My Hero Academia's Prequel Isn't a Simple Spinoff, It's Making the Entire Series Even Better

Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia Vigilantes, Episode 2My Hero Academia Vigilantes is only in its second episode, but it’s already setting itself apart from the main series with its radical new villains. These so-called “Instant Villains” are quite dangerous, and pose the kind of threat that would’ve had Deku unsure of where to even begin.

The plot of Vigilantes so far has focused on a substance known as Trigger, which causes the Quirks of people who consume it to become overpowered and out of control. Users of Trigger can be identified by their black/dark blue tongues, but it can also have more obvious visual effects. Knuckleduster has been hunting down users of Trigger before they can cause problems, and now he’s recruited Koichi into the cause.

My Hero Academia Vigilantes’ Villains Have Absurd Power

Instant Villains Are a Major Danger

In the episode, Knuckleduster picks out a man passing by, thinking he has something to do with the Instant Villains. This catches Aizawa’s attention, and the two get into a scuffle. However, Pop Step recognizes the man from photos of Instant Villains, confirming that he is connected. As they begin to chase him, he drops his briefcase and an All Might figure falls out, which he uses to inject himself with Trigger. The man instantly grows another set of arms and becomes a massive giant, allowing him to snatch Pop Step out of the air.

With this kaiju-sized villain on the loose, Koichi is in for a much more difficult fight than he could’ve anticipated. The villain chucks Pop Step up into the air, and she begins falling at high speed towards the ground. Koichi, desperate to save her, figures out how to use is Quirk to climb up walls and offers her a place to jump off from, letting her use her own Leap Quirk to land safely. Koichi, on the other hand, ends up crashing into trash, and almost gets stepped on by the villain.

Fortunately, Aizawa’s timely arrival allows him to use his Erasure Quirk to remove the villain’s Quirk, forcing him to shrink back to normal size. If Aizawa hadn’t been literally a few blocks away, this giant villain could’ve unleashed some Godzilla-tier devastation before a hero showed up. There’s no telling how many people might’ve been injured if Aizawa weren’t already on the scene. Most other heroes would’ve also needed a big battle to bring the foe down, so the fact that Aizawa in particular was present really deescalated the situation dramatically.

Vigilantes’ Instant Villains are a Huge Threat

These Are No Run of the Mill Purse Snatchers

The Instant Villains of Vigilantes are a serious threat to the peace of Japan, and if Trigger becomes more widespread, they could become an epidemic. Trigger’s ability to increase a person’s Quirk to insane levels means that a dangerous villain could appear out of nowhere at any time, and since they’re under the influence of a drug, their reasoning tends to be impeded as well, making them irrational and potentially deadly.

As a drug, however, there’s another problem that could arise. At the moment, the Instant Villains are people willingly taking Trigger, but what if someone injected a random person on the street with Trigger, specifically to cause a scene? Heroes would have to be exceptionally careful, as the afflicted individual isn’t really a villain, but a victim. Having seen how Trigger is used, it would be exceptionally easy to just expose civilians to it without their consent, and that kind of chaos is what the real villains live for.

Fans of the main My Hero Academia manga may remember that the Shie Hassaikai had their hands in the Trigger market at the beginning of that arc, but that’s several years later. At this stage, Trigger is only just being introduced in Japan for the first time, and is likely the work of some kind of mastermind who will benefit not just from the sale of the drugs to criminals who want a boost, but also from the added chaos that all this is causing.

One thing’s for sure, though, and that’s that the Naruhata Vigilantes will certainly have their hands full trying to deal with these Instant Villains that keep popping up in their neighborhood. These dangerous overpowered Quirks mean that Koichi is already a long way from his days cleaning up litter, and that he’s stepped up to being a true vigilante. My Hero Academia Vigilantes’ villains are certainly a step up from the pathetic thugs one might expect them to face.