Orlin Dwyer


 * For other uses of Cicada, see Cicada (disambiguation).

"Save my Grace."

- Orlin Dwyer's last words to the Flash

Orlin Dwyer (died March 2019), also known as Cicada, was a serial killer whose goal was to kill all meta-humans. He was the brother of a late unnamed woman and the uncle of Grace Gibbons. He lost his powers after taking Team Flash's meta cure. He was later killed by a future Grace Gibbons who had become Cicada because of him.

Early life
Orlin Dwyer grew up in the Midwest. He was a delinquent youth, having been in and out of juvie. Orlin had a sister, though their relationship was implied to have become distant in adulthood (Orlin was clearly unaware of the fact that his sister had gotten married and started a family, implying they no longer kept in touch).

Orlin eventually moved to Central City and became employed at Szrek Chemicals in 2016.

Taking Grace in
On the night of May 4, 2017, a CCPD officer arrived at Orlin's door and revealed that his sister and her husband had been killed in a meta-human attack, much to his shock. As a result, their daughter and Orlin's niece, Grace Gibbons, was sent to live with him, as he was her next of kin. However, Orlin was initially unprepared and unwilling to care for a child, and thus had a strained relationship with Grace.

Several weeks later, Grace began getting into trouble at school for lashing out at her classmates. When Orlin scolded his niece, Grace angrily yelled that he wasn't her parent since he made her life worse and she hated her uncle, just like he hated himself. Shocked at her outburst, Orlin was forced to realize he needed to change his ways. Shortly afterwards on May 22, Orlin arranged for him and Grace to move into his cousin Robbie Byrne's old house. There, Orlin apologized to Grace for failing her and admitted she was right in that he hated himself. He asked for a second chance, which she agreed to. Over time, Orlin and Grace began to bond through fixing up the house and decorating a dollhouse, and Orlin soon came to love Grace as his own daughter.

Gaining powers
A year later on May 22, 2018, Orlin took Grace to the Central City Carnival to celebrate the anniversary of the day he made a promise to change for her. Suddenly, the Enlightenment began, which rendered Orlin, Grace, everyone else in the carnival unconscious as the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite worked to reset their brains. When The Flash and XS destroyed the dark matter-loaded satellite, the resulting force of the double speedster punch caused the device to shatter into multiple pieces. Orlin and Grace attempted to flee as the debris rained down on Central City, but the satellite's core exploded near them. A piece of the core shaped like a dagger, which was infused with large amounts of dark matter, impaled Orlin in his chest, causing a permanent injury in his lung. Another piece of shrapnel hit Grace in the head.

''The shrapnel that hit Orlin was in course to hit David Hersch, before Nora West-Allen's time-traveling actions changed the satellite debris' trajectory. ''

Orlin brought Grace to Central City Hospital, pleading for someone to help her. Dr. Vanessa Ambres had Orlin wheeled into the emergency room as she looked over Grace. Later after Orlin was discharged, he went to a comatose Grace's hospital room, where Ambres sadly warned him that she may not ever wake up due to the injuries she sustained from the satellite shrapnel. A heartbroken Orlin blamed himself for not protecting Grace but Ambres assured him it wasn't his fault, claiming the meta-humans in the city were to blame due to running around unchecked. After Ambres left, Orlin saw the news heralding The Flash and his allies for saving the city, as well as a report of another meta-human escaping the police after a robbery. Orlin was filled with rage, causing the dark-matter infused lightning dagger to fly to his hand. As the dagger glowed, Orlin vowed to Grace that he would make things right and decided to use his abilities to kill every meta-human in existence.

Becoming Cicada
As William Lang/Gridlock was being transported to Iron Heights Prison, Cicada ambushed the convoy. Throwing his dagger into the path of the truck, a burst of electric energy radiated from the blade, bringing the truck to a halt. After a brief altercation with the police, in which a few suffered severe injuries, Cicada went to the back of the transport vehicle to gain access to Lang. When questioned by Lang about who he was, or what he wanted, Cicada simply replied, "For all of you to die". He then approached Lang with the same lightning bolt-shaped dagger, flowing with the same unknown electrical energy.

Upon attempting to kill him, Lang freed himself and fought back. Although the fight looked to be in Gridlock's favor, Cicada's discarded dagger seemingly absorbed his powers, leaving him defenseless. Cicada easily overpowered the now-powerless Gridlock, beating him to the ground before fatally stabbing him in the chest, absorbing whatever energy he had left. Afterward, Cicada retreated to an unknown factory, still reeling from his injuries as he reflected on the fight. A coworker sees Cicada and inquires on whether he's been in "another fight", to which he confirms. As the co-worker leaves, Cicada gets up to place both his dagger and mask in his work locker, seemingly hiding in plain sight.

