My Hero Academia is one of the biggest anime out right now. That makes sense seeing as how Marvel is huge and the concept is somewhat adjacent to get even non-anime fans interested. Most may not know that the manga has had several spinoff series. The biggest of which is called My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
It started in 2016, two years after the original comic started, and now has over a hundred chapters with the end seemingly getting close. As the name might imply it’s about the vigilante world and how that relates to major heroes and villains. It’s also a prequel. How do these characters events tie into the main comic then? There will be spoilers so buckle up.
6 Catching Up With The Comic
The core of this comic takes place in Naruhata. The main star is Koichi Haimawari who begins the manga as Nice Guy, a vigilante hero who does menial neighborhood tasks like pickup garbage and help the elderly cross the street. Eventually he starts tangoing with the wrong crowd as more and criminals are going haywire in Naruhata. This is how he comes across Knuckleduster, a more wore torn vigilante out on the hunt for a drug called Trigger.Â
This is the drug that is turning seemingly innocent Quirk users into psychopaths. Fans of the main series will note that is the drug the Shie Hassaika were also pedaling. So, in this pursuit of justice, Knuckleduster takes Nice Guy under his wing wherein he then transforms into The Crawler although people mistake this name hilariously for The Cruller. There’s one more hero in this mix, Pop☆Step, who starts out as a street performing before evolving into much more.Â
5 All For One Is Behind Everything
The comic begins with some small stories that seem to have a connecting tissue with the drug but overall it feels more lighthearted than the main series. Eventually as the manga went on, more and more went into its lore, tying itself back with the main villain of the series aka All For One. The manga starts with a young girl controlling exploding bees before it turns out she was begging controlled by Number 6.Â
He was created by All For One and is infused with multiple abilities. One can assume he got the name just like Nine did from the My Hero Academia film, Heroes Rising, who was also experimented on by All For One. Because of these powers and the drugs, it seemed to hint at the big bad for the longest time until the most recent arc wherein he actually shows up in a flashback of Knuckeduster’s back when he was a pro hero. The warp Quirk user, Kurogiri, also made an appearance. How exactly he fits into everything is to be determined.Â
4 Eraser Head Backstory
Eraser Head plays a big reoccurring role in this manga as he is also from Naruhata. It begins as him doing solo work before Midnight convinces him to become a teacher like her. Midnight then also befriends Koichi and his band of merry vigilantes as a side note.
The big reveal for Eraser Head though is his full backstory on becoming a hero in High School. This involves the death of one of his best friends who gave him the confidence to be a hero along with his actual goggles, which he still wears today. Present Mic also pops up every now and again in relation to Eraser Head and Midnight but doesn’t play a big role other than being a commentator.Â
3 Stain Is Born
A very small arc in the beginning of the manga shows Stain before he was a Stain. He started off as a vigilante known as Stendhal who went after real criminals like the Yakuza. Eventually his path was warped and he started killing just as he did in the main series with his own warped way of justice.
After a confrontation with Knuckleduster, who completely beats the snot out of him, he creates a new path for himself to become the hero killer known as Stain. It’s really only a handful of chapters at best but it is still worth mentioning.
2 Other Reoccurring Hero Appearances
There are a handful of other reoccurring heroes like Eraser Head worth mentioning. Ingenium tried to recruit Koichi to be apart of his agency but since he isn’t licensed, Koichi couldn’t join. Fat Gum is in a couple of arcs in the manga as well as a flashback showing him before he actually got bigger. The most recent hero shown in the latest manga arc was Mirko, who called herself Tiger Bunny back in high school. She’s been popping up more in the anime.Â
1 Tsukauchi And His Sister Makoto
The biggest thread that is right up there with the All For One tie-in’s is Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. Not only does he start out his hero investigation work in this manga, but he is the opposing force of good to Koichi’s gray area. What does it mean to be a licensed hero? Is it wrong for vigilantes to help out? That’s the kind of questions this manga tackles with Tsukauchi having a hard time on settling things within his own resolve.
He also has a sister, Makoto, who is on the side of vigilantism. She even becomes Pop☆Step‘s manager and a possible love interest for Koichi. How that all plays out will not be spoiled here. On one final note though, All Might also first gets introduced to Tsukauchi within this manga. All Might’s HQ is even shown off. Â