Over the course of its six-season run, The CW’s The Flash has introduced viewers to dozens of memorable characters. However, there’s one face that seems to keep appearing over, and over, and over, and over again.
Since we first met Dr. Harrison Wells all the way back in the show’s pilot, viewers of The Flash have been introduced to fifteen different incarnations of the same character, thanks to time travel, face stealing, and interdimensional mayhem. While all of them are tall, dark, and handsome, each individual Wells brought his own unique quirks and qualities to the table, resulting in some being much better characters than others.
After all, not all Wellses are created equal. So, in celebration of the majesty that is Harrison Wells, I’ve decided to take a crack at ranking every incarnation of the character that we’ve seen on The Flash. Although everyone has their favorites, only one Wells can prevail, and it’s going to be a tight race. So, without further ado, here are all 15 Harrison Wellses, ranked.
15. Mime/French Harrison Wells (Earth Unknown)
Someone had to come in last, and unfortunately, it was the French-speaking Harrison Wells from an unknown Earth. Although he seems like a nice enough guy, his appearance was brief, and there wasn’t even dialogue to judge him on, given that he only speaks French. In the words of Earth-2 Harrison Wells, “You can’t trust a mime.”
14. Hells Wells (Earth Unknown)
Only a step up from the unnamed French Wells, “Hells Wells” is a cowboy from an unnamed Earth whose only discernible character trait is that he apparently has a weak stomach. He makes a single brief appearance when Team Flash is attempting to recruit another wells, and though he was able to crack the riddle, he doesn’t seem like the kind of person you’d want to keep around for too long. According to him, he’s called “Hells Wells” because of his past, but he doesn’t want to get into that, so neither will I.
13. Wells the Grey (Earth-13)
A seemingly mystical wizard from Earth-13, Wells the Grey makes a brief (albeit charismatic) appearance when the Council of Wells is first introduced. Although he seems like he has a lot to bring to the party, he’s deemed to be a “bad connection” by the other Wellses, and promptly shut down before we can really get to know him, which is a shame, because it might’ve been pretty helpful to have a real-life wizard on Team Flash.
12. Wells 2.0 (Earth-22)
The lowest-ranking member of the infamous Council of Wells, Wells 2.0 is a part-man part-machine hybrid who lives in a post-apocalyptic future where creatures known as “reapers” stalk the Earth and raid gasoline stockpiles. Although his background is pretty hardcore and his outfit is dope, I don’t want to rank someone who openly admitted to cannibalizing his Earth’s Cisco too high on this list, so here he sits at number 12.
11. Harrison “Sonny” Wells (Earth-24)
After being kicked out of the original Council of Wells, Harrison “Sonny” Wells became a member of the aptly named “Emotionally Astute Council of Wells.” Donning a tracksuit and talking with a heavy accent, Sonny seems like he’d be more at home with the cast of Jersey Shore than fighting crime alongside Barry. While his personal motto may be “Be kind, rewind,” I don’t trust anybody who wears sunglasses indoors just because they can.
Additionally, he was apparently so difficult to work with that he was kicked off of the O.G. Council of Wells, so even though he does give Harry some pretty good emotional advice, he’s still ranked towards the bottom half of the list.
10. Steampunk Harrison Wells (Earth-17)
This entry may admittedly be due to some personal biases towards men in steampunk outfits with British accents, but Steampunk Harrison Wells from Earth-17 takes the number 10 spot. I honestly don’t know what threw Team Flash off about him, given that he seemed like a friendly and intelligent guy (maybe it was the Edwardian vocabulary?), but nonetheless, he made a very short but sweet appearance after solving the multiverse riddle intended to recruit Wellses.
I would’ve liked to have seen much more of this Steampunk Wells, but even Cisco called him a nerd, so at number ten he goes.
9. Harrison “H.P.” Wells (Earth-25)
Another French incarnation of Wells, H.P. Wells is an emotionally available poet hailing from Earth-25. Not only is he a snappy dresser, but he also apparently values the power of talking through one’s feelings, so I have to give him points for his sound self-reflection advice. However, he is also a member of the “Emotionally Astute Council of Wells”, meaning he too was deemed not good enough for the original council. I’d like to rank him higher on this list because he does seem like a genuinely good guy, but he only makes on appearance, and thus there isn’t much more for me to justify putting him any higher than ninth.
8. H. Lothario Wells (Earth-47)
I have some pretty conflicted feelings about H. Lothario Wells, who is portrayed as a Hugh Hefner-type billionaire/playboy/mogul/publishing tycoon. On the one hand, he was not only intelligent enough to be a member of the Council of Wells, but also apparently emotionally intelligent enough to also participate in the “Emotionally Astute Council of Wells.” On the other hand, though, he seems to be something of a sleazy womanizer, and something about the combination of his accent and his weird facial hair gives me the creeps.
Nonetheless, he’s an entertaining character and has appeared in multiple episodes, which earns him a spot in the top eight.
7. Harrison Wolfgang Wells (Earth-12)
The highest-ranking member of the Council of Wells on my list, Harrison Wolfgang Wells was a German scientist who apparently also authored a book titled “Everything is Meaningless so Why Did I Buy This Book?” In addition to being a nihilist and an acclaimed author, Wolfgang also holds four PhDs and has assisted Team Flash on more occasions than any other one-off Wells.
