With the many new characters flushing out the old ones, it's time for us to see just how fast each character really is. How fast are Sonic and co. really are? If they were being tracked, what would their mph read? And more importantly, which of them have been gifted with the power of "Super Sonic Speed?"
With references from past and new games, a believe that this is as close to perfect that each character's running skill goes:
-Metal Sonic
-Sonic
-Shadow
-Mighty
-Knuckles
-Espio
-Tails
-Charmy
-Amy
-Vector
-Cream
All of the above characters have been listed to have the skill of "Super Sonic Speed." Meaning, that they can easily outrun a car on a freeway (some, more than others). Other characters are not listed because they either (1) don't have enough info to know if they can, (2) haven't shown to posses the skill.
Speculation:
If you have any speculation on everything I said, then type away. The "Sonic franchise" is all about speed. How fast do you think each character is?
*waits for Wonderbat to be an ass lol*
Until then however, throw Eggman below Shadow and I'm cool with it. Also, Espio should be high since he's a speed character
If Sonic 2 is to be believed, Eggman should be either equal with Sonic or above him.
Eggman is the fastest over all.
Honestly I'd say Metal Sonic and Sonic are the fastest.
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Espio should be high since he's a speed character
As I said before, I used references from the old games as well. In Chaotix, Mighty was the fastest, followed by Knux, then Espio.
As for Eggman. I don't care. He may be on the list, but is just invisible (which is hard for him to do. 
)
Let's look at the facts from each game.
Sonic 2: Sonic, Tails, and Eggman all run at the same speed (though Eggman's can probably be attributed to being able to match Sonic in a short speed sprint.)
Sonic 3&K: Sonic and Tails, again, same speed. Knuckles is slower.
Sonic CD: Metal Sonic is designed to be faster than Sonic.
Chaotix: No go. Never played it.
Sonic Adventure/Advance/etc: In a flat out run, Sonic can outrun Tails. Amy is quite slow compared to the others.
Sonic Adventure 2: Sonic and Shadow are the same speed. Rouge and Knuckles are the same speed. Eggman (Chao World) isn't as fast as the other characters.
Sonic Advance 2: Amy's the slowest Character. Sonic's the fastest. It is believed that Tails and Cream are the same speed, though I haven't been able to confirm this. Knuckles is slower than everyone except Amy.
Sonic Battle: Amy gets a speed boost and is now tied with Tails. Shadow's speed is faster than Sonic's. Rouge is faster than Knuckles. Cream's speed isn't shown at full run.
Sonic Heroes: Sonic, Shadow, Amy, and Espio are the speed characters, with Espio being faster than Amy. Among the power characters, there's not much speed evidence. Knuckles and Omega get the nod at the same speed, with Vector slightly slower and Big slower still. No evidence for flight characters.
List:
Metal Sonic
Shadow
Sonic/Eggman (Sprints)
Espio
Tails/Amy/Cream
Blaze
Rouge
Knuckles/Omega
Vector
Big
This is the list based on the evidence I was able to compile. It may not be 100% correct, but it's what I've been able to come up with. Feel free to prove me wrong.
I don't think Dr. Eggman should actually be in the speed list. There was a technical reason why Sonic couldn't catch him in Sonic 2 -- It was a gag ("Hee hee! Look at him go!") and if Sonic got him there wouldn't have been a final boss.
If we had to give a canon excuse for Dr. Eggman's speed in Sonic 2...You know how people and animals can show extraordinary powers when theyir lives are in danger? Well, If Dr. Eggman's really scared he can run really fast.
That may work for Sonic 2, but what about the Death Egg boss in S&K?
Eggman has access to the speed force.
He's the motherf*cking Flash.
In S3 2 player:
Sonic
Knuckles
Tails
Chaotix (Top Speed):
Mighty/Espio (Mighty was originally Sonic)
Charmy
Knuckles
Vector
Chaotix (Acceleration):
Mighty (insanely fast if he has a wall to kick off)
Knuckles
Espio
Charmy (highest acceleration through use of special moves)
Vector (2nd highest acceleration through use of special moves)
Sonic Heroes:
Sonic/Shadow/Espio
Amy
Knuckles/Vector/Omega
Big
Tails/Charmy/Cream/Rouge
On Eggman, it's probably coinidental, but every time he outruns Sonic, it's on the Death Egg (low gravity), or in Wacky Workbench (reverse gravity).
