Summary
In the world ofMy Hero Academia, it’s expected that those who decide to become heroes are willing to put their physical and mental well-being on the line for the sake of helping others. For some, sweeping the streets of dangerous villains and keeping civilians safe has been a pretty easy task, especially those with powerful and reliable Quirk abilities, but as seen throughout the story, not everyone has had an easy ride.
In stark contrast, there have been plenty of heroes who have experienced an immense amount of suffering and pain due to their position, yet despite it all, they continue to fight for the sake of justice. It’s always truly inspirational to see someone who has been to hell and back continuing to give everything they have to take down a villain, and it’s a description that perfectly fits theseMy Hero Academiacharacters listed below. Before jumping in, this list will contain spoilers up to the end of season 7.
9Ragdoll
Ragdoll is introduced during the Forest Training Camp arc as a member of the bubbly hero group known as The Wild, Wild Pussycats. Despite being someone who loves her position as a hero and is more than willing to help the students learn the responsibilities of becoming one, Ragdoll would, unfortunately, become one of the many victims ofAll For One, an evil mastermind who steals any Quirks that can help make him as powerful as possible.
As a result of losing her Quirk, Ragdoll would be forced to retire, with her fun enthusiasm turning into a mild depression as the other Pussycats fought crime while all she could do was sit back and watch. While Ragdoll was definitely lucky to escape All For One’s Clutches without being killed, it definitely couldn’t have been easy for her to lose the ability that allowed her to become a hero in the first place.
8Mirio Togata
Mirio’s Unique Quirk Has Been Both A Blessing And A Curse For The Aspiring Hero
A common theme that runs throughout the entirety ofMy Hero Academia’sstory is that any Quirk, no matter how useless it may seem on the surface, can be effective when the user puts in enough time into practice. There’s no bigger example of this than Mirio, an immensely powerful hero who desperately tries to familiarize himself with his permeation Quirk, which allows him to become completely intangible.
Needless to say, being able to even become a hero was already tough enough for the young Mirio, so it was certainly heartbreaking when he would then havehis Quirk removedby one of Overhaul’s Quirk-Destroying bullets. Despite trying to keep a smile on his face during the whole fiasco, it was clear that having his Quirk taken away completely crushed Mirio’s soul, and while he does eventually get it back near the end of the story, this was still a very tough pill to swallow considering all the work he had put in leading up to that point.
7Ochaco Uraraka
Uraraka Continues To Fight Against The Odds, Despite How Much She’s Been Through
Uraraka comes across as a very sweet and naive hero at the beginning of the series, but bythe final arc, she feels like an entirely different person, which is a testament to the amount of hardships she’s been through over the course of the series. Considering she developed a crush on Deku pretty early on, Uraraka would be forced to watch the protagonist destroy his own body over and over again in order to utilize his newfound Quirk.
As seen when Deku decides to go rogue and abandon UA, his habit of putting himself in danger clearly took an emotional toll on Uraraka, though that’s not the only thing she would be forced to deal with. The death of Toga was also extremely difficult for Uraraka to deal with, especially considering she felt the two did share some kind of connection by the time that they came face to face in the final war.
6Endeavor
Endeavor Tried To Repent For His Actions, Though This Was Far From Easy
Some people may argue that Endeavor is a character who deserves to suffer, considering everything he’s put his family through, though once he manages to reach the number one hero position, he does at least start to reflect on the errors of his ways. Endeavor desperately tries to reconnect with his family, but dealing with his sins and making sense of his actions is far from easy.
Just when it seemed like Endeavor may have been patching things up with Shoto, he is then hit with the bombshell that Toya, one of his sons, who he neglected and was believed to have died long ago, is actually a villain who wants nothing more than to kill his own father. Endeavor doesn’t exactly have a squeaky-clean reputation, but it’s hard to deny the fact that he himself has still gone through an immense amount of emotional pain after trying to reform.
