My Hero Academia's Final War is in full swing in the manga, and it's been a wild ride thus far. The Final War arc has thus far featured a great deal of action, numerous returning characters, and sufficient mental and physical suffering to fill a whole book.
Because of the sheer amount of characters involved in this massive conflict against All for One, unexpected returns took place and certain characters that were once thought useless or unimportant became critical assets. This article will highlight every unimportant character that returned for My Hero Academia's Final War arc.
Disclaimer: As this article deals with things not yet shown in the anime, there will be massive My Hero Academia spoilers. Any opinions are strictly those of the fans and the author.
Every background or minor character that's played a crucial part in My Hero Academia's Final War arc thus far
1) Yuga Aoyama
Let's be serious for a minute - Who among My Hero Academia fans truly thought the Shining Hero, and the vainest out of Class 1-A, was the U.A. traitor? Most fans hypothesized that Toru Hagakure would be the traitor after eliminating the obvious suspects. But it turns out poor Aoyama had a lot more to him than was initially revealed.
After being born Quirkless, his parents begged All for One to give him a Quirk. In turn, Aoyama became All for One's pawn and was used to help the League of Villains infiltrate the USJ and leak the training camp location. Fast forward to My Hero Academia's Final War arc, after he was apprehended, Aoyama helped the heroes ensnare All for One in a trap and got one up on All For One by betraying him.
This was critical to the heroes' plans, catching All for One in a snare and trapping the villain after so much of his plans had barely been scuffed by the heroes. It helped that he regained confidence, thanks to his friends, and that Shinso was able to nudge him with a mind-control quirk.
2) Neito Monoma
Did anyone else expect the loud-mouthed, arrogant punk of Class 1-B to truly assist in My Hero Academia's Final War in any capacity? Truth be told, the only thing that Neito had done of any relevance beforehand was to fight against Class 1-A in the Sports Festival, fight against Class 1-A in the 1-A vs. 1-B training exercises, and try to work with Eri to see if their Quirks would mesh.
Seeing that he became a vital part of the plan, playing the role of teleporting all the heroes to the battlefield via copying Kurogiri's Warp Quirk was a huge swerve for many My Hero Academia fans. It fit well with the speech Vlad King gave about nobody being a side player or unimportant. He followed this up by copying Decay, forcing Shigaraki on the defensive, and continuing to keep an eye on Shigaraki alongside Aizawa with Erasure.
For someone who complained for so long about being a side character and a nobody, Monoma had the last laugh as he was crucial to the heroes' plans. Monoma helped the cause in a big way by helping teleport the heroes to the battlefield, separating the villains, and stopping Shigaraki even though they were interrupted by Twice clones.
3) Skeptic
The Feel Good Inc. board member and one of the nine lieutenants of the Paranormal Liberation Front seemed to fade into the background of My Hero Academia. As his whole deal is manipulation and information, Skeptic has played several key roles in helping Dabi get his past on the air and even encouraging Spinner to become a symbol of revolution for the discriminated heteromorphs.
His propaganda helped stoke riots that Spinner would use to try to get Kurogiri out of the Central Hospital. Despite being little more than a background player for the MLA and PLF, he proved critical in setting up the riots, allocating everyone to where they had to go, and his ultimate gambit of sending U.A. crashing down. His hacking abilities seemed unrivaled as the school began plummeting toward the ground.
He was counter-hacked for the second time in his life by La Brava. The technical genius of the PLF was subsequently surrounded and cut off by Ketsubutsu High School students and the Pro Hero Hound Dog. This seemingly ended the career of a mad technological genius, as Skeptic was taken off the board.
4) La Brava and Gentle Criminal
An unexpected, but not unwelcome, return to the battlefield was La Brava and Gentle Criminal. The two lovely thieves that fought Deku way back during My Hero Academia's "U.A. School Festival Arc" were both a challenge to Deku in two ways: his perception of villains as black and white, and a power challenge as Gentle got stronger with La Brava's help.
At the end of that arc, Gentle was arrested and covered for La Brava by saying she was kidnapped and brainwashed. In the Final War arc, it was revealed that Gentle stopped several criminals from escaping prison, and the two reunited. They would later be seen in the Final War arc, helping save the U.A. from falling out of the sky.
In short, La Brava hacked Skeptic's systems and locked him out of U.A.'s security systems. Gentle had to physically keep U.A. in the air with his Elasticity Quirk to buy time for La Brava to get the city's flight systems back online. She did that and got the battle broadcast across the world, showcasing how heroes still stood against villains.
5) Manual
Does it really count as being unimportant if you've used your Quirk for important work before in My Hero Academia? Manual is considered the "Normal" hero even though his ability is literally controlling water. Going back to the idea of nobody being unimportant, Manual showed up earlier during My Hero Academia's "Vs. Hero Killer" Arc as Tenya Ida's mentor, berating Tenya for his recklessness in confronting Stain.
Flash forward to My Hero Academia's Paranormal Liberation War arc, and Manual kept Aizawa's eyes moistened so Erasure could be used on Shigaraki and prevent any widespread attack. He would later do the same thing to help Aizawa and Neito keep their eyes open and Erasure on Shigaraki to keep the villain down and out from using 100% of his power.
