Speed Force

"When the first subatomic particle sprang forth from the Big Bang to form reality as you know it, we were there. When the last proton decays, stops vibrating, and plunges the universe into heat death, we'll be there too."

- A manifestation of the Speed Force describes itself to Barry Allen

The Speed Force is the extra-dimensional source of all speedsters' powers, including Barry Allen, and the key to honing in on their ability to affect the fabric of reality. It allows them to enhances their movement and momentum-based abilities, as well as giving them other abilities, such as vibrating their bodies at different frequencies, phasing through matter, affecting the state of their molecular bonds and moving through time and dimensions.

History
"Barry, what you're seeing is the Speed Force: your past, your present, your future all at once. So you need to focus on where you want to go. So think about that night. Think about your mother."

- Eobard Thawne directing Barry on how to use the Speed Force to time travel.

After travelling back to the year 2000, Eobard Thawne lost his connection to the Speed Force due to copious amounts of time travel. Fifteen years later, while masquerading as Harrison Wells, Eobard was able to use a tachyon prototype to access the Speed Force, absorbing some of it and allowing him to run at high speeds, and vibrate his body and voice.

Sometime later, needing to remove a small bomb from the Flash's wrist without it exploding, Eobard motivated the Flash to become one with his speed, thus becoming one with the Speed Force, allowing him to better hone his ability to vibrate and phase through a tanker, leaving the band on the other side. Eobard also told him that the Speed Force was Barry's, with an extremely sour face.

At some point, in another Earth, a speedster named Hunter Zolomon became connected with the Speed Force. However, this speedster was proven unworthy because he was time traveling recklessly throughout the multiverse to find a cure for his disease. The Speed Force constantly sent Time Wraiths but to no avail since the unworthy speedster came into hiding.

When trying to travel back in time to rescue his mother from being murdered, Barry Allen was able to physically see the Speed Force after passing Mach 2, viewing events from his past, present and future all at once. To travel where he wanted to go, Barry had to think about a specific time and place, before transporting into his childhood home and into his bed room, just as his younger self was walking down the stairs to see his mother trapped in the tornado of light, that was actually Reverse-Flash and the future Flash fighting over the younger Barry's fate at super speed.

A few months later, Barry traveled back in time to where his former teacher, Eobard Thawne, was alive since he was desperate to run faster to beat Zoom. Because of such an invalid reason, The Speed Force sent a Time Wraith after the rookie speedster. However, this Wraith failed to do its duty, as it was obliterated by outside help from Barry's friends.

When Barry tried to regain his powers through a second particle accelerator explosion, instead of him simply regaining his powers, the will of the Speed Force pulled Barry into itself. It was inside of the Speed Force that Barry discovered that the Speed Force had a personality and could be spoken to. Before the Speed Force allowed Barry to regain his powers, he had to prove himself worthy of retrieving his powers again. In order for Barry to regain his powers, the Speed Force gave him a trial, to catch a dark speeding shadow. The shadow at every stop led Barry to places of great personal importance where the Speed Force manifested itself as an important person in his life to speak to him. During the trial, Cisco created a breach to the Speed Force dimension and a vortex of energy appeared to Barry. The Speed Force told Barry that if he did not complete the trial before leaving, he would be returning to Earth without his powers. By accepting tragedy and moving on instead of letting it define him, the Speed Force allowed him to become a speedster again with the shadow appearing before Barry so that he could catch it. The shadow was revealed to be a manifestation of Barry as The Flash, before Barry transformed in to the figure. Barry then left the Speed Force dimension with the help of Iris calling out to him through the vortex after hugging the Speed Force's manifestation of his mother. After defeating Girder, Barry visited Jesse in her coma where he touched her hand and a spark of energy woke her from the coma.

The Speed Force later sent Time Wraiths after Barry. However, the Wraiths were more angry at Zoom, as they have been hunting him for years, who they took into the Speed Force.

