Iris West-Allen


 * For other characters known as "The Flash", see The Flash (disambiguation).

"You're my lightning rod, Iris."

- Barry Allen to Iris West

Iris Ann West-Allen (born June 24, 1989) is the co-leader of Team Flash, a former journalist for Central City Picture News, a former waitress at CC Jitters, and a psychology graduate student. Iris is also the daughter of Joe and the late Francine West, the sister of Wally West, the fiancée of the late-Eddie Thawne, the wife of Barry Allen, and the mother of her future daughter Nora Allen. In the Flashpoint timeline, Iris and Joe seemed to have some tension since Iris didn't know about Francine being alive. She also knew that Wally was the Flash and they formed a brother-sister crime-fighting duo. After Flashpoint was removed from existence when Barry let Eobard Thawne kill Nora Allen in an attempt to restore the original timeline, Iris was estranged from her father Joe only to reconnect after hearing of Barry's time traveling. The life of Iris was later threatened by a powerful villain named Savitar, which they could foresee due to Barry accidentally traveling into the future trying to trap the villain, which was a future time remnant of Barry. Iris survived thanks to the sacrifice of H.R Wells, and in the final battle, she killed Savitar, erasing him from existence.

After Barry's disappearance into the Speed Force, she took over Team Flash and coordinated the superhero activities of Vibe and Kid Flash. After Barry's return, she continued her position as team leader until she decided to retire and be a reporter again, serving as mission control, giving herself the code name "Eye in the Sky". During an encounter with the meta-human Melting Point, Iris briefly gained her husband's speed and took over for him as The Flash before tracking down Kim and having him return the powers to Barry.

Early life
Iris was born on June 24, 1989 to Joe and Francine West in Central City.

When Iris was two years old, her parents took her to the park to cheer her up after she was given some shots. There, she had ice cream for the first time and voiced a desire for it nearly every day it for the next month.

When Iris was around six years old, her mother nearly overdosed on drugs while Joe was at work. Francine subsequently ended up unresponsive on the couch, causing Iris to call the police. Before Joe and his partner were able to arrive on the scene, the stove caught fire since Francine had left the oven on. Iris was almost killed, as she was standing in front of the flames when Joe and his partner finally reached her but the pair managed to get both Iris and her mother to safety. Iris repressed her memories of this event. Soon after, Joe told Iris that her mother had died. In reality, Francine was a drug addict who had left them but Joe didn't want his daughter to grow up believing that she'd been abandoned. Instead, he told Iris stories of the mother he knew she deserved, not the mother Francine really was. However, both Iris and Joe were unaware that Francine was pregnant with another child - a son - when she left them for a life in Keystone City.

At school, Iris met Barry Allen and the two became best friends, though Barry secretly harbored a crush on Iris that he was never able to vocalize during their childhood. Iris held those same feelings for Barry deep down and though the two never acknowledged their romantic interest in each other, Joe and Barry's parents were well aware of the connection between their children. Another boy at school, Tony Woodward, also had a crush on her, and frequently bullied Barry.

After her mother's alleged death, Iris always wore Francine's wedding band on a necklace. However, she lost the original ring in the fifth grade when she and Barry went to the zoo on a field trip. Iris was devastated over this loss, crying about it for weeks. When Barry was 11 years old on March 18, 2000, his mother, Nora was murdered by the Reverse-Flash and his father, Henry, was convicted for her murder. Barry was subsequently adopted by Joe and went to live with him and Iris at their house. Early on, however, Barry repeatedly attempted to run away. One time when Joe went to get groceries, Iris allowed Barry to run away, refusing to tell her father exactly where to, despite understanding the implication.

When Iris was 16, she and Barry switched bedrooms so that she'd be able to sneak out the window past curfew, which was 8:00 pm. They would tell Joe the reason they switched rooms was because Barry didn't like the noise from the streets. When she was 17, Iris' appendix burst and she was sent to the hospital. At some point, Barry and Iris took Joe's convertible out for a joy ride and ended up crashing it into an oak tree.

