Koichi Haimawari

Koichi Haimawari, also known as The Crawler (ザ・クロウラー), previously Nice Guy, is a vigilante hero. He is the main protagonist of Vigilante - My Hero Academia: Illegals.

Appearance
Koichi is a skinny young man with short brown hair.

His costume consists of his normal clothes in conjunction with an All Might-haired hooded jacket, a black mask covering his face, red sunglasses, and bike protective gear.

Personality
Koichi has an easy-going, mild-mannered personality. He is very generous and does not seem to expect anything from other people in return. He is somewhat unaware of social clues, accidentally gaining a reputation of "creepy guy", both among his peers at university, and as The Crawler. He also often accidentally insults people when trying to compliment them.

As long as he is in some form of disguise or in a more or less deserted area, he sees no problem in using his Quirk in public even though he is not a pro hero. He uses his Quirk to do good deeds for the public, such as picking up trash, returning lost items, giving directions, helping people get onto trains, being a cameraman, and recycling. He has a very heroic nature and cannot ignore people that need help.

He tends to be a rather calm person, sometimes accidentally making light of dangerous situations after they have passed. He is reasonable and is willing to have a dialog with thugs and petty criminals, as seen with his interactions with the Three Sturm und Drang Brothers. At the same time, he is quick to help when there is a real need for his abilities against Villains, showing that he can be attentive as well as calm.

He dreams of being able to become a recognized hero and is shown to enjoy the vigilante work that he does. He is very willing to do the less glamorous jobs, such as cleaning up trash and does not seem to think that these are negative aspects of being a hero or vigilante. He refuses to give up doing it just because it seems uncool because he claims that "that's not the sort of person I am", showing that he does not seem to want to be a Hero for fame or money, but out of a genuine desire to help society and other people.

History
When he was a baby, he was able to float before he could even walk. As he would tend to float out of his crib, and even towards roads into traffic, his worried mother would use her Fly-Swatter Quirk on him whenever he floated, possibly conditioning him into not using it and causing him to forget that he even had the ability.

Later on in life, Koichi started impersonating All Might while interfering in fights, putting himself in danger to help people. Koichi was determined to be a hero, but the morning of the high school entrance exam, he stopped to save a drowning child. He gave the child his silver age All Might hoodie to keep warm, and then rushed off to the exam, for which he was too late.

Synopsis
Koichi is watching a giant monster terrorizing the city. Suddenly, All Might appears and defeats the monster with ease. The public is awed at All Might's strength. Seeing that everyone is unharmed, All Might takes his leave. Koichi is inspired by heroes like All Might and wishes to be one like him in the future. Late for his job he uses Slide and Glide to move faster. However, a Police officer stops and berates him for using his Quirk. After the police officer leaves, Koichi runs towards his next destination and expresses annoyance over the laws surrounding public Quirk use. Koichi runs into a group of thugs and knocks into Soga Kugizaki, which spills the juice he just bought. The thug orders Koichi to apologize by getting down and groveling. Soga prepares to step on Koichi, but the boy slides backward, which surprises Soga. Koichi slides away and escapes from the thugs.

Koichi sees another group praising a freelance idol, Pop☆Step. Koichi notes that she is taking a big risk in being a freelance idol since she does not have a permit. Despite her songs not being great, the aspect that stands out is her ability to fly which is what attracts some people to become her fans. A police vehicle is passing by, so Koichi warns Pop☆Step. As she ends her live performance, Koichi slides to his place of work. Koichi works at a convenience store; the manager is not pleased with Koichi being late and deducts his pay. Customers arrive, however, it is the same group of thugs that Koichi encountered earlier on. Soga becomes angry at seeing Koichi again and takes him outside. Soga beats Koichi up; Koichi is unable to fight back because Soga threatens him with spikes. After being forced to buy juice for Soga, Koichi is annoyed at being beaten up and changes into his "suit", an All Might-styled jacket with a hood and wears a mouth mask. Koichi decides to deliver justice on his own accord without being bogged down by the law.

Koichi starts doing good deeds for the public such as returning dropped items, giving directions, helping people get onto trains, being a cameraman, and recycling. The citizens thank Koichi and refer to him as Nice Guy. Koichi feels overjoyed in helping people as it relieves him of stress and makes him feel warm inside. With his good deeds done for the day, Koichi begins walking home. Suddenly, Pop☆Step hands Koichi juice to drink. She thanks him for warning her about the Police and followed him in order to properly thank him, but mocks Koichi for being weak, to which Koichi defends himself as being poor at dealing with violence.

