In the series, Barry is 25 and portrayed as a smart, goofy and tardy character, who works at the Central City Police Department as a forensic chemist. When he was younger, he witnessed the murder of his mother by the Reverse Flash, which resulted in the false imprisonment of his father for the crime. Later in life, while working at the Central City Police Department he is struck by lightning created by the explosion of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator sending him to a nine-month coma. After waking up he finds himself in S.T.A.R. Labs and develops metahuman powers; the power of speed and he becomes friends with Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow. Throughout the series, he constantly trains to become the fastest speedster across the multiverse. Barry uses his powers, along with his team's help, to fight criminals and other metahumans who have misused their powers. He is a friend and frequent ally of Star City-based vigilante archer Green Arrow and Kryptonian superheroine Supergirl.
Gustin appeared as Barry Allen and his superhero persona in crossovers on the television series Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and the animated web series Vixen, all set within the Arrowverse. The character has also appeared in a digital comic book series. Gustin received critical acclaim for his performance and won an IGN award.[2]
Crime-scene investigator Barry Allen was introduced in the second season of Arrow, in which he arrives in Starling City to personally investigate a superhuman-related crime. He is a fan of the Arrow's exploits and learns Oliver Queen is the vigilante; they become friends. Sometime after Barry returns to Central City, he is struck in his laboratory by lightning which was affected by dark matter from the explosion of the S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator.[3]
In The Flash, Barry awakens from a nine-month coma at S.T.A.R Labs and finds himself with superhuman amount speed. He uses his new powers to fight crime and hunt other metahumans in Central City as the Flash, a masked superhero, with the assistance of Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow and Harrison Wells, while Barry tries to identify his mother's murderer. When he was a child, his mother Nora Allen was murdered and his father Henry Allen was incorrectly sentenced for the crime. Barry was fostered by detective Joe West, the father of his friend and childhood crush Iris West.
In season one, Barry discovers that "Wells" is the futuristic speedster Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash in disguise. Eobard killed Nora after the plan to travel back in time to kill Barry as a child was foiled by the Flash of the future and left stranded in the present day. After capturing Eobard with the assistance of his allies, Barry is given the opportunity to rescue his mother by helping Eobard return to the future. He initially decides to go through with Eobard's offer, but Barry decides not to at the last minute as he is warned by his older self not to interfere and instead returns to the present and fights with Eobard, stopping his nemesis from returning to the future. Barry is almost killed, but police detective Eddie Thawne sacrifices himself to destroy Eobard.
In season two, after a singularity event occurs, the Flash is recognized as Central City's hero. However, the event brings the interdimensional speedster Hunter Zolomon / Zoom from a parallel earth who seeks to eliminate all speedsters throughout the multiverse. Barry discovers a recording of Eobard's confession of Nora's murder that clears his father of all charges, with Barry inheriting Wells's fortune and resources from Eobard. Though rich, Barry chooses to continue working for the Central City Police Department while using Wells's money to fund his and his allies's activities. After Zoom kills Henry, Barry defeats Zoom and travels back in time to save his mother's life.
In season three, by changing his past, Barry alters the timeline, resulting in the alternate timeline "Flashpoint". Though he is somewhat able to restore the timeline, this creates new threats, including the emergence of the god-like speedster Savitar who has a grudge against Barry. When Barry accidentally travels to the future and sees Iris killed by Savitar, he becomes desperate to change the future to prevent that from happening. He learns the identity of Savitar is a future clone of himself. After saving Iris and defeating Savitar, Barry takes his place in the Speed Force in order to repent for his creation of Flashpoint.
In season four, after being stranded in the Speed Force for six months, Barry is freed by Team Flash. The team later encounters Clifford DeVoe / The Thinker, an adversary with the fastest mind alive, who has orchestrated Barry's return from the Speed Force as well as the creation of the bus metas. However, DeVoe frames Barry for murder shortly afterwards; not wanting to risk compromising his loved ones and allies by revealing his secrets, Barry allows himself to be sentenced to life imprisonment. A month later, private detective Ralph Dibny, who joins the Flash's team, uses new shapeshifting power to impersonate DeVoe and help clear Barry of all charges. Following the Thinker's defeat, the team is approached by Nora West-Allen, Barry and Iris's daughter from the future.
