Sonic Speed Tiers

[Sparky]

1. (Sonic the Hedgehog Teir) Metal Sonic < Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Silver the Hedgehog

2. ("Nearly-as-fast-as-Sonic-or-Shadow Teir) Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Doctor Eggman, Blaze the Cat, Cream the Rabbit, Rouge the Bat, E-123 Omega
3. Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee
4. Vector the Crocodile
5. Big the Cat

... Most of the cast is "nearly as fast as Sonic". 

 

[Muscles Maximum]

I'll be honest, I don't think you can really say that because in terms of gameplay mechanics most characters control or play similarly to Sonic, that they automatically are actually almost as fast as him. That's really just that, a gameplay mechanic. Sure, I don't really think anyone is a slowpoke, I do believe the gap in speed from Sonic to say like Knuckles or Amy is pretty substantial even though they are up there. I really do wish that SEGA had put more of an emphasis on the different levels of speed the characters had. Like in Sonic Rush, Blaze, while still being very fast was substantially slower than Sonic was. I've said it before, but it's entirely 100% possible for them to have characters less fast without making them a chore or any less fun to play with.

Also, I really don't understand why anyone would put Metal Sonic above Sonic himself. He's never beaten Sonic in a race, even being able to fly. In SA2B's multiplayer he had the highest acceleration and had a high floaty jump, but his top speed was still lower than Sonic and Shadow. 

[Sparky]

I'll be honest, I don't think you can really say that because in terms of gameplay mechanics most characters control or play similarly to Sonic, that they automatically are actually almost as fast as him. That's really just that, a gameplay mechanic. Sure, I don't really think anyone is a slowpoke, I do believe the gap in speed from Sonic to say like Knuckles or Amy is pretty substantial even though they are up there. I really do wish that SEGA had put more of an emphasis on the different levels of speed the characters had. Like in Sonic Rush, Blaze, while still being very fast was substantially slower than Sonic was. I've said it before, but it's entirely 100% possible for them to have characters less fast without making them a chore or any less fun to play with.

Also, I really don't understand why anyone would put Metal Sonic above Sonic himself. He's never beaten Sonic in a race, even being able to fly. In SA2B's multiplayer he had the highest acceleration and had a high floaty jump, but his top speed was still lower than Sonic and Shadow. 

Certain characters were stated to be nearly as fast as Sonic, such as Cream.

[RappedinBlacX]

The only characters that have been stated to be anywhere close to Sonic's speed is Shadow, Metal Sonic, and possibly Blaze. Again, in Sonic Colors DS, alot of characters are just blown away by how fast Sonic is with Sonic himself claiming its not even his top speed. If all the characters were nearly as fast as Sonic, why would his speed be a big deal?

I also find it weird that you have Silver on Sonic tier when all games that feature him say otherwise. Hell, his most recent appeareance in Sonic Runners has him at a reduced speed obviously referencing his slower speed to everybody else.

[Blaze349]

Sparky, Shadow doesn't skate with his jet boots. Only in the Olympics

[Sparky]

The only characters that have been stated to be anywhere close to Sonic's speed is Shadow, Metal Sonic, and possibly Blaze. Again, in Sonic Colors DS, alot of characters are just blown away by how fast Sonic is with Sonic himself claiming its not even his top speed. If all the characters were nearly as fast as Sonic, why would his speed be a big deal?

I also find it weird that you have Silver on Sonic tier when all games that feature him say otherwise. Hell, his most recent appeareance in Sonic Runners has him at a reduced speed obviously referencing his slower speed to everybody else.

Sonic Generations on consoles has his flight speed equal or greater than Sonic's running. And the 3DS version has him running on equal speeds to Sonic. 

Edit: 
Cream was stated to be nearly as fast as Sonic on an old Sonic website, Sonic Central. https://web.archive.org/web/20090217221441/http://www.sega.com/sonic/globalsonic/post_allabout.php?article=soniccharacters

Sparky, Shadow doesn't skate with his jet boots. Only in the Olympics

.....what? 

 

...

 

 

What? Um... yes, Shadow does skate. All the time. Riders 1 even had his default gear as the Skate Gear. 

Edited December 28, 2015 by Sparky

[RappedinBlacX]

Sonic Generations on consoles has his flight speed equal or greater than Sonic's running. And the 3DS version has him running on equal speeds to Sonic. 

