Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse)

Villain Overview Biography Gallery

Evil-doer
Reverse-Flash
Full Name	Eobard Thawne
Alias	Harrison Wells The Reverse Flash Opposite Flash The Man In Yellow The Man In Red and Yellow Lightning The Yellow Blur The Man in the Yellow Suit Father Fake Wells Evil Wells Time Nemesis The Speedster
Origin	The Flash
Occupation	Physicist Director of S.T.A.R. Labs (unknown-2015; as Wells) Leader of Team Flash (2014-15; in secret; as Wells) Vigilante (2014-15; in secret; as Wells) Time criminal Leader of the Legion of Doom Powerful entity
Powers / Skills	Advanced Super-Speed Superhuman Reflexes Superhuman Agility Superhuman Durability Superhuman Stamina Superhuman Momentum Intangibility/Phasing Electricity Generation Enhanced Mind Enhanced Senses Enhanced Strength Air Manipulation Accelerated Metabolism Regenerative Healing Factor Limited Time Travel Afterimage Creation Genius-Level Intelligence Strategic Leadership Expert Combatant Manipulation Impersonation Futuristic Technologies
Hobby	Antagonising the Flash.
Goals	Take away as much as he can from The Flash, go back in time and kill Barry Allen (failed), Frame Barry's father for killing Nora Allen (succeeded), Turn the Particle Accelerator on full blast so Barry Allen could be the Flash and help him use his Speed Force connection to get back to his time (succeeded in making Barry Allen the Flash, but the rest failed). Obtain the Spear of Destiny in order to alter reality so as to make his unnatural existence a natural existence, so he can escape the Black Flash (succeeded til failed) To erase Barry from existence, without disabling Eobard from his speed. To revive the Thawne Family he loved in the 22nd Century, therefore making its continuation a natural existence in order to support Eobard's reason to exist naturally.
Crimes	No information
Type of Villain	On & Off Archenemy

“	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 in the first season of the CW's television series The Flash, a major recurring antagonist in subsequent seasons of the show, while also appearing as the main antagonist in Season 2 of the spin-off series DC's Legends of Tomorrow. He is a time-traveling speedster from the future who was obsessed with the Flash, but eventually discovered that he was destined to be his nemesis and grew to despise him and sought to destroy him. He also seeks a mysterious amulet through different epochs even allying himself with the worst scoundrel.

It is revealed that he wishes to acquire the Spear of Destiny so as to alter reality and create a timeline where he naturally exists with his powers intact. So the main reason he is running is because the speed force sent the Black Flash as an assassin to hunt Eobard down.

Eobard Thawne is portrayed by Matt Letscher, though Tom Cavanagh plays the character bearing the likeness of Dr. Harrison Wells for the majority of Season 1 of The Flash.

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 existance when his ancestor Eddie kills himself to stop Eobard from ever being born.

But because of Eobard's changes to the timeline after flashpoint he is now outside of it,and the Thawne that died is a time remnant.

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. 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.

Powers and Abilities

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, 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 graet 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 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.
• 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.

Villainous Acts

• Murdered Mercury Labs guards to kidnap Tina McGee and force her to construct him a device to return to his time. In an erased timeline, Eobard killed Tina but was undone due to Cisco's vibe powers predicting this ahead of time, and Barry stopping it.
• After Eobard discovered The Flash's identity in the future, he goes back to the past and tries to kill the 11-year old Barry (which was unsuccessful)
• Once the future Flash rescued young Barry Allen, Eobard retaliates by stabbing Nora Allen in the heart and framing Henry Allen for murdering her.
• Murdering the couple Harrison Wells and Tess Morgan and taking the genetic make-up of Wells.
• Activates the Particle Accelerator, knowing that it wasn't prepared and risked the lives of everyone in Central City and turning countless people into metahumans, and killing 17 civilians, all so Barry could become the Flash.
• Murdering Simon Stagg when he came close to abusing the power of "the Man in the Red Mask."
• While stealing Dr. McGee's tachyon device he murders two security guards and an entire squadron of police officers.
• During Mark Mardon's attempt to destroy Central City, Cisco discovers Well's identity as the Reverse-Flash and he kills him in cold-blood, although Barry ended up going back in time and unknowingly prevented this from happening
• Having the reporter Mason Banks killed when he came close to revealing the murder of Simon Stagg.
• Reactivating the Particle Accelerator and didn't care that the metahumans imprisoned under S.T.A.R Labs would be killed.
• Killing Rex Tyler and steals the amulet from 1942.
• Forming an alliance with Damien Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn in order to obtain the parts of the Spear of Destiny
• Brainwashing Rip Hunter into becoming a villain

Killed Victims

• Dr. Tina McGee (Alternate Timeline)
• Nora Allen
• Harrison Wells
• Simon Stagg
• Jimmy
• Cisco Ramon / Vibe (Alternate Timeline)
• Mason Bridge
• Rex Tyler / Hourman
• Ray Palmer / The Atom (Time abberation)
• Rip Hunter (Time aberration)
• 5 unnamed Mercury Labs guards
• 4 unnamed Central City Police Department members
• Several unnamed Nazis
• Numerous unnamed people

Indirectly

• Tess Morgan
• Jake Davenport
• Daria Kim
• Ralph Dibny
• Al Rothstein
• Grant Emerson
• Will Everett
• Bea da Costa
• Shay Lamden
• Tony Woodward / Girder
• Farooq Gibran / Blackout
• Hannibal Bates / Everyman
• Jake Simmons / Deathbolt
• Eddie Thawne
• Ronnie Raymond / Firestorm
• Dante Ramon (Post-Flashpoint)
• Albert Einstein (Alternate timeline)
• Eliot Ness (Alternate timeline)
• George Washington (Alternate timeline)
• Charles / Dr. Mid-Nite
• Henry Heywood / Commander Steel
• Oliver Queen / Green Arrow (Doomworld reality)
• Barry Allen / The Flash (Doomworld reality)
• Laurel Lance / Black Canary (Doomworld reality)
• John Diggle / Spartan (Doomworld reality)
• Felicity Smoak (Doomworld reality)
• Rory Regan / Ragman (Doomworld reality)
• Rene Ramirez / Wild Dog (Doomworld reality)
• Evelyn Sharp / Artemis (Doomworld reality)
• Vigilante (Doomworld reality)
• 9 unnamed Central City citizens

Appearances

Arrow

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)
• "Broken Arrow" (mentioned: as Wells)

• "My Name is Oliver Queen" (mentioned; as Wells)

The Flash

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)
• "Enter Zoom" (mentioned)
• "Running to Stand Still" (mentioned)
• "Potential Energy"
• "The Reverse-Flash Returns"
• "Flash Back" (as Wells)
• "Versus Zoom" (flashback)
• "The Race of His Life"

Season 3

• "Flashpoint"
• "Paradox" (mentioned)
• "Magenta" (mentioned)

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Season 2

• "Out of Time"
• "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"

Comics

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.
• 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.