Mei Hatsume attends U.A. High School's Support Department, Class 1-H, focusing on creating support items for hero students. She possesses salmon pink hair styled in shoulder-length dreadlocks, usually swept asymmetrically to her right, and unique yellow eyes featuring crosshair-patterned irises resembling scope lenses. Her build is reasonably short with a mature physique. Her attire typically incorporates her inventions, including steampunk-inspired goggles, fingerless gloves, utility belts, and specialized footwear like Hover Soles or oversized mechanical boots. In her workshop, she wears a black tank top with coveralls tied around her waist. Post-graduation, her appearance matures slightly, featuring longer front hair tied into a ponytail and more advanced goggles. Her personality is defined by an obsessive passion for inventing, affectionately calling her creations "babies." She exhibits a blunt, opportunistic approach, often prioritizing showcasing her inventions over social niceties. This is evident when she manipulates Tenya Ida during their U.A. Sports Festival tournament match, using the ten-minute bout purely to advertise her gear to support company scouts before forfeiting. She is socially awkward, frequently invading personal space and remaining oblivious to others' discomfort, such as Izuku Midoriya's reactions during close interactions. Despite frequent workshop failures or explosions, she views setbacks as learning opportunities, citing Thomas Edison's adage that "failure is the mother of invention." Her mutant-type Quirk, Zoom, allows her to magnify her vision up to five kilometers away. While useful for observing distant details, it does not enhance auditory perception and sees little direct use in heroics. Her primary strength lies in inventive engineering. She rapidly prototypes and refines support gear, such as creating Midoriya's Air Force Gloves and Iron Soles overnight to mitigate his Quirk's physical backlash. Her teacher, Power Loader, acknowledges her as a "one-of-a-kind" talent, commissioning her to upgrade U.A.'s security systems like the Barrier during crisis events. Key inventions include hydraulic bracers for evasion, net-firing Capture Guns, electromagnetic soles for mobility, Wire Arrow grappling hooks, and High-Density Weights used by teachers during exams. Her 36th invention, an Electric Booster, inadvertently propelled Tenya into a ceiling, while her 49th Power Suit malfunctioned during Midoriya's testing. Her 202nd creation, "My Adorable Baby," was an explosive robot suit. During the U.A. Sports Festival, Mei strategically allied with Midoriya's team in the Cavalry Battle to gain exposure for her inventions. She advanced to the tournament's final 16, where her match against Tenya became a demonstration showcase. She later assisted Midoriya and other hero students in developing or upgrading equipment, such as Uraraka's anti-gravity devices and Kaminari's sharpshooting gear. Her workshop collaborations with Power Loader continued through conflicts like the Paranormal Liberation War, where she optimized gear for frontline heroes. Eight years after the Final War, she founded Lightly Labs, a renowned manufacturing company for hero support items, reflecting her dedication to aiding heroics through innovation rather than direct combat. Her birthday is April 18, height is 157 cm, blood type is O, and birthplace is Kyoto Prefecture. Her name combines the Japanese words for "invention" (発明 *hatsumei*) and "eyes" (目 *me*), with swapped kanji positions referencing her Quirk and role. Originally conceived as male, her design shifted to female during development. Statistical assessments rate her physical power and speed as low (E-rank) but intelligence and inventive motivation as exceptional (A-rank to S+).