My Hero Academia/Characters

Due to the nature of the story and the complexity involved in listing out character traits, all spoilers are unmarked. Read on at your own discretion.

Principal Nezu

 * Badass in a Nice Suit: Custom tailored, most likely.
 * Freudian Excuse: The grudge he has against humans stems from when he was young, used as a caged lab animal for horrific scientific experiments. One often wonders how he shows any restraint at all.
 * Funny Animal: He's a very rare case of an animal with a quirk, which gives him human-level intelligence, humanoid shape, and the ability to talk. However, exactly what animal is debatable, as he seems to have traits of a mouse, bear, and dog.
 * Sadist Teacher: He's a nice fellow when giving lectures; anything that involves physical activity brings out his true, sadistic nature.
 * Super Intelligence: With a wrecking ball and a crane, he can cause precise damage far from the cranes reach by using buildings like dominos.

Toshinori Yagi - All Might
"Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Japanese, TV Anime), Christopher Sabat (English dub, TV Anime)"

The highest-ranked hero in the world and a pillar of hope and justice for heroes everywhere to follow. After an intense battle with a dangerous super-villain, he can only be his heroic self for up to three hours a day. After he hits his time limit, he becomes a lanky, skeletal man who constantly coughs up blood. Only a select few staff at U.A. know about his predicament, and even fewer know the true nature of his Quirk. At the start of the manga, Midoriya proves himself to All Might and inherits "One For All".


 * 100% Adoration Rating: All Might is, far and wide, considered the greatest, most powerful Hero to have ever graced Japan. He's incredibly physically strong, very fast and above all of that, genuinely kind-hearted, with a streak for valiantly defending the weak.
 * The Ace: All Might was a straight example of this and continues to be a unique one, even though having been severely injured gave him a time limit on his powers. Gran Torino deconstructs this, noting that he took to One For All much more easily than Midoriya did, which caused his teaching methods (which worked for him) to be less effective for his protege.
 * Affectionate Parody: Of classic superheroes.
 * All-American Face: While he's Japanese, he's definitely a send up to this type of character. He's blonde with blue eyes (typical anime depiction of a western foreigner), massively buff when powered up, wears a costume with a red, white, and blue color scheme, and constantly goes on about justice. Hell, one of his attacks was called Texas Smash.
 * All a Part of the Job: He has a lot of wisdom and experience when it comes to being a hero, so him being a teacher is fitting.
 * Almighty Janitor: No pun intended. He's the number one ranked hero in the world! He also has a critical weakness from a previous battle and can only hold his hero form a few hours a day, the rest of the time he's a sickly looking man.
 * Badass Abnormal: His quirk is special even among all the quirks in existence in that it can be passed down from one person to another outside of simple genetics. It gets more abnormal when you find out that he has been injured and is only able to hold his heroic form a few hours each day, and the rest of the time he takes on a weakened form. But the biggest abnormality about him is that by the time of the story, 80% of the population has been born with a quirk, but he and later Midoriya are among the 20% NOT born with a quirk, but both receive it via it being passed down.
 * Badass Baritone: In the anime adaptation, be it Japanese or the English dub, All Might has a deep, melodious voice that goes hand-in-hand with his grandiose appearance.
 * Badass in a Nice Suit: Sometimes wears one as a teacher or when he talks to the press.
 * Badass Teacher: At first, he seemed like he was just mentoring Midoriya, but he also became a regular teacher at U.A. High..
 * Badass Transplant: Due to a battle a few years prior to the story beginning, he has been weakening, and is even forced to take on a weakened state for most of the time during the day. Then, he meets Midoriya and after seeing his determination and courage to be a hero, he trains the kid for 10 monthes and bestows his quirk upon him.
 * Beware the Nice Ones Is almost always smiling and is the type to always lend a helping hand to anyone in need. The key word is almost. If you somehow manage to get him to stop smiling, you know you're in for it.
 * Big Good: The number 1 hero in the world! A pillar of hope and justice for the world, with many aspiring to follow his example. Fittingly enough, he's thus the only one who matches the Big Bad in terms of power.
 * Black Eyes of Crazy Subverted since he's not remotely evil, but his eyes are black with brightly glowing blue irises.
 * Blood From the Mouth Happens to him frequently in his weakened form.
 * Body Horror: His weakened form is extremely emaciated and constantly vomiting blood.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: To a tee: he has the physique, the raw power and the grandiose demeanor.
 * Brains and Brawn: When he was paired up with Sir Nighteye, he was the brawn of the duo.
 * Brought Down to Normal: Since giving Midoriya One For All, he finds that he's slowly losing his power over time, and it will eventually stop working completely. This finally happens at the end of chapter 94 after using the last vestiges of One For All to finally KO All For One.
 * Calling Your Attacks In reference to how he's based off of silver-age western superheroes, he shouts out the names of American states and landmarks. He doesn't always get it completely right, though.
 * The Cape Definitely. Almost to the point of parody.
 * Catch Phrase "I'm here!/I have arrived!" while making a Dynamic Entry and "Plus Ultra!" when trying to be inspiring or when showing off.
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome Played partly for laughs, but prior to the U.A. villain invasion, All Might stepped in to defuse a tense hostage situation, then moved on to stop a hit and run driver, and then... well, his commute to work ended up taking up all of the time he had that day for the use of his powers.
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique: His most powerful and most dangerous ability is an incredibly powerful punch he calls "United States of SMASH!"; he's only seen using it once, in the final battle where he uses it to flatten All for One. Note he does this in his de-powered form, while badly wounded. One can only imagine what he could do with this move when he was in his prime.
 * Death Glare He gives off an incredibly potent one, whether it be against villains who threaten his students, or even when he is acting out the part of a villain in Class 1-A's exercise against Bakugo and Izuku. When you see that glare, run.
 * Deuteragonist While the series as a whole is a Coming of Age story for Deku, All Might's influence and character drives the story just as much as Deku's journey does.
 * Eagleland Predominantly because of his The Silver Age of Comic Books traits, he tends to exhibit signs of the first type. For example his workout plan for Midoriya invokes the classical American Dream in its name... and the notion that those born with nothing, can one day achieve the greatest success if they work hard to earn it. Additionally, as mentioned, most of his attacks Theme Naming for states or major U.S. cities, typically "X Smash".
 * Engrish In the anime, he peppers his sentences with English words and phrases.
 * Expy Of Golden Age and Silver Age Flying Bricks. His ethos is almost straight-up Superman, the nature of his Quirk and backstory are rather similar to Captain Marvel, and his appearance could perhaps best be described as "Miracleman with Hair Antennae."
 * A Father to His Men He technically has only one man, Midoriya, but their relationship is very akin of a father and son. All Might often treats and trains Midoriya in a manner similar to how a stern but loving father would do to his son, considering that Midoriya's real father never appeared in the whole series, and only mentioned once, All Might often borders Parental Substitute.
 * He tried to pull this off with Bakugou once, with predicable results.
 * Game-Breaking Injury All Might suffers from this as five years before the main story, he took a devastating hit from an unknown villain, which nearly killed him. While he survived thanks to numerous surgeries, his powers were disrupted such that he can only use them three hours a day. When he powers down, he looks like a emaciated husk of his former self that constantly keeps coughing up blood. Regardless, he keeps up his hero duties, with only Midoriya and a few of the top officials knowing about what happened, as he doesn't wish for people to lose faith in heroes like him.
 * Gratuitous English Frequently as part of his Large Ham tendencies.
 * All Might: [in Japanese] Oh my... oh my... GOODNESS!
 * The Greatest Story Never Told: The original battle with All for One may well have been the most epic in anime history, but we can only Take Their Word for It.
 * Handicapped Badass: The original battle with All for One inflicted terrible injuries on All-Might, requiring numerous surgeries simply for him to function, costing him his stomach and one lung, leaving him, in his usual form, a frail and gaunt man who continually coughs up blood. He can only assume his heroic superpowered form for about an hour a day. Still, he managed to continue his heroic career and hide his condition from the public for years.}}
 * Hair of Gold All Might's mighty hair is gold.


