Yu Hojo

"Even trash like us have pride. When given a job... you can bet we'll come through!!"

- Yu Hojo to Tamaki Amajiki.

Yu Hojo is a minor antagonist in the manga/anime series My Hero Academia. He is a Yakuza affiliated with the Shie Hassaikai and a member of the organization's Eight Bullets.

He is voiced by Kenichirou Matsuda in the Japanese version.

Appearance
Yu is a tall, bald, and muscular man with shadowed eyes and no hair on his face or head. He wears a dark dress shirt, the top few buttons left undone, and plain pants, along with a pair of black dress shoes. He wears a simple, medical mask over his mouth, unlike the signature beak-like masks that’s worn by the rest of the Eight Bullets.

Personality
Yu is a serious individual who's completely loyal to Kai Chisaki and the Shie Hassaikai, as he believes they've given him a sense of self-worth after being used and discarded in the past. He is willing to be arrested and even die for Chisaki's sake as repayment for giving him a purpose. He also believes that heroes can't understand the bonds between trash like him and the other members of the Eight Bullets.

Background
Yu Hojo was once used to produce crystals by someone obsessed with greed, who would then sell them to make huge profits. However, once it was discovered that the crystals he made were worthless fakes, he was called useless before being beaten to near-death and left to die. Yu was later discovered by Kai Chisaki, who gave him the opportunity to become one of his men. Grateful for being given a sense of worth, he joined up with the Shie Hassaikai and became a member of the Eight Bullets.

Shie Hassaikai Arc
Yu Hojo is sent along with Toya Setsuno and Soramitsu Tabe to ambush and stall the heroes invading the Shie Hassaikai hideout so Chisaki can escape with Eri. Mimic drops the main group of heroes inside a small room where the three prepare to battle them. However, Tamaki Amajiki decides to fight them alone to prevent the Pro Heroes from exhausting their abilities too soon. Yu and Toya attempt to attack the heroes, but Shota Aizawa erases their Quirks and gives Tamaki the chance to restrain the trio before he and the heroes leave to chase after Chisaki. Tamaki attempts to use this chance to knock the three out, but Toya manages to hit him with a surprise attack and give them enough time for their Quirks to return.

Yu then activates his Crystallize Quirk to break free from his bonds and assaults Tamaki with his crystal-enhanced attacks while Toya removes his defenses with his Larceny Quirk. However, he underestimates Tamaki and is overwhelmed when he uses the maximum output of his Manifest Quirk to repel them; forcing Yu and Toya to have Soramitsu wake up after he was knocked out by Shota earlier. Soramitsu then starts eating Tamaki's attacks with his Food Quirk, allowing the trio to completely dominate Tamaki with their teamwork.

Tamaki tries telling the villains that even if they defeat him, they're still going to be arrested by the heroes and authorities. However, Yu and the others explain that they've had no future for a long time and that they're completely loyal to Chisaki for giving them worth and are willing to sacrifice themselves for him. Tamaki tells them that they're just being used, causing Yu to become infuriated and claim that a hero could never understand their feelings before preparing to deliver the final blow. However, Tamaki breaks up their teamwork by blinding Toya and blocking Yu's attack by manifesting his Crystallize after he ate the latter's crystals earlier. He then successfully manages to knock the villains unconscious with a combination attack.

Yu is later arrested and imprisoned along with the rest of the Shie Hassaikai in the aftermath of the raid.

Powers and Abilities
Crystallize: Yu's Quirk allows him to generate sharp, durable crystals from his skin. This gives him a perfect combination of offense and defense, as he can protect his body while generating crystals on his fists to deliver powerful attacks.

Keen Intellect: Yu is a very tactical fighter, using his Quirk to the best of it's abilities and deducing Tamaki's defensive strategies rather quickly. He also takes great advantages of his allies Quirks, giving them fluid teamwork that almost completely overwhelms Tamaki.

Trivia

 * Yu's name contains the kanji for treasure (宝 takara), life (生 sei), and connection (結 yū).
 * "Hō" could come from "jewel/gem" (宝石 hōseki), and his first name came from the first kanji for the name of his Quirk, (結 yū).
 * Yu seems to represent a corruption of the seventh tenet of the real eight precepts of Buddhism, which, among other things, forbids the wearing of jewelry and decorations such as crystals.
 * He shaves his head to make it easier to produce crystals from there.