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"You just tell me where to stretch."
—Ralph Dibny[src]

Ralph Dibny is an ex-police detective of the Central City Police Department and a private investigator. He is the son of Debbie Dibny and an unnamed man, the grandson of an unnamed woman, and the close friend of Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, Iris West-Allen, and Caitlin Snow.

In the pre-Flashpoint timeline, Ralph was one of the 17 people who lost his life during the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator's explosion. However, he reappeared alive in the post-Flashpoint timeline, gaining his powers due to exposure to dark matter from the Speed Force. Using these superpowers, Ralph joined Team Flash and began acting as a meta-human vigilante and superhero, initially referred to by the media as the Stretchy Man, but shortly thereafter being named the Elongated Man.[1]

After Carver's death and Eva was defeated, Ralph left Central City with Sue Dearbon to defeat other criminal organizations.


Original multiverse

Early life

When Ralph was 10 years old, his father walked out on him and his mother Debbie, which caused Ralph to start making jokes whenever he felt afraid and to cheer up his mom.[2]

Detective of the CCPD

Ralph as a police detective.

In late 2012, Ralph was CCPD's lead detective during the murder investigation of Judy Gimlin, one of Barry Allen's first cases as a Junior CSI wherein Ralph was his superior. Judy was stabbed to death and her husband, Reagan, was the prime suspect.

Convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the husband was the perpetrator, but had intentionally and so cleverly arranged the crime scene so that all suspicions would be diverted away from him, Ralph instead planted evidence - a knife with Reagan's fingerprints - to "frame" the suspect for murder. However, Barry Allen (who went through something similar with what happened to his parents and thus; adhered to get the truth out more than anyone) determinedly sought to prove Ralph's fabrication and ultimately testified against him, after inspecting the knife and determining it to be a fake murder weapon.

This led to Ralph being dishonorably kicked off from the police force for good and drove a deep wedge between his once-good and working professional relationship with Barry, who was left with the belief that Ralph did what he'd done not for justice, but for the glory of it and this threw away what viable respect that Barry once had for his disgraced former superior. Barry's mentorship under Ralph ended on bad terms and vice-versa.[3]

Ralph spent years telling himself that he was doing the right thing, during this time, his friends, family and associates severed him from their lives and he eventually realized he did the wrong thing, and by breaking the law to achieve what he wanted, even if it was a noble cause; he became the very thing from which he swore to protect the citizens of Central City from.[4]


After the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator incident, Ralph was said to have been someone who had died according to Eobard Thawne. Although has still been through unspecified means.[5]


After Flashpoint, Ralph's timeline changed, resulting in his survival from the particle accelerator explosion.[6]

Ralph went on to become a private investigator specializing in infidelity cases. Given a lead by a man named Clifford DeVoe, Ralph caught pictures of Mayor Anthony Bellows having an affair. After discovering this, he attempted to blackmail the mayor for money in exchange for the photos. He made several calls to Bellows go negotiating for more money in exchange for the photos that Ralph caught.[3]

Joining Team Flash

Becoming a meta-human

Ralph's powers of elasticity.

On October 10, 2017, Ralph was on the bus that was exposed to dark matter particles resulting from Barry Allen's return from the Speed Force. Ralph did not exhibit his powers immediately after that, but took a few weeks. He was visited by Barry and Joe West regarding if he had been on the bus that day, but gave them no information since Barry still has Ralph's ire. Soon after Barry and Joe left, two thugs came to Ralph's office. They hung him by his legs off the top of an establishment to intimidate him, inadvertently causing Ralph's powers of elasticity to manifest and allowing him to descend safely from that height, albeit with his lower limbs now rubbery and exceedingly stretched beyond the limits of their original design. He was later brought into S.T.A.R. Labs where Team Flash there did preliminary tests to his new attributes, all of which greatly disturbed Ralph who just wished to return to normal, but could not as he was still new to his meta-human abilities, preventing him from deliberately returning his outstretched extremities back to their default state.

Ralph and Anthony Bellows.

A serum administered by Caitlin soon gave Ralph a measure of control, but was told that the concoction had not fully reversed his new condition instead rather only made it more manageable, which Ralph quickly realizes when he successfully lost weight upon visualizing it - finally letting him see (and beginning to appreciate) the perks of his meta-human condition and most-recent development. Ralph later met with the mayor, recanting his blackmail and returning the photos he took. He was shot by Bellows, only for both of them to find that his powers made him bulletproof. When the Flash came to save him and apprehend Bellows, Breacher appeared to attack him, as he mistook Ralph for one of the elastic invaders that ravaged his planet, so the Flash stopped him as well. While the mayor escaped with Joe on a helicopter, Barry revealed himself to Ralph and implored him to use his powers for good, so Ralph stretched an arm to reach the chopper from afar, allowing Barry to run up and save Joe. In the end, the two reconciled. Barry offered Ralph a place on Team Flash, which Ralph considered. When Barry, out of interest, asked him about his motive for investigating Bellows, Ralph revealed that a client requested him to investigate the mayor over the phone, going by the last name DeVoe.[3]

Barry, Cisco, Ralph, Joe and Harry at the strip club.

Ralph went to S.T.A.R. Labs where they began to look into him controlling his powers and he decided to stretch his upper body through the length of the particle accelerator, leaving his lower half behind for Felicity Smoak to find; she quickly scoots, unsure of what to make of the spectacle she was witnessing. When Barry and his friends were throwing him a bachelor party, Ralph decided to crash it but was disappointed that it was simply them sitting at Joe's home and watching home movies. He decided to treat them to a true party and took them at his favorite strip joint, The Golden Booty. They then toasted to Barry getting married to Iris. Ralph started to fool around with his powers, lifting some money from people's wallets though he claimed he was only getting change. Cisco warned him about not showing off his powers so blandly in public though Ralph just pointed off to Barry who was telling people he was The Flash while intoxicated. One of the patrons then accused Ralph of stealing from him and then took a framed photo of him and smashed it in retaliation. Ralph called him a monster and jumped at him, sparking a fight through the entire place that ended up with them getting tossed in jail. Harry soon arrived and Barry, Joe, Cisco, and Ralph (by default) were released. Ralph returned to the labs with Barry and Cisco and they were taken by Iris to see Killer Frost.[7]

Becoming the Elongated Man

Ralph looking at his miniature suit.

Barry began to train Dibny as a superhero, though it didn't go without some good-natured, back-and-forth banter and bickering between the two of them. In their civilian guises, they eventually bump into an armed robber (who had the unfortunate mishap of attempting the same on Barry around three years ago) after buying some coffee. Deeming the mugger and the gun he was brandishing towards them as no particular threat, the two metahumans turned their backs and plotted on how to deal with the robber; this leads to a very comical situation where, tired of being ignored, the mugger tried to prove his point by using his gun on Ralph — only for his elasticity to cause two bullets from the mugger's gun to ricochet back into his leg and backside. Subsequently, Dibny was taken to Sharon Finkel, a hypnotist, to recover his lost memories help identify the other bus metas. The best Dibny could do was recall a woman with a black bison on the back of her jacket. Soon enough, the two superheroes confront Mina Chaytan, whom Barry allowed escaping while he saved the man she was attacking from a knight statue brought to life by Mina's powers. Dibny questioned why Barry would allow the criminal to escape, as it should be well within Barry's abilities to simultaneously save the innocent and catch the perpetrator (and not necessarily in that order) though Barry argued saving the lives of other people comes before catching the bad guy.

