Sweet Mask

Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask (イケメン仮面アマイマスク, Ikemen Kamen Amai Masuku) is a famous model, actor, singer and both, the highest ranked A-Class hero of the Hero Association, as well as the most popular one in the world.

Appearance
Sweet Mask is a tall and lean-built young man with messy, shoulder length light blue hair and yellow eyes. He is considered to be very handsome by the public. He wears a white jacket over his grey shirt with a green circle necklace and black trousers. During the battle against the Sea King, he was sporting a shorter hairstyle with his hair parted to the left. He is seen with longer hair when he addresses the Hero Association official and in his most recent appearance, he is again shown with his short hair. Interestingly, Sweet Mask's eyes seem to turn from a yellow into a blood red when extremely angered.

Personality
Sweet Mask has stated that he believes that heroes are to protect the citizens, and if they can't do that, they must become strong enough to be able to do so. He appears to be quite popular and has quite a charismatic way of talking.

However, befitting the darker side of Sweet Mask's name is his hidden merciless nature. He is shown to have a burning hatred for anything that he sees as evil. Anything that he declares as evil must be swiftly and thoroughly exterminated.

He reminds me of myself, before I met Sensei. There is no mercy in his heart. A strong hatred for everything evil, eager to eliminate them all.

This is shown when he mercilessly dispatches a group of captured aliens whom he declared to be evil, claiming to have merely executed justice on the spot, and again when he was ordered to bring an escaped caveman back to the lab. He ignored his superiors' orders and killed the caveman instead.

Sweet Mask is shown to adhere to any method that makes heroes popular. He notes that only promotions to S-Class or A-Class are fit for his attention, as they are the heroes who draw the most attention from the public, and hence, any heroes in those ranks who earn themselves negative reputations would drag his reputation down as well. Because of this, Sweet Mask stays in the A-Class Rank 1 position to prevent unworthy heroes from promoting to S-Class.

Sweet Mask seems very narcissistic about "beauty overwhelming the power," as he said about his philosophy that "heroes have to be beautiful as well". This became obvious when he showed interest in a worthy S-Class Hero like Genos, who has both a beautiful appeal and having doing more heroic deeds as a main priority, fitting Sweet Mask's philosophy. However, after witnessing the defeat of Garou by Saitama, his viewpoint changes and becomes more focus on the overwhelming power of the individual than beauty alone.

History
Not much is known about Sweet Mask's past. Genos speculates that something terrible might have happened in his past involving Mysterious Beings, due to his merciless nature and hatred towards everything evil.

Hero Association Saga
Sweet Mask appeared to get a call from his superior about the test of the prodigious cyborg hero, Genos for successfully entering the S-Class. Sweet Mask finds Genos at the Udon restaurant and wants to have a little chat in private outside. At first, Genos thought Sweet Mask wanted to pick a fight with him, but Sweet Mask meant no harm and wanted to congratulate and welcome Genos into S-Class. Sweet Mask is really interested in Genos on not wasting time in order to do heroic deeds, and sees him fit as Sweet Mask's philosophy he shared to the cyborg, about the heroes having to be beautiful as well as serving justice.

A New Wind Blows
Sweet Mask makes a brief appearance on a news report encouraging others to become heroes. The report also mentions that he will be appearing in a new movie.

Sea Monster Arc
While the Seafolk invade J-City, Sweet Mask makes a guest appearance on a television show to promote his new song. The host of the show asks Sweet Mask what he thinks about the current situation, to which Sweet Mask replies that he is only a hero when he fights evil and that currently he is here to promote his new song as a singer. However, he goes on to say that heroes have to be tough, strong and beautiful at all times in order to ease the fear and worries of the people. He states that he finds it regrettable that there were heroes who were defeated by evil and says that if it were up to him he would make every hero undergo strict training so that no hero would die in vain in the future.

