- "Scared yet? You will be."
- —Psych[src]
Bashir Adil "Bash" Malik, nicknamed Psych by Cisco Ramon, is a former resident of Central City and the avatar of the Sage Force.
Biography[]
Early life[]
On March 5, 2007, Bashir's adoptive parents abandoned him while leaving the country for tax evasion, only to die in a plane crash. Left with nothing, Bashir turned to his friends for help. When the most shameless of his friends, Naomi LaSalle, heartlessly rejected helping Bashir, he convinced himself that all his friends were of the same nature. This affected Bashir's life and he started isolating himself from society, eventually generating hate against his friends for not helping him.
In 2008, Bashir graduated from college.[1]
One of four[]
Before causing chaos in Central City, Bashir attacked the Speed Force, showing it its greatest fear, after Fuerza attacked it first, causing it to seek Team Flash's help.
Bashir attacks the Flash.
When the Flash was recovering from his battle with Fuerza, he encountered Bashir, that created similar seismic activity to Fuerza. When the Flash arrived, Bashir was manipulating two agents of Crows Security by having them see a monster eating civilians. Bashir felt insulted by the Flash's attitude that he had bigger problems, so the villain had the Flash see himself attacked by Reverse-Flash and Savitar, allowing the villain to escape.
Bashir battles Team Flash.
Dubbed Psych by Cisco Ramon, Bashir made the stock brokers believe that they had lost trillions of dollars, their worst fear. As Bashir laughed, the Flash, Frost, and Mecha-Vibe arrived, all wearing mental inhibitors. Bashir used his power nonetheless and the heroes were stuck in fear as they mentally saw nightmare scenarios. This time the Flash generated energy to fire a bolt. Bashir absorbed the bolt and intensified its efforts against the Flash, allowing Bashir to escape again.
Bashir attacks Central City.
After his multiple battles with Bashir, Barry's fear was manipulated to the point where Barry couldn't fight back. Then, Cecile Horton used Clifford DeVoe's hoverchair to fight off Bashir. That night, Bashir decided that it wanted all of Central City to fear it so it made a bubble of fear. As this bubble grew, citizens had nightmares and screamed. Bashir then disappeared after being hit by Cecile's psychic wave.[2]
After returning from the past where he battled Deon Owens, Cisco realized that the meta he dubbed as Psych was the avatar of the Sage Force. Meanwhile, the battle with Bashir had adversely affected the Flash, causing him to retire to a healing chamber.[3] The next day, the Speed Force hoped that Barry was feeling better.[4]
Meeting his "mother"[]
Bashir stayed in the Allen house until Iris West-Allen, Allegra Garcia, and Kamilla Hwang arrived, looking for the Speed Force,[5] because it had killed Alexa Rivera and wanted to kill the other Forces.[6] Bashir greeted Iris as his "mother", learned why she was there, and attacked Allegra and Kamilla by showing them their fears. Iris attempted to talk with Psych civilly, but he was not receptive. When Bashir showed Iris her fear, Iris was able to resist and exit the dream state, impressing Bashir as only she ever did that.
Psych in pain.
Suddenly, Bashir felt pain and began to fade from existence, giving the women time to flee, a result of the Flash returning to the point in time of the Sage Force’s creation and attempting to prevent it. Bashir, however, ultimately remained in existence, still a host to the Sage Force as Barry was unable to commit to undoing the creation of the Forces.[5]
Attacking the League of Lions[]
Bashir learned to harness the power of the Sage Force to emit tentacles that could move objects, as well as the ability to move quickly if needed. Bashir went to three billionaires, who once were his friends in the League of Lions and scared them into a coma. As Caleb Fairweather was practicing golf in his home-office, Bashir appeared to him and scared him until he fell into a coma. Later, Bashir approached Naomi LaSalle as she was conversing with Team Citizen. Naomi screamed as Bashir showed her her fears. Suddenly, Team Citizen disappeared, as the Flash whisked them to safety away from Bashir. Annoyed by the Flash's presence, Bashir manifested his energy tentacles and threw "his father" into a nearby police car before exiting.
Bashir searched for Lucas Sharpe and found him on I-95, planning to leave the city. Bashir stood in front of Lucas' path, causing Lucas to swerve his car to avoid hitting him. Bashir rapped on the window as Lucas looked to see if he had hit Bashir. Lucas exited the car and talked with his old friend.
Bashir is approached by the Flash and Alexa.
Suddenly, Lucas was whisked away from Bashir. The Flash arrives with Alexa Rivera and the two talked with him. The Flash tried to convince Bashir that the League of Lions, except Naomi, tried to help him, but Bashir did not know. Bashir did not believe this information and attacked the Flash with the energy tentacles. Alexa transformed into Fuerza and joined the fight. Fuerza grabbed Bashir and made him listen to Barry who realized that most of his friends did care about him and did not abandon him. So he agreed to help Team Flash.[7]
Helping Team Flash[]
Bashir then went to S.T.A.R. Labs with the Flash Theme. Suddenly, Deon Owens and the Speed Force appeared. Barry Allen was frozen in time as the Speed Force hit Bashir, Iris and Alexa with energy tendrils, causing the three to fall before the duo teleported away and leaving Barry distraught.[1]
Bashir, Barry, Alexa, and Deon inside the Speed Force.