Edit: 
Cream was stated to be nearly as fast as Sonic on an old Sonic website, Sonic Central. https://web.archive.org/web/20090217221441/http://www.sega.com/sonic/globalsonic/post_allabout.php?article=soniccharacters

.....what? 

 

...

 

 

What? Um... yes, Shadow does skate. All the time. Riders 1 even had his default gear as the Skate Gear. 

Spary, Gameplay/Story segregation is mandatory for being Interested in Sonic lore. Knuckles and Tails keep up with Sonic in Heroes because Sonic runs at a speed that allows them too.  Sonic has the ability at the very least to break the sound barrier and at most light barrier as evident by moves like light speed dash/attack, Unleashed Speed post, Omega in colors. If Sonic was running that fast all the time he wouldn't be fight anything. In the case of Silver he was runming at a pace that matched his. 

Sparky, Shadow doesn't skate with his jet boots. Only in the Olympics

... ? 

Edited December 28, 2015 by RappedinBlacX

[Blaze349]

Sonic Generations on consoles has his flight speed equal or greater than Sonic's running. And the 3DS version has him running on equal speeds to Sonic. 

Edit: 
Cream was stated to be nearly as fast as Sonic on an old Sonic website, Sonic Central. https://web.archive.org/web/20090217221441/http://www.sega.com/sonic/globalsonic/post_allabout.php?article=soniccharacters

.....what? 

 

...

 

 

What? Um... yes, Shadow does skate. All the time. Riders 1 even had his default gear as the Skate Gear. Not according to the source I posted. How about his boost in generations? Or all the times he is depicted as flying? In Riders Sonic and Co all had different shoes...

[RappedinBlacX]

 

I dont think its even debatable that Shadow employs a skating motion while running. His shoes are constantly referred to as Jet Skates

[Muscles Maximum]

Shit that Sonic Central link was such a blast from the past omg

[Sparky]

Spary, Gameplay/Story segregation is mandatory (...?) for being Interested in Sonic lore. Knuckles and Tails keep up with Sonic in Heroes because Sonic runs at a speed that allows them too.  Sonic has the ability at the very least to break the sound barrier and at most light barrier as evident by moves like light speed dash/attack, Unleashed Speed post, Omega in colors. If Sonic was running that fast all the time he wouldn't be fight anything. In the case of Silver he was runming at a pace that matched his. 

... ? 

Considering how often the Lightspeed Dash and Lightspeed Attack are used in Heroes, I'd say Sonic's running speed was borderline lightspeed in that game, or at least massively hypersonic. Which means Tails and Knuckles were somewhere under that. 

Taiils and Knuckles are expected to be close enough to Sonic's speed anyway, mostly Tails. 

[RappedinBlacX]

Considering how often the Lightspeed Dash and Lightspeed Attack are used in Heroes, I'd say Sonic's running speed was borderline lightspeed in that game, or at least massively hypersonic. Which means Tails and Knuckles were somewhere under that. 
Taiils and Knuckles are expected to be close enough to Sonic's speed anyway, mostly Tails. 

Thats not how it works Sparky but Im to burnt out. 

[Blaze349]

I dont think its even debatable that Shadow employs a skating motion while running. His shoes are constantly referred to as Jet Skates

Not according to the source I posted.

[RappedinBlacX]

Not according to the source I posted.

I dont get this. Why do we even need a source? Why would a source overide what you visually see? Did you play Adventure 2, Heroes, His own game? O6?.  

If SEGA sent a preview out and in that preview it referred to Sonic as the Cyan colored Hedgehog your not gonna toss 25 years worth visual knowledge out the window are you? 

[RappedinBlacX]

Also, In Sonic Chronicles, Sonic says that he's faster than Shadow, to which Shadow replies:

"But I'm stronger."

Also, in some games' manual instructions, I've seen some lines describing Sonic as "The fastest Hedgehog alive". Not sure which games where those lines came from, but the last time I saw it being used was in Sonic Dash's App description.

Very true. I was actually going to use that as well, but was not sure on what the overall view on Chronicles is on this site.

[Sparky]

Also, In Sonic Chronicles, Sonic says that he's faster than Shadow, to which Shadow replies:

"But I'm stronger."

Also, in some games' manual instructions, I've seen some lines describing Sonic as "The fastest Hedgehog alive". Not sure which games where those lines came from, but the last time I saw it being used was in Sonic Dash's App description.

