The Gifted is an antagonist in My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions.
Appearance#
The Gifted has spiky, messy black hair with some light-colored strands in the back. He wears a white shirt with an apron, black pants, and a pair of sandals.
Personality#
The Gifted is a twisted and condescending man who believes that anyone with a criminal record is scum of the Earth and considers them all to be a plague on society, even those who are trying to reform themselves. This is his reason for targeting ex-villains, finding it disgusting for them to be allowed back into society after serving a short stint in jail. According to him, people have thanked him for keeping villains off the streets, leading to him receiving his title and self-righteous attitude.
The Gifted is incredibly overconfident due to the power of his Deform Quirk, believing that teamwork is useless because of his ability to create swarms of robotic minions. Because of this, he has never had to rely on anyone else before and looks down on those who work together. He has never once failed and believes that because of his power, he has the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner, enforcing a "one strike and you're done" rule. He further believes that anyone who defends villains are just as guilty, leading to him targeting Izuku, Katsuki, and Shoto for getting in the way of his schemes.
Despite his flawed personality, The Gifted did start out with good intentions and his overinflated view of himself came mostly down to his powerful Quirk. He also cares about innocent lives and was horrified to see his Quirk cause mass destruction, thinking that he crossed the boundary he imposed on others and that it was all over for him. Thanks to Takeshi Bushijima however, he realizes his mistakes and turns over a new leaf to do better.
Synopsis#
After Takeshi Bushijima is released from jail, he thinks to himself how happy he is and how thankful he is to Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, and Ochaco Uraraka for helping him, when he is suddenly attacked. Later, Izuku gets a letter from Takeshi from All Might who tells him, Katsuki, and Shoto Todoroki that he was attacked, along with other former Villains reintegrating into society; he asks the three students to track down the Villain doing this, which they accept. Later in the dorms, Izuku is confused on how to find them as they don't have any clues or leads, which Katsuki responds by saying they should lure the Villain out with bait; Izuku and Shoto have no idea who to use, so Katsuki suggests asking Eijiro Kirishima.
Meanwhile from his hideout, The Gifted is staring at several monitors as the three students arrive in an alley way with Eijiro, who brought the temporarily released K3 Gang to act as the bait. The students hide and watch the K3 Gang as a drone flies above them which is connected to The Gifted's computer. When a hoodied man starts to approach the K3 Gang, he tries to swing with a metal pipe but is blocked by Izuku. He then thinks to himself that the attack the "man" did was not human at all, as he then sees a robot under the clothes. Meanwhile behind the screen, The Gifted is confused on why Izuku defended the K3 Gang.
The group are then swarmed by several more robots that they begin to fight. Shoto freezes them while Katsuki and Izuku destroy them, with The Gifted getting increasingly angrier at the three students, and says he'll have to judge them himself. Everyone then notices the drone and Izuku, Katsuki, and Shoto chase after it, though Eijiro has to leave to take the K3 Gang back to jail and leaves it to them. After chasing the drone they arrive at a giant abandoned industrial site as Katsuki notices The Gifted.
They ask if the drone is his and if he's the one sending out robots to attack others, which he admits to both. Izuku then warns his classmates they don't know what Quirk he has and what allies he has. The Gifted proceeds to use his Quirk and angrily tells them to not assume he needs help for what needs to be done. He then says he has no need for traditional allies as he makes more robots and has them attack them.[1]
Meanwhile at the Class 1-A dorms, Denki Kaminari sees Eijiro scowling and asks what's up, as he informs them about Izuku, Katsuki, and Shoto's current Team-Up Mission. Momo Yaoyorozu says she has full faith in them, with Fumikage Tokoyami agreeing with her, but then says for them to imagine how bad the situation must be if they are the ones struggling.
Back at the industrial site, the fight continues with neither Katsuki or Shoto able to use their Quirks due to being surrounded with canisters of oil and flammable gas. Izuku then asks The Gifted what his goal is, who explains it is to get rid of all criminals. When Shoto questions if he thinks he's doing the right thing, he says of course and that many others agree with him, which is why they began calling him "The Gifted". The three students try to get him to quit what he's doing; Izuku wonders why he can't offer them even a shred of mercy, with The Gifted yelling back not a chance and that they have one strike then they're done.
Right as he destroys the outer wall, all of Class 1-A arrive, along with Heroes Blackbelt and Odd-Eye, who are then attacked by robots. Even as they're easily destroyed, The Gifted continues to make more, yelling that he'll never fall to those who need teamwork as he tries to use his Quirk again, only for it to suddenly trap him as it goes out of control and causes the building to collapse.[2]
A news chopper reports on the scenes as Ochaco digs Izuku out of the rubble. He asks if everyone is okay, which she says she thinks so, though points out the town is in very bad condition and that they have to save the civilians around. The Gifted climbs out of the rubble, but is restrained by Momo. He tries to use his Quirk to escape, but it doesn't work because he has reached his limit.
The Gifted then realizes the damage he caused and assures himself it has to be fake, with Momo saying it's reality; The Gifted says it's over for him. The students go around helping everyone they can, but there's too many people in need of assistance. Takeshi then appears and approaches Izuku and Ochaco, who then approaches The Gifted. Fumikage asks Odd-Eye to use his Mind Reaper Quirk on him, though it doesn't reveal anything about him since he has not failed once in life. Momo says he's never relied on anyone else because he doesn't know how.
Takeshi is about to talk to The Gifted when suddenly Gantetsu arrives with food for civilians. He, Shoto, and Denki help him give out food. A family is distraught over their garden being destroyed when Kodama heals it with her Quirk. Even more people arrive including Omori Furiko, Sankyaku Kamehara, Aoni, Fuji Fukiyose, Raito Sanda, the Clean Witches, and others to help.
Takeshi tells The Gifted to take a look and that a single person is only capable of so much, but when they come to unite there's nothing they can't do. The Gifted says he's right but it's too late for him, and Takeshi adds it's a fact he's reaping what he sowed. The Gifted asks why he cares so much to which Takeshi responds by saying he's just like him, and that after Izuku and his friends saved him, he was able to get back up and do better. He sticks out his hand and says it's not over for him and for him to own up and do what he can. The Gifted takes his hand and proceeds to assist in helping repair the city.
He was presumably taken to prison to serve out his time like how Takeshi did when he was in jail.[3]
Abilities#
Overall Abilities: The Gifted is a powerful and calculating Villain who serves as a threat from both close and long range. He can use his Quirk to create drones and robotic minions, allowing him to conduct assaults and watch them from a distance. His hideout, an abandoned industrial factory, gives him plenty of material for his Quirk to work with, to the point where he was able to overwhelm Izuku, Katsuki, and Shoto, three of U.A. High School's most powerful heroes-in-training, with Izuku referring to him as a one-man army.
The Gifted is also tactical, with his hideout cutting off radio waves, preventing the three heroes from calling for help. He also placed canisters of oil and flammable gas in his lair, preventing Katsuki and Shoto from fighting with their explosions and flames respectively. The three students required backup from all their classmates and multiple Pro Heroes to be able to detain him.
Quirk#
Deform: The Gifted's Quirk allows him to deform items or his surroundings, which he can use to build new items, such as robotic servants, or manipulate his environment at will.
This Quirk has a limit on how much it can be used within a short time frame. Once this limit is reached, it will fall out of control and become entirely unusable for an unknown amount of time.