Strong Characters With Weak Quirks In My Hero Academia

Key Takeaways

  • 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 that everybody is blessed with a powerful one. 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.

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However, there is a handful of people who thrive despite their apparent weak quirks in My Hero Academia, 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. Here are some strong My Hero Academia 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.


Updated October 23, 2024, by Harry Nugraha: After a decade of publication, My Hero Academia finally reached its end back in August of 2024. With the story having now concluded, many fans are likely looking back at the journey MHA went on in order to become what it is today. Initially releasing back in 2014, the series has featured a plethora of unique characters that many fans quickly came to love, both because of their personalities and their quirks. There are several strong characters who have weak quirks in My Hero Academia. As such, this list has been updated to feature even more.


10 Soramitsu

A Terrible Quirk For Everyday Life

My Hero Academia - Soramitsu Tabe Using Quirk On Suneater

  • Real Name: Soramitsu Tabe
  • Quirk Name: Food
  • First Appearance: Episode 70


Soramitsu’s quirk allows him to munch anything he wants. From living organisms to a slab of concrete walls, he can devour anything in a matter of minutes. Thanks to this quirk, Soramitsu possesses extremely sharp and durable teeth that can chew through anything and a bottomless stomach that can instantly digest whatever he consumes.

On paper, this doesn’t sound like a bad quirk at all. After all, Soramitsu managed to give Suneater quite a hard time with this quirk. The weakness of this quirk, however, is not its combat capability, but rather the fact that it is terrible for everyday life. Because Soramitsu’s stomach can digest anything in seconds, he is basically living in a constant state of starvation. That’s why he was nothing but skin and bones all his life.

9 Skeptic

Brilliant Skill But A Weak Quirk

Skeptic in My Hero Academia


  • Real Name: Tomoyasu Chikazoku
  • Quirk Name: Anthropomorph
  • First Appearance: Episode 108

Skeptic’s quirk allows him to transform human-sized objects into living puppets. He can freely alter the appearance of his puppets, and he can make as many puppets as he likes. Unfortunately for him, the strength of each puppet is similar to that of the average adult man. That’s why he mainly uses these puppets to do manual labor or create lots of puppets to overwhelm enemies. While this quirk is quite useful against low to mid-level heroes, it’s utterly useless against top heroes.

Skeptic’s true strength does not come from his quirk, but rather from his remarkable skill as a hacker. He is responsible for the entire security and communication network of the Meta Liberation Army and the Paranormal Liberation Front. On top of that, he also handled the intelligence gathering for the organization. Without him, the heroes would’ve found the enemy’s lair a long time ago. La Brava is technically a better hacker than Skeptic, but considering how much damage he has caused, both directly and indirectly, Skeptic is undoubtedly way more dangerous than La Brava.


8 Lemillion

An Extremely Tricky Quirk to Use

my-hero-academia-149-lemillion

  • Real Name: Mirio Togata
  • Quirk Name: Permeation
  • First Appearance: Episode 62

Lemilliion’s quirk allows him to phase through anything, be it living creatures or inanimate objects. He can freely make his whole body, or parts of his body, intangible. Mirio can use this quirk for offense and defense, but it is especially great for infiltration missions. Add to this his ability to predict an enemy’s movements, and fans get one of the strongest young heroes in the country.


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What most people don’t realize, however, is the fact that Permeation is an incredibly tricky quirk to use. Mirio has to consciously control which part of his body to activate his Permeation on. Not to mention when he uses Permeation on his whole body, everything including light and oxygen will pass through him, which means he can’t see or breathe during the full Permeation mode. This quirk is so hard to control that even Mirio’s father, who has the same quirk, rarely uses his Permeation ability in his daily life. The fact that Mirio can be a top hero with such a tricky quirk is a testament to his hard work and determination.

7 Sir Nighteye

A Decent Quirk Amplified By Discipline And Determination

Nighteye with a film reel in My Hero Academia

  • 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 one can see it doesn’t mean they can react to it or do anything about it. After all, just because someone can see a baseball hurling toward them at 75 mph doesn’t mean that they can evade it in 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

A Decent Quirk Amplified By Creativity And Relentlessness

Eraser Head in My Hero Academia

  • 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

The egyptian hero Salaam motivates Kaminari, Sero, and Mineta in My Hero Academia

  • 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.

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It’s unclear how Salaam can use this quirk in combat. Maybe he can wrap himself around the enemy to restrain them, or perhaps 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

Nana Shimura in My Hero Academia


  • 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, Float is her original qurik. 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 for fighting 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 manages to stand toe to toe against the evil overlord himself, the All-for-One. Without it, all she could do is float around.


3 Spinner

Gecko’s Looks Without Gecko’s Power

Spinner attached to a wall, thanks to his Gecko quirk in My Hero Academia

  • 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

Manga panel of One for All's 2nd user from my hero academia

  • 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.


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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 who 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

Akaguro Chizome (Stain) talking to All Might in My Hero Academia

  • 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 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 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 heroes. 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.


My Hero Academia

Release Date
April 3, 2016

Seasons
7

Studio
Bones

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