Godspeed (DC)
Godspeed is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
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Biography
August Heart was a male human who lived in the modern age where he grew up on Earth and was noted to have had a brother named Jorge. (The Flash v5 #7) He was one of the first cops to ask for Barry Allen's advice on crime scenes with him treating Allen as an equal rather than a lab technician. (The Flash v5 #36) It was known that several years ago his brother Jorge was killed in the line of duty at the hands of Billy Parks. Despite Parks arrest, the D.A. did not believe they had enough evidence to secure a conviction and let him go. The incident infuriated August who felt that his brothers death was not avenged and that there was no justice for him. (The Flash v5 #7) August then had to inform his parents about the death of his brother. (The Flash v5 #6) It was known that he had been a Major Crimes Detective for at least six years. (The Flash v5 #2) He responded to the incident when Barry Allen was struck by lightning within his laboratory and called medical aid for his friend. (The Flash v5 #1)
He responded to an incident involving the Black Hole organization where during the shootout he was targeted by one of the criminals. Heart would have died had a Speed Force storm not engulfed the area and empowered August with the powers of a speedster. (The Flash v5 #1) The Flash then proceeded to train August in the use of his powers with Heart revealing that he determined that the Scarlet Speedster was actually Barry Allen. During their discussions, August spoke about using these powers to make a chance in the city and offered to help Allen as a fellow hero. The Flash was reluctant in involving others to his cause but relented and accepted August as a hero after he helped Barry save Iris West from the Black Hole criminal gang. (The Flash v5 #2) As a result of the Speed Force Storm, several people in Central City had been transformed into unwitting Speedsters. Some decided to use their powers for good whilst others looked to use them for evil. Barry and August then began to focus their efforts on apprehending the latter and together quickly foil a trio of bank robbers. After transporting the robbers to Iron Heights, Barry and August learnt of a Speed Force Training Center created by S.T.A.R. Labs in response to the outbreak of Speedsters. Barry agreed to help its director Meena Dhawan who also a gained Speed Force powers but dedicated herself to the altruistic pursuit of training and caring for the health of the new speedsters, while August chooses to focus on apprehending those who choose a life of crime. (The Flash v5 #3)
At this time, Godspeed emerged where he killed some Speed Force empowered bank robbers that had been apprehended earlier by the Flash. They were in a prison cell when they were murdered by the killer who was using the Speed Force as a weapon and had vibrated through the walls to kill them. A seemingly wounded August was later found at the scene who warned of the threat of Godspeed. (The Flash v5 #3) On crutches, he pretended to had been involved in an accident to hide his super-speed abilities which started to heal his injuries. He would appear at the Speed Force Training Center to meet with Barry to inform him of findings from the Black Hole case and the report on the mysterious Godspeed. August dressed in his Flash costume later helped Barry in his guise as the Flash as they confronted Black Hole who were looking to harness the power of the Speed Force. This saw Dr. Joseph Carver become overwhelmed after using his tech to make a suit that tapped into its power. Transformed into a force of energy, he went on the rampage with Flash and Heart working alongside other speedsters to use their combined power to sap Carvers Speed Force energy. This depowered Carver who was rendered catatonic as a result with the lab destroyed in the process. Despite this Black Hole cell's defeat, August felt that the case involving his brothers death remained unsolved and he looked to continue his own personal investigation. (The Flash v5 #4)
With these powers, he secretly used them to avenge his brother by murdering Billy Parks. After arresting the speedster criminals, Heart came to feel his Speed Force connection linking with them the closer he got to them. Being drawn to it, he decided to secretly approach the criminals in Iron Heights prison in an effort to draw out their power. This led to him inadvertently killing them in the process with this not being his aim but he came to find that he absorbed their Speed Force power. He then continued to try to draw out this power amongst the other speedsters but without killing them as he reasoned that most of them did not want their powers. However, on many occasions, August had ended up accidentally killing the people after the power had left them. (The Flash v5 #7)
