Ranking the TV Villains of The Flash: Part 2

By Daniel Schwartz

Contributing Guest Writer

(Victor Valley)– With numbers 18-10 having been covered in the previous article, the remaining foes of the Flash represent the worst of the worst. These are the most evil and powerful enemies that Barry Allen faced off against in the first season.

9. Mist (Kyle Nimbus)

Imagine having the ability to change your body into a deadly fog at will and then reassemble yourself into human form. That is the gift that was given to meta-human Kyle Nimbus when the particle accelerator exploded.

Using his newfound abilities to murder those that have wronged him (crime bosses and judge), he cut a swath of death throughout Central City. After besting Barry in battle and almost killing him (he got his poison into Barry’s lungs), he is finally taken down and becomes the first criminal to be held in the makeshift particle accelerator prison.

His ability does beg one question. If part of his gas is inhaled and absorbed into the body of his victims, wouldn’t he rematerialize missing a finger or a limb as part of his gas is gone? Apparently not.

8. Everyman (Hannibal Bates)

Hannibal Bates proved to be one of the more cunning and deadly meta-humans that Team Flash came across. Possessing a shape-shifting ability, Bates could impersonate any person that he saw, and used this ability to commit crimes and frame those he pretended to be (including Eddie Thawne).

While impersonating Barry, he sneaks into STAR Labs and even seduces a kiss out of Caitlin. After finally being taken down, he is used as a diversion by Eobard and allows the Reverse Flash to escape and find out that his team is on to him. Just like the first Weather Wizard, Hannibal is gunned down by Joe West (while disguised as the Reverse Flash).

7. Blackout (Farooq Gibran)

Several criminals on this list are fueled by fury and revenge. Farooq Gibran is no exception. After he was changed by the particle accelerator, he accidentally killed his friends with his new powers. Blaming their deaths on Harrison Well, he set out to kill the head of STAR Labs.

His ability to absorb and manipulate electricity came in handy in his battle against the Flash. He was able to absorb so much energy from Barry that Barry was left temporarily powerless.

Harrison / Eobard was so afraid of Blackout that he let Tony Woodword (Girder) out of the particle accelerator prison to face him. Farooq easily killed Girder (something Barry had a hard time with), and continued his march toward Wells. The only thing that was able to stop him was Barry’s control of the energy that was siphoned from him the second time Blackout tried to take his powers. He absorbed so much energy that he overloaded and died.

6. Gorilla Grodd

Teased throughout the season, Grodd was supposed to be the second-most important villain after the Reverse Flash. Unfortunately, his long-awaited appearance was brief and uneventful.

The reason that he is so far up on the list is that his powers are very impressive. He can use his psychic abilities to control people and make them do what he wants. Aside from that, he is also the largest physical threat that Barry faced all season.

Because of all the buildup throughout the season, his breakout episode was very disappointing. Hopefully he can live up to his true potential in the sophomore season of the show.

5. Weather Wizard 2 (Mark Marden)

Played by Spartacus alum (like many characters in the Arrow-verse) Liam McIntyre, the second Marden brother was much more effective than his recently deceased sibling.

The second iteration of the Weather Wizard was able to kidnap Joe (who shot his brother) and break his leg. He then unleashed an enormous tsunami onto Central City (showing a much greater understanding of his powers than his brother). Only the fluke of running so fast that he traveled through time allowed Barry to prevent the kidnapping and the tidal wave. If The Flash had not accidentally time traveled, Joe would be dead and Central City would be underwater.

4. Pied Piper (Hartley Rathaway)

When you are an angry future supervillain disguised as a scientist, you tend to make quite a few enemies. Hartley Rathaway was the first mentee that Harrison Wells duped into believing in him.

While Hartley was not a likable person, he was a scientific genius and a favorite of Wells. That all changed when Wells fired him because he correctly calculated that the particle accelerator would explode if turned on (which Wells was planning all along). This caused Hartley to become angry and bitter. Having also been changed by the explosion, he began plotting Harrison Wells’ downfall.

While doing battle with the Flash, he almost kills Barry when he emits a frequency that matches Barry’s super speed. Stopped by Wells, he ends up in the accelerator prison, only to escape when he offers to help Cisco find Robbie Raymond.

3. Captain Cold (Leonard Snart)

Few villains in the comics have the long and complicated history that Leonard Snart does with The Flash. Aside from Harrison Wells, Snart was onscreen more than any other foe that Barry faced.

Not only was Cold able to assemble a small team of rogues to challenge Barry, he was also able to find his secret identity and formulate a jailbreak for all of the villains being held in the reactor.

The character is slightly overacted by Wentworth Miller, but as far as rogues go, almost not one gave The Flash more trouble last season than Captain Cold. With a starring role in the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow, Leonard Snart may be noticeably absent for the second season, but it is likely he will not be away from Central City for long.

2. General Eiling

One of the most evil people that Team Flash encounters during the season was the mad scientist and zealot General Wade Eiling. While not technically a villain that Barry had to fight, he does morally questionable and horrible things in the name of military progress.

The scariest thing about this megalomaniac is that he truly believes in his cause. He believes that his experiments will bring about American military supremacy. Unfortunately in order to get his results, he has to torture and perform terrible experiments on people and animals alike.

Having done torturous things to Grodd during his time working with Harrison Wells, he created an enemy that would get his revenge by mind-controlling Eiling into committing robberies. After he was captured by the Flash, he was put into the particle accelerator prison. It is too bad that he did not stay there longer.

1. Reverse Flash (Eobard Thawne/Harrison Wells)

The largest and most important villain of the season was also the coolest looking. The man of many names (Eobard / Harrison / Reverse Flash) terrorized Barry and his family throughout the entire season and did it in a stylish yellow and black version of the Flash’s costume.

Coming from the future, Eobard manages to kill Barry’s mother before killing Harrison Wells and taking over his life in order to create The Flash about a decade earlier than history had previously recorded. Making things personal, he mentored the Flash and acted as a father figure while also plotting his downfall.

With an intense hatred of the Flash, he easily defeated Barry on several occasions. The only time Barry was able to take him down was when he had help from the Arrow and Firestorm.

As it turns out, the only person who could destroy him was his distant relative Eddie Thawne. After the Flash took another beating from Eobard, Eddie killed himself to wipe the future Thawne from existence. Is Eobard gone forever? In comic books (and comic book shows) death is usually just a temporary setback. Chances are we will see him again in a later season (if we are lucky).

Were there any villains that needed to be ranked higher / lower? Will Zoom top this list after next season? Let us know in the comments below.