Explosion (
Description[]
Explosion allows the user to excrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from their palms and ignite it at will to create explosions of various sizes.
Through either one of his palms, Katsuki creates fiery shock waves that are highly powerful and destructive, often burning and/or shattering whatever they hit, with Katsuki himself being immune to them, save for some minor damage from the recoil. Because this Quirk generates light, it's a natural counter to Dark Shadow, which thrives in the dark.
The more Katsuki sweats, the more powerful the explosions become.[1] This essentially means that Katsuki's blast gradually grows in power the longer he fights since he will naturally sweat more through ongoing physical activity.
While temporarily wielding One For All during his and Izuku's fight against Nine, Explosion gained a massive power boost, to the point where regular blasts could create large craters and the heat from his explosions were hot enough to melt through solid rock.[2]
During the Paranormal Liberation War, Katsuki's Quirk undergoes an Awakening, allowing him to fire off multiple, more condensed and powerful explosions at once, which he later honed into his Ultimate Move, Cluster.
Weaknesses[]
During cold weather, the nitroglycerin-like sweat requires a slightly longer time to detonate, as opposed to warm weather, where conditions are optimal for ignition.
Repeated explosions, particularly large ones, eventually result in throbbing pain to Katsuki's arms and shoulders.[3][4] Additionally, creating explosions with both arms at the same time causes their overall strength to disperse between both limbs, leading to individually weaker blasts.
Usage[]
Katsuki is very proud of his Quirk. Throughout his life, people frequently commended Explosion, leading Katsuki to develop unrealistic expectations of himself, which he wasn't able to live up to. As a result, he acted arrogant and condescending to others to cope with his painful feelings of inferiority. Before getting into U.A. High School, Katsuki had the habit of using Explosion as a means of threatening and bullying Izuku Midoriya, and while he has dropped that practice for the most part in the present, he still likes to use his Quirk to intimidate foes during fights, usually by creating miniature explosions around both his palms.
Katsuki is able to use Explosion to propel himself through mid-air, blind opponents, and release long-range blasts, among other applications. Explosion is a versatile Quirk, especially for battle situations as the recoil caused by the blasts can be exploited for mobility purposes. When coupled with his fighting talent and intelligence, Katsuki can come up with new moves with little difficulty, even having a few ready by the time he started U.A.'s school year. Thanks to Katsuki's battle ingenuity and natural aggression, Explosion tends to be a very overwhelming Quirk for others to face off against.
In battle, Katsuki prefers all-out offense, using his Quirk's propulsive abilities to close the distance between him and his opponents, followed by a bombardment of close-range attacks that are often started with a powerful right hook. Despite having great mastery over his Quirk, Katsuki tends to recklessly cause unnecessary damage to his surroundings, which is a common issue with hero work, as it may jeopardize missions that require more careful approaches. Over time however, he has grown to be more careful of his surroundings.[5]
As mentioned by Katsuki himself, the Grenadier Bracers from his costume serve to reduce the risk of physical strain caused by overusing his Quirk.[4] These bracers store part of his explosive sweat, with Katsuki being capable of igniting all of it at once by triggering one of the bracers' firing pins, releasing a massive blast that, while devastating, tolls the shoulder of whoever uses it, although Katsuki seems to be completely unfazed by this due to his superior physical ability. Katsuki also carries around grenade-like containers that can be filled with his sweat, allowing him or someone else to use them as actual explosives.
After a Quirk Awakening[6] and further development, Katsuki has found a way to empower his Ultimate Moves by condensing and letting off a massive flurry of explosions, instead of one single explosion. Dubbed "Cluster", this technique can be applied to any of his already existing Ultimate Moves as a form of upgrade, giving them a boost in power. First thought to only be capable of being used in dire situations,[7] he later figures that the best way to use it is to store up an excess of nitroglycerin sweat, adding to the power of the already powerful barrage of explosions necessary for it to be used.[8]
While fighting against Tomura Shigaraki during the Final War, Cluster was revealed to have an unknown side effect where repeatedly storing the beads of explosive sweat ended up stressing the sweat glands in Katsuki's palms, forcing them to exit from other parts of his body. This allowed Katsuki to produce full-body explosions and greatly enhance his speed, although it also causes his body to ache.[9]
The power of the Quirk that Katsuki had strengthened over the years reached the point that a little bead of sweat left behind from his Cluster was enough to help complete his internal resuscitation after his near death experience at Tomura's hands.[10] He also demonstrated a further advancement of his Quirk by covering his explosive perspiration with regular sweat, and using it for a lengthy explosion to sneak attack All For One by using an external igniter.[11]
Named Ultimate Moves[]
Trivia[]
- Explosion is one of the first Quirks seen in the series.
- Excluding One For All, the Explosion and Slide and Glide Quirks have been used in the most Ultimate Moves, with 11 each.
References[]
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 9 and Episode 7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 36 and Episode 22.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 65 and Episode 37.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 359.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 387.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 293.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 336.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 362 and Episode 149.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 405.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 409.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 42 and Episode 24.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 43 and Episode 25.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 101 and Episode 52.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 107 and Episode 56.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 277 and Episode 120.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga and Anime: Chapter 208 and Episode 97.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 320.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 285.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 321.
- ↑ My Hero Academia Manga: Chapter 358.
External Links[]
- Explosion - Wikipedia article about the phenomenon Katsuki can create with his Quirk.
- Nitroglycerin - Wikipedia article about the substance Katsuki produces from his hands.