Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)


 * NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Professor Zoom from the Arrowverse. The mainstream version can be found here: Professor Zoom.

"I was obsessed with you. For so long I wanted to be "The Flash." I spent years figuring out how you came to be, duplicated the reaction and it worked. I became like you...This ability to travel through time revealed a truth. My fate was to become your greatest enemy, I was never going to be "The Flash." So I became the reverse of everything that you were. The more people you saved, the more you were loved, the more I had to take from you..."

- Eobard Thawne to the Flash

Professor Eobard Thawne, otherwise known as Harrison Wells and the Reverse-Flash, is one of the main antagonists of the Arrowverse, being the main antagonist of the CW's television series The Flash's first season, a recurring antagonist in subsequent seasons of the show, while also appearing as the main antagonist of the spin-off series DC's Legends of Tomorrow's second season, and one of the main antagonists of the Crisis on Earth-X crossover.

As Thawne, he is primarily portrayed by Matt Letscher. While by bearing the likeness of Dr. Harrison Wells, he is portrayed by Tom Cavanagh for the majority of Season 1 of The Flash and the Arrowverse crossover, "Crisis on Earth-X".

Overview
Hailing from the distant future, Professor Eobard Thawne was once obsessed with the 21st Century's Flash. He went so far as to duplicate the reaction that gave the Flash his powers and became a speedster as well. But when Thawne traveled back in time to meet the Flash, he discovered that he was destined to become his archenemy. Thus, Eobard grew to despise the Flash, and became the reverse of everything he stood for as the Reverse-Flash. And after discovering the exact time era when the Flash was active, Eobard learned the Flash's true identity of Barry Allen. The Reverse-Flash then traveled back in time to kill his nemesis as a child, but this attempt was foiled by The Flash. So instead, Eobard murdered his mother, Nora, and framed his father, Henry, instead, in the hopes that Barry would be traumatized enough to prevent him achieving his destiny, an action which alters the entire timeline. Shortly after however, Eobard lost his connection to the Speed Force and was marooned in the 21st century.

Seeking to return to his time, Eobard kills and impersonates Dr. Harrison Wells, the man responsible for creating the Flash in his timeline-of-origin. He then founds S.T.A.R. Labs in order to create the Flash himself, by creating a particle accelerator which gives Barry his powers in the year 2014. This way, Eobard could use the Flash's connection to the Speed Force as a means to return to his own time. After the "accident", Eobard fakes paralyses and aids Barry in his missions to stop the other metahuman criminals created by the particle accelerator explosion. However, his secret is ultimately revealed, and after Barry foils Eobard's plot. Eobard is then erased from existence when his ancestor Eddie kills himself to stop Eobard from ever being born.

However, after the Flash creates Flashpoint by saving his mother from death, Thawne is pulled from the timeline, and he therefore becomes a time remnant. However, because of Eobard's ancestor death which led to his time being erased from existence, his current status as a time remnant led to him being hunted by Black Flash. He aligns himself with Damien Darhk, Malcolm Merlyn and Leonard Snart and forms the Legion of Doom in order to seek out the Spear of Destiny to change his reality and save his life. However, thanks to the effort of the Legends, Black Flash eventually caught up with Thawne and stopped his heart with phasing powers, therefore erasing him a second time.

Thanks to his lifetime of constant time-traveling, Thawne returns as Harrison Wells as he assists the Nazis from Earth-X, led by Black Arrow, with invading Earth-1. During the final battle, Flash lets Thawne go, knowing that he is above killing and that he would just return nonetheless. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Personality
Eobard Thawne, under his disguise as Harrison Wells, presents himself as a mysterious man of science responsible for numerous scientific discoveries including the creation and activation of the Particle Accelerator. He is rather a secretive person, telling neither of his friends and colleagues where he lives and the autobiography of Wells himself tells very little about him as a person, simply that he is "enigmatic". Thawne is able to change his dual-identities depending on the situation which would be better suited for his multi-layered personality. His treatment toward Barry, Caitlin and Cisco is that of kind, compassionate, and almost fatherly person but to anyone who threatens him he is perceivably ruthless and uncaring. Barry's safety is his primary concern and he will shamelessly manipulate others to their deaths to protect him. Although he is an initial means to his own ends, Thawne has proven to genuinely care about him and his feelings and attitude from sheer hatred for Barry has turned rather complex. His calm nature also hides centuries of rage and hatred, which although are mostly aimed at the Flash can be contributed to the loss of his wife, own paraplegia and failure of the Particle Accelerator and is somewhat tortured because of this. However all of these were purposefully created by Thawne himself and there is always the possibility that he martyrs himself to gain more sympathy.