Lighting coloration
When accessing the Speed Force, Speedsters automatically generate Speed Force lightning/electricity from their bodies as they run or engage in any activity using their speed. The colour of the lightning that is generated normally is indicative of the specific type of connection that a speedster has achieved with the Speed Force.
 * Yellow: Yellow lightning is generated by Speedsters with a pure or natural connection to the Speed Force such as Barry Allen.
 * Red: Red lightning is generated Eobard Thawne, who gained his Speed Force connection by duplicating the reaction that gave Barry his speed, though it is currently unknown why this red lightning occurs. Zoom also projected red lightning after being attacked by the Time Wraiths, making it possible that this occurrence could be attributed to an unstable connection with the Speed Force. This is evident as Eobard was shown to be unable to fully tap into the Speed Force and constantly lost his powers, to the point where he permanently lost his ability to move through time. Zolomon showed this when the Time Wraiths attacked him, possibly depriving him of his connection or at least damaging it.
 * Blue: Blue lightning generation is the result of a Speedster attempting to artificially boost their natural Speed Force connection through the use of the "Velocity" drugs in order to become faster, albeit with lethal/life-threatening side-effects as seen with Speedsters like Hunter Zolomon and Eliza Harmon, though the latter disintegrated when her lightning turned blue.

Eye transformation
Users of the Speed Force, sometimes by tapping into their power, can cause their eyes to transform in some way, either by being filled with yellow electricity, which can cause the surrounding skin to glow yellow, shining dark red light that can even cause the surrounding parts of the face to glow red, or, less commonly, the entire eye becoming pitch black. The first occurrence is the sign of a natural connection to the Speed Force and can even manifest for users of Velocity before it begins to degenerate them. The third is caused after such degeneration. It is unknown how the second occurrence originates.

Inside the Speed Force dimension
When trapped inside of the Speed Force, the body of the speedster will appear in a vortex of electrical energy, while the speedster will be inside a dream world similar to where they are from on Earth, albeit without people. The sentient will of the Speed Force can choose to manifest itself to a speedster as someone in their life and speak to them. The Speed Force can then put a speedster through a trial and choose to give powers to a speedster should they not have them. In the dream world, the trial will manifest as the former speedster having to catch a shadow like vibrating blur of motion that moves at super speed and represents their powers. However, they must be able to remove mental blocks from themselves in order to do so, such as guilt. They must confront the source of their pain and overcome it, which will cause the shadow to come to them and restore their powers. However, the only known way to leave the realm is a portal made from the outside, while it is unknown if the Speed Force will make a portal for the speedster to travel through, though it most likely can.

Time Wraiths
As the Speed Force has sentience, it also has enforcement to keep time traveling speedsters in check. The Time Wraiths are inter dimensional, corpse like beings that automatically hunt speedsters that are a threat to the timeline by moving through time. It is believed that only speedsters who are reckless and without forethought of how their presence in established events could damage the timeline will be hunted down, while more careful ones will not be. They are not always able to find their target immediately but will never stop until they succeed. These creatures are capable of effortlessly following a speedster through time and possibly though other dimensions. They are able to match any speedster in speed and quickly overpower them. Most prominently, they are able to drain a target of life through physical contact and age them to death. It can also drag them through dimensions, though what exactly happens this particular victim is unknown. It is known that in the process, they can physically degenerate a person, causing them to take on a Time Wraith's corpse like appearance, while turning their lightning red, as well as some parts of their uniform should they have one on.

