History#
Mezo Shoji grew up in a place where prejudice against heteromorphs, people whose Mutant-type Quirks permanently affect their outer appearances, still exist. Because of this, many people were afraid of how Mezo looked to the point where he grew up accustomed to being feared, berating his "dirty blood", and that no matter how society would progress, they would never accept a monster like him.[1][2] He was even beaten whenever he interacted with others, and suffered permanent scarring on his face.[3]
Before he was scarred, he used his tentacles to save a little girl from being swept away and drowning in a river. Mezo considered this to be the one good childhood memory related to his Quirk and would serve as his drive to one day become a hero. Despite getting scarred by the villagers shortly after this from misunderstanding his intentions, the little girl thanking him and blaming herself for her savior being hurt, inspired him to become a Hero, and provide a prevalent sense of hope for people just like him. [3]
Mezo's scarred face terrified the little girl, and this event caused him to start wearing his signature mask, not only because he didn't want his appearance to frighten or upset others,[4] but also to avoid people assuming he became a hero out of a desire for revenge on those who wronged.[3]
Synopsis#
Entrance Exam Arc#
Mezo participates, along with many other examinees, in the practical test of the U.A. Entrance Exam to get a place at the prestigious school. The test consists of obtaining the highest number of points by destroying different types of Villain Bots.
During the test, he uses his Dupli-Arms Quirk from the top of a building and monitoring his surroundings.[5] He manages to get enough points to be admitted to the Hero Course of U.A. High School.
Quirk Apprehension Test Arc#
To determine if his new students are fit to be heroes or not, Shota Aizawa organizes a Quirk Apprehension Test to check their skills abilities and potential, threatening to expel the student who comes in last place. Mezo is seen participating in the Grip Strength Trial, where he excels with a grip of 540 kilograms. Minoru Mineta comments that Mezo brings to mind an octopus.[6]
At the end of the test, Mezo is in sixth position, although Shota did not expel anyone, revealing the expulsion rule was a ruse to bring out the best in the class.[7]
Battle Trial Arc#
Mezo is paired off with Shoto Todoroki for the Battle Trial, where they get to face Mashirao Ojiro and Toru Hagakure.
Due to Shoto's power, Mezo's role in the trial ends up being rather minor, using his Quirk to locate their opponents and then leaving the building under Shoto's request, who proceeds to freeze the entire building and recover the warhead by himself, giving them the win. Shoto exits the building while Mezo watches in amazement. The other students in the monitoring room comment on Shoto's strength and how he got into U.A. High School based on recommendations alone.[8]
U.S.J. Arc#
During the League of Villains' invasion at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, Mezo and his classmates are faced with Kurogiri, who warps most of the class to different points of the building. Mezo is able to avoid this though, managing to protect Hanta Sero and Mina Ashido from being warped as well.[9] After Kurogiri's attack, Mezo is able to confirm to Thirteen and Tenya Ida that all warped students are still in the simulation joint before they start confronting the warping villain himself.[10]
As Tenya attempts to escape the building in order to call for reinforcements, Kurogiri tries to prevent him from leaving. Mezo manages to protect Tenya from one of Kurogiri's attacks, and thanks to the combined efforts of Ochaco Uraraka, Hanta, and Rikido Sato, Kurogiri is successfully warded off as Tenya manages to run away unscathed.[11]
U.A. Sports Festival Arc#
Mezo places 14th in the Obstacle Race, allowing him to participate in the next event, the Human Cavalry Battle.[12] Minoru asks him if he could team up with him, which he allows after hearing his plan.[13]
After the Human Cavalry Battle starts, Mezo and his team attack Izuku's team, carrying Minoru Mineta and Tsuyu Asui on his back while hiding them with his tentacles.[14] After Minoru orders Mezo to attack, Mezo begins charging at Izuku and Shoto's teams, but Denki releases a huge amount of electricity, electrocuting Mezo and his teammates and he becomes stunned as a result, unable to move. Shoto then freezes Mezo's legs, stopping him in his tracks.[15] After the Human Cavalry Battle ends, Mezo and his team fail to qualify for the final event.[16]
Mezo, along with his class, watches the closing ceremony of U.A.'s Sports Festival.[17]
Vs. Hero Killer Arc#
Two days after the Sports Festival, Mezo is seen in class. During the Hero Informatics period, Class 1-A has to decide on Hero names. Mezo writes down and reveals his Hero name: Tentacle Hero "Tentacole".[18]
After Class 1-A is finished formulating their Hero names, Mezo is given a list of 40 workplaces in order to choose a workplace that he wants to train at. On the first day of the workplace training, Mezo is at the train station with his class so that he can travel to the workplace of his choice by train.[19]
Final Exams Arc#
Back in class, Izuku reveals the content of the exercise test to the class, much to Denki and Mina's happiness; Mezo notes that they are happy because they do not have to adjust their Quirks for real-life opponents. On the day of the exercise test, Principal Nezu reveals that Class 1-A will be fighting against U.A.'s teachers for their practical test.[20] Mezo is paired with Toru and they must face Snipe in their test exam.
Mezo, Toru, and Snipe arrive in an uninhabited city where their test exercise will take place. Snipe explains the 30-minute test; Mezo and Toru must either handcuff him or one of them must escape the battlefield within 30 minutes in order to win and pass the test.[21]
During their battle, Snipe corners Toru and Mezo behind stone pillars. Mezo admits escaping will be difficult because their only advantage is the weights Snipe is wearing. Snipe throws a smoke bomb and fills the area with smoke. Then, he moves towards them and shoots down the pillar they're hiding behind. Mezo moves to another pillar and asks Toru if she's okay, but realizes that she has disappeared.
Mezo realizes that she's taken off her clothes and gone into full stealth mode. Understanding her intentions, Mezo decides to run out to distract Snipe, and the teacher shoots at his feet before warning him not to be hasty. Mezo raises his hands and Snipe questions if he's giving up. Suddenly, Toru handcuffs Snipe, taking him by surprise.[22] After this difficult battle against Snipe, Mezo along with Toru pass the practical test.[23]
Back in class at U.A., Mezo learns that he passed the written test and will go with his classmates to the forest lodge, which is a boot camp. Mezo, along with his class, go to Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall to buy necessities for the forest lodge.[24]
My Hero Academia: Two Heroes#
At some point, Mezo arrives to I-Island, along with Fumikage. On the night of the I-Island preview, Fumikage and Mezo are hanging out in the streets in the Business Area. Unbeknownst to him, the villain Wolfram and his group storm the main building, taking over the island's security system. Because of this, a curfew announcement is made, so both students rush back to their hotel room.
Fortunately, several of his classmates were on the scene and managed to defeat the villains, putting an end to I-Island Incident.Mezo hangs out with the rest of his class after the I-Island Expo opens up.[25]
Forest Training Camp Arc#
Due to a shopping center incident, where Izuku had an encounter with Tomura, Shota informs Class 1-A that the destination for their lodge trip has been changed and the new destination will only be announced on the day of the event. The first semester has come to a close and summer break has begun.
A day prior to summer break, Izuku invites Mezo and all the boys of Class 1-A to the pool for endurance training. They hold races between the students and Mezo loses to Izuku in his round. They are all kicked out of the area when Shota arrives.[26]
On the day of the summer camp, they are informed that the new destination will be a mountainous region, owned by the professional Hero Team, the Wild, Wild Pussycats, where they will undergo reinforcement training to strengthen and upgrade their Quirks. Class 1-A's bus stops for a restroom break, where they meet Pixie-Bob and Mandalay, who challenge the students to reach base camp past the forest in three hours. Then, all of Class 1-A is forcibly thrown into The Beast's Forest by Pixie-Bob's Quirk.
