Some thoughts. This isn't a criticism of DC, the Flash, or his fans. Rather, it's an attempt to place his powers in perspective.
I don't buy the Infinite Mass Punch. If Wally really were subject to relativistic mass dilation, his body would tear inself apart long before he ever reached lightspeed. Furthermore if he were subject to relativistic affects, were he to attempt a speedblitz at greater than 90% lightspeed Wally would be the one who couldn't react fast enough. At .9c 2.3 seconds pass for the body at "rest" for every one second for the Flash. At .9999c 70.1 seconds pass to the oberver at rest for every one second that passes in the Flash's frame of reference. This would introduce all kinds of problems, not the least of which is getting-smashed-by/left-behind-by the planet Earth as it moves through its orbital curve.
The Speed Force is essentially magic. It lets him move outside the rules of spacetime physiscs, but according to some other (poorly defined) rules of its own. While it pays some lip-service to Relativity, it shields DC speedsters from any of it's actual effects. Furthurmore, it protects them from things like the impact on their joints, heat from friction, flying off the planet when they exceed escape velocity, having their faces rubbed off by their bow-wave while their GI tracks are sucked out their rear by their backdraft, and so on.
When he punches someone at superspeed, he's not hitting with the momentum of a human body at high velocity. It's essentially a speedforce force-bolt coincident with his hand. When he runs, he's certainly not propelling himself by pushing against the ground.
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Last edited by Laminator_X on Jul 18th, 2005 at 01:54 AM
The Infinite Mass Punch is just a name this forum gave the attack. It's pretty inaccurate though. An object with infinite mass would collapse the universe upon itself. It's more of a "high velocity/inertial mass punch." Don't ask me how Flash increases his inertial mass and travels at lightspeed simultaneously.
That was sort of the point. Trying to apply physics ideas to the Flash's powers is largely nonsensical. He just doesn't work that way. If he did suffer relativistic mass increase, he'd just die.
Rather, we should approach the Flash's powers just like anyone else's. Look at his deeds and go from there.
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Flashes always managed to get downplayed or screwed over in Crisis' and crossovers, but if you add his powers up, not many people should be able to **** wit him at all.
You can't touch him at all, period. He vibrates through objects or moves around em.
He can use the speed force to hit you at orbit velocity, and send you through space [he did it to one of the White Martians]
Not that any but the most trained eye or someone else with Superspeed could even see him coming anyways.
And alas, in DC/Marvel when the JLA and X Men met up in the crossover, Jubilee took him after he saved her life, she zapped him in the eye and put him down the count.
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After giving this much thought...I don't know who Flash COULDN'T beat.
Not even from watching Justice League (they SEVERELY downplay Flash's powers. He's probably the most powerful of them if they were to give him his peak abilities) I know how powerful the Flash is.
To the Hulk for example. All he has to do is vibrate, walk inside of Hulk, and cause him to explode. Sucks for Hulk. And so what if he regenerates? He still loses the fight, because Flash can keep doing that.
The same tactic goes for pretty much everyone else with super-strength/nigh-invulnerability.
Everyone else, he can just beat them to death. People must realize just how freakin fast Flash is. He could probably take on every hero (Pretty much anyone who's not a God/cosmic/you know what I mean character) at the same time. He's so fast, he's everywhere at once, instantaneously.
He could do it. That's why I don't like him as much as I used to, he's just too freakin powerful.
Quicksilver is a much more realistic, better speedster.
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Jul 18th, 2005 01:42 AM
