Characters / The Flash – The Flashes

The Flash Main Character Index
Title Character
The Flashes (Barry Allen | Wally West)
Supporting Characters
The Flash Family | Other Speedsters
Rogues Gallery
Evil Speedsters | The Reverse-Flashes (Eobard Thawne | Hunter Zolomon) | The Rogues

The Flashes

The Core Flash Family

From the top: Barry Allen, Jay Garrick, Wally West, Wallace "Ace" West and Bart Allen

All Flashes provide examples of the following tropes:

• Badass Family: Wally is Barry's nephew, and Bart is Barry's grandson. Barry also has his other granddaughter, XS, and Wally has his children Iris (Impulse II) and Jai. Jay and Max Mercury are considered to be adoptive grandpas of the West/Allen family. In fact, it's established that all future Flashes, John Fox aside, are either Wests or Allens. And that's without getting into the Thawnes, who are descended from Barry's Evil Twin, and who might be psychopathic, but are definitely badass.
  • Averted in the New 52. With Bart, "Bart Allen" isn't even his real name and he has no connection to the Speed Force. The new Kid Flash is Wally's cousin with the same name, but Iris and Barry's marriage seems to be one of the things that got lost, thus the Wallys are no longer related to Barry through marriage at the moment as well.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Jay Garrick (Brunette), Barry Allen (Blonde) and Wally West (Redhead).
• Cast from Calories: A common element of Flash related media is that the Flashes need to keep up a large and calorie rich diet due to their Super-Speed causing them to have insanely fast metabolisms. As a result, most of them tend to be Big Eaters.
• Chest Insignia: Always a lightning bolt, though Jay's has always looked different from Barry, Wally, and Bart's. On top of that, the Kid Flash insignia has always been red, and from Barry's return in Rebirth to Flashpoint, Wally changed his to resemble his DCAU costume to help differentiate from Barry's costume. After his return in DC Rebirth, Wally switched the yellow for silver and took out the white.
• Combat Pragmatist: While they aren't seasoned combatants like Batman, they have used their powers in resourceful ways that make up for their lack of martial arts prowess, including Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs, Tornado Move, and just all around distracting the enemy. Hell, Wally West once even used Oliver Queen's super-hot spicy chili as a weapon against Captain Cold.
• Family of Choice: The Flash Family as a whole is this to several of its members.
  • Barry Allen was always a loner, but after becoming the Flash saw Wally as his son. After his parents' retconned deaths, they become the family he's never had.
  • Wally was never close with his parents, and instead considers the Flash family his real family. Barry's his dad, Jesse like his overachieving sister, Max his cool uncle, Jay his grandpa, and Bart his annoying little brother (he's actually Wally's cousin).
  • Jesse Quick is established as largely estranged from her family beyond her father. She generally had zero personal life, being a workaholic, but came to see the Flash Family as family after the death of her father. Her falling out with her mother also contributed a bit, though they later reconciled.
  • Jay never had children so he sees the rest of them as the children he's never had.
  • Bart grew up without a father so he views Max as his dad. Max has children, namely his daughter Helen, but he loves Bart like a son too.
• Fast as Lightning: They are probably the most famous example of high speed and lightning motif coinciding.
• Fragile Speedster: Very fast, and their punches can hurt thanks to special relativity (called the "Infinite Mass Punch"), but their endurance is simply that of a normal peak-level athlete, though this is mitigated somewhat by their sped-up Healing Factor.
• Generational Saga: The Flash is a three parter generational saga in its own right: Jay Garrick (founder), Barry Allen (definer), Wally West (codifier).
• Generation Xerox: The Flashes tend to work with whoever's the main Green Lantern of their time. Jay is close friends with Alan Scott, Barry's best friend is Hal Jordan, and Wally was Fire-Forged Friends with Kyle Rayner.
• Grin of Audacity: Flashes are often seen with smiles on their faces, being poster boys for Nice Guy.
• Heroic Lineage: It is explicitly said, in the Post-Crisis timeline, that all future Flashes aside from John Fox are descendants of either Barry or Wally.
• Identically Powered Team: Naturally, since the thing that unites them is their mutual Super-Speed. Though despite this, they do all have ways they diversify their abilities and talents.
  • Wally mainlines the Speed Force, making him the most powerful, but on top of that he has learnt to manipulate and overcharge their Required Secondary Powers. For instance, he can generate "speed armour" by concentrating his speed aura until it becomes physical, forming his Flash suit with it, and he learnt to extend his super speed to other objects and people, either gifting people super-speed or making moving objects fly at higher speeds (and can even extend it to making chemicals react faster in a lab), as well as do the opposite, draining speed from people and objects until they become stationary.
  • Barry Allen lacks the understanding of the Speed Force itself to do either of these tricks, but he makes up for it via his understanding of real science, and thus is able to perform incredible tricks by applying his scientific knowledge and exploiting the logical effects of his speed. He can vibrate through solid matter better than the others, turn invisible, even rebuild himself, and then he can explain how he did it.
  • Jay lies somewhere between the two, being open-minded enough to have some baring of the Speed Force's other tricks but also being scientifically gifted enough to do the same tricks as Barry. His most unique skill, of all things, is his hat, which he's learnt to weaponise as a shield (it's bullet proof, and thus useful for catching bullets), can be thrown like a discus, and can even channel super-speed vibrations through it to use it as a weapon. He's also got the most fighting experience, due to being a WWII vet.
  • Bart has the most untapped potential, matching Wally for Speed and being way smarter than he seems. He unconsciously mastered phasing (something that's probably the hardest trick to do) on accident, and could create "Speed Scouts" somehow.
  • Jesse's unique duel-legacy gives her the unique additional power of short bouts of Super-Strength, though she rarely used it compared to her speed. Her training from her father also gave her the ability to fly, though again it only covers short distances and is, evidently, not as fast as her super speed. Still, these give her unique advantages the others lack.
• Legacy Character: The Flash has been a mantle carried out since World War II, starting with Jay Garrick. Later Barry Allen took the mantle. Upon his death, Wally West came in as Flash and this legacy has been said to go for many centuries to come in-universe wise. Although the New 52 erased Jay and Wally from the Flash lineage in favor of Barry Allen, DC Rebirth seems to be putting the Flash legacy at the center of the DC universe once again.
• Lightning Bruiser: With the Flashes representing the pinnacle of superhero speed, the lightning part isn't much of a surprise. The bruiser comes as one of the many side-benefits of superspeed. The faster a Flash moves, the closer his mass comes to infinity and with this the stronger his attacks become. At their highest speeds, they are capable of taking down Superman level opponenets, most famously Wally at lightspeed took out a white martian with a single punch that knocked him from one side of America to another.
• Like Brother and Sister: Most prominently, Wally, Jesse, and Bart. Though they're all Family of Choice, these three fell into a sibling-like dynamic, with Wally as The Ace older brother, Jesse as the studious middle child, and Bart as the Annoying Younger Sibling.
• Logical Weakness: Given their main power is Super-Speed, breaking or otherwise incapacitating one of their legs is a good way to significantly bring them down. Though they often have other powers relating to their speed, Depending on the Writer, so they aren't completely helpless if they can't run.
• Loved by All: They're so beloved that Central City built a museum dedicated to them, and most of the rogues even respect them as worthy opponents.
• Meta Origin: The Speed Force, the quasi-mystical energy source that powers all speedsters.
• Red Ones Go Faster: There's a reason The Flash is called the "Scarlet Speedster".
  • And out of all Flashes, who is the fastest? Answer: Wally West.
• Secret Legacy: Though not as well explored as their descendants, it's shown that Jay Garrick was not the first speedster. In fact, Old Master Max Mercury wasn't, either; he was bestowed his powers by the tribe he protected, but a jaunt in the Speed Force once showed Wally that there have been speedsters around in much earlier periods, including a knight in the middle ages, a pirate from the Golden Age Of Piracy, and others.
• Super-Speed: Naturally, this is their main power. Their standard cruising velocity has ranged from the speed of light (Pre-Crisis) to the speed of sound (Post-Crisis). And it's not just limited to running; all speedsters and similar speedsters can move any part of them fast down to the molecular level, making their Super-Speed a Swiss-Army Superpower, which gives them the following abilities:
  • Blow You Away: Manifests either as them running in small circles very quickly to create a large vortex, or by spinning their arms quickly to create a smaller vortex.
  • Healing Factor: Their ability to heal is sped up. It explains why Barry can quickly recover from being doused in several harmful chemicals. However, this was detrimental to Bart during his Knee-capping at the hands of Deathstroke.
  • Intangible Man: In the Silver Age and the New 52, by rapidly vibrating their molecules, they could be intangible for short bursts of time. Wally lost this ability in the old continuity, but his run into the Speed Force replaced it with the ability to disintegrate anything he vibrates through.
  • Invisibility: They can vibrate so fast that they can't be seen.
  • Megaton Punch: Exaggerated due to special relativity, as because the speedsters can punch past the speed of light, their fists attain infinite mass.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Being slapped more than 500 times in a minute sounds pretty painful for the Flashes' foes.
  • Super-Intelligence: It's not used or noticed frequently by the speedsters, but their brain processes are also sped up. This notably allows them the ability of Super-Speed Reading.
  • Super-Senses/Super-Reflexes: While running at Super-Speed, they can see, hear, and smell anything as easily as a normal human can at normal speed.
• Speed Demon:
  • The Flash family are known for living life at hyperspeed. They perform a day's worth of tasks in moments and sometimes tend to run ahead, leaving others behind in the dust. Among themselves, they can also talk at high speeds which sounds like gibberish to others.
  • Impulse, the grandson of Barry Allen is characterized by his Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! tendencies. He has no patience for anything, and cannot focus or sit still for the life of him, often resulting in him rushing into things with no regard for his own safety. Impulse is also known to do everything at super speed, including mundane tasks such as reading or buying donuts, and was originally introduced as aging at a speed that would have killed him if the Flash hadn't intervened.
• The Speedster: The Flashes are the Trope Namer and the Trope Codifier for this trope, with all of them possessing incredible speed.
• Three Successful Generations: In the Post-Crisis timeline, the Flash lineage goes for over centuries, but the ones who are iconic are the first three generations: Jay Garrick, Barry Allen and Wally West.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Most of the Flash family have, essentially, an unlimited amount of power, but only a vague understanding of how to use it.