Pop☆Step finds it ironic that Koichi is wearing an All Might hoodie but is bad at fighting. Koichi wears the All Might hoodie because it symbolizes his ideal in being useful in his own way. After they scrutinize each other for their objectives, Pop☆Step begins leaving but bumps into Soga. The thugs recognize her as the online idol and begin mocking her. Koichi tries to stop them, but the thugs ignore him. Koichi sees tears in Pop☆Step's eyes and cannot ignore her plea for help. Koichi theoretically wonders how he can handle the situation; use his Quirk to trip two of the thugs and take out Soga by tackling him so that Pop☆Step can fly away.

Koichi decides to put his plan into motion but fails to knock over Moyuru Tochi, who picks up and throws Koichi to the ground. The thugs turn their attention to Koichi and Soga scratches Koichi's face with spikes from his foot. Soga decides to finish off Koichi for annoying him and then to strip down Pop☆Step.

As Soga prepares to strike, Knuckleduster interrupts, crashing down onto a trash heap. Suddenly, the old man punches Soga, knocking him down to the ground and surprising Koichi. The other two thugs are shocked at what transpired and ask for the old man's motivations. He tells them that he specializes in dealing with hoodlums. Knuckleduster defeats the two thugs and checks their tongues as he is looking for signs of Trigger. Knuckleduster turns his attention to Koichi and praises him for his efforts, telling him that he can become a real Hero if he works with him. Koichi shows no interest, but Knuckleduster can see through his lies and knows he is someone who cannot abandon people in need, like All Might. Koichi admits that his Quirk is not useful and could never pass the Pro Hero Exam. Knuckleduster does not care about whether Koichi has a powerful Quirk or license because they have absolutely nothing to do with justice. Knuckleduster believes that true Heroes take action when something rises up before them. Koichi realizes that Knuckleduster is unlicensed.

Suddenly, Soga takes Pop☆Step hostage, threatening to claw her face off. Unable to let him get away with his atrocious act, Koichi charges at the thug and knocks him down, allowing Pop☆Step to fly above for safety. Knuckleduster punches Soga into the wall, which knocks him out. Knuckleduster sees that Soga is not in possession of Trigger and makes a copy of his ID. Knuckleduster informs Koichi that there are more ways to be a Hero than what the world says; Knuckleduster is a hero because punishing evildoers is refreshing. However, Koichi finds Knuckleduster to be dangerous and turns down his offer.

Koichi then returns to his apartment, only to find Knuckleduster there. Knuckleduster then informs him about Trigger.

Quirk
Slide and Glide (滑走): Koichi's Quirk seemingly allows him to slide over plain surfaces, but to do that he needs to touch the ground in at least three places. Koichi has also displayed the ability to slide up vertical surfaces. He can move in any direction, including backwards. In Chapter 18 it was discovered he doesn't need to touch the ground in order to propel himself and is capable of limited flight. He discovers that the sliding effect comes from a kind of repelling force, and that he can also reverse it and stick to surfaces such as walls.

Enhanced Speed: Slide and Glide grants Koichi enhanced speed, allowing him to move as fast as a bike. He is able to go faster but at risk of losing control and hurting himself because he can't stop. Training his Quirk eventually lets him go fast enough to easily overtake a wildly speeding bus.

Maneuverability: After being given advice from Tensei Iida, Koichi gained very high maneuverability by learning to use an opposing acceleration as a brake. He now possesses the abilities to move and perform tight turns at high speeds as well as brake.

Shoko Haimawari
Koichi is generally terrified of his strict, over-bearing mother. He does his best to keep her at bay while he lives his life, as he believes that she would disapprove of his lifestyle and force him to go back home to the countryside. Koichi's mother does not approve of her son's love for super-heroics, begrudgingly agrees to let him act as a vigilante when Koichi is forced to save Makoto Tsukauchi from a runaway bus. After some words from Knuckleduster, she finally accepts that she cannot hold him back forever, and all she can do is help him when he needs it.

Mrs. Haimawari would admit that in his infancy, Koichi was initially able of limited flight, but worrying for his safety, forced him to never use that part of his quirk until he completely forgets about it.

Kazuho Haneyama
Koichi first encountered Pop☆Step when she was making the rounds as her idol persona, alerting her when he noticed the cops were approaching the area. The two meet again after Koichi gets beaten up by some thugs and he decided to roam the streets helping people. When Pop☆Step gets attacked by some thugs and is almost sexually assaulted, Koichi is initially unable to act in her defense, but after some encouragement from Knuckleduster, he takes a stand and saves her from her attackers. From there she, Koichi and Knuckleduster begin working together to stop minor crimes in their neighborhood while also investigating the sudden rise of Trigger drug usage.

