Neito Monoma

Neito Monoma, also known as Phantom Thief (ファントムシーフ), is a student in Class 1-B at U.A. High School, training to become a Pro Hero.

Appearance
Neito is a young man of average height with slick blond hair, which gets shorter the further down his head, styled so that it’s parted to the right, his bangs left hanging over his right eye. His irises are a periwinkle blue, his pupils white, and his eyes are shaped so that they’re slanting downwards towards the far sides of his face, usually left half-closed; this, along with his signature smirk and head tilt, gives him a rather contemptuous look. The girls admit in the light novels that Neito has a handsome face.

His hero costume is a black, double-breasted tuxedo with two long tails almost reaching his ankles. Three 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. A left breast pocket can be found on his tuxedo, a small blue handkerchief sticking out. Neito's tailcoat and pants are plain black, except for the cuffs of his sleeves and the inner-facing sides of his tails, and his shoes are white with a simple design.

Personality
Neito has a rather complex personality since it differs depending on who he is addressing: he is particularly mocking, loud, and sarcastic with Class 1-A, provocative in battle, and outside of these contexts, he is a calm, kind, and brilliant person. Regardless of how he acts, two of his most prominent traits are his being vocal and eccentric.

Neito hates and envies Class 1-A over how they became the center of attention among U.A.'s first years because of the U.S.J. Incident. Truthfully, he only wants his class to stand out as they do, although he vents this feeling by throwing countless taunts towards his rivals, gloating over Class 1-B's successes and disparaging 1-A for their failures and shortcomings, taking almost any opportunity to do so. This venting isn't helped by his insecurities and Katsuki Bakugo's arrogant demeanor supporting his beliefs that Class 1-A constantly seeks attention from the masses.

Neito is shown to have an inferiority complex. Although he seems to recognize the abilities of his comrades (praising the skills of Kinoko Komori or Setsuna Tokage, for example), Neito seems to hold internal doubt over his own: it has been shown that he considers himself as inferior to Class 1-A, as he breathed a sigh of relief after learning that he wouldn’t have to face them. In truth, Neito deliberately forces himself to provoke them to push his classmates to do their best, although his vocal tirades often lead to him being knocked unconscious by Itsuka Kendo. His rantings can even make him come off as unhinged or mentally unstable in the eyes of others. He can also be insensitive and sometimes a bad influence, as he brought up Izuku, Shoto, and Tenya's encounter with the Hero Killer: Stain, despite knowing that Tenya's brother was attacked and badly injured by the villain. He also tricked one of his classmates, Pony Tsunotori, a foreign exchange student from America, into unknowingly saying unkind phrases in Japanese.

Neito sees the world differently and divides society into two parts. He thinks that people who have Quirks fit for heroism are "main characters" and people who don't have these kinds of Quirks are "side characters." therefore, since his comrades mostly have Quirks suited for heroism, he wants them to consider themselves as main characters in their own lives. However, with his own Quirk being very dependent on his entourage, he considers himself a side character in his own life.

His insecurities mainly stem from his Copy Quirk, as it does not fit the typical mold of a strong hero: his Quirk can't do anything by itself, while in the hero society, individual strength is praised. Because of this, people kept telling him when he was a child that he couldn't become a hero with the Quirk he has. This self-doubt is also what caused Neito to identify with Hitoshi Shinso for possessing an underpowered and perceived unheroic Quirk. Additionally, Neito is willing to use underhanded methods to gain an advantage in a battle to compensate for this, such as when he blamed Katsuki for All Might's retirement in a successful attempt to anger Izuku Midoriya. He also considers his childhood hopes and dreams as burdens for him and feels like he is cursed because of this.

