By: Johnny Wellens
Season 3 of The Flash has finally given us our first look at the/another villainous speedster, Savitar. But what do you really know about The God of Speed? At the very least you know his name and that’s a start. Well worry not, because I am here to give you some more insight into who this royal jackhole is.
Savitar’s real name is unknown. He was originally a pilot whose plane was struck by “lightning” while fighting during the Cold War. Shortly after crashing he discovered that he now had the ability to move at superhuman speeds. Using his powers he escaped capture by the enemy and developed quite the obsession with speed. He named himself after the the Hindu “God of Motion”, Savitr and dedicated the rest of his life to learning the ways of speed.
Savitar eventually gained a cult following whose people worshipped him as a God. Throughout his research he learned new abilities, some of which the various Flashes had yet to or would never learn. These included the ability to heal instantly (all speedsters heal at an accelerated rate but his healing was more akin to Wolverine or Deadpool), the ability to steal and give speed as well as encase himself within a protective force field. Wally West would eventually learn how to steal and gift speed but no other major speedster has learned the other two abilities.
He had a major run-in with Johnny Quick, who was currently one of the only speedsters that existed. Savitar and Quick duked it out briefly until Max Mercury showed up and tricked Savitar into being absorbed by the Speed Force. He stumbled out years later, finding that his cult had grown in his absence and dubbed themselves the Thunderbolt Agents. Savitar used his lackey, Lady Flash, to remove any speedster’s connection to the Speed Force and attempted to kill them. Luckily, Wally West, who was the current Flash, had a direct connection to the Speed Force that Savitar was unable to sever. Wally gathered an army of speedsters and led an attack on Savitar. This culminated in a battle across the world between the two, with Wally winning by once again trapping Savitar in the Speed Force.
Savitar’s final appearance was during The Flash: Rebirth event when Barry Allen returned. During this event Barry’s Speed Force connection was being manipulated by Eobard Thawne, Professor Zoom. This caused Barry to temporarily become a Black Flash and would vaporize anyone he touched. Barry happened upon Savitar when the villain found a way to escape Speed Force and unknowingly killed him with a single touch. And that was the end of ol’ Savitar, the God of Speed.
So what can we expect from Savitar from this season of The Flash? We do know that Alchemy worships him so I think we can safely assume that he leads Savitar’s cult. Apparently Barry is the only one who can see him which is an interesting twist, though I assume this means that only someone connected to the Speed Force can see him. We also know that the show is taking liberties with his look. Aside from that we don’t know much about him so it’ll be exciting to find out how the events surrounding Savitar unfold. The hype is real, I’m salivating just thinking about it! ...wait ...salivating ...Savitar ...Salvitar. We did it.
