Silver Age Flash Enemies
The Silver Age Flash enemies all lived on Earth-One and started out as enemies of the second Flash, Barry Allen, as well as the third Flash, Wally West, and the fourth, Bart Allen, after the death of Barry Allen. The Silver Age is when some enemies started to use the name Rogues. Originally, the Rogues were just a few of the Flash's enemies teaming together, but since then they have formed a lasting team, and usually a Rogue will not commit a crime by himself. The original eight Rogues were Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Heat Wave, Weather Wizard, the Trickster, Pied Piper, the Top, and Captain Boomerang. The current incarnation of the Rogues includes Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Heat Wave, the second Mirror Master, and the new Trickster.
In chronological order (with issue and date of first appearance):
| Villain | First appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mazdan | Showcase #4 (October 1956) | A criminal from the 38th century, who the authorities decide to exile to the 50th century when Earth is desolate. He is accidentally sent to the 20th century and tries to steal equipment needed to repair his Time Capsule, such as gold to coat it, and get back to the future to exact revenge, using advanced heat-based weapons. The Flash discovers this and captures Mazdan, who escapes using a contact lens that fires lasers and a "magnetic rod" that focuses heat; the Flash discovers that if Mazdan escapes using his Time Capsule, it will destroy everything within a radius of at least ten miles, killing thousands. He uses his superspeed to break through the time barrier with Mazdan, who oddly enough does not die from the friction and returns to the 38th century. The authorities say they will make sure next time the Time Capsule reaches the 50th century and the Flash returns to his own time. Mazdan later escapes to the 20th century and uses a mind-affecting hallucinatory weapon to cause trouble for the Flash, but is beaten again and returned to prison. |
| Brain | Showcase #5 | A trio of identical brothers who commit crimes while the city has been distracted by three giant boxes they have placed in each other after a fog has descended on the city, which the authorities try to open. Flash jails the first two as they attempt robberies with clever tricks, like a tightrope whih the first one cuts and spring-heeled shoes, and jails the last one when he attempts a bank robbery by draining his live wire suit with which he intended to break his brothers out with silver. It is then revealed the last box led into the bank vault. |
| Bretans | The Flash #119 (March 1961) | A fish-like undersea race that kidnaps humans to work as slaves. After the Elongated Man disappears while skin-diving on his honeymoon, Flash is called by his wife, and reveals other skin-divers have disappeared around here, but he is knocked out with a blast and captured himself. He finds himself in a tank, where skin-divers are fished out and become the slave of the fisherman that captures them. The weakened Flash is captured while trying to get food and forced to work building a house in the city of Breta, and finds the blow that captured the Elongated Man has made him lose his memory. He restores it by making him use his power, and together they defeat the Bretans, who agree to never again kidnap humans and return them. |
| Captain Cold | Showcase #8 (June 1957) | Len Snart was a criminal who wanted a chance to get rid of the Flash. Seeing an article about a weapon that might disrupt the Flash's Speed, Snart made a gun and exposed it to radiations. However due to the fact Snart was not experienced in the use of the device and activated it wrongly, instead of slowing the Flash down, the gun could freeze anything to absolute zero, which he discovered when he accidentally used it on a watchman. Calling himself Captain Cold, Snart started out on a criminal career. He is considered to be the arch-nemesis of both Barry Allen and Wally West, and the leader of the Rogues. Known for being a sympathetic villain, Cold has a sense of honor. Cold has strict rules on how the rogues should act, such as no drugs and to not kill unless they have to. He also has a sense of loyalty to his team and watches out for them. |
| Cloud Creatures | The Flash #111 | Sentinent, cloud like creatures which emerge from underground to take over the world and can project lightning. The Flash notices each has a dark spot on them, and realises striking it will destroy the cloud. He skims over normal clouds and is able to dissipitate the invaders, turning them to rain. |
| Doctor Alchemy | Showcase #14 (June 1958) | Albert Desmond suffered from a split personality, one a good person and the other evil. Originally calling himself Mr. Element and using element-themed devices before being captured by the Flash, he changed it to Dr. Alchemy when he found the philosopher's stone which could transmute elements after hearing of it from a cellmate, and was able to transmute elements, although the effects only lasted for about 20 minutes. Soon it was found out that there were two Desmonds, Albert, the good one and Alvin, the bad, and that they shared a mental link. Alvin was destroyed, but Albert became Dr. Alchemy again. |
