Jay Garrick


 * For the Earth-2 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."

- Jay Garrick to Barry Allen

Dr. Jay Garrick is a veteran speedster from Earth-3 and semi-retired vigilante known as the Flash, stylized as the Crimson Comet. Jay was found by Hunter Zolomon/Zoom, an evil meta-human speedster from Earth-2, and held as a prisoner in Hunter's lair on Earth-2, forced to wear an iron mask that dampened his powers. His name and mantle as the Flash were 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-3 with the help of Harry and Jesse Wells.

Jay Garrick would work with Barry Allen, the Flash of Earth-1, in his fight against the speedster known as Savitar. He subsequently sacrificed himself and took Wally's place in the Speed Force prison after Wally was tricked into freeing Savitar, thereby taking his place in said prison. Thanks to Cisco Ramon, he was later freed from the Speed Force, returning and aid Team Flash in Savitar's final defeat. Barry later voluntarily took his place in the Speed Force, as the Speed Force prison had become unstable without an occupant.

Jay would go on to remain as the Flash for another year until 2018 when a mission to help save Barry's Central City made him realize that it was time for him to go into semi-retirement and train a new Flash on his Earth to take over for him.

He married Joan Williams after feeling a special connection with her.

Early life
Little is known of Jay Garrick's early life, but given that his surname is Garrick rather than Allen like his Earth-1 doppelgänger, it's implied that Jay's father didn't play any role in his upbringing.

Activities as the Flash
At some point, Jay Garrick was involved in a lab accident involving heavy water, in which the aftermath was he gaining the power of superhuman speed through a connection to the Speed Force. Hunter would later mention this to Team Flash while impersonating Jay. Sometime after he gained his power, Jay began helping the public as a hero known as the Flash, stylized as the Crimson Comet. 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. Sometime after this, Jay learned to live with the consequences of his decision and decided to never use time travel for personal reasons ever again.

In the year 2014, Jay was confronted 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
Jay was eventually joined by Jesse Wells, and later, speedster Barry Allen, the Flash of Earth-1. He would continually knock on the glass. Barry soon realized that Jay was trying to communicate, but Jesse told him to let it go. Barry and Jesse eventually realized Jay was not using Morse code, but a 5x5 tap code commonly used by POWs. The two began to work together to decipher his message. Barry and Jesse discovered the first part of his message spelled J-A-Y as in Jay Garrick. Barry stated that "Jay" was alive, but not with them, believing Hunter was Jay. 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 horror as Zoom pummeled Barry.

Eventually, Barry and Jesse were rescued by their friends, but before they could help Jay, Zoom arrived. While Killer Frost pinned down Zoom to allow Barry and the others to escape, Barry promised Jay that they 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 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, Killer Frost, noticing her. Killer Frost had grown annoyed by Jay's tapping and stated if she could get her powers to work, the first thing she would do would be to "shut him up". When Caitlin asked who he was, Killer Frost stated she didn't know but concluded that Zoom must need him for something. After Killer Frost was freed, Jay noticed she was going to kill Caitlin and tried to warn the latter. He then witnessed Zoom murdering Killer Frost. Zoom threatened to hurt Jay if Caitlin tried to escape again. Soon after, she was taken away by Zoom.

Finally escaping Zoom
After Joe West was taken was abducted and imprisoned on Earth-2 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-1, where Cisco and Harry removed the mask. Jay was confused as to why they all looked shocked towards him, especially Barry. After reclaiming his uniform and destroying the mask, Jay 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 Team Flash for his rescue, Jay transported Harry and Jesse back to Earth-2 through the breach, with the two promising to help Jay find his way back to Earth-3.

Consequences of time travel
During his stay on Earth-2 Harry informed Jay, still confused as to why Barry was especially shocked to see him, that Jay's Earth-1 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 before Jay could return to Barry's dimension, the younger speedster 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 doppelgänger, 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-3 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-1 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, reminding that the future was not set in stone. Following this, Jay returned to Earth-3.

