Trans-feminine Identity in My Hero Academia

The wildly popular manga “My Hero Academia” features an interesting portrayal of a trans-feminine character. Magne is a B-rank villain whose life, and death, gives the series a mouthpiece to discuss some key trans issues. #mha 1/8

Magne is a member of the league of villains. Though her time on-panel is pretty brief, she is nonetheless shown to have a poignant presence in the lives of more prominently featured characters, and she is commonly identified as “Big Sis.” 2/8

Her powers are, themselves, symbolic of gender identity and social acceptance. She attacks her opponents with a large magnet that is “polarized” to a character’s gender identity. In the anime adaptation, this is even illustrated with pink and blue auras. 3/8

Magne is part of a team that attacks the My Hero students at a training camp. During this incursion, she very briefly even faces off with MHA’s other canonically trans character: Tiger, of the Wild Wild Pussycats. 4/8

Shortly thereafter, Magne is killed due to an internal power structure with the villain, Overhaul. Her last words offer a sense of both her view of her place within the league/world, and, potentially, her view on the concept of gender acceptance: 5/8

“We’re not gathered here to be ‘under’ anybody. It’s because I want to live a life without shackles that I am here! We’ll decide where we belong by ourselves!” Tragically, she is then instantly killed. It is perhaps noteworthy, though, that she died for her autonomy and self-definition. 6/8

Magne continues to hold a presence within the narrative, however, even upon her death. When she is misgendered by her killer, she is immediately corrected (and threatened) by key villain characters, Twice, and Toga, both of whom are shown to be haunted by her demise in general. 7/8

In all of this, Big Sis Mags offers a brief but poignant engagement with a transgender character within a franchise that is both wildly successful and deeply influential. 8/8