Clifford DeVoe

"I'm thinking."

- Clifford DeVoe to his wife

Clifford DeVoe is a history professor at Central City University, and a knowledgeable enemy of the Flash. He works alongside his assistant and wife.

Biography
Clifford DeVoe was raised in South Africa. When he grew up, he studied at the University of Johannesburg and University of Oxford, before going on to live in Central City in the United States, teaching history. He specialized in the history of warfare and military strategy, focusing largely on the early Middle Ages.

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 his wife 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. His assistant 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 his wife 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.

Possible futures
At some point, Abra Kadabra became aware that DeVoe was one of the Flash's foes.

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

Personality
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.

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

- Clifford DeVoe


 * High-level intellect/Master tactician: DeVoe is a great thinker, planner and designer. He crafted a complicated plan in regards to the Flash, a part of which involved Team Flash being forced to find a way to bring the Flash back from the Speed Force using the Samuroid. This plan further was elaborated to include Barry coming out of the Speed Force in an area where a bus of 12 individuals was passing at that exact moment to create new metahumans.
 * Master mechanical engineer: It is assumed that DeVoe had some part in the design and/or creation of the Samurai robots.
 * Musical acumen/Composing: DeVoe was able to finish Schubert's unfinished eighth symphony by extrapolating the remaining movements after familiarizing himself with the body of his other 600 works

Weaknesses

 * Cerebral inhibitor: According to Savitar, Barry will use a version of the device to defeat DeVoe at some point in the future.

Equipment

 * Hovering chair: DeVoe usually sits in 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.

The Flash
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Season 4
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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 cancer-brought demise.