The Battle Trial Arc is the third Story Arc in My Hero Academia and the U.A. Beginnings Saga.
The students of Class 1-A are separated into groups of two and compete against each other, Heroes vs. Villains style. Among the matchups is Izuku Midoriya going up against his childhood friend and bully, Katsuki Bakugo, who is eager to demonstrate his strength and superiority.
Summary#
The Battle Trial Commences#
After Class 1-A changes into their Hero Costumes, they gather at Ground Beta for the Trial of Battle. All Might states that the Trial of Battle will be an indoor battle. He continues to say that they will be split into Villain and Hero groups for a two-on-two team battle.
All Might then explains the training trial: the villains will guard a nuclear weapon they intend on deploying, and the Heroes must stop their scheme; if the Heroes capture the villains or reach the nuclear core before time runs out, they win; if the villains manage to keep the nuclear core for the whole time or they capture the Heroes, they win.
After everyone is paired up by lottery, All Might announces the first two pairs who will do combat; Izuku and Ochaco Uraraka will be the Heroes, while Katsuki and Tenya Ida will be the villains. All Might says that everyone else will be watching through the cameras in the surveillance room.
Heroes vs Villains: Izuku's Courage#
Both Katsuki and Tenya go inside the building first. The two talk about Izuku's Quirk, with Katsuki angrily thinking Izuku lied to him for years about his abilities and laughed at him for believing it. After five minutes, Izuku and Ochaco go into the building, which starts the Battle Trial.
Izuku and Ochaco are walking, but suddenly Katsuki ambushes them and unleashes his Quirk: Explosion, but Izuku pushes himself and Ochaco out of the way (although half of his mask is blown off in the process). Katsuki prepares to attack again, but Izuku intercepts him, grabbing his right arm and throwing him onto the ground. Izuku says that he knew Katsuki would use his right arm to attack because he took notes on various Heroes, including him: the same notes Katsuki blew up and tossed away. Izuku then declares that he is no longer the Deku that Katsuki always pushed around, but the Deku whose vibe is never giving up, and from now on "Deku" is the name of a Hero. This declaration makes Katsuki furious.[1]
Katsuki, now enraged, is contacted by Tenya, but Katsuki tells him to keep guarding the core and then cuts him off. Katsuki attacks Izuku again, while Izuku tells Ochaco to go on without him, which she does after some minor hesitation. Izuku responds to Katsuki by using the Capturing Tape on his leg, but Katsuki breaks free using an explosive right swing, which Izuku manages to dodge thanks to his analysis of Katsuki's fighting style. Knowing his opponent is powerful, Izuku retreats to think of a strategy, much to Katsuki's anger. While Katsuki is walking to find Izuku, he reminisces about the past: how he was superior to everyone else, how Izuku was just a Quirkless loser, and how Izuku tried to help him after he fell, which only angers Katsuki even further.
Meanwhile, Ochaco has reached the room where the Nuclear Core is, with Tenya guarding it. Ochaco decides to stay hidden and wait for Izuku. However, Tenya manages to spot Ochaco after she gives away her location when she giggles at Tenya getting into his villain performance. Tenya theatrically says that he prepared for Ochaco's arrival and gave the floor a thorough cleaning, preventing her from tricking or using her Zero Gravity Quirk against him.
Izuku vs. Katsuki and Ochaco vs. Tenya#
Izuku, still hiding from Katsuki, contacts Ochaco and asks her where she is, to which she replies that she is in the middle room on the fifth floor. Katsuki eventually finds Izuku, questioning him on why he won't use his Quirk. Katsuki says that his Hero Costume has bracers that can store his palm sweat, which he uses to fuel his Quirk's Explosions. Now that it has stored up enough sweat, Katsuki pulls the bracer and unleashes a huge explosion that destroys a great portion of the building they are in. Izuku manages to survive and calls Katsuki insane. Katsuki, seething in rage, demands that Izuku use his Quirk.[2]
After Katsuki unleashes his huge explosion, Tenya and Ochaco feel the aftershock, with Tenya commenting on Katsuki's madness. Ochaco, seeing that Tenya is distracted, decides to make a run for the core, but Tenya sees this and tries to stop her. Ochaco jumps above Tenya using her Quirk. As she reaches the core, Tenya grabs the core away from her using his Quirk.
Meanwhile, All Might warns Katsuki that if he uses another explosion of that degree, he will end the exercise, and his team will lose. Katsuki decides to resort to fist fighting and jumps towards Izuku. Izuku tries to attack, but Katsuki uses his explosion to redirect his trajectory, allowing him to get behind Izuku and hit Izuku's back with an explosion. Katsuki takes Izuku's arm and throws him onto the ground, saying that he is beneath him.
Izuku and Katsuki's Final Clash: Ochaco's Last Resort#
With no time to strategize, and realizing that Katsuki is far too strong for him. Izuku tries to escape but finds himself cornered with nowhere to run. Now that there are no other options remaining, Izuku has no choice but to use One For All. He and Katsuki charge at each other. Izuku uses Detroit Smash on the ceiling while Katsuki's Explosion hits Izuku's left arm, which he used to block the attack.
Izuku's Detroit Smash destroys the floor where Ochaco and Tenya are on, with Ochaco holding onto a pillar for safety. Ochaco, using the pillar thanks to her Quirk, smacks debris at Tenya, who becomes distracted by it. Ochaco jumps over the distracted Tenya and grabs the Nuclear Core. All Might declares that the Hero Team (Izuku and Ochaco) wins, much to Katsuki's surprise.[3]
Katsuki's First Loss: The Battle Trial Goes On#
All Might declares Izuku and Ochaco as the winners. Katsuki becomes distraught over the fact that he lost to Izuku. All Might approaches Katsuki, telling him that it is time for his critique. While Izuku is taken to the Nurse's Office, All Might tells Katsuki that whether he won or lost, he must take a look back, reflect on the experience, and move on with life.
