Mashirao Ojiro, also known as the Martial Arts Hero: Tailman, was a student in Class 1-A at U.A. High School, training to become a Pro Hero.
Eight years after the Final War, Mashirao has graduated from U.A., becoming a Hero alongside his classmates, and is the current No. 32 Pro Hero.[2][5]
Appearance#
Mashirao is a slim yet muscular young man with short, straight blond hair swept to the front of his head, and thin eyes with no lower eyelashes. Due to his Quirk, he also has a large, thick prehensile tail, which is entirely hairless, save for the tip, similar in color to his hair.
At U.A., he wears the standard male uniform: a light gray blazer with dark turquoise trimmings over a white dress shirt, dark blue-green dress pants, a red tie. He replaces the usual brown dress shoe with he wears pale gray sneakers.
Mashirao's Hero Costume consists of a plain karate gi, tied with a black belt with blue accessories, with the left side of his collar partially lined with fur, similar in color to his hair. He also wears black boots with light blue accents. He later dons blue fingerless gloves before the Provisional Hero License Exam.
For Mashirao's winter costume during the Joint Training Battle, he wears a long black sleeve shirt under his gi, fur on both sides of his collar, and black gloves instead of blue.
Eight years after the end of the Final War, Mashirao has grown taller and now wears his hair shorter and swept backward. He also has a small, cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, and the hair on his tail is cut shorter. His costume has been updated with an inverted color scheme, making the white all black, and he ditches the gloves. He also wears black headphones on each ear for communications.
Personality#
Mashirao has a very calm and noble attitude and a profound sense of dignity, which prevents him from accepting results he doesn't feel he earned with his own abilities. He is also described as a hard worker.
Along with a strong sense of dignity, Mashirao can be described as sheepish and bashful, not very often enjoying the spotlight and being easily embarrassed. He is humble yet also reliable and focused during hero work. A recurring joke is that others view Mashirao as "plain," which profoundly upsets him, showing that he's sensitive and self-conscious about his personality and abilities. He tends to be shocked quite easily, such as when he sees Ochaco punch herself in the face and when Eri receives a sword much bigger than herself during Class 1-A's Christmas party.
Occasionally, Mashirao will hang his tail over his shoulder, presumably to take the weight of it off of his lower body. Additionally, when something excites him, he wags his tail, though this is only ever seen in the manga.
Abilities#
Overall Abilities: Mashirao has proven himself to be a relatively capable combatant regarding physical abilities. His skills earned him 7th place in the Quirk Apprehension Test. Mashirao uses his Quirk, Tail, to deliver direct attacks or assist his movements in battle. His fighting style involves combining his prehensile tail with his knowledge of martial arts to engage enemies in close-range combat, performing fast and acrobatic techniques.
Tail plays a vital role in Mashirao's speed and mobility, as he can boost himself in the air by slapping his tail on the ground with sufficient force, allowing him to bypass obstacles on the ground. However, Ectoplasm noted that, despite the tailed hero's combat efficiency, Mashirao fights predictably, as tailed humans like him tend to move in a pattern that can be easily exploited. To eliminate this factor, Mashirao improved the fundamentals of his movements to become less predictable in combat.
At the U.S.J., Mashirao was more than capable of singlehandedly defeating multiple low-tier members of the League of Villains. During the third match of the Joint Training Battle, Mashirao temporarily held his own against Sen Kaibara but was nearly overwhelmed by the latter’s onslaught, had it not been for the timely arrival of Tenya Ida. Even after receiving minor injuries from his bout with Sen, Mashirao was able to ambush Pony Tsunotori successfully, the fastest student in Class 1-B, before Juzo Honenuki liquefied the ground underneath the pair and Mezo Shoji. But after Mezo freed himself, Mashirao, and Pony from the softened earth, Mashirao was blindsided and swiftly captured by the restrained Pony. His abilities eventually garnered the attention of Shishido, allowing Mashirao to intern under the No. 13 Pro Hero and improve his flurry of attacks and the ability to read ahead of situations.
On Nabu Island, Mashirao had the mettle to be the first of his class to take on the powerful villain, Chimera, before being aided by Fumikage Tokoyami. After Fumikage left, Mashirao, despite the odds, was able to ward off Chojuro for an extended period until Fumikage returned with reinforcements, at which point, the beastly villain soundly surmounted the Martial Arts Hero. The next day, Mashirao, along with Kyoka Jiro, acted as the fourth line of defense against Nine and effectively ambushed him before he subdued the two with his Hydra Quirk. Soon after, Mashirao and Kyoka aided Mezo against the mighty foe, forcing Nine into using the full power of his Air Wall Quirk to defeat the trio of students.
Keen Intellect: Mashirao is known to be quite intelligent, scoring 8th place in the midterms, displaying his skill in academics. At the U.A. Sports Festival, Mashirao withdrew from the competition following the Cavalry Battle, having realized that Hitoshi Shinso used his Quirk to control him, Nirengeki Shoda, and Yuga Aoyama. While he didn't yet fully understand the mechanics behind Hitoshi's Brainwashing Quirk, Mashirao knew that speaking to the Class 1-C student was a factor, hence why he warned Izuku Midoriya against doing so. Mashirao also seems to be knowledgeable of various workout techniques as he meticulously explained the exercise Izuku was performing throughout one of their classes, which involved the latter making trembling-like movements; the Isometric muscle contraction that’s needed to hold one's body above a seat makes it an easy way to workout without having to move. When he traded blows with Sen, Mashirao measured the strength of the Class 1-B student's attacks and concluded that it was useless to counter or block his gyrating attacks, which Mashirao knew were amplified by Sen's drill gloves. Mashirao also deduced the weakness of Pony's Horn Cannon Quirk, so he held her horns in place to keep them from being fired off.
