Summary
Quirksare the signature power systemof Kohei Horikoshi’sMy Hero Academia: A collection of bizarre and practical abilities that are unique to each person and have been wielded by the most powerful of Pro Heroes (and villains). Fortunately, most of these heroic figures have used their great Quirks to their full extent.
However, there are several characters in this series with complex powers that are brimming with potential and multiple possibilities, yet they have only used them on a surface level. With that in mind, these are some ofthe most notable Quirks inMy Hero Academiathat have a lot of untapped potential, and their wielders could do a way better job with them.
8Eri’s Rewind
A Miraculous Ability That Was Exploited By An Evil Villain
There are some Quirksthat are so insurmountably powerful that entire story arcs are centered on them, andEri’s Rewindis certainly one of them. As its name implies, this ability can return a living being to a previous state, so it can be used to heal people, rejuvenate them, and much more. Of course, since Eri is still quite young, it’s understandable that she hasn’t used Rewind all that much, but its growth was sadly hindered by the villainous Overhaul.
Kai Chisaki kidnapped Eri and experimented on the poor girl so he could develop a Quirk-cancelling drug, and as a result, she’s now hesitant to use Rewind naturally and hasn’t evolved it into its fullest potential. Luckily, Eri’s time at U.A. High School has led to some training, so she has been controlling her powers more effectively. She definitely has a bright future as Pro Hero ahead of her.
7Kai Chisaki’s Overhaul
It Was Only Used To Destroy, When It Can Do So Much More
It’s ironic how Overhaul obsessed over Eri’s Rewind when he himself should find better uses for his own quirk, which is such a big part of his identity that he even used its name as his alias. Overhaul gives its user the ability to disassemble and reassemble whatever they want with a simple touch, but it seems that only the first part of this description was of good use toKai Chisaki.
This is evidenced by the fact that Tomura Shigaraki’s Decay Quirk was created by All For One by removing the restoration part of the Overhaul Quirk.Chisaki mainly used it to kill & disintegrate his opponents, but there have been some exceptions, just like when he fused his body with his underlings in order to turn into a giant monster. If he used his power like that more often, maybe he wouldn’t have lost it in the first place.
6Tamaki Amajiki’s Manifest
The Most Versatile Transformation-Type Quirk
Transformation-type Quirks can be quite useful, but they usually suffer the setback of only letting their user transform into one specific thing.Manifest, used byTamaki Amajiki, is one strange, albeit practical, exception,because it lets him transform different parts of his body into whatever it is that he has eaten recently: cow, chicken, octopus, plants, and more.
Truth be told, Tamaki has used Manifest in some really creative and impressive ways, but he has still left a lot to be desired. During the Final War Arc, he managed to create the mighty Plasma Cannon by combining many things he ate with Nejire’s Wave Motion Quirk, but it didn’t seem to even scratch Shigaraki when it was fired against him. Not only was this disappointing, but many fans believe that Tamaki could’ve used Manifest in a much more creative way, like transforming himself into a deadly chimera made of different animal parts.
5Manga Fukidashi’s Comic
A Creative Ability That Was Relegated To The Background
Class 1-B’sManga Fukidashihas a striking design, especially because of his head, which is shaped like a speech bubble. Fans wondered what his Quirk was for years, and they were not disappointed whenComicwas eventually revealed:An ability that lets Manga materialize different onomatopoeia based on various sounds.
This is a really creative Quirk with a lot of practical uses but, after its initial appearance in the Joint Training Arc, Manga never had the chance to use Comic to its fullest potential again. This is especially true during the Final War Arc, where he was relegated to generating electric onomatopoeia so he could charge up U.A High School’s Coffin in the Sky. The most frustrating part is that series likeJojo’s Bizarre Adventurehave already proven how fun a character with this power can be, as seen with Koichi Hirose and his Stand, Echoes.
4Kosei Tsuburaba’s Solid Air
He Would Be Much More Relevant If He Used His Power In Better Ways
Among all the colorful and charismatic characters from Class 1-B, there’s no doubt thatKosei Tsuburabais among the least memorable. This is a shame,because he was one of the very first members of his class to put his Quirk,Solid Air, to good use during the U.A. Sports Festival. Sadly, he hasn’t done much ever since.
Solid Air lets Kosei solidify the air around him and shape it into any form he wants. He has used it to create levitating platforms and to trap opponents in Air Prisons, but there’s so much more he could do with it, especially for offensive purposes. The ability to control the air around people is very overpowered, but Kosei hasn’t really taken advantage of it, which has factored into the fact that many readers can’t even remember who he is.
3Pixie-Bob’s Earth Flow
A Hero Who Can Create Her Own Army Of Monsters
Every member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats is fondly remembered for one reason or another, but it definitely seems likeRyuko Tsuchikawa(aka Pixie-Bob)hasn’t really been the center of the attention very often. It’s strange, because she has a really versatile and powerful Quirk calledEarth Flow. This ability lets her manipulate the surrounding earth, which may initially seem identical to other similar Quirks, like Cement or Softening.
However, there’s one specific feature of Earth Flow that makes it stand out: It can create Earth Beasts, sentient creatures made of soil that Pixie-Bob can control from afar. This incredible ability was only used once, as part of a brief test for Class 1-A in the Forest Training Camp, and it hasn’t been seen since. This is a big wasted opportunity on Pixie-Bob’s part, because the Pro Heroes could’ve definitely used an army of strong Earth Beasts during both of the wars against Shigaraki and All For One.
2Best Jeanist’s Fiber Master
Controlling Everyone’s Clothes Is An Underrated Superpower
With his extravagant appearance and bizarre power,Best Jeanistmay initially look out of place among the other Top Pro Heroes. The truth is, he is much more powerful and efficient than it may seem, becauseFiber Masteris an underrated quirk. The ability to control any type of fiber, especially in a contemporary setting, can be really useful, since almost everybody wears clothes of some kind.
While Best Jeanist has definitely used Fiber Master in fascinating ways — especially when he manipulated giant carbon threads in order to restrain Gigantomachia — he could be much more powerful than he actually is. Every single main villain in the series can be seen wearing clothes, so he technically could swiftly capture all of them. It’s a real shame that the only time he tried to use that very same technique, he did so against All For One, one of the few characters who had the power to set himself free of Fiber Master’s constraints.
1Kudo And Izuku Midoriya’s Gearshift
Deku’s Final Quirk Was Barely Seen Again After Its Reveal
During his final battle against Shigaraki,Izuku Midoriyareveals the last additional Quirk that he can use via One For All:Gearshift, a power that lets its user change the speed at which things accelerate while ignoring the laws of inertia at the same time. Its original user wasKudo, who mostly used it to control the speed of the bullets he shot, but Deku is skilled enough to bring Gearshift to a whole new level.
Witnessing Deku using this newfound power in combination with his other quirks in order to send Shigaraki flying around with powerful attacks was definitely ecstatic. Unfortunately, Gearshift hasn’t been seen much since, and the situation was made much worse by the fact that Izuku had to get rid of all of his Quirks in order to defeat the main antagonist. While he found better uses for Gearshift than Kudo, there still is a lot of untapped potential that was ultimately left on the table.
