The Flash has featured many main characters over its almost decade-long run, but which ones stand out for the right (and the wrong) reasons? The very best and worst of the CW series.
After nine seasons and 184 episodes, The Flash ended its decade-long run on The CW in May. The show first premiered on the network as a spinoff of Arrow in 2014, but it quickly grew into its own monster, going on to become one of the biggest TV shows in the world (and certainly the biggest in the superhero genre).
Naturally, there was a lot of fanfare revolving around its series finale because it would be the last time we’d see all of these characters on our screens (at least in this capacity). And with the end of The Flash also being the end of the Arrowverse, that rings extra true.
Throughout the course of the show’s nine seasons, we have fallen in love with many characters. They are like our Flash Family, our best friends, and we love them very much. But audiences didn’t take to everyone, with fans turning against a lot of characters that the show was needlessly pushing for no reason whatsoever. And then there are the beloved ones who just didn’t get the screentime they deserved.
Taking all of that into account, let’s take this opportunity to reflect on the show’s legendary run and all of its characters, ranking the main heroes and villains from worst to best.
Note: With the exception of two characters who it wouldn’t have been right to exclude, we’re looking back at every main character on The Flash, meaning that the actors had to be billed as series regulars for at least one season.
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25. Cicada
Cicada was arguably The Flash‘s most exciting villain at the beginning of his run. He was terrifying in his hooded black cloak and his oxygen-like mask as he massacred metahumans in Central City out of revenge, but the show quickly dropped the ball with him.
The character was doomed to repeat the same cycle in every single episode of the lengthy fifth season, showing up to kill someone, confronting Team Flash only to get defeated in battle. The most ridiculous thing is that the one-note villain was then allowed to escape every darn time.
There were flashes of brilliance in Orlin Dwyer’s arc, but the show waited too long to explore that. Thus, we were left with the mumbling, groaning, and disappointing shell of a character for most of the season. And that’s a huge letdown on all fronts.
24. Mirror Monarch
When we first met Eva McCulloch’s Mirror Monarch on The Flash season 6, we were pretty excited about what she had in store. DC’s Mirror Master was one of the few Flash villains that the series hadn’t adapted properly (outside of a loose adaptation in season 3), so Eva’s arrival was intriguing.
Efrat Dor certainly gave a convincing performance, making it easy to root for Eva early on, and she portrayed the sinister nature of the character in later episodes extremely well. However, the character felt unusually underdeveloped (the graphic novel approach limited audiences’ time with her) and the resolution of the storyline in season 7 undercut all of her momentum.
She was very good, but compared to other villains, she fell pretty flat unfortunately.
23. Chillblaine
Mark Blaine, a.k.a. Chillblaine, certainly had his place on The Flash but to say he was a fan-favorite would be a bit of an overstatement. He was introduced in season 7 as something of a nemesis for Frost, who was still finding herself at the time, but it was clear that the two were falling for each other.
Their whirlwind and often corny romance didn’t exactly resonate with viewers and didn’t do much for either character. After Frost’s death, however, Mark showed a real desire to grow, learn and evolve to honor his love’s life. But that ultimately resulted in him attempting to bring her back to life.
He became a main character in the show’s ninth and final season in what was really quite a bizarre creative decision. Throughout those 13 episodes, he betrayed Team Flash, ignored Team Flash, and hindered Team Flash (as well as having multiple on-screen absences). But Barry being Barry insisted he could be saved.
He did redeem himself in the end, but fans had grown fed up with the show’s refusal to stop going around in circles with his character development in an already-crowded final season. It’s hard to really know what the point of the character was, but at least he was played very well by Jon Cor.
22. Allegra Garcia and Chester P. Runk
It’s hard to rank Chester and Allegra separately because The Flash really stopped caring about them as separate individuals the moment it tried to shoehorn them into a romance. And by shoehorn, we mean that it spent absolutely ages building towards a romance we all saw coming and yet couldn’t care less about.
Allegra was an exciting new addition to the show when she debuted in its sixth season and Kayla Compton certainly livened up the screen whenever she appeared. The character’s bond with Nash Wells was also incredibly endearing and it made us root for her, so when we heard she’d be joining the show full-time from season 7 onwards, we were ecstatic.
