- "I'm a force of nature? Barry's the Flash, and you two birthed me? That makes you, what? My parents?"
- —Alexa Rivera[src]
Alexa Rivera, nicknamed Fuerza by Cisco Ramon, is a former resident of Keystone City and the avatar of the Strength Force.
Biography
Early life
Alexa was a former drug addict, which made her life very bad, she got clean and later became a field supervisor for Keystone Care, wanting to help people.[1] Sadly, even though Alexa has been clean for five years as of 2021, her parents no longer want anything to do with her; so Alexa experienced loneliness and rejection.[2]
Avatar of the Strength Force
Alexa became the avatar of the Strength Force. She experienced blackouts during her transformations, waking up in strange places not knowing where she had been or what she'd done.
Alexa was at Central City with a team to build low-income housing the night Abra Kadabra showed up with the intention of making Central City disappear; he destroyed their worksite, making her very angry and transform into Fuerza.[1] When the Flash convinced Abra Kadabra not to destroy Central City, she emerged from underground, causing a brief earthquake and killing Abra Kadabra with one punch; his antimatter bomb had little effect on her. She then held the Flash in her arms but soon after she was upset and left.[3]
Following these events, Fuerza first attacked the Speed Force itself, followed by the Sage Force, leaving it badly injured enough to seek Team Flash's help.[4]
After returning from the past where he battled Deon Owens, Cisco Ramon realized that Fuerza was the host of the Strength Force.[5]
Weeks after Fuerza attacked, Alexa was in Keystone City helping people when Barry Allen and the Speed Force, in the form of Nora Allen, came to investigate seismic isotope readings. The two talked to Alexa and wanted to test her as a meta-human but Alexa refused.
Shortly, the Flash arrived and convinced Alexa to go to S.T.A.R. Labs to be tested.
At the facility, Alexa was tested, but did not transform into Fuerza. Suddenly, she was blasted by lightning wielded by the Speed Force and killed.[1]
Working with Team Flash
Resurrection
Caitlin Snow collected Alexa's body for tests and observation. Later that night, Alexa began to fade from existence. Later still, Alexa's body was animated for a moment and a tremor shook S.T.A.R. Labs, causing Iris West-Allen and Barry to ask Caitlin questions. After a brief discussion, Iris and Barry simultaneously touched Alexa's body; electricity left them and entered Alexa, causing her to awaken.[6]
Training
- "Maybe I'm not strong enough to stop Bashir, but Fuerza is?"
"You want me to fight him?" - —Barry Allen and Alexa Rivera[src]
Alexa asked many questions about her resurrection; Caitlin explained that Iris and Barry had "cosmic DNA" which made them "her parents", power-wise, and that power, the Strength Force, revived her. Alexa allowed herself to be tested on her ability to access her powers; though Alexa was scared, she allowed it. However, during her initial training session, Alexa, only accessing part of her power and without fully transforming, was able to escape containment and to hurt Cisco Ramon, slapping him hard.
Later, Alexa overheard a conversation between Team Flash where Barry wanted to use Alexa as a weapon against Psych; Alexa remained afraid, but Barry was insistent, causing Alexa to run away from the conversation. Caitlin explained to Alexa Caitlin's relationship with Frost and told Alexa to treat Fuerza as a split personality. Caitlin gave Alexa a cerebral inhibitor so that Alexa could communicate with Fuerza. Barry apologized to Alexa for pushing her too fast.
Alexa went with the Flash to stop Bashir Malik from harrassing Lucas Sharpe. The Flash tried to convince Bashir that the League of Lions, except Naomi, tried to help him, but Bashir did not know and attacked the Flash with the energy tentacles. Alexa transformed into Fuerza and joined the fight. Fuerza grabbed Bashir and made him listen to Barry who realized that most of his friends did care about him and did not abandon him. So he agreed to help Team Flash.
Alexa returned with Bashir to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Team Citizen was armed, preparing for a fight, but Alexa and Bashir were more interested in arguing with each other, so the women left them alone.
