Top 10 Greatest Flash Moments

Flash wouldn’t be on TV if it weren’t for “Arrow,” the CW series that first introduced Barry Allen, and Flash and Arrow share a very special bond. Their crossover episodes are always exciting, but out favorite is when these two friends take each other on. Oliver has come to Central City and seen Barry in action. He’s impressed, but he also sees that Barry lacks discipline and training – two things Oliver has in spades. This observation comes in handy later when Barry – affected by a metahuman’s ability to manipulate emotions induces uncontrollable rage in the speedster. Which means a certain bowslinger has to try to rein him in – without killing him.

Season Two of “Flash” featured Barry and company trying to destroy the massively villainous Zoom, a speedster from another Earth. Zoom was always two steps ahead of our hero – and because he was ruthless, he was always ready to go places Barry wouldn’t in order to win. In the season’s 22nd episode, Team Flash is celebrating the return of Barry’s dad, Henry. While everyone is dining at Barry and Joe’s home, Zoom shows up and kidnaps Henry. With Barry I n hot pursuit, Zoom takes Henry to Barry’s childhood home. Then, in the same room where Barry saw his mother brutally murdered by the Reverse-Flash, Zoom kills Henry. It is a classic, gut-wrenching moment that packs a big punch.

Flash is well known for his lighthearted way of working and his breezy repartee, but the character has gone through a lot of tragedy. The deaths of his mother and father have already been mentioned, but there was more to come. Barry Allen and Iris West had one of the happiest marriages in comics. Even when Iris worried about Barry possibly being unfaithful, it was cleared up quickly – and the two celebrated by deciding it was time to start a family. Their future planned, the couple go to a costume party disguised as Batgirl and, of course the Flash. Tragically, Flash's arch-enemy, Reverse-Flash, takes Iris’ life at the party. It was a moment that would haunt Flash for years.

Several people have been called the Flash, included Barry’s former sidekick, Wally West, who is responsible for this memorable moment. It had been established that all of the DC speedsters get their power from a mysterious energy source called the Speed Force. The problem is that if you ran too fast, you would get sucked up into the Force itself and couldn’t get out. Unfortunately, in “Terminal Velocity” the villainous Kobra is setting in motion a plan to destroy the world – and while battling him, Wally gets sucked into the Speed Force. All seems lost until Wally miraculously returns – drawn back because of his love for girlfriend, Linda.

Since the Barry Allen version of the Flash is generally credited with ushering in the so-called Silver Age of comics, it’s appropriate that Barry’s debut should be on this list. Superhero comics were in a bit of a dip during the late 40s and early 50s, but DC’s decision to try reviving and revitalizing one of their old characters paid off in a big way. In Showcase #4, readers met Barry Allen, a police scientist who enjoys reading the comic book adventures of the original Flash. When a bolt of lightning douses Barry with an array of chemicals, the perennially late Barry Allen suddenly finds that he is the fastest man alive – and comic book history is made.

In the Flashpoint storyline, the DC world as we know it has been turned upside down. Aquaman and Wonder Woman are at war with each other, Captain Cold is hero, Batman is Thomas Wayne instead of Bruce Wayne. You get the picture. And the world is on the brink of destruction. In this world, Barry’s mother didn’t die – but his father did. Barry’s the only person who remembers the world the way it’s supposed to be, and he realizes only the Reverse-Flash could have engineered this. The series leads up their confrontation – when the villain reveals Barry actually is responsible. He had gone back in time to save his mother – thus creating the Flashpoint universe.

Season one of the Flash TV series revolves heavily around the death of Barry’s mother. By the end of the season, Barry knows that the Reverse-Flash, a speedster from the future, did the deed. But killing her stranded the villain in Barry’s timeline. Now Reverse-Flash lets Barry in on a secret: He can help Barry go back in time to save his mother, if Barry then helps him get back to the future. It’s a hard choice for Barry to make, but eventually be decides to take the trip back to the past. Viewers watched Barry return, ready to stop his mother’s death – only to change his mind. Instead, Barry chooses to provide comfort and closure to his dying mother.

Starting in 1967, Superman and Flash engaged in a number of races to determine which of them was faster – but they typically ended in a tie or a “win” that was technical rather than decisive. In the “Rebirth” storyline, Barry’s has to sacrifice himself to the Speed Force in order to save the other speedsters – and he starts pouring on the speed to get engulfed in the Speed Force. Superman however, won’t let him. The Man of Steel catches up to Barry, trying to talk him out of it. He reminds Barry that they’ve raced before and that Barry can’t run away. Barry, star that he is lets Supers know that he was holding back all those times, and instantly leaves the Man of Steel in the dust.

This classic is important not just because Barry Allen met Jay Garrick, the original Flash, but because it also is the birth of the entire DC multiverse. It starts out with Flash performing tricks for kids at a Central City charity event. Suddenly he disappears before their very eyes – and turns up in Keystone City. Barry has vibrated his atoms so fast he crosses the barrier into the Earth of another dimension. There, he soon meets up with the original Flash, Jay Garrick. The two Flashes team up, starting a beautiful friendship – and opening the door to many other alternate universes for DC to explore.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Flash Airline (2011)

Cisco’s “Death” (2015)

The Speed Force is…God? (2016)

DC promised there would be big changes in its Crisis on Infinite Earths event and they weren’t kidding. The Anti-Monitor has constructed an anti-matter cannon which will destroy the remains of the multiverse. In order to stop him, Flash locates the source of the cannon’s power. By running around it at a faster speed than he has ever attempted before, Barry is able to destroy the power core. But doing so also disrupts Flash’s physical being. His mortal core is hurled through time, ultimately disintegrating. Flash has made the ultimate sacrifice, choosing death to save countless lives – none of whom were aware of what he has done.

Agree with our choices? What other key moments from the Scarlet Speedster’s life should we have included? For more speedy top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.