Similarly, Chester was an instantly lovable addition to Team Flash, with his “What’s Up Party People!” introduction making him a fan-favorite. And when the show explored his backstory, you couldn’t help but feel connected to him. Unfortunately, it did little of note with him after that, making him little more than a half-baked replacement for Cisco Ramon.
Separately, Chester and Allegra were enjoyable arrivals to The Flash. But together, their pointless-but-predictable romance just wasted far too much time in the final season. And given that it left us caring about them less than we did when they arrived, it’s hard to argue that the characters weren’t ultimately failed by the show.
21. Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man
Ralph Dibny was introduced to The Flash in its fourth season. A private detective with a history with Barry Allen, he was intentionally unlikeable, setting up a redemption arc that would see him become Central City’s new hero, the Elongated Man, when The Flash was locked up in prison. And he did prove himself, he really did.
Unfortunately, it felt like there was a ceiling with Ralph when it came to character development. He was a corny character that the show often played for laughs and fans grew weary of it the longer that he stuck around. There was more that could have been done with Ralph to make him a more well-rounded character, but he was often seen as a gimmicky character. And, as we have seen with Cecile over the years, the novelty wears off pretty quickly when it comes to gimmicky characters.
Fans weren’t thrilled as the introduction of Elongated Man also brought with it the departure of Kid Flash, who hadn’t really been given his due on the show. Nevertheless, Ralph won most of them over in the end. He just stuck around for a little too long when the show wasn’t interested in further developing his character.
20. Cecile Horton
Cecile was a delight when she first appeared on the show. The firm but lovable District Attorney that Joe West fell in love with had such a commanding screen presence that we were thrilled whenever we heard that she would be joining the show full-time from its fourth season onwards. Unfortunately, the creative team took that as an opportunity to turn her into a walking one-liner machine.
Cecile is a very likable character, but fans quickly grew weary of the later seasons’ attempts to push her to the forefront of the show. Seeing her be Team Flash’s secret weapon in their war against The Thinker was a welcome change-of-pace for the show (especially as she could use her empathic powers to cancel out his), but that didn’t mean she had to become a fully-blown superhero.
Another thing that fans didn’t love was how she would often reveal how those around her were feeling to a room full of people, and the episodes in which she headlined with newer characters were among the worst of the series. That said, when she shared scenes with characters like Joe West, Barry Allen, or Iris West, then we saw her real potential. It’s just a shame that the show didn’t.
19. Khione
Here’s the thing with Khione, she’s actually a really likable character. The problem is that she was pointless. Completely and utterly pointless.
Caitlin’s refusal to accept the death of her sister Frost resulted in her accidentally creating Khione, a being that took over her body and ultimately realized that she was a goddess. If that’s not confusing enough, The Flash decided to introduce her in the final season, temporarily killing off Caitlin with absolutely no mourning period whatsoever and attempting to make us fall in love with a lookalike who knew less about herself than we did.
Danielle Panabaker played the role remarkably well and ensured that Khione was a lovable part of Team Flash, but the character was underdeveloped, spending most of her time meditating with nature before she figured out just how powerful she was. The show chose to skip over all of that and she suddenly went from zero to 100.
Showrunner Eric Wallace had plans to develop Khione across The Flash season 10 if it had been greenlit, so that explains why she was so underbaked. But with a limited final season run, they should have just forgotten the character altogether. She showed up, figured herself out, and then left, allowing Caitlin to return in the end. And even though that was the right resolution, it was completely disrespectful to the Caitlin character to sideline her like that in the final season.
18. Sherloque Wells
The Flash just loved giving us a new version of Harrison Wells each season, and honestly it’s easy to see why. Tom Cavanagh was having the time of his life playing the eccentric characters and each one of them was so unique compared to the others.
The most eccentric of the bunch was Harrison “Sherloque” Wells. A master detective from Earth-221, he took great pleasure in assisting Team Flash in figuring out the true identity of Cicada. He also discovered that Nora West-Allen was hiding some secrets.
Cavanagh was wonderful in the role and Sherloque provided us with a lot of necessary laughs in a repetitive season, but he seemed to lack the chemistry with Team Flash of his previous incarnations. He could also be abrupt and often found himself at the center of the Team Flash conflict. That said, he was definitely a bonus in the repetitive fifth season.
