Black Flash

The Black Flash essentially fulfills the same role as Death for those who possess super-speed in the DC Universe, returning the speedster to their power source: the Speed Force. It is reportedly seen before the deaths of Barry Allen and Johnny Quick. Max Mercury, having had several near-death experiences, has also seen the Black Flash.

It is not clear whether the Black Flash exists because speedsters are simply too fast for traditional Death to capture, or as some sort of bizarre side-effect to their Speed Force connection.

It came for Wally West to draw back to the Speed Force, but instead took Linda Park. Having seen portents of Wally's death, Max Mercury and Jesse Quick intercepted Wally before reaching the museum where Linda was waiting, with Linda thus being struck by the lightning that was meant to kill Wally. It later returns to try to take Wally again, freezing time except for those who possess a connection to the Speed Force. Max Mercury, Jay Garrick, and Jesse Quick all attempt to assist Wally by distracting the Black Flash; Wally finally defeats the Black Flash by racing the creature to the end of time, to a point where Death would have no meaning, causing the creature to dissipate.

The Black Flash appears to Bart Allen when the Flash loses his powers while battling the Rogues at the Getty Center. Despite a clash with Inertia (another possible candidate for the Black Flash), Bart is killed shortly thereafter by the panicked Rogues when it appears Bart would win, even without powers.

Most recently, the Black Flash is revealed to represent the dark aspect of the Speed Force, which is responsible for the empowerment of Wally's children. His connection to death is limited to those connected to the Speed Force. While an issue of Captain Atom suggests Death of the Endless, the Black Racer, and Nekron are all aspects of the same force, Neil Gaiman (creator of Death of the Endless) disagrees with this idea, stating that his creation is the ultimate personification of Death.

During the Final Crisis, Wally theorizes that the Black Racer pursuing himself and Barry is in fact the Black Flash.

A charred corpse, appearing to be the Black Flash, was found in Iowa by two boys in The Flash: Rebirth.[2]

When the Force Barrier was destroyed and the other forces were unleashed, the Black Flash was sent to hunt down the conduits of the unleashed forces. The Black Flash arrives in the Speed Lab within the Flash Museum and attacks Steadfast, the Still Force avatar.[3] After Hunter Zolomon (now named as "The Flash") takes Barry Allen into the timestream (called the "Forever Force") built by the speed force, the Black Flash continues to chase them in order to kill them (in the hopes of healing the speed force). Hunter sacrifices himself to the Force Barrier in order to finally heal the speed force and keep the Black Flash from going after Steadfast and Fuerza, as he had already killed Psych. Due to the sacrifice, the Forever Force broken down trapping the Black Flash inside, while Barry escaped. [4]

Later when discovering the body, Barry Allen is transformed into the next Black Flash, but the state is reversed.[5] It's revealed that Professor Zoom has altered the Speed Force which results in Barry's Black Flash transformation.[6][7]

The broken-necked corpse of Eobard Thawne is reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. Equipped with a black power ring, Thawne declared himself as the Black Flash,[8][9][10] until Thawne's corpse is brought back to life.[11]

• A different depiction of Black Flash appears on two of The CW's Arrowverse series: the live-action series The Flash,[15] and Legends of Tomorrow.[16][17] The version is Hunter Zolomon (Teddy Sears) transformed by time wraiths into the Speed Force's Grim Reaper-esque enforcer. He serves mainly to hunt down speedsters trying to change the timeline and erase them from existence.
  • Throughout the second season of Legends of Tomorrow' Black Flash pursues Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash, unintentionally brought back into existence due to Barry Allen/Flash's creation of Flashpoint, to erase him and correct the timeline. This prompts Thawne to locate the Spear of Destiny and change reality to save himself. But the strain of being hunted by Black Flash and the Legends themselves forces Thawne to recruit the Legion of Doom to aid him. Thawne eventually obtains the spear and changes reality for himself and the Legion and traps Black Flash within a cell in S.T.A.R. Labs to keep it from erasing him and eventually learn how to destroy it. However Sara Lance undoes Thawne's work in the season finale and frees Black Flash allowing it to erase Thawne from existence before returning to the Speed Force.
  • Black Flash appears in the third season of The Flash. Black Flash is sent to stop Barry Allen from freeing Wally West from Savitar's Speed Force prison and later to erase Savitar to stop his plan of becoming a god, only to be destroyed by Killer Frost.

• The Black Flash appears in Justice League Heroes: The Flash for the Game Boy Advance. When the player dies, the Flash is chased by the Black Flash. If the player avoids being caught, the Flash is rewarded with a chance at continuing the game, coming back with low health and without losing the current life. After each death, escape from the Black Flash gets increasingly difficult.
• The Eobard Thawne version of Black Flash is featured in Injustice: Gods Among Us as a playable alternate skin for the Flash as part of a limited exclusive challenge.
• The Black Flash (identified as the Black Racer) is mentioned in Injustice 2 in the Reverse-Flash's fight dialogue. The character is mentioned when the Reverse-Flash faces his own doppelganger, Deadshot, and Doctor Fate in battle; the Reverse-Flash says "the Black Racer is coming".
• The Black Flash is featured as a free creatable character in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure