During the beginning of the Provisional Hero License exam, Class 1-A homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa, comments on Bakugo and Izuku’s roles as the leaders of Class 1-A. It’s easy to see that Shota is overlooking the value of Momo, even ignoring the fact that she would go on to lead several of her classmates through the first part of that exam. For the final exams, Momo is upbeat about having five of her classmates over to help them study for the written portion of the exam. Her efforts ensure that no one in Class 1-A failed that part of the exam and while it’s not as flashy as the way Izuku tends to lead the class, it still shows that Momo is willing to pull her weight in making sure everyone around her succeeds.

Class 1-A is filled with a ton of incredibly talented students when it comes to physical conditioning. From Todoroki’s upbringing under Endeavor, Tsuyu’s incredible athleticism because of her frog quirk, and Izuku’s intense training to become the new holder of All For One, there’s no shortage of athletes in Class 1-A. So, it would come as a shock to most that Momo is the one that comes in first from the Quirk Apprehension Test. Considering Momo’s quirks are largely centered around making objects, her success in tests that are all about physical conditioning is even more impressive. When you consider that she’s also the number one student on written exams, you must wonder if her inability to be the number one student in Class 1-A is just a matter of confidence.

Momo Yaoyorozu comes from an incredibly rich family, is physically gifted, unbelievably intelligent, and beautiful, all the makings for an elitist, but she’s exactly the opposite. Even having been a student who got in on recommendations, Momo is far quicker to be friendly to other Class 1-A students while Shoto was far colder and isolated. Although she will brag about her privilege, she does it unaware that she is bragging and never goes out of her way to push that onto others. She’s always willing to help those around her who don’t have the same skills or access to knowledge that she has, and it makes her come across as gracious about her advantages. It’s odd to see someone with so much have so little confidence, but we’re hoping that as the show goes on, Momo is able to realize how gifted she is and to make the best of her abilities. After all, we’d love to see a girl slip into Class 1-A’s current elites.

We’ve already mentioned that Momo has had success in written exams, but it’s also worth mentioning that her quirk actually demands a certain level of intelligence from her. To be able to create objects, Momo has to be aware of the exact composition of the object in question. Beyond that, we’ve seen several moments of ingenuity out of Momo time and time again. To cite one example, it’s her brilliance that allows a coordinated attack from the pro heroes and the police force on the League of Villains’ bases. Her quick-witted plan to put a tracking device on a Nomu, even as she suffered a serious head injury, directly leads to the world’s most dangerous criminal being placed behind bars and a classmate’s life being saved.