Summary

• Star and Stripe's "New Order" quirk modifies objects and environments, but only works when she physically touches it and calls its name.
• The New Order has limitations: ineffective on targets with fluid identities, targets facing identity crises, or targets with maximum power limitations.
• When Tomura steals the New Order, Star and Stripe deliberately turns him into a virus and kills him from within.

The seventh season of My Hero Academia is now airing. The premiere episode introduces a vigilante and powerful hero from the West to help in the fight against All for One and Tomura Shigaraki. When Cathleen Bate, aka Star and Stripe, hears about the troubling news in Japan and that All-Might is in danger, she quickly goes to help, despite much resistance from the American government.

She does this as a favor to All-Might, who saved her and her family when she was young. Even though Tomura Shigaraki is a formidable opponent, Star and Stripe uses his quirk, “New Order,” to turn the tide of the war. Being such an important new character, fans will need a detailed explanation of Star and Stripe’s quirk and how it works.

Introducing America's #1 Hero: Star and Stripe

Who is stars and stripes?

Cathleen Bate, also known as Star and Stripe, is the number one pro-hero in the United States. Her entire Pro-Hero personality and appearance are based on her favorite Pro-Hero, All-Might. She has a tall, muscular body and long blonde hair with loose strands like All-Might. Her hero costume is red, white, and blue, representing the American flag and her patriotism.

Her personality is quite bold and charismatic. Star and Stripe would go head-to-head in trouble and fight without knowing any information or background about the situation. Even so, she has a lot of faith in herself and others that they can get out of any difficult situation. Star and Stripe are very selfless and have a strong sense of justice. She is willing to put herself in danger no matter the circumstances just so she can save and protect innocent lives. She also has a strong sense of camaraderie, calling her squadmates “brothers.”

What is New Order?

Star and Stripe have an overpowering quirk called “New Order.” New Order allows Star and Stripe to impose rules on her surroundings when she makes physical contact with organic or inorganic matter and calls out its name. She manipulates objects and the surrounding environment with new properties, but can only set two rules at a time. New Order allows her to modify an enemy’s physical body and grant them more abilities.

To become America's best pro-hero, Star and Stripe often uses one of her New Order rules to maximize the potential of her physical body and maintain incredible strength, speed, agility, and reflexes. In moments of desperation, she would forgo her physical modifications to perform finishing moves, such as the "Fist Bump to the Earth". With this finishing move, she solidifies the surrounding air to create a gigantic aerial version of herself that can mimic her current moves. However, when she needs to use finishing moves, she forgoes her immense physical powers in order to use two rules for the New Order, making her vulnerable to enemy attacks.

While fighting Tomura Shigaraki, Star and Stripe uses Fist Bump to the Earth and other powerful moves. She works with the Air Fighter team to execute these attacks. The first move she uses is “Keraunos”. The Air Fighter team points their lasers at the air-built version of Star and Stripe and gathers these laser beams into a sword. The other move she uses is “Next-Generation Hypersonic Intercontinental Cruise Punch”. She grabs the Tiamat missiles and redirects them wherever she wants. She can spin the missiles and release a massive air punch, causing the Tiamat missiles to explode.

She can even modify or add conditions to incorporeal things, such as air and laser beams. In Season 7, Episode 1, "In the Nick of Time! A Big-Time Maverick from the West!", Star and Stripe orders the air within 100 meters of her to cease to exist, creating a vacuum and causing Tomura Shigaraki to lose oxygen in the vicinity. Star can also block lasers by holding them in her bare hands, and can reconstruct or reshape something intangible. That said, she cannot use intangible things to inflict damage on a target she has not yet had physical contact with. When Star and Stripe first encounters Tomura Shigaraki, she cannot command the air around Shigaraki to kill him because she has not yet touched him.

When using the New Order on humans or living organisms, the living target must be able to identify with the subconscious that Star and Stripe perceives the target to possess. If the target does not recognize the identity that Star and Stripe knows, the rule will be ineffective.

In the opening battle with Tomura Shigaraki, Star and Stripe comes into physical contact with him and gives the following order: "If Tomura Shigaraki leaves this place, his heart will stop." The order fails because, at the time, Tomura Shigaraki is going through an identity crisis. All for One's subconscious resides in Tomura Shigaraki's mind, making it difficult for Tomura Shigaraki to associate with his original self and live within Star and Stripe's reality.

As a result, Tomuara Shigaraki escapes death and can move freely, as the New Order cannot control him. However, intangible things and inanimate objects have no sense of identity or consciousness. Star and Stripe can easily set rules for these inanimate objects, as they can only be seen through their reality.

The weaknesses and gaps of the new order

While Star and Stripe's quirk can be extremely powerful, New Order is ineffective in three different circumstances. The first scenario is if the target has a fluid sense of self, in which they possess multiple identities. The target can impose one of their identities on Star and Stripe's conscious perspective, rendering New Order useless. Cathleen Bate is only aware of one identity and not the others, allowing the target to move freely with their other identities.

The second scenario that nullifies the power of the New Order is if the target is not aware of their own identity or sense of self. This occurs when Tomura Shigaraki has an identity crisis. His subconscious is in a state of flux as Tomura Shigaraki and All for One are struggling to control his physical body. Lastly, there are natural limitations to amplifying one's power using the New Order. If a person's body has reached its maximum power potential, the New Order cannot amplify their powers beyond its limitations. When Tomura Shigaraki uses "Decay" on Star and Stripe, it cannot nullify its effects. Instead, it can only delay the effects of the quirk.

Star and Stripe can set rules for the New Order, allowing him to alter the properties and effects of his Quirk. When his Quirk is stolen by Tomura Shigaraki, Cathleen purposely renders his Quirk ineffective. She orders his Quirk to counter other Quirks. His Quirk becomes a virus once consumed by Tomura Shigaraki, rendering him unable to use the New Order and any of his other Quirks. When Shigaraki wants to use another Quirk or transfer the New Order to him again, the New Order will automatically destroy that specific Quirk. As a result, the New Order is killing him from the inside out.

Star and Stripe's New Order quirk is unique and overwhelming. It is without a doubt one of the most powerful original quirks in the series. My Hero Academia franchise. Although Star and Stripe have passed away, their New Order quirk has put Tomura Shigaraki at a disadvantage by turning the New Order into a self-destructive weapon when possessed by another user.