In season five, Nora arrives from the future, wanting to change the events that lead to Barry's disappearance in the future. However, Nora's presence has altered the timeline and unleashed Cicada, a serial killer bent on killing metahumans. Furthermore, the team eventually learn of Nora's allegiance with Eobard who orchestrated Nora's arrival and Cicada. Barry and Nora succeed in subduing Eobard, but are forced to let his nemesis go and Nora is erased from the timeline.
In season six, Barry and Iris learn that the date of the crisis in which Barry disappears has moved up from April 2024 to December 2019, and that in order to save billions, the Flash must die. Meanwhile, Ramsey Rosso has discovered a way to cure people through dark matter, only to turn himself into a metahuman with a violent bloodthirst. Following Rosso's defeat, Barry surviving the crisis, and the multiverse's destruction and rebirth, Team Flash try to navigate the world post-crisis all while the secret organization Black Hole, and quantum engineer Eva McCulloch move forward with their mysterious plans. Barry later discovers that Oliver enhancing his speed during the crisis has damaged the Speed Force. As a result, the Speed Force dies and all speedsters will permanently lose their speed. Barry gets the idea to create an artificial Speed Force to save his speed.
The seventh season sees Barry continue to develop an artificial Speed Force and finish his fight with Eva before dealing with the emergence of several new Forces, the Strength, Still and Sage forces, that were born by Barry and Iris recreating the Speed Force. Trouble soon ensues when the manifestation of the new Speed Force goes mad and begins to threaten the city but Barry is able to tame it. Soon after, the new speedster Godspeed arrives from the future to threaten Barry but he is joined by his future children, Nora and Bart West-Allen, to take the villain down.
The eighth season sees Barry dealing with the psychic alien Despero, the reemergence of Eobard, the malevolent entity Deathstorm who feeds on people's grief, and the rise of the Negative forces with Eobard as an avatar.
The ninth and final season sees Barry dealing with the speedster Red Death, the return of Rosso, and the Negative Speed Force with Eddie resurrected as the speedster Cobalt Blue.
In the crossover "Crisis on Earth-X", Barry and Iris's friends come to Central City for their wedding, only to be interrupted when villains from Earth-X disrupt the proceedings. After defeating the invaders from Earth-X, Barry and Iris are married by John Diggle.
In the crossover "Elseworlds", Arkham Asylum doctor John Deegan rewrites reality, which results in Barry and Oliver swapping lives. In the new reality, they are the only ones that know that they are in the wrong lives and have each other's powers, which results in them going to Gotham City with Kara to confront Deegan.[4][5]
In the crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", the Monitor recruits Barry, Oliver, Kara, Kate Kane / Batwoman, Sara Lance / White Canary, Ray Palmer / Atom, and several others from throughout the multiverse to stop the Anti-Monitor from destroying reality. Barry's fate during the crisis is altered by the intervention of Earth-90's Flash who sacrifices himself in Barry's place. Following Oliver's sacrifice and the Anti-Monitor's defeat, Barry leads a new group of heroes who agree to work together to protect their new world, dubbed Earth-Prime, in memory of Oliver.
In the season four episode "Dude, Where's My Gar?" of Titans, when Garfield "Gar" Logan / Beast Boy from Earth-9 travels the multiverse for the first time via the Red, he encounters a yellow flash zipping by. A portal opens, revealing Barry running through the Speed Force. Barry's lightning accidentally hits Gar and knocks him into Earth-2, where he briefly encounters Courtney Whitmore / Stargirl.