It was the death of Billy Parks that led to Barry Allen confronting August who was revealed to had been Godspeed. (The Flash v5 #6) This saw a fight between the two friends but Godspeed managed to easily overpower Barry due to August having stolen the speed from other speedsters. He left the Flash alive whilst speeding to the Central City Courthouse where the trial of Dr. Carver had been interrupted by Black Hole agents looking to free him. Godspeed came to kill the Black Hole agents and took Dr. Carver captive in order to interrogate him about his brothers death. However, the Black Hole member refused as he was worried about what his employer would do to him with Godspeed then killing the man. (The Flash v5 #7)
While imprisoned in Iron Heights, August became a member of the Rogues, in order to secretly investigate their plan of killing Turbine. After Captain Cold had used absolute-zero energy to gain the upper hand against the Flash, August shut down the machines giving off the energy, allowing Flash to defeat Cold. August later told Barry that while in Iron Heights, he had realized what he had done as Godspeed was wrong, and that all he wanted was Barry's forgiveness. (The Flash v5 #38) Later on, Central City came under attack from Grodd and his forces with Barry Allen becoming desperate and asked August for help and freed him from Iron Heights. (The Flash v5 #41) During his investigations, he found an old laboratory underneath S.T.A.R. Labs where he uncovered writings from murals at Gorilla City that referred to Black Hole along with the Speed Force but August was unable to investigate further. August agrees and runs off to help fight a mind controlled Meena, much to the surprise of Kid Flash and Avery Ho, who are working with Barry to defeat Grodd. After the two share their displeasures with enlisting August, Meena engages in a battle with Godspeed. Grodd eventually manages to gain control of August, along with Kid Flash, Avery Ho and Wally. (The Flash v5 #42) He and the rest of the mind controlled Flash Family fight Barry, until Barry manages to reverse all of Grodd's mind control effects by removing Grodd's connection to the speed force, effectively 'curing' him. (The Flash v5 #43) After defeating Grodd with the help of the newly formed Flash Family, August disappeared back into the Speed Force where he told Barry that 'he was right about him'. (The Flash v5 #44)
This was actually a place outside of time where he met with Paradox who revealed his origins along with his mission to destroy the Flash as he deemed him a threat to the Multiverse. (The Flash v5 #88) Now serving his new benefactor, he was provided with a special gauntlet and sent to observe the Flash alongside the other speedsters from within the Speed Force. Barry Allen managed to catch sight of him leading to a fight with Heart who battled him along with the other speedsters as he was tasked with using he gauntlet on each of them. The battle ended due to the intervention of a new speedsters named Impulse whereupon Godspeeds benefactor told Heart to retreat. He then returned the gauntlet to his master who vowed to end the legacy of the Flash. (The Flash Annual v5 #2) August returned to the modern day in order to get Barry to follow him into future. This was a trick though to bring the Flash before Paradox. Once there, Paradox ordered Godspeed to turn against Allen and battle to the death. (The Flash v5 #750) August recounted a story to Barry about a time he saved his life years prior, he had seen the Flash as a hero, but August tells Barry he was wrong about his viewpoint and continues to fight. Barry tries to de-escalate the fight by trying to convince August that Paradox would not tell him what he wants to know, but this only further provokes August. August tells Barry that Paradox has shown him the future, so Barry runs over to Paradox to see exactly what he's shown August. This was, however, a trick by August who wanted to uncover the villains true plans and to get Barry so that they could defeat him together. Godspeed then turned Paradox but the supervillain effortlessly defeated him and left August unconscious thus leaving the Flash to face him alone. (The Flash v5 #751)
The Flash and Eobard Thawne were unable to stop Paradox with Barry deciding to free Godspeed from captivity. This saw August and Barry working together to fight the villain thus creating a distraction for Eobard Thawne to journey through time to prevent the accident that created Paradox in the first place. The Flash and Godspeed were nearly overwhelmed by their cosmically empowered foe until Eobard succeeded thus causing Paradox to erase from existence. However, the two speedsters were trapped within the collapsing reality that the villain had created until Thawne combined his Negative Speed Force with their Speed Force. This catapulted all three to the present where August believed that Thawne was on the path to redemption and that they would be recognised as heroes. He then asked Eobard with his knowledge of the future knew who was the person that murdered his brother. Thawne revealed that it was him and he proceeded to snap August's neck thus killing him leaving the Flash to mourn his friend. (The Flash v5 #755) Thawne tells a dead Godspeed that no one will remember him and he has seen their future where neither of them have a statue in the Flash Museum. Devastated by Thawne's actions, Barry vows to kill Thawne. Later, Barry visited August's grave in order to pay his respects to his friend. (The Flash v5 #756)
