Gentle Criminal
Gentle Criminal, real name Danjuro Tobita, is an antagonist in My Hero Academia. Styling himself as a modern-day chivalrous thief, he carries out small-scale offenses alongside his partner La Brava and uploads videos of his exploits online to achieve historical renown. Formerly an aspiring hero whose dreams were shattered by failure and social isolation, he operates as a flamboyant villain driven by a desperate desire for recognition.
Overview
Gentle Criminal, real name Danjuro Tobita, is an antagonist in My Hero Academia. Styling himself as a modern-day chivalrous thief, he carries out small-scale offenses alongside his partner La Brava and uploads videos of his exploits online to achieve historical renown. Formerly an aspiring hero whose dreams were shattered by failure and social isolation, he operates as a flamboyant villain driven by a desperate desire for recognition.
Appearance
He possesses naturally silver hair paired with a prominent, well-kept mustache and beard. Styled in the aesthetic of a classic British gentleman, he features dark, distinct makeup surrounding his eyes, which he created to match the prominent facial dark circles of his partner La Brava.
Personality
Gentle Criminal adopts a theatrical, gentlemanly persona driven by an intense desire to secure his place in history. He is a passionate lover of high-end black tea, though his attempts to pour it dramatically often result in awkward spills. Guided by a eccentric moral code, he views his crimes as grand artistic statements rather than malicious acts, even leaving compensation money at scenes he robs. He harbors deep affection for his partner La Brava and exhibits strong personal integrity when protecting those he cares about.
Abilities
His Quirk, Elasticity, allows him to grant bouncy, rubber-like properties to any inorganic matter or atmosphere he touches. This effect cannot be manually disabled and wears off over time, leaving the appearance of altered objects completely unchanged to create invisible traps or trampolines. His combat repertoire includes Gently Rebound, forming an air barrier to deflect incoming targets; Gently Trampoline, imparting springiness to surfaces or air for rapid mobility and launching foes; and Gently Sandwich, which compresses opponents between multiple stacked layers of elastic air membranes.
Background
During his youth, Danjuro Tobita strived to become a Pro Hero, but repeated failure led to academic failure. At age eighteen, his well-intentioned intervention during an emergency accidentally hindered an active hero's rescue, leading to his arrest, expulsion, and family disownment. Years later, realizing an old classmate who had become a hero failed to remember him at all, he resolved to achieve fame as the criminal Gentle. He partnered with La Brava and produced video content for six years before attempting to breach U.A. High School, where he was defeated by Izuku Midoriya. Following his arrest, he later defended his prison single-handedly against a massive jailbreak of ten thousand inmates. During the final battle, he used his Quirk to prevent U.A.'s floating structure from crashing, ultimately earning his release and founding an IT company alongside La Brava.
Relationships
La Brava (Manami Aiba) is his primary collaborator, loyal fan, and hacker whose absolute devotion forms the core of his life; the two eventually marry after his sentence ends. Izuku Midoriya fought him prior to the school festival, leading to mutual respect for each other's ideals, with Midoriya later recognizing his Quirk in the final battle. Takeshita, his former high school classmate whose complete lack of memory regarding Tobita pushed him onto the path of villainy, served as the tragic catalyst for his transformation into Gentle Criminal.
Trivia
The English name of his Quirk, Elasticity, carries a secondary definition referring to the ability to recover quickly from hardship or failure. Despite his weathered and mature appearance, he is in his early thirties, making him roughly the same age as Shota Aizawa and Midnight. Additionally, the combined attack name Gently Super Lover created with La Brava acts as a triple wordplay combining love, lover, and rubber.
