, nicknamed , is the protagonist from One's manga series Mob Psycho 100. Shigeo Kageyama is an average middle school-aged boy. Although he looks like an inconspicuous person, he is in fact a powerful esper with immense psychic power. To keep from losing control of this power, he constantly lives a life under an emotional shackle. In order to help learn how to control his abilities, Mob works as an assistant to con-man Reigen Arataka, a self-proclaimed spirit medium. Mob wants to live a normal life just like those around him, but a barrage of trouble keeps coming after him. With his suppressed emotions growing inside Mob little by little, his power threatens to break through its limits as he eventually encounters other espers like the Claws.
One created Mob as a contrast to his previous protagonist from One Punch Man, Saitama, aiming to portray Mob as a weak hero who still gets involved in several fights and forms new relationships thanks to his kindness. The character is voiced by Setsuo Ito in Japanese. In the first two seasons, he was voiced by Kyle McCarley in English. In the live-action series adaptation, he is portrayed by Tatsuomi Hamada.
Critical response to Shigeo Kageyama has been generally positive, for proving to be an unconventional anime protagonist due to his rejection of his super powers and desire to focus on other parts of his life in order to become popular. Despite giving such attitude, Mob was praised for his dynamic with his mentor Reigen and how he often ends up taking part in interesting fight scenes or comedy.
Creation
Mob was created by manga artist One as a contrast to the strong character Saitama, who is the protagonist of his earlier One-Punch Man. Unlike Saitama, Mob is weak and delicate. As a result, he is supported by the rest of the characters starring in the series. Mob was written to come across as a nice person, fit of being an ideal protagonist; Instead of running away from scary situations people, Mob faces his nemesis to the point of being heroic. However, Mob is "meant to come off as somewhat standoffish or nerdy". When Bones announced they would adapt the manga series, One requested that Mob's characterization be faithful to the original series. According to Comic Book Resources, One said that Mob was based on himself during his youth as he barely expressed his desires of becoming a manga artist during his time at school.
Director Yuzuru Tachikawa said Mob carries realistic traits for an anime protagonist as he is only interested in becoming a popular student. Director Yoshimichi Kameda also relates to Mob due to their poor confidence on themselves and thus are unable to properly express themselves. For the adaptation of the manga, the anime staff wanted to properly focus on Mob's character and how, little by little, he starts relying more on his powers to defend himself. The second season was made with need of Mob facing more supernatural beings. Tachikawa also finds unique how Mob rejects his supernatural powers. Answering to Tachikawa, One said that the concept behind the series comes from Mob's kindness and connections. When it turned into a fighting series, One came up with the idea of Mob having esper powers for slice of life chapters. Nevertheless, the protagonist's kindness remained intact due to how he changes people's lives citing Dimple's changes of personality after meeting Mob.
Casting
Mob is voiced by Setsuo Ito. He recalls being nervous during recording for the first episode of the first season, to the point he barely slept in the previous day. During the auditions, Ito was surprised by the other actors working in the series who kept supporting him. Still, the actor was not able to be more healthy until the eighth episode of the first season. Ito was glad that Reigen was voiced by Takahiro Sakurai as he admired him from a very young age giving him more parallels to the relationship between the duo. One was glad with Ito's performance, claiming he fits Mob's personality.