By this time in My Hero Academia, the professional heroes, students, and villains are all putting their all into winning the crucial conflict over the future of society. Thanks to Dr. Garaki's research, Tomura Shigaraki is now a one-man army of Quirks, with legions of Nomu at his side. Meanwhile, both professional athletes and college students enjoy unique advantages that are intended to level the playing field.
This includes the use of support items, which are essential for students with powerful but difficult-to-control Quirks, such as protagonist Izuku Midoriya (even now, Izuku still cannot safely perform full-power Smash attacks with One For All). Fortunately, in recent My Hero Academia episodes, he received a useful support item from All Might – and a hopeful reminder that any battle against villainy is winnable with the right gear.
The Mid-Gauntlet is Izuku Midoriya's New Support Item
Izuku's newest support item, the mid-gauntlet, should look familiar to fans who watched the first My Hero Academia feature-length movie, Two Heroes. In that movie, the American scientist Melissa Shield invented the full gauntlet, a support item inspired by All Might's brute strength. Izuku put that full gauntlet to good use in the Two Heroes movie, where it fit neatly onto his arm and allowed him to perform three Smash attacks at full power without serious consequences. With this item, Izuku was able to win against Wolfram. Now he's got another, more modest version of that incredible item.
The mid-gauntlet is clearly inspired by the full gauntlet, taking the form of a tough red ribbon that can wrap itself around Izuku's wrist and arm to compress and control One For All's power. That's how Izuku defeated Muscular with a 45% Smash -- without shattering his arm's bones yet again. Even against Tomura Shigaraki himself, the mid-gauntlet should give "Dark Deku" a serious edge. Notably, it can be deactivated and glows white when moving, similar to the original full gauntlet. Only four of these American-made gauntlets exist in the world, so Izuku must be careful with them and make sure they survive his final battle against true evil in future My Hero Academia episodes.
Gloves from the Air Force, Izuku Midoriya
Piece by piece, Izuku Midoriya assembled a newer, better hero costume, packed with support items to help him control One For All's massive power more safely and effectively. In addition to his iron sole shoes, Izuku received his air force gloves from Mei Hatsume, in order to enhance his Full Cowl - Shoot Style. These gloves turned Izuku into a wind-based fighter, not unlike Inasa Yoarashi, by concentrating One For All's ranged attacks into pressurized air. This allowed Izuku to safely perform ranged Shoot Style attacks with extreme force without repercussions, usually by flicking his fingers to strike a single target. It was a significant upgrade over breaking his own fingers to perform flick attacks against Shoto Todoroki in the UA sports festival tournament.
Sharpshooting Equipment for Denki Kaminari
A few other My Hero Academia students also have Quirks that are powerful but difficult to control, so they need support items, just like Izuku. The goofy blond Denki Kaminari, for example, has a devastating electric Quirk that is impossible to aim or restrain on its own, which led to Denki overloading himself in earlier My Hero Academia battles. So, Mei Hatsume gave Denki a new "baby" to use: the sharpshooting gear set that pushed Denki to the next level.
The sharpshooting gear is a wrist-mounted support item that can fire specialized disks, which strongly attract Denki's lightning. As Denki demonstrated during the provisional hero license exam, he can fire narrow, precise bolts of electricity at his disks to eliminate friendly fire and minimize collateral damage. Denki can also tag several targets with different disks and use his Shooter gear to switch between targets, with his blue-tinted glasses providing targeting information.
The Capturing Weapon of Shota Aizawa
Izuku's cool-type teacher, Shota Aizawa, also makes heavy use of support items because his Erasure Quirk cannot capture or harm villains. Aizawa's main item is simply known as the Capturing Weapon, a long, ribbon-like item that he wears like a scarf. The Capturing Weapon, made from an unspecified metal alloy and carbon fibers, is part of Aizawa's Binding Cloth fighting style and has proven highly effective. The Capturing Weapon is long and highly flexible, allowing Aizawa to easily bind and restrain villains from close- to mid-range.
Aizawa can also use this support item to grab and pull an ally out of harm's way, or hang from the ceiling like Spider-Man in order to attack from above. Thus, the Capturing Weapon is one of My Hero Academia's most flexible support items, all without dealing any damage. When Aizawa uses it in conjunction with his Erasure Quirk, few villains can stand up to it, especially those who rely heavily on their Quirks to fight.