Powers and abilities
The Speed Force enhances all movement, momentum and force exerting capabilities of its user, down to a microscopic level, as well as giving the user conscious control over it. This enhances overall acceleration, agility, reflexes, coordination, balance, and reaction time to inhuman levels. The Speed Force is also able to have a sentient will much unlike any element or energy seen in The Flash, allowing access of their energy and properties to be given to a worthy user for them. Because of this, users of the Speed Force have demonstrated the following abilities:
 * Superhuman speed/agility/reflexes/coordination/stamina: Primarily, the Speed Force gives users the ability to move, think, act, and perceive at inhuman speeds. This ability allows the users overall speed to rival the fastest vehicles at low levels, while advanced levels allow the user to break the sound barrier and moving at supersonic speeds. Some users can even exceed the speed of light at their peak speed. The users speed usually causes them to appear as vibrating blurs or streaks of motion. Users are fast enough to move on vertical surfaces and ceilings, as well as on water, with ease. With enough speed, users can enhance their ability to jump, allowing them leap or spring several feet through the air, to the point where they can jump across the length of a freeway bridge. Connection to the Speed Force also grants the user inhuman agility, coordination, balance, equilibrium, and dexterity, which allows the user to not be tripped by great forces, especially as they move at super speed. Users can also use this to perform feats such as run on vertical surfaces, as well as running and jumping along falling debris. The user's stamina and reflexes are also enhanced to inhuman levels, whether they are moving at super speed or not. Users of the Speed Force also have inhuman stopping power and can usually come to a full stop despite the fact that they are moving with extreme momentum that is more than that of a moving vehicle.
 * Improved homeostasis/speed adaption: Users of super speed are highly resistant or immune to the effects of moving at great speed, such as extreme amounts of friction, impactive force, temperature, and reduced air. Users of the Speed Force also have inhuman stopping power and can usually come to a full stop despite the fact that they are moving with extreme momentum, while they are not injured by it. This greatly increases resilience to inhuman levels, allowing most speedsters to develop inhuman resistance to lack of breathable air, exposure to toxins or sedatives, and physical forces that would kill normal humans. This also adds to a speedsters enhanced stamina, allowing them to perform inhuman amounts of effort and exertion for extended periods, which gives them immunity or near immunity to fatigue, exhaustion, or disorientation.
 * Accelerated time perception: A user of the Speed Force naturally can think, act, move and perceive in seconds or less. They can see the world moving in slow motion, while others can only see them as a vibrating blur of motion, usually accompanied by an aura of differently colored electricity, while they move at super speed, as they move faster than humans can even perceive.
 * Speed mirages: Skilled users have been fast enough to distort light and create a holographic, mirage like projection of themselves and appear to be in two or more places at once by moving from one location to the other fast enough and therefore create an after image of themselves. These projections become less realistic looking when the user is creating more than one.
 * Time travel: Advanced users can create a hole in the fabric of space time and travel through time. The users immediate thoughts cause them to end up at a certain time and place. This ability is also the most dangerous, as altering the events of the past in the slightest could distort the users present and future, usually with devastating results. If the user travels to a time where they existed recently, their younger or previous self will vanish from existence, causing the the user to replace themselves in that time or completely separate of their older self, making the younger self a time remnant thus altering the timeline. If the user doesn't know what they are doing or uses this ability recklessly, a Time Wraith will come after them and drain them of life. With this ability, skilled speedsters can create a "clone" of some sort to help the user when needed.
 * Interdimensional travel: Like time travel, advanced users can create a hole in the fabric of space time to create portals between dimensions, and travel to different realities.
 * Accelerated healing factor: All chemical, cellular, and neural processes, as well as brain activity, are far faster than normal, which enhances the speed and efficiency of physical healing and metabolism to inhuman levels. This causes users to be able to be completely healed from non-lethal injuries as severe as broken bones, burns, and even paralysis, in a matter of hours or days without any linger effects, therapy, or treatment, unless the injuries are immediately lethal. Users are also more resilient to physical impacts and collisions, giving them immunity to being stunned, dazed, unbalanced or staggered by great forces, especially while moving at super speed.
 * Enhanced brain process: The increase in speed and activity within bodily systems can enhance the users physical performance to great extent, as well as increasing these systems overall reaction speed, resulting in adrenaline, dopamin and other endorphins to be produced quicker and the user being able to think, read, scan and comprehend concepts and ideas all in seconds while their powers are in use. Therefore, the users mental speed and efficiency as well as physical is also enhanced to inhuman levels.
 * Enhanced physical conditioning: The Speed Force also enhances the user's physical conditioning, resulting in the user having superhuman physical capabilities and peak health with little to no physical maintaining. Their physical attributes such as their reflexes, stamina, and durability are increased to superhuman levels even when not utilizing super-speed. The users' bodies are also adapted to the extreme pressure, friction, impactive force, air deprivation, and extreme temperature, which the user is exposed to while moving at super speed. One powerful speedster, Zoom, possesses inhuman strength and durability much greater than that of other speedsters, or other humans for that matter.