However, it was soon revealed that it was an illusion orchestrated by Bashir to confuse the Speed Force as he, Alexa, and Iris came back to life. He and Alexa returned to S.T.A.R. Labs and agreed with Barry to defeat the Speed Force once and for all. Upon reaching the location where Nora was, Bashir and the others were sent to the Speed Force. Bashir and the others faced the Speed Force, but Bashir would end up being the second to be defeated; Nora then knocked them out of the Speed Force. After reforming the Speed Force, they helped Barry to be fast enough and successfully stop the storm. Bashir decided to stay inside the Speed Force with Nora, Alexa, and Deon to expand the place, mentioning to Barry and Iris that he always wanted a family.[7]
Godspeed war[]
According to a conversation between Deon Owens and Barry Allen, Alexa and Bashir was helping the Speed Force fighting Godspeed clones in Speed Force Dimension when Deon is helping Iris to get rid of a force. Eventually, Team Flash won the war.[8]
The Negative Sage Force[]
Negative Sage Force as Bashir Malik.
Personality[]
- "I'm direct, sis."
- —Bashir Malik to Alexa Rivera[src]
After being betrayed by his friends and becoming an avatar of the Sage Force, Bashir became vengeful and appeared not to care about the destruction his powers caused. After being convinced to give up the life of crime and help Team Flash, he returned to a neutral personality.
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
- Sage Force connection/Meta-human physiology: Bashir has a natural connection to the Sage Force and draws all his power from it. As the avatar of the Sage Force, Bashir is one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse.
- Psionics: By tapping into the Sage Force, Bashir can augment his mind, allowing to access a range of different psionic abilities.
- Telepathy: Bashir is able to use his powers to read minds and talk to others like when he spoke to Alexa without Iris hearing.[7]
- Mental detection: Negative Bashir was able to sense the Flash's approach.
- Empathy: Bashir is able to use his powers of empathy to make other individuals feel what he wants them to feel.[2]
- Pathokinesis: Bashir was able to manipulate the emotions of everyone in Central City.[2]
- Fear inducement: Bashir can manipulate the fears of other individuals including the members of Team Flash.[2]
- Hallucination inducement: Bashir could trap other individuals within hallucinations with their fears and could telekinetically cause physical harm to those individuals if hurt inside a hallucination. [2]
- Force-field generation: After feeding on the fear of everyone in Central City, Bashir created a force-field of pure psychic energy that induced fear-based hallucinations into anyone who tried to get through it as well as physically repel them.
- Illusion inducement: Bashir is able to create realistic illusions, as shown when he was able to create partial speed mirages of himself, distorting his image. Aside from intimidation, he primarily uses this in a defensive manner to avoid certain danger or escape through concealing his presence and that of others. These illusions are can be realistic enough to make recipients think they even performed actions into the illusion out of their own free will when in reality, it all just occurred within their minds, as seen when he made both Deon and Nora think they killed Bashir, Alexa and Iris at STAR Labs in an action that saw the two hostile Force-hosts to use their powers on their perceived helpless victims, showing that Bashir's illusions even include covering some knowledge on the recipient's own capabilities. However, this facet of the Sage Force is relatively new to its respective host, with Bashir even soon admitting that he wasn't certain it would succeed, seeing that it was his first time employing such an otherworldly farce. By the time of the final battle with the Speed Force, Bashir has gain a good amount of control over this ability, and can now generate illusions however he pleases. He can also use this power to partially become invisible to his targets, previously concealing himself taking a teleportation device off Iris’ person while simultaneously simulating an aggressive confrontation with Alexa that resulted with Iris smashing an imaginary version of the device to keep it from the two Force-hosts, only for Bashir to reveal himself and Alexa on the other side of the room and disappear.
- Bioluminescence: Bashir's eyes change colour to glow purple when he uses his powers.
- Voice masking: Bashir can mask his voice to make it sound like an inhuman growl as way of displaying intimidation. He can also use this ability to make his voice echo.
- Conjuration: Bashir can use his psychic powers to create a tiki like mask out of his own psionic energy to hide his identity. He was also able to summon his psych mask out of thin air for Cecile to put on.
- Meta-dampener immunity: An ability unique to him as the Sage Force, Bashir can use his psychic abilities to disable power-dampening tech. He demonstrated this by deactivating and unlocking meta-cuffs the Flash put on him, causing the lights of the cuffs to glow purple as he infused them with his psionic energy to control them.
- Energy absorption: Bashir absorbed the lightning thrown by the Flash, a power shared with Fuerza.[2] This only works to a certain extent however, as he felt discomfort when the fully-repowered Speed Force showered him with lightning, but otherwise he was still unharmed.
