Summary
Ultimate Moves are a staple ofMy Hero Academia’s super-powered universe, since they’re special techniques that all characters are able to come up with and perform after training their respective quirks and bringing out their full potential. When used correctly, these moves can not only cause a lot of destruction,but they can also determine who’s going to be the winner of an encounter.
Naturally, many Ultimate Moves have appeared inMy Hero Academiathroughout this series’ extensive run, and they have been used by all types of characters: Pro Heroes, villains, vigilantes, and even students. But the following are the absolute strongest ones in the entire series.
8Knuckle Style
Koichi Haimawari (The Crawler)
Throughout the main plot ofMyHero Academia: Vigilantes, protagonistKoichi Haimawarinot only had to learn how to become an effective illegal hero, but he also trained his seemingly weak Slide and Glide quirk to come up with a lot of surprisingly strong Ultimate Moves. Ultimately, he was able to perform his most powerful technique during his climactic final battle against Number Six, and it was simply calledKnuckle Style.
Koichi uses Slide and Glide to project repulsive force fields on his knucklesso he can unleash a destructive final punch on the same level as an attack from All Might himself. This powerful Ultimate Move was able to defeat Number Six while he was in his massive Destructive Style form, and it was the moment that finally cemented Koichi as the strongest vigilante in the entire franchise.
7Great Glacial Aegir
Shoto Todoroki (Shoto)
Shoto Todoroki’s character development mostly revolved around him learning how to use both sides of his Half-Cold Half-Hot quirkand to effectively combine them to perform incredible attacks. The culmination of his efforts was finally revealed during his final encounter with Dabi, in which he used his Phosphor technique, which allowed him to perfectly channel excessive amounts of heat and cold through his body at an equal level.
While in his Phosphor mode, Shoto was able to performGreat Glacial Aegir, in which he unleashed a giant wave of cold fire at his brother that both destroyed his body and completely froze it. Great Glacial Aegir is so powerful that Shoto used it a second time to stop Dabi’s enormous self-destructive explosion, although he admitted that he would never have been able to achieve this without the help of his family and their ice-based quirks.
6Howitzer Impact: Cluster
Katsuki Bakugo (Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight)
Despite his aggressive and competitive personality,Katsuki Bakugois quite a brilliant young hero who was able to use his simple (but effective) quirk to come up with all sorts of different Ultimate Moves. However, the most destructive and impressive special technique in his entire arsenal isHowitzer Impact: Cluster, which he first utilized against Shigaraki Tomura in the Final War Arc.
This is an evolution of his Howitzer Impact, but combined with his Cluster technique and his Strafe Panzer support item, which allows Bakugo to move even faster toward his opponent, while simultaneously spreading even more destructive explosions around him. This Ultimate Move is so powerful that not only was it able to deal some damage to Shigaraki, but he also used an even stronger version of it to finish All for One once and for all.
5Omni-Factor Unleash
Zen Shigaraki (All For One)
With his legendary All For One quirk (which also inspired his villain name),Zen Shigarakiwas able to gather a massive collection of quirks that he stole, transferred, and duplicatedthroughout his extensive career as Japan’s infamous Symbol of Evil. By combining different powers and using them at the same time, All for One was able to overcome most of the heroes who opposed him, but after many of them (including All Might himself) weakened his body, he was forced to use his strongest Ultimate Move against Katsuki Bakugo.
Omni-Factor Unleashallowed All For One to accumulate every single quirk he had stolen and implement them into one powerful attack. As a result of this dangerous technique, his body mutated, and he transformed into a disturbing giant blob with all the faces of the quirk’s respective vestiges. In any other context, this Ultimate Move would have been enough to completely turn the tide of the battle, but since All for One’s body was already in a weakened state when he revealed it, Bakugo was able to defeat him with his final Howitzer Impact. All for One used Omni-Factor Unleash a second time to shoot a giant laser beam against Deku when he was possessing Shigaraki’s body, but Toru Hagakure was able to redirect it with her light-bending ability.