The Flash I

The Flash I

^{Click here to see his Rebirth appearance}

Alter Ego: Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick

Species: Metahuman

First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 (January 1940)

We're going to get this done and we're going to do it fast. After all, it's how I'm used to doing things.

The original Flash. Jay Garrick was a college student who inhaled radioactive fumes in his science lab; after waking up from a brief coma, he found he had super-speed and fought crime as the Flash. Jay fought in World War II, was a founding member of the Justice Society of America, and became good friends with his fellow mystery man, Alan "Green Lantern" Scott. Jay retired as a result of the anti-Communist paranoia of the 1950s, but the appearance of Barry Allen as the new Flash brought him out of retirement, becoming a fatherly presence to the rest of the superhero community and one of its elder statesmen.

Like all Golden Age DC heroes, he was originally an inhabitant of Earth-2 in pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity. In fact, he was the first Golden Age hero to meet his Silver Age counterpart, Barry Allen, in one of the first instances of travel between universes. After the Crisis, the history of his world was merged with that of Earth-1 to create New Earth, and his history was folded over into the new continuity. Now, Jay and his generation were active in World War II before being sent to Limbo. When they returned, the JSA reformed as a way for the older generation to mentor the new. Jay also took an active hand in guiding Wally West, the third Flash and Barry's former protege, and the two would form a Flash Family together.

After the universe was altered as a result of Flashpoint, Jay was stuck in the Speed Force, and the Golden Age of heroes never existed due to changes to history. Eventually, after the figure responsible undoes the changes to the timeline, the Golden Age of heroes in the 1940s is restored, and Jay manages to free himself from the Speed Force. Now returned in the modern day, Jay is once again the Flash.

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• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Acts this way to Stargirl in the JSA again and again. He's personally chased off two suitors (Captain Marvel and a random fireman), and helped chase off Atom Smasher. Courtney does not appreciate this part of his personality.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: As a young man even before gaining powers, Jay was good-looking as well intellectually and athletically gifted, but didn't bother applying himself, which is why his future wife Joan wouldn't give him the time of day, since she knew he was wasting his potential.
• The Bus Came Back: After being rebooted out of existence in the New 52, and making some sporadic appearances after 2016, Jay finally fully returned in the tail end of 2019, after Doctor Manhattan undid his changes to the timeline.
• Can't Stay Normal: His story in Flash #750 has him in his prime wondering, what with World War 2 and all, whether he should just pack in the superheroics...only to admit that he and Joan both know he'd never manage it.
• Character Tics: Jay always tips his hat and smiles when he saves someone, even though they can't see him do it. It's a habit from the old days.
• Civvie Spandex: Wears blue jeans and a T-shirt with a lightning bolt sketched onto it.
• Cool Helmet: His iconic chrome kettle helmet with golden wings on the sides.
• Cool Old Guy: Everyone in the DCU respects the hell out of him, and he's known as being the most polite man ever. Dick Grayson once said Jay was his idol.
• Decomposite Character: In the New 52, he was initially rebooted to be Younger and Hipper and placed back on Earth-2; however with DC Rebirth it's revealed that the original version still exists in the main universe, and the Earth-2 version is a completely separate character.
• Dented Iron: Even with the Speed Force slowing his aging, Jay's still no spring chicken anymore, and can't push himself as fast as the other speedsters without suffering a Heroic RRoD. This does mean he got spared getting dragged onto a bus during Infinite Crisis, since he had to pull out of fighting Superboy-Prime early.
• Depending on the Artist: His hair color. In modern times, a lot of artists color his hair as grey with very grey temples. But others kept his grey hair brown. The very grey temples are a constant, though.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Initially, to Joan. He was handsome and muscular and all, but he wasn't a very physically able guy despite this. After he gets his superspeed, she reconsiders.
• Freak Lab Accident: Breathed in lots of hard water vapors and somehow got superspeed. It was the '40s.
• Glory Hound: When he first got his superspeed, he used it to... play football. It took about one match for Jay to realise this was a waste of his abilities.
• Happily Married: Over sixty years to boot.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: When recounting his origin story, he's even admitted the winged helmet is a little doofy. But hey, it's worked for decades.
  Jay: What the heck, I was twenty-one.
• Hetero Sexual Life Partners: With both Alan Scott and Ted Grant. Although the "Heterosexual" part for Alan is officially gone after coming out, the friendship part remains.
• Ideal Hero: Even more so than Superman, Jay is often considered the gold standard for what a hero should be, a kind, unfailingly polite man, a great mentor to younger heroes, a role model for his successors, and a person that has spent close to eighty years saving lives. Even Batman can't do anything but admire and respect him.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: According to one issue of JSA, Jay in the modern day tends to hold back while fighting because he's too busy looking out for the team's younger members. During a time-travel jaunt, Stargirl witnesses him in his prime, not holding back at all.
• I Was Quite a Looker: As a young man, Jay was quite handsome.
• The Klutz: Before he got his super speed. In fact, it's how the accident that gave him his powers happened in the first place. Jay decided to light up a cigarette in the lab (which was just asking for trouble anyhow), and knocked over some vials. And in his attempt to catch them, he knocked over even more... frankly, he was lucky to come out of that lab alive at all.
• Like a Son to Me: Sees Barry as his son and Wally I as his grandson.
• Mentor Archetype: Played this role to Wally West when he was the Flash. He's also this to the younger members of the JSA. He's also this to the superhero community in general, those are just the people he consistently mentors.
• Nice Guy: Wally West and Ted Grant both describe him as the most polite man alive. Beyond that, he's considered a father-figure to the superhero community, and a cool old guy as well.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed:
  • He's often drawn to look like Paul Newman.
  • During The Button, one panel has him drawn to look like John Wesley Shipp, the actor who portrays him in The Flash (2014).
• Older and Wiser: Initially introduced as kind of a Glory Hound, he grew out of it to be a hero. Post-Crisis, when he inhabits the same universe as other speedsters and one filled with more young heroes, he became more of a mentor character.
• Older Than They Look: Thanks to the Speed Force, he looks far younger than someone around his 90s.
• Papa Wolf: Is pretty protective of Stargirl, especially around men.
• Parental Substitute: To the superhero community as a whole, along with the original JSA founders. This was especially the case with the Flash family. Jay implies this is because he and Joan couldn't have kids, so he became a father a different way.
• Respected by the Respected: Pretty much all of the superhero community looks to this guy as a role-model. You know how respected this guy is? He's one of the very few people Batman will call "sir".
• Retcanon: Curiously, in 2020, he gains a redesign that makes him look more like his The Flash (2014) counterpart.
• Ret-Gone: Removed from the mainstream DCU with the New 52, becoming a resident of Earth-2, until Rebirth, where the classic version is revealed to still exist in the Speed Force.
• Science Hero: A laboratory director who saved Earth-2 with the help of Barry once.
• Silver Fox: Jay's quite good looking for an older fellow. Particularly one that was born in the 1910s. Mostly thanks to the Speed Force slowing his aging.
• Shipper on Deck: When Linda was retconned out of existence by Abra Kadabra, he admitted that he and the rest of the Flash family always wanted Wally and Jesse Chambers to get together.
• Trope Codifier: One of the very first "single power" superheroes. Any others around this time had multiple powers (like Superman), or none (like Batman).
• Took a Level in Kindness: As a young man in the Golden Age comics, Jay was a bit more brash, and quite enjoyed the attention he received as a hero, before becoming the extremely patient, polite mentor figure he is now.

