Eddie Thawne

"He was wrong. Turns out, I'm a hero after all."

- Eddie to Iris West after sacrificing himself Edward "Eddie" Thawne (died May 19, 2015) was a police detective of the Central City Police Department, a former member of the Keystone City Police Department, the partner of Joe West, the boyfriend of Iris West, and the good friend of Barry Allen. He was one of the first police officers in the CCPD to learn of the existence of meta-humans - second only to Joe - and eventually learned of Barry's secret identity as the Flash. After being kidnapped by the time-traveling Eobard Thawne, Eddie was revealed to be the villain's ancestor. Eddie would later die by sacrificing himself to prevent Eobard from existing, saving his friends' lives and preventing the Reverse-Flash from doing any further harm to Central City and to time itself.

Early life
As a child Eddie was short and overweight, and as a result was frequently picked on by bullies; their taunts often turned into physical violence, and Eddie suffered many beatings at the hands of his tormentors. His father was a senator responsible for the closure of a factory that many people depended on, which only worsened Eddie's situation. The bullying continued to escalate until eventually his sympathetic gym coach trained him to fight back. Eddie also found it difficult to make friends.

Service with C.C.P.D.
In late 2013, Eddie transferred from Keystone City to the Central City Police Department. Later, on the night of the unveiling of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator, Eddie stopped a thief who had stolen Iris West's laptop and took him back to Central City Police Department. Sometime later, after Detective Fred Chyre was killed, Thawne became Joe West's new partner and begun dating Iris in secret. Some 9 months later, Eddie greeted Barry, happy to see him back at work after waking up from his coma, before he and Joe left to investigate a robbery at Gold City Bank. They brought back various witnesses to the station, questioning them on the circumstances surrounding the bank robbery. He discussed with Joe how the robbery had a freak storm proceeding it, a seemingly frequent occurrence, similar to the "wide world of weird" cased that Barry loved investigating. They went on to question numerous witnesses, along with viewing footage they'd recorded on their cell phones. Following work, Eddie later went out to meet Iris at her work, where they exchanged a kiss and talked a little, before Iris went to talk with Barry. Not long after, Eddie and a number of other police officers arrived at the crime scene that Barry and Iris had been associated with. Eddie showed Joe the sketch artist's illustration from a suspect, which appeared to be the apparently deceased criminal, Clyde Mardon. Suspicious that he could've survived, the two went to Mardon's old farmhouse, where they found him. However, before they could arrest him, he knocked them away with wind and began to create a tornado around himself, proceeding to move it outside. Joe carried an unconscious Eddie outside by their car while they were powerless against Clyde Mardon. As a piece of debris flew through the air, it almost hit them, however it was intercepted by Barry with his super speed, saving them from danger by ultimately unravelling the tornado and Joe shooting Mardon.

Detective West received a call that there was a situation at the Central City National Bank. By the time that they arrived there, both the strongman and The Flash had left. Iris met him at the crime scene, having been promised fro-yo. He reassured another cop that there was nothing between Barry and Iris, as they were like siblings, and he wasn't even her type. When he finished, Eddie took Iris to get fro-yo. On the way there, the two were involved in a crash with multiple vehicles. They were uninjured, however as they got out, a tiger, the cause of the crash, pounced towards Iris. Eddie tried to nudge them away with pool toys, though they had little effect. However, The Flash intervened, zapping them away with static electricity, leaving Eddie to think that he'd done all of the work. When animal control arrived, the man commended Thawne for being able to do what he did, and Eddie mocked Barry for allegedly hiding and seemingly soiling himself. They reached the police department, where Eddie bragged about his achievement, only to soon be sent back out to a homicide. They concurred that the homicide was connected to the zoo outbreak, and started to look through the deeds of several companies scattered all over the floor. A short while later, Eddie and Iris attended a sports game. At half-time, Eddie labelled the surprise of a circus as "crappy", to which Iris simply mocked him, asking if he was afraid of the circus. Eddie attempted to go get some extra beer, though Iris made him stay to watch, kissing as he sat back down. Mr. Bliss soon struck fear in to everyone, causing Eddie to hallucinate seeing himself pointing a gun, apparently a past traumatic experience. However, Eddie, along with the rest of the crowd, was rushed outside of the stadium, claiming to have a raging headache. He attempted to keep everyone calm by announcing that he was police.

