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Eobard Thawne, also known as "Professor Zoom" and "Reverse-Flash", is a comic book supervillain in the DC Universe. Thawne is the archenemy and a foil of the superhero Barry Allen, the second hero to be called the Flash. Thawne is also the second of the Reverse-Flashes, as well as a maternal forefather of Bart Allen and Owen Mercer. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, Thawne first appeared in The Flash (vol. 1) #139 in September 1963, and remained one of Barry Allen's most formidable adversaries in comics over the next quarter century.
In Flash #324, Thawne was apparently killed by the Flash in an effort to save his fiancée, and spare her the death that Thawne gave to Flash's first wife, Iris. Largely unseen over the next 25 years except in sporadic appearances, Thawne was resurrected by writer Geoff Johns in 2009's The Flash: Rebirth, and reimagined as a major villain in the DC Universe with his reintroduction. Johns compares this to his similar treatment of Green Lantern villain Sinestro in an early outline of the Rebirth series. [1] In 2009, Professor Zoom was ranked as IGN's 31st greatest comic book villain of all time, [2] and in 2015, he was ranked #2 on their Top 5 Flash Villains list. [3] Eobard Thawne made his live action debut in 2014 in the CW's The Flash, portrayed by actor Tom Cavanagh (although the true identity of Cavanagh's character was not revealed until 2015).
The "Return of Barry Allen" storyline in The Flash (vol. 2) #74-79 reveals that Thawne started out as a fan of The Flash living in the 25th century and became desperate to meet him. After gaining super-speed by replicating the electrochemical bath that gave Barry Allen his powers, losing years of his life in the process - even undergoing surgery to make himself look like Barry - he traveled backward in time using the Cosmic Treadmill to meet his hero. Thawne became mentally unstable upon arriving several years after Barry's death- the Treadmill having broken down over the centuries- and discovering from the Flash Museum that he is destined to become Reverse Flash and die at the hands of his idol, resulting in his mind - already disoriented by the stress of time travel- seeking escape by convincing himself that he is Barry Allen. However, his true identity is eventually revealed due to his more violent nature, "Barry" attacking Central City in revenge for "forgetting him," until he is ultimately defeated by the Flash family and sent back to the future, his memory wiped of the incident due to the trauma of the time-travel and the beating he had received at the hands of Wally West.
He later became a criminal known as "The Professor," who found a time capsule containing the Silver Age Flash's costume. He was able to use a machine to amplify the suit's speed energy, giving himself the abilities of the Flash as long as he wore it. In the process, Thawne reversed the colors of the costume, the suit becoming yellow, the boots and lightning bolt highlights red, and the chest symbol's white circle becoming black. Taking the new name "Professor Zoom", Thawne used his speed powers to commit crimes, but was stopped by the Flash, who had travelled forward in time to witness the time capsule being opened because it also contained an atomic clock which threatened to explode like an atomic bomb due to the process with which it had been sent into the Future. The Flash, assuming his counterpart might know where the clock was, pursued Professor Zoom. After a destructive battle, the villain was finally defeated when he boasted how he used a chemical coating to protect himself from air friction. Betting that the invisible aura around his body would be superior protection, the Flash seized Thawne and began to push him forward so fast that the intense air friction overwhelmed the coating and the resulting burns forced him to surrender. It proved a waste of time, as Thawne knew nothing about the clock and the Flash was just barely able to find and remove it to an isolated area before it exploded. He also destroyed the costume to prevent such use again. [4]
Blaming the Flash for his defeat, Thawne began traveling back in time to gain revenge, using his knowledge of history to his advantage. In his second appearance he hypnotized Doctor Alchemy, who was trying to go straight, into helping him. He also became obsessed with "replacing" Barry Allen, not only as the Flash, but as the husband of Iris West. After Iris finally made it clear that this would never happen (actually the second time she had insisted this, Thawne having erased her memory of the first time), Thawne (apparently) kills her at a party, vibrating his hand into her head. It took a long time for Allen to get his life back together after this. Shortly after he had found love again, Zoom reappeared, threatening to kill his new fiancee on Allen's second wedding day. Terrified that history would repeat itself, Allen instinctively and inadvertently kills his enemy, breaking Thawne's neck in a final struggle. [5] After he was found not guilty of murder in the subsequent trial, despite the fact that Wally West (the then-Kid Flash and future Flash) testified that Barry could have stopped Thawne without killing him, Barry went to the 30th century to retire and live with the resurrected Iris, as it was revealed she was really an inhabitant of that era sent back for protection and that her mind had been taken from the moment before death, only to later die during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
It was revealed that the Thawnes and Allens had a long-standing feud by the time of the 25th century. Eobard was descended from Malcolm Thawne, a.k.a. Cobalt Blue, Barry Allen's long lost twin brother. The Thawne/Allen feud was apparently ended in the 30th century by Meloni Thawne's marriage to Don Allen, and the birth of their son, Bart Allen. However, Meloni's father created a "Reverse-Impulse"; a clone of Bart called Thaddeus Thawne, who took the name Inertia. Inertia made several attempts to replace Impulse before rejecting his role as an instrument of vengeance.
