Nezu

Nezu (根津), also known as Mr. Principal is a Hero and the principal of U.A. Academy. He is the extreme rare case of an animal who manifested a Quirk.

Appearance
He has the face of a bear, with a large scar going across his right eye, nearly to his neck. He has the nose and tail of a mouse, along with dog paws for hands.

He is most often seen wearing an elegant suit with large shoes.

Personality
As befitting his role as Principal of the Academy of Heroes, Nezu is an eccentric, polite, and persistent educator.

He can be very long winded at times when explaining or educating. Nezu composed an entire lecture on his educational theories concerning the balance between hero and instructor, which he would happily speak of over tea in an attempt to keep All Might still. His dedication to educating goes as far as assessing villains, especially young ones, and wondering if they could be put on the right path if they were taught, although he admits the naivety of the idea.

He is not above putting himself on the front lines, as he was seen with the other heroes coming to Class 1-A's rescue, with his focus being the protection of the students. He understands strategies between hero conflicts enough to participate in the debriefing after the invasion.

He is quite self-aware of his odd appearance and introduces himself by pointing that fact out.

Because he was abused and mistreated by humans in the past, Nezu's true character reveals itself; that he enjoys "toying" with humans whenever he is in combat.

History
In the past, Nezu was abused and mistreated by humans which resulted in his sadistic personality when he fights.

Unforeseen Simulation Joint Arc
U.A. is stormed by reporters seeking information about All Might's teaching position, upon the arrival of the Police Force they withdraw. Shortly afterwards, Nezu along with various teachers investigate a hole in the school's gate wondering if an ordinary reporter caused the hole or if an element of evil has penetrated the ground. Nezu suggests perhaps it was a declaration of war.

Combat Exam Arc
Before Class 1-A's end of term test exercise begins, Mr. Principal jumps out of Shouta's scarf and reveals to Class 1-A that they will not be having a battle simulation against robots for their test exercise. Mr. Principal explains that the recent surge of villains has caused the school to increase their training methods; Mr. Principal says that from now on, U.A. students will be having battle simulations similar to real life battles, starting with Class 1-A. Mr. Principal reveals that Class 1-A's test exercise will be forming pairs and facing one of U.A.'s teachers in combat, shocking Class 1-A. Mr. Principal states that Class 1-A's pairs and the teachers they will fight has been decided. Mr. Principal was assigned to face off against Denki and Mina in combat for the test.

Mr. Principal, Denki, and Mina arrive in an uninhabited city where Class 1-A's test exercise will take place. In the city, Mr. Principal explains the 30 minute test; Denki and Mina must either handcuff him or one of them must escape the battlefield within 30 minutes in order to win and pass the test. The test begins.

Nezu commandeers a wrecking ball and uses it to block off the roads leading to the escape gate, causing trouble for Denki and Mina. While using the wrecking ball, Nezu drinks a cup of tea, noting that making decisions is rudimentary for him. Nezu sees that Denki and Mina have not noticed his strategy and begins laughing maniacally.

Mr. Principal's intellect and strategy prevent Denki and Mina from passing through the escape gate or handcuffing him, causing them to fail the practical test.

Hideout Raid Arc
Mr. Principal, along with Shouta Aizawa and Vlad King, appears in U.A.'s public apology broadcast where they apologize to society for their shortcomings. However, society still criticizes U.A. for being unable to protect the students and criticize their security measures for not ensuring the safety of the students.

Shouta tells the reporters that he decided to let the students fight due to not knowing the full situation in order to prevent the worst possible situation from happening and as a result no students were killed (which is the worst possible outcome in his opinion); Mr. Principal states that the situation would have been much worse if Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Itsuka Kendou did not defeat the gas masked villain. Mr. Principal also says that they are seeing to the well-being of their students and have not seen any signs of emotional trauma. The reporter asks the principal if U.A. had already failed in securing the students' well-beings due to not checking Katsuki’s mental instability and his “villain-like” performance during the Sports Festival. Mr. Principal, Vlad King and Shouta know that the reporter is purposely provoking them with this particular question. Shouta answers that out of all the students, Katsuki was the one who showed that his conviction to be a Hero was the strongest and believes the villains' to be foolish if they think that they can turn Katsuki into a villain. Mr. Principal backs up Shouta by saying that they are working with the Police Force to investigate Katsuki’s whereabouts and promises to retrieve him.

Quirk and Abilities
High Spec (ハイスペック Hai Supekku): Nezu's Quirk grants him superior intelligence that surpasses humans. Because he is an animal, Nezu's Quirk enabled him to live within society like a normal person.

End of Term Test Arc

 * Denki Kaminari & Mina Ashido vs. Mr. Principal: Win

Toshinori Yagi
He and Toshinori have a very good relationship. He constantly worries about Toshinori, as he is one of the few people that knows about his Quirk and his condition. He was the one that gave him the job as a teacher at U.A., which was done to keep him safe.

Trivia

 * Most people cannot tell if he is a mouse, a dog, or a bear.
 * Nezu is an extremely rare case in which a Quirk manifests within an animal.
 * His apparent name is Nezu, which is a play on the word for rat, nezumi.
 * Also, it's written with the kanji for "root, base, basis, foundation" (根) and the kanji for "saliva, ferry, ford, moisten" (津).
 * Nezu likes brushing.

Quotes

 * (To himself) "We're starting to feel the effects of "losing our symbol" more and more as time passes...what we need now is a revival. At least for the students...we need to present them with prospects of a brighter future."