Neito Monoma

Neito Monoma, also known as Phantom Thief, is a student in Class 1-B at U.A. High School training to become a Pro Hero.

Appearance
Neito has short, slick blond hair, which is parted to the left, his bangs hanging low above his right eye. His eyes are blue with white pupils, and are slanted down towards the sides of his face, usually half-closed.

His hero costume is a black, double breasted tuxedo with two long tails reaching almost down to his ankles. Several clocks hang on one of two belts around his waist, presumably to help him keep track of his Quirk's time limit, and he leaves his shirt collar upturned, a blue and black dotted tie done up around his neck. Both his tailcoat and his pants are plain black, with the exception of the cuffs of his sleeves and the inner-facing sides of his tails, and his shoes are white with a simple design.

Personality
Neito is shown to be calm, collected, and intelligent. Among Class 1-B's students, he's the most fervent about wanting to topple Class 1-A's popularity. He is also disagreeable, sarcastic, and vocal. He seems to be jealous of Class 1-A's popularity, but also worries that the fact that they are always getting into trouble will get the rest of the school in trouble too. When he hears that Class 1-A fails in some way, he will usually laugh out loud and passive-aggressively ask how it's possible for them to fail since they are meant to be the superior class. Most of the time when this happens, Itsuka Kendo manages to restrain Neito before he gets too out of hand, apologizing on his behalf to whoever he was insulting.

He is shown to have something of a superiority complex, as he takes whatever opportunities he can get to mock and challenge, one up and surpass anyone in Class 1-A. This even extends to mocking himself in order to mock the students in 1-A who had to take remedial lessons during the Forest Training Camp Arc, despite being the only one from Class 1-B who also had to take remedial lessons. He's been quoted by people as being mentally unstable, but this is more than likely a joke regarding his obsession with overtaking Class 1-A.

In spite of his bitterness and overconfidence, he does seem to feel threatened and intimidated by Class 1-A because of their skills and strength, this being shown when he sighs in relief after learning that he doesn't have to face them in the provisional license exam. He does switch back to his usual disdainful outlook straight afterwards, but he is possibly using this as something of a cover-up for revealing his true emotions.

Despite his scornful and competitive attitude towards Class 1-A, he has been shown to demonstrate compassion and understanding towards his fellow Class 1-B students. He tends to approach them with an encouraging attitude, and doesn't ever put them down, only giving them constructive criticism where it's needed, an example of this being when he tries to comfort Setsuna Tokage after her and her team's loss to Class 1-A in the Joint Training Arc. He also seems to be very confident in Class 1-B abilities, and he is seen boasting about the Quirk of Kinoko Komori to the rivaling class, saying that they shouldn't have underestimated her and that she's one to be feared.

His manner of speaking is similar to that of Seiji Shishikura, as he tends to use more eloquent words than strictly necessary, especially when he's addressing the students of Class 1-A. This is seen frequently in the Joint Training Arc.

Abilities
Keen Intellect: Neito is shown to be very intelligent, as he was able to see through Ochaco Uraraka's true strategy during her fight against Katsuki Bakugo in the Sports Festival, something many of the present pro heroes were unable to do. He has also formulated a strategy for Class 1-B during the first stage of the Sports Festival, by which the participating Class 1-B students purposely placed low in the Obstacle Race in order to make Class 1-A underestimate them, so they could later have the advantage.

Quirk
Copy (コピー): Neito's Quirk allows him to duplicate and use another Quirk after coming into contact with the Quirk user. He gains full access to the Quirk he has copied and can use it however he likes, and it is also possible for him to copy several Quirks at the same time. However, a drawback is that Neito cannot simultaneously use multiple Quirks, only one at a time, and can only use the Quirk he has copied for five minutes. After his time limit is up, he loses the use of the copied Quirk until he comes back in contact with its original user.

U.A. Sports Festival

 * Obstacle Race
 * Cavalry Battle

Joint Training Arc

 * Izuku Midoriya, Ochaco Uraraka, Mina Ashido, & Minoru Mineta vs. Neito Monoma, Yui Kodai, Nirengeki Shoda, Reiko Yanagi, & Hiotshi Shinso

Trivia

 * Neito's rankings in the Popularity Polls are the following:
 * Ranked 25th in the 2nd Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 24th in the 3rd Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 38th in the 4th Popularity Poll.
 * Neito's name comes from the word "monomane" (物真似), which means "mimicry". Additionally, "monoma" (物間) means "among things", "nei" (寧) means "repose, serenity, peace, peaceful", and "hito" (人) means "person".
 * Neito likes French cuisine and Franco-Belgian comics.
 * Neito is based on a real person, according to Horikoshi.
 * Despite having a 5/5 Intelligence Stat, Neito did not pass the End of Year Exam. This means he most likely failed the practical half of the exam.
 * Neito shares his birthday with Yo Shindo.

Quotes

 * (To his classmates) "Class A thinks it's so great. Well, let's show 'em... why we in Class B hung back and placed low in the preliminaries."
 * (To Setsuna Tokage) “I’m happy to see my inexperienced peers reflect and grow. Yes, victory is no longer within Class B’s reach but we haven’t truly lost yet. Because what I want us all to learn is which lass treads the correct path… the earnest one that keeps its nose clean? Or the class of wholly undeserving reprobates that batches in limelight for all the wrong reasons? We are all, to the last, merely bit players in the lives of others and the stars of only our own!”

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Neito Monoma