WMG / My Hero Academia Traitor Theories

General

Other candidates for the Traitor

• Tsukauchi: It's a popular theory that he's a Villain. For starters, his Mind Reading Quirk would have allowed him to find out the location of the Training Ground. Another connection is that he and Kurogiri are seen wearing the same tie. Either he has a secondary Quirk from either of his parents, or All For One gave him a second Quirk that allows him to cast shadows.
  • Was it ever mentioned that Tsukauchi has a mind reading quirk?
    • His Quirk is said to be Human Lie Detector, not mind-reading.
  • The theory of him being Kurogiri is Jossed as of Chapter 87.
  • And if he were the traitor, you'd think All for One would know for sure that All Might had passed on One for All, instead of having to guess.
• Ochaco: It would be completely unexpected. It's seems odd that despite being one of the main characters, she's not taking part in the Bakugo Rescue Operation. She also gave a rather flimsy warning about the rescue affecting Bakugo's pride. Either that, or a really bad case of Skewed Priorities. Maybe her family's finances take a turn for the worst, so in an act of desperation, she accepts a bribe from the League of Villains. During the invasion, she was unfortunate enough to encounter the mentally unstable Toga, but that could have been part of the plan to maintain the illusion that she's on their side.
  • Unexpected? Yes. Also unlikely as noted below under the WMG section for her.
• Kaminari: Surprisingly the he has a whole lot of evidence for him being the mole. So much that it gets its own WMG section.

The mole could be unaware they are a Mole

• It's very likely that, if either teacher or student (more likely teacher) that the LOV had someone be attacked unbeknownst to others and had them be put into a sleeper agent state. They could be totally unaware of what they are doing during that time and be susceptible to All For One's powers. It's also shown that he has many quirks, including ones that have affected the mind so it can be possible that this is the case.

Counterpoint to all theories involving Class 1-A and the UA teachers

• Back during the USJ Arc, Kurogiri warped most of the students to different areas of the USJ. But it was mentioned that, while the League of Villains knew what was in the USJ, they had no idea what the Quirks of Class 1-A are. If the mole was someone in Class 1-A or a teacher, then they would have at least had some idea what their Quirks are. If the mole was a student then they would've found out either from Aizawa's Quirk Apprehension Test and/or All Might's Combat Training. And if the mole was a teacher, then they could've just pulled up the files about each student to learn about their Quirks. The fact is that if the mole was either a teacher or a 1-A student, then they would've had at least had a basic idea of 1-A's Quirks. Then Kurogiri would've warped each student to areas where they would be at a disadvantage. For example, Tsu, due to being a frog-girl, should've been sent to the Conflagration Zone, since there is literally fire everywhere. Instead she was sent to the Flood Zone, which is practically an indoor lake. If it wasn't for her, then Izuku would've been eaten by that shark villain.
  • Counter Counterpoint: The USJ arc happened fairly early into the School Year, about only the second week, and it was made clear the students didn't have good grasps on each other's Quirks. For example, Kyouka Jiro wanted Denki Kaminari to start zapping villains left and right, but Denki had to tell Jiro his Quirk is an Area of Effectiveness like Quirk, in that it just zaps everything around his area indiscriminately. And as the student files would more likely only have a generalization their quirk, the Mole wouldn't be able to get an accurate idea about their classmate's quirks, due to lack of information.
  • Another Counter Counterpoint: it's possible that the mole knew what Quirks 1-A had but didn't give it away on purpose. Maybe the mole was trying to secure their own position, because letting VA know what Quirks students have would narrow list of suspects down to 1-A students and teachers. Another possibility is that not letting VA know student's Quirks would provide some challenge to them. Because hey, if your villainous group can't handle a bunch of untrained high schoolers without knowing their abilities, how you suppose to fight actual trained heroes?

The mole is Endeavour.

• Similar to the WMG that the mole is unaware they are a Mole, it could be Endeavour is simply getting his info from Todoroki, who is unaware of his own father be the leaker. It makes sense for Endeavour and the Villains to cooperate as they share the goal of overtaking All Might.
  • In the Hero Killer Arc, Endeavor shows up quite conveniently to take out the Nomus, which were also conveniently limited to 3 (from 6) by AFO; likely as a compromised publicity stunt to make Endeavour look good.
• Counterpoint: Endeavor and Todoroki are hardly on speaking terms, particularly not to the extent of Todoroki sharing information with him (willingly, that is...) Their relationship has only gotten closer recently (as in "Todoroki not being openly antagonistic and hating his father" closer) and certainly would not have been at that point in the USJ arc, where the first hints of a traitor were seen. Furthermore, it isn't that Endeavor wants to Klingon Promotion All Might, he wants to defeat All Might himself (or by proxy with Todoroki) to prove he's the better hero. Teaming up with a bunch of villains to wipe out All Might seems quite antithetical towards his desire, as he wants to prove that he's better than All Might, not just get All Might out of the way so he can come the strongest by default, as shown by his disdain at achieving the title of "strongest hero" after All Might's retirement.

If the Traitor is a student, then they will be an Evil Counterpart to Izuku.

• The traitor was born quirkless and was constantly bullied for it like Izuku, but they met All for One instead of All Might. All For One gave them a quirk and groomed them to be a hero hating spy for the League of Villains.
  • Confirmed. Kinda. Aoyama is the traitor and it's revealed that his issues with Navel Laser is not because of a birth defect, but rather it's given by AfO as Yuga was born quirkless and his parents wanted him to fit in. That said, the series posits him being The Mole as a Forced into Evil situation as opposed to being groomed into being sympathetic towards AfO and his goals like Tomura.

The Traitor is not...

So far, everyone is scrounging to get information on just who the traitor is, but why not work backwards? Why not first eliminate all the students who it can't be? Its fairly easy to determine who isn't the traitor, as the traitor has to meet certain criteria.

1.) They are relevant to the story. It obviously won't be someone minor to the story like, say, Lunch Rush, since they're so small in the grand scheme of things it would lose its impact.

2.) Their reasoning/motivation is unknown. Internal monologues and flashbacks are most likely honest, so if a character internally monologues in a way that would contradict being the traitor or has a flashback detailing their backstory and motivation, they're out.

3.) They are reasonably capable of performing the acts the traitor is accused of. The traitor is accused of getting a school schedule for the League leading to the attack on the USJ, and also informing the Vanguard Action Squad of the Training Camp's location. If the character reasonably couldn't do it, they are less likely the Traitor.

• 3.5) As a corollary, they are incapable of performing the acts that would have benefitted the League, but that the traitor didn't do. For example, the League of Villains was unaware of All Might not being at USJ that day (which was a last-minute change because he used up his heroic form earlier), class 1A's Quirks, Izuku having One for All, and the Hideout Raid. The Traitor is therefore likely to be someone who couldn't reasonably access this information.

4.) There are no contradictory elements. If the character has an element that contradicts the idea of them working with the League of Villains, such as being the League's target for whatever reason or directly undermining the efforts of the League without prompt, they are less likely to be the Traitor. The exception to this being the actions of the Vanguard Action Squad, as they could plausibly have not known the traitor's identity, and Mustard's quirk worked indiscriminately and could have easily hit the traitor by mistake.

• Very few non- Class 1A and 1B students are relevant to the story, but for the ones who are:
  • Shinso's Quirk would be great for being the mole, but it would be absolutely contradictory to his character and motivations. He wants to be a case of Bad Powers, Good People, and being The Mole would render that null and void.
  • Mei Hatsume shows very little interest in anything that isn't her inventions, although this doesn't entirely rule her out from being the mole. For more information, see her WMG section.
  • Mirio Togata has internal monologue and flashbacks depicting his drive to be a hero as genuine.
  • Tamaki Amajiki shares several flashbacks with Mirio, and his internal monologue supports him being a hero.
  • Nejire Hado's quirk doesn't seem like it would be very useful for being the traitor, and she draws too much attention to herself.
  • In addition to the prior notes, none of them could have known where the Training Camp was anyway.

• Class B is mostly out due to being Out of Focus. While they've achieved some relevancy in the Joint Training arc, it remains to be seen how long it will last. For arguments against specific students:
  • Monoma's internal monologue indicates that he sees himself as a side character who aspires to be an Ensemble Dark Horse, not The Mole.
  • Kendo and Tetsutetsu work together to defeat Mustard.
  • Awase is the one who welded Yaoyorozu's tracker to the Nomu.

