What Is a Cell Activation Quirk in My Hero Academia?

The storyline of My Hero Academia is just as interesting in the movies as in the main anime series. Of course, the movies have their fair share of different characters with unique Quirks. In the Heroes Rising movie, the most important Quirk that was featured was the Cell Activation, which became the object of desire of Nine. So, what is the Cell Activation Quirk?

The Cell Activation Quirk is an ability that allows its user to activate the cells of a person so that they can speed up the person’s recovery time and physical conditioning. Nine wanted to get his hands on this Quirk to heal from the damage his body had suffered from using his Quirk.

We have seen our fair share of Quirks that could heal in My Hero Academia, and the Cell Activation Quirk is just one of them. However, this ability is unique in its own right because it can accelerate how the cells recover the person’s body instead of outright healing the person’s injury. That said, let’s look at the Cell Activation Quirk in greater detail.

What Is the Cell Activation Quirk?

The world of My Hero Academia has many different characters capable of incredible things due to the abilities of their Quirks. Of course, those who have Quirks have unique capabilities that vary from one person to another and on the person’s genetics. And some characters have incredible Quirks that aren’t battle-oriented but can support different people by healing them.

One of the Quirks that could heal people is the Cell Activation Quirk. This Quirk was heavily featured in the events of the movie My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising. In fact, it was the very reason why the storyline proceeded as it did. So, what is the Cell Activation Quirk?

Cell Activation is a Quirk that is capable of regeneration and healing. It works when the user touches a person and allows their cells to activate and rapidly heal or regenerate a person’s body or allow the body to speed up its recovery time. In that regard, the Quirk allows the body’s cells to heal the body instead of using any external force or factor that miraculously heals the person’s wounds and injuries.

The user can use the Quirk on themselves or others in the storyline. We’ve seen the Quirk being used by two people in the movie. The first is Mr. Shimano, whose Cell Activation only works on people with Type A blood. The second is Katsuma Shimano, who can use the Quirk on Types O, A, and B blood.

This Quirk works differently than the other healing Quirks we’ve seen in My Hero Academia. Recovery Girl’s ability to heal others using her Heal Quirk is based on how she transfers life energy to speed up a person’s recovery. Meanwhile, Eri’s Rewind Quirk works by rewinding the person’s body to a point in the past where it has yet to suffer injuries. On the other hand, Cell Activation speeds up how the person’s cells heal the person’s body.

Why Is the Cell Activation Quirk Important?

As mentioned, the Cell Activation Quirk was the most important during the events of My Hero Academia. This is because Nine, a powerful villain, traveled to Nabu Island to steal the Quirk from Katsuma Shimano, a young boy blessed with this Quirk. So, why is Cell Activation so important?

The reason why Nine wanted the Cell Activation Quirk was that he needed it to heal his body. Nine was blessed with a godlike Quirk that allowed him to manipulate the weather to proportions that could level an entire city block and produce hurricanes and weather phenomena that could easily take out some of the strongest heroes. 

It was the fact that Nine was so powerful that All For One chose him as one of the subjects for a copy of his Quirk. As such, Nine acquired incredible Quirks, allowing him to become almost as strong as All For One in his prime. Nine also acquired the ability to steal Quirks from other people, which was why he could steal Cell Activation.

Nine, however, had a weakness in his incredibly powerful Quirk. His ability to manipulate the weather greatly affected his body, as he suffered permanent injuries whenever he used his original weather manipulation abilities. And unlike the injuries that Deku suffers whenever he uses One For All, the damage to Nine’s body is permanent.

In that regard, he was looking to use the Cell Activation Quirk to force his cells to heal his body from the injuries he suffered whenever he used his Quirk. He acquired the Quirk when he found Mr. Shimano, Katsuma’s father, on the mainland. However, Mr. Shimano’s Cell Activation only worked on those with Type A blood, which means it wasn’t compatible with Nine’s body.

As such, Nine used his Scanning Quirk to find Katsuma’s location. That led him to Nabu Island, where the entirety of Class 1-A was for a class project that involved assisting the island residents on trivial daily matters. But when Nine arrived on the island together with his allies, that was when all hell broke loose between them and Class 1-A, as Deku and the rest of his classmates weren’t going to allow the villain to get his hands on Katsuma’s Quirk and become an unstoppable force of nature.