17. Nash Wells / Pariah
Harrison “Nash” Wells was the final new iteration of the character, showing up just ahead of the Crisis. An Indiana Jones-like geologist, it turned out that he was tracking The Monitor from earth to earth, which led to him accidentally freeing the Anti-Monitor from his cage and starting the Crisis.
The fact that this Wells evolved into the infamous Pariah from the comics was something of a shocker, but it worked well and was a nice way to pay tribute to the comics. Moreover, his bond with Allegra Garcia was very endearing and ended up being one of the best aspects of his character.
The fact that Nash became the last-standing Wells after the Crisis was a little disappointing for fans of the other Harrison Wells characters, especially as they went ahead and killed him off in season 7 anyway. Nevertheless, Cavanagh once again made the role his own.
16. Clifford DeVoe / The Thinker
The Flash‘s attempts to distance itself from speedster villains (after giving us three consecutive speedster villains) saw the show introduce Clifford DeVoe, a.k.a. The Thinker. A being of incredible intellect, he could predict all the outcomes, anticipate all the attacks, and telegraph every move that any one of his enemies would make. The mind is a powerful weapon in general, but in DeVoe’s case, it was a dangerous one.
The Thinker proved to be a truly formidable threat to Team Flash, successfully taking the Scarlet Speedster off the board by framing him for his own murder and attempting to “enlighten” the people of the world to see things his way, and only his way. Moreover, Neil Sandilands did an exquisite job bringing the professor to life, intricately showcasing all the nuances of the character and transforming him into an incredible villain.
The only thing that lets DeVoe down is the fact that he often came across as too powerful, so he got less and less enjoyable as the season went on, with both his convoluted plan and his constant winning making it hard to enjoy the quirky villain right around the time that he peaked.
15. Timeless Wells
After years of watching this man get killed and his doppelgangers getting all the spotlight, the original Earth-1 Harrison Wells finally got his moment to shine in The Flash season 7. Resurrected in the Earth-Prime timeline just moments after his death, he returned as the result of a balancing act by the universe that restored his existence following the deaths of all previous Wells’.
This was Tom Cavanagh’s final new character on the show before his departure as a series regular, so it was pretty fitting that it was the original Harrison Wells – the most underdeveloped of all the Wells. The character’s unique existence meant that Cavanagh could return to the show whenever he wanted to and it also gave the original Wells something of a fitting fate as he gets to spend the rest of his existence reliving those years with his wife Tess Morgan before their deaths. After all he went through, that’s pretty darn deserved.
14. Bart Allen / Impulse
Fans couldn’t wait to see Bart Allen introduced to The Flash. One of the few remaining members of DC’s legendary Flash Family not to appear on the show, Impulse’s arrival was on all our wishlists for the longest time. But that wish finally came true in The Flash season 7 when Bart sped his way onto our screens and right into our hearts.
Jordan Fisher did a wonderful job of channelling Bart’s infectious energy from the comics. He was enthusiastic, passionate, and felt things incredibly hard. He also said “Crash!” a lot, which is something that DC fans really appreciated.
It’s a shame that Fisher didn’t appear on the show earlier or more often because Bart is so good and we wanted to see more of him.
13. Nora West-Allen
We went on quite the journey with Nora West-Allen on The Flash, and that’s mainly down to the fact that we met quite a few versions of the character over the years. Originally introduced as Barry and Iris’ daughter from a bleak future where the Scarlet Speedster vanished in the Crisis, she travels back in time to meet her parents. After that, we learn that she was working with the Reverse-Flash in a bid to avoid destroying the timeline too much.
That Nora’s timeline-traveling unfortunately results in her being erased existence, but we don’t lose Nora completely. The timeline changes, but Barry and Iris are still fated to have a daughter named Nora, and we eventually meet the new version of her when she too travels to the past (with her brother Bart) to meet her parents.
The original Nora, also known as XS, was a conflicting character as she often ignored her parents’ advice and repeated her mistakes on a cycle, but Jessica Parker Kennedy was delightful in the role, making it easy to love her – so much so that we bawled when she disappeared in season 5. And the new Nora is such a perfect and enjoyable character that we wish we got to spend more time with her in the back half of the show’s run.
