Richard Swift

* Civilian
* Shade

**Richard Swift**, also known as the **Shade**, is a Meta-human from Earth Two who is a foe of the Justice Society of America and by extension the Flash of his universe.

## Biography

#### Early Life

Richard Swift was born in London in 1808. In the mid-1800s, Richard was a thief and con man. At some point he received his powers allowing him to develop a connection to the Shadowlands. Because of his power over shadows, Richard earned the alias of "The Shade".

The Shade existed for hundreds of years. At some point prior to 2022, Shade joined the Injustice Society.

#### Transporting to Earth One

In November 2022, Richard, while using his powers, accidentally went into the Shadowlands and got spat into another universe. He was confronted by another person who also carried The Flash mantle. He fought the hero until Flash told him that the balance of his powers requires him to go back home.

## Personality

Richard is an enigmatic, pragmatic, and morally ambiguous individual whose alliances shift depending on his current dilemma.

## Powers and Abilities

#### Powers

* **Meta-human physiology:** Due to Richard having a connection to the Shadowlands, this allows him to access his abilities.
	+ **Umbrakinesis:** The Shade is a powerful being possessing unspeakable power. His most notable and dangerous power is the ability to manipulate, control, and harness shadows. He can command the shadows to take any form he desires.
		- **Darkness Force Field**: Using his power over shadows, Shade can generate a circular-shaped force field capable of blocking attacks.
		- **Electromagnetic Interference:** Whenever Richard enters a lit area, his powers snuff out the lights. He uses this ability to conceal his entrances and exits, allowing him to slip in and out of an area undetected.
		- **Eye Transformation:** When he taps into his powers, Shade's eyes turn pitch black.
		- **Flight:** As Richard has the ability to turn into darkness, he can also use his shadow form to fly or "float" away.
		- **Teleportation:** Shade can use shadows to teleport himself from one location to another without leaving a trace of evidence behind. When using this power, he is surrounded in dark shadows that fade away after he leaves. He can also speak through shadows and communicate using them. If he is unable to teleport his entire body, he sends a ball of shadows in his place.
			* **Interdimensional travel:** Shade can access the shadows to travel to other dimension or universes as Shade was able to teleport into the Shadowlands and also, Earth One.
		- **Immortality:** Because he serves as a vessel for the dark energy summoned from The Shadowlands, Richard is an immortal man, who has lived since at least the 1800s. He shows no signs of ever having aged since then.

#### Abilities

* **Genius-level Intellect:** Due to being over two centuries old and having incredibly vast amounts of experience, the Shade is extremely intelligent. He is a great tactician and knows when it is the right time to make his entrance.

#### Weaknesses

* **Light:** Because his powers are based in the darkness and shadows, his crippling enemy is anything light based.

## Appearances

### *The Flash*

#### Season 2

* Enter the Shadows
* Flash Pack

## Behind the scenes

* In mainstream DC Comics, The Shade was an enemy of the Flash and the Justice Society, and later Starman, though later in his career he became neutral and even heroic. He is connected to the Shadowlands, which gifted him with the power of manipulating darkness and having an abnormally long life.