Is Shadow Faster Than Sonic?

[ClassicKnuckles]

Is he? Shadow would have less resistance to fight, because of his air skates, but Sonic has to worry about ground AND air resistance, so uh... Is Shadow faster? They've never really "raced" per-se, but in the Dark Story, they fight, but I don't think that counts. Anyway, what's do you guys think?

[DabigRG]

Eh, in the sense that he can warp/fly, sure. However, in terms of actual running speed, I'd say it's kind of a match with Sonic being somewhat faster.

Cause he's actually running and what not.

[Darth InVaders]

Bottom line is that although the official sources have bounced around...

Adventure 2, Heroes, and Generations said they are equals

Battle said Shadow is faster

Shadow's own game said Sonic is "the world's fastest hedgehog" and Shadow "rivals" Sonic, which means either they are equals or Sonic is faster

Both Rivals 1 & 2, Sonic06, and Chronicles said Sonic is faster

I assume this is their base forms with no power ups like Chaos Emeralds which means no Chaos Control warps - which would be cheating anyway

[MetalSkulkBane]

We already had this conversation quite recently https://board.sonicstadium.org/topic/18904-sonic-speed-tiers/?page=10

I'll just recopy my previous post

Spoiler

Short version

Spoiler

0 Cheaters: Infinite, Chaos Control

1 Sonic/ possibly Metal for short distance

2 Near Sonic boosting:  Shadow, Metal, Blaze, Silver (when flying with cutscene/boss battle speed)

3 Near Sonic not-boosting: Tails, Amy, maybe Espio and Knuckles

4 Still pretty fast: Cream, Big, Rouge, Omega, Vector, Charmy

Wild Factor, impossible to measure: anything that can fly/ Super forms/ Eggman in Sonic 2

 

Long version

Judging on a simple running speed Shadow is usually portrayed as slowed then Sonic. There are 2 games where they officially race: Chronicles, where Sonic chases him and wins and  Generations, where they chase glowy orbs, and Sonic wins. (I'm not counting Rivals for obvious, multiple-routes-reasons). The only exception is Sonic Battle where Shadow has higher speed, but that game didn't have running element, so I think it's safe to ignore it. Also, there is a chance that Shadow is as fast as he is only thanks to his shoes.

Metal Sonic: obviously slower than Sonic, since the very concept of his boss battle is winning a race against him. I do like to think that he can outrun Sonic for short distance with his charging attack, but he can't keep it for more than few seconds and loses in the longer races.

Infinite is a cheater. His powers are illusions that are real. So he isn't fast, he's just projecting his body in a different place. So just like time stopping and teleportation, he's the fastest but thanks to cheating.

Jet can probably outrace Sonic, but that's because Extreme Gear flies and thus can easier avoid obstacles. In fact, the most flying object can theoretically keep up or even outrace  Sonic (like Tornado or Tails in SA1). Then again, Sonic tried to chase Jet on foot only once, long time ago.

All Sonic allies are somewhat fast, with Blaze, Silver, Amy, Tails, probably being somewhat close to Sonic. With that said it's basically impossible to put them in order since they never race against each other, just with Sonic. Although we should keep in mind that Sonic got faster with time (compare Chaos fight in SA1 and Generations) so I would guess than

1 Blaze & Silver can almost keep up with boosting Sonic.

2 Tails and Amy can keep up with Adventure Sonic

3 Espio & Knuckles are probably faster than Vector or  Big. (But Cream, Rouge, and Charmy can fly so here it's hard to guess)

 

 

[Salamander]

It depends on how much emphasis you want to put on Shadow's artifical aids, like his jet shoes and Chaos Control.  Probably some kind of compromise would be best, like Shadow having higher acceleration but lower stamina.  Overall, though, when you make a series about a character whose defining feature is being "the fastest thing alive," then if you introduce a character who is definitively faster and better in every way and remains so then as a creator you have lost touch.  They should remain roughly equal, each keeping the other on their toes.

[Shadowlax]

Phsyically? Like moving his legs?No .

Can he move faster, yeah. 

Depends on which one you care about. 

[Eurisko]

No, well I don't think He's supposed to be. But as someone pointed out they are equals as far as speed goes in some of the games.

[Dash Speed]

10 hours ago, Shadowlax said:

Phsyically? Like moving his legs?No .

Can he move faster, yeah. 

Depends on which one you care about. 

Shadow can move his whole body like Sonic, so yes he can move that faster leg wise.

[Shadowlax]

4 hours ago, Dash Speed said:

Shadow can move his whole body like Sonic, so yes he can move that faster leg wise.

Just because you can move like sonic doesn't mean he's as fast. 

He's a pretty fast guy, but he's also using rocket boots n stuff. I like shadow, but he doesn't have to be onpar or the best at anything. He has a whole buncha powers, that negate speed anyway. So At least i my mind, he just can't go as fast as sonic, no need for it. 

[Sokker]

Not according to Sonic 2006. But he is on the same speed in other games such as Sonic Heroes or Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

[DarkChaosGaming]

I think that Sonic is faster, but Shadow can equal him in some games. 

The most clear example would be the fight against Silver in 06, when Shadow has to kick him in order to get away safely, where as Sonic can easily homing attack and escape.

