Barry Allen

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Character
Name: Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen
Occupation: superhero
Relationships: Iris West (wife), Dawn Allen (daughter), Don Allen (son), Bart Allen (grandson)
Fandom: DC Comics, The Flash, Arrow (TV), Young Justice
Other: Played by John Wesley Shipp, Grant Gustin, and Ezra Miller over the years
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Barry Allen is a DC Comics character known as the superhero The Flash.

Canon

Barry's first appearance is in Showcase #4 (October 1956).

Comics

Barry Allen taking over the role of the Flash from Jay Garrick in 1956 is regarded as the end of the Golden Age and the beginning of the Silver Age of comics.

The Flash (1990 series)

Barry is portrayed by John Wesley Shipp.

DC Extended Universe

Barry is portrayed by Ezra Miller. He first appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and had a cameo in Suicide Squad before starring in Justice League.

Young Justice

Arrow/The Flash

Barry is portrayed by Grant Gustin, and first appeared in Arrow TV series in Season 2. He is starring as Barry/Flash in the spin-off series, which begins its fourth season in Fall 2017.

In The Flash TV series, Barry Allen is a forensic scientist with the Central City Police Department, when the particle accelerator explosion at Star Labs gives him superhuman speed. With the help of Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow at Star Labs, Barry becomes a superhero who fights crime. He often comes up against other metahumans, using their superpowers to hurt others and commit crimes, including the Reverse Flash. As Barry becomes faster, he learns the extent of his powers, travelling through time and to other Earths in the multiverse.

Other Animated Appearances

Barry has also prominently been seen in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Superman: The Animated Series, and The Batman. He is the main Flash character in the new DC related animated films (which are not connected to the Timmverse); Barry was voiced by various actors namely Neil Patrick Harris ("The New Frontier"), Michael Rosenbaum ("Doom"/Wally West's former voice actor), Justin Chambers ("The Flashpoint Paradox"), and Christopher Gorham ("War").

Fandom

Comics

In DC Comics canon Barry has dated and then married Iris West. Although mainly paired with Iris; he has also had a few other love interests: Beverly Lewis/Fiona Webb and his childhood sweetheart Daphne Dean in New Earth, as well as Patty Spivot in Prime Earth aka New 52.

The most popular slash pairing involving Barry in comics canon is Barry Allen/Hal Jordan.

A popular gen relationship is Barry Allen & Wally West.

Young Justice

Barry only plays a small part in Young Justice as Wally West's mentor, so most often he only shows up as a background character in fic.

Arrow/The Flash

When Barry Allen got his own spin-off show; he was met with a lot of positive attention and quickly became a favorite character among Arrow fans.

After his appearance on Arrow, fanon began pairing him with Felicity Smoak (which eventually became canon) or Iris West (his canonical wife in the comics). Fans also started pairing him up with Caitlin Snow (Killer Frost in the comics) after the official trailer's release. Barry/Iris ("WestAllen"), Barry/Caitlin ("Snowbarry"), and Barry/Felicity ("Barricity") were the most popular pairings. Soon after the release of the show, Barry began to be paired up with Harrison Wells. On tumblr, a few people started to ship Barry with Laurel Lance;[1] Barry/Laurel is known as "Laurry".

As of Sept 2018, the most popular pairings including Barry on Ao3 are Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Barry Allen/Iris West and Barry Allen/Oliver Queen. The pairing of Barry/Cisco has also increased in popularity since season 2. Rarer pairings include: Barry Allen/Mick Rory, Barry Allen/Eddie Thawne and Barry Allen/EoWells.

Barry/Mick/Leonard and Coldwestallen are also common poly pairings.

In crossovers with CBS's Supergirl aka Superflash, the pairing Barry/Kara is popular and he's been shipped with Winn Schott, Jr..

Fanworks

Fics

DC Comics

  • Singularity by Enina.
  • A Flashlight to See in the Dark by Kazyre, When Iris dies suddenly, leaving Barry to raise their three-year-old nephew by himself, Hal Jordan steps up to help out his best friend. Years pass, friendship grows into something much more, and somehow the three of them become a family. Story will span Wally's life from age three all the way to the formation of the Team - will be mostly humor and fluff. (Barry Allen/Hal Jordan)
  • Lesser Evils by tipsybluetips. (Barry Allen/Leonard Snart), "In the aftermath of Lisa’s hostile takeover, Len is wounded to the point he actually accepts help from the friendly waiter at Charlie’s bar. The thing about accepting kindness, however, is that it grows."
  • when things change in an instant, it's almost fast enough for me by PoseidonsUnderpants. (Barry Allen/Iris West Time Travel), "Barry saves Bruce's life, they accidentally end up in the future, and meet their future selves--or, at least, that's what everyone's telling them."

Arrowverse

  • Partners by wordswehavesaid, In which Barry Allen is the Starling City Police Department's forensics assistant. Yes, Starling. (Incomplete, Barry Allen/Oliver Queen AU)
  • Aftermath by hoffkk, Iris points out and teases Barry about his obvious feelings for Caitlin, while helping out in the lab along with her father and Cisco. This makes Barry confused at first, but then he eventually realizes that he is in love with Caitlin and must tell her so asap. (Snowbarry)
  • And I'm Crashing Into You by poisonivory, Cisco fixes things that are broken, like super-suits and hearts. It's what friends do, right? (Barry Allen/Cisco Ramon)
  • An All Too Jagged Snowflake by Redhead, When Leonard and Barry discover that they're Soulmates, they struggle with the many, many issues this causes. It might be easier without the collective difficulties of the Rogues, a meta-gorilla, and the military, but life has never been simple for either of them. (Coldflash Soulmate AU)
  • The Scientist and the Storyteller by MirrorKing96, Barry Allen is a CSI working to free his father. Iris West is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist with a secret. What happens when they have to work on an article about the mysterious Dr Harrison Wells and his Particle Accelerator and slowly discover they've secretly known each other their whole lives? (Westallen AU)

Arts

Arrowverse:

Vids

Arrow/Flash:

Archives and Fannish Links

Tumblr

Resources

References

  1. ^ As early as July 2014: Laurry - First Meeting (AU), Choking on Your Alibis by PirateQueenNina - earliest fanworks of Barry/Laurel.
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