In reality, Thawne is a straightforward and genuine maniac. Despite his noble qualities, virtually everything about the man is a lie. Eobard performs completely insane convictions to achieve his goals, displaying arrogance when he has the upper hand, boasting about the superiority of his speed or superior position over the Flash and even his own allies in the Legion. He will stop at nothing to return to his own timeline, to the people he loved the most, prematurely activating the Particle Accelerator, killing seventeen people, ruining the lives of innocent civilians and selfishly manipulating his own team never seemed to faze him.

Victims

 * Tina McGee (alternate timeline)
 * Nora Allen
 * Tess Morgan
 * Harrison Wells
 * Cisco Ramon (alternate timeline)
 * Rex Tyler/Hourman
 * Ray Palmer/The Atom (time aberration)
 * Rip Hunter (time aberration)
 * 6 Mercury Labs guards
 * Numerous unnamed people

Indirectly

 * Eddie Thawne
 * Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm
 * Elliot Ness (alternate timeline)
 * George Washington (alternate timeline)
 * Charles/Dr. Mid-Nite
 * Henry Heywood/Commander Steel
 * Martin Stein/Firestorm
 * 17 Central City residents
 * Numerous unnamed people

Powers

 * Speed Force Connection: Eobard gained the powers of the Speed Force, which lets him run, react, and physically function at extraordinary speeds without harm. The Speed Force also granted him intricate powers such as intangibility and time traveling. However, his connection to the Speed-Force was a broken one, thus allowing his body to emit red electricity around his body.
 * Superhuman Speed: Eobard can move at incredible speed, significantly faster than Barry's former limit of Mach 2.2. He can easily move on vertical structures and ceilings. Barry said that he's so fast that he could kill everyone in the police precinct in seconds. His tremendous speed was later revealed to be greatly enhanced by tachyon particles in his body. In his prime Eobard's speed is over 13.2 Mach, that makes him faster than Zoom and possibly even Savitar.
 * Superhuman Agility: Eobard possesses inhuman bodily coordination, balance, equilibrium and dexterity. He is able to change direction immediately, thus allows him to make sharp turns on city streets without sliding or losing his balance.
 * Superhuman Reflexes: Eobard's increased speed also augments his reaction time, allowing him to react to danger and events far faster than a normal human.
 * Superhuman Stamina: Eobard's body can handle the stresses of superhuman racing without noticeable distress. His body's enhanced stamina allows him to function much longer than a normal human without getting tired or weak.
 * Superhuman Durability: Eobard is able to recover from attack and exertion much quicker than normal humans, as the Speed Force enhanced his durability above normal levels. It was much harder to stun him when he is using his abilities as he can take multiple hits while moving and not be knocked down or stopped in his tracks. He was also hardly fazed after falling from the roof of S.T.A.R. Labs to land from several stories up unfazed by moving at super speed at the same time
 * Superhuman Momentum: By building up enough physical force from any part of his body, Reverse-Flash is able to deal very punishing blows. This allowed him to exert inhuman physical strength with almost absolute ease. Even The Flash was quickly pummeled to the point he was unable to fight back despite his healing powers.
 * Enhanced Strength: Eobard has displayed a degree of enhanced strength, as shown during the fight against the Flash, Arrow and Firestorm where he easily threw Flash into the S.T.A.R Labs sign with great force.
 * Enhanced Senses: Eobard possesses enhanced senses that allow him to clearly see and hear when moving at superhuman speeds that would normally not allow this.
 * Enhanced Mind: Eobard's speed also extends to his mental capacities, allowing him to take in information and process it at much faster rates than a normal human. This ability allows Eobard to see the world as if it is in slow motion, which, combined with his physical speed, lets him perform thoughts and actions long before a normal human around him could even perceive them.
 * Regenerative Healing Factor: The Speed Force has increased Eobard's metabolism, allowing him to regenerate from wounds at a faster pace than most species. "Harrison's" wounds from being attacked with the force of a speeding car by the "Man In Yellow" were completely gone without a trace afterwards, which he covered up by isolating himself to avoid speculation of any kind. This healing has even extend his lifespan dramatically. It is unknown if this healing ability can help him survive fatal wounds such as a bullet to the head.
 * Intangibility: By vibrating the cells in his body, Eobard can move and pass through people or objects unharmed. This ability appears to have damaging effects on electrical equipment, as it shorted out Mason Bridge's computer.
 * Aerokinesis: Using his speed, Eobard can generate air flow as vacuums on various levels., He can create fierce waves and vacuums of air by shaking a body part very fast. His speed vacuum is very powerful, as he was able to blow Firestorm blocks away by rotating just one hand.
 * Electrokinesis: As a speedster, Eobard can produce powerful red electricity from his body when generating enough momentum. It is possible that this he used this to short circuit Mason Bridge's computer from the inside while phasing his hand through it. He can also interfere with electronics, as shown when Eobard arrived at the stadium, the electrical lights and video screens around it started glitching and flashing. Eobard is also capable of making his eyes glow bright red, which most likely is another effect of his electrokinesis.
 * Speed Mirages: By using his speed to bounce back and forth so quickly, Eobard can create after-images with his speed, making it appear like he's in two places at once. This image is so realistic, human mind can't perceive the difference.
 * Time Travel: By directing accessing the Speed Force, Eobard is able to freely travel throughout time. It was from this ability he was able to battle The Flash, a hero from over a century in the past from Eobard. Also, despite the Eobard from 2015 ceasing to exist, he was still able to exist in the timeline due to his past selves - from the future.