• Among the Teachers:
  • Most of them are Out of Focus, lessening the probability of them being the traitor, and most of the staff are stated to not know about the training camp's location (the presumed exceptions being Aizawa, Nezu, and Vlad King). For individual teachers:
  • Aizawa has directly opposed the League even when he could have plausible deniability for not doing so (saving Tsuyu at USJ), and would have known the quirks of his students and that All Might wouldn't be at USJ. He's out.
  • Present Mic is the first person to bring up that there could be a traitor at school. If he really was the traitor, he'd be unlikely to bring attention to himself in such a way.
    • As a counterpoint to that, what better way to divert suspicion then by being the one to suggest it? That way, everyone else is busy looking at each other, and, since you're the one suggesting it, they'll assume you're innocent.
    • (half) Counter-counterpoint: Present Mic is the first we hear in-story of a traitor. If he was the traitor, why would he want people looking for evidence that might lead to him? Nezu is also super intelligent, so he'd definitely suspect that this tactic was being used, and Present Mic is probably smart enough to realize this.
  • 13 gets badly injured defending students at USJ, and would have known that All Might wouldn't be there. She's out.
  • Snipe shoots Shigaraki at USJ and nearly cripples him, putting him out of the action for a while. Had he been the traitor, it would have been easy for him to miss on purpose or stay behind at UA proper.
  • In Vigilantes, Midnight states that she wants to become a teacher in order to help give troubled teens an opportunity to deal with their issues. Definitely jossed for her after she is immolated by Dabi and then killed during the PLF War.
  • Nezu and Recovery Girl both know the secret of One for All, and that Izuku is the current wielder. Nezu also has an internal monologue worrying about the traitor.
  • With All Might, we have internal monologue, backstory flashbacks, contradictory behavior, and he's the league's arch-nemesis. No way no how is he the traitor.
  • Vlad King is a possibility. A point in his favor is that he would have known the specifics of the Test of Courage long before the students were, and could have helped the League of Villains set up their ambush, because it was way too well planned out to have been off-the-cuff. A point against him is that there would be no need to have Shigaraki create a distraction if he was the traitor, because as a teacher he would have easy access to class schedules.

• Therefore, the only real teacher traitor candidate is Vlad King (Present Mic is sort of half-in consideration). Vlad King would have been able to get all the information the League of Villains had, while it's reasonable that he wouldn't know Class 1A's Quirks in time for the USJ arc. However, he is Out of Focus along with his class, which would lessen the impact of a Vlad King traitor reveal.

• Among Class 1A, obviously we can eliminate all of the main characters, as their reasoning and flashbacks are well known.
  • Deku is The Protagonist, and we've seen his motivations thoroughly.
  • Bakugo we've seen the motivations of, flashbacks of, and as he was the target of the League during the Camp Raid, he's out.
  • Todoroki we've seen in depth thanks to his origins arc.
  • Iida we know wants to live up to the prestige of his family and follow the footsteps of his brother Tensei.
  • Uraraka wants to support her family and we've seen flashbacks depicting this to be true while also seeing her frustration at not doing well in the Sports Festival since that could have gotten her spotted. Plus, considering her motivation is primarily monetary, and the League has no stable income, it would seem unlikely she was working for them for the money.
  • Kirishima had an entire mini-arc within the Hassakai arc depicting his backstory and motivations.
  • While we haven't seen any flashbacks for Yaoyorozu, we are well aware of her desire to be a hero, and she did willingly help out in the rescue attempt for Bakugo, and before that both made a tracker and alerted the heroes to its existence, despite having a head injury for plausible deniability.
• Jiro, Mineta, Tsuyu and Koda have all shown flashbacks depicting their drive to be heroes.
  • Jiro's showing her admitting to her parents she wants to be a hero rather than musicians like them.
  • Mineta desiring to be a hero so he can be cool and pick up chicks.
    • Is wanting to pick up chicks really enough to remove the possibility of being a villain? Evil Is Cool exists for a reason. More generally it's worth pointing out that a character's motivations can change over time. One flashback doesn't mean they are necessarily the same person they were in that flashback. Mineta could be a traitor and still be following that goal in a different way. We know in universe that people can see a villain as cool a la Stain.
    • It matters because the traitor is suspected of having been the traitor since the very beginning, considering their first alleged crime was during the USJ, which took place in the beginning of the school year. Mineta's flashback took place during the final exams, and reinforced why he wanted to be a hero, long after the first alleged traitor incident. If the flashback/motivation introspect takes place after the event the traitor is suspected of doing occurs, then they are less likely the Traitor. Meta-Wise it makes little sense for Mineta to be the traitor because he's comic relief, so making him be the traitor would be the equivalent of the Star Wars prequels having Darth Sidious be Jar Jar Binks instead of Palpatine.
  • Tsuyu's special chapter where Habuko debuted showed she'd been serious about being a hero since Middle School, implying her drive is genuine. Combine that with her breakdown after the Camp Raid arc and her being targeted by Shigaraki at USJ, she's less likely the traitor.
  • Koda's showing his mom congratulating him on getting into U.A. and leading to him resolving to help Jiro during the Final Exams.
• Now while Aoyama and Ashido have both been seen in flashbacks, they aren't cleared of being the traitor by that alone. Rather, their actions and behavior clear them, as does their Quirks being unable to do what the traitor did.
  • Aoyama's flashback only demonstrated the issues he had with his quirk. His actions during the Camp Raid arc however support the idea of him not being the traitor, as it was pure luck that Dabi managed to grab the ball containing Bakugo, which was the villains' entire goal. In addition, his quirk wouldn't be able to aid him in getting the information the Traitor is accused of leaking, and is too flashy to go unnoticed as a signal.
  • Ashido's appearance in a flashback wasn't in her own, it was in Kirishima's. While her concern for him after the Hassakai arc supports how he remembered her, it doesn't clear her of being the traitor as we don't know if her behavior was genuine. What does clear her is that during the attempt to stop Gigantomachia, right when she's about to launch the sedative into his mouth, she sees his face and has moment of PTSD, flashing back to when she saw him in Middle School and picturing herself being there again, causing her to choke and requiring Kirishima jump in to help her. Since said flashback is entirely internal and that had it not been for that she would have given Gigantomachia the sedative, combined with her later genuine distress at Midnight's death and not wanting the same to happen to Izuku, she's out. In addition, her acid quirk doesn't allow her to achieve what the Traitor is accused of.
• The traitor is likely not Ojiro, Sato, or Sero, as the three are relatively Out of Focus amidst their class (so one of them being the traitor would be the equivalent of having Darth Sidious be Kit Fisto). None of their quirks allow them to accomplish what the traitor is accused of as well, and they were aware of the mission to rescue Bakugo.
• Tokoyami and Shoji are harder to pin.
  • While Tokoyami was a kidnap target thanks to Compress and nearly killed by Moonfish, its unknown if Compress knew the identity of the Traitor, so he could have been grabbed by mistake. However his quirk, Dark Shadow, doesn't really give him a means to accomplish what the Traitor is accused of. There's also his genuine concern for Hawks after Dabi burned his wings off too, something he wouldn't have were he the actual traitor, so he's out.
  • Shoji however was also attacked by Moonfish and lost a Dupliarm in the process, but it's doubtful Moonfish knew about the traitor's identity. While his quirk may have allowed him to eavesdrop on the necessary information, his attempt to rescue Bakugo and Tokoyami, as well as saving Midoriya who Shigaraki wanted dead, contradicts the idea of him being the traitor.

So who does that leave amidst the 1-A students? Only two: Denki Kaminari and Toru Hagakure.

• Kaminari has no flashback, his motivations are relatively unknown, and as much of the fan-base likes to point out in his section of the folder, his quirk could accomplish what the traitor is accused of and his behavior leaves him suspicious, as he demonstrates moments of clarity that don't jive with his rather ditzy normal personality. His quirk's drawback also allows him to easily take himself out of any fight with the League of Villains without appearing too suspicious.
  • The only issue with him is that he was aware of the Bakugo rescue attempt and Yaoyorozu's tracker, while the League was unaware of both.
• Hagakure also has no flashback, unknown motivation, and unlike Kaminari, her quirk is relatively unknown, only having a general idea thanks to visual observations rather than narration. This combined with the evidence listed in her own section of the Traitor Folder, leaves it possible for her to have accomplished what the Traitor was accused of. And unlike Kamanari, she was unconscious while the plans to rescue Bakugo were made, explaining the League not knowing about the attempt.
  • The big issue with Hagakure is that like Sero, Ojiro, and Sato, she's largely Out of Focus lest she be needed for a gag. The only reason she isn't amidst those three is by Horikoshi's Word of God that he wants to do an arc for her, and the rather curious statement he made regarding what would happen if Toga Himiko ingested her blood, implying it has some relevance.

So of any Traitor theories, the only ones that should hold any water amidst Class 1-A are Kaminari and Hagakure. Amongst the teachers, the best option is Vlad King. Of the others, Mei Hatsume is the only somewhat understandable option.

There is more than one traitor

I'm suprised that no one has brought this theory up yet, as the existence of two or more traitors would allow for the perfect means of misdirecting both the characters and the audience.

The League of Villains are not acting on all of the information that they get.

