History ComicBook / HunterZolomon

[[quoteright:251:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zoom_0001.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:251: ''I've been given a '''gift.''' A gift I can pass on to the Flash. In order for him to become '''stronger''' he must face the '''ultimate''' tragedy. He must face his '''ultimate''' opposite.'']]

->''"It's time that I embraced the truth. Thawne was right. The Flashes do '''not''' deserve my faith. '''They deserve nothing'''. If the Flashes refuse to see the road to being a '''better hero'''...then I will take them down a road...'''to WAR!'''"''

Dr. Hunter Zolomon, a.k.a. Zoom, or the Reverse-Flash, is a Creator/DCComics supervillain first appearing in ''Franchise/TheFlash: Secret Files & Origins'' #3 (November 2002). He is an enemy of the Flash Family, especially the third Flash, ComicBook/WallyWest.

Originally a Keystone City profiler and a valuable friend and ally to Wally, he was paralyzed by ComicBook/GorillaGrodd during a breakout in Iron Heights. When Wally refused to go back in time to stop this from happening (because of the risk of damaging the timestream) Hunter tried to use the Cosmic Treadmill himself, but it exploded. Instead of killing him, it gave Hunter the ability to alter how time flows in relation to his inertial frame. Inspired by ComicBook/EobardThawne, he believes Wally didn't help Hunter because Wally had never experienced personal tragedy, so he went out to do so, later applying the same methods to other heroes.

