Home Anime

Who is Lady Nagant in ‘My Hero Academia?’ Her quirks, backstory, and more

A new favorite antagonist coming right up.

Lady Nagant escaping Tartatus in season 6 of 'My Hero Academia'.
Image via Bones Studio

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the second cour of My Hero Academia‘s sixth season, and the Tartarus Escapees arc.

Recommended Videos

After the Paranormal Liberation War — and its devastating death toll — All for One continues on his merry journey to destroy Hero Society as we know it. Now in control of Shigaraki’s body, My Hero Academia‘s overarching villain intends to use everything in his power to steal One for All, the one Quirk he never quite managed to acquire. In order to get there, he has a few tricks up his sleeve.

In episode 15 of season six, “Tartarus,” viewers saw All for One using Shigaraki and his Nomu to break his original body free from Tartarus, a maximum security prison for dangerous individuals. While freeing himself, All for One also took the opportunity to let loose about 10K inmates from several prisons, among which there were some familiar faces like the Hero Killer, Stain, and Kai Chisaki. During the commotion, a woman with purple hair stood out, and the audience got a glimpse into her thoughts before seeing her help Chisaki get out of his cell. While this mysterious character has not yet been named in the anime at the time of writing, manga readers immediately recognize her as Lady Nagant.

Warning: Spoilers to follow.

Since the My Hero Academia anime follows its source material closely, fans can be assured that the attack on Tartarus will lead the series into its next arc, the Tartarus Escapees, which marks the beginning of the Final Act Saga. That is where Lady Nagant will truly get to shine, as details about her history are unveiled. For the anime viewers who simply cannot sit tight and wait for more information, here we explain Lady Nagant’s character, motivations, backstory, and abilities.

What do we know about Lady Nagant?

Lady Nagant from 'My Hero Academia'
Image via Bones Studio

Lady Nagant’s real name is actually Kaina Tsutsumi, and she used to be a Pro Hero. While this might seem surprising, it’s not the first time we see heroes turns to the dark side, as we’ve come to learn during Hawks’ time as a spy with the Paranormal Liberation Front. When Kaina was young, she dreamt of becoming a heroic figure, but during her training, she was taught to eliminate threats without hesitation or remorse. This included killing any and all villains, as well as corrupt heroes, which makes sense in theory if one considers it a justified evil; however, it also exposes the Hero Pubic Safety Commission’s hypocrisy, maintaining a status quo at the expense of others’ lives.

Once familiar with the bloodshed Pro Heroes induce, while civilians admire and praise them unaware of what goes on behind the scenes, Kaina murdered her superior and renounced her heroic status. She then decides that while a world ruled by All for One would lead to chaos, at least there would be transparency, instead of the blissful ignorance established by the Hero Society. From then on, Lady Nagant becomes a follower of the villain. Deep down, though, she still desires to do what feels right to her, which leads to her often acting according to her own moral code, instead of as a soldier blindly following orders. All this contributes to making Lady Nagant a wildly respected and liked antagonist.

After being freed from prison, Kaina is approached by All for One, who instructs her to capture Izuku Midoriya. As long as he wields One for All, he’s a threat to the villain’s plans, and must therefore be subdued. This eventually leads to a confrontation between Lady Nagant and Deku, and along the way, we get to become familiar with her powers and abilities.

Lady Nagant’s quirks, explained

Lady Nagant from 'My Hero Academia'
Image via MANGA Plus by Shueisha

Unlike most characters in the series, Kaina has three Quirks. Her original power is named Rifle and gives her the ability to produce a rifle from her elbow, with a range of 1.87 miles. With his Quirk, she can also produce incredibly strong and varied types of bullets from her hair.

The other Quirks were given to Lady Nagant by All for One, with the first being the simple ability to levitate. The last power, however, was passed on to the former heroine without her awareness. All for One gave Kaina a self-destruction Quirk, so he could detonate an explosion from her body in case she went against his plans.

My Hero Academia‘s sixth season is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.