WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 5, Episode 23, "Tenko Shimura: Origin," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.
Tomura Shigaraki and his League allies face thousands of Meta Liberation Army villains in combat, and the odds against them become even dicier when the Army's executives, such as Curious, step forth to lead the charge. One of them, a man named Koku Hanabata, has a symbolic mask and Quirk to his name.
Nicknaming himself Trumpet, this MLA executive officer embodies everything that both Destro and the mighty Re-Destro want for society, and his design even echoes the symbol of evil himself, All For One. Trumpet proves that it takes more than punching power or emitter Quirk to make a true, historic villain come to life.
The Quirk Of Trumpet The Villain
While Curious and the ice warrior Geten have destructive and fairly conventional combat-oriented Quirks, Trumpet has a support-type Quirk that makes him a natural leader during battle. His Quirk, called Incite, can boost the morale and spirits of all nearby allies via special electromagnetic waves within his voice, and even augment his allies' physical abilities. In Season 5 Episode 23 of My Hero Academia, Trumpet not only has a high rank within the Army and leadership skills, but also the correct Quirk and mask to prove himself a true battlefield commander.
Trumpet first appears in a suit, but once the battle intensifies, he dons a black mask covered in small speakers, and with it, he amplifies his Incite ability and spreads it further, maximizing his potential in battle. Trumpet's leadership position, aloof and confident attitude, black suit and scary mask may remind viewers of All For One himself, even if Trumpet isn't the Army's overall leader. It may not be a coincidence that Trumpet appears to be a watered-down All For One. Perhaps all villain leaders are destined to have a design scheme like this.
The Populist Power Of True Villains
Destro, Re-Destro, All For One and now Trumpet embody My Hero Academia's developing theme that the most consequential villains are not battlefield powerhouses, but rather those who wield populist power and rally entire crowds of people to their cause. The best villains do more than break into banks or punch heroes; they transform society itself, using the masses as a weapon against heroes and the government. Re-Destro objects to society's norms of minimizing Quirk use, and generations ago, All For One recruited thousands of loyal followers by aiding them when society and the government could not. The most frightening villains convince everyone that they are populist saviors, giving a voice to the voiceless and tapping into people's repressed desires.
Re-Destro commands the MLA overall, but Trumpet's ability to incite a crowd, combined with his overall appearance and personality, make it clear that he, All For One and Re-Destro are three iterations of the same idea -- and this stands as a true threat not just to pro heroes and the Japanese government, but even to the League of Villains. This is how the MLA recruited an astonishing 110,000 people to its cause, and in battle, Trumpet and his Quirk can easily weaponize the frustrated masses into an unstoppable populist army.
