History YMMV / TheFlash

* MemeticLoser: Barry Allen, ''especially'' thanks to adaptations, has increasingly became this. It comes down to a few points. Firstly, it is common knowledge (and not in a CommonKnowledge way) that Wally West is the faster and more successful Flash but Barry was pushed because he's a CreatorsPet, and it's his fault why the New 52 happened, so all the DarkerAndEdgier misery the other heroes suffered is entirely because of him (Dr. Manhattan retcon be-damned). Secondly, the TV series' over-reliance on the episodic formula of having Barry get beat up by the MonsterOfTheWeek once or twice, then during the climax have a pep-talk from his team mid-battle before he finally defeats them in a very anti-climatic way, has contributed to the popular perception that 'The Flash' is a whiny man-child who needs a pep-talk every week to do ''anything''. Thirdly, the [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse DCEU Flash]], also Barry Allen, has so far only had a single prominent appearance in a [[Film/JusticeLeague highly contested and financially under-performing instalment]], where he was depicted as the rookie of the team who's shown at one point literally ''tripping over his own feet'', making him appear completely incompetent and idiotic, not helped by his neurotic nature.

*** 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, selfish man who will [[NeverMyFault never admit to being at fault]], Eobard is Barry Allen's worst nightmare come to life.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: Much of Modern Barry has been structured around this, from giving him an angstier backstory to even exiling the Flash Family, as besides claims of UniquenessDecay, making him TheAloner allows him to angst about how nobody understands what it's like to experience time the way he does.

* Narm: The Flash using his speed often looked more ridiculous than cool in the Silver Age because of awkward posing. His first appearance on the cover art Showcase #4 is a good example, where Barry looks more like he's jogging than anything else.
* NarmCharm: The Speed Force Mantra that Johnny and Jesse use for their speed is ''ridiculous'' in concept, and was AdaptedOut of the [[Series/TheFlash2014 CW show]] to make Jesse just a straight-up DistaffCounterpart, but it gives them a distinct way to activate their powers, and after [[ReimaginingTheArtifact being reimagined as a placebo]], it ties in perfectly with the spiritualistic and psychosomatic nature of the Flash family's powers. Also, it's just kinda cool to [[ByThePowerOfGrayskull shout out a trigger phrase and kick-start their powers]], even if it's a ''math equation''.

** Underestimating the Rogues. See WhatMeasureIsANonBadass for more details, but the Rogues are a BadassNormal team who are surprisingly ''very'' powerful individually, due to how their gimmicks have been taken to such ridiculous extremes to compensate with the PowerCreepPowerSeep afforded to the Flash. Not understanding this, believing they're merely JokeCharacter IneffectualSympatheticVillain types, is an easy way to make Flash fans sigh.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: The Rogues are often subjected to this, though mostly from people who are unfamiliar with the core Flash comics. It's common for them to be assumed to be IneffectualSympatheticVillain, people that the Flash can deal with without a problem, mostly because they're largely normal men ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and]] [[SmurfettePrinciple Golden Glider]]), who only tend to commit robberies rather than anything more malicious, and are fighting against someone with SuperSpeed that can often get exaggerated to a ridiculous degree (the fact the Flash is a MemeticBadass among some circles because the general belief that SuperSpeed is a StoryBreakerPower doesn't help with this). What's overlooked is how ''ridiculously effective'' they actually are in a fight, [[BadassNormal despite their lack of superpowers]]. Part of this is just ignorance of the fact the Rogues' various gimmicks are, like the Flash's SuperSpeed, taken to a ridiculous degree, to the point they each individually range from being a OneManArmy (such as [[TheTrickster Trickster]], [[AnIcePerson Captain Cold]], or [[FragileSpeedster Golden Glider]]) to a PersonOfMassDestruction or PhysicalGod (like [[WeatherManipulation Weather Wizard]], [[RealityWarper Abra Kadabra]], or [[MagicMirror Mirror Master]]) and as a result end up effectively nullifying the advantage SuperSpeed gives. For instance, Cold's gimmick effectively makes him a ManOfKryptonite to the Flash, while Glider is shown being fast enough to effectively catch them by surprise, and Weather Wizard causes such a great deal of chaos during a fight the Flash has to concentrate more on ''containing'' their fight then actually fighting them, ''never mind'' how vaguely defined Mirror Master's abilities are, which he's weaponised to have basically god-like power. While they're goofy and [[AntiVillain genuinely sympathetic]], they are ''far'' from ineffective.

