Wally West (Kid Flash/Flash)

Wally West, also known as Kid Flash and later, Flash, is one of the major characters from the DC Comics.

Struck by the same lightning bolt that turned his uncle Barry Allen into the Flash, Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West took the name Kid Flash and became Barry's sidekick and the member of the Teen Titans. Eventually, Wally became the Flash to honor his uncle's memory, who died saving the Universe. He also became a member of the Justice League. He married a woman named Linda Park and had two kids, Jai and Iris West II. Currently, Wally was pulled from the Speed Force by Barry and is one of two fastest men alive.

Personality
At first Wally came off as a rather apprehensive and unsure young man when first exposed to his father and sister, but his full personality came to light in time; he is an eager, reckless, competitive, and somewhat angry young man. His anger came from having grown up with no father, having to be the man of the house from the very beginning, and taking on far more responsibility than he might have had to if he'd been raised by both parents. Despite his rage, Wally deeply loved his mom, being afraid to see her pass away and working constantly to both pay her medical expenses and to keep his mind off the pain of his impending loss and grief. Only once Iris talked him into it could he face his demons in the form of saying goodbye to his mother.

His competitive side is seen not only in his racing career, but also in his initial interactions with Barry, feeling jealous of the constant praise Barry received from Joe and Iris and envying Barry having been raised by Joe. This one-sided rivalry came to a halt after Joe revealed why Barry came to live with him and Iris and that Barry's tragedies are why Joe tried too hard to defend him from any criticism. After this, Wally made the decision to try to see Barry less like a rival for his father's affection and more like a brother. His competitiveness was also evident in his Flashpoint self, who groaned at being nicknamed "Kid Flash" by Iris and Barry and tried to prove to the other Flash that he doesn't need to follow anyone's lead to win against the Rival.

With the Flash having saved his life, he had wanted to turn his life around and make up for the things he had apparently caused, he seems to have gone to a more heroic route, saving the Flash when overpowered by Black Siren.

After joining with the Legends, Wally seems to have found a good friend in Nate as they shared similar backgrounds with distant fathers and both display cocky, womanizing attitudes.

Abilities
Speed Force Conduit:  Wally’s primary super ability is his super speed which he gets from tapping into the Speed Force. He gained a connection to it after the same accident that gave Barry his powers and his connection to the force was possible because of adventures they shared together. However, after Barry died and Wally became the new Flash, he subconsciously limited his own speed to the speed of sound (originally they thought Wally's speed was affected by the Anti Matter wave). When he admitted it to himself, Wally broke he psychic blocks and achieved a new level of power. However, when Wally broke the light barrier for the first time, he tapped into the speed force and gained a full connection to it, increasing his powers while giving him while new set of abilities. In truth, West mainlines the power from the force itself and cannot be cut off from the source, unlike all the other Speedsters (besides Barry, Thawne, Max and possibly Savitar). Wally is the fastest of all the Speedsters, perhaps rivaled only by his mentor, Barry Allen (although Wally has said Bart Allen is faster than all speedsters put together) and surpassed only by Zoom (Hunter Zolomon), Flash (Bart Allen), The Black Flash and The Black Racer. He is arguably one of the fastest beings that has ever existed and certainly, faster than Superman. He is currently fast enough to easily break all the barriers and even enter the Speed Force. Wally has, on several occasions, traveled much faster than light and been pulled into and exited the Speed Force by his own volition. He is one of the few speedsters who was able to tap into the speed force and get out without direct outside help. Like Barry and Jay, Wally has his own "lightning rod" which is his wife Linda. Without her, he is not capable of coming back and will go to his final resting place. That is why he almost stayed in the speed force when he forgot Linda's name while at the same time Linda almost fell in love in the Flash from the future, John Fox. The only reason why he got out was because he remembered Linda's name and Linda herself remembered she loves Wally. During the Rebirth, Linda forgot about Wally so he wasn't able to get out of the Speed Force without Barry's help.