 * The Hero His status as the Number 1 hero in the world makes him a symbol of peace and justice to the world. Or so he thinks. Lots of villains see him as their biggest threat, and even some heroes are jealous of his status and power.
 * Heroic Build His muscular form, obviously.
 * Heroic BSOD When All For One reveals that Tomura Shigaraki (a criminal that he's been pursuing) is actually the grandchild of his beloved mentor, Nana Shimura, All Might is horrified and filled with guilt. It takes a plea for help from a nearby civilian to snap him out of it.
 * Heroic Second Wind Over his time limit and severely injured, All Might is spurred into action again by the civilian he needs to save and the people looking on.
 * Hour of Power Thanks to his injury, he can only tap into his full strength for a few hours a day. After giving Midoriya his One For All, this time gradually grows even shorter. All For One explains that this is because All Might is now exclusively using the remnants of One For All as opposed to the full power he once had before and the more he uses it the weaker his power becomes. At end of his fight with All For One in chapter 94, All Might has now permanently used up the last remaining dregs of One For All.
 * Humble Hero: Despite his grandiose appearance and hammy demeanor, All Might doesn't concern himself with praise, recognition and accolades and mainly cares about helping those in dire need and bringing them hope.
 * Incurable Cough of Death As a result of his Game-Breaking Injury, he is practically emaciated when his powers are not in use and is prone to hacking up blood.
 * I Work Alone Subverted. Sir Nighteye's insistence in becoming his sidekick eventually led All Might to accept his help.
 * Large and In Charge: While not the officially agreed-upon leader of the heroes, he is the one they all follow in a crisis, and according to his profile in the manga, he stands 7'2'' in his heroic form, and weighs 255 kg (562 lbs) of solid, heroic muscle.
 * Large Ham If his bold outline and loud personality didn't make it obvious, he is constantly spouting speeches about heroism and how it's important for him to be a symbol of peace.
 * Leeroy Jenkins Gran Torino calls him as the "punch first, ask later" type.
 * Legacy Character It's eventually explained that he himself received "One For All" just as Midoriya did.
 * Lightning Bruiser Very few people can keep up with his sheer strength and speed. His only weakness is the time limit that his muscle form has.
 * Meaningful Name His surname contains the Kanji for "eight", referring to him being 8th wielder of One For All. It also has the character "tree/wood" in it, which likely refers to him being the pillar that currently upholds society as it is now.
 * The Mentor He tries to make Midoriya his successor and gives him his power. With U.A.'s help, All Might may find the true and worthy successor, but he hopes it will be Midoriya.
 * Moment of Weakness In the first chapter, he nearly abandoned Bakugou to a supervillain because he had reached his daily limit. Seeing the powerless Midoriya rush said villain in an attempt to save Bakugou convinced All Might to break his limit regardless of the risk to himself to save the day. This incident was what convinced All Might that it was time to pass on the torch and that Midoriya was a prime candidate for it.
 * My Greatest Failure Discussed in chapter 70, there has never been a situation in which he hasn't made the outcome better, when he was there. All Might is for all his speed and strength still only a man, he can't be everywhere and for every situation he made better there were hundreds he could do nothing for, simply because he wasn't there. This is where being The Paragon is a double-edged sword, for all that he inspires to make others like him, he is seen as The Hero of the world, so when he doesn't show up to save the day it can breed resentment.
 * Nice Guy: Despite being an Affectionate Parody of the hokey American superhero type, All Might actually genuinely lives up to the tropes and even gives them a real feel. He's kind-hearted, noble and compassionate, and will valiantly defend the common man, unconcerned with praise and recognition.
 * Non-Standard Character Design To go with his Large Ham personality, he is drawn in a thicker outline and has more shading than everyone else. He specifically has character design elements associated with the comic book creator Rob Liefeld, including a variant of the "Youngblood's disease" as his eyes are often hidden in heavy shadow or appear to be glowing. Ironically this also means despite being most inspired by a comic book art style it means he looks a more like a villain or morally dubious individual than he is intended to. His "true form" is also very different from everyone else, but in a more conventionally cartoonish and lanky sort of way.
 * A few students even acknowledge this when he enters class for the first time.
 * Not So Different Reveals to Midoriya that he used to be Quirkless himself before getting "One For All" and pretty much had the same drive he did when he was younger.
 * Nothing but Skin and Bones: All Might's true form -- Yagi Toshinori -- is positively skeletal.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname Sort of. "All Might" is his hero name; but even in-universe nobody knows his real name, except for Gran Torino.
