The power of superhuman speed is one of the first superpowers that humans imagined. They imagined the messengers for their gods possessing the ability to get anywhere almost instantly. When comic books began publishing superheroes, superhuman speed became a noticeable power almost instantly.
Superhuman speed permeates many other powers, especially flight. Although never formally defined, the definition of a speedster generally refers to those characters with the ability to run and think at superhuman speed. In Marvel comics, the speedsters have evolved past the Golden Age hero the Whizzer and his counterpart in the Invaders, Spitfire, to those capable of mind-boggling speed.
10 Hurricane Was Created To Rival The Ultimates' Quicksilver
The Liberators gathered super-powered operatives from countries that had been targeted by the United States for terrorism. North Korea created a speedster named Hurricane. She relished using her power, thoroughly enjoying the takeover of the nation's capital.
However, Quicksilver proved to her that the North Koreans had underestimated his abilities. They had gotten Hurricane to the point where she could search the White House three times in a matter of seconds, but Quicksilver took her to speeds so fast that she disintegrated.
9 Quicksilver Has Just Gotten Faster Over Time
Originally, Quicksilver could only run just shy of 200 mph. Over time, he has just gotten faster, but exposure to the High Evolutionary's Isotope E kicked him into the next level of speed. Having originally gained his powers from the High Evolutionary probably helped a little.
Quicksilver thinks faster than a person usually can, describing himself as living in a world moving in slow motion. He can run up to Mach 10 and has been adapted to physically function at that speed. In the Heroes Reborn continuity, his sister has also taken those powers as the Silver Witch.
8 Aurora Is (Probably) Just Slightly Slower Than Her Brother
Aurora joined Alpha Flight and created half of the fastest team in Marvel Comics. Her instability was always an issue, but what initially broke up this team was her brother Northstar assuming that she would sleep with a villain to avoid his wrath. She dissolved the partnership and resumed her relationship with Walt Langowski, alias Sasquatch. She also asked him to alter her powers.
The altering of her powers made Aurora slightly slower than her brother. Supposedly, that change is gone following her resurrection on Krakoa. Nevertheless, its relatively brief existence places her just below her brother on the speedster ranks.
7 Northstar Is (One Of) The Fastest Mutants
In recent issues of X-Factor, Northstar has stated to fellow speedster Speed that he can travel at the speed of light. Of course, he acknowledges the problems this would cause since he would still be subject to the laws of physics. For all his speed, he's still not capable of breaking the natural laws.
He has to be able to breathe, but he has enough experience with his powers to know exactly what he can do. This makes him the world's fastest mutant, even back when Quicksilver was still believed to be a mutant. Combined with his ability to fly, he can outrun anything.
6 Ultimate Quicksilver Is Unbelievably Fast
Quicksilver is, quite literally, unbelievably fast. Others around him believe that he's doing nothing even when he suggests slowing down camera footage to spot what he's doing. It provides some fantastic humor to an incredibly serious superhero story.
When the Liberators take over Washington, DC, Quicksilver wakes up as Hurricane is beating Hawkeye up with her speed. He grabs her and shows her just how fast he can go. He breaks Mach 10, shaking her death before Hawkeye can fall to the ground. Even then, nobody believes he really was that fast.
5 Ghost Runner Gave Blur One Of The Best Races Of His Life
Blur relives some of his greatest races. One is against Johnny Blaze of that reality. Here, he never had a bike. He used his demonic powers to run incredibly fast.
It really is just one panel, but in it, we see that the demonic speed is something to combat Blur's amazing ability. In legend, the devil is often described using superspeed, making it not surprising that all Marvel characters become part of the Blur's Rogue's Gallery. Its resident demonic hero would be one of them.
4 Makkari Was Mistaken For The Greek God
The Eternals' Makkari is known for his speed and a penchant for running everywhere. The speed he exhibits borders on the speed of light. Many speedsters throughout Marvel's history have been retconned to have been Makkari in another guise.
He's been confused with the Greek and Roman messenger gods. His Eternal physiology allows for him to run at speeds that bend the laws of physics. He even sacrificed many of his other Eternal powers to gain extra speed. Due to the manipulations of Sprite, He has lost some of that speed, but by how much remains to be seen, especially given that he has a connection with the Dreaming Celestial.
3 Hermes Is The Greek God That Started The Fascination With Speedsters
Hermes is the ancient god of speed. He was the messenger of the Greek gods and tasked often with fetching whichever of the pantheon brought undue attention in the eyes of Zeus. It was his presence that inspired the heroic fascination with speed.
As a god, his power doesn't have to obey the laws of physics. While his greatest feats of speed involve running from Olympus to Earth in seconds, he may be making use of some method to shorten the distance. Most of these demonstrations come in the Golden Age adventures of Venus.
2 The Blur Runs So Fast He Travels Through Time
The Blur discloses that he travels so fast that he's constantly breaking the time barrier. It's a trick that he uses often, sometimes taking breaks in the middle of a battle. He even loses track of where he should properly be in the timeline.
Nevertheless, he's demonstrated that he is the fastest mortal on the planet, and much of it may come from the source of his speed. He gained his powers from studying under the Ancient One. If there's one thing in the Marvel Universe that has been proven over and over to break the laws of physics, it's magic.
1 The Runner Is An Elder of the Universe, Devoting Eons To Developing Speed
The Elders of the Universe tend to specialize. The Gardener grew massive gardens on alien worlds. The Champion favored combat. The Runner focused on traveling the universe in a manner that resembled running.
When on a planet, Runner moves almost entirely by running, and stages competitions to prove that he is the fastest being in the universe. Unfortunately, the Runner came upon the Space Gem and began to rely upon its intoxicating power to boost his speed without realizing its true nature. Thanos took it from him, leaving him with only his extraordinary and unfathomable speed.
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