Alchemy is the Quirk used by Valdo Gollini.[1]
Description#
Alchemy allows the user to transmute the matter of any non-living substance they touch. The user can create nearly anything they desire, from a simple bullet to more complex objects such as fully operational drones that can record live videos. The transmuted object does not have to take a physical form and can have its state of matter be morphed into water or a glowing kinetic energy form, the latter of which can produce powerful shockwaves that can blow down several buildings from a single swipe. While the Quirk can't transform living organisms, it can create lifeless constructs that can act and follow orders mindlessly, similar to the golems created by Simon Gollini's Monster Summon.
Alchemy can also be used to modify the user's appearance by creating a full bodysuit that can change their outward form, such as their physical build, as well as their skin and hair color, and even their clothes. Valdo's appearance change can be drastically different from his true form, such as him taking on All Might's towering and muscular physique, and later morphing into a giant monster when the Quirk was boosted by Anna Scervino's Overmodification.
Alchemy is also able to augment the environment around the user, giving them the ability to attack at long range, use surprise attacks such as creating pitfalls, erecting stone pillars from the ground, and sprouting secret doors from the walls and the ceiling.
Valdo can also continuously modify anything he maintains contact with, allowing him to reverse and repair any damage sustained to his creations as he wishes.[2]
For the vast majority of Valdo's appearance, this Quirk is only seen being used when under the effects of Overmodification. Its true abilities and limitations without being enhanced are unknown.
Weaknesses#
Despite its overwhelming capabilities, Alchemy is a rather simple Quirk in nature and can be exploited, for all it can do is transmute objects, which can be destroyed, dodged, and more. In addition, while the kinetic shockwaves are powerful, they are not actually being produced from Valdo's body and serve more as a way to imitate and copy All Might's strength. Upon realizing this, Deku, Dynamight, and Shoto were eventually able to quickly break Valdo's creations and defeat him.
Alchemy is unable to transmute living beings or create actual life, as seen with the trees in the forest area of Valdo's fortress being artificial and fake. This extends to Valdo's transmuted appearance as well; rather than an actual transformation, it is simply a bodysuit that began to tear once it received significant damage, revealing parts of his much weaker, original body. This is likely the reason why Valdo favored ranged attacks to keep his opponents at bay over close combat, as his body that he altered to resemble All Might's muscular form, while durable, was largely a superficial change of his appearance.
If the user is knocked out, then Alchemy's creations will dissipate and cease to function, as seen when the golem monsters disappeared and the Symbol of Paradise began to fall apart when the latter was temporarily knocked unconscious.
Usage#
At some point after All Might and All For One's battle in Kamino, Valdo used Alchemy to disguise his appearance to resemble All Might's in his youth, including his facial structure, body build, hairstyle, and hair color.
Once revealing his identity as Dark Might to the public, Valdo is constantly seen using gold coins as the main catalyst for his Alchemy. To set himself up for his debut, he used them to create live-feed video drones, lighting equipment, as well as a stone pillar to stand on. For his attacks, he transforms them, or the metal on his rings, into an orange kinetic energy-like state, which he can launch at his opponents at incredible speeds, and can be molded into shapes like discs, fists, spears, and shields. In the first display of his Quirk, Dark Might was able to instantly defeat the destructive Jailbreaker Ginji Kurau with a single attack: a glowing fist that blasted through the latter's modified Mad Gluttony and sent the Villain flying, with the impact being so strong that it obliterated a bridge that Ginji crashed into and created a massive shockwave.
After Dark Might forced Anna to empower his Quirk with her Overmodification, Alchemy's range and capabilities were enhanced significantly, with Dark Might now able to transmute his airship and an entire city sector into a large, personally designed flying fortress known as the "Symbol of Paradise", with various biomes inside, from fake jungles to snowy mountains, and even an entire city. As the fortress was being constructed, the Quirk expanded into a massive moving wall of light that drew in anything it came into contact with, with even Shoto's Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall unable to stop it, allowing Valdo to capture the Hero students and many civilians.
Valdo's boosted Alchemy allowed him to freely manipulate his constructs without having to use his hands. Inside his fortress, he was able to continuously modify its layout in any way he saw fit, such as being able to create secret entrances for him to conduct surprise attacks, communicate with others, and flaunt himself at his own pace. The Symbol of Paradise was also able to repair any damage done to it almost instantly, being able to withstand Endeavor's Prominence Burn multiple times and forcing Mt. Lady to hold a crack within the fortress open so the other Heroes could get inside. Valdo's Alchemy could also make more complex creations, like hordes of golem monsters similar to those created by Simon. Dark Might claimed that his newfound power easily surpassed that of All Might at his prime.
Dark Might was also able to delay and spread the transmutative properties through his coins, such as during his second fight with Deku, where he transformed them into spears of glowing energy and sent them into the ground, allowing him to sprout and weaponize massive stone pillars without direct contact. Dark Might could even take multiple point-blank bullets to the chest from Giulio Gandini's prosthetic handgun by transmuting coins on his person into shields. As noted by Deku, due to its versatility, Alchemy creates the illusion that Dark Might has multiple Quirks when it's really just one overpowered ability.