He earns additional points for the fact that he dresses like a ’60s beatnik poet and called Iris a “classic beauty,” because any man who shows Iris West the respect and reverence she deserves gets to be high up on my list.
6. Harrison “Sherloque” Wells (Earth-221)
Sherloque was the main Wells for season five, and on the whole, he is my least favorite of the season-long Wellses. A French detective hailing from Earth-221 and getting much of his personality from Sherlock Holmes, Sherloque was particularly unhelpful and at times even cruel to members of Team Flash during the early episodes of his introduction, and unlike some other Wellses on this list, he never really made up for it.
True, his detective skills did come in handy on more than one occasion, but he seemed to be helping the team to advance his own self interests as opposed to out of the goodness of his heart. Although many incarnations of Harrison Wells are smug and self-assured, Sherloque was a pretty irredeemable jerk, but not in a significant or interesting enough way for him to be a true villain.
He also spilled the beans on Nora’s secret to Team Flash, which was a pretty terrible move. Overall, although he did (infrequently) have his moments, Sherloque was my least favorite of the major Wellses, and thus ranks sixth.
5. Original Harrison Wells (Earth-1)
We don’t get to see him very often, but the original Harrison Wells seemed like a pretty great guy. A devoted husband and a passionate inventor, Harrison Wells was responsible for the creation of S.T.A.R. Labs and the particle accelerator, before, of course, he was murdered and replaced by Eobard Thawne. Before his death, he had plans to develop laboratories that were unconnected to both the government and business interests, making him a true philanthropist and champion for the sciences. He also seemed to have a genuine and deep love for his wife, Tess, so it’s a tragedy that his life was cut short before his vision could be fully realized.
4. Harrison “H.R.” Wells (Earth-19)
The only Harrison Wells to have seemingly no aptitude for science or engineering, H.R. wells was an author from Earth-19 who functioned as the main Wells for season 3. Although he originally lied about being able to solve the cryptogram puzzle sent out by Team Flash, he eventually redeemed himself over the course of the season by proving a useful ally and a good friend to several members of Team Flash.
H.R. was one of the few people to encourage Wally during his time on the show, which was a stark contrast to most of the other Wellses, who have typically been self-centered and standoffish to others. On the contrary, H.R. was probably the most warm and caring of the main Wellses, which made his heroic sacrifice at the end of season 3 all more saddening. All of that being said, however, I did find him a little annoying and useless from time to time, which is why he comes in fourth on my list.
3. Harrison Nash Wells (Earth Unknown)
I know, I know, this is a pretty premature entry. After all, Harrison Nash Wells has only been in three episodes so far, but I’m pretty confident that (unless his character takes a major detour) he’ll shape up to be one of my favorite versions of Harrison Wells. An Indiana Jones-esque dimension-hopping geologist/mythbuster from an unknown Earth, Nash is probably the closest The Flash has gotten to making a Wells an actual superhero.
With an arsenal full of high-tech gadgets and a taste for adventure, Nash has been one of the highlights of season six. He’s a refreshing addition to the current Team Flash roster, and his shady past and unique abilities make him a valuable and intriguing member of the team. He’s also already gotten several members of Team Flash out of tight spots on multiple occasions, so I don’t think it’s jumping the gun to put Nash Wells in the top three.
2. Eobard Thawne (22nd century Earth-1)
Taking the runner-up spot on my Wells ranking is the man who started it all, Eobard Thawne. Hell-bent on seeking out and destroying the Flash at any cost, Eobard Thawne traveled back in time, murdered the original Harrison Wells, and successfully assumed his identity for more than ten years. If that’s not hardcore, I don’t know what is.
But it’s not just his ability for camouflage that makes him such a great character; he was also the most interesting and multifaceted mainstay during season one. He perfectly assumed the role of the mysterious and wise mentor to Barry, and over time, he became relatable and even sympathetic, which made the big reveal of his true identity all the more impactful
Although I’m not a huge fan of his appearances on Legends of Tomorrow, Eobard Thawne defined what most people think of when they hear the name “Harrison Wells,” and for that, he deserves a lot of credit. All of that being said, however, there’s still one last Wells who blows all the others out of the water.
1. Harrsion “Harry” Wells (Earth-2)
Ah, Harry Wells. Where do I begin with my love of this character? When he was first introduced, Harry was something of a wildcard to both Team Flash and the audience. After all, he had the same face (and similar temperament) of the man who betrayed them and murdered Barry’s mom, but over the course of multiple seasons, Harry proved time and again that he was so much more than just a doppelgänger.
With his genius-level intellect, razor sharp wit, and a secret heart of gold underneath his scruffy exterior, Harry wormed his way into my heart time and again with his sarcastic bickering with Cisco and his loving relationship with Jesse. Harry had some pretty major shoes to fill after the departure of Eobard Thawne, but he ended up becoming one of the best characters on the entire show. Although it was sad to see him struggle near the end of his run on The Flash after slowly having his intelligence taken away, there’s pretty much nothing anybody can do to convince me that Earth-2 Harrison Wells is not the best incarnation of the character to ever appear on the show.
(images: The CW)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
Published: Nov 14, 2019 11:02 am