There was a time when the anime world was dominated by three series, but that time has passed, and a fresh group of series has risen to the top.My Hero Academiahas achieved a great deal of success in a short amount of time, and much of this success can be attributed to the popularity of the superhero genre.My Hero Academiatells a great and emotional story about a group of teenagers who are trying to become Pro Heroes.
When they become Pro Heroes, they will be expected to fight Villains-who use their Quirks to commit crimes. Like most stories, many ofMHA’scharacters have a backstory, but they are not all pleasant. A number of Pro Heroes and Villains have sad backstories, but there are a few that really stand out.
Updated June 06, 2025, by Rhenn Taguiam:With Season 8 ofMy Hero Academiapositioned as the last season to determine the fate of the world, fans of the superhero series might be wondering how Deku can finally defeat Shigaraki, when it seems even his One For All isn’t enough against the supervillain’s All For One Quirk. However, hardcore fans might point out that the fight between Deku and Shigaraki has less to do with their abilities. It’s more of a philosophical one, as both characters also share some of the most tragic backstories in the series. They aren’t the only ones deserving of attention, though. Some characters inMy Hero Academiahave shockingly sad origins.
13Izuku Midoriya
The Hopeless Quirkless Tasked To Save The World
When 80% of the human population possesses Quirks, it’s not easy to be a part of the 20% who don’t.Izuku Midoriyahad quite a rough childhood when he discovered all of his friends except for him possessed Quirks. Such was the stigma towards Quirkless that he spent his formative years being bullied by his former best friend Katsuki Bakugo — especially when Izuku still aspires to become a superhero despite the lack of powers to save others. However, when a powerless Izuku saves Bakugo from a supervillain, it convinces All Might to choose the youngster as his successor. This doesn’t just mean inheriting the powers of the World’s Best Superhero, but also the responsibility of being the next Symbol of Peace.
While Izuku’s pureheartedness became a huge part of saving the world from the likes of the scarred Tomura Shigaraki, one can’t deny that the suffering he had to endure was highly traumatic. Perhaps this even contributed to the development of a savior complex. Izuku may feel compelled to put his life on the line to prove his worth as All Might’s chosen successor.
12Lady Nagant
A Promising Pro Hero Forced To Become An Assassin
During the Dark Hero Arc, All For One not only broke villains out of Tartarus, but even hired one of them — a former Pro Hero namedLady Nagant— to take out Izuku Midoriya. Kaina Tsutsumi was already an impressive Pro Hero for her arm’s Rifle Quirk, but she became an even deadlier foe with Air Walk. This gift from All For One allowed her to not only float and fly in midair, but also quickly change the trajectory of her shots. While Izuku manages to turn Kaina back to the side of Pro Heroes (with considerable difficulty), Kaina’s turn to villainy isn’t just out of her indebtedness to All For One.
It’s revealed that Lady Nagant was an up-and-coming Pro Hero who joined the Hero Public Safety Commission with a bright personality. Although she became a popular Pro Hero, her Quirk encouraged the Commission to use her to take out villains and corrupt Heroes, which slowly led Kaina to lose her bright smile. Kaina became disillusioned with the Pro Heroes’ cause, considering herself a phony for interacting with fans when her own hands that killed people for orders.
11Danjuro Tobita
A Hero Aspirant Forced Into The Life Of A Criminal
Almost everyone with a Quirk inMy Hero Academiaaspires to be a Pro Hero at some point, but sadly, not everyone gets to make it. Such is the case ofDanjuro Tobita, whose dreams of being a Pro Hero were crushed, prompting him to become a villain. This wasn’t due to some horrific misfortune or some anger towards the world. Danjuro just wasn’t cut out to be a Pro Hero…so he chose to be a villain instead.
No matter how hard Danjuro tried, his grades were not good enough, and he even failed his Provisional Hero License Exam four times. When an effort to help a civilian ended up paralyzing them for six months, he was expelled from school and his parents eventually disowned him. When a Pro Hero friend from high school forgets about him, Danjuro realizes his dreams of being a Pro Hero himself are dead, prompting him to engage in villainy. It’s for this reason that Gentle Criminal is focused more on being famous for heists and not evil deed. Danjuro always had the heart to help others — which, in a world dominated by Quirks, unfortunately might not be enough.
