some of these “Quirks” are more powerful than others, making certain characters more desirable to become heroes – or villains. A select few also possess incredibly powerful Quirks but tragically become used as tools of ambitious and often evil supervillains. This includes the kind-hearted yet traumatized girl Eri, whose Quirk may be the most powerful of all superpowers.
Depicted as a very young girl, Eri’s Quirk allows her to “Rewind” a person’s body back into an earlier state. The contrast of such an insanely powerful gift in such a vulnerable character has caused many fans of My Hero Academia to ask many questions, including how old Eri truly is.
Debuting in Chapter 128 of My Hero Academia, Eri was only a six-year-old girl when she first encountered Izuku. Already a pawn of the villain Overhaul, Eri was being used to manufacture a Quirk-Destroying Drug. Kai Chisaki accomplished this by harvesting Eri’s blood, which could reverse an individual’s evolution and revert them to a state befoe their Quirk activated.
Eri could also use her Quirk directly on others by touch, although she had to let her power build first and cause a horn on her head to grow before she could use it. In unleashing her power, Eri could “rewind” a person and make him or her physically younger, heal injuries, and even undo modifications to their bodies. Her ability proved uncontrollable at first when she physically regressed her own father back to a state before he existed. This caused her own mother to disown her and allowed Eri to fall under Kai’s influence.
Fortunately, Eri was eventually rescued and taken in by U.A. High School. While she possesses a kind nature, the trauma she endured as Kai’s prisoner caused her to sustain significant physical and psychological damage. Her arms and legs are wrapped in bandages to hide numerous scars. She also isn’t used to feeling kindness from others and has very limited experience in feeling happy. Nevertheless, she has shown signs of healing and even smiled for the first time while she was among friends.
The nature of Eri’s Quirk has made some fans wonder if Eri can use her power on herself and Rewind herself to an even younger age. If so, it’s actually hypothetically possible that Eri is in fact older than her apparent six (now seven-year-old) appearance and has been regressing herself into her child state. Certainly, Eri has shown the ability to make others younger – including her own father.
At this moment, however, it appears that Eri does not know how to use her Rewind Quirk on herself. If she did, it’s likely that she could have used her power to heal the scars on her body. While she has been able to use her power to produce the effects she wants, at this time in her life, she has difficulty in controlling the ability and has needed the abilities of other heroes to help control and even neutralize her Quirk.
Nevertheless, as Eri grows and learns more about her power, it’s very possible that her Quirk and her ability to manipulate it can allow her to accomplish wondrous feats. Some have speculated that Eri can allow those who have lost their Quirks to regain them by Rewinding their bodies back to an earlier state. Eri may also learn how to heal her own body and even control her own physical age as her knowledge of Rewind grows. As with all things, only time will tell how this My Hero Academia character will develop.
