History ComicBook / WallyWest

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[[caption-width-right:350: ''[[OpeningNarration My name is Wally West. I'm the Fastest Man Alive. I'm the Flash.]]'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Rebirth appearance]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flash_forward_4_wally_west.jpg]][[/labelnote]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Wally as Kid Flash]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flash_clipart_dc_comic_20.jpg]][[/labelnote]]

Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West is a Creator/DCComics character first appearing in ''Franchise/TheFlash'' vol. 1 #110 (December 1959). Originally the KidSidekick of the second Flash, Barry Allen, Wally eventually [[LegacyCharacter took on the mantle himself]] and was the Flash of the main Post-Crisis continuity for many years.

As a child, young Wally West was the biggest fan of the second Flash. One summer, he went to stay with his aunt Iris in Central City, who was dating Barry Allen at the time. Barry then "introduced" the Flash to him, and the Flash then told Wally how he got his powers by setting up a cupboard of chemicals the exact way they were when he got them. In a huge ContrivedCoincidence, lightning suddenly struck the chemicals and Wally was bathed in them, giving him the same powers as the Flash. The Flash then taught Wally everything he knew about SuperSpeed and gave him the identity of Kid Flash. The Flash later revealed he was Barry to his nephew another summer. Wally would later become a founding member of the Comicbook/TeenTitans.

After Barry's death in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Wally took up the Flash as his new identity. Wally was initially a shameless womanizer and a jerk to most people, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold albeit one with a loyal heart]] who more often than not sought to redeem and help his villains rather then simply beat them up. Still, he had much to learn, but some CharacterDevelopment and his relationship with Linda Park made him a much more mature hero, even surpassing his mentor in ability. At the same time, he formed the Flash Family, consisting of himself, Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, Jesse Chambers and his cousin [[ComicBook/{{Impulse}} Bart Allen]].

Wally fought a mix of villains, both those who had antagonised the previous Flashes, such as Jay's enemies Vandal Savage, the Thinker and the Turtle, as well as Barry's enemies, the Reverse-Flash and Abra Kadabra, but also many new villains of his own. Kilg%re, Savitar, Cobalt Blue, Neron, Zoom, Blacksmith, Wally added several new villains to the Flash's enemies list, which somewhat compensated for the fact Wally's charismatic nature and more open-minded view of crime meant he often befriended villains to the point they quit villainy. The Rogues, his uncle's old enemies, all collectively retired, with Captain Cold and Golden Glider becoming loose allies for a bit, and the Pied Piper becoming one of his best friends. However, with the exception of Piper, many of the Rogues slowly drifted back into crime due to finding difficulty getting honest work.

One of the biggest features unique to Wally among the other Flashes was just [[DynamicCharacter how much he changed and evolved as a character]], which stands out in an industry that prefers [[StaticCharacter characters to remain largely the same for the sake of new readers]]. Not only did Wally shift from a JerkWithAHeartOfGold to a snarky NiceGuy, as well as grow in power, he also grew from an unemployed college drop-out into, eventually, a married father of twins. Until ExecutiveMeddling interfered, he was also the best example of SidekickGraduationsStick and aversions of the SidekickGlassCeiling, as Wally had arguably surpassed Barry in icon status. His run had lasted more individual issues (though not actual years of publication), and he was featured in adaptations and even referenced in PopCulture as the real name of the Flash. Between the 90s to the 2000s, if the Flash appeared outside of comics, it was almost always Wally West (except in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'').

Wally's tenure as the Flash also saw one major change to the books: the introduction of the Speed Force, a MetaOrigin and power source for (almost) all heroes with SuperSpeed. The Speed Force was explained as what granted them their super-speed and all the RequiredSecondaryPowers needed for it to make sense in the first place (replacing several previous Handwaves that were not as encompassing or up to snuff scientifically), and by understanding it, Wally was able to both reach greater speeds (surpassing any previous speedster), but doing so came at a grave risk of merging with the Speed Force itself. Wally alone was able to resist this through ThePowerOfLove for Linda Park, but even still it made pushing himself a daunting risk.

Wally disappeared during the early years of the ComicBook/New52 reboot of the DC Universe. It initially seemed that Wally was reintroduced with a RaceLift and AgeLift into a young African-American teenager, but when the original Wally returns in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', the New 52 Wally was retconned as his identically-named cousin. To avoid confusion (in as much as that's possible at this point) this character now goes by Wallace.

After ''Flashpoint'', Wally was still the first Kid Flash, though he was forgotten by the world. This is revealed to be because of Abra Kadabra, who remembered the pre-Flashpoint timeline and wanted revenge. Wiping the world's memories of Wally, Kadabra banished Wally into the Speed Force. Managing to hold onto his identity, Wally also learned of the alterations to the DC Universe's timeline, seeing someone alter the universe to its current state after Barry fixed Flashpoint. This also led to him gaining some of his pre-Flashpoint memories and powers. However, Wally couldn't reconnect to the New 52 Universe until Darkseid's death. Reality was cracked for a moment as a result: and in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', he uses this opportunity to warn the world's heroes about a menace who stole ten years from their lives and changed the world into a DarkerAndEdgier place. Thanks to Barry's help, Wally is now completely back and determined to save the universe!

The events of ''Rebirth'' were unfortunately not kind to the returning Fastest Man Alive. While he remembered his relationship to his wife Linda Park, she did not, and thus he was stuck loving a woman who didn't feel the same way. What's more, he was then cruelly informed of details ''he'' didn't remember, namely that his children with Linda, Jai and Iris. [[ComicBook/FlashWar His quest to find his children led him into conflict with Barry]], but after having a nervous breakdown over it, Barry took Wally to Sanctuary, a mental hospital for superheroes. [[ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis This didn't help]], and another mental breakdown caused by the poorly conceived therapy treatment resulted in an accidental discharge of the Speed Force which killed several heroes, including Wally's friend, Roy Harper. Manipulated by Eobard Thawne and having a psychotic episode, Wally tried to cover up the accident long enough to kill himself, but was talked down before he could.
Believing himself a FallenHero unworthy of redemption, [[ComicBook/FlashForward Wally let himself rot in prison until he was recruited to save the multiverse]], which ended in what Wally believed would be a HeroicSacrifice as he became a New God. However, he was robbed of this power by the Batman-Who-Laughs, [[ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal and so Wally returned to rejoin earth's heroes in fighting him off]]. For Wally's efforts in stopping the mad Dark Knight, he was rewarded with the return of both his families, reuniting with Linda and the kids, and with his fellow speedsters, the Flash Family.

[[ComicBook/TheFlashInfiniteFrontier After all this, Wally has been given a second chance]] by Barry choosing to step down as Earth's Flash to assume a new duty for the Justice Incarnate, trusting Wally to be the sole Flash of the DC Universe. Now, once more Wally West truly is back as the Fastest Man Alive.

[[AC:Appearances in other media:]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' as Kid Flash, voiced by Tommy Cook
* Creator/{{Filmation}}'s ''Teen Titans'' cartoon as Kid Flash
* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'' as the Flash, voiced by Creator/MichaelRosenbaum.
** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', voiced by Creator/CharlieSchlatter
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''
** ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock''
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' as Kid Flash, voiced by Creator/MichaelRosenbaum
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' as the Flash, voiced by Creator/JoshKeaton
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' as Kid Flash, voiced by Creator/HunterParrish
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' as Kid Flash, voiced by Creator/JasonSpisak
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' as Kid Flash, voiced by Creator/WillFriedle
** ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies'' as Kid Flash (cameo)
* ''WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse''
** ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'', voiced by Creator/JasonSpisak (cameo)
* ''WesternAnimation/JLAAdventuresTrappedInTime'' as the Flash, voiced by Creator/JasonSpisak.

