Flash Thompson

Personality
On first glance, Eugene "Flash" Thompson seems to be your average everyman jock. Popular with the ladies, confident, a bit brash and not ashamed in letting people know. It was little surprise given his capabilities on the field and possessing a sort of charisma that attracted most people to him. However, he is much more than he appears. While he is boisterous and rough, he is above foul play. He has a strong sense of integrity and he ain't gonna go low as cheating. He's also sharper than he appears; while his grades are nothing to write home about, he does have a capability to guage people how they are.

Beyond that though, he also has a temper problem, a result of his rough upbringing and how his father escaped accountability for his drinking problem and subsequent growing abuse. As such, he tends to get physical and provactive toward people that rub him the wrong way, one reason or another. This is the crux of his antagonism with Peter Parker. However, he does mean well and if he screwed up, he's going to apologize for it. Additionally, as a result of his powerlessness in his life, he tends to root for heroes as well as judging more fairly. As such, it was why he was able to guage Spider-Man as a good hero. Overall, Flash is ultimately a good person who nonetheless has vices to deal with and growing up to become a better man.

History
Eugene "Flash" Thompson was born the oldest child of Harrison and Rosalynn Thompson over in Queens, New York on September 17, 1979. His father Harrison Thompson was an officer of the NYPD while his mother Rosalynn was a home maker. At the age of three, Eugene Thompson became an older brother with the birth of Jesse Thompson. The Thompsons' home life started out as that of any average American family although it soured due to Harrison Thompson's descent to alcoholism. While celeberated as an honest cop, his rough childhood and experiences as an officer drove him to drink, which unleashed repressed anger and even violent tendecies on his children whenever drunk. This escalation of tension in the Thompson household as well as Rosalynn's continued defense of her husband's attitude (albeit though she did often prevent some violence) led to Eugene resenting both of his parents. Uponing entering high school, he took to football and became a rising star for his strength and speed out in the field, to where he was given the nickname "Flash."

It was also around this time that his own repressed issue came out in the form of bullying. Usually through the form of insults, his particular target was that of Peter Parker, beginning over in their freshman year. Through the course, Peter deal with verbal harassment and other physical problems, such as being left on a branch, usually require one of Thompson's team members to get him down to avoid getting him into trouble. Peter lacked any evidence toward Flash and after a while, he did stop physically bullying him, though did not stop insulting him (though Peter did not hesitate to counter.) However, after the transformation of Peter into Spider-Man and his growth spurt, the two became sort of aquaintances and Peter finds it hilarious how Flash Thompson is a colossal fan of Spider-Man, including to finding the Spider-Man fan club.

Trivia

 * No one knows why he mainly antagonized Peter, though a few have been noted:
 * Some believe it's because his younger sister Jesse may have had a crush on Peter Parker though Eugene never confirmed that.
 * Others who know Eugene better and are aware of his difficult homelife believe it was because he resented Peter having good parental figures.
 * When asked, Eugene himself has admitted is that he didn't like how Peter seem to look down on the others because of his intelligence.


 * Despite he and Peter being at odds, one of the times they were capable of being civil and on relatively good terms was on talking about Captain America (as both were fans of his before his "grand return" upon his discovery in 1995.)


 * Due to Harrison's positive record and Rosalynn's defense, Eugene was unsuccessful in convincing most people of his father's violence toward him and his sister. As a result, he took to staying over at friends' houses and insisted on his younger sister going to sleepovers whenever their father would get drunk in order to avoid dealing with him.


 * He has displayed an interest in joining the army should his football career not take off.


 * Another commonality he and Peter share are being Mets fans.


 * Ben Parker was one of the few who suspected Harrison Thompson's ill behavior toward his family when he interrupted a fight between him and Peter and while escorting Flash home, noted the aggressive stance of Harrison. Relying on his experience from his time as a soldier and military police officer, he managed to get Eugene to stay at a friend's house to avoid his dad's wrath. This moment of compassion led to Eugene to quit bullying Peter.


 * During the funeral of Ben Parker, Eugene Thompson showed up to offer genuine condolences to Peter. Peter would end up angered grief and more or less vent out at Flash, who let him do so. Days later, Peter thanked Flash for showing up to the funeral, that it did mean alot as well as apologizing for his outburst.


 * Flash was one of the only non-Parkers there at the funeral, alongside some of Ben's coworkers, May's coworkers (and her friend Anne Watson) and the funeral staff. However, some time later, he would note to Peter that he noticed a sharply dressed man with a young girl also watching the funeral, though far away enough to give the indiciation of not wanting to be seen.