10Himiko Toga
A Devilish Smile Hiding An Immense Yearning
It’s easy to feel unnerved at the presence ofHimiko Togaandher infectious smile, especially when she grabs hold of a knife and is somehow let loose to do her bidding. With a Quirk named Transform that lets her mimic the appearance (and eventually Quirks) of people whose blood she comes into contact with, it’s natural for others to want to stay away. Unfortunately for the bubbly Toga, her Quirk may have contributed to her warped view of life. Her twisted take on love and friendship borders the psychotic and sadistic, as she somehow expresses her affection towards others while hurting them.
While Toga is often described as “formerly” well-mannered, this is due to an upbringing of being forced to “fit in,” resorting to a life of crime after finally snapping. This misunderstanding towards Toga stayed with her throughout her formative years. The constant fear of others, as well as Toga not having someone who made enough effort to “reach” her, further fractured her personality into the villain she became.
9Shoto Todoroki
Raised As The One To Defeat All Might
Shoto’s hair is evenly split-with the right side being all white and the left being crimson. This giveshim one of the more unique anime character designs of all time.The left side of his face also has a large burn scar which was given to him by his mother. He inherited his father’s fire Quirk and his mother’s powerful ice Quirk.
This made him the child that his father always wanted-one who could eventually surpass All Might. His father put him through brutal training every day, and his mother tried to stop it. She loved Shoto deeply, but the constant abuse from her husband caused her to have a mental break, which led to her throwing boiling water at Shoto’s face.
8Spinner
Rejected Due To His Appearance
Discrimination is always terrible, and it certainly exists inMHA’s universe, especially when it comes to individuals with Mutant-type Quirks. Spinner’s Gecko Quirk gives him a lizard-like appearance, and this caused many people to reject him, including his own family.
He started to believe that society would never accept him for who he was, so he became a recluse who did nothing but play video games. It was not until he heard Stain speak out that he decided to change his life around. Fortunately, he found acceptance with the League of Villains.
7Dabi
Rejected For Not Being The Perfect Son
Dabi is one ofthe strongest members of the Paranormal Liberation Front, but he also happens to be Shoto’s older brother. His real name is Toya Todoroki, and he inherited a version of his father’s fire Quirk which allows him to create blue flames. Unfortunately, he never developed his father’s resistance to fire.
This means that he could not use his Quirk without hurting himself, which made him a failure in his father’s eyes. He told Dabi that the only way to earn his love was to be strong, so he continued to train. That training left him with terrible burns all over his body, and his entire family believed that he died when he overheated his body to roughly 2,000 degrees.
6Hawks
Homeless And Verbally Abused Because Of Family History
Hawk’s Quirk gives him a pair of large red wings, and they make himone ofMy Hero Academia’s fastest characters. He is the No. 2 Pro Hero, which is amazing considering his background. His father had killed several people, and from the moment he was born, he and his family were in hiding.
In order to keep their secret, his parents never allowed him outside, and they were verbally and physically abusive. The only fun he had was watching Heroes on TV. When his father was finally caught, he and his mother continued to hide because they had been harboring a criminal. They were homeless for quite some time.
5La Brava
Constantly Rejected By Others
La Brava is a Villain who is allied with Gentle Criminal, and she has a Quirk that gives a power boost to whomever she loves. In the first year of middle school, she wrote a rather long love letter to a boy she liked, but he did not reciprocate her feelings. In fact, he made fun of her and made her out to be a stalker.
This level of rejection and mockery caused La Brava a great deal of pain, and she fell into a severe depression. It got to the point that she no longer believed in anything, and she was close to taking her own life. Luckily, she found Gentle Criminal online.
4Twice
A Victim Of A Quirk He Cannot Properly Control
The 22nd episode ofMHA’s5th season focused on Twice, and it is arguablyone of the anime’s best episodes. When he was a child, his parents were killed by a villain, and he was forced to look after himself. He found a job, but when he accidentally hit a man with his motorcycle, he lost the job and obtained a criminal record.
He wanted some company, so he used his Quirk to create copies of himself, and it did him a lot of good at first. In the end, he created so many clones that he lost his sense of identity, to the point he no longer knew who the original was. His clones eventually attacked and killed each other, and this left him in a broken mental state.