This is an actual consideration when it comes to espionage. If information is known by too few people, showing that you know it can give away who your spy is. Information from the traitor was reported directly to All For One, who made the call as to whether they should act on it or whether he should keep it to himself. Shigaraki may take a different approach as to how he uses it.

The traitor is not actually loyal to the League of Villains.

There are ways to get people to help you even if they don't actually want to. Consequently, they're trying to do as bad of a job as they think they can get away with without pissing off the villains; omitting some information from their reports, or being slow to report something as long as they can give a plausible excuse to do so. It would also completely change the dramatic implications of the reveal, since it would mean that the traitor could remain sympathetic.

• It would also widen the suspect pool considerably if the traitor really did have heroic leanings (and thus could have heroic internal monologues or act as a hero when alone), and/or was purposefully dragging their feet (and thus wouldn't tell the League all they knew if they could get away with it).

Whoever the traitor is, the identity is not known even by the villains.

As per All For One's dispositions (even if he's currently in custody, we know he's left behind quite a few backup plans), information leaked from U.A. is relayed to a third party who then transmits it to villains, with no direct contacts between them and the informer. Another arrangement is that the traitor won't help the villains in case of attack, neither directly nor indirectly, and will rather participate in the fighting against them to maintain the cover. With such a setup, finding the traitor is hard because even in case a villain was captured and information extracted from him/her forcibly through mind reading or brainwashing, the most he/she could say is that there is a mole among the heroes, which some may even interpret as just a generic statement to instill paranoia among them.

The traitor is someone we've all already dismissed as a suspect.

A lot of theories roll out people based on their internal monologues or flashbacks showing their resolve to be a hero. However, what if the traitor is, say, a Well-Intentioned Extremist that doesn't consider Hero Society to be "real heroes" (ala Stain, only less "back alley serial killer" and more "attack the problem (UA) at the root") or suffered some Cynicism Catalyst that makes whatever they receive in recompense (doesn't necessarily need to be money, after all) more appealing than being a hero.

Potential scene motifs for various traitors

Scenes that would occur in the advent of each type of traitor.

• Kaminari the traitor would unleash his super attacks, to which it would seem like he is about to fry his brain and become an idiot. He'd then reveal that he was always playing that weakness, catching an opponent off guard.
• Toru would use her non-invisible form, and it would take some time for people to realize who she is.

Toga is the mole, having taken the place of someone on the UA staff using her "Transform" Quirk.

She might even be shuffle-picking staff to imitate and is obviously taking advantage of situations where blood can be shed.

• Problem is, one of the first incidents believed to have been caused by the Mole, the USJ Attack, couldn't have been done by Toga. She hadn't joined the VA at that point, nor even heard of them until Stain and the Nomu's attacked Hosu. She'd have no reason to help them.
  • All indications are that the League of Villains don't actually know anything about a traitor. Shigaraki and Kurogiri never hint at such knowledge, even in their private conversations. As such, whoever got the inside info they use reports directly to All For One, who passed it along to Shigaraki. It's entirely possible that Toga was already doing spy work for All For One (willingly or otherwise) before joining the League.

The traitor is Present Mic and Aizawa's old acquaintance Shirakumo

Or is at least connected to the traitor and the League in some way. Why? Well, when Present Mic first mention him, Aizawa was quick to change the subject. Based on the conversation, Shirakumo might have been like Aizawa and Shinso, a student whose Quirk wouldn't be useful against robots. Then something bad happened that made him unable to become a hero. All For One then offered him a way to get back at the school that ruined his dreams.

• Maybe not incidentally, a few months after Shirakumo's name and a glimpse of him were dropped in the main series, Vigilante has started a flashback on Aizawa and Mic back when they were students at UA, showing how they were both close to him. Whatever happened to Shirakumo in the past may shed some light on the present.
• Jossed. He died when they were still in school, his corpse harvested for his Quirk Factor and used in making Kurogiri. Kurogiri doesn't identify as Shirakumo anymore, and has no memories of his time as Shirakumo. And when Aizawa tried reaching out to Shirakumo, he partially manifested for a minute and aided Aizawa against the League.

The traitor is not with the League of Villains but with the Meta Liberation Army

The ideology of the Army is the "liberation" of quirks, the removal of all the regulations so that anyone may use them freely. In this light hero schools, places where only a limited number of people can enter and gain a license to use their quirks (and still only in specific situations), are a symbol of the perceived oppression and a prime target, with U.A. on top of the list. Given how knowledegeable of the League of Villains he appears to be, Re-Destro may have been aware of Shigaraki's hate towards All Might, and discreetly fed the League info relayed from a mole inside the school, leading to the villain attacks, all in the hope of discrediting U.A. in the eyes of the public while also weakening the League. Was this the situation, the mole may also be a misguided Well-Intentioned Extremist and come off as sympathetic and redeemable.

There is no traitor.

• Despite the League of Villain's ability to seem to know exactly where Class 1-A is at any given time, if one looks close enough at it, they'll realize that none of the info gathered couldn't simply be gained from someone following Class 1-A, and their notable gaps in knowledge (not knowing Class 1-A's quirks or that All Might wasn't at USJ) that should not have been hard for any traitor to find and relay quickly speak against them having an inside agent. Spreading terror seems to be Tomura's modus operandi, and making U.A. believe there's a traitor in their ranks would certainly cause a major drop in morale and a major rise in paranoia. It also makes his supposedly high-cost precision strikes make tactical sense, as their real objective would be to spread fear; no matter how the actual missions turned out, the message would be "We know.".
  • Tomura claims to have only "heard rumors" that All-Might was fading, and didn't seem to know about All-Might's time limit (he could have guessed that it was up just from reading the news that day). He also seemed to have no idea that Eraser head and Thirteen were with the USJ class in his stead; that right there virtually eliminates all Class 1-A teachers and students from suspicion, as they would know and would have had ample time to communicate that with Tomura.

The traitor will be revealed during the arc following the 'Paranormal Liberation War Arc' - and it's going to hurt

So far a patterns seems to be emerging is that the whatever happens in the climax of one saga will provide the groundwork for what Midoriya, Shigaraki and their respective cohorts will learn over the course of the following saga (I.e. Foresight and strategy playing a major part in both the School trip arc and the first half of the 'Rise of the Villains' Arc).

In addition, following the pattern established so far, the climax will comprise of two major LoV-based arcs, both of which will each introduce a Knight of Cerebus to act as the main antagonist(s) - I.e. The Vanguard Action Squad and All For One in the 'School Trip' and 'Hideout Raid Arcs' respectively.

In light of the role that espionage and intelligence gathering has played in the Paranormal Liberation War Arc thus far, it would make sense for the following saga to focus on the subject.

Extrapolating from that, it would make sense for a traitor reveal to take place during the climax of the Rise of the Villains Saga as it would give U.A. a reason to double down on teaching its students how to deal with espionage.

Furthermore, given how much of a game-changer that All For One's appearance was in the 'U.A. Beginnings Saga', it would make sense for the final antagonist of 'Rise of the Villains' would make a similar impact and what better way to upset the status quo than for the traitor to reveal themselves at the worst possible moment for the heroes?

If all of the above is correct, then if the traitor will be the climatic antagonist of the 'Rise of the Villains Saga' and Knight of Cerebus, the reveal of who they are will hit hard. While it is likely that the amount of damage they'll cause to the Heroes will play a major part in it, chances are that the identity of the traitor will be an even bigger gut-punch - probably because it will be a character whom we have gotten to know very well, have come to care for and most likely didn't suspect.

Class 1-A

One of 1-A is the mole/Spot open for Shinsou

• By consequence of leaving a spot open in 1-A when the mole is found out, Shinsou will be transferred to 1-A, since Aizawa taken an interest on him.
  • Maybe he'll get moved into class 1-A through circumstances related to the mole's reveal - perhaps he'll use his powers to restrain the mole.
• Jossed on the Shinso part at least. After the Joint Hero Training between 1-A and 1-B, Shinso has officially been accepted into the Hero Course, and no one has to leave to make room for him.

Aoyama is the traitor for the League of Villains

During both Villain invasions, he is noticeably absent. After the first Villain Invasion, he badgered Tsuyu to ask him where he was during it, only to say it's a secret. Just a funny moment or Foreshadowing? You be the judge. Another hint was that during the Mid Term Exam Arc, he is shown to be more perceptive than he lets on, pointing out Ochaco's crush on Izuku to help them win their battle against No. 13. This could be a hint he is Obfuscating Stupidity. Third, his Quirk can be really deadly in the wrong hands. Fourth, most of the villains have been an Evil Counterpart to Midoriya in some form (Shigaraki being the successor to All for One to counteract Midoriya being All-Might's, Endeavor's Awesome by Analysis abilities, Stain being a fan of All-Might, and Dabi and Toga's hero worship of Stain mirroring Midoriya's for All-Might). Aoyama's name means "Blue Mountain," and Midoriya was presumably named after Mount Midoriyama. In contrast to Izuku being a Nice Guy and a Shrinking Violet with a sense of humility, Aoyama is a narcissistic Jerkass and an Attention Whore.

