My Hero Academia isn't just a popular anime thanks to comic books or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It takes the superhero genre and infuses it with a coming-of-age story that puts personal gain and the betterment of people as a whole in direct conflict with one another. The cast is full of inventive heroes and villains, each sporting powers as unique as their personalities and personal journeys.
There's a reason My Hero Academia is one of the most popular running anime and fans can't get enough of Season 6 of the show. It has to do with the collection of main and side characters that flesh out the world to feel immersive, impactful, and complex. Some characters may only appear for an episode, but that doesn't mean they didn't leave audiences craving more information and backstory for them.
8 Gale Force
Despite Inasa Yoarashi's hero costume making him look like Street Fighter villain M. Bison, the potential hero known as Gale Force is a force of good. If it wasn't for the presence of Bakugo in the show, people would have assumed Gale Force was a villain in disguise. He's simply just a competitive jerk who sometimes lets his anger and determination get the better of him.
He could have likely attended U.A. High School considering he was highly recommended for the hero course, but he withdrew his name from consideration. His ability to accurately control wind makes him a serious contender for a spot in the top ten if/when he becomes a pro hero.
7 Muscular
The villain known as Muscular is interesting in the way that a war criminal or serial killer is interesting. People aren't invested in knowing more based on the person, but rather the circumstances that led them to grow and age into that type of human being. Quirks in which the hero doesn't need to rely on any outside circumstances can be the scariest because they always have it at their disposal.
The fact that he can manipulate his own muscle fibers in various ways makes him an ultimate threat in close-quarters combat. Not only can he make himself an offensive juggernaut, but defensively he can cocoon himself in a fortress of thick muscle that prevents any incoming damage.
6 Kamui Woods
Kamui Woods, through six seasons of the My Hero Academia anime, has found himself in such an interesting spot. He's a Top 10 pro hero and has been a part of the show in some capacity from the very first episode. He's managed to showcase his abilities and support heroic causes against several villains.
All that being said, he hasn't had a focus placed on him the same way many of the other pro heroes, especially the Top 10, have over the course of the anime. This has led to him cultivating a large group of viewers who want to know more about a hero who is very capable and powerful. It's unclear if that'll ever happen, but hopefully, he knows his presence and efforts don't go unnoticed.
5 Gran Torino
Gran Torino is originally introduced in My Hero Academia as a grizzled retired hero All Might urges Izuku Midoriya to train with. He's a tiny man, but in that frame, he houses unreal movement speed and the ability to dodge almost any incoming attack. Flashbacks to his active hero days showcase a man with a much larger stature, and fans have been speculating why he became so small in his later days.
One interesting explanation outside of the fact that people get short with age due to the shape of the spine changing is that his propulsion quirk may have compressed his spine over time, which resulted in him becoming a much smaller man once his prime was over.
4 Hitoshi Shinso
Whenever Shota Aizawa takes interest in a student at U.A. High School, there's a good chance that the student in question is special in some way. That's where Hitoshi Shinso comes in, a student in the general studies part of U.A., but is set to enter the hero course. He has the ability to essentially brainwash people and make them do as he pleases, which is a power often associated with more villainous individuals.
His journey to becoming a hero is interesting because he's been forced to take an unorthodox route. Shinso has demonstrated a desire to prove misconceptions of quirks wrong and showcase why judging someone solely based on preconceived notions of what powers are good and which are evil is fundamentally flawed.
3 Nezu
My Hero Academia is full of fun twists and turns, and one of the earliest surprises is when the principal of U.A. High School is revealed to be an animal named Nezu. Unlike characters like Spinner who are Heteromorphs, humans who developed animal-like appearances alongside their quirks, Nezu is a very rare case of an animal developing a quirk. His quirk gives him super high intelligence, which explains why he is capable of speech and understanding.
When students are competing in the First Term Final Exam, viewers are able to witness just how smart and capable he is thanks to the use of a wrecking ball that he precisely swings to set off a calculated chain reaction students must react to.
2 Grand
The Provisional Hero License Exam arc of My Hero Academia introduced a number of prospective heroes all looking to accomplish their dreams. One, in particular, was introduced as though he was the protagonist of his own anime, Yo Shindo. He's a tall and good-looking kid who very much feels like the traditional anime hero and it becomes apparent when he introduces himself to Izuku Midoriya.
Yo's hero name is Grand and his quirk called Vibrate allows him to send vibrations through anything he touches. By sheer accident, his quirk has provided him with a slight resistance to vibrations likely due to the sheer amount of exposure to it.
1 Stain
Whether it's an anime, movie, or comic book, the villains who approach things from a place they feel is altruistic can often provide a perspective that's much more endearing and understandable than the typical bad guy. Chizome Akaguro, more commonly known as Stain, is an anti-hero who feels that the hero system in place is currently full of entertainers seeking admiration and reward and lacks people who are purely motivated by helping others and doing the right thing.
All Might was one of the few heroes Stain admired and respected. He was focused on eliminating anyone who didn't meet the ideal to which he believed heroes should be held. Killing heroes came easy to him considering his quirk allowed him to paralyze anyone whose blood he had tasted. Stain inspired an entire generation of people with quirks, for better or worse.