For the Earth-2 Flash suit worn by Hunter Zolomon, see The Flash suit (Earth-2).

For the Earth-3 Flash suit worn by Jay Garrick, see The Flash suit (Earth-3).

"I like your outfit. It seems... comfy. Smooth. It's breathable."

— Barry Allen to Barry Allen

The Flash suits are a series of protective suits designed and created by Cisco Ramon at S.T.A.R. Labs, originally to replace the turnouts firefighters use but are now used by Barry Allen for his vigilante activities as the Flash.

History

Pre-vigilantism suit

Essentially just a red leotard with padding and a reinforced helmet, Cisco Ramon, one of the last remaining employees at S.T.A.R. Labs, had the suit readied for Barry Allen so that he could test his new-found speed powers for the first time. It was used at the Ferris Air Testing Facility outside of Central City, and it got destroyed while Barry was wearing it. Due to his inexperience with his powers at the time, Barry lost focus while running at his top speed and crashed into a series of water barrels. The suit was damaged and never used after that getting stored in the archives.

First suit

To aid Barry in facing new threats to the city following the particle accelerator explosion, from both other meta-humans and outraged citizens alike, Cisco designed a new suit to allow Barry to act while keeping his identity hidden. It was a red skintight bodysuit originally meant to replace the turnouts the firefighters usually wear when in action. Cisco later re-purposed it and added an upgraded version of the new earpiece he previously installed in the prototype suit, he latter added a red logo with a gold lightening bolt onto the chest. The suit became an incredibly helpful tool for Barry and when he decided to permanently be a protector of Central City as The Flash, using it on a regular basis. Later, this suit was destroyed accidentally by Bette Sans Souci when Barry attempted to apprehend her. She touched the suit to stop him and Barry had barely enough time to get out of it before it exploded, leaving him half-naked. Fortunately, Cisco had apparently made spares, for later in the episode Barry was using another one.

Upgrades

Once Barry started working full-time as Red Streak/The Streak (later dubbed The Flash), Cisco began to add new devices and made alterations to allow Barry to be better prepared for any situation, including a multi-link comm set. These modifications would also be included in later suits. Cisco also added thermo-threading, to heat the suit in case of an encounter with Captain Cold.

Destruction of the first suit

This suit was destroyed accidentally by Bette Sans Souci when Barry attempted to apprehend her. She touched the suit to stop him and Barry had barely enough time to get out of it before it exploded, leaving him half-naked. Fortunately, Cisco had apparently made spares, for later in the episode Barry was using another one.

Second suit

After General Wade Eiling attempted to injure The Flash by throwing acid on him, he was forced to run as fast as he could to wear it off. However, by the time he had, it had almost entirely burnt through the suit and was unusable. To this end, Cisco had another one handy and allowed Barry to use it.

This suit was presumably erased from time after the young Barry Allen vanished into thin air after his future self saved his mother. It was restored after Barry allowed Eobard to kill his mother, creating a new timeline.

Since Barry's newer suit was destroyed during the Enlightenment, Barry used another spare of this version of the suit for his first fight against Gridlock, although he complained about it feeling tighter than before. But after the Flash was struck by a powerful punch from Gridlock and launched to the sky, the suit was damaged, so Barry discarded it.

Upgrades

After Barry and his friends reformed the team to defeat the "Atom-Smasher" and have Henry Allen released from Iron Heights, Cisco took it upon himself to commend the team for their recent successes. He did so by upgrading Barry's suit, mimicking the design of the future suit's emblem from the digital future article of Barry that Gideon showed them when they first met her. While a simple alteration, it was a very noticeable and appreciated redesign to the suit, with the recoloring of the emblem's background from crimson to white. When going up against Griffin Grey, Dwarf Star Alloy was added to the suit to protect him but it was only added to the chest part of the suit and would only protect him once.

Destruction of the second suit

When Hunter Zolomon kidnapped Wally West, Barry gave up his powers in exchange for Wally's safe return. During an attempt to recreate the effects of the particle accelerator explosion in the hopes of restoring his powers, Barry's physical form was absorbed into the Speed Force, destroying his suit in the process, leaving only the chest piece.

Third suit

After regaining his speed from the entity, Barry returned in a new suit presumably fabricated by the Speed Force itself, which was physically identical to his previous one in every detail, presumably also containing the upgrades that the previous suits had.

His future time remnant who became Savitar would briefly don the suit again in order to trick Team Flash. However, the emblem was worn down.

Six months after Barry went into the Speed Force, a samurai-like robot began terrorizing Central City, demanding that it face the Flash. Since Barry was still in the Speed Force at that time, Wally donned Barry's suit in an effort to trick the robot, although this attempt failed.

Fourth suit

Sometime after the defeat of Savitar, Cisco designed a new suit in the hopes of Barry returning from the Speed Force, which coincidentally looks exactly like the one Barry's alternate future-self wore when 2390 Barry ran to 2397. After Barry returned from the Speed Force, he began using this newer version of the suit, while his old one sat on it's display.

