Wally West is The Flash, a teenager given incredible speed in a lab accident.
History
Origin
Darkseid created the Absolute Universe to be a world where heroes were the underdogs, and lacked the advantages of their Earth 0 counterparts.[1] As such, Wally did not have a legacy to follow, a mentor to guide him or even a Speed Force. Instead he was left to figure out his powers alone as his world's first ever speedster.[2]
Wally was an army brat who regularly moved around the country as his father, Colonel Rudy West, was reassigned. He eventually gave up trying to make friends his own age, knowing he would soon leave anyone he had a connection with. Wally was close to his mother, who helped him manage his anxiety, and became even more withdrawn when she passed away from illness.
When Wally was fifteen, his father was assigned as the base commander of Fort Fox, the site of a top-secret government experiment called "Project Olympus". Wally would act out by staying out past curfew just wandering around the town outside the base. Barry Allen, a scientist working on Project Olympus, recognised that Wally was lonely and bored; and believed that his potential was being wasted at the local high school. Barry let Wally into the Project Olympus secret lab and invited him to work part time on the project, but Rudy refused to allow it.
The next day, Rudy told Wally that he was trying to protect him by keeping him way from Project Olympus. They argued and Wally said that Barry was the only one who took and interest in him. Rudy angrily ordered Wally never to talk to Barry again and Wally stormed out of the house, saying that his mother and him would have left Rudy if she had lived. Wally went to the lab anyway, arriving just as Barry was activating an advanced machine.[2] Barry yelled at Wally to run, but he was caught in the energy generated by the machine and dissolved into streaks of red lightning. Rudy stormed in and attacked Barry, demanding to know what had happened and yelling at him that he should have stayed away from him son. Wally quickly reformed from the lightning and Barry grabbed him, telling him to focus on him and stay with them, but a burst of lightning shot from Wally and hit Barry in the chest.[3]
Terrified, Wally fled from Fort Fox at superhuman speed. Barry was still caught up in the lightning and Wally dragged him along, the flesh peeling off his bones from the immense speed. Wally eventually came to a stop in the Mojave Desert and Barry, somehow still alive, begged Wally to help him. He died shortly after and Wally hid with his body in a cave.[4] A special ops team known as The Rogues were dispatched by Rudy to find him and bring him back.[2] They flushed Wally out of the cave and he attempted to run from them, but their leader froze his feet to the floor with ice from a gun. Wally had another panic attack and yelled at them to leave him alone. Lightning shot out of his body and he found himself back in Barry's lab during the accident, then was just as suddenly transported back to the desert in the present after Barry was killed. Jesse, one of the Rogues, threw a device at his feet that trapped him in a force field bubble but he blasted out of it and ran away again. Another Rogue, Glider, chased after him on rocket boots, but just as she was about to grab him he accelerated away from her. He entered a swirling vortex and experienced his entire history at once. Then he saw two possible visions of his future: one where he was a costumed hero and one where he was a monstrous energy being. He returned to the real world and collapsed, wondering what was happening to him.[3]
He got up and ran, eventually ending up at an isolated farm. He took refuge in the barn and fell asleep, exhausted and emotionally drained. The Rogues dispatched Grodd, a genetically enhanced telepathic monkey, to find him. Grodd located Wally in the barn, but then held out his finger to Wally. Intrigued, Wally reached out as well and they touched fingers, making psychic contact. This allowed them to see each other's memories and how they had each lost their mothers as children: Wally when his mother got sick, and Grodd when she was killed and he was taken by hunters. Grodd recognised Wally as a kindred spirit and decided to defect from Project Olympus to join him. He told Wally through their mental link that they were the same and tried to comfort Wally when he said he was afraid.
