With villains attacking the students, the practical half of the students final exams becomes an all out fight against the teachers that are exploring the students very weaknesses.
Class 1-A participate in their final exam, the exercise test. However, in a surprising twist, they must face their teachers in combat. The teachers are going to go easy on them, of course, they couldn't grade the students if they just got curbstomped. Nevertheless, these are still teachers, and they're not going to be pushovers by any means. The goal of the battle is to leave the field through the escape gate (since Know When to Fold 'Em is a valid tactic) or get a pair of handcuffs on the teacher.
The matchups:
Eijiro Kirishima and Rikido Sato vs. Cementoss
Cementoss uses his cement-manipulation powers to create barriers, which Kirishima and Sato use their powers to smash. However, the time limits on their Quirks run out before Cementoss runs out of walls.
Result: FAILURE
Momo Yaoyorozu and Shoto Todoroki vs Eraser Head
The pair get off to a bad start when Aizawa is able to capture Shoto, but once Shoto encourages Momo (who's the better tactician of the two, but is suffering from self-esteem issues after her quick loss at the hands of Tokoyami during the Sports Festival), they manage to work out a strategy involving a catapult and a shape-memory alloy copy of Eraser Head's scarf, which they tie him up with. Of course, Momo did make a mistake, but Aizawa allowed her the victory because he's a total softie at heart.
Result: PASS
Denki Kaminari and Mina Ashido vs. Principal Nezu
The students try to escape the area, while Nezu uses his Super-Intelligence and a wrecking ball to set up Disaster Dominoes so they can't. Even when he deliberately leaves them a way out, they don't find it.
Result: FAILURE
Mashirao Ojiro and Tenya Iida vs. Power Loader
Power Loader's tunneling Quirk makes it hard for Iida to run to the exit without falling into a pit, and he's too fast for Ojiro to make any headway. They get past that by combining their skills- Iida throws Ojiro to the exit using his super speed, sacrificing himself to let his teammate get out.
Result: PASS
Tsuyu Asui and Fumikage Tokoyami vs. Ectoplasm
Ectoplasm's Me's a Crowd quirk allows him to chase Tsuyu and Tokoyami across the arena, and eventually trap them with one really big clone. He's eventually surprised by some nice tactics from Tsuyu, who hid the handcuffs in her stomach (part of her frog powers), and handed them to Dark Shadow to cuff Ectoplasm's leg.
Result: PASS
Toru Hagakure and Mezo Shoji vs. Snipe
Shoji distracts Snipe, allowing Toru an opening to cuff him.
Result: PASS
Hanta Sero and Minoru Mineta vs. Midnight
Midnight almost catches Mineta with her Knockout Gas quirk, but Sero saves him and is caught instead. Mineta eventually defeats Midnight with a Batman Gambit- he acted cowardly and scared to poke her sadistic side, taunting her into following him and eventually being trapped by his sticky balls far away from the exit gate, while Mineta uses Sero's tape to cover his mouth to prevent breathing in her gas, and hauls his teammate through the gate.
Result: PASS* (MINETA PASSES, SERO FAILS)
Ochaco Uraraka and Yuga Aoyama vs Thirteen
Thirteen's quirk is, in a word, overpowered. Neither student can fight Thirteen while the hero is trying to suck them up, and neither of their quirks are effective. Zero Gravity would only make them fall into the black hole faster (they'd be pushed in by the air rushing towards the black hole if nothing else), and Aoyama's navel laser is useless because black holes suck in light too- it's pretty much their defining characteristic, and why they're called black holes.
The students eventually win because Black Hole is too powerful- when Yuga asks Ochaco about her crush on Izuku, she lets go in surprise and begins falling into Thirteen's quirk. Since getting near a black hole is so absurdly lethal that scientists invented a new word for how badly you die ('spaghettification'- Ludicrous Gibs has nothing on this), Thirteen cuts off their quirk in fear of her safety, which allows Uraraka an opening to cuff them.
Result: PASS, BUT JUST BARELY
Kyoka Jiro and Koji Koda vs Present Mic
Jiro is fairly useless except for defense because Present Mic out-volumes her. All the animals around are also scared off by all the shouting, so Koda doesn't have much to use. The only thing present are insects- and Koda is scared of them. However, he overcomes his fear when he sees that Present Mic has ruptured Jiro's eardrums. And you know how Koda is scared of bugs? Turns out Present Mic is too, which allows them to overcome him and escape through the gate.
