- For other uses of Red Death, see Batman (Disambiguation).
- For other uses of Red Death, see Batwoman (Disambiguation).
| “ | You want to know who I am? I'm the last glimmer of crimson a killer sees before he draws his final breath. I am vengeance. I am the night. I am the Red Death. | ” |
Ryan Wilder, better known as the Red Death, is a former vigilante on Earth-4125 and later an enemy of The Flash.
Biography[edit | hide | hide all]
Early Life[edit | hide]
In an universe where Bruce Wayne was never born, Ryan Wilder was adopted at mere days old by Thomas and Martha Wayne, who were both later murdered in an alley. This murder led Wilder to become a vigilante in Gotham City, better known as the "Red Death".[1]
Hero of Earth[edit | hide]
For ten years, Wilder, as the Red Death, locked up the dregs of society in Arkham Asylum, including Hush, Simon Hurt, and even her own brother. However, their imprisonment did not hold them, as they escaped Arkham over and over again. Wilder then began studying the weapons of her enemies, designing a series of weapons with Wayne Technologies resources. Eventually, Wilder's studies expanded to her teammates in the Justice League, including The Flash.[1]
Rogue War[edit | hide]
Mining data from The Flash Suit, Wilder was able to create an Artificial Speed Force for herself and made an armor to contain the power. With superhuman speed, Wilder became capable of capturing a criminal before they could even commit the crime, essentially eliminating crime from Gotham City. The Flash then released his own enemies from Iron Heights Penitentiary, working alongside them to take down Wilder and starting a Rogue War.[1]
During the war, Wilder was held dead to rights at one point, with her mindlessly throwing a lightning bolt to defend herself. Unfortunately, the bolt accidentally hit Iris West-Allen, her best friend, and killed her. Wilder then evaded to the Speed Force, though was ejected out of it due to her inorganic speed and was stranded in a different world where the Ryan Wilder of the timeline became Batwoman.[1]
Illimitable Dominion[edit | hide]
Restabilization[edit | hide]
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Upon her arrival in the different timeline, Wilder's body was destabilized, and she was unable to stop her cells from vibrating. Wilder hired several criminals, including Captain Boomerang and the Fiddler, to steal parts for a machine which would restabilize her, giving them improved weapons from Wayne Technologies in return. On February 1, 2023, the first such part, the power source of Kord Industries' Roemer Accelerator, was successfully acquired by Captain Boomerang and was given to Wilder at her lair.[2][3]
Next, she sent the Fiddler to retrieve Hartley Rathaway's Sonic Gauntlets. This resulted in failure the first time, which Wilder responded to by threatening Wozzeck's life if she failed again. During her second attempt, Wozzeck was defeated by The Flash, but was teleported away with the gauntlets by Captain Boomerang. With both components in their possession, Mercer activated the machine and successfully restabilized Wilder's body. She then sped across the city to a rooftop, where she swore to make Central City pay the price for The Flash's actions.[3]
Identity Revealed[edit | hide]
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Hoping to assemble her Cosmic Treadmill to return to her home timeline, Wilder sent Mercer, Wozzeck and Michelle Amar to acquire the Temporal Scanner from Corbin Taft Industries. Wilder later recruited Mark Blaine to aid in the heist of the Quantum Vibration Engine from Fort L.U.K.I.A., unbeknownst to Allen's Rogue Squad. As the two groups of Rogues faced each other at the fort, competing to acquire the engine before their enemies do, Wilder arrived on the scene and knocked Allen's Rogue Squad on the ground, taunting Allen before extracting her own Rogues from the fort. Upon returning to her lair, Blaine demanded to know Wilder's identity under the mask, and she revealed her face to him.[4]
The Flash Captured[edit | hide]
With the construction of the Cosmic Treadmill completed, Wilder needed someone with organic speed to power it. Wilder then brought Roy Bivolo to the city and lured Allen out. Bivolo used his abilities to inflict fear in Allen's mind, allowing Wilder to create a powerful electromagnetic pulse that put the city in a blackout and capturing Allen to her lair.[1]
While Allen recovered from his injuries, Wilder surprised Iris West-Allen at her loft as her alternate timeline self. Despite her hesitance and confusion, West-Allen treated Wilder's injuries while she tried to determine whether she was telling the truth about her presence or not. Ultimately, West-Allen tricked Wilder in her own trap, as Wilder did not know that her alternate timeline self's adoptive mother was killed by the Wonderland Gang instead of the Royal Flush Gang. With her cover blown and being held at gunpoint, Wilder told West-Allen the truth and asked her to join her war against The Flash of her timeline, believing that West-Allen could talk him down. West-Allen questioned why Wilder did not ask her alternate timeline version, and Wilder revealed that she had accidentally killed her in a previous conflict. West-Allen refused to join Wilder, and Wilder summoned her armor from her lair to hold West-Allen hostage against Allen.[1]
At her lair, Wilder forced Allen to power the Cosmic Treadmill for her in exchange for West-Allen's survival. However, Blaine, who had a conversation about second chances with Allen beforehand, decided to betray Wilder and overloaded the treadmill, freeing Allen and briefly knocking Wilder unconscious. Allen's Rogue Squad then arrived and extracted the West-Allens from the scene, abandoning Blaine, much to Allen's chagrin. Wilder soon woke up from the blast, expressing her anger over the destruction of the treadmill and vowed to bring her war to Central City.[1]