* 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 [[AscendedMeme 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).

*** 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. It's also not helped that, at least when drawn by Ethan Van Sciver, there was a significant amount of cleavage and a significant boost to her bust, while Brett Booth would draw it as a BareYourMidriff outfit.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' #1 for Wally West fans. The New 52 Wally West proved to be a ''very'' big ReplacementScrappy, and Wally fans just refused to accept him. ''Rebirth'' brings back the original Wally West while retconning the new Wally into the cousin of the original. It worked out really well, since Wally II (known from here on out as Wallace) is no longer Wally's replacement, meaning that classic Wally fans were much more willing to give Wallace a chance (it helps that his Jerkass tendencies were reigned in by this point). Wally's return also retconned back his history as Kid Flash, thereby retroactively making Bar Torr the second Kid Flash and Wallace the third, meaning even the legacy is intact! Turns out you can please them all!
** Dan Abnett's handling of Wally in ''ComicBook/TitansRebirth'' was particularly despised for how it removed his relationship with Linda Park, as well as how it neglected to give him ''any'' life outside of superheroics, while ''also'' keeping him out of appearing in ''The Flash''. So of course, the series eventually acknowledges this, before shipping Wally off to ''The Flash'' for a much hyped annual, where his new status quo in the Flash Family is set up.
** ''Flash War'' is both this and an AudienceAlienatingPremise rolled into one. On the one hand, it's ''finally'' going to move the plot along about Wally's family and the missing Speedsters, as well as being a storyline that puts ''primary'' focus on Wally West over Barry Allen. However, being that it's based on the premise of Wally and Barry turning on one another and deciding once and for all who's really the Fastest Man Alive between them, some are upset to see the two fighting, or are cynical about the chances of DC letting Wally actually ''win'' this given their favoritism towards Barry[[note]]the fact is, objectively Wally ''is'' faster, being that he's been billed as faster than Barry prior to Barry's return and even in ''The Flash: Rebirth'', it was shown explicitly that Wally was faster than Barry, and after ''DC Rebirth'' it was established that Wally has ''only gotten faster'' since, albeit at the cost of his health and no longer having the safety of Linda's love tethering him to reality. ''However'', some feel it's unlikely DC would ''respect'' that fact[[/note]]). Helping matters, the premise is about Hunter Zolomon manipulating the two, while solicits released for the upcoming issues indicate that they will unite together to defeat Zolomon once they find out what he's up to, and at the very least, it's cathartic to have Wally ''finally'' be able to tell Barry off for what he did to him.
** After Bart's history from the mid-00s onward (becoming Kid Flash, his flanderization after Barry comes back, getting erased from history and replaced with Bar-Tor), ''The Flash'' annual #3 not only brings him back, but as Impulse.
** The storyline "The Price" has Iris break up with Barry and leave Central City over Wally's apparent death in ''Heroes in Crisis''. After "Year One", she returns, since it turned out Wally wasn't dead after all, and she patches things up with Barry again.
** ''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 ''Rebirth'' 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.]]
** ''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 [[AudienceAlienatingEra everything that's happened to the franchise since 2006]].

* CharacterRerailment: Bart, when he [[BackFromTheDead returned from the dead]] in ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis'', got back his {{A|ttentionDeficitOohShiny}}DHD and FunPersonified nature.

** A contributing factor to Barry Allen's BaseBreakingCharacter status is how, despite there being ''several'' Flashes, he's the only one shown any love outside the comics since the 2000s. Having been the lead of [[Series/TheFlash1990 both]] [[Series/TheFlash2014 TV shows]], and [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse the Flash of the movie 'verse]], [[WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies along with the many DC animated movies]], fans of the other Flashes who could have at least ''tolerated'' Barry were miffed that DC insisted on adapting his story repeatedly over the others, ''especially'' Wally West, considering that Barry was also getting all the focus in the comics. The brief exceptions (the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse used Wally West, ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' used Bart/Impulse, and ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' features Wally West as Kid Flash) do little to help as they largely started before this trend occurred.

** Linda Park is largely agreed to be Wally West's {{OTP}} and very few people would ship him elsewhere [[note]]outside of fans of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' who naturally default to Artemis Crock, or the HoYay shippers for Wally/Dick[[/note]]. As such, people straight-up ''forget'' that Connie Noleski exists, or that Wally had originally been paired with Frankie Kane/Magenta, or his short-lived age-inappropriate romance with Tina [=McGee=], but if they do remember any of those, they still largely agree that Linda was the better match.

