Summary
It’s all well and good being able to pulverize an enemy with a powerful attack or Quirk ability, but in the world ofMy Hero Academia, being more of a tactician or strategist can also be extremely useful both in and out of combat. As the protagonist, Midoriya is constantly learning about the ins and outs of hero society along his adventure, but he comes across several characters, heroes and villains alike, who are wicked-smart and very knowledgeable about how the world works.
Sometimes, these individuals will be more than happy to share some of their wisdom with Midoriya to help him out. Meanwhile, others seem more concerned with using their smarts to take him down alongside their fellow villains. All of this is to say thatMy Hero Academiacontains plenty of characters who have a bright head on their shoulders, but these are among the most intelligent of them all when taking both heroes and villains into account. Before jumping in, this list will contain spoilers for up to season 7 of the anime.
8La Brava
The Genius Hacker Can Crack Into Any Network In Just A Few Seconds
La Brava isn’t all that great a fighter. Instead, she prefers to mess with her opponents from behind a screen, considering she’s anexpert hackerwho even once managed to break into U.A’s security system, just to pass the time. As someone who was treated like an outcast in school, La Brava spent a lot of time on her computer, and by the time she met Gentle, she had already become a tech wizard.
La Brava would lend her smarts to Gentle’s cause, live-streaming all of his evil deeds for the world to see. In the final war, the heroes would reluctantly decide to let La Brava out of her cell so that she could help fend off Skeptic, since she was the only one capable of hacking into his network.
7Overhaul
Overhaul Always Has A Plan To Keep Him And His Goons On Track
“A goal with no plans is a delusion. You need a plan in order to achieve your goal”. Thisthought-provoking lineis said by the effortlessly creepy Overhaul, who makes it clear to Shigaraki and his league that he’s not someone who enjoys running into a fight guns blazing. Instead, Overhaul is much more calculated, preferring to plan out everything down to the finest details to ensure he and his loyalists come out as the victors.
In a broader sense, Overhaul has a lot of street smarts, being more than able to swindle people and play them for fools with his clever way with words. This was shown when he almost managed to convince Mirio and Modirya that he was an innocent father taking his young daughter for a walk, despite the fact that his relationship with Eri was much more sinister behind the scenes.
6Re-Destro
Re-Destro Is A Devious Mastermind Who Built An Army Under The Nose Of The Government
When Re-Destro is introduced to the series at roughly the halfway point of the story, he’s already established a massive army of loyal followers who all agree with his ideas of Quirk liberation and personal freedom. Inspired by the ideology laid out by the late Destro, Re-Destro believes everyone should be able to use their personal abilities whenever they please, rather than being held down by the shackles of hero society.
Re-Destro knew exactly how to spread his message as far and wide as possible, and was also smart enough to assemble a dangerous crew of Quirk users who would all act as his personal bodyguards. While the leader of the MLAhas a tendency to get a little too stressedat times, the fact that he was able to amass an entire army without the government even suspecting a thing is a testament to his skills as a strategist.
5Nighteye
Being Able To Peek Into The Future Has Made Nighteye An Invaluable Ally For The Heroes
Nighteye adores All Might, potentially even more than Midoriya, but the Quirk he was born with is nothing like the incredibly powerful One For All possessed by his role model. Instead, Nighteye’s ability allows him tosee a person’s futurefrom a third-person perspective, and though he can’t always see exactly how a scenario will play out, it still makes him an invaluable member of U.A, considering he always knows something that others don’t.
When All Might was still in his prime, he would leave all the paperwork and reports up to Nighteye, who could always be seen in flashbacks sorting through mountains of documents. Clearly, he’s someone who feels a lot more comfortable putting his brain to good use in his office rather than out on the battlefield, but he’s still not afraid to get his own hands dirty every now and again, too.
4All For One
All For One’s Knowledge Of Quirk Abilities Is Unmatched
As someone who is able to steal other people’s Quirks, All For One’s brain essentially becomesa large Quirk database, considering how much he knows of these abilities, and which ones are most worth seeking out. At the same time, All For One was also smart enough to rule Japan from the shadows before the start of the mainline series, hiding his identity while still having full control of the entire country.
All For One always feels like he’s one step ahead of everyone else, and this makes him incredibly tricky for the heroes to pin down. For example, he knew he would be able to blackmail Aoyama to use him as a spy, and would also be well aware that he could get All Might to use up the rest of his power by mocking his former mentor, Nana. These are just a few examples of how All For One has been able to fool his opponents by thinking before he spoke.
3Hawks
As Someone Who Grew Up In The Public Safety Commission, It Didn’t Take Long Before Hawks Became A Genius
Despite being the youngest person to ever reach the status ofPro-Hero, Hawks managed to skyrocket to the position not only thanks to his lethal Fierce Wings Quirk, but also his intelligence. Hawks grew up in the Public Safety Commission, where he was molded into the perfect soldier. In the main story, Hawks is the one the heroes rely on to infiltrate the enemy ranks and receive vital information that can be used to hold back the villains.
Hawks managed to keep a lid on his true affiliation for a long while in the main story, which just goes to show how skilled he is at playing a part and abiding by the mission. Hawks would even be aware of the Meta Liberation theory, which was first brought up years before the series even starts, showing that he’s much more than just street smarts.
2Nezu
Nezu’s Intelligence Far Exceeds That Of The Average Human
Nezu is a very rare example of an animal possessing a Quirk. Thankfully for him, his Quirk, High Spec, greatly increases his IQ, so much so that he’s considered to be even smarter than most humans. This is why he managed to earn the position of becoming the head of U.A, to whom all the Pro-Heroes and students answer.
Nezu is often the one who plans out the attack strategies once the heroes know where the villains are hiding, but he’s also in charge of maintaining the school’s reputation by assuring both the public and his own students. Nezu is even able to keep the school’s entire security system running single-handedly, which is no easy feat, especially for a mouse.
1Dr. Garaki
Garaki Has Achieved Some Unimaginable Feats With His Keen Intellect
Though All For One is already considered a mastermind in his own right, there was one man whom even he acknowledged as being smarter than him, and that’s the eerie Dr. Garaki. Not only did Garaki correctly predict theQuirk Singularity Theory, which ends up being very relevant later in the story, but he was even capable of cloning the All For One Quirk so it could be passed down to Shigaraki.
Grakai is also credited with creating the entire army of Nomu, which the heroes come up against on more than a few occasions, and that includes the high-ends who were able to go toe-to-toe with both All Might and Endeavor. Though he may be pretty useless on the battlefield, nobody in the series can match Garaki when it comes down to overall intelligence.
My Hero Academia
Cast
In My Hero Academia, some humans have superpowers called quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and since he was a child, he has always wanted to be a hero. However, his lack of a quirk has always held him back, but a chance encounter with All Might after discovering a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers around Deku and a class of heroes-in-training at UA. This school shapes young quirk users into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-tempering tasks. With young Deku inheriting the “One-For-All” quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while facing off with dastardly supervillains.