Unbeknownst to Koichi, he and Kazuho share a history. Koichi had once saved Kazuho when she fell into a river while using her Jump quirk. He would give the drenched Kazuho his limited edition All Might hoodie and run off to his entrance exam for a high school that specialized in superheroics. Because he chose to save her, Koichi ended up missing the exam and left Tokyo to return to his hometown. Meanwhile, Kazuho would keep the hoodie for many years, and when she encountered Koichi again years later, she would struggle to find a way to bring up their chance encounter and return the hoodie.

It appears that Kazuho harbors feelings for Koichi, but is unable to express them, displaying tsundere-like behaviour. Koichi is completely oblivious to this fact.

Knuckleduster
The two vigilantes share a loose mentor-mentee relationship, with Knuckleduster helping Koichi with combat training and initially helping him use his quirk more effectively. It was Knuckleduster that suggested that Koichi change his hero name from to The Crawler and pushed him to take his role as a vigilante. Despite this, the two aren't especially close, with Koichi being generally terrified of Knuckleduster's predilection towards violence. However, unlike Kazuho, Koichi is able to acknowledge that although his methods are rough and seemingly excessive, Knuckleduster knows when to hold back when it comes to the force of his attacks, showing a respect for his skills as a vigilante.

Tensei Iida
Koichi would have a chance encounter with a jogging Ingenium while experimenting with his quirk early in the morning. To Koichi's surprise, instead of admonishing him for using his quirk in public, Tensei instead gives him tips on using his quirk more effectively, allowing Koichi to move faster without speeding out of control. Seeing the potential in the young student's quirk and his genuine desire to be a hero, Tensei offers Koichi work at his agency, handing him his business card. The two would run into each other again when Koichi and his fellow vigilantes help Ingenium and his crew catch a runaway villain who had been evading them. Ingenium would recognize Koichi but would decline to go after him and his vigilante crew. The following morning, upon running into Koichi again, the young vigilante would deny his involvement with the villain's capture. Seeing that Koichi was providing a valuable service as a vigilante untethered by the law, Tensei asks for his business card back, saying that Koichi had already found his place in the world of heroics.

The two would meet once more when Koichi, his mother, and Makoto Tsukauchi were trapped in a runaway bus possessed by a Trigger-inflicted alley cat. Although Ingenium and his hero crew would be able to rescue most of the passengers, Makoto would remain trapped on the bus when the cat was injected with more Trigger. Ingenium and Koichi would work together to rescue Makoto. Once again, Ingenium would make no move to arrest or admonish the vigilante.

Makoto Tsukauchi
Makoto and Koichi would meet in their university while Koichi was struggling with his Heroics Sociology course. Although Koichi has a negative reputation in the university after a misunderstanding involving his apartment, Makoto remained interested in the freshman and decided to help him with his studies, with the ulterior motive to use him as help for her thesis in Vigilantism. Makoto initially had the correct suspicion that Koichi to be the Crawler, but makes the mistake of asking him if he was the Cruller, which does not set off her Polygraph quirk when he denies it.

He would later ask Makoto to act as his girlfriend when his mother comes to visit, although Koichi's mother would immediately see through this ruse and realize that the two were not a couple (seeing Makoto as being too good for her son). Makoto and Koichi's mother would immediately befriend each other and make plans to go sightseeing in Tokyo. When Koichi, Makoto and Koichi's mother get caught in a runaway bus, Makoto would remain the last one trapped on the bus when Ingenium rescues the passengers. Koichi, acting quickly climbs onto the bus and saves her, but ends up revealing his identity as the Crawler to Makoto in the process.

It is implied that Koichi is romantically attracted to Makoto, and when asked by Koichi's mother Makoto states that the two being an item isn't out of the question. Whether she was merely saying this to be polite, or if she's genuinely interested in the younger Koichi is uncertain, but she is nonetheless fond of Koichi, even if she only thinks of him as a friend.

Battles & Events

 * Koichi Haimawari, Soga Kugizaki vs Stendhal: Interrupted

Trivia

 * In Koichi’s given name, it contains ko “航” (lit.navigate, sail, cruise, fly) and ichi “一” (lit. one). His surname, Haimawari, means Hai “灰” (lit. ashes,puckery juice,cremate) and mawari “廻” (lit. round,revolve,go around,circumference).
 * His second pseudonym "The Crawler" may be a reference to how is often called a wall-crawler. Koichi is even seen doing a similar pose to Spider-Man time and time again.
 * In the initial cover art, Koichi can be seen wearing mismatched sneakers; one sneaker being a Nike Air Force 1 High Top in blue.
 * Koichi's favorite thing is curry.

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Koichi Haimawari