Quirk#
Tail: Tailman's Quirk is that he has a long, powerful, sturdy tail. His tail effectively functions as a third arm that he can use to grab things. Furthermore, it's attack power is strong enough to break objects made of metal, he can wrap it around enemies, and it can support Mashirao's body weight.
Mashirao is incredibly adept at using his tail, combining it with his knowledge of martial arts to engage enemies in close-range combat, performing fast and acrobatic moves. His tail can also increase his speed and mobility by whipping it down against the ground to use it like a springboard.
As part of his training, Mashirao continuously used his tail to attack a body-hardened Eijiro Kirishima, and with each hit, the strength and durability of Mashirao's Quirk increased.
Ultimate Moves#
- Tornado Tail Dance: Mashirao spins in mid-air, hitting anything around him with his tail. First used against Pony Tsunotori to destroy her remote-controlled horns during the Joint Training Battle.[6]
- Fist of the Tail: Swamp Smack Spin: A defensive technique where Mashirao spins horizontally with his tail stretched out, generating enough force to repel anything close to him. First used against Juzo Honenuki in order to escape his Softening Quirk.[7]
Stats#
Battles & Events#
Quirk Apprehension Test Arc Quirk Apprehension Test Battle Trial Arc Battle Trial Shoto & Mezo vs. Mashirao & Toru U.S.J. Arc U.S.J. Incident Mashirao Ojiro vs. Villains U.A. Sports Festival Arc U.A. Sports Festival Obstacle Race Cavalry Battle Vs. Hero Killer Arc Rescue Training Race Final Exams Arc First Term Final Exam Team Ida and Ojiro vs. Power Loader Forest Training Camp Arc Class 1-A Swimming Competition Quirk Training Camp Class 1-A vs. Pixie-Bob Vanguard Action Squad Invasion Provisional Hero License Exam Arc Provisional Hero License Exam Crushing of U.A. Class 1-A's Comeback Gang Orca's Invasion Shie Hassaikai Arc Class 1-A vs. Mirio Togata U.A. School Festival Arc U.A. School Festival Pro Hero Arc Class 1-A vs. Nejire Chan & Suneater Joint Training Arc Joint Training Battle Round 3 My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising Hero Work Recommendation Project U.A. Students vs. Chimera U.A. Students vs. Nine Endeavor Agency Arc Hero Interview Training Hero Work-Studies II My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission Mission: Humarise Pro Heroes vs. Humarise Paranormal Liberation War Arc Paranormal Liberation War Gunga Mountain Villa Raid Villa Raid Team & Trainees vs. Paranormal Liberation Front Dark Hero Arc Deku vs. Class A Final War Arc Final War Operation Troy
Chapter Appearances#
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Trivia#
- According to Mashirao's Volume 2 profile:
- His favorite thing is martial arts.
- Kohei Horikoshi considers the fact he passed the U.A. Entrance Exam with just a Quirk like Tail impressive.
- Horikoshi explains how people like Mashirao, who possess mutant appendages, can order custom-made clothing that suit their needs.
- Mashirao's known U.A. data is as follows:
- Student No 6 in Class 1-A.
- Ranked 7th during the Quirk Apprehension Test.
- His 50-Meter Dash record is 5.49 seconds.
- Ranked 8th in Class 1-A's mid-term grades.[8]
- Ranked in the Top 42 of the U.A. Sports Festival First-Year Stage. Originally ranked in the Top 16, but he forfeited his participation before the final challenge.
- Scored 61 in the Provisional Hero License Exam.
- Mashirao's rankings in the Popularity Polls are as follows:
- Ranked 14th in the First Popularity Poll.
- Ranked 12th in the Second Popularity Poll.
- Ranked 11th in the Third Popularity Poll.
- Ranked 17th in the Fourth Popularity Poll.
- Mashirao's surname contains the kanji for "tail" and "white", and his first name contains monkey, and man.
- With his birthday taking place in late May (two days before Yuga's), Mashirao is the second oldest student in Class 1-A, as everyone was 15 when they started U.A.'s school year in early April.
- Mashirao's shares his English voice actors with other characters:
- His first English voice actor, Mike McFarland, also voiced Ectoplasm.
- McFarland also served as the English voice director for the seventh season of the anime and the fourth movie.
- His second English voice actor, Jim Foronda, also voices Muscular and Tsutsutaka Agoyamato.
- In Deku's hero analysis notes, Mashirao is referred to as the "Hero Department's King of Normal".
- He is also said to have a "Tsukkomi" (Straight Man) disposition.
- He shares his birthday with Kazuho Haneyama.
- Compared to his classmates, Mashirao is the best at waking up in the morning.[9]
- According to Horikoshi's Q&A in Volume World Heroes:
- Mashirao thinks Izuku Midoriya's shirts are kinda cool.
- The only thing that isn't "normal" about him is his fashion sense.
Quotes#
- (To the audience of the U.A. Sports Festival) "I know this is a great opportunity. And I know how stupid it must seem to throw it away... but this final tournament... everyone else made it here by their own strength. Yet I'm standing here, and I don't even know how or why. I just can't take it."[10]