Jay Garrick

## The Flash

Arthur Williams  (father-in-law)

Unnamed Adopted Son  (deceased)

Velocity  (clone)

> *"I could give in to the **fear** and run away...But that's just it...fear is **easy. Hope is hard...**and I'm always up for a challenge!*"
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> *—Jay Garrick*
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The first in a long line of super-speedsters, **Jay Garrick** is capable of running at velocities near or at the speed of light as **The Flash**. A kind and dedicated scientist, Garrick has also served as mentor to other speedsters, and to many heroes over several years. Garrick is also a founding member of the Justice Society of America.

## Biography

### Origins

As a boy, Jay Garrick used to read pulp magazine stories of the turn-of-the-century super-hero, Whip Whirlwind. Little did he know that he would be granted the same powers of super speed.

Jay would go to Midwestern University in Keystone City where he would double-major in chemistry and physics. An experiment he was working on during his junior year was to purify hard water without any residual radiation in a cyclotron. When a test tube of the hard water was accidentally spilled, the fumes knocked him out. His friend Elliot Shapiro dragged him from the lab. After a week of unconsciousness, during which Jay's metabolism increased and his body rejected nutrients, he discovered that he had been given superhuman speed by the accident, and he used this speed as the superhero, Flash.

### World War 2

At some point during this time, Garrick along with many other heroes, formed the original Justice Society of America, Garrick being one of the most prominent members of the original group.

Jay was an active member of the Justice Society of America. Like the rest of his comrades, certain spells kept him from aging much as the years went by.

Jay also remained a prominent scientist. He worked at Chemical Research Incorporated before founding the Keystone-based Garrick Laboratories.

Jay was a well respected hero back in his time, always being there to save as many people as possible and being known in his local city if Keystone to have saved at least 10 people per month, on a slow month that is.

### Forward in Time

#### Trapped in the Speed Force

At some point during time, Jay began to practice more and more with his speed, wanting to be able to increase his abilities as much as possible. Jay would run as fast as he could, with his fellow JSA members being there to ensure nothing went wrong, to try and practice. However, on one of these training sessions, something went wrong. Jay ran so incredibly fast he was flung into the speed force, disappearing much to his JSA member's worry.

It was here were Jay stayed for a long time and, unfortunately, Jay's interference with the speed force caused him to be forgotten by everyone in the timeline. However, due to a stroke of pure luck (possibly with interference from The Overseers), Jay was flung back out of the Speed Force into the modern day...

#### Joining the Future

Jay initially arrived very confused, unsure about everything that was going on. Luckily for Jay, he arrived back in the same place he appeared in, that being the JSA HQ. This meant the current JSA members were able to find and aid Garrick with his troubles.

### The New JSA

Initially apprehensive, Jay Garrick eventually allowed his fellow heroes to aid him in finding out what happened and were even able to find his old team members (or at least those whom were still alive, mostly thanks to the de-aging spell they'd constantly partake in many decades prior). Jay then, after being caught up with time as well as being tested to ensure Jay was not only who he claimed he was, but ensured he was fit to continue being a hero, was offered a place at within the new Justice Society of America, an offer Jay graciously accepted.

### Modern Day

Currently, Jay is active as a hero alongside his JSA teammates, making sure to be there whenever he is needed to stop any threats that may occur. As well as this, Jay has been an active mentor to many heroes and Flashes throughout the modern times.

## Personality

Jay Garrick has shown himself to be a good-natured and kind man, giving off many good traits including his compassionate nature, intelligence, admiration for other good heroes, and the ability to control his temper even when having undergone a terrible ordeal. Jay showed himself to be a humble man as well, respectfully calling the other Flashes by their shared mantle, "Flash", acknowledging them as an equal and hero. Jay was not without his need to display his anger though, being able to come off an intimidating when needed or pushed. Jay was also capable of appreciating poetic justice and irony, something he actually enjoyed.

## Physical Appearance

Jay Garrick, though being born April 3rd 1918, still has the youth of a younger man due to having been thrown through time via the Speed Force. This means Jay's facial features are still that of a younger man, his physical age only being around 35 (ish). Jay has dirty blonde/blonde hair with blue eyes. He is also 5 foot and 11 inches tall, weighing in at 178 pounds.

