CHARACTER STUDIES - THE MANY LIVES OF HARRISON WELLS

The "Arrowverse" is the Toobworld which contains the shows 'Arrow', 'The Flash', and technically 'Legends of Tomorrow'.  The DC Comics shows on the CW celebrate the idea of a Multiverse and there's no better personification of it than in Harrison Wells, the scientific wunderkind who started S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City.

The Original Harrison Wells was dead before the series 'The Flash' even began.  He was killed by a time traveling scientist from the Future, Eobard Thawne, who replaced Wells as a perfect copy.  But then the S.T.A.R. Lab Rats (or whatever they called themselves) began tapping the dimensional veil and found plenty of other Earths and its inhabitants. 

And many of the sample residents resembled Harrison Wells since he was the one who sought them out in order to work with his like-minded geniuses.  After a bit of discourse, the "Council of Wells" eventually worked together to determine the true identity of Clifford DeVoe.

Here are the Harrison Wellses we have met so far....

Harrison Wells
From Earth 1

THE ORIGINAL

Dr. Harrison Wells (died 2000) was a brilliant scientist, the husband of Tess Morgan, a close friend of Tina McGee, and an identity theft victim of Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash.

Harrison Wells
From Earth 2

THE ORIGINAL DUPLICATE
Dr. Harrison "Harry" Wells is the founder of S.T.A.R. Labs on Earth Two and the father of Jesse Wells who was taken by the meta-human criminal Zoom. Harry then traveled to Earth One, joining the team led by Barry Allen to take down Zoom. While he was at one point forced to work as a mole for Zoom, Harry eventually turned on the speedster criminal, and with the help of Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon, freed his daughter from captivity. He continued working with Team Flash as its main scientific mind to defeat Zoom before returning to Earth Two with his daughter and Jay Garrick after Zoom was no more.

After Jesse developed her meta-human powers as a speedster and began establishing herself as vigilante protector in Earth Two, Harry's overly protective and controlling nature caused a strain in their relationship, making Jesse determined to work alone. Feeling he had no other reason to be on Earth Two, Harry decided to rediscover himself on Earth One by rejoining Team Flash.

Harrison Wells
From Earth 19

AUTHOR, CON ARTIST, AND SCIENTIFICALLY CLUELESS
Harrison "H.R." Wells (died May 23, 2017) was the former face of S.T.A.R. Labs on Earth Nineteen. However, he eventually was exposed for being a fraud of a scientist, and everything fell apart for him on his Earth. When his partner solved the cryptogram sent by Team Flash, H.R. was given an opportunity to come to Earth One to write a novel on his adventures. To disguise himself on Earth One, H.R. took on his partner's likeness and dubbed himself "H.R. Randolf".  He was killed by Savitar to prevent the insane speedster's terrible future from being real.

O'BSERVATION:
As these TV shows are based on comic books, I would not be surprised if HR Wells one day returned to the show even if he is dead.

Harrison Wells (the Francophone)
Unknown Earth Designation

FROM FRENCH TOOBWORLDIn late 2016, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow and Earth Two Harrison Wells put out an equation to all of the multiverse in order to find another Harrison Wells that could be used on Team Flash. The French-speaking Harrison Wells was smart enough to figure out the equation and submitted a holographic interview, but was quickly shot down by Earth Two Wells, believing that they couldn't trust a "mime".

O'BSERVATION:
French Toobworld is one of the earliest alternates of Toobworld officially designated by Toobworld Central.  Okay, by me.  Originally I thought the deviation from the timeline occurred with Cardinal Richelieu, but I have seen shows with characters who should have been speaking English but who parlais vous francais instead.

Harrison Wolfgang Wells
From Earth 12

FROM GERMAN TOOBWORLD
Harrison Wolfgang Wells is the Harrison Wells of Earth-12. He is a successful author and genius, earning him an invitation to join the Council of Wells. 
Harrison Wolfgang Wells earned himself 4 PhD's and wrote the book, "Everything is Meaningless, so Why Did I Buy This Book?"