Sonic doesn't say he's faster than Shadow, he says Shadow can't outrun him, which is not the same thing. Shadow never said he was stronger, he said he could "outfight" Sonic, which is again, an entirely different thing.

I've done some little research and found that Sonic is indeed, the world's fastest hedgehog:

 Sonic is indeed the fastest living being in the universe. Shadow also matches that speed with his powerful body.

[Sparky]

 

If Shadow can match that speed, then what's the point of describing Sonic as the "fastest hedgehog in the world"?

I played the spanish version of the game, never played the english one.

Because Sonic is meant to be the fastest thing alive, and Shadow is meant to be identical to Sonic in both appearance and abilities. It's just a contradiction formed by Shadow's very meaning of existence as a character. 

The very idea that most fans have of Shadow being "stronger but slower" than Sonic, relying on Air Shoes to match Sonic, or different in any way outside of skills, or even not looking like Sonic, is completely missing the point of Shadow's character. Shadow isn't meant to be just a completely different independent character that just exists and is one of Sonic's friends. Shadow is meant to literally be the dark incarnation of Sonic. Tails is Sonic's Sidekick, Knuckles is Sonic's Rival, Amy is Sonic's "Love-Interest", Dr. Eggman is Sonic's Nemesis, Shadow is Sonic's shadow. So identical, that the police, G.U.N, media, Doctor Eggman, and Amy Rose all confused one with the other. So identical, that they both thought the other was an impersonater/faker/wannabe. So identical that their attacks are identical and evenly matched. So identical that they both got upgraded with light-speed techniques. So identical that one became just as highly skilled in Chaos Control as the other after seeing it done once. So identical that they both can harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds to fully undergo a full blown Super Transformation, neither one simply glowing like Tails or Knuckles. 

Completely identical in Appearance, Personality, Speed, and Chaos and much more with only a few minor differences that cause the big difference between them. Sonic is a being of pure unrestrained 'hero' chaos, free to let loose. Shadow is a being of pure 'dark' chaos that has been tamed and controlled by outside forces of order and structure, directed to complete specific objectives. Sonic was naturally born on the planet, living a life of endless freedom and neverending adventures as he explores the world without a care in the world. Shadow was artifically created with alien blood on the Space Colony ARK, spending his first days there staring down at the planet below deep in contemplation of what the Earth is like, and even the very meaning behind his creation and purpose of existence. Sonic doesn't care about authority or what anyone says the rules are or what they think of him, choosing to only follow his heart and do what he thinks is right. Shadow is constantly carrying out the missions and objectives of outside forces of authority, yet he himself is a very rebellious spirit and will do whatever he deems necessary to accomplish his goals. Sonic wears simple gloves and (specialized) sneakers as he runs with the wind, feet hitting the ground, going as fast as he wants to with as much effort as he chooses. Shadow dresses in vaguely militaristic and visibly high-tech gloves and air skates with inhibitor rings, gliding over the surface as he skates with his true power sealed within. But under all that, they are identical. 

But the point is, Shadow the Hedgehog is identical to Sonic and shares his speed and agility because he is Sonic's Shadow-Archetype. 

Edited December 29, 2015 by Sparky

[Sparky]

Right, I get what you mean but If Sonic Outrunning Shadow isn't the same thing as Sonic being faster than him, then wouldn't that mean that that Shadow being able to outfight Sonic isn't the same as Sonic being weaker than Shadow? Wouldn't that mean that the two are both equal in speed and strength? I mean in Sonic Chronicles Sonic says: "You can't outrun me Shadow". 

Obviously, by saying that he knows that he's faster than him to which Shadow replies "I can outfight you."

Why didn't he disapprove with what Sonic said instead of confirming that he is stronger than him?

Besides I've read somewhere (don't remember well where it was but I think it was in a game manual or in an in-game dialogue) that Sonic is getting faster, while Shadow keeps getting stronger. 

I've only ever heard that said in forums and the Sonic News Network as a hypothetical possibility. But strength and power is Knuckles' thing. I don't understand why Shadow keeps getting put in Knuckles' position in relation to Sonic, from the fans perspective. But the reasons Shadow would be able to outfight Sonic is down to skill, not ability. In abilities, they are 100% identical, but their skills is where differences come in. Sonic/Shadow's abilities come down to a few specific things. Speed, Agility, Wind, and Chaos, all of which they are equal in. But the clearest difference lies within their combat skills and chaos skills. 

