Accelerator

Jet uses his acceleration — Cyborg 002 activates his Accelerator, as seen in Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman

The Accelerator is a feature used by several cyborgs made by Black Ghost. While it was first prototyped for 002, it was modified and perfected for cyborgs after 009. As the name suggests, it allows the cyborg to move at high speeds with the fastest being Mach 5 though some users appear to move at even higher speeds.

Functions

During its early stages the accelerator functioned similar to a plane engine that allowed 002 to hover and fly at high speeds. The perfected version used by 009 and later cyborgs utilizes a switch which in 009's case is located in his back molar. The speed can be changed with the switch ranging from Mach 1-5. During the acceleration mode, the cyborg's speed makes it appear that the world is slowed down or completely stopped if the speed is high enough. The accelerator also comes with a high mobility function to control precision when moving without special training or fast thinking. The accelerator even allows large bodies like 0011 to move at these speeds with a propulsion system.

Once its design was enhanced by Professor Gilmore, 009 could move even faster, in the 2001 anime when it malfunctioned, everything around 009 was not moving at all.

009 goes transwarp speed — 003 witnesses 009 traveling so fast he went into another dimension using his Accelerator.

In Call of Justice, Joe activated a dormant natural superhuman speed that worked in tandem with the Accelerator. Using this power allowed 009 to reverse the flow of time itself to undo events, time travel or break the trans-dimensional barrier to accelerate beyond the third dimension to enter to other dimensions.

Weaknesses

As the user moves at beyond the speed of sound he/she cannot hear at the standard audible range of sound, but ultrasonic waves can still affect the user. Because of this, the user has to communicate with others through either telepathy or internal radio signals. The air friction and heat build up from moving at high speeds is also a risk which is why most cyborgs have artificial skin and tissue or mechanical bodies along with highly dense clothing to prevent their destruction as a regular human would be torn apart from the high speed and other factors. Another weakness is that the physical laws still apply to the cyborg and without a propulsion system, the cyborg cannot accelerate vertically either ascending or in freefall. Using trans-warp speed risks the user being trapped in another dimension by breaking past the event horizon of a singularity created by the warp.

Users

Other Media

With its popularity in Cyborg 009, Ishimori Productions has used the concept of super-speed in several of their other works, particularly the Heisei Era of the Kamen Rider series.

Kamen Rider 555 features the title character having a form called Faiz Axel that allows the user to move at speeds beyond the speed of sound. However, due to the power strain of use, this form only lasts 10 seconds.
Kamen Rider Ryuki featured a Mirror Monster that was able to move at high speeds.
Kamen Rider Blade featured another monster that in card form allowed its title character to move at mach speed.
Kamen Rider Kabuto featured the Clock Up System, a switch that activates a tachyon energy field which allows the user of a Masked Rider system to move at light speed with everything else around them completely stopping.
The Skull Man at the end of the series featured an accelerator after the teeth of the mask closed and moved its character at high speeds where everything else around him stopped. However as the wearer of the suit was still human, he was severely wounded by the act and died.

Notes

One thing about the Accelerator that is not entirely accurate in the manga from a science standpoint is that the speed that cyborgs equipped with it are traveling at supersonic speeds. The results of which can somehow cause everything surrounding them to stop to a complete standstill. Certain cases like this are only scientifically possible if the cyborgs were traveling at or close to the speed of light, thus this means the 00 cyborgs are possibly capable of moving faster than light to achieve this effect.
- This is later confirmed as fact in the 2001 series episode "Gilmore's Notes" when Professor Gilmore stated that advances in technology have given the Accelerator the ability to travel close to the speed of light.
  - After an upgrade by 001 in the God's War OVA, 009 could travel faster than the speed of light and utilize the Acceleration effect offensively by accelerating the molecular structures of objects or living things around him at will, causing a molecular instability that makes the target disintegrate.