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My Hero Academia has gifted fans with some of the most interesting and charming anime characters. They love the amazing cast that mangaka Kohei Horikoshi has created for his story. Each of them has a unique personality, motivation, and dreams that followers of the franchise can relate to.
Sadly, no matter how much fans love certain characters, there are some who have been sorely misused in the series. Some characters were forgotten for a major portion of the story, others were used simply as plot devices, and some were simply created for the purpose of fanservice. In this list, we will talk about ten of the My Hero Academia characters that deserve better.
Disclaimer: This list reflects the author’s opinion and contains spoilers for My Hero Academia’s manga. Sportskeeda does not claim ownership of any media used in the article unless otherwise specified.
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1) Momo Yaoyorozu
With a Quirk as amazing as Momo’s, you would think she is one of the most powerful Heroes in the show. In reality, Momo is often forgotten when something important is happening in the series. Horikoshi mostly uses her as a fanservice material due to her revealing costume.
Even though she has the power to create literally anything in existence, Momo is barely used in fights, and whenever she does, it is mostly to take off her costume to create something. Fans have complained about the over-sexualization that Momo goes through in the series. However, this seems like an issue that won't be addressed by Horikoshi ever.
2) Shinso Hitoshi
During the Sports Festival arc of My Hero Academia, Shinso was presented as a character that would become relevant later in the series. His Quirk, Brainwashing, is extremely useful for both combat and stealth missions. Fans even believed that Shinso would someday join class 1-A and become one of the main characters.
However, Shinso stopped appearing in the series right after the Sports Festival ended. He would later make a new appearance during a training exercise between Class 1-A and 1-B, prompting fans to believe that he would join one of the classes. But this was not the case, as Shinso was still waiting to join the Hero Course at the start of his second year of high school.
3) Lady Nagant
Once upon a time, Lady Nagant was the personal assassin of the Hero Commission members, who used her Snipe Quirk to eliminate any targets they wanted without being detected. Over time, Lady Nagant became disillusioned with Hero Society and how their leaders handled the issues. She became a villain, working for AFO, who promised to build a better society.
At one point in My Hero Academia, Nagant and Deku fought against each other during the Tartarus Escapees arc. Deku inspired Nagant to leave AFO's side and join the Heroes once again, promising her that together everyone could build a brighter future. Later, she survives AFO's attempt on her life after joining Izuku but was never again relevant to the story of My Hero Academia.
4) Midnight
Nemuri Kayama, also known as the R-rated Hero Midnight, was severely mistreated by Horikoshi during her time on My Hero Academia. Her entire character revolved around being alluring and overtly sensual to the audience. The franchise went as far as to show her wearing nothing more than a simple trench coat as her first Hero costume.
To make matters worse, during the first war against the League of Villains, Nemuri was one of the few popular heroes to die during the battle. This came as a shock to both the characters in the series as well as fans, who were not expecting Nemuri to die just for shock value.
5) Star and Stripe
Star and Stripe used to be America’s number one Hero, with a power that was only rivaled by that of her idol, All Might. Her Quirk, New Order, allowed her to change any two laws of nature she wanted, as long as she could name the object or being she wanted her Quirk to affect.
She was one of the first individuals to face Shigaraki during the current arc of My Hero Academia’s manga. Lamentably, as she is not the main character of the manga, it's obvious to many fans that she would end up losing somehow, even with her amazing powers.
Her death was a massive shock not only for the American people, but also for fans who were expecting to see more from her.
6) Twice
My Hero Academia's League of Villains has many twisted and cruel minds who get a sick enjoyment out of hurting innocent people. Yet, it is also the home of many social outcasts who have been mistreated by society and just want a place to belong.
Such was the case for Twice, a man with a Quirk that allowed him to create copies of himself, with the drawback that each of them thought they were the original. Twice suffered a lot because of his condition, living in constant fear of discovering he was a clone all along. Despite this fear, Twice only wanted friends who would love and accept him as he was. Fans were extremely saddened when Twice ended up being killed by Hawks just to prove to the fans how far the feathered Hero was willing to go for his mission.
7) Uraraka Ochako
Uraraka Ochako is one of the most complex characters in My Hero Academia. She comes from a poor family who has been struggling to make enough money to live for as long as she can remember. Instead of becoming a Hero for glory or fortune, Uraraka simply wants to save people and give her parents a good life while doing what she loves.
Regrettably, Horikoshi forgot about the depths of Uraraka’s character and treated her like a Deku fangirl for most of the franchise. Uraraka’s entire character arc revolves around loving Deku and being inspired by him. She is an outstanding Hero student with one of the most interesting Quirks, so it is sad to see her being assigned the role of the lovesick girl.
8) Denki Kaminari
Many students in class 1-A are often forgotten by both fans of the franchise and Horikoshi himself. Denki Kaminari, the resident Casanova, is one of these often abandoned characters, which is a shame since he has one of the most powerful Quirks in the show. Denki is able to absorb and discharge electricity at will, although this ability does have a drawback.
If Denki uses too much energy, his brain will short circuit, making him act in hilarious and goofy ways. As funny as these moments are, it sometimes feels like Denki is only a part of the cast to make fans laugh with his antics. He has been treated as a comic relief character since the beginning of the series, meaning he is almost never relevant to the plot of My Hero Academia.
9) Nejire Hado
U.A.’s Big Three are considered the students closest in power to All Might inside My Hero Academia’s universe. Each one of them is extraordinarily powerful and skilled, with enough power to defeat an entire class of freshmen students in a couple of seconds. Nevertheless, even though Nejire was introduced as a part of this amazing team, it took a long while until we were able to see her in action.
Unlike Tamaki and Mirio, who had their opportunity to shine soon after being introduced, Nejire’s major contribution to the franchise was being a part of a beauty pageant. As the series progressed, she had a few more opportunities to showcase her powers, although it was much later than her male counterparts.
10) Bakugo Katsuki
Bakugo is not only one of the main characters of My Hero Academia, he is also one of the most beloved. He is probably the individual with the biggest character development in the franchise. Still, character development or not, it seems like Horikoshi does not know what to do with him.
Bakugo’s role inside the series has never been kept consistent. He has gone from a minor antagonist to a bitter rival, to a simple classmate, to a best friend, to a plot device for Izuku’s story.
If Bakugo is not screaming about killing someone, he is being used as a sacrifice to make Deku stronger. Fans often complain about how Horikoshi has been mishandling Bakugo’s character since the beginning of the franchise.
Final thoughts
While there is no doubt in anyone’s mind about the love Horikoshi feels for his characters, it is clear that he sometimes struggles to give them the attention they deserve. Some character roles seem too small or reductive for the amazing individuals that Horikoshi created them to be.
No matter how much a mangaka tries, there will always be some character that will never reach their potential. As much as My Hero Academia fans hate to admit it, Horikoshi’s work often suffers from this issue, which can become disappointing for many followers of the franchise.
