Deku’s Quirks, Ranked By Usefulness

Warning: Contains Spoilers For My Hero Academia’s Manga

In My Hero Academia, Deku undergoes a major epiphany, learning that his inherited Quirk comes with both baggage and blessings when the previous wielders of One For All appear in his visions. He later realizes that he is able to manifest the Quirks that once belonged to his predecessors, granting him incredible new powers.

Deku gradually learns how to wield them by breaking all the anime battle rules holding him back, and, most impressively, he devises genius strategies that blend different percentages of One For All with his other abilities. That said, Deku’s proficiency level with his new Quirks depends heavily on how useful they are in a given situation.

8 Transference Gave Birth to One For All

First mentioned in chapter #59

After inheriting One For All from All Might, Deku learns that the Quirk has been passed down from generation to generation and that it began with the brother of All For One. Born a sickly and powerless individual, Yoichi nonetheless opposed All For One’s tyranny. Rather than kill his brother, All For One had him imprisoned and eventually forced a Quirk onto him.

However, Yoichi did have an unknown latent ability which allowed him to pass his Quirk to another person. While it’s of no use in battle, Yoichi’s power to transfer One For All to others ensured that new heroes would continue to resist his brother for decades to come.

7 Float Grants Deku Better Mobility and Agility

First used by Deku in chapter #283

Originally belonging to Nana Shimura, All Might’s mentor, Float is a simple Quirk that grants the wielder the ability to hover in the air. It’s not clear how she used it in conjunction with One For All when she was alive. However, Deku has been using it for quite some time now. Float is the second Quirk he unconsciously unlocks when battling My Hero Academia’s evil Tomura Shigaraki in order to save his friends from the latter’s Decay.

Deku gallantly grabs everyone around him with Blackwhip and levitates out of Tomura’s reach, preventing at least a few deaths. Float is also employed against his rematch with Muscular, dodging the villain’s punches rather easily. Shimura’s Quirk doesn’t innately possess any offense or defense potential, though it’s a lot better than using man-made modes of transit.

6 Smokescreen is Indispensable for Camouflage

First used by Deku in chapter #307

One For All’s sixth holder, En, was born with a Quirk known as Smokescreen. Smokescreen creates a dense smog that emanates from the body that can then be used as camouflage. An excellent ability, even if Deku tends to go overboard and release so much smoke that it obscures his own line of sight.

En claims that his Quirk is worthless in a fight, at least until Deku reveals his Full Blast Signature Move so as to hide himself from Lady Nagant’s scrutiny. Unfortunately, Smokescreen is not very helpful against opponents who don’t really need their vision to fight such as All For One, whose Infrared Quirk more than makes up for his lack of eyesight.

5 Fa Jin Creates Bursts of Speed and Power

First used by Deku in chapter #313

The Quirk belonging to the third user, Bruce, Fa Jin, bears a striking resemblance to the Springlike Limbs and Absorption & Release Quirks displayed by All For One and one of his Nomu. Fa Jin derives copious amounts of potential energy through consistent body movements and stores it in the user’s muscles. This can later be converted into kinetic energy for a vast but temporary increase in physical agility and strength.

Fa Jin is extremely handy by itself, and Deku’s integration of the Quirk with One For All and Black Whip makes it significantly more effective. In fact, Deku manages to save Overhaul’s life with this combination by simply outpacing Lady Nagant’s hypersonic projectiles. The limits of Fa Jin usage can probably be stretched even further, with enough practice.

4 Blackwhip is Incredibly Versatile

First used by Deku in chapter #210

Deku’s first Quirk after One For All is Daigoro Banjo’s Blackwhip, a Quirk thatallows him to generate black vein-like extensions from his body. It’s possible to create several simultaneously, directing each tendril to perform a specific task. This Quirk’s strength is dependent on the user’s emotional state, a drawback that Deku turns to his advantage when restraining Tomura Shigaraki.

Deku’s Blackwhip Super Moves include Pinpoint Focus—a technique that spotlights a precise location of Deku’s choosing and extends a tendril from his mouth similar to the quirk used by fellow U.A. student Tsuyu Asui. Blackwhip provides the necessary edge in a risky fight, but the Quirk is far too brittle and erratic to be constantly reliable.

3 Danger Sense is Crucial in Battle

First used by Deku in chapter #286

Hikage Shinomori’s Danger Sense is arguably the most practical ability for a Pro Hero to have given that it warns the user of any imminent threats in their immediate vicinity. Akin to Spider-Man’s iconic Spider-Sense, this Quirk picks up on “evil thoughts” by presumably scanning people around the user.

However, this obviously means that Deku won’t be able to react in time if his opponents are either faster than him or are able to suppress their malicious intentions. Despite failing to evade Lady Nagant’s bullets with Danger Sense, Deku acknowledges the immeasurable practical value the Quirk possesses in most cases. For one thing, he’d be able to perceive All For One from miles away.

2 Gearshift’s Power Defies Logic and Physics

First used by Deku in chapter #368

Gearshift is the Quirk belonging to the Second One For All user, Kudo. Gearshift is capable of manipulating the speed and trajectory of moving objects, greatly enhancing the force with which they eventually strike. Gearshift is so powerful that it’s able to break the laws of physics, ignoring the principle of inertia entirely.

However, due to the extreme power that it possesses from being held within One for All for so long, it can be difficult to control, and it comes with a major recoil effect that can completely debilitate the wielder if they’re not careful. Gearshift’s power is so great it has been designated as a “last resort,” something Deku should only use if he’s backed into a corner.

1 One For All’s True Power is Beyond Comprehension

Passed on to Deku in chapter #2

One For All is a force of nature, overwhelming beyond most scopes of imagination within the context of the story. Nobody—not Deku, All Might, or any of their predecessors—is able to comprehend the Quirk in its totality. All they know is that One For All is alive by every definition of the word, and it might even be capable of sentient thought.

In addition to being the source of incalculable strength, this Quirk is a symbolic torch that breathes a radiant light on All For One’s darkness, explaining why My Hero Academia’s main villain wants to steal it so desperately. All Might is presently the only one of the nine users to defeat All For One in a one-on-one fight, which he does on two separate occasions. Nevertheless, cleansing the world of an overpowered Quirk thief will be Deku’s responsibility in the end, and it’s something he can only achieve in My Hero Academia with One For All.

My Hero Academia is available from MANGA Plus and Viz Media.

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My Hero Academia

In My Hero Academia, some humans have superpowers called quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and since he was a child, he has always wanted to be a hero. However, his lack of a quirk has always held him back, but a chance encounter with All Might after discovering a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers around Deku and a class of heroes-in-training at UA. This school shapes young quirk users into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-tempering tasks. With young Deku inheriting the “One-For-All” quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while facing off with dastardly supervillains.

Cast

Aoi Yuki , Ayane Sakura , Christopher R. Sabat , Yûki Kaji , Nobuhiko Okamoto , Luci Christian , David Matranga , Justin Briner , Kenta Miyake , Clifford Chapin , Daiki Yamashita

Release Date

April 3, 2016

Seasons

5

Franchise

My Hero Academia

Production Company

Bones

Number of Episodes

113