Negative Speed Force

For other uses of "Speed Force", see Speed Force (disambiguation).

Negative Speed Force
Information
Location	Cosmic Plane
Use(s)	Extra-dimensional energy source
Owner(s)	Eobard Thawne (avatar; formerly; deceased) Eddie Thawne (avatar)

"Breathe. You're reaching out and nobody's there. The loneliness is pain. Pain racing through your mind. Crushing you, wrecking you, shattering your soul into a million little pieces. And suddenly, you are no longer you. You're part of something different now. Part of a negative force."

—Eobard Thawne to Nora West-Allen^[src]

The Negative Speed Force is an extra-dimensional energy source that was tapped into by Eobard Thawne when he attempted to become a speedster. Speedsters with a connection to the Speed Force can gain a connection to the Negative Speed Force by exercising negative emotions such as fear, hate, and anguish to such an extent that it corrupts them from the inside.

Gaining a connection to the Negative Speed Force will turn a speedster's natural yellow lightning red. Users of the Negative Speed Force harness negative tachyons, but instead of slowing the speedster down, the negative tachyons allow a speedster to siphon positive tachyons from the Speed Force like a parasite in order to accelerate their own movement. As a result, unlike normal Speed Force users, Negative Speed Force users produce a huge amount of tachyons that can be easily tracked.

The Negative Speed Force's current avatar is Eddie Thawne who managed to fight through its manipulations and gain control of it. He is now working with Barry Allen, the avatar of the Speed Force, to try to stop the constant war between the two forces and create a better world where they can co-exist.

Overview

The Negative Speed Force is comprised of negative tachyon particles that are infused with dark matter, allowing speedsters access to their main ability super speed as well as their derived abilities such as time travel. If speedsters are connected with the Negative Speed Force for an extended period of time, it begins corrupting them, filling them with anger and hate.

History

Original multiverse

Used by Eobard Thawne

After Eobard Thawne discovered that his destiny was to become the exact opposite of the Flash, he attempted to prove his superiority as the Reverse-Flash. At some point, Thawne believed he created his own variation of the Speed Force using negative tachyon particles that were infused with dark matter, naming it the "Negative Speed Force". With the Negative Speed Force, Thawne was able to time travel without Barry Allen knowing his presence in the timeline.

Used by Nora West-Allen

In 2049, Nora West-Allen wanted to go back in time without her father feeling her presence, so Thawne taught her how to use the Negative Speed Force.

The Negative Speed Force's corrupting effects on XS.

Thawne later revealed to Barry and Nora that the connection Nora established to the Negative Speed Force was a part of his plan, as a means of preserving her existence after Cicada's dagger was destroyed, as that caused her timeline to be erased. Knowing that the Negative Speed Force had begun to make her more like Thawne and that wasn't who she wanted to be, Nora ultimately decided to accept her fate instead of continuing to use it.

New multiverse

Rebirth of the Multiverse

Eobard Thawne built a machine in an attempt to become a speedster, believing he accidentally tapped into the Negative Speed Force. However, it turns out the Negative Speed Force always existed and chose him as its avatar because it fed off his hatred for Barry Allen.

After the Crisis of 2019, Thawne was inside Harrison Nash Wells' mind and connected with the Negative Speed Force as he attempted to escape the "exorcism" that Cisco Ramon and Cecile Horton were performing to rid Nash of Thawne. Cisco was quick enough to place power-dampening cuffs on Nash's wrists, but Thawne promised that they would not hold him when he gained total control of Nash, which he ultimately didn't.

Around a year later, Barry and Iris West-Allen had the Speed Force connect to the Negative Speed Force in order to reconstitute Thawne's physical form so he could help Barry defeat Godspeed.

Reverse-Flashpoint

Sometime later, Thawne began changing the timeline. When Barry went to the future to see who really caused Armageddon, he discovered that he somehow had a connection to the Negative Speed Force instead of the Speed Force. With the help of Damien Darhk and Iris, Barry was able to reconnect to the Speed Force and restore the timeline.

Since Damien's time stone was used to restore the timeline, all possible time variables were eliminated, causing Thawne to fade in and out from existence. Team Flash ultimately decided to sever Thawne's connection to the Negative Speed Force in order to save his life.

