The hottest anime of recent times, My Hero Academia has rapidly gained massive popularity all across the globe upon its release. Serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014, My Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi. Since its adaptation as a shonen anime, the show has received overwhelmingly positive reviews.
Since its release, My Hero Academia is often considered to be a worthy successor to other shonen anime series like Naruto and One Piece, despite being in its nascent stage for now. It has received critical praise for its character development, engaging plot, and intense fight sequences. With so many powerful characters in the show, it’s only natural that some characters have to rely more on their brains than brawns when pushed to a corner. Let’s find out the 10 most intelligent characters of My Hero Academia.
15. Mei Hatsume
An expert inventor, Mei Hatsume belongs to the 1-H class of the U.A. High School. Mostly working as a supporting character, Mei Hatsume has proved her worth multiple times with her brilliant inventions and assertive personality.
Mei has the Zoom quirk which enables her to see on a microscopic level. Her quirk helps her in easily handling advanced gadgets and equipments suited for heroes having unique quirks.
14. Tenya Iida
The class representative of Class 1-A, Tenya Iida has a serious demeanour with natural leadership qualities. Despite his elite upbringing, Tenya is a very caring individual who is an unbiased leader. From a family of pro-heroes, Tenya is known as Ingenium.
His straightforward and noble demeanour might sometime make him look unintelligent, but Tenya is a brilliant strategist who keeps a calm mind during life-threatening situations. His Engine quirk gives him super speed which he uses to fight evil.
13. Tsuyu Asui
One of the closest allies of Midoriya, Tsuyu Asui is an eccentric student from Class 1-A. Her Frog quirk gives her the ability to stick to walls, camouflage, extend her tongue to great distances, enhanced agility, and the ability to mask her teammates’ odour using her mucus.
Her amazing abilities are augmented with her analytical ability. Tsuyu was the first one to notice the similarity between Midoriya and All Might’s power. She could also determine that the attack on U.A. High School was to assassinate All Might, which was fortunately thwarted.
12. Katsuki Bakugo
The anti-hero of U.A. High School, Katsuki Bakugo is an impulsive character with violent temper outbursts. Despite his brutish attitude, Bakugo has deadly instincts which make him a formidable opponent.
His Explosion quirk allows him to use his body sweat to create massive explosions. With training, he has been able to contain his blasts with lethal accuracy. His battle instincts and endurance for pain make him one of the top students of U.A. High School.
11. Midoriya Izuku
The protagonist of the show, Midoriya Izuku is the current holder of One for All post. Born without any quirk, his fearlessness and desire to be a hero convinced the weakened All Might to pass his powers to Midoriya.
After gaining his powers, Izuku has rapidly grown to be one of the most promising students of U.A. High School. In life-threatening situations, Izuku has been able to hold his ground using his calm and composed mind. A brilliant strategist with an iron will, Midoriya’s ultra instincts make him a tough opponent to defeat.
10. Neito Monoma
A student of Class 1-B, Neito Monoma’s quirk is Copy. Using this quirk, Neito can copy and retain his opponents’ quirks. But, one drawback of this quirk is retaining the weaknesses of others’ quirks along with their strengths.
An observant strategist, Neito was the only one who could see through Ochaco Uraraka’s plans against her fight with Katsuki Bakugo. Neito was quite close to defeating Midoriya using his keen analytical skills but failed shortly since it is not possible to copy One for All.
9. Shoto Todoroki
One of the strongest students of U.A. High School, Shoto Todoroki is the son of the current #1 hero, Endeavour. Possessing the Half-hot Half-cold quirk, Shoto can manipulate both fire and ice.
His incredible powers become truly lethal when used with precision and sharp intelligence. Shoto’s highly observant mind helps him notice things which even pro-heroes miss. From determining the reason behind the Nobu’s attack on U.A. High School to finding the similarity between Midoriya and All Might, Shoto surely deserves a place on this list.
8. Fumikage Tokoyami
Possessing the Dark Shadow quirk, Fumikage is a genius strategist who can quickly exploit his opponent’s weaknesses. His special quirk has drawn admiration from the likes of All Might, Shoto, and Bakugo.
An effective user of Dark Shadow, Fumikage’s ability to use his quirk in both offensive and defensive style makes him a formidable opponent. When unleashed, his powers can reach destructive levels.
7. Shota Aizawa
The homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, Shota Aizawa is a Pro Hero possessing the Erasure quirk. His quirk allows him to negate others quirk with a mere glance.
A brilliant strategist, Aizawa can easily discern the mechanics behind a quirk and can exploit its weaknesses. His quick thinking helps him to create different strategies while fighting multiple enemies simultaneously.
6. Enji Todoroki
The current #1 Pro Hero, Enji Todoroki aka Endeavour is a freak of nature. His Hellfire quirk grants him immense powers ranging from flight to heat rays.
Endeavour’s villainous look and demeanour hide his keen analytical mind in most cases. As the hero with the most number of solved cases, Endeavour possesses extraordinary intelligence. He was able to quickly determine all the quirks and weaknesses of elite Nomus while simultaneously fighting them.
5. Keigo Takami
Keigo Takami aka Hawks is currently ranked second in the list of Pro Heroes. His incredible awareness allows him to hold casual conversations while fighting multiple enemies with surprising ease.
His ingenious intellect helps him to gather sensitive information getting unnoticed. Hawks’ highly observant mind has helped him defeat two Nomus by determining their weaknesses with astonishing speed.
4. Toshinori Yagi
The former #1 Pro Hero, All Might has inspired a generation of new heroes including Midoriya, Shoto, and Endeavour. His incredible One for All quirk has plummeted hundreds of villains with relative ease.
Underneath his muscular physique and dramatic flair lies an extraordinary brain which made him the number one hero. Despite having unmatched physical prowess, All Might has shown instances of great intelligence after his injury which severely limited his powers. His decision to pass One for All to Midoriya was also a wise move which he made after keen observation.
3. Momo Yaoyorozu
The vice-president of Class 1-A, Momo Yaoyorozu is considered to be a rare talent when it comes to exhibiting ingenious tactics under stressful conditions. Ranked S-class in intelligence, Momo is currently the top student of Class 1-A.
Her Creation quirk enables her to create any object out of her exposed skin, which explains her scanty clothing. What she lacks in destructive powers, she compensates with her extraordinary intelligence. Her observant mind helped her and Shoto to defeat Eraser Head, a powerful Pro Hero. In the Joint Training Battle, Momo has shown her ability to anticipate unpredictable situations and devising counter-acting plans with ease.
2. Mirai Sasaki
Mirai Sasaki aka Sir Nighteye was the former sidekick of All Might. Acting as All Might’s intelligence support, Sir Nighteye is considered to be one of the smartest characters in My Hero Academia.
His Foresight quirk enables him to accurately predict the actions and moves of his opponent for an hour. Using his unique quirk with his genius intellect, Sir Nighteye is still considered to be one of the smartest characters in My Hero Academia.
1. Principal Nezu
A rare case of an animal gaining a quirk, Principal Nezu looks like a chimera having body parts of different animals. Though not much is known about him, his special High Spec quirk makes him the most intelligent character in My Hero Academia.
His High Spec quirk enables him to formulate intricate plans using little knowledge. The quirk grants him unparalleled intelligence, comprehension, and perception which outclasses human intelligence by a huge margin. His incredible intelligence allows him to remember the minutest detail, including the torture he faced by the hands of human scientists.
