He was quick to alienate and belittle Cisco, largely out of jealousy, although he did respect and get along well with Harrison Wells, whom he saw as a sort of father figure, until he was fired by the latter. Despite these negative traits of his, Hartley did care about the well-being of the people of Central City, when he realized that the particle accelerator could explode. Hartley may have shown little interest in connecting with his colleagues, but his conversations with Cisco and Caitlin in the pipeline were pointed and harsh, suggesting that he understood his colleagues well but choose not to act positively towards them. Hartley seemingly cared a great deal for his parents, Osgood and Rachel Rathaway, however when he revealed to his parents that he is gay, they rejected him and their relationship became estranged.
Publication Information
- Flash : Hartley Rathaway
- Multiverse : Earth One
- Version : The Flash 2015
- Alter Ego : Pied Piper
- Known As :
- Type :
- Relative :
- Affiliation : Rathaway's Family
- Gender : Male
- Origin : Central City, United State
- Season : The Flash
- First Appeareance : The Flash Season 1 Episod 10 : Revenge of the Rogues (Mentioned)
- Last Appeareance :
- Number of Appeareance :
- Potrayer : Andy Mientus
- Main View : Full Episod
Time at S.T.A.R. Labs
Eventually Hartley was hired by Harrison Wells at S.T.A.R. Labs, becoming his protege and favored employee, something that did not sit well with his fellow S.T.A.R. Labs co-workers, including Caitlin Snow. While he got along well with Wells, Hartley was arrogant and demanding towards his co-workers making few if any friends. He was quick to alienate himself to Cisco Ramon on his first day of work, showing outward contempt for Cisco, due to the fact he arrived to work wearing a Star Wars T-shirt and also because of Wells' praise of Cisco's skills.
The prodigal son returns
At this point Hartley sought out vengeance against Wells and S.T.A.R. Labs. His first act of vengeance was by sending Wells a warning at his home, shattering the glass windows with a sonic attack. He next attacked his family's office building, in order to draw the attention of The Flash, and be taken to S.T.A.R. Labs. There he antagonized Cisco (even naming himself "Pied Piper", much to Cisco's annoyance) and Caitlin, while snidely telling Wells he let his 'pet' know that Hartley knows Wells' deep dark secret, referring to his back-and-forth with Barry at their fight.
Search for Ronnie Raymond
Cisco talked with Hartley on his own several times, attempting to find out more about Ronnie. Hartley continued to be condescending and arrogant, but insisted that he does know how to help Ronnie and bargained to show Cisco how if only he lets him out of the cell. Eventually, Cisco's guilt regarding what happened to Ronnie during the accelerator accident drove him to do just as Hartley predicted, and release him from his cell.
Time altered
About a year later, desperate to stop Zoom but not having enough speed to do so, Barry traveled back in time to the same day he first encountered Hartley. After drugging his younger self and impersonating him, future-Barry brought Hartley back to S.T.A.R. Labs as he originally did. Knowing about Hartley's rigged hearing aids, future-Barry clued his friends about it and had them removed and replaced with non-explosive ones. Later, a time wraith appeared, forcing Cisco and Caitlin to take shelter in Hartley's cell with him.
Original timeline
Hartley is intelligent, arrogant and demanding, according to Cisco Ramon, he is both a jerk and a "big white cock" towards his co-workers making very few friends. He was quick to alienate and belittle Cisco, largely out of jealousy, although he did respect and get along well with Harrison Wells, whom he saw as a sort of father figure, until he was fired by the latter. Despite these negative traits of his, Hartley did care about the well-being of the people of Central City, when he realized that the particle accelerator could explode.
Current timeline
When Barry Allen altered the timeline, Hartley became much kinder, seeming more stable and less troubled and on civil terms with Team Flash, occasionally helping them with a problem that can use his expertise although he is not a regular presence in the lab. Hartley's parents Osgood and Rachel, made amends with him, as he is now on good terms with them again.
As Pied Piper
Abilities
- Meta-human physiology : After Hartley was struck by the energy of the Particle Accelerator explosion, this altered his DNA and supercharged his cells, augmenting his physiology to enhance his ears.
- Superhuman hearing : After surviving the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion, Hartley gained the power of superhuman hearing. It allows him to hear far better than a normal human. He is also able to hear radio waves and distinguish their frequencies.
- Expert computer hacker : Hartley is a capable computer hacker, he was able to hack into the computers from S.T.A.R. Labs to create a means in which to kill the Flash; that matches Barry Allen's speed frequency.
- Expert tactician : Hartley possesses a keen, tactical mind. He is also good at keeping his enemies guessing what the endgame is until it is too late.
- Genius-level intellect : Hartley is a genius of the highest caliber and is described by Eobard Thawne, impersonating Harrison Wells, as one of the most brilliant minds he has ever met.
- Hand-to-hand combatant : While unknown to what degree, Hartley is aggressive in a fight. Despite being handcuffed at the time, Hartley was able to fight off Cisco and initially escape his captor before Cisco activated a rigged setting on Hartley's earpieces.
- Master engineer : Hartley is skilled enough in engineering to make a pair of sonic gloves from scratch.
- Multilingual : Hartley is capable of fluently speaking, at least six languages including English, French, Spanish, Latin, and Japanese.
- Vulnerable eardrum : Because Hartley's hearing is so powerful, he can be overwhelmed by even the most basic sounds.
- Hearing aids : Hartley's implanted hearing aids double as smaller sonic devices, capable of emitting bursts of sonic vibrations once removed.
- Sonic Gloves : Hartley possessed a pair of gloves that were able to emit sonic vibrations. At their lowest setting they could shatter glass, while at their highest setting they could bring down an entire office building.