• Probably Jossed. He was shown to be hiding for most of the training camp invasion, only to (partially) save the day by firing his beam at the villain who had Bakugo and Tokoyami captured. This freed the two, allowing Tokoyami to escape although Bakugo wasn't so lucky.
  • While his freeing Tokoyami was of no consequence to Shigaraki's plans (Mr. Compress abducted him along with Bakugo on a whim because he thought Tokoyami also had villain potential), there's literally no way it could've been part of the plan because it pure luck that Dabi caught the marble with Bakugo in it rather than the one with Tokoyami. And if Deku's arms weren't both out of commission (something Aoyama didn't even know about when he fired his laser), his Super-Speed would've allowed him to easily take both marbles.
• Possibly confirmed? The end of Chapter 167 seems to be going with the direction that Aoyama is the traitor. What with the catch line that Aoyama's true nature will be revealed and him staring with dull eyes at Midoriya at the end of the chapter. Further hint is that among the other students in 1-A, Aoyama is the only one that is rarely seen with anyone else of the class. Even this chapter has Midoriya note that he can't completely understand Aoyama.
• This could tie in to the "quirkless Aoyama" theory; that his being a mole is tied to the package his belt came in.
• Seemingly jossed as of chapter 168. Aoyama is stalking Midoriya because he has No Social Skills, and he isn't quirkless- he wears his belt at all times to prevent Power Incontinence. He's sympathetic to Midoriya because both have quirks that hurt them when used.
• Confirmed as of Chapter 336. Aoyama is the traitor, and the circumstances are a combination of his parents being held hostage, and a debt owed to All For One for granting the otherwise-Quirkless Aoyama his Quirk.

Deku is the mole.

An unknowing one. All for One is aware of his younger brother's presence through One for All (he co-created the Quirk after all), and thus is always aware of Deku's present location.

• This would explain why the mole hasn't given any information (so far as we know) after the training camp- All for One hasn't been able to give the League any messages, and this link only allows location-based information to be gained. It also explains why they thought All Might would be at the USJ, as presumably All for One hadn't yet figured out that All Might had passed on One for All's power and thought he was tracking All Might to the USJ. After that incident he knew a student from class 1-A had to be the ninth torchbearer, and he probably figured out it was Deku after seeing him perform at the Sports Festival. The only other known leak, the training camp location, can be explained by All for One knowingly tracking Izuku to find his class.
• This theory actually seems one of the most plausible ones, thanks to later revelations, namely that One For All contains the Quirk Factors of its previous holders, along with their Quirks. While the larger focus has been how this means that Izuku now has six Quirks of his own, the story seems to conveniently overlook the question of the Quirk Factor of the one who unwittingly created One For All in the first place. All For One created One For All when he forced a Power-Stocker Quirk on his brother, who, unbeknownst to everyone, had a Quirk that could be passed on to others…which carries the implication that All For One’s Quirk Factor, and an element of All For One himself, might well be lurking somewhere within One For All and, through that connection, All For One can glean certain kinds of information.

The Traitor is Mineta

It feels awfully suspicious that for most of the manga that Mineta has continued to be a nigh-unlikable perv while a lot of others develop as characters. But what if that's all just an act? By acting that way, he could make others see him as too much of a girl-obsessed weirdo to see him seriously be plotting against them. There's also his high intelligence stat, which we never see him use. But thinking about it, while we've seen his interactions with others we've rarely seen him alone (And most of those times were small gags). Maybe when we don't see him he's helping out with the League.

• Most people dismiss him as a suspect because 'he's the worst', though it would create a new context. There is, however, the argument about a traitor sticking out that much.
• It puts a new light on his talk of putting cameras in the girls' bedrooms, and the fact that he somehow has high grades despite being apparently unable to understand the meaning of the word "stop."

The traitor can't be from Class 1A

The only reason UA has had so much trouble recently is because word got out that All Might is teaching there. However, the public didn't know that until just before the USJ incident, so there's no reason to send a mole to UA when it hasn't done anything to attract attention yet. Considering we've seen all of Class A-1 before All Might being a teacher was known to the public, it stands to reason that they're all in the clear.

• Except All Might taught their class himself before then, during the Heroes vs. Villains exercise. Even then, there was rumor of him teaching there, so the VA could have sent a scout in order to confirm it, who was then upgraded into the mole.
• Even if this theory would be true, that would disqualify not just 1-A, but any student period, leaving only the teachers. And considering the Traitor has to be a character relatively well known to have any sort of impact, that would leave very little options. Nezu himself doesn't believe it to be Mic, Midnight, Snipe, or All Might, and he himself internally monologues about it so he's out. Aizawa and 13 were victims during the USJ, so they're out, so that would only leave Vlad King, Cementoss, Ectoplasm, Hound Dog, and Power Loader, none of whom receive any real focus amidst the teachers. Unless they made it one of the teachers Nezu says he trusts, the teachers seem unlikely, so the traitor would have to be a student. Snipe himself is often Out of Focus, and it obviously isn't All Might himself, so that would only leave Present Mic, who brought forth the idea so it would seem less likely to raise the idea when it would cast suspicion on himself, and Midnight, and she too doesn't get much focus. The only idea that has any impact to the narrative and to the readers would be if it was a student.
  • While the theory does exempt all of A-1, it doesn't necessarily apply for the other classes. Just before the USJ arc takes place, someone destroys the front gate and allows the media to swarm in, which would have been the perfect opportunity for the mole to sneak in and preform a Capture and Replicate on a student. And all the first years, A-1 included, would be out of the question as we saw that they were all in the lunch room at the time (assuming all students in the same grade have lunch together), meaning that one of the older students could have been the target.
    • The cafeteria was shown to have upperclassmen too, since there was one who informed the characters what the alarm meant. And Capture and Replicate isn't an option since the only one shown there was Shigaraki, and even then, none of his group members at the time displayed any such capability. The only way they could have done that would be through Twice and Toga, who weren't members of the group at the time. The newsmedia getting in was meant to be a distraction so the mole could get the list, as the staff would be more focused on the news media to be in their faculty rooms, and the students would be too busy panicking to notice one of their own missing. So the Capture and Replicate option is out. And considering both 1-A and 1-B are shown to have the same lunch time, if 1-B isn't excluded, then neither is 1-A. None of the classes can be excluded, only certain students in the classes.

The traitor may still be one of 1-A students

As of Chapter 242, following the conversation between All Might, Tsukauchi and Nezu, several readers believe it has been confirmed that the culprit is not within 1-A. In truth, the inquiry has been inconclusive: Nezu says they'll know when the League of Villains will make their move. Ever since the Summer Training Camp, Shigaraki and his band haven't taken any action specifically directed against UA, so the mole may be "dormant" and awaiting for new orders, or simply have stopped because of the tighter monitoring. On top of that, his/her identity may be known only to All For One and the Doctor, with no way for Shigaraki to give orders, although the Doctor may now give him access to a direct contact with the mole.

• The latter seems the most likely; Shigaraki's never given any indication that he's even aware there is a mole, much less who they are, and in the Training Camp Arc seemingly got his information on where they were going directly from All For One, presumably doing the same when they attacked the USJ. It's possible (though unlikely) that Kurogiri knew, but he was captured shortly after All For One's defeat, leaving him unable to share any information he might have had. If anyone knows, it's most likely the Doctor, since All For One seemingly left him in charge of whatever resources he left behind.

Mezo Shoji is the traitor

Admittedly, I'm basing this entirely off of Shoji being possibly the Class 1-A student we know the least about. He wears a mask, but the reason why is unclear. He has a creepy Parasyte quirk that makes him hideously deformed, but that's a background element at most. It's almost as if Horikoshi has been purposefully avoiding this character for whatever reason, and that reason could be that Shoji has been hiding something from his classmates.

• No, we do know why he wears the mask. It's not that he's "deformed", it's that, much like Honenuki from 1-B, his face is considered terrifying due to the large jaw and visible jagged teeth. Much like how Honenuki hides his face behind a helmet so as to not scare people when acting as a Hero, Shoji hides his mouth due to being self-conscious and worrying he'll scare everyone, kids in particular since he's a Friend to All Children.
• He also isn't really Out of Focus compared to say Sato or Hagakure, since he gets time to shine during the Training Camp arc. And it's heavily implied that he practices some form of Buddhism due to saying he has no "worldly desires".

Really, Shoji is just a very quiet but nice person, and despite being the youngest of the class, is pretty much the Team Dad of the class after Iida, even being one of the few to not have any issues with Mineta.

The traitor will be one of Midoriya's classmates who got his letter.