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* The ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' as Kid Flash, played by Creator/KeiynanLonsdale
** ''Series/TheFlash2014''
** ''Series/{{Invasion}}''
** ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX''
** ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''

[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/JusticeLeagueHeroes'' as the Flash
** ''VideoGame/JusticeLeagueHeroesTheFlash'': portable SpinOff focused on him as the Flash
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice Legacy'' as Kid Flash
* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' as the Flash (mobile version only)
* ''[[VideoGame/LEGOBatman LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham]]'' as Kid Flash
* ''VideoGame/LegoDCSuperVillains'' as the Flash, in his post-Rebirth costume, as well as his ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' Kid Flash incarnation as DLC.

----

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: A-C]]
* TenMinuteRetirement:
** In the ''New Teen Titans'' series, he retired from his Kid Flash persona for several reasons. After Barry's death and Wally regaining his health at the end of ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', he came back to become ''The Flash''. This part of his career is mostly [[CharacterizationMarchesOn ignored]] or modified Post-Crisis by linking it completely to his illness as this characterization of him clashes a lot with [[AscendedFanboy his]] [[IJustWantToBeSpecial overall]] [[JumpedAtTheCall personality]].
** After being left for dead by "Barry" during "The Return of Barry Allen", Wally also briefly considered retiring.
** He later retired again after his wife's miscarriage, but that was mostly because when the Spectre wiped everyone's memory of his identity, he was affected as well. It was also short-lived.
* AbusiveParents: Modern interpretations of his character portray Rudy and Mary West as emotionally abusive parents. DependingOnTheWriter, Rudy West can be even physically abusive. A while into his life as an adult, he's taken a more nuanced view of them as having their own reasons for acting the way they did, but still doesn't particularly like them. ''The Flash: Rebirth'''s origin reveals Wally is later taken into custody by Barry and Iris once his parents get divorced.
* AccidentalMisnaming: Early in his run, people are still used to calling Wally Kid Flash even though he now goes by the Flash.
* TheAce:
** Amongst Flashes, he has the best control of his powers with the only exception being his vibrational skills after ''Crisis''. He just can't vibrate through solid objects without blowing them up. DependingOnTheWriter, he ''can'' manage it only if he focuses enough because it's not that ''he can't'', his molecules are just charged with an immense power exceeding other speedsters, and it takes a lot of energy for him to control them. It's also impossible to cut him off from the Speed Force, as he was "chosen".
** Oh and yeah, '''he's considered to be the fastest of all the Flashes'''. Even in ''Rebirth'', he stated that [[SurpassedTheTeacher he has beaten Barry in a race before]], and when Barry recalls it, this was when he was ''Kid'' Flash! Superman [[note]]Who is from the pre-Flashpoint timeline and knows Wally in his prime[[/note]] later tells him that he's currently even faster than he was ''before''. Later still, he manages to outpace Barry ''again'', and WordOfGod even stated that Wally is the fastest speedster in the DCU. In ''Flash Forward'', the multiversal guardian Tempus Fuginaut says Wally is ''the fastest being in all of existence''.
* AdaptationalComicRelief: Even though he is a HotBlooded DeadpanSnarker in comics, his fame as the "FunPersonified Flash" comes mainly from the ''DCAU'' version. It also helped that Kyle Rayner (who is more inexperienced than him) wasn't in the cartoons as a JL member and Wally was paired with the more serious John Stewart instead. His personality in the popular series influenced all speedster characters, such as Quicksilver from the X-Men movies and his mentor Barry Allen's modern interpretations.
* AllLovingHero: His life motto. He cherishes every moment he lives in and he owes a lot to his uncle for this outlook in his life. Notably, Wally had a strong tendency, even at his most dickish times, to sympathise with seek redemption for his villains rather than simply punishing them and forgetting. He befriended several of his early villains, particularly Chunk and Speed Demon, who both became close allies, along with several of the Rogues, and greatly disapproved of the methods employed by Iron Heights because he thought even supervillains deserved better.
* AllYourPowersCombined
** To have a better fighting chance against Cobalt Blue and his puppets, Wally and Barry[[note]]the battle took place in the future period Barry retired to just before the ''Crisis''[[/note]] arm themselves with several Rogues' weapons from the Flash Museum.
** Jay and Bart pass their energy to Wally for his rematch with Zoom, rendering them powerless for a few hours. Even then, Wally still couldn't catch up to Zoom; it took Jesse showing up and giving her own energy (which apparently depowered[[note]]she couldn't even recite her Speed formula[[/note]] her) to make it an even match.
** In ''Speed Metal'', Barry gives his own speed so Wally can outrace the Darkest Knight.
* AloofBigBrother: To Bart. Wally admits that mentorship is not one of his stronger suits.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: For a long time [[HeroicSelfDeprecation he considered Barry to be better than himself]], to a degree that he mentally limited himself to the speed of sound for a while. It took him a lot of CharacterDevelopment to consider himself as equal to him (or even ''surpass'' him).
** Addressed again in ''Speed Metal'' with a case of LeaningOnTheFourthWall mixed in. [[note]]Publisher Dan Didio has an admitted dislike/burning hatred of Wally West, Dick Grayson and legacy in general. Throughout his run he either actively tried to replace Wally or put his character through hell. Infamously he erased Wally for the New 52. And despite his return in Rebirth, derailed many of the plans Johns and the writers had for the character. Dan Jurgens had planned to reunite Wally with his family but was banned, attempts to start Wally-focused books were torpedoed and most infamously he insisted Wally be the one to suffer the most in Heroes in Crisis. All of this comes from the simple fact Didio liked Barry better.[[/note]]. Wally accomplished huge feats on his own and with others, things that Barry simply never had. Yet, upon Barry's return Wally found himself pushed back into the role of "second" by many. Barry never intended that but Wally was overshadowed regardless. As Barry notes it was made worse since Flashpoint happened not long after Barry came back and Wally primarily remembers a life Barry is still missing many pieces of, they haven't had a lot of opportunities to bond as equals. ''Speed Metal'' then ends with Barry stepping aside as a leader because Wally doesn't need to be in anyone's shadow.
** Ironically, Wally himself was very much this to Bart and Jesse, who separately struggled with being unable to keep up with him. Bart's early tenure as the Flash when Wally disappeared had him often angsting about living up to his example in a similar manner Wally could sometimes be like towards Barry's, and Jesse quietly resented being unable to catch up to him.
* AmbiguousDisorder: During the early parts of his time as the Flash, Wally regularly went to therapy, and while it was never stated, he showed signs of depression. And, while it's an interpretation more commonly noted for Bart, Wally's also displayed many signs of ADHD, both in flashbacks to his childhood (being easily distracted, trouble paying attention, being demonstratively quite smart but not performing well in school, hyper-focus on subjects he enjoyed, specifically the Flash, and fits of moodiness when bored), and as an adult (being disorganised and messy, impulsive 'jump first think later' actions, easily bored, having difficulty maintaining relationships, and being prone to depression).
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Of the Speed Force, in ComicBook/KingdomCome.
* AscendedFanboy: The biggest fan of Flash II, he later became his sidekick, and later, the Flash III.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: As a child, he struggled with this, struggling to keep his head out of the clouds, which was a frequent cause for his dad's more violent outbursts. [[AmbiguousDisorder Given much else about his childhood behaviours and how he acts as an adult]], it's possible he actually suffered from undiagnosed ADHD, which tracks with how it's commonly under-reported among lower/working class kids and his parents' lack of attention towards him.
