Henry Allen

"Everyone was walking before you, all the little babies running around the neighborhood and not you. But your mom was never worried she just said, "You'll walk, when you have some place to go" and sure enough first time you took your first steps you didn't just walk, you started to run, and you ran to your mom Barry, right into her arms. You had someplace to go."

- Henry reminding Barry Allen of his first steps

Dr. Henry Allen is the father of Barry Allen, the husband of the late Nora Allen, and a good friend of Joe West. Along with the people at S.T.A.R. Labs and Joe, he also knows Barry's secret; that his son is The Flash.

Biography
When his son, Barry, was 11 years old, a tornado-like blur came in to their home, and in the middle of the tornado seemed to be a figure. Henry held Barry back, and before either of them could do a thing, the blur murdered Henry's wife and swept Barry 20 blocks away from his home. Following Nora's death, her murder was pinned on Henry and he was sent to jail in Iron Heights Prison.

Henry disallowed Barry from seeing him as he didn't wish him to see his father in jail. However, Barry eventually snuck in by running to the prison. Henry assured Barry that he couldn't help him in any way, so instead he wished him to be the good boy that both of his parents believed he was.

Incarceration in Iron Heights
In late 2014, Henry was still incarcerated in Iron Heights. He had Barry come to visit him, and despite him previously having told to change his name out of embarrassment, Barry stated that he was incredibly glad that he didn't, as he was more than proud to be Henry's son.

Eventually, Joe went to visit Henry. Joe explained that Barry was fine, he had just felt like it was long since due that he visit Henry. He promised that he finally believed Henry, that he knew he hadn't killed Nora, and he was finally reopening the case. He apologised, though Henry stated that he never cared about Joe's belief in him, but his belief in Barry. Suddenly, The Mist entered the room and began suffocating the guard. He soon moved on to Joe, causing him to choke, before Barry came, in disguise, and saved him with a counteracting injection. Henry watched as the seemingly unidentified man saved Joe's life. Barry turned towards his father, blurring his face so he wouldn't recognise him; Joe soon came back to life and Barry ran off to stop The Mist. Barry later came to visit his father. He expressed how he missed his mother, which led to Henry telling a story about when Barry learnt to walk: being a late bloomer, Nora believed that he'd walk when he had some place to go. Finally he learnt how to walk, but rather than walking, he ran in to his mother's arms, finally having some place to go.

When the man in yellow reappeared in Central City, Barry visited his father again, saying he had had his mother's murderer but let him escape, and saying that because he had failed to stop him, he was now partly responsible for Henry's imprisonment. Henry told Barry not to blame himself, that the man in yellow had already taken enough from their family, and that Barry should live his life rather than let Nora's killer take anything more from them. He also revealed that he had long known about Barry's unspoken love for Iris.

During Barry's investigation of Clay Parker's breakout of Iron Heights, Joe arranges for Henry to be moved by a police officer past the crime scene so that him and Barry could enjoy a short time together. Later, without Barry's acknowledgement, Henry asks around the inmates for information on Clay so as to assist the investigation. Barry tells Henry to not endanger himself anymore, which Henry consents to. Despite this, Henry stays in contact with Joe and continues to search for more information. As a result he is stabbed and beaten by Julius, an inmate working under Marcus. He reveals that he continued to investigate because he wanted to be there to help Barry like Barry did for him. At Barry's insist, he tells him Julius harmed him.

The next day Henry is seen in his infirmary bed, discussing Barry's recent date. He then mentions The Flash in the newspaper, recollecting the time he witnessed The Flash save Joe from The Mist. Henry then notes the coincidence of him recently being harmed by Julius and of The Flash extending Julius's prison sentence due to his breakout, comparing it to The Flash saving Joe, implying that he believes Barry is The Flash. Barry denies being The Flash, saying that Henry would have been the first to know. Henry then states that if The Flash were his son, that he'd first tell him that the world is dangerous and that he should be careful. Second, he would tell him that he is a hero who is saving many lives, and lastly that his father would be proud of him, leaving a teary-eyed Barry looking up at Henry.

Personality
Henry is kind, caring, sympathetic, compassionate, and selfless, he is a loving husband and father, as he loved his wife Nora very much, when the Reverse-Flash stabbed her in the heart with a knife, he did everything he could to save his wife, he was devastated by her death, he loves and cares about his son Barry. Henry is also intelligent as he was able to figure out that The Flash is his son.

He used to be good friends with Joe West, until the latter chose to believe he was guilty of killing his wife, when Joe came to visit him, Henry was not happy to see him, partly because he did not visit him for 14 years, and mainly because he believed he was a murderer, despite his anger towards Joe, when the latter was poison by Kyle Nimbus, he called a guard for help.

Joe and Henry eventually reconciled when Joe came in to tell Henry he now believes Henry is innocent and vowed to get him out sooner or later.

Abilities

 * High-level intellect: Henry is very intelligent, as he was able to put together a number of interactions with The Flash, he also figured out that he is Barry.

Trivia

 * In the DC comics, Henry was framed by Professor Zoom for his wife, Nora's murder, after Professor Zoom killed her. Also, Henry died in prison by the time Barry had proved his father's innocence.


 * The actor that plays Barry's father, John Wesley Shipp, also played Barry Allen/The Flash in the 1990's TV Show.