In the world of superheroes, speed is one of the most coveted powers. Superheroes like the Flash can move at incredible velocities that allow them to save lives and defeat villains. But is the Flash truly the fastest superhero out there? Let’s take a look at some of the speedsters that may give the Scarlet Speedster a run for his money.
Quicksilver
One of the first superhumans that comes to mind when thinking about speed is Quicksilver. The mutant speedster is capable of running at speeds rivaling the Flash. His top speed has been measured around Mach 4, over 3,000 miles per hour. That’s fast enough to travel from Los Angeles to New York City in under 12 minutes!
Quicksilver’s super speed comes from his mutant ability to rapidly metabolize food into fuel and expel waste products at enhanced rates. This allows his body to function at incredible speeds with little fatigue. His reflexes are also augmented to match his running speed, allowing him to perceive the world in slow motion.
While Quicksilver can’t quite match the Flash’s top speed feats, he has proven capable of running on water, creating cyclone-like gusts of wind, and punching with the force of bullet impacts. His speed makes him difficult to tag in combat and allows him to perform superhuman feats like evacuating an entire city block in minutes. When it comes to raw super speed, Quicksilver gives the Flash a run for his money.
Makkari
Lesser known than Quicksilver but potentially even faster is the Eternal, Makkari. Like all Eternals, Makkari possesses a range of superhuman abilities such as strength, durability, and cosmic energy manipulation. But Makkari’s specialty is his superspeed.
Makkari can run at speeds upwards of Mach 100, over 75,000 mph. That’s fast enough to circumnavigate the Earth over 3 times in one minute! He achieves these insane velocities through psionic control over every muscle and tissue in his body. This allows him optimize his speed, reflexes, and stamina beyond human limitations.
In combat, Makkari’s speed makes him nearly untouchable. He can land hundreds of blows in seconds and dodge attacks and projectiles with ease. Across long distances, he can run up vertical surfaces, across water, and even through the air for limited periods. While he may lack the raw power of strength heroes like Hercules, Makkari’s speed makes him a formidable opponent.
Makkari’s upper limit is still unknown, but he has proven capable of outracing radio waves and moving so fast he becomes invisible to the naked eye. Of all the known speedsters, Makkari has the best chance of taking the title as the fastest superhero from the Flash.
Speed Demon
Not to be confused with the Flash’s villain of the same name, Marvel’s Speed Demon draws his powers from an entirely different source. James Sanders obtained his super speed abilities through experiments with the Power Broker’s strength enhancing formula.
Speed Demon’s top running speed caps out around Mach 4, putting him in same tier as Quicksilver. But unlike Quicksilver’s mutant physiology, Speed Demon’s powers come from the chemical catalysts and adrenaline boosters running through his bloodstream. This gives him a couple of advantages.
First, Speed Demon can amp up his speed even further for limited bursts by ingesting additional chemicals, pushing him into higher supersonic levels. He also doesn’t need to eat enormous amounts of food to maintain his energy like speedster mutants. However, he does need to regularly take booster drugs to keep his speed.
Due to his training as a chemist, Speed Demon combines his speed with an arsenal of self-created weapons and gadgets like solvent sprays and burning vapors. While not quite Flash levels of velocity, Speed Demon’s power set makes him a tricky opponent.
Velocity
A relative newcomer on the speedster scene, Velocity gained his powers when exposed to the Terrigen Mists unleashed during the Inhumanity event. As an Inhuman descendant, the Terrigen physically transformed Velocity into the perfect human sprinting machine.
Velocity clocks in with a top speed around Mach 2, twice the speed of sound. He can only reach and sustain this speed in short bursts however, needing to rest between sprints. While not as fast as Makkari or Quicksilver at their peaks, Velocity’s ability to rapidly accelerate makes him dangerous.
From a standstill, Velocity can burst to over 700 mph in the span of a single heartbeat. That’s even faster than the Flash’s known acceleration feats. He also has enhanced stamina and endurance, allowing him to run at top speeds for over an hour without tiring. Velocity can use his kinetic energy to deliver superhumanly powerful blows in combat as well.
With more experience mastering his abilities, Velocity may one day challenge speedsters like Quicksilver for the title of Earth’s fastest hero. For now, he represents the next generation of speedsters nipping at the heels of speed veterans.
Buried Alien
Here’s a wild card entry exceeding even the feats of Makkari and Quicksilver. Buried Alien is the alias used by a mysterious extraterrestrial speedster who competes against Earth’s mightiest runners in an intergalactic racing league.
Buried Alien claims to have run over 100 trillion MPH, dwarfing any speed feat achieved by the Flash or other heroes. At such speeds, he would be able to circle the Earth’s equator over 1,200 times in just one second! His acceleration is similarly staggering, reaching his top speed in less than 0.00000001 microseconds.
Very little is known about Buried Alien’s true identity or the source of his powers. As part of the Great Racing League of Earth, he possesses a number of abilities like flight, intangibility, and dimensional travel to aid his running. But his raw speed eclipses anything seen among Earth’s fleetest heroes.
Buried Alien seems to spend more time racing across galaxies than fighting crime. But his outrageous speed shows there are forces in the universe even faster than the Flash. If he ever turned his speed to heroism, few villains would stand a chance.
Comparison Table
Here is a table comparing the top speed and acceleration of the Flash against his fastest superhero rivals:
| Hero | Top Speed | Acceleration |
|---|---|---|
| Flash | 10x speed of light | Faster than instantaneous |
| Quicksilver | Mach 4 | Unknown |
| Makkari | Mach 100+ | Unknown |
| Speed Demon | Mach 4 | Unknown |
| Velocity | Mach 2 | 0.000001 sec |
| Buried Alien | 100 trillion MPH | 0.00000001 microseconds |
Conclusion
While the Flash remains the most iconic and well-known super speedster, he faces some serious competition for the title of “Fastest Hero Alive.” Heroes like Quicksilver, Makkari, and Buried Alien have showcased top speeds that dwarf even the Flash’s most impressive runs.
However, what places the Flash on a level above many speedsters is his ability to perceive events and react at speeds faster than instantaneous. While accelerating to 100 trillion MPH is certainly impressive, the Flash has proven capable of pushing himself to use his powers in more nuanced and skilled ways.
The Flash’s connection to the Speed Force also allows him to augment his abilities through exotic means unavailable to other heroes. He can lend and drain speed, create speed vortexes, phase through objects, and even travel through time with enough momentum.
While the Flash may not always claim the fastest recorded time or speed feat, his versatility, experience, and mastery of superspeed makes him difficult to dethrone as the world’s fastest superhero. But that won’t stop challengers like Quicksilver, Makkari, and Buried Alien from continuing to push the boundaries and give the Flash a run for the title in the future.
