In the superhero anime My Hero Academia, we are thrust into a world where superpowers (quirks) are the norm, and heroes and villains are clashing on every street. So, many hero schools have been built around the world, and UA is Japan's top school, as a rival to Shiketsu High. Izuku Midoriya enrolls once he gains the quirk One For All, and he meets many of his peers in class 1-A. One of them is Rikido Sato.
So far, Rikido Sato has mainly been in the background, since he does not have a flashy quirk, a tragic backstory, or an outgoing personality. Still, he's one of the best melee fighters in UA, and his punches are devastating, even against sheer concrete! In the future, Rikido may get a chance to shine. Until then, we ought to get to know this huge student hero a little better.
10 He's not totally confident in his culinary skills
Late in season 3 of My Hero Academia, the UA students were moved to on-campus dorms for security reasons. They promptly had a contest to see whose bedroom was the coolest. When Rikido Sato took his turn, he revealed his bedroom/kitchen setup.
His classmates, mostly the girls, were delighted, and Rikido was pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm. He doesn't seem to think much of his own cooking, but now, he can cook with pride!
9 His quirk prompted baking
Sometimes, a person's quirk may determine what kind of job or hobbies they get, whether or not they become a hero. Let's not forget that most people in the world have quirks, not just the villains and heroes (and vigilantes).
Rikido never planned on becoming a baker or chef, but since his quirk makes use of sugar consumption, he had no choice, and began baking to keep that quirk powered up and to keep constantly eating sweets from getting boring. But if you ask us, that's a pretty modest price to pay! It's more like a bonus.
8 His design didn't change much
Any artist will go through some preliminary designs for their characters, not to mention costumes, equipment and weapons, animals, and just about anything else. My Hero Academia author Kohei Horikoshi planned out every character in advance and toyed with all kinds of ideas.
Rikido Sato is fairly straightforward, and his concept art images and final product are fairly similar. You could think of him as a stabilizing element of the series, not needing any gimmicks to be a good character. Other characters, though, ended up totally different than their initial designs.
7 He might have starred sooner
As we mentioned earlier, Rikido Sato has done little to stand out so far, and his quirk was actually the last one revealed (among all class 1-A characters). He's a solid fighter, but nothing flashy.
Author Kohei Horikoshi, though, really likes Rikido's quirk, and says that he would have featured it sooner if possible. Imagine if Rikido fought an early battle alongside Izuku as a star. Maybe he'd end up as Izuku's best friend!
6 He's meant to be old-school
This may be a bit abstract, but it can be safely said that Rikido is a throwback to previous decades in superhero comics. Some characters of My Hero Academia are designed after heroes like Spider-Man or even prince Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender.
Rikido, meanwhile, is supposed to look like a classic, old-fashioned hero who doesn't need a scary dark side or a bizarre gimmick to stand out. Instead, he's a straight-laced hero who couldn't possibly be mistaken for anything else. Sometimes, going back to basics can make the old feel new again.
5 He's a decent but not outstanding student
Based on his quirk, combat performance, school grades, and personality, we can safely say that Rikido Sato is a middle-of-the-road student hero so far. He is not one of the stars, lacking a mega-quirk like Shoto's or Momo's or Bakugo's.
But he's still a good fighter and friend, and he doesn't suffer from a weak constitution like Jiro or Yuga. He didn't need any tutoring from Momo in order to pass the written midterm test. He's a B student, with room for growth. We look forward to seeing it!
4 He has tea time
This bit of trivia is courtesy of the official guide books. Rikido is a huge guy, being one of the tallest (and probably heaviest) students in his class. He positively towers over Toru and Jiro, and he could probably snap a 2x4 like a twig even without his quirk.
Rikido is a gentle giant, though, with a heart of gold and a fearless personality in combat. You could say that he takes after his quirk and is sweet as sugar. In fact, he often enjoys tea time with Momo, and we wonder if he puts on a tux for that. And we're positive he takes sugar with that tea!
3 He favors short, intense fights
Like Eijiro Kirishima, Rikido Sato is a melee fighter, and his quirk is ideal for delivering a knuckle sandwich to knock the bad guys flat. Both of them were challenged to fight Cementoss... and lost.
Why? They were tricked into fighting a battle of attrition, and both boys wore out fast. Rikido, like a sugar rush, has short bursts of intense power, so he has to act fast once he's charged up. If he can charge right at the enemy and throw a few punches, he's in good shape. And there's no need to hold back, either, since that sugar crash is coming fast. Do or die, Rikido!
2 He looks like an old manga character
My Hero Academia draws heavily from American comics, but it also borrows some ideas from older Shonen manga titles, some of which are older than many of this anime's viewers. Take Kinnikuman as an example.
Have you heard of that one? Don't feel bad. It ran from 1979 to 1987 in its original run, and then again from 2011 onwards. Its hero is a muscle-bound fighter with thick lips, and he looks a lot like Rikido Sato! Nothing like a manly role model for a hero in training.
1 The meaning of his name
Rikido calls himself Sugar Rush for his hero name, but what about his real name? The author made the effort to give his characters names that match their personalities and quirks, and Rikido wasn't left out.
His first name is written with the kanji for "path to power," and his last name is a homophone for the word for sugar! In short, sugar is the path to power, if you read his name in Japanese last-first order.