Jay Garrick


 * For his Earth One equivalent, see Henry Allen. For his Earth Two equivalent, see Barry Allen's father. For the Earth Two meta-human who stole his name and alter-ego, see Hunter Zolomon. For other uses of "The Flash", see The Flash (disambiguation).

"We’re not gods, we’re men. Who for whatever reason have been given extraordinary abilities. You have to ask yourself what kind of hero you're gonna be. Are you just gonna take a do over every time you make a mistake, or are you gonna live with them and move forward?"

- Jay to Barry Allen

Jay Garrick is a veteran speedster from Earth Three and the vigilante known as The Flash. Jay was found by Hunter Zolomon, a meta-human speedster from Earth Two, and held prisoner forced to wear an iron mask that dampened his powers. His name and mantle as the Flash was taken by Hunter to carry out facades as part of a plan to inspire false hope in Central City. After being rescued by Team Flash, Jay found his way back to Earth Three with the help of Harry and Jesse. Despite Hunter's deception, Jay took his helmet so he can make the symbol of hope his own. Jay Garrick would work with Barry Allen, the Flash of Earth One, in his fight against the speedster known as Savitar.

Early life
Little is known of his early life though given his surname is Garrick rather than Allen, like his Earth One doppelgänger, it's implied that Jay's father never played a role in his upbringing.

Activities as the Flash
At some point, Jay Garrick was given the power of superhuman speed through connection to the Speed Force. He began helping the public as a hero known as The Flash. Jay also witnessed a personal tragedy at some point in his life and traveled back in time to stop it occurring, but only succeeded in making the situation worse. Some time after this Jay learned to live with the consequences of his decision and decided to never use time travel for personal reasons ever again. During the course of his heroic adventures, he was found by Hunter Zolomon/Zoom, an evil speedster from another Earth. Wishing to steal Jay's speed as a cure from the deadly side-effects of the Velocity serums he overdosed on, Zoom defeated Jay in a titanic confrontation but was unable to devise a way to take Jay's speed and instead resorted to imprisoning him on his own Earth within his base of operations. Hunter also put an iron mask on Jay with a dampener in order to suppress his speed. Following this, Hunter was bored of always playing the villain and wanted to have fun playing the hero, and he took Jay's name and identity upon his own Earth to give people false hope under his heroic persona, only to take it away from them as his alter-ego and true personality Zoom.

Helping Barry Allen
He was eventually joined by Jesse Quick, and later, speedster Barry Allen, the Flash of Earth One. He attempted to continually knock on the glass. Barry soon realized that he was trying to communicate, but Jesse urged him to let it go. Barry and Jesse eventually realized he was not using Morse code, but a 5x5 tap code commonly used by POWs. The two began to work together and started to decipher his message. Barry and Jesse discovered the first part of his message spells J-A-Y as in Jay Garrick, when Barry stated that "Jay" was alive, but not with them, believing Hunter was Jay, and in response, Jay became distressed. Just as Barry got Jay to calm down enough to try to explain what he meant, Zoom ran in and warned Jay not to talk to them again. Jay watched in distress as Zoom pummeled Barry.

Eventually, Barry and Jesse were rescued by their friends, but before they could help Jay, Zoom arrived and endangered them all. While Killer Frost pinned down Zoom to allow Barry and the others to escape, Barry promised the man that he would return to rescue him. When Zoom returned to his lair with his deceased time remnant, Jay was suddenly horrified by his return.

New inmates
Jay encountered a new temporary inmate, Wally West, who was asking where he was. He attempted to use the same tap code, but Wally didn't understand it. Zoom then spoke to the new prisoner, before speeding off and taking Wally with him, leaving him alone once more.

Caitlin Snow had an encounter with Jay while he was tapping the glass, but was cut off by her doppelgänger noticing her. Killer Frost said if she could get her powers to work through the wall the first thing she would do would be shutting him up. Caitlin then asked who he was but Killer Frost said she didn't know. She concluded that Zoom must've needed him due to him being there. He later witnessed Zoom murdering Killer Frost.

