Summary
Stain’s critique of hero society is validated by the behavior of heroes like Uwabami, who prioritize fame and validation over helping people. The heroes of My Hero Academia often use their status to advance their music or acting careers instead of focusing solely on protecting and serving the public. Uwabami illustrates the social problems that Stain condemns, highlighting the flaws in hero society and adding complexity to the conflict between heroes and villains.
My Hero AcademyStain’s heroic assassin is a complex character, as despite his murderous tendencies, he still has some valid criticisms and complaints about hero society. In fact, the story goes off on a tangent at the beginning of Hero Killer to demonstrate exactly what kind of hero Stain is talking about.
In the Hero Assassin arc, the students of Class 1-A and 1-B are sent as hero trainees for a week, based on a request sent to them from the Sports Festival. In chapter 48, while Deku is sent to meet Gran Torino and Bakugo is with Best Jeanist, two other students, Momo Yaoyorozu and Itsuka Kendo, are interning with a famous person, snake hero Uwabami. Kendo and Yaoyorozu are disappointed with what they see, as Uwabami’s day is essentially devoid of any hero work, instead filled with filming commercials, making appearances, and attending to business matters. While the girls are mostly disappointed that they didn’t get any real-world experience, Uwabami is making Stain’s argument.
Uwabami is exactly the kind of hero Stain is talking about
Stain’s motivation for hunting heroes is because he feels that most professional players, perhaps all except All Might, are not worthy of the title “Hero”. Instead, they are treated like celebrities, promoting products and appearing on talk shows while people suffer from crime and disasters. In Stain’s view, these heroes are putting their own needs above the needs of others, which is the exact opposite of what someone claiming to be a hero should do. Even Tenya Ida’s brother, Ingenium who was originally taken down by Stain, was shown filming commercials in the My Hero Academia Vigilantes prequel series.
Uwabami is almost certainly included in the Stain section because her behavior proves that Stain has a point: there are plenty of people who became pro heroes for the glory, instead of doing good and helping people. The heroes in My Hero Academia don’t seem to have any requirements in terms of solving problems to maintain their pro status, so getting a pro license and then immediately becoming of the public is completely legal. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that some professionals actually only become heroes as a gimmick to enhance their music or acting careers.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that Uwabami deserved to be killed by Stain; For example, she later helped in the raid on the hideout to retrieve Bakugo, so she did some heroic work. After all, All Might has a lot of merchandise floating around, and the existence of that All Might merchandise doesn’t seem to affect Stain’s opinion of him. However, Uwabami stands out as a symbol of the social issues that Stain is protesting as well as the problems with hero society as a whole. By introducing her in the chapters with Stain, it helps prove Stain’s argument and makes My Hero AcademyThe conflict between hero and villain becomes much grayer.