 * Electrokinesis: Connection to the Speed Force causes Speedsters' bodies to generate electricity, which they can learn to manipulate. As they are running, the electricity is usually the only part of the speedster that is perceived by non-speedsters. This Speed Force lightning has been show to vary in color between the differing speedsters seen so far. By running with in a circular motion with enough intensity, they are able to envelop their arms in electricity, that they can then throw at a target, though other speedsters may be able to solidify it and throw it back. Also, by focusing friction of a specific part of their body, such as their hands, they can generate a strong static shock that is powerful enough to restart a person's heart. Speedsters' electrical generation seems to have a connection to how they can alter the color of their eyes.
 * Bodily vibration/Intangibility: Since these enhanced movement and acceleration capabilities affected the user microscopically, it allowed the user to manipulate the movement and acceleration of their cells, and even their molecules, allowing them to shake and vibrate their bodies or parts of it by willing their cells to do so. These vibrations can allow a user to become intangible, enhance physical force produced by physical contact, and distort the users image to the point where the user becomes a vibrating blur of motion, even when they are not using their speed. A user can disguise their appearance with this, as well as their voice by vibrating their vocal cords, which can produce an electronic, distorted voice or a garbled, deep growl. Vibrating through people can be lethal, as villainous speedsters will often vibrate their arms through a target and cause them to drop dead. With this, they are able to phase into people, while still being able to touch and grab tangible objects, which allows them to damage the victim from the inside. Some users can even user their vibrations to punch a gapping through people and impale them using their vibrating arm. However, it is not always lethal, as another user could phase into someone and pull objects, such as bullets, out of the person, as well as running right through others without harming them. Also, vibrating though something electrical, such as a computer, can cause it to overload and fry. They can also cause tremors and jolt through vibrating physical contact, enough to level a bridge by running on it repeatedly or to break the metal locks on a door by touching it with a vibrating hand. Also, by vibrating their hand, the user can generate the force of a buzzsaw, enough to effortlessly punch and smash through machinery, saw through metal chains, or punch clean though a person, all with their vibrating hand. Also, vibrating allows a user to cause tremors and jolt through physical contact, enough to level a bridge by running on it repeatedly, or breaking metal locks by vibrating the door.
 * Extreme force generation: Users of the Speed Force have inhuman motion and momentum capabilities, allowing them to generate extreme amounts of kinetic energy, friction, inertia, vectors, spring and other applied and contact forces. The enhanced movement and physical force abilities allow a user to be able to increase the power of physical impacts and collisions. Users of the Speed Force also have inhuman stopping power and can usually come to a full stop despite the fact that they are moving with extreme momentum that is more than that of a moving vehicle. Users of the Speed Force also have inhuman stopping power and can usually come to a full stop despite the fact that they are moving with extreme momentum. The user can generate the force to simulate inhuman strength by charging their attacks with extreme amounts of physical force. While this can usually be done only at super speed, most users can quickly learn to charge their attacks with force while at normal speed, or by attacking using a brief burst of super speed. Users can develop the skill to use this enhanced force while stationary, which allows the user to simulate having superhuman strength while attacking, which manifests as either the user or a body part briefly vibrating or generating lightning aura. With this, users not only can send people flying through the air, but to smash through, crush and dismantle machinery and circuitry with only their fist or bare hand. Villainous speedsters have even shown the capacity to use this to punch a gapping, bloody hole through people. They can also cause tremors and jolt through physical contact, usually while vibrating at the same time, enough to level a bridge by running on it repeatedly. Also, this extreme force can protect him from injury, allowing them to not be stunned or dazed by most impacts and collisions, which further allows them to perform feats such as effortlessly landing from several stories up unfazed by moving at super speed at the same time.
 * Aerokinesis: A user using super speed while moving their entire body, or part of it in a repetitive motion, such as back and forth, spinning, or otherwise circular motions, can manipulate air flows and currents and therefore generate powerful winds and manipulating them with there repeated motions. These motions can also be achieved by the user moving or running back and forth or in a circle. The user can therefore create intense whirlwinds, cyclones, tornadoes, vortexes and vacuums of air with these motions, or propel themselves through the air. This can allow the user to disperse the physical force from oncoming targets or propel them away.
 * Speed Force sharing: Certain users can share their powers with other people by physical contact. In one instance, a speedster was able to share a spark of the Speed Force to stabilize the condition of someone who was hit by a wave of energy from a controlled particle accelerator explosion and suffering from the same initial side effects that a speedster usually goes through once went through when they first get their powers.
 * Time remnant construct: The most skilled of users could shift back in time momentarily to manifest a clone that, unlike a speed mirage, is as alive and independently thinking as they are. They do not always share the users current personality as the further back they go, the less like their current self the time remnant becomes, but only if their past self is any different from their current self. If they shift through years, their time remnant will not possess their current memories and most likely not have their current personality. However, the user can shift back minutes and even seconds to create a clone that is truly the same as them. It has been stated that one needed to be willing to kill their time remnant, and therefore willing to kill themselves, in order to be able to create them.

