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 sound
3. 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.
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