Summary
- Intelligence trumps power in My Hero Academia.
- Characters like Hatsume Mei and Nezu use brains over brawn.
- Saiko Intelli showcases strategic brilliance, Momo’s leadership shines.
My Hero Academia takes you into the world of superpowers, where those born with handy Quirks could learn to become a Pro-Hero if they wish. But you don’t just need a powerful Quirk to succeed in Quirk-era Japan; you also need the brains to back it up.
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10
Midoriya Izuku
Midoriya Izuku is the series’ main character, with a rough start in life. Although he was born Quirkless, Midoriya was obsessed with Heroes and dreams of becoming one himself. His hobby is to analyse Heroes’ Quirks and their uses, including their movesets and how to counter them.
He keeps notebooks of his analyses and even offers his notebooks to Uraraka Ochako before her fight with Bakugo. After receiving One For All, Midoriya uses his keen observation skills to probe his opponent’s weaknesses to find an effective, surefire way to defeat them.
9
La Brava
Introduced near the end of Season 4, La Brava is a tech wizard and the right-hand man (or woman, in this case) of Villain Gentle Criminal. As she’s in love with the latter, she uses her Love Quirk to power up Gentle’s Elasticity Quirk temporarily.
After being captured alongside Gentle during the School Festival Arc, La Brava disappears briefly from the story, only to reappear during the Final War. She was able to hack into Skeptic’s computers and leak his location to the Heroes and helped boost Gentle’s Quirk so that he could prevent the UA flying fortress from crashing.
8
Hatsume Mei
One of, if not the most, prominent Support Course students at UA, Hatsume Mei is practically born to draw attention, which is exactly what she wants to happen. A talented and innovative inventor, Hatsume came up with many different gadgets for various uses.
She’s also shown to be ambitious, using the Sports Festival to broadcast and promote her inventions on live television. Whenever her invention fails to work as intended, Hatsume doesn’t lose hope, instead finding further motivation to do better. Hatsume was active during the Final War, upgrading and maintaining UA’s defences. Eventually, Hatsume was able to fulfil her dreams and founded her own manufacturing company after graduating.
7
Saiko Intelli
Already an intelligent girl, Saiko Intelli’s Quirk propels her smarts to genius levels simply after a single sip of tea. A student of Seiai Academy, Saiko decided to take on four of Class 1-A’s students during the Provisional Hero License Exam.
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The clear leader of her classmates, Saiko used her IQ Quirk to trap Momo, Jiro, Shoji and Tsuyu, all to force Momo to max out the usage of her Creation Quirk. However, her Quirk failed to take into account Momo’s reaction, and she was sadly defeated during the first round of the exams.
6
Yaoyorozu Momo
As the top-ranking student in her class, Yaoyorozu Momo is clearly academically gifted. Not only is she book-smart, but she is also diligent, strategic, and has clear leadership qualities.
Although she was initially insecure about her abilities, Momo slowly learns to trust in her judgement as the series goes on. She was able to capture Eraser Head during the Final Exams and foil Saiko Intelli’s plans. As one of the wealthiest characters in the show, Momo is generous and eager to help her friends improve their grades, opening her home to conduct study sessions with her classmates.
5
Sir Nighteye
Sir Nighteye was once All Might’s sidekick and was the brains behind his brawn. However, Nighteye witnessed All Might’s potential grisly fate using his Foresight Quirk, and the two men parted ways after a disagreement.
However, Nighteye still respected and admired All Might, and the latter’s influence is notable in Nighteye’s hero agency. In the show, Nighteye led the investigation and subsequent raid of the criminal organisation the Shiei Hassaikai. Although the raid was successful, Nighteye was severely injured and died from his wounds in the hospital.
4
Dr Garaki Kyudai
In public, Dr Garaki is the dignified Chairman of Jaku General Hospital and has opened many charities during his career. However, the doctor leads a double life as All For One’s most trusted ally and personal doctor. His loyalty to All For One is such that he eagerly gave up his Life Force Quirk to massively extend All For One’s lifespan.
Garaki was the brainchild behind the twisted human experiments known as Nomus, kidnapping innocent civilians and fusing them and their Quirks. He also assisted in All For One’s recovery after his fight with All Might and spearheaded Shigaraki Tomura’s transformation into All For One’s perfect vessel.
3
David Shield
As All Might’s first-ever sidekick, David Shield was almost as popular as the Symbol of Peace himself. David didn’t have an ultra-powerful Quirk, but it was his innovative and creative mind that made him All Might’s greatest asset.
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He was responsible for designing All Might’s best hero costumes and a variety of other gadgets, including a Quirk Amplification Device that was intended for a diminished All Might to use to return him to his golden age. David moved to I-Island with his daughter Melissa, who’d inherited her father’s talent for technological innovations.
2
All For One
The worst villain in history, All For One rose to the pinnacle of the criminal underworld with the help of his overpowered Quirk and cunning mind. He was born during a time before Quirks were widely accepted and grew a following by stealing and giving Quirks to his followers, all while manipulating them.
All For One grew his massive empire in the shadows and obsessively hunts down and tracks every One For All user. He has a penchant for soap opera-like dramatics, tracking down his nemesis Nana Shimura’s grandson to use him as his vessel for world domination. Although he was able to maintain his status and criminal operations for more than a century, he reign of terror finally came to an end in the Final War.
1
Nezu
The principal of the prestigious UA High, Nezu is known as one of the smartest beings in the series. As one of the exceptional few animals with a Quirk, Nezu was experimented on and abused by humans before becoming a principal.
His High Specs Quirk grants him superb intelligence, capable of strategising and coming up with intricate plans at short notice. Nezu demonstrated his foolproof thinking during the Final Exams, wherein Ashido and Kaminari failed to outsmart him and pass the exam. During the Final War, Nezu upgraded UA’s security measures and collaborated with other hero schools to safeguard civilians against possible Villain attacks.
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