History Main / SuperHearing

* In ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', Mimi, one of the members of Team Stylish, has this ability due to her large ears. This enables her to listen to the movements and speech of targets from afar, passing on vital information to her master.

* In ''Manga/ArmedGirlsMachiavellism'', Tsukuyo Inaba is a [[BlindWeaponmaster blind swordswoman]] with immensely sharp hearing. She can correctly detect and pinpoint people's locations from an extremely far distance and even analyze body language from sound alone. She even managed to detect Nomura in the bathhouse with Satori despite Nomura being kept completely silent by Satori to prevent detection. Nevertheless, Tsukuyo did not realize Nomura was exhausted and wounded then, so he later could not go to the school's fountain as expected.
* In ''Anime/BloodPlus'', main antagonist Diva has extremely sharp hearing, best displayed when she tracked Riku down at the Red Shield HQ by the sound of his heartbeat.
* In ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'', Yodo, a member of a genin team from Sunagakure, possesses sensitive hearing. So delicate, she can detect a person's heartbeat and breathing patterns to determine their emotional state. She can also anticipate the nature of how an opponent will attack by listening to their shifting posture.
* In ''Literature/ClockworkPlanet'', Naoto's hearing abilities are miles above average and enable him to detect even the smallest of sounds and determine the number and/or location of anything (that causes/emits sound waves) within his hearing range. This ability is demonstrated when he precisely located all of the malfunctions in the Kyoto's Core Tower just by listening to its gears; he achieved this in a matter of seconds, whereas the Meister Guild had been trying to locate the malfunctions for days on end. It should also be noted that his hearing is so enhanced that it is necessary for him to wear his noise-cancelling headphones, just to reduce the noise enough for him to be comfortable with them. If he doesn't wear them for a certain period of time, the overwhelming amount and intensity of noises would cause him to develop a severe headache, much like a migraine.
* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Zenitsu Agatsuma has a heightened sense of hearing, allowing him to detect danger from even the faintest of sounds. He can also hear the inner thoughts of people if he uses his sense of hearing to its fullest ability.
* In ''Manga/DrStone'', Ukyo, a member of Tsukasa's Army, has an incredible sense of hearing courtesy of working with sonar equipment for submarines before the Stone Age.
* In ''Franchise/DragonBall'', several characters display this:

* In ''Series/Daredevil2015'', Foggy is more than a little freaked out to find out that his best friend Matt is capable of - among other things - hearing people's heartbeat from across the room. Especially since that makes him a LivingLieDetector.
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Krillitanes are an alien species who are able to take the abilities of other species, giving themselves new appearances and qualities. After gaining a bat-like form, they also developed very sensitive hearing. As an unfortunate side-effect from their sensitive ears, they were highly susceptible to high-pitched noises, such as a fire alarm.
* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Siren-X, the Laurel Lance from Earth-X, is able to use her sonic powers to grant herself powerful hearing, allowing her to detect movements and noises from great distances while likewise being able to determine where they are coming from. Alternatively, she can use her sonic powers to create an echolocation effect, better enabling her to track down targets. This ultimately grants her an early-warning effect, able to better anticipate sneak attacks.

* In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'', Turel, one of Kain's vampire lieutenants, gained more bat-like features over the centuries, which resulted in gradual loss of sight in exchange for telekinetic and sound-related abilities, attaining "incredible powers of hearing at the price of faltering vision". However, his weakness to sound enabled Raziel to prevail in combat, making use of large gongs in the pit to defeat his brother. Turel's Vampire clan, the Turelim, similarly possessed sensitive hearing due to their enlarged ears.

** Piccolo, and Namekians in general, have extremely sharp hearing. Piccolo, in particular, is able to hear people talking from hundreds of feet away many times, such as when he overhears Raditz's plan to destroy humanity while hiding behind Kami's House or when Future Trunks reveals his parentage while conversing with Goku in private. In the ''Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug'' film, Gohan's whistle song to Piccolo also shows that Namekians are very sensitive to high-pitched sounds.

* TruthInTelevision with certain conditions such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperacusis hyperacusis]] (unusually acute hearing).

* The vampires and the [[DaywalkingVampire jinrou]] in ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' have a superhuman good hearing.