After Barry entered a coma, Iris began visiting him frequently. She was said to talk a lot while at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Discovering Barry's secret
Just as Eddie was about to propose to Iris with a ring he got from his grandmother, they were attacked by the Reverse-Flash. Iris quickly recognized him as Nora Allen's murderer and pleaded with him not to hurt anyone else. The yellow speedster refused to answer and moved to kill her, but the arrival of Barry as The Flash prompted the Reverse-Flash to abduct Eddie and fled. The Flash assured a distressed Iris that he would find Eddie and as he sped off a surge of lighting passed from Barry to her. In that second she remembered that she only experienced it before when she touched Barry while he was still in a coma after the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded. In that second she realized and still in shock that Barry was the The Flash.

When Iris figured out that Barry is The Flash, she confronted him about his activity as The Flash, telling him that she was disappointed about why he lying to her about his secret identity, but nonetheless she decided to help Barry and join Team Flash. At the time, the team was searching for Grodd, a psychic gorilla. Iris told them about a news headline from two years prior that linked them to Grodd. They sent Barry, Joe, and Cisco Ramon down to the sewers, where Joe was captured by Grodd while the latter used his psychic abilities to knock Barry unconscious, forcing Cisco to take Barry and flee. Later however, Barry went back and overcame Grodd's psychic attacks and rescued Joe.

Since then, Iris became become an active member of Team Flash, and occasionally used her contact with Barry to deal with some meta-human cases.

Francine's return and meeting Wally
Looking into a housing scheme involving two men illegally evicting people from their homes Iris was attacked by the two men who tried to kill her. When she called Barry asking for help he told her to jump from the building she was in and fell almost 20 stories before Barry caught her. With the facts she needed she wrote a story on the subject and her co-worker Linda told her it had scored the front page, much to her joy. Later that day Joe sat her down and confessed that her mother was a drug addict and told her what happened when she was a child, that she'd almost been killed when Francine overdosed which Iris vaguely remembered as he told her. More shockingly Joe revealed that Francine was in fact alive and wanted to see her.

Reluctantly agreeing Iris visited Francine but expressed understandable anguish towards her for leaving them but wished her no ill regardless, but insisted they keep living separate lives. Later Joe revealed to Iris that Francine confessed to be dying of MacGregor's, but Iris was skeptical to believe her. Iris investigated Francine's claims and discovered she was telling the truth but discovered another shocking revelation, that the latter had another child, Wally West, born 8 months after she left her and Joe. Iris later visited Francine again and confronted her about this and told her to leave and never return. She also told her to never tell Joe about him about Wally, believing if Joe knew he had a son that grew up without knowing him he'd never forgive himself.

Around Christmas time Iris, unable to keep Wally's existence a secret anymore, confessed her secret to Barry who encouraged her to tell Joe, offering to help her. Later Iris told Joe about Wally who was distraught to learn he had a son and needed time to accept it. Later at a Christmas party in their house Joe and Iris were stunned when Wally arrived at their doorstep.

Flashpoint timeline
In the Flashpoint timeline, Iris does not instantly recognize Barry. This suggests that the two do not have a lot of contact with each other in the timeline. It is also shown that Iris seems to have a strained relationship with her father, Joe West. She also knows that Wally is the Flash and is an ally of his missions to fight against The Rival.

Post-Flashpoint timeline
In the post-Flashpoint timeline Iris continued to hold a grudge against her father for not telling her that her mother was still alive and as result doesn't speak with him. She also did not share a kiss with Barry prior to him creating Flashpoint. She however remains a member of Team Flash.