* AttentionWhore: Growing up with ParentalNeglect, he was more than happy with using his powers to seek popularity. He had all the media's attention on him, and winning the lottery at age 20 was twhe cherry on top. In the teams he was in, he sometimes clashed with younger heroes out of jealousy. After he fell in love with Linda, he grew out of his childish behaviors eventually.
* AudienceSurrogate: As an AscendedFanboy he represents all fans who always wanted to be a superhero. Plays it completely straight in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' for the fans who were unsatisfied with the New 52, [[AuthorAvatar including the writer Geoff Johns himself]].
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: As the first Titan to [[SidekickGraduationsStick graduate]] into the ''[[BadassCrew Justice League]]'', he is portrayed as the youngest member of the team. In the comic books, even the legendary superheroes like Superman admit Wally's KidSidekick and Titans career made him a throughly experienced superhero worthy of standing next to the likes of Wonder Woman and Batman.
* BadassBoast: He loves giving these and uses it at every opportunity he gets.
--> "Keystone is under the protection of a man who can throw haymakers like machine-gun fire...who can create cyclones with a wave of his arm...who can outrun gravity. Keystone is '''my city'''."
--> '''To Vandal Savage:''' People told me I could be as fast as Barry! I just had to believe it! Well, I believe it '''now'''! Go on, [[BringIt shoot]]!
* BefriendingTheEnemy: He befriends Pied Piper who later on becomes one of his closest allies. Same goes for Chunk as well, who was BlessedWithSuck. Most the of the Rogues develop into FriendlyEnemy territory after a while, and even though this was reverted for a while, Wally still admits he doesn't hate the [[LovableRogue Rogues]] or even his EvilFormerFriend Zoom for that matter. He usually seeks out to redeem his enemies and gives them a second chance. He wouldn't call them a friend, but this even extends to Kilg%re, a sentient alien computer virus that wanted to ''eat America'', but ended up coming to view Wally as a WorthyOpponent, and even saved his life.
* BerserkButton: During his period with ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational'', being compared to Barry, especially by Ralph.
** In general Barry ''is'' a frequent berserk button of his, especially when he was dead. You want a low blow? Bring up Barry and watch how quick things get ugly.
** Linda and his kids, naturally, are also now a big one. Pre-Flashpoint, he could turn ugly if they were harmed or threatened, in fact it was protecting Linda that first gave him the fire to fight Eobard Thawne on his own. After Flashpoint, his kids' safety became such a sour point he came to blows ''with Barry''.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Wally is generally distinguished among the Flash legacies for two primary factors: Firstly for being [[FunPersonified the fun one]], and secondly, for being [[SuperWeight the most powerful]]. While all the Flashes are a PersonOfMassDestruction thanks to the sheer power the Speed Force grants, Wally pushes it to near PhysicalGod levels; he can run through time and space and even reality without outside assistance, can manipulate the speed of anything/anyone around him to either strip bullets of their momentum or grant temporary super speed to others, and is powerful enough to overwhelm devices designed to drain his powers. Its actually ''because'' of his lighthearted nature why he's able to do this; any other speedster risks running into the Speed Force if they tap into too much of its power, but Wally has mastered tethering himself to reality through ThePowerOfLove so he can use as much of it as he wants so long as he and his wife still love each other.
* BigBrotherInstinct:
** As much as Bart annoys him, you better never cause his cousin harm. When Inertia led the Rogues to murder Bart, Wally decides not to kill him and instead steal all the speed from Inertia's body, turning him into a living statue.
** Him and Jesse Chambers are rather close in age, but he extends a similar protectiveness over her. He recognises that Jesse appears to have [[FriendlessBackground very few friends outside of her employees]] so he invites her onto the Titans and brings her to sporting events with Linda so she has something of a social life.
* BigBrotherMentor: Thanks to his CharacterDevelopment over the years, he manages to be a better mentor to his other cousin, Wallace West. He ''did'' at times try to be this for Bart and Jesse though, to mixed results.
* BigEater: During his early days as the Flash, he had to consume high levels of calories to keep going on. Once he became one with the Speed Force, this need was no longer in effect, but Wally just loved eating food, anyway.
-->'''Linda:''' I thought you didn't need to eat like that any more?\\
'''Wally:''' I don't need to. I ''want'' to.
* BookDumb: Played with mostly because this trait changes DependingOnTheWriter. Wally isn't a scientist like his mentor or the first Flash however he has enough smarts to get himself out of troubling situations. On the other hand, he is a college drop out and usually received as not being smart enough by the people around him.
* BrainsAndBrawn: Brawn to Barry's brains.
* BrilliantButLazy: He's not really interested in science but he's a pretty damn fast thinker and a very fast learner thanks to his speed.
* BreakoutCharacter: And ''how''. First created to be a temporary placeholder, he managed to keep the Flash mantle ''for over 20 years''. He's arguably the only (ex-)sidekick whose popularity holds up equally against his mentor's. Before ''Series/TheFlash2014'', he was even ''more popular'' with the help of his acclaimed cartoon appearances. After his erasure from the DCU, some fans even actively boycotted Flash books and DC to the point where having a Flash discussion without mentioning Wally was impossible. When his initial introduction in the New 52 was received very poorly, DC not only decided to bring him back to continuity in all his glory but also made an entire event centred around his return. Right now he's co-leading Titans (a team he was barely a side character in before, once he became the Flash) with his best friend [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]] to fix the fallout of ''Flashpoint'', the story that wiped him from existence in the first place.
* BrokenAce: He is portrayed as one since ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''. His entire life as the Flash is erased and he's forgotten by his loved ones and yet he is also stated to be connected with Speed Force more than ever now.
* BrokenPedestal
** He was the most skeptical of [[ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen Barry's return]], until he saw Barry visiting Iris's grave. ''Then'' [[BaitTheDog Barry left him behind in a DeathTrap]]; while Wally manages to escape on his own he crossed the DespairEventHorizon. Once he finally learned that Professor Zoom is actually impersonating Barry, it becomes a RebuiltPedestal.
** The events of ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' fractured Wally's view of his mentor once more, and more or less of certain members of the Justice League as well, for [[spoiler:lobotomizing Doctor Light (and Barry was the deciding vote), as well as what Barry did to The Top.]]
** Though he initially didn't blame Barry for ''Flashpoint'', becoming aware of the full scale of the damage to him personally it caused, his and Barry's working relationship became very strained, not helped by Barry having quietly TookALevelInJerkass.
** Wally himself was the one on the pedestal for Bart and Jesse during ''Terminal Velocity'', the latter moreso, as his treatment of them (which included an OperationJealousy gambit to make Bart take his duties more seriously by falsely giving Jesse the mantle of the Flash) caused a significant fracture in their working relationship, though it healed by the time the Black Flash happened.
* TheBusCameBack: ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' shows the original Wally is still around--and the ''New 52'' Wally is a younger cousin, not a {{Race Lift}}ed version of Wally.
* ButtMonkey: ''Big time''. Wally's had it rough even worse than his predecessors; be it during his career as the main Flash or what comes after. It unfortunately doesn't help that he's been subject to huge ExecutiveMeddling; he's still struggling as a character both in universe and out of universe.
* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: He doesn't use it often, but Wally was trained by Johnny Quick on how to use his Speed Formula, 3X2(9YZ)4A, that himself and his daughter Jesse used. As Wally has super-speed without it, it's effects differ for him, granting him such a monumental speed boost time freezes and he becomes so fast, light can't catch up enough for him to see colour. Wally ''can'' run to these speeds without it, but normally he'd be sucked into the Speed Force or end up breaking into the time stream, so it seems it works as something of a means to tether himself while using those speeds, or subconsciously push him to the edge of his abilities ([[YourMindMakesItReal the latter lines up with how the formula is explained to work]]).
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: This is how his backstory for becoming Flash plays out. Due to health issues, Wally leaves superheroics behind and decides to focus more on things like his college works and his girlfriend instead. [[RefusalOfTheCall Even though he even refuses to suit up for the Crisis]], a woman named Harbinger comes to his house along with Jay to give him the news of Barry being kidnapped by the Anti-Monitor, and tells Wally that his powers are crucial to defeating the villain. Wally travels to the Anti-Matter universe with the hopes of finding Barry, but unfortunately for him, [[MentorOccupationalHazard it's too late for his mentor]]...and thus the most iconic TakingUpTheMantle moment happens.
* TheCasanova: With regular women, but he was more a CasanovaWannabe (with Power Girl and Fire) in ''Justice League International''.
* CastFromCalories: He had to take in high levels of nutrition to recharge himself. He overcame this weakness later but since he was a BigEater at heart, he didn't stop eating inhuman levels of food.
* {{Catchphrase}}: "My name is Wally West. I'm the Fastest Man Alive."
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: As stated in TenMinuteRetirement above, his overall [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk personality]] and stable family life in the ''New Teen Titans'' series is mostly ignored or retconned Post-Crisis due to clashing with his jovial and friendly portrayal in general.
* TheCharmer: To a degree where his friends nicknamed it "The West Charm".
* ChickMagnet: Especially right after becoming The Flash, he was considered to be very popular around women. Even after his marriage, women were shown to be attracted to him, like the villainess Cheetah in a Wonder Woman crossover.
** Before settling down with Linda Park (and even at times after this), Wally's been teased with a ''lot'' of love interests, some of whom never making it to genuine couple territory. Early on in ''New Teen Titans'' he was in love with Raven, and after ''Rebirth'' retconned it to have briefly dated Omen, then dated his neighbour Frankie Kane, which ended when he became The Flash. He briefly dated Dr. Tina [=McGee=], then hooked up with an actress named Connie, though due to their relationship being open, he was teased with ComicBook/PowerGirl, Icicle's granddaughter, and Golden Glider. When he was still yet to start dating Linda, he was teased with then-just debuting Jesse Quick, and later had it established she was carrying a torch for him. Both Max and Jay expressed thinking they'd have been a cute couple, and then long after this during ''Rebirth'' he was teased with Donna Troy after Linda forgot about him. This is all without getting into his Silver Age adventures, where Wally had a different girl he was romancing in just about every appearance.
* CluelessChickMagnet: Ironically, despite his aforementioned status above, he's often been depicted as being oblivious to when women like him. When he first meets Jesse Quick, she even ends it basically asking him to come by Gotham (where she was studying) so they could hook up, but he interpreted her comment about coffee literally and sped off with a joke. When they next met, he indicated he hadn't kept in contact with her and wasn't aware of the fact she was crushing on him.
* ComingOfAgeStory: His transition from being Kid Flash into being the Flash played out like this, and his career as the Flash was his transition into full maturity (well, once he met Linda, anyway).
* ConflictingLoyalty: When the Justice League and the Titans find themselves on opposing sides of an argument on what to do with an apparent AlienInvasion (especially when they learn that the invader in question [[spoiler:is ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}, back when he merged with an alien HiveMind]]), Wally has to choose which side he is on: his current team, or the old one, respectively. When Wally chooses the Titans, Kyle Rayner calls him out on this.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Wally West is very different from Barry Allen, [[FollowTheLeader despite attempts to make Barry resemble Wally since]]. While Barry is a straight-laced ScienceHero, Wally was a hot-headed DeadpanSnarker {{Determinator}}, and while Barry [[IWorkAlone mostly worked alone]] outside of Wally, Wally himself would [[MagneticHero surround himself with companions]]. In a lot of ways, Barry was very much a 'super-cop', approaching the situation like it was a case and arresting the bad guys, while Wally was more a 'super-social worker', prefers BefriendingTheEnemy and solving the reasons behind their crimes than just fight them[[note]]note that Barry actually ''was'' a cop in his day job while Wally, who operated with an open identity, treated superheroics as a career, but various AU stories showed he'd likely become a teacher if he didn't become a superhero[[/note]]. There's also that Barry was vocally very conservative in his political views and butted heads with Green Arrow over it, while Wally, by the time he was the Flash, was a centrist who ended up moving to the left thanks to his friendship with the socialist liberal Pied Piper influencing his views.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: D-H]]
* DeadGuyJunior: Retconned in ''Rebirth'' to be named after his great-grandfather.
* DeadpanSnarker: Part of his trademark personality. He especially uses a lot of snark in his narration boxes.
* DemotedToExtra: He was hit with this pretty hard. When ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis'' brought Barry Allen BackFromTheDead, he took the book back from Wally, and although they both remained active as the Flash, Wally only made ''two'' appearances in the Flash series after that point and was effectively reduced to appearing in crowd shots.
* DependingOnTheWriter: How Wally got his powers, his overall intelligence and the exact reason he was around Barry and Iris so much changes depending on who's writing him.
** For Powers: The two most common ones are that Barry took him to the Forensics Lab to teach Wally about what he did for a living and by ''pure chance'' fate made it so that Wally experienced the ''same exact'' FreakLabAccident Barry did, getting his powers as a result. An altered version of this is that the incident is the same, but Barry subconsciously ''manipulated'' the Speed Force into giving Wally powers, which also accounts for why Wally is the most connected of the speedsters. The most accepted and referred to one from the 2000s onward is that Barry manipulated the Speed Force into giving him his powers.
** For his relationship with Barry and Iris: Either he simply lives close by and visits them often, is there for the summer, or was sent there for a time in hopes Iris could "correct" his behavior. Pre-Crisis, they were just his aunt and uncle, post-Crisis, he was all but adopted by them after his parents' divorce.
** His intelligence is also the most inconsistent among Flashes. Writers like Geoff Johns and Mark Waid prefer to portray him as a college drop-out BookDumb with only his fast mind allowing him to keep up with more complex matters. Sometimes he's a clever boy, but he's not overly interested in a field of science. Some writers show him as an exceptional engineer with huge interest in physics. The general interpretation tends to be he ''is'' naturally [[BrilliantButLazy gifted and intelligent but never pursued a career in science so his intelligence is untapped]].
** Another unusual point of odd inconsistency is his relationship with Wonder Woman. Typically they're depicted as colleagues with a good working relationship, but Geoff Johns had a running theme in his run that Wally had a weird chip on his shoulder about Wonder Woman, resenting her preachy nature but also having a lot of respect, and just having a hard time understanding her as a person. This idea never came up beforehand and it's not been mentioned since, even in one-on-one team-ups; Dwayne [=McDuffie=] even characterised Wally as being a big fan of Wonder Woman owing to having had a huge crush on her in the past, while Diana herself acts like a CoolBigSis to him.
* DespairEventHorizon: ''ComicBook/FlashWar'', ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'', and ''ComicBook/FlashForward'' are a three-part one. Having him rediscover his children, subsequent breakdown, be sent to a mental health facility, before an accident results in the death of many other patients and Wally has a complete psychotic break [[spoiler:brought on by Eobard Thawne's manipulation]], before he's roped into saving the multiverse, ultimately sacrificing his sense of self.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: His backstory. [[FreakLabAccident Then out of a lightning bolt]], ''everything changed''.
