Overmodification is the Quirk used by Anna Scervino.[1]
Description#
Overmodification can amplify the Quirk of an individual if they are compatible with the user. This boosts the base abilities of the affected Quirk and can even grant brand new ones to the user with enough contact.
The method of receiving modifications is through physical contact, where the activation of the Quirk is shown through the change of the user's hair color to black, and the sudden appearance of rose petals blooming. The recipient's eyes briefly dilate as a response from the exchange. The modifications are not a one-time effect and can be done multiple times, with seemingly no initial strain on the person receiving the modification. While the modifications can be unpredictable at first, they are generally powerful and can even make simple Quirks troublesome. For instance, an enhanced Deborah Gollini, whose Quirk initially only worked on a single person at a time, was then able to work on many people with no restraint, even the Heroes of Class 1-A.
If someone is incompatible with the user, the aforementioned rose petals bloom before falling apart, and the Quirk will cause negative feedback to the recipient, striking them with immense pain that is enough to knock them unconscious. Although the exact criteria for a Quirk to be compatible with Overmodification remains unclear, such compatibility is exceedingly rare, as only eight members of the vast Gollini Family, which once numbered 20,000, were able to have their Quirks successfully modified.
This Quirk is always active and does not shut off unless under the effects of a cancellation Quirk such as Neutralization. It also has an unexplained side-effect of causing floral growth, even in areas that lack any vegetation. Individual's who are compatible gain a rose on their clothing. If the individual is not compatible, then rose petals shoot and scatter from their body.[2]
Weaknesses#
The user is unable to control or stop the usage of their Quirk, meaning either they will cause harm via their negative feedback through incompatibility, or from Villains using the Quirk for their own evil benefits. This has made Anna have a hard time living a life at all, and left her in an emotionally hollow state.
In addition to always being active, this Quirk possesses another painful side effect; should Anna not release a certain amount of her Quirk then it will turn against her body, causing her to suffer seizures that are extremely painful to bear and require a cancellation Quirk to remedy. Without it, or from excessive usage of her Quirk (shown when her hair becomes pitch black), Anna's body is overtaken by Overmodification, with the Quirk overloading itself and leading the user to self-destruction. This causes its range to increase exponentially, over-boosting compatible users to abominable levels, and creating destructive plant life such as thorny vines that lash at everything.
While powerful and useful, this Quirk can be neutralized and canceled, such as with the Quirk, Neutralization. Additionally, the Quirk can even enhance these types of Quirks to a degree that they nullify Overmodification permanently, which it did upon modifying Giulio Gandini's Neutralization Quirk.
For transformed users, their modifications seem to start disappearing if they sustain an overwhelming amount of damage, as seen with Ginji Kurau after his brief fight with Dark Might. However, the damage required to trigger this appears to be relative to each user's strength, as it took the combined efforts of Izuku, Giulio, Katsuki Bakugo, and Shoto Todoroki, for Dark Might's body to mostly revert back to its original untransmuted state during their first fight.
Usage#
Overmodification had plagued Anna's life with pain, being ridden by seizures and harming everyone who came into contact with her. As a result, she had been secluded in her room as a child and was left in an emotionally hollow state. With the help of her butler, Giulio, and his Neutralization Quirk, she was able to live something close to a normal life. However, as the years passed, Anna's Quirk continued to rise in power and her father feared that it would get to the point where Giulio would be unable to stop it. In horrible pain and not wanting to harm anyone else, Anna made Giulio promise to end her life if she lost herself to her Quirk.
Eventually, the Gollini Family heard of Anna's ability that allowed her to boost other Quirks. The mafia family proceeded to kidnap her and laid waste to the Scervino mansion, killing her father and leaving Giulio maimed. The Gollinis tried to make use of Overmodification, but found out that only few were compatible with the Quirk's ability-boosting. As a result, the family of thousands were culled down to eight remaining individuals, including their leader, Dark Might.
