Eobard Thawne (Prime Earth)

## Reverse-Flash

### Occupation

Flash Museum ·Formerly Acolytes of Zoom,Flash Family,Legion of Zoom,Secret Society of Super-Villains

### Family

Unnamed Parent(deceased)
 Heather Macy

### Quote

"You hurt me. Like you hurt everyone, Flash. And I'm going to keep taking people from you until you learn to make time for the people who matter in your life. Maybe then you'd finally see who your real friends are."

## Speedster Information

### Origin of Speed

Created the negative speed force after failing to defeat Barry with the speed force.

Professor **Eobard Thawne**, otherwise known as the **Reverse-Flash** and **Professor Zoom** (or simply **Zoom**), was the curator of the Flash Museum in the 25th Century who was obsessed with Barry Allen, the Flash. Having turned himself into a speedster, Thawne traveled through time in order to spend time with his idol, by ruining Barry's life until he learned to appreciate him. His extensive history with time travel has led to multiple versions of him having existed.

## History

### Origin

From the 25th Century, Eobard Thawne was an only child when his parents were killed in an accident. In his loneliness, he became obsessed with the Flash, Barry Allen, a heroic speedster from the 21st Century. Eobard would dedicate his life to studying the Flash and researching his power source, the Speed Force. During his adulthood, Thawne miraculously received a time capsule containing the Flash's costume, from which he harnessed residual traces of the Speed Force to give himself access to its powers. Dissatisfied, Thawne sought to also become a hero like the Flash. However, due to the lack of opportunities for heroics in the future, Thawne instead created his own by endangering and then "saving" people to make himself look a hero.

Thawne was awestruck when Barry arrived in his time and taught him new ways to use his powers, with the two also bonding over their shared belief that "every second is a gift". Unfortunately for Eobard, Barry became aware of the truth behind his "heroics", and would turn him in to the authorities after defeating the rogue speedster. Desperate to prove himself to his hero, Thawne vowed to better himself. In prison, he underwent electroshock therapy and shared his knowledge with other inmates. He convinced the authorities that society would be better if he was educating others as a professor instead of being behind bars, and worked hard from being a tour guide at the Flash Museum to becoming its curator, considering the museum his own.

Wanting to show Barry his rehabilitation and to be accepted again by his "best friend", Thawne traveled back in time to the 21st Century. Deeming it arrogant to think he was ready to become the Flash, he changed his costume to yellow, because it was the color that all the hero's partners wore. However, after witnessing Barry give Wally West a watch with the same advice he gave Eobard years ago inscribed, an enraged Thawne realized that he wasn't as special to Barry as he thought. Running back to the 25th Century, to the Flash Museum, it was there that Thawne realized his destiny. Creating his own "negative" version of the Speed Force and switching his emblem, Thawne became the Reverse-Flash. Believing that tormenting Barry is the only time that Barry will spend with him, Thawne made it his life's mission to ensure that the Flash lived in pain like he did, until his idol learned to treat him specially and see him as his "real" friend.

### Paradox

When Paradox attempted to take over the 25th Century, Thawne and the Renegades fought him. While Paradox beat the Renegades, Thawne defeated him with the aid of his lightning rod weapon, which he used to ground Paradox and deplete him of his paradox energy. He then rescued the civilians trapped in the wreckage, repaired the Flash Museum and worked with the Renegades and the Time Institute to create a special prison for Paradox in Iron Heights. For once in his life, people saw Thawne as a worthy successor to the Flash. Commander Cold called Thawne defeating Paradox his one good deed.

### Rebirth

Sometime after defeating Paradox, Thawne traveled back in time and murdered Barry's mother Nora. Barry's father Henry was falsely accused and sentenced for the crime, leaving the future Flash without his parents. To create more speedster foes for the Flash Family, Thawne gave the The Clown the gun with which he killed Hunter Zolomon's father-in-law, leading to Zolomon eventually becoming Zoom. Thawne then killed Jorge Heart, the brother of Barry's future friend August Heart, who would as a result go on to become Godspeed. Thawne also saved Barry and Iris West's children, the Tornado Twins Don Allen and Dawn Allen, from the Dominators, and then used the Negative Speed Force to turn them against their father. He trained the pair and later had them fight their father and lay waste to Central City.

