Atsuhiro Sako

Atsuhiro Sako, also known as Mr. Compress (コンプレス), is a recurring villain affiliated with the League of Villains, was a member of the organization's Vanguard Action Squad, and later became one of the nine lieutenants of the Paranormal Liberation Front.

He followed in the footsteps of the Peerless Thief, who was his great great grandfather and became a nationwide wanted thief, being one of the more 'experienced' members of the League. He and the rest of his team serve as the main antagonists of the Forest Training Camp Arc and Paranormal Liberation War Arc. He was arrested after his defeat during the Paranormal Liberation War.

Appearance
Atsuhiro is a tall, slim man with pale skin and brown eyes that are semicircular and slightly slanted inwards, and he has a notably pointed nose. He wears a combination of a mask, balaclava, and hat. Underneath his mask reveals that he has short black eyebrows, and a head of curly brown hair, of similar shade to his eyes.

In his villain attire, he wears a dark orange shirt, the collar left upturned and a green striped bolo necktie with an oval-shaped azure brooch hanging around his neck, a black waistcoat and black dress pants. He wears knee-high white boots with wedged heels and black toe-caps, plain dark red gloves and a tall brown top hat, a red ribbon tied around it and a pale feather sticking out, on the left side.

Over his head, he wears a black balaclava with a hole for his mouth as well as his eyes, over which he wears one of multiple white masks he owns, each with a different black geometric design. In his first appearance, he also wears a dark yellow, double-breasted overcoat with buttoned shoulder tabs and a high collar, which reaches below his knees, and he additionally carries a silver walking stick with a gold handle.

After Overhaul destroys his left arm, Giran gives him a replacement prosthetic which he wears from then on.

During the Paranormal Liberation War, Atsuhiro uses his Quirk on his lower back in an attempt to escape Best Jeanist, thus permanently maiming himself.

Personality
Mr. Compress is a showman at heart who likes to command every event he's a part of and be as flashy and entertaining as possible. He is talkative, humorous and arrogant with his allies and enemies alike.

Mr. Compress has a habit of monologuing and showing off his entertainer skills. This has proven to be a flaw in his skills as a villain; he allowed the Bakugo Escort Squad to catch him because he spent so much time taunting them. Mr. Compress also nearly lost possession of Katsuki Bakugo after taking a moment to bow after his victory.

Mr. Compress is often the voice of reason among the League of Villains and appears to care for his comrades; he acts as a mentor to the younger members and often keeps them in check. After Magne's death, he immediately leaps into action and tried to subdue Overhaul by himself. This action cost him his arm, but Compress is quick to get his revenge by destroying Overhaul's arm later on.

Though little of his past or motives were shown, it's revealed that Atsuhiro is the great-great-grandson of Oji Harima, who stole from wealthy heroes and gave that wealth to the people. Atsuhiro joined the League of Villains in order to fight against such a corrupt system and wealthy heroes, exposing the perceived injustices of hero society.

Abilities
Overall Abilities: Atsuhiro is very capable and resourceful villain, with incredible stealth abilities, coupled with speed, agility, and the proficiency with his Compress Quirk. It is primarily useful when it comes to setting traps. If Atsuhiro has marbles containing certain compressed objects, he can use those as a way to obstruct the path of enemies, by throwing said marbles in his adversaries' direction and returning the objects to their original size. Thanks to Atsuhiro's creativity and ingenuity, he is able to take advantage of the deactivation property of his Quirk to affect the environment around him, like placing a marble holding a compressed large rock below a car, and then launch the vehicle into mid-air through the marble's decompression process. In another offensive manner, Atsuhiro uses his Quirk to selectively compress only one part of a person's body, severely maiming, or sometimes, killing them. Compress also works as a way to dig through solid objects, making Atsuhiro pivotal for escaping and infiltrating enclosed areas. Using Compress on himself allows Atsuhiro to be carried anywhere, undetected. He often uses his Quirk to capture people within compressed marbles without being noticed, and before the victim can alert nearby allies.