Reverse Flash also returned to battle Wally West, working side-by-side with his own successor, former police profiler Zoom, having been pulled out of time shortly before Barry broke his neck. Using the cosmic treadmill, the two Reverse-Flashes intended to force Wally to watch the aftermath of his first battle with Zoom (when his wife Linda Park miscarried) over and over again, but the intervention of Barry Allen, from a time shortly before his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, transferred Professor Zoom back to his present- in the moments before Barry broke Thawne's neck, allowing Wally to not only defeat the new Zoom, but also to undo Linda's miscarriage. During this return of Thawne, it was hinted that he retained some vague memories of his time as Barry Allen, as he admitted to having a lost memory in the back of his mind about Wally that drove him to want to see Wally hurt.
In the 2009–2010 storyline " Blackest Night", Thawne's broken-necked corpse is reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. The black power ring downloaded the corpse's memories, resulting in it not knowing about Barry's death and resurrection. Declaring itself the new Black Flash, the Black Lantern Zoom attacks Barry, who manages to elude it for the moment. [12] When Black Lantern Rogues attack Iron Heights, they encounter the living Zoom, their rings strangely malfunctioning, and displaying a strange symbol. [13] When the Black Lantern Zoom approaches his living counterpart, he stops moving, and is then frozen by Captain Cold's "cold grenade". [14] In the final issue of the series, future Black Lantern Zoom is brought back to life by the white light of creation, and manages to escape. [15]
In the follow-up " Brightest Day" storyline, the present Professor Zoom is still imprisoned in Iron Heights. [16] When Deadman activates the White Power Battery, the Entity speaks to the twelve heroes and villains resurrected at the climax of the "Blackest Night" and tells each of them of their mission that must be accomplished in order to restore 'life' to the universe and prevent the Blackest Night from ever recurring. Zoom becomes the first to inadvertently fulfill his mission, which occurred in the events of The Flash: Rebirth when he freed Barry Allen from the Speed Force following his resurrection. The Entity proclaims Professor Zoom has completed his task, and his life is restored to him, later revealing that Zoom, having fulfilled his task, is now fully purged of all trace remnants of his Black Lantern ties - both present and future. [17] Professor Zoom is released from Iron Heights by Captain Boomerang, who had hoped to better understand his version of the Entity's message. Zoom does not answer him directly, giving a cryptic response and eventually escaping as Captain Boomerang is confronted by the rest of the Rogues.
Professor Zoom uses his power to completely rewrite his history. In the story Professor Zoom uses his reverse Speed force powers to wipe his younger brother and rival Professor Drake from history as well as killing his parents when they try to interfere with his research. [19]
Eobard then falls in love with a reporter who had been hired to interview him and his future self at first kills and then wipes the reporter's fiance (and eventually every man who she had ever dated) from existence. After finding out she did not return Eobard's affections, his future self traumatized the reporter when she was a child, causing her to be mute and institutionalized for the rest of her life so that he never met her. [19]
Finally he had his younger self find the Flash uniform all to make himself the 25th century Flash. As the altered Eobard Thawne runs past him Professor Zoom sheds a tear saying "It won't last long. You will never find love. You will never be the Flash. Barry Allen destroyed my future. It's time I destroyed his." [19]
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Description

Eobard Thawne, also known as "Professor Zoom" and "Reverse-Flash", is a comic book supervillain in the DC Universe. Thawne is the archenemy and a foil of the superhero Barry Allen, the second hero to be called the Flash. Thawne is also the second of the Reverse-Flashes, as well as a maternal forefather of Bart Allen and Owen Mercer. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, Thawne first appeared in The Flash (vol. 1) #139 in September 1963, and remained one of Barry Allen's most formidable adversaries in comics over the next quarter century.