Years later, Thawne replicates his murder of Nora by killing his own ancestor Heather Macy in front of her son, who claims a "monster" did it, drawing Barry's interest. Barry subsequently sees a vision of him killing Thawne, which he believes could've been caused by the case's similarity to his mother's. After Macy's husband confesses to the crime, Thawne briefly stops by the murder scene, before speeding away. Barry later sees another vision of Thawne, who taunts Barry by telling him that his future is to run alone forever; unknown to Barry, this vision was actually Thawne himself, sowing doubts into his mind.

### The Society

At one point, Thawne was a committee member of the The Society. After Deathstroke failed to appear before them, to be tried for "renouncing" evil and Deadline losing his hand, Thawne was sent to abduct him.

Deathstroke seemingly escaped confinement and kills every member of The Society, including Thawne. However, this was revealed to simply be part of a a hallucinogenic test by Hector Hammond. After Riddler deemed Deathstroke to still be evil, The Society had a philosophical debate. Thawne aruged that murder not maximising good is irrelevant to those that only want a good outcome for themselves, and then denied being evil, instead declaring himself "efficient". Shortly afterwards, Doctor Ikon broke in and escaped with Deathstroke, and Chairman Vandal Savage adjourned the inquiry.

### The Button

Thawne, imprisoned in Iron Heights, was mysteriously struck by a bolt of lightning that restored memories of his previous life, including the events of Flashpoint. Fleeing Iron Heights, Thawne made his way to the Batcave, where he began beating and taunting Batman, explaining that he now remembered Flashpoint and his death at the hands of that timeline's Batman, Thomas Wayne. After beating Bruce to a pulp and shredding Thomas' letter, Thawne went to examine the mysterious button that Batman had been investigating and, interacting with the residual power, was teleported into the timestream, where he apparently discovered the button's true owner.

Just as the Flashpoint timeline was about to be erased, Thawne brought Thomas to the main timeline. Having taken revenge on his killer by stranding him in the very world he despised, where his son is him, Thawne resumed his time-travels. Shortly afterwards, he encountered the Flash and Batman, pursuing him on the Cosmic Treadmill.

Thawne outran the two and eventually made his way to where the button's radiation had led him. He demands the button's true owner to reveal himself, and when he does, Thawne becomes frightened for his life. Thawne then starts to become disintegrated by this being, and is teleported back into the batcave, burning in blue flames and claiming that he had seen "God." The Reverse-Flash then collapsed, seemingly dead.

### Running Scared

Thawne's corpse was later moved to the S.T.A.R. Labs morgue. However, the Negative Speed Force resurrected and regenerated him. Thawne then returns to his home in the future, only to find it radically changed in light of his regained New Earth memories. Desiring to uncover the changes made to history, he then returns back to the past. He is present at Iris' house when she arrives with her younger nephew, Wallace, following Multiplex's attack at Barry's birthday party, terrifying the pair.

Thawne interrogated the clueless pair over the alterations to the timeline, mentioning New Earth events. Wallace attempted to fight him off, but was savagely beaten while Thawne told him he was not Kid Flash or even the real Wally West. Upon realizing that Iris wasn't aware of Barry's secret identity in this timeline, he kidnapped and took her to the 25th Century, where he trapped Iris at the Flash Museum to lure Barry. After revealing his motives and taunting Barry over how he hurts everyone in his life, Thawne proceeded to savagely beat the Flash and unmasked him in front of Iris.

He then showed Barry and Iris what had become of their children Dawn and Don, and blamed their descent into rogues on Barry for neglecting them in favour of being the Flash. After manipulating Flash over the pain and lies that followed him, he tricked him by making him run right into the Negative Speed Force alongside him, seemingly trapping his nemesis. He promptly returned back to the Flash Museum, where he immediately broke his 'promise' to leave Iris alone. However, before Thawne could do anything, a 'negative' Flash returned and attacked Thawne, who was amazed over how 'beautiful' his foe had become.