Markings on August's grave are blurred out by a streak of yellow lightning, showing that Godspeed is alive and will be known enough to be immortalized in the Flash Museum along with the other Flashes in the future. (The Flash v1 #762) Following the arrival of the Fraction, an interdimensional empire that used the Speed Force to plunder various worlds, Godspeed began stalking a small group of three Fraction soldiers called Theta Squad as they used their super speed to inspect a mansion. After Theta Squad split up, August killed two of them before going after the remaining soldier, whom he chose to leave alive so that the Fraction would know that Godspeed was after them. (The Flash: One-Minute War Special v1 #1)
During the Beast World incident, Godspeed was exposed to the Beast Boy spores and transformed into a humanoid hornet. When Godspeed nearly killed Jai West, his date Maxine Baker saved him. Godspeed later went on a rampage at Iron Heights but was defeated by the Flash family, who had willingly mutated themselves into bee hybrids. (Titans: Beast World Tour - Central City v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, August Heart had brown eyes, jet black hair and was almost as tall as Barry Allen. (The Flash: Rebirth v2 #1) Upon getting a costume, he initially considered calling himself the new and improved Flash as he felt the original was not doing his job but he decided to name himself Godspeed. (The Flash v5 #6)
August was said to rely on his gut instinct when he was a detective. (The Flash v5 #1)
He said that he knew what it was like to be obsessed with this especially being the case in relation to the Speed Force where he was willing to kill to keep its power. (The Flash v5 #42)
August is shown to have shown traits of loyalty and kindheartedness until he revealed himself to Barry as Godspeed. Since then he has shown no empathy except for the drive to kill criminals and to find his brother's killer. Although he has shown signs of regret when Barry told him that the man he killed wasn't his brother's killer. He still considers himself as Barry's friend after everything that has happened between them.
After gaining the Speed Force, he could feel the connection with other speedsters that gained their power from the Speed Force storm. Upon being drawn to them, he drained them of their power in an effort to become stronger which inadvertently killed them. However, Heart claimed that he never meant to kill anyone as he only wanted to become faster and stronger so that he could use his abilities to prevent anyone else from experiencing the pain of losing a loved one. As Godspeed, he targeted criminals and was perfectly willing to use lethal force against his enemies. This included vibrating the molecules of criminals and forced them into the wall to trap them there as they died in the process. (The Flash v5 #7) Ultimately, he believed that no one should escape justice and punished criminals harshly where upon getting powers he decided that he would be judge, jury and executioner. (The Flash v5 #6)
He was noted to have had a brother named Jorge Heart who was also a copy. Jorge was killed in the line of duty but there was never enough evidence to make a solid conviction, despite August swearing it was the lowlife named Billy Parks. In reality, Jorge was murdered by Reverse-Flash, seemingly to corrupt August. (The Flash v1 #755)
It was noted that he had considered Barry Allen to had been his best friend. (The Flash v5 #7) August said that he knew Barry Allen before he had gotten his powers and thus knew his real nature. (The Flash v5 #42) In time, he claimed that despite all of August's sins and crimes that Barry always looked to redeem him. (The Flash v5 #755)
Powers and abilities
Originally, August Heart was an ordinary human being with no special inherent abilities. (The Flash v5 #2)
Upon getting the Speed Force, he gained a number of abilities common with other speedsters such as being able to generate a friction cushion which protected his body from minor injuries from travelling at high speeds. This allowed him to travel at incredible speeds, vibrate fast enough to change the frequency of his body to make it intangible and phase through objects, run in circles at speeds to create tornados and even generate mini-vortexes from fast movements of his hands. The Speed Force within him was able to connect to others speedsters allowing this power to aid in their healing. (The Flash v5 #2)
