My Hero Academia‘s no stranger to shout outs to other elements of pop culture, but it’s been far more common and overt in the spin-off series, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. From the very first chapter of the series, the spin-off has seen several ancillary and even a few key characters who have been complete riffs off of other famous franchises such as X-Men, Thomas the Tank Engine, and now the latest chapter of the series has featured a surprise shout out to the Final Fantasy video game franchise.
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Chapter 69 of the series sees a few rough folks arrive and give Pop Step some trouble as she’s trying to sing in the street, and the three of them will look pretty familiar to fans of the Final Fantasy games as their hairstyles and clothing are hilarious shout outs to Cloud Strife, Squall Leonheart, and Zidane Tribal from the seventh through ninth entries. Check them out below:
These three hooligans have never made an appearance in the series so far, and thankfully they won’t seem to be playing a role in the series for the long term. Chapter 69 sees them trying to mess with Pop Step as the young vigilante hero is on her own, and soon attack her new manager when he tries to get in their way. The three are pretty dead ringers for the Final Fantasy heroes with each of their outfits also getting a bit of flair to hammer it home (such as the Buster Sword necklace around “Cloud’s” neck).
But thankfully for fans of the Final Fantasy franchise, these three don’t seem like awful people. They’re a bit forceful, and ease off, but won’t be playing any major villain roles anytime soon. But as the spin-off continues through its final arc, there are even more opportunities for more pop culture cameos like this!
Did you catch the Final Fantasy cameos? What are your favorite pop culture shout outs in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!
My Hero Academia. The series is written by Hideyuki Furuhashi and illustrated by Betten Court, and you can currently read new chapters of the series at Viz Media for free at the link here, and the entire back catalog with a Shonen Jump subscription. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is officially described as such:
“My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is set in a superpowered society, where there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. Not everyone can be a hero, however, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows, or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called… vigilantes.”
