Tenya Iida

About Tenya Iida

Tenya Iida is Class 1-A's representative, a strict rule-follower with engine legs that make him one of the fastest students at U.A. He comes from a proud family of heroes and idolises his older brother, the hero Ingenium. Beneath his stiff manner is a loyal friend who takes responsibility for everyone around him very seriously.

Appearance

Iida is tall and powerfully built, with short dark blue hair neatly parted, blue eyes and rectangular glasses he wears at all times. His posture is ramrod straight and he gestures in rigid, chopping motions when he speaks. His hero costume is black and silver armour styled like a race car, with exhaust pipes rising from his back and engines visible in his calves. Even out of costume he looks formal, usually in a properly buttoned uniform with a tie.

Personality

Iida is earnest, disciplined and famously strict about rules, order and proper conduct, he will scold classmates for placing bags on desks. He takes every duty, from class representative to family honour, with total seriousness, which can make him stiff but also utterly dependable. His weakness is that same rigidity: when his brother is hurt and rules offer no justice, Iida's sense of duty curdles into a private hunger for revenge that nearly destroys him, and learning from that failure makes him a wiser leader.

Background & Story

The Iida family has produced pro heroes for generations, each passing down the hero name Ingenium. Tenya grew up idolising his older brother Tensei, the current Ingenium, and entered U.A. determined to follow him. He placed near the top of the entrance exam and became Class 1-A's representative, the voice of order among twenty very different students. Early in his first year, his brother is left crippled by the hero killer Stain, and Iida's grief turns to obsession: he hunts Stain himself during his internship, an act of revenge that his friends have to pull him back from at real cost. The lesson, that a hero reaches out a hand instead of clenching a fist, defines the leader he becomes.

Powers & Abilities

• Engine: Iida has engine blocks in his calves with exhaust mufflers, letting him run and kick at extreme speed in a series of gear-like bursts.
• Recipro Burst: By overclocking his engines, Iida gains ten seconds of speed so great almost nothing can react to him, then his engines stall and must cool down.
• Recipro Extend: A refined burst technique that sustains Iida's maximum speed longer, developed after custom-tuning his engines through a painful upgrade.

Key Relationships

• Izuku Midoriya: A close friend Iida first misjudged at the entrance exam; Izuku's example taught him what a hero does when rules run out.
• Ochaco Uraraka: A close friend in Class 1-A's core group, whose warmth balances Iida's stiffness.
• Shoto Todoroki: A friend who helped pull Iida back from his revenge against Stain, returning the favour Izuku once did for Shoto.
• Shota Aizawa: His homeroom teacher, who holds Iida to the standard his position as class representative demands.

Quick Answers