1. Fictional character biography

2. Powers and abilities
    Equipment 

3. In other media

4. References

5. External links

Multiple versions of Cicada appear in season five of The Flash, portrayed by Chris Klein and Sarah Carter while David Hersch appears as a separate character, portrayed by Chris Webb.

Fictional character biography

Born in 1890, David Hersch was an architect and preacher at St. John's Catholic Church, though prone to paranoid, violent outbursts that often took the form of physical abuse of his wife Elizabeth Hersch. After murdering his wife, Hersch (sick with regret) sought to end his own life, when he was struck by a bolt of lightning. He discovered that he had gained the ability to absorb the life-force of others, extending his life-span almost a century. He believed the accident was the same as the Flash's and that they should be linked. The lightning bolt gave him a vision of his own immortality and foretold his wife's resurrection.

Over the subsequent years he operated as the cult leader "Cicada", accumulating many followers planning for the day he would resurrect his wife. Cicada's cult followers were dedicated to use lightning bolt shaped daggers to murder every one that the Flash has ever saved. He teams up with Magenta and manages to kidnap the Flash. Cicada reveals to Wally West that his wife was murdered and he was struck by lightning. Cicada saw a vision that he was destined to live on, together with his wife. By taking the energy left over from all the people the Flash has saved and from the Flash himself, Cicada succeeded in bringing his wife back from the dead. However, Elizabeth revealed being murdered by Cicada. Cicada denied this and killed his wife yet again by absorbing Elizabeth's energy through a kiss. He was eventually stopped by the Flash and Detective Jared Morillo and Officer Fred Chyre, though not before he managed to slash Morillo with his knife. This gave Morillo the ability to heal rapidly from any injury, similar to Cicada's own.^[2]

Cicada was put on death row in Iron Heights pending confirmation by S.T.A.R. Labs that he could even be killed in the first place, but escaped during Gorilla Grodd's jailbreak.^[3]

Cicada later appeared at Captain Boomerang's funeral and accepted an invitation to join Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s Secret Society of Super-Villains during the "Infinite Crisis" storyline.^[4]

During the "Salvation Run" storyline, Cicada is one of the various super criminals sent to the penal colony on the planet Cygnus 4019, which has been nicknamed Salvation.^[5]

Powers and abilities

Cicada has the ability to steal the life-force of other living beings and use it to prolong his own life and regenerate physical damage. Cicada is an immortal and cannot die.

Equipment

He carries a hilted blade capable of absorbing the life force of its victims in order to resurrect the dead

In other media

Multiple versions of Cicada appear in season five of The CW's The Flash.

• Chris Klein portrays Orlin Dwyer,^[6] a lower middle-class individual who gets his abilities and lightning-shaped dagger when he is struck by a fragment of the Thinker's exploding satellite. His powers include super-strength, a high tolerance for pain, impressive fighting skills, and telekinetic control over his dagger, while the dagger itself is able to nullify most metahumans' powers. Throughout the series, he is seen killing metahumans and fighting Team Flash as part of a vendetta. The same night he got his powers, his niece Grace Gibbons (portrayed by Islie Hirvonen) was put into a coma after a tiny fragment of the satellite embedded itself in her brain; with Dr. Vanessa Ambres watching over and providing clandestine assistance to Dwyer. This combined with losing his sister and brother-in-law (Grace's parents) in a separate metahuman incident, caused him to develop an anti-metahuman sentiment and make a vow to exterminate them all; including himself once he is finished. When Nora West-Allen enters Grace's brain to persuade her to talk her uncle down, it is discovered that Grace is consciously aware of what has been happening despite her comatose state and now shares her uncle's hatred of all metahumans. After S.T.A.R. Labs develops a metahuman cure, Barry Allen successfully convinces Dwyer to take it, as it could also be used to cure Grace, who is revealed to be a metahuman. However, an adult iteration of Grace Gibbons (portrayed by Sarah Carter) from a possible future appears in the present as a new version of Cicada. After Orlin is depowered, she attacks S.T.A.R. Labs, immobilizes Team Flash, kills Dr. Ambres, and makes off with her uncle. With the shard implanted in her head, she gains control of her uncle's dagger, though she is also shown to be able to project energy blasts from her bare hands. Grace has traveled back in time from a future where metahumans thrive to complete what she believes is still her uncle's mission; even going so far as to target the meta who killed her parents. When Orlin shows that he has had a change of heart and tries to get his niece to abandon her plan, Grace kills him.
  • Chris Webb portrays David Hersch in season five's "The Death of Vibe".^[7] In the original timeline, Hersch became Cicada and someone that The Flash, Green Arrow, Supergirl and the Legends all failed to catch. In fact, Hersch exists as Cicada across the multiverse, with Sherloque Wells having captured him on 37 different Earths. In regards to Earth-1 however, XS inadvertently altered its timeline, causing Dwyer to become Cicada instead while Hersch becomes a serial bomber.

References

External links

• Hyperborea entry for Cicada
• Crimson Lightning – An online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.

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