Until 23 years later when it all becomes undone
Pre-New 52
- Issue 192 of Volume 1 is about the Flash apparently failing to save 99 crewmen of a sub, but finds that a couple separated by war promised to wait for one another no matter what. When he finds the crew had been captured, not killed, he manages to save them...but the couple died at the exact same instant they reunited and are together in death.
- The end of issue 306. Mirror Master falls in love with an Atlantean in a mirror-world and plans for the Flash to take her place while she goes free. Barry, unaware of this, accidentally breaks the mirror and ensures she can never be freed. Mirror Master is distraught and gives up quietly, while Barry asks if he's okay.
- Barry's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths.Flash: Th-There's hope. There is always hope...time to save the world! Time...back in time...Do what you have to...We must save the world...We must save the world...
- Return of Barry Allen, when Wally is feeling insecure about being the weakest of the three Flashes after Barry's “return”note Wally is briefly trapped under some rubble while they're fighting some tech-savy criminals. “Barry” begins angrily beating the crap out of the guy, which to everyone seems to be Papa Wolf kicking in, except to Wally, who was close enough to hear that he was actually pissed that the guy was calling Wally the Flash and not him, crushing Wally's spirit at the apparent dismissal.
- Hunter Zolomon's backstory. He grew up with neglectful parents who barely spoke to him or showed him little to no affection whatsoever. Then it was revealed that his father was actually a serial killer who killed his mother after she confessed to her husband's crimes, ending with him killed in a police standoff. Then he went to college where he fell in love, found a father figure in his father-in-law, and then got a job as a criminal profiler at the FBI. Then he lost it all in one day after making a bad call that got his father-in-law killed and his knee shot. His wife divorced him and he ended up in Keystone City as a Rogue Profiler. Then Grodd broke his legs completely, driving him to despair and leading to him causing the accident that turned him into Zoom. Of course he loses major sympathy points due to his actions in the Blitz storyline.
- The ending of the Blitz storyline. Linda miscarried the twins and Wally's driven into a Heroic BSoD and quits being the Flash.
- Bart’s death. The anguish from it practically tears Wally apart and sends him on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Inertia who mocks Bart to Wally’s face. Fortunately, Bart gets better.
- When the Justice League confronts Wally about him bringing his young children with him on dangerous missions, Wally reveals that they are aging uncontrollably due to their super speed, and he wants to spend as much time with them as he can before they die.
New 52
- Barry's Hope Spot. He came back from the Speed Force, defeated a future Knight Templar version of him, and set his path to avoid that future. He is ready to spend much needed time with his girlfriend Patty Spivot, but as soon as he walks into his apartment, she leaves him. All Barry can do is sink in grief.
Rebirth
- The ending of "Running Scared". Eobard Thawne kidnaps Iris, reveals Barry's Secret Identity to her, tries to kill them both, and is killed when Iris manages to blast him with a Black Hole Gun after Barry depowers him. Iris feels betrayed by Barry's secret-keeping, and turns her back on him. Barry is left broken and alone in his apartment, guilt-ridden over all the times he disregarded Iris and his other friends in order to be the Flash. Iris is left feeling stupid and insignificant compared to Barry's life as a superhero. You even feel a little sympathy for Thawne, since his backstory reveals that Barry's bright legacy was the one light in his lonely life.
- The breaking of Barry and Wally’s bond in Issue 48 of “Flash War”, since Wally’s debut in 1959, the pair have been as close as father and son, even going so far to be each other’s Living Emotional Crutches, and it was Barry’s paternal love that brought Wally back from the Speed Force when not even Linda, his own lightning rod, could. Now after just getting Wally back, Barry and Wally are locked in an all out war (for reference, Wally wants to go into the speedforce to save his kids while Barry wants to stop Wally to prevent the possibility of another Flashpoint), with Wally going so far to threaten to make sure Barry never runs again, a Fate Worse than Death for a speedster.
- Wally II sees the timeline before Flashpoint and realizes he is a product of Barry’s mistaken attempt to change time. The poor kid has an existential crisis and runs away.
- Hunter Zolomon discovers that Professor Zoom was the one who gave a gun to one guy: the Serial Killer who killed his father-in-law. Hunter was right, but Eobard destroys his life just like he always did with Barry, all to create a retroactive successor.