The Negative Forces

From 2021 to 2022, Meena Dhawan and a time remnant of Eobard built the Biometric Lightning Oscillation Chamber to give someone the powers of a speedster, but they accidently tapped into the Negative Speed Force. Eobard put Meena in the chamber in order to save her life. When she eventually became corrupted by the Negative Speed Force, Eobard managed to break the Negative Speed Force's hold on Meena.

The Negative Still Force visited Thawne on Lian Yu and told Thawne that it was time to fulfill his destiny. Thawne believed that the Negative Still Force would free him and give him his speed back, but it told him that he would get everything he deserved at the cost of his life and then killed him. Afterwards, the Negative Still Force was joined by the Negative Sage Force and Negative Strength Force at Fast Track Labs where they planned on killing Eobard's time remnant. However, Barry showed up and managed to stop them. When the Negative Forces enacted their plan to have Iris sacrificed, they revealed that they were tired of being in the shadows of the positive Forces. Eobard's time remnant was then sacrificed as well in order to resurrect the original version with his speed back.

In the Negative Speed Force, Thawne was visited by the other Negative Forces where they revealed to him why they killed his time remnant and prepared him to be a vessel that had the power of all of the Negative forces. Barry, with Meena's help, managed to enter the Negative Speed Force and the Negative Forces informed him that everything that had happened was retribution for Barry severing Thawne's speed, cutting the Negative Speed Force off from its avatar. Since the Negative forces didn't know that was possible until Barry showed them how, they were inspired to do something in order to tip the balance of power in their favor.

Reverse-Flash as the Negative Speed Force's cosmically-enhanced avatar.

Thawne then started to wreak havoc in Central City, using the powers of all of the Negative Forces that he had at his disposal. To combat him, the positive forces empowered Barry with all of their powers to level the playing field. However, the battle between Barry and Thawne started to destroy Central City. Barry, inspired by Iris's return, chose not to fight and instead channeled his power to undo the damage that Thawne had caused. Thawne tried to absorb more power from the negative forces to try and kill Barry, but his body was overwhelmed by the all of the power and he was killed, leaving the Negative Speed Force without an avatar again. Afterwards, Barry and Iris discussed how one day the Negative Speed Force would choose a new avatar and that they would be ready when that day came.

In early 2023, Ryan Wilder from Earth-4125 showed up in Central City, which led Barry to theorize that she may be the Negative Speed Force's avatar due to her red lightning, however, she later revealed that her speed was artificial.

A New Avatar

The Negative Speed Force eventually decided to get revenge on Barry for the death of its avatar. It cloaked Barry with cobalt radiation, which caused him to bounce across time. The Negative Speed Force also sent a blue crystal wherever it sent Barry. It first sent him to March 18, 2000, where it intended to make him relive the day that his mother was killed. To ensure that Barry stayed in 2000, the Negative Speed Force destabilized the temporal wormhole that he attempted to use to get back to the present.

The Negative Speed Force possessing Joe.

The Negative Speed Force then used the blue crystal to possess Joe West so that Barry could not kill it without killing Joe as well. After Barry found the possessed Joe at Central City Hospital, the Negative Speed Force tried to kill him or have him alter the timeline by saving his mother. However, Barry managed to overpower the Negative Speed Force's vessel and the blue crystal teleported away. Meanwhile, in 2049, the Negative Speed Force reached out to Eddie Thawne who was living a false life under the name of Malcolm Gilmore. It struck him with a bolt of red lightning to give him a direct link to the Negative Speed Force and left him an old redacted CCPD file about Eddie.

The Negative Speed Force possessing Mark.

The blue crystal teleported to 2023, where it was eventually found by Mark Blaine. The Negative Speed Force used the crystal to possess Mark and came up with a plan to kill Iris. This distracted Team Flash and the Speed Force while the Negative Speed Force worked on steering Eddie to remember his old life with voices and visions, at both the CCPD and Central City Citizen Media. He was eventually led to his grave, which he discovered was actually empty, and this triggered the full return of his memories. Meanwhile, in 2023, Khione managed to free Mark from the Negative Speed Force's possession and the blue crystal teleported away upon his freedom. Barry then returned to 2023 and wanted to stay there, with Iris almost being ready to give birth, but the Negative Speed Force sent him to 2049.