Eddie was present with various other police members at the scene of a robbery. He downloaded surveillance footage, of which only showed one perpetrator. However, Barry found evidence leading to the idea that it was in fact six people. After unintentionally implying that Captain Singh could have been a suspect due to similar shoe size, Eddie walked off in embarrassment to survey the rest of the crime scene. Eddie later came to visit Iris in Barry's lab. While they immediately acted distant, Barry reminded them that he knew of their situation and they proceeded to kiss. A while later, Eddie and Joe visited Simon Stagg, who had been shot at only a day before. They asked questions about Danton Black, a former employee of his, though Stagg denied that it would ever be him. As Simon walked away, Danton and his masked clones began shooting at the three of them, forcing them to run for cover. When the coast was almost clear, Eddie took Stagg to safety. That night, Eddie visited Iris at her work. There they watched an interview with him on TV, and soon after he left for the police department to help with the hunt for Black.

Eddie arrived on to the scene of the murders of the Darbinyan crime family. He suggested the idea that they were gassed to death, though witnesses had allegedly seen no one outside at the time, therefore concluding that it had happened from the inside. Joe went on to determine that there had to be a canister of sorts somewhere, though Barry was sure that the gas could've had a mind of its own. Though Barry appeared to treat it as a joke, Joe's interest was peaked and so sent Eddie off to canvas the area again. Sometime later, Eddie came to visit Iris, under the impression that Joe had gone out. Eddie claimed to have been looking for Joe and suggested that they go back to the crime scene to recanvas, to "always work the case", as Joe had proudly taught him. While Joe went to wait in the car, Eddie pretended to go to the toilet while he actually kissed Iris, getting annoyed that the secrecy, all Iris' idea, was potentially killing their relationship. Following their encounter, Iris met Eddie at the police precinct, claiming they needed to talk. Although Eddie initially mistook it for her breaking up with him, Iris explained that she was simply afraid of losing her first serious boyfriend. Before Eddie could walk off, still under the impression that she was breaking up with him, Iris pulled him back, kissing him in full public view. That night, Eddie was called by Barry whom he told Joe's location to: Iron Heights Prison, visiting his dad. After Joe was hospitalized, Eddie and Iris finally decided to tell him the truth. However, putting it down to his detective skills, Joe admitted that he was already fully aware. Despite being angry, Joe promised he'd try his hardest not to shoot Eddie.

After Leonard Snart made an attempt to rob the Kahndaq dynasty diamond, Eddie along with Joe arrived at the scene. Eddie questioned how the driver who was shot made it to St. Andrews Hospital. Eddie later revealed Iris had previously talked him into going to the Khandaq Dynasty diamond exhibit. Eddie later told Joe that he's serious about Iris and he could see himself married to her. Eddie and Joe then furthered their conversation about Iris to which Eddie said they should just listen to the radio though it only made things more awkward between the two. Eddie later went to Trivia Night at CC Jitters with Iris, Barry, and Felicity. When Eddie saw Felicity's dress, he suggested Iris buy the same dress. Eddie later incorrectly answered the name of Han Solo's ship after being over excited. At the Central City train station chasing Snart, Eddie was told by Joe to stay back and wait for back up though Eddie later reminded Joe that they're partners so he doesn't take orders.

Barry held a social get together which included Eddie, Iris, Cisco Ramon and Dr. Caitlin Snow where Caitlin also expressed attraction to Eddie yet Cisco expressed distrust in him, mainly out of jealousy. Later Eddie, Joe and Barry investigated a bombing at an office building though were unable to find what was stolen. Eddie later witnessed Joe being forced to hand over the instigation to General Eiling on Singh's orders.

While Tony Woodward was being chased by police, Eddie shot Tony in the head multiple times though he was shocked when none of them penetrated him. Eddie was then nearly ran over by Woodward though Joe pushed him out of the way. When Eddie told Barry about what happened with Tony, Barry told him Tony must've had some body armor where Eddie reminded him he shot Woodward in the face. When Iris came to visit, he noticed something was wrong between Barry and Iris. While investigating, Eddie admitted that he was intimidated by Barry at first, admitting that Barry is a good guy and how close the two were. Eddie later realized Tony came from Rusty Iron Ale Brewing Co.. After asking the workers about Woodward, one of them fled where Eddie and Barry chased him down. After Barry ran in front, Eddie tackled the man and asked what happened to Tony. Eddie later asked Barry how he managed to get in front of them. At the precinct, Eddie and Barry blew off some steam together where Eddie was shocked when Barry punched through the punching bag. When Iris was kidnapped by Tony, Eddie stayed as calm as he could but very shacked up.