Weaknesses

 * Nanites: Nanites entering the bloodstream of a speedster will temporarily disable their powers, as shown when Eobard Thawne was shot with a nanite arrow.
 * Cold temperatures: Because speed is produced by a build-up of heat in the target's atoms, speedsters are vulnerable to extreme cold temperatures. It will also temporarily stunt their healing capacities.
 * Electricity absorption: Speedsters' unique biology causes their body to produce massive amounts of electricity, which charges their molecules and allows them to accelerate their movement. Should a speedster be drained of this electrical energy, they will lose their power. However, the Speed Force is genetically coded to their DNA, meaning they are incapable of losing their potential for enhanced speed. If this electricity is absorbed by another source, all of their powers will be suppressed, including their healing and accelerated perception. Much like an electrical device, which needs to recharge, speedsters must electrify themselves to a great extent in order to jump start their powers once more.
 * Hyper-metabolism: While moving at accelerated speeds, speedsters burn calories much faster than a normal person. This requires them to consume large amounts of nutrients to maintain peak physical performance. Continued usage of his speed while deprived of such will render them disoriented and weak before ultimately passing out as a result of low blood glucose. Also, because of their accelerated healing, they are unable to be given painkillers, sedatives, or anesthetics, as their body's metabolism burns through them too quickly for them to have any effect. Likewise, even a highly concentrated drug or toxin will only affect them for a few seconds before completely wearing off.
 * Kinetic energy absorption: Because their abilities are derived from movement, the removal of the kinetic energy built up by speedsters will leave them in a state of temporary paralysis. However, if they can build back up enough kinetic energy within themselves, the effect can be instantly negated.
 * Carbine: Speedsters' intangibility has difficulty passing through this compound, requiring them to build up even more momentum and change their frequency to pass it.

Known users

 * Barry Allen/The Flash
 * Jay Garrick/The Flash
 * Hunter Zolomon/The Flash/Zoom
 * Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, the Speed Force is an extra-dimensional energy that allows the various Flashes, as well as most other speedsters, to be able to move through time and reality, as well as enhancing their speed and giving them other powers of movement.