Clifford DeVoe

"I'll be thinking of you."

- Clifford DeVoe to Barry

Professor Clifford DeVoe, nicknamed The Thinker by Cisco Ramon, is a history professor at Central City University, and secretly an extremely knowledgeable enemy of the Flash. Before he lived in Central City he lived in South Africa. He works alongside Marlize DeVoe, his assistant and wife, whom he met at the University of Oxford.

Studies and teaching
Clifford DeVoe was raised in South Africa. When he grew up, he studied history and econometrics at the University of Johannesburg, Clifford first took a teaching position at the University of Oxford, specializing in the history of warfare and military strategy, focusing largely on the early Middle Ages. There he'd meet Marlize, where the two fell in love and eventually married. Circa 2006, while at Oxford, Clifford was a member of the debating society, debating the morality of Sun Tzu and the principles of Machiavelli. At that time, he also held a number of lectures in Central City University: on Japanese political fragmentation in the 15th century on June 13th; on the Menji Restoration of 1868 in September; on the Battle of Hakusukinoe in October. He would later accept an invitation to become a professor at CCU, moving to live in Central City, United States.

Birth of the Thinker
Clifford and Marlize, now living in Central City, worked on adapting to their new lives and saw progress for human development through the acceleration of mind, with Clifford thinking that his own genius was not enough to achieve their plan of "distributing knowledge" throughout society. Coincidentally, the couple followed the progresses of S.T.A.R. Labs under Dr. Harrison Wells, specifically his S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator project. Upon realizing that the particle accelerator would explode, the DeVoe family developed a machine to amplify DeVoe's intelligence by using the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion to power his "Thinking Cap" device. While the experiment was a success, DeVoe began to suffer from degeneration in his body, slowly paralyzing him and causing him seizures and pain. With his body trying to maintain the vast intellect, the rest of his body was not receiving the energy it needs. Clifford's wife has thus built a machine that plugs into DeVoe's brain to slow down his deteriorating body.

DeVoe kept watch over Becky Sharpe (and presumably a number of other meta-humans) in her day-to-day life, an individual with incredibly bad luck.

In October 2017, DeVoe and Marlize had a samurai droid built to force the Flash to make his return to Central City, causing dark matter to spill out and transform a busload of 12 people into meta-humans. After the samurai robot was defeated, DeVoe used it to anonymously welcome the Flash back. After rebuilding another Samuroid in his hideout, DeVoe mused on how everything was going according to plan with the Flash's return and began to plan his next move.

Later, DeVoe got up early in the morning, researched all of Schubert's 600+ works and used this knowledge to finish his unfinished eighth symphony, playing it on a holographic piano. Marlize approached him, musing how she enjoyed the song as a child. DeVoe proceeded to ask her for an update on the meta-humans, to which she showed him she managed to locate Ramsey Deacon locked up at Iron Heights Prison. DeVoe then decided it was time to locate the others.

Shortly following, as DeVoe and his wife watched over an incarcerated Becky Sharpe, the latter remarked on how Team Flash had found her significantly quicker than they'd anticipated, suggesting they were smarter than they'd thought. DeVoe, however, was sure that he was smarter, revealing a live feed to S.T.A.R. Labs from the defect Samuroid head.

Having knowledge of Mayor Anthony Bellows having an affair, DeVoe asked Ralph Dibny to investigate him.

He tracked down a meta-human called "The Weeper" a week later and told him that he went through a lot of trouble in creating him and that he couldn't die until he completed the task he was created for.

When Marlize came to him, saying they needed to talk, he responded that it would end the only way it could which was his victory. She seemed confused and he said that they would have to take the conversation the long way. She then alerted DeVoe to the fact that Team Flash were closer to discovering his identity earlier than they had anticipated. He assured her that everything was fine as he had calculated every possible variable as well as all possible outcomes of their conversation and how it would end. When she asked how it would end, he repeated his earlier statement that it would all end with his victory. Not long following, they were visited by Joe West and Barry Allen, who asked to speak to Clifford, who appeared in simple clothes and in an electric wheelchair, away from his mechanized hovering chair.

After letting Joe and Barry in their home for being questioned, he denied that he didn't know any of the meta-humans that were in the bus the day when Barry exited from the speed force except for Mina Chaytan but he explained his earlier life and about how he met his wife Marlize at the last university he thought at. After a few questions Joe and Barry decided to leave in which Barry doesn't trust DeVoe and continued his investigation on him.

He later was at the University teaching until he saw Barry in the classroom until the class dismissed in which Barry took this opportunity to ask him more questions in which he asked about his whereabouts on January 7th, 2014 in which that was the night the particle accelerator exploded in which Clifford denied that he had no idea where he was that night and Barry asked him if he took any public transportation but DeVoe said he only got car rides from people he known that are "wheel-chair friendly" but he asked about Barry's investigation on him but Barry told him he's not supposed to discuss it with him to which Barry hand him his contact card while super speed secretly to swipe his mug away to do a DNA test on it to see if DeVoe is a meta-human.

Hours later he later filed a complaint against Barry to David Singh and lied that Barry was harassing him and his wife to which Singh force Barry to apologize to Clifford and Marlize about his investigations.

After Barry broke into his house to prove that he were watching Team Flash, the next day his wife was complaining to Singh that Barry broke into their house the following night to which caused Barry to be suspended for 2 weeks from his work and got granted restraining order to stay away from the DeVoes.

Later that day he was approached by Barry one last time despite the restraining order to ask him who he really his in which he revealed to Barry that he knows he's the Flash and told him that he and the Flash was "born" the same day the particle accelerator exploded and told Barry that he's smarter than him and his friends combine. He specifically told him that Barry may be the fastest man alive while he's the fastest mind alive to which they close the gap of their conversation due to his class about to begin before telling Barry that he will think of him.

Later he discussed with Marlize about his encounter with Barry and talk about his friends until his seizures started again due to not connected to his hover-chair for a long period of time. Marlize takes off his wig that reveals his brain and connects him to his hover-chair and watched a live footage of Barry and Iris sitting in an sofa together while Marlize asked Clifford if he's going to let them get married in which he replied that:"What is knowledge without love?"

Possible futures
At some point, Abra Kadabra became aware that DeVoe, like Thawne, Zoom, and Savitar, was one of the Flash's greatest foes.

At some point, Barry used a device called a cerebral inhibitor against DeVoe.

At some point in the future, Eobard Thawne, while studying Barry's past, became aware of DeVoe's role as one the Flash's enemies and became a fan of his "work".

Personality
Prior to his transformation, DeVoe was a fairly ordinary but socially awkward man who genuinely craved knowledge and wanted to reach people so he could pass on his love of knowledge to others, becoming frustrated with how so few of his students seemed to actually respect or listen to what he was trying to teach them. Feeling that their minds had become too small whilst his own ability to convey information effectively was lacking, DeVoe began his efforts to construct the "Thinking Cap" with his lover in the name of bringing forth an "age of enlightenment".

Since becoming "The Thinker", DeVoe's personality has changed; though still craving knowledge, he is now more ruthless and brutal in his willingness to hurt innocents to get what he wants. DeVoe is a calculating and patient man, very much focused on his current objective all the time, not having much emotional reaction while doing so. He is very confident in his abilities, and does not hesitate to emphasize just how thoroughly he has accounted for every possibility, and every outcome, even to his own wife.

DeVoe's also possessed an ambitious nature even before his transformation, wishing to advance the human consciousness to instill change in humanity. Whether as a facade or not, he can be a nice person towards people, especially to his students, but he also takes advantage of this trait when he lied to David Singh about Barry harassing him and his wife in which the latter was actually investigating him.

Even at his worst however, DeVoe is not without a romantic side; he feels the need to be the great man his wife needs despite his condition, and noted that he would be nothing without her. He also allows Barry Allen and Iris West their wedding out of understanding of their love.

Powers
"There is not a decimal, a fraction, an infinitesimal variable beyond my thought... beyond my mind!"

- Clifford DeVoe


 * Meta-human physiology: After being struck by the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator while wearing his "Thinking Cap", Clifford's already high mental capacities were enhanced to superhuman levels. DeVoe was able to alter his DNA, however, so as to mask it as being regular human DNA.
 * Superhuman intellect: Clifford's powers greatly accelerate his brain activity, allowing him to absorb and process information for faster and more efficiently than normal human levels, even faster than Barry Allen. He is even able to condition his thought patterns and general brain activity to mimic others, enabling him to perform feats like completing Schubert's unfinished eighth symphony by extrapolating the remaining movements after he familiarized himself with the body of his other 600 works in a single morning. With his vastly augmented mental processing and cognitive capabilities, Clifford’s intellect is easily ranked among the greatest in the multiverse. With his enhanced intelligence, Clifford feels that he can calculate and deduce the answer to almost any question and anticipate any potential outcome. To his point he solved many mysteries with his intelligence including Riemann's hypothesis, one of Hilbert's problems, and Jack the Ripper's true identity.

