Heroes are defined by the villains they face, and few crime-fighters have more tenacious enemies than the The Flash. The Reverse-Flash is a vicious, obsessive enemy, and a threat in the past, present and future. Eobard wants to hurt Barry no matter what, it doesn’t matter how serious or how petty – Eobard even went back in time once just to push Barry down the stairs. His constant meddling in Barry Allen’s life has created some horrifying consequences, and Eobard Thawne has made it clear there’s nothing short of death that could stop him – and even then, he’s liable to return.
Here are the 10 worst things the Reverse-Flash has ever done to his nemesis Barry Allen, showing the depths of his depravity, the extremes of his obsession, and the overwhelming potential of his powers. The fact that Flash is still fighting the good fight after facing these challenges is the ultimate symbol of his heroism.
10 Stole Barry’s Identity
Eobard Thawne is absolutely obsessed with Barry Allen. Eobard started out as a fan of Barry who wanted nothing more than to be his sidekick or a hero like the Flash. Eobard eventually achieved these dreams in Return of Barry Allen by Mark Waid, Greg LaRocque, Roy Richardson, Tim Harkins, and Matt Hollingsworth. This story saw Barry Allen seemingly return from the dead after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true, and it wasn’t Barry Allen, but Reverse-Flash posing as him. Eobard took this opportunity to completely wreck Barry’s reputation as the Flash before being found out.
9 Tried to Murder Barry
Comics in the past were a bit more light-hearted and straight to the point. Instead of Eobard Thawne traveling through time to restructure Barry’s life or targeting his loved ones, Eobard was content with just killing Barry with a good old-fashioned bomb, as seen in The Flash #283 by Cary Bates, Don Heck, F. Chiaramonte, Ben Oda, and Gene D’Angelo. After being tricked into going to the future, Barry tries to return to the present, only for the cosmic treadmill, the device Barry uses to time travel, to suddenly explode. It turns out that Eobard had boobytrapped the cosmic treadmill with a bomb, knowing Barry would need to use it to return to the present. While Barry survived this by separating and bringing his atoms back together, it still stands out as one of the clearest examples of Eobard just trying to murder Barry outright.
8 Took Over the Flashpoint Reality
Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Flashpoint by Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, Scott Hanna, Alex Sinclair, Jeremiah Skipper, and Rob Leigh asked “What if Reverse-Flash entered Flashpoint sooner?” In the original storyline, Eobard only showed up at the end to mock Barry for accidentally destroying the world to save his mother. But in this storyline, instead of showing up towards the end of the plot, Eobard is accidentally pulled in at the start and kills Barry Allen. Instead of abandoning this doomed timeline, Eobard decides to play around with it, taking Barry’s most painful and personal mistake, and turning it into a living hell for an entire reality.
7 Tried to Murder Iris West
Without a doubt, Iris West is Barry Allen’s true love. The two have been connected for decades at this point, and mean more than anything to one another, which is exactly what makes Iris the perfect target for Reverse-Flash. In The Flash: Rebirth #6 by Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, Rob Leigh, and Brian Miller, Eobard tries to kill Iris West but is prevented by Barry and his friends. Despite this, the attack made it clear to Barry that no-one he loves will ever be safe from Thawne.
6 Vibrated Barry’s Childhood Friend Out of Existence
Barry had a bit of a weird life growing up, due to the death of his mother and the incarceration of his father, Barry didn’t have much support or many friends. But one person who was consistently his friend and was a bright spot in his life was Doug. Doug was a boy who really got along with Barry, and they shared similar interests, the biggest of which was comic books. But due to Reverse-Flash’s absurd hatred of Barry, Eobard went back in time and vibrated Doug out of existence, entirely so Barry would spend his childhood without friends. This petty act was seen in Reverse-Flash: My Revenge by Scott Kolins, Joel Gomez, Brian Buccellato, and Sal Cipriano.
5 Tortured Wally West
Few things are more terrifying for the Flash than a Reverse-Flash/Professor Zoom team-up, but that’s what happened in Geoff Johns, Howard Porter, John Livesay, James Sinclair and Pat Brosseau’s The Flash #224. In a horrific act of torture, the two villains kidnapped Barry’s former sidekick and beloved protégé Wally West into the past, forcing him to witness his wife Linda’s miscarriage over and over again. Wally was stranded in horrifying torment, unable to escape due to his lesser mastery of time travel, and almost lost himself in the process. Ultimately, this adventure actually worked out in the heroes’ favor – the tampering with time prevented Linda’s miscarriage, and Barry was able to rescue Wally – but it also made it clear that Eobard Thawne is well aware how much Barry loves the former Kid Flash, and will hurt him by attacking the next generation of hero.
4 Caused Barry to Kill Johnny Quick
There are tons of speedsters in the Flash Family, and one of the most respected and revered is Johnny Quick. Johnny Quick is one of the older speedster heroes in comics, first appearing way back in 1941. Unlike other members of the Flash Family who can just natively pull their speed from the Speed Force, Johnny Quick has to channel the Speed Force using a math equation. This lets him focus and use the Speed Force to gain incredible speed. He’s acted as a mentor to both Barry and Wally in the past, which unfortunately made him a target for the Reverse-Flash. When Reverse-Flash reversed Barry’s connection to the Speed Force, Barry accidentally drained all the life out of Johnny Quick with a single touch, killing the speedster as seen in The Flash: Rebirth #3 by Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, Rob Leigh, and Brian Miller.
3 Turned Barry’s Kids Evil
One of the things that the Flash Family has typically done better than any other superhero group is actually managing to settle down and enjoy rewarding lives. While characters like Superman have achieved this, almost every member of the Flash Family has done it. Wally West has been married and recently welcomed another child into his life and in the distant future, it was shown that Barry Allen’s Flash had kids of his own: Don and Dawn Allen. But unlike their father, Don and Dawn grew up to be brutal villains due to the implied manipulations of Eobard Thawne, as seen in The Flash #26 by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Hi-Fi, and Steve Wands.
2 Killed Iris West
While Eobard’s later attempt to kill Iris failed, it was only after he’d already killed the love of Barry’s life once (at a costume party, where she was dressed as Batgirl.) Thawne killed Iris after she refused to leave Barry for him, and framed Clive Yorkin for the crime – a mystery that haunted Barry for some time. Reverse-Flash first admitted to killing Iris West way back in The Flash #283 by Cary Bates, Don Heck, Frank Chiaramonte, Ben Oda, and Gene D’Angelo.
1 Killed Barry’s Mother (& Framed His Father)
One of the biggest defining moments in Barry’s life was the loss of his mother. But despite this being a critical part of the character’s history today, it was only revealed in The Flash: Rebirth #5 by Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, Rob Leigh, and Brian Miller that Barry’s mother wasn’t meant to die. It wasn’t some random act of violence or tragedy that befell the Allen family. It was Reverse-Flash that killed Flash’s mother, at the same time framing Barry’s father for the crime. In a uniquely horrifying time-travel scenario, Barry’s parents were snatched out of his life because of his future nemesis. The event shaped Barry’s life, but it was only as an adult that he managed to clear his father of suspicion.
The Reverse-Flashhas tortured Barry Allen again and again, rewriting the very fabric of his life several times over, and yet despite everything Eobard Thawne does to him, Flash remains a hero, doing everything he can to protect his loved ones, innocents, and the world from Reverse-Flash.
