"I'm just a kid. Why do I have the right to lecture people? I can't force them to smile. In this world of endless grey, I can only hope to lead by example. So just come watch me, I'm not afraid!" |
Izuku Midoriya is former UA student and International hero, before defecting to become a vigilante. After the war, Izuku became a lone hero. He arrested dozens of escapees but he neglected his basic needs in the process. Class 1-A attempted to bring him home, but he manged to escape. Continuing to travel with Endeavour and Hawks, Izuku oversaw the battle between Stars & Stripe and Shigaraki. During the fight, Izuku paralysed his arms and failed to save his nemesis before the American hero killed him.
With Izuku stuck in hospital, Stars took charge of defeating the League. There were casualties on both sides, including Stars killing All For One. As a contingency for his death, the top villain leaked a video about One For All's transferable nature. Needing to flee from endless villains, Izuku was unable to return to UA High. He interned with the World Hero Association to avoid staying in one place. Izuku struggled to adapt to each country's regulations and didn't want them to restrict his rescue work. Eventually, Izuku disobeyed the Association's orders to do his own vigilante work. At the same time, his isolation and expectations were wearing down his mind. Izuku began to struggle to control One For All, especially blackwhip.
Appearance:[]
Vigilante outfit
When Izuku was rounding up escapees of the six liberated prisons, he wore his "costume Delta". Due to him constantly traveling, he didn't have time to wash or repair his clothes. He had to mismatch items from his previous costumes when parts got too damaged. Izuku's outfit became dirty and ragged, especially his mask. His costume was originally designed to be low-key and approachable, but it became unintentionally intimidating. Members of the public noted how he didn't look like a typical hero.
When 1-A failed to bring Izuku to UA High, he continued traveling and wearing down his costume. He decided he needed fresh clothes, so he took major parts of his stealth costume, created by the World Heroes Association. During his fight with Shigaraki, the boy lost Gran Torino's yellow cap. He didn't bother replacing it afterwards. At first, Izuku thought he couldn't replace such a sentimental item. But eventually, he just lost interest in personalising his costume altogether.
Another item that Izuku didn't bother to replace were his red gauntlets created by Melissa Shield. He didn't think it was practical to send them to America every time they needed to be fixed. Instead, Izuku enforces his arms with chains made from black whip. He tangles them around his arms like shadowy shelves.
Slowly, Izuku wore black whip across the rest of his body like an armour. Due to his paralysed arms, his method for lifting objecting were tendrils that came out of his back. He uses this on the battle field as well, carrying himself around like a spider .
Personality:[]
Being bullied as a quirkless child, Izuku was an insecure, polite and shy nerd. He has an awkward energy about him, getting flustered easily, mumbling and crying a lot. He had a strong admiration for heroes, wanting to be one when he grew up and generally being a fanboy. He has a natural instinct to help others, even if the odds are stacked against him. This goes as far as saving the worst villains and people who tell him to mind his own business. He is very hard-working and strong-willed. Though Izuku lacks self-preservation and he'll damage his body for others' sake. Potentially, he valued himself less due to internalised bullying. During his first year at UA High, Izuku learned better social skills, a practical fighting style and independence from All Might. As a hero, he swore to lend a helping hand to everyone and have the skills to achieve his goals like Bakugo. On the battlefield, Izuku can create logical plans within moments. Though he'll be pushed into a righteous rage against the most despicable villains.
Izuku is tempted to give up One For All
Though Izuku still struggled to find himself as All Might's successor. Occasionally, he had imposter syndrome and wondered if someone else should take the mantle. After the vestiges explained he had to be the last holder, Izuku forced himself to live up to the quirk's full potential and not let it be "wasted on him". He didn't know whether he should mimic All Might or find his own path. Izuku adapted his own fighting style for his health and he was gradually building up to his mentor's power level. However, he seriously lacked the immense charisma of All Might. While his mentor could rally an entire nation, Izuku froze up on camera. Since charisma is more dependent on someone's natural personality, it was unclear if Izuku could ever catch up. Though Izuku had all of high school to figure it out and discover what kind of symbol he wanted to be.
