The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 6, Episode 6, "Encounter, Part 2", now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.
In My Hero Academia’s universe, about 80% of the population are born with special abilities known as Quirks. These Quirks are genetic, but on some rare occasions, mutations that don’t match up with either parent's Quirk can manifest.
This phenomena can result in totally unrelated people possessing similar Quirks, as is the case of the Ice half of Shoto Todoroki’s Half-Hot, Half-Cold and Geten’s Ice Manipulation. They both possess significantly powerful Ice Quirks, but one has the superior ability over the other.
Who Is Geten in My Hero Academia?
Geten is one of the Paranormal Liberation Front’s highest-ranking generals. Originally one of the Meta-Liberation Army’s best kept secrets and most powerful warriors, Geten never experienced a typical childhood. Instead, he spent every day training his prodigiously powerful Quirk. Geten is unflinchingly loyal to Re-Destro and the Meta Liberation Cause and is among those who stand to gain the most if Liberation ideology is fully realized in society. He’s been socialized to believe a person’s Quirk should dictate their position in society and holds a lot of stock in his Ice Manipulation.
As Class 1-A learned in training, Quirks get stronger the more they are used. Since Geten has been training since childhood, his Ice Manipulation is strong enough to contend with some top Pro Heroes. Unsurprisingly, Geten is one of the few My Hero Academia characters who has experienced a Quirk Awakening. Ice Manipulation originally gave him the ability to psychically control ice; after his Quirk Awakening, he was able to control its temperature as well.
Geten’s Ice Manipulation was already a top-tier Quirk on its own, but his Awakening truly made it an ability to be feared. Previously, he had to rely on ice that was situationally available to use his Quirk, which more often than not was substantially less than would allow him to unleash his full potential. Being able to manipulate its temperature allowed Geten to forcefully manufacture his own ice if he had a large enough water body nearby. With as little as an ice cube, Geten can drop its temperature low enough to completely freeze and seize control of a small city’s entire water main.
Shoto Todoroki’s Ice Quirk Explained
Through no fault of his own, Shoto Todoroki was specifically bred to have the perfect combination of Quirks that would enable him to become a hero surpassing All Might. Most of his character arc in My Hero Academia has centered on his journey toward accepting and mastering his Flame Quirk, but his Ice is no pushover. Shoto’s years of exclusively using and training with his Ice Quirk have given him a mastery over it that far exceeds his Flame powers. Even though his two abilities are meant to balance each other out, Shoto’s Ice Quirk is still formidable on its own.
Shoto can manifest ice from any part of the right side of his body. His control is subtle enough that he can create complicated structures within seconds to adapt to unexpected obstacles or sneak attacks from enemies. There is very minimal time lag between the activation of his Quirk and its effect, and the young hero has been shown creating mountains of ice in the literal blink of an eye.
Geten vs. Shoto: Which My Hero Academia Ice User Is Superior?
Both Shoto’s and Geten’s Ice abilities have their pros and cons. For instance, Shoto can self-regulate his own temperature and is immune to his Quirk's adverse effects, while Geten is forced to always wear a winter coat in combat, lest he fall victim to the ice under his control’s freezing temperature. Conversely, once Shoto finishes constructing his ice creations, he has no further influence over them; Geten can continue shaping the ice he creates to his heart’s content.
If these two ever crossed paths in My Hero Academia, Geten’s cryokinesis would give him a slight advantage if they battled it out with their Ice Quirks. However, Shoto’s growing competence with his Flames and Flashfire would settle the match in his favor. In short, Geten wins the Ice battle -- but Shoto’s full strength is more than enough to win the war.