Alien Conquerors Arc
After the defeat of the Dark Matter Thieves and the fall of their spaceship Sweet Mask appears and mocks the S-Class Heroes for being unable to stop the destruction of A-City much to Metal Bat's anger. Later when they found the remaining minions of Lord Boros while the other heroes wonder what to do with them he mercilessly kill them saying that "evil" must be eliminated without doubts. The other heroes watch shocked while Genos thought about how, before meeting Saitama, his way of thinking was similar to Sweet Mask's. It is revealed here that the only reason that he is staying in his current position of A-Rank is solely to stop other A-Ranks from going higher. Later, he and Metal Bat continue argue and is challenged to a fight by Metal Bat. However, before they can fight, they were interrupted by a phone call from Sweet Mask's manager and Metal Bat's sister. While Sweet Mask ignores his manager's call, Metal Bat does not ignore his sister's, this causes Sweet Mask to leave the scene to return to his schedule with his manager, but not before Metal Bat asks Sweet Mask if he can give his sister his autograph.

The Blizzard Group Arc
Sweet Mask encounters Suppon, a caveman test subject who escaped from his laboratory and had begun to brutally assault civilians. Sweet Mask deemed Suppon as 'evil' and informed him that he was under orders to bring him back alive, but going against these orders, he defeats and brutally kills Suppon in short order, amidst a cheering crowd.

The following section contains Webcomic spoilers. You have been warned manga-only readers.

Monster Association Arc
Sweet Mask joins Pig God, Child Emperor, Superalloy Darkshine, Zombieman, King, Atomic Samurai, and Puri-Prui-Prisoner in standing against the Monster Association. Sweet Mask effortlessly defeats Goddess Glasses, negating her charm attacks and smashing her against a wall. After, he is faced with Fuhrer Ugly and is overcome by him due to being unable to fight back as a result of his opponent's extreme ugliness, which paralyzes Sweet Mask. Eventually they are separated and Sweet Mask returns to the battlefield to fight the Dragon-Level monsters.

He throws a large boulder at Black Sperm and demonstrates abnormal physical traits over the course of the battle such as being able to withstand almost lethal attacks with ease and reattaching his arm after it was shot off. Veins and scars cover his body as a result of his powers. Sweet Mask aids Child Emperor in his plan to defeat the monsters, fending off legions of the multiplying Black Sperm whilst avoiding attacks from Evil Natural Water, which impresses Pig God and Atomic Samurai.

Later he is confronted by Garou after he destroys Golden Sperm with ease, remarking on Garou's power. Garou mocks Sweet Mask's views of justice and beauty and proceeds to fight the remaining S-Class Heroes. Though Sweet Mask and the others are able to land several blows on Garou, he is able to defeat them all, striking Sweet Mask brutally across the face.

After Saitama defeats Garou, a recovered Sweet Mask yells at him to kill him and says that he cannot be allowed to live after all of his crimes. He then implores Bang to do the same, offering to carry out the execution himself. He is prevented from carrying this out by the child Garou brought with him and is outraged when he is able to escape.

Psychic Sisters Arc
Sweet Mask is in a studio pondering the thought about the beauty of strength and Saitama. He is asked by the Hero Association to look over a group of young and new C-Class Heroes named the Sugar Pop Boys who are in the entertainment industry. However, he declines, finding imitations to be 'ugly' and a waste of time. When the group insults him and challenges him, Sweet Mask is able to intimidate them with a frightening aura, forcing them to cower in fear while adamantly voicing none of them had true beauty like Saitama, which was overwhelming power.

Abilities & Powers
Sweet Mask's claims that his skills are strong enough to put him in S-Class, as later confirmed by Atomic Samurai. He chooses not to advance so as not to allow weaklings to rank up. Fubuki describes him as a monster much like her sister, who is the second highest-ranked hero within the association, and even after witnessing Saitama's display of power in the fight against her, she was convinced it would be impossible for him to surpass Sweet Mask, she also stated if not for him Atomic Samurai's disciples would be in S-Class instead of A-Class. However, he has a very peculiar weakness: extreme ugliness paralyzes him, making him unable to move well and fight back, which renders him particularly vulnerable against Ugmons. Besides his combat abilities, Sweet Mask is a talented actor and singer.

Physical Abilities
Immense Speed & Reflexes: He appears to be extremely fast as he was able to murder a group of captured alien invaders, apparently slicing them through with his bare hand in a flash; with none of the nearby S-Class heroes being fast enough to stop him. He effortlessly evaded Suppon's barrage of attacks and maneuvered behind him, striking him down with only two blows before the caveman could retaliate. More remarkably, he managed to fight off several of clones of Black Sperm, a Disaster Level Dragon Monster. He was also able to dodge some of Evil Natural Water's attacks, which, according to Child Emperor, move faster than the eye can register, while still fighting against Black Sperm.