The Flash II

Having discovered his mother murdered and his father blamed for the act, forensic scientist Barry Allen sought to clear his father's name and find the real killer. After being doused in chemicals and struck by lightning, Barry was granted the gift of super-speed. Now he protects his hometown of Central City as The Flash, the fastest man alive and founding member of the Justice League.

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See the tropes related to Barry on his own page here.

Kid Flash I / The Flash III

Coming from a broken household, Wally West's life changes for the better when he meets his idol the Flash. Gaining superspeed from a similar accident, he takes the Kid Flash name and becomes Barry Allen's first protegé. Following Barry's death, Wally decides to follow in his mentor's footsteps and becomes the new Flash.

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See the tropes related to Wally on his own page here.

Impulse I / Kid Flash II / The Flash IV

Impulse I / Kid Flash II / The Flash IV

Bart in the Post-Rebirth era

^{Click here to see Bart in the 90s}

^{Click here to see Bart as Kid Flash}

^{Click here to see Bart as the Flash}

^{Click here to see aged-up Bart}

Alter Ego: Bartholomew "Bart" Allen II

Species: Metahuman

First Appearance: The Flash vol. 2 #92 (June 1994)

"Bite patience!"

The grandson of the second Flash, Barry Allen, Bart Allen was the product of the union of the two Feuding Families: the West/Allen family and the Thawne family. He was born in the 30th century, and his connection to the Speed Force gave him Rapid Aging. Bart was also abducted by the Earth's government (whose president was his maternal grandfather) and raised in a fast-paced virtual environment where he could mature as fast as he aged. His grandmother, Iris, eventually took him back to present day where Wally West, the third Flash, gave him control over his Super-Speed which stabilised his ageing. After this, Bart took up the codename of Impulse, and moved to Alabama where he was raised by fellow speedster Max Mercury. He later became a founding member of Young Justice and close friends with Tim Drake (Robin III) and Conner Kent (Superboy).

After the dissolution of Young Justice, Bart later joined a new incarnation of the Teen Titans. After he was shot in the knee by Deathstroke, he took up the mantle of Kid Flash. After this, Bart became more troubled and eager to prove himself than he had prior. He was later absorbed into the Speed Force during Infinite Crisis to temporarily imprison Superboy-Prime in the Speed Force, and when he returned, aged four years older. After the apparent destruction of the Speed Force, Bart hid that he retained his powers, but circumstances saw him briefly become the fourth Flash. His career ended when his Evil Twin, Inertia, orchestrated Bart's death with the aid of the Rogues. During Final Crisis, he was restored back to life and de-aged, becoming Kid Flash once again.

This wouldn't last long, however — Bart sacrificed himself to repower his uncle during Flashpoint, all without his uncle's knowledge. Bart would be forgotten by the world, much like the rest of the Flash Family, when the universe was altered into its New 52 version. However, after a clash in the Speed Force between Barry, Wally and Hunter Zolomon, Bart was freed from the Speed Force and would return as Impulse.

