Deflate

**Deflate** (しぼむ *Shibomu*) is the Quirk of Wootz Glendower.

## Description

Deflate allows the user to treat any object they scratch with a blade as a balloon, causing it to deflate and turn into a weak, rubbery husk. This ability can be applied to both living beings and nonliving objects. The user can also apply this ability to themselves. When a living being is deflated, they will become mostly immobilized, and their internal organs will slowly shut down, taking around an hour to do so. Even when immobilized by being deflated, living beings will still be able to move certain muscles and use those muscles to move around, but oftentimes, those who are deflated are unable to realize which of their muscles are still active, rendering them completely immobile. Living beings, while deflated, will also be unable to use their Quirks. Regarding nonliving objects, the user can deflate these just as easily as they can deflate a living being. When an object is deflated, both their volume and their mass significantly decrease. Thus, the user is able to cram deflated objects into smaller spaces and hide them. Furthermore, the user is capable of stretching deflated objects as if they were made of rubber, since the Quirk itself treats objects like balloons. The user is capable of stretching a deflated object up to three times its original diameter.

This ability, although powerful as it can easily end a fight in a single strike, has multiple drawbacks. Firstly, there is an established "range of deflation." If the user's target is smaller than five meters in diameter, then they will be able to completely deflate their target. However, if the target's net diameter is larger than five meters, then the deflation would only apply to a five-meter, spherical radius. For example, if the user were to attack someone with a size-enlargement Quirk like Mt. Lady, the user would only be able to deflate a small part of the that person's body, rendering the muscles, tendons, and bones in that area useless. Secondly, the deflation effect only lasts on living beings for two hours, after which the deflated being would violently re-inflate back to its original luster and size, but the user is also capable of forcefully inflating an being at will before the two-hour timer is up. He can keep nonliving objects deflated for as long as he wants, though. Thirdly, the deflation effect is based only on blade or blade-like objects the user wields. Thus, a fighter who is superior to the user in swordsmanship can easily avoid getting hit and parry the user's strikes. Additionally, objects that the blade cannot pierce are fully immune to the deflation ability. Finally, the size of the incision the blade must make must be at least half a centimeter deep. Although half a centimeter is not much, landing an attack like that on a defensive, mobile target makes this weakness far more cumbersome for the user.

## Usage

Wootz uses this Quirk for both offensive and defensive purposes. He can neutralize most solid attacks that are sent towards him, as he can simply deflate those objects, the only limit being his reflexes. In fact, fighters who focus on close combat have an even harder time against him than ranged fighters because he can use his blade to deflate those close-combat fighters' bodies when they approach him. Furthermore, his strikes can end almost any fight as long as he can land them.

However, his Quirk suits him best in what he calls "terrain games," where he is required to strategically hide and ambush using his surroundings. Thus, he can deflate himself and hide in certain areas where most people would be unable to access, allowing him to spring inconceivable surprise attacks, and he can squeeze through certain spaces where a normal human would be unable to. He not only can deflate himself but also can deflate others, meaning that he can sneak other people through spaces where they originally might have not been able to. He can deflate hostages, prisoners, and victims and store them on his body, meaning that it would be impossible to retrieve those hostages unless he himself dies. Additionally, he can deflate objects and compress them into a ball, which he then hurls at his target, willing the ball to inflate and harm the target with the force of rapid inflation, similar to Mr. Compress's fighting style.

Finally, he can deflate his own body and still move around in it. He has trained the muscles that help him move while he is deflated for many years, meaning that he can move nearly as quickly as an average person while deflated. Thus, he often deflates himself to dodge attacks since his deflated body is smaller and stretchier, meaning that it is harder to hit and takes less damage from attacks. Furthermore, he often switches his body between deflated and normal forms at quick rates to both confuse the enemy and move more quickly.

## Super Moves

**Holy Hell Grenade** (聖地獄擲弾 *Hijiri Jigoku Tekidan*): This move is large, destructive, and ranged, and it can be considered as Wootz's signature attack. Wootz stores multiple deflated boulders in the pockets of his large cloak. When he needs a large, destructive, and ranged move, he throws one of these deflated boulders and wills it to inflate back up to its original size. While this move is powerful, it requires preparation because he must acquire the boulders and deflate them beforehand.