Result: PASS
Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya vs. All Might
This begins as exactly the kind of Curb-Stomp Battle you'd expect when All Might is involved, even handicapped and long past his prime. Making it worse, Katsuki and Izuku can't work together. Katsuki has an Inferiority Superiority Complex directed towards Izuku, and Izuku can't stand up to Katsuki. They can't just escape (as Bakugo notes), because All Might is too fast. If they don't fight All Might together, they're toast- and eventually they manage to agree with each other long enough to attack as a team, and win the exam battle.
Result: PASS
Despite the threat of the losers of the exams being excluded from the School Trip Aizawa informs Class 1-A that everyone will be attending (on the grounds that while a few teams failed the practical, they still passed the written portion of the test, and that those who failed the practical application need the Training Camp the most). In order to prepare, and just to have fun with one another, Class 1-A organises a visit to the mall.
Meanwhile at the villain bar a despondent Shigaraki is greeted by Giran who has brought him two new recruits for the League; a psychotic Serial Killer named Himiko Toga, and a mysterious young man named Dabi. Both recruits get on his nerves due to their admiration for Stain which almost leads to an all out brawl between the three before Kurogiri stops them. A frustrated Shigaraki leaves to think wondering why so many people admire Stain and not him considering that they both do the exact same thing; destroy the things they hate.
Class 1-A gets together for a day of shopping, that leaves Midoriya and Uraraka alone together. Remembering Aoyama's words from their battle with Thirteen Uraraka leaves Midoriya alone in embarrassment. Suddenly Midoriya is confronted by a mysterious young man in a hoodie who is a little too friendly. However only once he wraps his hand, save one finger, around his throat and tells him that they haven't seen each other since the USJ does Midoriya realizes who it is: Tomura Shigaraki!
Shigaraki tells Midoriya not to move and threatens to kill him and a few civilians if he doesn't comply. He then asks Midoriya what the difference is between him and Stain and why so many people have gravitated towards the Hero Killer. Midoriya admits that, while he can't understand or accept Shigaraki's wanton need for destruction, he can at least understand Stain's ideology twisted though it may be, after all, both him and Stain were inspired by All Might.
A delighted Shigaraki finally realizes what it was that infuriates him about Stain and Midoriya; the admiration both have for All Might and the "sham filled society" he represents. Shigaraki thanks Midoriya for his help and goes off on a rant about how All Might can still smile as if there was nothing he couldn't save. Suddenly Uraraka returns and sees Shigaraki with his hand tightening around Midoriya's throat. Before anything can happen Shigaraki lets go and leaves promising Midoriya that the next time they meet he will kill the boy. As he leaves Shigaraki comments that he did have convictions all along and promises to make them a reality; to destroy All Might and show the world how fragile their society really is.
Tropes
- Alone with the Psycho: Played with since Izuku wasn't entirely alone, but the passerby's are still too caught up in their own business to pay attention to his situation, and Shigaraki likely would have followed through with his threat to kill them if Izuku had called for help.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Yaoyorozu got the second place in the class representative elections by having two votes: one of her own and another from someone who was never revealed. At the time it was irrelevant, but after she goes into Heroic Self-Deprecation and becomes a Broken Ace, finding out that the person to vote for her was Todoroki revitalizes her confidence in herself.
- Dénouement Episode: Following the completion of their final exams, Class 1-A decides to hang out at the mall for the day to celebrate and prepare for the up-incoming School Trip. However the lighthearted tone is ruined when Shigaraki arrives and confronts Midoriya. After asking Midoriya what the difference between him and Stain is Shigaraki solves his character development problem by finally gaining a concrete goal of his own aside from aimless destruction; destroying All Might and tearing down the society he represents.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: Invoked by the faculty, who point out that having them go against the students at full power will cause the fights to end too quickly. Thus, the teachers wear devices that have them put on half their body weight. They work doubly so for All Might, as he has to deal with his large body weight while running out of his own power.
- Flaw Exploitation: The End-of-Term practical test is redesigned into this after the incidents involving the League of Villains. The teachers pair up students against the teacher who can best force them to deal with their weak areas.
