Nezu/Synopsis

History
Sometime before becoming U.A. High's principal, Nezu was experimented on by human beings. This mistreatment led to Nezu developing a sadistic side to his otherwise polite personality.

Nezu eventually became the principal of U.A. High and eventually hired Shota Aizawa as a teacher, who asked the principal for the ability to expel and re-enroll students, feeling that they should know the difference between self-sacrifice and throwing one's life away, so that they strive higher. Nezu was unsure about Shota's proposition, but accepted it.

At some point, he met Toshinori Yagi, who told him the secret of One For All, so Nezu suggested looking for a successor at U.A. High by giving him the opportunity to take up a teaching position at U.A.

Entrance Exam Arc
Nezu first appears among the judge's panel of U.A. faculty during the Entrance Exam's practical portion. He appears to be very excited when Izuku Midoriya destroys the gigantic villain bot in a single punch.

U.S.J. Arc
U.A. is stormed by reporters seeking information about All Might's teaching position. After the Police Force escorts the media off the property, Nezu and other teachers investigate the breach in the security barrier. They ponder whether a reporter was responsible or if a villain possibly penetrated their defenses. Nezu suggests that this was a possible declaration of war.

Nezu catches All Might trying to prematurely join Shota Aizawa and Thirteen as they instruct rescue training at the U.S.J. He lectures All Might about his proactive nature and how resolving criminal incidents has limited his ability to join the instruction. All Might asks to be excused so he can go to the U.S.J., but Nezu knows he would have to return almost immediately to conceal his identity and asks him to stay. Nezu pours them both cups of tea and begins monologuing about teaching philosophies.

Nezu joins his fellow faculty members as they follow Tenya Ida to the U.S.J. Following the assault on the U.S.J., Nezu is present for a meeting to discuss the attack and its implications regarding the League of Villains and its leader, Tomura Shigaraki. Nezu suggests that Tomura is being guided towards villainy in the same way U.A. students are being guided towards heroism.

Final Exams Arc
Prior to the Final Exams, Nezu holds a meeting with his faculty to discuss changing the format of the practical exam. He presents the idea that students should fight the teachers in teams of two in order to push them and make them as strong as possible. He also mentions that this is all in preparation of the rise of villains that's to come in the wake of Hero Killer Stain.

When the time comes to inform the students of the change, Nezu jumps out of Shota's scarf and takes it upon himself to tell them the news. He explains that the recent surge of villains has caused the school to increase its training methods and from now on, U.A. students will take part in real life battle simulations starting with Class 1-A. He informs them all that the students will be tested by facing off against the teachers, shocking the students. Nezu is matched up against the pair of Mina Ashido and Denki Kaminari because their grades have been poor.

At the start of their battle in Ground Gamma, Nezu commandeers a crane with a wrecking ball attached to it. His Quirk gives him such high intelligence that he can predict the chain reactions of everything he destroys. This causes a lot of trouble for Denki and Mina, who struggle to find a path to the escape gate. Nezu drinks a cup of tea, noting that making decisions is rudimentary for him. He notices his opponents have not deduced his strategy and laughs maniacally at them from afar.

Denki and Mina try to run for the escape gate, but the principal stays one step ahead of them the entire time. He destroys all of their paths to the escape gate except for one. Even so, Denki and Mina run out of time before they ever even realize what Nezu was doing. They fail the test and prove their weakness lies in facing intellectual villains.

Hideout Raid Arc
After the League of Villains attacked the training camp, hospitalizing several students and kidnapping Katsuki and the Pussycat member Ragdoll, Nezu holds a meeting with the U.A. staff. In the meeting, he discusses the consequences of Katsuki's kidnapping and potential turn to villainy. In response to Hizashi's suspicion of a mole, he reassures the staff that he trusts all of them.

Nezu, along with Shota 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 criticizes their security measures for not ensuring the safety of the students.

Shota 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); Nezu states that the situation would have been much worse if Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Itsuka Kendo did not defeat the Gas villain. Nezu 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-being due to not checking Katsuki’s mental instability and his “villain-like” performance during the U.A. Sports Festival. Nezu, Vlad King, and Shota know that the reporter is purposely provoking them with this particular question. Shota 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. Nezu backs up Shota by saying that they are working with the Police Force to investigate Katsuki’s whereabouts and promises to retrieve him.

In the League of Villains' hideout, Tomura enjoys watching the criticism that the U.A. staff is suffering for their actions. However, Katsuki refuses to join their ranks and, encouraged by the words of his teacher Shota, rebels and trying to escape. At that moment, All Might, Kamui Woods, Edgeshot and Gran Torino assault the lair and quickly restrain the League of Villains'; Mr. Compress realizes that U.A.'s press conference was just a diversion so that the League of Villains would lower their guard. It seems that the rescue operation has ended successfully, but All For One decides to intervene. Using the Quirk Warping, he teleports Katsuki and the League to his lair, while sending several Nomus to face the Heroes and the police forces.