Ralph as Stretchy Man.

Pursuing Mina once more, Dibny chose to prevent her from leaving by holding her car in place with his arm while Barry was fighting a caveman statue. This also caused Dibny to neglect falling debris in the ongoing chaos as a utility pole fell on a young girl. Dibny is wracked with guilt that his actions could have killed a child and admits he's never had to care for other people before since being a private investigator is so simple. Barry promises to be there for Dibny as a friend and that the job is always going to have its hard days. At a museum chasing down Mina, Dibny redeemed himself by choosing to save a night guard from a T-Rex statue over catching Mina, and paid the cheap price of becoming the said extinct dinosaur's chew toy, only spared because of Ralph's rubber-like physiology nullifying the skeleton's biting force, keeping its teeth from biting and actually cutting through him. Ralph then uses his own body to wrap around the skeleton cadaver's maw, keeping it from harming anyone or anything else in the museum. Later that day after Mina's re-capture, Dibny visited the young girl who had been injured in the accident and cheered her up by making balloon animals with his hands and feet.[8]

Ralph disguised as Santa Claus.

Harry and Cisco were decorating the Christmas tree at S.T.A.R. Labs arguing with each other. Moments later, Ralph, who accidentally insulted Caitlin, came to them by saying that her evil version is more fun. Soon after, both Caitlin and Barry were kidnapped, so the team acted as Iris instructed. The tension grew until it finally led to an argument between Ralph and Cisco, who reminded him that if Caitlin hadn't offended Caitlin, she wouldn't have gone to CC Jitters and she wouldn't have been kidnapped. After a few hours, Ramon apologized to his friend, when Iris interrupted their sincere conversation about their friendship, ordering them to focus on Caitlin and give up on Barry, believing that he was smart and would manage. As planned, the heroes found their friend's location, so Dibny and Vibe entered the fight, defeating Amunet, saving Caitlin and another meta-human. After all, it turned out that Allen had managed to break free of Thinker by returning home to Joe for the Christmas party. There they found the apartment decorated by Ralph himself, who tried to be a better person at all costs.[4]

Following the recent events, Barry Allen's trial of the alleged murder of Clifford DeVoe began. Barry was under house arrest for the duration of the trial, but thanks to Cisco hacking the bracelet, the scientist could appear in S.T.A.R. Labs and chat before hearing with friends about the Thinker plan. After the conversation, Joe asked Ralph for a favor - he wanted to use his detective specialties. They watched Marlize DeVoe's house closely until they finally took pictures of the woman kissing Dominic Lanse. The men immediately brought the evidence to court, but it was not enough to acquit Allen. In this regard, Joe asked Dibny for another favor - desperately asked him to break into the DeVoe house so he could plant evidence against Thinker. Ralph opened the door but didn't release West until he explained to him that he would have to live with it and become what he was trying to fight. This made the policeman understand that there are other ways to help Allen through these difficult times. A few hours later, Allen was forced to return to court, where he was soon found guilty of what he had done and immediately sent to Iron Heights.[9]

The Elongated Man named in a newspaper.

Dibny set about stopping the terrorist who took the hostages and threatened to activate the bomb. The hero stood in the way of the bomber in a funny but dangerous way, destroying his bomb as soon as the civilians were saved. As soon as he returned to S.T.A.R. Labs, the team again began looking for evidence that would acquit Allen. They couldn't take it long because the young Trickster escaped with the help of his mother. As soon as the criminal challenged Dibny to fight, the hero moved faster to the place. There, however, it turned out that the enemy had prepared a special acid that could seriously injure and even kill Ralph, which forced Vibe to quickly intervene and run away with his friend. The criminals, however, were not enough, because they kidnapped hostages and planned to use their acid on them, again challenging the hero to a duel. As Dibny began to fear for his own life, Killer Frost and Vibe entered the fight as Harry tried to neutralize the enemy's deadly agent. Meanwhile, Ralph broke into Barry's prison cell, eager to find out what motivated him. Thus, he gained the strength and motivation to go to the rescue of his friends, using a new suit. After all the criminals were defeated, the team returned to the lab where Ralph survived giving a new nickname - Elongated Man.[1]

Caitlin, Harry, and Joe look down at miniaturized Cisco and Ralph.

The team was still looking for a way to get Allen out of prison when it turned out that Cecille Horton's body activated some meta-genes during pregnancy, which interested the heroes. Their thoughts were interrupted by a message from Barry, who asked the team to help prove his inmate's innocence. Searching for the real perpetrator of the murder from years ago, the heroes came across Sylbert Rundine, who quickly turned out to be guilty. Unfortunately, he was a meta-human, which allowed him to shrink Dibny and Cisco. The men's cells began to disintegrate slowly, not being used to this size. In addition, Harry's "tricks" did not work until after a few hours he realized that in order for the men to return to their original size, they had to be shot again by the enemy's beam. Thus, Harry risked his life and stood in the line of fire, successfully saving his friends and capturing the criminal.[10]

Ralph and Earl.

Ralph, entering his office, sensed an old acquaintance of his presence, Earl Cox, who offered him a well-paid job. The man told him that he wasn't like that anymore and that he had new friends who care for him. Hearing it. Cox described Dibny as a person who loses everything - even loved ones, while stating that he is not a good friend. After these words, Earl left and Ralph began to reflect on himself until S.T.A.R. Labs, where in anger he accidentally took the form of a former acquaintance. As if that were not enough, Cecile discovered Warden Wolfe was going to sell Barry and some metas to Amunet Black. So the team decided to use Dibny's new abilities and meet the criminal as Gregory Wolfe at her bar. All went well until Ralph lost his temper and his "assumed form" fell apart, forcing him to flee. After that, the private detective gave up and started drinking in his own office, until Caitlin visited him, who spoke to him as Killer Frost. Thus, Dibny had an idea of ​​how to get Allen out of prison. He took the form of DeVoe himself and went to the court, where he reported that his death had not occurred, and Barry was acquitted. After that, Ralph went to the West house to celebrate with his loved ones, but when he entered, they all looked at him with concern, having bad news to deliver him.[11]

Flash, Vibe and Elongated Man try to save Izzy Bowin.

The team, fearing for Ralph, set up a "babysitting program" for him, which consisted of watching him 24 hours a day. While being guarded by Cisco, Dibny picked up a carton of items from the bus from a lost property store that had a plate of a certain Izzy Bowin. Ramon immediately found the woman in one of the bars where she was currently touring. Barry decided to go with Ralph to the place and immediately after the concert they accosted the woman, making her case quite clear: the evil man is hunting her and wants to use her abilities. Bowin was not sure about the truthfulness of the men so she attacked them with a sound wave and ran away. Soon Dibny Ramon and Allen decided to talk to Izzy again, but this time in costumes of the heroes. Unexpectedly, the Thinker appeared on the battlefield, and to everyone's surprise, Bowin managed to injure him and provoke him to flee. Having no other choice, the heroes took the woman to S.T.A.R. Labs, where they tried to get her to cooperate by showing their true faces.

