Hello, I love your blog 😊
What do you think are necessary elements to writing Wally West in your opinion?
Like things that must happen or character traits and flaws of his
Gosh, I was about to say you should ask a “better” fan, but I guess I have read a pretty good chunk of his appearances. Like I’ve done all of his team book appearances and all of his post-Crisis Flash runs. So I might be helpful?
The thing I’ve found with Wally is that he’s a lot more like Dick than people act. I called it out here, but it’s really true. He’s kind, altruistic, optimistic, impossibly loving, and all of those wonderful good things, but just as what happens to any well-written character, their best traits often come back to bite them.
For one, he’s a perfectionist with an Atlas complex. There’s this thing in Waid’s run where Wally is put on trial for a woman being burned, and he confesses that he “never had to choose” between lives before. He still struggles to do so to this day, because he is simply so powerful in his own right that he struggles in instances where he is not all-powerful. He pushes and pushes until he can’t, and then continues pushing more. He does not believe he is allowed to fail.
Not only does that weigh on him, but his belief in his power and his responsibility can become outright arrogance, at least until he’s reminded of his own limitations and his humanity. He’s known to keep secrets because he believes he can handle things alone, or that he should, or even that other people are not capable of helping him and would instead hinder, or be put in harms way. This also extends to his persona, where he is performatively lighthearted at times because he feels it part of the obligation when playing the hero. It’s that admirable altruism sometimes turning into an “I know best” mindset.
Wally is also easily jealous, especially when it comes to loved ones. Like, jealous jealous. Petty jealous. Opining jealous. All kinds of jealous. Barry and Linda are probably the two biggest sources of this.
There are other ones I’m probably missing, but as far as character flaws go, I think these are the big ones. I welcome any additions or addendums from others!
