My Hero Academia: What is a Quirk Awakening?

In the latter half of mangaka Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia series, one of the most important and prevalent concepts is a Quirk Awakening. A Quirk Awakening is essentially the evolution of a Quirk after its initial manifestation. These are typically caused by emotional catalysts, such as intense feelings of stress or being in a life-or-death situation.

These evolutions occur on the spot, and cannot be consciously activated or triggered by the user. Typically speaking, a Quirk Awakening results in the corresponding Quirk gaining a new level of strength, or new aspects to its functionality. Ochaco Uraraka’s Zero Gravity Quirk Awakening highlights both, as it removed her Quirk’s weight limit and gave her new abilities.

While prevalent in the later stages of My Hero Academia, they are still considered extremely rare. The Vigilantes spinoff does a good job of highlighting this, seeing All For One witnessing a similar phenomena and being unable to comprehend it. While the Quirks in question weren’t confirmed to be Awakened, his lack of knowledge of the concept shows how rare they are.

Many notable characters in the series undergo a confirmed Quirk Awakening. The most notable characters and Quirks are Tomura Shigaraki’s Decay, Katsuki Bakugo’s Explosion, Himiko Toga’s Transform, Koji Koda’s Anivoice, and Yuga Aoyama’s Navel Laser. Geten, an antagonist of the Meta Liberation Army Arc, and his Ice Ply have also had a Quirk Awakening.

While the specific benefits each of these My Hero Academia characters received are distinct, all of their Quirks changed in some major way. In each case, the Quirk either became much more powerful or versatile than it was before, with both applying to many cases. Aoyama’s Quirk Awakening is also particularly noteworthy, as it shows even gifted Quirks can be Awakened.

Two My Hero Academia characters break the mold of traditional Quirk Awakenings

While above are stated every character confirmed to receive an Awakening, there are similar phenomena present in the series. One of the most notable examples is protagonist Izuku “Deku” Midoriya’s use of One For All. Although not explicitly called an Awakening, his ability to use the other Quirks stored within One For All is both functionally equivalent and was triggered similarly.

Deku also highlights another similar case in My Hero Academia, which sees characters use absurd amounts of power in near-death situations or crises. His fight against Muscular in the Forest Training Camp Arc highlights this. After being nearly defeated, he’s able to rise to his feet and use 100% of One For All’s power, achieving victory with one of his most powerful attacks.

Fan-favorite villain Dabi, also known as Toya Todoroki, also displays this ability in the Final War Arc. After overusing his Blueflame Quirk and pushing his body to its physical limits, his body begins manifesting the ice from his mother’s Frost Quirk. This both contributed to his survival and the story arc’s events, and allowed him to display tremendous power in his final fighting minutes.

In summation

Trending

In My Hero Academia, a Quirk Awakening is a phenomenon in which a Quirk evolves to gain new abilities or transcend previous limitations. These Awakenings are typically triggered by strong emotions, with some of the most common arising from life-or-death situations. However, these Awakenings are extremely rare, and are distinct from other similar cases.

These similar cases include Dabi’s body generating ice from his mother Rei Todoroki’s Frost Quirk. Deku’s iconic final stand against Muscular is also considered distinct from Quirk Awakening. While it can be argued his unlocking the other Quirks within One For All is an Awakening, this has yet to be officially confirmed by the franchise.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback