My Hero Academia: How does the One For All Quirk work?

One of the most complex and involved powers in mangaka Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia is the One For All Quirk. Wielded primarily by series protagonist Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, the Quirk’s complexity is largely due to how multifaceted it is. There is both the core One For All Quirk itself and the various other Quirk Factors it holds within itself.

As one of the most powerful Quirks in existence, fans are likewise understandably curious as to exactly what it is and how it works. In its most basic form, the One For All Quirk is the result of two different Quirks combining into one. The base Quirk is Yoichi Shigaraki’s Quirk Bestowal ability, which, combined with the Power Stock Quirk forced on him by his brother Zen.

Zen was able to force this Quirk onto Yoichi with his All For One Quirk, which gave the villain his iconic name, which fans are likely more familiar with. In any case, the two Quirks Yoichi now had combined to become One For All, which could both stockpile power and be transferred to others. However, Yoichi wasn’t the first to discover this unique and powerful ability’s mechanics.

That fell to My Hero Academia’s Kudo and Bruce, leaders of a resistance group that defied All For One long before Deku’s story began. After killing Yoichi in front of Kudo, the former’s blood splattering all over the latter transferred the One For All Quirk Factor to him. He and Bruce discovered this later, and this led to the birth of One For All’s long lineage of transference.

Kudo and Bruce started this chain of events due to realizing that the Quirk may eventually cultivate enough power to defeat All For One. Likewise, All For One made it his own mission to track down the Quirk and its users. He did so not out of fear for the Quirk, but out of a dark obsession to reclaim Yoichi, whom he called his “first possession” in life.

How Deku is able to use multiple Quirks in My Hero Academia

While the Quirk’s ability to stockpile power certainly applied to physical strength, it’s also what allowed various other Quirk Factors to be stored in it. The Quirk Factor of every user from Kudo, the second, through Nana Shimura, the seventh, was able to be stored in One For All’s core. This was due to the core growing much stronger as a result of being passed down each time.

The first user, Yoichi, obviously provided the One For All Quirk itself, while the eighth, All Might (or Toshinori Yagi), was Quirkless. However, the Quirk wasn’t strong enough to give access to its stored Factors during All Might’s time wielding it. This is why the ninth user Deku was able to access the other Quirk Factors, since this evolution was fully completed with him.

In total, One For All had stored six other Quirk Factors, each being the original Quirks of one of One For All’s various users. The second user, Kudo Toshitsugu, provided Gearshift, while the third user, Bruce Lee, provided Fa Jin. The fourth user, Hikage Shinomori, provided Danger Sense, and the fifth user, Daigoro Banjo, provided Blackwhip.

Lastly, the sixth user, En Tayutai, provided Smokescreen, while the seventh user, Nana Shimura, provided Float. By the end of the series, Deku had achieved complete and utter mastery over both the One For All Quirk itself and these six other abilities. His mastery over them even impressed the original users of each Quirk itself.

In summation

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The One For All Quirk in and of itself is an ability that allows one to stockpile power and transfer the Quirk itself to another. However, it also stored the Quirk Factors of each prior user who was born with their own unique Quirk Factor. By the time Deku inherited it as the ninth and final user, its power had grown to the point where these other Quirk Factors were accessible and usable.

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