As shown above this is a request by the lovely @sectornine for an expansion on @quirkwizard amazing Earth Beast quirk!
Unlike my usual oc based analysis, Earth Beast doesn’t have a detailed user or history, limiting what I can do. Luckily to offset that this is an *expansion* on the original quirk, rather than a traditional analysis, which helps fill it out.
Now for your “regularly” scheduled analysis we have
Earth Beast is a mixture of Orcinus (Gang Orca) and Earth Flow (Pixie-Bob) that uses the surrounding ground to create large golems, similar to Pixie-Bob’s monsters. As you likely know Gang Orca has a mutant quirk based on orcas, while Pixie-Bob has a ground based telekinesis quirk she uses both for basic telekinesis and for creating large creatures that can be used in rescue and combat.
Thanks to being a mix between a mutant and non-mutant quirk we have to touch on a bit of a fan theory of mine, mutant line inheritance. It’s a whole subject that will get its own post eventually, but for now just know that Earth Beast’s user will inherit some major mutations from Gang Orca, as well as potentially some cat-like instincts from Pixie-Bob (it’s unclear how much of the cat aesthetic is due to marketing (like with Tiger) or an old cat mutant in the ancestry (as hinted at with Pixie-Bob going into “heat” early in the training camp). More relevant than that however is that the mutant aspect influences the emitter aspect of Earth Beast, likely being the reason why they specifically create golems instead of simple ground based telekinesis like Pixie-Bob. On top of that it’s likely to influence the golems themselves, leaving them favoring aquatic animals (especially orcas) as opposed to the wider range of creatures Pixie-Bob utilizes.
Most telekinesis quirks are limited by range and a weight/mass/volume capacity. The original Earth Flow had a massive range (but little sensing abilities) that very notably wasn’t limited by touching materials. Pixie-Bob does activate her quirk by touching the ground, emitting a light and seemingly “connecting” to the ground around her to control it. But it’s not long before we see her flying creatures, indicating that her control is very likely spherical rather than based on connected ground. Considering Gang Orca's influence is unlikely to change that we can assume Earth Beast has a similar type of range, though much more limited in distance until it gets properly trained considering Pixie-Bob very easily has the largest range of any quirk in the series outside of Maybe Search.
Earth Flow seemed to have some sort of starting point centered around the hands, but considering the fact it’s a telekinetic quirk that doesn’t require constant contact, it’s likely this is just for show rather than a feature that will be passed down.
Unlike many telekinesis quirks, Earth Flow doesn’t come with any sort of extra senses to track what’s being used, instead relying on support gear. It’s unclear if Earth Beast would inherit this weakness, or make up for it by making golem autonomous.
In Earth Flow flying creatures all had wings, but considering they operated off of telekinesis it’s unclear if that was for practical, mental, or show reasons.
Earth Flow creatures are hollow, but it’s unclear if that was to limit their power during training, beef up their size without cutting into Pixie-Bobs mass limit, or for more practical reasons like quirk limitations and avoiding destabilizing the ground. Either way it’s unclear if this limitation would pass on to Earth Beast.
It’s noted in the original post that Golems make use of stone as well as the dirt seen in Earth Flow creations. This would serve to limit the specialization Earth Beast was beginning to suffer from, though likely at the cost of making Golem creation far more complicated with more materials to work with.
Golems are noted to be made of compacted down materials, increasing durability and mass. The extent of this is likely dependent on the strength of the quirk and the local materials available. If done improperly when telekinesis weakens due to range, concentration, or quirk limit issues, the compacted rock may move due to the intense pressure exerted by each other no longer being countered by Earth Beasts quirk. This could result in an explosion, unless there’s some feature/instinct carried out during quirk use to mold rock together to prevent such inefficiency whenever possible (this would limit overall uses but be far safer for the user. Also has a chance to “create” new rock during this process as the quirk molds the chemical structures together)
It’s likely that while each golem is made of local materials, they can distribute that materials across the body for maximum efficiency. No point in having super durable materials on the feet while the vulnerable chest is made lightweight and fragile.
The original Earth Flow emitted a light when activated. Considering how it’s unrelated to the quirk it’s likely vestigial, meaning Earth Beast is likely to have some variation of it when activating their power. Unclear on if it’ll be a one off thing or a constant tell like Aizawa's hair.
As is common for telekinesis quirks it’s likely the user has mutations to the brain for better spatial awareness, multitasking, and potentially some inbuilt instincts for quirk use (such as what materials feel like to the quirk and how they could best be utilized).
As mentioned early on, many vestigial mutations will be passed on from Gang Orca, leaving the user with many of the same mutations seen in him. This would most obviously affect appearance, but also influence stuff like a weakness to dry skin, a larger size, higher base strength, and potentially less endurance if they don’t inherit the ability to sweat like baseline humans do (a very important adaptation in humanity's quest to power walk to success).
Training/Evolution/Limits
There are many routes to focus on with training, such as base physical training to keep in shape, reaction time, multitasking, range and weight limits, creation speed, golem design, and comfort/experience with support items (Golems are great, but support gear saves lives).
Excessive training can help with multitasking, but an awakening would be needed to make telekinesis automatic, making Golems truly autonomous.
An awakening would also likely lead to upping the previous limits of the base quirk, and potentially even lead to changes in appearance and physical strength (though that’s VERY debatably considering we don’t have a good understanding of how awakenings work on a good day, much less in the case of mutants).
Earth Beast is pretty limited by the local area's materials. Concrete is pretty light and fragile in MHA compared to stuff like steel beams, but neither are truly accessible without massive damage to local infrastructure. The quirk is probably better suited for more rural combat, especially if Earth Beasts range is spherical and can pull from the stone underground instead of just stuff on the surface (though they would need to watch out for instability in the ground since removing massive amounts of stone is a great way to cause a sinkhole or mudslide). Honestly though the most efficient use of this quirk would be search and rescue, especially in the wilderness. But just because a quirk is well suited for something doesn’t mean the user wants to work in that niche (just look at Mount Lady and her struggles as a city focused combat hero)
For support gear it’s actually possible to bring along some materials for golems to make use of, considering the likely physical mutations the user will have (namely strength and size). Obviously not enough to create a custom golem out of purely materials on hand (that would be hella expensive and a constant strain to keep up), but stuff like metals coating claws or sand between joins for flexibility is more than possible. On top of that is the potential for using some sort of identifying metal in every golem that can then be tracked with support gear, just like Pixie-Bob does with her creations (though we never get the details on how her support gear tracks her creations, just that it does).
In combat the greatest threat to Earth Golems user would be long range attacks and speed/stealth based quirks. For the former the obvious solution is a gun, but every hero could make use of one of those honestly. More in line would be a type of blow gun designed to accurately shoot small golems long distances (which would pair well with keeping specific materials on hand). And for the latter defensive equipment would be best, especially if it was made out of materials that could be used to form a golem (presumably trapping the user inside, making it more like a mech than a golem) that would allow for extra strength, defense, etc, but would be especially good for retreating. On the detection side of things some sort of heat or motion sensor would do wonders, likely as a part of some goggles. This is of course assuming Earth Beast doesn’t come with an inbuilt sensor for anything in the area like many telekinesis quirks.