* In ''Manga/ArmedGirlsMachiavellism'', Tsukuyo Inaba is a [[BlindWeaponmaster blind swordswoman]] with immensely sharp hearing. She can correctly detect and pin point people's locations from an extremely far distance and even analyze body language from sound alone. She even managed to detect Nomura in the bath house with Satori despite Nomura being kept completely silent by Satori to prevent detection. Nevertheless, Tsukuyo did not realize Nomura was exhausted and wounded then, so he later could not go to the school's fountain as expected.

* In ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'', Yodo, a member of a genin team from Sunagakure, possesses sensitive hearing. So delicate, she can detect a person's heartbeat and breathing-patterns to determine their emotional state. She can also anticipate the nature of how an opponent will attack by listening to their shifting posture.
* In ''Literature/ClockworkPlanet'', Naoto's hearing abilities are miles above average, and enables him to detect even the smallest of sounds and determine the number and/or location of anything (that causes/emits sound waves) within his hearing range. This ability is demonstrated when he precisely located all of the malfunctions in the Kyoto's Core Tower just by listening to its gears; he achieved this in a matter of seconds, whereas the Meister Guild had been trying to locate the malfunctions for days on end. It should also be noted that his hearing is so enhanced that it is necessary for him to wear his noise-cancelling headphones, just to reduce the noise enough for him to be comfortable with. If he doesn't wear them for a certain period of time, the overwhelming amount and intensity of noises would cause him to develop a severe headache, much like a migraine.

** The ears of ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'' are fitted with a hearing device he calls the Galactic Receiver, that allows him to hear from great distances. According to Jaco, the Galactic Receiver is powerful enough to pick up the sounds of an ant burping for more than 300 feet away.

** The titular character's hearing, along with his other senses, is remarkably acute due to his {{Youkai}} heritage. He is able to hear what people were whispering from great distances away, as was the case when, while perched on a tree, he overheard Akitoki Hojo hiding in a bush, quietly praising Kagome under his breath.

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', the blind N'Doul possesses phenomenally sharp hearing. He is able to determine the position of a fly simply by listening to it fly or hear faint sounds such as grains of sand bouncing against an obstacle hundreds of meters away from him. Using his cane, N'Doul can feel vibrations coming through the sand even kilometers away from his position, memorize's multiple people's whereabouts or identify someone by analyzing the sound of their footsteps.
* Fujiwara from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' is a musical prodigy and as a result has a very keen ear. In one chapter, she was able to pick up on the fact that Shirogane was lip synching during the weekly singing of the school anthem even though she wasn't standing anywhere near him and there were roughly 600 other students singing at the same time.

* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Asuna possesses Super-Hearing. She managed to clearly hear the conversation Eva and Setsuna were having in the ring even though she was in the sidelines of a noisy arena during the Mahora Festival's TournamentArc.

** During the Kuro arc, Nami was able to hear the arrival of the Black Cat Pirates on the island despite being at the opposite side of their landing point.
** Smoker has a sense of hearing and memory good enough to remember which Banana Gator ate the key to the group's cell and identify him by his slightly-different bellows.

** In the sixth ''One Piece'' film, ''Anime/BaronOmatsuriAndTheSecretIsland'', one of the Teacup Pirates, Daisy, is shown to have very acute hearing (cited to be similar to Mantra). So much so that when near all the Straw Hats are absorbed into Lily's "body", she can hear them calling for Luffy to save them and informing him that they're not digested yet.

* In ''Literature/StrikeTheBlood'', Motoki Yaze has the ability to control sound and uses it for eavesdropping and for scouting. He also possesses a strange pill that increases his ability. By using his headphones he is able to enhance his hearing beyond that of a normal human. He is able to use this ability to spy on others or to keep tabs on them. The weakness of Soundscape is that it is too sensitive, as a powerful burst from Kojou Akatsuki when he was injured by Kirasaka Sayaka disrupted the Soundscape and harmed Motoki's hearing for several minutes.

