The Flash (DC Animated Universe)

Wally West, alias The Flash, is one of the main protagonists from the TV series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He made his first appearance as a guest character in Superman: The Animated Series.
He is commonly known as the "Fastest Man Alive", as well as a young and popular superhero from Central City and a founding member of the Justice League. Apart from his vast speed powers, Wally's most significant qualities are his approachability and his down-to-earth, quintessentially human nature—qualities that many said made him the "heart of the Justice League".
He is voiced by Charlie Schlatter in Superman: The Animated Series, and by Michael Rosenbaum in Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited.
==Biography==
===Origin===
Wally West was a science assistant. A freak accident would give him super-powers when a lightning bolt struck him, but the chemicals beside him at the time stabilized him and made his body start moving at lightning speeds. The bolt would link him to the primordial power of The Speed Force, which gradually increase his speed even faster than lightning.
===Superman The Animated Series===
Flash appeared in one of the precursor series to Justice League, Superman: The Animated Series, in the episode Speed Demons. In the episode, Flash and Superman race each other to prove who is faster, partly out of an amicable rivalry, and partially for a charity event. The devices hooked up to them to keep track of their positions for the race also used their kinetic energy as a power-source to empower the inventor, Mark Mardon, who would take on the name "The Weather Wizard". Weather Wizard uses the kinetic energy to power a scepter which could theoretically, generate natural disasters - as it turned out, the experiment worked. Weather Wizard's use of the scepter gets Superman and Flash's attention, and when the disasters target their exact location, Flash and Superman figure out their trackers are to thank, destroy them and team-up to find and defeat Mardon. By the end of the episode, with Weather Wizard defeated, the two superheroes race once more, purely for the sport of it.
===Justice League===
In the Justice League episode Secret Origins, Flash meets Superman again when dealing with an alien invasion. An alien race hive-mind known as the Imperium invade Earth. Flash meets Superman at the invasion point but also comes across an powerful warrior-woman going by the title Wonder Woman, a winged-warrior named Hawkgirl, a native from Mars, and a soldier returning to Earth after being recruited to the Green-Lantern Corps - an intergalactic law-enforcement agency. Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern would fight the creatures on the outside while the masked detective, Batman helped break-out a captured resident of Mars - the Imperium's previous victims, on the inside. The six heroes would manage to save the planet on a scale none had thought possible solo. As a result, they decide to form a regular team - The Justice League.
====War with the Justice lords====
After aiding the justice league in preventing many other world endangering-level threats, Flash discovers that he is an essential part of the League in a bigger way than he thought when they are visited by alternate versions of themselves from another universe.
As it turned out, their alternate counterparts, called the Justice Lords, are evil versions of the league when in their universe, their Lex Luthor is elected president of the United States and killed their Flash, resulting in Justice Lords Superman killing him and taking over the world. After being tricked into going the alternate universe and getting locked in cells that neutralize their powers, Flash manages to escape, free his teammates, and with the surprising help from a now-reformed Justice Lord Batman, they return to their universe to deal with the rest of the Justice Lords.
Confronting the Justice Lords in an prison where the mainstream Lex escaped, Flash fights with the evil Superman when the original Superman is absent, upon being backed into a corner, Flash tries (and sadly fails) to get through to Lord Superman, but just as he's about to get killed, Superman arrives with the mainstream Lex and with an energy disruptor, he takes away the lords powers, rendering them powerless,
Afterwards the league takes their evil doppelgangers away, but not before Lex mentions taking an interests in politics.
====The Thanagarian invasion====
Eventually, Hawkgirl's people; the Thanagarians, came to earth claiming that their enemies, the Gordanians, are coming to earth to conquer it and offer to make a force-field around the earth to protect it. Unfortunately, the Thanagarians reveal that they plan to conquer earth and use it as a portal to their homeworld, destroying earth in the process. Not wanting that to happen, Flash and the league attempt to stop them, but they fail and successfully invade earth.
When the League decides to hide out as civilians to avoid being captured, Flash retaliates as he's still keen on keeping his identity secret; Until Batman reveals he already knows everyone's identities, pairing up with Green Lantern and head back to Gotham city.
Coming with Batman to the Watchtower, Flash and Batman hijack it back under their control, but is surprised when he is locked in an escape pod by Batman, while he pilots the base directly towards the gate, destroying it in the process.
In the aftermath, Flash votes that Hawkgirl stays with them while Wonder Woman (completely hurt with her betrayal) votes against, but Hawkgirl, with a heavy heart, announces her official resignation from the league.
===Static Shock===
Sometime prior to the Thanagar war, Flash was with the members guarding a left-over module of the evil computer virus Brainiac when a cosmic storm hits the watchtower, knocking them out of orbit & shutting down most of the power, with no other options to recharge the core available, Batman suggests getting the help of the young lightning-hero, Static.