During the Vanguard Action Squad Invasion, Atsuhiro demonstrated his espionage efficacy by using his Quirk, which requires physical contact, on Katsuki and Fumikage Tokoyami while the pair were in a group of 5 people, which included Mezo Shoji, whose Dupli-Arms Quirk grants the latter enhanced senses. Overall, Atsuhiro single-handedly captured the former two students before their classmates noticed, and was only caught when the masked villain made his presence known. Succeeding in the Vanguard Action Squad's mission and making his escape, Atsuhiro easily outpaced the U.A. pursuers in The Beast's Forest by jumping across the treetops and even evaded Shoto Todoroki's multiple employments of his "Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall" technique. While he did elude the trailing students, Atsuhiro was taken by surprise when Mezo, Shoto, and a battle-worn Izuku Midoriya crashed him into the ground. In the course of the Kamino Incident, Atsuhiro, along with Himiko Toga and Twice, forced Katsuki on the defensive, before he was rescued by his classmates. With Magne's help, Atsuhiro was nearly successful at recapturing Katsuki, only to be intercepted by Mt. Lady, who knocked out the airborne villain.

When the League of Villains encountered Overhaul, who had killed Magne during the exchange, Atsuhiro was fast enough to catch him off-guard, and made an attempt at capturing the yakuza leader. Unfortunately, the hat-wearer's efforts were wasted because he was struck by an experimental Quirk-Destroying Bullet, temporarily erasing Atsuhiro's Quirk, and leading to his left arm being destroyed by Overhaul. Much later, Atsuhiro incapacitated Snatch, by circling around and touching the sand hero, while the latter was fighting Dabi. By compressing the flame-engulfed Pro Hero, the two villains effectively defeated and killed Snatch. At the Revival Celebration, Atsuhiro faced various members of the Meta Liberation Army, but began to struggle until he was saved by Twice's "Sad Man's Parade" technique. After the Revival Celebration, Atsuhiro became a lieutenant of the now unified Paranormal Liberation Front.

In the climax of the Paranormal Liberation War, Atsuhiro was forced to maim his hindquarter in order to escape from Best Jeanist's fiber bindings, before proceeding to briskly free Tomura Shigaraki, Spinner, and Skeptic from their own restraints as well. As he did so, Atsuhiro destroyed more of his body, as his clothes that were being manipulated by Best Jeanist, all to avoid being restrained again. Successful at releasing his bonded allies and securing Dabi, Atsuhiro admitted his efforts were his last, and was ultimately defeated by Mirio Togata.
 * Enhanced Agility: Atsuhiro possesses an above-average amount of agility. Primarily, Astuhiro displayed the ability to effortlessly shift from one motion to another, effectively dodge attacks, and rapidly leap across high ledges and through forest canopies, all while performing other numerous athletic feats with minimal effort. His most notable forms of legerity stems from his Quirk application, being able to swiftly compress targets into small marble-like objects without the opposition's knowledge. At the Paranormal Liberation War's climax, Atsuhiro swiftly bounded across the gargantuan Gigantomachia's back spikes in order to to reach a constrained Skeptic.

Keen Intellect: Atsuhiro is an ingenious villain who thrives in a supporting role. He can act as the brains of an operation as well as act efficiently on his own. Being a former stage magician, Atsuhiro is a self-proclaimed master of deception, escapology, and illusion. True to his words, Atsuhiro employs many creative tactics in combination with his Compress Quirk in order to mislead his opponents. A key example of this misdirection is when he compresses a target into a marble and is prepared to be relived of them by his opponents. Exceptionally cautious with his captives, Atsuhiro utilizes his illusionist skills to clandestinely create decoy marbles and swap them around with the ones holding the actual targets, thus deceiving anybody who attempts to steal from him. Atsuhiro also has good judgment, as he knows the limits of his own abilities, and can gauge the level of strength another person possesses after seeing them in action once. He decided against fighting hero candidates from U.A. High School, so he instead made a hasty retreat.