They fought across the timeline, during which Thawne urged Barry to ditch the Flash Family and instead become his friend and partner - a proposition that Barry instantly rejected. Returning to the future, their battle culminated in Barry taking the Negative Speed Force from his foe. Thawne, undeterred, stated that he will return as he always had, over and over again. In response, Iris disintegrated him with a ray gun from a nearby exhibit, killing him.

### Legacy

Thawne's death at Iris' hands sowed the seed for a rift between Barry and Wally, and was exploited by Hunter Zolomon. Furious over Thawne's several deaths, Zolomon sent the Renegades to arrest Iris for his murder, as part of a plan to engineer conflict between the Flashes, which ended with Wally going to Sanctuary. Unknown to them all, Thawne himself had also manipulated Barry and Wally into conflict via his Negative Speed Force hypnosis abilities.

After the Speed Force caused an explosion at Sanctuary in order to purge Savitar from it, which killed the various residents in the process, Thawne hypnotised Wally (who mistakenly believed he had caused the massacre) into framing Harley Quinn and Booster Gold. This led to a series of events that culminated in Wally giving himself up and being imprisoned.

## Other Versions

### Flashpoint

After Flash went back in time and saved his mother, he created an alternate timeline called the "Flashpoint", in which the world was at war and on the brink of destruction. Before Flash reset the timeline, Thawne was killed by that timeline's Batman, Thomas Wayne.

After the Flashpoint timeline is restored, Thawne is seemingly resurrected and taunts Thomas at the scene of Harvey Dent's death. He later briefly appears at Wayne Manor and rambles to Oswald Cobblepot about how he needs Thomas, someone is coming for him "again" and mentions hypertime, before disappearing. Thawne is later found dead at Iris West's home, killed by the Clockwork Killer.

### Zoom (New 52)

After Flashpoint, another version of Thawne came to be. In the year 2463, a child Eobard Thawne was left traumatised after he witnessed his father murder his mother. As an adult, he became connected to the Speed Force after being struck by a bolt of lightning and attempted to take over the Gem Cities. However, people fought against him in the name of the 21st Century superhero, The Flash. Thawne found it unfair that despite their similar powers, Flash got a happy family life and was treated like a god centuries later. In retaliation, he forcefully took over the cities and burnt down the Flash Museum.

Using Rip Hunter's lost journals, Thawne eventually created his own Cosmic Treadmill and crafted a plan to tarnish the Flash's history and legacy. He started off by murdering Barry's mother Henry and forcing his father Henry to take the blame by threatening Barry's life. Thawne then proceeded to gather "acolytes" with distinct Speed Force-derived abilities throughout time by putting them in near death situations, "saving" them and lying to them about Flash being a threat. In the present day, Thawne kidnapped Henry after framing him for another murder and framed Flash for planting a bomb in CCPD headquarters. Thawne then forced Henry to make a power-theft glove to use on Flash, but his acolytes turn against him after discovering the truth. Flash is able to defeat Thawne and have him imprisoned at Iron Heights, where Thawne is still present when Godspeed attempted to kill him.

### The Flash Age/Finish Line

To learn how to defeat a freed Paradox, Barry realised he needed Thawne's help. But with Thawne dead after Iris killed him, Barry traveled back to the night of Nora's murder again to find him. After retrieving Thawne's lightning rod from the 25th Century Flash Museum, they traveled back to when Paradox was still the scientist Chris. However, Thawne attempted to kill Chris, so Barry tried to send Thawne back to Nora's death, only for Thawne to reveal that he was aware of all versions of his history and deaths. But their fight was interrupted by Paradox, who arrived with a captured Godspeed. Paradox proceeded to kill his past self, amassing a large amount of paradox energy. Thawne then attempted to defeat Paradox using his lightning rod once again, only for Paradox to subdue him, snap his rod in half and erase the timeline.