After learning of Flashpoint, Iris begins to patch things up with her father and starts up a relationship with Barry. She continues to assist Team Flash in taking down meta-humans and other threats including The Rival, Magenta, Mirror Master, Top, and Shade taking a supportive role and continuing her relationship with Barry unhindered. She becomes concerned when Wally becomes a target for Alchemy even going so far as to knock him out when Alchemy took control of him. She later begged her teammate Caitlin Snow, who had cryokinesis, but had no control over it, to use her powers to rescue Barry from the then-unknown enemy Savitar. Iris later questions whether Flashpoint really had caused the death of Cisco's brother Dante or Caitlin's transformation into Killer Frost, her cryokinetic alter-ego, or if these things would've happened even without Barry changing the timeline.

Versus Savitar
When Barry travelled to future to get rid from the Philosopher's stone, he saw Savitar killing Iris.

After it was revealed Savitar was a future evil clone of Barry Allen and that he would earn the memories of his past persona, Iris was finally sent to Earth-2 with Harry Wells' S.T.A.R. Labs. After Lyla agreed to give Barry the energy from the dominators, Savitar tricked H.R. on revealing Iris' hideout by impersonating the still heroic Barry. To atone for his mistake, H.R. used a piece of Savitar's armor to lead him to his hideout, cut Iris' leash, switch appearance with Iris to deceive Killer Frost and Savitar and ask Killer Frost for mercy to "H.R.". In any case, Iris had left a loving farewell in a video.

When Iris as H.R. went to Infantino Street to try to stop Savitar on her own, Savitar had already killed H.R.. Then H.R. restored his and Iris' appearances. After Barry got Savitar to S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry and Iris were willing to negate his erasure from existence, but he ultimately rejected the offer. In the forest, after Barry pushed Savitar out of his armored suit and destroyed it, Savitar went to kill Barry but Iris shot Savitar dead before he hurt her fiancé. Then Savitar's corpse disappeared. Everyone thought the fight was over, but after H.R.'s funeral, the Speed Force began leaking energy onto Earth One's Central City, due to the prison's vacancy. The Speed Force, appearing as "Nora Allen" told Barry to come with her. Barry then willingly entered the prison to stabilize the Speed Force, leaving Iris devistated.

Barry Allen's return
In his absence she became the leader of Team Flash. She was very heartbroken after her fiancé left. Then a Samuroid was claiming that Team Flash was to restore Barry or else it would destroy the city.

Cisco reveals to Iris that he and many of the technological allies of Team Flash had helped him to release Barry from the Speed Force, while Caitlin returned to the team, albeit not without being scolded by Iris. They opened a portal, but it appeared elsewhere, over a bus, where a naked, unkempt and bearded Barry appeared and stopped a car before fainting. Cecile led the team to a secret area, where Barry was seemingly mad, writing strange signs and claiming that he did not kill anyone. When Barry was sent to S.T.A.R. Labs, he was running for all the labs, and Caitlin used a Cold Gun to neutralize him and shut him on the pipeline. Joe shaved Barry's beard off.

Joe and Iris had a conversation about faith, which motivated Iris to deliever herself to the Samuroid so Barry would return to normalcy. It worked, and Barry could easily destroy the Samuroid and rescue Iris.

Wedding and Crisis on Earth-X
Barry invited most of his friends to his wedding with Iris in St. Paul Lutheran Church. When they were about to marry, the church was assaulted by Nazis. Barry and Iris decided to put the wedding off until later.

After the Earth-X Nazis were defeated, they could finally marry. Barry brought Diggle to request them to marry him to Iris. They said their vows, but before Diggle could declare them husband and wife, Felicity stopped Diggle and asked him to marry her to Oliver. When Oliver and Felicity acknowledged they could not do better vows than Barry and Iris, Diggle had both couples married.

After the marriage
They enjoyed their honeymoon. While talking about a wedding gift given by Oliver and Felicity, Barry and Iris decided to reject the gift on the basis that Oliver and Felicity stole their moment without consulting them. Clifford DeVoe kidnapped Barry in front of her, while Caitlin was kidnapped by Amunet at approximately the same time. Team Flash tried programming the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to search for both of them, but the system began to overheat as a result. Because of this, Iris had to decide who to find first rather than search for them both. This proved difficult for Iris, upset that she was being forced to choose between saving her husband or one of her friends, but ultimately, since Caitlin was in a more vaulnerable situation than Barry, Iris decided to rescue her first.