The students work together to fight their way through the forest.[27] To help his classmates, Mezo, along with Kyoka, uses his Quirk to detect the location of the approaching earth beasts.[28] The journey through the forest to the camp takes them around eight hours before they finally arrive at the facility, battered and tired. The Pussycats serve the students dinner and the students bathe in the hot springs afterward.[29]
Quirk training begins the next morning. Mezo trains together with Toru to increase the strength of both their Quirks by having Mezo quickly create multiple Dupli-Arms to look for Toru while she uses her invisibility to further hide her presence.[30]
On the night of the third day of training, Mezo is paired with Fumikage for the test of courage. During the test of courage, the League of Villains' Vanguard Action Squad begin their attack. One of the villain's squad members, Moonfish, ambushes Fumikage and Mezo. Mezo covers for Fumikage, but loses one of his tentacles in the process. They manage to retreat from Moonfish. However, the ambush causes Fumikage to lose control of his Quirk.
Later, Mezo saves an injured Izuku from Dark Shadow's claw and explains the situation to him. Struggling, Fumikage pleads with Izuku and Mezo to run away from him; otherwise, they will die. Izuku watches in shock.[31] The rampaging Dark Shadow attacks Mezo and Izuku, but Mezo is able to dodge in the nick of time. After maneuvering behind a tree, Mezo sees that Dark Shadow attacks anything that moves or makes sound.
Mezo says he can give Izuku an opening if he wants to save Katsuki from the villains. Izuku decides to save both Fumikage and Katsuki by leading Dark Shadow toward their fight. Mezo uses Dupli-Arms to create sounds and bait Dark Shadow through the forest while running for dear life. They lead Dark Shadow right to Katsuki and Shoto's fight with Moonfish, and Mezo asking one of them to make light.
Moonfish senses Mezo and Izuku's presence and sends one of his teeth to attack them, but he is easily defeated by the rampaging Dark Shadow.[32] After this, Shoto and Katsuki use their Quirks to calm down Dark Shadow. Now back in control, Fumikage thanks them for saving him. Mezo is glad that Fumikage is fine and tells him that he does not need to feel guilty and shows no ill will towards Fumikage.
Izuku tells Fumikage the villains are after Katsuki and the group decides to form the Bakugo Escort Squad to protect their classmate. The team encounters Ochaco and Tsuyu on their way to base camp and the girls notice that Katsuki is missing. Izuku, Mezo, and Shoto turn around and see that not only Katsuki has disappeared, but Fumikage as well. Afterwards, the masked magician-like villain Mr. Compress reveals himself to be the one who took Katsuki and Fumikage, trapping them into marbles.[33]
Shoto tries to stop Mr. Compress with his ice, but he avoids his attacks and escapes. With the help of Ochaco, Izuku, Mezo, and Shoto fly at Compress at high speed, reach him, and smash him into the ground. However, they land right at the Vanguard Action Squad's rendezvous point. After apprehending Mr. Compress, Izuku, Shoto, and Mezo see that they are right in front of Dabi, Himiko, and Twice.[34]
Dabi launches his flames, which hits Mezo's arm and injures it. After Himiko attacks Izuku, Mezo smacks her away from Izuku. Mr. Compress prepares to give Dabi the captured Fumikage and Katsuki, only to discover that Mezo took the marbles from Mr. Compress. As Izuku and Shoto prepare to backup Mezo, Kurogiri arrives and blocks their path.
Mr. Compress reveals that the marbles Mezo took are not the captured targets and are decoys instead; the marbles Mezo took transform into ice, which shocks Mezo. Mr. Compress removes his mask and sticks out his tongue which has the actual marbles. Having overheard what is happening, Yuga takes action and fires his Navel Laser at Mr. Compress's face, causing him to spit out the real marbles.
Izuku, Mezo, and Shoto rush to grab the marbles, although Izuku succumbs to his injuries. Mezo and Shoto continue rushing towards the marbles; Mezo grabs the marble containing Fumikage, thus saving him. However, Dabi snatches Katsuki's away before Shoto can grab it. Mr. Compress deactivates his Quirk, freeing Fumikage and Katsuki. Mezo, Shoto, Izuku, and the freed Fumikage watch in horror as Katsuki is teleported away with the Vanguard Action Squad.[35]
Hideout Raid Arc#
After the Vanguard Action Squad leave, the training camp ends and Mezo returns home. Two days later, Mezo visits Izuku in the hospital and hears about Eijiro and Shoto's plan to rescue Katsuki. As Tenya orders them to stop thinking about such an attempt, Mezo stops Tenya. Mezo understands Eijiro and Shoto's frustration in not being able to save Katsuki and advises that they should not make the decision based on their feelings. Mezo leaves Izuku's room after the doctor requests them to.[36]
Provisional Hero License Exam Arc#
Due to the kidnapping of Katsuki, the students are transferred to Heights Alliance, a series of doors built by Nezu in order to protect the students. Shota meets with his students outside of the building. He states they must start preparing to get provisional hero licenses like they had planned to during the training camp.
Before allowing Class 1-A students to enter in their new residence, Shota scolds the entire class for having allowed five of them to rescue Katsuki without a license and did nothing to stop them. He, furthermore, says he would have expelled everyone except Katsuki, Toru, and Kyoka Jiro, if it weren't for All Might's sudden retirement and asks them to stick to the rules from now on.
Class 1-A arranges their luggage in their respective bedrooms. Later that night, the boys are seen in the common space on the first floor. The girls of Class 1-A show up and suggest a room showcasing competition.[37] When they check out Mezo's room, they are surprised because, apart from a desk and a futon, his room is practically empty. Shoto assumes that he is minimalist and Mezo explains that he's never understood why people fill their room with junk. While this is happening, Minoru looks through Mezo's futon, stating that guys like Mezo always have a super pervy side.[38]
The following day, Shota explain to Class 1-A that their next goal is to obtain their "Provisional Hero Licenses". To ensure success in the Provisional Hero License exam, they will develop their own ultimate moves, along with the guidance of Midnight, Ectoplasm, and Cementoss in Gym Gamma. During the days until the exam begins, Mezo constantly trains his Quirk to make it stronger.[39]
The Hero Qualification Exam finally starts. Mezo, along his classmates, arrives at the test location in the National Dagobah Arena, where he meets students from other hero schools, including Shiketsu High School and Ketsubutsu Academy High School. The first part of the exam involves thinning out the amount of people who can succeed by playing a game, where people put three marks on their body and are given six balls to throw at the other examinee's marks. Those whose marks have been hit are disqualified. Participants also need to eliminate at least two students to move on to the next phase of the exam.[40]
The room in which the students are in unfolds to reveal the arena, in which there are varying environments to battle in. As the exam starts, the rest of the schools all attack U.A. at once. However, Class 1-A is able to defend themselves thanks to their ultimate moves. Yo Shindo tells his fellow classmates that he will shatter their solid defense, and uses his Vibrate Quirk on the ground, unleashing a powerful earthquake that completely shatters the ground and and causes members of class 1-A to disperse.[41]
Due to this attack, Mezo gets separated from the others, and has to defend himself from the attacks of the rest of the students while looking for his classmates. He regroups with Kyoka, Tsuyu, and Momo. In the city area, they enter a building after failing to find the rest of their classmates. Here, they fall into an ambush prepared by Saiko Intelli from Seiai Academy.
Putting Saiko's plan into action, her classmates trap the four in a room, closing it completely and sealing off Mezo and Kyoka's Quirks since they are good at detecting people. Then, they incapacitate Tsuyu by cooling the hallway down excessively using the air conditioning system, causing her to start hibernating due her Frog Quirk. To protect her from the cold, Mezo has to cradle Tsuyu with his limbs while covering her with a blanket created by Momo.
Momo comes up with a plan and creates four headphones and a large amp. Saiko readies her allies to storm the room, but is surprised when her rival students counter with a high-frequency sonic wave attack, knocking out all of the Seiai students except Saiko. Class 1-A students leave the room to find Momo's plan was successful. However, Saiko hides behind the door and then locks herself and Momo back inside the room.
Momo buys enough time for Mezo to break down the door and Tsuyu uses her tongue to restrain Saiko. Saiko questions why they didn't just leave Momo to fail, but Mezo, Kyoka, and Tsuyu state class 1-A sticks together and they would never leave their friend behind. Impressed by the U.A. students, Saiko admits defeat.
Having knocked out at least enough Seiai students for all of them to pass, the four U.A. students head for the winner's waiting room. [42] There, they meet up with Shoto and discover that they're the only ones who have passed so far from their class. Minutes later, Izuku, Ochaco, Hanta, Katsuki, Denki, and Eijiro arrive. After awhile, the rest of class 1-A pass the first qualifier test.[43]
The qualifiers are informed of the imminent start of the second test, in which the students will have to save the largest number of fake victims in a given period of time. Mezo uses his Quirk to locate victims during the second test and carry the "injured" back to safety.[44] At the end of the trial, Mezo is one of the students who passes the exam, receiving his provisional license.[45]
Shie Hassaikai Arc#
The next day, Class 1-A attend the U.A. opening ceremony. Afterwards, back in the classroom, Shota talks about Hero Work-Studies, hero activities done off campus. Three days later, Shota introduces to Class 1-A the three best students of U.A. who will teach them about Hero Work-Studies: Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki and Nejire Hado, better known as The Big 3.[46] Despite their reputation, they are actually all a bunch of easygoing eccentrics. Class 1-A gets confused when Mirio Togata challenges them all to a fight.
At Gym Gamma, Mirio tells Class 1-A to attack him whenever and wherever they want.[47] Mezo, like the rest of his classmates, attacks him, but Mirio defeats Class 1-A without breaking a sweat, thanks to his Quirk Permeation. While Class 1-A recovers from their defeat, Mirio explains how his Quirk works and advises Class 1-A to participate in the Hero Work-Studies, as it will help them improve their career to be heroes, just as it helped him become one of the best students in the U.A.[48]
Remedial Course Arc#
Weeks later, after the police raid at the base of Shie Hassaikai, Izuku, Eijiro, Ochaco, and Tsuyu return to their dormitories at the school, where Mezo, along rest of Class 1-A, is checking to make sure his classmates are doing okay after their mission.[49]
U.A. School Festival Arc#
Days later, in the classroom, Shota Aizawa announces that U.A. High School will be having a School Festival and tells Class 1-A to pick out a program to perform at the festival. All the students give their idea about what they should do for the festival, but they do not reach an agreement. Later at Heights Alliance, the entire Class 1-A decides that their school festival program will be a live performance and dance with party space.[50]
Class 1-A students are divided into three groups, Band team, Dance team and Staging team, Mezo is part of the Dance team.[51] The dance team constantly practices the choreography devised by Mina until the festival.
On the appointed day, Mezo, along with the rest of Class 1-A, is preparing for the performance but get worried as Izuku is late to show up for the performance. Fortunately, Izuku arrives in time for the Class 1-A performance, which ends up being a huge success.[52]
Pro Hero Arc#
As November comes to a close, the Wild Wild Pussycats pay a visit to Class 1-A to celebrate Ragdoll's reinstatement.[53]
Joint Training Arc#
Mezo, along with the rest of Class 1-A are pitted against Class 1-B as part of the Joint Training Battle. He is placed in the third round of match-ups, along with Tenya, Mashirao, and Shoto. They will face Class B's team of Pony Tsunotori, Sen Kaibara, Juzo Honenuki and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu at Round 3.[54] As they head to the Ground Gamma, Mezo notices that Tenya is in a good mood and he replies that his brother has been doing well in his recovery. Mezo congratulates him for that good news.[55]
The Class 1-A team goes to the position where the class 1-B team is located. Their plan is send Mezo out to scout and then use Shoto to attack them in a group. Shoto does just that and freezes all four of the Class 1-B students with a Giant Ice Wall. However, Juzo was able to predict their strategy, and with his Quirk Softening, he frees his teammates from Shoto's ice, and each one attacks each member of the rival team.
Pony uses her Horn Cannon to attack Mezo and Shoto. She predicted Mezo would hide safely behind Shoto, so she sends out her remote-controlled horns to separate Mezo from Shoto and carry him away, pins him to a wall while uses other two horns to propel Tetsutetsu against Shoto.[56] While fighting Tetsutetsu, Shoto uses a Wall of Flames to get rid of him. The intense flames can not dissuade Tetsutetsu, but force Pony and her horns to retreat, and Shoto tells Mezo to go after her.[57]
Pony is riding her horns to distance herself from Mezo, who is chasing her through the labyrinth. She fires her horns at him, but Mezo uses his own Quirk grab the horns. Pony turns to face him because she wants to help Tetsutetsu. She uses her Thunder Horn to try and capture Mezo but he counters with his Octoblow barrage. As Pony launches her horns in rapid fire succession, Mezo is able to destroy them at the same rate.
In attempt to end the stalemate quickly, Pony tries to sneak a horn around Mezo's back but he spawns an eye behind his head and catches it and destroys the horn. He signals Mashirao and the tailed hero destroys Pony's horn with his Tornado Tail Dance attack. He says that if he can prevent her horns from firing off, then she is not much of a threat. Mezo tells Mashirao to take her to the prison while Mashirao tells him to go support Shoto.
They're both shocked when Juzo appears behind Mezo using his Quirk to soften the ground.[58] Juzo sinks both under the ground and tries to force Mashirao to release Pony but Mashirao counters with his Swamp Smack Spin Super Move. This helps Juzo and Mashirao get free but Pony uses her horns to send Mashirao into her team's prison, eliminating him from the battle. After this, Juzo goes to help Tetsutetsu in his fight against Shoto, while Pony faces Mezo.
After an intense fight, Shoto, Tetsutetsu, and Juzo are all unconscious, while Tenya is trapped under a softened tower. Pony uses her horns to pick up and carry away all the unconscious players, but she is chased by Mezo, who tries to strike down her. Because transporting so many people slows her down, Pony realizes that she can't carry Shoto to jail without Mezo stopping her, so she decides to levitate herself high above the field to be out of Mezo's reach. Although with this decision the only thing she gets is that the round ends the draw, Pony prefers this to give the rival team a chance to beat them. Mezo can not do anything but watch in dismay as time limit expires and the battle ends.[1]
After this round, Mezo watches the two remaining rounds. The Joint Training Battle end with Class 1-A victory.[59] Despite the fierce competition and the result, the exercise ends on good terms between both classes, and later Class 1-B visits Class 1-A's dormitories for socializing and dinner.[60]
My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising#
During fall, the Hero Public Safety Commission devises the Hero Work Recommendation Project, to help to train the new generation of Heroes due All Might retirement. Weeks go by, and shortly after winter begins, after the Hero Interview Training, Class 1-A is sent to Nabu Island, a remote place in southern Japan. The Pro Heroes who protected the island are about to retire, so the students will take care of the place, performing duties as real heroes acting like their own "Hero Office", until the arrival of new Pro Heroes.
