7 DC Villains Who Can Give the Flash a Run for His Money

The Flash is a hero who has more than earned his title of the Fastest Man Alive. With his connection to the infinite dimension of motion known as the Speed Force, DC Comics’ Scarlet Speedster can pull off the most impossible feats in the blink of an eye. Of course, with a character whose whole deal is speed, many of his most fearsome enemies are fellow speedsters. Oftentimes, these speedster villains seek to prove their superiority and to be crowned the fastest man in the universe and the master of the Speed Force. These villains have the speed to challenge the Flash, and they’ve given the hero some of the toughest races of his crimefighting career.

When these people gained access to the infinite power of the Speed Force, they immediately became corrupted and sought to spread chaos in an instant.

7) Reverse-Flash

Not to be confused with the futuristic maniac Eobard Thawne, the New 52 introduced an all-new Reverse-Flash named Danny West. This version of the Flash’s archenemy is the brother of Barry Allen’s girlfriend, Iris West. Growing up in an abusive household, Danny ran away from home after accidentally pushing his alcoholic father down the stairs and paralyzed him. As an adult and petty crook, Danny was at the center of an accident that granted him a connection to the Speed Force. Like a vampire, Reverse-Flash began killing and feeding on other speedsters’ Speed Force energy to make himself more powerful. Once he became strong enough, he went back in time and tried to kill his father. When Barry fights Danny, he has to keep pace with him while avoiding the villain’s razor-sharp claws and energy-absorbing powers. Even a single touch can give Reverse-Flash the chance to supercharge himself and become a hulking monster that can outpace the Scarlet Speedster.

6) Savitar

Few characters in DC Comics understand the Speed Force better than Savitar. The self-proclaimed God of Speed, Savitar was once a Cold War pilot who was struck by lightning while testing an experimental supersonic jet. Like the Flash, the lightning bolt granted Savitar a direct connection to the Speed Force. Believing that he was given a divine gift, Savitar created a cult and lent his followers portions of his speed. Savitar also unlocked additional abilities like generating force fields and firing powerful lightning bolts. Even worse, he can drain people and objects of their motion, making them slower and himself faster. With his massive god complex, Savitar believed he alone was worthy of the Speed Force and tried to steal it from the rest of the Flash Family. With his in-depth knowledge of the Speed Force and his many additional abilities, Savitar ran circles around Flash Family members like Johnny and Jesse Quick, Max Mercury, and Jay Garrick. Only Wally West proved to be Savitar’s superior.

5) Red Death

The Dark Multiverse is a nightmarish distortion of the multiverse that’s home to countless twisted versions of Batman. On Earth-52, Batman took the Flash’s powers for himself to become the Red Death. When his Robins all died, this Dark Knight became obsessed with stopping all crime. Believing that he could use the Speed Force better than the Flash ever could, Batman strapped his former friend to a Cosmic Treadmill-enhanced Batmobile and drove it into the Speed Force. This action caused the two heroes to merge, with Batman as the dominant personality. With the Speed Force’s power, Red Death killed every criminal in Gotham. Red Death would eventually be recruited by the Batman Who Laughs to join the Dark Knights in their invasion of the positive universe. Red Death has the Flash’s powers mixed with Batman’s tactical mind, making him a terrifying version of both heroes. Even worse, Red Death has the ability to use the Speed Force to create energy constructs.

4) Godspeed

Detective August Heart was once an honest cop and a good friend of Barry until lightning struck him during a Speed Force Storm. With his newfound abilities, August instantly became drunk with power and he sought to become Central City’s only speedster superhero. To achieve this goal, Godspeed began killing everyone caught up in the Speed Force storm and draining their power. By the end of his brutal massacre, Godspeed had become the eighth-fastest being in the DC Universe. This power-up allowed Godspeed the ability to effortlessly kill criminals across Central City and outpace most of the Flash Family. Godspeed also has the unique ability to create clones of himself, letting him be in multiple places at once and this allows him to occasionally overwhelm the Flash. Godspeed is so elusive that even Barry oftentimes finds himself unable to keep track of Godspeed. Although in recent years Godspeed has become more of an ally to the Flash Family, he’s still a brutal anti-hero who won’t hesitate to kill his enemies in the blink of an eye.

3) Zoom

Hunter Zolomon, aka Zoom, was the third villain to take on the Reverse-Flash role when he became the archnemesis of Wally West. Although they were originally friends, Zolomon grew to hate Wally because the hero refused his request to cure his paralyses by going back in time and prevent Gorilla Grodd from paralyzing him. Desperate to regain the use of his legs, he tried to use the time-traveling Cosmic Treadmill, but it literally blew up in his face. Unlike other speedster villains on this list, Zolomon’s powers don’t come from the Speed Force. Instead, the accident let Zoom accelerate his personal timeline, creating the illusion of superspeed. Yet despite not being connected to the Speed Force, Zoom is no less a terrifying villain. He can effortlessly travel faster than light and overpower most of the Flash Family. Whenever Zoom arrives, Wally must push himself to his limits to keep up with his archnemesis. 

2) Black Flash

Speed Force users are well known for their ability to cheat death thanks to their superspeed and time-travel abilities. This talent eventually led the Speed Force to craft its own Grim Reaper, specifically designed to hunt down speedsters when it’s their time. The Black Flash is a relentless predator who, once it has its eyes set on a target, won’t stop until it catches and kills them. Just a single touch from the Black Flash causes instant death. When the Black Flash arrives, time itself halts around it, and only the fastest Speed Force users are immune to its effect. As the personification of death, the Black Flash can run faster than light indefinitely as it chases its prey across all of time and space. If the Flash slowed down for even a nanosecond while fleeing from it, the Black Flash would kill him. The Black Flash is a force of nature and the greatest fear of all speedsters in the DC Universe.

1) Professor Zoom

No villain of the Flash is faster or more powerful than Eobard Thawne, aka Professor Zoom. Hailing from the 25th century, Thawne was originally Barry Allen’s biggest fan. This obsession led him to attempt to recreate the accident that gave Barry his powers. However, the experiment instead made him a conduit for the Negative Speed Force. This connection, along with the discovery that he’s fated to be Barry’s archenemy, drove Thawne mad. Swearing to live up to his destiny, Thawne became Professor Zoom and used his mastery of time travel to torture Barry throughout his entire life. He can also use his speed to atomize people or age them decades in seconds. Even more terrifying is that he’s a living paradox, so even if he’s killed, he’ll just pop up again, good as new. Even the combined might of the entire Flash Family struggles to outpace Professor Zoom’s savagery and speed. 

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