MHA Character Rankings!These lists are more like popularity polls than actual power rankings! The greatest female characters, the most underutilized characters, and more.
Over 600 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 20 Underutilized ‘My Hero Academia’ Characters Who Could Be So Much More
Voting Rules
Vote up the MHA characters who you think got the short end of the stick.
My Hero Academia has an amazing cast of characters, but not all of them get the attention they deserve. Unfortunately, there are a ton of underrated My Hero Academia characters whose true potential is never explored. Sometimes, they have amazing quirks with powers that could be expanded upon. Other times, they could have a much more integral role in the story. Maybe they're just really interesting and we want to know more about them.
It feels harsh to call these characters examples of wasted potential - after all, Horikoshi can't possibly develop every character equally, and the series isn't finished yet. But these are some of the characters who have the capacity to be much more than they are. Maybe, as the series continues, they'll develop further.
Tokoyami has the potential to be one of the most interesting characters in the story, but unfortunately, he often gets sidelined. His quirk, Dark Shadow, is unique and intriguing, but since he doesn't have a full handle on its negative impact, he doesn't use it all that much. While that's understandable, it's also a bit disappointing not to get to see him develop it further.
There's also a lot that Tokoyami could add to our understanding of society in MHA. We know that mutant types experience severe discrimination - that's why Spinner spent his youth in a basement playing video games instead of interacting with the rest of the world. Did Tokoyami experience this? If so, how does that intersect with his hero's journey? Would some people see him as less than heroic because of his appearance? If he hasn't experienced it directly, what are his opinions on mutant-type discrimination, and how did he avoid it?
We do know a little bit about Tamaki Amajiki's backstory and emotional struggles, which is great. In that respect, he's a well-developed character. But there are so many interesting things he could do with his quirk. Manifest allows him to create anything he consumes, as long as it's still in his body. He uses it mostly to sprout tentacles, hooves, wings, and other animal body parts that can be used in combat. But he can also manifest things that aren't food, as he demonstrates when he manifests crystals.
As he trains his quirk, he learns to get more specific about what part of whatever he's eaten he can manifest. The possibilities are only limited to what he can digest, so it would be great to see what other kinds of combinations he could come up with.
Mina Ashido is one of the only female characters whose quirk has a direct, physical application. It's not healing, support, or defense - she literally just lobs burning hot acid at people. Acid is every bit as dangerous as, say, fire or explosions, but she never gets the chance to shine like Bakugo or Todoroki. She should be able to.
Mina not only does the same training everyone else does; she's also a highly skilled dancer. This means she's not strong - she's flexible and creative with her movements. With her quirk and her raw power, there's no reason for her not to be a top fighter in Class 1-A.
Tsuyu's unique character design and charming personality made her a fan favorite, but unfortunately that hasn't translated into a meaningful role in the series.
Her quirk is surprisingly versatile, but most of her best moves only show up once or twice, and she hasn't grown nearly as much as some of the other characters in her class. More often than not, her role seems to be reining in Mineta when he gets too inappropriate. Doesn't she deserve a little bit more than that?
Momo has one of the most powerful and versatile quirks in the entire series, but she still plays second fiddle to characters like Izuku, Bakugo, and Todoroki. Momo's quirk is tricky to use - not only does she need to have enough body fat to create objects, but she also needs to have their exact chemical compositions understood and memorized. When she has the chance to plan, she can do an excellent job - but not so much when it's a surprise attack.
Because Momo's quirk is so complicated, she has to work much harder than everyone else to use it properly. But it would be nice to see more of that effort - and to see her take control of a battle or two. It would also be nice to see her failures - what happens if she tries to create something and misremembers its composition? What happens if she doesn't store enough fat? It also might have been fun to see her interning with Fatgum, whose quirk also operates based on stored fat. A lot is unexplored when it comes to Momo's abilities!
Not every quirk is accepted by society. In fact, some of them are considered downright evil. This concept is introduced through Hitoshi Shinso, whose quirk lets him control people's actions through having them respond to his voice. This caused him a great deal of pain, and made him feel like he had no chance of being a hero.
He recieved some development in the recent season. He got the chance to test into the hero course, and spent some time training one-on-one with Aizawa. We won't go into detail, but the manga plot has been pretty involved, so it's hard to see the series returning to Hitoshi's development any time soon. That's a shame.