12. Eddie Thawne
Eddie Thawne’s character arc in The Flash season 1 is a thing of beauty. He’s the attractive, confident detective that fans could have easily taken a disliking to. He had charm, swagger and had the affection of Iris West, making him the obstacle in the long-awaited West-Allen romance. And yet, he was so kind-hearted, so loving, and cared so deeply for Iris that it was impossible to dislike him.
His fear of losing Iris and amounting to nothing drove him forward to make the ultimate sacrifice when he shot himself so that his descendent, the Reverse-Flash, would never be born. He died a hero, knowing that his loved ones would be safe and that we would all never forget him.
Eight years later, The Flash finally followed in the footsteps of the fan-theories and brought Eddie back as Cobalt Blue, the avatar of the Negative Speed Force who sought to destroy Barry Allen for “stealing” his happy life with Iris. He ultimately chose to destroy the crystal fuelling his hatred but remained the avatar, ensuring that there would be peace between the two forces going forward.
The rushed conclusion didn’t exactly give fans the payoff they wanted, but it wasn’t enough to take away from Rick Cosnett’s incredibly committed and enjoyable performance as Eddie.
11. H.R. Wells
When Earth-19’s version of Harrison Wells was first introduced in The Flash season 3, we didn’t know what to think. Was he a friend? Was he a foe? Was he something in between? Whatever he was, he was no Harry Wells, and the show was quick to acknowledge that, making it clear that he had large shoes to fill and that he was quickly failing in that department.
But that’s where the bumbling and intriguing novelist thrived, because when Team Flash accepted that he wasn’t like his Earth-1 or Earth-2 doppelgangers, they began to see him for who he was – and not who he wasn’t. And that was a kind, lovable, and harmless man with a very big heart.
H.R. had so much to prove but he was unapologetically himself from his first appearance right through to the last. Hilariously silly and hopelessly naïve, his big secret was that he was looking for material for his novel and was hoping that working with Team Flash might provide that. What he didn’t realize was that he would form meaningful friendships that would make him want to make the ultimate sacrifice – which he did.
H.R. may not have been a genius like Harry, but he was every bit the hero. And I guarantee you that few character deaths made you cry like his did. Team Flash were looking for the best of the Wells, and in many ways, they found him in H.R.
10. Wally West / Kid Flash
Wally West is one of the names most commonly associated with The Flash. Heck, he becomes The Flash in the comics. Including him in The CW series wasn’t just obvious, it was inevitable.
Debuting in the second season, Wally is the long-lost son of Joe West and the brother of Iris. He’s a fan of The Flash but not necessarily Barry Allen, so when he learns that they are one and the same, he has to reconcile all of that. Eventually, he does and goes on to become Kid Flash, helping the Scarlet Speedster and their team protect Central City from harm.
Keiynan Lonsdale was absolutely phenomenal as Wally. It was easy to root for the character and fans absolutely loved it whenever he returned to reunite with Barry throughout the show’s run. The only thing that prevents Wally from being ranked higher is the fact that the show wasted him for too much of his full-time run. And the fact that he was more at home on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow than he ever was on The Flash is a real indicator of that.
Nevertheless, we love Wally and wished we saw more of him over the years.
9. Killer Frost
The Flash spent such a long time building up to Killer Frost’s arrival. We got an alternate version of the character on Earth-2 before some Flashpoint-inspired timeline traveling on Barry’s part resulted in Earth-1’s Caitlin Snow also having to deal with the Ice Queen within.
When Killer Frost debuted, she really brought things to life. Danielle Panabaker was a force to be reckoned with and the show did a great job of portraying her as a larger-than-life entity that should be taken seriously as a hero or villain.
Unfortunately, after season 5, they really dropped the ball with the character, humanizing her overnight, shoehorning her into corny storylines and completely overlooking what she was capable of (how many times was she knocked down by villains she should have been able to overpower?). And her death in season 8 may have made for some emotional moments, but it accomplished nothing and was a complete disservice to a character that was once so very exciting.
Frost was one of the most unique, intriguing, and enigmatic characters on The Flash, but more than that, she was full of potential that the show squandered in its later years with silly storylines and an unwarranted, unnecessary death.
8. Jay Garrick
If there is one character throughout the show’s run that should have been a series regular at some point in time, it’s Jay Garrick. The classic veteran DC speedster was the most prominent recurring character to appear on The Flash and fans couldn’t help but beam with joy every single time that he did.
From his first reveal as the Man in the Iron Mask, to the fact that he looks like Henry Allen, Jay has been such an important figure in the show, and that’s not even taking into account how important the character is to The Flash Family in the comics. Since his introduction at the end of season 2, Jay has been a father figure to Barry Allen and a mentor in all things Speed Force. And their relationship has been one of the most formative in Barry’s journey to becoming Central City’s hero.
John Wesley Shipp was the perfect choice to play the character given his most famous role as The Flash in the 1990s TV series and he was nothing short of excellent in it. Jay was a breath of fresh air on the show and we wish we had seen more of him during those nine seasons.
7. Harry Wells
Harry Wells was a bit of an enigma when he first showed up in the second season of The Flash. We were just off the back of the reveal that Earth-1’s Harrison Wells was actually the Reverse-Flash in disguise, so we didn’t know what to make of the mysterious arrival of Earth-2 Wells. After all, we just didn’t know what a real Wells was like.
Ironically, Harry was frostier than his villainous counterpart. While Thawne was making intricate efforts to be nice to Team Flash (and actually ended up caring somewhat about them), Harry had no time for manners and was instead focused on protecting his daughter Jesse and stopping Zoom from hurting anyone else. And he certainly didn’t plan on forming a bond with Cisco. Too bad for him, all of that happened.
Harry ended up finding an unexpected family in Team Flash, growing close to all members of the team. He, of course, formed quite the bond with Cisco and was also there to provide knowledge when it came to taking down Zoom. And it was a very effective story development to have him return in season 4 to play a role in taking down The Thinker as well.
The loss of the multiverse and the Wells was tragic enough, but the fact that it took Harry from us made it that much worse.
6. Caitlin Snow
Caitlin Snow went through a lot during the nine seasons that The Flash was on the air. She lost her fiancée, got him back, lost him again, fell in love with an evil speedster, met her evil doppelganger, discovered she had an icy sister living within her, met that icy sister, crossed paths with an evil entity masquerading as her dead fiancée, lost her sister, and temporarily died. A lot, right?
Through all of that, Caitlin remained a firm fan-favorite character, which isn’t surprising given that she was one of the few original Team Flash members left by the end of the show’s run. Danielle Panabaker was a joy to watch in the role, especially in the earlier seasons when Caitlin was given far stronger material.
Much like we saw with other characters, the show eventually ran out of ideas for her, and the treatment of her character in the final season was nothing short of appalling. That said, Panabaker did a wonderful job with the character, and Caitlin Snow will always remain in our hearts as one of The Flash‘s best personalities.
A loyal member of Team Flash and a friend to the end, Caitlin was always there when her allies needed her, and that makes her one of Central City’s greatest heroes.
5. Joe West
Where to even begin with how great a character Joe West is? From CCPD Detective to Captain, from non-believer of the impossible to fully-fledged member of Team Flash, from our TV screens right into our hearts; Joe West is a paragon of integrity.
The father of Iris and Wally, he also became a major father figure to Barry after his mother’s death, taking him in and looking after him. That’s the thing about Joe West; it doesn’t matter what he’s doing or where he is; he will show up for the people that he loves. And his heart-warming conversations with Iris, as well as his incredible motivational speeches to Barry, are just some of the absolutely endless examples of that you will find in The Flash‘s nine seasons.
The Flash‘s later seasons were a frustrating time for Joe West fans because the show often came up with ways to write the character out of the story, ignore him for large portions of time, or have him act somewhat out of character. But not even that, nor his exit as a full-time character in the final season, is enough to take away from the absolute heartfelt performance Jesse L. Martin delivered every time he was on-screen.
4. Cisco Ramon
Oh Cisco, how we missed seeing you light up our screens each week.