Thawne, Barry and August then found themselves in Paradox's realm. Thawne again insisted that they kill Paradox to restore the timeline, but after being challenged by Barry, Thawne traveled back in time and *saved* Chris from being turned into Paradox, erasing both Paradox and his realm. After the three speedsters returned to the restored timeline, August sought to learn from Thawne who killed his brother. Thawne then snapped August's neck as he revealed it was him. He remarked that no one would remember Godspeed in the future and quickly beat an enraged Barry senseless before leaving, vowing to get his own "Reverse-Flash Family".

Thawne gathered Dawn and Don along with Grodd, the Turtle, and Rogues from previous times to team up against the Flash as the Legion of Zoom. Upon ambushing and beating Barry, Thawne possessed his body. He then challenged Bart Allen to a race, nearly killed Trickster and insulted Bart, who saw through the ruse and exposed Thawne to Iris, Wallace, and Avery. After Jay Garrick arrived, Thawne beat him and ran off to Nora's grave, where he ordered the Legion to dig up her corpse so that he can use the temporal energy within to erase Barry's mind from his body. However, Trickster betrayed their location to the Flash Family, leading to an enraged Thawne sending him back to his time. Bart then freed Don and Dawn from Thawne's brainwashing and Barry is able to regain control of his body while also freeing Max Mercury and Jesse Quick from the Speed Force.