| Dokris | The Flash vol 1 #125 | Dokris were a species of green-skinned aliens who briefly conquered Earth in the year 2287. Under the leadership of Mynher, they sent a hive to the distant past, 100,842,246 BC, which robbed Earth's minerals of all its radioactivity. This in turn caused the atomic weapons of humanity to deactivate. In the first use of the Cosmic treadmill, Kid Flash went to the past to destroy the hive, and Flash to the Future to battle the aliens so they didn't wipe out humanity. He is knocked out by a radiation gun and taken captive, and Kid Flash is stung by a giant insect in the past. Finally he is given an antidote by half man half bird beings. He destroys the hive, causing the weapons of the Future to work again, meaning the aliens are defeated. |
| Maugites | The Flash vol 1 #109 | Undersea superfast creatures that resseamble black fish with limbs and attack another race, the Saremites. The Flash finds out about the Saremites from an astronaut who was saved when his capsule fell into the sea by the Muagites, and defeats a horde of them. By the end the Saremites are making weapons, having been shown the Maugites can be defeated. |
| Mirror Master | The Flash #105 (March 1959) | While working in a prison workshop, Sam Scudder accidentally stumbled upon a mirror that could project holograms. When he escaped, he made more mirror gadgets, and became the Mirror Master. He has created many different mirrors that can do various things like travel into other dimensions. He was killed during Crisis on Infinite Earths, however there have been others. |
| Gorilla Grodd | The Flash #106 (May 1959) | Grodd was an inhabitant of Gorilla City, a peaceful society of super-intelligent Gorillas of which Grodd was the only evil one. A mastermind in his early years with vast mental powers, he has become more savage and stronger recently, to the point where he wants to "feast on the bones" of the Flash. |
| The Pied Piper | The Flash #106 (May 1959) | Hartley Rathaway was born deaf, but was cured after his rich parents sought a way to make him hear. Once he could hear, he became obsessed with music and sound, and made many sound based weapons. Originally a criminal, he reformed and came out as being gay the same time. He became a friend of Wally West, even when the Top revealed he had changed the personality of some of the rogues (Piper included) to make them reform; Piper was able to fight off the Top and stay good. |
| Weather Wizard | The Flash #110 (December 1959/January 1960) | Mark Mardon escaped from prison to his brother's house. His brother had just made a wand that could control the weather. Mark wanted the weapon and he and his brother got into a fight, and his brother was killed (although Mardon said he was dead when he got there, he has told the truth to Captain Cold). He had an infant son who was adopted by Iris West, but was later killed by Inertia. |
| The Trickster | The Flash #113 (June/July 1960) | James Jesse, a circus performer who came from a family of trapeze artists, invented shoes that used compressed air to "walk" on air, originally using them for tight-rope walking. Inspired by Jesse James, James made other weapons and became the Trickster, robbing planes until Flash tracked him down in the circus. He was captured, but became a member of the Rogues. Once reformed, but it was revealed that was because the Top made it so, and he returned to the rogues, but contemplated whether to be a hero or a villain. He was killed in Countdown to Final Crisis. |
| Captain Boomerang | The Flash #117 (December 1960) | Digger Harkness was a master of boomerangs which he learned how to use in the Outback. When a mascot was needed for a boomerang company, Harkness was hired, but used the costume and boomerangs to commit crimes and he had many trick boomerangs. Originally he pretended someone else was using his identity to trick Flash, but finally the deception was revealed. He once impersonated the Mirror Boomerang. Harkness was killed during Identity Crisis, but also killed Jack Drake before he died. Harkness has a son, Owen, who became a hero after a brief stint with the rogues. |
| The Top | The Flash #122 (August 1961) | Roscoe Dillon used many top themed weapons to commit crimes, eventually learning how to spin himself at great speeds, increasing his intelligence and allowing him to deflect bullets. Although he died, Dillon's mind was so powerful that it took over the minds of many people to keep on living, including Henry Allen and a senator, whose body was reformed by Dillon to look like his original body. He was later killed again by Captain Cold when Dillon tried to take over the rogues during "Rogue War". During this time it was revealed that Dillon had made some of the rogues reform, and during the war, he made them criminals again. He was also a victim of the JLA mind wipes; he was made a good person and overpowered it and changed back. |