** For some reason there's a strange amount of arguments about Wally's animated adaptations being FunPersonified ChivalrousPervert types, due to a misconception that this personality was invented for the DCAU and so shouldn't be credited to Wally of the comics, or seen as the same character[[note]]mostly this amounts to discussions on if this "counts" as Wally being the "iconic" Flash during that time, because some believe that if the adaptational version isn't accurate to the comics it shouldn't be seen as the same character, and thus the "iconic" Flash isn't really Wally[[/note]]. Generally it's down to newer fans (read, nu!Barry fans) only being familiar with Wally post-''DC Rebirth'' and some snippets of Waid's run (because it's the run primarily recommended to people), and so they're unfamiliar with the Barron and Messner-Loeb run, where Wally was more of a cocky womanizer, and the fact Wally went through ''extensive'' CharacterDevelopment. This ''could'' be seen as adaptations playing NeverLiveItDown with Wally, since him chasing skirts was something he stopped doing once he began dating Linda back in 1992; Creator/GregWeisman, creator of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', has explicitly said he never read beyond Barron's run (which is why the Speed Force, Jesse Quick, and many other aspects are annexed), so he's only familiar with the Wally West on the 80s, which is why he's a cocky CasanovaWannabe in the show.

** Barry's death in ''Comicbook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.

* VanillaProtagonist: Barry is often seen as this. As a Silver Age character, there was never really much to him beyond "he had powers and wanted to be a hero", and as he died during the bronze age, he wasn't developed to the level the other Flash family are. As a result, when he returned, many found him quite boring, and the attempts to flesh his character out more haven't made him endearing. Also as a result of this, Barry ends up as the only member of the Flash Family to lack a 'niche'; Max Mercury is the OldMaster, Jay Garrick is the TeamDad, Wally is the DeadpanSnarker DynamicCharacter, Jesse Quick is TheChick and CoolBigSis, and Bart is the FunPersonified TagAlongKid. Conversely, Barry's not really got anything distinctive, so he just comes off as TheGenericGuy. This is likely a contributing factor to his return leading to them being ExiledFromContinuity, as he didn't really ''fit'' with the rest of them, and as a result it would make any story featuring them result in Barry being ignored and overlooked. Notably, whenever someone complains about the Flash Family's existence, they accuse them of making [[UniquenessDecay the Flash concept less special]], because apparently, the only thing Barry had going for him as a character was his powerset.

** Eobard Thawne's ability to subtly influence and hypnotize people using the Negative Speed Force, making him responsible for every OutOfCharacterMoment in the Rebirth era; it's never been indicated to be a power of his, it ahs absolutely nothing to do with other Speed Force powers, and its introduction is sloppy and cheap as a reveal.

** 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).

** A lot of the Rogues in general, especially since it contributes heavily to their poor reputation outside of the Flash fandom. No matter how cool he might be, Captain Cold is still a man dressed in an eskimo-furred blue bodysuit with a droopy hood, and its hard to really see him as particularly threatening based on that. Likewise, many of the others wear garish bodysuits that tend to be unflattering in their design, and as a result many of them have gone through redesigns over the years to make them more cooler looking.

** Minor character Fallout grieves over the deaths of his wife and daughter, who died when he tried to get close to them upon first transforming into [[EnergyBeings his]] [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear]] [[PowerIncontinence form]].

** Until they were made a DecompositeCharacter with DivergentCharacterEvolution, this was a major reaction to the New 52 version of Wally West, who became a biracial black kid instead of a red-head in his 20s like he'd been for decades. The issue is less about the RaceLift for the most part (and the fans who ''do'' have issue for that reason are a generally unpopular VocalMinority within the fandom), but the fact Wally is introduced as a petty criminal and AngryBlackMan, who outright hates the Flash, as well as being only twelve years old (and thus, not having any of his previous CharacterDevelopment or relationships). It was seen that the character was made as different as possible for seemingly no reason other than spite, and the portrayal of him after the race change was seen as relying so much on stereotypes and clichés that many felt the character became a racist caricature of black youth. What's more, the decision to change Wally West specifically has been criticized since redheaded males get very little representation outside of EvilRedhead or RedheadsAreUncool characters (all stemming from centuries-old prejudices) and are in real life a huge target for bullying, and while many understand the need for more black heroes there's concern about the fact redheaded heroes are being erased for it, not helped by the fact Wally's red hair is often used to insult him by people on the opposite side of the Flash FandomRivalry.