In response, Thawne pulled even more of Barry's enemies from different times and wreaked havoc across Central City. With Max bringing more of the Flash's allies from over the years to help even the odds, Barry and Thawne fought once again. Thawne then revealed to Barry that he used his hypnotic abilities to negatively influence the Flashes multiple times so that they and their allies never had a future. Their fight was interrupted by a sudden blast of energy from Wally which managed to spook Thawne into running. Flash ran after and the two fought within the Speed Force, where Barry did the unexpected: he forgave Thawne, believing it was time to let go of his hatred of him. Enraged, Thawne blindly ran into Barry's trap of phasing through him, thus resetting his timeline to a harmless museum curator of the Flash Museum in the 25th Century and erasing the Reverse-Flash from existence, finally giving Thawne a peaceful life.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Negative Speed Force Generation**: Thawne created his own negative version of the Flash's Speed Force, with its own unique energy signature. He can tap into the energy as normal speedsters do with the positive Speed Force. The Negative Speed Force grants Thawne the power to move at incredible speeds, among many other abilities.
	+ **Superhuman Speed**: Thawne is capable of moving at vast superhuman speeds, fast enough to match Barry Allen. However, due to his obsessive desperation to be like Barry, Thawne can never let himself be faster than the person he wants to be. When fighting the Flash, Thawne raced around the Earth dozens of times and across space and time at incalculable speeds. His immense speed allows him to generate superhuman force, allowing him to deal devastating blows to opponents.
	+ **Superhuman Reflexes**: Thawne possesses reflexes far greater than a normal human being. This allows him to easily react to danger and events, and perceive the world in slow motion.
	+ **Superhuman Stamina**: Thawne's body can handle the stress of moving at superhuman speeds for long periods of time without getting tired or weak.
	+ **Superhuman Agility**: Thawne's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to superhuman levels. This allows him to easily maneuver while moving at superhuman speed.
	+ **Superhuman Strength**: Thawne can use his speed to amplify his natural strength. In a fight with Batman, Thawne was able to easily toss Bruce around with great force, and deliver deadly blows with his fists. He has been shown capable of effortlessly lifting and dragging the Flash around at super-speed, using only hand. He was also able to easily break Kid Flash's bones and tendons by applying pressure with his foot.
	+ **Negative Speed Force Aura**: The Negative Speed Force manifests a protective aura around Thawne's entire body that shields him from the negative effects of moving at super-speed, such as air friction and kinetic impacts.
		- **Superhuman Durability**: Thawne can resist tremendous kinetic impact forces with ease. He has been able to withstand hits from the Flash while moving at intense speeds, endure a point blank blast of lightning to the face, and even withstand being pushed through time and pummeled into the ground of a prehistoric Earth.
	+ **Dimensional Travel**: Thawne can use his speed to travel in and out of the timestream, allowing him to travel to other planes of reality and traverse dimensions at will. He is also able to instantly travel in and out of the Negative Speed Force.
	+ **Electrokinesis**: Thawne is able to generate and manipulate the electrical energy that he draws from the Negative Speed Force. This lightning emanates off of him as red electrical arcs from all around his body, and from his eyes as streaks, especially when he moves at super speed.
		- **Electro-Blast**: Thawne can project powerful arcs and blasts of his Negative Speed Force lightning.
		- **Electromagnetism**: Thawne's electrokinetic abilities allow him to disrupt and control the electromagnetic spectrum to some extent. He mainly uses this power to control his suit's armor. When he releases his suit from his ring, the pieces of it are conducted by his lightning to form the suit around him. Thawne's lightning has also been shown to interfere with, and fry electronics.
		- **Power Absorption**: By creating an electrical field around a person and focusing it, Thawne can use his negative energy to "steal years" from other's lifelines, adding to his power. This process rapidly ages the victim to death.
	+ **Enhanced Senses**: The Negative Speed Force grants Thawne enhanced senses that allow him to perceive the world at a rate attuned his reaction speed, as well as grants him extra temporal senses.
		- **Cosmic Awareness**: Thawne was able to "feel" the presence of Doctor Manhattan, "like a wave of static electricity", and was aware of his alterations to time and reality, despite no one else having knowledge of this at the time.
	+ **Molecular Acceleration**: Thawne can vibrate his own molecular structure at varying degrees for a number of purposes, by adjusting to different frequencies. Through contact, he can even use his vibrations to send someone back to their home dimension.
		- **Hypnosis**: Thawne can speak at a hypnotic frequency that can push and pull others to do things they would never do, by subconsciously creating doubt in their minds. He has used this ability to manipulate the Flashes on multiple instances. Thawne can do this at a vibrational frequency that makes him imperceptible to other speedsters, leaving no trace that he was ever there. He could even use this to completely brainwash people, as he did to Dawn and Don Allen.
		- **Intangibility**: By vibrating his molecules on an atomic level, and by doing so at just the right frequency, Thawne can allow himself to become intangible, allowing people or objects to pass right through him.
		- **Phasing**: By vibrating his molecules at just the right frequency, Thawne can allow himself to become momentarily intangible, and phase through objects.
		- **Possession**: By vibrating at the right frequency, Thawne can possess the bodies of others. He was able to merge himself with Barry Allen, sending Barry's essence into the Speed Force, leaving Thawne with complete control over his body.
	+ **Regeneration**: Thawne can regenerate from injury much faster than any normal human, and is able to regrow entire body parts and organs.
		- **Resurrection**: Even after being disintegrated by Doctor Manhattan, Thawne's ability to regenerate allowed him to be resurrected.
	+ **Retrocognition**: After being hit by lightning in his cell at Iron Heights, Thawne gained the memories of his life before the Flashpoint, including his death at the hands of Thomas Wayne, despite these memories being erased from his mind after the Flashpoint. He also experiences every single one of his deaths, including those from prior timelines and versions of reality, at the same time.
	+ **Shock Wave Projection**: Thawne possess the ability to create very powerful sonic booms and shock waves with just the clap of his hands, or a snap of his fingers.
	+ **Time Travel**: Thawne can use his speed to freely travel throughout time, and does not need assistance from the Cosmic Treadmill. He is master of time travel and time manipulation.
		- **Reality Alteration**: Thawne's ability to travel throughout the timestream allows him to manipulate events at will to satisfy his own needs. By taking his time within the moment and jumping back into the timestream before time restarts, Thawne can change history without shattering the timeline (and thus, without causing any side-effects, such as a Flashpoint).

* **Speed Force Conduit**: Thawne was able to successfully replicate the accident that gave Barry his powers in order to gain a connection to the Speed Force. However, Thawne would later create his own Negative Speed Force.

