Mai Nojima

Nojima Mai, also known by her hero name 'Tassy' is a student in class 2-A at U.A. High School, training to become a Pro Hero.

Mai is a stout girl with a muscular figure. She has short, messy black hair and rounded but angular black eyes, as well as a dusting of freckles over the bridge of her nose. Due to her quirk, she also has two furry ears and a short, bristly tail, as well as a notable set of large, sharp teeth.

At school, she wears the standard U.A. uniform, and underneath her blazer, she leaves the top two buttons of her uniform undone and her tie loosened. She rolls up the sleeves of both her blazer and her white button up to a cuff just above her elbow. She wears black tights rather than socks, and chunky black high-top sneakers.

Her hero costume is composed of a skin-tight sleeveless black suit with thigh-high open-toed boots and a brown, fur lined vest. On the chest and sides of her suit are white stripes, a mimic of the white markings on the animal her quirk comes from. Her gloves are cuffed and fingerless, and the same color scheme as her costume. Her mask comes down the sides of her face and under her jaw and is made of sharp-edged black metal.

Despite initially coming off as wild and kind of aggressive, she’s actually a good person. She’s incredibly loyal and is fiercely protective of others and her friends and family especially. Once they get past the aggression, most people find her to be very fun to be around in social situations, although a bit much at times considering that she can get kind of rowdy. She can adapt quickly in new situations despite not being very bright (not book-smart) and has a high level of confidence in herself, sometimes to a fault. However, she does not take well to being ordered around - she’s not interested in leading others, but she also refuses to fall into the group and be led.

Mai was born in Morioka (in Iwate prefecture) to Nojima Kouga, a local flower shop attendant, and Nojima Yuukou, a veteranarian at a local clinic. Her grandfather Nojima Yuto (Kouga's father) was the locally famous hero Bite Force. He and Mai's mother had a wonderful relationship despite her not choosing to follow in his footsteps (she had an essentially useless quirk) and he was supportive when she married her wife Yuukou, and all were thrilled when she became pregnant with their first child. Unfortunately, Yuto fell ill and passed away before Mai was born. It was a tragedy, both to the city he had spent years protecting, and to his daughter, who had wanted so badly for her child to meet their grandfather, her idol. Still, despite the sadness her mother stayed strong and the unexpected happened: Mai was born with her grandfather’s quirk, despite both of her parents having 'weak' quirks. Mai grew up with reminders of her grandfather all around her: the city still treated him as a celebrated hero after his death, and her mother spoke often of him, telling her how similar she looked to him.

Young Mai had a good home life, but had trouble outside of the home - being a hot headed child with aggressive-looking aspects to her quirk (the screaming, the biting things, the claws) many of her classmates and other children were frightened of her. For a while, this affected her behavior, she got into fights and would frequently come home scraped up and crying. Her mother Kouga always comforted her (after a lecture from Yuukou, usually) and would tell her stories about her grandfather while holding her on her lap. Mai loved these stories, and it made her idolize her grandfather further - they had the same quirk but he was a charming and well-loved hero, and that was what Mai dreamed of for herself.

The family moved when Mai was about to start middle school. She had her eyes set on UA after middle school, and her parents, wanting to support her and give her a better shot at more hero school options, moved to Musutafu. Her parents rented out a two story building and opened their own vet clinic on the first floor, moving their family into the apartment on the floor above. Mai started middle school, and shortly after, her parents had their second child, Miyou. This only gave Mai further reason to pursue being a hero - she wants to create a safe world for her sister to grow up and live in. Mai, despite not being the brightest, studied hard through middle school and took up an intense training regimen to prepare for the UA entrance exam. Between these two things, she managed to pass the entrance exam and was accepted to UA.

Overall Abilities

Mai is considered one of the strongest students in the second year.

• Kickboxing: Mai, during her training prior to entering UA, did regular practice of kickboxing both as a hobby and for practical reasons. She has a good handle on most types of kicks, knees, blocks, and usage of her fists to maximize damage and defend herself. This makes her quite dangerous in a close-ranged fight.
• Enhanced Stamina: Extensive training in kickboxing and to use her quirk's strengths to the best of her ability have given Mai higher than normal stamina.
• Claws: Mai has a full set of claws on both her hands and feet, sharp enough to do significant damage with a kick or a swipe.
• Enhanced Physical Ability: Mai's quirk gives her a few enhanced physical abilities: enhanced climbing abilities, the ability to garner bursts of speed over small to medium distances, strong swimming abilities, a mouth full of sharp teeth with a bite force that can snap metal, and the ability to open her jaws up to 80 degrees.

Quirk

Tasmanian Devil:is a mutant type quirk that gives the user the abilities of a standard adult Tasmanian devil. The most notable trait of this is bite force strong enough to snap bones or break thick metal, and the ability of the jaw to open up to 80 degrees. It also gives the user increased climbing and swimming abilities, claws, a mouth full of predator’s teeth, and the ability to get a good burst of speed over short distances. However she cannot increase or exceed these abilities (the bite force cannot exceed the amount of a normal devil, for example, and the jaw cannot open more than 80 degrees without dislocating), and she has to actually eat enough calories and protein, like the animal would, to use these abilities to their full extent.

Nojima Kouga

Mother [Un-Named Quirk - teeth of a Tasmanian devil but no other features] - The daughter of the locally famous hero 'Bite Force', a former flower shop attendant, and Mai's mother. Mai and Kouga have a very close relationship - out of the two of her parents, she is the more soft and sympathetic one, and is always providing Mai with emotional and moral support. Wholeheartedly supports Mai's dream to follow in her grandfather's footsteps.

Nojima Yuukou

Mother[Weak Animal Summoning Quirk - can call / communicate with animals smaller than a medium sized dog] - A strong willed woman, currently a veterinarian, and Mai's other mother. Mai and Yuukou frequently butted heads throughout her life - obviously, they love each other very much, but it's what happens when you get two fiery, strong people together, especially when they're mother and daughter.

Nojima Miyou

Sister [Weak(?) Animal Summoning Quirk - can call/communicate with animals smaller than a medium sized dog(?)] - Five year old girl, also inherited the ears (and only the ears) of a Tasmanian devil. Mai adores her sister, and wants to teach her to become as tough as she is, although it’s rough going because her sister inhereted Kouga’s soft spoken, empathetic personality. Nevertheless, Miyou adores Mai, and looks constantly forward to her visits home from the dorms.

• Her name means 野 - field, 島 - island, and 舞 - to dance.
• Miruko is her other favorite pro-hero (besides her grandfather), and she dreams of interning with her.
• She can do the famous Tasmanian devil scream.
• There was no real reason for her family to wonder what her quirk was, given the animal features and her grandfather’s quirk, but it became obvious when she bit through her crib bars as a toddler during a temper tantrum over nap time.
• She didn’t have many friends up until middle school, because her classmates were afraid of her during her childhood (at least, for the first few years of primary school, later they made the connection and realized who she was, but the damage was done by then).