The Flash: 5 Times Barry Allen Was Totally Selfish (& 5 Times He Was Completely Selfless) - Screen Rant

The Flash is a wonderful hero for many reasons, but the biggest reason why is the strength of Barry Allen’s heart and the depth of love he has for his friends (and even sometimes his enemies, but that’s a different story). He’s willing to do anything for the people he cares about ... even when it gets him into a lot of trouble.

Still, while Barry is a hero, he’s also just a (meta)human, and he makes mistakes. Sometimes, pretty bad mistakes - especially when he’s focused more on what he wants than what the best decision for everyone around him may be.

10 Selfish: Not Telling Iris That He’s The Flash

Barry sometimes disguises his selfishness as protection - which often causes more harm than good. In the first season of The Flash, Barry puts off telling Iris that he’s The Flash, even as she’s investigating him ... and even though pretty soon everyone else in their lives knows, including Iris’ own boyfriend.

Iris is last on the list, and Barry claims it’s to keep her safe, but he never considers what she might want, or how she might feel about this. He denies her the agency of choice, and that’s one of the most selfish things a person can do: no one but Iris should get to decide what’s worth putting Iris in danger.

9 Selfless: (Mostly) Staying Out Of Iris’ Dating Life Before They Got Together

Before Barry and Iris were Westallen, they were best friends, with Barry hopelessly pining for her while she went around with Eddie Thawne (her father’s partner and the unknowing ancestor of The Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne).

While Barry certainly caused some trouble for the couple, he really did his best to keep his mouth shut and just let Iris be happy - because he really cared about her more than his own broken heart.

8 Selfish: Putting Everyone’s Life At Risk To Keep Iris Alive

Savitar in season 4 was bound and determined to kill Iris so that Barry would be led down the path that created Savitar in the first place. Barry refused to allow that to happen, even as the rest of Team Flash tried to make peace with the idea (including Iris herself).

Barry refused to let it go, even when this season’s Harrison Wells died in the fight. He was willing to sacrifice everything for Iris, which was certainly romantic, but it was more than a little selfish to value his own happiness over the rest of the team’s safety.

7 Selfless: Trapping Himself In The Speed Force

After a harrowing day of saving his fiance from Savitar, Barry got approximately five minutes to enjoy himself before the Speed Force had an absolute breakdown. The Speed Force became unstable, causing deadly lightning storms all over town, so Barry stepped up to stabilize it by giving himself over to it.

He was taking responsibility for Flashpoint so he wasn’t dragged away from everyone he loved. He walked into his own imprisonment, head held high. He left Central City in the hands of Kid Flash and Vibe and left Iris (and his life) behind.

6 Selfish: Taking Nora Back To Her Own Time

Without consulting Iris - Nora’s mother, Barry’s wife - Barry decided that he couldn’t trust Nora after finding out she’d been working with Thawne on her own time. He claimed he did so to protect Team Flash, but parenthood and marriage are all about working as a team, together, including decision-making, especially pertaining to children (even if they haven’t even been born yet in your time).

If he’d reached out to Iris and consulted her, maybe Barry wouldn’t have felt so trapped, and that the choice he made was his only option.

5 Selfless: Kept His Identity Secret When Accused Of A Crime He Didn’t Commit

It would’ve been much, much easier to tell the world who he was than to be literally put in jail for the murder of DeVoe - which he had not committed. Coming out as The Flash on such a stage would’ve made it much harder to indict him ... but it also may have ruined The Flash as a hero.

Instead of trying to talk his way out of it or use his many abilities to cheat his mere mortal captors, Barry stands tall and allows himself to be framed, trusting his team to get him out fair, square, and legally.

4 Selfish: Changing The Timeline ... A Lot

In the last episode of season 2 through the first episode of season 3, we have Flashpoint, which is arguably the biggest change to the timeline Barry ever attempted (and he's attempted quite a few). He wanted to save his mother’s life, and he was successful in the short run, but it was an unsustainable reality.

When he returned to his own timeline, he found that his huge change had resulted in dozens of other changes: Cisco’s brother getting killed, John Diggle & Lyla’s child wholly changing from a little girl to a little boy, and the deterioration of Iris and Joe’s relationship. He had no idea the impact his action would have - because he wasn’t thinking about anyone else.

3 Selfless: Becoming The Flash

It takes guts to be a hero. There are plenty of bad uses for Barry’s abilities, but over and over again, Barry chooses to be a good guy, knowing full well what that choice is costing him: a normal life.

Even when Barry wants to give up, he keeps fighting, no matter what.

2 Selfish: (Nearly) Killing The Speed Force

Sure, it may have only been happening in Barry’s mind, and he may have been under the influence of an evil infection that was actively trying to take over his soul and mind, but the emotions that the big bad, Bloodwork, played on were Barry’s basest instincts - his anger at how much he’s lost, his guilt over those who didn’t make it, and the lack of control he has over his own ending.

Bloodwork manipulated Barry into attacking the Speed Force, which was enough to weaken its hold on Barry. It would’ve been enough for the infection to spread, but Cisco gave the Speed Force inside Barry a supercharge, and the strength to fight the infection off ... barely. No one is immune to anger and regret, not even the best of heroes.

1 Selfless: Being Willing To Disappear Forever Into The Crisis To Save The World & The Future

Everyone who dons a hero’s mask (or cowl, in this case) knows there’s an element of risk involved, and that’s what makes it fun for fans to watch, even if the protagonist usually comes out on top in the most unlikely scenarios. In Barry’s case, though, he’s faced with a truly insurmountable villain, with a truly unstoppable evil plan.

Quite genuinely, there was no way out for Barry, so fans spent most of the season watching him prepare himself and the people around him for his own imminent doom as Crisis approached. Until the very last moment, when Earth-90s Flash intervened, it seemed like our Flash was a goner for sure. What matters most here, though, is that Barry had no idea what Oliver had decided to do. He wasn’t counting on it. Barry Allen fully expected to die that day, so that everyone else on the planet and beyond could live. That’s the most selfless a single person can do - dying so that others can live.

NEXT: The Flash Season 6: 10 Best Episodes, According To IMDB

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About The Author

Stephanie Glennon (2 Articles Published)

Stephanie was born and raised in the Chicagoland suburbs, and has been making a counter-clockwise journey through the Midwest ever since. She graduated from the University of Iowa in 2015 with a Bachelor's degree in English and a Certificate in Creative Writing, which she uses to yell about her favorite movies and TV shows on the internet. She now resides in Columbus, Ohio.