4State-Of-The-Art Hypersonic Intercontinental Cruise Punch
Cathleen Bate (Star And Stripe)
America’s #1 Pro Hero,Star and Stripe, had one of the most powerful, versatile, and distinctive quirks in the entire series.It was called New Order, and it allowed her to set specific rules for any objects or people she touchedin order to modify their properties and behavior. Needless to say, Cathleen was able to come up with a few destructive Ultimate Moves with this quirk, with her final gambit being the most powerful one in her collection.
When she usedState-Of-The-Art Hypersonic Intercontinental Cruise Punch, Star and Stripe made the giant air construct of herself (which she previously made with her Fist Bump to the Earth technique) grab her team’s Tiamat missiles and redirected them to Shigaraki Tomura in the form of an explosive punch that left a massive crater in the ground. Unfortunately, while this is clearly one of the most powerful Ultimate Moves in the series, and it would undoubtedly have been enough to finish any other villain, Shigaraki and All for One were prepared to deal with New Order, and the combined villains were ultimately able to avoid the explosion.
3Detroit Smash: Quintuple
Izuku Midoriya (Deku)
As the main character of the series,Izuku Midoriyawas able to create a lot of different Ultimate Moves. At first, he mastered One for All and slowly learned how to use its power at increasing percentages, from 30% to 40%, and even 100%. But when he unlocked the other additional quirks residing inside One for All, Deku had to learn how to properly use and combine them to come up with even more Ultimate Moves.
During his final encounter against Shigaraki Tomura, he unveiled a brand-new technique called Overdrive, in which he used Gearshift and Fa Jin on himself to become faster and stronger. Thanks to this massive boost, Deku was able to achieve incredible strength, on the same level as 120% One for All, which he then used to unleash five consecutive Detroit Smashes against Shigaraki. This Ultimate Move is aptly namedDetroit Smash: Quintupleand, while it’s not the last special technique Deku showcased in the story, it’s definitely the most powerful one in his entire arsenal.
2Prominence Burn
Enji Todoroki (Endeavor)
Enji Todorokispent most of his life obsessed with the idea of surpassing All Might and becoming the #1 Pro Hero of Japan, so he mastered his potent Hellflame quirk and was able to come up with and perform several Ultimate Moves of varying levels of power and effectiveness. However, after his lifelong rival retired, and he finally became the #1 Pro Hero, he was forced to confront a dangerous High-End Nomu named Hood, whom he could only defeat by using his most powerful special technique:Prominence Burn.
When he uses this Ultimate Move, Endeavor concentrates all of his power inside his body and shoots a giant beam of fire that can evaporate his enemies in an instant. Thanks to Prominence Burn, he was able to kill Hood and finally prove that he was worthy of becoming Japan’s new Symbol of Peace, not to mention that he went on to use it again in both the Paranormal Liberation War and the Final War. Curiously enough, in the movieMy Hero Academia: You’re Next, Endeavor showcased two special variations of Prominence Burn, called Maximum Fire and Flare Circle, respectively.
1United States Of Smash
Toshinori Yagi (All Might)
There’s no doubt thatAll Mightwas the most powerful and important Pro Hero in the world ofMy Hero Academia, which is why his eventual retirement had such a huge impact on Japan’s hero society. Before that, he constantly showcased an array of different Ultimate Moves of varying power,but he reserved his absolute strongest one for his climactic final encounter against All for One.
With the help of the One for All vestiges, All Might was able to concentrate his quirks' power into one single final punch that he calledUnited States of Smash. This devastating Ultimate Move not only defeated All for One and finally put an end to his reign of terror, but it also generated a giant whirlwind of air and left a huge crater in the ground. Sadly, All Might was forced to use the final embers of One for All (since he had recently passed it onto Deku), and thus, this was the last thing he ever did with his legendary quirk. Nevertheless, the United States of Smash scene is highly regarded by most fans as one of the most epic and incredible moments in all ofMy Hero Academia.
