Bones Film released a prequel spin-off of My Hero Academia this Spring 2025 anime season. Written by Hideyuki and illustrated by Court Betten, the story of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes takes place five years before the main events of the original series. Crime is almost an everyday occurrence in a superhuman society. Heroes work day and night to keep the citizens safe, but even that’s not enough. The alleyways, the streets, and every place you could think of are hiding some sort of dark secret. The story follows Kouichi Haimawari, a college student with an ordinary Slide and Glide quirk that wasn’t good enough for him to become a hero.
Despite that, he finds solace in performing good deeds and helping out the local people. His life turns upside down when he and Kazuko Haneyama, a famous pop idol, get rescued by an unlicensed hero, Knuckleduster. Seeing Kouichi’s potential, Knuckleduster convinces him to join his side and uncover the source of a dangerous drug known as Trigger, which boosts a user’s quirk but also makes them lose their rationale and resort to violence. Although what Knuckleduster is doing couldn’t be considered legal, his intentions are pure. The society only gives limelight to the Pro Heroes, while the Vigilantes work in the shadows for the good of the people. However, there’s a tragic reason why Knuckleduster isn’t working as a licensed hero.
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My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Confirms Knuckleduster is Quirkless
Knuckleduster is a middle-aged man who initially appeared to have a powerful endurance-type quirk. He’s tall and buff, and his punches have a lot of power behind them. In a way, he’s somewhat similar to All Might, including the grin he has most of the time. His brute strength is enough to easily overpower even villains who use special boosts to enhance their quirks. However, in Episode 2, he has a brief clash with pro-hero Eraserhead, Shoto Aizawa. Aizawa is, of course, a famous character from the original series who happens to stumble across Knuckleduster and his team.
Believing they are villains and causing havoc using their quirks, he tries to apprehend them. However, he soon realizes that using his quirk on Knuckleduster has no effect, which can only mean that his target is quirkless. Although Aizawa is shocked by the immense power Knuckledusters possesses, fighting quirkless people isn’t part of his duty. Heroes are only responsible for stopping people from misusing their quirks.
If someone who is powerless causes a scene, it’s the job of the local police to deal with him. However, despite the earlier chaos, Knuckleduster still helps out the heroes by capturing the villains who are using the boost drug. The source of the drug still hasn’t been revealed yet, but the heroes won’t back down unless the threat has been dealt with. Meanwhile, we will also learn more about Knuckleduster and his past, including why he insists on working a thankless job despite not having a quirk.
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