However, Izuku never ended up having those three years. All Might's retirement and All For One's uprising brought the sixteen-year-old to a breaking point. He gave up on being a team player and became a lone hero. He left UA High and tirelessly wandered the streets to round up escaped inmates. He lost faith in his individual qualities, so he only saw himself as a vessel for One For All. His mind didn't feel like his own anymore due to the vestiges constantly speaking to him. He neglected his basic needs such as sleeping and eating. He was paranoid about attracting danger to his loved ones, so he became colder and asked them to stay away. Though he tried to maintain some of his ideals, asking villains about their motivations. After multiple villains ignored him or died afterwards, Izuku began doubting his methods.
Izuku's failed dream to save Shigaraki
After paralyzing his arms, Stars & Stripe took over Izuku's mission against the League. There are casualties on both sides, including Stars killing Shigaraki and All For One herself. As a contingency for his death, All For One spitefully realised a video explaining One For All's transferable nature. With an upsurge in villain interest, Izuku was transferred to a secret hospital and very few people could visit him. Bed-bound and isolated, Izuku was left to fester with his thoughts. Initially, he was insulted that Stars considered herself as All Might's successor despite being a killer. However, Izuku questioned himself when Stars pointed out All Might almost killed All For One. This sparked an existential crisis within Izuku, as he failed to fulfil One For All's original purpose. He no longer had a clear vision for his future.
During his long hospital stay, Izuku felt restless and useless without his hero work. To make use of the time, he fell back into his old habit of doing vast research. Due to his darker mindset, his research focused on the negatives and fell into a pessimistic rabbit hole. He fixated on the news of Tartarus Prison and the Commission violating human rights. He felt shameful for trusting them and contributing to those systems. He questioned the point of 'mentally saving' villains if it was going to be undone in an inhuman prison. Izuku reflected on the sheer number of societal flaws and felt disorientated. He didn't know where to start in solving these complex issues. Worse, he didn't know which systems he could trust, on the chance they were corrupt.
Izuku freezes on camera
The kind of hero that Izuku wanted to be shifted. In such a complicated world, Izuku would focus on a simple act he assumed could never be morally wrong. He took inspiration from Endeavour's philosophy to lead by example and people don't need obvious things preached to them. He swore to prevent people from getting physically hurt. Izuku no longer minded if people smiled or frowned, at least they were alive to choose how they felt. Seeing people's suffering first-hand, Izuku felt no right to lecture them as a mere teenager. He considered All Might vastly better at that and asked his mentor to continue his public speeches. Izuku thought All Might being a crime fighter and public symbol was flawed, as the separate roles took time away from each other. While he entrusted his mentor to the cameras, Izuku would spend all his time on the battle field.
With his paralysed arms, Izuku stood at a crossroads for his future. His mother begged him to retire while the vestiges wanted him to continue his hero work. Ultimately, Izuku's obsessive altruism won out. He asked his mother to no longer contact him and change her identity so villains didn't kidnap her. He forced his broken body to work, puppeteering his arms with Blackwhip. As the last holder of One For All, Izuku didn't want to waste the limited time his quirk had left. He continued where he left off during Japan's collapse, flying around and stopping any incidents he saw.
As someone stronger than All Might, he swore to save an even greater number of lives. He almost considered One For All a force of nature and the person behind it didn't matter. Whether humanity was inherently good or evil, his only purpose was to serve them. To represent this, Izuku changed his hero name from 'Deku' to 'One For All'. He dehumanised himself, barely taking off his mask and numbing the memories of his previous life. He became a perfectionist for optimising his time and saving as many people as humanly possible. His daily life was spent on the streets, flying around and stopping any incidents he witnessed. He carried a sleeping bag and canned food to negate the need for a home base. He travelled vast distances every day. Due his time in Otheon, Izuku wanted to save people beyond Japan and crossed foreign borders. He wanted to be a guardian for the rest of the world. He spent less and less time with individual cases, until he only spent a few minutes with each one. As soon as he saw people were physically safe, he would leave the scene. However this caused Izuku to rush and make avoidable mistakes.
