With the Final War arc well underway in My Hero Academia’s manga (as of the time of writing this), let’s take an in-depth look at some of the arc’s most prominent players. And, surprise, not all of them are Pro Heroes or students from Class 1-A. Fans always knew that the kids in Class 1-B were interesting, some even more interesting than a few Class A students.

But, they were always sort of put on the sidelines until around the Joint Training Arc of the anime done by Studio Bones. Since then, many of the Class B students have shown what their Quirks are truly capable of, which makes ranking them all a more than worthy thought exercise. So, let’s go through all of the Class B students in My Hero Academia, their Quirks, the potential of those Quirks, and what they’ve done with them so far in order to rank them all from worst to best.

Updated October 18th, 2024 by Jacob Buchalter: Sadly, despite MHA reaching its total conclusion between this article originally posting and now, the Class B kids didn’t even really get their moments in the sun. A few of them had important roles, with Neito Monoma’s being the most important role by far in the Final War Arc, but overall this Class was vastly overshadowed by Class A and the variety of side characters during the penultimate events of My Hero Academia. It’s understandable of course, given how many characters the series had, but Class B’s Quirks were so much more unique overall compared to Class A’s, so it would’ve been exciting to see the utmost limit these kids could develop these abilities. Still, let’s go over all the Quirks that Class B has to offer and rank them all from weakest to strongest.

20 Solid Air

Kosei Tsuburaba

Sadly, one of the more interesting Quirks among the Class B students is the absolute last in the rankings. Granted, it was good enough to get Kosei Tsuburaba into UA High, so there’s a ton of potential for his Solid Air Quirk, but it still lands in last compared to everyone else. At first, this ability of Kosei’s to blow air out and turn it ‘solid’ seemed awful. But, when he showed the Quirk off again during the Joint Training arc, it became clear the Quirk had a lot more potential than previously speculated.

The most interesting thing about Tsuburaba’s Quirk is the fact that his lung capacity is the only limiting factor. From the Sports Festival to the Practice Battles with Class A, Kosei strengthened the durability of his Solid Air from being comparable to glass (breaking with a single punch) to durable enough to require multiple full-strength hits with a metal pipe. At the end of the day, however, it’s still just air, and there are plenty of people and Quirks out there that can easily destroy his newly-strengthened Solid Air with ease. But, this Quirk does have a lot of future potential, so it’s entirely up to Mr. Tsuburaba to see how far he can take it.

19 Cemendine

Kojiro Bondo

Out of all the unique powers and appearances in Class B, Kojiro Bondo stands out the most by far, whether it’s his tall stature, his broad shoulders, his gigantic hands, his yellow skin, or just his head in general. Like the last Quirk, Bondo’s is another one perfect for restricting people. Bondo’s Quirk (named Cemendine) lets him spray copious amounts of a glue-like substance from the holes in his head. Sounds weird and situational, right? Well, it is, but with the right support items, Kojiro could restrain enemies from a distance or even use the glue on himself to create blunt weapons. Essentially, depending on how he adapts to his situational Quirk, Bondo could go from a lackluster sidekick to a very capable hero.

That said, it doesn’t seem like Kojiro is much of a capable hand-to-hand fighter. If he trained in this aspect, similar to Uravity, he could get close, use his Quirk to restrain his opponent to some degree, and then use his combat skills to give himself an even bigger advantage. But, at the moment, Kojiro just uses it from afar as a sort of ‘sticky trap’, which puts it pretty low in the overall rankings.

18 Gyrate

Sen Kaibara

Like Solid Air, the Quirk Gyrate (which allows Mr. Kaibara to rotate any part of his body at high speeds) is potentially very strong, but Kaibara hasn’t quite figured out all the applications for it yet. It allowed him to fight Ojiro to a standstill, thanks to his spinning hands drilling into Tailman’s tail, but he could’ve done much more if he looked at his Qurik from a much wider angle.