O'BSERVATION:

German Toobworld is the alternate TV dimension in which Germany at some point took over the entire world which was then forced to speak German.

H. Lothario Wells
From Earth 47

FROM LIBIDO EARTH
Harrison Wells also known as H. Lothario Wells is from Earth 47 within The Multiverse and at an unknown period in time he met Harrison Wells of Earth 2. 
This Wells appears to be a playboy/Hugh Hefner type who publishes erotica.

O'BSERVATION:

Libido Earth is probably "Skinemax" and has been throughout its entire existence.  It is pozz'ble, just pozz'ble, that Captain Jack Harkness was not only from the Future but from this alternate TV dimension.

One other note - he reminds me of my college roommate, Gary Ginsburg.  Hey there, Ginz.....

Wells 2.0
From Earth 22

FROM ONE OF THE RAVAGED TOOBWORDS
Harrison Wells also known as Wells 2.0 is from Earth 22 within The Multiverse and at an unknown period in time he met Harrison Wells of Earth 2. 
Wells 2.0 is the Harrison Wells of Earth-22, a post-apocalyptic world that forced man to merge with machines in order to survive. 

O'BSERVATION:
This could be a world in which the televersion of the Terminator took place.  It would certainly eliminate plenty of Zonks from keeping 'The Sarah Connors Chronicles' in the main Toobworld.

Harrison "Hells" Wells

Unknown Earth Designation

FROM COWBOY TOOBWORLD
Hells Wells had his own secrets to hide, deciding not to tell Team Flash of his past. He also had poor manners, deciding not to re-create the hologram recording to Earth One, despite burping during the recording because of his bad stomach. His hobby that he described to Team Flash was hauling wagons.

O'BSERVATION;

Cowboy Toobworld is the type of world one might have seen during the run of 'Star Trek: The Original Series'.  There was a Nazi planet, a Gladiator planet, a Gangster planet.... Why not a Cowboy planet?  And before you point it out, the OK Corral episode was a simulation which was soon after visited by the First Incarnation of the Doctor.  [I'll be playing with that idea this summer during the TV Western showcase.]

Harrison Wells
From Earth 17

FROM STEAMPUNK TOOBWORLD
Harrison Wells is a genius from Earth Seventeen.

Harrison Wells cracked the cryptogram sent out by Earth Two Harrison Wells, Cisco Ramon, and Caitlin Snow. He has a pronounced English accent and seems to wear steampunk-like attire.

Wells the Grey
From Earth 13

FROM MAGICAL TOOBWORLD
Wells the Grey is a resident from Earth Thirteen who may or may not be a user of magic.

Wells the Grey accidentally connected to a meeting for the Council of Wells. Just as he introduced himself, he was disconnected from the meeting by Harry Wells.

O'BSERVATION:

Magical Toobworld is the alternate TV dimension in which we can find the TV shows 'Gallivant', 'Wizards And Warriors', 'Legend Of The Seeker', and 'Krod Mandoon And The Flaming Sword Of Fire', among other sword and sorcery series.

Regarding Earth-X
[The Nazi Earth]

O'BSERVATION:
Even though we saw Tom Cavanaugh in last year's four-way crossover ('Supergirl', 'The Flash', 'Arrow', and 'Legends of Tomorrow'), he was actually Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom the Reverse Flash wearing the face of Harrison Wells as the original did during season one of 'The Flash'.  From outside the inner perspective of the Toobworld Dynamic it was a brilliant ploy to utilize one of the major actors in the series without hiring a past guest star to come back again.

I think one of the main reasons Tom Cavanaugh has remained with the show for as long as he has is the chance to riff on all these variants of his original character.  As such, don't be surprised if even more iterations of the character pop up over the rest of the series' run!

BCnU!