 * OOC Is Serious Business When he arrives during the Villain Alliance's assault, Midoriya quickly points out that All Might is not smiling. Even though he's in hero-mode, he isn't smiling. This is All Might we're talking about here; he is always smiling in hero-mode. That he isn't smiling makes it clear how he feels about the villains trying to get at him through his students.
 * Papa Wolf As the villains who attacked Class 1-A found out, trying to hurt his students is an easy way to get on All Might's bad side.
 * The Paragon All Might isn't the "Symbol of Peace" just because he's incredibly strong, but because he's devoted to inspiring the good in others. Many of the world's other heroes and heroes-in-training aspire to follow his example.
 * Passing the Torch How "One For All" works. It's a unique Quirk that is nurtured and passed down from generation to generation. All Might even talks about it as literally passing the torch.
 * Perpetual Smiler In his powered up form, he nearly always has a giant grin on his face, though this is usually an act in order to reinforce the idea that he's an unassailable symbol of peace and justice. See also Stepford Smiler.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner During his fight with Noumu: "So, you were made to fight me, big guy?! If you can really withstand me firing at 100% of my power...then I'll have to go beyond that and force you to surrender!"
 * Primary Colors As seen above, his hero costume contains blue, red, yellow and white.
 * Psychologist Teacher Midoriya isn't the only student All Might tries to mentor after joining U.A.'s faculty as Bakugou and Todoroki also bring out his mentor side. He is also shown to be very encouraging to pretty much all his students.
 * Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs Beats Noumu by punching him 300 times.
 * Recoil Boost New Hampshire Smash.
 * Renowned Selective Mentor Passing One For All is done very selectively, considering its power. On top of that, All Might has very strict standards for taking on an apprentice. But of course, this is all done in secret with only a few in the know.
 * Screw Destiny When Sir Nighteye predicted his demise (and he had never predicted wrong), All Might quite literally said that he would just change his own fate.
 * Showy Invincible Hero What he is In-Universe. All Might is the strongest hero who is known for always winning his battles and saving everyone once he appears as the Symbol of Peace.
 * Sink or Swim Mentor If you think Aizawa is bad, All Might is even worse. Any poor soul paired up with him as their teacher/mentor for the day should expect a merciless beating. Doesn't matter if you're only in your first year, All Might will take you as seriously as he would a villain.
 * Sir Swears A Lot In the English dub at least, All Might actually has the foulest mouth relative to all the characters. He isn't constantly swearing, but he is the only one who ever says "shit".
 * Sobriquet Known as "The Symbol of Peace".
 * Spin Attack Oklahoma Smash.
 * Stepford Smiler Puts on a brave face in hero-mode to live up to his reputation as a symbol of justice, but is all too aware that he's a fallible human being and that the day is rapidly approaching when he can't be a hero anymore. Chapter 92 reveals that he does this on the encouragement of his mentor, who argued that the people he rescues have been through a lot of trauma, so he should smile so as to save their hearts as well as their lives.
 * Super Strength One For All. The strength boost also provides Super Speed and In a Single Bound.
 * Tragic Keepsake "One For All" acts as this as it was entrusted to him by his now-deceased mentor and friend Nana Shimura.
 * Up to Eleven His fight with Nomu had Nomu able to match him blow for blow at 100% of his power, so he pushes himself beyond 100% and completely curbstomps Nomu.
 * All Might: You may have heard these words before, but I'll teach you what they really mean! Go beyond! PLUS! ULTRA!!!
 * Vague Age How old is All Might? Mid-twenties, thirties, possibly approaching forty? The manga never makes it clear and the fact that he looks like a teenager in his weaker form only adds more fuel to the fire.
 * What the Hell, Hero? He gives one to Midoriya for going with some students to rescue Bakugo despite the risk of injury, even hitting him with a Texas Smash in his weakened form. Downplayed as All Might then turns the scolding into a So Proud of You speech promising to be a better teacher now that he no longer has One For All anymore.
 * Will Not Tell a Lie While he claims this is the case, he has both dodged questions on multiple occasions and asked someone to lie on his behalf on at least one occasion.
 * World's Strongest Man The highest-ranked hero. Even though he has weakened a bit in the last years, he still managed to keep the top spot.
 * Wrong-Context Magic: As far as is known, "One for All" is the only Quirk that the user isn't born with, and the only Quirk that can be given to someone else.
 * Your Days Are Numbered Nighteye urged him to retire because his Foresight saw All Might dying a gruesome death sometime. And while there's some nuance to Nighteye's Foresight, it's never wrong before; as of current, All Might has between 1 to 2 years to live. But he and Deku are trying to change that fate.
 * Your Size May Vary All Might's neck in his normal form ranges from normal, to noticeably long, to grotesquely long.

