Best Abilities That Aren't Quirks In My Hero Academia

While Tomura and Deku possess multiple Quirks courtesy of their All For One and One For All, respectively, these powers aren’t the only abilities that make My Hero Academia quite exciting to watch. In fact, some people among the cast possess special abilities that are surprisingly not Quirks, giving them a keen edge in combat by mere virtue of their training or instincts.

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By  Emedo Destiny

While these powers aren’t the likes of the Todoroki family’s control over fire or ice, or even other extremely powerful Quirks, these abilities can give their users a keen edge in the intense fight scenes and moments of My Hero Academia. In fact, such is the seamless integration of these abilities with Quirks that they seem a “part” of the powerset. However, just what are these interesting non-Quirk abilities?

Updated November 25, 2024 by Rhenn Taguiam: With My Hero Academia Season 7 ending on a massive cliffhanger, fans of the series now await with bated breath as to the eventual fates of All Might and Izuku Midoriya against their mentor-mentee rivals, All For One and Tomura Shigaraki.

And while manga fans already know the conclusion to the series (don’t spoil the anime-only folk!), fans eager to theorycraft what’s left of the climactic showdown might want to explore the entire skillsets of the characters in question - especially talents or abilities that seem like Quirks but turn out to be entirely 100% from the character’s skill and perseverance. Among abilities that seem to be Quirks, but aren't, include being durable enough to adapt to multiple Quirks, undergoing enough training to empower a Quirk, and even the very birth of the first person to have a Quirk.

1 Immaculate Quirkception

The Birth Of The First Quirk User

Despite the world of My Hero Academia featuring a majority of its populace as Quirk users, it’s safe to say that there should be an instance where an ordinary person gives birth to the first-ever being with a Quirk. In the anime’s history, this is officially attributed to the Luminescent Baby - an unnamed infant whose birth was remarked by many as the first recorded instance of a person being born with a Quirk. As the series progressed, it hinted that it was actually All For One's mother who was among the first people born with a Quirk but had no way of being officially recorded as Meta Abilities weren't known at the time.

Regardless of who audiences consider as the first-ever Quirk user in the world, the existence of Quirks is nothing short of miraculous. After all, it just so happened that the “next stage” of human evolution - that of receiving superhuman abilities - chose to happen within the wombs of otherwise ordinary mothers.

2 Quirk-Induced Physiological Adjustments

The Body Naturally Makes One’s Quirks Less Dangerous

When All Might introduced Deku to the idea of becoming his successor, he said Deku had to go through intense physical training if he ever wanted to have a shot at controlling One For All’s powers. This implication of Deku “not being compatible” with his Quirk isn’t just due to his nature as a Quirkless - but on the nature of how each body eventually adapts to the Quirk given to them.

While some Quirk users like Katsuki Bakugo seem naturally immune to the nitroglycerin produced by his sweat or Shoto Todoroki’s ice-and-fire halves balancing each other, his other classmates often suffer different levels of exhaustion and lethargy when overusing their Quirks. The only way to counteract this isn’t provided by their Quirks. Rather, it’s only through extending their physical endurance that the protagonists become more capable of overcoming the strain of overuse. Thanks to training, Denki Kaminari can resist short-circuiting his brain when using his electricity, and Ochaco Uraraka can overcome the motion sickness from her gravity manipulation.

3 Multi-Quirk Endurance

A Body Trained To Carry The Burden Of Many Quirks

While the likes of Deku and Tomura Shigaraki have demonstrated the quick thinking and physiological attunement to adapt to using many Quirks at once, each of them has used different methods of “bypassing” the usual setback of only one body being able to physically use a single type of Quirk. This Multi-Quirk Endurance isn’t something that their Quirks naturally provided them, as it’s demonstrated that someone may be able to harm themselves by virtue of having a Quirk their body cannot contain.

This Multi-Quirk Endurance has been achieved by these characters in unique ways, none of which are Quirk-based in nature. For instance, All Might had to make sure Deku was at the peak of his physical ability to even use the raw power of One For All, which even then almost always constantly tried to break his body. Meanwhile, Tomura Shigaraki had to rely on experimentation to develop a body capable of sustaining All For One’s Quirks. Had it not been for this physical preparation, it’s likely that either one of them would perish as soon as multiple Quirks had entered their system.

4 Near-Superhuman Reflexes

Adapting To High-Speed Situations

It’s unsurprising for a shonen series like My Hero Academia to have fight scenes where both hero and villain surprise each other with just how fast their reaction times can become. However, with even the absurd Quirk being grounded in physics, the logic extends that its users need to use their limited human capabilities to adjust to their abilities. It’s this limitation that makes the likes of Katsuki Bakugo impressive with his Near-Superhuman Reflexes.

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While other heroes demonstrate this with their abilities, Bakugo’s Explosion Quirk, which releases explosive sweat, demands keen reflexes for proper usage. Bakugo already impresses when he’s shown using his explosions for both offense and high-speed propulsion. However, Bakugo also managed to adapt to his Quirk to such an extent that he could make minute adjustments to his powerset based on his reactions to opponents. Such was his improvement that a grievously wounded Bakugo in the Final War could not only dodge extremely fast attacks but even maintain the position of fast-moving opponents.

5 Instinctive Coordination

Know Exactly How To Use Abilities To Support Allies

While synchronized teams shouldn’t be new to the eyes of the shonen fan accustomed to Ino-Shika-Cho of Naruto, a series with some semblance of real-world grounding like My Hero Academia can send Instinctive Coordination to another level of impressive. As only a few Quirk users have precognitive or mind-reading abilities, most cooperative battles in My Hero Academia involved combatants using their instincts, pre-existing knowledge of their teammates, and the current physics of the battlefield as a basis for their actions.

