Quirkless

Quirkless is a term that is used to refer to someone who was born without any superpowers whatsoever.

Description#

Quirkless people are those who possess absolutely no Quirk, particularly unique features, or anything that would put them under the classification of being superhuman. As of now, they exist as a minority in the world, currently making up approximately 20% of the global population.^[1]

Before the rising phenomenon of Quirks (previously known as Meta Abilities), Quirkless people were considered ordinary, and far outnumbered those with Quirks (previously known as Metas). However, after generations passed by and superpowers came to be accepted, people possessing Quirks now make up the majority of the human population.^[2]

Different societies react differently to Quirkless people. In the case of Izuku Midoriya, for example, he was the subject of mockery and prejudice,^[1] whereas Melissa Shield used to be seen with pity for being Quirkless, although she had good relationships with people with Quirks.^[3] Commonly, anyone who does not possess a Quirk is considered to be weak and worthless, or that their circumstances are incredibly unfortunate and rare.

Despite being seen as weak, one advantage Quirkless people have is that they are immune to bioweapons that stimulate Quirks to dangerous degrees, such as the Trigger Bombs, given that they lack a Quirk in the first place.^[4] They are also immune to Quirk Factor focused Quirks like Erasure^[5] and substances that attack Quirk Factors directly like the Quirk-Destroying Drug, as they do not have a Quirk Factor to affect. This includes a select few Quirk side effects, such as One For All's life force draining, due to not having the strain of having multiple Quirks in their bodies.^[6] Additionally, they are unaffected by the Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory due to not possessing a Quirk. In short, they are immune to anything that targets and affects Quirk Factors as they do not have one. It should be noted that this advantage is only present as long as they have no Quirk Factor in their body; otherwise, this immunity is substantially weakened or entirely negated.

Generally, it is seen as impossible, though not actually prohibited, for Quirkless people to become Heroes due to their need to combat Villains and enter dangerous situations.^[7] Furthermore, Pro Heroes who have lost their Quirks usually resign from their posts after being deemed unfit for duty, such as O'Clock^[8] and Ragdoll,^[9] though Lemillion intended to continue being a hero even when he was rendered temporarily Quirkless.^[10] Despite this, being Quirkless doesn't appear to affect other career areas, at least not as heavily, as Kyudai Garaki became a well-reputed doctor and physician despite being listed as Quirkless in his official records.^[11]

There are currently no known cases of Quirkless villains, since the legal definition of a villain is a person who uses their Quirk to break the law. Pro Heroes do not have the jurisdiction to deal with non-Quirk criminals, and need to refer them onto the police.^[5] There are exceptions for this rule in extreme cases where heroes can arrest non-Quirk criminals, albeit with restraint.^[4]

As stated by Dr. Tsubasa, people born Quirkless are quite uncommon in the current era,^[1] and Yoichi Shigaraki has noted that the number of Quirkless individuals has continued to become far fewer as the generations pass by.^[12]

Genetics#

The trait of Quirklessness appears to be recessive; meaning if at least one of the parents has a Quirk, then the child has a higher chance of being born with a Quirk, even if the other parent is Quirkless. However, even if both parents are carriers for Quirks, there is still a chance that their child will be born without a Quirk, as seen with Izuku, who didn't inherit either of his parents' Quirks or develop an amalgam of their powers. People who are born with Quirks only have one joint in their pinky toe, suggesting a close chromosomal linkage between the extra toe joint and a lack of a Quirk; people with two joints in their pinky toe are almost always Quirkless.^[1]

Quirk Attainability#

It is possible, though highly uncommon, for a Quirkless person to gain a Quirk later in life. One such example of this is them being given a transferable Quirk, such as One For All. However, since they were not born with said Quirk, their body would not be naturally suited to it; because of this, they must train their body in order to be able to use the Quirk properly, similar to how Izuku worked hard to build up enough muscle to use a Quirk that stockpiles large amounts of raw power.^[13]