In 2049, now that he fully remembered his old life, Eddie went to the Flash Museum to try to find Barry and the rest of Team Flash to learn more. There, he learned that Eobard managed to keep returning and that his sacrifice had been in vain. This upset him and made him accidentally open a singularity in the museum which the Negative Speed Force used to send him a vision of the daughter that he could've had if he hadn't killed himself. Eddie was found by Nora West-Allen and brought to the rest of Team Flash where they identified him as Eddie. In the Time Vault, Nora tried to send Barry a message about Eddie's return when the blue crystal appeared. When she picked it up, the Negative Speed Force possessed her and used her to further manipulate Eddie.

When Barry arrived in 2049, the Negative Speed Force tried to use Nora to kill him, knowing that Barry wouldn't kill his own daughter in order to stop it. However, Eddie's interference allowed Barry to escape from her and he took Eddie with him. After he learned about everything that had been happening with Eddie, Barry realized that the Negative Speed Force had resurrected him and built him a false reality to prepare him to be its new avatar. Using Nora, the Negative Speed Force threatened to destroy Central City if Barry didn't surrender Eddie to it. With help from Cecile, Barry was able to stop Nora and free her from the Negative Speed Force's control.

However, Eddie was still conflicted about his life and went to see Iris. Iris, while happy to see him, told him that she never really loved him and instead always loved Barry. Being rejected, Eddie swore he would get his life back and his heightened negative emotions triggered a red lightning storm above Central City, which Team Flash later discovered was actually the timeline starting to fracture. Back at Mercury Labs, Eddie raged against the red skies and asked why the Negative Speed brought him back only to show him what he couldn't have. The blue crystal then appeared and the Negative Speed Force told him that it wasn't too late. It promised him that he could have everything he lost if he accepted its power and ended Barry's legacy forever. In pain, Eddie finally relented and accepted Negative Speed Force's power, becoming its new avatar.

Within the Negative Speed Force, Eddie brought back Hunter Zolomon, August Heart, Eobard, and Savitar. He explained that they all died trying to defeat the Flash because none of them were powerful or fast enough. Eddie told them that they could destroy the Flash together by using the Negative Speed Force and they accepted his offer.

Cobalt Blue as the Negative Speed Force's avatar.

During the battle between the Legion of Zoom and Team Flash, Barry and Eddie's fight spilled into CC Jitters. Eddie threatened to kill the employees unless Barry surrendered, until Jay Garrick showed up and stole Eddie's speed. In order to get more speed, Eddie absorbed the speed of Godspeed, the Reverse-Flash, Savitar, and Zoom which gave Eddie a craving for even more speed. He then retreated into the Negative Speed Force to absorb more speed while Jay and Barry discussed how he would overload himself and die if he didn't stop absorbing speed. While Jay and Mark thought that was the only choice, Khione felt Barry needed to change Eddie's point of view. She told him that instead of trying to seek balance through violence and death, the answer would lie in co-existence.

The avatars of the two versions of the Speed Force finding co-existence.

Barry entered the Negative Speed Force and tried to stop Eddie from letting himself overload on speed. Barry refused to fight with Eddie anymore, but Eddie wouldn't stop trying to kill him. Barry tried to get through to Eddie, telling him that he had become like Eobard, who he'd given his life to stop. Barry told Eddie that although Eobard had given into hate, he didn't have to. He also told Eddie that he felt that Eddie being the new avatar was the answer to try to create a better world. Instead of the positive and negative forces constantly at war with each other, as their avatars, Barry and Eddie could work together to find co-existence. The Negative Speed Force tried to convince Eddie not to listen to Barry and to finally finish him off, but Eddie wouldn't let himself listen to it anymore. Eddie crushed the blue crystal and that caused the Negative Speed Force to turn from red to blue. With that, Eddie found himself in control of Negative Speed Force as its new avatar. He told Barry that they while he would try to work with him, they will still always be on opposite sides, so they may not always see eye-to-eye. Barry agreed and said that they would find a way together. Eddie then told Barry to tell Iris that he was happy for her as Barry left the Negative Speed Force.

