In a world of heroes, trust can be a powerful thing that can reshape relationships and build powerful connections to overcome challenges. However, during an era of ambiguous morality and poor press, one starts to wonder who they can really trust and what being a hero really means. My Hero Academia has only become more engaging as the years have gone on.
It's no longer just the heroes journey for a once, Quirkless boy but now spans into an entire conspiracy and rebellion between class systems, cult leaders, and corrupt authority figures. When the heroes are in the midst of possibly their biggest battle yet, this list will try and predict a few surprise turns, as it looks at a few heroes that could quickly become villains and a few villains that may have a change of heart.
10 Hero To Villain: Hitoshi Shinso
This may sound odd considering that there was literally an entire character arc centering around not labeling a person based on villain stereotypes, but Shinso really does fit the bill for the type of guy who could switch over to the dark side (even if it was just undercover). Hitoshi Shinso is a student of U.A.'s General Education department who is currently struggling to work his way up to the Hero Course.
This is mostly because his own Quirk, Brainwashing, wasn't exactly built for U.A.'s robot-centric entrance exam and the sheer prejudice Shinso has felt since childhood for having a villain-esque Quirk. If there was someone really primed to turn or just really disappoint hopeful fans, it would be Shinso.
9 Villain To Hero: Stain
Stain is not necessarily all that bad of a guy. He was once a cheerful, ambitious student of U.A. who became disillusioned after learning how commercialized and egocentric the world of heroes had become. On a path to correct the wrongs that the current system has made as well as find a hero truly worthy of living up to All Might, Stain went on an entire rampage, ambushing and killing different patrolling heroes.
Given that his intentions were, to a rough extent, pure, Stain could soon redirect a lot of that angry energy to something much more constructive and rebuild the world of heroes from within, especially since he's counter-intuitively become a flag for villains.
8 Hero To Villain: Eijiro Kirishima
Kirishima is Class 1-A's personal fan of everything tough and hard boiled. He is also, to some people in the My Hero Academia community, a prime candidate for the hero traitor. He's one of the most suspicious students in the class given his sympathy towards some villains and strange connection to Bakugou (more on that later) and has a style and power primed for being a really good villain.
Whether it's because of some dark element of his past or just because he thinks villains are the cooler side, Kirishima may be one to put his friends as the wrong side of his sharp edges.
7 Villain To Hero: Kurogiri
In a surprising twist, the story recently revealed that Kurogiri is not only a Nomu himself but the manipulated, resurrected body of one of Aizawa and Present Mic's old friends. During their U.A. days, their little group consisted of the young, charismatic Present Mic, the grumpy cat, Aizawa, and the friendly, near motherly best friend, Oboro Shirakumo, who constantly looked after and encouraged Aizawa since their youth.
The series even hints that his tendency to help an inherently lonely person is what made him so caring for Shigaraki. Whether or not he'll change back to normal is debatable, but the fans in the future may see those black portals save a new team.
6 Hero To Villain: Denki Kaminari
Despite his recent win within the current story arc, Denki Kaminari is still a prime candidate for turning into a villain and, alongside Kirishima, one of the most debated candidates for being the traitor. In any other series, Kaminari would be one of the central characters consistently backing people up; but against his supposedly cool nature, he hasn't really appeared in the front lines all that much.
His power is also ideal for fighting on the villain's side, and it would be a huge twist to discover that Electrification doesn't actually short circuit his brain. If the heroes were to find that out mid-battle, things would get really electrifying.
5 Villain To Hero: Twice
Keeping hopeful for Twice's future after the current arc, Bubagaiwara is an ideal character to become good within the near future. He is simply a lonely guy who got in with a bad crowd that both fed and thrived on his dependency issues.
If he were to find a good group among the heroes who could accept him and a decent outlet for all of his pent up energy, Twice could finally get out of his own head and live in the good company of healthy people. Plus, his cloning ability could also single-handedly make him the most active hero of them all.
4 Hero To Villain: Nezu
Nezu is a sleeping beast within U.A.'s halls. Very offhandedly, the series mentioned that humans used to experiment on him and that he still holds a grudge against humanity to this day (a very encouraging trait for an educator).
Given his genius intellect, Nezu would be a perfect "mastermind" kind of a villain who doesn't so much fight heroes as much as he can thwart and sabotage them from within. He has plenty of motivation and the resources to do so, and it would be interesting to see the heroes struggle with what may be a literal cat-and-mouse chase.
3 Villain To Hero: Himiko Toga
Toga is just one of those characters that fans immediately love and pretty much expect to switch sides in the future. That is no different here. Besides the dream of seeing a classic yandere character become just a little nicer, Toga is primed for hero duty given her propensity to simply help her friends.
Toga had a tough childhood that alienated her for her nature, and she soon turned that negative attention against society itself. As part of the League of Villains, she finally found some friends and a constructive purpose for her abilities. Those same characteristics could just as easily be transferred to hero work, especially if she's convinced by her main, fanmade ship with Midoriya Izuku. Can love turn her twisted heart? It actually happens quite a lot in anime so don't be surprised to find Toga's creepy smile next to Deku in his next semester.
2 Hero To Villain: Katsuki Bakugou
This may not be a surprise to some fans, especially those who have eyes. Since his inception, Katsuki Bakugou has consistently appeared as the potential "Sasuke" of U.A. He has an inherently rowdy nature, constantly threatens to "kill" people, and is thrives for power greater than his own.
The series has surprised fans time and again by keeping him surprisingly good, but that thread may eventually run too thin if the series doesn't make the guy a little nicer. What is Bakugou willing to do to truly surpass Deku?
1 Villain To Hero: Tomura Shigaraki
Tomura Shigaraki is the main antagonist of My Hero Academia, and someone who has been positioned as just a messed up kid purely taken in by the wrong people. That is to say that he's a prime target for doing the classic turn for good after a heated and passionate battle with Deku. Shigaraki has a lot of pent up anger that resulted from a rigid household and an immensely tragic discovery of his own Quirk.
If he were to find the right person that he could actually connect with, those hands could soon be used for hugging instead of destruction (the cheesy imagery practically writes itself). Continuing the Shonen tradition of main bad guys becoming main good guys, Shigaraki may help Deku end the series' cycle of violence and alienation.