#timing yknow

Daigoro Banjo, AKA Lariat. It's not explicitly stated he was a Pro Hero, and he recognizes Japan during the first appearances of Abilities.

In the anime (ep 133), the subs translated this as:

"This devastation... it's like we've gone back in time... Trying not to catch the eyes of villains, just hiding every day... it's like when superpowers first appeared."

Banjo recognizes Japan's disarray, and from brief flashbacks of the vestiges, including All Might talking about his dream for a symbol, we can see Japan really was as Banjo recognizes.

But Tomura, in the mall, says people just smile without concern. They've forgotten, or never experienced, that past. Banjo can clearly identify it, and when we get his full name, he definitely lived during that turmoil (neverminding his age, I think of him as 36 or somethin, and Shinomori died at 40).

This would actually make Banjo a Vigilante. They mention that back then, Vigilantes and the first Villains used codenames like comic books, so Banjo being Lariat could easily just be that.

(Not so related, but references to recognizable things like Pokémon and superheroes like Spider-Man appealed to the masses as familiar, so when Abilities first showed up, it would've been around our time [2000s].)

Look at when the League of Villains asked Toga why she had no villain name;

When we see Banjo using his Ability and we get his name, we see that Japan isn't in the best state. Look at all the damage and fresh smoke below him.

All Might says that during this time, All For One's power ran unchecked, and he stole many powerful Abilities, if not crushed the users. Other than simply being first/second-generation, this also explains why, individually, all the OFA vestiges had weak Quirks. Even Kudo's was weak. It's just that it evolved with One For All and had enough nuance to become something more. Abilities like Float and Danger Sense didn't change at all, and Smokescreen only increased the amount of smoke Midoriya could make.

Since Banjo lived in the same time as when Quirks had started appearing, he knows the turmoil, but also was around long enough to be a Vigilante. Pro Heroes hadn't come into play immediately; Vigilantes were where they started.

Even Gran Torino was a Vigilante. It's why Midoriya found nothing on him when he looked him up. Gran Torino only became a Pro Hero to get his teaching license so he could teach All Might for a year, but that didn't stop him from being a hero, per se—he just did it through vigilantism. Gran Torino still did hero stuff before the hero license, and we see him flying and talking with Nana in a costume before he ever taught All Might.

Banjo doesn't strike me as a guy willing to jump through all the hoops when he can just go out and do it himself anyway. And with Japan in chaos still, does he – or the officials – have time for that?

Bakugo even describes Banjo as a nobody, because he doesn't recognize him. This would make sense when remembering Gran Torino was also unknown; because they were Vigilantes. I don't think Bakugo is referring to not knowing them just because their Abilities are weak. Heroes back then would be well-known as retro (ex. Crimson Riot, who Midnight recognizes immediately, despite his not-so-strong hair-hardening Ability), even if they weren't powerful.

Blackwhip is a useful Ability, and back in Banjo's time, considering Abilities in the first generations included Smokescreen, Danger Sense, Float, and Air Jet, Blackwhip is actually higher up in power and usefulness. And he's still unrecognizable.

If he were a Pro Hero, he'd be considered pretty amazing. But he's unknown, has a codename, and acted as a hero when Japan was troubled; his being "nobody" makes sense as a Vigilante.

Heroes didn't happen immediately. They began as Vigilantes; so for Banjo, at the start of using Abilities to bring some sort of order, he would've been in the Vigilante age. Or where heroes are just starting.

Nana was a Pro Hero. Kotaro resents heroes because she was one. Her friend, Gran Torino, was not a Pro Hero until he had to teach All Might for a year. People were more likely to be Vigilantes than Pro Heroes at their time, just because Vigilantes are where they started first.

Being a hero meant courses and licenses, and in a time where Pro Heroes were barely existing, with people still using their Abilities as they pleased? Banjo was probably a Vigilante.

Look at how America handled Vigilantes and starting the Pro Hero business;

Out of 189 Vigilantes, only 7 were recognized as heroes.

America wanted to make a divide between how people should use their Abilities for good. That's why so little people got to be heroes; Vigilantes were too destructive, and that wasn't proper behavior for those protecting the peace. We even see that UA teaches to keep damage to a minimum.

And whoop-dee-doo, look at how Banjo uses his Quirk.

HE'S DESTROYING STUFF. JUST TO GET AROUND. NO NO NO.

He was never actually called a Pro Hero. It was assumed because he has a codename; and codenames were just customary back then, to make identification and classification easier between Vigilantes and Villains while hiding their real identities.

He wouldn't have made the cut as a Pro Hero, lived during a time of rising Vigilantes against society's chaos, wasn't known at all (typical of Vigilantes) despite his good Ability, but had a codename (Lariat), and lived at the same time as Nana and Gran Torino.