In Flash #324, Thawne was apparently killed by the Flash in an effort to save his fiancée, and spare her the death that Thawne gave to Flash's first wife, Iris. Largely unseen over the next 25 years except in sporadic appearances, Thawne was resurrected by writer Geoff Johns in 2009's The Flash: Rebirth, and reimagined as a major villain in the DC Universe with his reintroduction. Johns compares this to his similar treatment of Green Lantern villain Sinestro in an early outline of the Rebirth series. [1] In 2009, Professor Zoom was ranked as IGN's 31st greatest comic book villain of all time, [2] and in 2015, he was ranked #2 on their Top 5 Flash Villains list. [3] Eobard Thawne made his live action debut in 2014 in the CW's The Flash, portrayed by actor Tom Cavanagh (although the true identity of Cavanagh's character was not revealed until 2015).
The "Return of Barry Allen" storyline in The Flash (vol. 2) #74-79 reveals that Thawne started out as a fan of The Flash living in the 25th century and became desperate to meet him. After gaining super-speed by replicating the electrochemical bath that gave Barry Allen his powers, losing years of his life in the process - even undergoing surgery to make himself look like Barry - he traveled backward in time using the Cosmic Treadmill to meet his hero. Thawne became mentally unstable upon arriving several years after Barry's death- the Treadmill having broken down over the centuries- and discovering from the Flash Museum that he is destined to become Reverse Flash and die at the hands of his idol, resulting in his mind - already disoriented by the stress of time travel- seeking escape by convincing himself that he is Barry Allen. However, his true identity is eventually revealed due to his more violent nature, "Barry" attacking Central City in revenge for "forgetting him," until he is ultimately defeated by the Flash family and sent back to the future, his memory wiped of the incident due to the trauma of the time-travel and the beating he had received at the hands of Wally West.
He later became a criminal known as "The Professor," who found a time capsule containing the Silver Age Flash's costume. He was able to use a machine to amplify the suit's speed energy, giving himself the abilities of the Flash as long as he wore it. In the process, Thawne reversed the colors of the costume, the suit becoming yellow, the boots and lightning bolt highlights red, and the chest symbol's white circle becoming black. Taking the new name "Professor Zoom", Thawne used his speed powers to commit crimes, but was stopped by the Flash, who had travelled forward in time to witness the time capsule being opened because it also contained an atomic clock which threatened to explode like an atomic bomb due to the process with which it had been sent into the Future. The Flash, assuming his counterpart might know where the clock was, pursued Professor Zoom. After a destructive battle, the villain was finally defeated when he boasted how he used a chemical coating to protect himself from air friction. Betting that the invisible aura around his body would be superior protection, the Flash seized Thawne and began to push him forward so fast that the intense air friction overwhelmed the coating and the resulting burns forced him to surrender. It proved a waste of time, as Thawne knew nothing about the clock and the Flash was just barely able to find and remove it to an isolated area before it exploded. He also destroyed the costume to prevent such use again. [4]
Blaming the Flash for his defeat, Thawne began traveling back in time to gain revenge, using his knowledge of history to his advantage. In his second appearance he hypnotized Doctor Alchemy, who was trying to go straight, into helping him. He also became obsessed with "replacing" Barry Allen, not only as the Flash, but as the husband of Iris West. After Iris finally made it clear that this would never happen (actually the second time she had insisted this, Thawne having erased her memory of the first time), Thawne (apparently) kills her at a party, vibrating his hand into her head. It took a long time for Allen to get his life back together after this. Shortly after he had found love again, Zoom reappeared, threatening to kill his new fiancee on Allen's second wedding day. Terrified that history would repeat itself, Allen instinctively and inadvertently kills his enemy, breaking Thawne's neck in a final struggle. [5] After he was found not guilty of murder in the subsequent trial, despite the fact that Wally West (the then-Kid Flash and future Flash) testified that Barry could have stopped Thawne without killing him, Barry went to the 30th century to retire and live with the resurrected Iris, as it was revealed she was really an inhabitant of that era sent back for protection and that her mind had been taken from the moment before death, only to later die during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
It was revealed that the Thawnes and Allens had a long-standing feud by the time of the 25th century. Eobard was descended from Malcolm Thawne, a.k.a. Cobalt Blue, Barry Allen's long lost twin brother. The Thawne/Allen feud was apparently ended in the 30th century by Meloni Thawne's marriage to Don Allen, and the birth of their son, Bart Allen. However, Meloni's father created a "Reverse-Impulse"; a clone of Bart called Thaddeus Thawne, who took the name Inertia. Inertia made several attempts to replace Impulse before rejecting his role as an instrument of vengeance.
