Savitar Comics

[Hedvige Ransonet]

Fansof both The Flash comics and The Flash TV show on the CW are probably both familiar with Savitar by now. What fans might not know is that the character is considerably different in both iterations; someone who picks up a comic book with Savitar included might be confused, and someone well-versed in his comic lore might jump into an episode of season three of the show and leave puzzled. So, to help bridge the gap between the comic book and the show, here's a handy guide on the differences:

The comic book version of Savitar was an unnamed pilot flying for a third-world country during the Cold War. While flying a supersonic fighter jet, the pilot's craft was struck by lightning and crashed inside of enemy territory. The pilot quickly learned that he possessed superhuman speed, and became obsessed about knowing everything that he could about his new powers and the secrets they contain. The pilot renamed himself after the Hindu god of motion and began working to discover new powers unknown by any other Speedster.

In the CW show, Savitar's origin is vastly different. Serving as the main antagonist for season three of the show, Savitar is actually a time remnant/temporal anomaly version of Barry Allen himself, who was created in order to help stop Savitar in the future. The future's Savitar was defeated, but the time remnant version of Barry Allen was shunned by his friends and considered to be the fake version of Barry Allen. Time-remnant Barry Allen became bitter, and went back in time to become Savitar himself.

The comic version of Savitar discovered a whole host of powers unknown by other Speedsters. His quest of discovery gained him a cult of followers, and eventually, Savitar sought out the only Speedster of that time for more knowledge of the Speed Force: Johnny Quick. The two speedsters fought, but Johnny Quick managed to send them both into the Speed Force, catapulting them both through time. Johnny Quick emerged from the timeline quicker than Savitar and did all that he could to prepare the Speedsters that he found for the eventual re-emergence of Savitar.

Savitar reappeared from the timeline much later and found his cult still very active. Savitar recruited Lady Flash and used her to divert Speed Force energy to an army of ninjas, planning to kill most other Speedsters. Savitar's plans were thwarted, and Savitar attempted to cause worldwide destruction until Wally West trapped Savitar in the Speed Force.

The TV version of Savitar also accumulated a cult of followers, worshiped as the first ever Speedster. Savitar possessed Team Flash's eventual friend Julian Albert into acquiring and using the Philosopher's Stone (no, not THAT one) with which people who have powers from the Flashpoint timeline can acquire their powers in this timeline.

The comic version of Savitar met his demise in The Flash: Rebirth, published in 2009. In Rebirth, Savitar escaped from the Speed Force only to be chased by Barry Allen. Barry eventually caught Savitar, but with only a touch, accidentally disintegrated him. It's revealed that Professor Zoom tampered with Barry's connection with the Speed Force. Eventually, Barry and Wally stop Thawn and sever his connection to the negative Speed Force.

The TV version of Savitar also met an untimely demise. Savitar appears to succeed in killing Iris, but it's revealed that he ultimately killed H.R. Wells (from Earth-19) who was impersonating Iris with a device.

Savitar also tried to trick Vibe into fragmenting himself throughout the Speed Force in an attempt to manipulate his past self into becoming a darker version of himself, as well. Savitar is eventually stopped by Team Flash when Iris is forced to shoot and kill him.

The comic version of Savitar was on a quest to learn everything that he could about the Speed Force and the power it contains. Throughout his quest for power, Savitar gathered many abilities that other Speedsters had no idea were possible, such as lending or taking speed from objects, an incredibly enhanced healing factor, and the ability to create a force field generated from inertia.

The TV version of Savitar had a wider array of powers available to him. He was able to move so quickly that he was invisible to the human eye. He had reflexes well past that of the average Speedster, allowing him to out-maneuver even other Speedsters with ease. He had incredible strength and stamina, as well as increased perceptions, including the ability to perceive other Speedsters. He had both Electrokinesis and Geokinesis, giving him the ability to both generate huge amounts of lightning and cause tremors. He could possess others after establishing a connection to them, using them to do his bidding as he did with Julian.

While the comic version and the TV version are vastly different from one another, they do share some things in common besides the cool name. They are both obviously Speedsters that went on a journey to learn more about the Speed Force, which gave both an enhanced array of powers that others Speedsters were unable to replicate. They both had a cult of followers who worshipped them as the first/most powerful Speedster, and both met their demise either while in conflict with Barry Allen, or Barry Allen and Iris West.