Ralph and Izzy.

Izzy wasn't going to give up what she had achieved for something she didn't understand, though. It was only after talking frankly with Ralph that she realized she should try. The team trained the woman to use her abilities to defeat the Thinker until Bowin hurt herself. Ralph tried to stop her from leaving, but to no avail, because she wanted to face the enemy herself, not trusting the heroes. Ramon soon tracked down the woman DeVoe was with. Despite the heroes' efforts, the woman fell into the trap of a criminal who connected her to a body-changing machine. Ralph couldn't believe what was happening as he liked Izzy a lot and broke down as he watched Clifford kill Bowin and run away with her body. Several hours later, Dibny let Allen into his office while listening to Izzy's song. The detective, realizing that his friend had lost his job, handed him a business card, "Barry Allen, Private Investigator," accepting him into "his agency". He unequivocally stated that they have three more people to find, and when they do, he will personally finish the Thinker.[12]

Ralph talks to Iris.

Ralph was still hiding in the lab when Harry assembled the team one morning to present them his idea to outsmart Thinker. After many sleepless nights, he had the idea of ​​creating his version of the mind cap, but Cisco was against irradiating dark matter with a scientist who had no control over his emotions. Dibny was angry that the team rejected the only plan that could save him from death, and retired to his room outside the lab. Halfway up, Iris stopped him, trying to convince her friend that he was safe. However, the latter angrily said that the woman did not know what it was like to expose herself outside the S.T.A.R. Labs, because she only risks the lives of others by being just a team leader. Soon after, Melting Point changed Barry's powers and gave them to Iris, which forced her to learn to work in the field. Ultimately, the team managed to reverse the meta-human's power by recruiting him into the team. After that, Ralph apologized to Iris for his words, and her motivational talk made him understand that it was time to go beyond the walls of the laboratory.[13]

Elongated Man and Flash meet Janet Patty.

Ralph and Barry trained how to behave in the confrontation with the Thinker. However, the man turned everything into a joke, which began to irritate Allen. While searching for Janet Petty, the detectives found a crime during which the Kahndaq dynasty crown was stolen, and the team considered the wanted one to be guilty. Well-meaning Ralph accidentally messed up a crime scene, which irritated Barry. When Harry identified Earl Cox's headquarters as Null's whereabouts, they both headed there. Dibny took on the look of Joe to scare a friend, setting Allen into a trap and allowing her to escape. After returning to the laboratory, the scientist suspended his friend in activities, unable to bear his disobedience. After a few hours, Barry decided to speak frankly to Ralph, who finally made him understand that he acted like this when he was nervous and had been like that since childhood, which was not easy. These words changed the perception of the man by a friend who asked him for help in capturing Null. On the spot, the sprinter ran into trouble, but he let the ally act, who successfully caught Petty and saved him. Back in the lab, the team celebrated their victory and Allen apologized for his behavior.[2]

Presumed demise and subsequent return

DeVoe absorbs Ralph.

When Harry created the sonic scepter which can incapacitate someone with one strike and kill them with another, he planned on using this weapon against DeVoe. When he and Edwin Gauss A.K.A. The Folded Man attempted to go into DeVoe's dimension using Folded Man's abilities, he was stopped by Barry. After a long talk with Barry, it was revealed that he wanted to stop and kill DeVoe for Team Flash. DeVoe managed to get the upper hand and was able to teleport himself to S.T.A.R. Labs and trap Caitlin (while she was in her Killer Frost persona), Barry, and Cisco. When all three of them escaped, DeVoe caught up to Ralph and made him fight the dinosaur skeleton. After defeating the dinosaur, Ralph found all of the recent metas laying on the floor dead with DeVoe now in Edwin Gauss's body. They then teleport to the Speed Lab where DeVoe caused Ralph to have an aneurysm. Ralph took the Scepter out of his chest and used it against DeVoe, then raised his hand above DeVoe one more time. When Barry went into the Speed Lab, he saw a "defeated" DeVoe and Ralph smiling. DeVoe then broke out of his cuffs and started implanting his consciousness into Ralph. When Barry implored Ralph to resist DeVoe and swore to save him, Dibny replied that Barry already had just before DeVoe finally took over his body.[14]

Ralph's apparent death impacted Barry the most to the point where he tried to numb himself to the emotional pain. Only with the aid of Leo Snart did Barry find it in himself to mourn Ralph.[15]

Ralph reunites with Barry Allen in the subconscious of DeVoe.

In a last-ditch attempt to stop DeVoe's Enlightenment, Barry, with the aid of Marlize and the Thinking Chair, ventured into DeVoe's mind, where he encountered Ralph's surviving consciousness. When asked how Ralph even survived, DeVoe appeared, explaining that Ralph is alive because he allowed it. Escaping the Thinker further into the mindscape, Barry explained his objective to find the good part of DeVoe that existed before the Thinker. Recalling that DeVoe was a history professor, Ralph and Barry arrive at a recreation of DeVoe's classroom, only to find the personification of the good DeVoe dead. Falling into despair again, Ralph urged Barry to leave and save his family. Barry told Ralph that he was part of that family too and refused to abandon him. He then got the idea for Ralph to regain control of his body to purge the Thinker by entering what Ralph described as the "hellmouth" to the nexus of his brain. Unfortunately, DeVoe created clones of himself to stop them. Shapeshifting his mindform into the Elongated Man, Ralph joined Barry in fighting DeVoe but their foe used his telepathy to anticipate their attacks. So Ralph told Barry to think of something else while attacking; he did so by shouting out different shrimp entrees. Ralph soon hung onto Barry like a cape as they ran for the portal and returned to reality. Ralph then took back his body and seemingly purged DeVoe. After returning to S.T.A.R. Labs, they barely had time to relax before it was revealed that DeVoe transferred his consciousness to his chair to restart the Enlightenment, but Marlize pulled out the power source, putting an end to the Thinker. Unfortunately, this triggered a literal dead man's switch as one of DeVoe's satellites began falling towards Central City. Getting back into the Elongated Man suit, Ralph helped Cisco protect civilians while Barry destroyed the satellite. After Barry and another speedster destroyed the satellite, he applauded Barry near Cisco and Captain Singh.

As Team Flash celebrated Jenna West's birth, they are suddenly greeted by the same girl Ralph and Cisco met at Jitters, who identified herself as Barry and Iris' daughter Nora and admitted she did something terrible.[16]

War against Cicada

Investigating Cicada


After the defeat of Gridlock, Ralph got Caitlin and showed the latter her dad's death certificate, explaining that the person who signed off on it, "Cameron Mahkent", didn't exist.[17]

When Ralph discovered traces of dimethyl sulfate in Cicada's mask and found out that Szrek Chemicals uses the substance in most of their products, he and Harrison Sherloque Wells went to a Szrek Chemicals site in Central City. Ralph asked an employee about the mask, only to learn that all the employees in all Szrek Chemicals facilities wear the same kind of mask, and that they're not the only facility who uses them. So Ralph and Sherloque then left.[18]

Ralph and Cecile talks to Vance Brandon.