** Hunter Zolomon/Zoom, whose life is just messed up. His Dad was a serial killer who killed his mom, and things just got worse from there; at the FBI, his FatherToHisMen superior, who was also his father-in-law and mentor, was killed in action because of a mistake Hunter made, causing his marriage to break down and his promising career to be cut off, while also leaving him with a crippled knee. After moving to Keystone, he was ground zero for a number of supervillain attacks, leading to a ''brutal'' attack from Grodd that left him paralysed from the waist down, [[RevengeByProxy all because Grodd wanted to hurt Wally]]. Then even when he begged, Wally refused to use time travel to fix all this, and Hunter's own attempts turned him into Zoom. He's still a disturbed monster who takes enjoyment in hurting others, but it's because he's now convinced that MiseryBuildsCharacter and thinks he's actually ''helping'' heroes like Wally by attacking his wife.

%%ZCE** The Rogues, especially Captain Cold.
%%ZCE* EvilIsSexy:
%%** Blacksmith, pre-transformation at least.
%%** Golden Glider too, which was also in-universe; at one point she came onto Wally after he crashed on [[FriendlyEnemy the Snart's couch one night]], and Wally was ''very'' up for it.

%%* FashionVictimVillain:
%%** Rainbow Raider.
%%** A lot of the Rogues in general, especially since it contributes heavily to their poor reputation outside of the Flash fandom.

%%** Captain Cold and Golden Glider.
%%** Many Impulse fans see Inertia as this at the very least, based off the ''Mercury Falling'' arc. There's actually a good deal of alternate universe fanfic and fanart branching off from this point.
%%** Peek-a-Boo. She just wanted to help her sick father and her powers are the definition of BlessedWithSuck.
%%** Zoom, whose life is just messed up. It's even a stretch to call him a {{Jerkass}}, since he genuinely wants to help his friend, he just has such a twisted view of reality that his attempts to help end up being horrifying.

%%* LoveToHate: Eobard Thawne.

%%ZCE** Bart's brief tenure as the Flash, which was thankfully [[AuthorsSavingThrow reversed]].
%%** Even the Reverse-Flashes suffer from this. ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'' brought back Thawne, but ''Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge'' discarded the two new Reverse-Flashes, Zolomon and Inertia. It doesn't help that Thawne and Zolomon are very different characters.
%%ZCE** Patty Spivot for Iris West as Barry's love interest in the ComicBook/New52.
%%ZCE** The second Trickster for the first. Eventually, those that grew fond of the new Trickster felt this way about the first. It doesn't help that DC gave the Trickster a homophobia shtick once he went bad again, when he had never displayed it before, and was a friend of the Pied Piper's.

** As noted in MorePopularReplacement, Linda Park and Wally West's romance didn't actually start until 1992, after he had been the Flash for about half a decade. She also wasn't his first intended love interest, as he'd originally been paired with Connie Noleski and Frankie Kane, alongside a few other teased options, and in fact Linda was originally just conceived to be a hostile reporter who he just ended up gelling really well with. It wasn't until Waid took over that she was settled as ''the'' love interest.

*** Similarly, Eobard Thawne has long had a crush on Iris West, and has repeatedly tried to usurp Barry as her husband as part of his twisted attempts to replace him. Naturally this is ''not'' cool with people, especially as nowadays, much of Eobard's actions would look like AttemptedRape by fraud.

* ReplacementScrappy: Every single speedster has suffered this in someway. Jay Garrick is the only one with immunity, only because he was the first.
** Wally for Barry, at first.
** Bart's brief tenure as the Flash, which was thankfully [[AuthorsSavingThrow reversed]].
** Irey became Impulse in ''The Flash: Rebirth'' (and then proceeded to be essentially shooed offstage, another victim of ScheduleSlip, until the New 52 reboot erased her entirely). This irritated Bart Allen fans who remembered how much better he'd been written back when ''he'' was Impulse, before he was shoved into the Kid Flash role.
** Post-''Rebirth'', Barry for Wally. It also doesn't help that DC decided to [[DemotedToExtra demote Wally's role]] to the point where his current status in their new reboot wasn't even shown for two and a half years.
** Modern Barry also ends up being this for ''himself''; after returning, Barry got a new, DarkerAndEdgier backstory that was literally the result of a CosmicRetcon, as well as becoming responsible for a number of events that made him UnintentionallyUnsympathetic. By comparison, the classic character was liked by fans for being a martyr figure within the DCU, having been a dorky dad figure for Wally in flashbacks, and a few time-travel related events resulting in many LikeASonToMe moments that the new Barry lacks. The Barry that exists in the current comics, TV series, and movies is a far cry from the original, and for some fans, they'd prefer the original.

