have suffered this as they went on, and is a big reason why there's so much of a DorkAge attached to them (or in the Rebirth run's case, a general assumption it will be remembered as such).
** The New 52: After Francis Manapul left the title and the book began introducing new versions of Wally West and Eobard Thawne, fans were quick to complain about the InNameOnly writing and poor characterization attached to them, not helped by Brett Booth's controversial artwork and redesigns for Barry and Eobard.
** Rebirth: After ''ComicBook/FlashWar'' spent much of its build-up and page count teasing the return of the Flash family, many were disappointed by the resolution which ''only'' brought back Bart, who quickly jumped onto the relaunched ''Young Justice'' title without interacting with the ''Flash'' characters. Then, ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'' happened which led to Iris being PutOnABus, Wally being turned into a murderer and Barry, rather than ''continuing'' to look for the other speedsters or doing ''anything'' to help Wally, instead focused on the lackluster "New Forces" subplot nobody cared about and teamed up with new characters nobody liked, while also continuing the trend of having the Rogues be written increasingly more evil, until Captain Cold was literally rolling heads. Barry's UnintentionallyUnsympathetic traits got worse, to the point that when it was announced the run was wrapping up with a storyline featuring the return of Jay Garrick, Jesse Quick, and Max Mercury, fans were as equally excited for that as they were that Joshua Williamson was leaving the title.

* StockParodyJokes: Jokes about the Flash being a mediocre lover due to his speed are commonplace. It's to the point where various DC media have referenced the joke. Wally has even confirmed it as truth in one issue, though it's possible he was just making a Self Deprecating joke. The DCAU [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar not only made a few references to this joke]], but one memorable scene ''inverted'' it where Linda Park speculated that the Flash would be a sex god because of their stamina (a reminder, this was a kid's animated series).

* {{Adorkable}}:
** Out of all Flashes, Barry comes across as the most socially awkward, clumsiest one. His lack of punctuality, terrible humor, his love for comics and anything related to science, and his WideEyedIdealist makes him even more adorkable.
** Though Barry is most known for it, this is a trait shared by all of them. Jay Garrick in the Golden Age was a goofy dork himself, while Wally's often childish tendencies make him an endearing goofball (for proof, see the time Linda and Frankie bonded over making fun of his diet, which amounted to "what a child would eat if they didn't have parental supervision", or his reaction to getting a haircut). Bart is often adorableness personified, especially with his small stature, tendency to wear clothes too big for him, and easily distracted nature as a result of his ADHD. Even Jesse is an endearingly bossy big sister to Bart, is a self-described bookworm, and takes herself way more seriously then she should but can't resist being playful with her powers.

** Is Barry a flawed, but ultimately heroic person trying to learn from his mistakes or is he a broken shell of a man who is willing to cheat his way to happiness at the expense of others?

** Eobard Thawne is a CompleteMonster no doubt, but the most recent version of his origins given show his past, and with the crap he had to put up with from his parents, and his brother, it's not a surprise he turned out the way he did.

** Inertia. While he does have [[CloningBlues tragic]] [[IJustWantToBeLoved elements]] and [[AndIMustScream went through a fate nobody deserved]], he's still a sociopath, even more insane then Zoom, and he organized the murder of Bart Allen. Some will also defend him on the grounds that he's a child, but this in itself forgets that, much like how Bart was raised at super-speed and is physically older than he is, Inertia was the opposite, and is instead physically younger than he is mentally, so it's not as if he's a kid who doesn't know any better.

** The Speed Force itself is an example of this, first being introduced in 1993. In fact, Barry Allen had no idea it existed until he was revived, but thanks to the New 52, TV series, and DCEU, it's now treated as if it was something he was fully aware of from the beginning.

* OneSceneWonder: Though ''ComicBook/FlashForward'' is generally not well-liked thanks to the AudienceAlienatingPremise and behind-the-scenes issues, one aspect that people generally seemed to like was Lightspeed, the Linda Park of one of the many alternate earths Wally visits who, in her world, is their speedster superhero and wears a feminised version of Godspeed's (already well-liked) costume.