All in all, Manual is pretty important to the heroes' efforts to defeat All For One. Even if it seems like nothing, keeping water going into someone's eyes so they can pin down a powerful opponent is extremely vital. Too bad the Twice clones disrupted that plan, but it brought time for Izuku to show up and others to hammer Shigaraki.
6) Spinner
After everything the League of Villains did successfully in My Hero Academia, Spinner was left as the odd man out during the bulk of the story. Dabi had his grudge against Endeavor, Toga constantly developed and was pitted against Tsu and Ochaco, Tomura Shigaraki was practically destined to fight against Izuku, Mr. Compress was captured, and Gigantomachia was likewise captured.
This left the heteromorph Spinner, a follower of Stain's ideology, as the seemingly only sane one left of the My Hero Academia villain group. While he stuck around for Tomura's sake, he was granted multiple Quirks by All for One and told to unleash hell to get Kurogiri back. That's precisely what he did, as part of All for One's plans, rampaging through a hospital and freeing Kurogiri.
This cost him his sanity, his body, and any support from other heteromorphs he may have otherwise had. He might've "won" by freeing Kurogiri from the Central Hospital, but he lost the greater fight for people's hearts and minds when he killed doctors, nurses, and civilians. Likewise, his plea for Kurogiri to help Shigaraki also screwed over All For One with Kurogiri freezing up in the middle of the battle.
7) Mezo Shoji
Lest us forget the other main participant in the fight for Kurogiri, Mezo Shoji aka Tentacole of My Hero Academia's main class Class 1-A. Although mostly a background player in Class 1-A compared to the likes of Izuku or Bakugo, Shoji's chances of shining overlapped with Koda's as My Hero Academia's resident heroic heteromorphs.
Here's the scenario: Shoji and Koda, alongside President Mic, are trying to stop Spinner and rioting heteromorphs. This comes at a major reveal for Shoji: he too was discriminated against by humans and that's why he wears the mask. Despite Spinner "winning" in that encounter, he loses the overall war as Shoji's efforts at stopping Spinner cause Spinner to pass out and the rioters turn on Spinner.
This is after one really hard fight between Shoji going Plus Ultra to defend doctors, nurses, and everyone else from being further hurt by Spinner's rampage. Rock Lock even notes that Shoji acted like a true hero there, and that his actions derailed the riot.
8) Koji Koda
Koda, like Shoji, was constantly considered a minor or background player at best throughout My Hero Academia. His nature as a heteromorph meant that he too had his parents suffer from discrimination and persecution, but was determined to fight as a hero anyway. His quirk, Anivoice, made him able to commune with animals and he usually used them for search and rescue.
While Koda saved Shoji from certain death quite a few times during the PLF's rampage, his shining moments in My Hero Academia's Final War came in the form of ridding the heteromorph army and PLF of the Hooded Advisor. The Hooded Advisor was stoking the flames of hatred within the crowd, and Koda's horns grew in, as he used his ultimate move, Hitchcock's Birds, to silence the madman's words. This helped to slow the heteromorph army down and stop the flames of hate before they destroyed the city.
With his Quirk awakened, Koda restrained the Advisor and continued to aid Shoji. This is worth a lot since, without Koda, things would've taken a much more dire turn for Shoji and the doctors and patients within Central Hospital.
9) The Shiketsu High students
Don't forget that the U.A. is only one of the many pro-hero schools in My Hero Academia. The Shiketsu High students, including Camie Utsushimi, Seiji Shishikura, and Inasa Yoarashi, were already very memorable for their performances in the Remedial Course Arc and Provisional Hero License Exam Arc.
While everyone was getting overwhelmed by the Sad Man Parade being activated, Inasa, Seiji, and Camie all arrived on the scene to lend a hand. This proved critical on two levels: the first being Camie and Seiji fooling All for One into thinking he killed Hawks while saving Hawks, the second by having Inasa negate the Sad Man Parade by throwing them like projectiles at All for One.
This not only allowed the remaining heroes a second wind but threw several heavy wrenches into All for One's plans and stopped the numerical advantage the villains had hold. It also meant All for One was entirely on the defensive instead of wiping the floor with all of them.
10) Edgeshot and Wash
Ninja Hero: Edgeshot is the number four Pro Hero had an ultimate move that enabled him to snag Kurogiri and Re-Destro. That's about as much as fans of My Hero Academia who hadn't read the Vigilantes manga were able to remember regarding him. Wash, the number 8 Pro Hero, is even less memorable and is only remembered as a massive washing machine in My Hero Academia.
So, imagine everyone's shock when the Ninja Hero and the Laundry Hero manage to revive Bakugo. How? Using one of Wash's bubbles to sterilize and sanitize Edgeshot's threads and Edgeshot using all of his Thousand Sheet Piece-Zenith ultimate move to suture together and replace Bakugo's ruptured heart tissue and perform CPR likewise inside of Baguko.
