Softening

Softening, read in Japanese as Jūka, is the Quirk carried by Class 1-B student Juzo Honenuki. The series files it as an Emitter power with long-range application, introduced in Chapter 28 and animated in Episode 17.

Its concept is a mirror image of Stiffening, a Quirk that hardens foreign material rather than loosening it. Commentators have also drawn comparisons to Secco of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and to the Sui-Sui no Mi of One Piece, both of which let their owner liquefy a surface and then swim inside it.

Contact is the trigger. Anything rigid that Juzo lays a hand on loses its structure and takes on a half-liquid consistency, and the effect carries across a considerable area rather than stopping at his fingertips. Ice, metal and plain earth all respond the same way.

What results behaves like quicksand. Whatever is standing on the treated material sinks into it and gets held there. Reversal is simple: a second touch from Juzo restores the original solidity.

The tactical value lies in deception. A patch of ground or a section of building looks untouched until weight lands on it, which makes the Quirk a natural trap-laying tool and a nightmare for anyone whose mobility depends on firm footing.

Limits do exist. Living bodies are immune to the effect entirely. A victim sunk into a softened patch can still get clear if they own a power or a piece of gear that launches them out. Most importantly, the moment Juzo is knocked out, everything he has treated snaps back to being solid.

Juzo Honenuki is the only known holder. In practice he uses Softening to reshape a battlefield on his own terms, restricting where opponents can go and dictating the rhythm of an engagement from there.

He is also able to swim through the material he has loosened, which lets him cross ground unseen, ambush enemies from below, or simply dive into the earth to escape a fight he cannot win head-on. Paired with sharp reflexes, the Quirk doubles as a defense: attacks made of solid matter can be reduced to harmless sludge before they ever reach him.