Possible future
Sometime before 2024, Iris became employed by another publisher called the Central City Citizen. In 2024, her husband, aided by the Green Arrow, The Atom, and Hawkgirl, engaged in a battle with Reverse-Flash atop two oil trucks in the streets. The battle ended with both speedsters vanishing in an explosion of light, and Iris wrote an article on the subject titled Flash Missing Vanishes In Crisis, which ended up on the front page of the paper, published on April 25, 2024.

Erased future
When Barry changed the timeline in an attempt to undo "Flashpoint" the future changed once more.

In one potential future of May 23, 2017, Savitar confronted the Flash with Iris as his hostage. He claimed to finally be "free" of the Flash. Despite the Flash's pleas, Savitar simply told Flash that he "lost". Iris then tearfully told Barry that she loved him and Savitar proceeded to murder Iris before the Flash could get to him in time, and Savitar fled as the Flash was left to his loss. Seemingly unbeknownst to Savitar, Flash, or Iris a younger version of the scarlet speedster from 5 months earlier was watching the event from the nearby trees, though he was pulled back to his own time by Jay Garrick. After this, her name on the article changes to Julie Greer.

There have been many versions of this event, for example one is seen with H.R. with Plunder's rifle fixed on Savitar while another version did not contain anyone on top of the roof.

After the defeat of Savitar, Iris's name appeared on the article once again, meaning that this future was erased.

Personality
Iris West wants nothing more than to help for those around her. She's highly intuitive and has an innate curiosity, being amazed and intrigued by the fantastical events that are happening in Central City, particularly the Flash. After becoming a reporter under Mason Bridge, she becomes even more so in investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding Harrison Wells and S.T.A.R. Labs.

Iris can be quite stubborn and holds true to her morals, despite what others may want of her. Iris is also a bit of a risk taker and more often doesn't hesitate to take action when need be; as seen when she helps take down Tony Woodward and William Tockman. Her ability to gather and analyze evidence and come to accurate conclusions is also noteworthy.

When Iris finally figures out that Barry is the Flash - and finds out Barry, Joe and Eddie - people she's explicitly trusted all kept it from her, she feels immensely betrayed and disappointed. However, soon after she came to overcome her feelings of betrayal and proved her worth to the team and reconciled with her father since he pushed for her to be kept in the dark after Grodd's attack.

Iris has shown to care about Barry a great deal since they were kids, having thought of him as a brother figure, unaware Barry has actually been in love with her since childhood. As such she can be seen as a little oblivious in regards to Barry's feelings for her until he confessed he loves her. Despite being in a committed relationship with Eddie Thawne, Iris showed slight jealousy when Barry started going out with Linda Park. This suggests, and later confirmed, that she is unaware of her own romantic feelings for Barry. Eventually in the wake of Mark Mardon's impending tsunami threat Iris, fear about they were about to die, finally realized her romantic feelings and she and Barry shared their first kiss. However, since Barry inadvertently erased those events she remains unaware of these feelings deep down.

Iris is shown to be extremely naive when it comes to good-looking men and trust. Like when Barry refused to trust "Jay Garrick" (a stranger from another Earth that they know very little of), Team Flash (especially Iris and Caitlin) quickly did. And that resulted not only Team Flash being betrayed again, but also resulted Barry's father getting murdered in the same place that Nora had been murdered fifteen years previously. Then when Ralph Dibny's name popped up as one of the metas on the bus, after seeing his picture, she commented that "he's handsome in a square-jawed Oliver Queen kinda way".

After discovering that Barry is the Flash (though technically for the second time) Iris begins to realize her romantic feelings for the latter.