Izuku's biggest regret
As his obsession for efficiency grew, Izuku had tunnel vision for his one-man crusade and blocked other people's concerns. From a young age, he had a robust set of moral beliefs. His personal beliefs heavily align with deontology ethics. He believes certain acts are always right, regardless of broader context. For example, Izuku regretted not grabbing Eri when she ran into his arms the first time. He fundamentally disagreed with Sir Nighteye delaying her rescue for the sake of the investigation. Izuku believes any scared child should be saved on sight. While he was at UA High, Izuku sometimes disobeyed protocol like fighting Stain and tracking Bakugo. But at that time, Izuku didn't have his walls up and he was open to understanding why these protocols existed. After he fell deeper into his crusade, his immense stubbornness grew worse. As his former allies tried to dissuade him, Izuku doubled down on his beliefs. It became a sunk cost fallacy as Izuku was in denial that he could ever be a villain.
Izuku's descent into vigilantism and villainy was a slow progress of desensitization. In the name of the greater good, he justified steadily worse things to himself. Whatever he considered "unnecessary" and preventing him from saving more lives, he would discard. At first, he failed to file reports of incidents he solved. Then it elevated to interfering with foreign affairs and violently resisting arrest. Izuku was ignorant towards foreign approaches to heroism and enforced his own brand influenced by the Japanese education system. For example, Izuku believes that heroes should attempt to avoid killing at all costs, while other countries are more lenient towards deadly force. Once, the boy interrupted a hostage situation and stopped a police sniper from killing a gunmen. Izuku was confident his abilities could save the hostages and gunmen at once. Yet it caused a serval-second delay, allowing the gunmen to kill someone before being arrested by Izuku. Additionally, Izuku meddled with civil wars. With his limited knowledge, Izuku decided which side he considered the villains or heroes. Due to this, Izuku accidentally took down freedom fighters and aided tyrants. Alternatively, he helped corrupt coups against rightful leaders.
Izuku's changed demeanour
During his crusade, Izuku's demeanour changed dramatically. He had a downtrodden appearance, such as rarely changing his clothes and tying his uncut hair in a ponytail. He represses his quirky habits like muttering and has glazed, serious expressions instead. He rarely speaks and he has a robotic tone when he does. Ironically, he acts like All Might during their first meeting on the roof. He will state harsh truths if he believes people will stop chasing him and endangering themselves. In his depressive state, Izuku can swing from being desensitized to being irrational.
While Izuku learnt to stop himself collapsing as a bare minimum, he ignored his mental health, not considering it a single time. His self-imposed isolation and expectations have worn on his stability. This has manifested in serval ways. He loses touch with common sense, as he does mental gymnastics to justify why he's not a villain. Izuku becomes more irritable and prone to mood swings. In the past, Izuku had rare moments of feral rage. However, he limited those to bloodthirsty villains and ensured his attacks weren't fatal. As he loses his self-control, his attacks become more deadly and will get angry at smaller things. Due to Blackwhip feeding off emotions, it worsens everything and creates a negative feedback loop. As Izuku desperately tried to suppress Blackwhip, his panic would fuel the quirk further. It caused multiple incidents where Blackwhip accidentally damaged people and buildings surrounding Izuku. When Stain encountered Izuku, he compared him to a rampaging animal.
Izuku's immense stubbornness and recklessness
Izuku's stubbornness and recklessness were the root of his villainy. During his first year, these traits were already severe. He self-mutilated at the Sports Festival and committed vigilantism twice in a row. Though Izuku's teachers kept him from going too far. They were optimistic about channelling his extreme drive into a practical hero career. His teachers assumed his recklessness only affected Izuku himself, such as his unnecessary injuries. But as the teenager lost control, his body could do things he didn't intend, such as his quirks going haywire. When Izuku stubbornly ignored the advice of the adults, he lacked the self-control to moderate his own reckless habits. It began a cycle where these two traits fend into each other. At the start, Izuku was ignoring his classmates, but by the end, he was suppressing the warning of the vestiges in his head.
Despite the pushback from his former allies, Izuku believed they just being sticklers to the rules. While he still respected licensed heroes, Izuku thought they were overreacting. He thought his simple act of saving as many people as possible did not need to be criminalized. He hoped by not giving up and creating a proven track record, he could convince them to believe in his mission. Despite Izuku's best intentions, he was ignorant of the aftermath his actions could cause. He would leave areas as soon as the immediate danger was dealt with and he wouldn't take the time to check the news. Due to this, Izuku was unaware of the rise in vigilantism he inspired. When he had a chance encounter with a vigilante dressed in his rabbit costume, he was horrified. Izuku didn't want untrained civilians to endanger themselves and insisted One For All made him the expectation. Secondly, Izuku's actions in other countries caused international tension for Japan, as they failed to control their most powerful quirk user. The world's top heroes joined the hunt for Izuku due to his sheer strength.