** Even the Reverse-Flashes suffer from this. ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'' brought back Thawne, but ''Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge'' discarded the two new Reverse-Flashes, Zolomon and Inertia. It doesn't help that Thawne and Zolomon are very different characters.
** Patty Spivot for Iris West as Barry's love interest in the ComicBook/New52.
** The second Trickster for the first. Eventually, those that grew fond of the new Trickster felt this way about the first. It doesn't help that DC gave the Trickster a homophobia shtick once he went bad again, when he had never displayed it before, and was a friend of the Pied Piper's.
** The New 52 Eobard Thawne is hated by fans of every Reverse-Flash, yes even fans of Eobard Thawne.
*** He's hated by Eobard Thawne fans because his motivation and backstory are just so contrived and stupid. Instead of making him a straight-up villain, the writers write him as someone who believes he is a good guy DependingOnTheWriter, since his characterization seems to change between issues, from someone who believes he's a good person to someone who's an asshole. His overall villain plan is full of plotholes and contrived reasoning, as opposed to Eobard who had the simple goal of fucking with Barry's life since he couldn't kill Barry. He's just poorly written in his motivation and personality, when the Pre-New 52 Eobard Thawne was written as a CompleteMonster, and delighted in how much of a prick he was.
*** Hunter Zolomon fans hate him because the New 52 Eobard is blatantly a poor attempt to blend both Pre-New 52 Eobard and Hunter into a single character, but with the Eobard traits dominating entirely. New 52 Thawne's powers and costume are more like Hunter's, when they never used to be. Not to mention that the New 52 already had someone with Hunter's powers -- along with general theme -- in Daniel West. At the same time, New 52 Eobard does not have anything else from Hunter; nothing to make him sympathetic or an excuse for his insanity, nor does he have an interesting relationship with the Flash.
*** Daniel West fans hate New 52 Eobard because DC promptly DroppedABridgeOnHim to make way for Eobard. Daniel didn't even get to die in the pages of ''The Flash'', he was offed in ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad''! Though the nature of his death lends itself ''very much'' to HesJustHiding, the fact that DC wasted Daniel, who had an interesting tie to the Flash in the form of the Wests, as well as a more sympathetic origin and potential for redemption pisses his fans off.

** Wally West, under William Messner-Loeb, Creator/MarkWaid and Creator/GrantMorrison.
*** And for that matter, New 52!Wally once ''DC Rebirth'' established that he and the classic Wally West are two different people. Though Josh Williamson's run is overall quite controversial, one element almost universally agreed upon is Wallace's CharacterDevelopment greatly improved under his pen.

** Jai and Irey, Wally's kids, have gotten this over time. Outside of the more fringe Barry fans who hate anything remotely Wally West related, a lot of the controversy around them initially has been forgotten due to fans having had worse to complain about, and their revival has been largely well-met for the HeartwarmingMoments it brings. Jeremy Adams' handling of them, where Wally has explicitly told them ''not'' to join him in superheroing, helps as it avoids them being a TagAlongKid type SpotlightStealingSquad.
* 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; in fact its something of a running gag that when they meet, Bart will immediately insult Wally, but then behind his back [[BigBrotherWorship will speak fondly of him]]). 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.]]

* EvilIsSexy: Blacksmith, pre-transformation at least. Golden Glider too, which was also in-universe; at one point she came onto Wally after he crashed on [[FriendlyEnemy the Snart's couch one night]], and Wally was ''very'' up for it.

* JerkassWoobie:
** Captain Cold and Golden Glider.
** Many Impulse fans see Inertia as this at the very least, based off the ''Mercury Falling'' arc. There's actually a good deal of alternate universe fanfic and fanart branching off from this point.
** Peek-a-Boo. She just wanted to help her sick father and her powers are the definition of BlessedWithSuck.
** Zoom, whose life is just messed up. It's even a stretch to call him a {{Jerkass}}, since he genuinely wants to help his friend, he just has such a twisted view of reality that his attempts to help end up being horrifying.
** Part of Wally's character arc is he ''starts'' like this; as Kid Flash he was the token jerk of the New Teen Titans and his initial arcs after becoming The Flash were him being a jerk to women and arguing with his mom. Over the course of Messner-Loeb's run, it became clear Wally's life was pretty miserable due to his shaky financial situation and the problems with his parents. By the end of Loeb's run, Wally had gone through enough character development that the Jerkass part had faded, allowing Waid to instead write him as a solid Woobie.