Sonic the Hedgehog was completely self taught in regards to combat. His fighting style relies heavily on using his speed and agility to his advantage, and evolved purely from a lot of experience. He fights on impulse, pretty much using only his instincts and without much thought, and his moves are similar to breakdancing and capoeira. When it comes to Chaos energy, Sonic only ever absorbs it into himself for the sole purpose of empowering him. He probably doesn't even do that consciously. He and the Chaos Emeralds' power are unified, as if Sonic is moving with the chaos and allowing it to enhance his speed and abilities. Sonic almost never fights seriously, unless he is either in a darker mindset or situations are just that dire. But when he does fight seriously, both his abilities and skills seem to increase multiple times over and he is capable of defeating Ultimate Emerl, who possessed thousands of years worth of martial arts and combat knowledge combined with the copied skills from Sonic himself and his friends, the seven Chaos Emeralds, and Eggman's machine that could destroy star clusters. 

Shadow the Hedgehog is a lethal and very powerful living weapon, and was most likely heavily trained in military combat during his time on the ARK. He is a brutal, unrestrained, and powerful master of hand-to-hand combat, possessing a natural killer-instinct, and it shows the most prominently in ShtH and '06. Due to his Inhibitor Rings holding back his true power for him, Shadow never holds back and fights with as much of his abilities and skills as he is able to. In regards to the power of the Chaos Emeralds, Shadow is highly adept in the manipulation of Chaos Energy. A master of Chaos Control, Shadow knows how to tap into both the positive and negative polarities of the Chaos Emeralds to use a variety of Chaos powers, with his most used ones being Chaos Control, Chaos Blast, and Chaos Spear. Shadow also frequently uses Chaos Energy to undergo a Chaos Boost, to enhance his abilities even further without taking off his limiters, and can take that even further by fully accessing the positive or negative sides of less than 7 Chaos Emeralds to become Hero Shadow or Dark Shadow. 

Thus, Shadow is more heavily skilled and trained in combat than Sonic and could potentially "outfight" him as seen in the potential scenarios in ShtH where Shadow utterly defeats Sonic and the Diablon. 

Edited December 29, 2015 by Sparky

[Blaze349]

But Sonic's speed is 'second to none' and 'unrivaled' . 

You guys are obviously head over heels for Shadow. You won't even admit he wears hover-boots.

BTW Sparky, Sonic's dark incarnation is Metal Sonic. Shadow was never Sonic's rival in SA2 but due to fans he was ruined and still is.

Shadow is so slow that Tails and Amy could outrun him twice. That's why he has to were hover shoes just to catch up with them. If Shadow was truly fast he would run like Sonic and everyone else...

http://board.sonicstadium.org/topic/8506-does-shadow-have-natureal-super-sonic-speed-or-not/

[Sparky]

But Sonic's speed is 'second to none' and 'unrivaled' . 
Whenever that's mentioned, Shadow is always described as easily matching Sonic's speed.

You guys are obviously head over heels for Shadow. You won't even admit he wears hover-boots.
Shadow's game's manual states he matches Sonic's speed with his powerful body. It should also be mentioned that the exhaust of Shadow's air shoes are the same color as Shadow's aura (Red/Orange/Yellow). 

BTW Sparky, Sonic's dark incarnation is Metal Sonic. Shadow was never Sonic's rival in SA2 but due to fans he was ruined and still is.
Metal Sonic isn't the dark incarnation of Sonic. What Metal Sonic is, is a different situation. He's like what Sonic could become if Eggman successfully turned him into a robot. Metal Sonic is a Metal Sonic. Shadow is a Dark Sonic. Silver is the Sonic of the future. 

Shadow is so slow that Tails and Amy could outrun him twice. That's why he has to were hover shoes just to catch up with them. If Shadow was truly fast he would run like Sonic and everyone else...
Maybe he just likes skating, did you ever think of that? You don't need to run to show you have superspeed. Sonic can even use his speed while riding a streetboard. Shadow skating intead of running gives him a unique running animation different from Sonic. Plus, from what Generations seems to imply, Shadow's skates allow him to use his full speed when his inhibitors hold back his true power. 

Responses in bold. 

[Blaze349]

Responses in bold. 

You won't even respond to me but instead make fruitless assumptions. Shadow is not Sonic and neither is Silver but Metal Sonic is a sonic. 

Shadow's speed has never been observed as described in that forum topic. 