Wholeheartedly, Izuku believed his good intentions would prevent him from committing an evil act. He discounted crimes such as manslaughter, that only require negligence. Despite his intent to save people, Izuku still lacked competence. His exhaustion and declining mental stability made him unfit for hero work. When Stars & Stripe confronted him, she used this metaphor to explain why he was a villain: 'If an ambulance driver fell asleep at the wheel and caused a fatal accident; their intentions to help patients can't excuse their dangerous driving.'
Izuku almost catatonic from guilt
After two years of going on his reckless crusade, Izuku finally regained lucidity after accidentally killing All Might. He lost control of blackwhip and his mentor got caught in the crossfire. He needed a clear villainous act to show how far he had fallen. He considered himself evil for what he had done and quietly turned himself into the authorities. Izuku agreed to become quirkless again and destroy One For All, as it became uncontrollable. He transferred his quirk to a nomu and the creature was promptly killed afterwards. Out of the crushing guilt, Izuku entered an almost vegetative state. He was bound to a wheelchair and summited to a high security mental hospital. Only his mother could get Izuku to say something outside of apologising.
One For All:[]
Izuku gained this legendary quirk at fifteen and trained it to levels that rivalled All Might. By the ninth generation, the accumulated strength took a serious toll on the user's body. Izuku had to train for months to stop his bones being broken. Due to this, Izuku would have be the last user, as a tenth holder would be killed instantly. As a last resort, the vestiges awakened the seven quirks of the pervious holders. In due time, Izuku tapped into each one and utilised them all.
Izuku struggling to control blackwhip
Blackwhip: Izuku has become most dependent on this quirk. He uses it on a daily basis to move around his paralysed arms. In combat, he carries himself around on tendrils and wears it like armour. He trained to produce higher levels of the black energy. Izuku has combined black whip with danger sense, so the tendrils themselves can detect potential threats. Like Hawks' feathers, Izuku can send out multiple tendrils to save people at different locations. If he is in a dense city, Izuku can medicate and send out "black roots" to solve simultaneous incidents. However Blackwhip reacts to the user's emotions and Izuku has the hardest time controlling it. With the various quirks accidents that Izuku has caused, it is mostly blackwhip behind it.
Other quirks: Izuku has unlocked all seven of the quirks. He treats them like tools to used at certain times, instead of mastering them, so they're usable in all situations. For example, he only uses smokescreen to confuse enemies in battle. Though he uses his multiple quirks to create powerful combinations, such as using Far Jin and Gear Shift to boost his superstrength. Arguably however, Izuku is the most powerful in the world and he has little reason to develop further supermoves.
Corrupted Vestiges: After Stars & Stripe unexpectedly killed All For One, it had a knock-on effect on the vestiges. The vestiges have a fragile existence. They can only survive inside Izuku's mind. They are not the literal consciousness of the previous holders, but constructs created from their memories. The vestiges can't change beyond these memories, such as growing older. It is almost like a computer having a program to follow. When All For One was defeated by someone else, the vestiges didn't know their purpose anymore and became confused.
Corrupted Vestiges become an amalgamation
Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. After All Might crushed All For One's head, the vestiges went dormant and did not disturb him. But with Izuku's descent, the vestiges remained active to advise him. They had to remain active on a constant basis, such telling the ninth how to use their quirks. As Izuku got worse, he discarded their advise and mentally tried to suppress them. The vestiges strained themselves to force visons onto Izuku in an attempt to stop his villainous actions.
This mental war became too much for the vestiges and they became corrupted. The seven vestiges merged together in a glitched amalgamation. This fusion's behaviour was animalistic and bizarre. Izuku's head could get bombarded with randomised hallucinations and static-like voices. Sometimes, the fusion would attempt to possess his body and cause his quirks to become incontrollable. Izuku and the fusion would bring out the worst in each other. Izuku tried to scapegoat it for his worst actions, but it was more complicated then that.