The Flash: 8 Best Villains

Three and a half seasons in, who stands tall as the show's MVP of villainy?

The Flash Reverse Flash
The CW

During the second season of Arrow, Barry Allen turned up to introduce fans to a character who would soon receive a series of his own, The Flash, which marked the true birth of the Arrowverse as a multi-series franchise. Since launching in 2014, The Flash has become just as important as Arrow, if not more so, introducing countless concepts ranging from the Multiverse to time travel and a whole slew of characters that have all helped define and expand the Arrowverse.

Across three and a half seasons now, one thing that has stood out among the show's many successes has been its villains. Whether it's a hulking shark man, a telepathic gorilla, metahumans who can bend reality itself, criminals who have made due without powers of their own, or speedsters from different times and Earths, The Flash has consistently clashed with a number of antagonists from all walks of life of all different shapes and sizes that have pushed his heroism and his abilities to their limits.

Of course, some villains have always stood out more than others, either because of what they've brought to the table in terms of their power set or because of how they have affected Barry, Team Flash, and even the Arrowverse itself, and with the show's fourth season now on hiatus, let's take a look back over the show's run to spotlight 8 of the best antagonists The Flash has encountered, though be warned, as this article contains massive spoilers for both the show and the Arrowverse at large...

8. Savitar

The Flash Reverse Flash
The CW

Right off the bat, it has to be acknowledged that by the time Savitar entered the scene in season three, there was a speedster fatigue. We'd seen Team Flash go up against Reverse-Flash and Zoom already, and there's a definite argument to be made that yet another speedster big bad felt redundant, something that the fourth season has rectified by the introduction of The Thinker.

That said, despite not living up to the level of hype that his predecessors had, Savitar did bring a few new interesting things to the table, particularly with the future death of Iris by his hand giving the season a goal to work towards, with a ticking clock element that hung over the team like a specter. Even further, his mere existence represented consequence, whether it's that time remnants shouldn't be treated disposably or that Barry should keep his abilities in perspective.

Now, say what you will about how he ultimately wound up - after all we'd seen him capable of, he got taken down by a bullet from Iris - but he did leave a mark on the show, from killing HR to taking advantage of the events of Flashpoint to restore powers to people, which allowed Wally to become Kid Flash. Compared to the big bads that came before him, he didn't quite raise the bar, but his impact is something still worth acknowledging.

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Contributor

Writer, film enthusiast, part-time gamer and watcher of (mostly) good television located on the fringe of Los Angeles, who now has his own website at www.highdefgeoff.com!