Another way for a Quirkless person to gain a Quirk is for a Quirk to be bestowed upon them through a Quirk that can give Quirks to other people, such as All For One. Unfortunately, some recipients are put into a mindless state due to their inability to handle the physical strain of being given a power through this specific Quirk,^[14] or sometimes, as was the case with Yuga Aoyama, their body can't handle the Quirk and is forced to rely on a support item to utilize it properly.^[15]

Another, more commonly used method of Quirk attainability is via Quirk-infused DNA injection, which involves an individual being infused with the DNA of a Quirk user, granting the recipient the same power as the donor. One instance is when Kuin Hachisuka, while already possessing her own Quirk named Queen Bee, injected herself with a blood sample collected from Teruo Unagisawa, allowing her to access Teruo's Electric Eel Quirk.^[14] However, the recipients don't always acquire the same Quirk efficacy as the original user of the Quirk they've obtained. An example of this is Nine, who was injected with All For One's DNA by Kyudai, granting him the same ability to steal Quirks from other people, but he was limited to only being able to wield a maximum of eight stolen Quirks.^[16] It has also been stated that this method of injecting Quirks requires compatibility between the donor Quirk and the recipient, although it has not been clarified whether this means that a person incompatible with a Quirk would not be able to receive it or if the effect would be only temporary as with Kuin Hachisuka.

Becoming Quirkless#

It is possible for a person to lose their Quirk. One way this is possible is if an individual requires a certain body part to activate their Quirk, which is where their Quirk Factor is located. It is possible to render them functionally "Quirkless" by severing or destroying said anatomy. Kai Chisaki, whose Overhaul Quirk required the use of his hands, is one such example; after both of his arms were destroyed by Tomura Shigaraki and Mr. Compress, Kai was left unable to activate his own Quirk, despite still technically possessing it.^[17]

Another example is Shota Aizawa, whose Quirk requires his eyes; after losing one of his eyes to Tomura, his Erasure Quirk has been rendered nearly useless, despite still being able to activate it.^[18] Anna Scervino had her Quirk permanently neutralized by Giulio Gandini's overmodified Neutralization, making her functionally Quirkless.^[19]

Another way a person can lose their Quirk is by being subjected to drugs that can damage their Quirk Factor. The Yakuza group, Shie Hassaikai, developed a Quirk-Destroying Drug using the genetic material of a girl named Eri, whose Quirk allows her to reverse people back to the way they once were. The drug itself rewinds a person's Quirk Factor back to before the Quirk phenomenon became a factor of human genetics.^[20][21]

Additionally, a person will become Quirkless if their Quirk is stolen by someone whose Quirk has the power to do so. One such example is the power-stealing Quirk, All For One. While the effects of the Quirk-Destroying Drug could be reversed through a Quirk like Rewind, due to the Quirk Factor still existing in the body, just made inaccessible,^[22] a stolen Quirk can not be returned in this way, as there is no longer a Quirk Factor to rewind within the body.

In the unique case of One For All, when the Quirk is passed down, the previous recipient will be left with only the "leftover embers" that will eventually burn out, as seen when All Might used up his remaining power in his battle with All For One, rendering him Quirkless and forcing him to retire.^[23] It was later seen again with Izuku after the Final War, where he retained the embers for a time after transferring most of the Quirk to Tomura, but they eventually burned out over time.^[24]

Known Quirkless Individuals#

Born Quirkless#

• Unnamed old man - Born Quirkless during the dark age in the initial rise of Meta Abilities. He was assaulted by a group of Quirk users and received Spearlike Bones from All For One in exchange for his servitude, but the latter took the Quirk back at some point.^[25]
• Toshinori Yagi - Born Quirkless^[26] before inheriting One For All from Nana Shimura.^[6] He would eventually pass down the Quirk to Izuku^[27] before using up the embers of One For All in his rematch with All For One, leaving him Quirkless once more.^[23]
• Melissa Shield - Born Quirkless.^[3]
• Yuga Aoyama - Born Quirkless^[28] before receiving Navel Laser from All For One.^[29]
• Izuku Midoriya - Born Quirkless^[1] before receiving One For All from All Might.^[27] He would go on to awaken the other Quirks of One For All before forcibly transferring them to Tomura,^[30][31][32] which destroyed both One For All and its assimilated Quirks, leaving only its embers.^[33] Izuku would hold on to these embers at least until his graduation from U.A. High School when they flickered out, leaving him Quirkless once again.^[24]
• Humarise grunts - Many of the lower tier members of Humarise were born Quirkless.^[4]
• Humarise attack survivor - When Humarise activated a Trigger Bomb within an unnamed city, one adult male civilian survived since he was Quirkless.^[4]