Eraser Head
Homeroom teacher of Class 1-A


 * Anti-Magic: He can stop people from using their quirks if he's looking at them, unless the quirk in question is a "mutant" type.
 * Brilliant But Lazy: He takes naps in the middle of classes he's supposed to be teaching. Still, he's one of All-Might's most valued allies.
 * Break Them By Talking: Attempts to demotivate Deku before a test because he reminds him of All-Might.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: He introduces himself to Deku and Ochako by talking to them while inside a sleeping bag.
 * Brought Down to Normal: What happens to those with powers affected by his Quirk.
 * Fights Like a Normal: His quirk temporarily gets rid of Emitter and Transformation class quirks. It is useless however, against Mutant class quirks. Either way, he has to fight like a normal if he wants to bring down an opponent himself.
 * Secret Test of Character: Says the student with the lowest performance in physical tests will be expelled. He also discusses it, saying how obvious that trope can be used to get the best out of people without the pressure of real danger.

Izuku Midoriya - Deku
"Voiced by: Daiki Yamashita (Japanese), Justin Briner (English dub, TV anime)"

One of the few people on the planet unlucky enough to have no Quirk. His name can also be read as "Deku", so his friends often call him by that. He was relentlessly bullied growing up because of his lack of powers, especially by his former friend Bakugou. One day, when walking home from school, a monster attacked him and his favorite hero, the highest-ranking hero All Might, saved his life. This kicks off a chain of events where All Might sympathizes with his plight as a Quirkless hero-lover and trains him to become stronger. Once Midoriya has proven his worth and strengthened his body, All Might grants him his Quirk, "One For All". One For All allows him to use incredible super strength to overcome various obstacles, but his body is still not suited to its overwhelming power.


 * Achilles' Heel: One For All, as used by Midoriya, is incredibly powerful - the caveat is that he ends up breaking up to several limbs whenever he unleashes its full power.
 * Action Hero: An action hero in training, but still a worthy example.
 * Adorkable: Midoriya's endearing clumsiness is through the roof. He's very easily flustered by unfamiliar situations, imposing types of people, his childhood favorite superhero and even talking to girls (especially those he likes), you name it.
 * Affectionate Nickname: "Deku" was originally meant as an insult at the hands of Bakugo, meaning "useless" in Japanese. It only becomes affectionate when Uraraka points out how it reminds her of "I can do anything". This stays in his memory long enough for him to use it as his superhero name.
 * Badass Adorable: He may be a young teenager with large, baby-like eyes and an endearing, boyish voice, but when using One For All in battle, he's a force to be reckoned with and not to be underestimated.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: He prefers to use One For All in hand-to-hand combat more than anything.
 * Berserk Button: He's very easily angered by the prospect of someone torturing innocents, especially children. Muscular and Overhaul found this out the hardest way possible.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Yes, Midoriya is exceedingly polite and friendly. Yes, he has Ocular Gushers and is very emotional. And yes, he will pulverize you in a fight should you mess with his friends.
 * Born Unlucky: One of the few 20% of people in the world to be born Quirkless.
 * Cannot Talk to Women: Initially, he's rendered completely mute when Uraraka talks to him for the first time and still finds it incredibly awkward afterwards. Later, however, he's gradually accustoming himself to the presence of his female classmates and behaving more relaxed around them.
 * Cheerful Child: When he was four years old, he was very upbeat and chipper.
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: He will never turn his back on someone in need, even if he doesn't have a Quirk. Sadly, this behavior occasionally gets him seriously injured on more than one occasion.
 * Determinator: Even without a Quirk, he was always aspiring to become a hero just like All Might, the greatest hero in the world!
 * Fanboy: Of All Might, to the point of styling some elements of his first hero costume after his face and even making a perfect imitation of his iconic grin.
 * Fatal Flaw: His meek and submissive nature makes him awkward in unfamiliar situations, even though he steadily grows out of it as the story moves onward.
 * Fights Like a Normal: He tends not to excessively rely on his Quirk to do heroics until he feels he's mastered it enough to not get himself injured.
 * Friend to All Children: He's generally very approachable when it comes to handling children and has made several young friends, the most notable of which are Kota and Eri.
 * Grew a Spine: Initially meek and submissive, especially to the likes of Bakugo, Deku eventually grows more courageous and confident, so much so that the aforementioned Bakugo is no longer perceived as a threat, and that Midoriya has no qualms in taking him on.
 * Grin of Audacity: He generally sports this when taking on a very powerful opponent.
 * Hairstyle Inertia: His hairstyle never changes throughout the story, unless he uses Full Cowl at 100%.
 * Hero Worshipper: To a fault. Usually, his admiration and respect for All Might go so far that he doesn't even try to think what would suit his own heroics better, rather opting to imitate All Might.
 * Heroic RROD: Using One For All at 100% or even more wrecks his arms, and even breaks his legs if he isn't careful. This is why he has to constantly and consciously train himself to be more conservative about how much of his Quirk's power he uses.
 * Heroic Self-Deprecation: Midoriya, having been gifted his Quirk by All Might rather than it being innate from birth, has trouble acknowledging when he's genuinely earned something, resembling a form of "impostor syndrome".
 * Humble Hero: One of the prime examples in the series; taking after his childhood favorite, All Might, Midoriya wants to make people's lives better and protect them with a smile, so that they can feel reassured knowing that he's there for them. He doesn't concern himself with praise, recognition or awards.
 * Ideal Hero: By all indicators, he's shaping up to become one by the end: despite his inexperience, he's courageous, confident, charismatic and by far the most altruistic of his peers.
