Sonic Speed Tiers

[Muscles Maximum]

A thing about the Sonic universe that has always sort of bugged me about the games is that nearly every one and their father can do what Sonic can and more. 

 

Sonic is undoubtedly the fastest character, right? But how fast do you believe everyone else is? Like if you could make a top 5 - 10 or something on who you believe is fastest, that'd be cute. Though I'm sure everyone's 1 - 3 or 4 would be about the same.

 

For me I think it's something like

1. Sonic
2. Shadow
3. Tails
4. Blaze
5. Espio
6. Amy
7. Cream
8.  Knuckles/Rouge

 

This is just what I think off the top of my head without too much thought. 

 

P.S. this is my first post here, I'm a champion lurker. Hello everyone.

[Sparky]

Sonic is the fastest, period. Shadow's speed and agility is literally exactly the same as Sonic's, no questions asked. Tails is second in line, and would be the #1 fastest if Sonic wasn't around. Knuckles' is equal to Sonic's strength/power. Amy is.... able to keep Sonic looking over his shoulder, at least. 

That's all I know for sure. 

[Junko]

1. Sonic
2. Shadow
3. Tails
4. Blaze
5. Espio
6. Amy
7. Cream
8.  Knuckles/Rouge

See, my issue here is that, I'd probably use Heroes, Riders and Runners as a reference. Because Sonic, Shadow, Amy and Espio are definitely Speed types. And IIRC, Blaze is in Runners and ZG, so, I'd throw them up at the top. Jet would have to be up there too because Riders. And I found a thing.

 

 

List of Speed Type characters

• Amy Rose
• Blaze the Cat
• Chip
• E-10000R
• Espio the Chameleon
• Jet the Hawk
• Metal Sonic
• Shadow the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Super Sonic
• Yacker

So, these guys would be somewhere at the top.

[Drawloverlala]

welcome to SSMB! i hope you have great time here!

 

well i think.. theorically Sonic is the fastest..(he is the main character.. that's one of the main reasons ) Metal Sonic (Sonic's  robotic doppelganger) then Shadow (as Sonic's rival and opposite) then Jet on his Air Gear...(he still thinks its the fastes thing in universe)

 

but in the reallity i would say eggman is the fastest one..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBfYjH570Hk&feature=player_detailpage

 

edit:

 he has been practicing i see...

Edited March 26, 2015 by Drawloverlala

[Sparky]

See, my issue here is that, I'd probably use Heroes, Riders and Runners as a reference. Because Sonic, Shadow, Amy and Espio are definitely Speed types. And IIRC, Blaze is in Runners and ZG, so, I'd throw them up at the top. Jet would have to be up there too because Riders. And I found a thing.

 

So, these guys would be somewhere at the top.

You can't just say that any Speed-Type is automatically faster than anyone else. Because, as I've said, the second fastest character is Tails. 

Speed is a necessary component in Fly-Types and Power-Types anyway. Speed + Levitation = Flying, and Speed + Strength = Power. So both of those types (Fly-Types moreso since they're much more connected to Speed, whereas Power-Types become more of a counter) have a chance of being in the top fastest. 

[Sega DogTagz]

Big is the fastest.

 

Get his spindash going downhill and he would smoke everyone.

 

Seriously though, Metal is getting slighted if he's not up there with Sonic (if not right below him). He's designed to quite literally exceed Sonic's capabilities. I would imagine he would rate ahead of characters like Tails, even if that little kit is no slowpoke in his own right.

 

I think how you define speed would change this discussion quite a bit. If your talking agility or quickness, then characters like Blaze and Espio rate a bit higher. If your touting straight line speed, what do you do with characters that are unhindered by terrain by flying at supersonic speeds? (namely Tails and Silver).

 

I think we can all comfortably put Sonic, Shadow and Metal in those top slots. Blaze is probably another safe choice below them. Past that, you could make an argument for almost anyone.

[Lady Soniko]

Wasn't shadows speed card in battle faster than sonic though?

