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"I'm not gonna lie to you. This...little toy, usually leaves the subject well dead. But I've adjusted it so that you should just feel a little pain...in theory."
Eobard Thawne to Martin Stein[src]

The appearance-stealing cord is a highly advanced piece of technology that allows Eobard Thawne to steal someone else's physical appearance and, apparently, memories.

Overview[]

The device originally worked with one end of the device's cords into one individual and another end into another individual, resulting the latter acclimating the former's likeness on a genetic level. Unfortunately, the host individual is turned into a decayed, featureless corpse while the acclimated individual gets morphed into this new likeness.[1] The acclimated individual's likeness is seemingly permanent.

A modified version of the device works the same way yet has one individual temporarily take the other individual's likeness. While changed to be nonlethal, the host individual is still caused extreme pain, and the acclimated individual can potentially return to their original likeness.[2]

History[]

"You see...they're not coming to save you. They're coming...to save me."
Eobard Thawne to Harrison Wells[src]
Eobard kills Wells

Eobard Thawne using the appearance-stealing device to obtain Harrison Wells's appearance.

After time-traveling to the year 2000 and failing to kill Barry Allen as well as being stranded in the time period, Eobard stalked Harrison Wells and Tess Morgan. After causing the couple's car crash which killed Tess, Eobard stuck one end of the device's cord into Harrison and another end into himself. As Harrison began to corrode, Eobard slowly morphed, taking on his victim's appearance[1] and memories.[3] Afterwards, Eobard proceeded to masquerade as Wells for nearly fifteen years until his ancestor Eddie Thawne committed suicide, which reverted Eobard's likeness to his true form before he was erased from existence.[4]

While allying himself with other villains, Eobard used the modified device to temporarily take on the appearances of Martin Stein and John Swigert. While the modified version was nonlethal, it still caused Martin extreme pain. Eobard masqueraded as Stein to infiltrate the Waverider but later vibrated his body fast enough to revert the change.[2] To infiltrate Apollo-13, Eobard used the device to take Swigert's place as one of the crew members. After tranquilizing the other two astronauts, Eobard reversed the device's effects to resume his normal appearance.[5]

Eobard resurfaced with Wells's likeness once more, acknowledging his face when Barry mentioned it and saying "I thought I'd put it on again," implying he used the device.[6] However, it's unknown if he used Wells' genetic code he'd acquired previously or if he had to use the device on another Harrison Wells doppelgänger.

Despite keeping Wells's face and voice while imprisoned at Iron Heights, Eobard's hair partially reverted to its natural color. This was later confirmed to be due to Cicada's dagger negating his powers to retain his Wells likeness, as his hair became darker once the dagger was gone.[7]

Known users[]

Known victims[]

Appearances[]

Arrow[]

Season 6[]

The Flash[]

Season 1[]

DC's Legends of Tomorrow[]

Season 2[]

Trivia[]

  • In a deleted scene from "Fast Enough", Eobard revealed to Joe West that the device also steals its victim's memories and emotions. This caused him to become "teary-eyed" over Tess Morgan despite having never met her and having been the one who killed her.
  • Eobard's clothes didn't alter the second time he reverted to his true form after when using the modified device.[5] However, the first time shows Eobard vibrating his body fast enough to revert the change, changing the clothes he wore.[2] It's possible that this was because a speedster could vibrate clothing into something different.
    • It's also worth noting that after his first time he seemed to be able to revert to his true form at will, while he did so the second time by pressing a button on the device.
    • Additionally, Eobard has been seen to do the opposite, seemingly using his speedster abilities or physiology to strengthen his Wells disguise in "Legacy".
  • Andrew Kreisberg, who wrote "Tricksters", said in regards to this device, "We're calling it genetic camouflage," and it worked in such a way that Eobard "rewrote his DNA to match Wells'."[8]

References[]

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