In the world of My Hero Academia, the overwhelming majority of people on the planet are blessed with superpowers. These powers are known as Quirks, and they come in many shapes and forms. Super strength, super speed, flight, mimicry, elemental control, beastification, and more even stranger than those.

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Unfortunately, not everybody is born with cool powers. Some people are stuck with either weak, useless, or even downright dangerous powers. With that in mind, here are some of the worst quirks that have appeared throughout My Hero Academia.

10 Pop Off

A Quirk For Sidekicks At Best

• User: Minoru Mineta

It's fitting to begin with the one that everybody likely knows, Minoru Mineta’s Pop Off. This quirk allows Mineta to produce and pluck off sticky ball-like substances from his head. This ball will stick to any object, apart from Minoru himself. In a battle, Minoru will throw these sticky balls to incapacitate his opponents.

Minoru is a small boy with below-average strength and speed. This means any villains worth their salt should be able to avoid Minoru’s throw with ease. Besides, there’s a limit to how many balls Minoru can produce at any given moment, which means when he’s up against multiple opponents at the same time, he’s pretty much useless. Pop Off is an acceptable quirk for a sidekick, but it is definitely not a suitable quirk for a hero.

9 Sugar Rush

One Of The Most Inconvenient Quirks Ever

• User: Rikido Sato

The next hero-in-training with the worst quirk is Rikido Sato and his quirk, Sugar Rush. This quirk allows Rikido to increase his strength fivefold whenever he consumes ten grams of sugar. Rikido’s enhanced strength is powerful enough to the point that he can send a villain flying with a single punch.

Having to consume sugar every time he’s about to face an opponent is already a major hassle. There's another huge shortcoming of Rikido’s Sugar Rush. Apparently, that increased strength only happens for a mere three minutes. Not only that but consuming all of that sugar will also bring a sugar crash later on that will make Rikido feel extra tired and sleepy afterward. Inconvenient is an understatement.

8 Telescopic

A Sorry Excuse Of A Defense

• User: Tatami Nakagame

Tatami Nakagame is a hero candidate from the Ketsubutsu Academy High School. Her quirk is called Telescopic, but it has nothing to do with the telescope. On the contrary, this quirk allows Tatami to retract her head and limbs into her torso, just like a turtle.

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Tatami is quite impervious to physical attacks while in her turtle-like form. However, this form also means she can only defend. Her opponent can freely throw her, torch her, drown her, and there’s nothing she can do about it. What’s even worse is the fact that while the retracting process is pretty much instantaneous, extending her head and limbs back actually takes some time.

7 Love

Useful Only To One Person

• User: La Brava

La Brava is one of the minor villains that recently makes a comeback in the story. She often works together with her partner in crime and the love of her life, a man known as Gentle Criminal. La Brava’s quirk is known simply as Love. It is a support-type quirk that can boost the power of the one she loves multiple folds. The more intense her love for that person, the stronger the buff will be.

However, since La Brava only loves Gentle, this means her quirk only works on a single person. She can’t even use her quirk on herself. As if that’s not annoying enough, La Brava can only activate her power once a day. Furthermore, that super boost will only last for a rather short time. So many limitations to such a meager effect.

6 Zoom

A Quirk That Is Useless To Its Wielder

• User: Mei Hatsume

Mei Hatsume is a student from the Department of Support at U.A. High School. She is the one who is responsible for creating Deku’s Air Force Gloves and Iron Soles, among other things. Mei’s quirk is called Zoom. As the name suggests, this quirk allows her to zoom in on any object that is far away from her. If she is truly concentrated, she can even see objects that are 5 km away.

This ability sounds quite neat until one realizes that a regular modern binocular can easily see objects that are 10 km away. Besides, as an inventor who spends most of her day holed up in her workshop, there’s hardly any situation that requires Mei to use her quirk on a day-to-day basis. So in a way, this quirk is pretty much useless to its wielder.

5 Soccer

A Niche Power With A Niche Application

• User: Emperor Yotsuura

Emperor Yotsuura is a minor villain character from the spin-off series, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. Yotsuura’s quirk is called Soccer, and as the name suggests, this ability allows him to have powerful and amazing footwork, just like a professional soccer player. He can even easily dribble a ball through a dense crowd and shoot it with perfect accuracy.

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While this quirk is certainly interesting to see in action, it is still an incredibly niche quirk with an equally niche application. Forget top heroes like Endeavor or Hawk, most students in Class 1-A like Todoroki or Bakugo can easily subdue Yotsuura. None of that amazing footwork matters when one's opponent is somebody who can freeze a whole building in seconds.

4 Squirmy Fingers

Weak But Useful Quirk

• User: David Shield

David Shield is a U.S. scientist who specializes in designing and creating costumes for heroes. His quirk is called Squirmy Fingers and just like Emperor Yotsuura’s Soccer, this one is also quite self-explanatory. This quirk allows David to move and bend his fingers in any way he wants.

Ordinarily, this kind of extremely niche ability will fall straight into the useless bucket. However, when one takes into consideration David’s profession as a costume designer, then this useless quirk actually turns out to be quite useful. From stitching fabrics to assembling complex devices, having extremely flexible fingers is certainly helpful for Mr. Shield.

3 Soul

A Lousy Quirk For A Petty Criminal

• User: Rody Soul

Rody Soul is a character from the movie My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission. He lives in the slums of Otheon and while he is not a villain, he won’t hesitate to break some law to make ends meet. Unfortunately, his quirk often makes his petty criminal life harder than it needs to be.

Rody’s quirk is called Soul. This quirk manifests in the form of a small bird called Pino. This bird is connected directly to Rody’s Soul at all times and its action depends highly on Rody’s inner feelings. This means Rody is basically unable to lie. The moment he says or does something that goes against his heart, Pino will broadcast it to everybody around them. A rather lousy quirk even for a petty criminal’s standard.

2 Shame

An Underwhelming, Indecent Power

• User: Teruo Hazukashi

This one is also a staple in any topic about the worst quirks or superpowers. This man is a minor character who briefly appeared in Episode 87 of My Hero Academia. Contrary to his short screen time, however, he left a long-lasting impact on the viewers. His name is Teruo Hazukashi and his quirk is called Shame.

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True to its name, this quirk grants a boost to Teruo’s strength whenever he feels ashamed. Unfortunately, the quickest way for him to feel embarrassed is by stripping his clothes in the middle of a busy street. So not only does his quirk give him a meager boost in power, but it also turns Teruo into an exhibitionist. What a cruel, shameful, and indecent quirk!

1 Self-Detonation

A Quirk That Will Kill Its User

• User: Lady Nagant

So far, this topic has covered anything from a quirk that is better suited to a sidekick rather than a hero, a quirk that is super inconvenient to activate, and even a quirk that is simply useless to its users. This one, however, is different from the rest because this quirk will kill or at least mortally wound its users.

When All-For-One (AFO) ordered Lady Nagant to take out Deku, he bestowed an additional quirk on her. Lady Nagant received a quirk called “Air Walk.” This quirk allowed her to levitate and freely move in the air. Unbeknownst to her, however, AFO also imbued a self-detonation quirk into her body.

The moment AFO realized that Lady Nagant had a change of heart and decided to join Deku’s side, he activated the self-detonation quirk. The explosion left Lady Nagant on the brink of death. It’s unclear who AFO stole this quirk from, but one thing’s for sure, a quirk that can cause fatal injuries, or even death, to its own user is undoubtedly the worst in the world.

My Hero Academia (2016)

Action

Superhero

Release Date

April 3, 2016

Studio

Bones

Japanese Title

Boku no Hero Academia

Number of Episodes

141+