Finally escaping Zoom
After Joe was taken prisoner and imprisoned on Earth Two by Hunter, following a botched attempt to stop him without Barry, Hunter revealed Jay's identity to Joe and the circumstances of his capture. After Zoom's defeat Jay was rescued and taken to Earth One where Cisco and Harry removed the mask. However Jay was confused as to why they all looked shocked towards him, especially Barry. After reclaiming his uniform and destroying the mask he noticed Hunter's helmet. Harry explained what it was supposed to stand for and Jay decided to claim the helmet for himself and inspire the hope it was meant to. After thanking the team for his rescue Jay transported Harry and Jesse back to Earth Two through the breach with the promise of helping him find his way back to Earth Three.

Consequences of time travel
During his stay on Earth Two Harry informed Jay, still confused as to why Barry was especially shocked to see him, that Jay's Earth One Doppelgänger was Henry Allen, Barry's deceased father. He also told him that Barry's mother was murdered when he was 11 by the Reverse-Flash. Fearing Barry's inexperience may lead him to time traveling to forge a better life for himself, Jay kept an eye on Barry. His suspicions proved correct, as Barry decided to undo Nora's death, and created the Flashpoint timeline, before having Eobard Thawne restore the event, creating yet another altered timeline. After Barry discovered some horrifying changes to reality, Barry attempted to go back and alter time yet again. This time however, Jay intercepted him in the Speed Force, pulling the young speedster out and landing them both in 1998. Taking Barry to a diner, Jay had a heart-to-heart talk with Barry. He revealed he is aware he is the late Henry's doppelganger, Jay offered his sympathies, and explained how he understood Barry's reasons for wanting to save his parents. However, Jay stressed the consequences of time travel and that once an event is altered, it cannot be restored to exactly as it was before. Jay told Barry that he would need to learn how to live with the consequences of his actions and keep moving forward. Barry, though frustrated, eventually agreed as both Jay and Barry returned to their homes.

Joining forces with Barry Allen
His job done, Jay returned to Earth Three and resumed his Flash activities. One day, while foiling a bank robbery by The Trickster, Jay received some unexpected aid from Barry Allen, who asked Jay for his help in defeating Savitar. Jay returned with Barry to Earth One and enlightened him on the history of Savitar. Barry went to do some extensive research but found nothing. Jay instead prompted him to go and spend time with his loved ones until something came up. That evening, Team Flash tracked the Philosopher's Stone's energy signature and pinpointed Alchemy's location. Jay and Barry sped over to stop him only to be confronted by Savitar himself. While Barry dealt with Alchemy, Jay took on Savitar but was completely outmatched by the metallic speedster, who viciously pummeled, threw around and beat down the elder speedster all across Central City, before finally coming to a stop in an alley. As Jay lay broken and defeated on the ground, Savitar angrily told Garrick that this was not his fight and unsheathed his gauntlet blade to kill him. Garrick was saved however when Barry sealed the Philosopher's Stone back in its chest, causing Savitar to disappear into thin air, leaving Garrick safe but badly hurt.

Jay recuperated in the S.T.A.R. Labs infirmary while Team Flash worked on stopping Savitar and Alchemy. When Savitar reappeared, Jay tried to get up to help Barry but was too badly hurt to do so, paving the way for Wally West to do so instead. After Savitar was sent away again, Team Flash searched for a way to get rid of the Philosopher's Stone altogether to prevent Savitar from ever returning. Jay suggested throwing the chest and the stone into the Speed Force and theorized that if Barry ran directly behind him with the chest, he could siphon off some of Jay's speed and achieve the momentum needed to open a portal despite the interference from the Stone. The plan was successful but had the unforeseen side-effect of blasting Barry into the future, where he witnessed Iris die at the hands of Savitar. Realizing what had happened, Jay tracked Barry down, pulled him back into the Speed Force and returned him to the present. Barry was hysterical over what he'd seen, but Jay calmed him down, cautioned Barry against the dangers of traveling to the future and reminded him that the future wasn't determined yet. Following this exchange, Jay returned to Earth Three.