- Foreshadowing: Yaoyorozu starts the arc offering help to people on the written exam, before somberly saying that she can't help anyone in the practical exam, which Todoroki takes note. Later on, Yaoyorozu's lack of self-confidence is the center of her arc in this arc.
- Greek Chorus: Bakugo and Midoriya were the second pair to finish their final in the manga; afterwards, Midoriya commentates on the rationale and strategies of the remaining matches alongside Recovery Girl.
- Hero Antagonist: Technically, U.A. and its teacher staff are the main antagonists against Class 1-A in this arc. Justified with this being a school setting, although some of them did go a bit too far.
- Innocently Insensitive: Iida and Midoriya give Kaminari and Ashido encouraging words for the written exams, and Todoroki tells them that it's hard to fail if they listen in class. Of course, these three are all in the class's top five, which is just rubbing salt in the wound. Yaoyorozu invites them over to her house for a study session."It's like she casually slapped me with the huge difference in how we were born..."
- Knight of Cerebus: This arc sets Tomura Shigaraki up as one, as it not only begins to frame him much more seriously as an antagonist than before, but it also heralds his eventual Character Development, as well as a marked shift in tone for the following arcs.
- Mook Horror Show: Midoriya and Bakugo's fight with All-Might has shades of this as they get to experience how terrifyingly overwhelming he can be as an opponent (even past his prime and handicapped). Midoriya even thinks that he reminds him of the Hero Killer.
- No Name Given: Inspired by the Hero Killer Stain, two new people are among the handful who want to join the League of Villains - A crazed Yandere-like girl named Himiko Toga and an overly scarred boy who only goes by "Dabi". When Shigaraki asks for the latter's real name, he refuses; he promises to reveal it later.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Iida and Ojiro's fight against Power Loader. All we see of the fight is the very end, right after Ojiro makes it past the gate. The same goes for Shoji and Hagakure against Snipe.
- Plot Tailored to the Party: Invoked by the faculty for the practical exams; the students vs. teachers matchups were explicitly designed to address some of the students' weaknesses and help them grow as heroes. Some examples:
- Midoriya and Bakugo vs. All Might is to see whether they can set aside their differences in the face of overwhelming adversity.
- Todoroki and Yaoyorozu vs. Eraser Head is for Yaoyorozu to improve her split-second thinking and action (and by extension her confidence) and to challenge Todoroki's tendency to use brute force by having them go against the Power Nullifier close-combat fighter Aizawa.
- Jiro and Koda vs. Present Mic is because while all their Quirks revolve around sound, Present Mic is powerful enough to cancel out direct usage of Jiro and Koda's Quirks. Thus, the students had to find creative ways to use their Quirks.
- Tsuyu and Tokoyami vs. Ectoplasm is to challenge Tokoyami's tendency to rely on Dark Shadow to do the fighting for him (since Ectoplasm's clones can get close with no problem) and to see how well Tsuyu can emotionally and physically support her partner.
- Ashido and Kaminari vs. Nedzu was chosen because these students tend to act first, think later; this is challenged when they go up against an intelligent villain who can effectively take advantage of this and outsmart them.
- Sato and Kirishima vs. Cementoss is supposed to have the students (both of whom are physical bruisers) think of creative ways to defeat a villain who doesn't run out of defenses.
- The Reveal: This is the first time we see Tomura's face completely uncovered. And man, is it disturbing...
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Midoriya and Bakugo spend nearly the entirety of their fight arguing, but they have to work together in order to beat the nigh-unstoppable force that is All Might. Aizawa paired them up exclusively so they could overcome their horrible chemistry and stand up to their idol.
- Victory by Endurance: In the end, Midoriya manages to get Bakugo out of the gate because All Might's powered form was running out of steam.
- Villain Has a Point: When holding Midoriya hostage in the shopping mall, Shigaraki muses about his hatred of Heroes - he notes that Hero Society is built on a false notion that everyone can be saved, which implies he wasn't saved when the need was dire. When Midoriya later asks All Might if there was ever a time when All Might couldn't protect someone, the Symbol of Peace gives an affirmative answer.
- Worf Had the Flu: Invoked by the teachers, who wear weights equal to half their body weight in order to give the students some chance against them. Some teachers are hit harder than others- the tiny Nezu isn't really bothered, but the massive All Might is seriously handicapped by both the weights and his debilitating injury- and still nearly manages to curbstomp Bakugo and Midoriya working together.