Because Nabu Island is quite isolated from the rest of the country, and therefore far from any villain activity, there has been no notable incident since the last thirty years. For this reason, their work on the island basically involve mostly minor deeds. Shoji works as a lifesaver and watcher on the beach with several of his classmates. Thanks to his Quirk, he spots a kid who is being dragged away by the tide, and warn Tsuyu and Rikido who rescue the child
The next day, Mezo returns to his duties on the beach, along with Mashirao, Tsuyu, and Fumikage. But that day Nine and his gang attack the island, and the four students confront his henchman Chimera. While Tsuyu is tasked with evacuating all the beach goers, Mashirao, Mezo, and Fumikage fight Chimera, but the villain proves to be too much for them. Since everyone's cellphones aren't working, Mashirao tells Fumikage to go back to the Hero Agency to ask for help.
While Fumikage went to ask for reinforcements, Mezo and Mashirao continue fighting Chimera. Mashirao is defeated after taking a devastating punch. Shoji attempts to attack the villain with his Octoblow, but Chimera caught him by the head before he can do it. Chimera teases Mezo's appearance and starts to strangle him with raw strength. Fortunately, Fumikage arrives with help, and Tenya kicks the villain's head, getting him to release Mezo, and moving him away from Chimera.
Mezo decides to help Tsuyu, Ochaco and Koda to evacuate the beach goers while their classmates face Chimera. In their withdrawal, the four students see a gigantic hologram of Deku asking for help, which was created by a little girl named Mahoro. Mezo and the other three run to the place of origin of the hologram, finding Izuku and Katsuki defeated by Nine. The villain orders his subordinate Slice to get Mahoro and her little brother Katsuma. Koji Koda uses his Anivoice Quirk to summon a swarm of crows to blind the villains while Mezo Shoji rescues the kids and Tsuyu Asui, and Ochaco Uraraka rescue Izuku and Katsuki. Because her leader is suffering from his illness, Slice doesn't pursue them and decides to retreat so Nine can recover.
At night, the Class 1-A members regroup at a factory where the rest of the island citizens are currently staying at due to the villain attack. Mezo, Ochaco and Shoto are helping by providing first aid to the injuries while the doctors uses their healing Quirks on the wounded Izuku and Katsuki, however they only can close their wounds, but they cannot treat them any further. These statements concern the students, bur Katsuma arrives and helps using his Cell Activation to heal both Izuku and Katsuki.
Later, all the students have a meeting where they discover that the objective of the villain leader, Nine, is to steal the Cell Activation Quirk from Katsuma. With this information, they devise a plan to approach them in front and keep civilians safe. The plan is to lure the villains to the furthest corner of the island where ancient castle ruins are. The heroes will engage the villains using the terrain to their advantage and spit the villains apart, so each member has to face several students alone.
After his previous fight against Nine, Izuku concludes that Nine cannot use his multiple Quirks for too long as he suffers from intense pain when he does. To deal with Nine, everyone will attacks him in waves to force Nine to use his Quirks all the time until he reaches his limit and cannot continue fighting. Mezo, Kyoka and Mashirao are in charge of guarding Katsuma and Mahoro while the remaining students face the villains.
The next morning, Nine and his gang arrive at the entrance to the island. They fall into Class 1-A's trap and are forced to split up by Yuga and Momo's Ultimate Moves; and following Izuku's plan, the students take turns attacking Nine to force him to use his Quirks as much as possible. The students are on the verge of winning when, in his despair, Nine injects himself a high dose of Quirk's enhancer drug and defeats everyone.
The situation for Class 1-A is growing desperate. Kyoka and Mashirao tell Mezo to take the kids away as they fight Nine. They ambush the villain in a bridge, but Nine quickly defeats them and chases after Mezo. He is about to reach the escape route with the kids, but Nine catches them up and attacks Mezo using his Laser Bullet Quirk. Mezo holds the children close to him while protecting them from Nine's attacks. He takes all the laser shots, being seriously injured, as he shouts the children to run away. The injured Mashirao and Kyoka catch them up and attack Nine with Shoji tackling with his Dupli-Arms Quirk, but the villain uses his Air Wall Quirk at full potential to blast all three of them away, defeating them.
Nine is in pain by dealing with the constant attacks from Class 1-A members, but his prize is finally now at his fingertips. Fortunately, Izuku and Katsuki arrive in time to confront him. Nine fights the two students with his Quirk at full power, which begins to wreak havoc on the island. Mezo manages to regain consciousness and uses his body to shield Katsuma and Mahoro from falling debris, ending up unconscious and seriously wounded, so Katsuma has to use his Cell Activation Quirk to save his life.
While he is unconscious, Izuku and Katsuki manage to defeat Nine, saving the island and its inhabitants in the process. After Class 1-A emerged victorious over the threat, the military and a large number of heroes arrive on Nabu Island, rescuing the civilians and medically treating Class 1-A. The villains are arrested, and Class 1-A continues to stay on Nabu Island to help repair the damage done by Nine and his villains until the Public Safety Commission suspends the program and orders them to be sent home. With the island being repaired by the military and the heroes, Class 1-A boards a ferry to return to the U.A. High School.[61]
Endeavor Agency Arc#
Mezo participates in a Hero Interview Training impart by Mt. Lady.[62] Days later, the Hero Work Recommendation Project takes place, staying on Nabu Island before returning.[61]
On the night of Christmas Eve, Mezo celebrates Christmas with his classmates at Heights Alliance, holding a surprise gift exchange.[63]
With Hero Work-Studies back in effect, Mezo interns under Gang Orca alongside Kyoka Jiro.[64]
My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission#
During the Work Studies, an anti-Quirk cult known as Humarise set off a Trigger Bomb in a major city, killing millions and destroying the entire infrastructure. In response to the act of terrorism, the World Heroes Association gathers a large force made up of heroes from around the world to assault the branches that Humarise has in 25 cities around the world. The Gang Orca Agency, along with Fat Gum Agency, Present Mic, Cementoss, and many other heroes make up the Japan Task Force.
The mission consists of assaulting all the branches that Humarise has in the world, with the Japan Task Force assaulting on the Humarise branch in Tokyo. Despite their successful raid, the heroes have failed to locate the Trigger Bombs or their leader, and the same goes with the remaining branches stormed. Because of this, the WHA Director orders all the teams to stay in their assigned cities and be on standby.
While they are stationed in Tokyo, Mezo is shocked when see on Kyoka's laptop the news that Izuku was accused of having committed a horrible crime in Otheon. These accusations cause great outrage among Izuku's classmates, who refuse to believe that he did something so heinous.
The situation gets worse days later when Flect Turn, leader of Humarise, announces to the entire world that they intends to denote several Trigger Bombs in less than two hours, in the twenty-five cities where the branches of his cult used to be. As a result, Tokyo is locked in a state of panic and chaos, so the Japan Task Force scrambled to quell the hysteria and locate the bombs.
Gang Orca, his sidekicks, and trainees use their searching Quirks to locate the bombs. Kyoka notifies the team that Izuku, Shoto, and Katsuki have found a disarming key that can disable the bombs, and they plan to storm Humarise's main base to do so. Much to his relief, Mezo presses that they need to focus on locating more of the Trigger Bombs and leave the disable to them. Gang Orca locates the bomb and notifies the rest of the team members, who manage to get hold of it after defeating the Humanise soldiers guarding it. However, Mezo tells them that they have located two more Trigger Bombs, and right then Kyoka says that there is one more, all of them guarded by members of Humarise.
With no other choice, all of Tokyo's heroes fight tirelessly to prevent the disaster, until the count reaches zero. But to everyone's relief, none of the bombs go off, indicating that Izuku's group has achieved their goal, saving the lives of millions of people worldwide. Once the crisis has been averted, Mezo and Kyoka return to U.A., where they meet up with all their classmates, celebrating that everyone is well.[65]
Paranormal Liberation War Arc#
Winter break is over, and so is the Hero Work-Studies. The students return to the U.A. to continue their studies and show their progress.[66] Mezo and Kyoka, who worked with Gang Orca, show off their enhanced search techniques.[67] Later at night, Mezo helps his classmates to organize a Work-Study/Brainstorm/Hot pot party to energize everyone for the new term.[68]
The months go by until it's late March. The Hero Public Safety Commission had uncovered the plans of Tomura Shigaraki and his organization, the Paranormal Liberation Front. They organize a large force of heroes to take the villain organization down. While a team of heroes raid the Jaku General Hospital, where the Nomu are created, another team does the same at Gunga Mountain Villa, the Front's main headquarters. Mezo is a member of the Villa Backup Team along with some of his classmates and Class 1-B students. Their mission is to provide support to the heroes who raid the Gunga Mountain Villa and prevent villains from escaping.[69][70]
After the raid commenced, heroes gained the upper hand, taking down many of the Front's members.[71] However, the Jaku team allowed Tomura to awaken and he ordered Gigantomachia to come to him, bringing the PLF Lieutenants with him.[72] This results in the giant defeating many heroes as he simply walked towards Jaku City. Midnight is one of them, and after being defeated, she contacts the students and transmitting them what they have to do to stop the giant.
Momo takes the leadership to defeat Gigantomachia and asks Kyoka and Mezo to play their powers to determine Gigantomachia's size and how far it is from them. Following the information they give her, Momo's plans begin when she uses her Quirk to create a large number of vials of undiluted sedative,[73] giving one to each student so that at least one can make the giant swallow a vial.
Following Momo's lead, the students set the trap for Gigantomachia by softening the ground. As they planned, Gigantomachia falls into their trap and the students begin their assault. Mezo is part of the group tasked with attacking the PLF Lieutenants so they don't interfere while the others try to make Gigantomachia swallow a vial.
Mezo helps Yuga climb onto the monster's huge back so that he can fire his navel laser at the lieutenants. Then, along with Mashirao, he throws several Pointers Disks from Denki's Sharpshooting Gear, which stick to their bodies, giving Denki a chance to shock them, but he is stopped by Mr. Compress before he can do it. The other Lieutenants and Gigantomachia manage to repel the assault.[74]
Despite this, the students continue the assault, which now has the support of several heroes who had come to help them. Not without great difficulty, Eijiro gets Gigantomachia to swallow a vial with sedative. When the giant is about to crush him, Mezo and other students start shooting him with cannons created by Momo, allowing Eijiro to be rescued by Setsuna.
More heroes led by Majestic arrive to take charge of Gigantomachia now that he has ingested the sedative, because the more he moves the faster it will spread.[75] Gigantomachia, however, takes on an armored appearance and easily defeats the heroes, and continues on his way to Tomura.
Before being killed, Majestic uses his Quirk to bring the U.A. students to safety, who can only watch helplessly as the giant devastates everything in his path. An astonished Hanta asks Mezo about the situation of the heroes, but he is unable to give him an answer.[76]
Two days later, Mezo, along with Eijiro, Mina, and Momo, is seen comforting Shoto, who is recovering from his burns. They inform him what happened in the war and the last two days, when Fuyumi and Natsuo Todoroki come in to see Shoto.[77]Back in Heights Alliance, Mezo and his classmates are confused and shocked with the revelations of One For All in Izuku's letters, as well as his decision to leave U.A.[78]
Dark Hero Arc#
A few days after Izuku left U.A., Mezo joins a meeting with Class 1-A. He and his classmates deduce that Izuku is now working with Endeavor and his team, as well as All Might. A few days later, impatient with their response, Class 1-A pushed forward using Endeavor's U.A. Alumni status to confront him, getting him to reveal the truth.
Once Principal Nezu gives Class 1-A permission to bring back Izuku to U.A, Mezo joins his class to search for Izuku while at the same time, apprehending any prison escapees along the way. After a month of trailing in Izuku's whereabouts, Class 1-A finally arrived on the scene to defeat the villain Dictator. When Izuku refuses to yield, he demands everyone to get out of his way, which means they'll have to fight.[79]
Fumikage uses Dark Shadow to restrain Izuku until he is restricted by a machine created by Momo designed to put him to sleep. Izuku destroys it with his head and tries to free himself until Denki arrives and the traps him. Mezo uses his Dupli-Arms covered in Insulation Tape created by Momo to cover up Izuku and Denki, reminding him of Izuku's words during the Training Camp how everyone together could even give All Might a scare.[80]
Izuku breaks free and tries to fight and flee, but Tenya catches up to him. Mezo regroups with the rest of the class and listens to Katsuki apologizing to Izuku before he collapses from shock and exhaustion. Mezo carries the exhausted Izuku back to a heavily fortified U.A. High where Class 1-A is confronted by angry protesting civilians.[81] They are aware that Tomura is after Izuku and fear them being in danger, leading Ochaco to give a pleading speech toward the crowd on why he needs their help and deserves to stay and rest, with the civilians eventually agreeing.[82]
Izuku is escorted inside, where he and the other boys of the class quickly strip him of his dirty clothes, washing him vigorously and then dumping him in the bathtub before joining in. After finishing the bath, Izuku finally passes out from exhaustion, and Mezo joins the rest of the class in declaring they'll do whatever they can to bring back the world and make it better.[83]
Star and Stripe Arc#
Two days later, Class 1-A learn that during this time, Tomura had fought American No. 1 Hero, Star and Stripe, and while she was killed during the battle with Tomura successfully stealing her Quirk, New Order, thanks to her actions, the Quirk acted like a virus within his body, destroying several of his Quirks and delaying his procedure by about a week.[84]
All Might informs all this to the class, telling them that this is now their perfect time to prepare for the inevitable all-out war. The class reveals over the past month they had been training with the Wild, Wild Pussycats in order to keep up with Izuku in the incoming conflict, and are now about to head out to continue their training.[85]
U.A. Traitor Arc#
The class proceed to train amongst themselves in the courtyards outside. Shortly after this, Mezo alongside the rest of the class discover the news that Izuku has captured the Aoyamas and revealing Yuga to be the traitor who isolated the class at the U.S.J. and revealed the location of their training camp.
Once the Aoyamas are restrained, he and the other class refuse to back down from the news despite Nezu's request, all in stunned and tears of Yuga's betrayal. He listens to Yuga's desperation that drove him to despair and then Izuku pleading to let Yuga help them, leading the class to realize Yuga may be the only one able to deceive All For One.[86]
Shota then appears on a tablet screen, taking full responsibility and reveals that he has an idea. He listened to Shota's plan after the Aoyama Family's ears have been covered. Naomasa then has the Aoyama Family escorted back to their HQ, telling everyone not to say a word to anyone else about the plan while he and the rest of the class look on sullenly.
