Class 1-A in My Hero Academia was a standout in the entire school. They had the most villain encounters in the series while their teamwork and execution were comparatively better than the other ten classes. However, as much as the manga gave importance to each student initially, the spotlight was eventually taken over by Izuku Midoriya (Deku).
Consisting of 20 students, Class 1-A boasted characters with peculiar Quirks which they put to use effectively through rigorous training. Deku was born Quirkless but he eventually gained the One For All. As the story progressed towards the Final War arc, it became increasingly clear that Deku was for the long haul while supporting characters like Momo Yaoyorozu and Tsuyu Asui were for comic relief or fan-service reasons.
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The Unexplored Potential Of Class 1-A In My Hero Academia
Unlike Deku and Bakugo, the other students of Class 1-A didn’t have fully fleshed-out story arcs. Most of their story was featured in filler arcs while their development was depicted in a few battle scenes. Characters such as Momo and Tsuyu have been left underused despite their powerful Quirks, to the extent that Yaoyorozu has more to prove since the ‘Dark Deku’ battle.
A few students did leave an impact on the Final War saga. The tag team of Fumikage Tokoyami and Kyoka Jiro was briefly able to overpower All For One with their respective Quirks, Tokoyami’s Tsukuyomi allowed Jiro to use his Earphone Jack quirk while in stealth mode. Shoto Todoroki landed a critical hit on Dabi with his Flashfire Fist: Phosphor technique.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the final sequence in the ending of All For One. The spotlight ultimately fell on Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo. Only these two characters possess the ability to overpower the supervillain Tomura Shigaraki because they can transfer the One For All among themselves, as seen in their battle against Nine in My Heroes Rising.
Exploring the character development and full potential of each student in My Hero Academia will make the series complex and unusually extended. This is why Class 1-A has been relegated to light storyline scenes in the Joint Training and the Hero Internship arcs, where the students helped each other become better or engage in bedroom pillow fights.
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Shoto Todoroki Is The Only Side Character Who Had A Detailed Story
Shoto Todoroki immediately gained the attention of My Hero Academia fans because of his Half-Cold Half-Fire Quirk. A ‘tool’ created to surpass All Might, the story depicted how he was neglected by his father Enji Todoroki due to which he overly used his ice abilities and didn’t want to tap into the fiery abilities inherited by his father.
Over the course of Kōhei Horikoshi’s manga, Todoroki increasingly became social and started to forgive both his mother and father for his upbringing. He was able to use his fire-side as well as his ice-side to create ‘cold fire’, which took less toll on his body and defended him from fire. Combining the two elements made him a real force of destruction.
Shoto had notable battles against Deku, Tetsutetsu, and Leviathan. However, his arch-nemesis was his oldest sibling Toya (Dabi). My Hero Academia carefully constructed the animosity between the two brothers stemming from Toya’s need to replace Shoto as Enji’s tool to surpass All Might.
Dabi was bent on impressing his father until he decided to murder him in the Final War arc. Meanwhile, Shoto Todoroki, who grew up distrustful of his father, actually wanted to save him from Dabi’s rampage. Toya was successful in taking the life of Endeavor, thereby ending Shoto’s arc.
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