After Barry reluctantly allowed Eobard Thawne to kill his mother, Nora Allen, in order to undo the damage caused when he created Flashpoint, Iris still has a close relationship with Barry, Wally and the other members of Team Flash. But she is not on speaking terms with her father, Joe, because he had lied to her about her mother being dead. However, she later reconciles with him, after learning the truth about Barry's time traveling actions.

Like Barry, Iris is not likely to learn from her mistakes until experiencing them first hand. Such as Barry becoming less trustful of people, when Hunter Zolomon (posing as Jay Garrick) claimed that Earth One was in danger by another speedster called Zoom, Barry did not believe it, even though most of his friends (including Iris) did but this was mostly due to the fact that Jay reminded him of Eobard Thawne. However, Barry's suspicions of "Jay" ultimately turned out to be correct, as he was later revealed to be the super villain Zoom. She still hasn't learned that she can't talk Barry out of anything once his mind is made up about something throughout the entire series. Due to Barry's bad experiences with Eobard Thawne and Hunter Zolomon respectively, Iris and everybody in Team Flash (except Barry) was fooled by an individual's ability to appear kind-natured, Iris didn't suspect that Clifford DeVoe was a meta-human (after the Council of Wells informed Team Flash that the latter was the mastermind behind the bus meta-humans). Despite the fact that he did not have a criminal record, Iris's concern increased when Barry's suspicions of Clifford increased when he and his wife Marlize lied to his superior officer David Singh, claiming that he was harassing Clifford (when in truth, he was only conducting the necessary investigation). When Iris tried to persuade Barry to let it go, he refused. even when every member of Team Flash (including Iris) believed he was innocent - Barry's suspicions were proven to be correct yet again; regarding Clifford.

Upon Barry's arrest for "murdering" Clifford DeVoe, Iris was desperate to save him. Despite her husband's objections, she almost impulsively/recklessly reveals to the court that Barry is the Flash, only for him to pull her into "Flashtime" and talk her out of doing it. Fiercely protective of her husband, Iris even confronts Marlize DeVoe and tells her to drop the grieving widow act which Marlize does and rubs the fact that Barry's on trial for Clifford's murder in her face, which Iris does not appreciate and vows revenge on the couple that are ruining her, Barry and their family's lives.

Former powers

 * Speed Force connection/Meta-human physiology: After Matthew Kim unintentionally stole Barry Allen's powers, he subsequently transferred them to Iris. Because of this, Iris obtained all of Barry's essence of a speedster. Despite having them for only a short period, Iris quickly adjusted the usage of them, effectively working as a vigilante, in certain capacities showing even more ingenuity than Barry. Later, once Matthew transferred Barry's powers back to him, returning Iris to normal.
 * Accelerated healing factor: Iris' transferred powers let her heal in a fraction of the time a normal person would. After breaking her leg and suffering severe smoke inhalations, she made a full recovery hours later.
 * Electrokinesis: Iris' Speed Force energy uniquely generates purple electricity.
 * Superhuman agility: Iris is able to maneuver through enclosed areas with great coordination and dexterity. This enabled her to repeatedly traverse a tall building's staircase to save 14 people from a fire, one after another.
 * Superhuman speed: Iris can move at such vast speeds that even Barry was amazed at how fast she could move despite being new to her powers. With her speed, she can easily traverse Central City or change outfits in an instant. Her speed also enabled her to run on an ocean.
 * Aerokinesis: Iris can use her speed to generate air flows on various levels. While struggling to use this ability to properly smother a fire, she proved able to use this build-up to gather and direct enough water into a tidal wave capable to disperse a giant fire cyclone of over 6000 degrees Fahrenheit.
 * Superhuman stamina: Iris is able to run tremendous distances with no signs of fatigue.