War against Team Flash
When The Flash and XS defeated Vanessa Jansen, Cicada revealed himself to the group after throwing a dagger through Jansen's chest. He then confronted the two speedsters, Vibe, and Elongated Man. As XS transported Jansen to a hospital, Cicada threw his dagger into the ground, negating the remaining trio's powers, as he had done to Gridlock. Although the group attempted to subdue Cicada with hand-to-hand combat alone, he proved to be the superior fighter, defeating all three. After incapacitating the Flash, Cicada was about to inflict the killing strike with his dagger when XS returned, shouting "Dad!". Seemingly affected by the parent-child bond shown between the two, Cicada paused for a moment before calmly getting up and walking away as the police arrived.

While most of the members of Team Flash were investigating about Cicada, the latter held Joe West captive in Joe's own home in order to get Vibe and kill him. With her telepathic powers, Cecille Horton discovered that Joe was in trouble. Joe told Cecille via his thoughts that she shouldn't use his panic button to call for help. When Joe and Cecille's baby cried, Cecille ended up using the distress call. Vibe came, Cicada tackled him, forcing him through the breach Cisco created to arrive on the scene, bringing both of them to a forest. Cicada hurt Vibe on his right shoulder with his dagger and brought him. When Vibe's teammates discovered what forest he was in and arrived on the scene, he nullified Flash's speed, but XS could throw him off for a while. Vibe threw a reactor on Cicada, but it was reflected back to Vibe, and the big explosion made Cicada think Vibe died, which seemed corroborated by a news article published a short time later. He doesn't know that Cisco faked his death. He then later went to a hospital to see Grace while also showing a doctor his shrapnel wound, telling him to stop. He ignores the doctor and then kisses his niece goodbye.

A week later, Cicada returns to his home in incredible amounts of pain, because of his shrapnel wound. He then grabbed onto a metal pipe for support and then, much to his surprise, starts crushing it. Realizing he has super strength, while still in agony.

Orlin then goes to CC Jitters where he finds and follows a young meta, before battling and killing her. Later when he returned home, he felt an incredible amount of pain before losing conscience. Dr. Ambres later show up at his house telling that she must stop his wound but Orlin states that it makes him stronger.

Days later Orlin was in Grace's room but almost got caught by Barry Allen that was investigating her father but Dr. Ambres tells him that he is dead and that the hospital is the only family that the girl has before Barry left. Later that day he comes to the hospital but Doctor Ambres warns him that it's too risky to come here but Orlin comes anyway saying that it's Thanksgiving and that he must be with his family.

Days later he was spied on by Team Flash when he was on his way to the hospital. The group had devised a plan to travel back in time to construct a device to negate his dagger's powers using items they'd previously come across and had planted it at the hospital the night of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion to use against him when they returned to the present. At night, he detected the Flash and his allies' presence and fought them, he also finds out that Vibe didn't die and Vibe breached his dagger into outer-space and got punched multiple times by the Flash. He managed to summon his dagger back from space and almost killed the Flash, but Killer Frost (being immune to the dagger's power-dampening effects) surfaced and blasted him. Realizing he couldn't win, he then flew away.

After a while, Cicada returned, and went on a killing spree, targeting meta-humans with criminal pasts (though these individuals had already served time for their crimes, and been released from prison) using a list of known meta-human former criminals leaked to him by an officer from the CCPD who'd also grown to secretly despise them. When Team Flash confronted Cicada, he ended up critically injuring Nora, leaving Barry ready to kill him, claiming it was the only way to stop Cicada from killing anyone else. During a battle with the killer, Barry (able to access his powers thanks to Killer Frost keeping Cicada's dagger away) brutally beat Cicada with a vengeance, angrily saying that he'd never hurt his (Barry's) daughter again. However, before Barry could deliver the final blow, the now fully-healed Nora showed up, asking Barry not to kill Cicada, snapping Barry out of his fit of rage. Cicada then took this opportunity to flee.

Later, when Barry Allen took the meta-human cure Team Flash had been working on (which Barry had suggested they use on Cicada in order to stop him ) into the Speed Force to get it ready faster (Cisco had stated that they'd have to let it cook for twenty-seven days, but they decided they couldn't wait that long, as there was no telling how many innocent meta-humans could murder in that time. If Barry took it into the Speed Force, thereby exposing it to tachyons, the cure would be ready in one hour. While Barry was gone, Iris went into her office to finish an article she was getting ready to publish. While she was there, Cicada showed up and kidnapped her, but not before she was able to send out a distress call to the rest of the team. Nora raced to save her but ended up having to reverse time a total of 53 times to prevent anyone on Team Flash from getting killed by Cicada. After each time reversal, Nora took notes in her journal, so that she knew what to do differently the next time. With help from the team, she was able to reverse time in such a way that none of Team Flash was killed, and Orlin ended up getting stabbed in the chest with his own dagger, forcing him to retreat.