When Ralph and Cecile Horton were searching who could be Cicada, they decided to research about the people tended by FEMA during the Enlightenment. They attempted to get the list of patients from Vance Brandon, but he declines unless they have a warrant. Cecile realized he was embezzling money by using her empathetic powers, so she blackmails him to make him deliver them the lists in order to not divulge his embezzlement.

After looking into it further and finding more clues, Team Flash finally discovered that Caitlin's dad was in a Tannhauser black-ops which had been abandoned. Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin later found him and rescued him from the site. Although Thomas seemed to be kind and caring, he was revealed to have been secretly transformed into his second personality, Icicle. Team Flash went after Icicle, but all except Caitlin began to suffer from hypothermia. At that moment, Killer Frost finally emerged from her coma induced by DeVoe, defeating Thomas and stopping him from becoming Icicle permanently, though he escaped. Having speed-healed, Barry used concentrated energy to save Ralph, and they reassured Killer Frost that they would find Icicle again and that she wasn't alone anymore. Killer Frost peacefully returned Caitlin to their shared consciousness, and the team returned home.[19]

One day while Cisco was away working on the team's meta-human cure, he sent Caitlin, Ralph, and Barry findings that the cure would work by neutralizing the dark matter in the meta's pituitary gland. However, he needed something to help keep Cicada still so that they could administer the cure to him. Caitlin settled on a neuro-stasis field generator but discovered that they had been stolen. Ralph and Barry spoke to Earl Cox, who told them of Goldface and his black market. The boys eventually decided to go infiltrate the market together with Caitlin/Killer Frost as backup, agreeing that the ends justified the means, but when Ralph recited the password, they were dropped through a hidden trapdoor, given power-dampening cuffs, and wiped off of Caitlin's GPS. They did some digging in the black market, which greatly unsettled Barry, but were eventually confronted by Goldface himself, who asked Barry and Ralph who they were. Barry called himself "the Chemist", telling a fake story of crime which convinced Goldface to let them live. He then made a deal: if Barry and Ralph helped him steal a hospital's 3-D organ printer from a lab, he would give them the field generator. Ralph asked Barry if he really wanted to accept the deal, which he believed was more than they'd bargained for, but Barry decided that he was willing to commit a crime if it meant stopping Cicada. Just as they were pulling up to the lab, Ralph tricked Barry to get into a van by himself and locked him inside. Barry begged Ralph not to go in alone, but Ralph argued that the Flash couldn't do this but he could.

Ignoring Barry's cries, Ralph entered the heist by himself, eventually being the first to find the printer. However, he discovered that the clients were all small children who needed new organs. His heart changed, Ralph knocked out the henchman with him and prepared to bring the printer to the hospital, but he was caught and held at gunpoint by another squadron.

With their powers dampened, Ralph and Barry settle on fighting Goldface with blasters.

As Ralph was being taken to be killed alongside Barry, the latter escaped from Ralph's trap and knocked the henchmen unconscious. Ralph explained that stealing the organ printer was too big a crime, as the patients it was going to help were all little kids. Barry and Ralph agreed to go back in together to rescue the printer from Goldface's gang, using the "stun" setting on their blasters so they wouldn't have to kill anyone. Dodging "kill" blasts and shooting to stun, the two fought their way through the lab and were on their way to the organ printer when Goldface summoned them back to the garage. They attempted to shoot him down but were horrified to discover that he was a meta-human with a layer of literal gold under his skin. Goldface subdued each of them in turn, eventually strangling Ralph with a golden whip, but Barry used an empty "kill" gun to distract Goldface, free Ralph, and trick Goldface into electrocuting himself, knocking him unconscious and disabling his gold skin. Though they were disappointed to have lost their key to the meta-human cure, Ralph praised Barry for their success in escaping from the criminal world while leaving everyone alive, though he teased Barry for his criminal code name. Back at S.T.A.R. Labs and free from Goldface's cuffs, Ralph sat by Barry's side as Caitlin tended to Barry's wounds from the fight earlier, and Barry reminded a distraught Ralph that they'd still had a win by taking down a powerful meta without their powers, which would help them keep fighting even if Cicada's dagger dampened them. They suddenly got an anonymous call from Iris, who had sneaked into Orlin's house in search of a story for her newspaper. Back in their meta-human egos, the three joined Iris at Dwyer's abandoned house, and she revealed that she knew Cicada's weakness.[20]

Defeat of the Cicadas and Reverse-Flash


Due to his interest on pairing Cisco with Kamilla Hwang, he gave him suggestions on what to do with a book he brought to the team.

Team Flash.

After Nora West-Allen changed the timeline 53 times to prevent Cicada from killing a metahuman from Team Flash, the team found a way to regroup by using Nora's time rewind. About his date with Kamilla, Cisco decided to be himself because he saw that the times he used fake personas she lost interest on him.[21]

When the team persuaded Orlin to take the cure and he was a normal human again, another Cicada took him away and killed Vanessa Ambres.[22] The second appeared, which was actually Grace Gibbons of the future. Grace was part of the Reverse Flash plan to be released from prison. After Team Flash defeated Cicada by administering the meta-human cure to her younger self and destroying her uncle's dagger, Nora sacrificed herself to fix her mistakes and was erased from existence once a new timeline began to set.[23]

The coming Crisis

Fighting Bloodwork


Elongated Man and Frost helping citizens.

Frost and Elongated Man were together helping the citizens as the Flash entered the black hole that was threatening to engulf Central City.[24]

CCPD awards Barry with a Medal of Honor.

Barry decided that Ralph would replace him as the primary protector of the city should he fall in the upcoming crisis. Thus, Elongated Man was honored at the CCPD by the Flash and Captain West by being given an emblem for his costume. However, Ralph and Joe used the opportunity to have Barry Allen's civilian persona honored as well, not only to ensure a good memento for Post-Crisis, but to show Barry how much his determination to get justice for those who lost loved ones drove him to do his best.[25]

Ralph was later assaulted by Bloodwork, who left traces of his blood in him after taking most of Ralph's own. Barry saved him with a transfusion. However, Ralph was a Trojan horse for Bloodwork, to infect the Flash to leave Central City vulnerable.[26]

Anti-Monitor Crisis

Ralph arrives on Waverider and presents himself as Elongated Man. He is very surprised to see a doppelgänger of Superman, while Frost tells everyone to ignore him, as he is new, and this is his first crossover. When it is revealed that Ryan Choi is one of the Paragons, Ralph, Iris and Ray Palmer decide to go to Ivy University and tell him about the crisis so that he can help them.

They find Ryan alone in his laboratory on the phone to his wife. He immediately gets off the phone when he realizes his hero, Dr. Ray Palmer is standing before him. Ray quickly explains they're heroes, and the doctor for obvious reasons does not believe that. So, Ralph takes this time to stretch out his arm across the room and give the man to Kleenex. They insist Ryan is a Paragon and they need him to help save the universe, quite freaked out by everything Ryan backs out of the room, wanting to spend his final moments with his wife and child.