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• Achievements in Ignorance: He accomplishes a lot by simply not knowing if something should be possible. In the Young Justice reboot, Amethyst explains how Dark Opal's gem is near impossible to steal, with one of the obstacles in their path being a maddening, Eldritch Abomination. Before she can finish, Bart races off, nabs the gem, returns, proves it's the real deal, and tells everyone that yes, he did see a mind-bending horror on the way.
• All Up to You: The premise of Bart Saves the Universe. After the time-travelling supervillain Extant tricks the Linear Men into messing up the timestream, Bart is the only one who can stop him since his nature as a Kid from the Future renders him a time anomaly who is unaffected by the Butterfly Effect Extant caused.
• Ancestral Name: Bart is short for Bartholomew, which is also the name of his grandfather and predecessor, Barry.
• Anime Hair: it's so large that you can actually pull or pick him up by the hair alone, if you're strong enough. He's quite protective of it, too. Walter West once quipped that it helps cushion him when he falls.
  Farohji (on one particular artist's interpretation of said hair): ...seems Bart's been trying a new hair product or something as his hair goes inexplicably curly-wavy when this guy's^note Ethan Van Sciver penciling.
• Art Evolution: In his First Appearance, he was almost as tall as adult Wally and quite muscular. In later comics, like Young Justice, he's much slimmer and is One Head Shorter than some of his teammates, like Superboy.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Due to his incredible super-speed, it's hard for anything to hold onto his attention for very long since things are always seem to be moving in slow motion relative to him. The only exceptions seem to be video games, food, and superheroics. Cured when he was kneecapped by Deathstroke, as he read every book in the San Francisco Libary while he recovered, but it came back with a vengeance when he came Back from the Dead in Final Crisis. Notably, all the Flash family display some signs of ADHD, but Bart has it so bad even they find it difficult to manage him.
• Back from the Dead: After dying at the hands of his Evil Knockoff Inertia, he came back in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's quite slow to anger, but do not try to hurt his family or friends, or you will regret it - as the Rival nearly found out.
• Beware the Silly Ones: His antics frequently make him a source of comic relief, and he's considerably less intimidating than the likes of Wally and Barry. Nevertheless, he is still a speedster very much capable of delivering a beatdown to anyone asking for it, and Superboy Prime fears him for a reason.
• Big Eater: Unless it's raw seafood, he'll eat it, no questions asked.
• Bland-Name Product: Many of the video games he plays are prone to this trope. In one issue, he was seen playing Poxy Monsters on what is obviously a Game Boy.
• Brainy Brunette: He's actually quite smart, even disregarding the photographic memory, it's simply that he has the attention span of a goldfish, his thought processes are unlike anyone else's, and he just plain hates schoolwork.
• Brutal Honesty/Bad Liar: this gets him into trouble more often than not, and when it is truthful, his Cloudcuckoolander tendencies often lead to said situation(s) becoming a Cassandra Truth.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Wally at first wanted Bart to be his successor as the Flash, but realised that Bart just doesn't care about learning to use his powers.
  Bart: Well...as long as they^note the schoolteachers know I can do better, I don't really see any sense in overdoing it...right?
• Calling the Old Man Out: In older comics where his home life tended to be focused on, Bart was known to occasionally have these moments in response to his caretakers behaving hypocritically in their treatment of him. Max and Wally also tended to be the caretakers in question, due to their and Bart's initial lack of mutual understanding resulting in much friction for a while.
• Characterisation Marches On: As much as Bart is regarded as the nicest and purest Speedster, he was a total jerk when first introduced, in part because of his VR upbringing left him severely socially underdeveloped. He physically assaulted Wally several times without provocation, resented authority, and held a grudge against Jesse for getting "promoted" above him even though she was trying to be a Cool Big Sis to him. He got better once his ongoing started and his lighter characterisation set in, but a big part of why Wally wasn't keen on mentoring him is how difficult it was for him to tolerate Bart's brattiness.
• Chest Insignia: As Kid Flash, his Kid Flash symbol was Wally's, but added a red and white circle. He also sported the regular Flash symbol when he was the Flash.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Post-Rebirth, he very rarely interacts with the Flash Family, and is more often involved with Young Justice. This is likely because, in his absence, his role as the teen sidekick to the Flash was filled by Ace West. His role as the Fun Personified Flash member was also occupied by Avery Ho, before Wally himself, as a result of coming to terms with his trauma, became this himself. The role of the reckless Flash Family member was also filled by Irey and (to a lesser extent) Jai West.
• Cloudcuckoolander: His non-superhero friends often call him "Daredevil" Allen, in part because of this. Does it look exciting? Screw safety concerns, he'll do it! He will be deadly serious if the situation calls for it, it's just that most of the time, it doesn't.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Being who he is, he’s had a long list of these including Max Mercury, Barry, Jesse Quick, Jay, Joan, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Connor Kent and Cassie Sandsmark. Tied for most frequent and prominent minder are Tim Drake and Wally.
• Comically Missing the Point: Happens fairly frequently. At one point, Secret tells him to count to ten, but amends it to ten million so he can meet his cue to act and won't speed count and dive in too early. Unfortunately, Impulse doesn't make his move at all, as he misses the point of counting so high and decides to see if he can get all the way to ten billion.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: During his Impulse days he's impulsive, ditzy, and can rarely seem to sit still long enough to accomplish anything that's not goofing off. But Bart is a speedster and the fastest boy alive who has saved all of reality on his own on multiple occasions when the Justice League, Teen Titans, and Young Justice are all incapacitated or unavailable.
• Cutting the Knot: The Riddler tries to make Bart solve his riddles in order to save Max Mercury and diffuse all the bombs around Manchester. But Bart isn't interested and just runs all over the city to find the bombs and deposits them in front of Riddler, neglecting to disarm them first, forcing Max to carry them away while Bart and Riddler are occupied with each other. Then subverted when Bart does end up solving Riddler's last two riddles, taking note of the pieces of paper on the ground to quickly reconstruct the answer with tape^note When is a riddle not a riddle? When it's a puzzle. and stops Evil Eye from accidentally shooting himself^note When is target shooting not target shooting. When it's trap shooting. with Riddler's trick gun.
• Dead Guy Junior: It's not obvious because both Bart and Barry go by different nicknames, but there you go.
• Deadpan Snarker: Low-key, since he prefers to be straightforward about what he says, but when it's there, you can't miss it.
• Disappeared Dad: Has more than one.
  • Bart isn't particularly well acquainted with his biological father, Don, as a result of Zoom's efforts to destroy the union between the Thawne and Allen families, and has only met him briefly.
  • Max was appointed to be Bart's guardian after he arrived in the present day, with Bart eventually looking up to him as a surrogate father. Unfortunately, Max later gets absorbed into the Speedforce and disappears, much to the younger speedster's grief, and the two do not reunite until *much* later. When Max vanishes again, Bart does *not* take it well and is livid with Wally for seemingly not taking the incident seriously.
• Ditzy Genius: He's actually pretty good at computer technology and he has the strongest memory in the Flash Family; he can remember just about anything he reads in high speeds. But he's also easily distracted and needs to be coerced into sitting still.
• Does Not Like Spam: While he'll dig into almost everything, he draws the line at raw fish, which he finds impossible to stomach.
• Don't Call Me "Sir": His speed clones tend to call him "boss". A Running Gag is that they continue doing so even after he tells them to stop.
• Doppelganger Link: At one point, Bart acquired the ability to create energy duplicates of himself. One of them died during Our Worlds at War, causing Bart to go into psychic shock.
• The Dreaded: To Superboy-Prime, who is absolutely terrified of him and will flee from him on sight thanks to the time when Bart helped throw him into the Speed Force.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: The main reason he read the entire San Francisco Library and became Kid Flash II.
• Fire-Forged Friends: His relationship with Wally used to be awful- as Wally would often project his own issues onto him and have little patience for Bart, who in turn would resent the authority his cousin had over him and act out. However, overtime the heroes grew from insulting each other on sight to occasionally fighting side-by-side, with Wally even subjecting Inertia to a Fate Worse than Death in retaliation for killing Bart.
• First-Name Basis: With Barry, because being called "Grandpa" weirded him out.
• Freudian Trio: The Id to Kon's ego and Tim's Superego. Lampshaded in Young Justice.
• Fun Personified: Initially as Impulse through-and-through. When he became Kid Flash, he had some Angst added to his personality but still retained some of his fun factor. The fun factor disappeared entirely when he became the Flash, but when he was revived as Kid Flash, he regained all of his fun from his Impulse days.
• Hair Color Dissonance: Is it chocolate brown? Light brown? Auburn? Red? Did it get lighter with age? It does at least have an "autumn leaves" theme going for it...
• Heroes Love Dogs: He has a pet Jack Russell Terrier named Dox, who unfortunately hasn't been seen since Impulse #89.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In Flashpoint, he sacrifices himself to become the bolt of lightning that gives Barry his speed back.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With both Tim Drake and Conner Kent.
• Hot-Blooded: He definitely wears his heart on his sleeve.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: When he was aged up and became the Flash. A total 180 from his "normal" portrayal. Fortunately, it didn't stick.
• Imagine Spot: His thoughts tend to be drawn as pictures rather than written out in words. For instance, while brainstorming a way to beat back Bedlam's powers, his thought bubbles are filled with all of his gaming consoles.
• Parental Substitute: Max acts as this due to Bart's father being dead and mother unable to visit him from the future. Max even acknowledges this, with Max telling Bart he's "like a son to [him.]"
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: He's the most selfless speedster you may ever meet. Not even his "saint" grandfather could hold a candle.
• Intangibility: He and Max practice the ability to vibrate their molecules at super speed to pass through objects. This means that Bart is virtually untouchable unless he wants to be or is caught off guard, and he can penetrate any facility simply by walking through the walls.