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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: A-C]]
* AboveGoodAndEvil: This is how he sees himself -- as a "teacher" for both heroes and villains.
* AbusiveParents: Both of his parents were emotionally abusive towards him, not even acknowledging his existence in the house. As things went on his father got [[SerialKiller considerably worse]]...
* AchillesHeel:
** While his powers make him look like the fastest speedster of all, he has two major weaknesses -- he can't turn intangible, and he can't use the Cosmic Treadmill to time travel. The latter leads to his defeat in "Rogue War", after he tries to use it and subsequently melts away into the timeline.
** When he first gained his powers, he occasionally (and [[HowDoIShotWeb unknowingly]]) opened breaks in time, which Wally would use [[HoistByHisOwnPetard against him]] in "Blitz". By "Rogue War" this had ceased being an issue for him.
* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: '''PlayedForDrama'''. As Hunter shamefully admits in the flashback of issue #197, his ego got out of control with tragic consequences. Hunter predicted that the suspect won't have a gun, and thus urges his team to make the arrest without waiting for backup. He turns out to be wrong, and the killer shoots him in the knee, crippling him, before gunning down his father-in-law. In a brutally ironic twist, years later it turned out that Hunter was right all along, and [[spoiler:Professor Zoom was the one who gave the suspect the gun in order to engineer the incident that turned Hunter into Zoom.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[DrivenToVillainy He is a good man who simply didn't have the luck]]. Turns out, [[spoiler: his life is almost entirely manipulated by Thawne and the revelation causes him to sacrifice himself to [[MustMakeAmends make amends at the last minute]], his apology to Wally being his last words.]]
* AndIMustScream: At the end of the "Blitz" story arc, when Wally forced him into one of the time-windows torn open as an initial side-effect of his then-newly-gained powers; this had the effect of freezing him in time, forcing him to watch the scene of [[MyGreatestFailure his greatest failure]] over and over again.
* AntiVillain: Hunter starts out as a ''genuinely'' good man who loses it [[DrivenToVillainy due to circumstances outside of his control]] over time, considers his heroic counterpart as a friend to himself and even though he has a bizarre BlueAndOrangeMorality, he has his own set of standards that aims to "improve" people. When all's said and done, he is probably the most sympathetic of the evil speedsters the Flashes have faced -- [[SlidingScaleOfAntagonistVileness which still isn't saying much]]...
* AntagonistAbilities: Because he is a TimeMaster, no matter how fast Wally will get, Zoom will just adjust his own speed to always keep ahead. He doesn't utilize the Speed Force, so speedsters would actually have trouble sensing him. And what is arguably Wally's most useful application of the Speed Force, to steal and lend speed, will not work on Zoom because he's technically not even a speedster.
* ArchEnemy: Wally West's nemesis in the modern age -- he only showed up very late into Wally's career and thus didn't appear as much as the Rogues or Grodd, but his impact on Wally's life once he becomes Zoom defines him as this for several years. Plus, as a Reverse-Flash, he's pretty much this by default once the costume goes on.
* ArcVillain: For ''Blitz'' and ''Flash War''.
* AvengingTheVillain: His plans to make Wally and Barry into better heroes come to an end after he sees ComicBook/EobardThawne die...a lot. Instead, he plans to wage war on the Flashes.
* AxCrazy: Delusional, violently unstable, and operates under a [[BlueAndOrangeMorality bizarre and completely incomprehensible moral code]] that revolves around what he can give to others as opposed to what he can take from them, which makes his behavior nearly impossible to predict and thus makes him as much of a danger to his own allies as he is to heroes.
* BadassFingersnap: Zoom's favorite attack is to slow down time to a crawl, then snap his fingers. The resulting concussive wave creates a sonic boom, shatters glass, stuns speedsters, and nearly kills Linda, leading to her miscarriage. ''The Flash: Rebirth'' shows that he also taught Professor Zoom this trick.
* BadassBookworm: He has several degrees in Behavioural Sciences and Sociology and he is very talkative about the subject if given the opportunity.
* TheBadGuyWins: Not totally - he fails at replacing Barry and Wally as the Flash - but at the end of "Flash War" he's succeeded in gaining entirely new powers from the Sage and Strength Forces, shattered the Flashes' ability to time-travel and driven a wedge between Barry and Wally.
* BecomingTheMask: He ''claims'' [[ThatManIsDead to have left]] his old identity long behind himself and embraced his masked persona. However there are still times [[OneTrueLove Ashley]] and [[MoralityChain Wally]] can get under his skin.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Not tortured in the traditional sense -- but his entire life is a one massive TraumaCongaLine, with his failure to work the Cosmic Treadmill being the final straw.
* BeneathTheMask: Under all the fury and calamity, Hunter is just a sad, broken man who [[DeathSeeker wants]] to [[SuicideByCop be killed by Wally]] because he has lost everything he held dear. He also had a huge inferiority complex -- even before his FaceHeelTurn he hated the fact that he was no longer on the field or in the FBI due to his [[CareerEndingInjury knee]] and constantly felt useless because of it. This reflects on his masked personality, as he wants to be more effective in people's, more importantly heroes' lives, and prove himself as a valuable person. When Kid Zoom takes away his powers, he immediately says he needs them back because he needs purpose.
* BerserkButton:
** Wally's refusal to see his "viewpoint" just drives him to more and more extreme lengths every time. It gets to the stage where he builds a working Cosmic Treadmill, kidnaps Jay Garrick to use to power it (as his TimeMaster powers prevent him doing so himself) -- and very tellingly '''doesn't''' use it to alter his own timeline (Wally's original refusal to do so being Hunter's final breaking point in becoming Zoom). Instead, he uses it to recruit his predecessor Professor Zoom -- just so he can make Wally revisit losing his unborn children over and over again...
--> '''Zoom:''' ''(during "Rogue War")'' TELL ME YOU UNDERSTAND ME!
** His estranged wife Ashley is revealed to be another Berserk Button for him during the "Rogue War" storyline. One faction of Rogues come to where she is, intending to kill her for being an ally of Wally. Zoom's response is to deliver a thoroughly sound NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to ''all'' of them, regardless of allegiance.
--> '''Zoom:''' ''[[PreAssKickingOneLiner Stay away from my wife]]''.
* BigBadDuumvirate:
** Not at the beginning, but close to the end of the "Rogue War", he brings in Thawne from the timestream to torture Wally. The two momentarily become a tag-team against Wally and Barry (who knew the two would team up against Wally and time-travelled himself to help his nephew).
** After ''The Flash: Rebirth (2009)'', [[spoiler: he teams up with Eobard Thawne again to improve both Flashes, which leads to "ComicBook/FlashWar" years later.]]
* BigBadFriend: In ''Blitz'' and later ''Rogue War''. Really notable in the latter -- despite his antagonistic relationship with the Wests (including trying to kill Linda Park-West ''again'' before the arc is done) he shows no hesitation in trusting Linda with his ex-wife Ashley's safety after the Rogues try to kill her.