Receiving a second modification gave Alchemy the ability to further transform Dark Might's All Might disguise to a more extreme degree, allowing him to become a stronger, faster, and more dangerous version of himself, more accurately mirroring the physical specs of All Might at his peak. In this form, he could move with blinding speeds, transmute the earth as if it were sand, and send it out as a rockslide and keep the likes of Deku, Dynamight, and Shoto on their toes. In addition to the enhancements by Overmodification, he can utilize some of the techniques used in the past by All Might against some Villains like Wolfram during the I-Island Incident, and All For One during their rematch, allowing him to mimic their attack patterns and incorporate them into his Quirk.
After Anna's Overmodification began to overload, it made Alchemy transmute Dark Might's bodysuit and his surroundings into a monstrous form, with a tremendous increase in strength and durability.[2]
Named Ultimate Moves#
Unlike All Might and Deku, whose Ultimate Moves from One For All are named after states and cities in the United States of America, Dark Might's Ultimate Moves are named after cities in Italy, likely hinting at the Gollini Family's mafia origins.
Bologna Smash: Dark Might winds up his arm before delivering a glowing fist straight into his opponent and twisting his fist, using the impact to launch them away and keeping his opponent disoriented by spinning them around.
Torino Smash: Dark Might generates a glowing fist before directly striking his opponent, turning the punch into a projectile to send his opponent flying.
List of Transmutations#
All Might Form: Dark Might's primary application of Alchemy was to use it to make himself a bodysuit to resemble All Might in his youth. This is largely a surface-level change and does not affect his abilities.
Symbol of Paradise: Initially the Gollini Family's airship, Dark Might used his modified Alchemy to transmute many buildings in Japan and create a massive flying fortress, complete with a castle and statues built in Dark Might's image, as well as many artificial locations such as a forest, a snowy mountain, an amusement park, a town center, a dungeon, etc. Dark Might used his Alchemy to continuously modify the fortress, being able to create secret passages to make an entrance or retreat into, or pitfalls to trap his enemies or dispose of henchmen that failed him.
Golem Monsters: Valdo creates golem monsters similar to those spawned from Simon's Monster Summon.
Amalgamated Monsters: While fighting the Hero students of Class 1-A, many of Valdo's golem monsters fused together to create massive purple grotesque creatures that were rooted to the ground.
Shields: Valdo creates energy shields that protect him from projectiles and blows.
Fists: Valdo creates energy fists that he can then launch at his target with great force.
Terraforming: Valdo terraforms the terrain by either creating stone pillars or modifying the environment he finds himself in at will.
Big Hand: Valdo combines a group of coins and turns them into a large hand of energy that he slams into the ground to create a large explosion.
Iron Bars: Valdo throws coins at his opponent that turn into a large bundle of iron bars that ensnare them, binding them in place.
Discs: Valdo creates energy discs that he uses to move through the air.
Enhanced All Might Form: Valdo transforms his appearance into a massive version of All Might in his Golden Age Costume.
First Monster Form: After Anna's Overmodification spirals out of control, Dark Might's body and Golden Age costume fuse into a towering, Nomu-like monster. The suit fully engulfs his form, transforming his skin into a dark blue hue with red streaks tracing the original lines of his costume. His feet become clawed, matching the color scheme of his boots, while jagged spikes resembling All Might's iconic hair tufts protrude from his back and head. The creature has no eyes, a massive, pointed mouth, and grotesquely overdeveloped muscles.
Second Monster Form: At the peak of his final battle with Deku, Dynamight, and Shoto, Dark Might's monstrous form undergoes a further evolution. His upper body muscles grotesquely expand, becoming so massive they overshadow his lower half. His skin shifts to a solid blood-red tone, while the spikes on his head and shoulders are replaced by several twisted, malformed arms. His mouth splits apart, forming three separate, grotesque heads.
Trivia#
- Alchemy refers to the medieval predecessor of chemistry which focuses on the transmutation of matter, especially metal and gold. It is often depicted as a magical or occult practice, lending to the Quirk's fantastical abilities.
- Alchemy likely took some inspiration from Fullmetal Alchemist with how its ability works, allowing the user to transmute different matter (such as creating energy or pillars of earth) for mobility and combat purposes.
- Notably, Valdo is seen using Alchemy on himself to change his physical appearance and later becomes a gargantuan monster when the Quirk goes haywire. This possibly echoes Fullmetal Alchemist's taboo of using Alchemy to perform human transmutation, leading to horrific results and the creation of a non-human entity. The second taboo also involves human sacrifice, referencing how Valdo was willing to kill Anna for the sake of achieving unlimited power.
- According to Deku, Alchemy's ability to transmute objects is very similar to Momo Yaoyorozu's Creation, as both Quirks allow the users to create any non-living thing they desire through converting existing mass. However, Creation is limited to using Momo's body fat as a resource, while Valdo uses existing things around him as catalysts and can further manipulate his creations at will.[2]
- This Quirk also shares similarities with Kai Chisaki's Overhaul, as both allow the user to modify matter at the touch of their hands. However, Alchemy can create more complex objects and lacks the direct destruction element of Overhaul, as well as its ability to be used on living beings.
- Coincidentally, both Alchemy and Overhaul were used to turn their wielders into giant, monstrous versions of themselves.
- It also shares similarities with The Gifted's Deform, as it also allows the user to manipulate and reconstruct objects with high complexity through direct contact. However, Alchemy doesn't have a time limit for how long it can be used, and it breaks down its catalyst into raw energy before modifying it. Deform also goes into an uncontrollable state if its limit is surpassed, which is similar to the state of Alchemy after it was powered up by the out-of-control Overmodification.