* RonTheDeathEater: There's a weird tendency of some Barry fans to exaggerate Wally and Bart's arguments to make it seem like Wally was a jerk to Bart, while also projecting a positive relationship between Barry and Bart that didn't exist. In-canon, Wally and Bart had a classic SiblingRivalry and were VitriolicBestBuds, being mean and antagonistic to each other face-to-face but also making it clear their liked and cared about each other. But to some fans, they ''hate'' each other, and in particular Wally was ''so cruel'' to Bart, who never did anything to deserve it (despite him often being the aggressor in their fights in-canon). This tends to coincide with gushing about how Barry was such a NiceGuy to his beloved grandson who adores his grandfather in return -- which ignores that in-canon, Bart resented Barry for being both quite aloof to him after he returned and for the CharacterShilling he got, [[{{Irony}} especially as Bart was much closer to Wally and didn't like the idea people had that Barry was the "real" Flash.]]

** Jesse Chambers is a much more popular and prominent character than either of her parents. Though they probably had their fans from the ''All-Star Squadron'' days, both are more more known for being her parents than anything they did themselves.

* StockParodyJokes: Jokes about the Flash being a mediocre lover due to his speed are commonplace. It's to the point where various DC media have referenced the joke. Wally has even confirmed it as truth in one issue, though it's possible he was just making a Self Deprecating joke.

*** Her fourth outfit, while generally seen as better than the previous, is also this. It's basically just a read shirt with her Jesse Quick symbol on it and yellow shorts, gloves and boots. A lot of people derided it for looking like she was going to do the dishes.

** Impulse in ''Comicbook/YoungJustice''.
** Wally defaulted into this role after he was DemotedToExtra following Barry's return.

** A smaller one, that's only notable because it keeps getting revived on social media, but the time Wally froze Inertia in a ''truly'' brutal display of what he can do with his momentum control powers. For some fans, the whole thing was an unforgivable display of why ThouShaltNotKill rules among superheroes are broken because what Wally did was AFateWorseThanDeath and, to some, made Wally no better than Inertia. Others though note that Inertia had killed Bart Allen, tried to nuke a city, manipulated the Rogues, and just ''in general'' jumped way over the MoralEventHorizon, and Wally, having only just returned to the present to find Bart dead, was overwhelmed with grief and anger, and is clearly disturbed by his actions himself, which were not a premeditated action he committed with a sound mind.

** Inertia. While he does have [[CloningBlues tragic]] [[IJustWantToBeLoved elements]] and [[AndIMustScream went through a fate nobody deserved]], he's still a sociopath, even more insane then Zoom, and he organized the murder of Bart Allen.

*** The Brian Buccellato/Francis Manapul run. While the Flash book was considered one of the better titles (at least in the reboot's earlier days), its changes to the Rogues (now metahumans, something that annoyed Geoff Johns enough that he personally undid it with ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil''), as well as the entire Flash family outside of Barry being ''erased completely'' has given it a negative reputation to all but those who the series was a gateway to. The run ''did'' bring in many new fans (helped by the New 52's general promotion) and inspired the basis of the 2014 TV series and has art that's pretty much universally acclaimed, but many older fans felt like it lost a lot of what made the Flash such a great franchise, from the expansive cast to the nature of the stories themselves. Making Barry YoungerAndHipper and removing his Man Out Of Time and mentor status also resulted in his status as a FlatCharacter becoming even more apparent than before.