Skills

 * Genius-Level Intellect: Eobard is very intelligent, as evidenced by the crucial role he plays in Barry Allen's team, he also spent most of his life trying to create the Particle accelerator, and eventually succeeded.
 * Master Strategist: Eobard is a great tactician, as evidenced by him coming up with plans to help Barry Allen defeat the metahumans he goes up against as the Flash. He was able to completely manipulate Team Flash for a long time before they caught up.
 * Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Whereas Barry relies primarily on his reflexes and speed to overwhelm his slower opponents with random striking, Eobard as the Reverse-Flash is shown to be a very methodical fighter, striking at precise spots to systemically wear down his opponent. He easily defeated Barry in hand-to-hand combat twice. While more often relying on his speed to quickly win fights, he was shown to be able to hold his own against a master unarmed fighter like Oliver Queen while temporarily deprived of his speed, but once he got his speed back, he instantly had the Arrow pinned to the ground.

Equipment

 * Reverse-Flash Costume: Eobard wears a costume as his supervillain alter-ego, Reverse-Flash, to hide his identity from his victims. It is similar to Barry's Flash costume but the color scheme is the opposite.
 * Earpiece: On his suit's cowl, they are two lightning-bolt shaped earpieces on Harrison's suit, there is also a lightning-bolt at the center of the suit.
 * Tachyon Device: His Tachyon Device allows his super-speed based powers to have a proper connection to the Speed Force.

Season 2

 * "The Scientist" (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Three Ghosts" (mentioned; as Wells)
 * "The Man Under the Hood" (mentioned; as Wells)

Season 3

 * "The Brave and the Bold" (mentioned; as Wells)
 * "The Climb" (mentioned; as Wells)
 * "Broken Arrow" (mentioned; as Wells)
 * "My Name is Oliver Queen" (mentioned; as Wells)

Season 5

 * "Second Chances" (mentioned)

Season 6

 * "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 2" (as Wells)

Season 1

 * "Pilot" (as Wells)
 * "Fastest Man Alive" (as Wells)
 * "Things You Can't Outrun" (as Wells)
 * "Going Rogue" (as Wells)
 * "Plastique" (as Wells)
 * "The Flash Is Born" (as Wells)
 * "Power Outage" (as Wells)
 * "Flash vs. Arrow" (as Wells)
 * "The Man in the Yellow Suit" (as Wells)
 * "Revenge of the Rogues" (as Wells)
 * "The Sound and the Fury" (as Wells)
 * "Crazy for You" (as Wells)
 * "The Nuclear Man" (as Wells)
 * "Fallout" (as Wells)
 * "Out of Time" (as Wells)
 * "Rogue Time" (as Wells)
 * "Tricksters"
 * "All Star Team Up" (as Wells)
 * "Who is Harrison Wells?" (as Wells)
 * "The Trap" (as Wells)
 * "Grodd Lives" (as Wells)
 * "Rogue Air" (as Wells)
 * "Fast Enough"

Season 2

 * "The Man Who Saved Central City" (vision; recording; as Wells)
 * "Flash of Two Worlds" (mentioned)
 * "The Fury of Firestorm" (mentioned)
 * "The Darkness and the Light" (mentioned)
 * "Enter Zoom" (mentioned)
 * "Gorilla Warfare" (mentioned)
 * "Legends of Today" (mentioned)
 * "Running to Stand Still" (mentioned)
 * "Potential Energy"
 * "The Reverse-Flash Returns"
 * "Fast Lane" (mentioned)
 * "Flash Back" (as Wells)
 * "Versus Zoom" (flashback)
 * "Back to Normal" (mentioned)
 * "Rupture" (mentioned)
 * "The Runaway Dinosaur" (mentioned)
 * "Invincible" (mentioned)
 * "The Race of His Life"