Eventually, Iris manages to convince Ryan and they take him to Waverider. Harbinger appears and reveals that she is possessed by the Anti-Monitor. The heroes try to stop him but he uses his powers to immobilize them. Then, the Monitor confronted his nemesis getting killed in the process but giving Pariah the time to teleport the Paragons to the Vanishing Point. Ralph, alongside the remaining heroes - Lois, Iris, Clark, Diggle and Black Lightning - stand against the Anti-Monitor, being swept away by the antimatter wave and killed like everyone else in the multiverse,[27] only to be restored a month later, after the Paragons and the Spectre created a new universe.[28]

New multiverse

On the new Earth-Prime, Ralph's life is basically the same; two years earlier, Ralph, as he describes it, was a "real crap-bag".[29]

Ralph's father abandoned him and his mother when Ralph was ten.[30]

The case of Sue Dearbon

Ralph and Barry met in Midway City the arms dealer January Galore.[29]

For days, Ralph was so depressed that he hadn't bothered to bathe; he had no leads or brainstorms on the whereabouts of Sue Dearbon. He stayed within the detective agency day and night, staring at his whiteboard, hoping inspiration would come. Cecile Horton did arrive though, wondering how he was. Though she criticized the smell of the place and held her breath as he spoke, Ralph got an idea on how to track the missing woman.

Retreating to Jitters to get their thoughts together, Ralph and Sue saw Cecile getting her order. Cecile was happy that Ralph was in a better mood and was out in the world. He introduced her to Sue and Cecile could feel that Sue was attracted to Ralph and told him so; Ralph feigned that it was not mutual and allowed Cecile to leave.

Ralph and Sue talking before fighting Ultraviolet.

Sue locked Ralph in the vault and took the diamond. To escape, Ralph used his powers to enter the sprinkler system of the bank; upon exiting as Elongated Man, he saw Sue surrounded by John Loring and his thugs. Before they could shoot her, the hero covered her with his body, disgusting Sue but saving her from the hail of bullets, as she changed into a protective suit of her own. The bullets suddenly stopped; Ultraviolet had knocked the foes unconscious and demanded the diamond. Ralph was knocked out of the fight and could only observe as Sue and Ultraviolet fought, because he chose to protect the bank manager from a blast sent by Ultraviolet. Sue then slid the box of the diamond to Ralph; when the assassin approached Elongated Man to get her quest, he showed her the empty container, causing her to scream in frustration and vanish. John and his thugs awakened and threatened to kill the still hurt hero, but the Flash suddenly arrived with the real Joe West and the police to stop them. The bank manager was then convinced that he had not met Joe previously.[31]

Ralph continued his research into Sue and realized that she was robbing banks while they were having brunches and interviewing for new investors. He learned that the First National Bank was having such an affair and that it fit Sue's M.O.; Ralph asked Cisco to his agency to assist him with the building's surveillance to see if Sue would come.

While Cisco Ramon was hacking the security system, Ralph checked the selection of the foods offered at the brunch. When Cisco returned, he told him that he met "January Galore"; they then both noticed that the security feed was disabled. When they reached the bank's computers, Sue was there, dressed in her protective suit; she was January Galore all along. She then escaped using a grappling hook.

Ralph entered the investment firm while Sue was having a meeting with a financial adviser; in the process, he blew her cover identity as "Genoa" but he did verify to her that Sue was an heiress. When alone, the two talked; Sue verified that she was a thief because she was stealing anything that could help her research into Joseph Carver and to stop him from extorting money from her parents. Sue, attracted to Ralph, gave him the Black Hole diamond and asked him to research it, as she had done.[29]

Ralph and Cisco ask if it is time to activate the Artificial Speed Force machine; Barry looks at the Speed gauge to see the amount of Speed Force he has left and agrees. The machine changes gravity around it, only to fail, as nothing else happens.

Later, Ralph and Cisco visit Caitlin in her apartment; she has dropped the temperature of her apartment drastically, as Frost is trying to save their body from death by creating a cold-induced coma. They combine their resources and "jump-start" Caitlin like a dying battery. When Caitlin awakes, she tells them that only one person can save her is her mother.[32]

Team Flash had a meeting where Barry revealed that Iris, Kamilla, and David Singh were missing, kidnapping victims of Eva McCulloch. While Ralph was doing research, S.T.A.R. Labs was invaded by Godspeed, but before Ralph could get involved, he was summoned by Frost who wanted to thank him for being her life coach before she and Carla Tannhauser left to heal Frost's wounds. Frost revealed that she felt less than Caitlin and was not close to Carla, though she was Frost's mother. Ralph told Frost that she was a valuable member of the team and that she should not fear Carla. He gave her a "dib-ploma" as a graduation present.

Ralph listened as Barry rallied the team to think of ways to free Iris and Kamilla from the Mirrorverse; Cisco departed to go to Atlantis.[30]

Fighting Black Hole

While attending the meeting that Team Flash was having, Ralph revealed that he was in possession of a large diamond. Allegra Garcia noted that it was emitting radiation; harnessing the energy, the diamond showed the team where a Black Hole warehouse was hidden. As he and Barry exited to go to the warehouse, Ralph got the diamond back.

At the warehouse, the Elongated Man and the Flash saw crates of files with various names on them; one was labelled Dearbon, so Ralph was particularly interested in it. Meanwhile, it was noticed that the security guards were dead and the smell of gasoline was strong. Upon inspection, the heroes saw David Singh pouring gasoline. However, they failed to stop him and the warehouse with the files burned.

Ralph called the parents of Sue Dearbon into his office; he was surprised that she was with them, not only pretending that she had just met Ralph, but that for the whole time, she was on a religious sabbatical. The Dearbons wanted to pay Ralph for his time on the case, but he was more interested in how Sue planned to handle Black Hole.

Ralph and Sue v Sunshine and Dr. Light.

Later, Ralph joined Team Flash as the bodyguards of Joseph Carver; ultimately, they found themselves in combat with the second incarnation of Eva McCulloch's team. Sue was there also because she had planned to kill Carver as well, but helping Ralph was more important to her. The heroes found themselves surrounded, but Eva McCulloch was victorious, so the battle was declared finished.

Ralph went to see Sue, who was jubilant that Carver was dead, because she believed his threat to her and her parents was now over. Ralph showed her footage that, at a press conference, Eva blamed Sue for the death of Carver and now she was a wanted woman.[33]

Ralph's face is burned.

Days later, Ralph is currently on the run with Sue.[34]

Ralph decides that he needs to find evidence that Sue is innocent of killing Joseph Carver; opportunity arises when a city-wide blackout is created in hopes of foiling Eva's plan. Ralph calculates that the forcefield around McCulloch Technologies would be disabled; Ralph enters the building, finds footage that Eva killed Joseph, and exits. However, Ralph was inside the building when Eva blew the whole place up. Ralph's face is reduced to "mashed potatoes", as he is severely burned to the point of melting.

Ralph and Sue leave S.T.A.R. Labs.

He and Sue go to S.T.A.R. Labs and take the evidence to Team Flash who puts Ralph in a healing chamber.

Later, Ralph, donning a helmet because his face has not fully healed yet, along with Sue bid the team farewell as they decide that there are other organizations similar to Black Hole that need to be disassembled.[35]

Weeks later, Ralph continues to work overseas,[36] with him and Sue having cases in Tunisia.[37]


Ralph in his civilian persona.

