Savitar (comics)

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.[1]

Savitar
Savitar in Flash (vol. 2) #111.
Art by Oscar Jimenez.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceFlash (vol. 2) #108
(December 1995)
Created byMark Waid (writer)
Oscar Jimenez (artist)
In-story information
AbilitiesSuperspeed, accelerated healing, force field, time travel

The character appeared on The CW's live-action television series The Flash during the third season, 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.[2][3]

Fictional character biography

Savitar was originally an unnamed pilot for a third-world nation that 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" Savitar 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, and he became 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 causing him to bounce off, both speedsters being thrown forward in time.[4] 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: The 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.[5] 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.[6] Savitar, Lady Savitar (Christina Alexandrova) and Johnny Quick have been killed by this effect.[7][8]

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.[9]

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
Savitar wearing his suit of armor in a promotional image of The Flash (left) and Grant Gustin as the character's true form, a time remnant (right).

A heavily adapted iteration of Savitar appears in The CW's live-action television series The Flash as the main antagonist of the third season, voiced by Tobin Bell and portrayed by Grant Gustin. Stuntman Andre Tricoteux portrayed Savitar's powered armor, Tom Felton portrayed Savitar's Doctor Alchemy avatar, and both Nicholas Gonzalez and Vanessa A. Williams portrayed impersonations of Dante Ramon and Francine West respectively.

In the third season, Savitar is a future time remnant of Barry Allen, who in the future shunned him because he wasn't the real Barry Allen, who had been trapped in the Speed Force. In the present, after Barry had erased the "Flashpoint" timeline, Savitar uses Central City CSI Julian Albert to become his servant "Alchemy" and restore the meta-human powers of those including Edward Clarris\The Rival from Flashpoint by using an ancient Hindu artifact called "the Brahmastra" aka Philosopher's Stone until he was defeated by Team Flash. Team Flash uses Julian to contact Savitar using the stone, who reveals knowledge and secrets of the team, and the team discovers that Savitar has been trapped in the Speed Force and that the stone is made of calcified Speed Force energy. Savitar lures Wally West into trapping him in the Speed Force so that he becomes free. Barry then rescues Wally with the help of Jay Garrick, who voluntarily takes Wally's place as prisoner. After realising Savitar is himself, Barry goes to confront him. Savitar reveals his origins and that he used history to turn himself into a myth, such as "the first man ever granted speed". Savitar plans to kill Iris West-Allen to make Barry suffer the same way he did, but Team Flash prevents that from happening when H.R. Wells sacrifices himself by disguising himself as Iris using his facial transmogrifier from Earth 19. Due to this, Savitar kidnaps Cisco Ramon to create an inter-dimensional quantum splicer that will allow him to disperse himself throughout time and protect him from the paradox that threatens him. Barry then confronts Savitar again, who uses the splicer that was actually modified into a skeleton key to free Jay. Eventually, Iris fatally shoots Savitar, finally erasing him from the timeline. In the fifth season, Savitar is shown when Barry and his future daughter Nora West-Allen travel back to the final fight to grab a piece of Savitar's armor.

References
  1. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 321. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  2. Robinson, Ashley V. (22 November 2016). "The Flash: Secrets of Savitar". DC Comics. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  3. Allan, Scoot (21 November 2016). "The Flash: Who is Savitar, and is He the New Fastest Man Alive?". GeekExchange. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  4. Flash vol. 2 #109 (Jan. 1996)
  5. The Flash: Rebirth #1 (April 2009)
  6. The Flash: Rebirth #4 (August 2009)
  7. The Flash: Rebirth #2 (May 2009)
  8. The Flash: Rebirth #3 (June 2009)
  9. Titans #17
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