Back at Heights Alliance, Mezo takes a breather, before getting ready to gear back up, as he and everyone, with fire and rage in their eyes over the betrayal, prepares to bring All For One down once and for all.[87] He joins up with their "Search Squad" to head out to hunt down the villains.[88]
Later that night, he and his classmates return to Heights Alliance for a break after coming up empty from their search. All Might, Naomasa, and Nezu then arrive, informing them all about their secret finalized plans for the upcoming Second War.
The next day, Nezu announces to the civilians that Tomura will make his big move in four days, with Class 1-A moving outside of the U.A. barrier to began prioritizing their safety. Mezo says his goodbyes to the heteromorph woman that Izuku had saved recently, before moving out of Heights Alliance and into its upgraded makeshift fortress called "Troy".[89]
My Hero Academia: You're Next#
During Class 1-A's Quirk training, preparing to hunt down the jailbreakers and allies of Tomura and All For One, several students are interested in the Izuku's journal kept about their Quirks, though Katsuki is offended because what was written about him, and several classmates rushes to try to calm him down. Mezo, along with Koji, comments that the situation feels like everyday life. All Might walks up to the class and says it's time to move out, as the students take off in armored vans to track down the Villains.[90]
Throughout the month, Mezo is a member of Team 2 of Class 1-A, consisting of Shoto, Tenya, Momo, Denki, Tsuyu, and Minoru, to apprehend all the Jailbreakers. The team rendezvous with Teams 1 and 3 for a break from combat, taking the chance to motivate each other, relax, and complain about the Villains. However, they're suddenly attacked by a group of rogue Villains, intent on stealing one of the Heroes' armored trucks. Expecting the attack, the U.A. students fight back and defeat them. The Villains are handed over to the police as All Might informs the students of new Villain sightings, and they split into three groups, following up on the reports.[91]
Later on, his team defeated six Jailbreaker villains and took them to the nearest police station. Team 2 contacts Team 1 and 3 at a police station, who've also apprehended more villains and escapees. Hawks, via the Counter-Force, gives the teams their next assignment: apprehend a Tartarus escapee, Ginji Kurau, who has been spotted nearby.
Mezo and Team 2 heads over to apprehend Ginji before the other team does,, but Team 2, led by Izuku, is the first to encounter the Jailbreaker, discovering that he is holding a woman named Anna Scervino. Izuku faces Ginji but the fight is interrupted first by Giulio Gandini, who tries to kill Anna, and then by the arrival of the Gollini Family, a mafia organization consisting of Bruno, Kamile, Deborah Gollini, Paulo, Simon, Ugo, Gil, and their masked leader, Valdo Gollini.
They take Anna, whom Deborah hypnotizes, and then Valdo undoes his mask, revealing that he has the appearance of prime All Might. After brutally defeating Ginji, he uses his Alchemy Quirk to create a microphone and several cameras and drones, hacking into every communication network. He announces to the country that he has come to "save Japan" from their despair caused by the war and vows that he will use his strength and power to promote justice and become the next Symbol of Peace in honor of All Might’s god-like powers.
Izuku calls him out with disgust over using violence and putting innocent civilians in danger, taiting All Might's legacy. Hearing his words, Valdo decides to prove Izuku wrong by using his powers. He touches the hypnotized Anna, and his powers tremendously increase as he uses his Quirk to transform their floating ship into a massive fortress, consuming everything in its path in an ocean of light.
The three class A teams witness the rapid expansion of the transformation. The transformation light consumes Teams 1 and 2. Shoto blocks the expansion with his ice from his Quirk and the others attemps to go and rescue those inside, but the transformation light simply phases through ice wall. Team 2 tries to escape but they are all caught by the light and sucked into the fortress of Valdo, renamed the Symbol of Paradise.
Mezo and Team 2 regain consciousness and, along with his classmates, end up in different areas of the fortress, but they cannot communicate. His team ends up in a meadow, where Mezo spots a nearby city, and Shoto tells the team that they should investigate the heads of the city. Inside the center, Shoto and Team 2 found many bodies of unconscious civilians and rose petals.
They see Deborah and Anna with a line of civilians who are under the effects of Deborah's Day Dream, with each civilian touching Anna before convulsing in pain and lying unconscious. Realizing that they’re hurting the civilians, Team 2 intervenes to stop her, but Deborah notices the hero students' presence and uses her Quirk on them, causing the team to fall into a dream-like coma where they desire.
In his dream, Mezo dreams of his childhood, where he was no longer discriminated against as a heteromorph due to his mutation Quirk, and spending time with the little girl he rescued from the river who was not afraid of him. While under Deborah’s Quirk, Mezo touches Anna, but her Overmodification reveals that he is incompatible with her Quirk, and convulses in a painful seizure before losing consciousness.
Later, the members of team 3 and Giulio also fall to Deborah's Quirk, but Izuku and Giulio manage to free them from Deborah’s control, injuring her in the process and breaking the control that her Quirk had over the students and the kidnapped citizens. Anna is also freed, but Giulio is about to shoot her, something she seems to accept. However, Izuku intervenes and prevents Giulio from killing Anna. Then Kamile appears and uses his Spatial Excursion quirk to rescue Deborah and take Anna, without the others being able to prevent it..
As students and citizens wake up, Giulio finally explains everything about Anna and the Gollini Family. A while ago, he was hired by Anna's father to help with her Overmodification Quirk, which allows her to greatly enhance the Quirk Factors of a few compatible people. However, her quirk became more uncontrollable with the passage of time. Only thanks to his Neutralization Quirk, he could temporarily neutralize her Quirk by touching her with his right arm.
Despite this, Anna's Quirk was becoming more and more powerful and there would come a time when not even his neutralization would be enough to contain it, so Anna made Giulio promise that he would kill her if her Quirk becomes unstable and hurts people. However, the Gollini Family learned of Anna's Quirk, and attacked the household, kidnapping Anna and killing everyone else. Giulio survived, but he had to have parts of his body replaced with robotic prosthetics, and no longer can use his Quirk. He tracked Anna to Japan to fulfill the promise he made to her before is to late.
Mezo and those from Teams 2 and 3 of 1-A voice their objection that killing Anna will end her suffering, and even if it does, they know that it is not what she and Giulio wanted. They understand that Giulio went through so much to get Anna back, and they will not let her Quirk grow out of control, vowing to save Anna from her Quirk, and Giulio. Team 1 soon appears and also agrees to help Giulio and Anna and defeat Valdo, who now calls himself Dark Might.
Meanwhile, after the students had managed to defeat several of his subordinates, Dark Might orders to change the course of the flying fortress and head directly to the U.A. Shelter. He then broadcasts to the students that he will become the new Symbol of Peace when he destroys All Might and the last remnants of the Heroes still at the U.A., and he will then be the one they can rely on. Class A organize to prevent this, and while Izuku, Katsuki, Shoto, Fumikage and Giulio head to face the villains, Mezo and his classmates round up the civilians and prepare to evacuate the fortress.
While leading the civilians to safety, the students hear explosions coming from outside the flying fortress and assume it is the heroes trying to assault the Symbol of Paradise. Then they receive help from Mirio, who easily infiltrates the fortress with his Permeation and helps direct everyone towards the exit. Outside the town, thousands of monsters conjured by the fortress appear to stop them. Class 1-A volunteers to cover the civilians and fight the monsters while Mirio and some of the classmates escort the civilians to safety.
