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Professor Eobard Thawne, also known as the Reverse-Flash, is a time-traveling criminal from the 22nd century, and the archenemy of The Flash.[8]
History
Origin
Eobard Thawne
Professor Eobard Thawne, born in 2151, was obsessed with The Flash. He spent years figuring out how he came to be, and after managing to duplicate the process that granted the speedster his powers, he successfully managed to gain a connection to the Speed Force. However, he subsequently discovered, through time travel, that he was destined to become The Flash's greatest enemy, and would never become him, causing Eobard to despise his former idol. Becoming the Scarlet Speedster's "reverse", Eobard would then make it his life's mission to take as much as he can from him, travelling through history in order to find the time period the Flash is from and learn his name.[9]
War with The Flash
After their first encounter in 2016, in which he suffered a severe beating at the hands of his nemesis, Eobard would fight the Flash for many years. One day, he learns his enemy's name, and travels back in time to kill him as a child, only for Barry Allen, who had already experienced this from the perspective of a child, his 2015 and 2016 selves, as part of a predestination paradox, to follow him and save his younger self, leaving his mother at Eobard's mercy.
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Masquerading as Harrison Wells
After killing Nora Allen, inadvertently resulting in him losing his powers and being stranded in the past, Thawne realized he needed the Flash's speed to go back to his own time.[10] To that end, he orchestrated an elaborate plan involving the murder of Tess Morgan and impersonating scientist Harrison Wells after stealing the scientist's DNA with futuristic technology. Under the guise of Wells, Thawne started STAR Labs and sped up Wells' research by five years, all to further his own goal.[11]
He kept a close watch on Barry,[12] and deliberately let the Particle Accelerator at S.T.A.R. collapse to create the Flash[13]. When Barry's powers emerged, "Wells" immediately positioned himself as mentor to assist in the development of his powers.[1] Despite regaining his abilities and being faster than Barry, Eobard's connection to the Speed Force was unstable. He continued to train Barry in hopes that he will be fast enough to create a wormhole to allow him to return back to his time. Eobard was erased from existence when Eddie Thawne kills himself, causing a black hole to emerge from the wormhole.[14]
Flashpoint
After Barry traveled back in time and prevented his mother's murder,[15] Eobard was subsequently taken into the altered present time and made prisoner. He taunted his adversary about the consequences of tampering with the timeline, dubbing the new one "Flashpoint", and was proven correct as Barry's memories of the original timeline started to fade away. Ultimately deciding he needed to undo the change, Barry was forced to release Eobard and return him to the night of Nora's murder in order to allow him to execute it and set the timeline back to its prior version. After doing so, however, Eobard once again taunted Barry by stating everything would not be exactly the same as before the Flashpoint, and fled.[16]
Legion of Doom
Among the Legion of Doom
Eobard acquired knowledge of an event in his future and sought to change it by travelling throughout time to collect relics, and form partnerships with various individuals to further his own goals, such as Damien Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn. The Legion came up against the Legends of Tomorrow many times while trying to piece together the Spear of Destiny. Eobard wanted the Spear so that he could rewrite reality to save him from death. This is because the Speed Force still saw him as a relic from another universe and tried to erase using their enforcer, the Black Flash. The Black Flash chased him throughout time trying to get him. Eventually, Eobard was caught by the Black Flash and sucked into the Speed Force itself.
Crisis on Earth-X
As Dark Flash
Eventually, Thawne reappeared as an ally of the New Reichsmen of Earth-X. He tried to fulfill the Fuhrer's request to perform cardiac surgery on Overgirl, which would kill Supergirl in the process. However, he was stopped by the Atom and when the defeat of the Reichsmen became inevitable, he abandoned his allies.
Creating Cicada
In timeline of Nora West-Allen of the year 2049, Thawne, still in his Harrison Wells form, had been incarcerated in Iron Heights and scheduled for execution. Thawne couldn't use any of his powers because his prison garb was outfitted with the dagger of Cicada, a serial killer who was never caught and could dampen powers with said dagger. Remembering a previous encounter with Nora and Barry, Thawne manipulated Nora into becoming the speedster superhero XS, being she could meet her long deceased father. Training her like he once did Barry, Thawne taught Nora how to time travel and a time code writing so they could keep in contact despite paradoxes. Among his training was to teach Nora how to access the Negative Speed Force, Thawne's own variation which would corrupt her. Thawne's plan was for Nora to join Barry in destroying the satellite during Clifford DeVoe's enlightenment. This way the dagger would bond to someone else and create a different Cicada, one who could be stopped. Thawne's plan worked as he planed, but Ralph Dibny had caught onto his deception, realizing why he was helping Nora. Team Flash reluctantly had to destroy the dagger being that Dwyer's niece Grace from a possible timeline, had traveled back in time as a second and more violent Cicada. With the Dagger erased from existance, Eobard escaped his bindings and killed most of the guards moments before his execution. Team Flash fought Thawne off, only for Nora to begin disappearing. Being they destroyed the dagger, this had also prevented Nora's birth. Thawne escaped as Barry and Iris had their final moments with their daughter.