I'd say it goes more like

Sonic/Shadow

Blaze

Amy

Tails

Knuckles

Rouge

Silver

Omega

Big

I'm not sure where I'd put the Chaotix since I know very little about them and their background outside of Heroes.

[Muscles Maximum]

Wasn't shadows speed card in battle faster than sonic though?

I'd say it goes more like

Sonic/Shadow

Blaze

Amy

Tails

Knuckles

Rouge

Silver

Omega

Big

I'm not sure where I'd put the Chaotix since I know very little about them and their background outside of Heroes.

Shadow's speed card was faster than Sonic's in Battle yes. But Sonic is only jogging in his speed card.

 

During the final fight, Sonic supposedly runs 10x the speed of light.

[Kittea]

A thing about the Sonic universe that has always sort of bugged me about the games is that nearly every one and their father can do what Sonic can and more. 

 

Sonic is undoubtedly the fastest character, right? But how fast do you believe everyone else is? Like if you could make a top 5 - 10 or something on who you believe is fastest, that'd be cute. Though I'm sure everyone's 1 - 3 or 4 would be about the same.

 

For me I think it's something like

1. Sonic
2. Shadow
3. Tails
4. Blaze
5. Espio
6. Amy
7. Cream
8.  Knuckles/Rouge

 

This is just what I think off the top of my head without too much thought. 

 

P.S. this is my first post here, I'm a champion lurker. Hello everyone.

Welcome to SSMB!

 

I'd place Amy above Espio due to her ability to just about keep up with Sonic

 

I also agree that just because someone is a "speed character" doesn't mean they should automatically place highly on the list

 

Edit: Oh, I actually forgot about Metal... Well he was designed to match and/or exceed Sonic in every way and he does for the most part.

 

Question, who's faster, Espio or Omega? I assume Blaze is faster than the both of them?

[JezMM]

Gonna be honest I've always seen it as Sonic, Metal Sonic and Shadow being fairly close to equal and everyone else being significantly slower, but they run to similar speeds as Sonic because otherwise the game wouldn't be fun, or would fall apart completely (can you imagine playing Heroes with Amy running the speed she did in Sonic Adventure?).

 

All the playable characters are very athletic and probably faster than the average human, but generally unless a character is known for their speed I imagine them as having pretty standard running skills, and their speed from game to game being designed to be fun rather than accurate to their abilities, which is why Amy is slow in some games, and fast in games where she's expected to play similarly to Sonic due to level design.

 

 

I personally feel it's better to consider the bigger picture as to how these characters are presented across the franchise as a whole than rely purely on gameplay, let alone gameplay from just one or two titles, to judge their abilities, because if we go by gameplay we're to assume that Sonic is deliberately holding back his speed in every game that isn't a boost game which he'd be doing because... why exactly.

[Darth InVaders]

Official sources have varied on all the characters, for example: Shadow was specifically introduced as equal in speed to Sonic in Adventure2 and this carried over to Heroes, then in Shadow's game, Shadow was busted down to only "rivaling" Sonic while Sonic was specifically called the fastest (rivals is an ambiguous term that can mean either Shadow is slightly slower or equal to Sonic), Sonic 06, Rivals, and Chronicles then sealed Sonic as fastest - the only oddball being Battle which is the only game to call Shadow faster

So any tier list will be fan speculation

On to what I think the speed tier list should be (using characters most likely to recur and excluding Super forms):

Metal Sonic

Sonic

Shadow

Jet

>>>>>>>> big gap

Tails

Blaze

Wave

Amy

Espio

Cream

Charmy

Rouge

Knuckles

Storm

Silver

Vector

Omega

Big

And since nobody ever asks for what I think a strength tier list should look like:

Knuckles

Omega

Big

Storm

Vector

Silver (psychokinesis)

Rouge

>>>>>>>> big gap

Metal Sonic (base ability sans Copycat)

Espio

Blaze

Shadow

Sonic

Jet

Wave

Amy

Tails

Cream

Charmy

[Neo_Fire_Sonic]

eggman is indeed the fastest, because in sonic 3, no matter what you did... you could not keep up with him.