"Just that everything that we've done, we did because we were trying to help people. Keep them safe. Is that all Dibny was trying to do back then?"
"Good people don't destroy lives and call it noble."
"Did I make a mistake back then? Did I cost a good man his life?"
"I don't know, Barr. He did break the law. Crossed a line. And you didn't make him do that. And you didn't make him blackmail the mayor. But, maybe Caitlin was right. Everyone who's gone what you, and her, now Dibny's gone through... maybe he deserves a second chance.
Barry Allen and Joe West about Ralph Dibny[src]

At his introduction, Ralph was initially motivated by self-interest and would stoop to morally questionable methods in the pursuit of success; or in desperation of such, but he certainly wasn't always like that, for even before coming into contact with Team Flash, Ralph harbored an admiration towards the Flash; due to his exploits in saving Central City and it's citizens from time to time, unaware that the heroic meta-human and his former subordinate-turned-nemesis were one-and-the-same; and due to their fallout, Barry himself was firm on the belief that Ralph was a corrupt individual from then and hasn't changed at all up to the present, in fact, he imposed to the other members of the team that Ralph was now a potentially more dangerous individual than before, with the hapless PI now attaining powers of his own, but soon admits it upon himself that he wanted to believe that because, ever since becoming the Flash, Barry has committed morally-gray acts in some semblance to what the ex-police detective did when Ralph framed Reagan Gimlin and that vilifying Ralph was the speedster's way of proving himself better than Ralph and justifying everything he's done so far. But in spite of his apparent readiness to walk the thin line separating lawful elements from the otherwise following his dismissal, Ralph has since proven himself aware of the difference between right and wrong.

However, Ralph was rather horrified at learning that he unexpectedly developed meta-human powers himself and, rather than immediately exploiting them for his own personal benefit like any criminal would after they stabilized, chose to keep them secret and continued on to his indentured existence as he either didn't want to be seen as a "freak" and be ruined (further) because of them - only discovering what an advantageous asset he now has after losing some weight and then surviving a bullet, at point-blank range, to the head - or perhaps that Ralph's moral standards were higher than Barry gave them credit for, if not both.

Ralph expresses distaste when Cisco first presented him with his own customized starter outfit to go along and optimize his elastic abilities, but later respected the suit's functionality (as it was either that or fight crime naked; Cisco begged him not to do the latter) although he did have a strong sense of justice, believing that apprehending perpetrators was the most important aspect in law enforcement duty and he was willing to go as far as to plant evidence to frame a murder suspect whom he genuinely believed to be guilty, lest the said murderer walks free. He is rather lecherous, able to quickly determine a woman's measurements and was recognized as a strip club's most regular customer. Given his fall from grace at the CCPD after Barry exposed his tampering of evidence, Ralph was also quite rude to his enemy, but ultimately Barry was able to coax him into an act of selflessness, convincing him into being a hero and moving forward, repairing their broken relationship in the process.[3]

Ralph as Elongated Man.

"As new threats arise, you'll need more than me. Which is why I'm proud to recognize a hero who's put his life on the line for this city time and time again. A hero who deserves our recognition: the Elongated Man. Now, Central City has another symbol of hope."
The Flash about Ralph Dibny[src]

Upon Ralph attaining mastery over his powers, he gradually realized that with such extraordinary gifts comes with an even greater sense of responsibility, which was something that he simply just brushed off in his five years of working as a private investigator; Ralph soon learned the hard way that saving the lives of others must come before catching the bad guy as his determination to prevent Mina Chaytan's escape almost killed a young girl when a utility pole fell on her while Barry was fighting a caveman statue Mina had brought to life with her powers, showing that Ralph is capable of remorse to his own actions and sympathy towards those he fails to protect due to misusing his own abilities, and now whole-heartedly accepting that he has an entire city to look after with the advantages given to him by chance and had to receive encouragement from Barry to keep Ralph from doubting himself.

Ralph began to put Barry's advice to use, choosing to save a night guard at a museum from being killed by an animated T-Rex skeleton rather than pursue Mina. He then does the Sioux people a favor by delivering to them the very artifact that Mina was trying to steal, as it was rightfully theirs and later proceeded to entertain the aforementioned little girl in her hospital room using his powers.[8]

due to Barry's mentoring, Ralph has learned that self-interest isn't the way to go, he learns to be selfless and to help others, including his teammates, after a while, the team begin to trust him to the extent of seeing him as a rightful member of the team, when Barry is framed for Clifford DeVoe's murder, Joe pulls Ralph aside and asks him for assistance in trying to plant evidence on Marlize DeVoe, when their first attempt doesn't work, Joe tries to plant carpet fibers at the DeVoe house to frame Marlize for being in on her husband's "murder" at the West-Allen loft, the night her husband's body was found. Ralph, remembering Barry's teachings, manages to talk Joe out of planting the evidence, proving just how far he has come since he joined Team Flash.

Ralph is proven to have good morals, at first, he considered killing Clifford in order to prevent him from hurting anyone else, but after remembering Barry's advice, he remembered that killing his enemies wasn't the proper way.[2]

Powers and abilities


"No, I don't stretch, I contort. I elasticize, I elongate, man."
—Ralph Dibny[src]

Ralph using his powers to save Cisco and Caitlin.

  • Meta-human physiology: After Ralph was struck by the dark matter energy after the Flash's release from the Speed Force, this altered his DNA and cells in a way that Earth-2's Harrison Wells found most intriguing (and considering the number of meta-humans and their roster of logic-defying abilities and powers that Harrison encountered thus far, this is saying something), polymerizing the walls of his cellular structure, causing them to be elasticized to form an unbreakable bond at an atomic level, enabling him to access his new-found powers.[3]
    • Elasticity: Ralph can stretch, contort, and compact various parts or his entire body into a myriad of different shapes and sizes. After taking a chemical stabilizer given by Caitlin Snow, he was able to retain a degree of "muscle memory" and revert to his leaner, fit state (or "default form").[3] He can even do things such as enlarging his fists or transforming his arms into blades.[8][38]
      • Shapeshifting: Ralph gained the ability to physically change the bodily form of anyone he can clearly picture within his mind. This was discovered when Ralph was describing his old business partner, Earl Cox, to Team Flash, and while doing so, he gradually started changing form from body part he described to body part, including his voice and accent, until he was in the full form of Earl. Ralph further on used this ability to masquerade as Gregory Wolfe and Clifford DeVoe, the latter of which he used to successfully testify for Barry Allen's freedom. However, as he was still unused to this new facet of his elastic capabilities, maintaining himself in the likeness of another's form taxes Ralph to the point where, apart from not being able to retain the said alternative likeness for as long as he would have liked, showing signs of gradual reversion until snapping back into his true form eventually, the assumed form also somewhat hampers Ralph's natural mobility - causing him to experience some difficulty in both movement and locomotion.[11]
      • Superhuman durability: As a side effect of his elasticity, Ralph is also rendered highly durable, mitigating any impact he may receive with little consequence as his body expands and contracts, in and out of his normal human shape, to render said impacts obsolete and even cause projectiles to bounce off from his person, after absorbing the said projectile into or through his body, and immediately rebounding it back to the direction of the source. He took no harm from a bullet to the head, and a punch to the face only inconvenienced him as his body would stretch and cushion the impact to ultimately negate it; though it was implied that certain other forms of assault could still harm him, since a Viber meta-human from Earth-19, "Breacher", claimed that he could kill Ralph after furiously firing a vibrational blast at him and then followed it with another.[3] It would appear that his insusceptibility to outward and solid physical harm is not limited to blunt assaults, since Ralph took a gargantuan bite to his outstretched torso from the teeth-filled jaws of a mobilized T-Rex skeleton without sustaining much harm to himself, despite something like that would have surely bifurcated a normal person in half. Ralph managed to withstand enough explosives to destroy a city block, though he did comment that it gave him heart burns right after doing so. Later, Ralph exhibited a marginally reasonable resilience against Axel Walker's Axid, sustaining only moderately superficial damage on his knee that did not impair Ralph in any way. Later, Ralph was able to survive Allegra Garcia firing undiluted ultraviolet radiation at his face, a feat Cisco Ramon attributed entirely to his powers.
      • Superhuman strength: Ralph has also demonstrated considerable strength, possibly attributed to the now substantial bonding of his cells at the molecular level which also refines his physical parameters and muscle definition. He was able to grab onto and stop a helicopter mid-flight with his extended arm and allow the Flash to run up his extended arm with ease, although he was somewhat strained by the act,[3] and later (quite literally) single-handedly prevented a speeding car from driving away, with only one outstretched arm gripping the car from behind, while anchoring himself to another vehicle with the other arm.[8] Ralph later showed being able to knock down a mobilized T. rex skeleton with a single hit from an enlarged fist.