Personality
Jay showed himself to be a good-natured and kind man. He shares many traits with his Earth One counterpart, Henry Allen, including his kind nature, his admiration for Barry Allen, his intelligence, and his ability to control his temper even when having undergone a terrible ordeal. He also showed himself to be a humble man as well, respectfully calling Barry by their shared name, Flash, displaying his deference to the Earth One speedster who saved his life, and acknowledging him as an equal and hero.

He was not without his need to display his anger, using his vibrating hand to split the speed-dampening mask that Zoom had used on him in half. Jay was also capable of appreciating poetic justice and irony, taking up Hunter's helmet as it was originally a symbol of hope on Earth Two as explained by Harrison Wells, and Jay smiled, taking it with him and adding it to his uniform, hoping to make a symbol for justice back home. He also did this partly out of revenge against Hunter for stealing his identity, and also as a memento of this adventure.

Jay has been shown to care for Barry after learning of his past and that he is his father's deceased doppelgänger and has kept an eye on him, fearing he may make a mistake out of grief. Rightly assumed Jay intercepted Barry when he attempted to alter time yet again and Jay had a heart-to-heart talk with him on the consequences of time travel, revealing he made the same mistake himself once. This allows Barry to realize the timeline will never be the same as it once was and allows Barry to move on with his life, his current life.

Since interacting more with Barry, he has grown noticeably closer and protective of Barry, like his Earth One counterpart. Given Jay's knowledge of being Henry Allen's doppelgänger, he likely has begun to see Barry as a surrogate son and student in the ways of being a speedster. Jay also has a tendency to mentor Barry on the knowledge that he has regarding the Speed Force, giving Barry the benefit of presumably decades of experience on the subject. He certainly seems keen on giving Barry the benefit of his knowledge without the detriment of his personal mistakes.

Powers

 * Speed Force connection/Meta-human physiology: Jay possesses a natural connection to the Speed Force, allowing him to perform physical feats well beyond normal human capabilities. Despite his relatively advanced age, Jay's conditioning is similar to the much younger Barry's, able to continue battling for long durations.
 * Accelerated healing factor: As a speedster, Jay's cells are capable of regenerating at an accelerated rate, allowing him to heal rapidly from injuries and resist disease. However, it takes him much longer than Barry to recover enough to be in fighting condition, possibly as a result of his age.
 * Accelerated perception: Jay is easily capable of visually keeping up with and perceiving the movements and actions of other speedsters when they are moving at super-speed.
 * Bodily vibration: Jay has the ability to vibrate his cells and overall parts of his body on command for various effects, as shown when he vibrated his hand to split the iron mask that was put on him by Zoom, destroying it. He had enough control of this ability to break only a piece of a mug to demonstrate how once time was changed it could not be truly turned back the way it was.
 * Electrokinesis: As a speedster, Jay produces a yellow electricity from his body when he taps into the Speed Force highlighting his natural, unaltered connection to it.
 * Superhuman agility: Jay possesses far greater balance and bodily coordination than a normal human, allowing him to easily maneuver while moving at superhuman speeds.
 * Superhuman durability: Jay possesses far greater resilience and stamina than humanly possible (especially considering his older age), allowing him to easily withstand extreme exertion and impact forces, allowing him to easily survive with being savagely thrown around and beaten about by Savitar with only minor injuries.
 * Superhuman reflexes: Jay's reaction time is augmented to superhuman levels, allowing him to react to danger and events far faster than normal humans.
 * Superhuman speed: Jay is able to run at incredible superhuman speeds, as shown when ran through a breach back to Earth Two with Harry and Jesse.  He was fast enough to intercept Barry in the Speed Force when he tried to change the timeline again. Despite his immense speed, Jay Garrick was swiftly defeated by Savitar.
 * Interdimensional travel: Through the opening of a dimensional breach, Jay is able to push through the fabric of reality with his super speed, letting him travel to different dimensions.
 * Superhuman momentum: Jay is able to generate great amounts of physical force through kinetic energy, simulating superhuman strength, notably allowing him to grab Barry while he was time traveling, and yank him out into 1998, causing Barry to be sent flying through the air and into a truck when he appeared.
 * Time travel: Jay has proven to be adept regarding time travel, capable of intertwining between the past, present and future at will. Jay has told Barry that he is able to travel through time as he has done it before, and has proven to be highly proficient in this ability, to where he can intercept other speedsters attempting to time travel through the Speed Force, and pull them from different points in time. He also seems to be aware what time he arrives at when time traveling, as he told Barry that they were in the 1990s, possibly from bringing themselves to that time on his own. In addition, Jay seems capable of locating where other speedsters are in time as he found Barry Allen, who was five months in the future, and pulled him back to the present after Barry had been there for only a few minutes.
 * Superhuman stamina: Jay is able to withstand the stress of moving at superhuman speeds, without showing signs of weakness or fatigue.