Costume
Barry's suit is altered and upgraded every season. The suit is designed by Cisco Ramon and its original design was intended as a uniform for firefighters.[6] The suit was a modernised version of the traditional flash suit with a matching dark maroon colored helmet, which features the same maroon emblem and gold lightning symbol as the suit does.[7] The second season suit made minor changes to the suit, the alteration being the background color of the emblem is now white with a gold lightning symbol which is more true to the comics.[8] Besides the alteration of the emblem in season 2, there appears to only minor changes made throughout the three seasons.[9] The suit in season 4 appears to be a brighter red, with added leather paddings and golden accents.[10] The fifth season made one of the most significant changes, that is the removal of the chin strap and switching the fabric softer more body fitting look, created by Ryan Choi, in the future. The sixth season suit is fairly similar to the season 5 suit though now with gold piping along the torso and an entirely new cowl which features the return of the chinstrap as well as modified ear pieces designed to look more like the classic Hermes wings from the comics.[11]
Relationships
Iris West
Barry and Iris's relationship has often been compared to Superman and Lois Lane, she is introduced as his one true love. Barry and Iris were close friends since they were 9 years old, and he had stated since the start that she was his first love since he met her. However, in a twist of fate Barry's mother is murdered and Iris's father steps in as his legal guardian due to her friendship with the young boy. After growing up he confesses his feelings however because of her commitment to her first boyfriend it takes a while before they can fully admit and assume their love. It is later shown that a newspaper article is written by Iris West-Allen in 2024, thus indicating their future romance and marriage.[12] Iris and Barry's relationship changes due to alterations of the timeline when Barry time travels, however, their love seems to always prevail and they are eventually married, Barry says in his wedding vows "That's you. You've always been there, as a friend, as a partner, as the love of my life. You're my home, Iris, and that's one thing that will never change.".[13] At the end of season 4 they are introduced to their first born, Nora. And because of the constant changes due to time travels they discover that they will eventually have another son, Bart.
Linda Park
Barry dates Linda Park briefly in the first season, who is both friends and colleagues at the Central City Picture News with Iris West. Their relationship slowly dies out as she suspects him to still be in love with Iris, and also due to his general tardiness stemming from fighting crime as the Flash, they eventually break up and decide that they are better off as friends.[12] In the second season, Linda is targeted by her Earth-2 dopplegänger, Doctor Light, sent by Zoom to kill the Flash, prompting Barry to reveal his identity to Linda to enlist her help in capturing Zoom, finally revealing why their relationship did not work.
Patty Spivot
Barry and Patty Spivot begin dating in the second season, she was much like Barry with her quirky personality and sad past, which has caused them to dedicate their lives and careers to avenging and seeking the truth about their parents.[12] Patty made the decision to end the relationship because Barry was pushing her away emotionally, and she needed to attend Midway City University and study to become a CSI agent, which meant she had to leave Central City and consequently him.[14] Before leaving she had one final case with Barry, in which she tells Barry "I know you're upset but I was hoping it wouldn't be like this between us".[14]
Other versions
Versions from other Earths
Barry Allen of Earth-2 (also played by Gustin) is a non-metahuman who is a CSI at the Central City Police Department and a PhD graduate, married to Iris West but despised by his father-in-law.[15]
Gustin also portrays Savitar, an evil and scarred future version of the title character who is season three's main antagonist.