The entire concept of My Hero Academia revolves around the various quirks most people in the world have. These superpowers allow heroes and villains alike to change the shape of objects, fly in the air, destroy enemies, save the world, or destroy everything. With so many different quirk users throughout the series, it makes defining the top 10 strongest My Hero Academia characters a challenge.
These superheroes and villains alike showcase the full strengths of their quirks and other abilities throughout the manga and anime series. While their quirks alone set the basis for how powerful they are, they often supplement this with their natural strength, intellect, cunningness, and more. Note: there will be some slight spoilers ahead for some of the quirks and powers for each character.
10. Katsuki Bakugo
Bakugo starts out the My Hero Academia series as the bully and long-time rival of main character, Deku. His explosive quirk allows him to essentially blow up anything he touches whenever he wants. This alone gives him devastating power, but he uses the explosions in fascinating ways, like gaining speed and dashing across large spaces.
Though Bakugo falls short many times to his rival in Deku and some of the other characters on this list, he nonetheless is a valuable asset at U.A. High School. It helps, too, that he has some of most unwavering determination out of anyone in the franchise. This is especially apparent in the final battle of the series.
9. Dabi
At his core, Dabi seems like a simple villainous flame quirk user. His quirk, Blueflame, is similar to other users in the series like Endeavor. However, the difference is the unwieldy nature of his fire, which is so hot that it burns blue. Dabi is able to incinerate entire regions in mere moments, and it was so hot that he even caused the scars across his own body. Dabi’s sheer power is barely matched by anyone, hero or villain.
8. Shoto Todoroki
Todoroki stands out as one of the most unique heroes in the series for the simple fact he has more than one quirk. He inherited the fire quirk from his father, Endeavor, and the ice quirk from his mother’s side. This reflects in his literal design, where one half of his body uses fire while the other half uses ice.
This versatility alone makes Todoroki one of the strongest students at U.A. High School. He is able to control the battlefield in some wild ways, freezing foes in place one minute and then burning them to a crisp the next. The only thing that holds Todoroki back is himself, where he spends much of the series refusing to use his flame side.
7. Endeavor
Endeavor, the world’s second-most powerful hero, lives up to his title. While he stands in the shadows of All Might, he is no slouch with the overwhelming fire quirk he has known as Hellflame. His fire is like the one his son Shoto Todoroki has, but much stronger and trained to the utmost potential.
Endeavor has near full control of his powers, allowing him to know when to go all out and eviscerate his enemies or just give them a little burn. In addition, Endeavor has exceptional survivability. The series sees him take on villains that would easily eliminate any other hero, but he’s still standing when the flames go out.
6. Star and Stripe
The number-one hero from the United States of America might have a ridiculous costume, but she makes up for it one of the most overpowered quirks in the series. Her power, New Order, lets her rewrite the rules of almost everything she touches. Star and Stripe can tell the oxygen in the air to disappear, or a laser shot at her to be absorbed and not deal any damage.
While there are some drawbacks to Star and Stripe’s quirk, such as having to touch the object or person first, the sheer flexibility of her dominant power means she rivals even her mentor, All Might.
5. Mirio Togata
As a member of the Big Three at U.A. High School, Mirio Togata is seen at the start of the series as the next great hero to take over the mantle from All Might. It helps, too, that he has one of the most broken quirks of all time in Permeation. It allows him to phase through entire physical objects, such as walls and floors.
This makes Mirio like a ghost, able to phase in and out of combat and essentially not be hit by any attack. This makes Mirio nigh-invincible; however, he doesn’t have complete control over his quirk, unlike most of the others on this list, which somewhat holds him back.
4. All Might
At the start of the series, All Might is the unequivocal number-one hero in the entire world. His presence alone makes criminals run for the hills and keeps the world in balance. The basis of his quirk, One for All, comes from the buffs he is able to give himself. He can power up his hands to smash into enemies or his legs to fly across the skies.
All Might’s superhuman strength, agility, intelligence, and general skill ensure he is a step above every single hero in the world in nearly every category.
3. All for One
The infamous villain has been living for generations, well past the normal age of a human being. This comes from his ridiculous ability to steal and use the quirks of others. As such, he holds the power of many, many different past quirk users, which makes him more powerful and flexible than anyone else.
All for One’s unnatural existence also enables his vile plans for the entire world, including manipulating and taking the lives of countless people. He is an unstoppable force that is even able to rival the world’s greatest hero in All Might. At least, until the new generation of heroes and villains arrive.
2. Tomura Shigaraki
Tomura Shigaraki is so much more than the villain he appears to be at the start of the series. The leader of the League of Villains is the de facto successor of All for One. Shigaraki continues the ideals and powers of All for One, but also with his own quirk on top of it. His power, Decay, allows him to essentially turn anything he touches into dust.
Decay is far too powerful, allowing Shigaraki to melt any foe he touches in an instant, no matter how strong they are. Couple this with his natural affinity for leadership, and it’s no wonder he is the central antagonist of the series.
1. Deku (Izuku Midoriya)
It’s almost poetic that the initially quirkless Izuku Midoriya begins the series with no powers, and then becomes the strongest hero. As the inheritor of One for All from All Might, he is able to continue the idea of powering up for super strong attacks and movements. But One for All has surprising secrets, which only Deku is able to fully unlock through his predecessors.
By the end of the series, Deku has the most versatile quirk out of anyone. He excels in every department, from pure strength, to knowing his opponent’s next move, to speed and beyond. Above all else, Deku is exceptionally adaptable, and capable of facing off against any foe. He continuously reaches for new power levels, which gives him unlimited potential, greater than anyone else in My Hero Academia.
