Summary
- Trigger is a dangerous drug that amplifies Quirks, turning normal citizens into unpredictable threats.
- Ideo Trigger is a more potent version with even more enhanced Quirk amplification but comes with severe risks.
- Trigger is tightly controlled and mainly circulates in underground markets, with strict regulations and penalties in place.
Within the My Hero Academia world, most of the population has developed superpowers known as Quirks. However, not all Quirks are created equal - some are much more powerful than others. This is where the illegal drug Trigger comes in. Created to boost weak Quirks, Trigger has since been adopted by villain groups to enhance existing Quirks to dangerous new levels. Trigger amplifies Quirks beyond their natural limits, allowing those who take it to access new levels of destructive power. However, this amplification comes at a cost, as it also diminishes the user's sense of reason and control.
This has made Trigger one of the most feared substances in the MHA universe. Its ability to take ordinary Quirks and make them exceedingly potent in unintended and uncontrollable ways means it can turn otherwise normal citizens into wild and unpredictable threats. Between strengthening enemies and endangering civilian lives, Trigger poses serious problems for heroes attempting to establish order and safety within the MHA world.
My Hero Academia: The History of Quirks
The history of Quirks is stained with blood, discrimination, and a battle for survival. How did Quirks become known as they are today?
What is Trigger?
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Anime Debut |
Episode 68, "Let's Go, Gutsy Red Riot" |
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Manga Debut |
Chapter 1 (Vigilantes), "I'm Here", Chapter 133, "Catch Up, Kirishima" |
|
Effects |
Amplifies Quirk power |
Trigger is a type of performance-enhancing drug that is known to amplify the powers of an individual's Quirk. However, it comes with significant risks as it weakens the user's mental faculties like reasoning and decision-making.
Trigger works by directly targeting the parts of the brain responsible for controlling Quirks. By artificially stimulating these areas, it provides a temporary boost to the strength, duration, or precision of a person's Quirk abilities. This allows even those with relatively weak Quirks to exhibit enhanced powers for a while.
This drug is usually administered through injection using pre-filled syringes, with the neck being a common site for injection. Trigger’s quality and potency can vary greatly depending on the region in which it was produced. Versions manufactured in parts of Asia tend to have weaker and briefer effects than products from other areas like America, whose impacts may last around an hour or two.
Due to its ability to augment Quirks beyond natural limits, Trigger is tightly controlled and mainly circulates in underground or illicit markets. Several governments have enacted strict regulations and penalties around its distribution and use, recognizing the societal risks of empowering criminal elements with artificially powered Quirks. In some places, licensed medical professionals are allowed to prescribe regulated variants under strict oversight to treat unrelated conditions.
Ideo Trigger: A More Dangerous Form
A more potent version of Trigger known as the Ideo Trigger also exists. Ideo Trigger is created by mixing additional psychoactive compounds into the standard Trigger formulation. The effects of Ideo Trigger are even more enhanced Quirk amplification, but it comes at the significant risk of inducing a temporary loss of reason and berserker-like rage in the user. Under the influence, one's Quirk powers are maximized, but they completely lack control over their actions and emotions. Prolonged use can also permanently discolor the tongue black due to circulatory damage caused by the drug's toxicity.
Ideo Trigger can be administered through intravenous injection like the standard Trigger drug. However, researchers have also devised an oral form that is ingestible rather than injected. While this variant of Ideo Trigger is less impactful than the injectable type, it lacks the extreme psychotropic properties that cause the user to fly into a bestial frenzy. They can access an enhanced Quirk without entirely losing reason or rationality.
In rare instances, Ideo Trigger has been aerosolized into gaseous form. When inhaled, this airborne version impacts all Quirk users in the vicinity, overriding their self-control over their powers and turning them into uncontrolled, rampaging threats. Anyone exposed to the Ideo Trigger gas experiences a total loss of Quirk management abilities, endangering themselves and others with unconstrained Quirk manifestations until it passes out of their system. Its effects are incredibly dangerous due to this disinhibiting property across a wide area.
