It's hard to imagine a Flash without an Iris West. A reporter for the Central City Picture News, Iris is as ingrained into the Flash mythos as Barry Allen, Wally West, and Jay Garrick. The love between Iris and Barry spans time and space as they have each returned from death and traveled through time to be together. Their love is one of the great romances in comics.

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When The Flash was turned into a TV series spinning out of Arrow, changes to Iris were made. This isn't uncommon – a lot of things that work in comics may not work as well in live-action TV – and none of the changes have made Iris a lesser character, just a little different from the one readers have known over the decades. What things about Iris West were changed for the show? What things stayed the same?

10 Changed: Race

The most obvious change to Iris from the comics to the TV series is her race. When Iris was introduced in the comics in 1956, the idea of making her Black would never have even been considered. For the Arrowverse series, the show's creators wanted to diversify the cast of characters and chose to make the West family Black.

The series has never put a focus on Iris's race, instead choosing to focus on the other aspects of the character. However, when Eric Wallace took over as the showrunner for season six, he and actress Candice Patton rightly wanted to bring in pieces of Iris's African-American heritage to better represent this version of Iris.

9 Stayed The Same: She Is Barry's Partner

Iris West has rarely been shown as a damsel in distress in the comics. While Lois Lane was often in need of Superman's help, Iris tended to keep out of danger while still reporting on the events that happened in Central City. After learning that Barry Allen was Flash, Iris became his closest confidant, and that has never changed.

In the show. Iris does find herself in need of saving from time to time, but she is also there to save others when needed. She is the leader of Team Flash while running her own paper not because she is Barry's wife, but because she is smart and capable. Without her, there would be no Flash.

8 Changed: Grew Up With Barry

In the comics, Barry Allen and Iris West met at a crime scene. Barry was there as the crime-scene investigator and Iris was there as a reporter. From there, a friendship grew and became a romance, turning into one of the greatest comic book love stories.

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On the show, Barry and Iris grew up together when Iris's dad, Joe West, took Barry in after the murder of his mother and arrest of his father. This made the early days of Barry and Iris's romantic relationship a little weird, but true love can not be denied.

7 Stayed The Same: Reporter

From the first time readers meet Iris, she is a reporter for the Central City Picture News. Her job as Central City's best reporter often put her in the same places as Flash, and Iris always got the interviews with the Fastest Man Alive. Just like the comics, Iris is a reporter on the Arrowverse series, starting off with a blog before becoming a professional reporter and then an Editor-In-Chief.

Iris's history as a reporter is as much a part of her character as her relationship with Barry Allen. To take it away from her would essentially break the character. While the show has struggled to give time to Iris's career, her investigative nature is always front and center.

6 Changed: True Childhood

Like any long-running episodic story, comic books can get convoluted. Iris West may have started off as an average Central City citizen, but over the years, her true past was revealed. As it turned out, Iris was actually born a thousand years in the future and sent back in time by her parents and adopted by the Wests.

When she was killed by Reverse-Flash, Iris's real parents from the future captured her soul and brought it to their time where they placed it into a new body. For a time, Barry lived in the future with Iris, but his death during Crisis on Infinite Earths ended their happiness. On the Arrowverse series, at least so far, Iris is Joe West's birth daughter.

5 Stayed The Same: Stylish

One thing that stood out about Barry Allen from the first time he appeared in Showcase #4 was how sleek and stylish his Flash costume was. What doesn't get talked about as often is how from her first appearance in the same issue, Iris West was also made to be fashionable. While other female characters in comics were still in pencil skirts and flowery hats, Iris was dressing like Audrey Hepburn.

The TV series has also had Iris stay up to date with the fashions of the day. Along with her stylish clothes, the series has recently started to let the character – and actress Candice Patton – show off her curls. The lives of everyone on Team Flash is crazy, but Iris makes it look good.

4 Changed: Relationship With Wally West

Originally in the comics, Iris was Wally West's aunt. The sister of Wally's dad Rudy, Iris was the cool member of the family that lived in the big city and knew the Flash. After Flashpoint, a new Wally was introduced but was still Iris's nephew.

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On the show, Iris and Wally are brother and sister, although they didn't grow up together. Wally was raised by their mother, who Iris believed was dead, which came as quite a big shock to Iris.

3 Stayed The Same: Leader

When Iris returned from the future to get her grandson Bart the help he needed, she quickly became the matriarch of the Flash Family, and with good reason. Iris was someone the then-current Flash, Wally West, always loved and respected, and considering her life with Barry Allen, she had seen and done just about everything.

On the show, Iris runs Team Flash, having the full faith and respect of everyone in the gang. While Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin Snow are all geniuses in their chosen professions, it's Iris who has the strategic mind needed to win the day.

2 Changed: Her Children

In the comics, Iris and Barry had twins, Don and Dawn, while living in the 31st century. The siblings inherited their father's super-speed and used it to become the heroes known as the Tornado Twins. Sadly, Don and Dawn died at the hands of the Dominators, but not before having children of their own. Don's son, Bart, would travel back to the current day with Iris and become Impulse. Dawn's daughter, XS, would become a member of the Legion of Superheroes.

In the show, XS was changed from being Iris and Barry's granddaughter to being their daughter who traveled back from the not too distant future to try and save her father's life. The show also changed XS's name from Jenni Ognats to Nora Allen.

1 Stayed The Same: Family First

In both the comics and the show, Iris loves her family above all else and is always excited to see it grow. In the comics, she was the lifeline for the first Wally West and is now raising the second Wally – who goes by Wallace. She risked her life to bring her grandson back in time to keep him away from a government that kept him locked up and wanted to use him as a weapon.

On the show, after finding out that she had a brother, Iris did everything she could to make him feel welcomed into the home she and her dad Joe share. When Joe started dating Cecile, Iris couldn't have been happier for him. When Cecile announced her pregnancy, Iris was overjoyed. Every time a new person has joined Team Flash, Iris has been one of the first to make them feel like part of the family.

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