Although fans might feel somewhat melancholic thatMy Hero Academia’s story is about to conclude with its upcomingfinal season, it’s a relief to know that it’s not the end with its spin-off, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. As the title suggests, the show’s premise revolves around a group of vigilantes called the ‘Naruhate Vigilantes’, illegal heroes who seek justice outside the system.
Set before the canon events of the main show, it follows the sudden, regular instances of the Quirk-enhancing drug, Trigger, happening among the civilian population. Protagonist Koichi Haimawari, his mentor Knuckleduster and new friend Pop Step are tracking down the root of the uncontrollable drug spread, meeting fellow Vigilantes or creating new ones along the way.
7Rapt Tokage
Quirk: Lizard
Despite his less-than-stellar first impression, Rapt Tokage later proves himself to be not only self-aware of his mistakes but also a loyal friend to Soga and Moyuru. After being arrested and recovering from using Trigger, Rapt is the one who declares he will never touch the drug again, disliking the harmful effects of the drug once it wears off.
Rapt keeps a pretty low profile after his arrest, but resolves to help Soga during his stint as an informant for Knuckleduster. Along with Moyuru, he saves Soga from Kuin Hachisaku’s bees, even saving several police officers during Koichi’s fight against Number 6.
6Moyuru Tochi
Quirk: Ignition
Moyuru is usually seen with his friends Soga and Rapt, fulfilling the role of the local thugs, beating up and bullying characters like Koichi and Pop Step. He agrees to the offer of using Trigger, but after he is defeated by Knuckleduster and arrested, Moyuru decides to turn over a new leaf and go down a more stable life path.
When Soga decides to work as Knuckleduster’s informant, Moyuru helps support Soga and Knuckleduster in their crusade against Kuin Hachisuka. Despite how they started out, Moyuru grew to have a cordial relationship with Koichi and personified the ‘gentle giant’ stereotype when caring for Knuckleduster’s daughter, Tamao.
5Kugisaki Soga
Quirk: Spike
Soga doesn’t have the best of introductions in the series, as he’s a small-time thug who harasses people alongside his pals, Moyuru and Rapt. After being knocked down by Knuckleduster, Soga and his friends were given Trigger, leading them to cause a rampage throughout the city.
Once the Trigger wore off, Soga seems to have calmed down, though he’s as short-tempered as ever. He starts assisting Knuckleduster in his hunt for Kuin Hachisuka and even helps him look after his daughter once she’s found. It’s later revealed that Soga once dreamed of becoming a Pro-Hero, but his abrasive personality and Quirk discrimination put a quick stop to his aspirations.
4Pop Step (Kazuho Haneyama)
Quirk: Leap
Prior to becoming a vigilante, Pop Step (aka Kazuho Haneyama) was a student who doubled as a freelance idol, intending to make it big by building a fanbase and orchestrating street concerts. She inadvertently gets looped into being a vigilante after meeting Knuckleduster, using her social reach and internet sleuthing to help the duo with their crusade.
Despite her vigilantism work, Pop never strayed from her dream of becoming an idol. However, she was deceived by Number 6 and possessed by Kuin Hachisuka’sQueen Bee Quirk, who used her body to sow chaos throughout the city. Saved by Koichi, Pop returns to normal but goes through a long recovery process, keeping in touch with Koichi as he begins his Pro-Hero career.
3Stendhal (Chizome Akaguro)
Quirk: Bloodcurdle
Before becoming the notorious Villain, Hero Killer: Stain, Stain was a vigilante named Stendhal. Even as Stendhal, we see the first signs of his later career as Stain, as he believes he must outright wipe Villains from the world by murdering them.
He becomes briefly involved in criminal mastermind Kuin Hachisuka’s scheme, where he meets Koichi and the Knuckleduster. Stendhal ultimately clashes with Knuckleduster, whose words prompted him to change hismodus operandiand target those he deems to be ‘fake heroes’. Stendhal slices off his injured nose (due to his tussle with Knuckleduster) and takes up the name ‘Stain’, and begins the killing spree we later see result in his downfall in the main series.
2Knuckleduster (Iwao Oguro)
(Former) Quirk: Overclock
Although he currently works as a vigilante under the name ‘Knuckleduster’, Iwao Oguro was once a respectable Pro-Hero called O’Clock. His Quirk, Overclock, allows him to move at unimaginable speeds since it pushes his brain function into overdrive. However, his Quirk was stolen byAll For One, resulting in him losing his Pro-Hero career.
Due to his daughter’s disappearance, Iwao becomes a vigilante, sniffing out traces of Trigger around the area to track his daughter down. Despite the loss of his Quirk, Iwao could still wipe out villains due to his brute strength. He essentially strong-arms Koichi to be his mentee after seeing that he has potential. By the end of the story, Iwao is left heavily injured in his fight against Number 6, though he recovers and continues his vigilantism streak.
1The Crawler (Koichi Haimawari)
Quirk: Slide And Glide
The main character of the Vigilantes spin-off, Koichi Haimawari, starts as your friendly neighbourhood helper. Known as ‘Nice Guy’, Koichi mainly sticks to taking out litter and helping people retrieve their stuff. But after meeting local vigilante Knuckleduster, Koichi switches his moniker to ‘The Crawler’ and begins a mentor-mentee relationship alongside newbie vigilante Pop Step.