 * Improvisation: This is one of Midoriya's strong points while learning his own power - when push comes to shove, he can come up with some very original and unorthodox means to overcome his obstacles.
 * Jumped At the Call: His reaction to becoming All-Might's "heir" was pretty expected for someone who had dreamed of being a hero all his life.
 * The Klutz: When he's exceptionally nervous, Midoriya loses control of his reflexes and ends up in a clumsy accident.
 * Large Ham: When he's overreacting to something, he tends to be extremely vocally expressive.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Using One For All: Full Cowl, Midoriya increases both his movement speed and his physical strength, enabling him to move around quickly and deal out large amounts of damage without wrecking his body.
 * Magnetic Hero: In more than one instance, Midoriya has shown himself to be very charismatic and influential. He becomes very good at commanding the respect of his colleagues and helps several of them overcome their own problems, most notably Todoroki and Iida.
 * Megaton Punch: The All For One Smash is basically this when channeled through Midoriya's arms at full strength.
 * Messy Hair: Downplayed. He has really curly hair that spikes in all directions, but he seems to keep it clean at all times.
 * Momma's Boy: A rare instance not played for laughs. He has a very close relationship with his mother, and he has her to thank for influencing his costume's design later on.
 * Motor Mouth: When he begins to mutter to himself, he tends to talk very quickly, without any pauses.
 * Mr. Exposition: He's the narrator for the series overall, and he already spoiled the ending: He someday becomes the world's greatest hero ever!
 * Mr. Fanservice: Clothing Damage and the occasional Shirtless Scene are frequent reminders that he's fit as a fiddle and very lean under his loose-fitting clothes.
 * Muggle Born of Mages: The Quirkless son of a man and a woman who both have Quirks.
 * Muscles Are Meaningful: All Might stresses that strengthening his body is very important for inheriting One For All. As a consequence, 10 months of relentless training have made him very ripped, if slightly more muscularly built, though he's still lean.
 * Nerd Action Hero: He's very well-versed on the abilities and powers of other superheroes, and gets to work on being one himself, which makes him an incredibly valuable ally on the field.
 * Nervous Wreck: He's very easily flustered and tends to be exceedingly skittish and emotional. Even though he calms this trait, it remains nevertheless.
 * Nice Guy: One of the main reasons All Might chose Midoriya as his successor was his unfailingly kind and compassionate disposition, which the pro Hero believes spurred him to action without any aforethought. He does good to others, even if there's no reward, because he prioritizes the safety of his fellow man above his own and wants to bring hope to his people.
 * OOC Is Serious Business: Midoriya tends to be calm, tactical and patient, but the very notion of child abuse, or even trying to threaten a child is enough to send him into an uncharacteristic rage.
 * Nice Shoes: He's rarely seen without his iconic red-and-white sneakers, and he even incorporates their design into his hero costume.
 * Ocular Gushers: His large, round eyes are practically a fountain of tears given how often he cries. At one point, his tears were so strong he made a hole crack in the ground beneath his feet when he started crying.
 * The Paragon: Considered one by All Might, who saw his disposition to leap into another's aid without hesitation as the main factor in why the hero decided to name him the successor of One For All. He also has plenty of positive influence on his classmates, most notably Todoroki.
 * Le Parkour: Once he gets the hang of One For All: Full Cowl, he begins to move around more athletically and quickly.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's only 5'5" tall, but he has the immensely powerful Quirk, One For All, that grants him the power to stockpile enormous amounts of strength.
 * Puppy Dog Eyes: His eyes are very large, which makes his happy glances look all the cuter.
 * Scars Are Forever: His duel with Todoroki has left him with permanent scars on his right hand, and his gruesome fight with Muscular has forced him to wear a support sleeve on his right upper arm to brace it and minimize damage.
 * Shrinking Violet: Initially, he was very meek, very shy and completely submissive to anyone who wanted to make a fool out of him. Come his training under All Might, he gradually becomes more courageous and confident, dropping this behavior.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: He bears a lot of physical similarities to his mother, Inko, from their green hair to their green, large eyes.
 * Super Speed: One For All dramatically accelerates his movements, so much so that he can avoid gunfire when using Full Cowl at 5% power.
 * Super Strength: One For All's primary function is to dramatically increase the physical strength of its wielder, and it's lent itself very well to several fights Midoriya's been in.
 * Technicolor Lightning: When using Full Cowl, his body is cloaked in what looks like green lightning, but doesn't behave like real electricity and doesn't hurt anyone.
 * Thinking Out Loud: He tends to mumble when he gets lost in thought, or overthinks things. It's a habit that most of his peers find either amusing or creepy.
 * Training From Hell: The training regime that All-Might puts him through is described - by Izuku himself - as "ten months of pure hell" where the hero instructs him to clear a beach that has become strewn with decades worth of junk, along with the usual calisthenics and special diet. However, Izuku is so determined to succeed he actually does more than the hero demands, pushing himself to a point that surprises his mentor.
 * Un-Sorcerer: Played Straight with Izuku being one of the few people on the planet unlucky enough to be Quirkless, but it doesn't last long before All Might grants him One For All.
 * Verbal Tic:
 * He's prone to babbling and muttering when he begins to overthink things. This habit tends to creep out or annoy his classmates and other people in school.
 * He's very prone to screaming loudly when overreacting to something, coming across as a Large Ham.
 * Volcanic Veins: When using One For All at very strong power, Midoriya's veins glow and shine brigtly.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: He has dark green hair.
 * Youthful Freckles: He has small, dark freckles on his cheeks.