• Intergenerational Friendship: His bond with Max aside, which is more Like a Son to Me, Bart is really close to Linda, Wally's girlfriend-turned-wife; they were often seen playing video games together during family get-togethers, she would play along with his imaginary games, and when Linda was erased from everyone's memories, Bart alone was able to remember her, and thus provided a means for them to rescue her. Joan Garrick once commented that one of the things she loves about Linda is how she has the best ability to manage him.
• It Makes Sense in Context: One villain's description of his encounter with Bart: "And then he caught all the grenades, and then he took them away, and then he brought me a fish, and then he pulled me into my pocket, and then he made me eat a bracelet, and then he..."
• Keet: Before his Character Development.
• Kid from the Future: He's the Wally West's (the Flash III) cousin from the 30th Century, and the grandson of Barry Allen (the Flash II) who had spent a long time in the 30th Century before his death. Bart is also technically also the great-great-great (you know how this goes) grandson of Eobard Thawne (the Reverse-Flash I) on his mother's side.
• Knee-capping: A victim of it shortly after he joined the Teen Titans. The surgery to remove the bullet was the most painful experience in his life, as he kept burning through the anesthetic.
• Legacy Character: He's a successor to Wally as Kid Flash and also briefly as the Flash.
• Long Lost Sibling: To Captain Boomerang II, on his mother's side.
• Morality Pet: After Inertia was responsible for Bart's death, Bart's memory served as one for Wally; witnessing just how smug Inertia was about his cousin's death, Wally mused that he was fantasing about smashing Inertia against a mountain at well over a hundred miles an hour to kill him in turn, but despite acknowledging that Inertia was "an irredeemable sociopath with Bart's face", his connection to Bart was the only thing that stopped Wally killing him.
• Motor Mouth: This usually gets him into trouble, since he just blurts it out without thinking (obviously!). How big of a Motor Mouth is he? He annoyed The Joker (albeit a child copy of the original) to frustration! That has to count for something. Young Justice Issue #31, titled "Quiet!", lampshades this, with nearly the entire comic book being devoid of words as Impulse attempts to pester Superboy into hanging out with him before running out to find something else to do, only to be shushed by a movie crew, a librarian's convention, and a bunch of monks who had taken a vow of silence, in rapid succession.
• Naughty Is Good: Bart is very much a Nice Guy, but he's mischievous, impatient, and a thrill-seeker by nature, causing him to start trouble when he runs off in search of something to do.
• Pardon My Klingon: In his confusion on arriving in the post-Rebirth continuity, he lets out an annoyed "sprok".
• Personality Powers: Most definitely! Essentially, he's a complete 180° of his grandfather; where Barry tends to plan things before he acts (and very orderly), Bart will leap into a situation, barely thinking about anything (and very messy).
• Photographic Memory: He can remember anything he reads at superspeed. He read the entire San Francisco Library to impress Wally once!
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Infinite Crisis did this to him via spending four years in an alternate dimension accessed via the Speed Force, thus turning him into someone old enough to be the new Flash (after spending a while Refusing the Call) while Wally and his family were on another planet. After Inertia put the Rogues together and killed him, but he gers ressurected in Legion of 3 Worlds.
• Power Incontinence: In the 2006 series, using the Speed Force took a toll on his health. He got over it.
• Power Trio: With Tim Drake (Robin III) and Kon-El (Superboy). The three were already close friends before starting Young Justice.
• Put on a Bus: Died in Flashpoint to repower Barry and hasn't been seen since.
  • The Bus Came Back: Comes back in Flash War.
• Rapid Aging: When he was born, his Speed Force connection did this to him. He was physically a teenager when he was chronologically two years old. His grandmother Iris later took him to the present day in order for Wally to "speed-steal" his Rapid Aging.
• Red Is Heroic: Less prominent than his grandfather or first cousin, but his costume as Impulse is white with red straight down the torso and legs.
• Replacement Flat Character: By loose definition of 'flat'. Wally West was portrayed in Post-Crisis as being very impulsive and immature in Barron and Messner-Loeb's runs, though he grows out of it and his impulsive behaviour straightened out. Bart comes along and is everything Wally used to be maxed out - impulsive, reckless, childish, and not at all taking anything seriously. This is repeatedly lampshaded, as Wally specifically cites the fact Bart reminds him of himself as a youth as why he has so much friction with him.
• Ship Tease: With Ravager in the Teen Titans.
• Sidekick: Actually defied by him. He initially laughs at the idea of becoming Kid Flash and Wally's sidekick, becoming the independent hero Impulse. When he did become Kid Flash, he still proclaimed that Wally would live in his shadow.
• Sidekick Graduations Stick:
  • What happens when it doesn't work — he was made Kid Flash II due to Executive Meddling, and both fans, creator and the very writer who was made to do it were extremely displeased, to put it politely.
  • It happened a second time when he became the Flash, again something Geoff Johns was forced to do. Ultimately, it didn't really stick as when Bart was brought back to life in Legion of 3 Worlds, he was de-aged and returned to being Kid Flash, but with his Impulse personality. Later still, when he was brought back in Flash War, he returned to being Impulse.
• Smarter Than You Look: Thanks to his Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! tendencies and unusual way of thinking, Bart is frequently written off as an airheaded Cloud Cuckoo Lander by other characters. However, underneath he's shown to be something of a Ditzy Genius, being capable of making and successfully executing his own plans as well as acquiring complex skills in a matter of seconds by reading.
  Max Mercury: Bart's not stupid. He's actually quite bright. You just have to pretend he's a Mars rover. He works best when he's given one suggestion at a time. In sequential order.
• Snap Back: One of the most prominent and extreme cases. After becoming Kid Flash, then the Flash, then Kid Flash again and then disappearing altogether, Bart was brought back in “Flash War”. When he returned he was younger than he was as Kid Flash, sporting the Impulse costume had the personality he had when he was Impulse. This was all to serve as a return to classic form for Bart.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Another character marker for Bart (who is part of said bloodline); that's why his goggles are the same yellow shade, to hide his eye color (although that hair should've busted his identity right then and there...). Unlike most examples, it serves to enhance his idealistic personality, and Meloni's nickname for him — "Sunshine" — sums it up best.
• Super-Speed Reading: Capable of doing this and remembering it all. This is actually quite notable, as Wally is surprised Bart can actually acquire knowledge this way, since speed-reading is not a unique skill for speedsters but retaining the information is.
• Sweet Home Alabama: He was sent to live in Manchester, Alabama (which is real, despite what Impulse #1 claims) with his mentor Max Mercury (Max specifically chose it for reasons made clear in issue 16). This is deliberate; the series is based off Mark Waid's childhood in the South.
• Taking Up the Mantle: Initially defied at first when Wally offered Bart to become Kid Flash, as he became Impulse, an independent hero, instead. He eventually took up the Kid Flash mantle when he overheard Jay and Wally's concern that he wouldn't be able to live up to the legacy. Wally also secretly wanted Bart to succeed him as the Flash, something Bart wanted at the time. Years later, he would become the fourth Flash while Wally and his family were gone.
• Tangled Family Tree: Scion of the Feuding Families of the Flash mythos, and if Zoom's comments are anything to go by, the cause of said feud! Bart is the main reason people find the Flash family tree so confusing, mostly because of a) time travel and b) he's where most of the important bloodlines converge.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With his older cousin Wally under some writers.
• Theme Naming: Skip to Inertia's entry for the full explanation
• Too Much Alike: The main reason him and Wally tend to butt heads so much is they're very alike; impulsive, reckless, quick to anger, and somewhat lacking in maturity, while also having Hidden Depths concerning insecurities and a desire to be respected. These are traits that make it easy to create friction with others, and naturally them both having them causes problems.
  • Word of God states that this is the reason why Wally would not make a good mentor to Bart.
• True Companions: Bart, Kon-el, Tim and Cassie are each others closest and most trusted friends.
• Tyke-Bomb: What he was supposed to be. Thankfully, he fled before that could happen.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • How many writers portray his relationship with his older cousin Wally. The two very clearly care for each other a great deal, but both the similarities and differences in them cause them to butt heads frequently and they often get locked into Snark-to-Snark Combat.
  • He also slips into this with male best friends Kon-El/Conner Kent and Tim Drake on occasion, as the three of them enjoy teasing each other a great deal.
  • And Jesse too, who he really loves to be an Annoying Younger Sibling to, but it's clear they see each other as Like Brother and Sister and work together well.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy:
  • Thinks the reason Barry is always busy is because he's uncomfortable around Bart, who just wants to have a relationship with his grandfather.
  • He's like this to the other Flashes, Jay and Wally, as he took up the Kid Flash identity mainly because he overheard their conversation of Bart not being able to live up to the Flash legacy. In fact, long before that, he is absolutely pissed when Wally picks Jesse Chambers as his Flash successor.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Since Infinite Crisis, Superboy-Prime has displayed a fear of speedsters, Bart especially.
• Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Along with fitting the "trickster" personality type, it also serves as a character marker. It's probably why Meloni calls him "sunshine", since he's bright and optimistic - kinda like the sun on a good day, and the eyes reflect that. Only rarely do they turn a fierce red-orange - if that happens, then you know he's not playing around anymore.
• Younger Than They Look: In a sense. Bart lived an accelerated pace with aging to match. Though he may only be a few years old, he has lived 15-16 years (though the first 12 were spent in a accelerated VR in the future). The trope was completely true once when he suddenly aged to 20 for his brief run as the Flash (he got better.)
• Your Days Are Numbered: According to Legion of Three Worlds, Bart's brief stint as the Flash was killing him quickly enough that even if the Rogues hadn't done him in, he'd still have died in short order anyway. Fortunately, three Braniac 5s are enough to fix that one, and Bart comes back with a clean bill of health.