Possessing Nash Wells
After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, all versions of Harrison Wells were sent to Nash Wells' mind. Harry and Sherloque tried to warn Nash to be honest about his grief about losing his adopted daughter Maya or else Tahwne would possess him. Eventually Eobard Thawne possessed him, he tried to kill Cisco, but Cecile Horton rendered him unconscious due to him not having powers. He was sent to the S.T.A.R. Labs' pipeline, where he threatened Team Flash. Eventually, Thawne was imprisoned in a chair while Team Flash performed an “exorcism.” In Nash's mind, Thawne intimidated them but was eventually expelled from his body in the form of negative tachyons.
Against Godspeed
Needing a last resort in his war against Godspeed, Barry and Iris had the Speed Force reconstitute Eobard's physical form by connecting with the Negative Speed Force, which also prevented Heart from siphoning his power. Thawne immediately ran into Godspeed, throwing him a few blocks away. Greeting the Flash, he teamed up with his archenemy to fight Godspeed. Wielding lightning swords, all three speedsters fought to a point where Heart's focus was split, where Barry was knocked down and Godspeed was impaled by Thawne. With Godspeed down, Thawne delightfully reveled in the opportunity for another showdown with Allen, which quickly ended with his quick defeat from Barry utilizing Flashtime.
Reverse-Flashpoint
Ultimate revenge
With his defeat proving Barry surpassed him in the power of speed, Thawne channeled the Negative Speed Force to orchestrate the stages of Armageddon, framing his nemesis, sabotaging S.T.A.R. Labs, causing Joe's death, impersonating Allen to push him to desperation, and replacing Barry as the target of the lightning rod that will ignite the Speed Force connection, causing him to find Team Flash and be Iris' love, and finally killing Barry as a child which sealed Barry's erasure from existence in his new timeline.
As he celebrated his engagement with Iris, he and his own Team Flash encountered Barry, who uncovered the changes he had orchestrated and confirmed it with him in conversation. Barry's donning of his attire revealed their switched roles in his timeline and as a confrontation erupted, he took Barry away and revealed all his machinations and how Barry's erasure is confirmed at midnight. Later on, as he looked for Barry, who, unbeknownst to him, allied with Damien Darhk, to help restore the original timeline where Nora Darhk still lived. As he found his nemesis again when he tried to talk sense into Iris, he was paralyzed by her. Afterwards, as Barry began his plan of restoring the timeline, Thawne pursued him, only to lose as he reconnected with the Speed Force to reset the timeline. He survived, only to uncover his own fate of erasure.
Defeat
Needing the aid of Team Flash to ensure his survival, Thawne attacked the CCPD headquarters to catch the Flash's attention only to encounter Mia Queen; the future Green Arrow, in search of her half-brother William, fighting her, until Allen came. Kept trapped in a force field, he had a visit from Caitlin, who informed him of his remaining time before his erasure. Eobard gloated about his role in her husband's death and her inability to kill her and her remaining in Team Flash. Caitlin responded by her undying hatred of him for killing Ronnie. He was later visited by Allen, who wanted to know his motives for his hatred of the Flash, he elaborated on how he intended to gain recognition for his invention of becoming a speedster only for the Flash to gain his audience's praise and apparently humiliated him, to which Allen called out as a sociopath for having such ferocity on a small act. As Despero came to kill Thawne to prevent Armageddon having the Green Arrow as his thrall, Team Flash decided to let him live, with Allen using his lightning to sever Thawne's connection with the Negative Speed Force, for which Thawne ungratefully reacted by angrily yelling for his loss of his speed.
