- "At least you will be moving so fast no one will see you. See, you thought the world was slowing down. It wasn't. You were moving so fast it only looked like everyone else was standing still."
- —Cisco Ramon to Barry Allen[src]
"Flashtime", as nicknamed by Cisco Ramon, is a phenomenon that occurs when time slows down relative to a speedster so as to make it appear as if everything else is at a complete standstill. Flashtime is relative to a certain speed, rather than speedsters themselves, as it is possible for non-speedsters to be brought into it, allowing them to converse and move with speedsters at their heightened speed. However, as the individuals are moving at such an intense rate, these non-speedsters can only stand to be in Flashtime for so long, as their bodies are not tuned to operating at such high speeds.[1]
Entering Flashtime is also highly dangerous for speedsters themselves. Operating at such speed drains the speed energy within their bodies faster than their connections to the Speed Force can replenish it, therefore they too can only stay in Flashtime for so long before they begin to slow down. If they do not stop willingly before all their speed energy is used up, they lose their powers altogether. How long a speedster can last in Flashtime varies depending on age and/or the strength of their connection to the Speed Force; Jay Garrick only lasted a short time due to his advanced age and Jessie Quick for just a bit longer due to her only being a speedster for a short time. Barry Allen was able to last longest of all but even he eventually came close to cracking after ages in Flashtime.
While speedsters in general can access Flashtime, only Barry Allen has shown the ability to be able to bring others into it,[1] later attributing this to his long time in the Speed Force.
As speedsters get faster, they can access a sort of hyper-Flashtime that slower speedsters can't access. This upgraded ability was first used by the Speed Force on Barry, in its effort to kill the new Forces. Barry would later use this ability on Eobard, which showed Eobard that his student and rival surpassed him.
History[]
When Iris was about to reveal his secret as the Flash to the public during his trial, Barry Allen stopped her, accidentally causing her to move at the same heightened rate as him so that he could tell her not to do it.[2]
Killer Frost enters Flashtime.
After a nuclear explosion went off, Barry and Jesse Wells entered their heightened state, searching for a way to reverse the problem. Barry went through all of their friends, Cisco Ramon referring to it as "Flashtime", to try and find a solution, even sending Jesse to Earth-3 to enlist Jay Garrick's help in solving the predicament. At the time, Barry could only keep each of his non-speedster allies in Flashtime for a few moments at a time before their metabolisms couldn't cope with the acceleration, forcing Barry to let them return to normal time, with each of them collapsing once Barry, Jesse and Jay stopped the explosion and returned to normal perception.[1]
Barry, Caitlin and Cisco train in Flashtime.
After Clifford DeVoe took over the Castle and made Neil Borman go radioactive, Barry trained Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon to utilize Flashtime, allowing them to use Flashtime without tiring as quickly as they had previously,[1] using it to assist Barry in saving DeVoe's hostages while Barry himself attempted to foil DeVoe's plans.[3]
Speedsters that have been in Flashtime[]
- Barry Allen/The Flash
- Hunter Zolomon/Zoom
- Jesse Wells/Jesse Quick
- Jay Garrick/The Flash
- Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash
- Nora West-Allen/XS
- Wally West/Kid Flash
- Barry Allen/The Flash
- Oliver Queen/The Flash (alternate reality; formerly)
- Speed Force (while taking the physical form of Nora Allen)
Non-speedsters brought into Flashtime[]
By Barry Allen/The Flash[]
From Earth-1[]
From Earth-2[]
Appearances[]
The Flash[]
DC's Legends of Tomorrow[]
Season 2[]
Season 3[]
Supergirl[]
Season 3[]
Season 4[]
- "Elseworlds, Part 3" (mentioned)
The Chronicles of Cisco[]
- Post 82 "#Flashtime" (mentioned)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Enter Flashtime"
- ↑ "True Colors"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Think Fast"
- ↑ "The Trial of The Flash"