* LoveToHate: Eobard Thawne.

* 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. It doesn't help that, as this happened, Barry himself TookALevelInJerkass and became UnintentionallyUnsympathetic, making it hard to accept the loss of other beloved characters for his expense.

* HypeBacklash:
** On one side of the Barry-vs.-Wally fandom rivalry, this is the main issue for Barry fans (for Wally fans, see CreatorsPet). Newer fans of Barry, such as those introduced during/after his return, during the New 52 run, or from the TV series, have had this reaction to Wally; since so much praise is heaped on his tenure as ''the'' iconic Flash run, and many of his fans like to go on at-length about how great he was, some who don't connect to him as well tend to get pretty annoyed at his fanbase, and him in-turn, especially as he is far more abrasive and has a shorter temper than Barry. What didn't help was that, while he wasn't the only character erased by the New 52 (who ''all'' had fans clamoring, ''loudly'', for them to be restored), Wally was the one who got restored last[[note]]and while he ''did'' get introduced eventually in the New 52, it was so InNameOnly that they ended up having to reveal it was a separate character, not unlike what happened with Lobo; the only other character with even close to as much controversy for their reintroduction was Donna Troy, due to the fact she became a misandrist killer in what's considered probably the ''worst'' Wonder Woman run for years[[/note]], which meant that his fanbase grew louder and more tireless, and thus more obnoxious looking to outside viewers. There is also the fact that Wally's main appeal is he's an DynamicCharacter who went through extensive CharacterDevelopment during his run; while any random Barry story can tell you what you need about his character, Wally's character changed so much that it can be hard to pick up what was great about him from just a single story.
** When teased, Paradox's cell had a logo that could ''very'' easily be interpreted as referring to a second ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', and he's played up as one of the most dreaded things, to the point that Eobard stopping him is presented as a great act by the man. Turns out, he's just some random guy whose motivations are a retread of Hunter Zolomon's (ruined life he irrationally blames the Flash for thanks to his powers messing with his mind) and he wants to absorb the energy from the various Crises to fix things. His character was generic and served only as a vehicle for Joshua Williamson to further shit on Barry as a character, and his plan was utilised by him just casually showing up and killing people in the past.

* FashionVictimVillain:
** Rainbow Raider. To be fair, he's colorblind.
** A lot of the Rogues in general, especially since it contributes heavily to their poor reputation outside of the Flash fandom.

** Averted with the Speed Force. Some fans complain about its PlotTumor nature under the belief that it was ''always'' a convoluted PlotTumor, and are seemingly unaware that it functionally played little role in the Waid, Morrison, and Johns runs outside of ArcWelding the already-existing speedsters and handwaving the RequiredSecondaryPowers. However, after Bart Allen absorbed the entire Speed Force into himself, it became a mess of retcons and convoluted abilities that just got worse after, but these issues were ''not'' a problem when first introduced.