**New 52**
* **Speed Force Conduit**: Originally, after the events of Flashpoint, Thawne gained a connection to the Speed Force after being struck by lightning. Rather than gaining super-speed, The Speed Force allowed Thawne to manipulate the flow of time.
	+ **Time Deceleration**: Thawne's primary power was to slow down the flow of time. This gave the illusion of him having super speed, and allowed him to appear "faster" than the Flash.
		- **Superhuman Reflexes**
		- **Time Travel**: Thawne was able to travel through the timestream by using his time manipulation powers in conjunction with the Cosmic Treadmill.
	+ **Age Manipulation**: After absorbing the powers of Magali, one of his former "acolytes", Thawne gained her ability to manipulate time to affect the age of organic and inorganic matter. He can use this power to age a person to death with a touch.
	+ **Electrokinesis**: Thawne was able to generate the electrical energy drawn from the Speed Force. He emitted both red and black lightning when he used any of his powers. This also caused his eyes to glow bright red.
	+ **Immortality**: Magali's powers enabled Thawne to stop the ageing process altogether.
	+ **Superhuman Strength**: Thawne possessed sufficiently enhanced strength, as he was able to effortlessly lift and dangle the Flash with one hand, high above his head. He was also strong enough to easily carry a full grown man with one arm while running, as well as send a man flying several feet with a backhand.

### Abilities

* **Deception**: Thawne organized each of his acolytes' origin stories, forcing them to trust him as he "saved" them at just the right time; a ploy he kept up for centuries. He was also able to manipulate Barry into trusting him multiple times, only to subsequently betray him.
* **Genius Level Intellect**/**Science**: Thawne's brilliant mind and broad science acumen enabled him to harness residual energy traces off Flash's old costume and create a "negative" version of the Speed Force in order to fuel his own powers.
* **Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)**: Thawne's mastery over his speed has allowed him to become a dangerous and experienced fighter. Utilizing his powers, Thawne created an effective fighting style to combat all types of opponents. He has even faced highly experienced fighters like Batman and won. Due to him remembering everything about his past lives involving Earth-One, New Earth, Flashpoint, and Prime Earth. He's an expert and deadly combatant against anyone he faces in battle. Thawne has lived and trained for centuries, allowing him to become not only a master of his powers, but become a dangerous and experienced opponent in the process.
* **Historiography**: Thawne is very knowledgeable on world history and culture, spanning all the way back to Magali's ancient times. In addition to being an expert on the history of the Flash, Thawne has also memorized every version of his own entire history, past and future, including all the changes and deaths.
* **Intimidation**: Thawne's intimidating presence can be attributed to his immense power and sociopathic mentality.
* **Leadership**: Thawne led a team of his own "acolytes", dedicated to taking down the "demon" Flash.
* **Mechanical Engineering**: After discovering Rip Hunter's lost journals, Thawne was capable of building a Cosmic Treadmill, similar to the Flash's original one.
* **Multilingualism**: Thawne speaks English, Nahuatl, Spanish, and Zulu.
* **Pedagogy**: As a professor, Thawne shared his vast knowledge regarding the Flash and the Speed Force with others. As the leader of his acolytes, Thawne was concerned with teaching them how to best use their metahuman abilities, as well as other knowledge they would need to combat the Flash.
* **Tactical Analysis**: Thawne had been teaching tactics to his acolytes for centuries, preparing them for the battle against the Flash.
* **Temporal Mechanics**: Thawne holds expertise in the study and theory of time, being aware of and able to identify the "strange" nature of alterations to the timeline. His unmatched understanding of this concept make Thawne a master of both time travel and time manipulation, allowing him to alter the timeline in the way he wants without consequences, something that other speedsters cannot do. He also possesses great knowledge and understanding of the Speed Force and Negative Speed Force.

## Paraphernalia

### Equipment

* **Costume**: Thawne's costume is a near-exact duplicate of Barry's, but with the colors and emblem reversed (red and yellow are swapped, white is black). Also, unlike Barry's, his mask does not usually cover his chin. The New 52 costume was black and yellow, with a diamond red and black emblem.
* **Costume Ring**: Thawne possesses a ring, similar to (or the same as) the one owned by Flash, which he uses to store his costume in.
* **Lightning Rod** ***(Formerly)***: Thawne used to own a lightning rod that could channel the Speed Force into a destructive force.
* **Power-Theft Glove** ***(Formerly)***: Thawne briefly held a glove, created by Henry Allen, to steal the powers of others connected to the Speed Force.