Depowered, A.R.G.U.S. imprisoned Thawne in a cell on Lian Yu. Without the Negative Speed Force to revitalize him, his age began catching up with him, affecting his thinking capacity and sleep, but not removing his desire to kill the Flash. Even imprisoned, he learned of the death of Frost and was later visited by his nemesis after he had encountered a new and mysterious speedster. Despite complaining about his current predicament, he was encouraged to talk after Barry left, questioning his motives for directly visiting Lian Yu just to ensure his captivity and powerless state. He then informed him of the new speedster he encountered, which he refused to help him on. After Barry concluded he would forever remain jealous of any speedster who might replace him as the Flash's greatest enemy and who is making progress in their journey against him while he is rendered powerless and incapable of posing a threat ever again. Erupting into pure rage, he stated he is incapable of being replaced due to his commitment to seeing the Flash's downfall and his own former prowess and infamous reputation as the instigator of so much of the Flash's misfortunes. He then concluded that the new speedster is not in full control of their powers which is why they can't be found, enjoying a moment of satisfaction over being able to think faster than Allen.
He was visited by Allen again over possibly returning to his full strength and with his original face, but he denied it and stated he doesn't have anything to make plans with due to his lack of speed, but was then shown a drawing of the Biometric Lightning Oscillation Chamber, which was built by the other him. He confirmed that it was his creation for his aspiration of becoming a speedster, but it tapped into the Negative Speed Force, which is the source of the new speedster's powers. He then stated it's usage will corrupt her if not halted, which Thawne stated is inevitable as any version of him out there is only concerned about self-preservation inherently.
Just after Barry left his cell, John Diggle visited him to ask about a mysterious object, Thawne attempted to use this object to his advantage to find a way to escape. After his attempt failed, however, help would seemingly find him with the Negative Still Force.
Rebirth and Death
However, Thawne gets killed by the Negative Still Force, setting his resurrection plan into motion as well. Later Iris is sacrificed as green particles due to a time sickness which went into his time remnant, leading his "true" version to be reborn by resurging through and killing his time remnant in the process.
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Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Negative Speed Force Conduit (Formerly): By duplicating the reaction of the accident that made Barry Allen become the Flash, Eobard's physiology was altered, granting him access to the extradimensional energy source for all speedsters' powers called the Negative Speed Force.[17]
- Superhuman Speed: Eobard is capable of moving at superhuman speeds, appearing as only a blur to the naked eye. He was initially much faster than The Flash. Eobard can also generate great amounts of physical force through the kinetic energy he creates by moving at superhuman speed. His speed lets him channel the force he generates into powerful strikes, able to propel targets several feet.[18]
- Superhuman Reflexes: Because of his great speed, Eobard's reflexes are heightened to superhuman levels, allowing him to react to danger instantly. He is capable of easily reacting to attacks from The Flash.[18]
- Superhuman Agility: Eobard's agility, balance and bodily coordination are far superior to the finest human athlete. He is able to make sharp turns while moving at superhuman speed, without losing balance.[18]
- Superhuman Stamina: Eobard possesses superhuman stamina, which allows him handle the stress of running at superhuman speed, without getting tired or weak.[18]
- Superhuman Durability: Eobard possesses enhanced durability due to his body being adapted to the effects of moving at super-speed. He is able to recover from attack and exertion much quicker than normal humans, and was hardly fazed by a great fall from the roof of the S.T.A.R. Labs building.[19]
- Superhuman Strength: Eobard possesses a degree of enhanced strength. He was strong enough to throw the Flash several yards away with one arm[19]. He has also repeatedly been shown able to easily restrain, or even pick up a full-grown man with a single hand, by their necks.[20]
- Accelerated Healing: Eobard is capable of healing at a rate much quicker and efficiently than regular humans.[21]
- Enhanced Mental Process: Eobard's brain is able to process information at a highly accelerated rate, which allows him to perceive time and events in slow motion, as well as take in and process large amounts of information.[18]
- Enhanced Senses: Eobard's speed extends to his senses, allowing him to see and hear normally when moving at increased speed, even when moving at super-speed, where this would normally be impossible.[18]
- Electrokinesis: Eobard is able to generate and manipulate the electrical energy that he draws from the Negative Speed Force. He is capable of utilizing it to enhance his strikes, and focusing the electricity to make his eyes glow bright red. The great amounts of energy generated from Thawne's body can cause nearby electronics to glitch and fluctuate.[18]
- Energy Construct Creation: By focusing, Eobard is able to use the Negative Speed Force to create solid energy constructs. He displayed this when constructing a sword made of pure energy.[22]
- Molecular Acceleration: Eobard can vibrate his molecular structure at various levels to achieve various effects. He can accelerate the molecules in his throat to distort his vocal cords to disguise his voice.[18]
- Intangibility: Eobard can vibrate his cells, making his body intangible. He frequently uses this power to vibrate his entire body to conceal his identity from others.[18]
- Phasing: Eobard can vibrate any part of his body so fast, that he can phase through people or objects. By vibrating his hand he is able to phase it directly through a person's chest, killing them.[10]
- Speed Mirage: Eobard can use his speed to make it appear as if he's in two places at once, when in reality, he is simply bouncing back and forth too fast for the human mind to perceive the difference.[10]
- Time Travel: Eobard can move fast enough to break open holes in the fabric of time and space, allowing him to travel through time.[11]
- Time Remnant Creation: By shifting momentarily back in time, Eobard is able to essentially "clone" himself by creating a time remnant, a version of himself from either his past or future. As each one is as real as the other, it allows Eobard to overwhelm enemies with multiple copies of himself.[23]
- Vortex Creations: Eobard can use his speed to generate air flow as vacuums. By rotating his arms at super speed, Eobard is capable of creating instense vortexes of wind, strong enough to send Firestorm flying blocks away.[19]
Abilities
- Genius Level Intellect: Eobard declare himself as a genius in the 22nd century levels of science.