* {{Determinator}}: Very ''very'' persistent when it comes to fighting and a very stubborn individual in his private life. As long as his loved ones believe in him, he can even beat Death itself to come back home. Even being erased out of reality won't stop him if his loved ones are in danger. This is his driving force after ''Flashpoint''; he refuses to fade into the Speed Force until he manages to bring his message to the world. [[spoiler: And when [[OneTrueLove Linda]] doesn't recognize him, he goes straight into HeroicBSOD until Barry saves him.]]
* DorkKnight: More notable during his early career as The Flash.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: During the ''Dark Flash'' storyline, the "Professor Zoom" that teamed up with Abra Kadabra and Replicant is revealed to be actually Wally himself, in a plan (that the rest of the supposedly captured Flash family, even Dark Flash, [[TrojanPrisoner are in on]]) to undo Kadabra's RetGone spell on Linda. It was also probably Wally's way of paying Kadabra back for pulling a similar trick during Barry's time.
* EndearinglyDorky: Not dorky to the extent of his cousin [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Bart]] or his mentor [[SociallyAwkwardHero Barry]], but he still managed to be a cutely awkward child as Kid Flash during the Silver Age. He carries over his kid sidekick silliness to his Flash persona later on.
-->'''Wally:''' It worked!! Go Team Flash!\\
'''Barry:''' And you call ''[[EccentricMentor me]]'' a dork.
* ExperiencedProtagonist: When his Flash run started, he had been through several years as Kid Flash and saving the world together with the Teen Titans.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: At the end of ''DC Universe: Rebirth'', [[spoiler: Wally loses all hope of reconnecting with the universe after finding out his wife and lightning rod Linda Park no longer remembers him.]] He accepts his ultimate fate of [[spoiler: fading into the Speed Force forever and uses his last willpower to give a farewell to Barry.]] Barry remembers his [[LikeASonToMe surrogate son]] and manages to pull him out of the Speed Force after hearing these words:
--> '''Wally West:''' Every second was a gift. That's why I won't die in anguish, [[AllLovingHero I'll go with love in my heart]].
* FarmBoy: He grew up in a small town named Blue Valley in Nebraska.
* FemaleGaze: Oh, but of course.
* FieryRedhead: Ginger, passionate, stubborn and the ''most'' impatient man alive. His biggest weakness is his terrible temper, as he also admits to himself.
-->'''Wally:''' Superman has Kryptonite, Martian Manhunter has fire...me? I have a temper.
* FirstPersonSmartAss: If you are reading a Flash comic starring him, expect his narrations to bring out his SmugSuper side.
-->'''Wally:''' [after throwing Mongul into a sewer pipe] So...do I call the cops or the sanitation department?
* FriendsAreChosenFamilyArent: He ''hates'' the [[DysfunctionalFamily Wests]], with the exception of his [[WhiteSheep Aunt Iris]], who he considers the first person to ever love him. He builds a family of his own once he becomes a superhero and cuts all his connections with his parents after that. Before his wedding, he does everything in his power to prevent invitations from being sent to Mary and Rudy, but that doesn't work well for him unfortunately.
* FunPersonified:
** Also known as "The Funny Flash". He's always on the thrill-seeking side of superheroics unlike Barry and Jay, and he is not afraid of showing how much he enjoys having super speed powers. His [[AdaptationalComicRelief portrayal across all media]] and his youthful touch helped define the Flash in the modern day. If Jay Garrick defined Flash's powers and Barry Allen laid down the basic origin story and the setting, then to many Wally West ''defined the Flash's personality''.
** As stated by Mark Waid himself:
--> Wally is one of the few guys in comics who gets up every morning and says, “My God, I have the greatest job on Earth. I can’t wait to be Flash today.” That is core to Wally’s personality.
* GenerationXerox: He and Kyle Rayner are this to Barry and Hal Jordan.
* AGodIAmNot: Wally disgustedly rebuffs Cicada's claims that the Flash is a symbol of a cult's worship.
* GoKartingWithBowser: A famous issue with him features Wally crashing into a Rogues party. Not that they invited him on purpose, but they had fun together neverthless.
* GoodIsNotSoft: A FieryRedhead with terrible temper is the kind you wouldn't like to mess with. If you harm, or try to harm, any member of his family or TrueCompanions, he will hunt you to the end of creation and thrash you. ''Very soundly''. Examples:
** After Gorilla Grodd [[StartOfDarkness crippled Hunter Zolomon]], Wally chased him all the way to Gorilla City, and was so intent on killing the primate that the other, more benevolent gorillas had to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erase the location of Gorilla City from his mind]].
** Inertia orchestrated Bart Allen's murder at the hands of the Rogues. Wally's response was to chase down Inertia, act like he was going to run him face-first into a mountain, and (right at the last second) [[AndIMustScream steal all of Inertia's speed to the point that he was an immobile but still-living statue]].
* GuileHero: Using his wits in a pinch is something Wally has even before becoming Kid Flash: when he first came to Central City, Wally sees a gang of robbers getting the drop on the Flash. He took a wrench from a mechanic and busts a nearby fire hydrant open, distracting the robbers long enough to help the Flash get his second wind. In general, there are a lot of cases where Wally wins by merely outsmarting his enemies.
* HandsomeLech: Before settling down with Linda.
* HappilyMarried: With Linda Park before ''Flashpoint''.
* HaveWeMetYet: In ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', he approaches Linda to ground himself back into reality again. Unfortunately for him, Linda doesn't recognize him because she's never met him in this timeline before.
* HeadbuttingHeroes: With Kyle Rayner when they were both on the JLA. Wally saw Kyle as a newcomer taking on a very prestigious name, whereas Kyle thought similar of Wally taking the Flash identity. That and they were kinda just jerks to each other. Didn't stop them working with each other pretty well, though.
* TheHeart: First for the Flash family. Later he takes the torch from Barry and grows into this role for the Justice League. Eventually, he becomes the heart for the entire DCU thanks to his brighter personality. During ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', it's shown that the DCU became a DarkerAndEdgier place in the absence of Wally and his return is heavily promoted as the return of the "love, hope and legacy" to DC. In the follow-up ''Titans'' series, it's established that he was also this for the Titans, keeping the team together and helping each member with their personal problems.
* HeroicBSOD:
** He went through this during ''The Return of Barry Allen'' when "Barry" abandons him and leaves him for dead, with Wally spending weeks a drunk, depressed mess. He recovers, thankfully, after discovering "Barry" is actually Eobard Thawne.
** The entirety of ''DC Universe: Rebirth''. Especially after [[spoiler:Linda tells Wally that she doesn't remember him]], he's devastated enough to just go find Barry and speak to him one last time before he's pulled back into the Speed Force.
** ''ComicBook/FlashWar'' and everyone onward ends up being a lengthy one. When Wally appears in ''ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'', he's just ''tired''.
* HesBack:
** Has done this several times. Most famously, he considered giving up the superhero life after he was betrayed by "Barry", but Wally immediately bounced back once he learns he was just an impostor. It also happens every time he's lost in the Speed Force. The first time, Max Mercury was adamant that nobody could return from the Speed Force, and Wally is the first to do so because of his love for Linda. The second time, he's able to connect to Linda despite her being removed from reality by Abra Kadabra. The third time, he and Linda disappeared and turned up on an alien planet, returning thanks to the Legion of Super-Heroes. ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' had him lost to the Speed Force thanks to Abra Kadabra once again, but in a meta-sense, he became the pre-Flashpoint Wally complete with his memories, and returned thanks to Barry.
** ''Speed Metal'' does this in a different way; after the TraumaCongaLine that he'd suffered the last decade, Wally retakes his position as the lead Flash, complete with returning him to his 90s suit, and has him reunited with the full Flash Family (who all happily rally behind him and follow his lead).
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: When he first became the Flash he was rife with this. Never being able to see himself living up to Barry's legacy, he was [[WellDoneSonGuy haunted by nightmares of Barry being ashamed of him]] and as a result, he mentally limited himself to the speed of sound for a long time. After the famous ''ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen'' story, he was finally able to make peace with himself.
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** With Dick Grayson a.k.a. ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}, Pied Piper[[note]]though obviously, not heterosexual on his side, but it's generally indicated Piper wasn't attracted to Wally himself, likely since he knew [[IncompatibleOrientation it was a non-starter]][[/note]], and, once they've ironed out their differences, Kyle Rayner.
** His post-Rebirth relationship with Barry is also this. The two are now closer in age somewhat, so there's a general lack of seniority. As things develop, Barry becomes increasingly written as OlderThanHeLooks so this is returns closer to their surrogate father-son depiction.
* HotBlooded: Out of the 3 main Flashes (Jay, Barry and Wally), he is the one with the greatest passion. Especially when it comes to speed, his eyes see nothing else. He's even admitted his FatalFlaw is his temper, as he's prone to not thinking when he's mad.
* HumbleHero: Once he got over his cockiness, he morphed into this. In fact, he's admitted to feeling uncomfortable with the Flash Museum as a concept, because he doesn't think he should be worshipped for just doing the right thing with his powers. Which is ironic since he himself worshipped and idolised Barry and Jay.
* HumblePie: His entire character arc from lottery winner billionnaire turning into blue collar AllLovingHero is one big journey.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: I-N]]
* IconicSequelCharacter: See BreakoutCharacter above.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Nothing much is made of it, but Wally has ''amazing'' aim; he's shown several times hitting small, moving targets from a great distance away using objects [[ImprovisedWeapon that are really not designed]] to be thrown, and with his super-speed, he throws them with the speed of machine gun fire.
* InnerMonologue: He is the first Flash to use inner monologues. Mark Waid took them to a new level and made them an essential part of the Flash mythos, though Messner-Loeb did use them quite a bit beforehand. A huge part of ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'''s critical success owes a lot to his narration as AudienceSurrogate.
* ItsPersonal: With Hunter Zolomon, [[EvilFormerFriend the second Reverse-Flash]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: His FieryRedhead personality usually makes him clash with people easily. After Iris and Barry's deaths, he grew more bitter and started acting out. However Wally is still a NiceGuy at heart especially after receiving character development.
* JumpedAtTheCall: He ''loved'' getting the chance to run with the Flash and later be his sidekick. Even looking back on his life, he's always said it's the greatest life he could've asked for.
* KidHeroAllGrownUp: One of the most iconic examples in comics today.
* KidSidekick: Started as Kid Flash.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: He's an AscendedFanboy who got to be on par with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Can you blame him?
* LegacyCharacter: Arguably the most successful and the longest lasting one. He's referred as the embodiment of legacy in the DCU to a point that his return was used to mark an entirely new era for the universe that will re-establish legacies. Wally himself acknowledges his legacy status frequently, seeing it as his duty and honor to fil his uncle's shoes. Barry meanwhile very much considers Wally to have become an equal to the point of railing against it when Batman and Aquaman (not long after Wally's return and without having pre-Flashpoint memories) insist on treating Wally as a sidekick.
* LegacyImmortality: Zig-zagged. He makes Barry's death public right after taking on the mantle, but his biggest reason to put on the costume is to prevent Barry's legacy from being forgotten.
* LemonyNarrator: A big part of why Wally's InnerMonologue was so iconic, his trademark snark didn't subside as he narrated the story. He'd mock and ridicule bad guys, lampshade the situation, and quite often insult himself during his narration.
* LikesOlderWomen: Something Wally himself has noted. Linda is a couple years older than him (it's not specified, but she appears to have been in her late 20s, possibly early 30s, when he was in his early-mid 20s). Before her, he dated Tina [=McGee=], who was an older married woman whom he was much too young for, which caused them to break up. It's also been confirmed a few times he had a crush on Wonder Woman and, at least in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', ComicBook/BlackCanary.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch:
** [[OneTrueLove Linda Park]] and [[ParentalSubstitute Barry]] [[MentorArchetype Allen]] are his two crutches throughout his life. Only these two are capable of giving him a HeroicSecondWind or a full out HeroicBSOD.
** Wally himself is one for Barry, to the point of grounding him even from outside of reality when Barry was racing the Black Racer during "The Darkseid War". Later on, Wally's departure for the Titans causes Barry to feel extremely lonely, enough for Barry to seek a ReplacementGoldfish in the form of August Heart. Wally is probably the first person Barry shares his loneliness with so he will always be someone special to him.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: A male version. He was this to Linda Park, as she had more fun with her life after meeting him. Though he ''does'' move out of this, since ''she'' taught ''him'' responsibility and how to be an adult.
* TheMcCoy: Takes this role in ''Justice League'' and ''Titans'' when a Bat-character[[note]]Batman's TheSpock and Nightwing's TheKirk[[/note]] is concerned. Wally is one of ''very'' few superheroes who can say WhatTheHellHero against Batman's face without fear.
* MoralityChain: He develops into one for Hunter Zolomon, who almost lost everything in his life [[ThrowTheDogABone until meeting Wally]]. But the chain gets [[BrokenPedestal broken irreparably]] when Hunter is paralyzed by Grodd and Wally refuses to undo it via time travel; thus Hunter takes the [[FaceHeelTurn fall]] and becomes his EvilCounterpart.
* MoralityPet:
** He has three: the first person to ever love him and his life idol Iris West, his parental figure and mentor Barry Allen and the love of his life Linda Park. The last two also double as {{Living Emotional Crutch}}es as well.
** Wally is this for Dick before ''Flashpoint''. Dick's biggest fear was becoming more like Batman and Wally made it his own mission as a friend to keep him in line since their childhood. He helps Dick to recruit the Titans again, even though he's too busy with his JLA duties, just so Dick can be in a more friendly environment.
** He is also this for the former Rogue, Pied Piper.
* MrFanservice: He really loves showing off his body a lot. Notably, it was Wally who had the Flash's lightning belt swapped from a single one-way bolt into two symetrical bolts connecting in the centre, which helpfully points to his crotch and emphasises his butt. His costume is also noticeably more skin-tight than Barry's.
* MyGreatestFailure: He has two, both involving a FaceHeelTurn:
** Ex-girlfriend Frances Kane, who he pushed to go into super-heroics but who would go on to become Magenta.
** Police profiler Hunter Zolomon, because he refused to use TimeTravel to help fix his lost ability to walk, and Zolomon would go on to become the second Zoom because of it.
** ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis'' provided a newer, ''much'' worse one, [[spoiler:when he suffers a nervous breakdown after experiencing the combined trauma of every superhero/villain who's ever been in Sanctuary, the Speed Force inside him erupts that kills the heroes/villains by electrocution who had been in his presence when it happened. His subsequent psychotic break, where he arranged an overly-complicated suicide attempt, demonstrates just how much this messed him up (though it's later revealed that Eobard Thawne manipulated him into doing this).]]
* {{Nephewism}}: After his parents' divorce, he was taken into custody by his [[CoolBigSis Aunt Iris]] and [[CoolUncle Uncle Barry]].
* {{Nerf}}:
** During ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', a blast from the Anti-Monitor's antimatter cannon knocked down his speed from near-light to the speed of sound. However, he was able to regain his speed once CharacterDevelopment set in.
** Played with after ''Rebirth''; Wally's speed is faster than ever and he's explicitly the fastest being in existence, but he's lost his ability to lend and steal speed. Unfortunately, with [[UniquenessDecay supervillains with super-speed becoming a lot more common]], this power would have come in handy.
* NiceGuy: Par the course for Flashes, though at the beginning of his career as the Flash, Wally was more than a little bit of a dick. He comes around eventually, and was said to be one of the most approachable heroes in the DCU. Geoff Johns' characterisation of Wally during his run specifically focused on his approachable working class guy nature, depicting him as being on first-name basis with much of the city.
* NotHimself: As revealed later, Wally's actions in ''Flash War'' and ''Heroes in Crisis'' were the result of [[spoiler:Eobard Thawne manipulating him with the Negative Speed Force]], driving him to act in a way he wouldn't normally.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: O-S]]
* OpeningNarration: "My name is Wally West. I'm The Fastest Man Alive. I'm The Flash."
* PapaWolf: To his kids Jai and Iris. When Gorilla Grodd seemingly killed his daughter, he nearly broke his no-killing rule. He also has shades of this to Bart.
** It’s this trait that is the primary reason for ''ComicBook/FlashWar''. Wally is so desperate to save his kids from the Speed Force that he is willing to potentially risk the timestream itself just to pull them out. More shockingly, when Barry tries to stop Wally, Wally threatens to cripple Barry. Mind you, Wally practically worships the ground Barry walks on, and he just threatened him just to save his kids. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero The fact their current state was largely Barry's fault thanks to Flashpoint probably didn't help]].
* ParentalNeglect: In the LighterAndSofter versions of his Post-Crisis origins, his parents are not downright abusive but instead too selfish to commit their parental duties.
* PersonalityPowers: He is very hotheaded and impulsive. This is actually weaponised by the Rogues and other villains, who take advantage of the fact Wally runs first, thinks later, to catch him by surprise.
* PlatonicLifePartners:
** Downplayed compared to her relationship with Dick, but Wally is probably Donna Troy's second-closest male friend. Their friendship actually saved her as his memories of her were what allowed her to avoid being retconned out of existence.
** Him and Jesse Chambers are extremely close, especially as they're BirdsOfAFeather regarding being speedsters who look up to their fallen mentor/father figures, are the two speedsters closest in age, and Wally is constantly looking out for Jesse. This was decidedly ''not'' platonic [[AllLoveIsUnrequited on her side]], which caused her a great deal of pain due to Wally only having eyes for Linda, though she got over it and comforted Wally when he thought Linda was dead.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: A firm believer in this, making a stark difference between him and Barry's SociallyAwkwardHero. During his Flash run, he works as a unit with other speedsters and always surrounds himself with his other superhero friends. After ''DC Universe: Rebirth'', the first thing he does is to recruit his old Titans team to fight against the time thief who altered reality. It only makes sense that this guy's BFF is [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]].
* ThePowerOfLove: A reoccurring theme with Wally, Linda, and the Speed Force. [[spoiler: Until it doesn't work in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''. It's Barry's fatherly love for him that saves him this time.]]
* PowerPerversionPotential: Downplayed, but he admitted that as Kid Flash, he would use his super-speed to discreetly check out attractive girls. He stopped when Wonder Woman noticed thanks to her own lower-level super-speed, and the look she gave him made him feel extremely guilty for it.
* PsychosomaticSuperpowerOutage: His HeroicSelfDeprecation caused him to mentally limit himself to the speed of sound for a while.
* ReallyGetsAround: Before his marriage. Within the span of only first 10 issues of his Flash run, he slept with over 10 ladies!
* RedOniBlueOni: When he is paired with Nightwing, he takes on the Red role. He is more sensitive, HotBlooded and prone to making emotional outbursts compared to ''Dick Grayson'' of all people, which should tell you a lot about his character.
* {{RetGone}}: When it comes to the New 52, he's the one that was most often cited. That becomes a plot point in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', as he tries to come back into reality again.
* TheReveal: ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' reveals that this Wally is still around and the ''New 52'' Wally is in fact a younger cousin.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Following Bart's death, the first thing a heartbroken Wally does is to find the one responsible for his death, Inertia. Inertia realizes something is wrong when he turns around and sees a red tornado is chasing him. He goes from shock, thinking Bart's alive to horror when he figures out that he's being chased by an ANGRY Flash. Wally grabs him and just runs across the planet, almost splattering Inertia against a mountain and draining him of every ounce of speed in his body, leaving him a permanent statue. Then he places the said statue in the Flash Museum opposite Bart's memorial.
* ScrewDestiny: It's mentioned that "The Life Story of the Flash" biography Eobard Thawne left behind has a section dedicated Wally West. It doesn't matter to Wally if he can read it (most of it was already destroyed), Wally chooses not to so he doesn't have to learn what happens to him in the future.
* ShipperOnDeck: Funnily enough, when he first met the Flash, he wanted Iris to dump that loser Barry Allen and get with ''the Flash''.
* SidekickGraduationsStick: What you get when it ''works''. When Barry [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis came back]], he still kept his identity as the Flash. He was erased out of reality to pull in this effect and it still didn't work - Wally still managed to come back and reclaim his title as the Flash five years later. It says something that he's surpassed Barry so much that when adaptations focus on Barry, they ''constantly'' take inspiration from Wally and write Barry as a CompositeCharacter.
* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: He's one of the more popular and stronger heroes of the DCU and the fastest of Flashes.
* SingleTargetSexuality: Wally used to be a bit of a skirt-chaser, but after he began seriously dating Linda Park, he lost interest in ''anyone'' else. When she seemingly died, he remained depressed until she came back. When she was erased from reality, Wally believed he had simply lost interest in relationships and despite egging from Jay that he should ask out Jesse, they remained JustFriends. After coming back from ''Flashpoint'' and ''Rebirth'', Wally's not moved on from Linda, and though he shares a kiss with Donna during a moment where they're both in need of comfort, nothing more happens. Hell, when he meets an alternate universe version of Linda who is into him, he chooses not to pursue anything with her because she's not ''his'' Linda.
* SmugSuper: Wally absolutely loves having superspeed and can't imagine a life without it, which leads to him being very cocky about his powers in contrast to his [[HumbleHero mentor]].
--> His name is Wally West. He's the Flash, the fastest man alive. ''Unfortunately'' he knows it too.
* SoProudOfYou: After improving himself as a hero and a man, he gets to hear this from all older members of the superhero community at least once, and hearing those words [[WellDoneSonGuy from Barry himself]] at the end of Blitz is what makes him the happiest.