One night Orlin chase a meta named Philip Master but it turns out that killer frost replaced him and freezes his dagger to a wall. The Flash than appears and give him the choice to use a cure to take away his power but he refuses because he doesn't care about his legacy and attacked him. When he was about to kill him, he runs away after spotting Killer Frost. Later he meets again with the Flash and he discovers that grace is also a Meta making him remorseful and come to an agreement where he will take the cure only if Grace takes it also.

Being cured
After the Flash reveals himself as a fellow father to build trust, he brought Orlin to S.T.A.R. Labs to cure him. He didn't have a good impression since he wanted to go to the hospital and ask that Dr. Vanessa Ambres has to come if they want him to take the cure. After Ambres arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs, she, Caitlin and Cisco started to inject the cure and stabilize his vitals. However, when they were about to stitch up his wound, the lights went out and another Cicada broke into the room. Caitlin told Dr. Ambres to take Orlin out while they fought the other Cicada. At the elevator, however, Ambres and Orlin were stopped by the other Cicada, who killed Ambres, took the unconscious Orlin and escaped. Later, Orlin was seen still unconscious while the other Cicada who watched him took off the mask revealing that it was a future version of Grace.

Death
After he take knowledge about the future version of Grace, he finds out that she killed Ambres despite the fact that she saved her life the day of the Enlightenment. Orlin tried to convince her to stop being Cicada, but she just knock him out and goes after Vickie Bolen the accidental murderer of her parents. Later, when Grace was about to kill the Flash, Orlin tried to dissuade her from killing The Flash and to give up revenge like he did, but she kills Orlin instead preferring being a killer. Before dying, Orlin asked Flash to save Grace.

Erased future
In the previous timeline, Orlin never became Cicada, but instead it was David Hersch. Therefore Orlin continued to live a normal life with his niece.

Alternativately, in the now-erased future, his dagger somehow ended up in Iron Heights just like in Hersch's timeline, making Grace, which becomes Cicada in this future, never have the dagger in her possession, using instead other daggers. She later travels back to the day in which Orlin was gave the cure to help him in his massacre.

Legacy
Due to always talking about his bigotry and hatred of metas when he visited Grace, unaware that she could hear everything he was saying, Orlin accidentally molded the child's mind into a more warped and evil version of his own. When Grace awoke from her coma as an adult, she took up his mantle of Cicada and went back into the past to wipe out all metas with him. However she killed him when he told her that the reason he took the cure was because it was the first step to not misuse his own powers to kill anymore metas. So after killing him Grace's mind coped with his death by envisioning a still vengeful Orlin who encouraged her to keep their mission alive. In Grace's mindscape, there was still a good Uncle Orlin who helped Grace erased her evil future self out of existence.

Personality
"Listen, you were right, kid. I do hate me. I don't really know any other way to be, but I want to do right by you, Gracie. I want to keep you safe, warm, fed. You know, just... give you all the things a kid should have."
 * -|As a civilian=

- Orlin Dwyer to Grace Gibbons

Orlin Dwyer was originally very selfish and lazy person; he didn't want to have to take care of anyone and he hated having to go to work. Orlin was a very troubled and isolated individual from his youth, which strained his personal relationships. However, after taking in his orphaned niece, Grace Gibbons, Orlin started to turn his life around and became a supportive father-figure to his niece. After the events of the Enlightenment, Orlin felt as though he needed to kill all meta-humans to avenge his niece and sister. "As brutal as Dwyer was, his love for his niece kept him from crossing certain lines."
 * -|As Cicada=

- Iris West about Orlin Dwyer

Despite having a massive vendetta against meta-humans, Orlin avoided killing civilians, though he didn't mind seriously injuring them, as seen with the police officers transporting William Lang. Caring for Grace also caused him to have empathy for other families, as seen in his hesitation to kill Barry Allen after his daughter Nora called out to him (addressing Barry as "dad"). Orlin also advised Joe West to cherish his family more, leading to the latter deducing that he was a parent.