5Shoto Todoroki
Todoroki Is Forced To Watch His Family Fall Apart
To say Shoto had a difficult upbringing would be putting it lightly. Shoto was one of many children who were born to Endeavor, who aimed to produce offspring who could one day surpass All Might. With Shoto being seen as the perfect child, Endeavor would put the young boy through punishing training sessions, and after the family grew more and more apart, Shoto would even receive a scar from his own mother after she lashed out at him.
Once he appears in the main story, Shoto simply refuses to use the fire-side of his Quirk, considering this was passed down to him by hisabusive father. He would continue to experience many hardships over the course of the story, such as finding out that his long-lost brother is actually a member of the League of Villains, whom he would then be forced to confront in one of the most emotional fights in the entire story.
4All Might
Japan’s Pillar Of Strength Has Lost A Lot Of People In His Career
Though All Might vows to always have a smile on his face, it quickly becomes clear that behind the inspirational exterior is a man who has been through a hell of a lot in his career. From a physical perspective, it’s staggering just how much damage All Might has received after he acquiredOne For All. Though he is usually able to brush off these attacks, it has been shown in flashbacks that All Might does have a bad tendency of pushing himself way too far at certain points, which can be disastrous for his body.
All Might has also suffered a lot emotionally, especially with the loss of his beloved mentor Nana, who would be mocked time and time again by All For One after her death. Considering how many years he spent as the top hero, it’s understandable that All Might would have suffered a lot in order to keep Japan safe, and that’s the main reason why villains such as Stain view him as one of the only real heroes.
3Mirko
The War Ended Up Taking A Pretty Heavy Physical Toll On Mirko
Mirko is a Pro Hero who loves getting into fights, and as someone with greatly enhanced strength and speed over the average human, thanks to her rabbit Quirk, she’s more than capable of taking down even the toughest of villains who dare to stand up to her. During the Paranormal Liberation War, however, she may have been off a little more than she could chew after going up against an entire horde of Nomu.
Though she managed to take down most of them, Mirko also lost several limbs in the process and would continue to do so after the next few arcs, to the point where it actually became a meme in the community of how many arms and legs she would lose by the time the story ended. Mirko may always be in high spirits, but from a physical standpoint, she’s lost a lot more than most heroes in the series.
2Hawks
From Cheeky Pro Hero To Vilified Agent, Everything Went Wrong For Hawks
As a child, Hawks was brought up through the ranks in the Public Safety Commission, where he was able to use hisFierce Wings Quirkto earn him a Pro Hero spot in barely any time at all. As a result, he would be the youngest person to ever become a Pro Hero, and so he often presents himself as a very cool, calm, and collected individual, but it wouldn’t be long before things started going horribly wrong for the cheeky hero.
After Dabi reveals to the world that Hawks had willingly killed a villain in cold blood, Hawks' once sky-high reputation began to plummet, but this would only be the beginning. During the final war, Hawks made the decision to bravely stand up to All For One, though after being brutalized by a mixture of heavy-hitting attacks, he would then have his wings sapped away from him, losing his Quirk for good. The good news is, Hawks does manage to become the president of the Public Safety Commission at the very end, but it’s definitely not where he was hoping to end up at such a young age.
1Nana Shimura
Nana’s Attempts To Protect Her Family Turned Out To Be In Vain
Before the main story ofMy Hero Academiakicks off, the one who possessed One For All was a hero known as Nana Shimura. With the knowledge that she was being targeted by the absurdly strong All For One, Nana made the difficult decision to abandon her family to ensure they could live a free and happy life away from all the chaos that comes with hero work.
This was already hard enough for her to deal with, but not only would she fail to defeat All For One, she would then come to learn that her attempts to protect her family had essentially all been in vain. Her abandonment resulted in her son developing a seething hatred for all heroes, which would then feed down to Shigaraki, who, with a little help from All For One, turned into amaniacal villainhell-bent on destroying the world and everyone in it. It’s fair to say Nana has suffered a lot, but the fact that she’s still able to show a smile to cheer people up when they most need it shows how much of an inspirational hero she really was when she was still alive.