* BigBadSlippage: He was introduced as a supporting character in the police department far into Wally's superhero career and got a lot of character development for several years until his shocking FaceHeelTurn.
* BlackEyesOfCrazy: The black coverings of his mask's eyeholes give him this appearance when in costume. His actual eyes [[RedEyesTakeWarning are even worse]]...
* BlowYouAway: See the BadassFingerSnap entry -- Zoom's version of this is a rare variant that's portrayed as deadly effective. He can also create vortexes just like a speedster.
* BreakThemByTalking: A part of his "teaching" antics -- he wants his victims (especially Wally) to understand precisely why he's doing what he does, so they can "improve" themselves into better heroes against him.
* BrokenPedestal: Played with. He was an admirer of Wally for being open with everyone before his StartOfDarkness. Over the course of the stories featuring him, Wally slowly turned into a MoralityChain and a LivingEmotionalCrutch for Hunter, so when Wally refused to use time travel to erase his greatest failure, calling his reaction a disappointment would be an ''[[FaceHeelTurn understatement]]''. Even then, in an odd way, he never really stops viewing Wally as a pedestal, always trying to "improve" him into a better hero rather than destroy him - but then, after [[spoiler:Eobard Thawne's latest death at Iris West's hands]], he finally views Wally as this totally, recognising that he (and Barry) will never "get better" in the way he wants them to, resulting in him [[spoiler:setting Barry and Wally against each other to break the Speed Force, then actually taking the Flash name himself, symbolising the end of his time as the catalyst for the growth of others and taking things into his own hands]].
** It doesn't help that he finds out that [[spoiler:[[UnwittingPawn his life had been manipulated by Thawne all this time]], breaking ''that'' pedestal too.]]
* BroughtDownToNormal: Thanks to Inertia/Kid Zoom. [[spoiler:[[StatusQuoIsGod Undone]] in ''ComicBook/FlashWar'', which states Eobard Thawne helped him regain the ability to walk, with his powers seemingly manifesting once more in a fit of rage at Thawne's death.]]
* TheBusCameBack: After being depowered by Kid Zoom, being rebooted out of existence entirely by ''Flashpoint'' and being absent for all of the New 52 era, Hunter finally returns in the Rebirth series' first annual, planning to force the Flashes to go to war.
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: And he sees ''himself'' as The Call.
* CareerEndingInjury: He was discharged from the FBI after getting shot in the knee by a Joker knock-off villain named The Clown.
* ComboPlatterPowers: [[spoiler:When he masterminds the [[ComicBook/FlashWar rupturing of the Force Barrier]], he gains access to the [[SuperSpeed Speed Force]], [[SuperStrength Strength]] [[GravityMaster Force]], and [[PsychicPowers Sage Force]], while other Force conduits have trouble using even two of these forces at once.]]
* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler: He machinates a conflict between Barry and Wally by showing Wally his lost kids. Wally believes Hunter's words and tries to destroy Speed Force to save his children.]]
* CurbStompBattle: His time-based powers mean he's one of the few characters able to utterly thrash speedsters at their own game -- Wally's first few battles against him went '''incredibly''' poorly. He's curbstomped Jay Garrick numerous times, demolished both sides of the Rogues without breaking a sweat in their titular ''Rogue War'' and beat the hell out of the Trinity themselves in ''Final Crisis''. In the ''Truth or Dare'' arc, Zoom was able to temporarily overwhelm a blinded '''Wonder Woman''' who previously defeated the Flash in combat training, knocking her around the planet in countries like France, Egypt, and China and eventually Themyscira by hitting her at the speed of light.
* CurseThatCures: His powers basically cured his disability but wrecked his mental health instead.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: D-H]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: His father was a SerialKiller who murdered Hunter's mother and then got gunned down by the police--on the same day Hunter was to leave for college. Then his career in the FBI got cut short because he insisted backup was unnecessary and that the perp they were chasing would not be carrying a gun, leading to his (first) crippling and the death of his father-in-law.
* DeathEqualsRedemption: Once he founds out that [[spoiler: Thawne manipulated his entire life by giving the gun to The Clown, he immediately sacrifices himself to close the Speed Force Barrier, apologizing to Wally for what went down between them.]]
* DeathSeeker: Wants Wally to kill him, seeing it as the necessary final step in Wally becoming the best hero he can be. Subverted when he becomes the Flash and gains the powers of the other Forces, as his goal becomes to [[spoiler:defeat the Black Flash, breaking the cycle of death taking the Flashes if there's no more Black Flash to come for them]].
* {{Determinator}}: He ''never'' gives up on his quest to "improve" Wally and other heroes through tragedy -- and their refusal to see things his way only leads to his adopting more and more extreme methods.
* DisabilityNegatingSuperpower: His powers gave back his ability to walk, though their effect on his sanity makes this trope overlap with CurseThatCures. When he was depowered, he had to use a wheelchair again. [[spoiler: Until Eobard Thawne took him to 25th century for his treatment.]]
* DrivenToVillainy: See the FreudianExcuse entry below. Luck hasn't been a word in this man's dictionary.
* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: His ex-wife is still very much in love with him and she has full faith that Hunter can be [[LoveRedeems redeemed]]. And during his confrontation with Zoom during ''Rogue War'', Wally also admits he doesn't hate Hunter even after everything that's happened between them.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He is still in love with his wife Ashley (as you can see from the BerserkButton entry above) and they do share an emotional connection with each other. He also still considers Wally to be a friend, hence his irrational obsession with turning him into a better hero.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** During a teamup with Cheetah, the two encounter a police patrol car. Instead of letting the feral villain tear them to shreds, Zoom uses his powers to give them [[MercyKill a quick and painless death]], noting he [[NotSoDifferent used to be just like them]].
** He also despises the Rogues for their perceived inability to "add" anything to Wally, noting that they basically just distract Flash rather than helping him grow into a better hero.
* EvilCounterpart:
** To Wally, as is standard for Reverse-Flashes. Hunter is a sad, deeply pessimistic person even before his heel turn, which is an obvious contrast to Wally's happy-go-lucky attitude, something that adds more to Hunter's resentment of Wally later on.
** Much like with Wally and Eobard, a similar case can be made for Zolomon being an evil counterpart to Barry Allen as well. When he was introduced, Wally easily bonded with Hunter for reminding him of the-then late Barry Allen, finding his analytical nature and honesty very similar. When Hunter transformed into Zoom he thought of himself as the "teacher" Wally needed and tried to be a twisted mentor figure. After [[DarkerAndEdgier the changes]] made to Barry's origins, the parallels became even more glaring: they both lost their parents after their father killed their mother (albeit in Barry's case Henry was framed) and they were both motivated by this tragic event to join law enforcement. The primary difference is the amount of tragedy and how they dealt with it: For the most part, Barry moved on from his mother's death and formed a new life, whereas, while Hunter did form a new life, he never actually properly moved on from his father-in-law's death, his divorce and his firing, and he suffered many more tragedies as well. Just as Thawne is a twisted version of Wally in many ways, Hunter is in the same position for Barry, making an intriguing GenerationXerox - and Hunter explicitly makes this point to Barry in the Finale of "Flash War".
* EvilCripple: His crippling serves as his StartOfDarkness. After Inertia brings him down to normal but does nothing to fix his sanity, he becomes a full on example. His ability is later restored by 25th Century technology, courtesy of Eobard Thawne.
