U.A. High School is home to the next generation of heroes, and Class 1-A is among the best of them. However, if there was one bad apple in this class, it'd be Minoru Mineta. With the ability to pop off sticky and bouncy hairballs, Mineta's Quirk may not be the strongest, but it can be helpful. Too bad it's his character that holds him back.
On top of being smaller and weaker than his peers, Mineta is also cowardly to a fault and a massive pervert to boot. It's supposedly comedic relief, but many fans of My Hero Academia have gotten rather sick and tired of this controversial hero-to-be and all his creepy antics.
10 His First Real Moment In The Spotlight
While Mineta makes a couple of quick appearances here and there beforehand, his first moments in the spotlight are during the U.S.J. arc where he, Deku, and Tsuyu are separated from the rest of Class 1-A during the villain attack. Surrounded by villains and in need of an escape plan, Mineta's cowardly nature is in full swing as he immediately freaks out under the pressure.
Mineta was ready to just sit and wait for someone else to save them, and it's only thanks to Deku and Tsuyu's encouragement that Mineta gets in gear for their escape. While one can't really fault Mineta for panicking in such a tense situation, his constant whining and crying throughout this arc didn't make him endearing.
9 The Whole Dormroom Debacle
After several villain attacks, U.A. establish their own dorms to better protect the students, and of course, all of Class 1-A move in and quickly make it their own. Class 1-A decides to throw a little housewarming party of their own as they all check out each other's rooms, something Mineta tries to take full advantage of.
When checking out the boys' rooms, Mineta creepily tries to lure the girls into his room, but they all make the smart choice by ignoring him and moving on. Later on, Mineta tries to snoop through the girls' rooms and even tries to smell Toru's scent at one point. The dorms may have made the students safer from villains, but not safer from Mineta.
8 Tricking The Girls Into Wearing Cheerleader Outfits
At this point, nobody in Class 1-A should trust anything Mineta says. During the U.A. Sports Festival arc, Mineta and Kaminari team up to trick the girls of 1-A into wearing cheerleader outfits, lying about a cheer competition.
While Mineta wasn't the only one responsible for this one, he was the one who lied about Eraser Head making this fake cheer battle mandatory, using the fear of their homeroom teacher to get his way. What's clear is that Mineta's constant pervy behavior makes him sink to all sorts of lows, and it probably doesn't help that Kaminari enables him.
7 Learning His Reasons For Wanting To Be A Hero
Everybody in Class 1-A has their own reasons for being a hero, whether it's a desire to save people, prove their strength, or live up to expectations. Mineta, however, has probably the least noble of intentions. A flashback during the Final Exam arc reveals that the reason Mineta wants to be a hero was just to become popular, especially with the ladies.
While some students in 1-A have more altruistic motivations than others, Mineta's has to be the most selfish and shallow out of the bunch. His low desire to help others is disappointing, but not surprising. It's the kind of stuff that makes people wonder why he's even still in the school.
6 That Time He Discovered The Peephole
So begins the list of things that should've gotten Mineta suspended, expelled, or put on some sort of watchlist. One such occasion is when he finds a hidden peephole that connects to the girls' locker room. Mineta loudly announces his discovery and plans to use it to spy on his female classmates changing.
Thankfully, the girls were onto Mineta the whole time, and Jiro stabs him in the eye with one of her earphone jacks before he can see anything, but not before he creepily describes each of the girls' "assets."
5 That Time He Tried To Climb The Hot Spring Wall
If it wasn't clear yet, Mineta has little to no restraint. Even the thought of being near his female classmates while they're in the nude is enough to drive him wild. During the Forest Training Camp arc, Class 1-A get a nice relaxing dip in the hot springs, which is quickly ruined by Mineta who tries to scale the wall to get a peek at the girls' side.
Foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal, Mineta climbs all the way up by abusing his Quirk. Thankfully, Kota is waiting for Mineta at the top and pushes him to the ground below before he can see anything, telling him to work on "being a decent human" before becoming a hero. Nobody could've said it better.
4 Using Momo To Make It To The Finish Line
Mineta's not exactly the most physically fit student in Class 1-A, and his short stature doesn't do him any favors either. During the Sports Festival's Obstacle Race, Mineta is one of many students who try using their Quirk to get ahead. Originally he tries to attack Todoroki, but when that fails he takes a much more scummy strategy.
Sticking himself to Momo's back, Mineta ends up making it to the next round and dragging down Momo's score by forcing her to carry him to the finish. This is a low move even for him, and the glee he takes in it is pretty gross too.
3 Mineta Saves Mina, But Immediately Ruins The Moment
Despite his behavior, there have been times where Mineta has come in clutch, though they can be few and far in between. One of the more recent examples is from the Joint Training arc where Class 1-A faces off with 1-B. Mineta ends up saving Mina just before she's about to be hit by one of Nirengeki's attacks. Sadly, he completely ruins the moment.
Mineta uses the recoil from the attack to send him into Mina's chest, revealing that this was his real goal all along. If only he put half that amount of effort into actually being a hero.
2 Getting A Little Too Close To Tsuyu
Mineta pretty much uses any and all chances he gets to creep on girls, and Tsuyu is usually one of the first ones to punish him for it - rightfully so after what he pulled during the U.S.J arc. After their daring escape, Deku, Tsuyu, and Mineta make it to the central plaza. In a moment of joy, Mineta clings to Tsuyu and gropes her in the process.
What makes this moment especially bad is that, unlike the previous two examples, Mineta took advantage of a life or death situation in order to cop a feel. Tsuyu, like most fans of MHA, was not too happy with Mineta and almost drowned him for it.
1 That Really Creepy Comment He Made To Eri
Mineta's constant harassment of girls makes him nothing short of a huge creep, but for the most part, he stays within the frame of his own age group or older. However, in season four, he makes a disgusting comment that really crosses the line even more. During Eri's visit to Class 1-A, Minoru greets the young girl by saying "I can't wait to see how you look in ten years."
Eri is six years old, and Mineta is still completely incapable of greeting her without making it creepy. Mineta's passing comment is borderline predatory and makes him look like he's going to harass Eri one day, too. It's such a short moment, but one that reinforces that Mineta has long outstayed his welcome.