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The Flash: What Are Cisco Ramon’s Powers? – An Introduction To Vibe

By Nick Tylwalk

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If Cisco Ramon was just a good friend, science wiz and comic relief on The Flash, he’d still be an indispensable part of Barry Allen’s support team. As portrayed by Carlos Valdes, he livened up a number of episodes in Season 1 with just his ingenuity and wit alone.

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Yet longtime DC Comics fans have always suspected he was destined for something more. After all, why would the creative minds behind The Flash intentionally name a character the same as the secret identity of the comic book hero Vibe if they weren’t going to follow up on that connection at some point?

The season finale, “Fast Enough,” gave us the first indication that something is stirring in the “Cisco as Vibe” department. In his final chat with the Reverse-Flash, Cisco discussed his memories of the alternate timeline (one fortunately erased by the Flash’s first jaunt back in time) where the villain revealed his true nature as Eobard Thawne and killed Ramon with a vibrating hand to the chest. Obviously, he shouldn’t be able to remember something that never happened, but Thawne says he always suspected that Cisco might have been affected by the particle accelerator accident as well.

As super villains are wont to do, Reverse-Flash tries leaving without explaining in more details, giving Cisco only the tidbit that he’s now in tune with the vibrations of the universe. Vibrations … Vibe … I see what you writers did there.

Here’s where a little comic book history lesson comes in handy. The first version of Cisco Ramon popped up in Justice League of America Annual #2 back in 1984. Far from the technical genius we know from TV, that Cisco ran with a street gang and was rough around the edges until Aquaman and Martian Manhunter decided to take a chance on him as a member of the Justice League of America during its infamous Detroit phase. The first Vibe simply emitted powerful sound waves from his hands, kind of like a more directional version of Black Canary’s Canary Cry.

Vibe was eventually killed in action, not once, but multiple times. Poor guy.

That wasn’t the end of the heroic story of Cisco Ramon, though. The fresh start offered by DC’s New 52 initiative not only brought back Vibe but made him a much more formidable character. Thanks to getting a little too close to a Boom Tube, the new Cisco was still able to shake things up, but at a molecular level. He also gained the knack for sensing and locating holes in the fabric between realities, making him something of an interdimensional bloodhound.

After watching that final conversation between Wells/Thawne and Cicso again, my guess is that the writers are going to start with that last ability and work backwards when it comes to Cisco’s powers on The Flash. With Barry bound to be dashing around between timelines and worlds even more in Season 2, it’ll certainly be helpful to have someone on his team who can help direct and keep track of him, though hopefully the S.T.A.R. Labs squad won’t have to induce a dream state for him to do that like we briefly saw this season.

I’d imagine he’ll eventually be able to harness vibrations in an offensive manner as well, but it could take a while before we see Cisco embrace his inner Vibe. For one thing, he didn’t seem too willing to accept what the Reverse-Flash was telling him, and he also doesn’t have fake Wells to guide him in the ways of meta-humans.

It could certainly be a bumpy road for him, but I’d imagine that when we stop and look back after Season 2, we’ll see a much more powerful Cisco, maybe even one who is on his way to becoming a bona fide super hero in his own right.

Next: The Flash: How Many People Learned Barry Allen Was The Flash In Season 1?

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