If utilized correctly, Sen could start by rotating one of his legs, pass that kinetic energy up to his hips/torso, then to his arm, and finally his hand all with rotation, with each transition adding onto the force of the spin before it and leading up to a huge hit. But, as it currently stands, Sen Kaibara mostly uses it to turn his hands into drills and not much else, which is why it ranks this low.

17 Weld

Yosetsu Awase

Yosetsu Awase is one of the Class B students that fans have seen the most. Awase’s Quirk is called “Weld,” and it lets him weld anything together, be it organic or inorganic, as if he was welding metal. It’s one of the many Emitter-type Quirks in Class B that’s more suited for restraining villains than fighting them.

The fact that this Quirk doesn’t seem to rely on metal to weld, and it doesn’t require heat, does open up quite the range of possibilities. For example, he can easily bind an opponent to themselves, to the surrounding wall, or even to something heavy nearby like a car. However, the fact that Awase has to touch his opponent to activate the Quirk, and also the fact that it isn’t really suited for combat, do limit Yosetsu in what he can do. It’s another Quirk that will only show how useful it is if Yosetsu turns himself into a capable hand-to-hand combatant in some capacity, so it’s hard to fully gauge where it stands currently.

16 Lizard Tail Splitter

Setsuna Tokage

One of the creepier Quirks in the series so far, Setsuna Tokage’s Lizard Tail Splitter Quirk works similarly to Captain Buggy’s Devil Fruit Power in One Piece. Setsuna can separate her body into individually controllable parts, as well as fly around with them. Fans saw how this Quirk could be used to strategically counter recon-type Quirks (especially sound-based ones) in the Joint Training Arc, but not so much how it could be used in a combat setting. There are a lot of creative ways to utilize this Quirk from using it to fly, fit in tight spaces, or avoid dangerous attacks.

However, from what was shown in her battle against Bakugo’s team, her usage of the Quirk still needs a lot of work. Plus, even if she can break her body down into fifty individual pieces and send them at an opponent similar to artillery, any villain with a destructive Quirk can just burn or destroy those parts, and Setsuna is suddenly in a lot of trouble. Not to make too many comparisons to One Piece, but it’s a very similar downside to Nico Robin’s Devil Fruit. Yes, Nico Robin can seemingly create infinite copies of any of her own body parts. But, if any of those parts are damaged, Nico feels that pain and takes that damage.

15 Poltergeist

Reiko Yanagi

Poltergeist is another interesting Quirk with a lot of potential. It has a fair number of similarities to Lizard Tail Splitter, as Reiko can completely control a wide range of relatively light objects and send them flying around. But, instead of her own body parts, it’s random objects. The Quirk is called Poltergeist due to Reiko’s not-so-extroverted demeanor combined with the Quirk’s function, but it’s basically just telekinesis, which has always been a staple superpower in comics and manga.

The biggest downside of Reiko’s Quirk is frankly that she’s still young and hasn’t developed it to the utmost. During the mock battles, Reiko could only control a number of objects that would roughly add up to the average weight of a human being and wasn’t seen levitating herself or anyone else. But, if Reiko ups that weight limit and figures out how to use her Quirk on other people (whether by levitating them or an object they’re standing on), she could easily become a top-class Hero. That said, it seems like she’s already improved the Quirk quite a bit since she used it to help get gigantic weapons to Mt. Lady during the Final War Arc.

14 Big Fist

Itsuka Kendo

Class B’s Class Representative (and the most well-liked Class 1-B character, according to the popularity polls), Itsuka Kendo, has a Quirk called Big Fist. As one would expect from the name, it allows Kendo to control the size of her fists to a substantial degree. On paper, this Quirk probably sounds awful to most. Yet in the hands of someone capable like Kendo, it’s pretty strong.

For one, Kendo seems to have a lot of practice in hand-to-hand combat, something a lot of her fellow classmates are lacking in, and this means she knows how to throw a punch. Two, it seems she isn’t really inhibited by the weight of her large hands, using it to carry others or even blow away toxic gas with relatively little effort. And three, there’s a lot of room left for this Quirk to grow. Itsuka has been seen punching through tungsten shields with her Quirk, using their expansive power to push enemies away, and can even tell when the best time is to grow her fists during a punch for the maximum possible output. Just imagine if Kendo keeps increasing her strength and upping the size limit of her fists, in just a few years she may even be able to create building-sized fists that she can put her full force behind.