This means that he repairs it from the inside and uses up all of his energy and life force to do so. The combination of two heroes, even one as comedic as Wash, ends up helping to save one of the main characters. If this proves anything in My Hero Academia, it's that everyone can contribute something that counts - no matter how small.
11) Mina Ashido
While far from unimportant to Class 1-A, Mina Ashido was one of the characters pushed to the back for most of My Hero Academia. She really started to shine in the Paranormal Liberation War, and the Final War gave her a rather big moment. As it turns out, acid isn't a bad quirk to have if it's so potent it can survive Dabi's flames and affect Gigantomachia.
The Sludge Villain from the first episode of My Hero Academia pinned down Shinso and Kirishima, who were trying to brainwash Gigantomachia. Mina pushed her quirk to the absolute maximum to unleash a new ultimate move that melted through Gigantomachia's claws and the Sludge Villain to save both of her friends and allowed Shinso to brainwash Gigantomachia.
Though she ended up passing out and severely dehydrated, this titanic effort from a heroine that froze the last two times she encountered Gigantomachia helped turn the tide back in the hero’s favor. Gigantomachia being brainwashed helped apprehend more than a few villains and further pushed All for One to keep expending more and more energy that's barely keeping him alive.
12) Hitoshi Shinso
Shinso was one of the hardest opponents Izuku had to face during My Hero Academia's Sports Festival due to his brainwashing quirk. He likewise proved to be a problem during the 1-A vs. 1-B duels and was ultimately told his ability is a good thing to have, and that he can decide how he uses it.
It turns out it came in handy twice during My Hero Academia's final arc. The first time was helping Aoyama lie to All for One, fooling the demon lord and giving Aoyama a mental nudge to help boost his confidence. The second was to fully brainwash Gigantomachia and get him to the heroes' side, though that required help from Kirishima, Mount Lady, and Mina as he was nearly swallowed by the sludge villain.
Gigantomachia would've proven extremely difficult to deal with otherwise. Having him under mental control helps to apprehend the villains who had tried freeing him and keeping All For One on the defensive by practically throwing mountains at him.
13) Fumikage Tokoyami
While not unimportant, Tokoyami had more supporting roles than anything else before the Final War. Dark Shadow as a quirk proved its resilience by helping to batter Re-Destro and other villains alike, but the Final War really got the motor running on him.
Long story short, he was among Endeavor's group fighting hard against All for One and gained two huge blows. He helped shatter the rest of All for One's support mask, rendering him more vulnerable and then pushed himself to gather Dark Shadow to a colossal form to envelop the villain. He revealed that he was sent to keep All for One from taking Endeavor's quirk.
This successfully managed to force All for One into going even younger with the Rewind Quirk and had him fleeing as the rest of the heroes regrouped with them. He made the formerly invincible All for One feel fear when Black Abyss: Light of Baldur enveloped him.
14) Kyoka Jiro
Kyoka Jiro is on the list not for being unimportant necessarily but out of focus for a while. Since the School Festival, where she sang her heart out for a packed crowd, Jiro was mostly out of focus and in the background unlike Momo Yaoyoruzu or Ochaco Uraraka.
Her shining moment came in the shattering of All for One's support mask, destroying his seemingly invincible image. First, she and Tokoyami saved the Hawks from near death. Jiro's spirit and resilience helped the vestiges within All for One rebel and froze him in place. Then her full-power Heartbeat Surround: Legato smashed into All for One combined with Hawks' Soundwave Vibration-Enhanced Flight Feather Blade and Tokoyami's "Ragnarök: Fleeting Blow.
All of this means that the three that All for One dismissed as "gnats" and "side characters" broke his mask and forced him on the defensive for the first time in the fight. They did what Endeavor couldn't and landed a huge blow on My Hero Academia's final boss.
15) Lady Nagant
Lady Nagant may have been one of the primary threats Izuku fought during his "Dark Hero" phase, but she was incredibly damaged by All for One's secret secondary Quirk. She was rendered comatose from the explosion, but alive. Most readers bet she'd be back given the importance of her backstory and the information she passed on.
Sure enough, she showed back up in the Final War arc. Her crucial contribution? Shooting both of Shigaraki's hands clean off so he could not use Decay against everyone when it looked like he was gonna kill Izuku and others with it. Rock Lock also deserves credit here, as him being willing to trust her to help get her to the battlefield.
She may have collapsed due to her barely healed injuries re-opening, but those two shots accomplished something lifesaving. It not only stopped Tomura's Decay but gave Izuku the opening he needed to tackle him off of UA to fight on the ground. Likewise, Tomura used All for One's rage against him and took full control of his body back.
This concludes the list of practically every unimportant or side character that has crucially contributed to My Hero Academia's Final War arc. This is obviously not an exhaustive list, as there are plenty of others that could fit a full list of people that are coming in clutch.
The unnamed people include the supporting students and support characters Power Loader, Cementos, Mei Hatsume, and Lunch Rush to battle Shigaraki in the arena they constructed, and the unnamed hospital staff at the Central Hospital healing friends and foes. It goes to show that My Hero Academia appreciates the efforts of teams more so than individuals as this list hopefully demonstrates.