Russell Glosson

For the criminal from Earth-Prime also known as Turtle, see, Frida Novikov.

"I like to take things nice and slow."

—Russell Glosson to Patty Spivot^[src]

Russell Glosson (died January 19, 2016), nicknamed The Turtle by Cisco Ramon, was a meta-human thief who had the capability of unleashing a pulse wave that absorbs all of the kinetic energy around him into himself, leaving everyone and everything around him in a temporary state of potential energy.^[1]

Biography[]

Original multiverse[]

After the particle accelerator explosion[]

"As some of you may well know, I've been deeply embroiled in a secret one-sided battle with an invisible enemy."
"No; not the The Turtle again."
"What? What is the—or who is the Turtle?"
"It's Cisco's white whale."

—Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow and Barry Allen^[src]

Russell Glosson was upset when his ex-wife Rosalyn Glosson tried to leave him. He was affected by the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator and used his power to make her "stay". Russell later began using his powers for thievery and used Rosalyn's former workplace, the Naydel Library, which shut down shortly after the explosion, as a storage area for the valuables he stole. He had been on the Central City Police Department's radar but they were unable to capture him for a long time.^[1]

Team Flash's active pursuit[]

In a discussion about how to fight Zoom, Cisco Ramon proposed that perhaps they were looking at the situation the wrong way, and that instead of trying to make The Flash faster, maybe they could try to slow Zoom down, which was where Russell Glosson, known as The Turtle, was brought into the picture. It was revealed that apparently everyone on Team Flash including Barry Allen was aware of his existence and how previously the CCPD failed at arresting him. Although the Turtle's first target, the Vandervoort diamonds at the CCPD, was correctly predicted by Team Flash, the Turtle, Glosson had managed to get away.

The same went for the second target, The Crystal Ball, a painting recovered from Markovia, exhibiting at Central City Museum. Glosson not only successfully stole the painting, he had managed to figure out the most precious thing to The Flash, while injuring him by landing a chandelier on top of him. Glosson then kidnapped Patty Spivot, intending to make her another one of his collection, like what he did to his ex-wife. The kidnap prompt The Flash to seek out Glosson once more. After being defeated by the Flash and put into the S.T.A.R. Labs pipeline, Glosson was injected by Harrison Wells with a drill-like syringe into his nose to obtain a sample of his brain tissue, killing him.^[1]

New multiverse[]

Russel Glosson became the Turtle like he did in Earth-1. He eventually died by unknown means.^[2]

Legacy[]

Original multiverse[]

Wells analyzed Russell's brain tissue and subsequently figured out how to steal the Flash's speed.^[1]

New multiverse[]

Years later, another meta-human with similar powers, Frida Novikov, would use the same moniker.

Powers and abilities[]

Powers[]

"He has the ability to transfer all the surrounding kinetic energy into himself."

"Leaving everyone else in a temporary state of potential energy."

—Harry Wells and "Jay Garrick"^[src]

• Meta-human physiology: After Russell was struck by the energy of the Particle Accelerator explosion, this altered his DNA and supercharged his cells, augmenting his physiology into beyond peak human condition.^[1]
  • Kinetic energy absorption: Russell is capable of unleashing a pulse wave that absorbs all of the kinetic energy around him into himself, leaving everyone and everything around him in a temporary state of potential energy. As Russell's kinetic energy absorption significantly slows down electronic transport through nerve cells and thus cognitive processing, all those affected by this event will perceive everything moving as super fast until the effects wear off. Depriving kinetic energy like this also allows him to stop bullets in midair by denying momentum of their trajectory.^[1]

Abilities[]

• Expert thief: Russell was a skilled thief.^[1]

Weaknesses[]

• Superhuman speed: Russell's pulse wave is not continuous. At the same time, he requires about 2.7 seconds between each usage of it. Because of which, should an individual possess enough super-accelerated motion, like the Flash, that person can potentially generate enough kinetic energy within themselves to bypass Russell's energy siphoning, only resulting in them dramatically slowed down by the kinetic absorption before overcoming the effects completely.^[1]

Equipment[]

• Turtle suit: Russell wore a suit while operating as his supervillain alter-ego, The Turtle. It consisted solely of a green hooded jacket.^[1]

Appearances[]

The Flash[]

Season 2[]

• "Potential Energy"
• "The Reverse-Flash Returns" (corpse)
• "Fast Lane" (indirectly mentioned)
• "Trajectory" (indirectly mentioned)
• "Back to Normal" (indirectly mentioned)

Season 6[]

• "Death of the Speed Force" (mentioned)

Season 7[]

• "Good-Bye Vibrations" (mentioned)

Trivia[]

• Russell was motivated to steal objects, including people, of sentimental value over anything else. This likely stemmed from the emotional damage caused from his divorce.

Behind the scenes[]

• In DC Comics the Turtle is a legacy name used by the enemies of the Flash and Green Arrow, whose crimes were associated with slow deliberate planning, and later with the ability to drain speed from those around them, much like in the show.
• The character's name, Russell Glosson, is a nod to Starkville Labs podcast hosts Steve Glosson and Derek Russell.^{[citation needed]}
• Russell's status after the Anti-Monitor Crisis is unclear, as Harry Wells was never brought to Earth-Prime. Furthermore, Russell is referred to in the present tense in "Death of the Speed Force".

References[]