As Alexa, Bashir, Iris, and Barry talked, Deon Owens and the Speed Force suddenly appeared. As Barry was frozen in time, the Speed Force zapped the other three. When Barry was allowed to move again, he found the three on the ground and the Speed Force with Deon had disappeared.[2]
However, it was soon revealed that it was an illusion orchestrated by Bashir to confuse the Speed Force as he, Alexa, and Iris came back to life. Alexa and he returned to S.T.A.R. Labs and agreed with Barry to defeat the Speed Force once and for all. Upon reaching the location where Nora was, Alexa and the others were sent to the Speed Force. She and the others faced the Speed Force. After reforming the Speed Force, they helped Barry to be fast enough and successfully stop the storm. Alexa decided to stay inside the Speed Force with Nora, Bashir, and Deon to expand the place, mentioning to Barry and Iris that he always wanted a family.[7]
Godspeed War
According to a conversation between Deon Owens and Barry Allen, Alexa and Bashir was helping the Speed Force fighting Godspeed clones in Speed Force Dimension when Deon is helping Iris to get rid of a Time Sickness. Eventually, Team Flash won the war.[8]
The Negative Strength Force
Personality
Alexa is a kind and caring individual who loved helping other individuals. She had a drug addiction for years, becoming clean, she was ashamed of her past as it made her parents estranged from her.
After Alexa found out that she is Fuerza, she was terrified of becoming a monster until she conquered this fear and learned to control it.
Powers and abilities
Powers
- "She was the strongest."
- —Speed Force[src]
- Strength Force connection/Meta-human physiology: Alexa has a natural connection to the Strength Force and draws all her power from it. As the avatar of the Strength Force, Alexa is one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse.
- Transformation: Alexa has the ability to transform into Fuerza, and vice vera. Whenever she transforms, she gains the ability to use her powers. Alexa's eyes change color to glow blue when she uses her powers.
- Superhuman strength: With the exception of Kryptonians and maybe the Monitor/Anti-Monitor, Alexa's overall strength dwarfs that of almost every other being in the multiverse including normal humans, other meta-humans, aliens, cyborgs and androids. As the embodiment of the Strength Force, the level of physical force she is capable of exerting is practically limitless. She was able to easily pick up the Flash and throw him around like a ragdoll and rip Psych's energy-tentacles off of herself in battle. When fighting the Speed Force, Alexa created a massive shockwave that knocked her down by smashing the ground.
- Superhuman durability: Alexa is far more durable than normal humans and most other meta-humans; she even tanked an explosion of antimatter bomb, powerful enough to decimate a city, head on at point blank range and did not suffer so much; as a scratch or light bruise.
- Superhuman agility: Alexa as Fuerza is able to jump much higher and move better than normal humans and most other meta-humans.
- Superhuman stamina: Alexa as Fuerza is able to be more active longer normal humans and most other meta-humans; without the need to rest.
- Energy absorption: Alexa as Fuerza absorbed the antimatter energy blast from Abra Kadabra's bomb and the lightning thrown by the Flash.
- Connection to other forces of nature: Alexa as a force has a connection to her siblings, and as such can communicate with them telepathically.
- Transformation: Alexa has the ability to transform into Fuerza, and vice vera. Whenever she transforms, she gains the ability to use her powers. Alexa's eyes change color to glow blue when she uses her powers.
Abilities
- Bilingualism: Alexa speaks English and Spanish, as she understood the translation of the cryptonym given to her by Cisco and later communicated with the Strength Force in Spanish.[2]
Weaknesses
- Geothermic isotopes: Similar to Bashir Malik and Deon Owens, Alexa gives off traces of geothermic isotopes, allowing her to be easily tracked in either form.
- Other forces of nature: Although an extremely powerful entity as the avatar of the Strength Force, Alexa is still vulnerable to the powers of the other Forces of Nature. Deon could freeze her using the Still Force's powers, while the Speed Force as "Nora" proved able to easily harm her using lightning streams.
- Negative Strength Force: Alexa is severely weakened by the Negative Strength Force as it is much more powerful than her, and can feed off her Strength Force energy.
Former weaknesses
- Lack of control: Initially, Alexa had no control of herself as Fuerza, being just a puppet of the Strength Force.[1] However, after using the mental activity dampener to talk to the Strength Force, the two understood each other and decided to work together as one from now on.[2]
Appearances
The Flash
Season 7
Season 8
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Trivia
- Unlike Alexa, the avatar of the Negative Strength Force doesn't assume a hulking female form and only possesses super-human strength.
Behind the scenes
- In the DC comics, Alexa Antigone, also known as Fuerza (and ever so rarely known as Powerhouse), hails from the South American nation of Corto Maltese, where she is an anarchist who battles against her corrupt government. She is a conduit of the mysterious cosmic force known as the Strength Force, which provides her with a vast assortment of powers to wage her war on corruption. Although they clashed initially, she eventually teams up with the Flash to take on the corrupt police force of Corto Maltese, and better understand their connections to the Strength and Speed Forces respectively. She debuted in The Flash #59 (January, 2019).