How did Hawks lose his Quirk in My Hero Academia? Explained

Modified Nov 06, 2024 07:32 GMT

How did Hawks lose his Quirk in My Hero Academia? Explained (Image via BONES)

Throughout mangaka Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia series, one of the most engaging aspects was the various ways in which a Quirk can be destroyed, weakened, nullified, or outright stolen. Characters like Kai Chisaki (also known as Overhaul), Shota Aizawa (also known as Erasherhead), and All For One each highlight some of these methods.

One character whose Quirk has suffered two of those fates is Hawks and his Fierce Wings ability. While Hawks did have a Quirk at one point, he eventually lost it, resulting in many asking “how did Hawks lose his Quirk” following the latest anime season. In My Hero Academia, Hawks fully lost his already weakened Fierce Wings Quirk after All For One stole it from him during the Final War Arc’s events.

How All For One stole Hawks’ Quirk

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While that answers the question of “how did Hawks lose his Quirk in My Hero Academia” on a surface level, it’s worth diving into the specific method and mechanics used to steal his ingrained ability. During the later events of the Final War Arc, Hawks and his student Fumikage Tokoyami are forced to confront All For One, the series’ most powerful villain.

The two are supported by several other powerful heroes as they relentlessly attack All For One. Their all-or-nothing effort stems from All For One’s status at the time, which saw his body quickly and uncontrollably rewinding itself into non-existence. Thus, the larger group decided to attack all at once without stopping. However, they proved to be no match, with All For One launching an off-screen counterattack shown to be successful in the end.

After this counterattack, All For One set his sights on stealing Tokoyami’s Quirk. However, Hawks stood in his way and refused to allow this to happen. While fighting against All For One, the villain picked Hawks up and used his All For One Quirk (for which he named himself after) to steal Fierce Wings. The exact mechanics of how All For One steals Quirks is unknown, but the act was successful here, with wings growing from All For One’s body as he does so.

History of Hawks’ Quirk in My Hero Academia

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As mentioned above, Hawks’ Fierce Wings Quirk was already a weakened version of itself by the time All For One stole it in My Hero Academia’s Final War Arc. Originally, Hawks’ Quirk was considered one of the most versatile and powerful in the series. The feathers could be used offensively, defensively, in a support-combat role, to save large numbers of civilians simultaneously, and even to minimize collateral damage.

However, Hawks was eventually forced to fight Dabi (also known as Toya Todoroki) during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc. Dabi eventually gets the upper hand on Hawks and begins torturing him out of anger for the Pro Hero’s murder of Twice amid the fight. Dabi does so by repeatedly burning his back, which results in his wings being all but burned up from the damage.

This damage was also revealed to be permanent, with Recovery Girl being unable to fully heal Hawks’ wings despite her medically-oriented Quirk. In other words, the Quirk Factor itself was damaged to a point beyond repair. This is consistent with when All For One steals the Quirk, with his wings being comparable in size to Hawks’ following Dabi’s damage.

In summation

The history of Hawks' Quirk is a tragic one (Image via BONES)

The answer to the question of “how did Hawks lose his Quirk in My Hero Academia” is that All For One used his Quirk of the same name to steal it during the Final War Arc. However, Fierce Wings’ Quirk Factor was already damaged by that point, making the Quirk a shadow of its former self. This damage was also transferred over to All For One when he stole the Fierce Wings Quirk Factor from Hawks.