Immense Strength: It is revealed that he possesses brute strength, and his veins are shown whenever he's extremely angry. He quickly and effortlessly defeats Suppon, breaking both his legs with one kick and smashing his head with an one-inch punch. He was able to lift a boulder much larger than he is with ease, as well as throwing it with great force. He also broke through the hand of one of Black Sperm's giant clones with a single hit.

Immense Endurance: Possibly due to his abnormal body, Sweet Mask seemed to feel no pain upon being pierced through the chest by Evil Natural Water, and resumed fighting normally.

Abnormal Body: Through unknown means, Sweet Mask was somehow able to reattach his severed arm in his battle against the Monster Association. According to himself, he was able to reattach it, as it was "a clean cut." He was also somehow able to regenerate his smashed face after the punch of Garou. Sweet Mask's body seems to be capable of healing quickly from potentially lethal wounds, he however doesn't seem to have the ability to regrow a cut off limb, as he reattached his arm instead of just regrowing it.

Fighting Style
Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Sweet Mask defeats his opponents with swift movements and powerful blows, which makes him an extremely impressive fighter. When he fought against Suppon, he first moved in the latter's blind spot, incapacitated him, and then delivered a lethal strike, suggesting his fighting style is very centered on efficiency and killing-oriented. Despite being unable to fight back, he took no notable damage against Fuhrer Ugly, a Disaster Level Dragon monster. He managed to repel the continuous assault of Black Sperm's clones, who easily broke through Atomic Samurai's defense, prompting the latter hero to comment that Sweet Mask and Black Sperm were even, at least temporarily.

Miscellaneous Abilities
Mental Resistance: Sweet Mask was somehow able to completely resist Goddess Glasses' Brain Wash Heart Beam. It is unknown if this was due to his willpower or not.

Hero Rating
Sweet Mask's rating determined by the Hero Association.

Anime and Manga Differences
Episode 5
 * Sweet Mask gets a call from the Hero Association about Genos passing on the test and becoming an S-Class. Later, he visits both Genos and Saitama at a noodle shop as they finish an eating competition asking Genos to speak with privately. He asked Genos how the test was with Genos replying that it was too easy and a waste of time. Sweet Mask stops Genos from attacking him, who was thinking this was a rookie beating, but he only came to congratulate Genos for reaching S-Class and tells him, that he expects great results from him and walks off. After that, he is seen in his penthouse thinking about how interesting Genos is.

Episode 9
 * Sweet Mask appears in his dressing room along with the Bearded Worker to talk about Saitama's move up to B-Class. Though he only cares about A-Class Heroes and above as they are the public face of the Hero Association, feeling disgusted because of the Sea King incident, due to many A-Class and even two S-Class were defeated by the said monster. The Bearded Worker then shows Sweet Mask a video of Saitama defeating the Sea King in a matter of seconds. His discovery on Saitama's true potential becomes way earlier, whether presumably because of his plain appearance and low social status, or Sweet Mask himself may have afraid that his level will be surpassed by him.

Episode 12
 * Later after the invasion of the Dark Matter Thieves, he kills all surviving aliens and lectures Genos about implementing "justice," as well as telling him how disappointed he was with the latter after the Sea King incident and with the most recent destruction of A-City before he walks away.

Quotes

 * (To reporter) "Anyone can become a hero if you feel the desire for peace in your heart!"


 * (To interviewer) "In order to ease the worries and fears of the people... We heroes have to be tough, strong, and beautiful at all times... Always able to defeat evil swiftly and skillfully. That's what being a hero means."

Trivia

 * Genos, after seeing his brutality and mercilessness towards the alien survivors, believes Sweet Mask to be a reflection of himself before he met Saitama.
 * Sweet Mask's seiyuu is Mamoru Miyano, Known for voices of Light Yagami (Death Note), Ling Yao (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), Shuu Tsukiyama (Tokyo Ghoul), Rintarou Okabe (Steins;Gate) and Rin Matsuoka (Free!) etc.
 * In episode 12 of the anime, Sweet Mask declares himself to be justice, similar to Light Yagami as both had their own ideology towards justice, something which certain people cannot agree with.