The Flash - Fastest man alive!
Super-speed is the ability of a person or object to move either the entirety of their mass, or parts thereof at a rate of speed/velocity in excess of the common standard. This power is frequently found in the superhero fantasy genre. Individuals who possess this cannot only run at increased rates, but they can also perceive and react to stimuli with greater speed and efficiency than the average person. By exceeding 340 meters per second, approximately 760 miles per hour, an object can break the sound barrier, often resulting in a sonic boom.
In DC Comics, the superhero known as the Flash can vibrate his body at such a speed that his very molecules can slip between those of solid objects, allowing him to briefly become intangible and phase through material. Within the DC Universe, there are many people who can harness super-speed. This is done by tapping into a quasi-mystical dimension known as the Speed Force, which is basically the kharmic Nirvana for speedsters. All those who have held the title Flash, including Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West and Bart Allen have all at one point in time achieved a peak velocity in excess to the speed of light.
The Marvel Universe equivalent to the Flash is the mutant Pietro Maximoff, also known as Quicksilver. Although he may be the most fleet-footed superhero in the Marvel Universe, his super-speed is nothing in comparison to that of the Flash. Classically, Quicksilver has been showing to accelerate at transonic and supersonic speed.
Cheetara on the move.
Another Marvel Comics character with super-speed is the Golden Age character Robert Frank, who is saddled with the unfortunate code name, the Whizzer. The Whizzer is on the low-spectrum of super-speedsters however, and is only capable of reaching a maximum running velocity of 100 miles per hour for up to one hour.
In the Transformers animated projects, the Autobot known as Blur is the only robot in the series that can move at super-speed. He also speaks at a rapid-fire pace, making his speech extremely difficult to understand at times.
In the ThunderCats multimedia franchise, the feline Thunderan known as Cheetara was gifted with exceptional swiftness and speed, as well as extraordinary reflexes and reaction time. The fastest of all the ThunderCats, Cheetara usually used her speed to avoid offensive attacks. In one example, she called upon her swiftness to evade giant boulders that were being thrown down upon her by a group of Rockmen. [1]
On the TV series No Ordinary Family, the Powell family survived an airplane crash in Brazil, but were exposed to a substance that gave them all super-powers. Scientist Stephanie Powell - wife of police sketch artist Jim Powell, developed super-speed.
Characters[]
Super-Speed[]
This list applies to those whose super-speed capabilities are, well... off the charts. These attributes represents the primary ability of the individual.
Enhanced speed[]
Not quite super-speed, but definitely faster than the average human. Characters who possess this ability usually have it as part of a larger enhanced physical set of attributes. It is not their primary power.
| Character | Source |
|---|---|
| Carlos LaMuerto | Marvel Universe |
Appearances[]
Television[]
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Ghost - Elena Rodriguez.
- Flash: All Star Team Up - Barry Allen.
- Smallville: Prey - Clark Kent.
- Suicide Squad (2016) - The Flash.
Films[]
- Incredibles, The - Dashiell Parr's super-power.
- Incredibles II - Dashiell Parr's super-power.
Comics[]
- Adventure Comics 373 - The Tornado Twins use super-speed for movement, cyclone effects and intangibility.
- Adventures of Superman 517 - Superman flies back to Earth at super-speed.
- All-Star Squadron 39 - Johnny Quick zips around.
- Boys, The 1 - A-Train super-speeds through Robin, causing her body to explode.
- Brave and the Bold 54 - Kid Flash uses super-speed.
- Cyberforce 1 - Velocity running through an alley.
- DC Comics Presents 52 - Superman zips around collecting Ambush Bug's teleportation robo-bugs.
- Flash 105 - Flash goes zoom after Katmos, and then Mirror Master.
- Wonder Woman 160 - Doctor Psycho steals Wonder Woman's super-speed.