Highlights
- Star and Stripe, America's former number-one hero, possessed the powerful quirk New Order, feared even by All For One.
- Despite feeling inferior to All Might, Star and Stripe became a better hero with the support of her fellow soldiers and teammates.
- In a hard-fought battle, Star and Stripe almost defeated Tomura Shigaraki with her powerful punch, but he managed to steal her quirk in the end.
Despite the various quirks portrayed in the My Hero Academia series, only One for All seems to be able to match the destructive power of Tomura Shigaraki’s decay quirk. However, fans of the My Hero Academia manga know that All for One feared New Order, the quirk of Cathleen Bate, America’s former number-one hero.
As a hero, Cathleen Bate adapted the name Star and Stripe as her hero name. With New Order, she was called the strongest woman in the world, as even All For One planned to take care of her after acquiring One For All. As America’s number one hero, the name Star and Stripe served as a deterrent to all.
The Origin Of The Hero, Star And Stripe
Star and Stripe started out as a young Cathleen Bate who got caught up in a villain attack. With her little sister in her arms, the young Cathleen was saved by a Japanese exchange student who would go on to become All Might. Inspired by the two forward tufts of All Might’s blonde hair. Cathleen went on to dye her hair and make her own eight tufts.
After growing up, Cathleen joined the military for training and eventually became a pro-hero. Using her wits, indomitable will, and powerful quirk, Cathleen quickly rose through the ranks and became America’s number one hero. Like her costume, Cathleen’s hero name was based on a nickname for the flag of the United States, after which it was designed.
Despite her many accomplishments, Star and Stripe felt inferior to All Might, as she was never able to reach his level of strength. However, her fellow soldiers and teammates always consoled her, telling her how great she already was. With more confidence in herself, Cathleen became a better hero for herself and the United States of America. Moreover, as an important asset to the United States, the government hid the working specifics of her quirk.
Star and Stripe's quirk, New Order, allowed her to set a rule on her surroundings and bestow new properties on them. Her quirk allowed her to ‘manipulate’ things around her in general. Moreover, she could set two rules with her quirk at any given time.
The State Of The War Before Star And Stripe’s Intervention
After the Dark Hero arc, All For One is seen telling Spinner his plans in a cave. Meanwhile, the pro-heroes and police force have been too busy with the escaped convicts to widen the search for All For One’s party. Due to this, the evil mastermind is seen telling Spinner that the greatest obstacle to come is Star and Stripe, America’s number one hero. As he schemes to get a hold of her quirk, the heteromorph members of the Paranormal Liberation Front from Spinner’s squadron continue to eliminate any resistance that remains.
Meanwhile, expecting backup from Star and Stripe, the heroes Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist travel along the coast to meet up with her. However, All For One decides to take a gamble and sends Tomura to intercept Star and Stripe. Although the fusion between All For One and Tomura is 98% complete, the evil mastermind considers sending Tomura a gamble. Despite his fears about the outcome, he does so anyway, as he believes if the heroes of Japan come together and Star and Stripe, they would be enough to end him.
Could Star And Stripe Have Ended Shigaraki Tomura?
At a 98% fusion rate between Tomura Shigaraki and All For One, Tomura battled Star and Stripe without help from Japan’s heroes. Despite Tomura having full access to his multiple quirks, the battle was hard-fought. Moreover, Star and Stripe managed to pin Tomura to the ground as she struck him with the ‘State-of-the-Art Hypersonic Intercontinental Cruise Punch. Barely managing to survive this attack, Tomura declared that if he activated his decay quirk a second later, he would have been utterly destroyed despite his regeneration quirk. After escaping Star and Stripe’s bombardment, Tomura got close to her and stole her quirk.
Thankfully, Star and Stripe set a rule for her quirk to make it revolt against other quirks. This allowed the vestige of her quirk to battle and destroy several of Tomura’s other quirks as he barely escaped the battlefield to give New Order to someone else. After the battle and the death of Star and Stripe at Tomura’s hands, her final vestige declared that even though she was not able to kill him, the will of heroism would be passed on and would put an end to him. Moreover, her battle with Tomura gave Japan’s heroes an additional week, as Tomura needed a lot of time to recuperate from his losses, even with his super regeneration quirk.
My Hero Academia is available to stream on Crunchyroll.