The story of My Hero Academia it is divided into a handful of different story arcs, with the US Sports Festival being one of the longest and most powerful of all. This particular arc introduced many new characters and Quirks to the story, all of them taking place just before, during, or after the United States Sports Festival itself.
Each story arc of la MHA has its share of plot twists and intriguing developments, and the Sports Festival arc has more than any other. A lot of ground was covered quickly, and those developments can be roughly classified according to how intriguing, shocking, or unexpected they were.
10 Neito Monoma copy quirk introduced
A handful of new Quirks were shown during the Sports Festival, including those of various Class 1-B students, such as Ibara Shiozaki and Kosei Tsuburuba. During the cavalry battle in particular, the obnoxious but seemingly intelligent Neito Monoma made his move.
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Neito surprised everyone with his Copy Quirk which, living up to its name, allows him to duplicate the Quirk of anyone he touches. This came out of nowhere, and Neito used it to copy the Blast and Hardening Quirks. Later, Neito would try to use this Quirk in Rewind and even One For All as well.
9 Mei Hatsume showing off her gadgets
Mei Hatsume belongs to the UA school’s support department, in class H, rather than the heroism department. Despite this, Mei participated in the Sports Festival alongside such powers as Izuku and Shoto, and she shone during the cavalry battle and even in the tournament.
This plot twist established exactly what Mei is like, and it took everyone by surprise. Mei has the courage and initiative of a true hero, even if she is not a trained fighter, and she helped Izuku’s team to triumph in the cavalry battle. She also had Tenya Iida help her try out some new inventions before giving up.
8 Shoto loses to Katsuki Bakugo despite his advantages
The final phase of the Sports Festival included a singles elimination tournament, and the final match pitted the icy Shoto Todoroki with the explosive Katsuki Bakugo. An earlier plot twist allowed Shoto to start using his fire, and Bakugo was looking forward to fighting Shoto in his prime.
However, Bakugo was bitterly disappointed and insulted when Shoto held back and used only his ice, clearly, Shoto’s heart was not in it, so Bakugo won. This plot twist made it clear that Shoto respected Izuku more as a rival than Bakugo, and that Shoto’s main obstacles were not Quirk-type, but personal.
7 Ochaco Uraraka pierde contra Katsuki Bakugo
In a way, it’s not that unusual for someone in Ochaco’s rank to lose to the mighty Katsuki Bakugo, but again, bows in anime tournaments often have unexpected victories, and the hero can defeat a stronger foe at despite the odds. Many action anime series use these plot twists.
However, the Sports Festival story arc turned that twist around and turned around the strongest fighter triumphing over the underdog after all. Ochaco had the upper hand when he created that meteor shower, but when it appeared that Ochaco had achieved an unexpected victory, Bakugo turned the tables once more and defeated her.
6 Izuku has a million point headband
Izuku was glad to move on to the second phase of the Sports Festival, which consisted of the cavalry battle. Specifically, that battle was scored using headbands with printed numbers, and most of the headbands were worth two- or three-digit scores. But not Izuku’s.
Unbelievably, Izuku’s headband was worth a million points, making him a target for absolutely everyone else, and this also made him unattractive as a teammate. However, this nasty twist was reversed when Izuku recruited Mei Hatsume, Ochaco Uraraka, and Fumikage Tokoyami and won.
5 Shoto’s past with Endeavor was revealed
The first few episodes made it clear that Shoto Todoroki had some serious personal baggage, and the Sports Festival arc explored it much more deeply. In some ways, professional hero number 2, Endeavor, was more of a villain at home, using a Quirk marriage and tyrannical training methods to forge his son Shoto into the ultimate fighter.
Until now, it was inconceivable for a hero to be this evil, but the Sports Festival arc left no room for doubt: Endeavor has done terrible things, and Shoto deeply resents it. In fact, Shoto swore to Endeavor that he would become a Professional Hero on his own terms, and for his own reasons.
4 Stain that makes its first appearance on Hosu
The United States Sports Festival focused on the Sports Festival itself, hence the name of the story arc, but problems were brewing elsewhere as well, in the city of Hosu. In that city, the murderous hero Stain prowled the streets, and during this story arc Stain’s combat style was presented in great detail.
This plot twist put Stain on the map, and undoubtedly put many viewers on edge, wondering how long it would take Izuku and his allies to take on this villain. During this time, Stain attacked the running hero Tensei Iida, which led directly to the next plot twist.
3 Tenya Iida fled to help her brother
Tensei Iida is Tenya Iida’s brother, and Tensei narrowly survived his battle with Stain. He ended up in the hospital, and the Iida family told Tenya over the phone exactly what had happened. Tenya was very surprised and decided to do something about it.
Tenya had already been eliminated from the tournament, so he had no qualms about running to help Tensei despite the danger, so he went to face Stain alone. Tenya would soon realize the folly of their actions, and it is this plot twist that led Izuku and Shoto to confront Stain as well. They will not abandon Tenya to fate.
2 Izuku’s appeal to Shoto
Shoto declared himself Izuku’s rival during the Sports Festival, and indeed, the two boys met in the first match of the second round during the tournament phase of the festival. Izuku gave it his all with the power of One For All, while Shoto continued to use only half of his Quirk’s ice to annoy Endeavor.
Izuku made an emotional appeal to Shoto, demanding that he use his full power, just like Izuku did. This helped Shoto overcome the mental barriers blocking his fire half, and Shoto finally began to use his flames. That plot twist was Shoto’s first step in reaching his potential and building bridges with Endeavor, beginning with finally using Endeavor’s flames.
1 Izuku seeing past One For All users
Izuku’s first match pitted him against Hitoshi Shinso, who can use his brainwashing Quirk to control people if they respond verbally to him. Hitoshi used it to great effect against Izuku, ordering him to step out of the arena. Then something totally unexpected happened.
Somehow, Izuku was able to see the ghosts of various people watching him, and they helped him out of the Brainwash. The viewers and Izuku weren’t aware of it at the time, but Izuku was looking at the imprinted souls of previous One For All users. Later, Izuku talks to them and uses his Quirks, like the Blackwhip. It all started here.