Back in the monitor room, All Might says that Tenya was the best during the match and poses the question to his students. Momo Yaoyorozu answers the question, saying that Katsuki and Izuku using large ranged attacks in an indoor area was too idiotic, Ochaco's game got loose halfway, and her last attack was reckless. She says that Tenya was the best at adapting to the situation, as well as developing a counter-strategy for his opponent. All Might says that her answer is correct.
All Might then starts the next battle, which is the Hero Team (Shoto Todoroki and Mezo Shoji) against the Villain Team (Mashirao Ojiro and Toru Hagakure). The battle begins in a different building. Shoto tells Mezo to step outside, then freezes the building and heats up the floor with his Half-Cold Half-Hot Quirk, preventing Mashirao and Toru from moving. Shoto then casually touches the core, which makes him and Mezo win. He tells Mashirao and Toru not to feel bad for losing, as they are merely playing on different levels, of which he is higher.
After the other battles are concluded, All Might says that for their first full training exercise, they all performed wonderfully. All Might then tells them to change clothes and return to the classroom.
At the Nurse's Office, an annoyed Recovery Girl complains about Izuku getting critically injured for the third time, with All Might apologizing to her. Recover Girl says that Izuku is the successor that he granted his Quirk to, and he shouldn't indulge him.
All Might says that they should lower their voices when talking about One For All. He then goes on to say that his true form and injury are common knowledge among the Pro teachers of U.A. High School, but his Quirk is only known by her, the principal, a few of his closest friends, and Izuku. Recovery Girl questions All Might, asking if it is really important to be a "natural born Hero" or the "Symbol of Peace". All Might replies that without such a symbol, the society of superhumans would fall to evil. Recovery Girl says to All Might that he needs to be a better mentor to Izuku.
Katsuki's Starting Line#
Izuku returns to class, and as he enters it, he earns praise from some of his classmates. Izuku then wonders where Katsuki went. Although some of his classmates told him not to go look for Katsuki, Izuku does it anyway. Izuku approaches Katsuki and tells him the truth: that he obtained his Quirk from someone else and has not been deceiving him. However, Katsuki does not believe this story and says to Izuku that he lost fair and square.
Katsuki declares to Izuku that from now on, he is going to be Number One. All Might then appears before Katsuki, trying to counsel him on self-confidence, although he is told in response by Katsuki that he will surpass him as well; thus, All Might decides to leave Katsuki alone, finding that teaching can be difficult.
Ominous Evil#
Meanwhile, somewhere unknown, a mysterious person reads a newspaper about All Might becoming a teacher. The mysterious person then poses a question: what would happen if the "Symbol of Peace" got snuffed out by villains.[4]
Story Impact#
- All the Class 1-A students receive Hero Costumes from their Hero designs based on their requests.
- Izuku Midoriya's Hero Costume is destroyed by Katsuki Bakugo but is repaired by the Vs. Hero Killer Arc.
- Izuku and Katsuki battle for the first time. Izuku wins due to his notes about Katsuki and teamwork with Ochaco, which severely demoralizes Katsuki.
- This loss ultimately causes Katsuki to begin to see he's not as superior as he assumed. His attitude also results in all his classmates teasing him during the U.S.J. bus ride.
- Izuku's victory gets him some popularity in his class.
- A mysterious person intends to take down All Might with his band of villains.
- Izuku gives Katsuki a brief hint on how he got his powers, but the blond doesn't seem to believe it.
- In the Provisional Hero License Exam Arc, it is revealed that he did believe it.
- Katsuki being threatened by Shoto Todoroki's powers will lead to a rivalry in U.A. Sports Festival Arc.
Characters Introduced#
Quirks Introduced#
- Half-Cold Half-Hot: Shoto Todoroki's Quirk gives him the ability to generate ice from the right side of his body, and generate fire from his left side.
- Dupli-Arms: Mezo Shoji's Quirk is that he has a set of tentacles alongside his arms. He can transform the tips of these tentacles to replicate other parts of his body.
- Tail: Mashirao Ojiro's Quirk is that he has a long, powerful, sturdy tail.
- Invisibility: Toru Hagakure's Quirk is that her body is completely invisible.
- Acid: Mina Ashido's Quirk allows her to produce a corrosive liquid from her body.
- Tape: Hanta Sero's Quirk allows him to shoot long cellophane tape-like strips from his tape dispenser-like organs in his elbows.
- Creation: Momo Yaoyorozu's Quirk allows her to materialize physical objects, such as weapons and tools, from any part of her body as long as she knows the molecular structure. This is achieved by Momo transmuting the molecular structure of her fat cells.
- Dark Shadow: Fumikage Tokoyami's Quirk allows him to manifest a sentient shadow monster from his body that he can materialize and contract freely.
- Earphone Jack: Kyoka Jiro's Quirk is that she has a pair of headphone jacks hanging from her earlobes.
- Electrification: Denki Kaminari's Quirk allows him to generate electricity and cover his body in it.
Battles & Events#
Battle Trial Izuku Midoriya & Ochaco Uraraka (Team A) vs. Katsuki Bakugo & Tenya Ida (Team D) Shoto Todoroki & Mezo Shoji (Team B) vs. Mashirao Ojiro & Toru Hagakure (Team I) Fumikage Tokoyami & Tsuyu Asui (Team H) vs. Eijiro Kirishima & Hanta Sero (Team J) Denki Kaminari & Kyoka Jiro (Team G) vs. Momo Yaoyorozu & Minoru Mineta (Team C) Yuga Aoyama & Mina Ashido (Team E) vs. Rikido Sato & Koji Koda (Team F)