* EvilFormerFriend: Started out as an ally of Wally, and never stops considering him a friend. More complex on Wally's end -- the friendship they share is obviously [[WithFriendsLikeThese broken]] after Hunter's transformation, but he admits late in "Rogue War" that he still doesn't hate Hunter even after all he's done to Wally personally as Zoom.
* EvilIsPetty: While disguised as [[spoiler:the Time Judge]], he notes that the Renegades (a team of temporal agents patterned after the Rogues) were explicitly created to mock the villainous team, something all the more notable as the Rogues have [[spoiler: been dead several centuries by this point]].
* EvilVsEvil: He's clashed with the Rogues a few times, out of first a desire to protect his ex-wife and later disgust at their wasting Wally's time by not pushing him to be a better hero.
* FaceHeelTurn: He was originally Wally's FriendOnTheForce before becoming Zoom.
* FallenHero: From a bright FBI agent to a disabled cop and later on...to ''Zoom''.
* FBIAgent: Said to be one of the brightest and youngest ones until his unfortunate CareerEndingInjury.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: [[spoiler: He would briefly end up in the 25th century, in Eobard Thawne's homeland, after Thawne took him up on his offer from ''The Flash: Rebirth'' and took him there after they escaped jail.]]
* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Hunter accidentally knocks a glass off of his bedside. Readers will see that in a single panel the glass is suspended in midair, a few pages before Hunter himself notices.
* FriendlyEnemy: In his own twisted way, he's [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint actually trying to help Wally]] and believes their friendship will return. [[spoiler: But in the end he realizes Wally won't return his favors and decides to hurt him instead.]]
* FriendlyTarget: Grodd paralyzes him to hurt Wally. And it works in more ways than one; Wally goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge in Gorilla City and Hunter's StartOfDarkness begins...
* FreudianExcuse: A whole list of them. No one thing turned Hunter Zolomon into Zoom. His father being outed as a serial killer and offing his mother, his father-in-law's death and his own subsequent divorce and crippling, his second crippling at the hands of Grodd, Wally's refusal to undo all this via time-travel...all these factors taken together pushed Zolomon over the edge.
* FriendOnTheForce: Before his fall from grace, he was a friend to Wally at KCPD alongside with Fred Chyre and Jared Morillo.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: At the end of "Rogue War", he has a moment of HeelRealization and goes as far as apologizing to Wally for his actions, saying "It should never have been like this Wally. Not for us." Unfortunately he dissolves into the time stream before even finishing his apology, and when he manages to return to the present time [[IgnoredEpiphany he is back in his costume]]; [[TheUnfettered after all he is just too stubborn to accept his failure.]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Before coming to Keystone City, he was an acclaimed FBI agent with a DarkAndTroubledPast.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Once he realises the extent to which Eobard Thawne manipulated his entire life, he sacrifices himself to fix the Forever Force barrier, restoring the Speed Force.]]
* HeroKiller: Between "Flash War" and "Year of the Villain", he travelled the multiverse killing other universes' Flashes.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: [[spoiler: He tells Wally about the loss of his family due to Flashpoint and encourages him to destroy the Speed Force to save them. Of course, his goal isn't to help Wally but to destroy the Flash family from its core.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He's the one that teaches Inertia how to use his time-based powers in place of a normal speedster's in ''Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge''. Later in the story, Inertia (now Kid Zoom) uses those same powers to revert Zoom to the crippled Hunter Zolomon.
* HopeSpot: During the Iron Heights breakout, Hunter was overjoyed when he saw he can run again. Unfortunately, once he and Wolfe manage to get out of the prison, they happen to run into Grodd...
* HowDoIShotWeb:
** His powers make him more than a match for the Flash -- but they also somehow cause time windows to open to particularly traumatic points in Hunter's past, something he has no control over (at least not initially). Zoom's defeated for the first time by this, after a desperate Flash shoves him into one as he tries to kill Linda, mentally paralysing him.
** He's also visibly having a hard time adapting to his powers in "Blitz", at one point unable to slow himself down enough to actually be understood by the heroes, and at another expressing bewilderment that he was able to walk into Linda's hospital ward without being seen when using his powers.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He's perfectly willing to kill Linda Park-West in the belief the tragedy will "improve" Wally, no matter how much emotional devastation it causes the Flash -- but go anywhere near ''his'' ex-wife and [[BerserkButton God help you...]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: I-N]]
* IconicSequelCharacter: As Hunter, he was introduced much later (during Johns' run), and he only becomes Zoom in the final quarter of Wally's tenure. Even with all these things considered, Zoom became just as well-remembered as any supervillain in the Flash's RoguesGallery.
* ICantFeelMyLegs: After waking up from Grodd's assault, he uses this trope word for word. It also marks his StartOfDarkness, as he becomes desperate to undo first his crippling, then all the bad things that ever happened to him.
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Inverted. Zoom intends to convince Wally that justifiable homicides exist, and that Zoom himself is a shining example.
* IgnoredEpiphany: He comes really close to a HeelRealization at the end of "Rogue War", expressing regret at how his relationship with Wally has deteriorated...and then it's not mentioned again afterwards.
* InstantCostumeChange: Despite the Flash comics long having explanations for where literally everyone's costumes come from (the Rogues even have a specialized tailor!), when Zolomon initially turns into Zoom, his costume simply manifests. As he is not connected to the Speed Force, he can't even use that as an explanation.
* {{Irony}}:
** His TimeMaster powers enable him to go at speeds Wally can only dream of -- but they also render him helpless to use the Cosmic Treadmill, the time travel machine that he can use to undo his past mistakes.
** His run as Zoom would portray him as WrongGenreSavvy for having the philosophy of a hero needing tragedy to improve himself. Four years after his debut, DC changed Barry Allen's origins -- now having a dead mother and a framed father -- to make him more "appealing" as a character, which proves Hunter's hypothesis ''right''. Even more ironically, Zoom's creator Geoff Johns was the one responsible for this change.
* KnightOfCerebus: Nobody, not even Grodd, could darken a Wally story like Zoom.
