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My Hero Academia’s 5 Most Underused Quirks, Ranked by Potential
Many of the Quirks introduced throughout My Hero Academia evolve in interesting ways that play important roles in the story — but others are tragically underused despite having great potential. The anime’s primary focus is Izuku Midoriya, who’s tasked with mastering the power of One for All and all the Quirks within it. Of course, Midoriya’s not the only hero whose ability puts him in the spotlight over the course of My Hero Academia‘s eight seasons. Flashy and powerful Quirks like Bakugo’s and Todoroki’s get plenty of attention, as do the quiet but useful ones like Aizawa’s Erasure and Eri’s Rewind.
And with My Hero Academia ending recently, we’ve officially explored all the Quirks that the main series has chosen to dedicate time to. Creator Kohei Horikoshi says he’s content with the ones he didn’t get to, but that doesn’t mean that some with great potential weren’t overlooked. These five, in particular, feel under-developed despite having interesting uses.
5) Anivoice (Koji Koda)
Koji Koda is one of the most overlooked students from My Hero Academia‘s Class A, alongside Rikido Sato and Mashirao Ojiro. But while Sugar Rush and Tail don’t present many interesting opportunities, Koda’s Anivoice could be utilized in far cooler ways. Anivoice enables Koda to communicate with and control animals and insects, which we often see him do with smaller creatures. Even then, he mostly uses them to create distractions or perform minor attacks in battle.
With Koda’s Quirk allowing him to speak with the animals, he could have leveraged it for more interesting purposes, including espionage. My Hero Academia could also have shown him controlling larger or more dangerous creatures, which would have made him more valuable on the battlefield. Unfortunately, the series doesn’t spend much time with him, nor does it capitalize on his power’s full potential. It’s not as dangerous as some of the anime’s other underused Quirks, but it’s still a missed opportunity.
4) Lizard Tail Splitter (Setsuna Tokage)
The students from Class B get pushed to the side frequently in My Hero Academia, and one of the most frustrating examples is Setsuna Tokage. Her Lizard Tail Splitter Quirk is a force to be reckoned with, and she proves as much during Season 5’s Joint Training Arc. This power enables her to split her body into many different pieces, all of which are under her control. However, they’re still able to operate independently, allowing her to hear and speak with them.
That last part is particularly interesting because it renders Setsuna capable of doing serious damage. She can scout locations without being noticed, and she can spy on enemies — things the heroes don’t make the best use of during My Hero Academia‘s war arcs. It’s a shame, as this power has serious potential. It’s not as physically intimidating as a few others, but it has great tactical uses.
3) Blood Control (Vlad King)
With Class B getting so little attention in My Hero Academia, perhaps it’s fitting that their homeroom teacher — Vlad King — doesn’t showcase his full potential either. However, it’s a bummer that his Blood Control Quirk is rarely used. After all, it gives him the ability to manipulate his blood once it’s outside his body. It’s pretty similar to Marie Moreau’s power in The Boys‘ Gen V spinoff; Vlad King just can’t use other people’s blood like she can.
And Marie perfectly demonstrates how powerful an ability like this can be, both when attacking enemies and when attempting to restrain them. Vlad King could have stood side-by-side with Aizawa when the time to fight the League of Villains arrived. Instead, he remained on the sidelines, depriving us of gross but deeply cool action moments.
2) Compress (Mr. Compress)
Mr. Compress is one of the earliest members of the League of Villains to be captured, so viewers don’t see him evolve or fight like the rest of the team. Perhaps that’s for the best, as his Compress Quirk could easily become overpowered on the battlefield. We see it in full effect in My Hero Academia Season 3, when he easily shrinks Bakugo and Tokoyami — two of U.A. High’s strongest students — and traps them inside marbles. Used later, this would undoubtedly have tipped the scales in the villains’ favor.
Compress is a seriously underrated Quirk. While it can’t do much physical damage, shrinking people all but assures a win for the person using it. Mr. Compress’ ability takes them off the board peacefully, making it almost impossible for them to fight back or escape. Even if they can’t stay that way forever, it buys the villains time to get the upper hand.
1) Black Hole (Thirteen)
Thirteen is introduced in My Hero Academia Season 1, and we’re told they have one of the most promising Quirks out there — but it’s only used for support. Thirteen’s Black Hole allows them to open vortexes from their fingertips, which then suck up and disintegrate matter. The Pro Hero mostly uses this for clean-up, and it’s easy to see why; heroes in the anime’s world aren’t supposed to kill, and Thirteen’s power could easily become deadly.
Of course, that’s why it has the most potential among My Hero Academia‘s underused Quirks. Surely the Pro Heroes would make exceptions for Earth-shattering threats like Shigaraki and All for One. Thirteen probably could have made quick work of them, especially if they caught them off-guard. It wouldn’t have made for an interesting story, but it would have been a jaw-dropping moment.
What Quirks do you think should have been used more in My Hero Academia? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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