Sonic, Shadow and Metal Sonic: Mach1+
Shadow and Metal Sonic are officially/technically/statistically faster than Sonic but if he has to he will always win.
I can't add anything to what's been said about everyone else apart from a Sonic R stats list I fabricated almost a year ago. It's probably not 100% accurate.
The best way to work out people's speed is to look at their Sonic Battle stats cards or in-canon reference. Sonic CD states that Metal Sonic is faster than Sonic and when using his circuit breaker technique can be almost 4 times faster.
Shadow's speed stat card is above Sonic's, so according to Battle, he's faster than Sonic.
As for the rest, best way is to just rate them as you see fit. Sonic R and Battle are the only reliable ways of getting an accurate speed on them.
How I see it is there is only three characters who have been said to be as fast or faster than Sonic. But they all cheat.
Case 1 - Metal Sonic - His profile states that he is faster than Sonic (like Craig said) but firstly - His body is a jet engine, and they can go bloody fast. Secondly - The Metallic Madness race. Metal Sonic lost - Sonic won.
Case 2 - Shadow - He uses air skates and he uses vehicles. Cheats badly.
SUSPENSE ME GET
Case 3 - Tails (:O If I remember correctly the Sonic 2 manual said that Tails was running as fast as Sonic. Plus I didn't notice much difference in their speeds in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3&K. Tails, however uses short cuts and his flying abilities to gain an advantage. Oh yes.
To be honest though: I doubt Sonic Battle's cards as indicators of who is fastest. Purely because Sonic was using his mad caeporia skills.
I could probably see Sega messing around with the acceleration rates and top speeds of most of the characters soon.
See now this is why we need another Sonic[predominantly foot]racing game. Sonic Riders should've been a foot racing game, but oh well. As for me my list has always been something to the likes of this: (Only including characters i've played as or seen in the games before and that I consider canon for the most part)
Metal Sonic
Shadow
Sonic
Mecha Sonic MkII*
Espio
Tails
Knuckles
Cream
Rouge
Omega
Charmy
Amy
Vector
Big
I think thats about it.
I think we need another Sonic R. With new levels, characters, and some remixes from the original game.
Anyway, this is how I see it.
1. Sonic. I put him above MS because his Super form goes at lightspeed.
2. Metal. Can go four times faster than normal Sonic.
3. Shadow. As fast as Sonic with jet shoes. Without them
4. Espio. Speed character.
5. Amy. Another Speed character, plus she must go pretty fast to chase Sonic.
6. Tails, not a speed character but can go pretty fast.
7.Knuckles. Fastest Strength character.
8. Charmy
9. Rouge
10. Omega
11. Vector
12. Big.
Hmm.. I seemed to of forgoten Blaze. I only have one game reference for her, so I'm really not sure where she goes. As for Rouge, Omega, and Big; I'd rather not put them. Big, of course was hampered with in Heroes; as for almost every character. (just because they are a "Speed type" dosen't mean that they can run really fast. They just happen to be the fastest on that team.) As for Amy who has been mucked up with because of that. It's really not known just how fast she really is. She might have gotten faster, but I believe that she is not 'fast enough.'
Funny how you guys put down Knuckles in the speed category. Like HSW's list on Sonic R, Knuckles is only a few seconds slower than Sonic. Based on Sonic Battle, he is slower than Tails and Amy; but if you look at his Dash skill, he is as fast as Shadow.
Let's go to Shadow, now that I'm talking about him. I remember how in the last battle of SA2, you have to fight your opposite hedgehog in a never-ending straight path by catching up to your enemy. As Sonic, it was pretty easy catching up to Shadow, but as Shadow, it took him FOREVER to catch up to Sonic. Why was that? Is Shadow really faster like how Battle predicts; or is he slower that his hated Blue nemesis?
Sonic only had little legs in the MD/Gen days - Eggman was nearly twice the size of Sonic!
longer legs = longer stride [which is why you don't see Sonic's legs spinning in a blur on the 3D games, because his legs have grown]
The whole reason for Sonic Riders not being on foot was because the bloke actually said if it was on foot Sonic would win easily.
