Time Wraiths


 * "That's what we call them. Time Wraiths. Scary, aren't they?"

- Eobard Thawne, about Time Wraiths to Barry Allen



Time Wraiths are, according to Eobard Thawne, a race of wraith-like beings intimately connected with (and likely live in) the Speed Force that only appear in the real world to stop speedsters who use their time-travel powers recklessly and without forethought. Their existence is common knowledge among speedsters.

Biography
A Time Wraith appeared to Barry Allen, when he traveled through time to learn how to go faster from his former mentor, Eobard Thawne. When Barry started to impersonate his former self, the Wraith came to Central City Police Department looking for him, drawing attention of the officers, including Joe West and Eddie Thawne. Later it visited S.T.A.R. Labs and encountered Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon and Hartley Rathaway trying to attack them. Hartley succeeded in finding a frequency which, using Sonic Gloves, was able to hurt him. It forced the Wraith to escape.

Later it struck again, when Barry was using the The Pipeline in gaining speed to return to his timeline. It almost got him, but past Barry tackles the creature, giving present Barry the opening to go into the Speed Force. The Wraith then followed The Flash to his timeline, brought him down and started to suck the life out of him, but the reformed Hartley stepped in and used his sonic gloves to obliterate it.

Powers

 * Flight: Time Wraiths can fly and hover which is only natural since they do not have legs to walk or run on.
 * Intangibility: Time Wraiths can move through solid objects, like ordinary walls and doors, but cannot penetrate the S.T.A.R. Labs meta-human prison cells.
 * Super speed: Time Wraiths can seemingly fly at blindingly fast speeds, enabling them to easily keep up with and catch speedsters, no matter how fast they can become; however, in truth, they just simply slow down speedsters, if they can get close enough, in, a Time Wraith was barely able to keep up with Barry Allen who was moving at Mach 3.3.
 * Super strength: Time Wraiths can exert immense physical force, despite their frail appearance; one was able to almost break into an impenetrable Star Labs Pipeline cell and later pin Barry to the ground with one hand.
 * Super durability: Time Wraiths cannot be damaged by most physical attacks; so far the only way to damage them is with a sonic attack that uses low frequency with high intensity.
 * Time travel: Time Wraiths are able to follow speedsters anywhere in the timeline.
 * Immortality: Time Wraiths exist in the Speed Force outside the normal flow of time, therefore they can last forever; so far the only way to permanently kill then is with a sonic attack that uses low frequency with high intensity.
 * Life-force draining: Time Wraiths can drain life-force through physical contact, the effect of this has the appearance of greatly accelerated ageing on their victim, which is completely undone if the Wraith loses physical contact with them.

Weaknesses

 * Low-frequency attacks: Time Wraiths are vulnerable to and can be destroyed by low Frequency-based attacks from devices such as Hartley Rathaway's sonic gauntlets.

Behind the scenes

 * Despite their corpse-like appearance and association with speedsters, Time Wraiths have no connection whatsoever to the Black Flash (the Grim Reaper of the Speed Force) as seen in the DC comics, which does not actually punish or kill speedsters but rather comes for them when their time is up to return them to the Speed Force.
 * Its appearance bears a resemblance to the Dementors from Harry Potter, a resemblance noted by Cisco and later by Hartley.
 * Cisco Ramon called the creature "Inky", a cyan-colored ghost from Pac-Man.
 * The motives and method for attacking bears a resemblance to those of the Reaper from the Doctor Who episode "Father's Day".