One of the most disappointing aspects of The Flash’s series finale was the fact that this man did not return, because for seven wonderful years, Carlos Valdes made fans all over the world fall in love with Cisco Ramon. And honestly, who could blame them?
Cisco was the lovable genius on Team Flash who could help the heroes in the field avoid dangers and defeat threats. He was the unexpected metahuman who could vibe the future and open portals to other dimensions at a time when the multiverse was still a mystery. He was the friend who would never stop fighting for those he loved, no matter how hard that battle was.
Cisco was just a breath of fresh air in every way imaginable. Whether he was on comms to Barry, giving Central City’s supervillains quirky nicknames, or suiting up as Vibe on the battlefield, he was a delight. Carlos Valdes brought an endearing enthusiasm to the role that made you root for him in every single adventure.
We’re glad the character got his happy ending with Kamilla Hwang, but man did The Flash struggle without him.
3. Reverse-Flash
When Eobard Thawne walks into a room, it’s often filled with an eerie hush. It’s so quiet, in fact, that you can hear him vibrating. That’s a testament to both how fast the Reverse-Flash moves and the awe that he commands.
There is no greater villain in The Flash than Eobard Thawne. Heck, there is no greater villain in the Arrowverse than Eobard Thawne. The Reverse-Flash made it his mission to destroy the life of Barry Allen and was even willing to befriend him to make it happen. And he did befriend him – so well that Barry never saw the betrayal coming.
In the years after Thawne’s season 1 demise, he has returned on many occasions (both with his own face and Harrison Wells’ depending on the occasion). It’s not surprising, because this man is The Flash’s archenemy on every level, and it’s completely believable that he would not stop until he defeated him once and for all.
The final few seasons completely mishandled his story, killing him off in one of the most underwhelming showdowns in The Flash‘s run, but Tom Cavanagh and Matt Letscher have both been nothing short of thrilling in the role. And both have earned a place among the best on-screen villains we have ever seen.
2. Iris West-Allen
Iris West, The Flash’s lightning rod and the most important character on the show outside of the Scarlet Speedster himself, has also went through a lot over the past decade. From finding out that her longtime best friend was in love with her to starting her own media empire, few characters have been on a journey in the way that Iris has, and she has grown immensely along the way.
Iris is one of the strongest characters on television in recent memory. She has been dealt some bad hands over the years and always found a way to fight her way through it; both for herself and for her family. When Savitar sought to kill her in a death that was fated to happen, she said “screw fate” and found a way to survive, killing him in the end. When the DeVoes framed her husband, she stood up to them and put herself in harm’s way to save him. And when Barry disappeared into the Speed Force, she stepped up and led Team Flash in his absence.
There is a reason that Barry refers to Iris as his lightning rod. She grounds him when life gets too crazy, guides him home whenever he is lost, and provides the answers to questions he didn’t even know were being asked. She’s as much the heart and soul of The Flash as he is, and we’re so happy that she achieved her dreams of being a media mogul, legendary reporter, Pulitzer Prize winner, superhero and, of course, a wonderful mother. It’s what she deserves!
Candice Patton changed the game with her iconic performance and even though we’ll miss seeing her stun as Iris, we can’t wait to see what she does next!
1. Barry Allen / The Flash
The man, the myth, the legend. The Scarlet Speedster, the man with the lightning, the Paragon of Love; Barry Allen, The Flash. Of course, he’s in our top spot.
There are rare occasions where the title character isn’t the best character on the show, but that isn’t the case here. Barry Allen is, without question, one of the best leading characters to ever grace the small screen. With his relentless optimism and his drive to do good, Barry has been a hero for years, but not because he was struck by lightning; because he was an inherently good person. The lightning chose him for that reason, and so much more.
Fans have watched Barry overcome the most insurmountable of odds (even when it looks like he can’t). They have seen him fight to do the right thing when nobody else believes that he can. And they have watched him grow into the greatest hero in all of the Arrowverse.
Grant Gustin was so perfectly cast in this role, because he redefined Barry Allen. He’s the definitive version of this character and will remain so for a very long time. And we’re just so glad that we got to witness him bring this gem of a character to life for nine wonderful years.
Barry Allen is a good man, husband, father, and hero. That bolt of lightning did good.