- "I like to take things nice and slow."
- —Russell Glosson to Patty Spivot[src]
Russell Glosson, (died January 2016) nicknamed The Turtle by Cisco Ramon, was a meta-human thief who had the capability of unleashing a pulse wave that absorbs all of the kinetic energy around him into himself, leaving everyone and everything around him in a temporary state of potential energy.[1]
Biography
After the particle accelerator explosion
Russell Glosson had been upset when his ex-wife Rosalyn Glosson tried to leave him. He was affected by the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator and used his power to make her stay, while also using the place she worked at, the Naydel Library, which shut down shortly after the explosion, as a place to store the valuables he stole from people. He had been on the Central City Police Department's radar but they were unable to capture him for a long time.[1]
Team Flash's active pursuit
Russell Glosson's CCPD record.
In a discussion about how to fight Zoom, Cisco Ramon proposed that perhaps they were looking at the situation the wrong way, and that instead of trying to make The Flash faster, maybe they could try to slow Zoom down, which was where Russell Glosson, known as The Turtle, was brought into the picture. It was revealed that apparently everyone on Team Flash sans Barry Allen knew of this person's existence and how the CCPD failed at arresting him. Although the first target, the Vandervoort diamonds, was correctly predicted and that The Flash did show up at CCPD to stop The Turtle, Glosson got away. The same went for the second target, The Crystal Ball, a painting recovered from Markovia, exhibiting at Central City Museum. Glosson not only successfully stole the painting, he had managed to both figure out the most precious thing to The Flash, while injuring him by landing a chandelier on top of him. Glosson then kidnapped Patty Spivot, intending to make her another one of his collection, like what he did to his ex-wife. The kidnap prompt The Flash to seek out Glosson once more. After being defeated by the Flash and put into the S.T.A.R. Labs pipeline, Glosson was injected by Harrison Wells with a drill-like syringe into his nose to get a sample of his brain tissue, killing him.[1]
Powers and abilities
Powers
- Meta-human physiology: After Russell was struck by the energy of the Particle Accelerator explosion, this altered his DNA and supercharged his cells, augmenting his physiology into beyond peak human condition.
- Kinetic energy absorption: Russell is capable of unleashing a pulse wave that absorbs all of the kinetic energy around him into himself, leaving everyone and everything around him in a temporary state of potential energy. As Russell's kinetic energy absorption significantly slows down electronic transport through nerve cells and thus cognitive processing, all those affected by this event will perceive everything moving as super fast until the effects wear off. Depriving kinetic energy like this also allows him to stop bullets in midair by denying momentum of their trajectory.[1] Seeing as how Zoom still easily beat Barry after he took down the Turtle, that means that Zoom would've been able to easily kill the Turtle.[2]
Weaknesses
- Super speed: Russell's pulse wave is not continuous. At the same time, he requires about 2.7 seconds between each usage of it. Because of which, should an individual possess enough super-accelerated motion, like the Flash, that person can potentially generate enough kinetic energy within themselves to bypass Russell's energy siphoning, only resulting in them dramatically slowed down by the kinetic absorption before overcoming the effects completely.
Trivia
- Cisco had been looking for the Turtle for some time, making it an Ahab-like tale. Cisco even quoted "from Hell's heart, I stab at thee" when the Flash went to capture him.
- Turtle was motivated to steal things of sentimental value, over anything else. This likely stems from some emotional damage his ex-wife caused him.
Appearances
The Flash
Season 2
- "Potential Energy"
- "The Reverse-Flash Returns" (corpse)
- "Fast Lane" (mentioned)
- "Trajectory" (mentioned)
- "Back to Normal" (mentioned)
Behind the scenes
- In DC Comics the Turtle is a legacy name used by the enemies of the Flash and Green Arrow, whose crimes were associated with slow deliberate planning, and later with the ability to drain speed from those around them, much like in the show.
- The character's name, Russell Glosson, is a nod to Starkville Labs podcast hosts Steve Glosson and Derek Russell.[citation needed]