Every year brings forward dozens of popular new anime series, but it’s extremely rare that a series is able to connect in the monumental way that’s been experienced by Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia. My Hero Academia arrived at the perfect time when superhero and comic book culture was at an all-time high, but it’s able to creatively infuse that world with shonen anime staples and reinvent both genres in the process.

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My Hero Academia primarily focuses on the promising heroes of tomorrow that are in Class 1-A at U.A. High, including Izuku Midoriya. There are lots of different attributes that are admired by heroes in battle, but an individual’s intelligence is paramount and is always one of their strongest weapons.

10 Ochaco Uraraka Has Natural Brains That Continue To Impress

Anime My Hero Academia Uraraka Cannon Fire Work Study

Izuku Midoriya has made some important friends since the start of My Hero Academia, and Ochaco Uraraka is frequently positioned as one of Deku’s closer friends. As a result, Uraraka frequently shows concern over Midoriya’s safety and can be seen as highly emotional, but there’s so much more to the character. Uraraka has been given opportunities to show her strength and intelligence in battle, and she’s thrived in her work study programs and hero agency internships. Uraraka’s Quirk isn’t the easiest to control and her mastery over it reflects an intelligence that’s deeper than what most realize.

9 Kyoka Jiro Quietly Cultivates A Solution For Whatever She Faces

kyoka jiro my hero academia

Kyoka Jiro initially feels like more of a visual gag than a fully fleshed out hero due to her atypical Earphone Jack Quirk. Jiro often doesn’t get to lead the charge in battle, but the quieter moments where she’s allowed responsibility never disappoint. Jiro is shown to provide exceptional support when it comes to developing a battle strategy, and the very nature of her Quirk reinforces surveillance and stealth operations. She has to be able to properly see the big picture to get the most out of her powers.

8 Toru Hagakure Uses Her Hidden Status To Her Brilliant Advantage

Anime My Hero Academia Shoto Tsuyu Asui Rescue Kids Hagakure

Toru Hagakure is a plucky Class 1-A student who has still yet to receive a proper showcase, but she’s at least become more of a presence in the series and not just an easy gag about invisibility. Toru Hagakure’s Invisibility Quirk allows her to expertly conceal herself.

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A less ambitious hero would abuse this power or use it to prank her classmates, but Hagakure understands the true limits of what she can do with this Quirk. Hagakure’s Quirk benefits the most from patience and intelligence, which have helped her grow in some important ways.

7 Shoto Todoroki’s Perpetual Trials By Fire Have Taught Him Well

todoroki using quirk

It’s par for the course for heroes to have to overcome severe adversity in order to mature into responsible defenders of society, but Shoto Todoroki has had an especially painful life so far. The obsessive and negligent behavior from Endeavor, the patriarch of the Todoroki family, has hardened Shoto and taught him some important life lessons on redemption and forgiveness. What’s impressive about Shoto is that he’s a normal student who manages to grow into one of the smarter and more perceptive members of Class 1-A from all of the battle and life experience that he endures.

6 Tenya Iida Embraces Book Smarts To Build Confidence

tenya iida modifying his quirk mha

Tenya Iida is significant since he’s the first real friend that Deku makes upon his entrance into U.A. High. Iida is a unique individual in the sense that he presents himself as a brainy person and the teacher’s pet of Class 1-A. Iida embraces studying more than any of his peers and he flourishes under guidelines and lesson plans. Iida has the dedication and passion for learning, but he still faces setbacks and needs to get more practical experience in the real world. He’s not as much of a genius as he presents himself to be.

5 Katsuki Bakugo's Fiery Personality Hides A Delicate, Thriving Mind

(My Hero Academia) Bakugo through a hole in concrete he made using his Armor Piercing Shot

It’s easy to look at characters in extremes, especially in a series like My Hero Academia that so freely indulges in stereotypes. Right from the start, Katsuki Bakugo proves himself to be one of the more reactionary and explosive personalities in Class 1-A, which is perfectly fitting for his Quirk.

RELATED: The 15 Smartest Heroes In My Hero Academia, Ranked

Bakugo doesn’t like to admit when he’s wrong and he can be highly impulsive, but he experiences an important humbling when he initially fails the Provisional Hero License Exam. It’s a crucial experience that opens Bakugo’s eyes and makes him more receptive to learning.

4 Tsuyu Asui Is A Versatile Hero Who Flourishes Under Pressure

Anime My Hero Academia Tsuyu Asui And Selkie Team Attack

Tsuyu Asui has become a very popular character in My Hero Academia, and her unconventional Frog Quirk has proven itself to be unexpectedly useful on many occasions. Asui is visually entertaining as a result of her intense commitment to her Quirk and amphibian traits. In the wrong hands the Frog Quirk would quickly wear thin, but Asui proves how helpful it can be with the help of some inspired problem solving. Asui knows how to get the most out of her powers, and she’s been a crucial help during her hero agency internship and whenever she’s put into the field.

3 Minoru Mineta’s Constant Crassness Undermines His Winning Strategies

Anime mha mineta

Minoru Mineta is one of the more controversial characters in My Hero Academia due to how he seems to often be controlled by his lewder impulses and reflects some embarrassing tendencies. My Hero Academia has seemed to become comfortable keeping Mineta in this position, but it also makes the character’s genuine intelligence come as a greater surprise. Mineta helps develop some winning strategies during the Cavalry Battle as well as when he’s working together with Hanta Sero during the First Term Final Exam. If nothing else, his high midterm scores speak for themselves. He just needs to better apply himself.

2 Izuku Midoriya Is A Sponge For Knowledge And Always Learning

Anime My Hero Academia — Deku with a broken finger

There are many exceptional heroes in U.A. High’s Class 1-A, but Izuku Midoriya will be the legend of the school that future students will talk about for generations. Midoriya is a true underdog success story as an optimistic boy who grew up Quirkless, only to inherit All Might’s prestigious One For All ability. Midoriya is incredibly average, but he’s so passionate about the world of heroes that he fervently takes notes and absorbs everything that he’s experienced. It’s turned him into one of the smartest heroes in the series, and he adeptly utilizes a series of contrasting Quirks.

1 Momo Yaoyorozu Excels In Every Field And Holds Herself To A High Standard

Anime Momo Yaoyorozu final exam catapult

Momo Yaoyorozu is Class 1-A’s smartest student and a very fitting student representative. She’s as brainy as Tenya, but she also has the results to back up her reputation. Yaoyorozu sometimes gets underestimated due to her revealing costume, but even that is a reflection of her brilliance and is just the most practical way to take advantage of her skin-based Creation Quirk. Momo Yaoyorozu is consistently brilliant in My Hero Academia, and the supplemental hero books for the anime series list Yaoyorozu as the top of her class with unparalleled intelligence.

NEXT: MHA: 5 Class 1-A Students Who Would Make Excellent Roommates (& 5 Who Won't)