Cisco added many new functions to the suit. While generally proving very useful for the various vigilante exploits of the Flash, it came at a crippling drawback; technopaths like Ramsey Deacon (aka Kilg%re) could override the suit, turning it into a liability. After this, Cisco removed the more dangerous features of the suit, so they could not be used against Barry again.

This version of the suit was heavily damaged after Barry (aided by his daughter from the future) supersonic-punched the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, which DeVoe had knocked out of orbit after his attempt to bring about the "Enlightenment" were thwarted by Team Flash.

Gary Green later donned a costume based on this suit when the Legends made a commercial for Heyworld.

Starchives suit

At some point after the defeat of Savitar, but before Grace Gibbons attack on Team Flash, Cisco designed this suit as either a precursor to or a replacement for Barry's fourth suit. The suit is identical to the fourth suit except for the emblem, which is red like the first suit instead of the standard white. However, the suit was left unused for unknown reasons and left in storage at the Starchives.

Fifth suit

The fifth suit (though chronologically the sixth suit he's worn in the current timeline) is similar to the sixteenth suit, but with some minor differences. The suit has a new cowl with a chin strap. The suit also has new earpieces that deviate in design from the traditional lightning bolt earpieces of the previous suits, instead resembling wings similar to those on Jay Garrick's helmet and Kid Flash's suit. Cisco threaded gold wiring from Nora's gauntlet into the suit to help save Chester P. Runk's mind from being destroyed by a black hole.

Sixteenth suit

"Now this is a super suit!"

— Barry Allen to Cisco Ramon

The sixteenth suit used by Barry (though chronologically the fifth suit he's worn in the current timeline) was created by Ryan Choi sometime between [[1]], it was then brought back to 2391 by Nora West-Allen for her father to use after he needed a suit to use when the fourth one was torn to shreds. Unlike the previous versions, it is a brighter red color and is not a leather-like material, along with the lack of a chin strap. This change in design could be caused by Ryan designing and creating this iteration, and not Cisco Ramon. It is also stored within the Flash ring, for easy transportation and storage. While it wasn't made by Cisco, Cisco later modified it with all the same tech that the fourth suit had. The fact that it didn't disappear when Nora did indicates that despite Nora's timeline being erased, the suit is still created in the future.

Alternate future suits

In the original timeline of 2397, as seen in a news report from April 5, 2397 that was owned by Eobard Thawne, Barry is shown to have a suit similar to his parallel past self's suit, but this one has a lighter shade of red, thicker, yellow lightning bolt-like lines stretching over the suit, and the same, white symbol from his third suit. Barry or Cisco Ramon of this timeline created his suit making Barry become the scarlet speedster superhero known as the Flash.

In the future in which Savitar was created, a new suit was created sometime between [[2]], either by Cisco or Barry. The future suit is similar to the suit seen in the report from the future. It is a brighter red, has gold piping (in the shape of lightning bolts), a gold belt, and there is thick gold lining on his forearms (similar to where his gloves would end). Barry is seen wearing this suit when he followed the Reverse Flash back in time to stop him from killing his younger self. This suit was first seen after Barry from 2390 traveled to 2397 to find answers about Savitar. 2397 Barry helped 2390 Barry to fight future Mirror Master and future Top and both Flashes arrested them.

Savitar, a version of Barry from the future, wore a suit of armor that the present-day Barry also briefly wore along with his third suit when he phased inside of it.

Capabilities

Functions

• Aerodynamics: The suit's form-fitting design and articulation allow Barry to maintain control of every step and movement that he takes. This is what allows him to dodge attacks and run as he would without it.
• Communications link: Cisco had installed two miniature earpieces shaped like lightning bolts attached to the ears of the suit. This grants Barry full communication with the team at S.T.A.R. Labs while in the field. The link can be routed to other people's phone and display it as if it was from his cell phone.
• Identity concealment: Barry uses a red mask to conceal his identity; to keep his friends and family safe from harm. His newest suit has a heads-up display that can also conceal his eyes.
• Intense temperature and abrasion resistance/Force resistance: The suit was originally designed as a firefighter turnout, so its primary use is still intact. It's made of a reinforced tri-polymer, making it resistant to several thousand degrees of intense heat, whether it be around Barry or it be the friction generated from his body while running; as well as resistant to grazing bullets, knives, abrasions, or scars. It appears that Cisco has modified it to resist intense cold as well, since Barry was able to walk off several blasts from Leonard Snart's Cold gun and Mick Rory's Heat Gun quicker than in previous battles. It was also revealed that the suit was also designed using vulcanized Teflon which neutralizes any electron imbalances and prevents the friction of Barry's movements from generating a lethal dose of static charge.
• Mini-camera: The suit's chest piece has a miniature camera built into it. By pressing on it, Barry's team can see from his environment from his perspective and gain a better idea of his surroundings or situation.
• Sensor system: All versions of Barry's suit have had several health sensors built into work in real time. The telemetry is sent to S.T.A.R. Labs so that they can identify Barry's condition and health. The suit has a GPS built into it so that S.T.A.R. Labs can keep track of where he is, see how much power he's generating, and determine how fast he's running.
  • Full-spectrum scanning: The suit's sensor was later upgraded by Cisco in the fourth model to be able to scan in the full electromagnetic spectrum. This upgrade was one of the few that he didn't remove from the suit after Barry's first encounter with Ramsey Deacon. 
• Thermal-threading: Due to Barry's weakness to extreme cold, Cisco added "thermal-threading" to the suit, which causes the suit to generate a large amount of heat, in case Barry gets hit by the Leonard Snart's Cold gun.
• Voice altered: After Barry lost his speed to Zoom, Cisco appeared to have equipped the suit with a voice filter to disguise Barry's voice, since, after losing his powers, Barry couldn't do it himself. It is unknown what happened to it after Barry got his powers back; it is presumed it was either removed or kept in the suit in case Barry loses his powers again.
• Flotation mode: If Barry was to get in trouble while on water, the suit can inflate itself like a balloon to keep him from drowning; something the rest of the team felt was unnecessary; Caitlin even suggested that the suit should instead be equipped with an oxygen tank, which Cisco agreed was a good idea. This function of the suit was not removed, even after Barry's first encounter with Ramsey Deacon, with Barry admitting that the suit's built-in raft was a good idea.