Knowing where Katsuki and the others had been teleported, All Might quickly heads to the place after getting rid of the Nomus. Once there, thanks to Izuku, Tenya and Eijiro, Katsuki is rescued, but All For One uses Warping again to allow the League to escape, leaving only him to face All Might, starting a battle between them that is televised to the whole country. Nezu, along with Vlad King and Eraser Head, watches the horrifying broadcast of All Might's bout. After an intense fight, All Might manages to defeat All For One, but consequently loses One For All forever.

Several days later, All Might meets with Nezu alongside Vlad King and Eraser Head. Nezu thanks All Might for his victory against All For One as many lives were saved thanks to his intervention. Even though All Might will be continuing as a teacher, Nezu points out that since he is no longer able to fight, the parents of the U.A. students, as well as society, are anxious and worried about the safety of the children. Nezu reiterates that they must instill faith and confidence in heroes.

Sekijiro Kan agrees with Nezu and vows to nurture, raise, and protect the students more strongly than before. Nezu decides that now is the time to implement a plan of his for quite some time. Nezu and Sekijiro will visit the parents of Class 1-B while Shota Aizawa and All Might will visit the parents of Class 1-A as part of the plan. The plan Nezu wants to implement is the transition of U.A. to a boarding school.

Provisional Hero License Exam Arc
Following the intense villain attacks toward U.A. students, Nezu transforms U.A. into a boarding school in order to protect the students. The Heights Alliance is built in just three days. As the students prepare to start their new lives at the new Heights Alliance dormitory, Nezu overlooks the new dorm buildings. They are not only for student safety, but also to keep an eye on the supposed "traitor" in their ranks. Nezu feels guilty for doubting his colleagues and students but his top priority is to protect the students. He decides that U.A. must direct its students to a hopeful and brighter future now that All Might is no longer the Symbol of Peace.

Several days later, after the Provisional Hero License Exam, all U.A. students attend the opening ceremony. There, Nezu introduces himself. After talking about his diet and lifestyle going out of sync, he states that the reason for his lifestyle becoming inadequate is due to the incident that took during the summer break. He talks about All Might's retirement and the negative effect it will have on society and the Department of Heroics will likely see the most striking effects. Nezu tells the Second and Third years that because of the Hero Program they are engaged with, they must have an awareness of the crisis and conduct themselves accordingly.

Nezu apologizes for bringing down the mood, but the Heroes are dealing with the situation to the best of their abilities and he would like nothing more than to develop them into individuals who will take over their efforts. Nezu ends his speech by saying that whether they are in the Departments of Heroics, Support, and General Education and even the staff of U.A, they must not forget that they are the successors to the Hero society.

U.A. School Festival Arc
Everyone at U.A. High is preparing for the U.A. School Festival. Due to recent incidents, the rising number of villains and the destabilization of the Heroes, Nezu receives the visit of the Police Force's Commissioner General to persuade him to curtail the School Festival. The Commissioner General believes that if an attack occurred on the School Festival, it will make preventing the next attack impossible.

The Commissioner General requests Nezu to cancel the School Festival altogether, wanting to quietly focus on training the next generation of Heroes. Nezu agrees that he has a point but refuses to do it, believing the School Festival is a necessary time for the students, arguing that it's precisely in difficult times when students need the festival.

Nezu begs the Commissioner General to let the festival go on since he does not want to count on a dark future. Nezu tries to convince the Commissioner General, assuring him that security measures will be increased and some of the teachers will patrol U.A.'s premises. The Commissioner General finally agrees to his request, but imposes on him as a condition that they immediately suspend all activities if alarms sound, even if it is a false alarm.

During the following weeks, at the request of Izuku, Shota asks Nezu if Eri, a little girl whom Izuku had rescued during the Shie Hassaikai Raid, can attend the Festival. Izuku believes that, after months of suffering at the hands of Overhaul, the Festival will help Eri overcome her trauma. Nezu gives them his permission.

Finally, the School Festival carries out without any incidents interrupting it and ends up being a huge success that helps to raise the morale of everyone.

Joint Training Arc
The next day after the Joint Training Battle, in the Conference Room, the teachers make the final decisions for Hitoshi Shinso to be transferred to the hero department. They decide that it will definitely be happening. Nezu tells the others that he will take care of the paperwork and asks them to focus on the teaching.

My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising
Sometime during the fall, Yokumiru Mera meets with Nezu and All Might at U.A. High School, explaining to them about the Hero Work Recommendation Project, which is dedicated to helping train the new generation of heroes after All Might's retirement.

Endeavor Agency Arc
A few days before winter break, Nezu holds a meeting at the U.A. Conference Room. Nezu notifies all the U.A. teachers that the Hero Public Safety Commission has requested that from now on, every hero course student is required to train by attending Hero Work-Studies.

Paranormal Liberation War Arc
Shortly after the Paranormal Liberation War, Nezu received a few phone calls from the government to convert more of U.A. High into a sanctuary for families of students in the hero course to protect them.