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It is time for one of us to give their life in the name of our savior. In the name of the Flash. Who will die for me?
„
~ Cicada
David Hersch, or also better known by his villain name Cicada, is a villain in the DC comics. He is a fanatical cult leader who views the Flash (Wally West) as an "avatar" of the lightning that granted him powers.
Born in 1890, David Hersch was an architect and preacher at St. John's Catholic Church. Although, he was one prone to paranoid, violent outbursts that often took the form of physical abusing his own wife, Elizabeth Hersch. After murdering his wife, David, remorseful and regretful of his actions, sought to end his own life. However, in that same moment, he was struck by lightning, where 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 also gave him a vision of his own immortality and foretold the resurrection of his wife. Over the subsequent years, he operated as the cult leader known as Cicada, accumulating many followers while planning for the day he would resurrect his wife.
Cicada's cult and followers were dedicated to the murder of every person that the Flash has ever saved by using lightning bolt shaped daggers. He teams up with the Flash's ex-girlfriend Magenta, and they managed to kidnap him. Cicada reveals his origins to Wally about his wife's death and how he gained his powers, before telling about his vision showing him 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, after his wife revealed to Cicada that he murdered her, he denied this and killed his wife yet again by absorbing her energy through a kiss. He was eventually stopped by the Flash, Detective Jared Morillo and Officer Fred Chyre. Although, Cicada managed to slash Morillo with his knife. This gave Morillo the ability to heal rapidly from any injury, similar to Cicada's own.
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. However, before that could happen, Cicada successfully escaped during Gorilla Grodd's jailbreak. Cicada later appeared at Captain Boomerang's funeral and accepted an invitation to join Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains during Infinite Crisis.
He is one of the various super criminals sent to to the penal colony on the planet Cygnus 4019, which has been nicknamed "Salvation".
Arrowverse[]
Two adapted iterations of Cicada appeared on the CW TV series The Flash, both as the main antagonists of the fifth season. Although David Hersch (played by Chris Webb) does exist and was the original incarnation of Cicada in XS' original timeline, her interference with time turned him into a nonpowered criminal who is easily defeated.