Former functions

• Performance enhancement/Tachyon unit: The newest addition to the suit, the tachyon unit, was able to fit inside the lightning bolt emblem to conceal the device from Zoom. Because of this, while wearing the suit, it will allow a speedster's vitals to remain at peak performances, including keeping their calorie burning rate at a normal level, and thereby able to continue moving at top speeds for much longer duration's unhindered from effects such as dizziness and fatigue. It was presumably destroyed after Barry was absorbed into the Speed Force and his suit was destroyed. However, it's possible that when the Speed Force generated a new suit for him, identical to the one he had before, it may have generated a new miniaturized tachyon unit as well.
• Defibrillator: One addition Cisco made to the suit is a magnetic-electrical charge that jump-starts Barry's heart. Though after two consecutive administrations, the device will be completely fried and take a while to repair, making it still a prototype. When Barry returned from the Speed Force, Cisco revealed a new version of the suit, equipped with many new functions including a new defibrillator, although it's unknown how many uses this newer defibrillator can handle. It seems that the suit Barry's daughter brought back from the future does not contain a defibrillator, since, when Barry's heart had stopped after blocking a bolt of lightning from Weather Witch's staff, Nora was told that she'd have to rub her hands together to generate lightning to restart Barry's heart.
• Dwarf Star alloy chest armor: After getting some of this highly durable material from Felicity, Cisco was able to fit the torso section of the suit with it, protecting the wearer from extreme blunt-force trauma to said area. However, enough force, such as from a meta-human with super-strength, can potentially destroy the armor even if the strike itself is blocked, leaving the wearer vulnerable again to any further blows until the armor itself is repaired.
• Babel protocol: A protocol that is known to trigger functions such as;
  • Deadlock mode: Should Barry become helpless while in the presence of an enemy, the suit can lock itself upon and around the wearer's person to prevent removal, protecting his identity. Not even Barry can remove it by phasing himself; this function was likely removed after Barry's first encounter with Ramsey Deacon.
  • Self-destruct: If the suit were to fall into enemy hands (specifically an evil version of Barry), it can be detonated remotely; this function was likely removed after Barry's first encounter with Ramsey Deacon.
• Pulse cannon: It's unknown currently exactly why Cisco added this offensive capability to the suit, but presumably it's a non-lethal alternative to Barry's lightning bolts and capable of knocking back and incapacitating targets a couple of meters away. Located on the palms of Barry's gloves, they can effortlessly appear and disappear when needed. This function was likely removed after Barry's first encounter with Ramsey Deacon.
• Self-repairing armor: If the suit were to become damaged, it will automatically repair itself. This function of the suit seems to be one of the many that were removed by Cisco after Barry's first encounter with Ramsey Deacon, as the suit was later seen to be destroyed beyond repair after the Enlightenment.
• Heads-up display (HUD): Appearing as yellow-colored lenses, these provide Barry analysis of his current area, such as maps, and recommended actions that include target lock-on. This feature, along with the lenses, were also removed from the suit after Barry's first encounter with Ramsey Deacon.
• Nano-liquid circuitry: In order to incorporate all the newer hardware found in the fourth suit, Cisco had built the circuitry to flow through the entirety of the suit as a liquid metal. It, along with several most of the newer tech additions to the suit, was removed after Barry's first encounter with Ramsey Deacon.

Known users

• Barry Allen/The Flash

Former users

• Wally West/Kid Flash (briefly)
• Oliver Queen/The Flash (alternate reality)
• Gary Green (costume; briefly)

Gallery

Suits on display

Alternate versions