Savitar (comics)

Savitar
Savitar in Flash (vol. 2) #111.
Art by Oscar Jimenez.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Flash (vol. 2) #108
(December 1995)
Created by Mark Waid (writer)
Oscar Jimenez (artist)
In-story information
Abilities Superspeed, accelerated healing, force field, time travel

Savitar is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. An immensely powerful speedster that leads a cult dedicated to the Speed Force, he has battled Wally West, Jay Garrick and Barry Allen.

The character appears on The CW's live-action television series The Flash, voiced by Tobin Bell and portrayed by Grant Gustin.

Publication history

Savitar first appeared in Flash (vol. 2) #108 (December 1995), and was created by Mark Waid and Oscar Jimenez.[1][2]

Fictional character biography

Savitar was originally an unnamed pilot for a third-world nation who was to test a supersonic fighter jet during the Cold War. As he reached top speed, his plane was struck by what appeared to be lightning and he went down in hostile territory. Discovering he could defeat the enemy by moving at super-speed, he became obsessed, naming himself after the Hindu "god of motion" Savitr and dedicating his life to unlocking its secrets. As he studied, Savitar discovered new powers that no other living speedster has mastered. He can protect himself in a null-inertia force field, give speed and kinetic energy to objects or people, even those in a "rest state", and he could also heal his own injuries almost instantly.

Savitar's obsession gained followers, becoming the leader of a cult. In search of more knowledge, he sought out the only super-speed hero operating at the time: Johnny Quick. This encounter became a battle, the tide of which was turned with Max Mercury's arrival leading Savitar toward the Speed Force, but caused him to bounce off, both speedsters being thrown forward in time.[3] Emerging from the timestream before Savitar, Max Mercury became a mentor to the Flash family's various members and other speedsters, secretly preparing them against the day Savitar would exit the timestream.

Reappearing decades later, Savitar found that his cult had grown in his absence, awaiting his return. He recruited former Blue Trinity member Lady Flash (Christina Alexandrova), and discovered a way to use the woman's speed to divert all energy from the Speed Force to his own army of ninjas. He then sought to eliminate the competition: Kid Flash (Wally West), Impulse, Golden Age Flash (Jay Garrick), Johnny Quick, Jesse Quick, XS and Max Mercury.

Wally’s direct Speed Force connection prevented Savitar from stealing Wally's speed, and a coalition of just about every speedster (except for Red Trinity) foiled his plans. Hell-bent on at least destroying the Flash’s world in retribution, Savitar led Wally on a worldwide race of destruction, until the Flash chose to give Savitar what he wanted: union with the Speed Force. His earlier encounter had shown him that the others who had arrived before would deal with Savitar as they saw fit.

In The Flash Rebirth mini-series, Savitar was able to escape from the Speed Force. He was run down by the Flash (Barry Allen) but Savitar disintegrates when the Flash touches him, leaving only a pile of bones.[4] It is revealed that Professor Zoom altered Barry's Speed Force connection to make the Flash shift in reverse, cursed to kill every Speed Force user with a single touch until a conflict between the Flash and Zoom.[5] Savitar, Lady Savitar (Christina Alexandrova) and Johnny Quick have been killed by this effect.[6][7]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity where parts of Savitar's origin are used in the Top's origin.

In DC Rebirth, Troia (a version of Donna Troy from an alternate future) recalls that Wally was killed by either Savitar or Brother Blood from that time.[8]

Powers and abilities

Savitar can move at super-speed, and is able to lend or steal speed from moving objects. He has accelerated healing due to increased metabolism and can generate a full Inertia force field.

In other media

Television

Promotional image of the third season of The Flash
Gustin as Savitar
Savitar's armored form confronting the Flash (Barry Allen) in a promotional image of The Flash (left) and Grant Gustin as the character's true form (right).

A heavily adapted iteration of Savitar appears in The CW's live-action television series The Flash as season three's main antagonist. The character is voiced by Tobin Bell and portrayed by Grant Gustin, with stuntman Andre Tricoteux performing the character's powered armor form.

A time remnant (temporal duplicate) of Barry Allen/The Flash from a possible future, the armored villain fights his original self's other duplicates and killed all but one who reinvented himself as the self-proclaimed "God of Speed" due to feeling abandoned by Team Flash for being an aberration. After his imprisonment in the Speed Force, long-held myths referencing Savitar were spread throughout the multiverse with even Jay Garrick/The Flash believing these stories, and Abra Kadabra's timeline regarding Savitar as Barry's greatest enemy (even more than the Reverse-Flash, Zoom and the Thinker). From the Speed Force, Savitar manipulates the present-day Julian Albert into acquiring the Philosopher's Stone, through which his Doctor Alchemy avatar re-empowers metahumans from the Flashpoint timeline, including Wally West/Kid Flash whom Savitar manipulates into freeing him from the Speed Force. Savitar next convinces Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost to join him as he plans to murder Iris West before Barry's eyes which would lead to the time remnant's creation. However, Savitar faces non-existence when H.R. Wells (Earth-19) sacrifices himself by impersonating his intended victim. Barry offers to find a way to save his time remnant, but Savitar rejects this and blows up S.T.A.R. Labs with the Philosopher's Stone. To save himself, Savitar tries to manipulate Cisco Ramon/Vibe to fragment himself throughout all of time and then goad his original self to give into dark impulses as Savitar himself. However, both efforts are foiled by Team Flash and Savitar is erased from existence after being shot by his would-be victim.

References

  1. ↑ Robinson, Ashley V. (22 November 2016). "The Flash: Secrets of Savitar". DC Comics. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. ↑ Allan, Scoot (21 November 2016). "The Flash: Who is Savitar, and is He the New Fastest Man Alive?". GeekExchange. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  3. ↑ Flash vol. 2 #109 (Jan. 1996)
  4. ↑ The Flash: Rebirth #1 (April 2009)
  5. ↑ The Flash: Rebirth #4 (August 2009)
  6. ↑ The Flash: Rebirth #2 (May 2009)
  7. ↑ The Flash: Rebirth #3 (June 2009)
  8. ↑ Titans #17
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