Mei Hatsume

Her irises are green-yellow and crossed at the center, which makes the eyes read as scope lenses. They are wide, tilted upward, and topped by notably long lashes. Salmon pink hair, worked into thick dreadlocks and swept to her right, usually stops around shoulder length, though it varies. She is short, and her build is more mature than the height suggests.

Her debut puts her in U.A.'s standard gym kit, a tracksuit in dark blue stamped with the school's letters, loaded down with her own hardware: steampunk goggles in red and gold, a belt carrying the tools she hauls around, oversized boots that assist her speed, and something slung over her shoulders that may well be a jet pack.

Later she appears in a black tank top, her workshop coveralls knotted casually at the waist, the same goggles parked on her head. After the Paranormal Liberation War the goggles change to a longer, scope-like set and her hair goes back in a ponytail.

Eight years past the Final War she is taller and more mature, the front of her hair grown out and the ponytail kept, wearing advanced goggles tinted teal, the designer gloves she always has on, and a fresh strapped tank top.

Sharp, forward, and completely unbothered by the discomfort she causes, Mei treats every conversation as an advertising opportunity. She goes straight to the point, drifts into people's space until they back away, then closes the gap again without noticing she has done it.

She will manipulate when it serves her. Tenya Ida was talked into wearing her support equipment purely so she could showcase it, an offer dressed up as making their fight fair.

Failure does not register as loss to her, only as material for the next attempt, which is why the constant wreckage of her prototypes leaves her cheerful. The self-absorption is real but points inward rather than at anyone else, feeding a drive to improve. She is scattered enough to lose track of her surroundings, including one of her own inventions catching fire mid-conversation with Izuku Midoriya, and reads body language and social cues poorly enough to stand far too close to him on several occasions without registering his discomfort.

Her own case for herself is straightforward: support people are not fighters, but inventing is how that course does heroics.

Zoom lets Mei magnify anything in her line of sight, reaching as far as five kilometers when she concentrates. Her real weapon is the workshop. She invents at speed, one-handed, while her attention sits elsewhere, and Power Loader, who calls her one of a kind, commissioned her to help upgrade the U.A. Barrier. Despite acting as support rather than a combatant, she lasted ten minutes against Tenya without him managing anything against her, and lost only because she forfeited.

She is also a shrewd operator. She teamed with Izuku for the Cavalry Battle knowing every eye would follow whoever won the Obstacle Race, and spent her entire tournament match demonstrating products to stands full of scouts from major support equipment companies. It worked; most of them approached her after the event.

Her catalog is long. The Air Force Gloves let Izuku throw more efficient air blasts through One For All while holding down the damage he takes, and the Iron Soles boost his kicks while absorbing the recoil. The Auto Balancers keep a wearer upright unless they intend otherwise, worn by Tenya during their match. High Density Weights drain speed and stamina so a stronger fighter can meet a weaker one on level terms; teachers wore them at the First Term Final Exam, handing students an advantage. The Sharpshooting Gear, a joint build with Power Loader intended for Denki Kaminari, lets him route his electricity efficiently without endangering allies. She also produced Hydraulic Bracers, a five-shot Capture Gun, Electromagnetic Soles, the Wire Arrow grappling line, Hover Soles, a turbine Jet Pack used by Izuku in the Cavalry Battle, a muscle-sensing Power Suit, an Electric Booster that runs cool, and the unintentionally explosive My Adorable Baby.

Within four months of enrolling she had built over two hundred support items, most of them scrapped, and they make up the bulk of her discard pile of failed builds. Her profile describes her as an undaunted challenger, and she placed among the top sixteen at the Sports Festival's First-Year Stage.

Eight years on, Mei has left U.A. and founded Lightly Labs, a widely renowned manufacturer of hero support items.