Although Neito's competitiveness against Class 1-A is what is most emphasized by his character, his kind side is shown on numerous occasions, especially when he makes a plan to allow his class to pass the first two rounds of the U.A. Sports Festival and gives them a choice on whether to adopt it or not. He also comforted Setsuna after losing against Katsuki and reassured Eri on two occasions, despite the latter initially being afraid of him. This competitive attitude is also shown in the light novels (recounting the play that Class 1-B created) in which he proposed to help Sen Kaibara, one of his classmates, take the stage when he was stressed, as well as when he was worried about Nirengeki Shoda and Kojiro Bondo after they spent too long in 1-A's sauna.

Despite his insecurities, it has been shown that Neito is a highly talented person as well, first of all being one of the few able to recognize Ochaco Uraraka's plan against Katsuki during their match in the Sports Festival. Izuku thinks that Neito "has an amazing Quirk and is skilled," while Tenya Ida feels that he is "smart and able." Implicitly, Katsuki also thinks the same as he agreed with Tenya. According to the light novels, he also knows how to cook, perform on stage, create a scene, and even improvise, and can keep his cool in complicated situations and react consequently, which amazed Denki Kaminari. He is, therefore, respected and viewed highly by his classmates and peers even if they avoid telling him, likely so they don't feed his ego.

He also stands out as being one of the two leaders of Class 1-B with Itsuka Kendo, and therefore, he took charge of the speech before the Cavalry Battle and was the one Setsuna went directly to see to find comfort after her defeat. His manner of speaking is similar to that of Seiji Shishikura, as he tends to use more eloquent words than strictly necessary, especially when addressing the students of Class 1-A.

Even with his impressive tactical and analytical skills, one of his understated weaknesses is his poor aptitude for school work and studying, failing the Summer written exams, being forced to take part in the remedial lessons during the Quirk Training Camp, and only barely passing the Fall written exams.

During the Final War, Neito was assigned an essential part in the plan, using his Quirk to copy Kurogiri's Warp Gate which would allow them to warp the Heroes and Villains, splitting them up all across Japan so the fighting could be contained, as well as also copying Shota Aizawa's Erasure to erase Tomura Shigaraki's Quirks. Neito was initially apprehensive of the task due to his short time preparing. He also felt inadequate for such an essential role due to being a "side character" but was assured by Vlad King that they needed everyone's help and that his assistance was vital. Once the plan was in effect, Neito gleefully embraced the role as the "puppetmaster" and wanted everyone to be aware of his role in ensuring that Tomura was contained for so long.

Abilities
Overall Abilities: Neito may not possess melee combat abilities, but he makes up for it with his agility, precision, and intelligence, as well as the proficient handling he has on his Quirk, Copy. With a copied Quirk, Neito possesses the same advantages and disadvantages as the original Quirk user from whom he copied. In addition, his ability to swap between Quirks makes him a more versatile and unpredictable opponent to battle against in group battles, where he has more opportunities to copy various Quirks, be it from friend or foe.

In the Cavalry Battle of the U.A. Sports Festival, he copied Quirks from Katsuki and Eijiro Kirishima and flawlessly used the copied Quirks to take the highly capable Katsuki by surprise twice. During the Joint Training Battle, he nonchalantly had enough mettle to singlehandedly take on Izuku Midoriya, one of the most powerful students in Class 1-A, but before he could, Izuku's Quirk went awry. After Izuku's Quirk was tamed, Neito could still take him by surprise, knock the former back, and attempt to copy his Quirk. Unfortunately, Neito's efforts proved futile, as he realized he could not copy One For All, an accumulation-type Quirk, resulting in the tuxedo-wearing student being subdued by Ochaco's hand-to-hand combat skills.

Keen Intellect: Neito is shown to be a knowledgeable individual with a strategic and analytical mind. He formulated a strategy for Class 1-B during the first stage of the Sports Festival, which involved the students of the said class purposely placing low in the Obstacle Race, correctly guessing it was just the preliminary round and none of them would get cut from the Sports Festival. This tactic was employed so that Class 1-B could observe the other students and later know their Quirks while keeping their own powers concealed. During the combat portion of the Festival, Neito was able to easily see through Ochaco's true strategy when she battled against Katsuki, something many of the audience members, including the present Pro Heroes, failed to notice until much later.