Personality

Even though it is an extra-dimensional source of energy, the Negative Speed Force proved to have its own personality. It became obsessed with getting revenge on Barry Allen for Eobard Thawne's death, even willing to upset the balance of the Positive and Negative Forces in the process. It possessed several individuals that Barry knew and was close with in an attempt to kill Team Flash. The Negative Speed Force also showed a relentlessness when it wanted something as it constantly manipulated Eddie Thawne for its own ends. After Eddie destroyed the blue crystal that had a connection to the Negative Speed Force and the Negative Speed Force turned blue, it retained its sentience but became completely loyal to Eddie.

Physical manifestations

Lightning coloration

• Red: Red lightning is typically the result of a speedster having a connection to the Negative Speed Force. Red lightning is seen in Thawne himself as well as Edward Clariss. In addition, speedsters such as Hunter Zolomon who are taken by Time Wraiths into the Speed Force also have their lightning turned red. Eddie Thawne also had red lightning upon becoming the new avatar of the Negative Speed Force and some speedsters who received more speed from the Negative Speed Force, such as August Heart and Savitar, had their usual color of lighting turn red.
• Red and purple: After Nora West-Allen managed to run into the Negative Speed Force to return to the present day, the yellow part of her lightning turned red while retaining the purple part of her lightning.
• Black: After Meena Dhawan accidentally tapped into the Negative Speed Force to give herself temporary speedster powers, she emitted black lightning with a white aura.
• Blue: After Joe West and Mark Blaine were possessed by the Negative Speed Force after coming into contact with a blue crystal that had a connection to the Negative Speed Force, they exhibited blue lightning. After Nora West-Allen was possessed by the Negative Speed Force, her purple lightning turned blue.

Reverse-Flash emitting red lightning.

XS emitting red and purple lightning.

Meena Dhawan emitting black lightning.

Joe West, possessed by the Negative Speed Force, emitting blue lightning.

Eye transformation

When harnessing the Negative Speed Force, a speedster's eyes and the skin around the eyes can glow red.

Red lightning flickering in Eobard Thawne's eyes.

Eobard Thawne's glowing red eyes while disguised as Harrison Wells.

Nora West-Allen's glowing red eyes.

Eobard Thawne's glowing red eyes while possessing Harrison Nash Wells.

Powers and abilities

Powers

Speedster powers

The only powers listed below are the ones that differ between the Negative Speed Force and the Speed Force. For all of the powers that a speedster can have, see Speedster powers.

The Negative Speed Force, like 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. In addition, the body becomes conditioned beyond human potential, allowing them to handle extreme physical exertion and performance, which is also enhanced.

• Reconnection: If a Negative Speed Force user should happen to lose their connection to the Negative Speed Force, they can regain their connection by feeding on the negative emotions of others.
• Time travel: Users of the Negative Speed Force can travel through time like users of the Speed Force. However, since they use the Negative Speed Force to time travel, users of the Negative Speed Force cannot be detected by users of the Speed Force.
  • Temporal bunker: Since it exists outside of the timeline, a speedster can prevent themselves from being erased from existence by running into and staying inside the Negative Speed Force. However, if they do so, their connection to the Negative Speed Force becomes the sole tether of their existence unless their timeline is restored.
• Speed Force negation: Users of the Negative Speed Force can temporarily cancel out another speedster's speed by hitting them with negative lightning.
• Power summation: A Negative Speed Force user can summon power directly from the Negative Speed Force through cumulonimbus clouds.
• Energy projection: While possessing a vessel such as Joe West and Mark Blaine, the Negative Speed Force can shoot powerful blue energy blasts capable of knocking out or killing a person.

Weaknesses

Speedster weaknesses

The only weaknesses listed below are the ones that differ between the Negative Speed Force and the Speed Force. For all of the weaknesses that a speedster can have, see Speedster weaknesses.

Like with the Speed Force, speedsters may show one or more weaknesses despite their connection to the Negative Speed Force. Whether this hints towards inherent limitations of the Negative Speed Force itself or just to limitations of its users' control over their connection to it, is not known for certain, but the latter seems more likely.