Season 3

 * "Flashpoint"
 * "Paradox" (mentioned)
 * "Magenta" (mentioned)
 * "Monster"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Shade"  (mentioned)
 * "Invasion!"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "The Present"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Borrowing Problems from the Future"  (mentioned)
 * "Dead or Alive"  (mentioned)
 * "Untouchable"  (mentioned)
 * "Attack on Gorilla City"  (mentioned)
 * "Attack on Central City"  (mentioned)
 * "The Wrath of Savitar"  (mentioned)
 * "Abra Kadabra"  (mentioned)
 * "Cause and Effect"  (flashback)
 * "Finish Line"  (mentioned)

Season 4

 * "The Flash Reborn"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Mixed Signals"  (mentioned)
 * "Luck Be a Lady"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Elongated Journey Into Night"  (mentioned)
 * "When Harry Met Harry..."  (mentioned)
 * "Therefore I Am"  (flashbacks)
 * "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 3" (as Wells)
 * "Don't Run"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Enter Flashtime"  (mentioned)
 * "Run, Iris, Run"  (photo)
 * "Null and Annoyed"  (indirectly mentioned)

Season 2

 * "Out of Time"
 * "The Justice Society of America"
 * "Shogun"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Abominations"  (indirectly mentioned)
 * "Compromised"
 * "Outlaw Country"  (mentioned)
 * "The Chicago Way"
 * "Raiders of the Lost Art"
 * "The Legion of Doom"
 * "Turncoat"
 * "Camelot/3000"  (mentioned)
 * "Land of the Lost"
 * "Moonshot"
 * "Fellowship of the Spear"
 * "Doomworld"
 * "Aruba"

Season 3

 * "Freakshow"  (mentioned)
 * "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4" (as Wells)

Season 3

 * "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 1" (as Wells)

The Flash: Season Zero

 * "The Strongman Cometh"
 * "Who Let the Chimps Out?"
 * "Big Top Brawl"
 * "A Captive Audience"
 * "Showtime"
 * "The Big Finale"

Trivia

 * In the DC comics, Reverse-Flash is the secret identity of a number of individuals (otherwise known as "Professor Zoom," then "Zoom"). The first was Eobard Thawne, who shares a similar name to The Flash's Eddie Thawne, and Hunter Zolomon.
 * Despite Harrison's Reverse-Flash costume being yellow, when he runs at high velocity speeds, the electricity that radiates off of him is actually red, not yellow. The exact opposite is true for the Flash, hence the name "Reverse Flash".
 * In flashbacks, Eobard Thawne is portrayed by Matt Letscher, who had previously played Vincent Shyer from the first season of Criminal Minds, as well as Harrison Love in The Mask of Zorro.
 * Eobard's newspaper from April 2024 says that the Flash was missing after a crisis. It's possible that this could be leading up to a version of the Crisis on Infinite Earths event where the Flash had died.
 * It is revealed in "Who is Harrison Wells?" that he disappeared when he followed Eobard back in time to 2000.
 * He seems to be a fan of the Back to the Future trilogy.
 * He is the first villain in the Arrow-verse to have been fought by more than two heroes together; in "Rogue Air", he was fought by Firestorm, Oliver Queen/The Arrow and Barry Allen. The second is Vandal Savage, who was defeated by Hawkman, Barry, Oliver and Hawkgirl.
 * In the unaltered timeline in 2024, Barry faced off against Reverse-Flash with the help of Oliver, Atom and Hawkgirl, which meant that he may have been holding back during his battle in "Rogue Air".
 * The original Eobard Thawne from DC Comics was originally a fan of the Flash from the 25th century who time-traveled to the time he was alive to get his autograph. He was willing to lose his entire fortune and even murder to get it. He eventually found a statue that shows the Flash battling someone with the face of Eobard, making him realize that he should be Flash's enemy. This same version was used as Reverse-Flash's origin story as revealed in "The Reverse-Flash Returns".
 * In the Season 1 finale "Fast Enough", Eobard seemed to recognize Hunter Zolomon's hat coming out of the time portal. This suggests that he may have been to Earth-2, but this is not confirmed. However it is possible that he may have recognized it as Jay Garrick's hat since Jay would steal the helmet from Hunter later.
 * Eobard is the only main antagonist so far in the Arrow-verse to appear in every episode of the season in which he was the villain; he appeared in every episode of The Flash Season 1 under the guise of Harrison Wells.
 * Reverse-Flash is the 1st evil speedster to appear in the show. The 2nd was Zoom, the 3rd is Trajectory, the 4th is The Rival, and the 5th is Savitar.
 * Eobard is one of the few main antagonists of the Arrowverse to be still alive. the others being Slade Wilson, Kuasa, Samantha Arias, Ricardo Diaz and Selena. However Slade, Kuasa and Samantha are redeemed now leaving Eobard, Diaz and Selena as antagonists.

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Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)