Nezu, also known as Mr. Principal, is a Pro Hero and the principal of U.A. High School. He is an extremely rare case of an animal who manifested a Quirk.
Appearance#
Nezu is a small white-furred stoat-like creature with with circular black eyes, a large scar over the right one, relatively rectangular-shaped ears with pale pink insides slanting outwards from the top of his head, and an elongated muzzle with a small round nose; he describes himself as being a combination of a dog, a mouse, and a bear.[3] His fur is white and has paws with pink pads and a thin tail.
He sports a white dress shirt, a dark red tie around his neck, a black double-breasted waistcoat and matching dress pants. He wears orange lace-up sneakers with incredibly thick soles which seem to be quite large on him, very similar to the ones usually worn by Izuku Midoriya.
Personality#
As befitting to his role as principal of an academy for heroes, Nezu is an eccentric, polite, and persistent educator. He is quite self-aware of his odd appearance and introduces himself by pointing it out.
He can be very long-winded at times when explaining or educating. Nezu composed an entire lecture on his educational theories concerning the balance between hero and instructor, which he happily spoke of over tea with All Might. His dedication to educating goes as far as assessing villains, especially young ones, and wondering if they could be put on the right path if they were taught, although he admits the naivety of the idea.
He is not above putting himself on the front lines or in danger, with his focus being the safety of his students. He understands strategies between hero conflicts enough to participate in the debriefing after the invasion.
As a result of abuse and mistreatment by humans in the past, Nezu's true character reveals itself whenever he is in combat. He enjoys "toying" with humans. He still holds a grudge over the many experiments he went through, coming off as slightly insane and unpredictable as a result.
Abilities#
Enhanced Senses: As an animal (be it a dog, mouse, or bear), Nezu has above average senses of hearing and smell.
Tea Brewing: Nezu loves a good cup of tea and knows how to make it.
Industrial Crane Driving: During the First Term Final Exam, Nezu used a giant wrecking ball to create chain reaction destruction to combat Mina Ashido and Denki Kaminari.
Strategy: Thanks to the great intelligence bestowed by his Quirk, Nezu is an exceptional strategist who is able to execute complicated plans in a short manner of time. This is best seen during his Final Exam fight against Mina and Denki, where he utilized a large crane to destroy their surroundings and send rubble down around them, forcing both students to flee in panic. Predicting their movements, Nezu destroyed the structures to create chain reactions that would in turn block off all their exits apart from only one. This method forced them to focus on evading the destruction rather than seeking the remaining escape gate, which resulted in them both failing the practical battle due to their time limit expiring.
Vast Wealth: Nezu is extremely wealthy. He was able to easily fund the upgrades of U.A.'s defensive mechanisms with his own money.
Security Planning and Management: As the Principal of U.A. High School, Nezu is in charge of maintaining the school's advanced security system. Most notably the U.A. Barrier that will trigger large walls to rise up and seal off the entrance should anyone try to enter the school without a student ID or visitor pass. Following the Paranormal Liberation War, Nezu makes several advancements to U.A.'s security, such as converting the grounds into shelters that are able to move into an underground network and transport to different safe areas, essentially viewing the school's system as a game board. Additionally, between the surface and the underground shelters are three thousand layers of bulwark plates, that are able to separate and delay attacks should the school's system detect anything out of the ordinary. Furthermore, as a precautionary measure against Himiko Toga's Quirk, people who seek refuge at U.A. are made to wait for a certain period of time before entering, to ensure that her transformation time limit would have ran out.
Quirk#
High Specs: Nezu's Quirk grants him a high level of intelligence that surpasses that of humans. It also evolved his body to enable him to live freely like a normal person, despite being an animal.
Stats#
Battles & Events#
U.S.J. Arc U.S.J. Incident U.A. Teachers vs. League of Villains Final Exams Arc First Term Final Exam Team Ashido & Kaminari vs. Nezu
Chapter Appearances#
debut
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yes
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sc
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flash
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v
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yes
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p
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Anime Appearances#
debut
sh
yes
yes
m
yes
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m
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p
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p
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yes
flash
yes
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m
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f
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m
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yes
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flash
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Trivia#
- Nezu's name is a play on the Japanese word for "rat". Also, it's written with the kanji for "root, base, basis, foundation" and the kanji for "saliva, ferry, ford, moisten".
- Nezu is one of four known examples of an animal possessing a Quirk, along with Kuin Hachisuka, Monster Cat, and Bee☆Pop.
- According to Nezu's Volume 3 profile:
- He likes brushing.
- He is a smoker.
- According to Nezu's Ultra Analysis profile:
- As the principal of U.A. High School, Nezu shows unparalleled humanity (whilst ironically being non-human) in the way that he cares for his students.
- His extremely sharp thinking has earned him All Might's trust and respect.
- Nezu loves squirming into tight and confined spaces, which is presumably him following his natural instincts, being the reason why he loves hiding in Shota Aizawa's Binding Cloth.
- His personality is described as "refined yet friendly".
- Nezu's English voice actor, Jerry Jewell, also voices Kesagiri Man.
- His birthday falls on New Year's Day.
Quotes#
- (Introducing himself) "That's right. It's me, Nezu, the one who could be a dog or a mouse or a bear, but more importantly... I'm the principal!"[3]
- (To himself) "We're starting to feel the effects of 'losing our symbol' more and more as time passes... what we need now is a revival. At least for the students... we need to present them with prospects of a brighter future."[4]