Kid Flash III

Kid Flash III

Alter Ego: Wallace "Ace" West III

Species: Metahuman

First Appearance: The Flash vol. 4 Annual #3 (June 2014)

"I've been given a shot — the opportunity to be great, super — and I'm not going to screw this up."

Appearing after Flashpoint as a biproduct of changes to the timeline, Wallace is the mixed-race nephew of Iris West. Wallace's father, Daniel West (Iris' younger brother), abandoned him and his mother shortly after he was born. Wallace was raised to believe that Rudy West was his father, and that his "uncle" Daniel was just checking up on him. Wallace grew up to become a delinquent, and Iris requested for Barry to take him under his wing so that he could finally have a father-figure in his life. Wallace is the cousin of Wally West, both named after their great-grandfather.

When a future incarnation of Wallace travels to the past to fight an evil future version of Barry, Wallace winds up imbued with a part of his future self's powers, albeit in an unstable way. Initially keeping his powers secret, when a Speed Force storm hit Central City, Wallace was connected to the Speed Force in full and assisted the Flash in defeating the villain Godspeed. This saw Wallace become the third Kid Flash, and adopt the Flash as his mentor. During this time, Wallace would be kidnapped by Damian Wayne to join the new Teen Titans. The team does eventually form under Damian's leadership.

Wallace would eventually learn that Daniel West is his father and was the third Reverse-Flash, knowledge that makes Wallace doubt his self-worth. Also learning that Barry Allen is the Flash, Wallace's faith is shaken and, seeking a father figure, he briefly bonds with Slade Wilson. Wallace went on to join Deathstroke's new team of superheroes, Defiance, although secretly acting as The Mole along with Tanya Spears. After the dissolution of Deathstroke's team, Wallace returned to the Teen Titans and developed a relationship with Emiko Queen. Wallace would also return to Central City, reconciling with Barry, meeting his older cousin and developing a partnership with Avery Ho, the Flash of China.

After Damian's team disbands and Barry leaves to explore the multiverse, Wallace becomes a student at Teen Titans Academy alongside what remained of his team. He eventually began being mentored by his cousin Wally, whose trolling antics force Wallace to step up as Wally's partner. Around this time is also when Wally reminded Wallace of his Embarrassing Nickname of "Ace" from their childhood, something he began going by.

