On the surface, it seems like My Hero Academia’s world is all about superpowered Pro Heroes and the Supervillains they fight. But major villains like Dabi and Shigaraki aren’t the only ones threatening law and order. The MHA universe has plenty of minor criminals that just aren’t a big enough threat to the heroes to appear in the main series. However, the spin off My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, shows what happens when the pros are too busy dealing with bigger problems to keep the streets free of these less dangerous criminals, forcing civilians to step up and deal with the problem themselves.
But this isn’t an act of rebellion; it’s a necessity. The Pro Hero system is all about image—big names like Endeavor chase high-profile foes while everyday crises slip through the cracks. So when the Quirk enhancing drug Trigger turns ordinary citizens into Instant villains, the official system falters under its own weight. Caught up in paperwork and protocols, licensed heroes can’t react fast enough. And with the system’s reliance on All Might, the Number One Hero is spread too thin to be able to interfere when Trigger fuels street-level chaos in back alleys, parks, and convenience stores. In this void, the ones hunting these Trigger users down aren’t Pros, but well-meaning vigilantes.
Becoming a licensed Pro Hero is no easy task. The hero exams have a bias towards flashy Quirks over mental fortitude or strategic ability. And with just four known hero schools, only a small minority of hero wannabes ever get selected into the Hero Course. That means that there just aren’t enough Heroes to effectively patrol every street in Japan, leaving gaps where crime can fester. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes exposes these flaws in the Pro Hero system and explains why vigilantism becomes essential.
Set five years before the main timeline, Vigilantes shows a world that leans too heavily on All Might. His overwhelming presence and status as The Symbol of Peace inhibits crime, but he’s also just one man. He simply cannot be everywhere at once and there aren’t enough heroes to fill in the gaps his absence creates, leaving cities like Naruhata dangerously under-protected.
Episode 1 of the series sees protagonist Koichi Haimawari minding his own business before he unfortunately runs into a trio of thugs. He’s able to escape thanks to his Quirk Slide and Glide but things don’t end there. The thugs hunt him down at the convenience store he works at to beat him up. And despite threatening him with their Quirks, they face no consequences from neither the police nor the heroes.
Later on, we learn that Koichi takes to the streets at night as “Nice Guy,” using his Quirk to help civilians with minor problems like returning dropped packages and giving directions. However, he isn’t a vigilante at this point since he doesn’t deal with criminals. That changes when he and Pop Step, a street idol who hides her face to protect her identity, are cornered again by the same three thugs from the start of the episode. This time, they target Pop Step, threatening to strip her and publicly reveal her identity.
Pop Step screams for help but there aren’t any heroes or police officers around. Koichi tries to step in but with his lack of fighting experience, he doesn’t stand a chance when outnumbered by violent thugs. But just when it looks like the worst is about to happen, a masked man interferes. Going by the name Knuckeduster, he’s a vigilante who not only steps in when he sees a crime, he also actively nips it in the bud.
After saving Pop Step and Koichi, he explains the threat presented by Trigger, the Quirk-enhancing drug we have already seen before in the main series where it was overshadowed by the bigger threat of Quirk-Destroying Bullets. Trigger morphs regular folks into unpredictable Instant Villains. And since Trigger users tend to pop up suddenly in heavily populated areas, the limited Pro Heroes aren’t able to deal with them quickly enough, creating the need for vigilantes like Knuckeduster to step in.
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