Imprisonment in the Speed Force
A while after his return to his home, Jay was contacted by Vibe who informed him that Barry had become trapped in the Speed Force in his efforts to rescue Wally West from Savitar's prison. Jay immediately entered the Speed Force and found Barry being confronted by a Speed Force avatar in the form of Leonard Snart, whom Jay promptly hurled away with a speed-tackle. The avatar however countered with a blast from its Cold Gun, snidely declaring that Garrick was getting slow in his 'Golden Age'. As the avatar fired again, Barry grabbed Garrick's helmet and deflected the blast, causing the avatar to stand down. He and Barry then entered West's prison and gently escorted him out. Jay, however, did not follow, instead choosing to take Wally's place despite Barry begging him not to. Handing over his helmet for use as a life-line to Vibe, Jay calmly acknowledged that for the time being, his race was over. He then encouraged Barry to save Iris and stop Savitar once and for all. Barry tearfully promised to return the helmet and save Jay one day, bid the elder speedster farewell and left with Wally, leaving Jay to relive the worst moment of his life over and over.

Garrick remained in the Speed Force prison for an indeterminable amount of time due to the nature of time within it but his mind remained whole and sound. Finally, he suddenly and unwittingly freed from the Speed Force prison by Killer Frost and Savitar, themselves having been tricked Cisco Ramon/Vibe, who had altered the Speed Force Bazooka into a skeleton key. Jay super-speeded out of the portal, swatting aside Savitar as he did so and took up position alongside the arriving Team Flash, accepting his trademark helmet back from Barry. While Gypsy and Vibe dealt with Frost, Jay joined Barry and Wally in a high-speed pursuit of Savitar through a forest but was brought down with the others by a lightning attack from Savitar. Jay recovered just in time to witness Savitar's death and erasing at the hands of Barry and Iris.

Completely free once more, Jay stayed on to attend the funeral of H.R. Wells, during which a Speed Force storm threatened Central City and Earth-1, during which another portal opened in front of the group. Barry Allen realized that he had to take Savitar's place in the Speed Force as penance for his actions. As Barry bade farewell to his family and friends, Jay instead chose to look on stoically and say nothing as Barry Allen stepped into the Speed Force and vanished. Following this, Jay returned to Earth-3 allowing Jesse to return to Earth-2.

Averting a nuclear explosion
Jay arrived on Earth-1 after Jesse Quick brought him over to ask for his help in stopping a nuclear bomb that'd already begun to detonate. Jay was surprised to learn that Barry was able to interact with non-speedsters when in "Flashtime," calling it "a hell of a new trick" as he didn't know how Barry was able to do that. Jay refused to send the bomb into the Speed Force after Barry mentioned Harry suggested that is what he should do. He explained that not only would that risk destroying the Speed Force forever but also every speedster throughout space, time and the multiverse would lose their speed instantly. Jay pointed out that Harry didn't know much about the Speed Force and that no one really knew about its nature and that the Speed Force was an essential part of the multiverse and no one knew what the consequences of destroying it would be.

Focusing on the bomb itself, Jay explained in nuclear fission enormous energy is created by a chain reaction of atoms splitting and releasing neutrons, making it nearly impossible to reverse the process. Theoretically, stability could be restored by offsetting the loss of mass by nuclear fusion. Another more promising method would be to cool it down. With Killer Frost's help, the speedster team attempted to cool down the bomb. As Frost attempted it, she got hotter reducing the effectiveness of the abilities.

The speedster team then attempted to throw three lightning bolts at the bomb thus producing nuclear fusion by exposing it to an amount of energy equal to the quantity it was giving off. However, Jay wasn't able to. He wasn't used to using his speed for long periods. He became fatigued, stating that his legs not working as they once did due to age. Apologizing for not being able to help Barry and Jesse much further, Jay was forced to exit "Flashtime".

Eventually, Barry caused a Speed Force storm to stop the bomb. Jay said it was time for the "Crimson Comet" to return to Earth-3. He gave credit to Iris for her part in the solution. The experience had drained Jay's glucose level and Caitlin recommended rest. Jay admitted that he would do nothing but rest. He had been at the hero game for a long time. After his experience with the bomb, he considered doing something new, starting with training someone to take over his duties as the Flash.

Impending Crisis
He had an assistant called Joan Williams, whom he fell in love with. He recruited her to help him to cope with his depleting Speed Force energy, and at some point, they got married.

Since he predicted that a Crisis was coming, he studied different Earths and alongside Joan, and found a way to project Barry Allen's consciousness into the future to see what was going to happen after the latter told Jay what he wanted to do to prepare for the Crisis, in which Barry supposed dies.