Abilities

 * Keen intellect/Skilled tactician/Leader: Iris is a capable tactician and leader; after Barry reluctantly went into the Speed Force, she took over the leadership role of Team Flash, however, she is not as effective as a tactician and leader as her husband; for the last 6 months, most of the criminal meta-humans they have gotten into a confrontation with, have managed to escape.
 * Expert investigator: Iris is very intelligent and an excellent investigator, as she follows every lead and rumor to discover the truth behind any story; as she eventually discovered that the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion was what gave the Flash his powers in the first place. Iris's background as a psychology student has sharpened her natural wits and intuition which she presumably inherited from her police officer father and grandfather, and gave her a methodical approach to studying and investigating the various meta-human cases around the city, starting off with the Flash. Iris's skills made her a prime candidate for the police academy, which she only backed out of due to Joe's disapproval and passive-aggressive form of emotional blackmail.
 * Skilled combatant: Since early childhood, Joe West, planning for his daughter's safety, taught her extensively how to defend herself. During sparring matches against Barry as children, Iris was never once hit by her friend; however, it should be noted that Barry was not actually trying to hurt her. As an adult, Iris was able to knock out the much larger Tony Woodward (when not in his metal form) after he had been dazed by the Flash. She also showed considerable reflexes, able to dodge a sucker-punch from the possessed Wally West before knocking him out herself. Iris was also able to subdue Marlize DeVoe after impaling herself on her katana. However, Iris' unarmed fighting skills are ultimately inferior to Barry's current abilities.
 * Skilled markswoman: Iris is somewhat skilled in firearms, having been taught by Joe in case of emergency. To which, she was able to shoot off Linda Park's Earth Two doppelgänger mask. She has also shot and killed Savitar to protect Barry.
 * High pain tolerance: Though not shown often, Iris has shown that she has a relatively high tolerance for pain. This is best shown when she impaled herself with Marlize's katana, but was still able to knock Marlize down and transport her out of the lab.

The Flash
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Trivia

 * Iris has had an "obsession" with mint chocolate chip ice cream since she was two.
 * Iris shares this trait with another Arrowverse character, Felicity Smoak.
 * In an erased timeline, under the threat of Weather Wizard's tsunami, Iris admitted to Barry she loved him and they shared a kiss. She also discovered Barry was the Flash. However, because Barry later time traveled he ruptured the time continuum and these events were erased in the alternate timeline.
 * When Barry attempted to romance her in the new timeline where this disaster never occurred, it angered Iris. Eobard would explain that the trauma of the impending doom was what awakened Iris to her feelings for Barry.
 * In a second erased timeline, Iris, presumably, along with everyone in Central City, was killed by Vandal Savage using the Staff of Horus in his efforts to kill Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders. However, due to Barry changing the time continuum this disaster never occurs.
 * Iris has had three love interests in the series: Eddie Thawne, Scott Evans and Barry Allen. She also caught the romantic interest of Tony Woodward. Additionally, Iris is shown to have a crush on Oliver Queen, which appears to grow deeper when she learns he is Green Arrow.
 * Joe and Francine planned on naming her Wallace if their first born child was a boy, a name later used for Iris's brother.
 * Iris and Barry got married on November 28, 2017.

Behind the scenes

 * In DC comics, Iris West is the fiancée and later wife of Barry Allen, the second Flash.
 * In most variations of the DC comics, Iris is Caucasian and has red hair.
 * In pre-Flashpoint canon of DC comics, Iris actually comes from the 30th century and her real name is Ann Russell. This is referenced in the series by her middle name being Ann.
 * Both in the DC comics and in the Arrowverse Iris had to assume the identity of a man in certain crises; in the DC comics her consciousness possessed Nathan Newbury, one of the jurors in the Trial of the Flash, while in the Arrowverse she used a device that alters perception of appearance to switch identities with H.R. Wells.
 * It is revealed in the episode, that Iris's birthday is June 24, 1989 making her a year younger than her actress who was also born on that day the previous year.
 * isn't the only time Iris has taken the "Allen" name upon marrying Barry. She takes the name (hypenated with her own) in the animated series Young Justice and various comic book issues. In the abandoned Justice League Mortal film, Iris was given Allen as her last name, abandoning the West name all together.