With so many speedsters in the DC Universe like Barry Allen and Wally West fighting over the title of the Fastest Man Alive, it can be easy to overlook some of the other quick characters whose speed doesn't come from their ability to run fast.

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There are quite a few characters in the DCU who are just as fast as the Flashes when they are soaring through the skies of Earth or the stars of the large DC galaxy. Today we are going to take a look at the fastest flyers of the DC universe to see who measures up while in the air.

10 HAWKMAN

Hawkman yells as he flies into combat

Carter Hall has a long and confusing history, but as Hawkman, he wears the powerful alien Nth metal armor and wings that give him his namesake and his unique abilities that include super-strength and even re-incarnation.

Central among his abilities is the power of flight, and with his wings and Nth metal harness, Hawkman is able to fly over 200 mph in an atmosphere, though he often requires additional tech to operate in space.

9 CAPTAIN ATOM

Even the earliest stories that featured Charlton Comics' hero Captain Atom featured the powerful character flying faster than a rocket, which was traveling at over 100,000 mph, with more recent stories showing the character moving faster than the speed of sound.

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Captain Atom's abilities are tied to his connection to the Quantum Field and the unique metallic skin that coats his body, which gives him access to levels of power that can potentially move Captain Atom faster than the speed of light to even cross dimensional boundaries

8 APOLLO

Apollo originally hails from the WildStorm universe and worked alongside The Authority before moving to the DC Universe after Flashpoint, and was even considered to be an alternate-reality version of Superman during the Countdown: Arena series.

Apollo's solar-dependent abilities allow him to fly around the entire world in 30 seconds, and for a time he was forced to travel quickly from the Sun to the Earth to help out in battle, which would have required approaching the speed of light if not moving faster.

7 THE RAY

Ray Terrill/The Ray is a second-generation superhero who could eventually be one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe, though his inexperience keeps him from using his abilities to their full potential.

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The Ray is able to absorb light energy and redirect it in a number of ways, including transforming his body into a light form that is capable of traveling at the speed of light, regardless of whether he is in an atmosphere or out in space.

6 SHAZAM

Shazam getting power from the lightning

Shazam, the character formerly known as Captain Marvel is a bit harder to pin down in the rankings, as his speed has differed across the various iterations of the character, with the most recent version's abilities often spread disproportionately amongst his family members.

Shazam is powered by various comic book Gods, including Hermes, the Roman God of Speed, though he has often combined the strength of Zeus to move even faster, allowing him to catch up to Barry Allen/Flash in the Justice series, though that is technically considered non-canon.

5 STARFIRE

Starfire prepares to fire

There are a few characters in the DC Universe who are able to move at speeds faster-than-light (FTL), which allows them to travel across the galaxy unaided at speeds that would likely boggle the minds of actual scientists.

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While Starfire's abilities were altered slightly by the New 52 to restrict her flight within a gravity-rich atmosphere, the Tamaranian princess was previously able to fly unaided between solar systems and was even trained to withstand the mental rigors of flying isolated in space for light-years, which pushes her well past most of the Earth-born flyers.

4 LIGHTRAY

hal-jordan-can-fly-as-fast-as-lightray-3

Lightray is the speedster of the New Gods, nearly-immortal beings from Jack Kirby's Fourth World that include characters like Mister Miracle and Darkseid. Lightray lives on New Genesis and uses his powerful light-based abilities in a number of different ways.

Lightray is able to fly at the speed of light, and in some instances has traveled faster-than-light to move across the universe at incredible speeds and even outrun the deadly Omega Beams of Darkseid, which only a few other heroes were able to accomplish.

3 GREEN LANTERN

There have been many characters who wield the emerald power rings of the Green Lantern Corps, and all of them have access to the same energy that allows them to fly at FTL speeds so they can better police their sector of space.

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While Green Lanterns like Hal Jordan are specifically skilled at flight and could likely use his knowledge as a pilot to fly faster than other GLs in an atmosphere, they also make use of wormholes created by the rings that allow them to fast-travel across the universe.

2 SUPERMAN

Superman flying

Superman might be another controversial ranking here, but regardless of which version of the character we are discussing, he has shown time and time again that he is capable of flying at incredible speeds, both in the atmosphere and outer space.

He frequently races the Flash for fun and has flown across the universe unaided on a soul-searching mission at speeds that would have to be FTL. Even within Earth's atmosphere, he's been clocked by Flash as moving at over 2,000 miles per second while running, which he could presumably do even faster flying.

1 BLACK RACER

There have been a few incarnations of the New God known as Black Racer, though in all forms he is often seen as the physical manifestation of Death, and as such he is one of the fastest beings in the DC Universe because no one can escape death.

Technically the Black Racer is the fastest skier in the DC Universe, as he travels atop a pair of cosmic skis which only enhances his already unbeatable speed. The Flash has occasionally managed to outrun or outwit the Black Racer/Black Flash, though he has also succumbed and become the Black Racer himself.

NEXT: 10 Unexpectedly Fast Marvel Heroes, Ranked by Speed