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  1. #1
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    Default Question about The Flash's Acceleration capabilities

    About the acceleration capabilities of the DC Comics character known as The Flash, specifically Wally West...

    How fast can Wally accelerate? Like instantly or in zero time? If so, can he do this without consequence or effort?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Supershard88 View Post
    About the acceleration capabilities of the DC Comics character known as The Flash, specifically Wally West...

    How fast can Wally accelerate? Like instantly or in zero time? If so, can he do this without consequence or effort?
    Do you REALLY want to open this can of worms??

    Wally appears to be back to his pre-Flashpoint power base - so light speed. That said, he doesn't have a reason to try to run that fast.
    He also no longer has to load up on carbs etc. to refuel.
    His speed aura protects him and whatever he extends that to from the rigours of such acceleration and INSANE G-forces.
    "My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
    I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by married guy View Post
    Do you REALLY want to open this can of worms??

    Wally appears to be back to his pre-Flashpoint power base - so light speed. That said, he doesn't have a reason to try to run that fast.
    He also no longer has to load up on carbs etc. to refuel.
    His speed aura protects him and whatever he extends that to from the rigours of such acceleration and INSANE G-forces.
    Sorry, I did not know this was a can of worms. If I can ask one more question, does he have full control over his speed and movement?

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    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
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    Speed and acceleration aren’t the same thing.

    Acceleration is basically how fast you can change speed. 2 characters might both max out at light speed (186000 miles per second) but have very different powers of acceleration. If character A takes 10 seconds to reach that top speed and character B can do it in a second, then B can accelerate ten times more than A, even though both have same top speed.

    A full powered Wally has incredible control over his speed and movement. He appears to be able to change speed and direction at will, for example. And notably he can phase through solid objects, implying he can control the individual atoms of his body.

    On other hand have never seen him do Mr Fantastic type feats when he changes the shape of his body incredibly flexibly…but then I don’t read much modern Flash.

    But basically anything the Flash writer wants Wally to do, he does. No need to bother with science…Wally already does impossible feats, so some other impossible feat will not matter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    Speed and acceleration aren’t the same thing.

    Acceleration is basically how fast you can change speed. 2 characters might both max out at light speed (186000 miles per second) but have very different powers of acceleration. If character A takes 10 seconds to reach that top speed and character B can do it in a second, then B can accelerate ten times more than A, even though both have same top speed.

    A full powered Wally has incredible control over his speed and movement. He appears to be able to change speed and direction at will, for example. And notably he can phase through solid objects, implying he can control the individual atoms of his body.

    On other hand have never seen him do Mr Fantastic type feats when he changes the shape of his body incredibly flexibly…but then I don’t read much modern Flash.

    But basically anything the Flash writer wants Wally to do, he does. No need to bother with science…Wally already does impossible feats, so some other impossible feat will not matter.
    I know. That is essentially what I was asking about, not speed itself.

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    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Supershard88 View Post
    I know. That is essentially what I was asking about, not speed itself.
    Not sure about limit to his acceleration…let’s say he goes from slow to super fast at an incredible rate. I remember for example, one scene where a criminal shot him while he was asleep. He sensed the bullet as it first touched his skin, woke up, and moved out of the way, before the bullet could actually go into him.

    Similarly he seems to get up to light speed when fully powered very fast…he doesn’t need a really long run up to get to top speed. Bear in mind at light speed he could run round the Earth eight times in a second…he’s consistently shown as being able to hit light speed well before he’s gone round Earth once…so must be able to hit light speed in a fraction of a second.

    Could it be less than a fraction of a second? Could it instant (that is zero time) as you posed in your original question? No idea….basically there’s no consistency in the way the Flash is written, and certainly no adherence to the scientific laws of our own dear planet.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    Not sure about limit to his acceleration…let’s say he goes from slow to super fast at an incredible rate. I remember for example, one scene where a criminal shot him while he was asleep. He sensed the bullet as it first touched his skin, woke up, and moved out of the way, before the bullet could actually go into him.

    Similarly he seems to get up to light speed when fully powered very fast…he doesn’t need a really long run up to get to top speed. Bear in mind at light speed he could run round the Earth eight times in a second…he’s consistently shown as being able to hit light speed well before he’s gone round Earth once…so must be able to hit light speed in a fraction of a second.

    Could it be less than a fraction of a second? Could it instant (that is zero time) as you posed in your original question? No idea….basically there’s no consistency in the way the Flash is written, and certainly no adherence to the scientific laws of our own dear planet.
    So it depends on the writer. Okay theb.