Katsuki Bakugō
"Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Japanese, TV Anime), Clifford Chapin, (English dub, TV anime)"

An almost life-long acquaintance and former friend of Izuku's - a condescending, arrogant and aggressive young man who incessantly bullied Izuku for being Quirkless during childhood and junior high school. By pure surprise, he ends up being in the same class as his former bullying victim. He strongly believes Might Makes Right and that to be a great hero means to be utterly invincible in combat, and as such, detests the notion of being helped by someone else, seeing it as a bad reflection on himself. His Quirk, Explosion, secretes an igneous nitro-glycerin-like substance from his palms that he uses for making explosive attacks, and occasionally to make himself fly away. He has yet to come up with a hero name.


 * Affectionate Nickname: Ever since childhood, Midoriya has referred to him as "Kacchan", a portmanteau of his first name, Katsuki, and the honorific "chan", which denotes special endearment and is usually uttered by young boys to one another. The nickname stuck around all the way to high school.
 * Anime Hair: Styled like an explosion, just like his Quirk and attitude.
 * Anti-Hero: Deconstructed. His antagonistic behavior, aggressive temper and overall lack of cooperation prove to be a hindrance for him, even though he's firmly aligned with the Heroes and has vast amounts of potential, what with being both physically fit and very nimble with his Quirk.
 * Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: His hairstyle is shaped like an exploding firecracker, which goes in handy with both the nature of his Quirk and his attitude.
 * Attack! Attack! Attack!: His default approach to combat is to dish out as much dirt as possible to leave as little a window as possible for his opponents to strategize. Downplayed in that he's still capable of concocting more complex plans.
 * Ax Crazy: He has a monstrously violent temper, relishes the opportunity to get into a fight, casually spouts death threats and sports a Grin of Audacity more resembling of a Slasher Smile when in combat.
 * The Berserker: He fights very boisterously and very violently, which in some instances works against him.
 * Big Ego, Hidden Depths: He may be stubborn, proud and arrogant to a fault, but it's eventually revealed during his brawl with Midoriya that Bakugō, in spite of all the praise and adulation he was given as a child, has an unfulfilled need for validation and acceptance and longs for someone to see him as a beacon of hope. On the other hand, he can't realize that the way he's going about that is completely wrong.
 * Broken Ace: A less sympathetic example; always lauded for his powerful Quirk and amazing bravery as a young child, come high school, Bakugō finds himself in a situation where his nasty demeanor, previously overlooked, works against him in spades, to the point where everyone finds it difficult to work with him.
 * Brutal Honesty: Katsuki always speaks his mind, but rarely ever minds his speech.
 * The Bully: Used to be quite a barbaric one in junior high school, even low-key telling Midoriya to commit suicide when he burns and throws away his notebook on Hero powers.
 * Character Tics:
 * Notably, he likes to bare his teeth whenever he's excited or angry.
 * He hates wearing ties, preferring to leave his own shirt unbuttoned at the top.
 * He sticks his hands in his pockets and lumbers around whenever he's sullen.
 * The Comically Serious: His uncontrollable temper and taking everything as a personal attack is pretty much always played for laughs.
 * Determinator: When Bakugō sets his mind to something, he'll do it no matter how the odds are stacked in or out of his favor. It's this quality that even Midoriya sees as the true trait of a winner.
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: He loathes when someone takes sympathy to him when he's in trouble and tries to help him: so much so that he perceives it as a bad reflection on his ego. Especially pronounced when it comes to Midoriya: he perceives his genuine kindness as a means for Midoriya to "show off his moral superiority over him". This is also the root of the animosity the two would share for a good chunk of the story.
 * Everyone Has Standards: Even Bakugō, an overly competitive, violent jerk who bulldozes over people to get what he wants, is genuinely appalled by what Endeavor has done to his family to do the same.
 * Explosion Propulsion: He can use his Quirk to become airborne for a short amount of time.
 * The Friend Nobody Likes: Even with his battle prowess, determined go-getter personality and tactical skill acknowledged, Bakugō is considered an extremely unpleasant individual by pretty much all of his class for very obvious reasons, even by Midoriya and Kirishima, who are some of the students he's on more familiar terms with. It's also saying a lot that he's less liked than Mineta.
 * Glory Hound: Bakugō strongly craves praise, recognition and accolades for his heroics and fights to one-up and trump anyone whom he perceives as a strong opponent. As he grows more humble over time, however, he grows a more upstanding streak and generally doesn't like winning if he feels he didn't earn it.
 * Good Is Not Nice: He's unambiguously a heroic character, albeit one who's immensely stubborn, mean-spirited, proud and short-tempered.
 * Grumpy Bear: He's so short-tempered, grouchy and anti-social it's easier to count the times in the series where he isn't in a bad mood.
 * Guttural Growler: In the anime, he speaks with a coarse, raspy voice that gets especially gruff when he's bellowing at the top of his lungs.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: It's easier to list the moments in the series where Bakugō isn't throwing an apoplectic seizure and acting like a self-entitled brat. And heaven forfend that he loses, or wins in a manner that doesn't satisfy him... He loses his temper so many times it becomes a Running Gag.
 * Having a Blast: The essence of his Quirk is that it can create explosions which he uses in many inventive ways.
 * Hidden Heart of Gold: It turns out that despite being an abrasive, competitive and selfish jerk, Bakugō shows that he truly believes that a Hero should be at the top of his game to protect others. And though he doesn't show it, he is very distraught over All Might's retirement and blames himself for it, which he confides to Midoriya in a fit of rage. And though he won't admit it, he goes to great lengths to motivate the class band to do their best while preparing for the U.A. Cultural Festival.
 * It's All About Me: Profoundly solipsistic, proud and single-minded in his pursuit of becoming the number-one Hero in Japan, Bakugō will do anything to mow his rivals down. If he doesn't have his way, he'll usually pitch a hissy fit. This was generally visible when he was a child, where he kept other kids around simply as toadies to bolster his ego.
 * Jerkass: A major one. He bullied Midoriya for kicks as a child and in junior high school just because he could, and is generally smug and antagonistic even when he enters U.A. High. He's very low on compassion, which is easily reflected by the fact that he's had zero rescue points in the entrance exam, and that he forsook his mission of protecting the projectile in the Battle Trial just to take out his hatred of Midoriya, whom he envies more than anyone.
 * Jerk Jock: Physically fit? Check. Extremely unpleasant? Check. Bullies meek people? Check. Although, he has better grades than most other examples.
 * Large Ham: He tends to express every one of his emotions with 100% drive and earnesty.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: For all the bullying and abuse he rent on Midoriya over the years, he got one of the biggest bruises onto his ego - his unpleasant personality has driven away the majority of his class, and his former bullying target is now considered the shining example of heroism.
 * Medal of Dishonor: How he views his victory in the U.A. Sports festival, seeing as Todoroki - his opponent in the final round - was holding back his powers.
 * The Nicknamer: He's so self-absorbed he doesn't even bother learning his classmates' names, often referring to them according to their physical features. The only exception to this, of course, was "Deku".
 * No Indoor Voice: He's rarely ever seen or heard not screeching at the top of his lungs.
 * OOC Is Serious Business: Normally, he's exceedingly loud and aggressive, but when he becomes calm and quiet, you will know he's caught onto something, or that something's amiss.
 * Perpetual Frowner: He's rarely ever seen without a scowl on his face.
 * Renaissance Man: He's a lot more sophisticated than he looks - he has some of the best grades in class, is a good chef, a good babysitter and a very skilled drummer.
 * Sore Loser: Bakugō almost never takes kindly to either defeat or failure, perceiving them as a bad reflection on his ego. Especially if Midoriya succeeds and he doesn't.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: He is practically the spitting image of his mother, Mitsuki Bakugō, with the only difference being that he's male. They even share the same trip-wire temper and propensity for violence.