[Sega DogTagz]

On to what I think the speed tier list should be (using characters most likely to recur and excluding Super forms):

Metal Sonic

Sonic

Shadow

Jet

>>>>>>>> big gap

Tails

Blaze

Wave

Amy

Espio

Cream

Charmy

Rouge

Knuckles

Storm

Silver

Vector

Omega

Big

 

 

Just nitpicking and throwing a monkey wrench into things, but why rank Silver so low when he's confirmed as one of the small handful of characters that has been shown capable of keeping pace with boost era Sonic's straight line speed?

[Darth InVaders]

Just nitpicking and throwing a monkey wrench into things, but why rank Silver so low when he's confirmed as one of the small handful of characters that has been shown capable of keeping pace with boost era Sonic's straight line speed?

Just to reinterate: my rankings were what I think it should be and Silver's Generations quickness was counterbalanced by his being really slow in 06

But as for my opinion that led to this, I feel a character whose psychokinesis is strong enough to pull off Power character-like lifting feats should be balanced as a slower character

[Sparky]

But Silver has proven outside of '06 that he can indeed RUN fast enough to rival Sonic, in Sonic Rivals1&2, and Generations 3DS, as well as his inclusion in Sonic Dash.

[Diogenes]

It's hard to be too exact in placement, since in-game speeds are always going to have far more to do with the design of the game rather than being derived from actual canonical ability, and there's no story situation where everyone just lines up together for a fair race. But going off trends, known abilities, physical state, and general presentation, it's not too difficult to divide them into mostly-agreeable categories.

Superhuman: Speed far beyond even highly exaggerated human(oid) ability, and clearly in the realm of superpower.
Sonic (obvious)
Shadow (designed to directly rival Sonic in speed)
Metal Sonic (likewise)
Blaze (uses fire powers for propulsion)
Silver (with Psi)

Expert: Speed that stretches the limits of physical ability, without transcending into explicit superpower territory.
Tails (propeller ass and a history of following close behind Sonic)
Knuckles (incredible physical strength, at least some of which seems to apply to his legs. arguably could drop a tier though)
Espio (ninja speed)

Athletic: The kind of speed you'd expect from someone who does "pretty good" in a race.
Amy (chases Sonic)
Charmy (bees are fuckin fast yo)
Rouge (presumably in excellent shape, but running is not a particular focus)
Jet (sports are generally physically demanding. but his speed at boarding doesn't count)
Wave (ditto)

Ordinary: Similar to an average person. In acceptable physical condition but not in any way trained.
Cream (literal babby)
Silver (without Psi)
Omega (built like a tank. needs his booster just to stay out of bottom tier)
Storm (The Fat One of the Rogues)
Vector (the bulky muscledude of the Chaotix)

Underperforming: Routinely heckled by snails.
Big ("lazy days" are not good for your cardiovascular system, Big)
Eggman (only outruns Sonic sometimes because the villain always escapes (unless they don't). That aside he's a fat old guy. running is not something that they do)

[Sparky]

Storm is muscular, not fat.

And, as far as I'm aware, at least most of the characters in Sonic Riders are capable of reaching over 100mph on foot.

[Sega DogTagz]

Just to reinterate: my rankings were what I think it should be and Silver's Generations quickness was counterbalanced by his being really slow in 06

 

Well if your talking where he SHOULD rank rather than where he DOES rank then, your just opening your own personal can of worms. Your free to that opinion, but I would like to remind you that even back in 06, Silver was shown with the ability to pull a Neo, and leave characters like Blaze in his dust.

 

Not that we should be ranking him above Blaze, but that cut scene did happen.

 

Storm is muscular, not fat.

And, as far as I'm aware, at least most of the characters in Sonic Riders are capable of reaching over 100mph on foot.

 

Which by Sonic standards is still pretty pedestrian. I think its a safe bet that the average, run of the mill mobian is capable of hauling tail like that. Its the additional, outrunning a speeding bullet abilities that makes someone a speedster here.

