The female characters of My Hero Academia have never received the best treatment. In Class 1-A, it’s not unusual for girls to be sexually harassed by the unlikable Minoru Mineta. At a wider level, the character arcs of female characters are often lackluster or center on male characters.
Pro Heroines aren’t exactly exempt from this rule. In fact, fans have recently noticed an alarming tendency of severely injuring or even killing off heroines who make a real difference. It’s a true shame because many of these characters have made an impression as highly respected Pro Heroes, and have even become fan-favorites for viewers of the anime.
*This article contains massive spoilers for the manga.*
10 Lady Nagant Is A Former Pro Hero Turned Villain
When Lady Nagant is introduced to MHA fans, she appears as a villain. However, she's originally a Pro Hero and a popular one at that. Her Quirk Rifle makes her ideal for assassination missions, and she is recruited and used by the corrupt Hero Public Safety Commission.
Eventually, she snaps, kills the then-president of the Commission, and is arrested. After escaping Tartarus, she joins All for One's forces, but her confrontation with Izuku Midoriya suggests that she may still be a hero at heart.
9 Recovery Girl Provides Support For Heroes Who Need Healing
Not every hero fights on the front lines. Some simply provide support, and the best example of that is Recovery Girl. The quirk of the Youthful Heroine—eloquently called Heal—uses the patient’s stamina to speed up the natural healing process of the body. It’s incredibly powerful and has saved many lives.
8 The Wild Wild Pussycats Are Rescue Heroes Who Don’t Shy Away From Larger Battles
First introduced in the Forest Training Camp Arc, the Wild Wild Pussycats are a group of rescue-oriented Pro Heroes. The team is formed out of three women—Mandalay, Pixie Bob, and Ragdoll—and a transgender man—Tiger. They receive a serious blow after Ragdoll is kidnapped by the Vanguard Action Squad and her Quirk is stolen by All for One.
The team goes on a hiatus but joins the rest of the heroes in the Paranormal Liberation War Arc. Pixie Bob even makes an attempt to stop Shigaraki’s Decay, but unfortunately, there’s not much she can do.
7 Mount Lady Grows As A Hero And A Person In The Aftermath Of The War
As one of the very first heroes who appear in the anime, Mount Lady starts out as a vain character who's focused on the celebrity aspect of the hero life. During her first appearance, she steals an arrest from her fellow hero, Kamui Woods, and seems to disregard the collateral damage she does in the process.
Ironically, her Gigantification Quirk mimics her growth as a hero and as a person. After All Might’s fall, her demeanor becomes significantly more mellow. She is also among the heroes who refuse to give up even after the War. With the downfall of hero society, many choose to retire, but Mount Lady does not, which proves she's more than she originally seemed.
6 Thirteen’s Uses Her Deadly Quirk To Be A Rescue Hero
Many MHA Quirks can be deadly, and a perfect example is Thirteen’s Black Hole. The Quirk allows her to create black holes through her fingertips, which disintegrates everything that's sucked within its range. Thirteen uses her deadly power to become a hero, and during her first appearance, she explains her dedication and her work as a rescue hero.
She's seriously injured at the U.S.J. when Kurogiri turns her own Quirk against her. That doesn’t keep her from joining the fight later, and like many other fellow Pros, she participates in the raid at Jaku Hospital.
5 Midnight Is Killed In The Paranormal Liberation War
The Paranormal Liberation War makes many victims, and one of the most notable is Midnight. The R-Rated Heroine, previously the art teacher at U.A. High, participates alongside other heroes in the battle against Tomura Shigaraki and the rest of the Paranormal Liberation Front.
With villains like Shigaraki, Gigantomachia, Dabi, and Mr. Compress around, the forces of good suffer from serious blows. Midnight efficiently uses her Quirk against the members of the PLF, but in the end, she's seriously wounded and ambushed by Dabi’s regiment. She's killed and her body is later found by the members of Class 1-A.
4 Ryukyu Truly Has The Heart Of A Dragon
The Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu is memorable in the anime due to her mentorship of Ochako Uraraka and Tsuyu Asui, as well as her participation in the Shie Hassaikai Raid. A highly capable and level-headed hero, she is motivated by the desire to save people, as evidenced by her speech during the Hero Billboard Chart JP event.
Like other Pro Heroes, she participates in the Jaku Hospital Raid and manages to save a few people from Shigaraki’s spreading Decay. Despite acknowledging Tomura’s overwhelming power, she later faces him again. Even if she loses, her refusal to give up speaks volumes of her character. She truly has the heart of a fearless dragon.
3 Mirko Keeps Fighting Despite Losing Her Arm
The Rabbit Hero: Mirko has so far made brief appearances in the anime. However, fans have a lot to look forward to. Mirko’s brief attack against Dabi is only a taste of what this amazing heroine is capable of. During the Paranormal Liberation War, she effortlessly defeats the nomu standing in her way.
Even when one of them rips off her arm, she doesn’t stop fighting. Instead, she uses her legs to tear off the heads of her opponents. In the aftermath of the war, she begins using a prosthetic arm and is determined to continue being a hero.
2 Nana Shimura Remains A Warrior Within One For All Even After Death
All Might’s mentor and the seventh wielder of One for All, Nana Shimura embodies sacrifice, loss, and faith almost as much as All Might does. When she meets the Quirkless Toshinori Yagi, she believes in him and in his idea of becoming the Symbol of Peace. She loses her husband to All for One and decides to give her son Kotaro away. This decision is intended to protect him, but it only leads to him hating heroes. He later abuses his son, Tenko for his desire to become one. Tenko ends up killing his whole family, falling into All for One's hands, and becoming Tomura Shigaraki.
Nana is killed in battle by All for One, but her vestige still lingers in the Quirk and supports Izuku. She even tries to reach out to Tomura and prevent him from embracing villainy. Unfortunately, she fails and is unable to save her grandson.
1 Star And Stripe Dies A Heroic Death But Much Too Quickly
A more recent addition to the MHA pantheon of heroes, Cathleen Bate—known as Star and Stripe—is the Number One of the United States of America. Having been rescued by All Might many years ago, she has a profound admiration for the former Symbol of Peace. Her Quirk New Order allows her to bestow new properties onto herself and the world around her. She can only give two orders at a time, and she uses one constantly to enhance her physique in a way that practically mimics All Might.
Unfortunately, despite her power, Star and Stripe is unable to defeat Tomura Shigaraki. As the villain becomes a threat to the whole world, she engages him in a terrifying battle, only to have her Quirk stolen and eventually be decayed. However, she goes down fighting the vestige of her Quirk rebels against Tomura from within. Her death is truly heroic, but one cannot help but feel that she could have been so much more.