--> '''Barry:''' I just want you to know, [[LikeASonToMe son]]...just how proud I ''really'' am.
* StarCrossedLovers: He loses everything he shared with Linda after Flashpoint and Linda no longer recognizes him, but Wally is determined to win her back, even though it will take a lot of effort from his side.
* SuperiorSuccessor: After letting go of his insecurities, Wally surpasses all the benchmarks Barry had built and evolves the Flash mantle with his discovery of Speed Force. Beyond that, he also attains powers that Barry never had, such as stealing and lending speed.
* SurpassedTheTeacher:
** After his CharacterDevelopment, he officially surpassed Barry in speed and abilities; not only did he surpass Barry in speed (even Barry acknowledges this after his return in ''The Flash: Rebirth''), but he gained the ability to steal and lend speed, powers Barry has never acquired (the closest being that Barry can steal Speed Force energy ''specifically''), and was the first person to ever return from the Speed Force. His connection to the Speed Force is so unrivaled that ''he can't be cut off from it.''
** His ComicBook/KingdomCome incarnation is seemingly ''the'' fastest Flash, and will probably stay that way given how ridiculously fast he is in it; just how ridiculous you ask? He became fast enough to the point of being ''omnipresent''!
* SpeedSex: Though the Flash in general is prone to receiving these jokes, [[SelfDeprecation Wally himself once joked about]] how he's not even sure ''how'' he managed to get Linda pregnant given this. Given that ''Linda'' is the one who's usually shown instigating sex in their relationship, however, he's clearly not ''bad'' at it despite his speed.
* SympathyForTheDevil: He frequently showcases sympathy for his enemies, unless the enemy is like Eobard Thawne or Joker. However he openly admits understanding for the Rogues and for his friend Hunter Zolomon, who fell from grace by [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds his pain of loss]] to follow Thawne's footsteps.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: T-Z]]
* TakingUpTheMantle: After Barry's death, he takes on the Flash mantle.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Strongly believes in this. In his Kid Flash days, he even testified against Barry for his murder of Eobard Thawne. As an adult, he regrets it and also supports the death penalty, but he still absolutely refuses to kill any of his villains, even Hunter, who not only gave him a clear reason, was a threat only Wally could beat but was ''literally'' asking for it.
* TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential: He started out very slow as the Flash, so he had to work with S.T.A.R. Labs members Tina and Jerry [=McGee=] to improve himself. Then later during "ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen", he met with Max Mercury who helped him understand and use his Speed. In the same story, it's established that he could've ''always'' been faster than Barry if he wanted to, but he never wanted to one-up his mentor.
* TimeTravelRomance: After returning from being erased from existence, Wally learns the life he's supposed to share with Linda no longer exists. Right now Wally's had an entire life with her, but to Linda, he's a complete stranger.
* TookALevelInBadass: He lost a lot of his speed during the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', but he eventually surpassed his mentor in speed along with some CharacterDevelopment.
** A negative example of this is that Wally is ''so'' badass that upon one particular return to the main DC universe, the Speed Force which Bart had been encapsulating during his tenure as the Flash leaves him. Wally comes back as powerful as ever, Bart is reduced to being powerless at the ''worst'' moment possible.
* TookALevelInKindness: He greatly matures in many things compared to his time as Kid Flash, and even when he first became ''the'' Flash he was a bit of a jackass. He still keeps a little bit of FieryRedhead in himself, but that's only when someone ''really'' pisses him off.
* TwoTimerDate: Wally once took one date to a dance, and a second one to a basketball game. He actually wasn't having any problems at all, but on the other side of the world the Justice League Europe can't start their meeting because he wasn't in attendance, having forgotten all about it.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With [[Franchise/GreenLantern Kyle Rayner]] while they were on the JLA. Wally had issues with Kyle calling himself Green Lantern, and Kyle had a problem with Wally's attitude. They tease each other, but they get along.
* WellDoneSonGuy: He had it very '''bad''' for Barry. Over the course of his Flash tenure, Wally managed to be recognized as an exceptional hero by the entire superhero community and finally earned his SoProudOfYou by Barry several times. Not only that, Barry also stated that they were equals.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: He was close friends with Hunter Zolomon before he became Zoom. Wally still considers Hunter's fall from grace [[MyGreatestFailure his greatest failure]].
* WhatWouldXDo: "What would Barry do?" is a frequent question he asks during his hard times.
* WhiteSheep: He and Iris were this for the Wests. By all accounts, the Wests were ''not'' a nice family, and the two looked out for each other.
* WorldsStrongestMan: The Flashes' frankly broken powers (near-infinite super speed potential broadly speaking translates to "every other physical super-power" with the added bonuses of reality warping and the ability to disrupt other powers including magic) makes them widely regarded as the most powerful ''humans'' on Earth. Wally, the fastest man in the multiverse, stands at the peak, able to contend with Superman-level opponents (including an alternate universe vampire Ultraman), destroy the most powerful lantern constructs and being one of the only speedsters who can freely travel through time.
* WorkingWithTheEx:
** He dated Magenta when he was Kid Flash, but things ended badly and Wally accepts it's pretty much entirely his fault. When she comes back, they work together for a bit before she reveals her true colors.
** In ''Titans: Rebirth'', it's revealed that he had a past with Lilith Clay (Omen). Now they are working on the same team together to find who stole time from the DCU.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Due to a speed-related illness, teen Wally underwent RapidAging. Physically and mentally he's in his mid-twenties. Fortunately the extended lifespan of a speedster means he's not going to have to worry about dying young.
* YourMindMakesItReal: Wally's limits during his early tenure as the Flash are largely down to this. Firstly, he knew enough about science to know he ''should'' require a large fuel source, and thus was a BigEater who was always hungry, and his powers wouldn't work when he hadn't eaten (evidently, he didn't know ''enough'' to not recognise he wasn't consuming nearly enough fuel to support his speed). ''Then'' he had a deep-seated fear of tarnishing Barry's memory by replacing him, and so kept himself at a lower speed to avoid being seen as a SuperiorSuccessor (until he was able to get over this fear and surpassed it). Now that he understands the Speed Force, he lacks many of these limits, though his powers are prone to waning depending on his mental state.
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** Does this several times as the Flash every time he's lost in the Speed Force. The first time, Max Mercury was adamant that nobody could return from the Speed Force, and Wally is the first to do so because of his love for Linda. The second time, he's able to connect to Linda despite her being removed from reality by Abra Kadabra. The third time, he and Linda disappeared and turned up on an alien planet, returning thanks to the Legion of Super-Heroes. ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' had him lost to the Speed Force thanks to Abra Kadabra once again, but in a meta-sense, he became the pre-Flashpoint Wally complete with his memories, and returned thanks to Barry.

* ConflictiLoyalty: When the Justice League and the Titans find themselves on opposing sides of an argument on what to do with an apparent AlienInvasion (especially when they learn that the invader in question [[spoiler:is ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}, back when he merged with an alien HiveMind]]), Wally has to choose which side he is on: his current team, or the old one, respectively. when Wally chooses the Titans, Kyle Rayner calls him out on this.