Superhuman Speed:  Wally West had different levels of speed over the years. During his days as Kid Flash, he was pretty fast, fast enough to easily keep up with Barry Allen and he could measure time in span of nanoseconds. However, it was pretty clear that his speed was nor comparable to that of his uncle, or even Superman. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally was affected by the Anti Matter Wave which stopped his increased metabolism for killing him when he uses his speed, but it also slowed down to a level of speed comparable to the Speed of Sound. After his fight with Eobard Thawne, Max Mercury ("Zen Master of Speed") tried to teach Wally how to get faster and in doing so, told him he was afraid of replacing and overshadowing the legacy of his uncle Barry by becoming his equal. When Wally admitted that to himself, he achieved the new level of power and gained speed comparable to Eobard's. After he broke the light barrier and tapped into the Speed Force, Wally came out of it, gaining new sets of powers of abilities while upgrading his already existing ones by a large margin. Wally West became by far, one of the fastest beings on the planet, and is arguably one of the fastest beings to ever exist (Although the title of "Fastest Man" has been given back to Barry Allen in his return in "Final Crisis"). Theoretically, speeds greater than Mach 10 are dangerous to both the people and to the environment. This speed would still be the equivalent to approximately 2 miles per second, allowing him to cross the United States in about 23 minutes, or circle the world in about 3 hours, but the Speed Force has shown that if needed, Wally West can use it to prevent such effects from occurring, hence he is able to run at speeds much faster than light on the planet Earth without it having devastating effects on the planet. He can also run across bodies of water and up the sides of buildings. He has been able to casually move beyond the speed of thought, easily move so fast that even an multiple attacks moving at the speed of light seems to be standing still and at the same time scans the face of over five hundred thousand people for a specific expression in less than a picosecond. He is able to easily save and carry over half a million people 35 miles away from a nuclear warhead that had already detonated, including the ones at ground zero, in only 10 picoseconds, disable Mirror Master's gun in span of a picosecond with ease, as well as beat a fellow Speedster Eobard Thawne in span of a picosecond. He is able to casually reach speeds such as 500 times the speed of light. He has moved and ran so fast, that he was capable of outrunning The Black Flash to the end of time/space, past entropy, the next Big Bang and into the next Universe, before he could catch him and kill him. Wally also has increased perception, allowing him to proceed events that unfolded in span of an attosecond (an attosecond is one quintillionth of a second. To put this in perspective, one attosecond is to one second, what one second is to the age of the universe and it is the time period where light passes the distance on a molecular level).

Decelerated Aging:  Like all the Speedster that draws power from the speed force, Wally gained eternal youth and does not age until he becomes a full on grown man. Same ability is given to their loved ones, like Jay's wife Joan, Barry's wife Iris, and Wally's own wife Linda.

Energy Construct Creation:  Wally discovered that if he concentrated, he could use the Speed Force to create solid constructs, which he used to compose his costume. The first time he used this ability was to create a solid gold armor enabling him to run despite having broken legs. Later examples included sealing up the openings of his costume against disease and creating pockets for holding things. At times, he'll create walls of pressurized debris to surround an area. After his legs were healed and he got rid of the armor, Wally decided to discard his own costume and created a copy of his original costume, originally worn by Barry Allen but with sharp-edges lightning. During the Flash Rebirth when Barry came back as the Flash, Wally created another costume for himself which looked identical to his modified version.

Sharing The Force:  The ability of "lending" velocity to objects or people already in motion. Since his interaction with the Speed Force, he may also lend his speed and angular momentum to another object or person. This may allow others to run alongside with the Flash. However, when Wally shares his speed and gives object a momentum, he literally slows himself down. How much his speed decreases is based on how much speed he gives to the person or object (although his speed comes back to him when that object or a person lose their speed).

Steal Speed:  Wally is able to "steal" speed and/or momentum from anyone or anything, including beings such as Superman or Inertia, effectively turning them into living statues. Also can steal speed from bullets and other fast-moving objects thrown at him or at others. Wally can also steal and borrow speed from other speedsters. A good example of this is when Wally fought the new Zoom, he borrowed speed from Bart Allen, Jessie Quick, and Jay Garrick. This ability is so great that he once took the speed from the entire planet, and its population, including fastest heroes of the DC Universe, like Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Steel, Jessie Quick, Max Mercury, Jay Garrick, Bart Allen and way more, even tho they were far away from him. He also stole Krakkl's speed, who not only has the ability to move at the speed of light but he also absorbed the speed of his own planet's entire population (each of them having the ability to move at the speed of light). It increased Wally's speed so much, he actually moved and calculated time in span of a zeptosecond (Which is one trillionth of one billionth or sextillionth of one second). Wally was so fast at the time, he could run faster than instant movement, meaning he can be anywhere at anytime.

Speed Force Aura:  The Flash's body is surrounded by what he calls his "Speed Force aura". This aura protects him and anyone who is running with him or carried by him, from the effects of using his speed. This includes friction and airborne particulate matter. It also protects him from injury from high speed impacts such as punches he delivers and receives from his opponents. With this aura he is able to absorb kinetic energy and inertia. Wally can sync his aura with his children, giving him the ability to pull either of them to him with a thought. The Speed Force Aura also gives Wally Super Human durability, allowing him to survive attacks from most powerful Meta-Humans without much damage, like Superman, Mongul, Green Lantern, Zoom, Wonder Woman and more.

Speed Force Lightning:  Due to his connection to the Speed Force, Wally generates Speed Force energy from his body in the form of electricity/lightning. Recently, Wally has shown that he is able to project this electrical energy as bolts from his hand. He did this to "shock" the forgotten memories of the Titans back into their minds. Wally's lightning (for whatever reason) turned blue.

Superhuman Stamina:  The Flash possesses vast superhuman endurance that is nearly inexhaustible. He was able to run non-stop for over 10 days straight without tiring against Krakkl (who was stealing the speed of his entire race and adding it to his own, a race where every single individual could achieve the speed of light), through time and space across existence (everywhere from the fourth dimension to the Big Bang was their track field) at speeds so far beyond light and so unimaginable, he was constantly breaking through all the barriers and even brushed the true Speed Force itself directly.

