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| As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
It breaks my heart that you'll never understand that our past is what makes me who I am. I don't ever want to change that. 
- — Iris West src
History
Origin
Iris West is the sister of Daniel West. Her mother died giving birth to her younger brother Daniel, which their father William blamed him for. Her father became an abusive alcoholic, whom Daniel eventually crippled when he pushed their father down the stairs. Her brother then ran away, leaving Iris with their paraplegic father. While Daniel eventually returned to try and mend his relationship with Iris, Daniel had been involved with a stickup crew and was eventually sent to prison after being stopped by The Flash.
Iris spent most of her life in the Gem Cities—growing up in Central City and attending college in Keystone City.
Later years
Iris eventually became a reporter. Interning momentarily at Gotham City's Gotham Gazette[1], where she first met and worked with Barry Allen, Iris eventually moved to and found a career at Central City. During the course of her career, she has had multiple run-ins with Barry, being a forensic scientist of the Central City Police Department, and his alter-ego, The Flash, whom Iris has been trying to write an exposé about. When they first parted ways at Gotham, Iris and Barry kissed. Some time later at Central City, Iris asked Barry out; however, their first date ended abruptly when Barry, seeing her with papers on Daniel's case, suspected her of only asking him out so he could help her. Iris continued flirting with Barry though, even years after their failure of a first date.
When Central City was attacked by the angry, super-powered Captain Cold, Iris, along with three other civilians, were sent to the Speed Force because of a portal opened that resulted from the Flash restraining his own powers. They were there for months and were even proclaimed dead, along with Barry, until the Flash returned and found them there. He then promptly returned them to Central City.
When the Reverse-Flash appeared and began killing off individuals touched by the Speed Force, Iris and Barry worried about each other. Being the last two targets left, Barry, as the Flash, gave Iris an outfit made of the materials similar to his that would make her undetectable to their mysterious hunter. Although for a while they all thought that Iris and Barry did not manifest powers from the Speed Force, she did, unbeknownst to her initially. When she found out that Daniel was Reverse-Flash, she rushed over to him and the Flash right before he struck the Flash with Dr. Darwin Elias' speed force extractor. Covering the Flash, Iris was hit with the beam, shocking Daniel, who then went on with his plan to go back in time to kill their father. Before they disappeared, Iris asked Flash to not hurt Daniel.
When Daniel and the Flash returned, Iris welcomed and held her brother, albeit calling him out for killing people. Iris permanently lost her powers, and Daniel was sent back to Iron Heights. Much to her disappointment, Daniel continued to defend his actions. Disappointed and surprised at what her brother was capable of and his lack of understanding of their situation, she turned her back on Daniel again, for good.
Notes
- Iris West was created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, first appearing in Showcase #4. However, in the rebooted Prime Earth continuity her first appearance as part of the DC Universe is in Francis Manapul and Brian Buccelato's New 52 Flash series.
Related
- 176 Appearances of Iris West (Prime Earth)
- 43 Images featuring Iris West (Prime Earth)
- 13 Quotations by or about Iris West (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Iris West (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ Flash (Volume 4) #25