| Abra Kadabra | The Flash #128 (May 1962) | A magician from the 64th century who was exiled from his time peroid for crimes and used his technology to pose as a magician. Originally separate from the Rogues, he recently began joining forces with them occasionally. |
| Professor Zoom | The Flash #139 (September 1963) | Eobard Thawne is a speedster from the 25th century, who occasionally used the alias Adrian Zoom. He was a fan of the Flash, and gained his powers, but went insane on discovering he would become a villain. Once just a simple villain, he became more known when he killed Barry Allen's wife Iris Allen (although her consciousness was transported to the 30th century at the last possible instant). Later, when Barry was about to remarry, Zoom tried to kill his bride, but, in a fit of rage, Barry killed Zoom by breaking his neck, thus putting the Flash on trial for murder where he was found guilty. He was returned to life, and is behind Flashpoint (comics). |
| Heat Wave | The Flash #140 (November 1963) | Mick Rory is obsessed with heat, and at a young age, burned down his house, killing his family. He then made a heat gun and used fire to rob and kill. Rory was one of the rogues the Top made reform, and when that was taken away, Rory became a rogue again. Even during his redeemed life, his mind was already starting to turn to crime. |
| Golden Glider | The Flash #250 (June 1977) | Lisa Snart, the sister of Len Snart (Captain Cold), did not want to be a villain, but when her lover, the Top died, she swore revenge on the Flash. Using sharp ice skates which made ice, she battled the Flash, and got the approval or her brother. She was killed by Chill Blaine, a villain whom she gave ice powers to. Captain Cold has since gotten revenge by killing Chill Blaine. |
| Clive Yorkin | The Flash #270 (February 1979) | Clive Yorkin, a criminal spending life in prison, agreed to take part in a prison experiment. The experiment went wrong, and it drove him mad and able to kill someone by touching them. It was thought he killed Iris West, but he was innocent, the real culprit being the Reverse Flash. |
| Steve Palmer | The Flash #118 | An actor who has been hired to play the Flash, but plans to eliminate him and impersonate him, hiring out his image to companies. He causes dangerous events on set, causing the Flash to take his place to find out who is behind it. The Flash evades a mine cave-in, but is knocked out from behind by Palmer and tied up. Palmer reveals his plan, and his henchmen are about to shoot the Flash, when Iris West rings the doorbell on the trailer, giving the Flash enough time to vibrate free of his bonds, and defeat the crooks. |
| Katmos | The Flash #105 (March 1959) | Katmos is the sole survivor and former ruler of an iron-based race that ruled the Earth 8 million years ago until nearly all of them were wiped out by a comet. When an archaeologist frees Katmos after he takes control of their mind, he uses his mind control gun on the archaeologist to further his power. Deciding to take over the world, Katmos begins stealing devices he needs in order to do so with his great strength, attracting the attention of the Flash.
Finding Katmos when he is testing his device, the fastest man alive battles the prehistoric humanoid, but is captured with the mind control gun and sealed in a tube that once under the direct light of the sun will make the Flash 1,000 times heavier than normal. Katmos meanwhile tells the Flash of his origins before leaving. The Flash manages to break out of the tube by bouncing out of the cavern into the sky and crashing onto the ground. The Flash then quickly knocks out Katmos and turns him over to the police. |
| Rainbow Raider | The Flash #286 (June 1980) | A color blind painter, Roy G. Bivolo had true talent in composition and detail, but lack of ability to see color made his work unpopular. His father made a pair of goggles for him that could project colors on a person; each color represented a different mood. Roy became a criminal who stole paintings and joined the Rogues. He was later killed by Blacksmith. |
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Famous quotes containing the words silver, age, flash and/or enemies:
“By right or wrong,
Lands and goods go to the strong.
Property will brutely draw
Still to the proprietor;
Silver to silver creep and wind,
And kind to kind.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The higher the mountain on which you stand, the less change in the prospect from year to year, from age to age. Above a certain height there is no change.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“New ideas come into this world somewhat like falling meteors, with a flash and an explosion, and perhaps somebody’s castle-roof perforated.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The terrifying message of gay liberation is that men are capable of loving their brothers. It should be sweet news to every woman in the world, for, if the capacity of men to love whom they have been taught to treat as competitors and enemies can transcend their education, the world can begin to heal.”
—Jane Rule (b. 1931)