[Kittea]

Official sources have varied on all the characters, for example: Shadow was specifically introduced as equal in speed to Sonic in Adventure2 and this carried over to Heroes, then in Shadow's game, Shadow was busted down to only "rivaling" Sonic while Sonic was specifically called the fastest (rivals is an ambiguous term that can mean either Shadow is slightly slower or equal to Sonic), Sonic 06, Rivals, and Chronicles then sealed Sonic as fastest - the only oddball being Battle which is the only game to call Shadow faster

So any tier list will be fan speculation

On to what I think the speed tier list should be (using characters most likely to recur and excluding Super forms):

Metal Sonic

Sonic

Shadow

Jet

>>>>>>>> big gap

Neither Jet, Wave or Storm can move quickly without a hover board so I wouldn't count them.

[Guest]

Am I the only one who understands that Sonic is faster than eggman but, in Sonic 2 and 3, If Sonic went full speed, he would run over and kill eggman? Sonic doesn't (intentionally) kill living things

[Phos]

As for why robotnik was always outrunning sonic, I have to once again refer back to this infamous bit of creative writing, the first place winner, to be exact: http://lparchive.org/Sonic-The-Hedgehog-2006/Contest%208/

I of course have my own theory, that Robotnik was not fat, he is actually a balloon man, and is being pushed ahead by Sonic's shockwave.

[Bowbowis]

I find it weird that people are ranking Tails high while ranking Knuckles low. To my knowledge London Olympics (and only London) and maybe Battle (it's hard to make an accurate judgment due to the fact that their dashes work differently) are the only games where Knuckles' top-speed hasn't been demonstrably faster than (or at least equal to) that of Tails.

 

Sonic doesn't (intentionally) kill living things

Doesn't intentionally kill living things? The guy has got a body count higher than most serial killers! I mean what about...

 

Biolizard? (Regardless of whether he or Shadow struck the final blow the end goal was clearly to kill it)

Emerl? (Yes he's a robot but he has a "soul" and a personality and can be considered living as such)

The Black Arms? (Never seen killing them on screen but advocates it at the very least)

Mephilis/Iblis Creatures? (Mooks, kills 'em by the dozens)

Solaris? (Brain death)

Erazor's Minions? (More mooks, killed without a second thought)

Erazor? (Immortal, but Sonic's behavior makes it evident that he would have killed him if he could have)

Dark Gaia Creatures? (Mooks again, hundreds die by Sonic's hands)

Dark Gaia? (Fate uncertain, death likely)

Knights of the Underworld? (Yet more mooks which exist only to be killed by Sonic)

King Arthur? (Technically an illusion but Sonic didn't know that when he killed him)

Merlina? (Tried to run her through with a broken sword but failed)

The Deadly Six? (Fate uncertain, death likely)

[shdowhunt60]

The whole speed thing is terribly inconsistent when you're talking about the games themselves. You have even some cases where like, Tails is an utter slug in 06, but in the Team Attack Amigo DLC he's every bit as fast as Blaze.

[Failinhearts]

I was always under the impression that Sonic, Shadow and Metal Sonic are on par with each other in terms of speed.

[Multikaris]

Alright, my take on Speed Tiers (includes non-game characters)

 

Top

 

• Sonic
• Scourge
• Metal Sonic
• Shadow

High

• Blaze
• Mina Mongoose
• Tikal
• Jet
• Silver
• Tails
• Amy
• Mighty
• Knuckles
• Espio
• Eclipse

High-Mid

• Robotnik
• Sonia
• Manic
• Yacker
• Shard
• Ray
• Nicole
• Charmy (bees are like that)

Mid

• Fang
• Rouge
• Sally
• Fiona Fox
• Cream
• Julie-Su

Low-Mid

• Cosmo
• Omega
• Gamma
• Sticks
• Shade

Low

• Bunnie Rabbot
• Vector
• Marine
• Perci
• Grounder
• Big

Bottom

• Wave
• Storm
• Big
• Scratch
• Coconuts
• Zomom