When the Bakugo Escort Squad caught up to him, and seemed successful at reclaiming the captured Katsuki and Fumikage, Atsuhiro flawlessly tricked his pursuers into thinking the marbles in his pockets were the ones housing Katsuki and Fumikage. In reality, those were actually decoys containing ice he had discreetly compressed while dodging Shoto’s cryokinetic assault, and Atsuhiro kept the original marbles in his mouth. Once the Hideout Raid Team appeared at the villains' bar, Atsuhiro realized that the televised press conference was being used a ruse for the team of heroes to get the drop on the League of Villains. During the Revival Celebration, Twice attempted to make clones of Dabi and Atsuhiro, but the latter villain refuted the notion, pointing out that if all of the M.L.A members and Deika City are destroyed, then the League of Villains won't have the fodder necessary to hold off Gigantomachia once the behemoth arrives in the metropolis. When the Paranormal Liberation War approached its end, Atsuhiro took notice of the Near High-Ends in the distance and deduced Tomura can relay orders to the Nomu upon regaining consciousness. But due to Tomura fading in and out of consciousness, Atsuhiro had to get him properly roused so the body-enhanced villain can effectively command the Nomus.
 * Escape Artistry: Atsuhiro is an escape artist that has been trained by his family to deduct the necessary means for escape. This can be seen by how he recognized and devised multiple ways to escape using his Quirk: compressing himself from under his opponent, using misdirection, digging safely from underground to the surface, or concocting methods for him and/or his allies to escape from constraints.

Quirk
Compress: Atsuhiro's Quirk allows him to "compress" anything in a spherical area around his arm into a small, marble-like object without actually damaging it. He can only compress his target if he is touching it.

The weight of the target is reduced alongside them, making them very easy to carry. If used on a person, it effectively entraps them, terminating the fight instantly and allowing Mr. Compress to abduct them without difficulty.

The Quirk can also be used on select body parts, quickly and efficiently maiming the target. It is implied that mutilating a body part through Compress is painless, as Atsuhiro used it to remove one of Kai Chisaki’s arms as well as maim his own lower body; neither of them seemed to be in deep pain during the process.

He can also use his Quirk to compress himself into a marble, as seen during the Vanguard Action Squad Invasion.

Atsuhiro's Quirk Factor lies within his arms, and after losing his left arm to Overhaul, Compress' activation is now limited to Atsuhiro's right arm.

Equipment
Prosthetic Arm: After losing his left arm to Overhaul, Atsuhiro wears a functional robotic arm as a replacement that was provided by Giran. It eventually began to succumb to wear and tear and its hand was broken off after being flung away by Gigantomachia. After becoming a Paranormal Liberation Front lieutenant, he received a replacement prosthetic that enables him to shoot out his marbles from his fingers.

Chapter Appearances

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Anime Appearances

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Trivia

 * Atsuhiro's given name contains the kanji for "pressure" (圧) and "large" (紘). The kanji used in his surname means "urge/force" or "imminent" (迫).
 * Atsuhiro likes magic.
 * Atsuhiro's rankings in the Popularity Polls are as following:
 * Ranked 47th in the third Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 58th in the fourth Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 42nd in the fifth Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 26th in the Seventh Popularity Poll
 * Atsuhiro's Japanese voice actor, Tsuguo Mogami, also voices the U.S.J. Nomu and Hood.
 * Atsuhiro is one of the few people who are revealed to be descendants of one of the three most infamous villains: All For One, Destro, and Oji Harima. In Atsuhiro's case, he is the great-great-grandson of Oji.
 * Atsuhiro shares his birthday with Minoru Mineta (October 8th).

Quotes

 * (To several U.A. students) "We're just a bit fanatical when it comes to our values. All we wish is to show him that there are other ways. Because you kids today... you have your values chosen for you."
 * (To Kai Chisaki) "For the arm."
 * (To Dabi) "I believe Twice was... killed. Alas, I tried but failed to stop her. Even though jumping into the fray was tantamount to suicide. I've never seen little Toga lose her cool like this."
 * (To himself) "Harima... The reformation that you could not achieve I now hand off to my boss. The Paranormal Liberation Front's... No, the League of Villains' Shigaraki will change the world in my stead."

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