- Business Management
- Charisma
- Deception: "Wells" was never injured during the Particle Accelerator explosion, but has taken advantage of the incident to legitimize his fake paralysis. He also murdered Simon Stagg in order to keep him from exploiting Barry's abilities, keeping this murder a secret from his colleagues.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Unlike Barry, Eobard does not rely on his speed to win fights. He was shown to be a very methodical fighter, striking at precise spots to wear down his opponent. He was able to easily defeat Barry in hand-to-hand combat twice[18]. While temporarily deprived of his speed, Eobard's fighting skills allowed him to temporarily hold his own against the Arrow in a fight.[19]
- Intimidation: Eobard is able to instill fear in others, which is accompanied by his glowing red eyes, and ability to vibrate his vocal chords, to alter his voice into a deep growl.[24]
- Leadership
- Meditation[25]
- Surveillance
- Tactical Analysis: Eobard is an expert tactician, as he was able to come up with plans to help Barry Allen defeat the many meta-humans he faced. He also managed to prevent Barry and the rest of his team from figuring out that he was the Reverse-Flash.[10]
Weaknesses
- Power Instability (Formerly): Thawne is not in full control of his powers which fluctuate erratically.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the television series The Flash and is an adaptation of Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash. The original character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino and first appeared in The Flash #139.
- Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash was portrayed by Matt Letscher. Tom Cavanagh portrays the character bearing the likeness of Harrison Wells for the majority of The Flash's first season.
- While accessing the Negative Speed Force, Thawne's eyes glow red.
- While his natural hair color is blond, when impersonating Wells, Thawne's hair is dark brown.
- Though Eobard's first appearance occurs in "Pilot", his first chronological appearance (from his perspective) occurs in "Potential Energy".
Related
- 80 Appearances of Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)
- 21 Images featuring Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)
- 19 Quotations by or about Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)
- Character Gallery: Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Flash: "Pilot""
- ↑ Revealed in "The Flash: "Out of Time""
- ↑ "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: "The Chicago Way""
- ↑ "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: "Moonshot""
- ↑ "Supergirl: "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 1""
- ↑ "The Flash: "The Exorcism of Nash Wells""
- ↑ The Flash: "Armageddon, Part 4"
- ↑ "The Flash: "Fallout""
- ↑ "The Flash: "The Reverse-Flash Returns""
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "The Flash: "Out of Time""
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "The Flash: "Tricksters""
- ↑ "Things You Can't Outrun"
- ↑ "The Flash: "The Sound and the Fury""
- ↑ "The Flash: "Fast Enough""
- ↑ "The Flash: "The Race of His Life""
- ↑ "The Flash: "Flashpoint""
- ↑ "The Flash: "Snow Pack""
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 18.9 "The Flash: "The Man in the Yellow Suit""
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 "The Flash: "Rogue Air""
- ↑ "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: "The Legion of Doom""
- ↑ "The Flash: "The Trap""
- ↑ The Flash: "Heart of the Matter, Part 2"
- ↑ "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: "Aruba""
- ↑ "The Flash: "Grodd Lives""
- ↑ "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: "The Fixed Point""
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