[Dash Speed]

On 2/11/2018 at 7:15 PM, Shadowlax said:

Just because you can move like sonic doesn't mean he's as fast. 

He's a pretty fast guy, but he's also using rocket boots n stuff. I like shadow, but he doesn't have to be onpar or the best at anything. He has a whole buncha powers, that negate speed anyway. So At least i my mind, he just can't go as fast as sonic, no need for it. 

Dude, Shadow has the same agility and dexterity as Sonic. They're equal in every way, so yes Shadow matches Sonic in maneuverability leg wise.

[Shadowlax]

23 minutes ago, Dash Speed said:

Dude, Shadow has the same agility and dexterity as Sonic. They're equal in every way, so yes Shadow matches Sonic in maneuverability leg wise.

You can make the argument. But fundamentally i'm not fond of the idea, I like shadow being slower. Heck I have an idea of a form of move shadow does that makes him even more slow and dense. I feel like he doesn't need to be as fast as sonic because he has a myriad powers to get around it. It not only works to make him not the coolest strongest guy in the world and give him some form of flaws. And also speaks to his character, every description of shadow reads " he's the type of guy who will do anything to get the job done " , he can't run as fast he'll just stop time and make you slower. 

I like that, you know characterization through more than just what the character communicates through words and feelings but down to how he handles things and what he can do

 

That's me though

[Kuzu]

 

Really hard to say, I might have to do a bit more research on the subject :V

[A person, that exists]

I don't think that Shadow should be faster than Sonic, because then he'd just become even more of a Mary Sue than he is now.

Not to mention, Shadow's hover shoe things have to recharge/cool down somehow, while Sonic can constantly keep running without worrying about that. 

[DabigRG]

27 minutes ago, A person, that exists said:

I don't think that Shadow should be faster than Sonic, because then he'd just become even more of a Mary Sue than he is now.

Not to mention, Shadow's hover shoe things have to recharge/cool down somehow, while Sonic can constantly keep running without worrying about that. 

I forget where I heard this, but he apparently powers them with his innate Chaos Energy.

[A person, that exists]

1 minute ago, DabigRG said:

I forget where I heard this, but he apparently powers them with his innate Chaos Energy.

Well, at least that explains how he uses them in Black Knight, where there clearly is no fuel/chaos drives to be found. 

Honestly, the technology of Sonic's world is fascinatingly weird on it's own. I wish they went more in-depth with it. 

[DabigRG]

18 minutes ago, A person, that exists said:

Well, at least that explains how he uses them in Black Knight, where there clearly is no fuel/chaos drives to be found. 

Honestly, the technology of Sonic's world is fascinatingly weird on it's own. I wish they went more in-depth with it. 

That was technically Sir Lancelot rather than Shadow himself. As for why Lancelot could use Chaos Powers

[BaronGrackle]

2 hours ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

 

In other news, Sonic is 10% stronger than Shadow confirmed.

[NikoS]

I always thought Shadow rivaling Sonic's speed was partially due to his rocket propelled shoes, sure he is fast, but his hover shoes give him the (pun totally intended) edge, even if just slightly.

[Kuzu]

6 minutes ago, NikoS said:

I always thought Shadow rivaling Sonic's speed was partially due to his rocket propelled shoes, sure he is fast, but his hover shoes give him the (pun totally intended) edge, even if just slightly.

Does that really matter, when doesn't he use his shoes? It's a moot point.

[NikoS]

41 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

Does that really matter, when doesn't he use his shoes? It's a moot point.

No, not really, but if that's how it is then Sonic is still the fastest thing alive, while Shadow would fall alongside Metal, it's not his speed, HeMustBeUsingTheChaosEmeraldToWarp but the hover shoes that allows him to reach/surpass Sonic's.

[Kuzu]

6 minutes ago, NikoS said:

No, not really, but if that's how it is then Sonic is still the fastest thing alive, while Shadow would fall alongside Metal, it's not his speed, HeMustBeUsingTheChaosEmeraldToWarp but the hover shoes that allows him to reach/surpass Sonic's.

And once again, it still doesn't matter. Shadow always uses his hover shoes, so for all intents and purpose, he is still just as fast as Sonic. What you're saying is basically semantics that never come into to play to justify Sonic being faster. 

And even more to the point, there's no reason to assume that Shadow isn't still just as fast without them either. 

[Shadowlax]

3 hours ago, DabigRG said:

I forget where I heard this, but he apparently powers them with his innate Chaos Energy.

If that's true, that's actually tight. 

It also explains why his boost is just.. flight , it also explains when he just flew in sonic adventure 2. 

Wow, Shadow REALLY does not need team dark

[NikoS]

Heya, i'm not trying to "justify Sonic being faster", i'm just trying to dissect Shadow's speed, based on the info we have to do so...

27 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

And even more to the point, there's no reason to assume that Shadow isn't still just as fast without them either. 

Yep, i agree here, but we have no confirmation of the contrary as well, unless we consider the descriptions describing him as faster or equal to Sonic are considering only his innate speed instead of (Speed=(InnateSpeed + ShoesBoost)) or (Speed=(InnateSpeed * ShoesBoost)). now if we are just talking about "can he outrun or keep up with sonic?" then it's obviously yes to the later, as seen in Adventure 2, and i'd say possibly for the former . (I apologize if i'm taking this too far, but i like to theorize about these things )