---

• Affirmative-Action Legacy: He's the first black (half-black, at least) Kid Flash.
• Age Lift: He was introduced as 12 years old, but in Rebirth he's explicitly 16 years old, which makes his relationship to Daniel (introduced as explicitly 23, with the time in between taking up two years at best) all the more confusing. This is borderline Depending on the Writer territory at this point; Deathstroke and the new Adam Glass' Teen Titans run refer to him as being 14 years old. In Infinite Frontier, after the entire DC Universe was aged somewhat in a reversal of the New 52 Age Lift, and with Barry now appearing to be in his 40s and Wally in his late 20s, Wallace is always depicted as being an older teen.
• Backstory Invader: He was initially supposed to be the Wally West, but due to poor fan reception and complaints of racism over his handling he was made a separate character while the original Wally was restored. Wallace was at first explained away as a cousin of the original Wally, but then it was confirmed Wallace never existed before Flashpoint and he was inserted into the DCU as a byproduct of what Barry and Doctor Manhattan did to the timeline. There's also a good chance most of the memories of Wallace as a child never happened except in everyone's minds.
• Berserk Button:
  • He has a very distinct dislike of liars. Considering he was lied to for his whole life in regards to who his true father is, and has been lied to and manipulated by others on multiple occasions, it's understandable that he's gained this as a berserk button. Unfortunately, this has started to put him at odds with Barry, who's a bit of a chronic liar.
  • The existence of the Suicide Squad/Task Force X is one as well. Considering that his estranged father died during one of their missions and that they often act as Waller's glorified (and arguably enslaved) hitmen, it's little wonder why he hates even the concept of the group as much as he does.
• Calling the Old Man Out: One of his defining traits as Kid Flash is that he will call out Barry for his mistakes and make him own up to them. Whether that be his secret identity, neglect of his friends and family or causing Flashpoint, Wallace isn't afraid to take Barry to task.
• Characterization Marches On: His initial introduction as a Delinquent who looks up to his criminal uncle and hates superheroes is mostly ignored afterward after that run's conclusion. Instead, writers shifted to focusing on his daddy issues, while his personality fluctuated a bit. It was eventually settled on that he's a serious, highly strung guy with daddy issues.
• Chest Insignia: He uses the Bart Allen Kid Flash symbol.
• Child Prodigy: He's said to be really good with mechanics and cars. At age 13. This is somewhat subverted with Rebirth where Iris says his grades are not well since he became Kid Flash.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Though he shared the same name as the original Wally West, he has next to nothing in common with him. Unlike his cousin, he ended up with Iris under tragic circumstances, not simply because he was a fan of the Flash, and actually didn't like the Flash at first. He was very anti-authority, grew up in the inner city, and had mild problems with the law, whereas at worst Wally was mischievous as a kid but never got into trouble. He disliked Barry due to Barry being a cop, but the two became closer long before he found out Barry was the Flash, and finding this out actually caused problems for their relationship. And this is all before he went through Divergent Character Evolution.
• Cosmic Retcon: Between The Button and Flash War, it's revealed Wallace's very existence was the result of Dr. Manhattan's machinations.
• Covert Pervert: When Slade Wilson discovers his audio diaries, we find out he's been eyeing Terra, Rose Wilson, and Tanya Spears, and specifically points to Tanya's butt. Slade being Slade, he plays the diary in front of the team.
• Dark Is Not Evil:
  • His original costume design seemed to invoke this. His costume was dominantly a metallic silver and black with red accents and could have believably been put on a villain. Wally, however, was clearly being set up to be a somewhat troubled kid who'd grow into a heroic role rather than a villainous one. This is later averted, as he switches to the classic Kid Flash design post-Rebirth.
  • There's also the fact that he's been depicted with red lightning following him as he runs. As any Flash fan can tell you this is usually a sign of an evil speedster. (The good ones fluctuate between producing either yellow or blue lightning depending on the story.) Wally however is ultimately a good person at heart.
• Darker and Edgier: When Wallace was intended to be Wally, he was essentially a darker take on Wally, attempting to throw curve balls into the original Wally's character by subverting certain traits he had.
  • Instead of coming from a home where he was emotionally and sometimes physically abused like the original Wally, Wallace comes from a broken home where his dad ran out on him and his mother is killed soon before his introduction.
  • Rather than admiring his cool aunt Iris who is the only positive role model in his life before he meets the Flash, Wallace admires his uncle Daniel, who is a known criminal and later serial killer and supervillain.
  • Where the original Wally was a Flash fanboy, Wallace outright hated the Flash for locking up his uncle, who, let it be reminded, totally deserved it.
• Dead Guy Junior: Retconned in Rebirth to be named after his great-grandfather along with Wally.
• Deadpan Snarker: A trait he shares with his cousin Wally. He's turning out to be one of the snarkier members of the post-Rebirth Teen Titans, which has gotten him in Beast Boy's good books pretty quickly.
• Decomposite Character: DC Rebirth reveals he's a separate character from the original Wally.
• Delinquent: In his introduction, he's putting graffiti on the recovering Central City and has had run-ins with the law. It hasn't been mentioned since, with focus instead shifting to his lack of a father figure.
• Demoted to Extra: Zig-zagged. Wallace was first introduced as the reimagination of the original Wally West above, who is one of the most important members of the Flash family. This faced a huge backlash due to several reasons and so Wallace wasn't used a lot after his introduction, just sort of being a character for Iris to talk to. Later on, DC Rebirth revealed that he wasn't the "real" Wally West but his cousin with the same name instead. Wallace then became Kid Flash and a prominent character in both The Flash and Teen Titans, which is more than he received before. However, Infinite Frontier saw him demoted again, with him being a minor character in Teen Titans Academy, though he eventually was featured more heavily in The Flash has Wally's partner.
• Depending on the Artist:
  • Currently his eye-color fluctuates between brown and blue fairly often, but the staple seems to be brown.
  • His inconsistent age reflects badly on artists as well, even though he's supposed to be 13-14 years old at best, some draw him as 16 years old and some artists make him come off looking like an adult, standing almost as tall as Barry. Come Infinite Frontier and the Age Lift everyone's had, he's just a few inches shy of Barry and Wally, though he's also been given a noticeable age lift of his own.
• Disappeared Dad: His dad abandoned him as a baby. Retconned post-Rebirth, where it turns out that Daniel West is his father and simply didn't tell him.
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Ace", a nickname the West family call him because, as a child, he insisted he could do everything better than them. They let him do it for a day... and he screwed up at everything, so they dubbed him Ace West. Wally still calls him Ace when not calling him Kid Flash.
• Family Relationship Switcheroo: He grew up believing Daniel West was his Cool Uncle and Rudy was his father. Turns out Daniel is his father. He didn't take the reveal well. However, later stories would indicate he was as much a part of the West family as Wally and was familiar with Wally (Rudy's real son), so how this even worked isn't clear.
• Fatal Flaw: He's very quick to latch onto father figures in his life, and doesn't take it well when they let him down. He severely resents his "father" Rudy when he thought Rudy ran out on him and his mother. When he discovers that Daniel is his father, he's determined to know why Daniel never told him, and he worries that the reason is that there's something wrong with him. He later sees the Flash as his father figure, and is very upset to learn that the Flash is Barry Allen and has been lying to him and Iris. After that, he briefly sees a civilian Slade Wilson as a father figure, and is upset to learn that Slade is the supervillain Deathstroke, by which point he's sort of aware of the habit. Once Barry leaves for the multiverse and is lost to the Great Darkness, Ace confides in Wally that he feels that Barry doesn't care about him, especially in comparison to how much he cares for Wally, but Wally lets Ace know that Barry getting lost in his work isn't anything new, nor is him being stern.
• Flanderization: While Wallace is still as much of a Wide-Eyed Idealist as the other Flashes, he is really cocky and self-absorbed ever since joining the newest incarnation of the Teen Titans. He now devotes half of his attention recording himself during missions to post online. Wallace gets a What the Hell, Hero? from Red Arrow, but he just brushes her off.
• Future Badass: His The New 52: Futures End counterpart became the Flash and could time travel under his own power.
• Horrible Judge of Character: A recurring trend for the kid. He looked up to his uncle Daniel even though he was a criminal, and continued to look up to him even after it was publicly known that he was the Reverse-Flash (this may have been retconned out of his history as of Rebirth). He also thought of Slade Wilson as a nice guy until he found out he was Deathstroke, wherein he thought "not again!" Except it did happen again, because he thought Meena was being mind-controlled by Grodd, despite how little sense that makes. She reveals that, yeah, she was working with Grodd of her own volition.
• I Hate You, Vampire Dad: He's ashamed of being related to Daniel.
• Jerkass: Decides to spray paint graffiti...in a city that was almost destroyed in Forever Evil. And when someone tries to stop him, he spray paints him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His interactions with Barry have brought out a nicer side to him, and as Kid Flash he genuinely wants to help out. He also harbours guilt over causing Iris trouble but he still has some temperamental issues.
• Legacy Character: He's the third Kid Flash, after his cousin Wally and Bar Torr; alternatively, given that Bar Torr seems to have been retconned from existence around the time the original Bart Allen returned, the third Kid Flash after Wally and Bart.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: A Thawne-possessed Barry reveals to him that Daniel was actually his father and lied to him about being his uncle.
• Missing Mom: She disappeared during Forever Evil. Very little is known about her and she hasn't been brought up since. Given Ace and Daniel's questionable-at-best state of existences in the timeline, it's entirely possible that she doesn't even physically exist.
• Morality Pet: Various Rebirth writers seem to be setting him up as being this for his generation of heroes.
• My Greatest Failure: Future Flash sees Wallace's death as his, and it's his motivation for reversing time.
• Oblivious to Love: He's unaware that Avery has a thing for him. This is despite it being so obvious that Glider notices it and notes to Avery that she's been friendzoned and even Damian Wayne of all people noticing it.
• One-Steve Limit: He was introduced going by 'Wally', just like the original Wally West who was later revealed to be his cousin. To keep things from being confusing, DC eventually decided to have him go by Wallace to differentiate him from the Wally West. Later still, since that wasn't that helpful (on top of being a bit awkward to call a younger person in comparison to "Wally"), he started being called 'Ace'.
• Parental Abandonment: Daniel kept his fatherhood a secret from him and Rudy "abandoned" him at a young age. After Forever Evil, Wally's mum went missing too. Poor guy has it really rough in the family department...
• Race Lift: Originally played straight, then subverted. He was originally a race lifted version of Wally West. DC Rebirth reveals that he's, in fact, a younger cousin of the original who was named after their great-grandfather like the original Wally was.
• Refusal of the Call: Unlike other members of the Flash family, he kept his powers secret for a while and even refused to suit up until his short-term mentor at Star Labs was attacked.
• Replacement Goldfish: Ace becomes Kid Flash as a result of Barry's grief over losing the other Wally West and creating a big Speed Force storm. Barry admits he feels compelled to be his teacher out of love for his cousin Wally.
• Ret-Canon: When he was supposed to be the original Wally West, the reason he was Race Lifted was because The Flash (2014) had the Wests as a black family.
• Retcon:
  • When introduced, he's the son of Rudy West and Daniel West is his uncle. After the return of the original Wally, it was retconned that Daniel is his father and Rudy is his uncle, and Rudy is the father of the original Wally.
  • Statements from Eobard Thawne after his memories of the pre-Flashpoint timeline are restored have him refer to this Wally as "New", and implies, just as he actually was from a reader's point of view, in-universe this Wally did not exist before the New 52. That Wally remembers the new version as a cousin is hinted to be further proof that Wally's memories have slowly been tampered with like the rest of the DCU since he left the Speed Force.
  • Flash War undid the retcon that he always existed within the West Family by confirming he was created after Dr. Manhattan altered the universe thanks to Barry.
• The Reveal:
  • DC Rebirth reveals that he isn't a Race Lifted Wally at all, but a younger cousin to the original Wally and both happened to be named after their great-grandfather.
  • Flash War and statements from Eobard Thawne later reveal the original Wally never had a cousin with the same name in the pre-Flashpoint universe, and his existence truly is a byproduct of what Barry and Dr. Manhattan did to the timeline.
• Shipper on Deck: Encourages Iris and Barry's relationship, even before he knew Barry was the Flash, in sharp contrast to his cousin. After he finds out about Barry being the Flash, he stops encouraging it, feeling Barry is lying to everyone around him.
• Sudden Name Change: Played with. During Rebirth, he was referred to as "Wallace" to differentiate him from the original Wally West. In Infinite Frontier, he's referred to as "Ace" for the same reason. His name itself didn't exactly go through a change though.
• Trauma Conga Line: He's a twelve year old kid who was abandoned by his father when he was a baby, whose mother is missing and may even be dead, just had his Uncle Daniel (the only father figure he's had up to that point) carted off to prison by The Flash, and is now living with an Aunt Iris (that he's implied not to know very well) just so he won't be taken by Social Services. And then he finds out his Cool Uncle was actually his father who didn't want to actually father him, and then his mentor in S.T.A.R. Labs gets killed. Ace just can't catch a break. He later finds out he's a cosmic mistake accidentally created thanks to Barry's meddling with time when the Flash Museum of the 25th Century confirms there was never a second Wally West in the pre-Flashpoint universe.
• Troubled Teen: Ace has some serious issues and easily has the most troubeld upbringing of the Kid Flashes. He got into trouble with the law, has anger issues and low self-esteem and has trouble with authority figures such as police and Barry himself. In a rather realistic outcome, it takes Wally, who's closer in age to him, to give Ace some trust and responsibility for Ace to come into his own.
• Unpleasant Parent Reveal: Finding out your father is Reverse-Flash is already far from being pleasant, but on top of all that his entire family lying to him about his "uncle" and Barry telling him in a belittling manner is too much to go through in a day.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Like others before him, he feels compelled to earn Barry's respect. It really doesn't help that his predecessor is that Wally West so he's aware that the bar in front of him is very high.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He's developed a very strong sense of morals since his introduction, and is more than willing to call out others, including older heroes who have seniority in terms how long they've been active, on their morally grey actions. Yes, this includes him having called out Wally and Barry on multiple occasions. For example, he's called out Wally's (and by extension, the entire League's) willingness to let the existence of the Suicide Squad slide, as well as frequently giving Barry lip over his chronic lying.