The Gollini Family used Anna's Quirk to dramatically boost their own, and Anna was the unwilling crux in their plans of taking over Japan. Upon recapturing her after she was stolen away by Ginji, Anna was hypnotized by Deborah's Day Dream Quirk in order to keep her placated. The mafia family were also interested in using Overmodification to turn other people into weapons, kidnapping thousands of innocent civilians to use as "specimens" for her Quirk, though almost all of them were knocked unconscious due to being incompatible.
Dark Might used Overmodification to repeatedly boost his already powerful Alchemy Quirk, granting him power which he claimed surpassed even All Might's in his prime. After Dark Might was defeated, Overmodification proceeded to go haywire, coming close to killing Anna while Dark Might was transmuted into a gigantic monster.
The following individuals shown to have Quirks compatible with Overmodification are:
- Ginji Kurau - Before, his Quirk, Mad Gluttony, granted him a single fanged mouth on his body, but after being enhanced, he was able to sprout multiple tendrils with mouths, allowing him to attack and bite from a distance.
- Valdo Gollini - While it is unclear how his Quirk, Alchemy, was pre-Overmodification, when enhanced by it, the limits of his transmutations were significantly increased, allowing him to create something as massive as the Symbol of Paradise.
- Bruno Gollini - Before, the range of his Quirk, Delay Spot, was smaller, but after being enhanced, his range was increased to the point where he could cover an entire mansion yard.
- Kamile Gollini - Before, the range and effectiveness of his Quirk, Spatial Excursion, was weaker, but after being enhanced, the effectiveness of his Quirk was greatly amplified to the point he could lift the entire Symbol of Paradise.
- Deborah Gollini - Before, her Quirk, Day Dream, could only be activated on one person at a time, but after being enhanced, she was able to use it on a seemingly endless amount of people.
- Paulo Gollini - Before, the range of his Quirk, Erasure Spot, was smaller, but after being enhanced, his range was increased to the point he could cover an entire mountain range.
- Simon Gollini - Before, his Quirk, Monster Summon, only allowed him to create a smaller number of monsters, but after being enhanced, he was able to create a near-limitless amount of them.
- Ugo Gollini - Before, the range and effectiveness of his Quirk, Telekinesis, only allowed him to lift a smaller number and weight of objects, but after being enhanced, he was able to lift larger amounts such as stone slabs, boulders, and chunks of ice all at once.
- Gil Gollini - Before, the speed of his Quirk, Teleportation, was slower, but after being enhanced, its speed allowed him to teleport in a near-instant.
- Giulio Gandini - Before, the Quirk Factor of his Quirk, Neutralization, was limited to just his right hand and could only suppress someone's Quirk temporarily, but after being enhanced, his Quirk Factor was expanded to his whole body and could permanently suppress a person's Quirk, rendering them effectively Quirkless.
- A few unnamed civilians - It is unclear what Quirks they possessed and how Overmodification enhanced them.
While Giulio couldn't use Neutralization with his right arm gone, he turned out to be one of the few compatible with Overmodification, allowing his Neutralization to spread throughout his entire body and permanently shut off Anna's Quirk Factor. Thanks to this, Overmodification is now permanently suppressed, with Anna finally being able to live a normal life.
Trivia#
- Overmodification has several similarities with Rewind:
- Both affect the body in different ways, with Rewind reverting it to a previous state while the other boosts a person's Quirk.
- Both users (Anna and Eri, respectively) have been abused and exploited by villains who are leaders in organized crime (Dark Might of the Gollini Family and Overhaul of the Shie Hassaikai, respectively).
- Both Quirks cause unintentional pain to their users.
- Both cause slight augmentations to their user's bodies, specifically the heads (Rewind sometimes causes Eri to grow a horn, while Overmodification turns Anna's hair black the more she uses it).
- Overmodification somewhat resembles the idea of the Quirk Singularity theory, which is that Quirks will continue to change and rise in power to the point of becoming uncontrollable.
- It is also similar to Trigger, a drug which can also augment Quirks, and is also exploited and used by Villains.