Muscular

"Haa ha ha! Blood! Love it. So fun! What was that, again? You're gonna save him, right?! So why're you running?! That's a weird way to save someone!"

- Muscular's twisted nature. "Brats like you sure know how to pass the blame. It's no good. I don't really hold a grudge against 'em about my eye. I killed 'em, just like I wanted to. And they tried to stop me. We all did our best and had to deal with the results. What's bad is when you can't put your money where your mouth is... like your dear mommy and daddy!""

- Muscular to Kota Izumi about his parents.

Muscular is a minor antagonist in the manga/anime series, My Hero Academia. He is a villain affiliated with the League of Villains and a member of the organization's Vanguard Action Squad. He serves as the main antagonist of the Forest Training Camp Arc.

He is a psychopathic madman that is responsible for the deaths of the Pro Hero team, Water Hose. The battle left him with an enormous scar on the left side of his face. As a result, he received an artificial eye to cover the wound, as well as receive replacements, if the original were to be damaged or lost.

He is voiced by Kosuke Takaguchi in the Japanese dub and Jim Foronda in the English dub in the anime series.

Personality
Muscular is a completely cruel and sadistic man. He is uncaring and merciless to anyone and is willing to kill anyone, regardless of who they. This includes even innocent people and children.

However, he is a very stupid man, as he is the one that accidentally revealed Bakugo's kidnapping to Izuku Midoriya. Along with this, he is very arrogant and prideful of himself. He looks down on his opponents and enjoys taunting with them, especially those he views as weak, in which he takes pleasure tormenting them.

Forest Training Camp Arc
Muscular first appears in Good Evening, where he is shown to be observing the U.A. campsite, along with Dabi, Himiko Toga, and Mustard. Muscular wished to join in the action already, but Mustard advised him not to rush in, as it was not time yet. While Toga and Mustard discussed each other about their "shadowy orchestrator", Muscular cared less, as he was mainly interested in fighting the U.A. students, but was then silenced by Dabi. Eventually, the rest of the league joined up with them, and together, the squad went into action.

Once the Vanguard Action Squad spread out, Muscular went on his own where he came across the young boy, Kota. He was surprised to see him, since he was not on the list of heroes that he was given. Nonetheless, he treated him as anything but a threat, admiring his hat, and offers to trade it for his mask. Once he took of his mask, Kota immediately recognized him as the man that murdered his parents and took off, but was immediately stopped when Muscular jumped back in front of him. Muscular proceeded to attack, but missed his attack when Izuku Midoriya came to save Kota. Muscular then recognized Midoriya as one of the heroes on the list, which grew his anticipation of a battle.

Muscular proceeds to mock Midoriya for saving Kota, saying he's just like any other aspiring hero that will save everyone, no matter what. Muscular proceeds to attack, activating his Quirk and lands a hit on Midoriya, sending him straight to the wall. Muscular then asks him about Katsuki Bakugo's whereabouts, accidentally revealing the whole plan of the attack. Giving him no time to answer, Muscular immediately attacks him, sending him flying in the air then kicks him back to the wall, mocking him as he watches the young hero struggle. Midoriya attempts to attack back, but Muscular was able to block it and knocks him back away.

Muscular begins explaining how his Quirk works, in which the power of his Quirk cannot be contained by his skin. He then mocks Midoriya once more, calling him an inferior version of himself and how he's failing to save Kota. Before he could finish him off, Kota throws a rock at his head, which caught Muscular's attention. When Kota asks him if he's going to torture Midoriya the same way he did to his parents the Water Horses, Muscular is surprised that the young boy is the child of the heroes that he murdered. Kota states how the result of his prosthetic eye is because of how his kind gets involved in such actions, in which his words hardly affect the villainous being at all, stating that he kills because he feels like it. He claims that he holds no grudge of his parents, that his parents were doing their best, ultimately leading to their downfall.

Midoriya then strikes back to attack Muscular, but instead of directly attacking him, he lands a hit into his muscle fiber, impeding his speed. Midoriya then proceeds to hit him with a 100% One For All punch. Muscular was sent into the wall, but was able to tank the punch, as he created a shield with his muscle fiber. Muscular was somewhat impressed by his punch then marched towards him. Midoriya demands why the League of Villains are attacking, but Muscular had no clue, as he was only here for his own enjoyment. From this point on, it is revealed that Muscular's been holding back this entire time, as he puts on a eye-like device, going all out. His entire body begins to cover up in muscle fiber as he attacks the pair boys. The two were able to evade him, but Muscular immediately strikes back again and again.

Casting Kota aside, Midoriya clashes against Muscular with a 100% Detroit Smash. While Muscular did felt pain, he noted how that attack was weaker than before. Despite this, Midoriya continues to hold him back, but is eventually overwhelmed as Muscular begins pushing him into the ground. Suddenly, Muscular's attacked by a splash of water, which is revealed to be Kota's Quirk. Being distracted by Kota, Midoriya takes the advantage of pushing back Muscular. He is then finished off by a 1000000% Delaware Detroit Smash, smashing into the wall, completely knocked out.

After the Vanguard Action Squad's defeat, Muscular was one of the few villains left behind to be captured by the police, along with Mustard and Moonfish.

Powers and Abilities
Overall, Muscular is one of the most powerful members of the League of Villains. So far, he's been Midoriya's toughest opponent yet. He was able to inflict critical injuries on him, and Midoriya was forced to go beyond his limit to put him down.
 * Muscle Augment: Muscular's Quirk allows him to augment his muscles under his skin, granting him immense power and speed. He can also augment his entire body, in order to provide him protection.
 * Superhuman Strength: Because of his Quirk, Muscular has a high degree of super strength. Even without his Quirk, however, he is still a powerhouse, as he was able to knock back Izuku Midoriya with just a kick. When using his Quirk, he's capable of shattering rocks and overpowering Midoriya with ease.
 * Superhuman Durability: Muscular's Quirk provides a high degree of durability. Even after using 100% of his power, Midoriya was not able to harm Muscular with major damage. It took him more than 100% of his power to put Muscular down for good.
 * Superhuman Speed: Muscular's Quirk provides him extremely fast movements, as he was able to catch Midoriya off his guard many times during their fight.

Trivia

 * Muscular's fight with Izuku Midoriya is similar to Nomu's fight with All Might. Both villains were incredibly strong and durable opponents that forced the two heroes to go beyond their limit to defeat them.
 * It's possible that Muscular's attack on the summer camp could be a reference to Jason Voorhees' attack on the camp consolers. This is supported by the fact that both wear similar masks and are motivated by bloodlust.
 * Muscular is one of the few villains acknowledged by Overhaul to be first rate villains. The others being Moonfish and Stain.
 * Muscular is the first villain Izuku had to defeat on his own.