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Villains (
There are many different types of Villains in the world, including thieves, murderers, drug dealers, hate groups, and terrorists. Villains may also have a name similar to the ones used by Heroes and Vigilantes, they may also have Costumes, or even work in groups and organizations.
According to Naomasa Tsukauchi, in the current age, the crime rate committed by Villains is quite low as a result of being pressurized by the huge amount of Heroes.
Overview[]
Origin[]
Villains use their Quirks to gain power.
Before the Quirk phenomenon occurred, Villains only existed in fiction, such as Captain Hero Comics' Demon Lord. When Quirks seemingly made reality resemble these superpower-filled comics, the public took a second look at the concept of Villains, especially when some people began using their new gifts to benefit themselves instead of helping others. Some, like Yoichi Shigaraki, thought comics' idealist concepts could do good, including using the term "Villain" on real offenders. Meanwhile, others like All For One scoffed at the notion of Villains, saying the real-world wasn't so simple. Early on, who counted as a "Hero" and "Villain" had yet to be defined, blurring the line between the two. The most gray area of debate was where Vigilantes fit on the spectrum.
At first, the countries of Earth were unprepared for this new type of criminal and were overrun. Even organised crime collapsed, with traditional organizations like the Yakuza nearly going extinct. During this chaotic era, several notorious Villains arose, who would be remembered for decades, including: All For One, Oji Harima, and Destro. One major source of Villains in this era was the conflict between Quirk users, known back then as Metahumans, and anti-Quirk factions, such as the Meta Liberation Army and the Creature Rejection Clan. Meanwhile, other Villains, like All For One, would profiteer from both sides. As the births of Quirk-users increased, acceptance rose with it, eventually making the conflict lose its prominence.
Villains and crime as a whole are both reduced to mere spectacle due to the efforts and prescence of Heroes.
With the efforts of Vigilantes, the world finally stabilized and hero society emerged from the ashes. An official definition was created for Villains, which, though to a lesser degree, included Vigilantes. The Pro Hero profession was created to combat Villains and the rate of crime became low in the modern day. Villains were forced to adapt to this regulated world. Some accepted their careers were likely short-lived, prioritising the thrill over secrecy, committing crimes in broad daylight. Meanwhile, others retreated to the shadows, waiting and planning for the time to rise again.
All Might alone sewed fear into the hearts of Villains, to the point where Villains like Number 6 had to be purposefully discreet so as to not get on All Might's radar. Civilians felt so well protected, active crimes were watched like spectator sports, even casual and snide remarks would be made at low-rate Villains. While hero society succeeds in stopping physical crimes, its weakness is in addressing their social roots. Several Villains of the modern generation have their motives tied to the flaws within hero society. For example, prevalent discrimination has led many people to become Villains because they are rejected, hated and despised by society for a number of reasons, whether it be their physical appearances or their Quirks.
“Villain”[]
The Villain label has two distinctive definitions, the strict legal term and the broader cultural one. On the legal side, it is a category of criminals that use their Quirks to commit crimes. This definition includes a wide range of offenders, from petty thieves to serial killers. While the public mostly associate Villains with violent crime, villainous acts can be involved in white-collar crime. For example, Giran using his Muddied Quirk to daze the memories of his clients while brokering. Civilians can get away with minor offences without being labelled as Villains. According to Daikaku Miyagi, the Villain designation and registry is usually reserved for repeat offenders, although exceptions exist when it comes to the scale of the crime committed. It's implied that once an offender is deemed a Villain, they're treated more harshly in the justice system, including minors.
Pop☆Step is declared a Villain by the media after a large-scale Quirk attack.
It's a debate amongst Heroes on what the minimum requirement to be a Villain is and whether intent matters. An example is the Instant Villains: bystanders unwillingly injected with Trigger and forced to go on violent rampages. Endeavor believes any Quirk-user who endangers the public is a Villain and it's up to the Police to decide whether pressing charges is appropriate. Meanwhile, All Might counters that Heroes should assess their opponent's intentions and attempt to save them if they're a confused civilian. Eraser Head however, notes that there are guidelines set in place for more morally ambiguous cases; people who are suspected of villainy should be subdued for further questioning and have their identities confirmed.
There is a ranking system to differentiate Villains' threat levels, the lowest being F and the highest being SS. There are no known cases of Quirkless Villains, and Heroes don't have the jurisdiction to go after non-Quirk criminals, needing to refer them onto the Police.Although there is an expectation for extreme cases, allowing Heroes to use their Quirks to incarcerate non-Quirk criminals, albeit with restraint.
