Why My Hero Academia's Quirk Singularity theories weren't well thought out, explained

Modified Sep 02, 2024 19:00 GMT

My Hero Academia ended its manga a few years ago and there have been multiple analyses on several aspects of the series, with the ending usually getting the most scrutiny. In that regard, there is a concept that was extremely undermined and underdeveloped throughout the story, which is that of the Quirk Singularity theory and the role it plays in the world-building of the series.

This theory, explained by Dr. Garaki in the My Hero Academia series, explained that powers would become stronger and harder to control for each new generation, although the veracity and effects of this phenomenon were not really shown throughout the story. It is something that could have had a lot of ramifications in the manga but author Kohei Horikoshi seemed to have ignored this concept, which begs the question of why it was included to begin with.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Explaining why the Quirk Singularity theory didn't work in My Hero Academia

Dr. Garaki as seen in the anime (Image via Bones).

It was established in the series that Dr. Garaki came up with the Quirk Singularity theory a few decades ago, establishing that the powers that the kids would develop were going to become stronger and harder to control for their bodies, leading to massive injuries and a lot of chaos. This theory was mostly laughed at by the scientific community at the time, although All For One got a hold of it and decided to reach out to Garaki, starting their working relationship.

However, the story makes very little use of this theory, to the point that it makes very little sense that it was included. Characters such as Overhaul, Katsuki Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki, Eri, and many more are born with very powerful Quirks and their bodies don't take any major damage from their use beyond getting tired after exploiting them too much.

Even when it comes to All For One, his Quirk was focused on absorbing other people's powers and managed to adapt to them, only needing a new body after being destroyed in combat by All Might. Speaking of the Number One Pro Hero, One For All doesn't fit into this category either because it has the unique nature of accumulating power while also being one of the first-ever Quirks.

More details of this theory

All For One met Dr. Garaki through the Quirk Singularity theory (Image via Bones).

There have been some speculations in the fandom that My Hero Academia author Kohei Horikoshi established the Quirk Singularity theory but that doesn't mean that is true. While it is a common case in real-life science, that theories can be disproven, Garaki was able to create entities such as the Nomu, improving Tomura Shigaraki's body to the point of rivaling prime All Might in terms of raw strength, and was overall a genius, so him being off the mark here doesn't seem likely.

It is more likely that Horikoshi simply forgot about this topic or disregarded it because he wanted to give more focus to other plots of the series. This is a running issue with the story in the final arcs of the story, with the last few chapters emphasizing how the author missed the mark with some plot points.

Final thoughts

There is a very good chance that Kohei Horikoshi didn't develop the Quirk Singularity theory in My Hero Academia because he forgot about it. It is also likely that he thought that other plot points required more attention, which is something that potentially played a role.

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Edited by Sreerupa Das