Self-Sustenance:  Wally has shown that he can survive in harsh environments such as space without any hindrance, and has shown that he can gain all the energy he needs from the Speed Force's infinite storage of energy.

Infinite Mass Punch:  Traveling near the speed of light acquired the relativistic mass of such speed to impart blows which could hit with a force greater than that of "a white dwarf star", Flash's own durability is regulated by the Speed Force in such cases. Relativistic effects take over as a body approaches light-speed (his control over his powers and the Speed Force is so great, that he can choose to ignore these relativistic effects if he wishes to). Visual input will begin to blueshift, and his body's mass will increase towards infinity. With this ability, he was able to knock out a Martian Speedster Zum (who is as durable/tough as Superman) from Mount Rushmore to the plains of Africa, all with one devastating punch and left him KO'd for several minutes despite the fact that the Martians have incredible healing factor.

Dimensional Travel:  Wally West has shown to be able to traverse time and dimensions with his own powers, unlike Barry Allen (although Barry eventually found a way to travel throughout time/space and other dimensions with his own powers) and the other speedsters. However, Wally now accelerates to the point that he is skirting the very edge of the Speed Force dimension or even entering it. He can traverse along the time-stream to specific points as they become visible, much like watching a movie in fast forward or reverse. In order to enter the Speed Force and time travel to different periods, he must exceed light speed, which he can easily and instantly do.

Regeneration:  Accelerating his healing factor while using the Speed Force to sustain him, Wally can heal from any injury instantly, without prematurely aging like his alternate version, Walter West.

Phasing:  The Flash has always possessed the ability to control his speed and angular momentum at the molecular level, and control his molecular interactions to allow his body to pass through any substance. If he chooses Wally can excite the molecules of whatever substance he vibrates through to critical mass causing it to explode. While in an intangible state, the Flash is immune to any airborne viruses and can breathe regularly. He can also vibrate so fast that light does not reflect off him, rendering him invisible.

Flight:  By spinning like a helicopter, he can even perform a limited kind of flight. Since his power is a quantum/molecular phenomenon, the Flash has been able to fly just as other metas do (and there have been other flying speedsters in the past, such as the deceased Johnny Quick) because he can control his absolute molecular energy and direction and force it in the direction he wished to move without running. Though he rarely makes use of this ability as he enjoys running. The Speed Force also allows him to run in frictionless environments, as he was able to run in space itself, as casually as he was running on the ground without any outside assistance.

Increased Perceptions:  The Flash possesses the ability to alter his perceptions so that falling objects can appear to be standing still and can be caught and moved back to their normal position. He can disarm or jam any number of opponents weapons before they are even aware of his movement and can hurl small projectiles at hypersonic velocities. His ability to alter his own perception of time is so great, that if he wishes, the tick between a second can pass for millions of years. He can even push this ability to the point, that to him, it's as if the Universe is standing still. It does not truly stand still, it is his own perception of time that seems to stand still, and his body automatically adjusts to his perception, hence, the slower he views the world, the faster his body moves through time/space to adjust to his perception. He can even all together, break time through the time and dimension barrier, to truly be beyond time/space. He can do this so quickly as to have it happen invisibly to the normal human eye. He can effortlessly strike a single opponent or multiple opponents million of times in a second.

Supercharged Brain Activity:  The Flash's mental abilities are also increased in speed, simple computations can be done at lightning speeds, and his ability to perform normal feats at increased speeds has allowed him to build hundreds of force field generators in a matter of minutes, move sandbags to cover a beach or search an entire area for something as small as a paper clip. Wally can also read at super-speed, but rarely takes advantage of this ability to learn at increased speeds, although Jay Garrick has done so and has become a jack of all trades in several disciplines and languages.

Time Manipulation:  Recently, Wally has developed the ability to stop time, which compensates for his heart condition, which can kill him if he moves too fast.

Vortex Creations:  By running in a circle at a certain speed, Flash is able to create a vortex with a variety of effects. One effect is pulling the air away from the center in order to suffocate an enemy. Another effect is levitating whoever and whatever was in the center. Also, able to send anyone or anything into another dimension when running around them. Some other effects are acting as barriers to movement or funnels for toxic gases. The Flash also can spin his arms to create directed funnels of hurricane speed air that can knock down barriers or reduce the speed of a falling object. When putting out forest fires, what the Flash does when he runs around the perimeter is create a pocket tornado. The updraft lowers the temperature inside the funnel and raises the fire off the ground which takes away its fuel source.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced):  Wally is very proficient in many forms of fighting.

Intellect:  Wally is very smart. He was able to use his powers in different ways that nobody could teach him. He also remembers several lectures Barry gave him, including various "Flash Facts".

Mechanical Aptitude:  Wally can intuitively understand the operation of any mechanical device and subconsciously/effortlessly create a schematic in his mind.

Trivia

 * Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earthcontinuity, and should be considered apocryphal.


 * As Kid Flash, Wally for some years took to coloring his red hair brown when in costume in order to further conceal his secret identity.
 * Wally West does not kill but supports the death penalty.