My Hero Academiahas introduced us to a wide cast of characters, both major and minor. Some of them are ones even people who don’t watch the series are familiar with, like Shouto Todoroki, Izuku Midoriya, and Katsuki Bakugou, because they’re incredibly popular and plastered all over the place. Others, like Neito Monoma and Ryuko Tatsuma, are fan-favorites as well, though they tend to be more to the side. This is the case for many characters in the series; the cast size ofMy Hero Academiais simply too large to focus on all the unique and interesting side characters.
And sometimes, it’s too large to even give attention to rather important characters.
Tenya Iida is one of those characters. It would be expected for him to fall to the side if he didn’t play any sort of major role in the story, but he does. He’s had an important storyline and has a key relationship with the central character of the series, Midoriya. He also serves as a comparison to another main character in the series, Bakugou, and has consistently shown that he is capable of being an incredible pro hero. He’s in no way a character to be overlooked, and yet, he’s often overlooked by both the fanbase and the story itself.
to explain Iida’s essential role in the plot, it’s important to look at his big moments and relationships. One of his major moments comes in the Hero Killer arc. This arc has a huge focus on Iida in general, as he has a bone to pick with Stain due to what the man did to his brother, Tensei. Iida decides to go after Stain despite the warnings from pro hero Manual to avenge his brother, and luckily, Midoriya and Todoroki arrive to help before Stain deals the finishing blow. This arc is meant to highlight a few key lessons inMy Hero Academia, such as the importance of letting go of grudges, allowing your actions to be guided by the good of the people around you, and, of course, that every action has consequences. Iida’s role in this arc also strengthens his relationship with two central (and popular) characters, Midoriya and Todoroki.
Other major moments come during exams and the U.A. Sports Festival arc. The U.A. Sports Festival arc showed the audience that Iida can hold his own against wildly powerful students, particularly Todoroki. While he ultimately lost his battle against Todoroki, he was able to hold his own and come up with a strategy to evade the ice attacks and grab Todoroki. Throughout the exams at U.A., Iida continued to display his strength and wits. The Final Exam arc saw him being instrumental to success by using his speed and leg power to evade attacks, and his idea to carry Ojiro and launch him gave them the upper hand. The Quirk Apprehension Test placed Iida as the fourth most powerful student in Class 1-A after Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, and Bakugou. He also had some of the best scores in the Provisional Hero License Exam, demonstrating not only his great combat abilities, but his search and rescue abilities, as well. In terms of ability, Iida is just as capable and strong as characters like Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki.
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Of course, the relationship Iida has with Midoriya is also important. Midoriya is the central character of the series; any recurring character that has a close relationship with him shouldn’t be in the background. Midoriya considers Iida one of his best and closest friends, and the two of them consistently inspire each other to grow and learn. They bring each other back to the right path when they stray. This puts Iida in an incredibly important position as a friend, advisor, and trusted partner to Midoriya and a method of helping Midoriya grow and develop as a character. Having so much impact on a central character should bring Iida to the spotlight.
If that doesn’t do it, though, then the fact that he shares many similarities with a fan-favorite character should. Bakugou and Iida share quite the similar backstory; both boys were given great expectations when they were young and were praised for their abilities and bright futures. For Bakugou, this all surrounded his Quirk. He was told he was the best, that he was incredibly powerful and destined to be a hero. For Iida, it was not only his Quirk, but his family name. He comes from a long line of great heroes and was told he would be great one day, too. However, the two handled this praise and expectation in different ways. Bakugou developed a superiority complex and became incredibly self-confident, looking down on everyone he considered weaker than him. Iida developed a more humble, studious personality and works hard to ensure he lives up to the expectations set for him. However, Bakugou is much more popular than Iida with many fans despite the similarities. This could be for a number of reasons, from Bakugou being a more conventionally attractive character to people being put off by Iida’s serious attitude and wild gesturing, but there is no denying that these two are meant to show two sides of the same coin. Bakugou is what happens when praise comes without humility, and Iida is what happens when it does. This is another reason that Iida’s role in the series is important; this juxtaposition of him and Bakugou represents how a person’s choices build their beliefs and personalities, which is a major theme ofMy Hero Academia.
So, Iida is incredible in terms of power and ability. He played a major role in the Hero Killer arc and holds an important position as Midoriya’s best friend and competitor, helping the series’ central character develop. He bears plenty of similarities to a more popular character, Bakugou. So why is he so often pushed aside?
The easy answer is that the cast ofMy Hero Academiais way too big.
There’s two whole classes of students, an army of pro heroes, an army of villains, and multiple new characters being introduced, killed off, or straight up disappearing every chapter. It can be hard to keep up with all of the characters when they get a few panels of a backstory or a single snippet of a scene and then they’re gone with the wind. This unfortunately happens to characters like Iida, too, who should have more important roles. When there’s this many characters, it’s nearly impossible to explore them all and give them proper attention, and this is a huge weakness ofMy Hero Academia. So, for now, Iida has to be a silent support, put into the background until he’s needed. But know this: he is anything but a side character, and he definitely deserves more love and attention, from fans and from the series.
