Two of the fastest characters in their own universes are Sonic and the Flash. Sonic is Sega’s fastest character, even though there are other creatures who are also very fast. Meanwhile, the Flash is often considered the fastest DC character there is despite the fact that there are also amazingly fast speedsters in the DC universe. But while Sonic and the Flash belong in different universes, who between them is the faster character?
While Sonic is naturally fast and moves at the speed of light, the Speed Force is able to allow the Flash to become fast enough to travel through time and dimensions. As such, it is tough to say who between Sonic and the Flash is the faster one because they have different levels of speed.
When it comes to fictional characters, speed has always been one of the abilities that make different characters so appealing to the public. That is why different fictional universes have their own speedsters. In that regard, let’s look at who between Sonic the Hedgehog and the Flash is the faster character. And for brevity’s sake, we’ll be using the more popular Barry Allen version of the Flash.
Natural Speed
The thing about Sonic is that he is a character who was just born to be fast, and that means that he is naturally fast. He didn’t go through any kind of special training or anything similar to that to gain his speed (although he does train) because he was simply born with his incredible speed, just like a lot of the different characters in the Sega Sonic universe. And he doesn’t even use any special kind of power to become fast.
On the other hand, Barry Allen was as ordinary as any human could be before he became the Flash. While he may be smarter and just as physically fit as any other human being, he wasn’t born with any kind of powers. It was only through the Speed Force that Allen was able to gain his metahuman speed.
This is a no-brainer because Sonic is just naturally faster than Barry Allen, who wasn’t born with any special abilities as a speedster. As such, Sonic the Hedgehog takes this round because of the very fact that he was born to become fast.
Points: Hedgehog 1, Flash 0
Powered-Up
The thing about Sonic is that he doesn’t need to power up for him to be fast because he is already naturally fast. However, there are crystals in the game that will allow Sonic to gain other abilities that will not only allow him to become faster but will also allow him to become a better version of himself in different situations. Then again, these crystals aren’t always available to him, and that’s why, in most cases, Sonic is just as fast as he usually is.
Barry Allen, when he got powered by the Speed Force, was able to gain superhuman abilities as a speedster that could reach the speed of light or even faster than that. The problem is that he ends up becoming too close to the Speed Force when he tends to break their speed barriers, and that’s why the Flash doesn’t always try to move as quickly as he can. Nevertheless, at his full potential, he is one of the fastest characters in fiction.
It is tough to say who between Sonic the Hedgehog and the Flash is faster whenever they are powered up and are at their full potential. Nevertheless, they are often described to be just about as fast as the speed of sound whenever they are not powered up but can reach speeds faster than light at their full potential. That’s why no one takes this round.
Points: Hedgehog 1, Flash 0
Meta Capabilities
Aside from his speed, Sonic the Hedgehog is described to be a capable hand-to-hand fighter as well and is just about as good as Knuckles is in a straight-up fight. On top of that, when powered up in the different games and when he gets his hands on the crystals called Chaos Emeralds, he does get gifted with different abilities that can be quite useful in certain situations. Nevertheless, Sonic’s footspeed is simply what makes him special.
The Flash is not only fast but is capable of using his speed to break the laws of physics to do things that the other speedsters in any kind of fictional universe can do. One case in point is the fact that he can use his speed to travel through time, and he has done this numerous times in many different publications of the Flash. He has also shown the ability to phase through walls by vibrating his molecules and the ability to cross from one dimension to another using his speed and his connection to the Speed Force.
When it comes to his overall meta abilities, the Flash is not just a plain speedster. On the other hand, Sonic is just a speedster that’s capable of running at amazing speeds. This is why the Flash takes this round.
Points: Hedgehog 1, Flash 1
New Forms
One of the things that Sonic often employs in big battles is the fact that he can use different forms that allow him to become a lot stronger. He can transform into a wide variety of different forms that each have their own specialties. Some of the examples include Hyper Sonic, Excalibur Sonic, and Dark Spine Sonic. All these forms allow him to reach different power levels that make him an even faster and stronger character.
The Flash, on the other hand, doesn’t have any other forms that he can reach, although he can tap into the Speed Force more to become faster. As mentioned, the closer the Flash is to the Speed Force, the faster he gets. But the problem is that he can end up getting trapped with the Speed Force if he gets too close to it, and that’s why he tends to limit his speed. Still, he can reach higher power levels, but they only increase his speed without allowing him to become stronger.
Sonic the Hedgehog wins this round because his power-ups allow him to become faster and stronger while giving him new abilities. While the Flash can indeed power himself up by tapping more into the Speed Force, he only gets faster when he does that. And that explains why Sonic gets this round.
Points: Hedgehog 2, Flash 1
Other Forms Of Speed
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the fastest characters in fiction when it comes to physical speed. He has shown the ability to run at incredibly high speeds and even fight using his fists at high speeds as well. However, he is limited to physical speed due to the fact that his speed isn’t powered by some sort of a mystical or cosmic entity that grants him superhuman abilities as a speedster.
On the other hand, the Flash is literally fast in almost everything you can imagine. On top of the fact that he runs and punches really fast, he also tends to be fast in other facets as well. This includes the ability to think at incredible speeds. And the ability to think really fast, when coupled with Barry Allen’s innate intelligence, allows the Flash to think of different ways to defeat his enemies before the fight has even started.
The fact that the Flash is fast in almost all other aspects of being fast is what makes him a great all-around speedster. He can run, think, and do things at incredible speeds. Meanwhile, Sonic’s speed is limited at a physical level. This is why the Flash takes this round from the Hedgehog.
Points: Hedgehog 2, Flash 2
Sonic vs. the Flash: Who Is Faster?
We did our best to look at every aspect of speed when it comes to the battle between Sonic and the Flash. However, the fact of the matter is that it really is difficult to tell who between these two characters is faster in a more well-rounded sense, especially when you take into consideration some of the things they can do in their respective universes. That said, we are going to say that neither Sonic nor the Flash is faster than the other unless there is somehow a crossover that will give us a definite answer to this age-old question between the two speedsters.