Such a situation is best highlighted in the Joint Training Battle, where Round 4 saw ultra-competitive and hyper-independent Katsuki Bakugo leading his Class 1-A team to victory. Bakugo being known for his brashness was an initial concern until he made his team realize that he had their back as long as they had his. This resulted in quite a swift match, where Bakugo took charge with his explosive Quirk while the rest of the team provided supportive power. This level of coordination was to an extent unseen in the series before, where the students often had to discuss their plans beforehand.

6 Superior Marksmanship

Maximizing Long-Ranged Powers

One of the reasons why some Quirk users decide to be superheroes and supervillains is the nature of their abilities. Should one possess a Quirk tied to an aggressive power, they will likely take up a more combative profession. Such situations happened to Snipe and Lady Nagant, as their Quirks are tailored specifically for combat: Snipe’s Homing makes projectile chase targets, and Nagant’s Rifle allows her elbow to become a rifle capable of launching her hair as bullets. However, even Snipe admitted he couldn’t hold a candle to Lady Nagant’s Superior Marksmanship.

Aside from Lady Nagant’s combat training under the Hero Public Safety Commission, her marksmanship’s evolution to accommodate her Quirk is praised by both No. 2 Pro Hero Hawks and supervillain All For One. Such was Lady Nagant’s proficiency with firearms - especially her own Quirk - that she could use it in near-superhuman conditions. She can shoot targets despite caveats such as darkness and rainfall, and can even shoot targets from behind. She can even bypass the danger-detection and mobility Quirks of Izuku when she has him as a target.

7 Support Item Invention

Creating Support Items To Aid Heroes

In a world where most people possess superpowers, it’s normal for others to take the mantle of superheroes and supervillains. Thanks to schools like the U.A. High School, Quirk users with no combat aptitude can still use their natural talents in unique ways, whether in business or engineering. The Department of Support has one of the most impressive non-Quirk abilities in the series, courtesy of Mei Hatsume and her genius skill of Support Item Invention.

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Given Mei’s infamy for inventing useful and useless (?) Gadgets, it’s surprising that her Quirk Zoom simply allows her to see as far as five kilometers. Yet, such was her engineering aptitude that she’s hailed the best inventor of her generation. It’s implied that her fellow students regularly ask her to make their Support Items or hero-aiding gear, and she created Air Force Gloves that aided Izuku control his superhuman strength. She was also consulted on improving the security systems of U.A. High School in the impending war against the League of Villains, creating unique upgrades such as a modular school system.

8 Impromptu Molecular Computation

Identify Which Items Need To Be Created At Any Given Moment

Among Quirk users in the story of My Hero Academia, Creation by Momo Yaoyorozu is among the most flexible due to its nature. At its core, Momo can use her fat as “raw material” to create any inanimate object. While excessive use can tax her body, the objects she can create can have complex properties: an insulated blanket, cannons, and even a tracking device. However, one other quality of Momo makes her such an impressive Pro Hero candidate: Impromptu Molecular Computations.

One huge caveat of Creation for readers is that Momo can only create objects provided she knows their molecular makeup. However, what’s more impressive is how her ability implies she also has to understand the internal circuitry and builds of her more complex creations. Moreover, her skill to know exactly what she needs to create in any situation makes her an effective leader in battle. With her analytical prowess, Momo can turn the tide of a losing battle with the right tool. For this reason, Momo is commonly the first target of opponents in training exercises, as she’s often the “gal with the plan” in any team.

9 Incredible Pain Tolerance

Bear Pain From Untapped Surging Power

When All Might decided to take in Izuku Midoriya as his student, he knew the child barely had the training and physical aptitude needed to bear the burden of One For All. The series shows that despite Deku’s prior training, his body can only cope with a fraction of its power. As the U.A. High School’s tests often force students to use their Quirks to their limits, Izuku unavoidably injures himself by simply trying to release One For All, much more control of its powers.

However, the extent of the franchise’s story shows the Incredible Pain Tolerance that Deku possesses given the nature of his injuries. Before his internship, Deku regularly broke his bones and led parts of his body to paralysis by simply using One For All’s super strength. Even as Deku had more training in One For All’s powers, a medical diagnosis permanently stopped him from using superhuman strength through conventional punches, as breaking his arm one more time while using it would permanently render it useless.

10 Indomitable Willpower

Overcome Even The Harshest Of Struggles

It’s when shonen protagonists such as Goku and Naruto Uzumaki remain eager to stand up even after suffering harsh injuries, demonstrating a hallmark of heroism: Indomitable Willpower. In turn, it’s unsurprising for My Hero Academia protagonist Deku to even stare at the face of death if it means protecting others. Deuteragonist Katsuki Bakugo also demonstrates this to some degree, where his drive to win easily allows him to push above and beyond the expectations of others. It’s partially because of their unwavering willpower that both of them have become the primary motivators of Class 1-A’s efforts to be better heroes.

However, a more horrifying instance of Indomitable Willpower is seen in the megalomaniacal villain All For One. Such was All For One’s inflated sense of self and pure malice that he’s constantly able to overpower the young villain Shigaraki Tomura’s consciousness. Even during his presumed defeat, Shigaraki needed only to waver for a moment for a fragment of All For One’s willpower to overwhelm the young villain fully.