13 Horn Cannon

Pony Tsunotori

Horn Cannon is another ‘oddball’ Quirk alongside Poltergeist or Lizard Tail Splitter. But, surprisingly for a Qurik that seems so “gimmicky,” it has huge potential. As seen in the Mock Battles, Tsunotori can launch a fair number of her Horns that instantly grow back with ease, and can even control up to four of them at a time with what seems like telekinesis. Additionally, the weight limit these horns can support seems to be much higher than Reiko’s weight limit, as Pony has been seen supporting herself with her horns and even holding up a post-steel transformation Tetsutetsu.

There’s a lot she can do with these things, as they pack a punch and have a high carrying capacity. On paper, they’re essentially a weaker version of Hawk’s feathers, but he’s the number 2 Hero, so even being comparable to him is a huge compliment.

12 Mushroom

Kinoko Komori

This Quirk seems hyper-specific, but it’s actually incredible for the opposite reason. One might think that a Quirk that allows someone to grow Mushrooms around them doesn’t have much use. However, there are over 10,000 known types of mushrooms across the globe, and many of them have effects and byproducts that are almost magical in what they can do. There are mushrooms that cause hallucinations, some that paralyze the consumer, and plenty that can kill anyone who eats them.

Take all that knowledge, and rethink Komori’s Mushroom Quirk. It’s been shown that Komori (who may have one of the best Hero Costumes ever) can control where and what mushrooms grow around her. Imagine if she were a villain and decided to make a Death Cap Mushroom, the most deadly mushroom on Earth, grow inside someone’s mouth. Thankfully, Komori seems to be sweet, and it’s clear that UA recognizes how useful her Quirk is, as they’re actively taking advantage of this absurdly cheery girl’s Quirk on the front lines in the Final War arc.

11 Razor Sharp

Togaru Kamakiri

By far one of the deadliest Quirks in Class B, Razor Sharp would be terrifying in the hands of any villain. With it, Togaru can produce blades of any shape or size from any part of his body.

He can use these blades to cut through steel, stick into the surrounding terrain to lock him in place, block attacks, and more. The reason they’re higher than something like Big Fist, for example, is simply because of their durability, their versatility, and lethality. Basically, Togaru’s Quirk is at a much further ‘starting point’ than Keno’s Quirk, but where each Quirk ultimately ends up is entirely up to the wielder.

10 Scales

Hiryu Rin

Imagine if Kirishima could both Harden like he normally does, but also shoot out bits of hardened skin like bullets. That’s basically Hiryu Rin’s Quirk, Scale. Rin can reinforce his entire body with these reptilian-like scales, launch them from his gauntlets like a machine gun, or even turn his scales sharp-side outward to turn him into a pseudo-porcupine.

His defense isn’t quite as high as a normal hardening Quirk like Steel or Harden, but it’s much more versatile. His ability to fight at both long and close range puts him above Class B students with Quirks that only specialize in one or the other. He’s already starting to use support items to increase the utility of his Quirk, and there’s much more room for this Quirk to grow. Given enough time, Hiryu could make weapons from his scales ahead of time, use them to create shrapnel grenades, or possibly come up with something similar to Kirishima’s “Unbreakable” move where he ups his durability even further.

9 Black

Shihai Kuroiro

In the hands of an assassin or trained killer, this Quirk would be one of the strongest in existence. Even in the hands of a hero, it’s still pretty powerful. The Quirk, simply named “Black,” has almost no combat potential by default. But in terms of hiding from the enemy or keeping them guessing, it’s one of the best out there. In fact, given how the Hero Public Safety Division has worked so far with Heroes like Hawks or Lady Nagant, it’s a miracle that Shihai hasn’t been drafted by them already.

