Written by: MJ Masilang | Published on: February 27, 2021 at 5:05 PM PHT (GMT+8)
In Kouhei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia, protagonist Izuku Midoriya goes to Japan’s most prestigious superhero school, UA High, and earns a spot in the elite Class 1-A. Obviously, this class is always in the limelight, but 1-A isn’t the only one that houses amazing hero students. Their counterpart, Class 1-B, is also full of talented individuals brimming with the same hope and potential of becoming pro-heroes.
But, who among these 20 students have proven themselves to be worth more than what they seem? For this list, we’ll be looking at 5 of 1-B’s, arguably, strongest students as well as how their quirk works.
NOTE: This following ranking is just an opinion of the author and may be different from your preferences. It may also contains spoilers as in-depth analysis of their abilities and quirks are included in the descriptions.
5. SETSUNA TOKAGE
Hero Name: Lizardi
Quirk: Lizard Tail Splitter
Kicking off the rankings is Setsuna Tokage. She’s one of two students from Class 1-B who were recommended into the hero course, which is evidence to how skilled she really is. She’s a chatty and thoughtful girl who’s well-respected by her peers, who say that Setsuna’s the most skilled and talented in Class 1-B. Her quirk, Lizard Tail Splitter, allows her to split her body into, at most, 50 pieces and control them telekinetically. The usage of this quirk ranges from surveillance to long range combat. What makes Lizard Tail Splitter an effective quirk is how each piece is still fully functional on their own. Setsuna’s limbs are nearly untouchable when they are split because of their small size and high mobility.
However, there is a time limit on how long a piece can stay detached from her. Once that limit is reached, the body part will stop functioning. Setsuna can regenerate lost body parts, but it’s a tedious process that she avoids as much as possible by gathering the scattered parts before the time limit at the risk of her location being discovered.
In the recent Ultra Analysis Book, Setsuna’s overall stats are exceptionally high. She scored a C in Power and A in Speed, Technique, and Intelligence, establishing the fact that she’s a smart and creative fighter, and one of the most talented in her generation.
4. IBARA SHIOZAKI
Hero Name: Vine
Quirk: Vines
Moving on, placing fourth on this list is the soft-spoken yet vindictive Ibara Shiozaki. She’s proven to be a formidable opponent, having earned fourth place during the UA Entrance Exam with a good balance of both villain and rescue points. Though she prefers a more stationary fighting style that relies heavily on her quirk, Vines, which gives Ibara strong vines that grow on her head in place of regular hair. She can lengthen these vines to as long as she wants and manipulate them as much as she wants to.
Ibara is highly proficient at using her quirk and utilizes it offensively, defensively, and restrictively. She can also cut the vines off at will and still control them. The vines are also resistant to electric shocks, which Ibara takes advantage of during the UA Sports Festival in order to defeat Class 1-A’s Denki Kaminari. They also appear to be thorny, but so far, we’ve never seen anyone get hurt by the thorns. And, while they may be tough, the vines can still be cut by someone other than Ibara herself. This student’s weakness lies in her preferred fighting style, which is effective at keeping Ibara at a distance from her opponent, but leaves her vulnerable to high-speed and close-quarters attacks.
In the Super Analysis Book, Ibara scored A in Technique, B in Speed, C in Power, and D in Intelligence.
3. JUROTA SHISHIDA
Hero Name: Gevaudan
Quirk: Beast
This next student will definitely remind you of a certain Beast from the X-Men, but without the blue complexion. Jurota Shishida is definitely one of the strongest students in the class, and probably the strongest when it comes to brute strength alone. His quirk, aptly named Beast, lets Jurota transform into a large, monstrous beast-man with explosive power and behavior. Along with his size, activating Beast enhances Jurota’s strength, speed, durability, and senses. He can easily send opponents flying with a swipe of his claws and scout them out with his enhanced senses of hearing and smell.
