Every Villain in The Flash, Ranked | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Every superhero needs some good villains, and Barry Allen has certainly gone up against his fair share of them in The Flash. Over the course of its eight seasons, the show has unleashed several dangerous foes to face off against the Scarlet Speedster, but some of them have definitely proven to be more interesting than others. Let's take a look back at every main villain that has appeared on the CW series so far, and rank them based on their effectiveness, threat level and general memorability.

7. Cicada Wanted To Kill All Metahumans

While Cicada may have started out Season 5 as a fairly interesting villain, he became less compelling with each appearance. Chris Klein's over-the-top performance made Cicada feel much less threatening than the series was trying to make him out to be, and by the end of the season he had been usurped as the main threat by both his own niece and Eobard Thawne. These factors, combined with a confusing time-travel scenario involving his niece and his dagger, really hampered Cicada's potential, leaving him at the bottom of this ranking.

6. Savitar Was A Corrupted Version Of The Flash

Savitar begun his life as a time remnant created by Barry Allen to defeat Zoom, but he was horribly scarred while doing so. After developing a god complex and renaming himself Savitar, the remnant turned on Team Flash and was trapped in the Speed Force, driving him further into insanity. He manages to escape with the aid of Dr. Alchemy and spends Season 3 of The Flash planning to break his younger self by killing Iris.

While Savitar is certainly a visually memorable foe, his characterization ultimately proves to be fairly weak. His reasons for turning evil aren't explained very well, and his personality ends up coming off as a bit childish when he's supposed to be dark and tortured. Though Savitar does manage to succeed in killing off H.R. Wells, he fails to kill Iris, and is subjected to an underwhelming death himself shortly afterwards.

5. Godspeed Sent Clones To Menace Central City

Godspeed is a bit of an outlier among the Scarlet Speedster's primary foes, in that he appeared multiple times in other seasons before making his presence fully known in Season 7. Throughout Seasons 5 and 6, various clones of the white-clad speedster occasionally appear to cause chaos in Central City before the man himself rears his head in the last few episodes of Season 7. After absorbing his clones' power, Godspeed proves to be one of the Flash's most powerful threats ever, forcing Barry to team up with his archenemy, the Reverse-Flash, to take him down once and for all.

4. The Thinker Siphoned Power From Other Metahumans

Season 4 of The Flash introduces Clifford DeVoe, the series' first non-speedster main antagonist. DeVoe (who calls himself the Thinker) intends to reduce the intellect of everyone else on Earth, allowing him to rule the world as its teacher. In order to accomplish his plan, the villain siphons the powers of 12 different metahumans, but he is opposed by Team Flash and his own wife, Marlize.

The Thinker poses a much more cerebral threat than the other villains that the Flash has faced, though this element ends up being downplayed a bit after he absorbs the other metahumans' abilities, turning himself into a one-man army. DeVoe's incredibly high power level throughout the second half of Season 4 allows him to blast through almost everything that Team Flash throws at him, making him a bit less interesting of a character. Still, the conflict between him and his wife Marlize is incredibly compelling, and Neil Sandilands imbues the character with a detached, wonderfully creepy energy.

3. Mirror Monarch Manipulated Iris Into Aiding Her Plans

In Season 6, Iris finds herself trapped in a parallel dimension called the Mirrorverse, where she encounters a woman named Eva McCulloch. While Eva initially seems to be a friendly face who just wants to find a way out of the Mirrorverse, it eventually becomes clear that she seeks to replace everyone on Earth with mirror duplicates, allowing her to rule as the Mirror Monarch. Luckily, Iris manages to get through to Eva and causes her to see the error of her ways, leading her to destroy her duplicates and return to the Mirrorverse.

Ultimately, all Eva wants to do is make the world a better place. Despite her vengeful personality and immense powers, she is ultimately not a bad person, having gone mad after suffering a fate crueler than death at the hands of her own husband. Eva grows to genuinely care for Iris during their time trapped in the Mirrorverse, and even though she takes advantage of their bond to escape, she also ends up allowing Iris to talk her down from her plan to rule the world.

2. Zoom Nearly Managed To Destroy The Multiverse

After being granted super speed by the explosion of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator on Earth-2, serial killer Hunter Zolomon sets out to take over the multiverse. As part of his plan, he crosses over to Earth-1 and wreaks havoc in Central City, all while impersonating the heroic Jay Garrick in order to lull Barry Allen and his team into a false sense of security. Zoom reveals his true nature towards the end of Season 2, killing Barry's father and challenging the Scarlet Speedster to a race that will determine the multiverse's fate.

Zoom is portrayed by actor Teddy Sears, who excellently brings to life the character's fake heroic persona while also never losing sight of his true, twisted personality. The dark speedster is one of the few foes to completely and utterly decimate the Flash in a fight, brutalizing Barry and dragging his defeated body all over the city in the episode "Enter Zoom." While his endgame may have gotten a bit muddled in the final few episodes of the season, Zoom will always be remembered for the sense of absolute menace that he brought to The Flash.

1. Reverse-Flash Is The Flash's Archenemy

No matter what happens, Eobard Thawne will always be the Flash's most personal enemy. He's menaced Barry Allen and his friends from the very beginning, and has cheated death multiple times to ensure that his foes will never know peace. While he may have crossed paths with some of the Arrowverse's other heroes, the Reverse-Flash's ultimate goal is to prove that he is faster than the Scarlet Speedster, who he once admired before slipping into insanity. From killing Nora Allen to teaming with Earth X's New Reichsmen to creating his own Reverse-Flashpoint, it's clear that Thawne will stop at nothing to make Barry Allen's life hell.

KEEP READING: Every DC Superhero TV Series Arriving in 2022

chicago med, greys anatomy and the good doctor

Why Do Audiences Keep Coming Back to Medical Dramas?

Related Topics

About The Author

Matthew Sonnack (144 Articles Published)

Matthew Sonnack is a freelance TV/Movies writer for CBR.com. Matthew is a filmmaker and movie lover who has worked on several productions, from large-scale features to independent short films to internationally-syndicated television. He recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a BFA in Film, Video, Animation and New Genres.