Neito's craftiness was further showcased during the final round of the Joint Training Battle. Neito had Hitoshi Shinso use his Persona Chords to mimic Ochaco's scream to catch a scouting Izuku off-guard successfully. He explained that Class 1-B knows better than underestimating a powerful combatant such as Izuku, so Neito planned to have his team defeat Izuku's teammates before engaging the latter. As part of his provocations, Neito claimed Izuku's teammates were in trouble and then inquired as to how Katsuki could smile after being the cause of All Might's retirement, causing Izuku to finally snap, which consequently led to One For All running out of control.

After Ochaco subdued him, Neito explained that while he uses the watches on his hero costume to keep track of the time limits for his copied Quirks, he has three watches visible to deceive his opponents into believing the number of eyes represents the maximum number of Quirks he can copy. Despite Neito's capture, he was aware of Izuku pursuing Hitoshi and, through a delayed reaction, hindered Izuku with Twin Impact, which Neito had copied from Nirengeki Shoda.

Quirk
Copy (コピー): Neito's Quirk allows him to duplicate and use another person's Quirk after coming into physical contact with the user. He can hold four Quirks simultaneously and maintain copied powers for ten minutes. After the time limit runs out, Neito loses the copied Quirk until he once again touches the original user.

Neito gains full access to the Quirk he has copied and can use it however he likes. However, he cannot simultaneously use multiple Quirks, only one at a time.

Neito can't effectively use copied Quirks that require a previously stored resource, such as One For All (power), Fat Absorption (body fat), and Rewind (unknown). His body also limits him; he wouldn't have the strength to properly handle powerful Quirks that require years of physical conditioning to use without bodily harm.

Equipment
Stopwatches: Neito wears three watches on his belt that he uses to record the duration of time it has been since he copied a specific Quirk, letting him know when its usage is up. Neito also seems to use these to trick his opponents into assuming the limit of his copied Quirks is only three when it seems to be four at minimum.

Chapter Appearances

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Anime Appearances

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Trivia

 * Neito's rankings in the Popularity Polls are the following:
 * Ranked 25th in the First and Second Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 24th in the Third Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 38th in the Fourth Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 31st in the Fifth Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 41st in the Sixth Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 40th in the Seventh Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 22nd in the Eighth Popularity Poll.
 * Neito's surname contains the kanji for "object" (物) and "gap" (間), and his first name contains "repose, serenity, preferable" (寧) and "person" (人).
 * Neito's name comes from the word "mimicry, imitation" (物真似), which references his Quirk.
 * When written together, the kanji in his last name means "among things" (物間).
 * His name may also be a play on the word "monomaniac," meaning "exaggerated or obsessive enthusiasm for or preoccupation with one thing," with his case being his obsession with toppling Class 1-A.
 * Neito likes French cuisine and Franco-Belgian comics.
 * In his character profile, Horikoshi revealed he had based Neito on a real person. This person was later revealed to be Dane DeHaan, specifically his performance as Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #12 2022.
 * Neito shares his birthday with Yo Shindo.
 * His hero name, Phantom Thief, may be based on the literary character archetype of the same name. A Phantom Thief is characterized by being a criminal (usually a thief) who keeps a moral code and often does bad things for the sake of good. They also leave calling cards and use tricks, illusions, and disguises to achieve their goals.
 * Neito's Japanese voice actor, Kōhei Amasaki, also voices Shihai Kuroiro.

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) "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!"
 * (To Hitoshi) "The paradox is that to become heroes, we must act unheroically. Otherwise, we'll never measure up to those capable of greatness. Emulating our idols isn't enough. Surely you've felt this way before... how the hopes and dreams of childhood grow heavy as burdens? As if we are cursed."

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