Because Vantablack’s size or mass doesn’t matter when he merges with darkness, it could easily be used to sneak into places and could even be used to potentially sneak inside another person, considering it’s completely dark within the human body. But even without the body horror, Vantablack is a Hero who would grow in power exponentially with the right Support Items. For example, if Shihai had a support item that could instantly paint anything around it black, Kuroiro would be able to fulfill the role of both an espionage hero and a combat one. And, depending on how it grows in the future, this Quirk might even be able to take control of anything that’s covered in shadow, be it entire vehicles or even buildings.

8 Size

Yui Kodai

Vantablack’s Quirk isn’t the only one that could “explode” somebody from the inside if it was in the wrong hands. Another one of Class B’s introverts, Miss Yui Kodai, could easily do this with anything at all. She could hand someone a pill, wait until they swallow it, then use her Quirk to expand the pill’s size to, say, the size of a truck. Again, it’s a good thing that these people are heroes because these Quirks could be horrifying in the hands of someone twisted.

This is another Quirk that Kohei Hoshikori (MHA’s mangaka) hasn’t shown an upper limit for yet, so fans don’t know how small or big she can make something. However, the sheer fact that it alters their mass, as well as their size, is the main reason this Quirk ranks so high. Yui is another Class B student who would benefit exponentially from some well-thought-out Support Items, but even by itself, the Size Quirk has the potential to be one of the strongest. It seems like Horikoshi is aware of this, as he paired up Kodai with the perfect hero in the Final War Arc, Mt. Lady. Throughout this arc, Kodai gives Mt. Lady a wide variety of gigantic weapons to wield such as a giant wrench.

7 Comic

Manga Fukidashi

Of all the Quirks in Class B, Manga’s is likely the most versatile. For anyone who read/watched Fairy Tail, his Quirk essentially works like the Solid Script magic that Levy used. However, instead of giving physical form to any and all words like Levy, Fukidashi can only do it with onomatopoeia.

Still, never underestimate the power of sound effects. Depending on the words that Manga chooses, Mr. Fukidashi could replicate a lot of other students’ Quirks, using onomatopoeia such as “Boom” for Bakugo’s, “Zap” for Kaminari’s, or even the classic “Pew-Pew” to copy Aoyama’s lasers. Plus, Fukidashi is another one of the few Class B characters to reappear in the Final War Arc to show that his Quirk is useful enough to be of vital importance in one of the more dire circumstances in the entire series. Not only does Fukidashi get to help out with his Quirk by using his ‘Zap’ onomatopoeia to help keep the school afloat, but he also helps block some of All for One’s Rivet Shots during during the end moments of the battle against Midoriya by making a ‘boulder of words’ to block them.

6 Beast

Jurota Shishida

While a lot of other Quirks on this list are powerful, there aren’t many that are tailored toward bare-knuckle brawls like Deku’s, Kirishima’s, or Bakugo’s. But Shishida’s Beast Quirk is absolutely one of those types of abilities. It allows Jurota to go back and forth between a default human form and a “beast” form. Think of it like Beast from X-Men or even the Hulk, but Jurota has actual control over his beast.

While in Beast Form, Jurota is faster, stronger, more durable, more observant, and larger. He’s basically a superhuman with extraordinary strength, stamina, and speed, but with the added benefit of having enhanced senses like a wild beast. What’s more, Shishida has shown that he’s capable of using his Quirk in creative ways, which is not usually something these types of characters tend to do. It’s very basic compared to a lot of the other Class B Quirks, but sometimes it’s better to be basic.

5 Twin Impact

Nirengeki Shoda

This next Quirk allows Mr. Nirengeki to grant a second “hit” to anything he previously impacted. The force of this second Impact is also guaranteed to be much stronger than the first. And, because he can activate this ‘second impact’ at any time, he can instantly change the trajectory and speed of objects in midair, or even “store” hits on an opponent to cash in on at any time.

If MHA wasn’t such a kid-friendly series, Shoda would be shown turning any gun into a railgun or any thrown object into something equivalent to a cannonball. In a physical fight, any hit Shoda lands leaves enemies cautious, wondering when the second impact will hit. The only thing holding him back is his still-growing body. If Nirengeki focuses on building muscle mass, he could turn an already devastating punch into something comparable to an All-Might punch.

