My Hero Academia is packed with epic fights between heroes and numerous villains. Each character has a unique quirk, some of which are potentially overpowered. From the UA Sports Festival to the all out battle between heroes and villains, the characters are constantly honing their quirks every day.
The My Hero Academia students train to strengthen their quirks but is there a limit to how strong a quirk can get? Quirk awakenings are a concept mainly brought up in Season 5, though it’s been hinted at throughout the series. What exactly are “quirk awakenings,” and how do they tie into the Quirk Singularity Theory?
Quirk Awakenings
In order for someone to experience a quirk awakening, they need to experience some kind of trauma or life-threatening situation. During this time, the quirk will rapidly evolve at its core. This is different from a quirk simply getting stronger - it’s changing the way the quirk actually works. This has happened to several characters in Season 5 including Tomura Shigaraki and Himiko Toga.
If trauma equals a quirk awakening, why hasn’t everyone had one? Many characters have had trauma in the series, but they didn’t necessarily have quirk awakenings. For example, Shoto Todoroki hasn’t had a quirk awakening, yet he experienced alarming amounts of canonical trauma as a child. Characters that are incredibly young don’t seem to experience quirk awakenings. Due to this fact, it could be that young children can’t have a quirk awakening. The idea that children can’t have quirk awakenings is just a theory due to the fact that it hasn’t been confirmed in the series yet, but it would make a lot of sense in context.
Toga and Shigaraki’s Awakenings
While three characters potentially had awakenings during the My Villain Academia arc, this article will focus on Toga and Shigaraki only. The mental and physical exhaustion of fighting Gigantomachia and needing to deal with the Liberation Army created a perfect environment to potentially have a quirk awakening.
Toga’s quirk awakening happens when she is up against too many opponents for her to handle. During this time, she nearly dies. One of the caveats of Toga's quirk was that she couldn't use the quirk of the person she transformed into. Since her quirk awakening, this has changed. This is where the famous scene with Toga half transformed into Ochako Uraraka comes from. Obviously, Toga uses this quirk in a more destructive way than Uraraka ever will by essentially forcing a crowd of people to fall to their deaths. Toga's intense desire to become more like the people she turns into could have influenced how her quirk evolved as well.
Shigaraki's quirk was already fairly powerful, especially when it first manifested. Even as a child, Shigaraki is able to disintegrate large amounts of matter by touching it. His quirk awakening makes his quirk even more devastating by making it so he can disintegrate things without even touching them. In the anime, they don't currently know how far his range is for this development. Shigaraki's awakening happens for similar reasons to Toga. He was caught in a life or death situation where his exhaustion and lack of sleep almost leads to his demise. After his quirk awakening, Shigaraki starts to lose himself, saying he only has a deep desire to destroy things. His need for a quirk awakening comes from his situation as well as a desire to destroy. Looking at the situations with Toga, and Shigaraki, desire might play a role in quirk awakenings as well.
Is Deku Going Through This?
Is Deku going through a quirk awakening? The answer to this is complicated. One For All is different from other quirks in that it has other quirks inside of it. It can transform from the will of the predecessors (as said by Horikoshi, the author of the manga, himself). Deku's quirk has started evolving, but it might not be a quirk awakening because OFA is so different. Rather than the quirk itself evolving (such as blackwhip or float), the conglomeration of quirks is evolving in the sense that Deku can now use the quirks within it. The quirk already had these quirks within it. Plus, the individual quirks aren't necessarily changing - they're only making themselves known to Deku. One For All also isn't evolving because Deku has gone through something traumatizing, rather it's just "the right time" according to the predecessors. In short, his quirk is evolving, but it isn’t going through the same kind of evolution as the other characters’ quirks. Going by this logic, Deku is not having a quirk awakening as per the definition of a quirk awakening.
Quirk Singularity Theory
The Quirk Singularity Theory, or Quirk Doomsday Theory, was originally proposed by Dr. Kyudai Garaki, the doctor at the beginning of the series who informs Inko Midoriya that her son is quirkless. The Quirk Singularity Theory basically says that as quirks continue to evolve with each generation they’ll become more dangerous and harder to control. Due to the fact that humans evolve slower than their quirks, eventually quirks will become too powerful and no one will be able to control them. While the doctor was laughed at and even ridiculed for this when he proposed it, the theory may be proving to be true.
The next few paragraphs contain spoilers for chapter 360 and onward of the My Hero Academia manga
In recent chapters, there is a character whose quirk is in the midst of unraveling at its core. This is where quirk awakenings and the Quirk Singularity Theory collide - and they collide quickly and dangerously. As mentioned earlier, Shigaraki had a quirk awakening during the My Villain Academia arc, where he was able to disintegrate things without touching them. Due to some more experiments after this, which include All for One trying to take over Shigaraki’s body and mind, Shigaraki’s quirk has evolved nearly beyond his control.
What Shigaraki is currently going through could be considered a second awakening, but this awakening is what is pushing him over the edge. The first quirk awakening Shigaraki had was due to the mental trauma and physical exhaustion he experienced during the battle with the Paranormal Liberation Army. The current situation being classified as a second awakening would make sense due to the fact that Shigaraki is going through a huge mental breaking point. He wants to destroy everything but his inner child is still alive and crying inside. His need to destroy his past self so violently plus his resistance to AFO trying to possess him creates an unstable mental environment. This, coupled with the insane amounts of power running through Shigaraki right now, make for a perfect Quirk Awakening Doomsday recipe.
So What Happens Now?
As seen in recent chapters, quirk awakenings and the Quirk Doomsday Theory are colliding violently. What does this mean for the heroes and villains of the story? Due to quirk awakenings, there's a chance the villains will have an upper hand. On the flip side, Deku's quirk is becoming stronger even without a quirk awakening. If it's possible for OFA to have an awakening, it's possible readers might see it in the next few chapters. However, this is simply a theory based on how prominent the Quirk Doomsday Theory has been in recent chapters.
Season 6 for My Hero Academia will air on October 1, 2022.