Orlin's hate for meta-humans is to the point of recklessness as he disregards his own safety, refusing to have the shard in his chest that is killing him removed, as he states that it makes him stronger. His hatred of the meta-humans also applies to himself, claiming that once he has killed them all, he will end his life. "I was wrong. And that hate turned into something even worse. It was wrong to make you feel that way, Gracie. But you don't have to go down the same path I did. You don't have to hold on to this - this anger. Let it go."
 * -|After being cured=

- Orlin Dwyer to Future Grace Gibbons

Ultimately, Orlin saw that there was another way to "erase" metas when he learned of the cure. After taking it, he lost the anger and pain that caused his fury. Allying with Team Flash, Orlin attempted to stop the future version of Grace to make amends. However, when she killed him for such "weakness", Orlin used his last breath to beg Flash to save Grace from growing up as that monster.

Former powers

 * Meta-human physiology: When hit in the chest by a dark matter-infused shard from the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite after the failed Enlightenment, Orlin's DNA was altered, enabling him to access his newfound powers. Because the injury in his chest is infected with dark matter from the incident, it couldn't heal. The wound seemed to continually be evolving his powers, growing more potent and developing newer abilities, though he refused to have the wound stitched shut, as he stated that it made him stronger. However, after Team Flash convinced him to take their meta-human cure, the dark matter was drained from his body, stripping him of his powers. After that, they and Dr. Ambres patched up the wound to keep him from bleeding out.
 * Lightning dagger-bond: The accident with the dark matter satellite gave Orlin a psionic connection to a lightning bolt-shaped dagger that impaled him from the falling satellite. This connection prevents anyone but him from lifting said dagger and likewise allows him to telekinetic manipulate as he pleases, even summon it back to him from vast distances like outer space.
 * Power negation: The dagger has the ability to generate a field that negates all other meta-human powers. Even if someone regains usage of their powers afterward, there will be a period of time where the powers remain severely weakened and long enough exposure can potentially remove the powers permanently.
 * Electricity generation: Orlin's dagger can also generate red electricity.
 * Force-field generation: When the dagger lodged itself into the ground, it generated a force-field or red energy.
 * Meta-human detection: The dagger glows red if a meta-human is near.
 * Flight: Orlin is capable of flight at high speeds.
 * Superhuman strength: Orlin possesses strength sufficient enough to crush a metal pipe with one bare hand. He could also dent his fridge by simply punching it.
 * Superhuman durability: Orlin's newfound superhuman strength also grants him great resilience from blunt-force trauma. It took The Flash generating 2.86 billion joules of energy in his strikes to cause actual harm to the killer.

Abilities
"Yeah, well, that wasn't quite like any ass kicking I've ever gotten before either."
 * Skilled tactician/Expert scout: In his goal of eradicating all meta-humans, Orlin carefully planned which ones to target and the best way to take them down; he was able to uncover Joe West's partnership with Vibe after researching the latter's heroism. Orlin has also shown to be very efficient in tracking down his targets.

- Ralph Dibny


 * Expert hand-to-hand combatant: While mostly relying on his dagger, Orlin displayed impressive combat skills, as shown when he defeated and killed a de-powered Gridlock. Orlin took down the de-powered Flash, Vibe, and Elongated Man at the same time with relative ease. He even overwhelmed a de-powered Carl Bork, who, even without his powers, was still a physically imposing opponent. Orlin also quickly subdued Iris West.
 * Master knife wielder/Knife thrower: Despite no prior training or experience, Orlin proved to be a quick study with his lightning dagger and showcased incredible knife-wielding abilities, as seen during his fight against the Flash, Vibe, and Elongated Man. Orlin fought on par with Raelene Sharp while she wielded metal blades projecting from her arms using his dagger for a time, though she managed to wound him. Orlin also battled evenly with Killer Frost in a knife fight, though she eventually cut his arm, forcing him to fall back on his force-field power. Orlin is a highly capable knife thrower, as seen when he threw his dagger in front of a moving convoy truck when attacking Gridlock. Orlin also hurled his dagger into Block's chest with great accuracy from a fair distance.
 * Indomitable will/High tolerance for pain: Despite the agonizing pain from the embedded shrapnel damaging his lung, Orlin's single-minded hate for meta-humans and love for his niece, Grace Gibbons, allowed him to power through his lung injury and continue fighting. Orlin showed remarkable resilience when taking on Gridlock, able to eventually overpower him despite the latter initially attacking Orlin with his meta-human abilities.
 * Stealth/Infiltration: Orlin was able to successfully sneak up on Team Flash after their battle with Block. He even broke into the West house undetected and ambushed Joe. Orlin also silently stalked Raelene, who only became aware of his presence once he cornered her.
 * Intimation: During his killing spree, Orlin successfully instilled fear and terror in many meta-human citizens of Central City.