The Flash of China / The Flash V

The Flash of China / The Flash V

Alter Ego: Avery Ho

Species: Metahuman

First Appearance: The Flash vol. 5 #3 (July, 2016)

"You got all those fancy Superman powers like X-ray vision and super-strength. All I do is run. You really think you can beat me at my one thing?"

When a Speed Force storm hit Central City, Avery was one of the citizens granted superspeed. Initially baring an unstable, incomplete connection to the Speed Force, she was unable to stop vibrating. With the assistance of the Barry Allen, she managed to stop and later began her training under Meena Dawhan. However, she reluctantly gave up her powers so that the Speed Force could be made whole again. Unbeknownst to Barry and Meena, Avery actually gained a full connection to the Speed Force after it was made whole. With this power, she found herself working with the China White Triad against Lex Luthor before moving to China, where she was dubbed the Flash of China and joined the Justice League of China.

Avery eventually returns to Central City, just in time to fight Grodd and Blackhole, as well as meet Wally West. She would form a partnership with Wallace West and work closer under Barry Allen, before Barry left to join Justice League Incarnate. After Barry's disappearance, Avery was his first choice as his replacement, so Avery is recruited onto Justice Incarnate to help find her mentor. While on the team, Avery officially becomes the fifth Flash.

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• Affirmative-Action Legacy: She's the fifth Flash and is Asian and a woman, after all four of her predecessors have been white men.
• All Love Is Unrequited: She has feelings for Wallace, but he doesn't notice or reciprocate. He's instead interested in Emiko Queen, and Avery ends up helping him get ready for his date with her.
• Ambiguously Brown: In her initial appearances in The Flash, it wasn't clear what ethnicity she was. New Super-Man establishes her last name, and that she's at least part Chinese.
• The Bus Came Back: After the introductory arc of The Flash volume 5, she's left with a connection to the Speed Force but doesn't appear for months. She eventually surfaces in New Super-Man before returning to the pages of The Flash to assist Barry alongside Wallace for the remainder of the series before Infinite Frontier. Then she's recruited onto Justice Incarnate.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Even after giving her Speed Force energy to Barry, she gained a connection to it. A proper one, even!
• Civvie Spandex: Her initial outfit was a a shirt, jacket and khakis. The closest thing she had to a symbol was that her shirt was an ACDC shirt, so the lightning bolt sort of acted as a proto-symbol.
• Costume Evolution: Gradually incorporated more Flash and Chinese motifs into her look. First, she went from the Civvie Spandex look to a pink suit with purple parts and yellow accents with a version of the Flash symbol. Later on, she'd incorporate a yin-yang symbol into the icon as well.
• Depending on the Artist: In her initial appearances in The Flash, she's drawn as if she's a younger teenager, probably about the same age as NuWally. In New Super-Man, she's drawn quite a bit older, and is closer in age to Kenan Kong, who's in his late teens. Once she returns to The Flash, she's drawn as if she's Wallace's age again, which seems to go away when she moved to Justice League Incarnate. Basically, she's an older teenager unless she's in the pages of The Flash, where she's made to be about as old as Wallace.
• Distaff Counterpart: Intentionally invoked. She's the female, Chinese counterpart to Barry Allen's Flash.
• Fun Personified: She's mostly focused on being a hero and running as fast as possible after getting her powers.
• Jumped at the Call:
  • After she learns to control her vibrating, she loves having superspeed and is very reluctant to give them up.
  • When President Superman and Flashpoint Batman appear to recruit her into Justice Incarnate, Superman is ready with a speech... and Avery just joins the second she sees a Boom-Tube, before he can finish.
• Legacy Character: She's dubbed the Flash, which would make her the fourth in the Rebirth timeline (after Jay, Barry and Wally), but they didn't initially know about her, nor was she associated with them beyond Barry very briefly mentoring her. However, she did later officially join the Flash Family, and with history being restored, she officially became the fifth Flash (as Bart's brief time is now canon again). She fully adopts the Flash moniker once she joins Justice Incarnate.
• Nice Guy: Her default setting is being very upbeat, even in bad situations. She's friendly, empathetic and all around a fun and nice person. When she's not, you know something is going really wrong.
• Odd Name Out: The Justice League of China all have names that in some way differentiate them from their Justice League counterparts, even without the added "of China" (which isn't actually part of their names); Super-Man, Bat-Man, Wonder-Woman. Avery, having a one word, one syllable name, doesn't — she's just the Flash. She herself finds it weird when she's called that, so insists that people use 'Avery', seemingly as a way to distance herself from being a Flash.
• Power Incontinence: When she first got her powers, she couldn't stop vibrating. Barry helped her with it.
• Surpassed the Teacher: She can steal speed, a power her brief mentor Barry still hasn't attained.

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