Godspeed can generate and manipulate the electrical energy that he draws from the Speed Force. This Speed Force lightning emanates off of him, especially when moving at superhuman speed. (The Flash v5 #3) He was also able to project powerful arcs of Speed Force lightning. (The Flash Annual v5 #2)
He could incapacitate people by vibrating the frequency of their bodies and merge them into walls. Alternatively, he could shake a person in a violent manner where the speed caused a person incredible pain from the sudden fast movements. (The Flash v5 #7)
With his speed, he was able to split himself into two copies as he divided the Speed Force between them. However, Heart was unable to maintain this for long with it beginning to hurt him the longer they were separated. Eventually, the copy destabilized and the Speed Force will be sent back to the original. (The Flash v5 #7)
Godspeed was highly creative when it comes to the Speed Force, as he was able to figure out how to steal speed from other speedsters, create constructs, and be in two places at once, all things that even Barry Allen could not figure out how to do at the time. (The Flash v5 #6)
August was able to generate a costume for himself from the Speed Force. (The Flash v5 #6)
It was noted that he could feel the connection to the Speed Force within other speedsters. (The Flash v5 #7)
Whilst serving Paradox, Godspeed was given a gauntlet that used to belong to an unnamed speedster. It was capable of collecting samples of Speed Force from other speedsters, as well as allow him to enter and exit the Speed Force at will. (The Flash Annual v5 #2)
As a consequence of the Speed Force, he had an increased metabolism and he burnt his body's fuel reserves quickly which he needed to replenish. (The Flash v5 #2)
Originally, August Heart operated as a police detective in the Central City Police Department. (The Flash v5 #1)
Notes
- Godspeed was created by Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico where he made his first appearance in The Flash: Rebirth v2 #1 (2016).
- In an interview, Williamson commented on the character, "I think of him as being a vigilante who has sort of gone over the line. He definitely does things that he feels are the right things to do. I always love the saying about how everyone is the hero of their own story. That also applies to villains. A lot of times they feel like they are the hero, and I think Godspeed definitely thinks of himself as the hero. He is willing to do the things that Barry isn’t willing to do. That to him makes him a hero even if it sometimes means killing people."
- In Inside Pulse, Williamson listed the speeds of the various speedsters where he said, "When August first got his powers, he was maybe faster than Barry Allen, but Barry and Wallace siphoned the speed he stole from them. Now that his powers are more in check, Godspeed needs redemption if he's ever going to tap into his true speed."
- On Twitter, Williamson said, "August's father is Latinx and his mother is white. His father's real last name is Corazón, but they changed it to Heart when he got to Central City."
In other media
Television
- In The Flash, Godspeed appeared in the setting of the live-action television Arrowverse series during season 5 in the episode "Godspeed" where he was portrayed by actor Kindall Charters and voiced by actor BD Wong. This version was native to 2049 where he was an intern at Mercury Labs that managed to unlock Zoom's experiments with Velocity-9 thus giving him superspeed. He then crafted the identity of Godspeed but his powers were only temporary and he sought the right mix of chemicals to make the power permanent. Godspeed then became the first supervillain encountered by Nora Allen leading to her gaining superspeed and fighting him as XS. Godspeed was shown as an enemy of Impulse and XS who felt that he deserved 'infinite velocity' and travelled back in time to the present which fractured Godspeed into two drone fractions whilst the 'prime' Heart ended up with memory loss. Various drones sporadically appeared in the present creating a 'Godspeed War' that took place between the two fractions which Team Flash fought to contain. After he was imbued with 'organic speed' from the Speed Force, Godspeed absorbed his drones in an attempt to become a god, only to be defeated by the Flash and the Reverse-Flash where he was then incarcerated with his memories removed. Later on, Cobalt Blue recruited Godspeed across time alongside the Reverse-Flash, Zoom and Savitar as the Legion of Zoom. Virtue defeated him and he was sent back to his place in time.
Appearances
- The Flash: Rebirth v2 #1: (2016)
- The Flash v5:
- The Flash Annual v5:
- The Flash: One-Minute War Special v1:
- Titans: Beast World Tour - Central City v1:
External Links
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