Orlin Dwyer

"All these years that Central City spent defending metas instead of ending them. Those days end now, starting with you."

- Cicada to The Flash

Orlin Dwyer, also known as Cicada, is a serial killer whose goal is to kill all meta-humans. He is the brother of a late unnamed woman and the uncle of Grace Gibbons.

Taking Grace In
One night a CCPD officer knocked on Orlin's door. His sister was in an accident due to a meta attack, so her daughter, Grace Gibbons was sent to live with him, as he was her next of kin. They didn't get off to the greatest start as Orlin didn't want her there.

This all came to a head when Grace got in trouble at school and Orlin had to leave work to get her, Grace told him that he made her life worse, that she hated him and that he also hated himself.

Some time later, Orlin brought Grace to a run down house that he said belonged to his cousin Robbie. He tells her that they can live there if he fixes it up, and also shows her a dollhouse that they can rebuild together. It is at this point that Orlin apologizes to her and they begin to repair their relationship.

Gaining Powers
On the night of the Enlightenment, Orlin had taken Grace to the Central City Carnival. When The Flash and XS destroyed the dark matter-loaded satellite, the resulting force of the double speedster punch shifted the falling debris. As a result, Orlin and Grace were each hit with a piece of shrapnel. Orlin was hit in the chest, which caused a permanent injury in his lung, while Grace fell into a coma. Orlin also came into possession of a piece of the satellite core shaped into a dagger, which was infused with large amounts of dark matter. ''It is implied that the shrapnel which hit Orlin was meant for David Hersch before Nora's interference changed the trajectory of the satellite debris, causing a shift in the timeline. ''

Orlin sat with Grace in her hospital room, her doctor told him to prepare, as she may never wake up. He said that this was all his fault, but she says that the metas were to blame for being able to run around unchecked and that he and Grace didn't deserve what happened.

After she left Orlin saw two news reports: one about the flash saving the city from the satellite, and another about another meta escaping. This filled him with rage, and suddenly the shrapnel that hit him flew into his hand as it glowed realizing what he must do, he told Grace that he would make things right and that every meta would die.

Becoming Cicada
As William Lang/Gridlock was being transported to Iron Heights Prison, Cicada ambushed the convoy. Throwing a lightning bolt-shaped 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.

First Encounter with Team Flash
When The Flash and XS defeated Vanessa Jansen, Cicada revealed himself to the group after throwing a dagger through Jansen's back, before confronting the speedsters as well as Vibe and Elongated Man. As XS left to get Jansen to a hospital, Cicada threw his dagger into the ground, absorbing 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 as he defeated all three. Seeing the Flash incapacitated, he went to deal the final blow with his dagger but XS returned just in time, shouting "Dad!" Cicada, seemingly affected by the parent-child bond shown between the two, paused 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. 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 and is shown to be in incredible amounts of pain, because of his shrapnel wound. He then grabs onto a metal pipe and then, much to his surprise, starts crushing it. Realizing he has super strength, while still in an incredible amount of pain.

Personality
Before he took Grace in, Orlin was a very selfish and lazy person. He didn't want to have to take care of anyone and he hated having to go to work. However, after taking her in, he started to turn his life around and became a supportive father figure to her. After the events of the Enlightenment, Orlin felt as though he needed to kill all metahumans as he thought they were the cause of his niece's condition.

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

His hate for metahumans 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.

Powers

 * Meta-human physiology: When hit by a dark matter shard from the failed Enlightenment, Orlin's DNA was altered, enabling him to access his newfound powers.
 * Lightning dagger-bond: The accident with the dark matter satellite gave Orlin a psionic connection to a lightning-shaped dagger created from the same satellite. This connection prevents anyone but him from lifting said dagger and likewise allows him to mentally summon it back to him.
 * Power negation: The dagger has the ability to negate meta-human powers.
 * Electricity generation: Cicada'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 very fast speeds.
 * Superhuman strength:  Orlin possesses strength sufficient enough to crush a metal pole with one bare hand.
 * Precognition: Orlin possesses the ability to see glimpses of the near future, as seen when he was about to collapse, he saw a vision of himself on the ground.

Abilities

 * Expert combatant: Orlin has incredible fighting skills, allowing him to defeat a de-powered Gridlock. He also defeated the de-powered Flash, Vibe and Elongated Man at the same time with relative ease.
 * Expert knife wielder: Orlin has shown expert knife-wielding skills as seen during his fight against the Flash, Vibe and Elongated Man. He has also been shown to be an expert knife thrower as seen when he threw his knife at Block from a couple of feet away and when he threw his dagger in front of the convoy truck during his attack on Gridlock.
 * Expert tracker: In his goal of eradicating all meta-humans, Orlin is shown to be very efficient in tracking them down.
 * Indomitable will/High pain tolerance: Despite the agonizing pain from the embedded shrapnel damaging his lung, Orlin's single-minded hate for meta-humans and love for his daughter has allowed him to power through his pain and continue fighting efficiently. He also showed remarkable resilience when taking on Gridlock, able to eventually overpower him despite the latter initially attacking him with his meta-human powers.
 * Stealth/Infiltration: Cicada was able to successfully sneak up on Team Flash after their battle with Block. He also broke into the West house undetected and ambushed Joe West.

Weaknesses

 * Dark matter shard: The very object that gives him his powers is also what impedes him. Lodged in his chest, it's damaged his right lung, making it hard for him to breathe. As noted by his niece's doctor, the more Orlin uses his powers, the more it strains his body, as he continues to endure ever-increasing pain.

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 other meta-human powers.
 * Mask: Cicada wears an industrial breathing mask that protects his identity and modifies his voice while sounding like a cicada when he exhales. As well as help him breathe when exerting himself, due to his damaged lung.

The Flash
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Season 5
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Trivia

 * Orlin's mask resembles the mouth of a cicada insect.
 * His breathing sounds like a cicada insect as well, which was how he got his moniker.

Known victims

 * William Lang/Gridlock
 * Vanessa Jansen/Block
 * Cisco Ramon/Vibe  (unbeknownst to Orlin, Cisco survived)
 * Raelene Sharp/Razorsharp

Behind the scenes

 * In the comics, David Hersch/Cicada was an enemy of Wally West who also killed people with a lightning-shaped dagger, but his goal was to collect energy to resurrect his wife. He had been struck by lightning and given immortality as well as the power to drain energy from others. Instead of a mask, he had a long white beard, and his name came from the sound emitted by him when he used his powers.
 * There was a cult that Cicada led in the comics (which also happened to include Frankie Kane/Magenta) but due to his adaptation having a close visual similarity to Alchemy, the cult was likely excluded from the show to avoid too many similarities with him.
 * This is referenced in the show with Sherloque Wells saying that David Hersch was Cicada in all other universes.
 * 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.