Eddie and Joe visited a crime scene with Barry where the victim was burnt to a crisp by electricity while nothing else was, despite numerous combustable objects nearby and no electrical objects around. Later Iris visited Eddie at the precinct by it was held up by William Tockman who took Iris, Joe and every cop hostage but Eddie managed to avaid him. As Tockman attempted to get Singh to give him a helicopter Eddie attacked him only to be shot and Tockman took Iris as leverage, though Joe managed to convince Tockman to say her goodbyes to Eddie. Eddie then used this chance to slip Iris a gun which she used to defeat Tockman as Eddie was taken to the hopsital.

Eddie and Iris were making out in his apartment, showing disbeliefs in the Flash when Iris brought him up, and went to a crime scene where all the people in the back tried to murder each other and Eddie comforted one of the people. Eddie began to notice all the strange occurrences in Central City and belived the Flash to be responsible and asked Singh to organise a taskforce to capture him though he disblieved him and Iris became mad at him for hating the Flash. Later when Eddie and Iris were driving back to his apartment they began to fight about the Flash and Iris confessed to having met the Flash a few times which Eddie felt outraged about, but the Flash himself ubruptly took Eddie from the car and started beating him down in the street (as at the time the Flash was manipulated by the Rainbow Raider). However the Arrow arrived and fought the Flash which allowed Eddie and Iris to escape, but later Eddie visited Iris and told her that Singh approved the taskforce and he vowed to take him in which she now supported.

After seeing Iris's Christmas present from Barry, her mother's wedding ring, Eddie suspected Barry harbored feelings for Iris though she denied it as Eddie gave Iris a present himself; a key to his apartment to move in with him which she accepted. Eddie later investigated a murder and thieving at Mercury Labs and he suspected the Flash's involvement due to the sighting of a blur. Later Eddie and Joe went to S.T.A.R. Labs where Dr. Wells, Cisco and Caitlin set a trap for the attacker but found not the Flash but his nemesis the Reverse-Flash. After Reverse-Flash escaped and severely beat Wells he attacked and killed the other cops but let Eddie live as the Flash himself attacked Reverse-Flash. Later Eddie wondered why Reverse-Flash let him live and Joe confessed to the existence of meta-humans, like the Flash and his counter, and told Eddie their existence needed to be kept secret. At the West house Eddie, Joe, Iris, Barry, Cisco and Caitlin celebrated Christmas.

Following Joe's revelation regarding Meta-humans and The Flash saving his life on numerous occasions he has come to see The Flash as a hero rather than a vigilante.

He punched Barry after her confused his feelings to Iris but later apologized after Catlin covered for Barry saying that is was a result of the lightening striking him and receiving treatment at S.T.A.R. Labs for ESP.

With Joe's support, Barry reveals himself as the Flash to Eddie in an effort to convince him to help them protect Iris; she was investigating the disappearance of Mason Bridge and they did not want her to get too close to their suspect for her own safety. Eddie later lies to Iris, suggesting that Mason had run away to Brazil, making up a story about a liaison with a mysterious woman when in reality he was murdered by Wells who subsequently hid his corpse. When discussing their story with Joe and Barry, Eddie makes it clear that he has doubts in regards to keeping Iris in the dark for her own safety but decides to argue about it another time. He listens as Barry reveals his suspicions that Wells is the Reverse-Flash.

While having the Flash assist his arrests makes his job in apprehending criminals easier, Eddie struggles to keep Barry's secret with Iris, believing she deserved to know, but Joe told him to keep hide it from her. This strained their relationship, as Iris didn't think Eddie should hide anything from her. While eating at a restaurant with Iris, Barry, Ray Palmer, and Felicity Smoak, Iris berated Eddie for hiding his secret and stops living with him for a little bit.

Barry and Eddie later tracked down a meta-human named Hannibal Bates, who could shape-shift into anyone he came into contact with. Hannibal framed Eddie by transforming into him and shooting two cops. Thankfully, the Flash defeated Hannibal and the video evidence proved Eddie's innocence. Eddie told Iris that his secret is that he was working with the Flash and they started to rekindle their relationship.

When the team neared their plan to capture Harrison Wells after discovering that he was the Reverse-Flash, Eddie planned to propose to Iris. He asked for Joe's blessing but Joe refused to give it. He later goes over to the bridge, but just as he is about to propose, the ring is captured by the Reverse-Flash, who knocked Eddie down. Before he killed Iris, the Flash arrived and Reverse-Flash kidnapped Eddie. Reverse-Flash revealed himself to Eddie as his descendant from the future, Eobard Thawne.