After saving Static and his genius partner Gear from a supervillain ambush, Flash and the rest of the league bring them to the watchtower for Static to recharge it, when all of a sudden, they are called to faraway distress call and decide to leave the two heroes in charge. Unbeknownst to them, Brainiac (who escaped into the computer system during the blackout) faked the call to obtain complete control of the watchtower to destroy the earth.
Fortunately, Static and Gear are able to alert the league in time for them to help the dynamic duo rid the watchtower from Brainiac's control and get it back online. However, during the fight, Brainiac had gotten inside Gear's backpack and when Flash checks on the boy, he's shocked to discover that Brainiac assimilated him and he, along with the rest of the league are followed shortly thereafter.
Static, being the only one left evades the League and frees them from Brainiac's control (dealing with Flash by magnetizing him to the ground), and with their help, Flash and the rest are able to foil Brainiac once again, afterwards, Flash congratulates Static for his heroic efforts and says he'll be a fine member when he's old enough to join the League.
===Justice League: Unlimited===
====Feud with Cadmus====
Sometime after Hawkgirl's departure, Flash and the rest of the League decide to expand their operations and recruit other superheroes into the league, some of those new members include the king of Atlantis Aquaman, the masked detective The Question, and the Robin Hood-themed archer Green Arrow, unfortunately this act was enough to make the governments of the world turn to the organization CADMUS (originally formed when superman was brainwashed) for more "loyal" aid, as Luthor told them everything about the Justice Lords incident and made them fear if the Justice League did the same.
====Dealing with Lex's endgame====
Unaware on both sides, Lex is playing both sides against each other to not only ultimately achieve "Godhood", but to also ruin Superman's reputation and claim dominion over the world by secretly being benefactor for CADMUS by giving them enough money for them for projects of creating Genetic clones of superhumans, but are completely loyal to the government.
The second part of Lex's plan is him "running" for president just like his alternate counterpart, which was enough make Superman paranoid enough to destroy a kryptonite-powered devise that was beneficial for society. When the Question confronted Luthor about this, he revealed that he faked his entire election campaign knowing it will make Superman paranoid, and he makes the Justice League surrender themselves to the government by hijacking the watchtower's cannon and fires it as a CADMUS-themed building, which also makes the Director of CADMUS,Amanda Waller, order their army of genetically-cloned Superhumans to attack the Watchtower.
After finishing building an android body with all the League's powers for himself to upload his DNA in, Lex is confronted by Batman and a now-convinced Amanda Waller to stop him, but just as Flash and the rest of the league arrive, Lex is revealed to be a host body for Brainiac.
====Stopping Brainiac/Luthor====
Now revealed, Brainiac/Luthor escapes and, after following and agreement with Lex, they agree to become one where Lex uses this opportunity to become to God he so wildly sees himself as. With all the extra members tired from an attack by the clones, Flash and the founding members follow Brainiac to his location where they witness Lex and Brainiac fully fuse into one.
With his newfound power, Brainiac/Luthor creates robotic clones of the Justice Lords and has them taunt the League with their insecurities; though Flash ignores his robotic-doppelganger's taunts and easily destroys it, and when his teammates finish of theirs, they are all knocked out when Brainiac/Luthor is fully complete and knocks everyone but himself out. Where he is gravely injured and captured by Nano-guards, and Brainiac/Luthor, thinking the Question was right, decides to kill him so that everyone else will go crazy and cause a war between all mutants & humans.
But before he could do it, Flash breaks away and runs around the world to strike the fusion villain in the back, and after repeated runarounds, the Scarlet speedster taps into the Speed Force and is able to completely & permanently defuse the villain, as well as allowed to prove that no matter how much he wants to do it, Superman is no Justice Lord.
Afterwards, Flash and everyone else here an announcement from Superman saying that believing they've alienated from the world, decides to disband the League, but Green Arrow is able to change his mind and with everyone support, Superman decides to keep the League around and adds brand new changes to how they operate.
====Flash Appreciation Day====
After sometime, Flash heads to the Watchtower to tell everyone big news, but he only finds Batman and a visiting Orion while everyone else is of going on their respective missions, Flash tells the two that his hometown, Central city, is opening a museum in his honor, but several members of his rogues gallery attempt to kill him where he ends up being trapped in a mirror dimension with a reporter infatuated in him named Linda Park, but thanks to Batman, they are able to escape, and arrests them all.
Though during the scuffle, the museum was destroyed, but Flash didn't mind it, afterwards, Orion begins to see Flash in a new way, which he remarks that despite everything that happened, he says it was a good day.
====Doing a "Freaky Friday" with Lex====
During that time however, Flash along with the rest of the League found themselves at a war with another organization called The Secret Society, which is (Unlike Flash's team) an organization of Supervillains led by his enemy the hyper-intelligent Gorilla Grodd, which Lex has recently joined.