Abilities

 * Speed Force expert: Being a veteran speedster, Jay has extensive knowledge of the Speed Force and its capabilities, such as how to send objects into the dimension itself to keep them from being found by anyone. Jay also possesses a great deal of knowledge about the Speed Force's lore, legends, and the culture of Speedsters.

Equipment

 * The Flash suit: Jay wears a protective suit as his superhero alter-ego, The Flash. It is similar to Hunter Zolomon's Flash suit but when he stole his identity, Hunter switched up the colors and designs of Jay's.
 * Jay Garrick's helmet: The helmet, originally from Hunter Zolomon, now belongs to Jay Garrick. After the defeat of Zoom, Jay got his suit back and decided to wear Hunter's helmet as it originally symbolized hope to the people of Earth Two and as a bit of revenge for stealing his identity.

Former equipment

 * Speed-dampening mask: During his imprisonment, Jay was forced to wear an iron full faced mask that not only prevented him from speaking, but also temporarily severed his connection to the Speed Force. After the combined efforts of Harry and Cisco removed it on Earth One, Jay took great pride in destroying it, saying he never wanted to see it again.

The Flash
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Season 3

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Trivia

 * In his earlier appearances before his identity was revealed, Jay was seen to be skinnier and less muscular. Presumably because he was played by a stand-in before his identity was revealed.
 * Eobard Thawne implies that he met either Jay or Hunter given that he seemed to recognize his (formerly Hunter's) helmet in "Fast Enough".
 * Unlike most other vigilantes, Jay does not wear a mask or a cowl when going by his Flash persona. (It's possible his identity is public, and the police protect his family or he is constantly vibrating his face to blur it from other's perception.)
 * However Hunter mentioned in passing that it was easy to kidnapped Jay meaning unlike Henry's other doppelgänger on Earth 2. Jay wasn't a familyman like his other counterpart were/are also its heavily implied by his relationship with Barry he doesn't have any children of his own.
 * Jay confirmed that Zoom did steal details about his Flash persona meaning that cover story that Hunter as Jay getting speed from a similar lab accident to Barry's own actually did happen to Jay himself most likely in his prime.

Behind the scenes

 * In DC Comics Jay Garrick is the first person to take up the superhero mantle of the Flash. He was also a member of the Justice Society of America.
 * Unlike the comics, The Flash season 2 featured a different backstory. Jay Garrick was originally introduced as the Flash of Earth Two until it was later revealed to be a charade as Jay's name and mantle was taken by Hunter Zolomon/Zoom, who took the real Garrick from another Earth to be Zoom's prisoner. After being rescued by Team Flash, Jay Garrick named his home Earth Three. In addition, Garrick revealed that Zolomon's metallic helmet was not part of his superhero guise, until Harrison Wells convinced Garrick to have it because of the helmet's reputation as a symbol of hope.
 * This is John Wesley Shipp's second time portraying the Flash. The first was that of Barry Allen from the 1990s CBS The Flash series.
 * Shipp has said that he feels that Jay is basically supposed to be the Barry Allen that he played in the 90s. He even watched episodes of the old series to help him match the attitude he had when he played Barry there.
 * When the series was announced along with John Wesley Shipp's involvement fans hoped to see him play Jay Garrick until it was announced he was instead playing Henry Allen. However the producers kept him in mind for the role when they planned the second season.
 * Jay Garrick appearing in the finale was hinted by Greg Berlanti, stating in a tweet weeks before the episode "For those inquiring, we love Jay Garrick and would never make him a baddie. No reinvention. Keep watching :) love that you're asking q's.".