The class pushes back against monsters, with Mezo teaming up with Eijiroa and Rikkido to bring down as many monsters as possible using his Quirk. However, Class 1-A is starting to lose the battle of attrition against the fortress monsters as every time they destroy them, more monsters keep generating, and on the verge of their defeat, the Heroes from outside manage to get inside the fortress and back them up.
While fighting off the monsters, Izuku, Katsuki, Shoto, and Giulio defeat Dark Might, causing the fortress to stop conjuring the monsters, and Mirio defeats Kamille, halting the fortress as it starts falling from the sky. Although the danger seems to be over, Anna loses control of her Quirk, and Valdo regains consciousness and uses her enhanced properties to turn himself into a colossal monster. Giulio manages to touch Anna, and his own Neutralization Quirk becomes greatly enhanced, allowing him to use it on Anna finally. With Dark Might vulnerable, Izuku, Shoto, and Katsuki defeat him definitively.
With the Gollini Family defeated, the U.A. Shelter is safe, and everyone cheers on the Heroes and Class 1-A for their valiant victory. Rikido and the rest of class A watch as Anna decides to stay with Giulio, now that her Quirk is finally nullified for good.[92]
Final War Arc#
Prior to the start of the Final War, Mezo and Koji approach Shota and All Might, asking to be involved in the defence of Central Hospital, surprising them that they know about the plan. Mezo reveals he had spoken to the giant woman, as well as several of the other heteromorph refugees, and learned that there was a "call to action" from Spinner and the Paranormal Liberation Front, calling on the mutants to storm the Hospital in retribution for all the prejudice they've faced. Mezo states he needs to be involved as he can't let this slide, or else he won't be able to consider himself a hero. Shota accepts and allows them to join the team led by Present Mic.[93]
On the day of the operation, sure enough, an army of heteromorphs, led by a now gigantified Spinner, attempt to storm the Hospital, with the intention of freeing Kurogiri within. During the battle, Present Mic announces to the battlefield Dabi's defeat at Shoto's hand, just as Mezo saves Koji from an attack by Spinner's giant swords. Spinner calls their words "information warfare" and commands the army to get Kurogiri back so they can destroy the status quo. Mezo remains steadfast, thinking of how proud he is to be Shoto's classmate, as he and Koji prepare to fight the army.[94]
Unfortunately, the around 200 Heroes and Police Force find themselves overwhelmed by the 15,000 strong army, consisting of Liberation soldiers and civilians who support their cause, pushing down and dividing the ones defending the Hospital to create a path for Spinner to reach. In the chaos, Mezo and Koji are separated, but Mezo is able to reach Spinner right as he's about to attack a group of officers, unleashing an Octoblow to knock him over.
In retaliation, the army hoards over Mezo, calling him a traitor for thinking he's some kind of hero. In response, Mezo asks what attacking the Hospital has to do with their cause, telling them how back during the Jaku City battle, the first thing the Heroes did was evacuate the patients and made sure everyone was safe, and if they thought of that too. With his raw strength, Mezo is able to push the army off of him, with his mouth and scars exposed, declaring that if they don't have some kind of plan, he won't let it stand.[2]
As Mezo faces off against Spinner, demanding to know his answer, the rest of the army shout to him for an answer, only for him to simply respond that he "doesn't care". The Liberation soldier addressing the crowd uses this to claim that he is saying that spilled blood is unavoidable, riling everyone back into fighting.
Mezo tells Spinner the attack will only set their cause back 30 years, but he tells him to shut up, starting to transform his body. Using his new powers given to him by All For One, Spinner covers his entire body in scales, charging and slicing at Mezo in the air, while shouting at the army to press forward. Mezo continues to fight Spinner, yelling that he has also suffered discrimination, and those people are in the wrong, but wonders if there is another way, though all Spinner can angrily shout is to tear it all down. He tells him to think about how he channels their rage, as their argument and battle catches the attention of the army.
At some point during his time at U.A., Mezo had showed his classmates his arms, mouth, and scars, telling them about his past. He told them that his parents didn't have arms like his, and that he lived in a terrible town that came out in force for a "blood cleansing" anytime he would come into contact with someone else.
He continued that other heteromorphs like Fumikage and Koji born in the cities may think the prejudice is behind them, but there are so many still messed up places like that in the world. Mina voices her disgust, while Minoru apologizes for calling him an octopus, but he says it's natural to think that, especially given his hero name is "Tentacole". Despite that, he does admit that his scars and him being a heteromorph still give off a certain impression, which is why he wears his mask, so people don't think he's out for retribution.
Even though he has many painful memories, he recalls the time when he was able to use his Dupli-Arms to save a little girl from being washed away in a flood, and how he chooses to embrace the happy memory of the one time he was overjoyed to have his body. His classmates proceed to embrace him, jumping into his arms and declaring they'll make tons of happy memories with him. He continues that he knows it will take more than a generation to deal with over a century of prejudice, but that's why he'll continue the efforts to carry the torch, to become the world's coolest hero, and to pass on his good memory to the next generation.
In the present, the Liberation soldier attempts to spur the crowd on once again, claiming that Mezo won't give any alternatives and they will not give in to his naivety, only for him to be surrounded by a flock of birds, commanded by Koji, who has manifested newly awakened horns from his Quirk, angrily demanding him not to laugh at his classmate. At this same time, Mezo also transforms his body further, and in response to Spinner calling him gross, he replies it's who he is.[3]
With his arms transforming into a giant fist, Mezo smacks Spinner very hard in the stomach with "Octospansion", accompanied by a Voice attack from Present Mic. Mezo yells to Spinner and the civilians, asking what do they want to protect with their gifts and power, and as he thinks about the girl who apologized to him after he saved her, tells them not to exploit their wounds and be better than avengers.
Spinner responds back with the "call to action" he declared before the war started, that their grudge will never fade and if the heroes win, nothing will change. When they are hit, they must hit back, commanding his comrades to follow him. He blasts his way toward the Hospital, shocking Tentacole at just how much stronger he's become, while the rest of the army follow suit.[93]
While Present Mic heads into Central Hospital after Spinner, Mezo and Koji continue to try to hold off the rampaging heteromorph army. One of the people in the crowd is about to kill Mezo from behind until he is suddenly stopped by a fellow member, causing most of the fighting to stop as everyone looks on in surprise. The heteromorph army who entered the hospital are all emerging outside after hesitating to raid the hospital. He stares at the people standing in front of the Hospital's entrance, saying he thinks they're using their anger the wrong way.
The man responds that he still hates how he has been beaten up for no reason, but also worries if he's being indecisive, stating that he got excited over the "call to action" and since the world turned on them they had to turn in upside down. He thought the time was finally right with their leader, but now wonders if the entire world is truly their enemy, and that he doesn't want to hurt the people in the hospital and breaks down crying in shame. His actions and speech moves all the civilians in the army to halt their advance, causing other Liberation soldiers to cry out why they're not marching forward.