** Taken UpToEleven in "Rogue War" when he brings back the Flash's ultimate ArchEnemy, Professor Zoom, to make Wally experience the tragedy of losing his unborn children over and over again.
* TheJuggernaut: In a straight fight, Zoom is a monster. He can mimic the super speed of the Flashes along with their accompanying superhuman striking force and durability (Wonder Woman once commented being hit by him hurt more than being hit by Superman) but added to that the nature of his powers mean that as long as you're bound by linear time he will ALWAYS be ahead of you. Power to Power he's capable of taking out pretty much any speedster. Wally had to steal so much speed energy he broke free from time to beat him, and most of his fights would have been walkovers if he wasn't so obsessed with making heroes "better".
* KnightTemplar: He genuinely want to improve Wally's superhero career. He's just really, REALLY, '''REALLY''' bad at it (from Wally's perspective, anyway...).
* LegacyCharacter: Inverted, technically. He is the first Zoom born chronologically, a fact that amuses his predecessor/successor Thawne to no end.
--> '''Thawne:''' ''(grinning)'' I've created a legacy five centuries before I'll even be born. It's backwards. It's ''in reverse''. It's destiny.
* LetsYouAndHimFight: [[spoiler: After seemingly giving up on the idea of "improving" either Wally or Barry in the aftermath of Thawne's death, his new plan is to have both Flashes wage a "war".]]
* LightningBruiser: Though this trope applies to all speedsters, Zoom really is in a class of his own. His time based powers allow him to appear to go at speeds most of the villains on this page can only dream of, and slow down time enough that even a simple punch feels like getting hit at the speed of light (he once knocked Jay Garrick from New York to '''Dallas''' in a single hit). Just look at the CurbStompBattle entry to see what this can do for him.
-->'''Wonder Woman:''' I've been punched by Superman. This hurts ''more.'' Being punched at the ''speed of light'' will do that.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Over the course of the series, Wally becomes the brightest spot of Hunter's otherwise messed-up life. It's the main reason he feels betrayed when Wally rejects his proposal to travel back in time to stop his father-in-law's death. He goes as far as becoming a villain just so he could "help" Wally to be a more efficient hero.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: More of a platonic variation. He considers Wally a MoralityChain and he's completely heartbroken about the fact that Wally rejected his time travel proposal. When he receives powers, he gets several opportunities to help himself but Hunter shots down them all to help Wally in his twisted way instead. With the loss of his powers and after regaining his sanity at Iron Heights, he's depressed about the fact that Wally no longer considers him a friend anymore. However this makes him [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint more determined about his motivations regarding Wally]].
* TheMentallyDisturbed: One of the few supervillains who would have a legitimate shot at using the insanity defence. Unlike Thawne (or the likes of ComicBook/TheJoker) who is simply psychopathic, Zolomon genuinely suffers from delusions and has a vision of the world that is staggeringly at odds with reality.
* MiseryBuildsCharacter: Zoom's guiding principle. He firmly believes that Wally needs to suffer tragedy the way he did, so that those tragedies will motivate him to be a hero that will do whatever it takes to avoid horrors like Hunter's crippling at Grodd's hands -- including TimeTravel and [[MurderIsTheBestSolution pre-emptive murder]]. His attempts to "teach" Wally this resulted in the [[WouldHarmAChild loss of Wally's unborn twins]] and ''numerous'' attempts to kill Wally's wife Linda.
* MoralityChain: Wally becomes this to him when he moves to Keystone--to a point where Hunter admits Wally gave him the will to keep going on-- but when he [[BrokenPedestal disappoints]] Hunter, the result is [[StartOfDarkness about what you could expect]].
* MotorMouth: His disconnection from normal time causes him to talk like he's been sped up sometimes. At one point, he does this when warning the Rogues away from his ex-wife Ashley, with the Rogues completely failing to understand what sounds like total gibberish. [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown It doesn't end well for them]].
--> '''Captain Boomerang:''' What the hell's he saying?
* MyGreatestFailure: Happened in his back-story, when he was in the FBI. He made a miscalculation that resulted in his father-in-law (the field leader) getting shot to death by the criminal they were hunting, and Hunter himself ending up with a limp after said criminal shot him in the knee. Following this, his wife left him and he got kicked out of the FBI.
** Given a horrifying new twist in the ''Rebirth''-era comics: [[spoiler:he didn't miscalculate. The clown originally didn't have a gun, but a time-travelling Eobard Thawne gave him one to ensure this incident would ruin Hunter's life, setting him on the path to becoming Zoom]].
* NecessarilyEvil: As the quote above shows, Hunter believes he has to be the worst villain Wally has ever faced to motivate him to take the necessary measures to stop him.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: One of his most common methods when it comes to "motivating" heroes to better themselves, ostensibly because he believes that a sufficiently vicious beating will drive them to become stronger.
* NotSoDifferent: He wants to invoke this on Wally, even threatening to paralyze him like he was paralyzed by Grodd immediately after he reveals his identity to Wally (though this may be an attempt to prod Wally into [[SuicideByCop doing the necessary thing and killing him]]).
* NoSell: When he initially takes Linda, Wally and Jay create a Speed vortex to take his speed. It utterly fails (because Zoom's time-based powers can't be siphoned the way the Speed Force can) and Zoom promptly demolishes them both.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: P-U]]
* PaletteSwap: Like his inspiration Professor Zoom, Zoom wears a color-flipped version of Wally's Flash costume.
* PerpetualFrowner: The rage-filled scowl he wears in the above picture is his default expression for the bulk of his appearances -- particularly those written by Geoff Johns. The only time he's seen smiling is when he's doing something [[SlasherSmile something profoundly horrible to Wally's life]].
* TheProfiler: Used to be one for the FBI and later for Keystone Police Department.
* PsychicPowers: Due to gaining a connection to the "Sage Force" in the climax of ''ComicBook/FlashWar''.
** MindOverMatter
** {{Telepathy}}
* PsychoPsychologist: Profiler turned criminal.
* PoorCommunicationKills: As Wally puts out, if Hunter accepted Wally's emotional support and opened up to him about his past, things would have never gone off the rails between them.
* PutOnABus: He was very abruptly depowered by Thaddeus Thawne in ''Final Crisis: Rogue's Revenge'' (to make way for the return of Professor Zoom in the next major Flash story, ''The Flash: Rebirth''), and made only one further appearance in the comics (a one-panel cameo) before the New 52 reboot. He didn't exist in New 52 since Wally West didn't exist as well. As of ''Flash Annual #1 (2018)'', [[spoiler: [[TheBusCameBack he's revealed to be posing as a Time Judge in 25th century and planning a war to create a conflict between Barry & Wally.]] ]]
* RedBaron: Unlike Thawne, who was the first Reverse-Flash but was also well-known as Professor Zoom, Hunter goes nigh-exclusively by Zoom throughout his appearances, and only ever refers to himself as the Reverse-Flash once (at the conclusion of "Blitz").