Jurota is very well-mannered because of his upbringing, but due to the nature of his quirk, he becomes wilder when he’s in his Beast form. Despite this, he seems to retain his keen intellect, meaning that he is still capable of strategizing against his opponents, but he can still make some ruthless decisions due to surge in euphoria. All of this combined makes Jurota an even more fearsome fighter. To add, high voltages of electricity barely fazes him in this form. It’s more likely that the opponent won’t be able to overpower him, so a battle would come down to trying to outmaneuver and outsmart him.
In the Super Analysis Book, Jurota seems to have well-balanced stats, scoring an A in Power, B in Speed, and C in Technique and Intelligence.
2. ITSUKA KENDO
Hero Name: Battle Fist
Quirk: Big Fist
We’re down to the final two! Itsuka Kendo comes in second on this list with her Big Fist quirk, which allows her to enlarge one or both of her hands to enormous sizes while increasing her overall strength, as well. Itsuka’s fists can grow up to three times bigger than her own body, but she doesn’t seem to be affected by the additional weight.
Itsuka is considered to be the “big sis” of Class 1-B and is amazing in both combat and leadership skills. She has an excellent handle on her quirk by primarily using it during close-range and melee combat, but we also see her using it for additional defense, transporting wounded allies, and restraining opponents. In the battle against the Vanguard Action Squad, Itsuka and her classmate, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, faced off against the villain Mustard where she exhibited how capable she really is as a student hero, both in fighting ability, tactical thinking, and compassion. Outside of battle, we see Itsuka comically incapacitating a certain blonde with a jumbo-sized karate chop.
In the Super Analysis Book, Itsuka understandably scored A in Power and Intelligence, and C in Speed and Technique, given that she’s a pretty straightforward fighter.
1. NEITO MONOMA
Hero Name: Phantom Thief
Quirk: Copy
Yes. The antagonizing blonde of Class 1-B gets the title of the strongest in his class. Neito Monoma is the sarcastic and conniving student who leads a personal vendetta against Class 1-A. He’s obsessed with beating their counterpart and showing them up in everything. However, he’s not all bite, no bark. In fact, Neito has one of the most useful quirks in the My Hero Academia universe.
Copy lets Neito utilize a Quirk after coming into contact with its respective user. He gains full access to the powers of the quirk, albeit at a more basic level. Copying multiple quirks is also possible and Neito can freely switch between the quirks he’s copied. However, there is a time limit of 10 minutes in which he can use any copied quirk before he loses the quirk. If he wants to use the same quirk again after the 10-minute limit, Neito has to touch the original user.
Such a versatile and powerful quirk has its own drawbacks, too. Neito can’t exactly copy any quirk he wants. Stockpiling quirks, such as One for All (power), Fat Absorption (body fat), and Rewind (unknown). His own body can also limit how he can handle more powerful quirks without sustaining bodily harm. Although he can copy multiple quirks, 4-5 so far, Neito can’t use them two or more at the same time. He easily solves the last problem with his quick thinking.
Regardless, Neito’s copied a handful of powerful quirks, including Katsuki Bakugou’s Explosion and Shoto Todoroki’s Half-hot Half-cold. He’s also copied Hardening, Size, Poltergeist, Scales, Solid Air, Softening, Twin Impact, and (presumably) Brainwashing.
Neito isn’t exactly the physically strongest in his class. In the Super Analysis Book, his Power and Speed are both a low E, but Technique and Knowledge are both at A+. He’s one of the smartest first-years and what he lacks in brute strength, he makes up for it with his strategic thinking, craftiness, and cunning.
Class 1-B is just as amazing as Class 1-A is, and it was hard deciding who’d get to be in the top 5! Here are some honorable mentions that just didn’t make the cut:
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu (Steel)
Kinoko Komori (Mushroom)
Juzo Honenuki (Softening)
Hiryu Yin (Scales)
What are your thoughts on Class 1-B? Do you agree with this list or do you think someone else deserved a spot in the top 5?
📷 Kohei Horikoshi, HeroAca Production Committee
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