Assuming the traitor's in Class 1-A, then they'll learn about Midoriya having inherited One For All from the letter, and pass that information along to Shigaraki. It's unclear how many people got the letter, but since the group- Mineta, Kaminari, Kirishima, Shoji, Tsuyu and Uraraka- includes people Midoriya doesn't know all that well, it's safe to say that he sent it to the entire class. After this point, it'll likely be a matter of catching the traitor in the act of sending information to the villains.

• Considering all of 1-A got the letter, that doesn't really narrow it down.

The traitor was someone not present when Class 1-A tried to bring Midoriya back to UA

During their attempts to bring Midoriya back home, Class 1-A all tried reaching out to him by telling him what he means to them and that he can count on them. During this, Midoriya comments to himself that the Quirk of the 4th user of One For All, Danger Sense, was not going off in regards to them, since he didn't consider them a threat nor were their intentions dangerous. And the Quirk was still working, as later on it did get triggered by the crowd of rioters denying him entry into UA. So, you'd think that if there was a traitor, then Danger Sense would go off, meaning there can't be a traitor in 1-A?

Not exactly. During 1-A's confrontation with Midoriya, three students were tasked with bringing the detained Tartarus escapee, the villain Dictator, to Endeavor. Those three were Kirishima, Aoyama, and Hagakure. Kirishima would quickly return however to catch Iida and Midoriya before they hit the ground, and since Danger Sense didn't go off, Kirishima can't be the traitor either.

But what of Aoyama and Hagakure? Neither of them return to the confrontation till it's already over, at which point Bakugo has already began apologizing and Midoriya is too focused on him, and then shortly collapses afterward from fatigue. So he never had the chance to acknowledge their presence nor see if Danger Sense reacted. Meaning it's entirely possible that the possibilities for being the traitor in 1-A can be narrowed down to Aoyama and Hagakure.

Which is it though? Well, Aoyama we saw has a genuine reason to be friends with Midoriya, and while it was teased that Aoyama could be the traitor, that ended up a Red Herring. What of Hagakure though? ...Well, there's an entire section detailing why it can be her, and her being conspicuously absent when Danger Sense is going off could be seen as her not wanting her cover blown, so...

Hagakure Theories

Hagakure is the traitor

I'd like to first say that this theory is not mine, rather one I came across from the Youtuber Joy_Boy Theories, which he expanded on from a reddit post he found. Here is his initial video if my rambling doesn't make sense. Now, Toru Hagakure/Invisible Girl may seem an odd choice for the traitor due to how often in the background she is, but that's the point. It's awfully conspicuous that the Invisible Woman is rarely touched on. Yes, it could just be a "Invisible Girl you forget is here" joke, but it does have some merit when you notice some awfully suspicious behavior from Hagakure.

• To start off we have the USJ. Now, the traitor is assumed to have gotten the LOV a copy of the Teacher's Schedule, which allowed them to invade the USJ. Hagakure herself shouldn't have access to a faculty item like that, but it is worth noting that she doesn't need the access to get it. By removing all her clothing, she is completely invisible, meaning she could easily slip in when a teacher was leaving the room, grab a copy, and hide it outside the room to pick up later. (After all, the paper would still be visible) And there is a situation in which she could have done this. During the voting for Class Representative, a list was shown depicting all students and the number of votes they received. When tallying up the votes however, there's only 19 votes total despite there being 20 students. Every student appears to have voted for themselves with 3 exceptions, Todoroki who voted Yaoyorozu, and Iida and Uraraka who voted for Midoriya. Therefore, only those three should have 0 votes, but Hagakure also has 0 votes. And on voting day, one student was conspicuously missing: Hagakure. Not even her clothes were there, so she was either absent, or naked. Since it's unlikely she'd be walking around class naked, she was probably absent, leaving a window for her to get the list.
• But the real issue with the USJ is her location during the attack.
  • In the Manga, after Kurogiri warped most of 1-A around the building, the following chapter had a map page detailing the locations of each student, with two exceptions. The first was Aoyama, which went in line with a slight gag later on where he tried to find someone to ask where he was and say it was a secret. The other however was Hagakure.
    • Hagakure claims she was sent to the Landslide Zone alongside Todoroki, but as Todoroki notes, he could have frozen her with his AOE attack. The students that were warped were all shown to land in close proximity to one another, (Midoriya, Tsu, and Mineta landing in the water, Kaminari, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu surrounded by villains, etc.) so Hagakure should have landed near Todoroki. Her costume, a pair of gloves and shoes, should have made it easy to see her, but they weren't there. While it is true she may have discarded them to be completely invisible, Todoroki froze the entire area immediately after landing, giving her no time to do so. Even if she had the time, the Heroes vs. Villain's exercise showed she would be shivering from the ice and leave imprints in the ground, while also being incapable of moving without hurting the skin of her feet. None of the evidence suggests she could have been there.
    • Just Prior, Hagakure approaches Ojiro and comments of his work in the Conflagration Zone. Ojiro mentions he was constantly running around and thought he was alone though. This is important because Hagakure's claim she was in the Landslide Zone would make this impossible, as the map detailing the student's locations showed the two zones were on opposite sides of the USJ. Hagakure's statement implies she saw him during this, meaning she would have to be in or near the Conflagration Zone, but since the Conflagration Zone is not near the Landslide Zone, and the evidence suggests she wasn't in the Landslide Zone, that would mean she was actually in the Conflagration Zone. But why would she lie about her location to Ojiro? There are two possibilities. The first is that, like Aoyama in the Training Camp Arc, she was too frightened to help and lied to cover her cowardice. The second is that she was watching Ojiro from the sidelines so as to not be caught in the crossfire, and lied after she let slip she was watching him.
• Next, we have the trip to the shopping mall where Midoriya met Shigaraki. Now, Shigaraki is shown to not really go out in public much as he can't have his dad's hand on his face in public without being recognized as a villain, and he uses said hand as a security blanket, but when he goes to the shopping mall, he picks Midoriya out of a crowd and holds him hostage in order to get his insight on the difference between himself and Stain. Would seem like too much of a Contrived Coincidence that one of the few times he goes out in public, he runs into Midoriya. Unless you come to the conclusion that he knew Midoriya would be there. How does this relate to Hagakure? Well, guess who suggested the shopping trip. Yep, Hagakure did.
• Next, we have the events of the Training Camp Arc. During the initial invasion, the temporary LOV member Mustard uses his quirk in an attempt to knock the students out, but fails due to Yaoyorozu making gas masks for everyone. However, two students still succumb to the gas and are left comatose during the Bakugo Rescue Arc. One major counterpoint against most of the Traitor Theories is that all of the conscious Class 1A students knew about the rescue mission, and that because the LOV was unaware of it, the traitor couldn't be among the 1A students that knew. But remember, two students weren't aware of the attempt due to being comatose, Hagakure and Jiro. Because she was unaware of the mission, she wouldn't be able to warn them. Before you ask though "Why did Mustard knock her out then?" You need to remember two things.
  • Mustard's Quirk works indiscriminately, hence why he has to wear a mask too.
  • The Villains present at the Invasion were all new recruits, and were likely to not know all about the LOV's assets in the event they got captured. Since three recruits were apprehended but the traitor is still unknown, this seems to be the case.
• The problem with all of this is honestly the numbers as mentioned before with Kaminari and Uraraka. With all of it said and done; it's harder for ANYONE in Class 1A to be a traitor as there is little evidence aside from small guesses and things that have been countered left and right. And yes, she is invisible...but that doesn't automatically mean 'I'm the mole' as that would be too obvious.
  • Except the numbers do add up in her case, as all the stated evidence has no counter for them. How did she know what Ojiro was doing if she was on the other side of the USJ? How did Shigaraki know exactly where to find Midoriya in the mall, a trip she suggested? How did the League not know about the rescue mission when all of the students aside from Hagakure, Jiro, and Bakugo knew about it? There are so many points about her that don't make sense unless she is the traitor. Her knowing about Ojiro is because she lied about her location and was watching him. She set up Shigaraki's meeting with Deku. She was one of the students that didn't know about the rescue attempt, so the League couldn't know. And the Invisible Girl being the mole is not actually too obvious, the point was that her being the Invisible Girl would make her lack of focus come off as more a joke on the fact she is invisible, when it's really a planned ruse. Her characterization makes her being the traitor work too. Hagakure is the stereotypical girly girl often hanging out with Ojiro, always happy and kind. The fact she is invisible though means we have no idea if this is genuine. She could be easily putting on a front, whether as a way to mask insecurities like Kirishima, or for a villainous goal. We can always be guessing, so she could be the traitor, or she could be a Red Herring. It keeps you guessing, which is what the identity of the traitor has been doing to the fans.
• I didn't want to play this card, but there is one other thing that makes her suspect: the lack of knowledge on her Quirk. Another Joy_Boy video if you so desire. Of all of Class 1-A, she is the only one who's quirk has yet to be fully explained or even demonstrated.
  • All the classmates have had their quirks explained in full, even if they weren't the focus of the appearance, like Sato's was when facing Cementoss, or have demonstrated enough to have a general understanding, like Koda's when facing against Present Mic. Hagakure's quirk however is never really explained, and wasn't even named in series, it was named in a data book. However, the fact her quirk hasn't been fully explained makes sense if you consider it's a plot point. There have been opportunities to put a text box there explaining it, like during the Hero License Exam Arc, yet there isn't one.
  • Her quirk is said to be Transparency, allowing her body to remain invisible. For a while, it just seemed to be that, but during the Hero License Exam, she used an attack called "Light Refraction". Refraction can be achieved through Transparency, but not Invisibility. Invisibility is the lack of physical appearance, you cannot see it but it is still there. Transparency is something that can be seen, but is clear. Imagine a light shined at Hagakure's body. If she was invisible, the light would shine around her, casting a human shaped shadow behind her. If she was transparent however, the light would shine through her and distort via refraction. Here in lies the issue. Her quirk is called Transparency, yet she clearly seems to be invisible, so she shouldn't be able to refract, unless she wasn't actually invisible. An argument can be made that Horikoshi messed up the science on her quirk, but with the detail put into Mirio's Permeability, alongside the realistic effects like inability to breath or falling when used, it doesn't seem like he would do that. The reason there is a discrepancy between her quirks name and her physical appearance is because she isn't actually invisible. She is bending light around her body ala refraction to give the appearance of invisibility, when she is actually merely see through. Real life scientists have tried using refraction tech in making actual invisibility cloaks, so it has science to back it up.
  • Why would Hagakure lie about her quirk though? Simple really. Even if she is translucent, she would have enough of an outline to be recognizable, so in public she remains invisible to be Toru Hagakure. When not actively making herself invisible however, she is her translucent real self, with no one able to tie her back to her cover identity. Though one may argue, why can't Aizawa erase her quirk then and show the real her? Well for one thing it has been numerously stated that Aizawa's quirk works differently on Mutant Class Quirks, it only shuts down the ability to use the mutation, but doesn't shut the mutation off. They used Ojiro as an example, in that if he was to be "erased", his tail would go limp, but still be there. Because "Toru Hagakure"'s quirk is having a permanently invisible body, Aizawa would be under the impression that erasing her quirk would still leave her invisible. In addition, Aizawa only uses his quirk on his students as a threat to get them to calm down or behave, the exceptions being his using it on Midoriya during the Quirk Assessment Test, and Todoroki and Yaoyorozu during the Final Exams. He never actually used it on Hagakure, and never needed too. If he did though, something interesting could happen....
  • Adding on to this is something said by Horikoshi at the 2018 San Diego Comic Con. According to Horikoshi, were Toga to ingest Hagakure's blood and use her quirk to transform into Hagakure, she would not turn invisible. This is important as the implication behind Hagakure's quirk is that it's a Mutant Class Quirk.^note For a quick reminder, Mutant Class Quirks affect the physical body permanently in some manner, such as Shoji's "Dupliarms" giving him additional limbs, the Iida's "Engine" quirks giving them pistons embedded in their limbs, or Shiozaki's "Vines" giving her Vine Hair. So in Hagakure's case, her body being invisible would be the side effect of having a Mutation Quirk. If that were indeed the case, then Toga's body should indeed turn invisible were she to transform into Hagakure. With Horikoshi saying this isn't the case, Hagakure's Quirk isn't really a Mutant Class, implying her "natural" appearance is her actively making herself invisible. Why would she do this though? To disguise herself. So long as she looks invisible on a regular basis, when she actually stops doing such, no one would be able to connect her real appearance to her public appearance.
• Worth noting also is that in the character notes that cap off manga chapters sometimes, Hagakure was featured at the end of Chapter 10. Horikoshi tends to highlight characters who've had significant presence in the story of the chapter/general plot at that point in the notes, but Hagakure hadn't said or done much of anything by that point. (or even to date) This might indicate Horikoshi planned for her to have a more crucial role early on and wanted readers to be familiar with her. Connecting to the above points about her Quirk's lack of explanation, in the notes he also said there that he wanted to introduce her quirk properly, but the right time hadn't come yet. Perhaps the right time would've been the traitor reveal.

