Between Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Barry Allen, Bart's probably the most famous man to don the mantle of The Flash. An impressive feat to be sure, considering that Barry was dead for more than 20 real-life years! However, just because he's the most famous Scarlet Speedster, that doesn't mean he's the greatest, or even the most morally responsible.
All heroes make mistakes in their careers, but most try to do as little harm as possible. Barry Allen, on the other hand, has often let his feelings lead him astray - propelling him to commit savage acts with devastating repercussions. We're going to look at the ten of the worst things Barry's ever done - deeds so dirty that DC hopes we all magically forget someday.
10 Lying To His Loved Ones
What's the harm in a little white lie, right? After all, what they don't know can't hurt them. Barry Allen follows that philosophy, only 'them' in his case means every person he encounters. Barry constantly lies to the Justice League if he feels that telling them the truth would complicate things. The same goes for his superiors at work - which is probably illegal, since Barry's a forensic investigator!
Barry Allen will also lie to those closest to him if he feels the truth would hurt them; Barry repeatedly lies to Iris more often than he needs to, as well as Wally West and Wallace West. Barry's told so many lies over the years that he's genuinely forgotten his own stories - making a knot of his web of intrigue.
9 Killing Gorilla Grodd
Your mileage may vary on this entry, depending on whether you're a proponent of the no-killing rule most heroes follow. We don't need to tell you how bad Gorilla Grodd is, do we? We feel that the shows and video games have done a good enough job catching most folks up to speed (hehe).
Anyhow, Barry usually spares Gorilla Grodd's life when he defeats him,.but in one storyline, Barry blows up Grodd with his own explosive device! Talk about going out with a bang - okay, we'll stop now.
8 Covering Up A Heinous Crime
This entry calls back to Identity Crisis - a notorious comic book that features the ordeal of Sue Dibny. After the Justice League learn what Dr. Light did to Dibny in the Watchtower, they briefly debate what to do with him. Eventually, the League settles on erasing Light's mind and sweeping the incident under the rug. Not one of them disagree with this plan; not Hal Jordan, Dinah Drake, or Barry Allen.
To this day, Identity Crisis remains a black spot on Barry Allen and DC Comics' records. It's just one of the reasons the DCU's been rebooted so often in such a short timespan.
7 Murdering His Protege
The term "future shock" is supposed to mean that one's unsettled by how rapidly the world around them is changing. In the DC Universe, however, future shock ought to have another connotation; the fear that a future version of yourself could visit your era with malicious intent. At least that's what happened when an evil Barry Allen visited from the future and started taking heads!
A future version of Wally West comes in to save our Barry Allen at the last second. Unfortunately, future Barry doesn't hesitate to kill his protege - possibly hinting at a rift that would grow between the two.
6 Engaging In A "Flash War" With Wally West
Perhaps Wally's previously-mentioned death was a sign of bad things to come. 2018's Flash War centers around a conflict between Wally West and Barry Allen - touted as finally determining which of them is the Fastest Man Alive. That premise doesn't sound so bad - you'd figure both heroes would race in some plane that can handle their inhuman speed.
That's not how Flash War went down, though. Instead, Barry Allen and Wally West bickered and argued until their relationship deteriorated. They proceeded to come to blows numerous times, allowing villains like Professor Zoom to capitalize on the mayhem. Wally was deemed 'The Fastest Man Alive' in the end, but the damage done during Flash War made that victory bittersweet.
5 Permanently Petrifying Inertia
As evidenced by his disposal of Gorilla Grodd, Barry Allen isn't afraid to take drastic measures against his foes. There are even fates worse than death that the Flash can inflict on enemies. Just ask inertia - an evil clone of Impulse, mixed with a bit of Professor Zoom's DNA.
At one point, Inertia kills Impulse and taunts Barry Allen about it. Berserk, Allen steals Inertia's speed and momentum - leaving him in a state of limbo in which he can't move or age, yet remains conscious! It might have been more humane to just kill Inertia as opposed to placing him in stasis.
4 Snapping Professor Zoom's Neck
Speaking of the Reverse-Flash, let's talk about the time Barry Allen killed Professor Zoom on his wedding day. Granted, we completely see where Barry's coming from; Zoom is a villain that relishes in personally messing with Barry's life. He knows everything about Allen (not just the Flash) and uses his terrifying powers to make Barry's life a living Hell.
When Zoom attempted to kill Barry Allen's fiance on their wedding day, he pushed his chips too far. In a flash, Barry snapped Professor Zoom's neck instinctively! We're hard-pressed not to say that Zoom didn't have it coming - but his death still negatively affected Barry for a time.
3 Continuing To Use Destructive Powers
As a play on the old saying "be careful when fighting monsters, lest you become one," we have this entry. After successfully defeating Professor-Zoom in battle, Barry Allen inherited Zoom's Negative Speed Force powers for a time. Whenever Allen would run, he'd cause widespread destruction to the physical world and the Speed Force itself!
You'd think Barry Allen would stop using his powers and look for a solution with Batman or Green Lantern. Nah, that would've apparently been too heroic for Barry's tastes. Allen continues using his newfound destructive powers instead - nearly leveling Central City in the process!
2 Kickstarting Flashpoint
This entry is so sad because we're sure most of us could empathize with his plight. What if one of the people you loved the most tragically died, but you eventually gained the power to change that? Wouldn't you try to right history's wrongs and save an innocent life? That's what Barry Allen attempted to do, though the consequences were unfathomable.
While Barry Allen didn't mean to kickstart the events of Flashpoint, he knows that he shouldn't have attempted to meddle with time on his own. Now that the Flash War is over, it looks like Barry might not get another chance to save his mother from Zoom.
1 Overshadowing The Rest Of The Flash Family
This final entry might sound petty on paper (well, computer/cellphone screen), but hear us out. We started this article off by claiming that Barry Allen is the most famous Flash around. However, we didn't mention that fame came at the expense of the entire Flash Family.
When Barry Allen came back, Wally West was the current Flash at the time. Instead of allowing the two speedsters to work side by side, Wally got cast aside - eventually even getting written out of existence for a time! The same essentially went for Impulse and Jay Garrick. DC's only recently stopped the trend of putting Barry over the other Speedsters. Ultimately, we'll see if this welcome change is a permanent one.