Highlights
- Even with weak quirks, characters like Sir Nighteye and Eraser Head excel through discipline and creativity.
- Salaam’s thin man transformation and Spinner’s gecko appearance showcase unique quirks in
My Hero Academia
. - Stain proves that relentless determination can make up for a weak quirk, as he hunts and kills heroes with his Bloodcurdle ability.
Although the overwhelming majority of humanity in the world of My Hero Academia is born with a quirk, that doesn’t mean everybody is blessed with a powerful quirk. Quite a few of them only get a subpar or even downright weak quirk. Those people usually end up living a regular life or at best become sidekicks or petty criminals.
However, there are a handful of people who thrive despite their apparent weak quirks. Some as heroes, while others prefer to be villains. One thing they have in common is the fact that they don’t let their weak quirks hold them back from being great at what they do. So here are 7 strong characters with weak quirks, ranked by how weak their quirks are, with the first one being fairly decent and the last one being super weak.
7 Sir Nighteye
Decent Quirk Amplified by Discipline and Determination
- Real Name: Mirai Sasaki
- Quirk Name: Foresight
- First Appearance: Episode 63
Sir Nighteye’s quirk allows him to see the target’s future actions accurately for an entire hour. He can only see the future of one target at a time, but there’s no limit to how far into the future he can see within that hour. Unfortunately, once Nighteye activates his Foresight, he has to wait for 24 hours before he can use it again.
Limited target and long cool-down time are already such a huge weakness, but there is one other glaring weakness for this quirk. Just because you can see it, doesn’t mean you can react to it or do anything about it. After all, just because you can see a baseball hurling toward you at 75 mph doesn’t mean you can evade it on time. What makes Nighteye so impressive is the fact that through sheer discipline and determination, he manages to train his body so that it can comfortably move following the future that he sees. Thanks to this, it is nearly impossible to land a hit on him.
6 Eraser Head
Decent Quirk Amplified by Creativity and Relentlessness
- Real Name: Shota Aizawa
- Quirk Name: Erasure
- First Appearance: Episode 5
Eraser Head’s quirk allows him to nullify his target’s quirk temporarily simply by looking at them. In order for his quirk to work, Eraser Head has to see the physical body of the target directly with no obstruction between them. Furthermore, he can also disable multiple quirks at the same time as long as the targets are within his line of sight. Unfortunately, Erasure will only be active as long as he keeps his eyes open, which leads to a severe case of dry eyes.
Eraser Head’s Erasure has the same problem as Nighteye’s Foresight. It may be a great quirk but that doesn’t mean they can defeat the enemy with it. Sure, some weaker opponents may lose their combat ability once Erasure hits them, but if Eraser Head tries to use his quirk on an opponent who is already gifted with enormous physical prowess, such as Endeavor or High-End Nomus, then they can simply knock him down with the sheer brute force generated by their muscle. To compensate for that major weakness, Eraser Head developed his unique binding cloth fighting style and trained his body to the absolute limit in order to be faster and more agile than his opponents.
5 Salaam
He Turns Into a Thin Man
- Real Name: Unknown
- Quirk Name: Papyrus
- First Appearance: My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission
Salaam is one of the top heroes from Egypt. His quirk allows him to flatten his body to be as thin as paper, hence the name papyrus. Being super thin like this enables him to slip through any gap and even glide in the wind to cover a huge distance with ease.
It’s unclear how Salaam can use this quirk in combat. Maybe he can wrap himself around the enemy to restrain them or maybe he can move his super thin body at super speed to cleanly cut through his opponent. One thing’s for sure, it is not a practical quirk for a superhero. Not only that but mold can also grow on his body, especially in places with high humidity, just like a real papyrus. The fact that Salaam managed to become one of the top heroes in his country is a testament to his hard work and creativity, rather than the power of his quirk.
4 Nana Shimura
She’ll Only Float Around Without One-For-All
- Real Name: Nana Shimura
- Quirk Name: Float
- First Appearance: Episode 24
Although Nana Shimura is the Seventh User of One-For-All, which gives her access to several quirks, this list will focus solely on her original quirk, Float. As the name suggests, this quirk allows her to float in the air. She can freely control how high she hovers in midair, but it’s unclear whether or not she can maneuver or even propel herself forward without outside force.
While being able to float is certainly a handy ability, this is not really a quirk suitable to fight supervillains. The only reason why Nana can fight against powerful enemies is because she knows how to use OFA to enhance her innate quirk. Thanks to the perfect synergy between Float and the other quirk within OFA, she manage to stand toe to toe against the evil overlord himself, the All-for-One. Without it, all she can do is float around.
3 Spinner
Gecko’s Looks Without Gecko’s Power
- Real Name: Shuichi Iguchi
- Quirk Name: Gecko
- First Appearance: Episode 31
Spinner is one of the founding members of the League of Villains and he is also one of the lieutenants for the Paranormal Liberation Front. His quirk transformed his body into that of an anthropomorphic gecko permanently. Other than his altered appearance, the only notable benefit of his quirk is the ability to stick to any surface, just like a gecko.
Real-life geckos have excellent night vision, can stick on any surface, can detach their tails and grow them back, and some can even walk on water. Unfortunately for Spinner, apart from the aforementioned sticky fingers, he doesn’t inherit any other special gecko abilities. Furthermore, the ability to stick to a wall is pretty much useless once he goes to open places with nothing to stick on, such as a field, a body of water, or a desert. The only reason why he is such a big threat is because he trained his body to increase his strength, and mastered the art of sword fighting.
2 Kudo
The First Hero Who Stands Up Against All-For-One
- Real Name: Kudo
- Quirk Name: Gearshift
- First Appearance: Episode 131
Kudo is the leader of the Resistance who dares to stand up against All-For-One during the height of his evil reign. He is also the second user of the One-For-All. Kudo’s quirk allows him to alter the speed of any object that moves through the air. He mainly uses his quirk to change the speed and trajectory of bullets, either the ones that he shoots himself or bullets that are flying toward him.
As the second user of One-For-All, there is no other quirk that he can use. Fortunately, OFA’s ability to store energy greatly enhances his Gearshift to the point that he can alter the speed of bigger objects, including human beings, with no upper ceilings as to how fast he can increase the speed of said objects. Weak quirk aside, what made Kudo so important is the fact that he is the first hero who dares to stand up against AFO. In a way, he is a beacon of hope that started a wave of resistance that continues across generations until it eventually takes down the evil overlord.
1 Stain
A Hero Killer With A Ridiculously Weak Quirk
- Real Name: Chizome Akaguro
- Quirk Name: Bloodcurdle
- First Appearance: Episode 24
Stain’s quirk allows him to paralyze his target after ingesting their blood. It may sound like a great power at first, but then you realize that he can only paralyze them for 10 minutes max. Not only that, but the target’s blood type also greatly affects the duration of the paralyzing effect. Drawing first blood on pro heroes is already a difficult task, but then having to work around such limitations proves that this quirk is actually more of a hassle than a benefit.
The fact that Stain manages to hunt and kill so many heroes with this weak quirk is actually a testament to his relentlessness and obsessive mindset. He trains his body to the absolute limit, chooses the right weapons, creates a unique fighting style to complement his quirks, and carefully crafts a plan to ensure he can take down his enemies as effectively and efficiently as possible.
He does all this not for money or fame, but to clean up society from those who are unfit to be a hero. That’s why if there’s anybody who deserves the title of a strong character who thrives despite having a weak quirk, then it has to be Stain.
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