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His pupils appear to turn permanently red after his powers manifest and can always be seen glowing through the black coverings of his costume's eyeholes -- meaning he can actually invoke this trope and BlackEyesOfCrazy at the same time.
* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler: He considers Eobard Thawne to be very similar to Wally in nature and forms a friendship with him partly due to this. After watching Thawne die, he swears revenge.]]
* TheResenter: Even before his FaceHeelTurn, he strongly believed in MiseryBuildsCharacter, and somewhat resented Wally for not having experienced personal tragedy to make him a better hero after Wally refused to time travel for him.
* TheReveal:
** At the end of ''Flash Annual (2018)'', [[spoiler: he's revealed to be the Time Judge under the mask and he's been trapped in 25th century for a while, biding his time to cause a "war" between the Flashes. According to WordOfGod, he had been the Time Judge from the beginning, including the appearences in 2009 Flash run as well.]]
** It turns out, his TragicMistake [[spoiler:wasn't his mistake but an intervention by Eobard Thawne to ruin his life.]]
* RippleEffectProofMemory: Has repeatedly demonstrated himself to be immune to the DCU's CosmicRetcon. First when he retains his knowledge of Wally's secret identity after the Spectre wipes it from the world's minds, and second when he resurfaces in the ''Rebirth'' era, remembering his encounters with Wally. Joshua Williamson has even explicitly said that this is the pre-Flashpoint version of Hunter. Noticeably, however, he refers to Barry as the "original Flash" in "ComicBook/FlashWar", meaning whatever Doctor Manhattan did to remove the Justice Society ''was'' able to affect him.
* SanitySlippage: His crippling by Grodd, coupled with his use of the cosmic treadmill, tore his sanity to shreds. It was further damaged by being trapped in the time loop mentioned under AndIMustScream.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: By the time of his crippling by Grodd he's utterly convinced that going back in time using the Cosmic Treadmill and stopping [[MyGreatestFailure his first crippling/the death of his father-in-law]] will undo everything that went wrong for him after that. When Wally refuses to help him, he tries to use it himself while in his wheelchair, which ends up [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity backfiring and turning him into Zoom]].
* ShockwaveClap: The even deadlier version of his [[BadassFingersnap infamous fingersnap]].
* SinkOrSwimMentor: In ''Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge'' he's this to Inertia, battering the latter every time he questions Zoom's [[BlueAndOrangeMorality need to drive heroes through tragedy]] (flat-out near-killing him via BadassFingerSnap when he initially refuses Zoom's training). In fairness, it's strongly implied he ''really'' dislikes Thad's utter sociopathy and wouldn't bother trying to make him the new Kid Flash if not for Libra's orders.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: There are two arcs before ''Blitz'' primarily dedicated to showing his slow turn to dark side with everything reaching boiling point when he tries to use the Cosmic Treadmill to alter his past and it blows up in his face.
* SpeedBlitz: His TimeMaster powers make him appear so fast that this is how he appears even to speedsters like Wally and Jay Garrick -- his first battle against the latter had Zoom punching Jay the length of a city block while moving so fast Jay and Wally never even caught a glimpse of him.
* SssssnakeTalk: His SpeechImpediment causes him to roll his consonants.
* StarterMarriage: PlayedForDrama. In a flashback in Flash #197, it was revealed that Hunter Zolomon has only been married to his college sweetheart Ashley for a few months after they graduated college together and join the FBI together before Hunter tragic mistake that cost the life of his father in law, causing Ashley to divorce him and him being kicked out of the FBI. Hunter still very much loves Ashley but knows it unlikely she forgive him; he accepts the divorce and tries to move on with his life. Later, when Ashley learns that Hunter transformed into supervillain Zoom, she left the FBI to come to Keystone City to take over his former spot as the local metahuman profiler to help reform him—showing that she still loves and regrets leaving him. Tragically it's implied that had that misjudgment on Hunter's part that cost his father's life in law never happen, Hunter and Ashley would have had a long and lasting marriage.
* StealthMentor: Believes he is this by making heroes experience tragedy, thus driving them to do whatever it takes to avoid such tragedy again.
* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Hunter '''Zo'''l'''om'''on.
* TheStoic: Even before his transformation, he wasn't known for showing a high range of emotions. According to his own words, he wasn't even excited for ''his own wedding''. Considering his past, [[StoicWoobie it's not surprising]].
* StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred: He tortures Wally all because he wants Wally to hate him and [[VigilanteExecution do the necessary thing to stop him in the end]]. Of course there is also the [[SuicideByCop suicidal undertones]]...
* SuicideByCop: It's suggested he has no will to live anymore but he wants his death to prove a point to Wally at least.
* SuperSpeed: Finally gains this for real in ''ComicBook/FlashWar'', [[PyrrhicVictory at the expense of severing the Speed Force from the time stream, making time travel impossible through that means]].
* SuperStrength: Due to gaining a connection to the "Strength Force" in the climax of ''ComicBook/FlashWar''.
* TautologicalTemplar: Zoom genuinely believes that he's a brutal but ultimately necessary enemy of stagnation and catalyst for improvement whose methods truly do yield meaningful results and help make the world a better place. Even insinuating that he's on the wrong track deeply offends him; trying to convince him that he's wrong is likely to result in a possibly-fatal beating at best (to make one see the error of their ways) and is outright suicidal at worst.
* ThatManIsDead: He says this to his ex-wife who tries to invoke LoveWillLeadYouBack on him. Still though, this is not entirely true, as Wally and Ashley constantly bring out [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Hunter's softer side]].
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: [[spoiler:Seemingly completely abandons his [[TheMentallyDisturbed insane]] StealthMentor behavior when he sees Thawne die again, leading to him deciding the Flash Family is beyond help and needs to be destroyed or replaced in a [[ComicBook/FlashWar "war"]].]]
* ThrowingOffTheDisability: He regains his ability to walk thanks to Eobard Thawne and the technology of 25th century.
* TilMurderDoUsPart: His father was a serial killer and his mother became his last victim when she tried to call the police.
* TimeMaster:
** He does not have SuperSpeed, instead having the ability to speed up his own personal timeline in order to appear to be moving at Super Speed -- from his perspective, he's still moving at a normal rate, but everyone else -- even The Flash -- is slowed all the way down to practically being frozen. This gives him a huge edge over Wally in his first few appearances -- even after a huge infusion of Super Speed from Jay Garrick and Bart Allen midway through "Blitz", Zoom still appears as little more than a blur to Wally.
** He can likewise use this to simulate nearly every other speedster power, with the notable exceptions of going intangible and using the Cosmic Treadmill to time travel. The latter is rather unfortunate, as it's the one thing he desperately wants to do...
* TimeStandsStill: Uses this to fake having SuperSpeed.
* TimeyWimeyBall: When he initially starts bedevilling Wally, his powers somehow occasionally open windows to particularly traumatic points in his life. People can be shoved through them, forcing them to mentally relive those few moments. Somehow.
* TragicMistake: When profiling a serial killer, Hunter predicts that the guy won't have a gun, and thus urges his team to make the arrest without waiting for backup. He turns out to be wrong, and the killer shoots him in the knee, crippling him, before gunning down his father-in-law. For his mistake, Hunter is crippled for life, divorced by his wife, and discharged from the FBI. His desire to undo this mistake puts him on the path to becoming Zoom. [[spoiler:Except years later it turns out there was no mistake - Hunter had correctly assessed the situation and things would have ended there and then if a time-travelling Professor Zoom hadn't given the killer a gun in order to start Zolomon down the road to becoming Zoom]].
* TragicVillain: The flag holder amongst Flash's enemies.
* TraumaCongaLine: His entire life story can be summed up with this trope.
* {{Tuckerization}}: He's named after Ethan Van Sciver's son, Hunter Zalman Van Sciver.
* TheUnfettered: As a dark mirror of [[{{Determinator}} Wally West]], he is just as stubborn and driven by his motivations, only [[AboveGoodAndEvil without the morals Wally carries]].
* TookALevelInBadass: As of ''ComicBook/FlashWar'', not only is Zoom connected to the Speed Force, but the Sage and Strength Forces as well. This makes him a super-smart speedster with psychic powers and strength equal, if not superior to Superman's.
* UnstoppableRage: Driven by this a lot of the time. In ''ComicBook/FlashWar'' [[spoiler:it's seemingly the catalyst for his powers coming back, having a fit of rage over Eobard Thawne's death that causes both his blazing red eyes and costume to re-manifest out of nowhere]].
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His actions in "Flash War" accidentally allow [[spoiler:Paradox to escape from the 25th century Iron Heights, and begin his quest of revenge on the Flash family.]] Meanwhile, [[spoiler:his HeroicSacrifice to seal away the Black Flash comes at the worst possible time, getting Wallace and Avery depowered and brutally beaten by the souped-up Rogues, allowing Captain Cold to take over Central City.]]
* UnwittingPawn: As it's implied, his fall to darkness was [[spoiler:orchestrated by Eobard Thawne himself. Once Hunter finds out, he loses his motivation to carry Thawne's legacy.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: V-Z]]
* VillainEpisode: Issue #197 of the Wally West series famously has him ''finally'' become Zoom, complete with being told entirely from his POV and recapping the events in his life that led him to that fateful point.
* VillainousCrush: He still loves Ashley, something that's pretty obvious despite his protestations that [[ThatManIsDead the Hunter she knew is dead]]. Implied to be mutual, as she leaves her promising career in the FBI behind just for her faith in LoveRedeems.
* VillainousFriendship:
** With Cheetah, with a side helping of UnrequitedLove on her part.
** He forms one with his predecessor Eobard Thawne after the events of ''Flash: Rebirth (2009)''. Thawne takes him to his own century to heal his back where they plan to "improve their respective Flashes". Eobard's death at the hands of Iris West sends Hunter over the edge, and ends up having him throw away his plans to "improve" Wally and Barry, in favour of orchestrating a war.
* VillainousLegacy: Takes the torch from Eobard Thawne, borrowing both the Zoom name and the costume.
* VillainousRescue: When the Rogues threaten to kill his ex-wife Ashley, Zoom ''immediately'' shows up to [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat the hell out of all of them]] -- whether they're [[DisproportionateRetribution actually involved with the attempt on her life or not]]...
* VitriolicBestBuds: He views his relationship with Wally as this still, which troubles Wally all the more.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The definitive example amongst Wally's enemies. Zoom genuinely wants to make Wally and other heroes he encounters want to be the best heroes they can be, heroes that will do whatever they can to stop events like his being crippled -- and his methods of ensuring this include giving them truly brutal beatings, assaulting and attempting to kill their loved ones, using the Cosmic Treadmill to make them relive the worst events in their lives and even bringing back monsters like Professor Zoom, all in the hopes it will drive them to be "better".
* WeUsedToBeFriends: With Wally. Played with a little -- he and Wally never stop thinking of each other as friends, despite everything that unfolds between them. In the Finale of "Flash War", Hunter admits he'll be truly broken up when his good friend is dead, though given he's throttling Wally at the same time it doesn't come across the way he'd like it to.
** When Hunter finds out the truth about [[spoiler: his origins being manipulated by Thawne, he expresses great regret for what he had done, and before sacrificing himself to Speed Force, his last words are an apology to Wally, wishing they could have stayed friends.]]
* WhamShot:
** An in-universe one, when he reveals his true identity to a shellshocked Wally.
** One for him personally: when he discovers he can walk again, and walks out to find the nurses -- only to find every single person in his ward [[TimeStandsStill completely frozen in time]]. Notable as it's the point where he works out the effect the Cosmic Treadmill explosion had on him, and [[StartOfDarkness then decides to use his new powers to make Wally a hero who'll risk everything to help people like him.]]
** In ''Flash Annual #1 (2018)'', [[spoiler: when he unmasks himself as a Time Judge and reveals his motivation of [[LetsYouAndHimFight making the Flashes go to war]].]]
* WickedCultured: He's ''obsessed'' with anything that falls under social sciences; psychology, sociology and even history. When he was stuck in Ancient Rome, he was ''gleefully'' observing Rome's fall from afar.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: It's implied that Zoom's temporal powers are interfering with his synaptic relays, making him highly irrational. He nearly puzzles this out himself before deciding he is TheChosenOne who would drive Wally to be the best hero possible.
* WorthyOpponent: He considered Bart to be a worthy successor to Wally, as Bart was someone who strived to continually be better. He's more than a little pissed that Inertia caused Bart's murder.
* WouldHitAGirl: Brutally assaulted Linda Park-West, causing her miscarriage. He also pummelled a helpless Amazon as fast as he could in a single second, and this was when he was fighting Wonder Woman, who notes that he hit her as hard as ''Superman''.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Just look the tropes associated with him.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: His life was one big TraumaCongaLine leading up to his accident and the loss of his sanity.
* YankTheDogsChain: During Grodd's invasion of Iron Heights, Gregory Wolfe reveals to him that he can relieve the pain from Hunter's knee by using his telekinetic powers, so Hunter can run freely. It ''works'', but seconds later Grodd catches up to him and this time he loses [[ICantFeelMyLegs more than just a knee]]...
[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:251: ''I've been given a '''gift.''' A gift I can pass on to the Flash. In order for him to become '''stronger''' he must face the '''ultimate''' tragedy. He must face his '''ultimate''' opposite.]]