Jay wears his iconic Flash suit, that being a red spandex-like shirt with a large yellow lightning strike on the front of it as well as blue trousers, red boots and a black belt, topping it all off with his father's modified WW1 helmet which he uses not only as a helmet but also a weapon.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Speed Force Conduit**: Jay possesses a connection to the Speed Force, a mysterious cosmic force that pushes time and space itself forward. As it does this, the Speed Force creates excess energy that builds up and needs to be released. Jay, along with all speedsters connected to the Force, acts as a release valve for the Speed Force. When Jay uses his powers, he taps into that built up energy. As a conduit of the Speed Force, all aspects of Jay's physiology are accelerated and enhanced.
	+ **Superhuman Speed**: Jay is capable of moving at incredible superhuman speeds. He is fast enough to easily run across water, as well as keep up with Barry Allen.
	+ **Superhuman Reflexes**: Jay possesses reflexes far greater than a normal human being. This allows him to easily react to danger and events, and perceive the world in slow motion.
	+ **Superhuman Agility**: Jay's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to superhuman levels. This allows him to easily maneuver while moving at superhuman speed.
	+ **Superhuman Stamina**: Jay's body can handle the stress of moving at superhuman speeds for long periods of time without out getting tired or weak.
	+ **Speed Force Aura**: Jay's body is surrounded by a "friction cushion", a field of kinetic absorbent energy that protects him and anyone who is running with or carried by him from the rigorous effects of using his speed. Including friction, airborne particulate matter, heavy impacts, G-Force and the like.
		- **Superhuman Durability**: Thanks to his protective Speed Force aura, Jay is capable of resisting tremendous kinetic impact forces that could easily crush or kill a human, without suffering any serious external or internal injuries. He was hardly effected by the impact of a large explosion at point blank range.
	+ **Electrokinesis**: As a conduit of the Speed Force, Jay's body generates large amounts of the electrical energy that he draws from the Speed Force. This Speed Force lightning emanates off of him, especially when moving at superhuman speed.
	+ **Enhanced Senses**: The Speed Force grants Jay enhanced senses that allow him to perceive the world at a rate attuned to his reaction speed.
	+ **Time Travel**: Jay is able to use his speed to travel throughout the timestream. He used this ability to bring Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne out of hypertime and back in time before they had entered the timestream.

### Abilities

* **Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)**: Jay is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, being able to utilize his speed and fighting capabilities to easily defeat groups of armed enemies. Jay admits that he was trained by Wildcat.
* **Throwing**: Jay is able to throw his signature winged helmet with pinpoint accuracy and utilize it as a ranged weapon during combat, and can even ricochet it off of multiple opponents.

## Equipment

### Equipment

* **Hermes' Helmet**
* **Flash Suit**

### Weapons

* Early in his career as the Flash, Garrick briefly carried an over foot-long yellow metal rod in the shape of a jagged lightning bolt which he would toss across a room either to announce his presence or to disarm an adversary.

## Relationships

### Allies

* Justice Society of America
	+ Doctor Fate - Fellow Member
* The Alliance
* The Collective

## Trivia

* Jay was 21 years old when he became the Flash in 1939. This would make his birthdate April 3rd, 1918.
* Jay has shown being worthy, thus being able to wield the Hammer of Thor, Mjölnir.
* Jay can move so fast that he can operate in stop-time, keeping up with Wally West and Bart Allen.
* Batman holds Jay in high regard, referring to him as Sir and even had him take the lead in following and solving a murder case.
* Nightwing states that he wants to be just like Jay, when he grows up.
* Jay Garrick's street address is 5252 78th Street, Keystone City, Kansas.
* Jay Garrick has been able to run 20 times faster than the speed of sound, and can possibly run up to the speed of light. When not tapping into the Speed Force, he can run at the speed of sound (770 MPH).
* Jay Garrick does not need to wear a mask as the Flash, as he has the ability to vibrate his face at super-speed so that his features appear only as a blur.