Lost Quirk#

• Zen and Yoichi Shigaraki's mother - A prostitute who, unbeknownst to her, was born with Spearlike Bones. Her Quirk was taken from her by her eldest son Zen, shortly after she gave birth to her two children and died.^[34]
• Luminescent Baby - Luminescence Quirk stolen from them by All For One.^[2]
• Unnamed Young Man - Born with a Quirk that gave him a fanged jawbone, resulting in him being ostracized by society. All For One took this Quirk away from him in exchange for his servitude.^[25]
• Yoichi Shigaraki - Initially presumed to be Quirkless, as no special abilities manifested throughout his life. Later revealed to have Quirk Bestowal, which merged with Power Stock, forcibly granted to him by All For One, to create One For All.^[25] His Quirk was unwittingly transferred to Toshitsugu Kudo after being killed by All For One.^[34]
• Tomura Shigaraki - Original Quirk stolen from him by All For One when he was an infant. All For One also secretly replaced it with a new one, Decay, when Tomura was a child.^[33] The latter would later gain a more powerful version of his original Quirk after receiving All For One's power.^[35]
• Iwao Oguro - Overclock Quirk stolen from him by All For One.^[8]
• Tomoko Shiretoko - Search Quirk stolen from her by All For One.^[36]
• Mirio Togata - Permeation Quirk neutralized by Overhaul's Quirk-Destroying Drug,^[21] until it was restored by Eri's Rewind.^[22]
• Mahoro and Katsuma Shimano's father - Cell Activation Quirk stolen from him by Nine, though it was unusable due to being incompatible with the villain's blood type.^[16]
• Cathleen Bate - New Order Quirk stolen from her by Tomura, though Cathleen made it self-destruct to ensure that he would not be able to use it.^[37]
• Unnamed heroine - Quirk stolen from her by All For One.^[38]
• Keigo Takami - Fierce Wings Quirk stolen from him by All For One.^[39]
• Chizome Akaguro - Bloodcurdle Quirk stolen from him by All For One.^[40]

Functionally Quirkless#

While the following individuals have Quirks, their Quirk Factors have been damaged or nullified, leaving them unable to use their abilities and making them no different from Quirkless people.

• Kai Chisaki - Overhaul's Quirk Factor located in his arms, amputated by Tomura and Mr. Compress; now unusable.^[17]
• Shota Aizawa - Erasure's Quirk Factor located in his eyes, lost one while battling Tomura;^[41] now mostly ineffective.^[18]
• Giulio Gandini - Neutralization's Quirk Factor located in his right arm, amputated following an attack by the Gollini Family; functionality restored and augmented through Anna's Overmodification.^[19]
• Anna Scervino - Overmodification's Quirk Factor permanently suppressed by Giulio's Neutralization.^[19]

Trivia#

• Melissa is the only major character in the series to have never had a Quirk at any point in time.
• Yuga is the only known Quirkless character to have been given a Quirk (Navel Laser) and kept it, as both All Might and Izuku, who were given One For All, transferred it and eventually lost its embers.
• Tomura is the only known character to have his Quirk stolen and be given a completely new one.
• Anna is the only functionally Quirkless character who didn't gain the status through bodily mutilation.
• Mirio is the only known character who did not lose his Quirk to someone with All For One, being instead impacted by the Quirk-Destroying Drug before its effect was eventually reversed by Rewind.
• The Luminescent Baby, Yoichi, Star and Stripe, and Stain all died while simultaneously losing their Quirks because of a user of the All For One Quirk. In Yoichi's case, however, his Quirk wasn't stolen, but rather passed on to someone else.