-->''"It's time that I embraced the truth. Thawne was right. The Flashes do '''not''' deserve my faith. '''They deserve nothing'''. If the Flashes refuse to see the road to being a '''better hero'''...then I will take them down a road...'''to WAR!'''"''

[[caption-width-right:251: ''I've been given a '''gift.''' A gift I can pass on to the Flash. In order for him to become '''stronger''' he must face the '''ultimate''' tragedy. He must face his '''ultimate''' opposite. A man who has lost his '''pride, confidence''' and '''identity''' to '''tragedy'''. A man who will '''run''' with him down a '''hellish''' road and feel '''no guilt''' about bringing him there. Destiny has brought us here, Flash. From '''friend''' to '''foe.''''']]

\\\

-->''"It's time that I embraced the truth. Thawne was right. The Flashes do '''not''' deserve my faith. '''They deserve nothing'''. If the Flashes refuse to seethe road to being a '''better hero'''...then I will take them down a road...'''to WAR!'''"''

Originally a Keystone City profiler and a valuable friend and ally to Wally, he was paralyzed by Gorilla Grodd during a breakout in Iron Heights. When Wally refused to go back in time to stop this from happening (because of the risk of damaging the timestream) Hunter tried to use the Cosmic Treadmill himself, but it exploded. Instead of killing him, it gave Hunter the ability to alter how time flows in relation to his inertial frame. Inspired by ComicBook/EobardThawne, he believes Wally didn't help Hunter because Wally had never experienced personal tragedy, so he went out to do so, later applying the same methods to other heroes.

** When he first gained his powers, he occasionally (and [[HowDoIShotWeb unknowingly]]) opened breaks in time, which Wally would use against him in "Blitz". By "Rogue War" this had ceased being an issue for him.

* ArchEnemy: Wally West's nemesis in the modern age -- he only showed up very late into Wally's career and thus didn't appear as much as the Rogues or Grodd, but his impact on Wally's life once becoming Zoom defines him as this for several years. Plus, as a Reverse-Flash, he's pretty much this by default once the costume goes on.

* BigBadSlippage: He was introduced as a simple supporting character in the police department far into Wally's superhero career and got a lot of character development for several years until his shocking FaceHeelTurn.

* BroughtDownToNormal: Thanks to Inertia/Kid Zoom. [[spoiler:[[StatusQuoIsGod Undone]] in "ComicBook/FlashWar", which states Eobard Thawne helped him regain the ability to walk, with his powers seemingly manifesting once more in a fit of rage at Thawne's death.]]
* TheBusCameBack: After being depowered by Kid Zoom, being rebooted out of existence entirely by ''Flashpoint'' and being absent for all of the New 52 era, Hunter finally returns in the Rebirth series' first annual, appearing in the future and planning to force the Flashes to go to war.

-->''"It's time that I embraced the truth. Thawne was right. The Flashes do '''not''' deserve my faith. '''They deserve nothing'''. If the Flashes refuse to seethe road to being a '''better hero'''...then I will take them down a road... '''to WAR!'''"''

-->''"It's time that I embraced the truth. Thawne was right. The Flashes do '''not''' deserve my faith. '''They deserve nothing'''. If the Flashes refuse to see the road to being a '''better hero'''... then I will take them down a road... '''to WAR!'''"''

Dr. Hunter Zolomon, aka Professor Zoom, Zoom, or the Reverse-Flash, is a Creator/DCComics supervillain first appearing in ''Franchise/TheFlash: Secret Files & Origins'' #3 (November 2002). He is an enemy of the Flash Family, particularly the third Flash, ComicBook/WallyWest.

Originally a Keystone City profiler and a valuable ally to Wally, he was paralyzed in an attack on Iron Heights by Gorilla Grodd. When Wally refused to go back in time to stop this from happening (because of the risk of timestream damage) Hunter tried to use the Cosmic Treadmill himself, but it exploded, giving him the ability to alter how time flows in relation to his inertial frame. Believing Wally didn't help him because he had never experienced personal tragedy, he went on to become Wally's EvilCounterpart and out to make him experience tragedy, and later applied the same methods to other heroes.

-->''"It's time that I embraced the truth. Thawne was right. The Flashes do '''not''' deserve my faith. '''They deserve nothing'''. If the Flashes refuse to see the road to being a '''better hero'''...then I will take them down a road...'''to WAR!'''"''

* TragicMistake: When profiling a serial killer, Hunter predicts that the guy won't have a gun, and thus urges his team to make the arrest without waiting for backup. He turns out to be wrong, and the killer shoots him in the knee, crippling him, before gunning down his father-in-law. For his mistake, Hunter is crippled for life, divorced by his wife, and discharged from the FBI. His desire to undo this mistake puts him on the path to becoming Zoom.

* TragicVillain: The flag holder amongst Flash's enemies.