Shōto Todoroki - Shōto
"Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (Japanese, TV Anime), David Matranga, (English dub, TV anime)"

One of two students enrolled into U.A. by recommendations, Todoroki is a reserved, but persevering youth. He's the son of Endeavor (Enji Todoroki), the number-two Hero in Japan, who groomed him to supersede All Might and, consequently, saw him as more of a pawn, than his child. His Quirk, Half-Cold Half-Hot, allows him to shoots jets of ice from his right side and jets of fire from his left. Given that his abusive father's Quirk is all about fire, Shōto refuses to use it out of spite.


 * Abusive Parents: Oh brother, where to start here. His dad was an unsuccessful rival to All Might, so he married a woman with an ice-based quirk, hoping to sire a son with both quirks, regarding said offspring as a weapon that would outshine his rival. While Shōto's mother treated him better, she was also a victim of her husband's abuse, and was prone to fits of rage, one of which caused her to throw boiling water in Shōto's face. Understandably, Shōto hates his father.
 * The Ace: He is an incredibly talented, powerful and perceptive Quirk fighter, the strongest in his class by a wide margin. It comes of no surprise that he got into U.A. via recommendations, without going through the entrance exam.
 * Adorkable: Despite being very stoic, tactical and efficient as a fighter, Todoroki is very socially awkward and it comes through in generally endearing ways.
 * Ascended Extra: From the U.A. Sports Festival onward, he becomes a main character.
 * Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: His hairstyle very conveniently highlights where his powers each come from: white to the right (ice) and red to the left (fire).
 * Bishonen: He's considered handsome by almost all of his female classmates.
 * The Comically Serious: His awkwardness makes for some very funny comedy relief, as well as having a tendency to have metaphors go over his head.
 * Defrosting Ice King: Humorously enough, almost literally. He began as very cold, aloof and stubborn, holding onto a grudge against his father which stopped him from tapping into his full potential. Later, especially after his fateful duel with Midoriya in the Sports Festival, he began to thaw away and warm up to his classmates. Midoriya becomes his first true friend, while he also befriends Iida and Yaoyorozu.
 * An Ice Person: The right side, which he inherited from his mother, allows him to shoot out ice.
 * The Jinx: Played for laughs when he claims that he has some kind of curse that makes other people mess up their hands or arms (namely Midoriya and Iida).
 * Oxymoronic Being: His quirk lets him create and control fire and ice.
 * Playing With Fire: His left side is inherited from his father, and it allows him to do this.
 * Scars Are Forever: The burn scar over his left eye that he got from his mother has never healed.
 * Superpower Lottery: Shōto is both a winner and a loser; despite the contradictory nature of his quirk, he can control it very well, and is, as a result, incredibly powerful. It's a shame they've made his whole life a living hell.
 * Super Breeding Program: Given his father's goals, he's the result of this, and as bad as his life has been as a result, he has four siblings who also had both quirks, but without any compatibility. His cruel father considered them failures.
 * Unknown Rival: For a few episodes, at least, he made it clear his goal was to defeat Midoriya, without giving any reason why. Until Midoriya learns about his past.

Ochako Uraraka
An outgoing young girl who befriends Midoriya after he saves her during the entrance exam. Her Quirk is "Zero Gravity". She wants to become a heroine in order to earn enough money to give her parents a good life. Appears to have a mutual crush on Midoriya.
 * Action Girl
 * Badass Adorable
 * Genre Savvy: She is very aware of how being in heroism for the money would make her look despicable.
 * Gravity Master: Her Quirk allows her to manipulate the gravity field of anything she touches.
 * Love Interest: Our main protagonist quickly falls for her and don't falls back.
 * Luminescent Blush: When Yuga suggests she may be in love with Izuku.
 * Well Done Daughter Girl

Mina Ashido

 * Zettai Ryouiki: Her civilian clothes profile has a sketch of her in short shorts and thigh high stockings.

Tsuyu Asui



 * Action Girl: Obviously.
 * Animal Motif: Her "quirk" gives her a frog-motive. Ironically, she's close friends with a girl who has the Snake quirk.
 * Animal-Themed Superbeing: "Does whatever a frog can!"
 * Boobs of Steel: Her tongue is very strong and Mineta remarks how her breasts are big.
 * Breakout Character: She's no Ms. Fanservice, but she's become more endearing to most fans than any other female character in the series.
 * Cute Monster Girl: Though she's isn't typically attractive, the way she talks and acts make her very cute. And, of course, her quirk gives her frog-like powers.
 * First-Name Basis : Asks Deku to call her only "Tsuyu" after he wins his trial exam battle with Ochako. For American viewers, this is an odd request, as addressing someone other than a family member this way is usually considered very rude in Japan.
 * Little Bit Beastly: Her slightly frog-like appearance reflects her powers.
 * Stomach of Holding: One of her abilities. She considers it gross.
 * Unprovoked Pervert Payback: A little more justified than most cases because Mineta is a known pervert, but there was no signal when Mineta emotionally hug her that he was targeting her breasts, making her drowning him a little unfair.

Mirio Togata

 * Brought Down to Badass

Kaoruko Awata

 * Underboobs

Chizome Akaguro - "Hero Killer" Stain
"Voiced by: Go Inoue (Japanese), Robert McCollum (English dub)"

