Warning: the following article contains spoilers for My Hero Academia season six and the manga chapters 260 and 270.
My Hero Academia is back with a bang! The sixth season of the anime series premiered on Oct. 1 and wasted no time kickstarting the much-anticipated war between the Heroes and the Paranormal Liberation Front.
Much new information was revealed during the first episode, setting in place the players for the upcoming battle. After exploring the villains’ world during season five’s Meta Liberation Army arc, it was finally time for All for One’s right-hand man to have his moment, and My Hero Academia came through, starting to unveil Dr. Daruma Ujiko’s backstory. If you’d rather remain unaware, this is your last chance to go back, as this article will contain spoilers for My Hero Academia‘s season six and manga.
To start off the season, we learn that Daruma Ujiko is merely an alias, and the character’s actual name is Kyudai Garaki; but this is by far the lesser of the doctor’s secrets. With the Heroes taking Jaku General Hospital by storm, Garaki’s true nature is exposed by Eraser Head, which clearly means a quirk is at play. Without the quirk working its magic, Garaki’s body changes to finally match his age, and the conclusion is obvious: he is very old, more than the average human. The doctor displays numerous, deep wrinkles, his skin sags down, and his eyes sink in dramatically, contrasting starkly with his previous appearance. After this transformation, the question in everyone’s mind is: exactly how old is this character?
Dr. Garaki’s real age, revealed
While the My Hero Academia anime hasn’t provided this information yet, we can rely on the manga to answer viewers’ burning questions. Despite looking somewhere in his 60s, Kyudai Garaki has approximately double that age. This subject is touched on in the manga, when the doctor explains his motivations to Present Mic and confesses to being behind the Quirk Singularity theory. This concept has been around for 70 years, so while Garaki’s exact age is not stated, with this information Present Mic realizes the doctor has to be around 120 years old, being one of the oldest characters in My Hero Academia.
What quirk does Dr. Garaki use?
In the episode, after Eraser Head nullifies Dr. Garaki’s quirk the Pro Heroes speculate on it, questioning if the doctor has been using Super Regeneration to stay alive throughout the years. Super Regeneration is the quirk injected into the doctor’s most advanced Nomus, giving them the ability to quickly regenerate their bodies after being injured in battle. This quirk is part of what makes Nomus such good adversaries, as the only way to beat them is to deal rapid-fire, powerful attacks, rendering them unable to regenerate fast enough.
Given the circumstances, it’s easy to understand why other characters would assume Super Regeneration is the cause behind Garaki’s extended life; if you can keep regenerating your body, your chances of dying are severely reduced. That’s not the case here, however. Contrary to what his official records say, Garaki was born with a quirk named Life Force, which doesn’t allow him to regenerate but gives its user the power of longevity. It’s not a particularly powerful quirk, nor the most useful, but it grants Garaki an extended life by slowing the aging process, allowing him all the time in the world to run his scientific experiments. On the downside, Life Force seems to have a significant impact on the holder’s physical mobility, which is likely why we are so used to seeing the doctor sitting down.
Despite being born with this quirk, it’s worth noting that Garaki doesn’t currently possess it. In his devotion, Garaki gave Life Force to All for One, which is what allowed him to stay alive for all these years, and fight numerous generations of One for All holders. In giving his quirk away, Dr. Garaki’s expertise on quirks came in handy, as he created a replica of it that he kept to himself.
Now that you have a better understanding of Dr. Garaki and Life Force, make sure not to miss out on the next episodes of My Hero Academia, which are sure to be filled with even more revelations. You can watch new episodes every week on Crunchyroll.