I love to make respect threads, especially about characters who don't have one (in or out of vine). And because Savitar is the villain in Season 3 of the Flash TV Show (everybody knows it, some people love it, some people hate it, most people watch it), I decided to make a respect thread for comic book version of Savitar so you people can see how powerful he is in the comics. Please don't spoil anything about Season 3, I have yet to watch it.

Savitar is the main villain of the story Dead Heat written by Mark Waid. He battled Wally West, Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, Bart Allen and Jesse and John Quick. He is actually responsible for death of Johnny Quick (in a way). Besides flashbacks and references, Savitar made only one appearance outside of the story. As for his origin, The Flash Family found out about it while reading one of Max Mercury's files. Savitar is actually the reason why Max gathered the Flash Family, so they can stop him. His origin is also explained in Flash Secret Files #1 (1997) and The DC Comics Encyclopedia #2 - DC Comics Encyclopedia Updated and Expanded (2008).

As stated in Files and Origins #1, Savitar is extremely knowledgeable on Speed Force Velocity. He is even greater expert than Jay Garrick and Eobard Thawne and rivaled only by Max Mercury. He was studying, learning and doing research about the Speed Force as much as he could. It became his new religion Flash Vol. 2 #109

When Max, Johnny and Jesse chased Savitar in his own temple, they found out that he has a whole library full of books and scrolls that contain information about the velocity and the Speed Force. Max assumes that most of the stuff they could read in the library was written by Savitar himself Impulse #11.

Savitar is extremely fast. Throughout the entire story he was shown to be more powerful than the entire Flash Family (besides Wally). Max himself claims that Savitar is incredibly strong and faster than both Johnny and Max Flash Vol. 2 #109

During the time Wally was fighting Savitar, Iris (Wally's Aunt) had information about what will happen in the future and when she decided to reveal it, Jennie Ognats (Bart's cousin) came to Wally to tell him about it. Based on Iris's statement, Wally can't beat Savitar Flash Vol. 2 #111

This makes sense considering the fact that throughout the entire story when Savitar was using his speed, he was introduced as being equal to Wally and is as fast and stronger than him based on Wally's own statement in the same issue in the same fight before Jennie came to him.

Savitar has the ability to tap into the Speed Force which requires faster than light travel. He did that in his first fight with Max Mercury. Max came out while Savitar was stuck there for decades Flash Vol. 2 #109

Savitar has enhanced durability. After Wally came out of the Speed Force (Flash Vol. 2 #100), he became much more powerful and his power set was changed, adding new set of abilities, one of which is the ability to blow up the molecules he phased through. Wally used that tactic on Savitar while phasing through trees. The explosion did not make Savitar move an inch and it wasn't able to slow him down even for a nanosecond Flash Vol. 2 #111.

While Speedsters have the ability to heal extremely fast, Savitar's healing is much faster and more effective. He healed from a stab wound in a second. A knife was thrown at him by Wally Flash Vol. 2 #110

He was also able to heal after getting cut by pieces of metal. Considering the fact that it healed on the same panel he was cut and Wally and Savitar were approaching light speed before this scan, the process probably lasted few nanoseconds Flash Vol 2 #111

Savitar is the only Speedster (besides Barry and Thawne) who can manipulate the Speed Force for various purposes (which is probably the reason why he is so powerful). He can use his Speed Force Manipulation to remove the kinetic energy from shurikens thrown at him by Wally and give them momentum again. This is a speed feat as well because he reacted to objects thrown at him by Wally West and he increased their momentum and velocity to a levels high enough to actually tag Wally Flash Vol. 2 #110

Another power Savitar has is the ability to drain the Speed Force from others as well as Steal their speed, just like Wally can. He can do that to speedsters that are thousand miles away from him. He failed to drain Max Mercury because of his control over the Speed Force and he failed to drain Wally because of his connection to the Speed Force. However, he was able to drain Bart and Jennie Impulse #9

He also drained Jay, Jesse and Cassiopeia (which killed him) Flash Vol. 2 #108. Fact that he was able to steal Cassiopeia's speed means that his ability to steal speed is not limited to Speed Force Conduits only, since Cassiopeia's speed has nothing to do with the Speed Force, but that did not stop Savitar from draining him.

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