Though the imprisoned Eddie tried telling his future family member that he would fail and Flash's team would stop them, Eobard revealed Eddie's fate in the future. Eddie would go down as one of the most forgettable Thawne's in his lineage due to his uneventful life as a detective, and Eobard devastates Eddie when he reveals that Iris will marry Barry in the future instead of him. Eobard revealed to Eddie that he was planning to return to the future.

When Eobard activated the particle accelerator, the team found the trapped Eddie and manage to free him. Eddie is disillusioned from his time with Eobard, and when Iris confronted him about his proposal, he revealed to her that she marries Barry in the future and left. Despite Iris' unwillingness to accept the future, Eddie chose to break up with her, knowing that she's always loved Barry all along.

Death
Though the group finally managed to capture the Reverse-Flash with the help of The Arrow and Firestorm, Eddie fell into a period of depression following his encounter with Eobard, and remained painfully aware of everything that his ancestor had revealed to him about the future. In an attempt to comfort him, Martin Stein theorized that Eddie was an anomaly in time, describing him as "a coincidence" and capable of choosing his own future. This encouraged Eddie to disregard his belief in destiny and repair his relationship with Iris, saying "screw the future."

When Barry fought Eobard in the Pipeline following his decision not to undo the death of his mother, Eobard managed to get the upper hand, eventually defeating Barry and threatening to kill anyone that he had ever loved. However, before Eobard could strike a finishing blow, Eddie shot himself in the chest, aware that his own death would prevent Eobard from having ever been born. As Eobard was erased from existence, Eddie found comfort in the knowledge that he would die a hero, and he soon passed away in Iris' arms. The effect of his actions on the timeline, however, caused a singularity to form that threatened to destroy the world. Though Barry and Firestorm were able to avert disaster, the wormhole managed to engulf Eddie's body.

Legacy
When Eddie committed suicide, he erased his demented descendant from existence, preventing him from doing any further damage to the timeline and effectively saving the future from the villain's wrath. Barry, Iris, Joe and the remaining members of Team Flash were left to grieve for Eddie in secret, painfully aware that the rest of the world could never learn of his sacrifice.

The deaths of both Eddie and Ronnie Raymond caused Barry to work alone for a period of six months in an attempt to prevent anyone else from getting hurt by his actions, as he blamed himself for both of his friends getting killed. Barry continues to highly regard both individuals as the true heroes who stopped Eobard and saved Central City.

One day Barry experienced a mid-day vision of himself and Ronnie defeating Captain Cold and Heat Wave; after their skirmish, he was praised for his efforts by everyone, Eddie included.

After his death, Eddie's photo was displayed on the wall for fallen officers as a memorial.

Personality
Eddie was described as a "pretty boy" who actually kept track of his arrests, had a certain wit and appeared to be cocky yet was a very efficient cop, who went to any lengths to catch the criminals. He does have a compassionate side, as he covered Joe's shifts so he could visit a comatose Barry, and was often the first one to comfort the witnesses of the various crimes he and Joe look into. He also disbelieves in the Flash's existence (at first) and thinks anyone who did was a drug user. But when he "converts" he becomes distrusting of the Flash, especially after he tries to murder him under Roy Bivolo's influence, and wants him taken down. However, since his near-death experience at the hands of his evil counterpart, the Reverse-Flash, he seems to have changed his mind. He later saved the Flash when he was pinned down, evidencing that he sees him as a hero instead of a threat.

He was shown to care for Iris a lot, as he kept their relationship from Joe a secret at her insistence, which, though it annoyed him, he did for 9 months until she was ready to admit it. Eddie was also reasonable, as some dates with Iris have involved places which Eddie isn't too interested in yet goes for Iris. Eddie's working relationship with Joe was fairly stable, as they are both excellent cops who trust each other with their lives. Yet Iris' relationship with Eddie sometimes makes Joe wary. Eddie has a stable friendship with Barry, though the latter isn't entirely trusting of Eddie, mainly out of envy that he was dating Iris, but was surprised to hear that Eddie felt threatened by him when they met. After a year of dating, Eddie was brave enough to ask Iris to move in with him yet suspected that Barry may harbor feelings for Iris though she denied it.

Eddie was shown to be loyal to Joe and very sharp. When questioning Joe's resolve to investigate Harrison Wells, only to have Joe be determined to do so, Eddie smiled, seemingly thrilled to help Joe. Most likely because he knew inconsistencies with Wells' story of his home being attacked. He was also shown to care about people as he tried to talk a man out of committing suicide. He was also shown to have a laid back personality when the man asked if he would let him get back on top of the building after the Flash put him safely on the bottom only for Eddie to reply no in a comical manner.

