The My Hero Academia fandom is a busy one, and fans toss around many thought-provoking theories and predictions about the series while also debating who is the best "ship" for whom. Shipping has been a big deal in the anime community for years, and the main ship, IzuOcha, is just the start. In theory, many more relationships could soon take root in the story.
Fans often ship the brilliant Yaoyorozu Momo with the talented Todoroki Shoto, since the two characters fought Eraserhead together and formed a good team. However, Momo has limited chemistry with Shoto. Instead, she would make a much better match for her class president, Iida Tenya, since they have so much in common.
What Momo & Tenya Have In Common As A Potential Ship
Anime fans may base a ship on any number of factors, from the characters having a definite on-screen romance to a shared hobby or even a shared experience, and the latter is how fans ship Momo with Shoto. They fought their teacher Eraserhead together in a mock battle, where Shoto gave Momo a pep talk to help restore her self-confidence. It was a fine moment, and the Momo/Shoto ship has some merit, but the two characters have little chemistry aside from being teammates. On a personal level, Momo has much more in common with Iida Tenya in many subtle ways.
Everyone in class 1-A is determined to become a hero, with Izuku and Bakugo in particular being motivated to surpass their idol, All Might. Shoto, however, is primarily motivated to spite his tyrannical father Endeavor, to the point where he'll push others away. By contrast, Momo has a more wholesome drive to become a hero, with her heart burning with passion. Similarly, Iida Tenya is fiercely determined to succeed, and he has his hero brother Tensei to inspire and motivate him. Momo and Tenya are aggressively driven people, but not to the point of alienating others. That's the first step toward their ship.
Momo and Tenya also have similar personalities and worldviews, with both of them acting like responsible and protective older siblings to their classmates. Tenya is actually the little brother in his household, but at school, he is mature and hardworking beyond his years, and he feels personally responsible for each of his classmates as class president. Momo has a similar attitude, being the intelligent and dignified vice-president of her class, and together, the fandom considers them the "mom and dad" of class 1-A outside of Aizawa himself.
These two students understand and respect each other deeply as a result, and they are often seen together, especially if no one else is around. They're almost in their own little world as class 1-A's loving "parents" -- something they've clearly bonded over. Given a chance, their relationship could become something much more.
The Future Of The Momo/Tenya Ship
So far, the story of My Hero Academia has done relatively little to establish Momo and Tenya as a bonafide couple, even if they have a lot of common ground and spend plenty of time together. Neither of them has shown any romantic interest in anyone at all, let alone each other, which sets them apart from the more firmly-rooted IzuOcha ship. In the manga's latest chapters, the entire world is falling apart, and no one in class 1-A, not even Izuku and Ochaco, has time to think about love and dating, and the story was fairly light on romance to begin with.
For the foreseeable future, Momo/Tenya remains a hypothetical what-if ship, even if the two characters have strong chemistry, and Momo's empowering moment with Shoto means that the Momo/Shoto ship remains one of the series' most popular so far. All the same, if class 1-A finally triumphs over All For One, then one day, in a more peaceful world, Momo and Tenya will get a chance to explore the possibilities of their relationship after all they've been through. And for the time being, at least, the future possibility of Momo/Tenya is a ripe one to explore in My Hero Academia fan art and even fanfiction, where the sky's the limit.