The traitor is a specifically made high end or even a ‘perfect’ Nomu that’s not even aware they’re one, that person being Toru Hagakure.

Think about the evidence against Toru for her traitor theory, it explains how she could be incredibly competent and skilled apparently but make a obvious bad lie when talking to Ojiro when he was fighting alone at the USJ, that’s because it’s not a lie. Basically Toru was put on standby mode or something similar when the villain attack occurred and was somewhere else and what she said was the result of her mind being simulated to see what occurred mixed with what she actually saw while when put on “stand by” or “Sleep”. Another thing to note is her rather generic girly girl personality that could of been conjured up by the doctor to make things simple or even more horrifying the doctor kidnapped a young defenseless to be experimented on which explain her intelligence level to other high-end noumu. The biggest clue is that we have already have seen a situation like this already with kurogiri, who didn’t appear to be entirely aware himself. So what’s to stop the doctor from doing something like that again but with a different role, perhaps a observation quirk that what ever a person sees is transmitted to a computer. And the reason Toru is made to always be invisible is to hide her obvious ‘Noumu’ features like kurogiri’s mist. On a meta sense for the audience this traitor reveal would be just tragic for the horror of her life essentially being fake this whole time, instead of a background character being just a villain this whole time, this would have a bigger impact on the audience.Can be made even worse if she is ever switched into attack mode when ever the situation is called for and she is fully aware but is forced to watch herself hurt and murder her classmates with her own hands.

Kaminari Theories

The traitor is Denki Kaminari

• This theory has been gaining traction in various places. Among the students, it's really only him and Hagakure who have anything to even suggest that they are the ones who keep giving away information about the class's activities, and the evidence is very much stacked more on his end than hers.
• Firstly, in regards to his quirk. He is one of the most powerful members of class 1-A, comparable even to Todoroki, except for his quirk's drawback, which turns him into an idiot. Except, that kind of drawback is pretty easy to fake in a way that can't be detected. It's also a good way to take oneself out of a fight quickly when needed.
• Furthermore, it is stated in his character description that he is like the glue that binds the class together. Everyone seems to like him, but despite this and his considerable power he isn't very prominent in the plot. He's often there, but rarely does anything truly meaningful to affect the outcome of whatever's going on.
• His quirk also allows him to communicate over radio, but the first time this would have come in handy at USJ he can't, because of jamming. It is presumed that the electric villain present during those events was responsible, however it could just as easily have been Kaminari himself. This would eliminate any chance of the jamming effect being erased by Aizawa. What's more, that electric villain happens to take Kaminari hostage after he appears to overuse his quirk taking out a large number of villains, and yet doesn't kill him despite that impressive display of power, using the dubious excuse of not wanting to kill someone with a similar quirk. However, doing so locked down the other two students in the area from acting and perhaps defeating the villain, which might have revealed the ruse. And, of course, someone whose quirk allows them to communicate over long distances would make an excellent spy.
• Then there's the incident at the forest lodge. There are a few panels depicting the students' shared bedrooms the night before the attack. All the girls are accounted for (Hagakure is clearly making a depression on her futon) but one of the boys' beds is conspicuously empty. Several of the boys are not seen in that panel, and Kaminari is one of them. This would be an opening for him to contact the League of Villains with their location. During the attack itself, he just happened to be safely squared away at the lodge, and thus was able to avoid having to do anything.
  • This one is probably because of No Export for You, but a Light Novel was released detailing various events involving the characters, one of which focuses on Iida during the night of the attack. Said story has him trying to fix everyone's positions due to them being sprawled across the room, one of whom is Kaminari, also revealing he is shown in the panel, he is just the student with his head buried in pillows and his ass sticking up. For placement between characters, he's between Shoji and Mineta, and below Bakugo. Iida's story says he was asleep, so unless he did it earlier, he didn't contact the VA.
• He also has a number of odd out-of-character moments. As noted on the character page, he once used Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness to tease Bakugo, even though he's supposed to be one of the least intelligent characters even under normal circumstances. He is also the only student to express admiration towards Stain.
  • Then there is his strange behavior on two separate occasions in battle. At both USJ and in the first provisional license exam, he initially seems to be frightened of the challenges ahead. However, when Yaoyorozu and Jiro hide under an insulating sheet in the former case, and Bakugo and Kirishima are turned into meat potatoes in the latter, Kaminari suddenly changes his attitude. He becomes confident, and seems to relish using his power. It is especially notable in the license exam, since he undergoes this change when his situation is at its worst, and as soon as Bakugo and Kirishima are restored he reverts to his previous cowardly behavior. It is all too odd.
• One aspect that may have just been oversight, but during the Human Calvary event at the Sports Festival, we clearly see Kaminari use his super discharge move. Yet for the rest of the event, he appears to be fully lucid, and we even get a close up on his face when one of the characters is talking about him, and he looks fine. However, as soon as the event ends, he suddenly goes into the "moron state" that he goes into whenever he does the discharge.
  • It should be noted that he only enters his "moron state" whenever he reaches the limit of his quirk. We're never actually given an idea what Kaminari's limit is, but it's clear he can still use his quirk (even his super discharge moves) multiple times until he hits it.
• Some further minor points: His room is noted as being curiously random, unlike the others which generally give strong impressions, as if thrown together by someone who wasn't quite sure what his room ought to look like, perhaps because he was playing a character. Kaminari is noted as being one of the first characters to be designed, but his original design was radically different from the final one because it was "too villainous-looking." There is also an odd official art sketch released on twitter where' Kaminari's face almost looked like two different faces put together because of how different the two sides were. When someone mirrored that face to make both sides the same, the resulting appearance was clearly villainous.
  • If Denki is the Traitor and he was just faking his stupefaction, he'll reveal that he can manipulate thunderstorms in a Battle in the Rain and give himself lightning fast speed.
  • Counterpoint: His generic room as evidence is weird; several other classmates also have "boring" rooms and most dorm rooms look like stuff you'd just throw together rather than an interior designer's heaven.
• Counterpoint: Denki's present when the class resolves to rescue Bakugo and is privy to the fact that they have a tracker, and yet when Deku et al. arrive at the Nomu facility there's not even a single guard that catches them sneaking around. Why not make the call immediately to his villainous employers so they could strengthen security around the area, at least?
• Counterpoint: During the Two Heroes movie, when Denki overloads his Quirk and goes into stupid mode, he shows zero ability to protect himself or avoid danger, requiring his teammates to protect him. Faking a weakness would be one thing, but would he actually endanger himself to perpetuate a ruse?