[17] Savitar is essentially Barry with no loved ones and embracing his dark side. Savitar's origins are a predestination paradox as he is a temporal duplicate of Barry's future self using time travel in order to defeat Savitar. Although Savitar is ultimately defeated, the time remnant is spared but shunned by the rest of his friends and family for being an aberration, and goes back in time to set in motion the events that led to his own creation, including the death of Iris. Savitar's presence is "chronologically" the multiverse's first metahuman with speed. Naming himself after the Hindu god of motion, he is worshipped by his own cult. Long-held myths referenced Savitar throughout the multiverse with even Jay believing these stories, and with Savitar regarded as a major nemesis to his original self. From his prison, Savitar manipulates Julian Albert into acquiring the Philosopher's Stone, through which Doctor Alchemy can re-empower metahumans from the Flashpoint timeline. After manipulating Kid Flash into freeing him from his prison, Savitar next convinces Killer Frost to be his personal enforcer. When Savitar reveals his true identity to Barry, it forces his younger self to confront his own dark impulses and temptations that plagued him. Savitar's plan of Iris's murder before Barry (which would lead to his own creation), however, is ruined with the sacrifice of Earth-19's H.R. Wells by impersonating Iris. To save himself, Savitar manipulates Vibe to fragment himself throughout all of time and then goad his original self to give in to dark impulses as Savitar himself. However, both efforts are foiled by Team Flash and Savitar is erased from existence after being shot by Iris. After a cameo appearance in season five, Savitar appears one last time in the series finale. He is pulled out from the timeline just before his original death by Cobalt Blue who recruits him, the Reverse-Flash, Zoom and Godspeed to defeat Team Flash for good on the Negative Speed Force's behalf, transporting the legion to the present day 2023 while providing them with additional negative speed. The legion and Team Flash fight to which Savitar targets XS out of spite for Iris avoiding his wrath, but XS defeats him and Savitar vanishes as his speed is consumed by Cobalt Blue.
In other media
Fortnite Battle Royale features a cosmetic outfit of The Flash, using the Arrowverse version of Barry Allen.[18]
After the first screening of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Flash (2023) to the attendees of the Cinemacon 2023, director Andy Muschietti and producer Barbara Muschietti revealed that a cameo appearance of Gustin's Barry Allen was considered for the film, but was left in the "cutting floor room" due to not fitting in the story despite Muschietti's admiration for what the Arrowverse show accomplished on its own.[19]
Reception
Critical response
Regarding Gustin's debut as Barry Allen in Arrow and the potential for a series, IGN's Jesse Schedeen stated his concern: "Gustin doesn't come across as leading man material. His awkward bumbling intertwining with Felicity's was cute, but rarely did I get the impression that this character could or should be given his own spinoff series."[20] Schedeen eventually warmed up to the character, however, once the "dorkiness and social awkwardness" were downplayed a bit and the emphasis was placed on "his keen scientific mind".[21]
Grant Gustin as Barry Allen has received positive reviews by both fans and critics, with The Flash being the most watched show in The CW history.[22] Since the premiere of The Flash, Gustin has been nominated for 20 awards for his role as Barry Allen and had won a total of 5 of them. In 2015, Gustin won the Teen Choice Award for "Breakout Star", in that same year he won the Saturn Award for "Breakthrough Performance" and was nominated for "Best Actor on Television".[23][24][25] In the following year Gustin won the Teen Choice Awards for "Choice TV Actor: Sci-fi/Fantasy" and in 2017 and 2018 he took home the Teen Choice Awards for "Choice TV Actor: Action".[26][27][28]
Gustin's Barry Allen has been said to be the better Flash, compared to Ezra Miller who starred in the Warner Bros.Justice League.[29] According to Nick Mangione from Geek.com, "By the time Ezra Miller made his brief cameo appearance in Batman v. Superman, we had already seen the perfect Barry Allen". He goes on to say "More than heart, more than a perfect embodiment of the character from the comics, Grant Gustin is the one true Barry Allen because his show allows him to be. At least at this point, the same can't be said for Miller and the DCEU."[29]
While the first season received largely positive reviews, the later seasons received more mixed reviews. Erik Kain, a senior contributor on Forbes, indicated that "The first season of 'The Flash' on the CW remains one of my very favourite seasons of a superhero show. I maintain that it's among the best ever made, with great characters and one of the most intriguing villains on TV."[30] Kain, however, opined that the show has since gone downhill and that "Miller's Barry Allen is better in almost every way than Gustin's, though that's largely because he's not weighed down by CW melodrama."[30]
Accolades
All awards and nominations are for Grant Gustin's performance as Barry Allen in The Flash:
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