One day at the watchtower, while spending time with the sorcerer Doctor Fate, Flash get into a mishap where he gets his mind swapped with Lex's, after a crazy runaround in the body of Lex, Doctor Fate, with the help of Mister Terrific and Ice, they are able to get Flash in his own body and is able to learn where the Society's base is.
====Battling Darkseid's Empire====
While spending a normal day at the newly-established Metro Tower base for the Justice League, Flash and everyone else is shocked to find out that the Secret Society, now led by Lex (who shot Grodd into Space) had accidentally resurrected the literal God Emperor of Apokalips Darkseid, as he originally intended to resurrect Brainiac, and is now hellbent on conquering both Earth & New-Genesis, resulting in both sides to make a reluctant alliance to stop him.
Flash is transported to Paris to fight the invaders with Green Lantern and Giganta, after a long battle, The League wins when Darkseid and Lex are transported and become one with the Source Wall, in the aftermath, The League give chase to the remainder of the Society, but not before Giganta gives flash a surprise kiss.
==Personality==
As a young hero, Wally West was given to immaturity and impetuousness. Flash would frequently meet even the gravest threats with a flippant remark, often showing a certain underestimation of the true danger of the situation. He was somewhat given to flirtatious behavior around members of the opposite sex that annoyed teammates, but if truly taken with a woman as he was with Fire, he could be bashful, awkward and even shy.
Wally's heroism and bravery were beyond question, of course, and he brought a laid-back, down-to-earth quality to the Justice League. He was in many ways the League's most idealistic member, and his friendliness and compassion were the "glue" that held the disparate team of heroes together. These qualities were best illustrated by events in the alternate universe of the Justice Lords, in which Flash's murder transformed the League from heroes to tyrants. His down-to-earth personality also included being thankful for things in his civilian life, such as having a rent-controlled apartment with a laundry room conveniently located on the same floor.
Flash was well liked by the populace of Central City, namely due to the fact that he regularly ran across it rather than flew, which allowed him to interact with the citizens at large more easily and regularly rather than just hover over them when situations arose. Flash reciprocated his friendliness beyond simply heroism; utilizing his super-speed, he donated a significant portion of his time to helping individual townsfolk, being on a first-name basis with many of the city's residents. He also did charitable work for the city's underprivileged.
==Skills and Abilities==
Flash had the ability to move and react at incredible speeds, many orders of magnitude greater than those of ordinary humans. He could run at velocities approaching that of light itself, and possibly faster. Simply put, he truly was the "fastest man alive".
Flash found many other applications for his super-speed. One was the ability to generate whirlwinds by rotating his arms at an incredible rate or by running in circles. These whirlwinds could be used to buffet opponents, or perhaps to cushion the impact of falling people or objects. Flash could even use such a whirlwind to briefly propel himself through the air.
Flash also had the ability to vibrate his molecules at tremendous speed, allowing him to pass unharmed through solid objects, such as through solid ice. Or vibrate to generate enough friction to achieve high temperatures such as melting ice he was encased in. The unstable resonance created by these vibrations would frequently cause objects to shatter or explode, such as when he defeated the Android Replica Flash. Because of that destructive capability, Flash used this ability only sparingly. Flash is also able to manipulate his heart rate, fooling Justice Lord Batman into thinking his heart stopped beating.
Because of the sheer speed and momentum his body generated, Flash could produce results similar to that of a metahuman who possessed enhanced strength. Since his body was naturally protected from most of the effects of his speed, the ultra-fast punches and movements of Wally's limbs could produce devastating impacts that could stun or injure otherwise stronger or more powerful beings such as Superman or Brainiac. He could also throw objects at extremely high speeds, as he was able to hold off the likes of Justice Lord Superman simply by throwing rocks. There are, in fact, many other instances that show the devastating impact of a projectile thrown by the Flash.
The true potential of Flash's power can be seen when his body was taken over by Luthor who then proceeded to systematically take down Elongated Man, Ice, Wildcat, Stargirl, Starman, Booster Gold and even Captain Atom all apparently almost instantly and with minimum effort. Luthor also alluded to a particularly disturbing ability of the Flash: by vibrating his fingers against a person's head, he could literally destroy their brain using the powerful vibrations.
One side-effect of the Flash's powers was a hyper-accelerated metabolism requiring significant sustenance, which caused him to be almost constantly hungry to the point that he considers an armful of hotdogs a "small snack".
==Trivia==
*Unlike his original counterpart, this version of Wally West is already introduced in the DC Animated Universe as being The Flash, with none of the series ever explaining what happened to his predecessor, Barry Allen. In the Adventures in the DC Universe comics, set in the same continuity, it's stated that Wally took Barry's mantle of The Flash after the latter sacrificed himself while saving the world (possibly a reference to Barry's death during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event).
*He is dating with Linda Park.
*His personality is very similar to Hot Shot from the Transformers Unicron Trilogy as well as Side Burn from Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon).
==External Links==
*The Flash on DC Animated Universe Wiki
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