My Hero Academia is a hit shonen anime series where every costumed pro hero and villain has a superpower, known as a Quirk - unique gifts that they can use in battle. These Quirks range from Sero's elbow tape to Momo's creation ability to the power of Izuku's One For All. On the other hand, bookish Tenya Iida is all about speed, thanks to his Engine Quirk.
From the very start, Tenya Iida has been class 1-A's fastest hero, and he has only gotten quicker with his Recipro Turbo technique seen in the joint training story arc. But while Tenya may be a lightning-quick runner and a kick-oriented hero, a handful of anime characters are even faster than him, either with short bursts of movement or sustained sprints. They've gotta go fast, and they'll leave Tenya in the dust.
10 Minato Namikaze Is The Yellow Flash (Naruto)
The famed "Yellow Flash," Minato Namikaze, ranks among the fastest Leaf Village ninja of all, and indeed, he's one of the fastest anime characters of all time. He was once the youthful Fourth Hokage and the inventor of the Rasengan jutsu, but his speed is what he's best known for.
Minato would be impressed by Tenya's speed-based taijutsu, but there's no way Tenya could actually beat Minato in a race. With his borderline teleportation speed and extreme agility, Minato can outpace Tenya in any physical contest and show him how it's done.
9 Yoruichi Shihoin Is The Goddess Of Flash (Bleach)
The rogue Soul Reaper Yoruichi Shihoin is the Minato Namikaze of the Bleach universe, a lovable hero renowned for her extreme speed and close-range combat techniques. She can't use the Rasengan, but Yoruichi does have shunko and the fastest flash step of all time on her side.
Yoruichi is simply untouchable when she gets serious with her flash step, earning her the title of "Goddess of Flash." She's roughly on par with Minato himself, and either of them could leave the runner hero Tenya Iida in the dust. An impressed Tenya would definitely ask Yoruichi to train him.
8 Speed-O-Sound Sonic Only Loses To Saitama Himself (One-Punch Man)
Speed-O-Sound Sonic is yet another quick anime character who is nicknamed after his extreme speed. He is a villainous ninja who nurses a one-sided rivalry with the caped baldy hero Saitama, and he only loses in contests of speed against Saitama himself. Otherwise, he's too fast to catch.
Sonic can slaughter an entire platoon of enemy troops before they even know what's happening, and even Saitama and Genos are impressed with Sonic's sheer mobility. Tenya Iida may be fast when he fires up that Quirk, but he's not on Sonic's level just yet.
7 Laxus Dreyar Moves Like Lightning (Fairy Tail)
Most of the Fairy Tail guild's wizards are better known for their unique magical talents and their hard-hitting attacks than their sheer speed, but they're hardly slow in a fight. One example is the lightning dragon slayer Laxus Dreyar, who can indeed move as quickly as lightning itself.
Laxus can both hit incredibly hard and move fast enough to avoid nearly enemy attack, which makes him nearly unbeatable in mortal combat. He can even convert his entire body into a living lightning bolt and move around the battlefield with unbelievable speed, which Tenya Iida certainly cannot do.
6 Sloth Has Surprising Speed (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Under most circumstances, the oversized homunculus named Sloth is slow and predictable, and it's easy to deal with him if his enemies don't fight him on his own terms. But if Sloth has his back to the wall, this lazy homunculus will reluctantly unleash his best weapon - his incredible speed.
Sloth can move with astonishing quickness, shocking even Olivier and Alex Armstrong when they fought him in Central's HQ. Sloth can move so fast, he cannot see or control his movements. And while Tenya has much more control over his movements, he can't quite match Sloth's raw speed as he is now.
5 Demon Lord Milim Has Dragonoid Speed (That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime)
The cheerful Demon Lord Milim Nava emphasizes her strength and Drago Nova techniques more than her actual speed in combat, but her mobility is not to be underestimated. Milim ranks among the most powerful beings in this entire isekai world, with her abilities far outstripping anything a human can manage.
With her natural Dragonoid strength and speed, not to mention her battle form's wings, Milim can easily outpace Tenya Iida in any fight and take him by surprise. Not even Recipro Burst or Turbo can match Milim's ultra-quick movements in a serious fight.
4 Borsalino Moves Like Light (One Piece)
The Navy Admiral Borsalino, sometimes known as Kizaru, is one of several One Piece characters who can move with incredible speed, alongside the swordsman Dracule Mihawk and a few others. In particular, Borsalino ate the Glint-Glint Fruit, granting him the power of light itself.
Borsalino can use all kinds of light-based techniques in battle, including striking or blinding his foes with dazzling rays of light. He can also physically move at lightspeed, delivering kicks that no one can ever see coming. He easily ranks among anime's fastest characters, leaving Tenya Iida in the dust.
3 Shinra Kusakabe Can Move At Lightspeed, Too (Fire Force)
Under ordinary circumstances, the fire soldier hero Shinra Kusakabe cannot move at lightspeed, though he is still remarkably mobile with his kick-based Devil's Footprints ability. But when the Adolla Grace grants him a power boost, Shinra can fight like never before.
Shinra first did this when he and his villainous little brother Sho formed an Adolla Link, and with that power, Shinra can move at lightspeed. That's what it took to face his powerhouse brother and survive, and it's much more than Tenya Iida could ever manage with his Engine Quirk.
2 Kisho Arima Is Fast For A Human (Tokyo Ghoul)
The elite CCG investigator Kisho Arima is likely only a little faster than the melee hero Tenya Iida, but he does have much better reflexes, as his many battles against powerful ghouls would suggest. Kisho Arima has always been a talented prodigy, and he single-handedly took down hundreds of ghouls, even S or SS-rated ones.
Kisho can dodge even the quickest and deadliest techniques with no obvious effort, something that not even Tenya Iida has managed. It's likely Tenya could beat Kisho in a long-distance sprint, but up close, Kisho has the superior moves and could show Tenya how it's really done.
1 Zenitsu Agatsuma Practices Thunder Breathing (Demon Slayer)
By default, the demon slayer named Zenitsu Agatsuma can't move nearly as quickly as Tenya Iida, and he even lacks Tenya's courage and boldness in battle. But if Zenitsu falls asleep, he can use his thunder breathing and show Tenya Iida what a speedy warrior really can do.
Like Laxus Dreyar, Zenitsu has a thunder and lightning theme, and lightning is always symbolic of speed and quickness. When Zenitsu's true power comes into play, his thunder breathing attacks are too fast for even the most elite demons to handle, and Zenitsu can slay a foe before anyone knows what's happening.