The Final War arc is undoubtedly one of the most, if not the most, intense and exciting story arcs in My Hero Academia. From the heart-wrenching characters to the thrilling battles, there are so many things that can be discussed about this arc — not only about what has happened, but also about what should have and could have happened. This list will focus on one such “should have” scenario.
So many characters are involved in this final war from both sides of the conflict. Some are heavy hitters, but most of them are low to mid-level grunts who are just there either to cause chaos or to suppress it. Several of them should not be there, though, either because their injuries from previous fights are too severe, circumstances should have logically played out differently, or because they are simply too weak. With that in mind, here are 7 characters who should not have made it to the final arc.
7 Hawk
His Injuries Are Too Severe
- Real Name: Keigo Takami
- Quirk: Fierce Wings
- First Appearance: Episode 87
As the current No. 2 Pro Hero in Japan, Hawk is undeniably powerful. He even holds the record as the fastest hero in this modern era. Not only that, no other hero knows the inner workings of the enemy’s organization better than Hawk, thanks to his activity as a spy. So, under normal circumstances, he should definitely be fighting at the forefront of the war.
Unfortunately, Hawk suffered a critical injury during his last fight against Dabi and Twice. Dabi nearly burned every feather on his wings. Hawk relies heavily on his wings, so having such a major injury greatly compromises his movements and combat ability. By all accounts, he should be resting and waiting for his feathers to regenerate. But, since nobody can take his place in the Final War, he ends up having to use prosthetic feathers and force his injured body to fight against All-For-One.
6 Mirko
Her Injuries Are Too Severe
- Real Name: Rumi Usagiyama
- Quirk: Rabbit
- First Appearance: Episode 87
Similar to Hawk, Mirko also suffers terrible injuries that should’ve prevented her from participating in the Final War. During the Jaku Hospital Raid, Mirko ended up having to fight five High-End Nomus by herself. She managed to hold them off and even defeated one of them until help arrived, but Mirko lost her right leg and left arm in that fight.
As a fighter who relies heavily on her limbs, this is such a devastating injury. It’s not even an exaggeration to say that it is a career-ending injury. But, rather than sit back and watch from the sideline as her friends and colleagues fight to the death, Mirko decided to use weaponized prosthetics to replace her lost limbs. After all, she knows the heroes are severely lacking in numbers, so she voluntarily steps up to the frontline to fight against Tomura Shigaraki — even though her body is not in a condition to do so.
5 Grape Juice
He Is Too Weak
- Real Name: Minoru Mineta
- Quirk: Pop Off
- First Appearance: Episode 5
Although Class 1-A is supposed to be the top freshmen class of the U.A. Hero Course, not every student is a heavy hitter like Deku or Bakugo. What’s worse, some of them aren’t even suitable to be a hero in the first place because their quirk and physical ability are not that impressive. At best, they are only good enough for a sidekick position. Minoru “Grape Juice” Mineta is one such student.
His quirk allows him to produce sticky balls on his head that he can pop off at any time. His main offensive move is throwing these sticky balls at his opponents, which any half-decent bad guys should be able to evade. By all accounts, he has no right to be involved in an open war against the most powerful villains in the world.
4 Invisible Girl
Her Quirk Is Not Suitable For War
- Real Name: Toru Hagakure
- Quirk: Invisibility
- First Appearance: Episode 5
Unlike Mineta’s Pop Off, Hagakure’s quirk is actually quite useful in real life. And, though she may start as a sidekick early on in her career (just like most heroes), there is an actual argument to be made that she deserves to be a proper pro hero one day. After all, being invisible means she can do anything from sneaking behind opponents and taking them down or even infiltrating an enemy’s lair unnoticed.
However, if there’s one situation where invisibility is not really useful, it’s open war. Unlike guerrilla warfare where Hagakure will certainly thrive, an open war means both sides will duke it out right in the open where flames, rocks, laser beams, and all kinds of quirks will clash all over the battlefield. There’s nothing an invisible girl can really do in such a situation. What’s worse, she might end up suffering friendly fire because her allies couldn’t see her. So no, she shouldn’t participate in the final war.
3 Skeptic
He Should Be Apprehended Before The War
- Real Name: Tomoyasu Chikazoku
- Quirk: Anthropomorph
- First Appearance: Episode 108
What makes Skeptic dangerous is not his quirk but rather his hacking skills. Skeptic is single-handedly responsible for the entire communication network of the Paranormal Liberation Front. Not only that, but he can also hack into the U.A. System, mess around with its underground bunkers, and nearly send the U.A. flying fortress into free fall. However, it is later revealed that there’s actually another hacker who is way more formidable than Skeptic. Her name is La Brava.
La Brava had hacked into Skeptic’s system before, so she was already familiar with his works. Interestingly enough, the police had custody of La Brava long before the Final War. She does end up helping them later on, but it begs the question of why the police didn’t ask La Brava to find Skeptic before the war even began. Had they done that, Skeptic would’ve been apprehended long before the war, and they would’ve prevented so much death and destruction while damaging the enemy’s communication network at the same time.
2 Lady Nagant
She Should Be In Critical Condition
- Real Name: Kaina Tsutsumi
- Quirk: Rifle
- First Appearance: Episode 128
Some people may not notice it, but Lady Nagant actually participates in the Final War. During Deku’s fight against Shigaraki, Lady Nagant fires two shots with her infamous rifle from hundreds of miles away, and both of those shots manage to blow both of Shigaraki’s arms away, which prevents him from destroying the U.A. flying fortress. Incredible though it may be, the fact of the matter is, she shouldn’t be participating at all. In fact, she should still be in a critical condition at that point.
Everybody remembers Lady Nagant’s iconic fight against Deku and her subsequent defeat. But, what left her dying was not Deku’s attacks, but rather All-For-One’s Self-Detonation quirk that he put in her body, which he activated the moment he realized Lady Nagant had a change of heart. The damage from that explosion was so severe that it was basically a miracle that she was still alive. She is barely conscious when the war begins, but when she hears Deku is fighting against Shigaraki, Lady Nagant makes her way to the hospital roof and fires those fateful shots. She reopens her wounds and feels excruciating pain all over her body, but she is happy because she can finally help Deku.
1 Dabi
He Shouldn’t Be Alive
- Real Name: Toya Todoroki
- Quirk: Blueflame
- First Appearance: Episode 31
Toya was born with a quirk that can produce flame hotter than his father’s (Endeavor) but with a body that can withstand cold, not heat, like his mother. This means he will burn his own flesh whenever he uses his power. This glaring weakness, along with his abusive father, was the reason why he nearly burned to death when he accidentally caused a wildfire years ago.
Unbeknownst to his family, All-For-One and Dr. Kyudai managed to keep Toya alive and even grafted new flesh and skin onto him. According to Dr. Kyudai, that makeshift body was only supposed to last for about a month. Against all odds, he survived to this day. Thanks to losing his sense of pain, Dabi even successfully mastered his blue flame, though he burned most of his body in the process. It is unfathomable how much damage his body has suffered throughout the years. At this point, he is basically a walking corpse.
Forget lasting till the Final War — Dabi should’ve been dead a long time ago. The only thing that keeps him away from death’s door is his unquenchable thirst for vengeance against his own father.
“He’d kept his dying body tethered to this world through a pure, blazing grudge.”
— Dr. Kyudai, Chapter 350
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