  • Peak of human physical condition: As an ex-police detective turned vigilante, Ralph is in top physical condition, particularly since his powers allow him to keep fit.
  • Keen sense of smell: Ralph has a very acute sense of smell, capable of detecting and distinguishing scents, even behind a concrete wall.
"I promised there wasn't a single case I couldn't crack. And a promise made is a promise kept. Dibny detects."
—Ralph Dibny[src]
  • High-level intellect/Expert detective: As an ex-police detective of the Central City Police Department, Ralph runs his own private investigation business and is very experienced in detective work, claiming to have never had a case he couldn't solve. At one point, Ralph was Barry Allen's senior for this field[3] and was seen successfully closing several infidelity cases whilst working as a PI.[8] Ralph even discovered that a woman's husband was still alive after being presumed dead, having remarried, relocated, and conceived two children.[3] He was able to uncover that "Cameron Mahkent" was a non-existent judge used to fake Thomas Snow's death.[39] Ralph is also very good at reading people's honesty, as he saw through Carla Tannhauser's lie about her husband's status.[40] Despite being oblivious to the existence of the multiverse and failing to notice that Harry Wells was from Earth-2, Ralph was able to deduce upon meeting Nora West-Allen how time travel and alternate universes existed.[39] Sherloque Wells has even referred to Ralph as a "master detective".[23]
    • Feminine statistics: While not necessarily a dignified trait, Ralph is able to tell an encountered woman's physical vital statistics with a simple glance (much to the discomfort of the mentioned women).[8]
    • Skilled deceiver/Manipulator: Using his powers of elasticity, Ralph was successfully able to impersonate Clifford DeVoe to get Barry out of jail for his framed murder.[11] He also tricked Earl Cox into giving up Janet Petty by impersonating Joe West.[2]
  • Expert hand-to-hand combatant: Ralph is proven to be a proficient hand-to-hand combatant, as he had received training as all Central City Police Department members do. When Barry was briefly given the much stronger physique of Oliver Queen, Ralph easily knocked him out with a single punch (although Barry was caught off-guard and unfamiliar with his new body).[41] Ralph was also able to defeat several of Goldface's thugs with little struggle[20] and could fight on par against Grace Gibbons for a while with help from Killer Frost.[38]
    • Expert marksman: As a former police detective, Ralph is highly skilled in the use of firearms. He was able to effectively fire multiple effective shots at Cicada to subdue him.[42] Ralph and Barry also once used guns stolen from Goldface to fight and knock out all of the latter's forces, as well as briefly stun Goldface himself.[20]
    • Skilled knife wielder: Ralph is experienced in using blades in combat; during his fight with Grace, Ralph blocked all of her strikes with his arm blade, though was eventually defeated.[38]
  • Indomitable will: Ralph is a determined individual who doesn't easily give up on his private investigation cases. He spent 274 days (nine months) searching for Sue Dearbon.


  • Extremely corrosive chemicals: As demonstrated with a powerful acidic solution called "Axid" invented by Axel Walker, such advanced corrosive substances can still hurt and very much harm Ralph. When exposed to some of it the first time, Ralph was left with a severe burn on his skin that had him yelling in agony.[1]
  • Limited replication: Like Hannibal Bates, Ralph's shapeshifting is purely cosmetic and thus he has no knowledge from the person he is shapeshifting into. This means that his impersonation relies solely on his acting abilities and that anyone who knows the person he's imitating well enough will not be fooled by the change. Also, unlike J'onn J'onzz, Ralph lacks the ability to produce donned items, such as clothing and wearable accessories, on his person in lieu with his own brand of shapeshifting - forcing Ralph to improvise by acquiring such items in order to make his ruse believable when impersonating someone.
  • Power-dampening tech: If Ralph is wearing power-dampening cuffs, he can't use his powers.[20]
  • Mirror gun: Due to his cellular structure being unbreakable at the atomic level, instead of his body being destroyed when hit by the mirror gun, it caused his cells to turn inside out and resulted in his body to enter into a vegetative state and appear deformed. The only way to bring Ralph out of this state was by having Cisco use his vibration blasts, triggering Ralph's body to return to its "default" form.
"Look at his face. Most UV radiation gets absorbed by the ozone layer; this was entirely undiluted. If it wasn't for his powers, that "sunburn" would have killed him."
Cisco Ramon[src]
  • Intense ultraviolet radiation: Unfiltered ultraviolet radiations, such as those generated by Allegra or Esperanza Garcia, are able to give nasty burns to Ralph's skin and cause him pain, despite his body's immense resistance to harm. His powers only prevent the burns from being fatal.[43]
  • Injection immunity: Ralph's skin is so elastic that it is unable to be pierced by needles or injections even to save his life. When Ralph was dying from blood loss, the only way for Team Flash to save him was by having Barry phase a needle into him to donate blood.
  • Extreme heat: Though not a fatal weakness, extreme heat can "melt" Ralph, deforming his face and body. His body absorbs the excess heat and cannot release it, causing him to be constantly steaming.

