Warning: contains minor spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 331
Chapter 331 of My Hero Academia returns after a brief publication break, continuing the major battle between Tomura Shigaraki (if he can even still be called that) and Star and Stripe, America's top hero. The chapter also contained a name drop which looks to be one of the most blatant Star Wars shout-outs yet.
My Hero Academia's creator Kohei Horikoshi is a self-avowed massive fan of Star Wars, something that's no secret to most fans. A number of locations in the My Hero Academia world have had references to Star Wars, like Dagoba Beach, where Deku initially trains with All Might, and which happens to be the planet where Luke finds Yoda in Empire Strikes Back. Later is the attack on Kamino Ward, where the League of Villains hideout was located, which shares a name with the planet that created the Clone Troopers in Attack of the Clones. There was even a villain previously, named Mustard, who appeared during the training camp invasion arc and bore a very strong resemblance to Ralph McQuarrie's early concept art for Darth Vader.
The latest in overt Star Wars shout-outs is in 331, as Star and Stripe debates her next move against Shigaraki. She communicates over the radio with a man she calls "Commander Ackbar," a clear reference to the character of Admiral Ackbar, best known from the classic "It's a trap!" meme. Admiral Ackbar belongs to a species of squid-like aliens known as the Mon Calamari, and is by far the most notable member of this species in the movies, giving him a very unique and memorable appearance. When the manga eventually cuts to Commander Ackbar's side of the conversation, it becomes apparent that even in My Hero Academia's world, Ackbar is a squid man.
Having animalistic traits isn't uncommon among those with quirks--they fall into a broad category called "Heteromorphic" quirks. People with heteromorphic quirks in My Hero Academia can look radically different from a normal human, like UA student Tokoyami with his bird head, or Mina Ashido's pink skin, black eyes, and antennae. A heteromorphic appearance isn't always an indicator of someone's quirk, however, as the heteromorphic mutations are inheritable--Tokoyami's bird head has no relation to his Dark Shadow quirk, for example. A character with a squid head similar to Ackbar's would actually be on the tame side for a heteromorphic quirk, and despite the bigotry that's sometimes aimed their way, he seems to have risen to a very prominent position in the US government to be issuing orders to their top hero.
Like his namesake in Star Wars, Commander Ackbar seems to be a trusted figure with a high rank, although not quite as high as Admiral. These shout-outs have sometimes necessitated minor changes for copyright reasons; the aforementioned Dagoba Beach was sometimes rendered as "Takoba," a very slight change in Japanese that still hints heavily at the original intent. As the chapters keep ticking down towards the series' ultimate conclusion, fans should keep their eyes peeled for any further references and in-jokes that Horikoshi might want to squeeze in before the end of My Hero Academia.
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