THUS XTREME GEAR WAS BORN.
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THUS XTREME GEAR WAS BORN.
Darn that bloke. Hahha But Gamer X you do realize that lightspeed is 300,000 kilometers a second? 180,000 miles per second. Considering Sonic can only reach just beyond the speed of sound, Super making that big of a leap puts HyperSonic beyond the laws of time. >_>
^_^
HyperSonic2003, didn't Sonic act as a lightning bolt during the Chaos battle? I'm don't know any thing about physics, but to act as lightning bolt, you need to move as fast as a lightning bolt, which is lightspeed. Now that I remember, didn't Tikal say that the light dash makes Sonic achieve lightspeed? Sonic can achieve lightspeed, just only with the power of rings.
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The whole reason for Sonic Riders not being on foot was because the bloke actually said if it was on foot Sonic would win easily.
THUS XTREME GEAR WAS BORN.
So what's the excuse for Sonic R?
Richard Jacques soundtrack and the Tails Doll?
The soundtrack and the Tails Doll makes Sonic R the GREATEST SONIC GAME EVAHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Sonic R>>>>>>S3&K ANYDAY.
Back to the topic, how fast is Hyper Sonic?
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Back to the topic, how fast is Hyper Sonic
Well I run my 100m in about 11 seconds and my 200 in about 23. 400 in about 51. *shot* I couldn't tell you man. But yes I do recall the lightning bolt in SA. Hm...well thats a very good point. So I guess he does move at the speed of light. That must explain why he hasn't aged in a game...ever. 😛 Hahaha soundtrack and Tails Doll make Sonic R the best game ever. lol
After reading the profiles on Sonic Jam, I thought of Super Sonic as Mach 2 and Hyper Sonic as Mach 3, 4 or 5 as a kid. Of course, all super forms - and by extension, all male hedgehogs - get "infinite speed" due to chaos control.
Sonic presumably can move at the speed of sound since I hear this in all kind of propoganda, but have never seen it. I guess if Super Sonic moves at the speed of light then Hyper Sonic moves at the speed of space or time.
*confuses the situation more* 
Speed of space/time is the speed of light Acrio. You're so silly. E = MC squared Energy = Mass multiplied by the speed of light...squared! "This is Madness!..." Yea once CC entered the series I think all sense of speed relative to one another was eternally screwed. Good one ST. =/
Ew 
Sonic's official running speed is in excess of Mach 1. Super Sonic is officially twice as fast as normal Sonic, putting him in the Mach 2-3 territory. Hyper Sonic has no official speed mentioned, Hypersonic speeds are speeds in excess of Mach 5, so I put Hypersonic at Mach 5 in my book.
The Light Speed Dash/Attack allow Sonic and Shadow to travel at light speed for short bursts, provided there are rings or enemies to lock-on to.
Chaos Control allows teleportation.
As for Sonic beating Metal Sonic in a race despite Metal's top speed being in the neighborhood of Mach 4: I chock it up to Metal being able to reach max speed on a straightaway, but having to slow down drastically for turning whereas sonic has the reflexes to make turns at top speed.
Mach 5...exactly how fast would that be relative to light? Anyone know? But yea CC allowing teleportation[the distorting of space] is like saying CC is equivalent to a black/worm hole. Had no idea Yuji Naka was into Astronomy. We have something in common. 😛
Mach # is the amount of speed in relation to sound. So Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound. Therefore Mach 5 would be 3800 mph (1700 meters a second). Still no where near 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second.
Sweetness! Thanks, bloo. Yea no where near the speed of light. Heh.
That still doesn't explain the lightning bolt thing. Plus, if a random of rings in line enable Sonic go at lightspeed, shouldn't Sonic powered by 50 rings, as well all 7 Chaos Emeralds, allow Sonic to go at light speed?
the light speed dash is not even close to being light speed
Coss (5:43 pm): why do people take the phrase "light speed dash" literally
Acrioph (5:44 pm): LSD
Coss (5:44 pm): :O
"Speed of space/time is the speed of light Acrio."
The phrase "speed of space/time" makes no sense. Space and time are dimensions. Other things can have speeds in space or time, but to talk about the speed of space/time is gibberish, as they're not physical entities and thus don't move.