Weaknesses

 * Damaged lung: When Orlin was struck by the lightning dagger the night of the Enlightenment, it impaled his right lung. Being the spot he got his powers from, the injury could never heal, leaving him in constant pain. When Iris West directly struck his wound, Orlin collapsed while screaming in agony. He also struggled to breathe the more he exerts himself. However, after Team Flash gave Orlin the meta-human cure and stitched up the wound on his chest, his lung began to heal.

Former weaknesses

 * Alternate meta-powers: While Orlin's dagger's normally gives him a great tactical advantage of being the only person with powers, it is only capable of disabling meta-human powers that originate from dark matter. Caitlin Snow's Killer Frost abilities are still able to manifest in the dagger's presence since she gained her powers through other means.
 * Multi-tasking: Despite the various abilities Orlin's dagger provides him, he is only able to use one of them at a time; while he focused on recalling his dagger, it allowed the Flash to access his powers again, enabling the speedster to overpower Orlin.

Equipment

 * Meta-tech lightning dagger: The shard from the dark matter-loaded satellite that hit Orlin also affected the said material. Through his signature dagger, Orlin is able to perform a number of feats. As it glows to produce red electricity, he can generate powerful force fields, and also negate the powers of other meta-humans created by exposure to dark matter.
 * Cicada mask: Cicada wears an industrial breathing mask that protects his identity and modifies his voice while sounding like a cicada when he exhales. It also helps him breathe when exerting himself, due to his injured lung.

The Flash
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Trivia

 * Orlin's mask resembles the mouth of a cicada insect.
 * His breathing sounds like a cicada insect as well - earning him his moniker.
 * Orlin shares similarities with Ben Lockwood/Agent Liberty:
 * Both of their vendettas are based on xenophobia; Orlin hates meta-humans while Ben hates aliens. They're also willing to kill any individual of the aforementioned species, be it heroes or criminals.
 * Both faced repeated attacks and losses due to the prominent heroes in their cities; Orlin lost his sister to a meta-human attack while Ben lost his home and family business as a direct/indirect byproduct of an extraterrestrial presence on Earth.
 * A beloved family member getting hurt as a result of the final battle in their show's previous seasons was the final catalyst for their descent into villainy; Orlin became Cicada after his niece, Grace Gibbons, was rendered comatose during the Enlightenment. Ben became Agent Liberty after his father died during Reign's terraformation of Earth.
 * Orlin and Ben were both presented as the main antagonists of their respective shows during the 2018-19 season until another villain usurped them; Orlin was killed and replaced by his time-traveling niece while Ben was revealed to be a pawn of Lex Luthor's agenda.
 * Orlin also shares similarities with Adrian Chase/Prometheus:
 * Both are the main antagonist of the fifth season of their respective shows.
 * Both are serial killers.
 * Both were indirectly created by their show's main character(s) through a family member becoming hurt;
 * Adrian became Prometheus after Oliver Queen/The Hood, killed his father, Justin Claybourne.
 * Orlin became Cicada after he and Grace were injured by the shrapnel of the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, which was destroyed by the Flash and XS.
 * Orlin is the second main antagonist of who did not get his powers from a particle accelerator explosion, the first being Eobard Thawne.
 * He is also the second main antagonist who isn't a speedster, the first being The Thinker.
 * He is also the second main villain to be killed by another main villain from The Flash.
 * Orlin is the first main villain on to be successfully redeemed.

Behind the scenes

 * In the comics, David Hersch/Cicada was an enemy of Wally West who also killed people and drained their energy with a lightning-shaped dagger, but his goal was to collect the energy to resurrect his wife. Hersch had been struck by lightning and given immortality. His name came from the cicada insect, which is traditionally associated with immortality, which he also left behind after murders and instead of a mask, he had a distinctive silver beard, which, along with his baldness, gave him a resemblance to real-life serial killer Charles Manson.
 * In the comics, Cicada led a cult. While this never appeared on the show (likely to avoid displaying too many similarities between him and Alchemy), it is referenced by Orlin having other humans, such as Officer Jones and Dr. Vanessa Ambres, supporting his cause.
 * The Cicada comic book featured in the Flash Museum is a real-life comic book, with the cover featuring Cicada, The Flash (Wally West), and prominent cultist Frankie Kane/Magenta in displayed in front of the rest of the cult.
 * Cicada's comic book identity is referenced in the show, with Sherloque Wells assuming he was David Hersch, as he was Cicada in all other universes. Additionally, a CCU faculty member known only as Hersch was referenced back in Season 3.
 * Cicada was originally supposed to appear as the second cliffhanger scene of the Season 4 finale, but he was cut due to time constraints and the scene was used in the trailer for Season 5.