The traitor is Kaminari, and he will give Jirou brain damage to the point of causing Amusia

Kaminari, outed as the traitor, will show more control of his own stored electricity than it seemed, dropping any idiot ruse, and will strike Jirou leaving her comatose. She will recover, only to discover she's been left with Amusia: a musical disorder that appears mainly as a defect in processing pitch but also encompasses musical memory and recognition, and can occur as a consequence to brain damage. Jiro's passion being music, being left unable to enjoy and produce it would break her; Kaminari being the one to cause that would be even more devastating. It'd be pretty bad for the fans as well, as the two characters are frequently shipped.

Uraraka Theories

The mole is Uraraka.

• For someone billed as the series heroine, Uraraka does not get a lot of focus, and has just about as much page time as ostensibly-supporting characters Kirishima and Tsuyu. Of course, the fact that Horikoshi is waiting so long to get into her head and find out her thoughts could be a set-up for a big reveal down the line.
• She already has a motive that the villains can take advantage of (financial support for her family.)
• Uraraka, notably, does not go on the mission to rescue Bakugo and even tries to dissuade them from going, even as Midoriya pushes for it. (Contrast with Iida, who goes on the mission to look out for Midoriya.)
• This line of dialogue may just be Toga being creepy, or...
  "You are very well-trusted..."
• Her deciding to put her feelings for Midoriya aside could be a "focus on the mission" attitude, especially given that the narrative contrasts her repeatedly with Toga, who is more upfront about her Villainous Crush.
• It's subtle, but Uraraka is contrasted in many ways to Bakugo through their relationships with Midoriya. And now that the manga has already proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that Bakugo, despite seeming extremely villainous, has heroic goals, what does that make the seemingly heroic Uraraka?
• I think that while a lot of other traitor theories raise good points, what they're really missing is how The Reveal will emotionally affect the main character, Midoriya. Uraraka is his first real friend and a constant source of moral support, imagine how it'll go over if she's revealed to be the traitor. How's that for subverting Shonen expectations?
  • Except it doesn't subvert expectations as there has been precedents of a friend being a traitor before. Kaede Kayano of Assassination Classroom has the most similarities to Ochaco in this scenario in that both are Kind Girls that befriend the main protagonist, only to reveal a much darker side behind their kind exterior due to personal reasons. Uryu Ishida underwent similar treatment in the final arc of his series, and Dennis Macfield was revealed as a form of Dramatic Irony long before the main cast learned. So, it wouldn't really subvert anything. On the emotional front, Midoriya has shown to be friends with all of 1-A, the only possible exception being Bakugo, but they're getting closer, so any of them being the traitor would emotionally wound him, not just Ochaco.
    • The point wasn't that it has never happened before, the point is that you're still predisposed to trust the heroine in a Shonen, which is why cases like Kayano's are effective.
• Pretty much an Epileptic Tree of weapons-grade tinfoil hattery, but the character profile for Uraraka in the collected volume says "She's unexpectedly brazen and frank. Proof that there's no hidden side to her, if you catch my drift." I don't know if translation factors in or how much of a Trolling Creator Horikoshi is, but that sounds an awful lot like a Suspiciously Specific Denial, doesn't it?
• Counterpoints: Much like the counterpoint for Kaminari, Ochaco was aware of the rescue mission for Bakugo, and it would be foolish of her to not report it in. Her primary motivation is financial security for her family, but the Villain Association doesn't have a stable method of income. Toga stole her blood in order to change into her during the License Exam Arc, but she wouldn't need to if Ochaco was indeed the mole. If Toga didn't know she was the mole though, then the trusted comment makes no sense. As for her being the traitor, none of the incidents that the traitor is accused of being responsible for could apply to her. She had no knowledge of the USJ being the location for training, had no access to the school schedule, had no way of knowing All Might was weakening, was asleep when the VA showed up, and knew of the Bakugo Rescue Mission. The numbers don't add up.
  • Counter counterpoints: Toga's comment was not because she knew, but it was the author using her character to tell to throw the readers a hint. Also, Toga was very good at reading people and recognized somebody wearing a "mask", something she did during her middle-school and arguably still do. As for her knowledge? All that could be solved with her carrying a tracker on her person. Also, take note that Shigaraki did his first attack in order to kill All Might, but his target was not there... showing us that whatever information the villain got did not actually tell him who was there. Her being asleep when the VA showed up during the training arc proves nothing and her knowing about the Bakugo rescue mission actually proves the point. She was conflicted and during her time at the academy she actually befriended people so she didn't want them to get hurt. This was why she tried to talk them out of rescuing Bakugo.
  • Plus, at the beginning of the episodes in Season 2, She's shown with the people who 'supported' Midoriya in the past during his narration about how he became the greatest hero. Basically, My Hero Academia is Deku's history on how he became a hero, and Uraraka was there throughout it all.
    • Counter counterpoints: I would call that red herring. She could perfectly support him even if she was the traitor. Like she could have regrets and help him later on, or perhaps even her betrayal helps him becoming the greatest hero since he is forced to understand why people become villains. Also, don't forget that the author had originally planned to have the final battle in the manga play out like the one against the villain "Nine" in the movie did. That was scrapped, which tells us that even if he had something planned at the beginning, he could change it later as long as he hasn't written himself into a corner.
  • Uraraka also has an inner monologue during the Joint Training arc about how she looks up to heroes and enjoys helping people, which definitely doesn't gel with her being the traitor.
    • Counter counterpoints: Yes and? She looks up to heroes because she wants to be her parents heroes. She revealed that she wanted to become a hero so that she could make money and support her parents. Deciding to help her parents and become a villain does not mean that she can't admire people she is betraying you know? In fact this goes well in hand with her thoughts later where she decides to steel herself against her feelings and only focus on her future.
    • ...That makes no sense. Seriously, the LOV has no substantial means of income, which was her initial motivation, and the monologue about her admiring heroes and wanting to save people came while she was saving Midoriya from Black Whip, and reminiscing about how she feels she failed to save Nighteye. Add on her being steadfastly determined to finally stop Toga when they fight again during Gigantomachia's rampage and refusal to entertain her questions, it should be pretty obvious the "Uraraka is the traitor" theory is firmly in the garbage and all but entirely jossed.

Other Student Theories

The traitor is someone from Class 1-B

Think about it. When the LOV invaded the USJ, they knew what was inside but not the Quirks of Class 1-A. Unless they got the intel about the USJ when they retrieved the schedule, the only other people at that time who would've seen the inside of the USJ would've been Class 1-B. Some of the students of 1-B expressed jealousy of 1-A's popularity, so one of them could be the mole. We weren't introduced to Class 1-B until the Sports Festival Arc, so we have no idea when they did their rescue training. They likely did so before Class 1-A. Supporting this is that All Might was supposed to be at the USJ when the Villain Alliance attacked, when Izuku's class was being taught. All Might also taught during 1-A's combat training. But what about 1-B? Who taught them? All Might barely had enough time to just teach 1-A, so he likely didn't teach 1-B. Also, during the School Trip Arc, the Villain Alliance arrived at the camp after Class 1-B did.