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Trigger's Illegal Status and Villainous Distribution
The origins of Trigger can be traced back to early attempts to enhance Quirks. It was first developed to amplify weak abilities but was soon diverted towards criminal purposes. As a result, Trigger was banned across countries like Japan and formed an underground market exploited by gangs and drug trafficking rings. In Japan specifically, the villain All For One took a keen interest in Trigger's effects and helped craft the more potent variant Ideo Trigger that induced violent, berserker-like states.
Years later, All For One's villain organization, known as the Villain Factory, openly distributed Trigger in Naruhata City. They gave doses to street thugs and addicts to study the drug's impacts. Particular individuals with potential were then kidnapped, infused with heavy Trigger doses, and transformed into superpowered "Next-Level Villains" for All For One's schemes. The alterations were said to be irreversible due to the immense Trigger amounts used. Criminal groups also engaged in Trigger trafficking, including the infamous Shie Hassaikai syndicate.
On the international stage, Trigger encountered the cult Humarise, which forcibly developed deadly new applications. Scientists, under duress, created stockpiles of gaseous Ideo Trigger concentrated into bombs. Dubbed "Trigger Bombs," they could induce fatal, uncontrollable Quirk overload in whole populations just from inhalation. Humarise plotted a coordinated Trigger Bomb attack across cities to wipe out most Quirk users. Only heroic intervention stopped their horrific plans in time, though authorities continue dismantling the remaining Trigger operations and stockpiles given its persistent underground activities.
Notable Trigger Users Throughout the Series
A wide array of villains and vigilantes within My Hero Academia have used Trigger to further their objectives or enhance native Quirk abilities.
Villain Users
- A minor villain saw his Blade Quirk amplified, sprouting many long blades from his body that he could control.
- Joi Irinaka of the Shie Hassaikai was able to affect a much larger area with his Mimicry Quirk and even merge with an entire facility.
- Rikiya Katsukame of the Shie Hassaikai could absorb stamina without contact using his amplified Energy Suck.
- Smugglers boosted smoke and unleashed a large smokescreen to escape pursuit.
Vigilantes Users
- Rapt Tokaga took on pteranodon-like features with his amplified Lizard Quirk.
- Moyuru Tochi transformed into a flaming rock golem due to his enhanced flames.
- Soga Kugisaki sprouted powerful spikes as a result of his amplified Spike Quirk.
- Mario Kugutsu became a four-armed giant through Playtime amplification.
Noteworthy Cases
- Akira Iwako, whose Quirk was amplified to a Hardening Transformation-type Quirk with additional abilities like Enlargement and Super Strength.
- Teruo Unagisawa, whose eel Quirk was modified by prolonged Trigger use into an electric eel physiology.
- Fighters in Underground Masquerade and Bee☆Pop saw their quirks spiral out of control when exposed to Trigger gas.
So, in multiple instances, Trigger consistently boosted users' natural Quirks but sometimes induced uncontrollable urges or even longer-term bodily mutations depending on the variant and quantity consumed. Both villains and vigilantes encountered risks amid its perceived empowerment.
My Hero Academia is available to stream on Prime Video.
- Release Date
- 2016 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- TBS, MBS, Nippon TV
- Directors
- Shouji Ikeno, Tsuyoshi Tobita, Ikuro Sato, Takudai Kakuchi, Masashi Abe, Tetsuya Miyanishi, Kazuma Komatsu, Yoshifumi Sasahara, Masayuki Otsuki, Daisuke Tsukushi, Takayuki Yamamoto, Yohei Fukui, Takuro Tsukada, Masatoyo Takada, Naomi Nakayama, Sayaka Morikawa, Takanori Yano
Cast
-
Daiki YamashitaIzuku Midoriya (voice) -
Kaito IshikawaManga Fukidashi (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
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.
- Seasons
- 8
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Kōhei Horikoshi
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu, Crunchyroll
