Bart Allen, known as Impulse, is a 30th-century speedster descended from Barry Allen’s family and the Thawne bloodline, brought to the present by Iris West after his powers caused accelerated aging. After Wally West helps stabilize him, Bart becomes Max Mercury’s ward and begins his hero career as Impulse while learning to control the Speed Force. (More DC Characters in Profile)
Bart Allen is born in the 30th century as the son of Don Allen and Meloni Thawne, connecting him to both the Allen and Thawne bloodlines. His inherited speed causes his body to age too quickly, so he is placed inside a virtual reality environment that can keep up with the way he experiences time. When that can no longer protect him, Iris West brings him to the present, where Wally West helps stabilize his condition and gives him a chance to live outside the artificial world.
After staying in the present, Bart takes the name Impulse and begins learning how to be a hero under Max Mercury’s guidance. His early life leaves him reckless because consequences never felt normal to him, so Max becomes the person most responsible for grounding him. Bart later becomes part of the Flash Family and fights beside young heroes such as Robin and Superboy, carrying Barry Allen’s legacy in a way that starts out chaotic but becomes more serious as he grows.
Appearance:
Impulse has fair peach skin and a slim athletic build with a compact torso, long limbs, and a fitted speedster silhouette. He has bright red-orange hair swept forward in loose, spiky strands, with small yellow lightning-shaped ear pieces extending from the sides of his head. He wears an orange-red mask with large yellow-tinted goggle lenses, leaving the lower face and mouth visible. His suit is a tight white-and-redbodysuit with bold angular orange lightning shapes across the chest, arms, hips, and legs. He wears oversized orange-red gloves with exposed fingertips, wide wrist straps, metal buckles, and matching orange-red boots integrated into the lower suit.
Personality:
Bart Allen is energetic, impatient, and often reckless because he spent much of his earliest life in a simulated world where danger did not feel real to him. He acts before thinking, learns through experience more than instruction, and often frustrates older speedsters who try to slow him down. His attitude is not based on malice; Bart usually wants to help, but his speed and upbringing make patience difficult for him.
His closest mentor is Max Mercury, who takes custody of him after Wally West helps cure his accelerated aging. Iris West is the one who brings Bart from the future to the present, while Wally becomes one of the first people responsible for saving his life. Bart is also tied to Barry Allen through blood, the Thawne family through his mother’s side, and the younger hero community through friendships with Robin and Superboy during his time with Young Justice.
Impulse is a Speed Force conduit, giving Bart Allen superhuman speed, accelerated perception, rapid reflexes, enhanced agility, and a protective aura that lets him survive the friction and impact that come with moving at extreme speed. He can run across long distances in moments, move his limbs fast enough to create powerful air currents, and recover from injuries far faster than a normal person.
Bart can also vibrate his molecules to phase through solid objects, though that kind of control requires focus. He has shown Speed Force empathy, letting him sense when another speedster connected to the Speed Force is in distress. His main weakness as Impulse is not lack of power, but control: he often acts before planning, which makes training under Max Mercury important to how he develops as a hero.
