Fungi Forums
Miscellaneous => General Chat => Topic started by: TEM on February 07, 2009, 11:10:57 PM
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Vote on who is faster. Which ever side has the nerdiest and most complex reasoning wins. Please cite specific examples to back up claims of quickerness.
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I don't like either of these choices. Can't I vote for the Flash instead?
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Okay, this is an intriguing subject, especially when disputed deeply. First, I'll look at the actual animals. A real roadrunner is capable of speeds of about 15 mph (24.14kph)1, while a Hedgehog is capable of speeds around 2mph (3.219kph)2. It's clear that in real life, the roadrunner would run circles around the hedgehog, but neither of these characters are anything similar to actual examples of their species.
Now to begin, as his name implies, Sonic is very clearly capable of running at, or beyond the speed of sound3. This is roughly 770mph. Given that there are few examples of him exceeding this speed in game (I am not a Sonic expert, nor do I claim to be), I'm assuming this is his top speed.
Road Runner, being a character in the infamously illogical Looney Tunes series, has a relatively unknown speed. The human mind is not a radar gun and cannot detect speed given the very shallow, undefined evidence lent to us through the cartoons. However, one thing is clear: RoadR unner is very fast. Given any Looney Tunes short featuring Road Runner, one can very easily observe the laws of physics being shattered, with roads being bent and stretched like rubber, and paintings on rock faces becoming actual, tangible dimensions (at least to Road Runner, possibly because of his very high speed)4. Someone else can take a shot at determining the top speed for Road Runner, as I cannot find sufficient evidence, although if I were to take a guess, it would probably be faster, or about as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog.
Of course, there's one very clear point aspect between the two characters where there is no contest: acceleration. As many early nineties gamers would know, particularly those with Geneses, Sonic has very poor acceleration, except perhaps when he dashes but even then, Road Runner's acceleration is more remarkable. He can start running whenever he likes and immediately be traveling at top speed. Deceleration (technically an aspect of acceleration) also belongs to Road Runner. He can reach a complete stop while traveling at top speed and not move, being shaken with little more than enough energy to make him wobble like a plank. Sonic is known for his skidding after his running, and clearly cannot even come close to matching the Road Runner's ability to get up to speed or stop quickly.
So to conclude, I would have to vote that the Road Runner is the faster character. The physical limitations (or lack thereof) of his world allow breakneck speeds, as well as inconceivable abilities of acceleration and deceleration. Sonic is also by no means slow, but living in a relatively more realistic universe puts him at a disadvantage when compared to Road Runner. Also, I like Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote a lot as a very young child.
1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadrunner)
2 (http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/hedgehogs.html)
3 (http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(character))
4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqGhIftKrno&fmt=18)
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As Solidshroom said, Speed of Sound = around 770.
And from the looks of it, Road Runner is around the 500s.
Whatever. I voted for Sonic.
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Sonic is faster... I would attribute SolidShroom's point about the laws of physics being bent/broken to the logic deficit present in every Looney Tunes short rather than Road Runner's speed (that's not to say he's not fast).
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I voted Roadrunner. Roadrunner can run through paintings of passageways like they are real. You have to be very fast to do that.
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Since the Roadrunner was never caught, and sonic has been captured a number times by Dr. Robotnic, the roadrunner outruns Sonic!
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The most likely explanation for the Road Runner's ability to go through paintings is that he is actually capable of reaching eldila speeds. We don't know what kind of speed an eldil travels at, except that it's really freaking fast -- so fast that light is like liquid, solids are like gas, and gas is invisible, so it's got to at least be significantly faster than the speed of light. Hypersonic speed is defined as going at or above Mach 5, which is only 0.00000056754263 the speed of light. Of course, Sonic could be going faster than that, but if he were, they probably would have given him a more specific name. And that's only when he's got seven Chaos Emeralds and seven Super Emeralds, which he has only done once. If he doesn't have the Super Emeralds, then he must be slower than Mach 5.
Also, Road Runner High Speed is supposedly three times the speed of DSL; Sonic Burger is a fast-food restaurant, but is limited to the speed of the cars going through the drive-in, and cars are almost always slower than the internet.
The only possible complication is this revelation (http://www.physorg.com/news88249076.html) that sound may be capable of going faster than light; therefore, it is possible, depending on definitions, that for some values, Sonic may be able to go faster than the Road Runner. But the Road Runner definitely has the rational advantage.
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Sonic and, since I'm in no mood to win, because I said so.
Next competition: Who's more annoying?
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Next competition: Who's more annoying?
As much as I liked Sonic before Sega dropped out of the console business, he's one of the most annoying video game characters currently. Road Runner isn't annoying at all.
Sonic, on the other hand, is faster only because his speed is a definite thing. The Road Runner has been shown to be very fast at times, but then again, there have been several episodes where Wile E. Coyote has been able to keep up with him.
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The Road Runner has been shown to be very fast at times, but then again, there have been several episodes where Wile E. Coyote has been able to keep up with him.
Yes, but think about the Road Runner's character. It seems as if he spites the Coyote most of the time. Well then what would be more spiteful than going just fast enough to be out of reach of the one who pursues you? Road Runner very comfortably runs slow just to drive Wile E. Coyote slowly crazy.
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I voted for Sonic. Why? Hmm...well, he's blue. He's fast. And...
because I said so.
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Which ever side has the nerdiest and most complex reasoning wins. Please cite specific examples to back up claims of quickerness.
For Pete's sake, you can't just say something and have it be considered even plausible if you don't back it up. This is part of what's wrong with the world today.
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I agree with SolidShroom. Sonic isn't faster just because you said so. That's like saying nukes detonated in a metropolitan area won't kill people just because "you said so."
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This is part of what's wrong with the world today.
Not giving reasons why one fictitious character is faster than another? Yeah, that's destroying f'ing society, alright.
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This is part of what's wrong with the world today.
Prove it.
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"...And so the 'Which One Is Faster?' thread went to Not at the Dinner Table. The End."
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I'm just saying that people are so lazy that they just forego basic directions for discussion and claim that their opinion is right with no proof. If you're just going to say that one character is faster than the other because "you said so." If you're going to dignify this discussion with your response you have to at least back yourself up, otherwise you're just going to seem like an opinionated compost bag. And it's most certainly a very prevalent flaw in society, with most people just shoving their stupid opinions in other people's faces with little or no factual evidence to give their statements any weight.
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But can you back up your claim that people not backing up their claims is a bad thing? And if not, is that a bad thing?
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Forget I said anything. Really, just do it because there's no chance of maintaining intellectual conversation in this forum anyway.
Sonic is faster because you said so.
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People, people... take a deep breath, look in the mirror, and repeat the following: "It's just a thread about Sonic the Hedgehog and Roadrunner. It's just a thread about Sonic the Hedgehog and Roadrunner..."
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Says the guy who gets worked up about new video games every time he gets the chance.
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Yes.
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I was joking, btw.
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I voted for Roadrunner. As much as I respect Sonic's longevity, I was a fan of the Roadrunner long before there ever was a Sonic hedgehog.
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Same here.