- "All I've ever wanted was to make the world a safer place. And it will be, when you're not in it!"
- —Bette Sans Souci to Wade Eiling[src]
Sergeant Bette Sans Souci (died November 11, 2014), nicknamed Plastique by Cisco Ramon, was a military bombs specialist. While she was in Central City undergoing surgery to remove shrapnel from her body after an explosion in Afghanistan, Bette was exposed to the dark matter of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator and became a meta-human with the ability to spontaneously combust objects upon physical contact.
Biography[]
Time in the military[]
Bette's military file
Bette Sans Souci was a sergeant for the United States Army as a bombs specialist (EOD, Explosive Ordnance Disposal). She was RTU'd from Afghanistan after a bomb went off and shrapnel was lodged into her body. Bette was in Central City undergoing surgery to remove the shrapnel fragments when the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded. She was affected by dark matter from the explosion, gaining the power to inflict spontaneous combustion on anything or anyone she touched. As a result, Dr. Hadley and General Wade Eiling began performing experiments on Bette to study her powers.[1]
After the accident[]
About 10 months after the particle accelerator accident, Bette stole a file from an office building and turned a duffel bag she had into a bomb in order to escape, though she didn't mean any harm. Barry Allen/The Flash chased her down and Bette accidentally turned his suit into a bomb. Bette urged Barry to take off his suit and his suit explodes soon after, though Barry got out in time.
Bette later confronted Dr. Hadley, yet Eiling quickly intervened and attempted to capture her; she was merely wounded and saved by The Streak. At S.T.A.R. Labs, they realized that she had bomb fragments in her DNA, explaining why everything she touches turns into a bomb. When Caitlin Snow checked up on her, she realized Bette was shot and noticed there was a tracker, subsequently letting Eiling show up at S.T.A.R. Labs. The team managed to get Bette out of the building and continued to monitor her powers outside the lab. However, although their tests allowed them to develop a pair of gloves that would allow her to touch without triggering her power, the extent of the fragments infused into her system meant that it was impossible for modern science to remove her powers.
While alone with Harrison Wells, she was told to go out and eliminate Eiling. Bette had herself found by Eiling where Eiling knew she wasn't surrendering herself. She quickly attacked Eiling and his men with bombs though The Streak arrived soon after. Bette was then shot by Eiling and tried to tell Barry that she acted on the order from Wells, but died before she could finish the sentence. The fragments in her DNA turned her entire body into a bomb and she was minutes away from unleashing a catastrophic explosion, but Barry managed to drop Bette's body into the river far away enough from Central City before she detonated.[1]
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
- "Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci: she's not carrying bombs. She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb. She's a meta-human."
- "With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion upon tactile contact."
- —Barry Allen and "Harrison Wells"[src]
- Meta-human physiology: After Bette was struck by the energy of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator explosion, this altered her DNA and supercharged her cells, augmenting her physiology to access her new powers.
- Fragokinesis: After being hit by the dark energy wave released by the particle accelerator incident, the shrapnel bomb fragments Bette had inside her body combined with her physiology on a cellular level, giving her the ability create powerful explosions upon tactile contact. Specifically, her cells generate a self-exploding compound in the form of purple energy, and she unleashes it onto any solid matter with the mere touch from the palms of her hands. Once the purple energy has infected an object, it spreads like fungus and explodes in seconds. The mass of the object determines the magnitude of the explosion. For instance, a frisbee would be nothing more than a fireworks show. An empty duffel bag can blow a hole in a skyscraper. But when she exploded, the magnitude was equal to a nuclear bomb. However, a theory dictates that her explosive compound cannot infect living matter, seeing as how she had to be dead for the compound to spread to the rest of her body.
Abilities[]
- Military training/Explosives expert: Bette was a regarded sergeant of the United States Army. Having been trained by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal, she was also an expert at defusing bombs.
Weaknesses[]
- Involuntary combustion: After Bette was shot and killed by Wade Eiling, her body started to manifest signs of detonation; when she exploded, the size of the explosion was that of a nuclear explosion.
- Involuntary control: Unlike most meta-humans, Bette has no control her powers at all. Anything and everything she touches with the palm of her hand is contaminated with combustible energy and guaranteeing its explosion. The only remedy for this is the bandaid solution of specially designed gloves that can resist the exploding compound.
Appearances[]
The Flash[]
Season 1[]
Season 5[]
- "Failure is an Orphan" (mentioned)
Behind the scenes[]
- In the DC comics, Plastique is a red-headed Canadian terrorist who started off with planting actual bombs, later becoming a meta-human with explosive powers and debuted as a villain of Firestorm.