Daniel west (reverse flash)

Publication history[edit]
Daniel's first appearance occurred as a teenager in The Flash #0 in November 2012. The story was set five years before the present and he was only identified on-panel as Danny.[2]

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato first revealed that Reverse-Flash would appear in The Flash in November 2012. According to them, the inclusion of Reverse-Flash in the series wasn't due to them wanting to include the character, but because they felt it was the "natural place to go". Manapul stated that originally, they planned on not using the character until much later in the series but decided to include him due to where the story and characters were heading.[3]

Early life[edit]
Daniel West is the younger brother of Iris West. His mother died while giving birth to him. Their mother's death drove their father William to become an alcoholic and abusive towards his children, blaming Daniel for her death. One day, when he was 12 years old, after William ridiculed and hit him, Daniel pushed his father down the stairs, crippling him. Upon realizing that Iris had witnessed the event, and seeing how horrified she was by his actions, Daniel ran away from home and never came back.[4]

Five years later, by the time he was 18, Daniel had become a small-time thug and joined a stickup crew. His first big job involved his crew stealing money from a bank, with him acting as the lookout and driver. Before the robbery, Daniel had sought Iris out in an attempt to reconnect, telling her he was planning to use the money to secure both of them financially. Iris rejected his offer and told him to make amends with their father. While the robbery was successful, their escape plan was foiled by the Flash (Barry Allen), and Daniel got five years in prison.[4]  On the same day, his attempt at escaping from prison was also prevented by Barry, who was visiting his father.[2]

Encounter with the Rogues[edit]
Daniel got early parole and was released from prison around the same time Gorilla Grodd started his invasion on Central City. During the invasion, Daniel attempted to contact Iris and ensure her safety.[5]  He visited her apartment, only to find out it was empty and that she had been missing for three months.[6]  While running away from the gorillas and attempting to save some civilians, Daniel was captured. After his capture, Daniel was placed inside a bus to be sent to the Central City football stadium, as one of the many humans used by the gorillas to create a telepathic illusion of the Gem Cities as having been destroyed.[7]  On the way to the football stadium, Daniel was saved by the Rogues, who took the busses full of captured civilians to the Mirror Master's Mirror World.[8]  Daniel attempted to escape the Rogues but he was crashed into Dr. Elias' car which was powered by a speed force battery. The accident cause Daniel to run back in time but the power was dependent on the Speed Force charge in the battery.

Reverse-Flash[edit]
Daniel dubs himself the Reverse-Flash and begins killing those with Speed Force abilities to drain their speed so that he could run fast enough so he could run back in time to kill his father. Eventually, the only two remaining with Speed Force energy are Barry and Iris. Barry is unable to sense Daniel through the Speed Force due to his containment suit. Daniel lures The Flash into Dr. Elias' lab where he used his power to go back in time. Daniel's plan to kill his father is backfired when he sees his younger self and Iris come home. Daniel attempts to kill his father while the Flash defends the young Daniel and Iris. The Flash convinces Daniel to not kill his father and so he gives up his Speed Force to the Flash in order to fix his mistake. The two return to the present and is sent back to Iron Heights.

New Suicide Squad and Death[edit]
Daniel is recruited into the Suicide Squad while also discovering he has his speed back although isn't as fast as The Flash. The Squad have discovered a time bomb in a Turkish village in which they refuse to remove. Daniel decides to run back to the village to do so. He throws the time bomb into an ocean where it detonates, while running back to the group, Daniel trips over on the water and is sucked into a vortex created by the explosion. Daniel's skin on his hand begins to come off and leaves a skeletal hand and dies a hero.

History
Danny West was first introduced in the New 52 volume of theFlash during the title's Zero Issue, set five years prior to the first issue. When Daniel was born, his mother died, making his father William feeling hatred for the boy and becoming an alcoholic. Abusing his children, Daniel eventually came to a breaking point and he pushed his father down stairs, crippling him. Afraid of what Iris will think about him, he ran away, becoming a small time crook. Danny was seen driving a getaway car before being stopped by Flash and getting arrested. Danny would then have another encounter with Flash but with him this time being out of costume, in which Barry would help the police stop Danny from escaping the prison.

Present Day
Danny would once again make an appearance five years later during theGorilla City invasion ofCentral City. Danny, having gotten out of prison early on parole, tries to reach Iris West before getting attacked by a Gorilla soldier. Danny is then seen going to Iris' apartment to find her, yet finds that it has been vacant for days after looking at the mail. Daniel vows to find her. However, he was captured by Gorilla's and was rescued by the The Rogues who wanted to rob him. Daniel was able to escape by stealing Doctor Elias's monorail car which was powered by the Speed Force, giving him the ability to turn back the time.

Becoming Reverse Flash
Daniel took the name Reverse Flash, hunting down and killing everyone who has the connection with the Speed Force in order to absorb it into himself and gain enough power to travel through time and kill his father. When Barry find out the Reverse Flash can track down the speedsters and the reason why he still did not track down Barry is because his costume stops him from tracking him down, he gave one the Iris who at the time was also connected to the Speed Force.

When The Flash came to Doctor Elias' lab, he confronted the Reverse Flash and the two speedsters started a fight. Reverse Flash took one of Doctor Elias's weapons and when he tried to kill the the Flash with it, his sister Iris came to the scene when she took the blast in Flash's place. When Daniel find out that he actually killed his sister, he used his power to absorb Flash's speed and he started to go back in time to when he was eight years old and he killed his father. However, younger versions of himself and Iris saw Daniel, calling him a monster while looking at him with fear in their eyes. When he realized his mistake, Daniel gave up his powers and the Flash absorbed all of it, going back in time and fixing the time stream. Back in the present, Iris actually survived. She ran to her brother thinking that he was possessed by something but Daniel told her that everything he wasn't possessed and when he gets another chance he will try to do it again. Iris gives up on Daniel for good.Daniel was sent back to the Iron Heights, telling Iris how he only wanted to stop his father from driving him and his sister apart. He only wanted to give them good lives they deserved. He just does not regret trying to fix everything despite the fact that he killed people. Iris just told him how everything that happened to them should make them stronger. It's Iris's past that made her what she is and it is something that nobody should take away from her. Iris claims how her brother died years ago and turns her back on Daniel for good.

Futures End
Five years from the current DC timeline Barry Allen runs off to save innocents in Peshawar, Pakistan. While back in Central City Danny West is on the loose once again to cause mayhem which let up to a tragedy that resulted in Iris West's permanent disability and Wally West's death. Daniel West killed by the future version of the FlashTwenty years in the future, Barry Allen traveled back in time to stop various tragedies he was not able stop in the past, one of which was Daniel escaping Iron Heights which led up to Wally's death. In the encounter future Flash makes Danny West realize the impact of his actions and his connection to the coming tragedy then later resolves to fix the situation by saving Iris and Wally from the eventual tragedy and killing Daniel by breaking his neck.

Suicide Squad
Some time after his incarceration Daniel was transferred from Iron Heights prison to Belle Reve Penitentiary, where Waller integrated him into the Task Force X program