* EpilepticTrees:
** For some time now, fans have been eagerly awaiting a time where the Reverse-Flashes unite to form their own Reverse-Flash Family. Despite the fact every Flash has their own reverse[[note]]Edward Clarris/The Rival for Jay Garrick, Eobard Thawne/Professor Zoom for Barry Allen, Hunter Zolomon/Zoom for Wally West, Thaddeus Thawne/Inertia for Bart Allen[[/note]], and even the ones not included in the main legacy[[note]]Savitar is essentially Max Mercury's Reverse, and ''Dead Heat'' and ''Wonder Woman Plus Jesse Quick'' presented Christina Alexandranova as Jesse Quick's Reverse[[/note]], and yet, there's never been a story that united them all at once. Naturally, fans like to theorise what would bring them together, how they'd interact as a group, and what kind of antics they'd get up to when they're ''not'' trying to kill the Flash Family.
** There's speculation that Ross Malverk a crime boss from the Pre-Crisis Era who looked nigh identical to Barry Allen as noted in story, was really Malcolm Thawne/Cobolt Blue, Barry's EvilTwin.
** On this note, though Christina Alexandranova was presented as a rival for Jesse Quick, this only came up in ''Dead Heat'' and a single oneshot, and Christina seemed to have completely forgotten Jesse ''existed'' when she reappeared sometime later. As a result, it's not uncommon for fans to discuss and theorise what a ''Jesse Quick Reverse'' could be like.
** In the lead-up to ''Flashpoint'', Geoff Johns has Barry get infected by a specially devised mirror of Mirror Master's, which turns his regret about his mother into full-blown obsession, a fact which never comes up again even in ''Flashpoint'' itself. And at no point is Barry shown knowing about this, raising the possibility that ''all'' of Barry's toxic behavior post-2011 is still being influenced by that mirror.
** ''#761'' establishes that Thawne has been [[TheCorrupter secretly corrupting]] many characters for some time, and he's responsible for a good number of controversial character decisions in entire Rebirth period. However, he only specifies being behind about eight instances specifically[[note]]specifically, Jay remaining trapped in the Speed Force, Barry and Bruce not telling anyone about the missing Speedsters, Bart rejoining Young Justice instead of reconnecting with the Flash Family, Barry's selfishness during ''Perfect Storm'' and him abandoning Iris and Wallace, Wallace going along with Damian Wayne's atrocities in ''Teen Titans'', Wally and Barry fighting during ''Flash War'', and Wally's breakdown in ''Heroes in Crisis''[[/note]], but it's left open for fans to pretty much use him as a scapegoat for almost ''anything'', be it more expansive issues connected to the ones mentioned (such as being behind Damian's SanitySlippage in the first place, or Wally's snooping around in Sanctuary), to unrelated ones, such as Captain Cold's [[TookALevelInJerkass transformation into an unrepentant monster]], or even going all the way back and him being behind ''Flashpoint'' in the first place. Basically, 'It was Me, Barry!' is now ''canon'', so almost anything can be blamed on Thawne.
* EvilIsCool:
** The Rogues, especially Captain Cold.
** The Reverse-Flashes, especially Eobard and Hunter, are very well-liked by fans for being [[CreepyAwesome absolutely terrifying]] villains, since SuperSpeed has so many FridgeHorror applications for them to use. Snapping your fingers to create a sonic boom? Check. [[ItWasHisSled Going back in time to murder your enemies' loved ones?]] Check.

** Before that, there's Johns turning a lot of reformed Rogues evil again. Many feel that some were more interesting as a bunch of reformed anti-heroes. Others prefer them in their villainous roles and feel they're cooler as a bunch of AntiVillain types. A third group don't mind them going back to their villainous routes, but dislike that Johns had them lose their [[TrueCompanions friendship with Wally]] and gave a needless CerebusRetcon that turned them into victims of a botched MindRape attempt orchestrated by Barry Allen before his death.
** In a similar manner, Gorilla Grodd's transformation from a megalomaniac with MindOverMatter powers who happened to be a giant talking gorilla, into a savage giant gorilla with a bestial viciousness who happens to also have mind powers. Partially under Johns' pen (though he's not the only writer responsible), Grodd had his savagery dialled up until he became a vicious monster who can and will demolish opponents physically, and solves problems with brute force, with his mind powers being mostly so he can MindRape them after. For some fans, this is a RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap transformation that made a goofy character genuinely menacing. For others, however, Grodd lost his [[NarmCharm fun factor when he stopped trying to turn everyone into apes]], and feels like he TookALevelInDumbass as he seemingly forgets about his mind powers outside of using them for MindRape, and no longer engages in any kind of long-term planning, all just to make him DarkerAndEdgier.
** The Third Kid Flash, Wallace 'Ace' West, formerly known as Wally II due to being introduced as the New 52 version of Wally West before the original was returned. His introduction was controversial, [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap but after being reworked, many quickly warmed up to him]], particularly for his warmer relationship with Wally and his status as a major Woobie. However, some still don't care for him, finding his personality boring, and still holding lasting resentment for "replacing" the original Wally West (and to some extent, replacing Bart).
** Wally's kids, particularly the fact they joined in on the superheroics. For some they crossed the line into just having too many speedsters, while others ''liked'' that they brought a new chapter for Wally to tackle. Regardless, their erasure has prompted a significant backlash, indicating that many found them enjoyable enough to miss their loss. Even still, people were divided on if they wanted them restored alongside the rest of the Flash Family, or would prefer things be restored to an ''earlier'' point.

