Though My Hero Academia focuses primarily on the fledgling U.A. students from Class 1-A, these young characters wouldn’t have much to aspire to if it weren’t for the tremendous Pro Heroes already killing it in the field. These heroes all have vastly different Quirks and excellently honed power. Mirko is one of these all-stars, and her astonishing Rabbit Quirk abilities continue to turn heads.
With her muscular build and remarkable record, the rabbit-like Mirko has climbed to the top of Japan’s Hero Billboard Chart and stands as the highest-ranking female Pro Hero at No. 5. With her confident grin and self-reliant attitude, Mirko also ranks 20th in the 6th Popularity Poll. Though she has yet to make much of an appearance in the anime, there’s already plenty of knowledge about her Quirk provided by the manga, and some hidden details are very surprising.
Mirko Can Decapitate People With Her Thighs
Anyone who witnesses Mirko fight can immediately tell she’s a beast on the battlefield, but few recognize the extent of her power’s brutality. Her leg strength is a marvel, but her thigh strength is obscene. In one of Mirko’s Super Moves called “Luna Tijeras,” she wraps her legs around a foe’s neck and grips tightly then twists her body while pulling her legs closed with all her might, consequently ripping their head right off their body.
The Super Move comes from the Spanish word “tijeras,” which means scissors. Mirko’s legs essentially act as blades, severing a head or perhaps another limb cleanly off her opponent’s body. She first demonstrates this terrifying technique on a High-End Nomu, deftly removing its head with relative ease. With this advanced ability it’s easy to wonder how she perfected this deadly move -- and when she'll use it next.
Professional Kickboxing Inspired Her Quirk
While everyone refers to her as “Mirko,” her actual name is Rumi Usagiyama -- which has the kanji meaning “rabbit” and “mountain.” Her hero name is actually inspired by the professional Croatian MMA fighter Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović. He was a professional mixed martial artist, amateur boxer, and is considered one of the greatest Heavyweight kickboxers of all time.
Similar to My Hero Academia’s Mirko, his signature move is his fast left high roundhouse kick. The professional hero certainly embodies his power and brawn, as he was famously described as “right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery.” However, the animated Mirko certainly has the upper hand with a superhuman Quirk allowing her to jump high and land her epic blows with might.
She Has Incredibly High Pain Tolerance
Professional heroes must have great power, but they must also be able to power through all kinds of circumstances. One of the worst disadvantages in combat is when someone gets injured. However, pain from terrible injuries doesn’t seem to phase Mirko in the slightest – much like the resolve Deku shows when he gets injured. However, no amount of adrenaline can account for the kind of tolerance Mirko has for the most drastic wounds.
In the My Hero Academia manga, Mirko’s left forearm gets crushed during the Hospital Raid, forcing her to completely cut it off. Acting pragmatically like that takes immense grit and quick thinking, and she even binds her arm with a piece of her thick hair to stop the bloodstream. Both of these actions allow her to get up and keep fighting as if the serious wound was just a scratch.
Whether Mirko’s insane pain tolerance has any connection to her Quirk is unknown, but that level of control must’ve taken some kind of conditioning which could be a result of her Quirk training. Additionally, the connection to her Rabbit Quirk could’ve impacted her ability to easily cut off her arm, as a hare caught in a hunting snare might do.
Her Phenomenal Leg Strength Can Create Tremors
Mirko’s signature move is evidently her incredible kick, but some may underestimate just how much force she generates upon impact. After getting air from strong leaps, she can shoot downward and thump the ground, utterly destroying huge areas where she lands. The earth cracks and shatters beneath her feet and the shockwaves have the power to blow her foes away. The force from her legs also allows her to blast through huge thick metal doors, so we can only imagine what else her kicks could break. The area damage they do is comparable to Bakugo’s explosions.
The Super Move “Luna Fall” exemplifies this earth-shattering power perfectly, as Mirko starts high above in a leap and then shoots downward with a devastating strike. The gravitational momentum amplifies the impact, sending her opponent crashing into the solid ground as if she’s hitting a nail on the head.
The Mutant-Type “Rabbit” Quirk Gives Her Animal Senses
For a while, no one knew exactly what Mirko’s Quirk was or how “Rabbit” worked. Similar to Tsuyu Asui’s Frog Quirk, Mirko possesses a mutant-type Quirk, meaning it changes her physical appearance, giving her long white bunny ears and a fluffy tail with large rabbit-like feet. Thus, her power is not simply super speed and strength – it’s directly connected to enhanced rabbit abilities.
Mirko's rabbit ears, for example, grant her outstanding hearing, allowing her to detect and locate her targets even from the smallest sounds. She has a similarly acute sense of smell so she can identify blood and sweat from a fight going on in the distance. Mirko also has excellent intuition -- which is connected to her phenomenal animal survival instincts -- alerting her to impending danger. Her Rabbit Quirk even impacts her diet, with the My Hero Academia powerhouse having a fondness for carrots.