Abilities

 * Expert historian: Even before gaining his augmented intellect, Clifford was an accomplished and well-known professor of history in all its forms. The feudal era of Japan being a particular favorite of his.
 * Master tactician/stragetist: Clifford's intelligence makes him a near-flawless planner, able to assess and account for the numerous variables, both natural events and people's instinctual reaction, and from this effectively manipulate the situation to unfold as he sees fit. Clifford's frightening calculations allowed him to predict various scenarios of potential future problems borders on clairvoyance, as shown from anticipating when Team Flash would discover his identity, an argument with his wife, and more. Clifford is also a masterful chess player, as he regularly plays on his hover chair.
 * Multilingual: Clifford has the ability to speak English, Japanese, French, Italian, Mandarin, and several other languages.
 * Musical ability: By conditioning his brain activity to replicate Schubert's, Clifford is a skilled pianist.
 * Polymath: In addition to history, Clifford has demonstrated to be expert in various other subjects such as mathematics and engineering; this has become even notable since attaining his superhuman intellect. As an engineer, Clifford was able to create the schematics of the designs of the samurai robots and the "Thinking Cap".

Weaknesses

 * Body degeneration: While DeVoe's intellect was boosted to levels surpassing groups of geniuses, his body began to deteriorate due to all the energy in it being directed to his brain, leaving his body with not enough to properly function. This illness is an advanced form of ALS, causing his nerves and muscles to start deteriorating, which resulted in DeVoe's paralysis and can eventually be fatal. His hovering chair is designed to stall this fatal deterioration, though it too will eventually fail to keep DeVoe from dying.
 * Cerebral inhibitor: According to Savitar, Barry will use a version of the device to defeat DeVoe at some point in the future.
 * Exposed brain: For his cybernetics to work, Clifford's brain has to be exposed, with the upper half of his skull removed.

Equipment

 * Hovering chair: DeVoe uses a mechanical chair, connected with wires to his hideout's computer system. The chair is also able to hover in mid air and has offensive capabilities in form of blasters.
 * Wheelchair: DeVoe uses a wheelchair when he is required to appear as a civilian in public.

Former equipment

 * Thinking Cap: In 2013, just before the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion Devoe designed the thinking cap to boost his own intelligence. He had his wife build it and he put it on his head during the explosion and it was struck by lightning, it is unknown what happened to the cap after that.

The Flash
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Season 4
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Trivia

 * The Thinker is the first main antagonist of The Flash who is not a speedster.
 * Like Damien Darhk, DeVoe was first mentioned 2 times on the third season of his show, and became the main antagonist in the following season.
 * DeVoe admits to his wife that in his many predicted future scenarios, one of Cisco's supervillain names for him would have been The Teacher.
 * Unlike the previous main antagonists of The Flash, DeVoe's identity as a villain was revealed to the audience very early in the season since his first appearance in the first episode of the fourth season and to Team Flash (in the seventh episode of the fourth season, "Therefore I Am"). The identities of the other villains were revealed only at the near end of the seasons:
 * Reverse-Flash's identity was revealed to the audience in the episode "Fallout" but on the twentieth episode of the first season, "The Trap" his identity was revealed truthfully to Team Flash (however, Team Flash suspected that he was Harrison Wells a few episodes before; he also revealed his identity to Cisco Ramon in an aborted timeline in the fifteenth episode "Out of Time").
 * Zoom's identity was revealed to the audience on the fifteenth episode of the second season, "King Shark" but it was officially revealed to Team Flash in the following episode, "Trajectory".
 * Savitar's identity was revealed to Barry and the audience on the twentieth episode of the third season, "I Know Who You Are" (However, he told the rest of the team only in the following episode, "Cause and Effect").

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics Clifford DeVoe was the first villain known as the Thinker, a genius inventor corrupted by Hunk Norvok and enemy of Jay Garrick, whose brain-boosting "Thinking Cap" invention went on to gain artificial intelligence and become an enemy of the Wally West Flash, using DeVoe's name after his demise, which was caused by the Cap's detrimental effects on his body over the years. Similarly, Devoe on the show struggles to keep his body healthy with his overclocked mind slowly killing him.
 * While in the comics that he was a failed lawyer, in the series he is a history professor.