Across the first five seasons of The Flash, Barry Allen and his friends have squared off against several formidable speedsters threatening Central City. Each one was just as fast -- if not, faster -- than the Scarlet Speedster, the villains pushed all of Team Flash to their very limits as they desperately searched for ways to outwit the relentless foes.
Now, CBR is taking a quick look back at each of the the DC TV series' various villainous speedsters and how they compare in terms of deadly velocity and powers and abilities beyond super-speed.
Godspeed
One of the new villains introduced in Season 5 was Godspeed, an evil speedster that stalked the streets of Central City in 2049. The white and gold-clad antagonist was the first villain that Nora West-Allen faced after gaining her own super-speed powers.
It was discovered that the speedster was Mercury Labs intern August Heart who gained his powers from a replica of Zoom's speed-increasing Velocity-9 drug. This made his powers reliant on the serum, making him one of the slower speedster villains encounter but, with the character still active, he could return with his speed more permanent and fast than ever before.
Black Flash
After being transformed by the Time Wraiths, Zoom becomes their timeline enforcer known as the Black Flash, resembling his undead comic book counterpart. The Black Flash stalked the timeline, appearing whenever a speedster attempted to change history through time travel, ultimately killing Eobard Thawne in the Season 2 finale of Legends of Tomorrow.
Thawne and Barry have both been able to barely outrun Black Flash before making them nominally faster than the personification of death. However, given his undead nature, Black Flash never tires in his relentless pursuit giving him an edge over his targets and their mounting fatigue.
Reverse-Flash
The first main antagonist Barry Allen ever faced was Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash and his mother's murderer. While he's normally neck-and-neck in terms of speed with his rival, he outpaced Barry for much of Season 1 due to the young hero still growing accustomed to his new powers and his new connection to the Speed Force.
To further augment his own speed, Thawne used a tachyon device to push his abilities even further. Without it, the Flash has usually triumphed over the Reverse-Flash and maintains a slight edge over his hated, time-traveling enemy.
Savitar
Season 3 pit Team Flash against Savitar, the self-proclaimed God of Speed, who targeted Iris West for his own evil plan. By the season's end, Savitar removed the armor to reveal himself as a time remnant of Barry Allen from an alternate future, traveling back in time to gain revenge on Barry for abandoning him by killing the woman he loves.
Outside of the armor, the time remnant is at least as fast as Barry Allen, since he's a duplicate of himself created through the Speed Force. Inside of his armor, constructed from the mythical Philosopher's Stone, the time remnant's abilities are incredibly augmented, making him even faster than Barry. Barry attempts to train Wally to surpass Savitar's speed but finds that he must develop a new strategy to defeat the evil doppelgänger. After a confrontation with the villain that resulted in Barry ejecting Savitar from his armor, the time remnant proved no match for him without the boosted abilities.
Zoom
The villain of Season 2 was one of The CW series' most frightening and intense villains yet, Zoom. Eventually revealed to be Hunter Zolomon, the condemned serial killer gained access to the Speed Force after the explosion of the particle accelerator. To augment his speed further, Zoom uses an experimental drug while stabilizing his condition by stealing energy from other speedsters.
The augmentation makes him the fastest villain Barry had faced to date, forcing the hero to use a tachyon device to augment his own speed to match Zoom. Without the tachyon device, Zoom possessed speeds making cross-dimensional possible making him the fastest villain Team Flash has faced after stealing several other heroes' speed.
Returning Tuesday, October 8 at 8 pm on The CW, The Flash stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Nicolet and Hartley Sawyer.