4 Steel

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Speaking of simplistic Quirks, the best of all of them is Steel. This is Testutestu’s Quirk, Class B’s version of Kirishima, AKA the brave crimson wonder, Red Riot. It allows him to turn his entire body into steel, similar to Colossus from the X-Men comics.

In this form, Testsu can charge through almost anything, overpower anyone who doesn’t have superhuman strength, and even withstand extreme conditions like being surrounded by fire. Of course, he’s weak to anything that could hurt steel, such as absurdly high heat or even a powerful magnet. But his Quirk has more potential in durability than Kirishima’s, considering it gives him elemental durability as well as being affected by an outside source like the iron in his diet. And, as Sunbreak has shown in the Final War Arc, Quirks that rely on an external source like this are able to vastly differ in strength and versatility depending on the user’s preparation. Tetsutestu has shown off his Quirk a lot more than the rest of Class B, even managing to up his heat resistance and run through fire to help Mina Ashido during the Paranormal Liberation Arc.

3 Vines

Ibara Shiozaki

For anyone wondering only reason Ibara’s Vines Quirk beats out Steel is because of its versatility. Ibara doesn’t seem to have a limit on how many vines she can create. She can control them like an infinite number of tendrils coming from her body, and she can fight at any range. She can stack vines to hit harder or create a stronger defense, and create shapes out of the vines to serve different purposes. They even have the self-harming effect of Hiryu’s scales, where her opponents usually hurt themselves even attacking the vines.

If Ibara trained in martial arts, she could easily make vine weapons or armor that would make her a threat at close range as well. The only real downside of this Quirk is that Ibara needs sunlight and water in order to grow more if she reaches her limit. That said, the actual strength of these vines has been shown to fall off pretty hard once the ‘power level’ of her opponent reaches a certain point. For example, when they were trying to stop Gigantomachia during the Paranormal Liberation Arc, Ibara tried using her vines to restrain him and Gigantomachia ripped them off as if they were made of paper.

2 Softening

Juzo Honenuki

Juzo is by far one of the best students overall in Class B. He got into UA on recommendations like Momo and Todoroki, and a lot of that is simply because Juzo is incredibly flexible in his thinking, making him a fantastic tactician. Furthermore, his Quirk is deceptively overpowered. It allows him to control any battlefield he fights on. With his Softening Quirk, Honenuki can “soften” anything inorganic he touches, allowing him to swim through it or even trap enemies as if the floor were quicksand.

Again, if Juzo were a villain, he could use his Quirk to soften the ground underneath someone and then return it to normal once opponents were submerged, essentially burying them alive. It may not be as flashy as Reiko’s Poltergeist or as destructive as Kamakiri’s blades, but it allows someone hyper-intelligent like Juzo to get the upper hand in almost any situation. As far as current arcs are concerned, Juzo has basically only used his Quirk to restrain basic mobs such as the ones who were trying to free Gigantomachia, but that’s still a massive help overall.

1 Copy

Neito Monoma

A power that copies other powers will always be something near the top of these rankings as it is, by design, a bit overpowered. Though Monoma can’t use multiple Quirks at once, he can switch between multiple ones he’s copied and stack their effects on top of each other, but not simultaneously. Additionally, as seen in the Final War arc, he can continuously use the Quirk of someone if he keeps constant contact with them.

The biggest drawbacks of his Quirk, outside of Monoma not ever acting very ‘heroic’ in general, are two-fold. Firstly, he has a time limit until the copied Quirk runs out, but he seems to be able to increase this limit through training. Secondly, Monoma has to make physical contact with the person who wields the Quirk in order to copy it. If Neito ever figures out a workaround to his “physical touch” requirement, such as being able to copy it by touching something the Quirk holder touched, he’d basically become a more restricted version of All For One. This is funny, given how Monoma is using Aizawa’s Erasure Quirk currently to help put a stop to All For One, once and for all, in one of the series’ best battles.