Former weaknesses

  • Lack of stability: Initially, Ralph's stretching abilities were out of his control, acting instantly if exposed to enough outside force and would then remain stuck in that state, and was basically an afflicted human on his way to becoming a viscous and amorphous pile of flesh. By analyzing the difference in Ralph's DNA from before and after his dark matter exposure, Caitlin Snow was able to produce a stabilizer, enabling him to instinctively return to his normal shape as a default.
  • Fear: After Ralph ended up getting a burn on his knee in a battle against the Trickster due to the "Axid" the latter had created, Ralph realized he isn't invincible and was ready to give up on trying to be a hero, as he was afraid of getting hurt or perhaps even killed while operating in the field. However, after visiting Barry (who was in prison at the time; for a crime he didn't commit) and talking to him about his fear, Barry told him that's part of what being a hero is; that no one is fearless and that a real hero finds a way to overcome that fear and still make a difference in spite of potential danger.[1]


Original multiverse

  • Second Elongated Man suit: Ralph has a suit to hide his identity. The suit has an adaptive nano-weave structure that is malleable on the sub-molecular level so that, according to Cisco Ramon, it conforms to the shape of Ralph's body when he uses its powers. Cisco later remade the suit colored black with a hint of burgundy. The new suit also comes with a black domino mask,[1] but otherwise works the same as the first suit. When Clifford DeVoe stole Ralph's body, he took the second suit, which Ralph had been wearing, with him.[14] After Ralph regained control over his body in the final battle against DeVoe, he donned the suit once again.[44]
  • Tie-mounted camera: Ralph obtained this through unknown means while undercover in Midway City in the summer of 2019. Both Remington Meister and Barry Allen have mistaken Ralph's use of the camera for adjusting his bow tie.[25]

Former equipment

  • First Elongated Man suit: Ralph wears a suit to hide his identity as Elongated Man. A prototype, meaning that other iterations and artifices are bound to be produced after it in the future, the suit is a blue leotard with a matching mask and black tennis shoes. The suit has an adaptive nano-weave structure that is malleable on the sub-molecular level so that, according to Cisco, it conforms to the shape of Ralph's body when he uses its powers.
  • Sonic scepter: A sonic weapon created by Harrison Wells to use against DeVoe which can produce a powerful sonic wave when struck on the ground. Ralph used his elastic body to form a mold for the sonic scepter so that he could store it in his body for use at a second's notice. In a fight against DeVoe, Ralph used the device to incapacitate and cuff him. However, once DeVoe took over Ralph's body, the device was rendered useless.

New multiverse

  • Elongated Man suit: Ralph wears a suit to hide his identity as Elongated Man. The suit has an adaptive nano-weave structure that is malleable on the sub-molecular level so that, according to Cisco, it conforms to Ralph's body when he uses his powers.
  • Black Hole diamond: Given to him by Sue, the diamond contains the location of many Black Hole warehouses.


The Flash

Season 1

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Stretched Scene

The Chronicles of Cisco



Promotional images

Concept artwork


  • Ralph's meta-human powers seem to be a reflection of his personality; no matter how harsh the blunt reality of life strikes him, Ralph always seems to bounce back each time regardless of being in no better shape than the last, making elasticity the perfect attribute for him.
  • Ralph is the only bus meta-human to survive Clifford DeVoe's parasite-like possession.
    • Ralph is the second character in the Arrowverse who was seemingly killed by a main antagonist but survived by the season finale, the first being Thea Queen.
  • Along with his mother, Ralph openly considers Team Flash to be his family.[14]
    • Ralph's actor, Hartley Sawyer, thinks of Barry as a surrogate brother to Ralph.[45] In the show, their friendship is highly acknowledged by Marlize DeVoe and Joe West.[44][15][46]
    • Ralph used to have a habit of calling Barry "Rookie", as it is the same nickname the former used when he was still a police detective and Barry had just started as a Junior CSI.
  • Ralph is a fan of the Netflix TV series Stranger Things.[4]
  • Harry Wells called him "Ralph Disney" due to the latter's cartoon-ish personality.[7]
  • Sherloque calls him "baby giraffe" because his footsteps sound like one; additionally the rival detective noted the footsteps could have also belonged to "a tall, sensitive man", referring to how kind Ralph is.
  • Ralph wears a night retainer and sweats in his sleep.[12]
  • Ralph despises country music, claiming it to be "music's tone deaf stepchild". However, he appeared to have changed his opinion after meeting Izzy Bowin, as Ralph listened to her music after her death.[12]
  • Apparently, Ralph doesn't always wear underwear with his clothes.[13]
  • He loves shrimp.[44]
  • Ralph has coulrophobia, a fear of clowns.[47] Ironically, he's a fan of Tim Curry, who played Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the miniseries It.[47]
  • Ralph is a fan of John Stamos.[48]
  • Ralph has died/been thought to have died on at least five occasions:
    • The first is the pre-Flashpoint timeline, in which Ralph was among the victims of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion. Barry changing the timeline resulted in Ralph surviving.[6]
    • The second is when DeVoe seemingly killed Ralph by transferring his consciousness into the latter's body.[14] A couple months later, with the help of Marlize DeVoe and Cecile Horton, Barry found Ralph in DeVoe's subconsciousness and helped him regain control of his body, killing DeVoe in the process.[44]
    • The third is one of 53 timelines created by Nora West-Allen to save Team Flash, including Ralph, from their deaths at the hands Cicada.[21]
    • The fourth was when Ramsey Rosso absorbed Ralph's blood, leaving him in a near-death state before Barry managed to save Ralph by giving him a transfusion of his own blood.[26]
    • The fifth is the destruction of the multiverse in the Anti-Monitor Crisis.
  • At 6'4", Ralph is the tallest member of Team Flash.

Behind the scenes

  • Similar to the TV show, Ralph Dibny of the DC Comics was a good friend of Barry Allen and a detective who became the Elongated Man.
  • In the DC comics, his full name is "Randolph William Dibny".


  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "The Elongated Knight Rises"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Null and Annoyed"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 "Elongated Journey Into Night"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Don't Run"
  5. "Power Outage"
  6. 6.0 6.1 "The Flash: About that Ralph Dibny reference in season 1…" - Entertainment Weekly
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Girls Night Out"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "When Harry Met Harry..."
  9. "The Trial of The Flash"
  10. "Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash"
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 "True Colors"
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Subject 9"
  13. 13.0 13.1 "Run, Iris, Run"
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Lose Yourself"
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Fury Rogue"
  16. "We Are The Flash"
  17. "Nora"
  18. "News Flash"
  19. "The Icicle Cometh"
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 "Goldfaced"
  21. 21.0 21.1 "Cause and XS"
  22. "Failure is an Orphan"
  23. 23.0 23.1 "Legacy"
  24. "Into the Void"
  25. 25.0 25.1 "License to Elongate"
  26. 26.0 26.1 "The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 1"
  27. "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three"
  28. "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four"
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 "So Long and Goodnight"
  30. 30.0 30.1 "Pay the Piper"
  31. "A Girl Named Sue"
  32. "Liberation"
  33. "Success Is Assured"
  34. "All's Wells That Ends Wells"
  35. "Mother"
  36. "Fear Me"
  37. "Masquerade"
  38. 38.0 38.1 38.2 "The Girl With The Red Lightning"
  39. 39.0 39.1 "Nora"
  40. "The Death of Vibe"
  41. "Elseworlds, Part 1"
  42. "Seeing Red"
  43. "A Flash of the Lightning"
  44. 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 "We Are The Flash"
  45. "The Flash star previews the team learning Barry's fate: 'It's a bomb going off'" - Entertainment Weekly
  46. "There Will Be Blood"
  47. 47.0 47.1 Post 86 "#NoClowningAround"
  48. "Snow Pack"