The Flash (Jay Garrick)

Jay Garrick is a hero in the DC Universe, and the first Flash.

Origin
A college student in 1939 Keystone City, Jay Garrick was a bright young man who had two loves: science, and Joan Allen. Unfortunately for Jay, Joan was the type of girl who prefered jocks over nerds, and was rebuffed for not being a football player. One night, while working with hard water molecules, Jay accidentally knocked the vials over, and inhaled the fumes of the chemicals. Said molecules accelerated Jay's reflexes and metabolism to superhuman levels, granting him superhuman speed which he used to become a player on his school's football team.

But such a life was not for him, as he botched a drive-by shooting meant for Joan, conducted by a quartet of criminals in order to force her father to reveal the location of a research base. Deciding to use his power for good, Jay put together a uniform consisting of a scarlet sweater and boots, blue tights, and his father's WWI helmet with golden wings attatched to it. Foiling the criminals's plans, and causing them to commit accidental suicide (it was the Golden Age, heroes were allowed to kill bad guys or at the least drive them to their deaths), Jay continued as the Flash, battling such odd villains as the Thinker, the Fiddler, and the Shade before calling it quits in 1949 and marrying Joan. Years later, Jay came out of retirement after meeting his successor, Barry Allen, and continues to fight crime both alone and as a member of the Justice Society of America.

The New 52
In the New 52, Jay's powers are now the result of a meeting with Mercury, the Roman counterpart of Hermes, and he is much younger due to now being part of a restored Earth-2.

Powers

 * Super Speed
 * Molecular Vibration
 * Speed Touch: Jay has the Speed Force talent to either give or take speed to/from other people or objects in motion.
 * Superhuman endurance, agility, reflexes, dexterity, healing process, and perceptions
 * Time/Dimension Travel
 * Frictionless Aura