** ComicBook/New52:
*** [[KillerGorilla Gorilla Grodd]] follows his previous version's footsteps, where he's the tyrannical ruler of Gorilla City and one of Barry Allen's most monstrous foes. Taking control of Gorilla City by [[{{Patricide}} killing his father]] and [[BrainFood consuming his brain]], Grodd tries to exact this same fate upon the Flash in the hopes of gaining his powers, intending to use them to conquer the Earth. Seemingly defeated by the Flash, Grodd viciously re-takes control over Gorilla City, killing all the Elder gorillas except for one, whom he straps to a [[MindRape torturous mental device]] to allow him and his army to invade Central City. Trapped in the Speed Force by the Flash, Grodd later returns, empowered by the Speed Force's energy. Upon discovering that the apes have made peace with the humans, Grodd impales their new leader, Solovar, and slaughters dozens of humans and gorillas alike until they submit to his will. Grodd promptly sets up a [[EvilOverlord brutal dictatorship]], reducing the human population to slaves and killing anyone who even mildly questions his orders. Eventually growing bored of his victory, Grodd destroys Central City, reducing it to a burning wasteland. A merciless despot willing to kill both human and ape alike to serve his goals, Grodd was as much a savage beast inside as he was on the outside.

*** ComicBook/EobardThawne, a.k.a. Professor Zoom a.k.a. the Reverse-Flash, is the ArchEnemy of [[Characters/TheFlashBarryAllen Barry Allen]] and the one who killed his mother. Duplicating Barry's powers out of an obsession with him, Eobard attempted to replace him in life, and when rejected by the latter's wife, spitefully killed her, later forcing the pacifistic Barry to kill Eobard himself to save his then-fiancé from suffering the same fate. Resurrected, Eobard begins using his time travel powers to commit a litany of crimes, including pettily [[SiblingMurder murdering his own brother]] and [[SelfMadeOrphan parents]], as well as a rival and every single man who dated a woman he was interested in, eventually going back to her childhood to traumatize her for spurning him. Eobard, in another of his evil deeds, attempted to murder the children of ComicBook/WallyWest in front of their mother and murders Johnny Quick. Trying to force the also-resurrected Barry into becoming the Black Flash, Eobard continues carelessly shifting the time stream for no other purpose than to make Barry suffer, causing untold damage and agony in doing so, and torments Barry during the events of ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', even stating now that he is free from the effects of timeline changes he will murder Barry in the womb. A vile, [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] man who will [[NeverMyFault never admit to being at fault]], Eobard is Barry Allen's worst nightmare come to life.

*** [[Characters/TheFlashGorillaGrodd Grodd]], the most infamous criminal in the history of Gorilla City, was driven into exile after killing the city's benevolent leaders and ruthlessly plundered the mind of his friend Solovar to discover the secrets of mind control. Combining a ruthless brilliance with a gorilla's power, Grodd established himself as a feared player of the underworld. He would brutally murder anyone who stood in his way or just dispose of humans for the enjoyment, considering them far inferior to himself. Grodd's mental prowess is such that he enjoys dominating and twisting the minds of others to feral savagery or into sycophants for his ego. In battle, he is also highly sadistic - for example, crippling Hunter Zolomon, who recalled with terror how Grodd treated him like a toy he could break. To date, Grodd has made no fewer than eighteen attempts to completely wipe out all of humanity to purge what he sees as a lesser race.
*** ComicBook/EobardThawne, a.k.a. Professor Zoom a.k.a. the Reverse-Flash, is the ArchEnemy of Barry Allen and the one who killed his mother. Duplicating Barry's powers out of an obsession with him, Eobard attempted to replace him in life, and when rejected by the latter's wife, spitefully killed her, later forcing the pacifistic Barry to kill Eobard himself to save his then-fiancé from suffering the same fate. Resurrected, Eobard begins using his time travel powers to commit a litany of crimes, including pettily [[SiblingMurder murdering his own brother]] and [[SelfMadeOrphan parents]], as well as a rival and every single man who dated a woman he was interested in, eventually going back to her childhood to traumatize her for spurning him. Eobard, in another of his evil deeds, attempted to murder the children of ComicBook/WallyWest in front of their mother and murders Johnny Quick. Trying to force the also-resurrected Barry into becoming the Black Flash, Eobard continues carelessly shifting the time stream for no other purpose than to make Barry suffer, causing untold damage and agony in doing so, and torments Barry during the events of ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', even stating now that he is free from the effects of timeline changes he will murder Barry in the womb. A vile, [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] man who will [[NeverMyFault never admit to being at fault]], Eobard is Barry Allen's worst nightmare come to life.