Sidekicks

The hero running an agency is the one who takes the field, rescues civilians, and fights Villains. The Sidekicks exist to back that person up. Some offices keep a couple, some keep dozens, and a handful of Pro Heroes decline to hire anyone at all.

Hiring works like any other business: the employer picks whoever seems useful and passes on the rest. Plenty of heroes choose by skill set and by what a given Quirk could do for them. Others do not. Uwabami and Midnight, for instance, recruit on looks alone, on the theory that attractive staff feed their own celebrity.

The role can also serve as a legal amnesty. A hero is able to bring an unlicensed Vigilante onto the agency roster as a Sidekick, which converts them into a legitimate Hero.

Uniforms are common but not universal. Best Jeanist puts every one of his Sidekicks in sharp denim and insists their hair be neat and styled, and Selkie's crew wear sailor outfits; other agencies impose no dress code whatsoever. The pattern is usually the employer's own costume adapted downward.

Ambition drives the movement between offices. Sidekicks angle for jobs with more prestigious Pros out of admiration, or for the experience and visibility needed to eventually go independent and open agencies of their own. In practice most never make that jump and stay at the rank permanently. Nor is fieldwork the only shape the job takes: some Sidekicks are support item developers whose inventions do the helping.

Student interns occupy a parallel track, the Hero Course equivalent of a part-time job. Once a student passes the Provisional Hero License Exam and holds the license, they may use their Quirk in emergencies, ideally supervised by a fully licensed Hero, and may take paid work at any agency willing to have them. After events like the U.A. Sports Festival, heroes send recruitment requests directly to students they want; otherwise a student interviews like anyone else, and a recommendation from somebody already working there helps. Interns are treated as real Sidekicks and permitted to join relief efforts, which is how they gain experience, get noticed, and sometimes end up hired full time after graduation.

Sir Nighteye is the standout exception to the rule that Sidekicks stay Sidekicks: he left the role to found his own Hero Agency with staff of his own. Centipeder, his Sidekick, took the agency over after his death.

David Shield represents the non-combat branch, a support item developer rather than a field operative. Selkie's uniformed crew are the clearest illustration of an agency dress code.

Among interns, Mirio Togata's introduction is what got Izuku Midoriya in the door at Sir Nighteye's agency, a reminder that the recommendation of anyone already inside, even another student, carries weight.