History Main / SuperSpeedReading

* ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}'': Quicksilver can do this thanks to his super-speed.

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'':
** [[LegacyCharacter The various Flashes]] can do this using their super speed. They don't tend to ''retain'' the information long, but it's usually enough for their purposes. [[http://maswartz.tumblr.com/post/127743700832/so-weve-all-seen-the-post-of-barry-rebuilding Exhibit A:]] ComicBook/WallyWest blitzing through 215 books on engineering, then single-handedly repairing an entire bridge in the thirty seconds it stays in his head.
** [[ComicBook/{{Impulse}} Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash)]] was established as different from other speedsters when it was revealed he can speed read AND retain everything he read (other speedsters can speedread but forget about the facts they researched soon). Subverted in that Kid Flash is still a hyperkinetic attention-deficit teenager and not exactly a genius.
* As does The Leader from Creator/MarvelComics.
* ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} of Creator/MarvelComics can do this as well.
* In a ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' comic, the Count of Champignac temporarily gains this ability after injecting himself with a SuperSerum that increases intelligence.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** The Creator/TangentComics version of Franchise/{{Superman}} first expresses his "otherness" this way.

* In ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', when Beast first meets Professor X in his library, he asks whether the room can still be called a "library" if it doesn't contain any books. Professor X says that, like Beast, he reads fast enough that he can't turn the pages fast enough, and these days prefers to simply read the minds of his favorite authors.

* George Malley, protagonist of the film ''Film/{{Phenomenon}}'' as played by John Travolta. And that's not all he can do.

** Although he hasn't exhibited this ability for real (yet), Sheldon does it jokingly when he gets the new issue of ''Franchise/TheFlash''.

** Becomes useful in one episode, where a suspect has filled hundreds of notebooks with potentially incriminating information. It would have taken normal readers a week to get through.

* Yuki Nagato from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', with [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien good reason]].

* Adam [=McArthur=] is shown doing it in ''Series/TheVisitor''.

* [[TruthInTelevision In real life]] this can be a symptom of [[https://www.healthline.com/health/hyperlexia hyperlexia.]]

* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'':

*** In the pilot episode, Gary Mitchell is struck by a space-phemonenon that turns him into a god-like superhuman; he first displays this by reading at an amazing speed. Spock is monitoring this from the bridge, and notes that Gary's speed has increased exponentially since Captain Kirk was speaking to him just a few moments before. He has complete memory retention as well, recalling a line of text just from its page number.
*** In "Obsession", Captain Kirk asks [=McCoy=] to consult a tape record from an incident eight years ago, but he doesn't have time because several redshirts have been killed or injured and the tape is eight to ten hours long. Spock however is able to assimilate the information a lot faster, and gives him a summary.
*** In ''Space Seed'', Khan's genetically engineered brain lets him read through the Enterprise's computer files at super speed in order to [[CatchingUpOnHistory learn what he missed out on during his 200+ year cryosleep]].
** Data, his daughter Lal, and his brother Lore on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' were seen doing this. {{Justified|Trope}} by their being androids - all three only required a single glance to memorize a page.

* ''Series/Titans2018''. When Hank is implanted with a bomb, the Titans look up the schematics which Conner memorizes in less than ten seconds. However when Nightwing tells him to build a defusing device using this knowledge, Connor points out that reading and application are two different things. [[ItsTheOnlyWay Nightwing tells him to do it anyway.]]

* Theodore Roosevelt could read an entire page in the time it took anyone else to read a single sentence.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek Kim Peek]] [[note]]the inspiration for Rain Man[[/note]] was able to read a book an hour scanning the left page with his left eye and the right page with his right eye.

** It is implied at times. For instance, when he had to read Amy's favorite novel, ''Pride and Prejudice'', so that he could mock it, he appears to have finished it by the time he comes home from work the next day. One time he was bored on a day off and decided to learn Finnish, and by the time Penny drops in he seems to be halfway through the instruction book. It has to slow him down that he stops and pronounces new words.
*** When Penny offers to teach him acting, he has read four books on acting between the invitation and the class, including a beginner's "for dummies" style book and Stanislavski's ''An Actor Prepares''. When reading a paper a colleague won a money prize for he spends five seconds looking at each page, demonstrating understanding as he goes.

* Data and his brother Lore on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' were both seen doing this. {{Justified|Trope}} by his being an android - both Data and Lore only required a single glance to memorize a page.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''
** In the pilot episode, Gary Mitchell is struck by a space-phemonenon that turns him into a god-like superhuman; he first displays this by reading at an amazing speed. Spock is monitoring this from the bridge, and notes that Gary's speed has increased exponentially since Captain Kirk was speaking to him just a few moments before. He has complete memory retention as well, recalling a line of text just from its page number.
** In "Obsession", Captain Kirk asks [=McCoy=] to consult a tape record from an incident eight years ago, but he doesn't have time because several redshirts have been killed or injured and the tape is eight to ten hours long. Spock however is able to assimilate the information a lot faster, and gives him a summary.
** In ''Space Seed'', Khan's genetically engineered brain lets him read through the Enterprise's computer files at super speed in order to [[CatchingUpOnHistory learn what he missed out on during his 200+ year cryosleep]].

* Data on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' is often seen doing this. {{Justified|Trope}} by his being an android - he only requires a single glance to memorize a page.

* Kyle from ''Series/KyleXY'', a [[EmergentHuman super-intelligent but inexperienced]] [[spoiler: genetic experiment]], reads an entire encyclopedia in an afternoon in order to [[PinocchioSyndrome take a level in normal]].

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLab'': In the episode "Dream Machine", Dexter has a dream where his brain grows big and he becomes super smart. One thing that he does, with his big brain, is quickly read every book in a library.

* Professor Shinonome from ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'' creates Biscuit Mk. II, a child-sized robot that can do almost anything. One of his talents is the ability to read any book in seconds.