He doesn't even skate properly. Pushing against something like air is easy compared to the ground. Plus in his game his shoes let him fly as well as battle and chronicles.

Actually it doesn't and they are not called inhibitors in game. Sonic can skate, fly, surf and more but he doesn't because he can go faster than Shadow's shoes.

BTW That aura is from his shoes.

[Sparky]

You won't even respond to me but instead make fruitless assumptions. Shadow is not Sonic and neither is Silver but Metal Sonic is a sonic. 

Shadow's speed has never been observed as described in that forum topic. 

He doesn't even skate properly. Pushing against something like air is easy compared to the ground. Plus in his game his shoes let him fly as well as battle and chronicles.

Actually it doesn't and they are not called inhibitors in game. Sonic can skate, fly, surf and more but he doesn't because he can go faster than Shadow's shoes.

BTW That aura is from his shoes.

Shadow's rings hold back his power, and his aura comes from his body. 

Shadow and Silver are both "Sonics", just like Metal Sonic, and why all 3 are the rivals in Generations.

Sonic can't fly. 

"Doesn't even skate properly"? What? 

[Blaze349]

22 hours ago, Sparky said:

Shadow's rings hold back his power, and his aura comes from his body. 
Shadow and Silver are both "Sonics", just like Metal Sonic, and why all 3 are the rivals in Generations.

Sonic can't fly. 

"Doesn't even skate properly"? What? 

That's just in spinoffs. Amy has the same rings.

Actually the Aura is supposed to match the characters color and Shadow has red streaks not yellow.

So any Sonic rival is a sonic now? How about Jet, Knuckles, Johnny and more?

Super Sonic, Sonic triple trouble, Sonic's flying carpet, Sonic's hover board, Sonic's classic bi-plane.

Shadow's skating to real skating is the equivalent of extreme gear to skateboards. Also riders Shadow's boots can be used in other characters.

[Dash Speed]

Bump just to say the chronicles evidence of Shadow being unable to outrun Sonic naturally is poppycocky filler and non canon to the offical games. Shadow is meant to be created to be the dark equal and arch rival of Sonic the Hedgehog, they are virutally equal in speed and motion prowess.

Metal Sonic pretty much is only faster if he burns out his engine trying to race sonic at full speed, shadow and sonic have unlimited stamina when running and can go fast by either pure speed or chaos control innately, Metal can't overload doing everything they can without shutting down and recharging.

Sonic himself says the only one who stands a chance against him in a pure race even with Metal Sonic being a contender is Shadow.

1. Sonic/Shadow

2.Infinite

3. Metal Sonic

4. Blaze/Silver

5. Tails

6.Espio

7.Knuckles/Rouge

8. Omega

9. Cream/Amy

10. Vector

11. Dr. Eggman(Without Machines)

 

 

 

[Darth InVaders]

2 hours ago, Dash Speed said:

... shadow and sonic ... can go fast by either pure speed or chaos control innately, ...

... Uh, nobody told you?

Both Sonic and Shadow require a Chaos Emerald nearby to draw power from to use Chaos Control - so it cannot be "innate"

Not only do all the quotes from the game cutscenes and official profiles say so: 

Quote

 

- Shadow profile, Adventure2 manual: "Shadow has a special ability called 'Chaos Control' which allows him to warp time and space using Chaos Emeralds"

- Sonic, Adventure2 cutscene: "It's not his speed, he must be using the Chaos Emerald to warp."

- Shadow, Adventure2 cutscene: "It was a Chaos Emerald, wasn't it? But... there's no way you could have activated the Chaos Control... using an Emerald that's fake."

- Shadow profile, Heroes manual: "...and can use a technique known as 'Chaos Control' to distort time & space using Chaos Emeralds."

- Shadow, Sonic06 cutscene: "With a Chaos Emerald's power, I control time and space"

- Shadow profile, Sonic Channel website: "He is given the ability of Chaos Control to distort time and space using the Chaos Emeralds"

- Shadow profile, Rivals website: "Possessing the power to use Chaos Emeralds to perform Chaos Control..."

 

Most importantly, the Dark Sonic Lord himself, Takashi Iizuka (head of Sonic Team, real life creator of Shadow), said so:

"If he [Shadow the Hedgehog] doesn't have a Chaos Emerald he cannot use Chaos Control"

Quote is from Sonic Boom 2013 fan convention Q&A, in video below it appears @41:30