SPOILER ALERT: Warning, this article contains spoilers from the My Hero Academia manga which may appear in the anime adaptation. Proceed at your own risk.
Season 3 of the critically acclaimed and massively popular anime My Hero Academia (MHA) premieres on April 7th. With 25 episodes set to air, it’s hard to say for sure which story beats will receive an adaptation and which will appear in season 4, but some fantastic characters and moments are definitely in store. These are the five most-anticipated characters who are all but certain to appear this season.
The Wild, Wild Pussycats
The first formal hero team introduced in My Hero Academia, the Pussycats teach the first-year UA students how to draw more power and utility from their quirks. They specialize in mountain rescue operations and are veterans in the field. Each member possesses quirks useful for both rescue missions and combat.
The members include Mandalay, Pixie-bob, Ragdoll, and Tora — the only male member of the group. Tora is a trans man, and this aspect of his identity receives a surprisingly respectful treatment. He’s always addressed with male pronouns, and his transition only became known through an auxiliary character profile. Hopefully, the anime handles his trans identity as well as the manga.
Kouta Izumi
Kouta is Mandalay’s nephew and an orphan. Both of his parents were professional heroes who died while fighting a villain. This made him resent the idea of heroes, as he believes his parents would still be alive if it were not their profession. As heroes are a cornerstone of My Hero Academia’s world, this makes him bitter and angry towards most of society.
During the School Trip Arc, he encounters the villain that murdered his parents, Muscular. Thankfully, though, he’s saved by Midoriya and becomes the young hero’s first fan. Kouta’s character will offer more insight into the darker elements of MHA’s superhuman society and help flesh out this intriguing universe this season.
Muscular
Muscular is the villain that killed Kouta’s parents and one of the main antagonists in the School Trip Arc. His quirk, Muscle Augment, allows him to increase the size and power of his muscle tissue. On top of giving him immense speed and strength, his quirk can also transform him into a giant mass of muscular flesh.
Muscular is admittedly a one-dimensional character, but he’s also one half of maybe the best fight in all of My Hero Academia: Midoriya vs. Muscular. During their battle, Muscular pushes Midoriya to his absolute limit, as he repeatedly withstands the young hero’s strongest attacks. This turns their confrontation into a fierce and desperate struggle that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before in the series.
Twice
Twice may be a villain, but he is arguably the most fun member of League of Villains to appear in the upcoming season. He’s loud, contradictory, and frequently says the opposite of what he actually means. He also possesses dissociative identity disorder and is prone to self-harm if he takes his mask off for too long.
His quirk, Double, allows him to make an autonomous clone of anyone or thing. However, he abused his quirk by creating too many copies of himself, which resulted in his psychological issues. He no longer knows if he’s the original Twice or merely a copy. His explosive personality and costume are very reminiscent of Marvel’s Deadpool, which makes him a perfect fit for MHA’s current roster of bizarre heroes.
All for One
While All for One did appear in the second season of the My Hero Academia anime, he has yet to play a very active role or directly interact with any protagonists. That’s set to change in the Hideout Raid Arc, though. During this arc, the strongest villain in MHA faces off against its greatest hero, All Might, in a spectacular battle.
The leader of the League of Villains is a strange and interesting character within shōnen anime. Despite All for One’s devastating power, he remains in the background. Instead, he spends his time mentoring Tomura Shigaraki and only cares about his pupil’s success. While he will stay shrouded in mystery, it’ll be amazing to see this character’s spectacular battle with All Might play out in the animated glory it deserves.
