My Hero Academia is a show with a lot of characters, some good and some evil. Now I’m not one someone who believes that a movie or show is only as good as its main villain but I do acknowledge the fact that this holds true in a fair amount of cases. Whilst the standard for what one might consider a “good villain” may vary from person to person I believe that my hero academia has done well with itself in giving us a good number of characters who not only fulfill their role as villains in the story but also give us a glimpse into what it means to live on the dark sides of their world as a whole.

Not every villain in television can be a Thanos, but my hero does well to give it’s villains a good amount of depth and making them seem more human than yours initially expect; given us glimpse into the circumstances that lead then to where they are today and why they concisely choose to remain in the dark side of society. Here’s a list of my hero academia’s best villains. Keep in mind that the this list will contain manga spoilers and is arranged in no particular order.

TWICE

A man with dissociative identity disorder who also suffers from an identity crisis. Twice is a mentally disturbed character who tries to hide his pain behind the facade of being a wacky, comedic person. As a villain, twice is actually one of the more well-develop characters in the series. It is very rare to see mental illness being tackled so well in this medium and his character is a good example of it being done right. From the way he wears a mask to stop the aggravation of his dissociative identity disorder to how he is shown to hear voices and contradicts himself when talking like its a natural thing to do. He is truly a character that feels unique in the series.

Contrary to expectations, his motivations for joining the league of villains are also not half-baked. While he does believe in Stain’s ideaology of society being run by ‘fake heroes’ he also longs for a place where he can be accepted for being ‘himself’ rather than be loathed for being somebody who does not conform to the norms of society.

“There’s no place for insane guys like me in society. As for the people heroes like to save… yeah, they’re always the good, virtuous ones. Anyway, I finally accepted me for me and decided to make myself useful to the League of Villains… because I wanna be okay with me being me”

NINE

Whilst some may argue if the heroes rising movie is canon or not, there is no denying the fact that Nine performed exceedingly well in his role as a ‘final boss’ like villain. A man who can control the weather to a frightening degree while also possessing the ability to use eight other powerful quirks as well. He may lack the core character development or individualistic attributes that others on this list do but he certainly did a good job in his role as an obstacle for the students to overcome which makes him a good villain in our books.

STAIN

The one and only blood ninja. Stain stands out as one of the few villains who initially seem to be righteous in terms of their motives, but poor in execution of said ideals. He is someone who gazes at the line between good and evil and willfully walks the path of villainy to pursue his ideals. His strong motivation and will resonate with many both in his world and in ours, making him a character that appears simple, yet intriguing.

He has no problem with those he acknowledges as ‘true heroes but will not hesitate to cut down anyone who is believed to fall into his target range. Add to this his insane level of combat ability and effective use of his otherwise peculiar quirk and you’ve got yourself quite terrifying villain. Let’s also not forget that his popularity after he was captured helped the league of villains recruit new members to form the vanguard action squad, albeit against his will.

“Hero is a title reserved for those who perform truly great feats! Too many are undeserving… Just money worshipers playing hero! Until this society wakes up and rectifies itself… I will continue to do my work.”

DABI

Dabi, the trickster. A cold, calculating individual who isn’t afraid to get violent and drop bodies if need be. His mysterious nature does nothing to hide the air of complexity around his character; If he hates Shigaraki, why is he in the league? What is his family background? How’d he get his scars? These are the questins we ask ourselves everytime he is on-scrren

All these questions are later answered later on in the manga along with siome shocking information that immediately makes Dabi out to be one of if not the most dangerous person to the hero society as a whole. He’s someone who has seen just how corrupt the so-called ‘heroes’ at the top truly are and has taken it upon himself to make Stain’s vision a reality. If there’s anyone that hates the heroes as much as Shigaraki, it is without a doubt Dabi as both of them have similar circumstances and are equally as frustrated with the unfairness of society.

“The League? Shigaraki? I never gave a crap about them. A single person with a single conviction has the power to change the world. There are no true heroes. I plan to make Stain’s will a reality. See ya, Hawks. Your life’s another thing I don’t care about.”

