Let's Discuss: My Hero Academia Part 2

Recently I fell in love with a manga/anime series that many others have been captivated with for some time now. I'm of course talking about My Hero Academia. This super hero shonen series is taking the anime/manga medium by storm and it isn't hard to figure out why.

There are plenty of characters to grow attached to in My Hero Academia. The adorable Ochaco Uraraka, the overly serious Tenya Ida and of course, the silver age inspired All Might. But one character that I always find myself rooting for is none other than the central character, Izuku Mydoria, also known as Deku.

Adorkable, thy name is Deku.

It can be tough making a main character. There are a multitude of directions you can take that character's personality in. They can be overly nice to the point where the audience finds them annoying. On the other hand, the character can lean way too much into the jerk category to the point where everyone hates them. Deku with his plain, simple design is a great character. He's nice, very adorkable with his hero analysis, idiosyncratic muttering, and on-the-spot planning. Deku is so likable that it hurts.

In the world of X-Men and most American comic books, most of the population consists of average Joe citizens with no super powers. In other words, non powered beings are the majority with the power types taking up the minority. In My Hero Academia, the situation is reversed. 80% of the population have super powers known as quirks. Quirks and the super powered society is perfectly normal. Being a hero is something that is regularly talked about and encouraged. It almost sounds like an ideal world and a great place to exist in. You know, so long as you aren't part of the remaining 20% that is born quirkless, which Deku was very unfortunately born into.

Life is not kind to those born without a quirk.

We've all had the odds stacked against us at one point or another. Deku's dream since he was a child has been to become a hero. The world he lives in will not let someone that is quirkless be a hero. Yes, because he was not born like so many others, his hero dreams are dashed, at least they are at first. Deku does inherit All Might's One For All quirk, but he still struggles with it. Quirks manifest at the age of four so everyone else he knows has had years to adjust to their quirk. Deku didn't get his quirk until he was 15 so he's still got some mountains to climb. The fact that Deku still has a tough time even with a quirk keeps him from being just another character that is granted an awesome super power. Deku wrecks his body so many times that he risks losing the use of his arms. Deku's power grants him crazy strength, but that isn't what I want to talk about. I want to discuss Deku being quirkless and the rest of the 20%.

Deku is unique in that he has experienced life in the world of My Hero Academia on both sides of the track. He's slowly adjusting to his quirk because he's lived most of his life quirkless. My Hero Academia thus far hasn't dived too much into exploring the population that is quirkless but if Deku is any indication, life is not kind to one who is born without a quirk. The X-Men protect humanity but are feared by the very ones they set out to save because they are mutants, humans born with the powers. Deku was teased by childhood friend Bakugo and others for having trouble with simple tasks like skipping stones and such. When it became known in preschool that he was born quirkless, it went from teasing to straight up bullying.

Even those with less than stellar quirks are on a better playing field than one who is born quirkless. Bakugo was born with a really awesome quirk, Explosion. Bakugo was praised by his friends and teacher for having such a cool ability. Upon finding out that Deku is quirkless, Bakugo thinks to himself "Deku. He's... not awesome at all." Now while Bakugo is a huge A-hole who totally mistook an attempt Deku made to help him up when he fell down one time when they were children, viewing him as weak as he sees Deku, his thought process seems to set the tone of how the world views quriks. Meaning, a person's worth is determined whether they have a good quirk, a lousy quirk or no quirk at all.

The world of My Hero Academia seems to turn it's nose up to those that do not have a quirk, as if to view them as worthless just because they aren't part of the 80%. For crying out loud, the name Deku was given to Izuku by Bakugo as a means to put him down. The name has a meaning of "one who can't do anything." This name was used by Bakugo before it was known that Deku was quirkless. Once word got out that Deku did not have a quirk, Deku grew to hate that name even more. Deku was tormented by Bakugo from pre-school through middle school and like a bunch of stupid lemmings, Deku's classmates joined in on picking on him.

It is very much implied that Deku did not have any friends until he made it into UA. When Uraraka stops Deku from falling before taking the entrance exam, she briefly chats it up with him before saying goodbye and wishing him luck. Deku's first few interactions with Uraraka show him blushing and stuttering because he's not used to being so close to a cute girl. What's more, Uraraka is extremly friendly to him, cheers him on and even gets him to embrace the name Deku liking how it sounds and that it screams "do your best."

Being bullied, no matter what the reason, is never right. At one point, Bakugo even tells Deku to kill himself by jumping out the window. Frankly, I'm amazed Deku can even stand being in the same room with someone that has caused him nothing but misery for years. I doubt Deku is the only who that had it rough due to being born quirkless. This makes me wonder how the 20% qurikless population feels about living in a world full of super beings. I hope we get an arc that focuses on those that were born quirkless. I honestly believe Deku is such a good strategist because he went most of his life without a quirk.