The My Hero Academia universe has hooked fans with its detailed world-building and complex characters, and the spin-off My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has further expanded this world by focusing on the unsung heroes who operate outside the law.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes might’ve started as a quiet side story, but the manga concluded the story with its 126th chapter in May 2022, leaving readers with a sense of both fulfillment and contemplation, carving out a meaningful corner of the My Hero Academia universe and offering a different lens on what it means to be a hero.
Here’s how Vigilantes ended, and what it really means for Koichi, Knuckleduster, and the larger world of heroes.
Ending of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
Koichi’s Evolution From Street-Level Crawler to Official Hero
Koichi Haimawari, aka The Crawler, didn’t start out with any grand ambitions. He wasn’t aiming for glory, and he certainly wasn’t licensed. But throughout Vigilantes, Koichi quietly grew into a real hero, one who understood the job not as a career, but as a calling.
By the final arc, Koichi’s taken on true threats, put himself in harm’s way for others, and even gone toe-to-toe with Number Six, a villain who represented the worst of the “quirk-singularity” chaos quietly boiling under society’s surface. The battle is brutal, and Koichi barely makes it out alive.
But what happens next is even more surprising: instead of being arrested or fading into obscurity, Koichi is offered a new beginning. After navigating the consequences of his actions as a vigilante, he is offered an opportunity to work as an official Pro Hero in the United States. His record as a vigilante? Wiped clean in exchange for his service abroad. In America, his skills and experience are in high demand, and there’s no shortage of threats for someone like him to tackle.
The Return of Knuckleduster as a Vigilante
One of the most surprising (and satisfying) moments in the final chapter is the return of Knuckleduster. After his vicious showdown with Number Six earlier in the series, it was heavily implied he had died in the line of duty. But in classic Knuckleduster fashion, he pulled through, scarred, worn, but very much alive.
In the final moments of the manga, we see him quietly back on the streets of Naruhata, taking down petty crooks and reminding us what kind of hero he really is. No glory, no headlines, just action and justice.
Knuckleduster’s survival reinforces one of Vigilantes’ core themes: that not all heroes fit into the system. And more importantly, not all of them need to. His existence is a rejection of the idea that heroism is something that can be regulated, ranked, or marketed.
Pop Step’s Retirement
While Koichi moves on and Knuckleduster stays in the fight, Pop Step, the third key member of the original vigilante trio, takes a different path. After surviving brainwashing, manipulation, and near-death under Number Six’s control, she steps away from the spotlight entirely.
Her absence from the epilogue speaks for itself. She’s alive, but she’s chosen not to return to the public eye. In a way, it makes sense because of the toll that the vigilante life can take, especially on someone who never asked to be a part of it in the first place.
What the Ending Says About Hero Society
The ending of Vigilantes ties directly into one of the main criticisms running through both this series and My Hero Academia: the cracks in hero society.
Koichi’s quiet rise into legitimacy, Knuckleduster’s work in the shadows, and Pop Step’s disappearance all highlight how rigid, commercialized, and flawed the system really is. There are heroes who follow the rules and heroes who get things done, and they aren’t always the same people.
Even within the main series, Deku ends up operating as a vigilante at one point, a sign that Vigilantes isn’t just a side story, but a much needed focal point on the growing dysfunction in a world obsessed with rankings and regulation.
So, Is This Really the End for the Vigilantes?
Narratively? Yes. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes gave its core characters a satisfying, grounded send-off. But thematically? Not even close. Knuckleduster’s return makes it clear that as long as the official hero system leaves people behind, there will always be those who fight outside of it.
Koichi may have left Naruhata, but the spirit of the vigilantes lives on in every alleyway where justice is needed but overlooked. And even the main My Hero Academia manga in its own final act, explored what Vigilantes did: justice vs. legality, individual action vs. institutional power and it made the idea of true heroism clear.
Summary
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes ended with quiet impact. It didn’t try to upstage the main story but it still deepened it. It shows us what it means to be a hero when no one’s watching. When there’s no agency backing you. When it’s dangerous, messy, and thankless. Koichi’s new life in the U.S., Knuckleduster’s continued mission in Naruhata, and Pop Step’s decision to step away, all reflect different, equally valid outcomes for those who choose to act when the system fails.
In the end, Vigilantes reminds us that heroism isn’t defined by rules. It’s defined by action.
About My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
Set five years before Deku’s story begins, Vigilantes follows Koichi Haimawari, a timid college student with a forgotten dream of heroism finds new purpose when a mysterious vigilante recruits him and a young performer to fight crime in a world where superpowers are common but real heroes are rare.
In a world where 80% of people have Quirks, but only a few are licensed heroes, Vigilantes explores the lives of those who protect society from the shadows.
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