• Gravity: While deprived of gravity, a speedster's lack of weight prevents them from accessing their speed.
• Tachyon production: Users of the Negative Speed Force produce huge traces of negative tachyons while running, which can easily be tracked.

Negative Speed Force weaknesses

The only weaknesses listed below are the ones that differ between the Negative Speed Force and the Speed Force. For all of the weaknesses that a speed force can have, see Speed Force weaknesses.

Like the Speed Force, even though the Negative Speed Force is a powerful, interdimensional force, it still has some weaknesses.

• Inability to reform matter: The Negative Speed Force is unable to reform matter. Until the Speed Force reconstituted Eobard Thawne's physical form, he existed within the Negative Speed Force as negative tachyons following the Anti-Monitor Crisis.
• Time stone: The time stone's ability to eliminate all time variables and restore a single permanent timeline is able to overpower the Negative Speed Force's ability to preserve a speedster's existence. Thawne was forced seek Team Flash's help when he began fading in and out from existence as a result of the stone's use despite his connection to the Negative Speed Force.
• Exorcism: The Negative Speed Force is capable of being forced out of its host vessel if the vessel is either overpowered or destroyed.

Known individuals

Known users

• Barry Allen/Reverse-Flash (briefly; while he was in the Reverse-Flashpoint timeline)
• Barry Allen/Savitar (temporarily; erased from existence)
• Meena Dhawan/Fast Track (temporarily)
• August Heart/Godspeed (temporarily; deceased)
• Eddie Thawne/Cobalt Blue (avatar)
• Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash (former avatar; deceased)
• Harrison Nash Wells (briefly; while he was possessed by Eobard Thawne; deceased)
• Nora West-Allen/XS (formerly)
• Hunter Zolomon/Zoom (temporarily; deceased)

Known vessels

• Mark Blaine (formerly; in the year 2023)
• Joe West (formerly; in the year 2000)
• Nora West-Allen (formerly; in the year 2049)

Appearances

The Flash

Season 5 "Snow Pack" "Gone Rogue" (mentioned) "The Girl With The Red Lightning" (mentioned) "Legacy" Season 6 "The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Pt. 1" (mentioned) "Death of the Speed Force" (mentioned) "The Exorcism of Nash Wells" "Liberation" (mentioned) Season 7 "The Speed of Thought" (mentioned) "Heart of the Matter, Part 2" (mentioned) Season 8 "Armageddon, Part 4" (indirectly mentioned) "Armageddon, Part 5" (mentioned) "Keep It Dark" (mentioned) "The Man in the Yellow Tie" (mentioned) "Negative, Part One" (mentioned) "Negative, Part Two" Season 9 "Rogues of War" (mentioned) "The Mask of the Red Death, Part 1" (mentioned) "A New World, Part One" "A New World, Part Two" "A New World, Part Three" "A New World, Part Four"

Trivia

• Although Eobard Thawne's description of the Negative Speed Force implied that he always used it instead of the Speed Force, Gideon once told Eobard that his cells were drained of the Speed Force after his latest time jump, implying that he used the Speed Force at some point.
• Cisco Ramon mentioned that negative tachyons siphon positive tachyons, stealing speed from the Speed Force.
  • However, following the death of the Speed Force, while possessing Harrison Nash Wells, Eobard explained that he still had his powers, implying that the Negative Speed Force is not dependent on the existence of the Speed Force.
• According to Eobard, the Negative Speed Force is the only place that is immune to timeline changes.
  • This is proven untrue true as it has been mentioned several times that the temporal zone is also immune to timeline changes and the Speed Force has also been shown to be immune to timeline changes.
    • However, it has been seen that if an aberration is massive enough, things will be affected even inside the temporal zone.
• The Speed Force is able to connect with the Negative Speed Force. However, it needs someone to anchor it when doing so.

Behind the scenes

• In the DC comics, the Negative Speed Force was created by Eobard Thawne when he got his powers which he used to leech off of the Flash's power throughout history. Additionally, Barry Allen gained access to the power source at one point and became known as the "Negative Flash".
• The Negative Speed Force served as the main antagonist of the "A New World" story arc of Season 9 of The Flash.