Mezo understands the feelings that gathered them all together weren't wrong, as the ones who've hurt them haven't been dragged into the light yet. After a Hero apologizes to the warrior for not realizing their struggles, Mezo believes that they are all a bright shining example, so they must use this light to change the people who inflict harm, until they feel ashamed of all their cruelty. Rock Lock looks on, noticing how all movement and passion from the army has ceased, calls out for reinforcements to move toward the hospital to stop Spinner from awakening Kurogiri.[95]
Despite their best efforts, Kurogiri is awakened, and teleports himself and Present Mic away from the Hospital to U.A.[96] As the storm starts to pick up, the injured are escorted into the Hospital for safety, while the Liberation Front members are apprehended. Koji helps with bringing Mezo inside to get his injuries treated.[97]
After the clean-up at Central Hospital has concluded, Mezo and Koji are summoned by Shota, who has gained control of "Kurogiri" and has begun assembling all the remaining Heroes who can still fight to provide reinforcements for the final battles. Mezo, alongside most of his fellow 1-A students, are warped to Mt. Fuji to help Izuku in his fight against "All For One". He responds with a "right back atcha" to Eijiro's remark at reuniting with everyone else, as all the Heroes assemble on the location, declaring "We are here!"[98]
As Izuku runs toward "All For One", the villain unleashed hordes of Quirk attack all over the battlefield, blasting away every Hero who gets in his way, but they all keep countering against his attacks. Shota then calls out to the Heroes through their comms, telling them to help Izuku carve a straight path to Tomura.
As more Heroes continue to cover Izuku, Mezo and Tsuyu grab ahold of Izuku, telling him the rest of them aren't agile enough to weave past the brutal attacks, but they can still help carry him partway there, and thrust him forward, with Izuku thanking them. Thanks to the efforts of all his allies, Izuku come into direct contact with the villain and bashes him with a Smash right through his chest.[99]
Eventually, Izuku manages to defeat "All For One" once and for all, as he succumbs to his injuries and dies as his body disintegrates into ashes.[100]
A week after the end of the Final War, the restoration efforts that were stalled after the Jaku Hospital Raid have picked back up at a breakneck pace, as Heroes from around the world arrived to provide support and resources in rescue and rebuilding Japan. Mezo has recovered from his injuries and returns to the partially rebuilt U.A.[101]
Epilogue Arc#
Later, in June, Mezo attends the U.A. High Graduation along with the rest of his classmates. He watches the Third years receive their diplomas from Principal Nezu, including Tamaki, Nejire, and Mirio. Mirio also gives a motivational farewell speech, speaking about the need for a bright future where people can smile.
After graduation, Class 1-A becomes 2-A and moves to a temporary classroom, where Shota informs them that he will remain their homeroom teacher for another year, much to the class's delight. Yuga then enters to say goodbye, having decided to leave U.A. to atone for his crimes, vowing to become a true hero from scratch. To keep everyone else from crying, he shoots his Navel Laser everywhere.
Yuga then reveals that Hitoshi will be taking his place as Class A's newest member. Mezo and several of his classmates are happy about it. Feeling left out by everyone's excitement over Hitoshi, Yuga shoots his lasers again, asking his former classmates to start planning his farewell party.
After things calmed down, their senior Mawata Fuwa announces that during the next weeks, the second and third-year students will participate in reconstruction and patrol tasks throughout the country under her supervision. The students are surprised when she casually addresses Shota as "Era-sen", and Mawata explains she used to be in his class, and he once expelled everyone to give them a taste of "death," which made them understand why they wanted to become Heroes.
The next day, after the new first-years mobbed Katsuki and Shoto in an excess of admiration and had to be scolded by Tenya, Class 2-A join up with some Heroes in a city on reconstruction duty, assisting Fat Gum, Suneater, and Best Jeanist in demolishing and repairing a section of buildings. As reconstruction treks on, local civilians provide food for the students to eat for lunch, as a thank you for their help and hard work.
At that moment another bus arrives, bringing the first-year students. Their homeroom teacher, Cementoss, explains they insisted on helping with the reconstruction efforts in order to be of use and to make up for their earlier misgivings. They are given minor tasks to assist while class 2-A rest.
Later that night, because they eased up on dormitory requirements, students who wanted to go back home could, Ochaco decides to go home for a bit. Tsuyu had noticed that Ochaco was suffering despite trying to pretend everything was fine, and she tried to contact her, but Ochaco wasn't responding to her text messages. Concerned, Tsuyu decides to tell the rest of the class about what's happening, and immediately everyone goes out to look for her.[102]
Mezo and the rest of Class A head over to the hillside of former Troy to check on her, only to see that Izuku had come before the class and Ochaco seems to be doing well. While they comfort her, Katsuki asks Izuku about the embers of One For All he just used up. The class freaks out upon learning that Izuku only has embers remaining of One For All, and swarms over him to get the details and scolding him for leaving them in the dark, which the boy quickly agrees to fill them in on.
Later, Class 2-A celebrate their goodbye party for Yuga, with Eri singing for the first time in front of the entire class while Kyoka plays the guitar.[103] As the months went by, Mezo would continue working on his school. At one point thanks to his efforts on behalf of the heteromorphs during the war, Mezo receives an award, and is accompanied by his classmate Koji to the event.
As time passes, Class A becomes Third Year and focuses on their reconstruction efforts while doing Hero work. Finally, it was time for Class A's graduation ceremony, and all Third Year Students from Class A, B, and Support Course are prepared to have their diplomas ready. After receiving his diploma from Principal Nezu, Mezo listens to Tenya's farewell speech about their hard work, which ends with a bang with an huge explosion caused by Katsuki and Monoma.
In the eight years following his graduation, Mezo becomes the full-fledged Hero Tentacole . After his fight with Spinner, Mezo vows to end violence against those with mutant Quirks. Alongside Koji, who becomes his sidekick, they deal with human rights issues for those with heteromorph Quirks. Thanks to his efforts to fight discrimination, Mezo has garnered worldwide attention.
Over time, Mezo receives the Imamura Peace Prize alongside Koji and Kojiro, due to devoting his efforts toward finding resolution to conflicts surrounding discrimination against mutant Quirk users and inspiring peace amid heteromorph discrimination-related issues. Mezo dedicates the award to those who joined the uprising eight years ago, and that he just stood atop the resolve they demonstrated to the world.
Meanwhile, Izuku is now a teacher at U.A., and due to his loss of One For All, Mezo and his former classmates funded the creation of a mechanical armor similar to Armored All Might for Izuku. They have to pool a lot of funding from their Hero Work to help making the suit with the aid of Melissa and Mei.
Once the suit was done, All Might delivers the surprise gift for Izuku, who tears up and smiles to be able to be a hero again. When Hawks mentions traffic being backed up because of a landslide on WarStar Road and requesting Heroes who can respond, Izuku puts on his new "Armored Deku" suit and is joined by the rest of his former classmates. As they head to the landside, Mezo joins the rest of her fellow Heroes of Class A.[104]
At a restaurant, the former students of Class A celebrate Shoto's new Number 2 Hero ranking on the Hero Billboard Chart JP. The classmates discuss amongst themselves the differing nature of the hero rankings nowadays, and joking around about each other's placements and their current statues as Heroes and Sidekicks. Rikido mentions his surprise everyone has been able to get together once again, which Mashirao states is due to the decreasing number of Villains every year. Fumikage remarks on the Heroes both old and new that have continued fighting all this time, thinking that eventually Heroes are headed towards extinction. Suddenly, everyone receives a notification of a criminal's Quirk causing a lot of damage, as the former classmates blast off together.
The incident is quickly resolved, as the criminal is arrested, noting that it was just a "sudden impulse". The group decide to split up for the night, with all of them going their separate ways.[105]