- Energy projection: While possessed by the negative Sage Force, Bashir was able to generate powerful blasts of psionic energy capable of countering Allegra’s light blasts.
- Telekinesis: Bashir could move objects with his mind, such as when he closed a door in the Allen house with a tilt of his head. He only rarely uses this ability though, as he prefers using his hallucinations and illusions to defeat his opponents.[5]
- Psionic tendril generation: Bashir can also generate powerful tendrils of pure sage force energy for offensive attacks, as when he used them to knock Barry into a police car, as well as when he used them to lift Barry into the air and fight Fuerza. His tendrils were notably able to keep up with Barry’s speed, suggesting the ability perceive and react at similar speeds to a speedster. This has become one of Bashir’s more preferred powers as he is used to fighting his opponents from a distance.
- Teleportation: Bashir has some form of teleportation as shown when he instantaneously appeared out of nowhere in the Allen house and surprised Team Citizen. However there is a chance that it could be invisibility, but this has never been stated, although Bashir has been shown to pop in and out of places a few other times. Additionally, after being struck by a massive psionic wave by Cecile using Barry’s courage to fuel it, an overwhelmed Bashir faded into purple light, only to reappear a while later unharmed, as if having reformed his body elsewhere. He was able to teleport all over the place while fighting Allegra.
- Connection to other forces of nature: Bashir as a force has a connection to his siblings, and as such can communicate with them telepathically. Because Bashir is connected to the Sage Force and possesses psychic powers, he can telepathically communicate with other people as opposed to his siblings who can only talk to each other.
- Power bestowal: After being weakened by the Negative Sage Force Bashir anchored himself to Cecile Horton, briefly granting her the ability to steal powers from other meta-human psychics.
- Psionics: By tapping into the Sage Force, Bashir can augment his mind, allowing to access a range of different psionic abilities.
Weaknesses[]
- Indomitable will: As Bashir primarily uses fear to subdue other individuals' courage. Cecile Horton amplified Barry Allen's courage around Central City, causing him to disappear.[2]
- Geothermic isotopes: Similar to Alexa Rivera and Deon Owens, Bashir gives off traces of geothermic isotopes, allowing him to be easily tracked.
- Other forces of nature: Despite how powerful Bashir is, he could still be overpowered by the other forces such as the Strength Force, Still Force and Speed Force in all of their encounters.
- Negative Sage Force: Bashir is severely weakened by the Negative Sage Force as it is much more powerful than him, and can feed off his Sage Force energy.
Equipment[]
- Psych mask: As Psych, Bashir wears a mask to hide his identity.[2]
Appearances[]
The Flash[]
Season 7
Season 8
Season 9
|
Trivia[]
- Bashir's powers are similar to Gayle Marsh/Psi's.
- Bashir's glowing eyes (which are purple) do not match any of the lightning bolts released upon the Speed Force's rebirth (yellow; the Speed Force, blue; the Strength Force, green; the Still Force; meaning that his Sage Force energy should be red, as that's what manifested upon the birth of the Forces of Nature). Despite this, Bashir has been able to manifest purple energy in other ways aside from his glowing eyes; such as when he produces energy "tentacles" to grab things.[1] However, this may be a directorial decision to distinguish the Sage Force’s energy from that of also red Negative Speed Force.
- Bashir may have the power to create a psychic projection of himself or can disperse himself as a form of teleportation, given he faded away (as opposed to running or obviously teleporting) after getting a blast of courage from Cecile.
- The symbol on Bashir's mask is the symbol of the Sage Force in the DC comics.[2]
- Bashir is somewhat responsible for Cisco leaving S.T.A.R. Labs and joining A.R.G.U.S, by showing him a nightmarish vision of his future.
- Unlike the other forces, Bashir's powers are continuously growing and evolving, enabling him to access and reveal new abilities with each successive appearance.
- Despite being the most versatile Force, Bashir also appears to be the physically weakest of the group, as he was overpowered by all of his siblings in almost all of their fights. However as time went on and Bashir gained more control over his ever growing powers, this is starting to prove less true, as Bashir can use his illusions to trick his siblings when he fights them to make them unsure of what’s real and what isn’t as well as easily wiping the floor with the members of Team Flash; indicating Bashir has become one of the most dangerous forces now.
- Bashir is the only Force that Team Flash is visibly afraid of, as shown when Bashir entered S.T.A.R. Labs and Barry’s team got nervous. This is likely due to the fact that Bashir shows people their worst fears.
Behind the scenes[]
- In the DC comics, Psych is a Zandian spy and user of the Sage Force. He debuted in The Flash #61 (March, 2019).
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Family Matters, Part 1"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "Fear Me"
- ↑ "The One With The Nineties"
- ↑ "Growing Pains"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Timeless"
- ↑ "The People v. Killer Frost"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Family Matters, Part 2"
- ↑ "Heart of the Matter, Part 2"