Reverse Flash also returned to battle Wally West, working side-by-side with his own successor, former police profiler Zoom, having been pulled out of time shortly before Barry broke his neck. Using the cosmic treadmill, the two Reverse-Flashes intended to force Wally to watch the aftermath of his first battle with Zoom (when his wife Linda Park miscarried) over and over again, but the intervention of Barry Allen, from a time shortly before his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, transferred Professor Zoom back to his present- in the moments before Barry broke Thawne's neck, allowing Wally to not only defeat the new Zoom, but also to undo Linda's miscarriage. During this return of Thawne, it was hinted that he retained some vague memories of his time as Barry Allen, as he admitted to having a lost memory in the back of his mind about Wally that drove him to want to see Wally hurt.
In the 2009–2010 storyline " Blackest Night", Thawne's broken-necked corpse is reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. The black power ring downloaded the corpse's memories, resulting in it not knowing about Barry's death and resurrection. Declaring itself the new Black Flash, the Black Lantern Zoom attacks Barry, who manages to elude it for the moment. [12] When Black Lantern Rogues attack Iron Heights, they encounter the living Zoom, their rings strangely malfunctioning, and displaying a strange symbol. [13] When the Black Lantern Zoom approaches his living counterpart, he stops moving, and is then frozen by Captain Cold's "cold grenade". [14] In the final issue of the series, future Black Lantern Zoom is brought back to life by the white light of creation, and manages to escape. [15]
In the follow-up " Brightest Day" storyline, the present Professor Zoom is still imprisoned in Iron Heights. [16] When Deadman activates the White Power Battery, the Entity speaks to the twelve heroes and villains resurrected at the climax of the "Blackest Night" and tells each of them of their mission that must be accomplished in order to restore 'life' to the universe and prevent the Blackest Night from ever recurring. Zoom becomes the first to inadvertently fulfill his mission, which occurred in the events of The Flash: Rebirth when he freed Barry Allen from the Speed Force following his resurrection. The Entity proclaims Professor Zoom has completed his task, and his life is restored to him, later revealing that Zoom, having fulfilled his task, is now fully purged of all trace remnants of his Black Lantern ties - both present and future. [17] Professor Zoom is released from Iron Heights by Captain Boomerang, who had hoped to better understand his version of the Entity's message. Zoom does not answer him directly, giving a cryptic response and eventually escaping as Captain Boomerang is confronted by the rest of the Rogues.
Professor Zoom uses his power to completely rewrite his history. In the story Professor Zoom uses his reverse Speed force powers to wipe his younger brother and rival Professor Drake from history as well as killing his parents when they try to interfere with his research. [19]
Eobard then falls in love with a reporter who had been hired to interview him and his future self at first kills and then wipes the reporter's fiance (and eventually every man who she had ever dated) from existence. After finding out she did not return Eobard's affections, his future self traumatized the reporter when she was a child, causing her to be mute and institutionalized for the rest of her life so that he never met her. [19]
Finally he had his younger self find the Flash uniform all to make himself the 25th century Flash. As the altered Eobard Thawne runs past him Professor Zoom sheds a tear saying "It won't last long. You will never find love. You will never be the Flash. Barry Allen destroyed my future. It's time I destroyed his." [19]
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