My Hero Academia: What is the Overclock Quirk & How Does it Stack Up Against Gearshift?

The My Hero Academia universe is filled with countless bizarre and dangerous quirks that play a crucial role in the power struggle between good and evil. Among these abilities, Overclock is one of the most fascinating because of its history, nature, and impact on the characters who wield it.

Overclock can also be quite confusing to fans of Kohei Horikoshi’s hit series because of its uncanny similarities to Midoriya’s Gearshift. Although the two share overlapping benefits, they also have stark differences that are worth noting. But before moving on to that, here’s an overview of Overclock’s history, abilities, and weaknesses

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What is the Overclock Quirk?

Understanding the history, mechanics, and abilities of the quirk

• Quirk Name: Overclock
• Manga Debut: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Chapter 26
• Users: All for One, Iwao Oguro, Number 6

Overclock is an emitter-type quirk that can prove dangerous in close-range combat. Sometime in the past, it belonged to Iwao Oguro or the former Pro Hero High-Speed Hero: O’Clock. But when he ran into All for One, Iwao was not only defeated but his quirk was also stolen by the Demon Lord. All for One used Overclock, and around the same time, he was also molding Number 6’s personality as per his twisted ideals. The Demon Lord eventually decided that he was the right person to pass on the quirk, which made sense considering Number 6’s obsession with former Pro Hero Iwao Oguro.

In My Hero Academia: Vigilantes chapter 57, it is mentioned that the Overclock quirk stimulates the user’s brain, significantly influencing their temporal awareness. The impact is so profound that the user’s brain perceives everything in slow motion and is able to move at blinding speeds. In some instances, this experience has such a dramatic impact that the world appears frozen in time.

It’s noteworthy that the degree to which Overclock’s user can speed up varies in different circumstances, depending on their brain’s immediate focus and capacity to process information. When the quirk is activated to throw punches at someone, the user accesses only a fraction of its full potential. But this is still significant, as it increases the user’s speed by three to ten times.

However, Overclock truly shows its real potential when the user is pushed into an adrenaline-fueled situation, in which case they can move a few dozen times faster than normal. Such blinding speed makes it seem as if the world has come to a standstill. Handling such power also requires the user to have a heightened sense. Luckily, the Overclock quirk has evolved enough to provide users with enhanced awareness. Although the powerful ability grants many advantages, it also has some glaring weaknesses that significantly limit its effectiveness in prolonged combat.

Overclock’s Weaknesses

Iwao Oguro’s quirk has quite a few flaws

Overclock is the type of quirk that can easily overwhelm even the most feared adversaries because of its blinding speed and precision. But it does not make the user invincible. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes chapter 57 also alludes to the shortcomings of the quirk. It points out that honing the focus to move at a few dozen times the normal speed isn’t necessarily a good thing. Such an intense task can deprive the brain of oxygen, significantly decreasing the quirk’s overall use time.

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Furthermore, when the user is knocked into the air, Overclock’s acceleration effects become virtually useless. In fact, physical injuries also have an impact on the quirk’s utility, rendering it ineffective in a number of scenarios.

Number 6 and Overclock’s Ultimate Moves

After inheriting the quirk from All for One, Number 6 worked on its shortcomings

Former Pro Hero Iwao Oguro’s Overclock quirk was a dangerous ability with quite a few serious shortcomings. When Number 6 got the power from All for One, he understood that he needed to adapt the quirk to suit his combat style. To overcome Overclock’s weaknesses, he developed the Hi-Crawler transformation to morph into a four-eyed monster, which in turn facilitated the optimization of his physical body. This eventually allowed Number 6 to accelerate as long as he desired.

Along with Hi-Crawler, there are a few other ultimate moves that can be performed using Overclock. Instant Eight allows him to punch his rivals eight times within the blink of an eye, while the Crawler Style helps Number 6 overcome wind resistance by going on all fours. Sniper Style is perhaps the most dangerous ultimate move, in which the villain uses rifle parts he is carrying to mold his body and transform it into a sniper rifle. These ultimate moves provide Overclock’s users with different options that can become extremely useful in combat.

How Does Overclock Stack Up Against Gearshift?

Gearshift and Overclock might appear identical, but they operate differently

Now, Overclock might remind My Hero Academia fans of another powerful quirk that Izuku Midoriya manifested during the Final War. Gearshift allowed Deku to accelerate his body or any object that he touched at supersonic speeds. Midoriya was able to not just move quickly using Gearshift but also develop several ultimate moves by utilizing it alongside his other quirks. In some of those ultimate moves, like Transmission and Detroit Smash: Quintuple, he would move at blinding speeds before delivering a barrage of attacks on his rivals. These attacks were almost similar to Number 6’s Instant Eight.

Furthermore, Gearshift also deprives users of oxygen, often incapacitating them in the process. This means that the quirk has a cool-down period, much like Overclock. Taking these similarities into consideration, it should not come as a surprise that fans often are puzzled by the two abilities, as they almost seem identical. But there are two important differences.

While Gearshift’s cool-down period is five minutes, Overclock can be used again after just 10 seconds, making it significantly less vulnerable than the former. Gearshift operates on the cellular level, accelerating the speed of the user’s body or anything that they touch. On the other hand, Overclock primarily stimulates the brain, focusing more on the user’s temporal awareness, meaning their perception of time and their thoughts.

Eventually, both the quirks have identical impacts, and on the surface, they do the same thing. Their usage depends heavily on circumstances, but that doesn’t change the fact that Overclock and Gearshift are both dangerous powers that should be used wisely.

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