Erased future
In an erased future, by the year of 2049, Jay became a well-known figure and superhero on Earth-1.

Personality
Jay Garrick has shown himself to be a good-natured and kind man. He shares many traits with his late Earth-1 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-1 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-2 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 deceased father's 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-1 counterpart. Given Jay's knowledge of being Henry Allen's doppelgänger, he has likely begun to see Barry as a surrogate son and genuinely caring for his well-being, becoming somewhat protective of him. He has become somewhat of a mentor to Barry and taken him on as a student in the ways of being a speedster. Given his seniority and presumed decades of experience, Barry tends to defer to Jay's personal expertise on the Speed Force and vigilantism. He certainly seems keen on giving Barry the benefit of his knowledge without the detriment of his personal mistakes.

Jay is held in high regard by the younger speedsters of Earths One and Two in particular who see him as an almost elder-statesman speedster role-model for his great wisdom and experience and is frequently consulted by them for advice on opponents, training in mastering their powers or enlisting his help on important missions.

Powers

 * Speed Force /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.
 * : As a speedster, Jay's cells are capable of regenerating at an accelerated rate, allowing him to heal rapidly from injuries and resist disease.
 * : 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 time was changed it could not be truly turned back the way it was.
 * : Jay produces orange electricity from his body when he taps into the Speed Force highlighting his natural, unaltered connection to it.
 * : Jay possesses far greater balance and bodily coordination than a normal human, allowing him to easily maneuver while moving at superhuman speeds.
 * : 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.
 * : 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.
 * : Jay's reaction time is augmented to superhuman levels, allowing him to react to danger and events far faster than normal humans.
 * : Jay is able to run at phenomenal superhuman speeds, as shown when he ran through a breach back to Earth-2 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.
 * : 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.
 * : 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. He was also able to send Savitar tumbling across the floor by striking him at super-speed, while the latter was freed from the Speed Force and was caught by surprise.
 * : 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.
 * : Jay is able to withstand the stress of moving at superhuman speeds, without showing signs of weakness or fatigue.

Abilities

 * High-level intellect: Jay has shown to have knowledge of the 5 by 5 tap code as he used it to communicate with Barry Allen and Jesse Wells when the mask Zoom had locked onto Jay's head prevented him from talking. 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.

Weaknesses

 * Power-dampening tech: When Jay was held captive by Zoom, he had a mask locked onto his face, equipped with a dampener that kept Jay from using his powers.

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 the suit when he stole Jay's identity.
 * 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-2 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-1, Jay took great pride in destroying it, saying he never wanted to see it again.

The Flash
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Season 6
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Trivia

 * Eobard Thawne implies that he met either Jay or Hunter Zolomon, given that he seemed to recognize Jay's (formerly Hunter's) helmet in ​​.
 * 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 that he constantly vibrates his face to blur it from other's perception).
 * However, Hunter mentioned in passing that it was easy to kidnap Jay, meaning that unlike Henry Allen and his Earth-2 doppelgänger, Jay isn't a family man. Also, it's heavily implied by his relationship with Barry Allen that Jay doesn't have any children of his own.
 * Jay confirmed that Zoom did steal details from his Flash persona, suggesting that the cover story of Hunter (masquerading as Jay) getting speed from a similar lab accident similar to how Barry gained his powers probably did happen to Jay himself, most likely in his prime.
 * Given that Hunter stole Jay's identity and claimed to have obtained his speed in a lab accident involving heavy water (which was later revealed to be a lie in regards to how Hunter gained his powers), it's possible that Jay may have gained his powers in a manner similar to his counterpart in the comics.
 * While in the Speed Force, it, taking the form of Leonard Snart, claimed Jay was "getting a little slow in his Golden Age." This is clearly a reference to the Golden Age of comics, when Jay Garrick's character was created.
 * He is currently training an unseen and unnamed female speedster on Earth-3 to take over for him once he retires.

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-2 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-3. 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 TV 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."
 * While this version of Jay Garrick is tied to the West-Allen family, being the alternate universe version of Henry Allen, the comic version of Jay is one of the few speedsters to not be tied to the West-Allen-Thawne family.
 * 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.