Hitoshi Shinso

Hitoshi Shinso is a student in U.A. High School's General Department from Class 1-C.

Appearance
Hitoshi Shinso is a young man with tall, messy indigo hair, purple hair, and somewhat triangular purple eyes. His eyes have very dark bags underneath them, and he also appears to lack eyelashes completely. He has straight teeth and is relatively tall compared to other students at U.A.

Personality
Hitoshi is a very stoic and straightforward person with an innate ability to spark conversation with anyone, despite holding a quiet and reserved attitude most of the time. He is shown to be rather clever, being able to manipulate others into replying to his words, allowing him the opportunity to activate his Quirk.

Due to having his Quirk perceived as evil throughout his whole life, Hitoshi is somewhat feared by those who are aware of it, feeling discriminated solely because of his ability. This led him to become resentful of those who had Quirks more associated with Hero work. Regardless, Hitoshi desires to become a Hero more than anything, with a deep longing to disprove those that doubt his heroic intentions. Not only does he want to refute those who shame his abilities, but he also aspires to usurp students who walk the path towards becoming a Pro Hero, as he wished to.

History
In Junior High, Hitoshi was constantly told that due to his Quirk's nature, he was suited to becoming a villain. Although he kept his ambition to become a hero, Hitoshi became resentful to those with Quirk's more accepted by society.

U.A. Sports Festival Arc
When a crowd blocks Class 1-A's exit, Katsuki Bakugo claims the crowd is there to scout the competition. Hitoshi walks to the front of the crowd. He confronts Katsuki directly and explains that although he desired to be in the Hero Course, he was forced to take a different path. With the U.A. Sports Festival approaching, Hitoshi and other students will have the opportunity to usurp students in the Hero Course. After explaining this, Hitsohi says that he is not there to scout, he is there to declare war.

Weeks later, Hitoshi and his General Studies Course classmates take the field for the opening ceremony. Afterwards, Hitoshi participates in the Obstacle Race, avoiding Shoto Todoroki's ice while being carried by other kids, and places twenty-seventh.

Having qualified for the Cavalry Battle, Shinso teams up with Nirengeki Shoda, Yuga Aoyama, and Mashirao Ojiro and brainwashes them as well. By the end of the Cavalry Battle, Team Shinso places third after Hitoshi uses his Quirk to brainwash Team Tetsutetsu and steal their points. Afterwards, he thanks his "teammates" for their hard work.

The final round of the festival is revealed to be a One-on-One Fighting Tournament. Hitoshi tries to confront Izuku Midoriya, his matchup for the first round, but Mashirao warns the Izuku not to respond to the Hitoshi's provocations. When their match begins, Hitoshi provokes Izuku into talking by insulting Mashirao and brainwashes him.

Now that he has taken control of Izuku with his Quirk, Hitoshi orders him to leave the ring and Izuku proceeds to do so. However, before Izuku goes out of bounds, Izuku uses One For All to break his own fingers and free himself of Hitoshi's control. Hitoshi tries to get Izuku to speak, but eventually realizes that Mashirao must have warned him before the match. Izuku tries to push Hitoshi out, but he punches Izuku twice to break his hold.

He continues to try and force a reaction out of Izuku by talking about how his Quirk puts him at a disadvantage and how Izuku is blessed to have a heroic. Then Hitoshi goes to push Izuku out of bounds, but Izuku counters and shoulder throws Hitoshi out of the ring. Having lost, Hitoshi appears to be greatly irritated. Izuku tries to console him by asking what is driving him to become a hero, but Hitoshi says it is simply what his heart longs for and leaves the ring.

Despite his loss, Hitoshi is greeted by his classmates' praises, as well as the praises of several viewing Pro-Heroes. Having been encouraged, Hitoshi tells Izuku that even though he lost, he will still become a better pro than everyone in the Hero Course. When Izuku responds, Hitoshi brainwashes him temporarily and then stops to warn Izuku not to let his guard down. Hitoshi then tells Izuku not to lose and walks away. Once the festival concludes, Hitoshi joins Class 1-B in watching the award ceremony.

Forest Training Camp Arc
Hitoshi is walking along with Shota Aizawa while ignoring a waving Izuku.

U.A. Cultural Festival Arc
Hitoshi assists his class in setting up their Haunted Mansion exhibit for the U.A. Cultural Festival and later participates by dangling from the cieling to scare a group of fellow students.

Quirk and Abilities
Brainwashing (洗脳): Hitoshi's Quirk allows him to mind control people who verbally respond to him and, as a result, they will be forced to do whatever he wants. However, this Quirk will not activate (regardless of whether people verbally respond to him or not) if he does not will it.

U.A. Sports Festival Arc

 * Izuku Midoriya vs. Hitoshi Shinso: Lose

Izuku Midoriya
Hitoshi claimed to be jealous of Izuku's Quirk, as it gives him combat efficiency. On the other hand, Izuku understands Hitoshi's situation as he himself was considered unfavorable due to having no Quirk. Before their battle in the Sports, Hitoshi and Izuku were hostile to each other, but after their battle, Hitoshi seems to have gained respect for Izuku, telling him not to lose too pitifully while Izuku respects Hitoshi's goal to enter the Department of Heroics.

Katsuki Bakugo
Due to Katsuki's attitude towards the non-Class 1-A people, Hitoshi misinterpreted the Department of Heroics as arrogant people.

Mashirao Ojiro
Hitoshi may not like Mashirao, as he called him a "monkey" when attempting to provoke Izuku into attacking him. Hitoshi brainwashed Mashirao into teaming up with him in the Human Cavalry Battle. After being brainwashed by Hitoshi, Mashirao begins to dislike Hitoshi and resigns from the tournament event to save his dignity, which Hitoshi claimed to think was foolish.

Trivia

 * Hitoshi's name is comprised of the kanji for "heart, mind" (心), "chastity, honor" (操), "person" (人), and "use" (使).
 * Shinsō is also similar in pronounce to the name of the organ shinzō (心臓).
 * In the First Popularity Poll, Hitoshi ranked 12th, ranked 14th in the Second Popularity Poll and ranked 10th in the Third Popularity Poll which currently makes him the most popular student outside of Class 1-A.
 * Hitoshi ranked in the Top 16 of the U.A. Sports Festival First-Year Stage.
 * Hitoshi likes cats and bicycling.
 * According to the Jump Festa 2017 interview with Kohei Horikoshi, Hitoshi is expected to have some interesting development in the future.
 * Hitoshi's purple hair and mind control abilities may be a reference to the Marvel comics supervillain The Purple Man.

Quotes

 * (To Izuku Midoriya) "Maybe I failed this time, but... I'm not giving up. I'll show them I've got what it takes to make the hero course, and I'll become a greater hero than all of you."
 * (To Izuku Midoriya) "You can't help what your heart longs for..."