- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Bloodwork from the Arrowverse. The mainstream version can be found here: Bloodwork.
| “ | I will never accept death, not like you did. | „ |
| ~ Ramsey refusing to accept dying from HLH Cancer, unlike his mother. |
| “ | Well, that means I'm making the greatest sacrifice of all. Don't you see? What I'm becoming, this is the cure. I am the answer, Flash, to the greatest mystery of all. Life eternal. | „ |
| ~ Ramsey accepting his new life as Bloodwork, before killing Doctor Rodrigo. |
| “ | Welcome, my blood brother. I am the world's salvation, come to save it from all that ails it. Soon, the entire world will embrace... Bloodwork. | „ |
| ~ Bloodwork to the infected Barry Allen. |
Dr. Ramsey Rosso, also known as Bloodwork, is a major antagonist in the TV series The Flash, serving as the main antagonist of the first half of Season 6, Blood and Truth, and a minor antagonist in the second half, Reflections and Lies.
Initially one of the most brilliant doctors in Central City, Ramsey became obsessed with curing death after he becomes diagnosed with HLH cancer like his late mother. In his attempt to cure himself with dark matter, Ramsey gained blood-manipulating powers and goes on a rampage to infect mankind with his blood, concluding that he is their "savior", putting him at odds with the Flash.
He is portrayed by Sendhil Ramamurthy.
Personality
Ramsey can be defined by his obsession and fear of death. Watching his mother die without fighting her cancer caused Ramsey to develop an intense obsession with defeating death, and was unwilling to give up on saving her life when she was infected and later on his own. And his mother's acceptance of death caused him to label her a coward for not taking a chance to fight and survive. Ultimately it was his fear of death that pushed Ramsey to extremes in developing a cure for cancer then testing it on himself, despite advice being given to him about its possible adverse effects. His new obsession strained his friendship with Caitlin Snow, whom he considered as his own sister.
A short time later, Ramsey began to go down a much darker path. Having seen a victim of his powers produce a much healthier blood substance, Ramsey is determined to get more no matter the lives it costs. Despite having a copy of the Hippocratic Oath hung up in his lab, he showed no value to the quote 'I will DO NO HARM to others.' and proceeded to break the oath. He found out that through killing humans with adrenaline-infused blood, he can achieve eternal life no matter how many humans it takes for him to kill, which drove him all the madder. His newfound powers made him fanatically delusional as he began viewing himself as the key to eternal life and therefore the answer to saving every living being on Earth, but had a sense of misanthropy as viewed the human body as weak and needed to evolve beyond that to be immune to illness.
Regardless of his descent into madness, Ramsey still showed a sense of decency as he was visibly distraught when watching the mirror version of Kamilla killed herself to free him from his imprisonment. This demonstrates that he was against the act of suicide. As such, he seems to justify his actions by claiming that infect people who die aren't choosing it and that he is trying to give them a chance at living, unable to accept that he was actually subjecting them to a fate worse than death. Ramsey can view not killing his victims as him purposefully choosing suicide, further establishing his twisted views on life and death.
He also seems to still possesses some pride and brilliance, despite his near inhuman state. When the mirror duplicates were explaining who Eva McCulloch is, Ramsey angrily retorted that he knew who she was because, he too, was a scientist, hinting that he still views his former profession as a prestigious one. His calculating mind also came through, in that, despite being free of his cell, he never escaped A.R.G.U.S. Instead, he chose to sit and wait, plotting out another plan while confidently explaining that there was more than one way out.
Victims
- Mitch Romero
- Gat (Indirectly caused)
- Rodrigo
- Unnamed Central City General patients
- Numerous unnamed people
Quotes
| “ | My name is Dr. Ramsey Rosso. And for the last decade, I've spent my life dedicated to a single cause. Helping others fight the diseases that plague humanity. But not anymore. And it's all because of them. You see, there are many cancers in this world, and they all wear different faces. Some are doctors, like me. Some of them seek out the truth, regardless of the consequences. Others mock the very science they worship. But the most dangerous ones are those who call themselves heroes. They claim to fight for the things that matter in life. Truth, family, law, order. And most of all, for life itself. But it's all a lie. Because in the end, there's only one battle. One thing to fight against. An eternal enemy who must be eliminated forever. And that's death itself. No one has to die. Ever again. | „ |
| ~ Ramsey's speech during the 2019 SDCC Sizzle Reel. |
| “ | For the last time, I am trying to save everyone! Don't you understand?! You're not the hero here, I AM! | „ |
| ~ Bloodwork being unable to realize that he's doing more harm than good just as he is about to transform and fight the Flash. |
Trivia
- Actor Sendhil Ramamurthy also portrayed a doctor/scientist on NBC's Heroes, Dr. Mohinder Suresh. His Heroes character also gained powers through injection. Although, in Heroes, his injection was missing one ingredient. In The Flash, while he had had all of the ingredients, it didn't work.
- He is the first (and currently the only) main antagonist in The Flash who has a different skin color, whereas all of the previous main villains were Caucasian.
- Bloodwork is highly regarded as the show's scariest villain since Zoom in Season 2, especially from both the hallucination dinner scene in "The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 2" and the zombie-like Blood Brothers he's been infecting and creating.
- Bloodwork slightly resembles the Abomination in terms of appearance.
- Due to Bloodwork being roughly two years old in the comics at the time he was chosen as the Pre-Crisis villain (making his debut in 2016, around Season Three's airtime), the Arrowverse took creative liberty with fleshing out this version.