• Unlikely. Even after the Joint Training Arc, most of 1-B are at best recurring extras. The only ones who aren't being Monoma, Kendo, and Tetsutetsu, with Setsuna, Honenuki, and Kinoko to a lesser extent. The former three have all had internal monologues demonstrating they do truly want to be heroes, and the latter three all aided the Gunga Mt. Hero team during the PLF War, including in trying to stop Gigantomachia's rampage.

The Traitor is Mirio.

Simply put, his ability to phase through walls/floors would allow him to spy on anyone and everyone at any given time.There is also the fact he may have been someone they wanted to take All Might's place. He may be somewhat aware of that and feel spurned, or perhaps he'll be revealed to be such for the sake of showing Deku being the correct choice all along.

• This theory makes a lot of sense the more one thinks about it. When the League of Villains first ambushed Class 1-A at the USJ, several things stick out: 1. They knew All-Might was SUPPOSED to be there, but his own actions forced him to take a break. 2. They did not know any of Class 1-A's quirks, something any teacher or 1-A classmate would have easily known. 3. Shigaraki Tomura (Mr. Handsy) had "heard rumors" that All Might's One for All was weakening, though he didn't seem to know of All Might's time limit. It seems like their intel has some strange gaps until you realize that the traitor must be someone outside enough to not know much about Class 1-A naturally, but still be close enough to the staff to pick up on good tidbits (like sudden boot camp location changes) and know exactly where to look. Mirio fits this almost perfectly.
• Also note, though the manga does subvert many typical Shonen Jump tropes, it does still keep well to typical Shonen jump storytelling style. One recurring trope in Shonen jump manga is that a respected character shown to be able to demonstrate advanced techniques and beat (or at least provide a real challenge for) the main character turns renegade (Vegeta, Sasuke, Usopp). Mirio's already shown his metal.
• Counterpoints: Mirio's internal monologues have also depicted him in a heroic light, so unless it's through brainwashing or blackmail, it doesn't seem like he'd aid a group comprised of Villains. Then there is the matter of his confrontation with Chisaki, where he makes it abundantly clear that he won't tolerate injustice, both in internal and external monologue.

The Traitor is Mei

Her frequent appearances in the School Festival Arc brought this to mind.

• Her Quirk allows her to zoom her vision, so imagine how far she could see with her goggles. She could theoretically use them to follow the bus going to USJ or the camping grounds.
• The reason she teamed up with Izuku during the Human Cavalry Battle in the Sports Festival was because she wanted to get close enough to him to place a small recording device on him, presumably in the crevices of the soles of his shoes.
• Her "Little Babies" that she has been making for Izuku are programmed to malfunction at the right time. The only reason they didn't during the Internship Arc was because Izuku and Shigaraki had a common enemy with Chisaki.
• The reason she's trying to get the attention of investors is because she's trying to help fund the League of Villains.
  • If she is trying to invoke Cut Lex Luthor a Check, she'd better be revealed to be the traitor when attempting to steal 40 cakes. Because that's as many as 4 10s. And That's Terrible.

Teacher Theories

The traitor is not a student but a teacher

Remember that the Villain Alliance wants to put an end to the society as it is now in the story. Their plans are all in order to shatter and destroy the public trust in heroes and feeling of security.While from the viewer perspective it would be more impactful if the traitor was one of the 1-A class students, from a more in-universe point of view it would be much more shocking if he/she were to be a teacher.Think about it, how would you feel if a renowned hero who has saved many lives and is so well known and respected that he/she was offered a place on the most prestigious heroes school? How would you feel learning that for years young aspiring heroes, your children, brothers and sisters, were in the hands of a villain and no one ever suspected it ...?There are also hints that point to it:

• It is not the first time that the school has been invaded. Three years prior to the story UA was attacked. And that was before any of the current students entered the school. This proves that the school had been targeted before so it is possible that the traitor was already in place back then.
• During the USJ Arc, the villains didn't know anything about the students' quirks. If one of the students had gone far enough to provoke the journalist's invasion in order to steel information about All Might schedule AND about the USJ as a whole, then why not bother also give the villains data on the students? They all knew each other's quirk well enough at that time so it would have been a piece of cake, and the villains could have think countermeasures against people who could possibly escape and warn the rest of Yuuei, like Iida.
• So far, the Alliance of Villains had access to information that the students hadn't access too. Or at last, moment giving too little time to the villains to come up with a very elaborated and effective plan.

But it is also true that the mole being one of the characters we learned to care for or even love would also give rooms to a lot of interesting character development for the others depending on who is the actual traitor. So, another possibility would be that there are two moles: one teacher, and one of the students.And they may or may not do it willingly ...

• It's more likely a teacher however given the evidence that it'd have to be a professor that could be jealous of All-Might like Endeavor was and wanted to take him out. Also, to anyone who thinks it's Himiko? She was only there after Stain was defeated, so it's likely the L.O.V. had someone in the group well before then if that is the case.

The traitor is Thirteen

Thirteen's body is never seen and s/he was the only other hero present when the villains first planned to kill All Might. S/he also avoids fighting and only used the Black Hole for suction, there could be other uses s/he used to support the vimlains.

• Except their main goal during the USJ was to kill All Might. Thirteen was made aware of this fact before Aizawa and the others showed up, so why wouldn't they call Tomura or Kurogiri and call the plan off if they knew All Might wouldn't be there?

The traitor is the principal Nezu

• Mostly guessing, but the reason behind this is that one of the members of Chisaki's gang looks remarkably like Nezu. His motivation would be misanthropy due to being a test subject for what were probably horrific and unsafe experiments. Furthermore, his own quirk is ridiculously easy to imitate, and could be a smokescreen for the real quirk that is "Shapeshifter".
  • Super-intelligence is not "ridiculously easy to imitate". While the manga doesn't go into a lot of depth, the anime clearly shows him using his intelligence to calculate the angles at which to hit objects to set off a long string of chain reactions that end up trapping Ashido and Kaminari. While yes, it could be possible for him to naturally be a genius with a shapeshifting quirk, it seems unlikely that genius of that level is natural. And if he was the traitor, it's unlikely that he would have attempted to delay All Might as he did during the USJ arc, as the villains wanted him there and were planning to leave until he showed up alone, ahead of the backup.
  • Nezu is also aware of One for All, but Shigaraki isn't, and All for One states that he was not sure that All Might had passed One for All on until their fight. It would be kind of stupid of him to not give All for One such pertinent information about his arch-nemesis.

The mole is All Might.

Unintentionally, that is, one of All For One's many Quirks would be a blood-based Quirk that allowed him to see through the eyes of anyone he ingested the blood of before, and he could have gained All Might's blood when they fought five years prior the start of the series, following the second fight with All Might, the damage that All For One took was enough to disable the Quirk, and he was incarcerated anyway, right now the search for the mole is a wild goose chase, and will only cause unease and mistrust among the U.A. staff.

• There is a similar ability in BIONICLE. However, having used it on only All Might wouldn't explain them finding the Pussycats training area, since it was kept secret to everybody who wasn't going, with decoys added in, so there can't just be All Might alone.
• This wouldn't work because All Might was never told where the field training was going to take place.
• Also, you'd think that if this was the case, All for One would have told Shigaraki that All Might wasn't going to be at USJ.

The mole is Vlad King.

As 1-B's homeroom adviser, he has access to much of what Aizawa has access to — teaching schedules and possibly the knowledge that All Might isn't long for this world, but might not adequately remember students' quirks (especially since they weren't his students) enough to efficiently relay it to the villains. When the villains attack USJ, Blood King does show up at the end, but only because it's "expected" of him as a UA teacher. Notably, the location of the training camp was changed last minute on a need-to-know basis, which means plenty of faculty didn't know where it was going to be...but as 1-B's teacher, he would. During the camp itself, Blood King stays at the facility despite it only ever being attacked by Twice's Dabi clones, when his skills as a pro hero would arguably be more useful on the field. Also, his quirk is blood manipulation, which ties him thematically to fellow blood-themed villains Stain and Toga.

• On the positive side, his being the traitor would explain why the League of Villains' ambush was so well planned, as he presumably knew about the Test of Courage and that at that point the students would be scattered through the woods and unable to fight back effectively.
• On the negative side, he most likely was aware of the Hideout Raid (both the Nomu Factory and Villain Bar parts), since he was a pro hero and part of the whole debacle. It's also unlikely that Shigaraki would need to let reporters in to create a distraction if a teacher like Vlad King was the traitor, since he could just grab a copy and hand it off to Kurogiri without any fuss.