Further more, nothing you said after that sentence has any bearing on it. The equation E = mc2 refers to the amount of energy possessed by a mass m at rest at zero potential; it has nothing to do with the speed of anything.
Eggman is always as fast as the fastest character +1
Yea Acrio that makes no sense at all man. What were you trying to say? 😛 Ahh I see thanks Nuch...I guess I wasn't thinking. But yea Deck I know the LSD[heh] isn't really at the speed of light.
But why would be call the lightspeed dash if doesn't go lightspeed? I think it's storywise lighspeed, but it's not capable because gameplay at lightspeed would be too fast. Like how Sonic, without boosts, never gone beyond human speeds simply because it's too fast for controlable gameplay. Plus, I just played Sonic Adventure and Tikal specifically said that Super Sonic at max speed transforms into lightning bolt, which means lightspeed. Unless, someone can disprove lightning bolt thing, I still say Super Sonic can go at the speed of light.
Lightning only goes 93,000 miles per second. Still damn fast but slower than light none the less.
Really? I thought since it was called LIGHTning, it should go at the speed of light. Okay, I agree, Sonic can't go at lightspeeds.
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but it's not capable because gameplay at lightspeed would be too fast.
Precisely, thats why if the surroundings were slowed down quite a bit, but keeping Sonic as fast as he always is would give a better sense of just how much faster you are than everything else. As a matter of fact I think he should enter into a zone like he did on Sonic Rush[and possibly in Sonic Next-gen(still haven't played it) and just get crazy fast, but also I think it should be completely silent other than the music...considering Sonic would be outrunning sound waves and all] Basically just like Time Break on SatSR, but keep everything in its original state[no black and white, or distrotion to the extent it is in SatSR] and allow Sonic to move at his regular speed. But yea I didn't think lightning was a fast as light, but I wasn't too sure. I mean it's the attraction between protons and electrons, nothing like light[as a particle or wave]. Oh well. Maybe one day we'll get that Sonic R 2. 😛
Actually, does anyone have the stats that was used in Sonic Battle?
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Lightning only goes 93,000 miles per second. Still damn fast but slower than light none the less.
according to Wikipedia:
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A bolt of lightning can travel at a speed of 45 km/s (kilometres per second) (100,000 mph, 160,000 km/h)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning
is that about right, do you think?
Wow that's qquite the difference. 100,000 miles every hour versus 93,000 miles every second. The world may never know.
Count me in for Sonic R 2. 😛
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Actually, does anyone have the stats that was used in Sonic Battle?
Well, lookie here That was hard to find. 😛
I wouldn't trust the SB stats simply becuse if they're right, Shadow should overwhelm Sonic every battle they have. If he outranks Sonic in sheer speed and power, and since he's the ultimale life form who must have better combat skill, he should killed Sonic during that final fight at the Ark. Plus, is SB really canon?
Sonic wins because he's Sonic. He's the impeccable hero that always wins no matter what the odds, like the Metal Sonic race, the Metal Sonic fight in Heroes and the final battle in Sonic Battle, which is canon.
Yea Sonic's abilities are augmented considerably when he needs them to be. Like how he somehow used CC in SA2. And you know he thrives on competetion. The thrill of the game brings out his best. It's just how he is. Kind of cheap I know, but it's Sonic. lol
well here is another answer i found: lightning actually goes at variable speeds, because it is not just light, but electron plasma moving through charged air. Its can depend on air conditions, but the typical lightning bolt moves at 224,000 mph -- or about 3,700 miles per second
So it's close to lightspeed. Why doesn't lightning just go at lightspeed? Does the plasma have anything to do with it?
Also, Sonic's wins against Metal are plausible without the "Hero will find a way" thing. Metal Sonic can only accelerate 4 times than Sonic for a very brief of time. Sonic can easily catch up to that. Plus, Metal has never been good with turns, something very essential to racing. Metal Sonic's Heroes loss came from not being able to move fast enough as the Metal Chaos thing. Those are plausible. Of course, can someone tell the way, storyline wise, he found to beat Shadow, who at normal form can flip over buses, and Emerl, who should of have all of everybody's abilities, including Sonic's?