** In a similar regard, ''Heroes In Crisis''; with some exception the fandom is pretty much in agreement on the story's quality, but the split is in how it should be seen in regards to Wally's character. For some fans, it should be ''completely'' ignored and see it as a blatant attempt by DC (or to be more specific, ''Creator/DanDiDio'') to ruin Wally's character by making him responsible for a horrible tragedy so that they can cement Barry as the ''true'' Flash. For others, they hate it, but believe that there should be work made to ''fix'' it and restore Wally's character rather than just sweep it under the rug and forget it happened. Then, for some fringe pro-Barry fans, there's a strange tendency to ''celebrate'' the story to troll Wally fans as it now gives them their own ''Flashpoint'' to hold over Wally's head. Those who wanted it fixed instead of just ignored got their wish as the later issues of ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'' revealed Wally's attempt to cover it up was the result of Thawne influencing him and the first arc of ''ComicBook/TheFlashInfiniteFrontier'' revealed Wally wasn't even to blame at all, as the true cause of the explosion was Savitar.
** 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'' crossed the line, 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.
** Another minor one compared to everything else, but Jesse Quick's costume choices, particularly her tendency to wear leotards or short-shorts. For some, it's a cute, distinct, and sporty attire that's actually quite practical for a super speed character, while others find it too sexualised and feel the fact she alone dresses this way to be sexist. The fact she's the ''only'' female speedster who dresses this way however does counter some of the sexism claims, and it can be pointed as having basis in how female Olympic runners dress, but the fact artists tend to exaggerate how revealing it is detracts from these points. On the inverse, while she has some costumes that include pants (particularly her short-lived Flash costume, her Liberty Belle costume, and her Infinite Frontier-era costume), these come with their own hang-ups.

*** One particular sticking point is adding Nora Allen's death to Barry's backstory. For some, it is a horrible retcon that needlessly darkens Barry's character, is a total cliché that is done to death in comics, and unlike when Wally was given AbusiveParents (which rarely came up after Waid took over, but it is often compared to), it has ''swallowed'' Barry's character to the point it's rare for a story to not somehow relate to it or factor in his angst. For others though, particularly fans who were introduced in the GatewaySeries' that were built on it, they see it as something that gives Barry more "nuance" and tragedy as it shows even someone with a traumatic childhood can grow into an upbeat idealistic NiceGuy, while it also justifies any of his dickish moments. The divide seems to line up with the Wally-Barry divide, so this is in-part down to Barry fans who think it gives him the same depth Wally's been afforded, vs Wally fans who think it changed Barry from the idealized mentor he was depicted as previously, though there ''are'' Barry fans who hate that it's taken over his character.

** "Because Speed Force" has become a way of mocking the endless crap that happens because of the Speed Force for some reason or another. When Waid introduced it, it was just where the Flashes got their speed and granted them ''some'' extra abilities. Now? It can seemingly do whatever the writer wants.
** Depending on who you ask [[spoiler: Doctor Manhattan being revealed in Rebirth to be the one responsible for the continuity reboot]] is just a cheap way for writers to absolve Barry of any guilt for his involvement in said continuity reboot.

** Similarly, the 'other Forces' (Still Force, Strength Force, etc.), introduced during ''Flash War''. These ''could'' have been [[CanonWelding used to explain certain characters' abilities like the Speed Force did]][[note]]the Strength Force, for instance, could have explained Jai West's unique use of the Speed Force to generate muscle mass, or Liberty Belle and Jesse Quick's temporary bursts of SuperStrength[[/note]], but are instead treated as previously untapped resources and the way they work are at odds with anything from the DCU. They conflict with the aforementioned concept of the Speed Force being a fundamental aspect of reality, ''and'' the concept of it being created by Barry's accident.
** Eobard Thawne's ability to subtly influence and hypnotize people using the Negative Speed Force, making him responsible for every OutOfCharacterMoment in the Rebirth era; it's never been indicated to be a power of his, it ahs absolutely nothing to do with other Speed Force powers, and its introduction is sloppy and cheap as a reveal. However, it's mostly well-received as an AuthorsSavingThrow for redeeming Wally of his actions in ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'' as well as other similar things (potentially including unrelated events like Damian Wayne's controversial SanitySlippage in ''Teen Titans'', thanks to Wallace's compliance with it). While ''everybody'' knows how badly written it is, it speaks volumes that people are completely willing to accept it to salvage the characters.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[http://jimsbigego.bandcamp.com/track/the-ballad-of-barry-allen "The Ballad of Barry Allen" by Jim's Big Ego]]. Fun trivia, the singer of the band is Jim Infantino, nephew of Silver Age artist Carmine Infantino.

*** 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.