* In ''Literature/VampireHunterD'', the titular character, a {{dhampyr}}, has senses which are well beyond even the superhuman senses of [[VampireMonarch Vampire Nobles]]. D spent most of the time in the novel ''Dark Road'' blind, and was able to accumulate his senses to fight off and kill some of the most powerful vampires without the use of his eyes.
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Yomi, one of the Three Kings of the Demon Realm, possesses this ability. He originally had two ears, but grew four more to compensate for his lack of vision after losing his sight. Yomi's sense of hearing is so great that he claims to be able to hear every word being spoken in his kingdom of Gandara. He is also able to accurately pick up on changes in an organism's heart rate, allowing him to guess facial expressions and current emotional composition, despite his lack of sight. Having modeled himself after Kurama, Yomi is a calm, calculating fighter, being able to measure the exact speeds of the opponent's attacks with his hearing, and activating his barrier at the moment of impact so as to not waste energy. In the manga, Yusuke says that someone told him that Yomi's ability to fight purely by sensing ki and relying on hearing takes a massive amount of concentration and stamina, which is one of the main reasons that his fight with Yusuke went on for so long despite his power advantage over Yusuke.

** In general, all Kryptonians under a yellow sun will develop this ability, including ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, ComicBook/PowerGirl, ComicBook/SuperboyPrime, Chris Kent/Nightwing and General Zod. This also applies to Half-Kryptonian hybrids like ComicBook/{{Superboy}} and [[Characters/SupermanJonathanSamuelKent Jonathan Samuel Kent]].

** ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' has superhuman hearing due to having been exposed to a radioactive isotope which blinded him. Murdock's sense of hearing enables him to detect an acoustic pressure change of one decibel at a pressure level of seven decibels (whereas the lowest threshold for average human hearing is twenty decibels). He can hear a person's heartbeat at a distance of over twenty feet, or people whispering on the other side of a standard soundproofed wall. Through practice, Murdock is able to control his hearing acuity, mentally blocking out specific sounds like his own breathing and heartbeat, all ambient sounds to a normal human level of perception, or all sounds but a particular sound he is concentrating upon. Matt also utilizes his superhuman sense of hearing as an aid in processing, filtering, and interpreting the feedback of his radar/sonar sense to actually give him a three-dimensional picture of his surroundings. Additionally, Matt's combined use of his super hearing and radar sense can also give him tactical advantages, such as awareness of people hiding around the corners of rooms, walls, buildings, and furniture and makes it virtually impossible to literally blindside Matt.

* In ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'', Hay Lin possesses a variation of this due to her [[BlowYouAway air powers]]. She can hear things on the wind because of the sound waves that travel through the air.

* One if the many abilities of Stitch from ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch''; he can hear people whispering hundreds of feet away, through walls.

* In ''Film/AQuietPlace'', most of human civilization has been wiped by an invasion of creatures who, although sightless, possess an acute sense of hearing and [[NighInvulnerability impenetrable armored skin]]. The movie focuses on the Abbott family, who have to live on their farm in near-total silence and communicate mostly in sign language in order to avoid attracting the attention of the monsters.

** [[TheFairFolk Fairies]] also have a keen sense of hearing. You can hear sounds at great distances. Even [[HalfHumanHybrid half-fairies]] can hear well. Not as good as pure fairies, but much better than ordinaryhumans. So Mark Blackthorn notices in the sequel series ''Literature/TheDarkArtifices'', who is [[UnevenHybrid half a fairy and half a shadowhunter]], that he hears a pursuing army, which his friends do not notice.

* In ''Literature/ShadowFalls'', this ability is common among vampires, werewolves and chameleons (a [[HeinzHybrid hybrid species]] who maintain the powers acquired from their ancestors). Protagonist Kylie Galen, a [[spoiler:chameleon]], occasionally has hearing so sensitive that she can hear things outside of vampire range.

* In ''Series/BlackHoleHigh'', protagonist Josie Trent develops super-sensitive hearing and echolocation after listening to her new CD too loud. However, her hearing returns back to normal at the end of episode.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Krillitanes are an alien species who are able to take the abilities from other species, giving themselves new appearances and qualities. After gaining a bat-like form, they also developed very sensitive hearing. As an unfortunate side-effect from their sensitive ears, they were highly susceptible to high-pitched noises, such as a fire alarm.