The Rogues followed Grodd to Wally and attacked the barn. Wally was terrified, triggering his powers to once again go haywire, but Grodd was able to calm him down and allow him to regain control. Grodd used his powers to put the Rogues to sleep but one of them, Harkness, was somehow immune and charged at them with a fleet of boomerang drones. Rather than run, Wally realised that for once he had to face things head on and raced at Harkness, leaping up into the air and punching him out. Grodd told Wally to escape but Wally said they were going together. Wally and Grodd returned to the cave where he buried Barry's body and took the containment suit he was wearing for the experiment. Wally accepted that his life as he knew it was over and donned the suit as a costume. He and Grodd raced off from Barry's grave, with Wally feeling a sense of freedom that he hadn't in a long time.[4]
Trials of the Flash
Wally and Grodd travelled to Central City and spent the night sleeping in a park in the rundown Iron Heights district. Wally had a nightmare of seeing Barry's skeleton in his mother's grave screaming for help and started awake just before sunrise. He joined a line for food near a homeless encampment and was approached by a tall man named Ralph Dibny, who told him he ran a youth mission nearby where Wally could stay for a few days. Wally initially refused, suspicious of Ralph, but another runaway named Linda walked past and told him the mission was legitimate. Wally was immediately smitten with Linda and later decided to go to the mission.
While he was eating lunch in the mission's cafeteria Linda approached him and asked to sit with him. She told Wally that he could tell he had not been on the streets long and asked where he came from. Wally told her that he wasn't really from anywhere because his dad was in the military and they moved around a lot. She asked him if that was what he was running from and he replied that there were other reasons, not wanting to tell her his secret. Linda said it was okay because they were all running from something, but when he asked her what she was running from she immediately shut down. He tried to apologise but she walked away, saying he could have her food. However, just as she left she smiled at him and said she would see him around.
Later as Wally was settling into the boy's dorm he telepathically asked Grodd if he thought they would be safe staying there for a while, but got no reply. He checked his rucksack where Grodd was supposed to be hiding but he was not in there. Wally saw an open window and saw Grodd scampering away outside. Wally chased Grodd through the streets until the monkey opened an manhole and dropped down into the sewers. Grodd lead Wally through the sewers saying that they needed to stop "Hot". It got hotter as they travelled through the tunnels and Wally said they should turn back, but Grodd just kept repeating "Hot!" until finally he said "Hot is here". Wally turned a corner and found himself face-to-face with Project Heatwave.[5]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Chronokinesis: Wally appears to be able to travel back in time along his own timeline, either by transferring his consciousness into his past self or physically transporting himself back through time. By running fast enough he can enter the Timestream and experience his entire life simultaneously, including possible futures.[2][3]
- Electrokinesis: As a side effect of using his powers, Wally generates red electrical energy as well as red rectangular energy beams when he runs.[2]
- Electro-Blast: When angered or frightened, Wally can discharge large energy bursts from his body.[3]
- Superhuman Speed: Wally can run at immense super speed.[3]
- Superhuman Agility: Wally's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to superhuman levels. This allows him to easily manoeuvre while moving at superhuman speed.[4]
- Superhuman Reflexes: Wally's reflexes are heightened, allowing him to dodge or react faster than normal.[4]
- Super-Leaping: By running and building up momentum, Wally can launch himself high into the air.[4]
Abilities
Weaknesses
Other Characteristics
Notes
- The Flash/Wally West was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, first appearing in The Flash #110. However, the Absolute Universe version of The Flash/Wally West first appeared in Absolute Flash #1 by Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles.
- Wally's eyes change from green to gold when he uses his powers.[2]
Trivia
- Wally's powers are not derived from the Speed Force,[6] which does not appear to be accessible from within the Absolute Universe.
Related
- 5 Appearances of Wally West (Absolute Universe)
- 20 Images featuring Wally West (Absolute Universe)
- 3 Quotations by or about Wally West (Absolute Universe)
- Character Gallery: Wally West (Absolute Universe)
Footnotes
  This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of The Flash, and a member of the Flash Family of speedsters. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Flash Family members" category. |