A murderer and vigilante who hunts down heroes for sport. He believes that hero society has become too corrupt with greed for any genuine goodness to be present, and vows to hunt down those he deems to be "fake" with a vengeance. His Quirk, "Bloodcurdle", allows him to paralyze his victims once he gets a taste of their blood, making him a very dangerous foe. The caveat is that the time of paralysis is determined by blood type.
 * Arc Villain: He is the main antagonist of the titular "Hero Killer Arc".
 * Ax Crazy: Stain is unstable at best and seeming perpetually rancorous.
 * Bad Powers, Bad People: Kind of hard to picture his Quirk being used for any purpose other than evil, but he did at least try some time in his past.
 * Blood Magic: His quirk lets him paralyze a victim by tasting the victim's blood; some blood types are more vulnerable to it than others.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: He condemns wanton murder, seeing it as a tainting on everyone who fights for what he believes to be genuine justice, and only hunts down people who use their heroism as a marketing ploy, or to hoard money.
 * Evil Virtues: Conviction, perseverance and resolve are some of his defining traits.
 * Fallen Hero: It turns out that he used to be an aspiring hero-in-training before his turn to villainy. What drove him over the edge was his overwhelming disenfranchisement with the system at large - a system that he believed fostered false heroes - and so he decided that those heroes need to be rooted out at every turn.
 * Fights Like a Normal: Kind of. He does have a fighting style based on his quirk, but it's more his fighting style is based around enabling his quirk, rather than simply using the quirk itself.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard: As it turns out, he's not immune to his own power. When he's injured in such a way that he coughs up and tastes his own blood, his own powers turn against him and he's finally defeated.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: As is to be expected from a Japanese sword-wielder, he's armed with a Katana and several tanto-like daggers.
 * Knife Nut: As already mentioned, he has several daggers and, additionally, he has a few throwing knives.
 * Knight of Cerebus: Not only is he the first villain Midoriya and his friends face outside the school's "safety net", he introduces them to a grim reality that morality is rarely a simply matter of black and white.
 * Licking the Blade: His quirk is based of tasting or ingesting the blood of his opponents. So he uses knifes and swords to gain access to their blood.
 * Logical Weakness: Against one person, his Quirk makes him nearly unbeatable once he inflicts a wound that draws blood. Against large groups, however, it's not as useful. Against two opponents his non-quirk fighting skills can let him hold his own, but more than that and he can be overwhelmed quickly.
 * Lone Wolf Boss: He has no connection to the League of Villains, although he did, unfortunately, help them in the long-run.
 * Necessary Evil: He doesn't exactly feel good about his own actions, but feels he must follow through with them for "the greater good".
 * Nineties Anti-Hero: Pretty much used as a way to compare that Trope to other types of heroes. Inverted in that he's a villain.
 * Red and Black and Evil All Over: He's a vicious villain who wears a mostly black, sleeveless outfit complete with a crimson scarf.
 * Sanity Slippage: Is heavily implied to have lost his sanity from repeatedly being exposed to the injustices of society and being ignored by in large.
 * Self-Harm: The reason why he seems to have no nose? He's the one who cut it off.
 * Shout-Out: His way of thinking is very similar to that of Marshal Law, and was possibly inspired by that character.
 * Sleeves Are for Wimps: He wears nothing on his arms other than some non-medicinal bandaging.
 * Villain Has A Point: He feels the term “hero” has lost its meaning, and most heroes have become little more than greedy, selfish Attention Whores and worse, those who are Only In It For The Money and take from society far less than they contribute to it. The only person he considers a true hero is All-Might himself. Thing is, he's not completely wrong in his views. Many pro-heroes in this series are indeed selfish narcissists caring little for anything but their own glory, folks like Endeavor being good examples.
 * Villain Takes an Interest: He sees potential in Midoriya of actually meeting what he believes are the true ideals of a hero.
 * Villainous Rescue: He saves Midoriya from a winged Nomu after having witnessed his selfless act of rescuing Iida.

All for One

 * Badass in a Nice Suit: Which only makes his inhuman, monstrous visage stand out.
 * Bad Powers, Bad People: His quirk makes him a literal embodiment of selfishness and greed.
 * Big Bad: As the leader of the league, he is the biggest threat to the protagonists of the series.
 * Evil Counterpart: He's a villain called All For One. All Might is a hero whose quirk is called One For All. Do the math. The two are polar opposites.
 * Hidden Villain: While his shadow falls on the whole series, he only actually appears in the last couple episodes of Season 3.
 * Power Parasite: His quirk gives him the power to steal other quirks and use them. He may even give them to others.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: All Might explains his story and says this individual was alive more than once century ago when quirks first appeared.
 * The Ageless: All Might theorizes he stole a Quirk that would make one not age, that would explain how he's still alive in this age despite his back story establishing at being at best over one hundred years old.
 * Walking Spoiler: This character's very name associates him with an important member of the cast and its backstory.

Tomura Shigaraki

 * Genre Savvy: He's perfectly aware of how unstable Stain is and don't wants him as ally.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: He's a very unstable, evil individual with red eyes.
 * Superpower Lottery: He can make everything he touches decay.
 * The Dragon: Since the boss of the League of Villains have health problems that prevent him of doing much field work, Shigaraki is the one confronting the heroes or making new alliances most frequently.
 * The Faceless: His face is always obscured by a hand on top of it.

Kurogiri

 * Meaningful Name: If it is his true name, being named "black mist" completely fits his Quirk.
 * Straight Man: He's pretty down to earth compared to most members of the League of Villains.
 * Teleporters and Transporters: Can teleport people using portals made of shadow using his Quirk.
 * The Faceless: His face is always obscured by the shadows of his Quirk.
 * Villain Teleportation: He is the living incarnation of this trope, since his basic function is to send his comrades to the battlefield and then take them back when they need to escape.

Toga

 * Ax Crazy: She says she wants to marry Stain. And then says she wants to kill him.
 * Baddie Flattery: Calls Tsuyu and Ochaco cute. Talks to them about boys.
 * Terms of Endangerment: Calls Tsuyu and Ochaco by their given name.
 * Face Framed in Shadow: How she's initially introduced in Chapter 57, but we do see her full face at the end of the chapter.
 * Serial Killer: Seemed to be this before. The reason she wants to help the villains is solely because is hard to be a serial killer with so many heroes out there.
 * Yandere: Seems to like Stain a lot.

Twice

 * Cloning Blues: A riot broke between his clones leading them to kill each other, making him socially reclusive and leading him to ally with social outcasts, no matter how evil they are.
 * Me's a Crowd: He can create clones of people and his own clones can also use this, though his quirk only allows two copies to be created at one time.
 * Reality Ensues: Creating clone slave servants don't works when you're the kind of lazy person trying to rely on them.
 * Tragic Villain: Because he mismanaged his quirk, he went insane. He thinks that the only place insane people like him can fit into society is by being part of a community of insane (and probably villainous) people.

Muscular

 * Evil Virtues: Honesty. In particular, he believes that people should always keep their promises. If you break a promise because you couldn't keep it, then it's still a sin because you chose to make a promise you were incapable of keeping.


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