** Due to having an AdaptiveAbility, Nick Burkhardt develops super hearing after being temporary blinded in season two. He retains it after he regains his sight. Whilst originally only able to access it when he couldn't see (i.e. either blinded, or simply closing his eyes) over time it grows to point where he can access it whenever he wants.
** Many [[BeastMan Wesen]] possess enhanced hearing, general rule of thumb is that if the animal they resemble does then so will they. Most can only utilise it in their woge forms however.

* In ''Series/MightyMed'', Skylar Storm, and Calderans in general, has Super-Hearing due to her Calderan Physiology. This allows her to perceive even the slightest disturbances in her surroundings, which allowed her to intercept a pipe thrown by Tecton even though she was not looking. She also was able to hear the Shapeshifters' movement and Bree's breathing despite her being invisible. Unlike Chase, Skylar doesn't have the problem of ultra-sensitive hearing. The female superhero Spark also has Super-Hearing, allowing her to hear conversations from far away.
* In ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' episode "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1963S2E1Soldier Soldier]]", Qarlo Crobegnny (a SuperSoldier from a BadFuture who is accidentally [[FishOutOfTemporalWater time warped to 1964]]) has hearing that is "on a much more sensitive threshold than ours", which is why his helmet has "built-in sound baffles to deaden noises". This becomes a LogicalWeakness when some 1964 cops remove his helmet, suddenly exposing him to ordinary street sounds that he's not equipped to handle, which weakens him enough for the cops to capture him and take him to a holding facility.

* Detective Jim Ellison has this in ''Series/TheSentinel'' as part of a whole SuperSenses package (described as a genetic advantage for a member of a tribe, who uses it to protect his village (in Jim's case, his "village" is the city of Cascade, WA). It only fails him a few times, such as when a sniper is able to get off a shot, and Jim doesn't hear the rifle cock or fire. When they find the sniper's nest, they see that it has been soundproofed. In another episode, during a mandatory physical, his ears are flushed due a wax buildup. He's then aware of the slightest sound in the office (like someone tapping a pencil on the desk, which sounds like a jackhammer to him) until his friend Blair gives him a pair of earbuds that are white noise generators. He eventually learns to dial down the hearing to manageable levels. A two-part episode also has a thief with the same ability. She uses the senses to steal an item, but the loud alarm nearly renders her catatonic.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Clark develops Super-Hearing after being temporarily blinded, he retains it after his sight returns. Clark can hear indirect whispers, pitches, frequencies, and the patterns in a person's heart beat, and even that of an unborn baby, from almost anywhere on Earth.
* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', Vulcan hearing is much more sensitive than human. In the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries original series]] episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden The Way to Eden]]", the antagonists use sound to knock out the crew of the Enterprise and Spock is shown covering his ears in pain several seconds before anyone else even notices the noise.

* In ''Series/TeenWolf'', werewolves in general have hearing which is described to be one-hundred times better than that of humans. However, this also makes them vulnerable to loud noises.

* In ''Myth/CelticMythology'', a race of dwarves known as the Coraniaid possess this ability. In '' Lludd and Llefelys'', the Coraniaid cannot be injured because their hearing is so sharp that they can hear any sound that the wind carries, and can thus avoid danger. With the help of a long horn that muffles their conversation, Lludd asks his brother Llefelys, king of Gaul, for advice on the problem. Llefelys tells him that a certain insect crushed up and mixed with water is deadly to the Coraniaid, but harmless to the Britons. Lludd crushes up the insects and calls a meeting of all his people and all the Coraniaid, then throws the concoction over the whole crowd, thereby killing the Coraniaid without harming his people.

* In ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'', one of the boss fights is against the Folding Screen Monkeys, who embody the principals of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, do no evil". The "Hear no Evil" Monkey in the Green Robes has really good hearing, but poor vision, and will run away from Sekiro when it hears him approaching.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'', several of Ben's aliens possess this ability. Wildmutt, Blitzwolfer and Spidermonkey all have enhanced hearing, with Wildmutt in particular being vulnerable to high-pitched sounds because of it.

* Many animals have a much better hearing than humans. There are too many to list here. However, one should know that humans, compared to most animals, do not have a very good sense of hearing.

** ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': King Snake has hearing so good that his blindness is only an issue ''once'' when Tim modified his staff to whistle from the end if it was swung fast enough at the right angle. Otherwise he's one of the most skilled martial artists in the DCU capable of keeping up with any member of the Batfamily besides [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cass]] in a fight.

** ''ComicBook/MonetStCroix'' possesses a wide variety of mutant powers which represent a near-perfect human being. This includes Super-Hearing.

May be a form of CharlesAtlasSuperpower. A [[HandicappedBadass blind fighter]] or [[BlindWeaponmaster swordsmaster]] is likely to have this. Also frequently the power used by the LivingLieDetector. A character with [[MakeMeWannaShout sound powers]] may also have this either [[BizarreAlienSenses innately]] or [[BoxingLessonsForSuperman through training]], frequently as a form of echolocation.

* In ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'', Zebra, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, has enhanced hearing. Toriko claims that Zebra can hear a coin drop from tens of kilometers away. He can also use his super-hearing for echolocation, by combining it with his [[MakeMeWannaShout incredibly powerful voice]].

** ''ComicBook/XMen'': Banshee possesses a form of sonar through [[MakeMeWannaShout Acoustikinesis]], allowing him to send out a precise, pure note and listen to the returning, altered wave-front of the note, thus enabling him to evaluate his surroundings in total darkness with varying degrees of resolution. Additionally, his hearing is [[RequiredSecondaryPowers unaffected by his hypersonic abilities or any other sound/sonic-based abilities]]. Another mutant, a student at the Xavier Institute named Raymond Keyes/Audio, possessed wide-frequency hearing. However, he lost this power after being depowered.

* The mercenary from ''LightNovel/GrimoireOfZero'' is a beastman, and therefore also has sharper senses than a human being. His sense of hearing is so good that he once escaped a pack of pursuers because he could hear from which direction they came, long before the persecutors noticed him.

* In ''LightNovel/ClockworkPlanet'', Naoto's hearing abilities are miles above average, and enables him to detect even the smallest of sounds and determine the number and/or location of anything (that causes/emits sound waves) within his hearing range. This ability is demonstrated when he precisely located all of the malfunctions in the Kyoto's Core Tower just by listening to its gears; he achieved this in a matter of seconds, whereas the Meister Guild had been trying to locate the malfunctions for days on end. It should also be noted that his hearing is so enhanced that it is necessary for him to wear his noise-cancelling headphones, just to reduce the noise enough for him to be comfortable with. If he doesn't wear them for a certain period of time, the overwhelming amount and intensity of noises would cause him to develop a severe headache, much like a migraine.

* In ''LightNovel/HorizonInTheMiddleOfNowhere'', Suzu Mukai, a blind girl, has a hearing aid composed of a headphone that fully covers her ears and a set of tubular bells located in her clothing. This allows her to perceive auditory information from a circular area of a 30-kilometer radius with little distortion.

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', the titular character's hearing, along with his other senses, is remarkably acute due to his {{Youkai}} heritage. He is able to hear what people were whispering from great distances away, as was the case when, while perched on a tree, he overheard Akitoki Hojo hiding in a bush, quietly praising Kagome under his breath.

* In ''LightNovel/StrikeTheBlood'', Motoki Yaze has the ability to control sound and uses it for eavesdropping and for scouting. He also possesses a strange pill that increases his ability. By using his headphones he is able to enhance his hearing beyond that of a normal human. He is able to use this ability to spy on others or to keep tabs on them. The weakness of Soundscape is that it is too sensitive, as a powerful burst from Kojou Akatsuki when he was injured by Kirasaka Sayaka disrupted the Soundscape and harmed Motoki's hearing for several minutes.

* In ''Series/MastersOfHorror'', a Season 2 episode features Larry Pearce, a supervisor in a tech support company that begins to descend into madness as his fine sense of hearing only gets better, becoming [[BlessedWithSuck increasingly unbearable]]. This eventually results in him [[spoiler:slaughtering a nest of baby mice and murdering his sleeping wife to silence the sounds her body creates. Ultimately, Larry frees himself from the burden of his enhanced hearing by carving his ears off, leaving him completely deaf]].