Superheroes and wicked villains are a common sight in My Hero Academia, since superpowered Quirks are just as commonplace. When most people are born with special powers, a lot of villains will emerge, either out of desperation or to spite the system and steal from it.
It didn't take My Hero Academia very long to show these villainous Quirks in action, and while all the villains are powerful, some of their Quirks have the potential to be used for heroic work instead. But some villainous Quirks are destined to be villainous, no matter who's using them.
10 POTENTIALLY HEROIC QUIRK: Transform, Himiko Toga's Quirk
Himiko Toga is a shapeshifting villain, and she once imitated Camie Utsushimi to get a closer look at Izuku Midoriya during the provisional hero license exam. Her Quirk allows her to assume the likeness of another person, given she's consumed a sample of their blood.
Many fictional villains use shapeshifting to take the heroes (and viewers) by surprise, but in theory, this Transform ability could be used to infiltrate criminal organizations to spy on them and sabotage them from within.
9 VILLAINOUS QUIRK: Decay, Tomura Shigaraki's Quirk
The current boss of the League of Villains is none other than Tomura Shigaraki and he was born with a terrifying Quirk. His Decay ability can rot a person's flesh when he touches them with all five fingers. He has a clear, hand-based fighting style and visual theme.
How is a superhero supposed to use rot to save the day? They cannot. The Decay Quirk is a killer Quirk, not suitable for capturing villains or restraining them at all. Only someone with murder on their mind would use this Quirk.
8 POTENTIALLY HEROIC QUIRK: Barrier, Hekiji Tengai's Quirk
Hekiji Tengai is one of the Eight Bullets, a squad of elite villains who fight for Overhaul and his mob organization. Most of the Eight Bullets are offense-oriented, but with his Barrier ability, Hekiji is actually defensive by nature.
It's easy to picture a hero using the Barrier Quirk to shield themselves & their allies from a villain's fierce attack, and these barriers could also protect innocent bystanders. Cementoss, a concrete-oriented hero, operates in a roughly similar manner.
7 VILLAINOUS QUIRK: Gas, Mustard's Quirk
Mustard the villain is one of the League's younger members, based on his appearance and his junior high school boy's uniform. His Quirk is Gas, allowing him to rapidly fill the air with a powerful, poisonous gas. He can even control the direction of the gas's movement, usually to restrict its area of effect.
There are few, if any, ways a hero would use a Quirk like this one – poisoning people to death isn't what heroes do. This Quirk could also cause a lot of collateral damage in an urban area, and no heroes would run that risk.
6 POTENTIALLY HEROIC QUIRK: Compress, Mr. Compress's Quirk
Mr. Compress has the appearance, personality, and skills of a showman, being an agile fellow with the ability to perform sleight of hand. He does not shed blood on the battlefield; instead, Mr. Compress will shrink his target into a marble-like state.
In the anime, Mr. Compress used this ability to capture Katsuki Bakugo. In the hands of a hero, the Compress Quirk could be used to capture powerful villains and take them to prison without injuring them.
5 VILLAINOUS QUIRK: Rivet Stab, One Of All For One's Quirks
The original owner of this Quirk is unknown. At some point, the archvillain All For One stole the Rivet Stab Quirk and added it to his arsenal as a medium-range piercing attack, which he used it against All Might during their final duel.
Visually, Rivet Stab certainly looks villainous, taking the form of black extensions with glowing red lines in them, emerging from the user's fingers. Given this Quirk's name, nature, and appearance, it would only make sense for a villain to use Rivet Stab.
4 POTENTIALLY HEROIC QUIRK: Warp Gate, Kurogiri's Quirk
Kurogiri is a support member of the League of Villains, using his remarkable Warp Gate Quirk to rapidly deploy his fellow villains to any combat area or evacuate them just as quickly. Both the heroes and villains alike recognize the rare and incredible power of this Quirk.
If a hero had Warp Gate, they would use it largely in the same manner as Kurogiri himself, except that Warp Gate would be used for crime-fighting purposes instead of criminal activity. It could also be used to evacuate civilians from a dangerous area.
3 VILLAINOUS QUIRK: Queen Bee, The Parasitic Quirk
This is a peculiar Quirk that appeared in the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes manga, and its true nature is indeed villainous. The Queen Bee Quirk can parasitically place itself in a host and control them. Queen Bee can release hundreds of bees from the host's body, and those bees can use stings and explosive attacks to harm its enemies. Under no circumstances would a hero use a Quirk like Queen Bee.
2 POTENTIALLY HEROIC QUIRK: Metal Manipulation, Wolfram's Quirk
This movie-only villain may remind viewers of the classic Marvel villain Magneto, but Magneto's powers aren't limited solely to metal manipulation. This Quirk works best in urban areas, where steel girders, cars, traffic lights, and much more can be used. There's not much metal to control in a forest or plains, for example.
A hero could easily use the Metal Manipulation Quirk to restrain a villain or an entire group and keep them restrained until the police arrive to take them into custody. Against stronger villains, this Quirk can be used as a fine offensive tool.
1 VILLAINOUS QUIRK: Bloodcurdle, Stain's Quirk
It's not inconceivable that someone could use Bloodcurdle as a way to capture villains without killing them, but given this Quirk's name, effect, and activation requirements, it's most suitable for villainy. Stain the hero killer uses knives and swords to cut his enemies during surprise attacks, then licks up that blood to activate the Bloodcurdle Quirk. The victim is rendered paralyzed, and Stain can finish them off with ease. Style-wise, that Quirk is too scary for a hero to use.
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