Upon discovering that Barry is also the Flash and Harrison is the Reverse-Flash, Eddie aids Joe and Barry in stopping Iris from finding out that Mason Bridge was killed by Harrison as this knowledge would have put her life in danger. He was reluctant to do so as he did not like lying to her and his dishonesty put a massive strain on their relationship.

After being captured by Harrison, he was horrified to discover that Harrison is actually Eobard Thawne, his descendant from the future (he realizes that this is why Eobard did not kill him in their first encounter). Eddie was pained to learn from Eobard that Iris would become Barry's wife in the future instead of his and so breaks up with Iris, partly influenced by his knowledge of future events but mainly because there was a part of him that suspected Iris of having romantic feelings for Barry. He did not want to be in a relationship or to marry someone who had romantic feelings for another, however, this decision was not lasting as he later reconciled with Iris, believing that he would not let fate control his decisions.

Eddie was also selfless, he willingly committed suicide to prevent Eobard from causing any further harm in the present and future and in order to save Barry, Iris, Joe and Team Flash from his evil descendant.

Abilities

 * Police training: Eddie received law enforcement training typical of a member of the Keystone City Police Department.
 * Expert detective: As a police detective of the Central City Police Department, formerly of the Keystone City Police Department, Eddie continuously proved himself a highly skilled detective.
 * Expert marksman/Firearms: As a police detective, Eddie was skilled in the use of firearms.
 * Expert hand-to-hand combatant: As a police detective, Eddie was an expert in hand-to-hand combat. As seen during a discussion with Barry, Eddie also had a degree of fist-fighting skills that he had honed from a young age. He helped exemplify this by teaching Barry about proper striking methods.

Equipment

 * Guns: Eddie was very proficient in using guns.
 * Handcuffs: Eddie carried handcuffs whenever he was out on patrol.

The Flash
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Season 2
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The Flash: Season Zero

 * "The Strongman Cometh"
 * "Who Let the Chimps Out?"
 * "A Goodnight Hiss"
 * "A Captive Audience"
 * "Showtime"
 * "The Big Finale"

Behind the scenes

 * Eddie's name is strikingly similar to Eobard Thawne, also known as Professor Zoom and Reverse-Flash, a DC villain who is famously known as Barry Allen's archenemy. This was proven to be a red herring when Eobard revealed himself and mentioning Eddie as a distant relative.
 * Eddie also shares his name with another Reverse-Flash, The Rival (Edward Clariss), Jay Garrick's archenemy in the comic books.
 * In the comics, the ancestor character who lived in the present day was Malcolm Thawne, Barry's long-lost twin brother.
 * While his body was being sucked into the singularity, Eddie was shown to be wearing a talisman around his neck, and was being dragged inside with several pieces of cobalt resin. This may be a nod to yet another speedster from the comics, Malcolm Thawne, who wore a similar talisman around his neck (a gift from his grandmother and a source of amazing magical power), possibly indicating that Eddie and Malcolm are one and the same. Eddie also acquired his engagement ring from his grandmother, further reinforcing the similarities.
 * Eddie is as of yet the only member of the main cast to have died. Technically, Eobard did not die, but never existed to begin with.

Trivia

 * Eddie Thawne shares certain traits with Tommy Merlyn;
 * Both characters are related to a major antagonist, Malcolm and Eobard, respectively, and as such, their surnames are the same as those villains. Both Eddie and Tommy were also mistaken for Eobard and Malcolm by some fans respectively early on in the series, until the latter made their official debut or revealed their secret identities.
 * Both have debuted in the first season of their respective shows, and subsequently died by the end of the same season.
 * Both died protecting their loved ones. Tommy died saving Laurel from the collapsing CNRI, while Eddie killed himself to protect his friends (including Iris) from the Reverse-Flash.
 * Tommy was introduced in order to facilitate a love-triangle between him, Laurel Lance and Oliver Queen, while Eddie formed a love-triangle between himself, Iris West and Barry Allen.
 * Both characters were considered as being failures by their respective close relatives. Malcolm cut Tommy out off the family fortune and subsequently hired him in order to put his son's life in order. Eobard, on the other hand, merely split Eddie apart from Iris only to ensure that Eddie begins a long blood-line of brilliant men of science, Eobard included.
 * Both characters' deaths prompted the main characters, Oliver and Barry, to change their methods of vigilantism.
 * Both characters have appeared once in the second season of their respective shows, they haunt the main character but also inspire them.