    Listen, I already asked married guy about this, but since I have not received an answer, I would like to ask something I believe is semi related to what this topic was about. Now, does the Flash have full, perfect control over his speed and movement? If he does, would that depend on the writer, too? Sorry if this is completely unrelated.

  8. #8
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Supershard88 View Post
    So it depends on the writer. Okay theb.

    Listen, I already asked married guy about this, but since I have not received an answer, I would like to ask something I believe is semi related to what this topic was about. Now, does the Flash have full, perfect control over his speed and movement? If he does, would that depend on the writer, too? Sorry if this is completely unrelated.
    If you look up at message 4 in the thread, you’ll see my view on this. (The bit starting “A full powered Wally has incredible control…).

    But yes..everything depends on the individual writer. I have heard legends that in the distant past DC editors exercised close control over writers to ensure characters were written consistently. But that’s not been my experience in recent decades.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    If you look up at message 4 in the thread, you’ll see my view on this. (The bit starting “A full powered Wally has incredible control…).

    But yes..everything depends on the individual writer. I have heard legends that in the distant past DC editors exercised close control over writers to ensure characters were written consistently. But that’s not been my experience in recent decades.
    Ah, incredible control, I see. I am guessing it is not perfect, though? What about if he were to trip on something or be knocked away by an opponent?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Supershard88 View Post
    About the acceleration capabilities of the DC Comics character known as The Flash, specifically Wally West...

    How fast can Wally accelerate? Like instantly or in zero time? If so, can he do this without consequence or effort?
    It depends on the Speed of Plot. He accelerates, de-accelerates, reacts and does everything based on what the writer wants for the story- which can be fine until it gets so inconsistent that it pulls you out of the story.
    Power with Girl is better.

  11. #11
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Powerboy View Post
    It depends on the Speed of Plot. He accelerates, de-accelerates, reacts and does everything based on what the writer wants for the story- which can be fine until it gets so inconsistent that it pulls you out of the story.
    Yes. That’s a perfect way to put it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Supershard88 View Post
    About the acceleration capabilities of the DC Comics character known as The Flash, specifically Wally West...

    How fast can Wally accelerate? Like instantly or in zero time? If so, can he do this without consequence or effort?
    He's accidentally gone from regular speed to near light speed before. So it's so instant even he doesn't notice it sometimes.

    On the other hand, in Johns' run he had to run across Keystone City to "build up enough speed" to punch Gorilla Grodd.

    So the answer is: whatever the writer wants.

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    It varies, of course, but I always liked when he was written as limited by civilians and the surrounding population.

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    The Speed Force probably defies the laws of physics. But according to physics 'acceleration is described as the rate of change of velocity of an object. a body's acceleration is the final result of all the forces being applied to the body, as defined by neuton's second law. Acceleration is a vector quantity that is described as the frequency at which a body's velocity changes. Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity to the change in time. It is denoted by symbol a and is articulated as a= change in velocity/time taken. from byjus.com

    Jesse Quick uses a speed formula. It would be cool if DC uses her to kind of explain the Speed Force. But as I said the Speed Force probably defies the laws of physics. But I would think that a good explaination would be that the Speed Force is applied to the Flash's body in some way before he accelarates since in physics it says that 'a body's acceleration is the final result of all the forces applied to the body'.

    today I read an article about Time Crystals on livescience.com. Time Crystals are something that has just been discovered. They seem to break the laws of physics also because they can exists in two states of matter at the same time. For me this kind of describes the Flash because he moves so fast he is or can be essentially two places at the same time such as New York and California.

    you can maybe find your answer in a book called The Science of Superheroes: The Secrets Behind Speed, Strength, Flight, Evolution by Mark Brake 2018.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Supershard88 View Post
    So it depends on the writer. Okay theb.

    Listen, I already asked married guy about this, but since I have not received an answer, I would like to ask something I believe is semi related to what this topic was about. Now, does the Flash have full, perfect control over his speed and movement? If he does, would that depend on the writer, too? Sorry if this is completely unrelated.
    Sorry! Missed that...
    All Flashes have been shown to be in full control of their speed and movement.
    Except when a writer decides they don't (re: Heroes in Crisis)
    Jay, Barry and Wally have all been shown they can control the vibrations of their own molecules! Now THAT'S control.
    "My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
    I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.

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