HIMIKO TOGA

Oh Toga, sweet Toga (Don’t call the FBI on me please😉). The resident yandere of the show. There seems to be something about this girl that makes fans love her. Wether its her looks or her cheery personality they’re good enough to make you forget that she’s a serial killer with a blood fetish. A young girl who is in the same age range as the main cast, we later learn that Toga was forced by her family and society to hide away a part who she really was and not use or develop her quirk (which deals with drinking blood) so that she could fit in. Though it was understandable, it is something that felt wrong to her as she was basically told her to ignore her very nature all so she could ‘fit in’ with others. Unsurprisingly, she grew to hate the hero society which oppressed her and ran away from home to become the blood-sucking serial killer we know her as today.

While it could be said that her upbringing and was part of the reason she turned out this way, it could also be said that since her quirk is blood-based her views of ‘normal’ are quite different to that of other people, which is also one of the reasons she grew to hate the the hero society that viewed her very nature as ‘weird’ and didn’t let her live as who she truly was.

“Listen Ochaco, when I think about the people I love it makes me wanna become them. This desire to take all their blood for myself gushes up till I just can’t stand it. I get all emotional just thinking about it. That’s how I am, but other people aren’t like that. It’s so hard for me to live like this.”

OVERHAUL

The things we do for love. Overhaul could be described as what Shigaraki could have been at the start of the series if he was more mature and planned out his moves better. Ironically they both happened to share similar goals as well as similar powers, with the exception of overhaul having a far more organized setup.

Overhaul is someone who wants to controlling both sides of the hero society . However, this is only for the sake of paying back his father-figure for raising him. He wants the man to live a leisurely life without having his Yakuza organisation slowly fade from existence. He believes making the Yakuza great again by having them control society is the perfect way to his goal, and for that reason, he engages in many devious and outright inhumane acts, much to the dismay of his father-figure. In the end one could say that he was indeed selfish iin a way but he did it for the sake of the man he loved as a father. A rather touching tale isn’t it? Well that’s if you ignore how it ends…

“There are so many capable men… and all they can think to do is rob a convenience store? Kinda weird… you’d think a group this big might just, y’know… have bigger goals than that… You’re all sick. And you need a cure.”

TOMURA SHIGARAKI

Ah yes, the king of chaos Himself. Shigaraki as a cvillain is introduced as somewhat of a man-child at the start of the series. He sems to be one of those people who is born with an ability that suits his devious motives. As he desires destruction, his quirk allows him to do so without issue.

As a character on the other hand, he’s evolved from the childish leader who only does whatever he wants based on his emotions and is now a more calm, collected and calculative leader who knows when to fight and when to pull back. He’s learned a lot from his past failures and has grown it of his man-child phase. His character development does a surprisingly good job to show us how he came to be the villain he is today and also shows us just how far he’s come and is willing to go to fulfil his ideals in destroying the hero-based society of his world.

“You Heroes pretend to be society’s guardians. For generations, you pretended not to see those you couldn’t protect and swept their pain under the rug. It’s tainted everything you’ve built. That means your system’s all rotten from the inside with maggots crawling out. It all builds up, little by little, over time. You’ve got the common trash, all too dependent on being protected. And the brave guardians who created the trash that need coddling. It’s a corrupt, vicious cycle. Everything I’ve witnessed, this whole system you’ve built has always rejected me. Now I’m ready to reject it. That’s why I destroy. That’s why I took this power for myself. Simple enough? I don’t care if you understand. That’s what makes us heroes and villains.”

ALL FOR ONE

Were you honestly expecting anybody else? This guy is basically the last boss of the game who taunts you throughout your playthrough. A truly evil mastermind. He’s always one step ahead of the competition and considering the fact that he is currently the most powerful character in the series, it makes for some truly disturbing nightmare fuel.

His goals are simple; He wants to unite the world not as a hero, but as a real demon king and he has no problem getting rid of anything or anyone that dares obstruct him in his quest for power, family included.

“If it’s freedom you desire, then submit to me, my brethren. And bear witness, by my side. This impending void era will give rise to a more perfect demon lord. This will be the story of how I became the greatest demon lord of all!”