True Justice[edit | hide]
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While the city was suffering from Wilder's red lightning strikes and local looting, Wilder herself led the Rogues to takeover Kristen Kramer's precinct. Wilder then began her plan to send out mental projections of herself across the world, starting with Central City. To boost her mental capacity, Wilder sought help from Grodd, promising him the return of other intelligent gorillas as there were before the Crisis, making herself capable of controlling all her sentinels at once.[5]
When Allen and the Rogue Squad discovered the survival of Blaine, they infiltrated Wilder's lair and fell into her trap. Wilder took the last of Allen's speed, showing his greatest mistake to be abandoning Grodd after promising to help him three years ago. Despite their conflict, Wilder let the Rogue Squad leave without harming them, continuing her mission to restore peace on Earth.[5]
Wilder's plan soon fell apart when Allen convinced Grodd to rejoin his side, forcing Wilder's sentinels to disappear from existence and giving himself the speed he needed to defeat Wilder. In the city, Allen and Wilder confronted each other, later speeding across the city in a duel. Unfortunately, Allen was overwhelmed by Wilder's superior strength and electrical constructs, though was rescued by Batwoman and the Rogue Squad in the nick of time. Batwoman successfully deactivated Wilder's armor with a Batarang, with Allen removing the armor from her body and depowering her. Without any abilities and strength to fight the heroes, Wilder was knocked unconscious and taken into custody by A.R.G.U.S., ending her Rogue War once and for all.[5]
Erased Future[edit | hide]
Reverse Flashpoint[edit | hide]
At some point in an erased future, the Red Death attempted to kill Batwoman, but was prevented from doing so with a Velocity 0 gun created by Luke Fox.[6]
Powers and Abilities[edit | hide]
Powers[edit | hide]
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- Artificial Speed Force Connection/Powers via the Red Death Armor: Red Death is granted superhuman abilities due to her connection to an Artificial Speed Force created within her armor.[2][1]
- Accelerated Healing Factor: Wilder is able to heal from injuries in short time and at a higher rate than humans.[1]
- Electrokinesis: Wilder produces a trail of red lightning whilst running at superhuman speeds.[2] Wilder can also manipulate the lightning to create a powerful electromagnetic pulse, being one of the strongest ones ever recorded outside of a nuclear event.[1]
- Superhuman Agility: Wilder is able to balance off unstable constructs while running at superhuman speed, allowing her to run up walls with ease.[3]
- Superhuman Durability: Wilder can survive a close range explosion blast without any major injuries.[1]
- Superhuman Momentum: Wilder can withstand extreme kinetic energy. She can also stop completely even running at a superhuman speed.[3]
- Superhuman Speed: Wilder is able to run at speeds so fast that she can defy gravity by running up walls.[2]
- Bodily Vibration: While against her will, Wilder can vibrate at superhuman speed and appear as a blur.[2][3]
- Superhuman Reflexes: Wilder is able to respond to attacks quickly, reacting to them and counteracting them within seconds.[1]
- Telepathy/Mental Projection: Wilder, unlike other speedsters, is capable of creating sentinels of her own through mental projection. With Grodd's assistance, Wilder was able to send out an army of her sentinels across the planet to supposedly restore peace and order.[5]
- Time Travel: Wilder's speed can breach the temporal barriers and travel across time in the Speed Force. However, due to her inorganic speed, she cannot stay in the Speed Force for a prolonged period of time before being ejected out.[1]
- Superhuman Stamina: Despite running at a high rate of metabolism, Wilder was not seen out of breath after she runs.[1]
Abilities[edit | hide]
- Genius-level Intellect: Wilder was shown to be an intelligent individual, being familiar with the fields of engineering, physics and tactics.[1]
- Engineering/Physics: Wilder was able to mine data from The Flash Suit and create an Artificial Speed Force of her own that powered her to become a speedster.[1]
- Tactics: As an experienced vigilante, Wilder has a series of tactics that made her a keen combatant in the field and a skillful opponent.[1]
Weaknesses[edit | hide]
- Velocity 0: Wilder is susceptible to the Velocity 0 serum, which was successful in removing her speedster powers.[6]
Equipment[edit | hide]
Current Equipment[edit | hide]
- Red Death Armor: Wilder created an armor that granted her superhuman speed and wears the armor whilst operating as the Red Death.[2]
Appearances[edit | hide]
| Appearances | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
Armageddon, Part 4 | Mentioned |
|
Wednesday Ever After | Appears |
|
Hear No Evil | Appears |
|
Rogues of War | Appears |
|
The Mask of the Red Death, Part 1 | Appears |
|
The Mask of the Red Death, Part 2 | Appears |
|
Wildest Dreams | Mentioned |
|
It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To | Mentioned |
Gallery[edit | hide]
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Civilian
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Red Death
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References[edit | hide]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 The Mask of the Red Death, Part 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Wednesday Ever After
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Hear No Evil
- ↑ Rogues of War
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The Mask of the Red Death, Part 2
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Armageddon, Part 4
| Other versions of Ryan Wilder | |||||||||||||||||||
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| New Multiverse
Earth: Prime | |||||||||||||||||||