An offender remains a Villain until they've fully served their sentence or the statute of limitations runs out for their offence. Once either of these two things happen, they're considered an "ex-Villain", similar to an ex-con. Gentle Criminal was told by investigators he could still rebuild his life and reform himself, despite years of thefts and assaults. On the other hand, the very worst Villains, like the inmates on the lowest level of Tartarus, can be imprisoned for life and will be considered Villains as long as they live.
select group of officials, the term can be susceptible to bias and hypocrisy. What's morally right and legally right don't always overlap, leading to questionable cases on who counts as a Hero or Villain. The Hero Public Safety Commission orders its Pro Hero agents to commit traditionally villainous acts, but uses its authority to cover it up. Lady Nagant had assassinated dozens under the Commission's orders, but she was only legally deemed a Villain when she murdered one of their own. On the other side of the spectrum, many Heroes let The Crawler's vigilantism slide, knowing he was competent and good-natured. When an arrest warrant for The Crawler was issued, it was conveniently when the Police were at a low-point. Soga Kugisaki further accused the Police of demonizing good people and doing it to maintain their ego.
While Police and Heroes stick to a strict definition of Villains, the public use the term more loosely and casually. Villains are deeply ingrained into Japan's culture, to the point that young children frequently speak about them. In everyday usage, "Villain" can be a general insult for anything that's socially disapproved of. The insult can be used with different levels of seriousness, ranging from a petty joke to a genuine accusation. For example, people can be stereotyped as potential Villains based on their appearances or because of their Quirk type. While there's the comical ranking of "Heroes That Look Like Villains", this line of thinking has led to extreme cases of innocent people with Mutant-type Quirks being attacked. Mezo Shoji, for example, lived in a village full of people who hated him simply for his mutant appearance, leading to him being assaulted daily by them, claiming it to be a "blood cleansing.”
Becoming a Villain[]
Like other types of criminals, people commit illegal acts for countless reasons. It can be motived by reasoning anywhere from economical, political, social, or personal. Though Villains can add a unique angle to their motives via the usage of their Quirks.
For some people, the path to becoming a Villain starts with some kind of tragedy that leaves them with no other choice; such as when Jin Bubaigawara lost his job and was left alone and in poverty, or when Toya Todoroki suffered abuse at the hands of his father and ended up burning and disfiguring himself with his own Quirk. Even worse, some people can fall victim to the Quirk-boosting drug Trigger, which can make them lose their sense of reason and cause them to violently rampage and attack everything around them as their Quirks go berserk. These unwilling Villains are labeled as Instant Villains.
Other Villains are driven by a goal that they are passionate about, one they would not be able to achieve by other means; such as Chizome Akaguro wanting to purge the world of fake Heroes, or Kai Chisaki wanting to bring the Yakuza back to its former glory. At the same time, some Villains try to set themselves apart from others by trying to make their actions come off as "honorable" such as the Gentle Criminal being a gentleman thief who performs his organized capers with nobility, and the Hotta Brothers being dealers who pride themselves on selling a legal version of Trigger, despite their aforementioned acts still being illegal and wrong. Furthermore, the former boss of the Shie Hassaikai (prior to Kai's command) believed strongly in things such as honor and values, refusing to cross certain moral lines such as attacking civilians or harming innocent people, and believing that this distinguished the Yakuza group from regular Villains.
Young Himiko Toga driven to assault Saito, one of her classmates, due to her Quirk.
It's also possible for people with Mutant-type Quirks, otherwise known as heteromorphs, to become Villains due to the discrimination they receive based on their appearances. As revealed by Skeptic, many heteromorphs fall into villainy due to facing racism and inequality, which leads them to despise both society and Heroes as a result.Examples of this include Shuichi Iguchi and Chojuro Kon, where the former became a hikikomori due to receiving racism for his lizard-like appearance, and the latter was labelled as a monster for his chimeric traits. At the same time, there are also hate groups that target and commit crimes against heteromorphs, such as the Creature Rejection Clan and its various factions.
It is even possible for some people to end up becoming Villains solely due to the Quirk they were born with. Nine for example was born with a powerful, almost "god-like" Quirk that allowed him to control the weather, which led him to become disillusioned with the structure of society, feeling oppressed and desiring to create an ideal world where power would determine one's worth. Flect Turn grew to hate Quirks in general, specifically due to the effects of his Quirk always being active, pushing everything and everyone away, resulting in him becoming the leader of the cult Humarise, with the purpose of forming a world without Quirks.
Slidin' Go, a former Pro Hero, performing the MLA salute and betraying the Heroes.
In other cases, a Quirk can even affect one's personality to the extent where they would become Villains, such as Himiko Toga, whose Quirk requires blood, leading her to develop an interest in blood and gore that she was forced to suppress from a young age. This eventually caused her to snap under her Quirk's influence, attacking a fellow student who she saw bloodied and bruised from a fight and then promptly running away and becoming a serial killer involved in bloodletting murders.
Furthermore, though it is quite uncommon, it is even possible for Pro Heroes to be Villains, or become Villains, some having defected to the dark side, or others using their Hero position as a cover, such as Slidin' Go, Lady Nagant, and Rock. Although, in some instances, the Villain-Hero is actually a double agent working to take down the real Villains, as was the case with Hawks.
All these reasons aside, it is still possible for people to become Villains solely for their own self-interests, such as Goto Imasuji being a violent, rampaging killer for no other reason than hedonistic sadism and bloodlust. Other Villains are simply criminals or terrorists who are only out for profit, such as Wolfram and his crew.
List of Fanon Villains[]
| Name | Villain Name | Quirk | Organization | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|