Right now, My Hero Academia is poised to become one of the shonen "big three," along with other contenders like Demon Slayer and Black Clover. This is a story about superheroes and their great battles against villains, and heroes are trained at high schools like UA and Shiketsu. Only the most talented students can get accepted at these schools.
UA, Shiketsu, and Ketsubutsu are among the most prestigious schools out of many, and the students there show all kinds of promise in many ways. Katsuki Bakugo is among the most powerful, with his explosive quirk and his hotheaded attitude, but raw power alone doesn't make for a good hero. When it comes to quirk mastery, clever thinking, and charisma, which ten students are more advanced than Katsuki Bakugo?
10 Shoto Todoroki
Like Bakugo, Shoto might need a bit of an attitude adjustment. After all, he totally clashed with Inasa Yoarashi while they were fighting against Gang Orca. But Shoto's working on that, and he's mellowing out bit by bit.
Shoto is sharp and perceptive, and he can use both his ice and his fire to negate any advantage his opponents might have. He's quick on his feet and knows how to disable his enemies quickly, like when he froze shut Iida's calf-engine vents.
9 Izuku Midoriya
Katsuki Bakugo is Izuku's childhood friend, but after a point, he started to look down on Izuku since the latter didn't have a quirk of his own. But not Izuku has One For All, and Bakugo is feeling threatened by that newfound power.
Izuku rivals Bakugo in strength, and he has long since learned to observe his enemies and allies alike to figure out viable combat strategies and get the job done. That, and Izuku has even more guts than Bakugo does.
8 Fumikage Tokoyami
It may be true that Fumikage can't easily beat Bakugo in a duel since the light from Bakugo's explosions weakens Dark Shadow. But otherwise, Fumikage has clearly demonstrated that his the more talented quirk user between them.
Using a quirk that can think isn't easy, but Fumikage has learned to work with Dark Shadow as a team, and he can use Dark Shadow's fast, flexible body for offense and defense with equal ease. It's difficult to block Dark Shadow's multi-directional attacks, and Fumikage keeps a tight rein on it all the while.
7 Mirio Togata
Mirio Togata of UA's "big three" is probably the most talented student in any class, or indeed any hero school right now. His Permeation quirk allows him to phase through objects, but at first, it seemed totally unsuitable for heroics.
Until Mirio started training and practicing like crazy, and he gained a lot of battlefield intuition so he can predict his enemies even if he can't see them. This allows him to deliver devastating punches at exactly the right place and time.
6 Inasa Yoarashi
Inasa is a student from Shiketsu, UA's main rival school. Inasa embodies the competitive spirit of that school, and his outgoing personality takes some getting used to. But he's not just a goofball; he's a master of his quirk.
His quirk allows him to create wind, and he can control hundreds of subtle air currents all at the same time. In this way, Inasa collected hundreds of balls during the hero license exam arc and tagged dozens of students all at once. No one else accomplished anything like that.
5 Saiko Intelli
This girl comes from the Seiai hero academy, and she may not be much of a fist-fighter, but she does have strategic talents and leadership abilities. She alone commanded all of the students in her school, and nearly scored a major victory.
She trapped Tsuyu, Momo, Kyoka Jiro, and Mezo Shoji in a skyscraper and nullified their quirks. It almost worked, and her IQ can climb frighteningly high when she drinks the right sort of tea. One day, she'll surely become a great leader of heroes.
4 Momo Yaoyorozu
Momo Yaoyorozu is one of two students who got into UA through recommendations, the other being Shoto Todoroki. Momo's dueling skills may be limited, but her real role is to function as a support hero. And no one is better at it than her.
With her genius IQ, Momo is not only an ace student, but she can easily understand the composition and inner workings of any object, and create it perfectly with her quirk. That takes true talent, and Momo demonstrates it time and again.
3 Kyoka Jiro
Kyoka Jiro is the rock 'n roll loving student of class 1-A, and this petite girl can use her long ear lobes to fight using sound. She can generate sound waves to disable her enemies or blast the terrain apart, but that's not all.
Kyoka can also plug her earphone jacks into walls, the floor, or anything else to hear far-off objects and people to gather intelligence and determine the movement of other parties. That must take some real finesse, and Kyoka can do it on command, no matter the situation.
2 Neito Monoma
Neito Monoma flamboyantly embodies the rivalry between hero classes 1-A and 1-B at UA, and while he may be obnoxious, his skills are for real. Neito is sharp and perceptive, and notices things that slip by even the pro heroes.
He can also copy other people's quirks with ease, a skill-intensive strategy that involves touching his enemies and using their quirks for himself. He must have practiced long and hard to work out that strategy.
1 Tsuyu Asui
Tsuyu Asui, also known as Froppy, is a frog-themed hero who doesn't excel in any one area. Instead, she is highly competent in nearly every aspect of the hero's life, from her clever use of her quirk and the terrain to her strategic planning.
Aizawa himself commented that Tsuyu has no real drawbacks as a hero trainee, and her wits and flexible combat powers are fully realized even this early in her career. Many of her classmates could stand to be more like her.