My Hero Academia is a shonen superhero anime series set in a wild future where superpowers, or Quirks, are commonplace. Trainee heroes need proper education to understand their abilities and their role in the world, and at one point, student heroes such as Izuku Midoriya can get internships with pro heroes and see the action for themselves.
Nearly all students in Class 1-A took part in internships not long after the U.A. sports festival was concluded, and some of these internships were highly educational and beneficial, while others really weren’t. It soon became clear that heroic internships come with many perks, but student heroes must deal with some harsh realities, too. This is what it takes to become a real pro hero.
10 PERK: Students Can Start Networking With Pros
Student heroes like Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka need to start networking sooner or later, and this can pay off hugely when they graduate from U.A. and seek work as actual pro heroes themselves. So, they can use internships as an opportunity to meet pro heroes and make an impression on them.
Networking is vital in any field, and pro heroes are no exception. By fighting alongside pro heroes, students can form professional ties or even friendships with pro heroes, and if they intern with an influential and popular hero, the benefits are even greater.
9 HARSH REALITY: Popular Heroes Are In High Demand
Pro heroes vary in many ways, not just their Quirks and their costume design. Some pro heroes are fairly obscure or not terribly popular, while others, such as the winged hero Hawks, are a big deal. Many students would want to score an internship with him and heroes like him.
Unfortunately, these popular heroes only have so many intern slots available, so dozens or hundreds of student heroes will experience a brutal bottleneck, and most will miss a chance to intern with that hero since there’s so much competition. Fumikage Tokoyami, however, did score an internship with Hawks at one point.
8 PERK: Pro Heroes Offer Unique Insights
The teachers at U.A. can teach their students all sorts of things about being a pro hero, and most of them have field experience of their own. After a point, though, students such as Izuku need to hear some fresh new ideas, and they can get those ideas from pro heroes during internships.
The teachers at U.A. represent only a narrow fraction of all pro heroes, and that can get stale after a point. Interning with a different pro hero gives the student a chance to explore the world and their Quirk in new ways, such as when Katsuki Bakugo figured out some new tricks after interning with Endeavor the flaming hero.
7 HARSH REALITY: Some Pro Heroes Don’t Take It Seriously
Nearly all pro heroes are serious about their duty, but a few of them let their eccentric personalities get in the way, and Mt. Lady is an example. She can change her size at will during combat, but she was never seen fighting with Minoru Mineta, who had opted to intern with her.
It’s unclear what exactly Mt. Lady could have taught Minoru, but it’s a moot point because she slacks off at her agency and orders Minoru to do housework, much to Minoru’s chagrin. Pro heroes are still human beings, and that can be an issue sometimes.
6 PERK: Real Missions Are Motivating & Exciting
When a student hero accepts an intern with a pro, they are patrolling real streets and fighting real crime, and the stakes are equally real. This can be a double-edged sword, but the positive half is that any properly motivated student hero will find this incredibly exciting and meaningful.
The student hero can quickly gain valuable experience and test themselves when fighting real crime with a pro hero during an internship, and this can bring out the best in students who are ready for such a challenge. Striking target dummies with a Quirk can only accomplish so much.
5 HARSH REALITY: The Consequences Of Failure Are Real
On the other hand, taking part in real crimefighting is a risky business even when a pro hero is on hand during the internship. Pro heroes and their interns will always do their best, but they are never perfect, and disaster might strike. No pro hero can guarantee a favorable outcome.
The interning student might fumble the situation and let a villain escape, or allow civilians or property to come to serious harm. This may weigh heavily on the student’s mind and even shatter their resolve, and they might struggle to find another internship after such a disaster. The constant possibility of failure must be stressful for intern students.
4 PERK: Students Can See New Places & Settings During The Internship
Being a pro hero means patrolling the streets on most days, but pro heroes can also journey far and wide to save the day anywhere evil might strike. Potentially, a student’s internship will take them to faraway locations for the job’s sake, and they might go from one end of Japan to the other.
Many student heroes must be eager to explore the world and see new sights as they fight crime, from new cities and wild landscapes to famous locations across the nation. Adventurous student interns must love this part of the job since they’d never travel that far during class.
3 HARSH REALITY: Heroic Work Can Be Dull & Tedious At Times
When people see pro heroes in action on TV and in the news, they are only seeing a highlight reel, the most exciting and meaningful parts of the job. What they don’t see is all the tedious work in between those exciting moments, and Class 1-A’s students soon learn that for themselves.
Tsuyu Asui, AKA Froppy, learned that Selkie the hero needed a lot of elbow grease to keep his boats in prime condition, and Eijiro Kirishima and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu spent a lot of time merely collecting trash with Fourth Kind, which was terribly dull for both boys. They didn’t put on costumes just to become garbage collectors, but they had no choice.
2 PERK: Students Can Sell Their Brand To The Public
Pro heroes are like brand names all on their own, and having a colorful costume, a distinct Quirk, a warm personality, and performing heroic deeds are surefire ways to promote their personal brands to the world at large. Momo Yaoyorozu and Itsuka Kendo learned another way: actual advertising.
At first, Momo and Itsuka were reluctant to take part in a TV ad for a certain brand of hairspray with Uwabami the hero, but in so doing, Momo and Itsuka promoted themselves to the public as likable and attractive pro heroes in the making. Now thousands of people know who they are and for all the right reasons. But of course, Momo and Itsuka must also perform heroic deeds to round out their careers.
1 HARSH REALITY: Some Pro Heroes Have Nasty Attitudes & Clash With Students
Pro heroes are fallible like anyone else, and their personalities might be the problem. Sometimes, a pro hero is simply predisposed to be short-tempered, impatient, curt, or harsh toward others, even their interns or members of their agency. It can’t be helped.
Some pro heroes have nasty or eccentric personalities that really grate on their interns, such as when Best Jeanist forced Bakugo to get a proper haircut, or when Fourth Kind scolded Eijiro and Tetsutetsu for every minor infraction. Sometimes, being a hero intern means enduring a real tongue-lashing.
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