I Always Thought My Hero Academia Wasted Its Premise (slight spoilers)

[Deleted member 52442]

When they introduce Deku as a kid in a world with superpowers who desperately wants to help people, I really wondered what he was going to end up becoming to make up for the fact that he had no powers. In my mind the worst case scenario would be him having some latent OP powers, and it turns out to kind of go down that route when he gets his powers from the #1 hero of all time.

In my mind it would have been much more interesting and empowering if Deku never got powers and his struggle was figuring out human/ingenious ways to keep up with the superpowered people around him. AKA he would be the ultimate underdog. Instead he's got the most OP shit ever and yeah sure it sometimes hurts him to use it and "this time im serious if you push it again your bones will break and im not healing you again OK no THIS time if you push it again..." but I really thought they could have done more with him.


TL;DR I thought it would be better as a Batman origin story not a Superman origin story.

 

[Fuzzery]

That was the original concept actually, he was supposed to be a support item specialist

 

[Titik]

The story, in its current form as I understand it was about Deku growing up into his powers, but yeah, mentioning that he was powerless before kind misled people into thinking the way you do.

 

[RochHoch]

Horikoshi originally intended to have Deku stay Quirkless, but his editor said no.

His relationship with All Might made the change worth it imo.

 

[Deleted member 60096]

when you think about it, the show's narrative has no issue with protraying supes as all round better than the non powered, with the exception of Deku's mum. if you give it too much thought its kinda disturbing.

Horikoshi originally intended to have Deku be Quirkless, but his editor said no.

His relationship with All Might made the change worth it imo.

Click to shrink...

All Might is literally just superman with a time limit and his relationship with Deku is easily the most boring part of the show

 

[Mobu]

The world around Deku is too overpowered for that idea

Like Batman works because most of his villains dont have powers either

 

[T'Chakku]

Yep. I thought the exact same thing.

 

[Swiggins]

Idea: My Hero Academia but instead of people it's all cats.

Edit: Oh no...

 

[Takyon]

Eh, I like the Avatar vibe of power being passed down over generations. Plus, this way let's him have a deeper relationship with All Might.

 

[Horned Reaper]

I agree OP. It was an interesting concept until he quickly 'awakened' his powers. From then on it became a bog standard shonen.

 

[poptire]

Horikoshi originally intended to have Deku stay Quirkless, but his editor said no.

His relationship with All Might made the change worth it imo.

Click to shrink...

Indeed, the All Might dynamic boosts this show into the stratosphere. And Bakugo/Deku's relationship and how OFA affects it really works too.

 

[Deleted member 4976]

Deku is also just an aggressively boring protagonist where the support cast runs laps around him.

The manga is held back because Deku is so mundane and boring.

 

[Sanka]

Read the oneshot. It should give you an idea of how it was supposed to go.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

I wouldn't have minded that.

 

[Lotus]

Looking at where we are currently in the story in terms of powers, I'd be lying if I said I don't still think about what could've been...

 

[Thatonedice1]

Horikoshi originally intended to have Deku stay Quirkless, but his editor said no.

His relationship with All Might made the change worth it imo.

Click to shrink...

If that's true his editor sucks. I love My Hero Academia but these pseudo-underdog stories where the "underdog" is just a hidden chosen one are getting tiring.

Still love MHA because Horikoshi clearly has skill but still. Deku being MHA Batman would have been awesome.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

I thought that. Then I didn't mind he had One for All quirk. Would have liked he couldn't use too much it because it would damage his body, so he would still need strategies and quick thinking to defeat the villains.

Then he mastered it, so it meant the quirk didn't have any drawback. That's when it became another shounen.

 

[foxuzamaki]

The thing is there are people in that world whose super powers are that they are insanely intelligent which would not only make deku less unique, he would more than likely be less capable then them no matter what or else he would undermine it being a super power, and since deku is currently a kid in high school and seems to be from a middle class home he cant pull a Batman or tony stark and develop gadgets and armor that can somehow protect himself from people like Bakugou who could legitamately kill him.

The premise would fall apart pretty quickly

 

[Korigama]

The world around Deku is too overpowered for that idea

Like Batman works because most of his villains dont have powers either

Click to shrink...

.

The most plausible alternative would've been having Deku become Iron Man, but even then in a series like MHA, Tony Stark's genius intellect/engineering expertise likely would've been considered his Quirk.

 

[Weiss]

I thought that was the plot of Vigilantes.

 

[Thatonedice1]

The world around Deku is too overpowered for that idea

Like Batman works because most of his villains dont have powers either

Click to shrink...

To counter act that all Horikoshi has to do is make the Tech in the world more advance then it currently is and also have Deku be a "Peak-Human". Sure he wouldn't be taking on Muscular anymore but I can see a smart person taking on Stain.

 

[Souzetsu]

I thought that was the plot of Vigilantes.

Click to shrink...

I though that was the plot of Mx0.

 

[Principate]

I can understand this, but that specific plot scenario is also extremely played out and we all know he would eventually get powers so it's kind of yeah it could have worked better but the execution could have honestly ended up worse.

 

[Malverde]

Nah, I like it as is. I also like that they just open with saying that he becomes the greatest hero. They are like "yes, the hero wins and becomes the best in the end. Yay happy ending. You still here? Cool, enjoy the ride."

 

[RochHoch]

I thought that was the plot of Vigilantes.

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Close, but the MC of Vigilantes does have powers, its just a fairly weak Quirk. His mentor is basically Batman, though.

 

[Doorman]

I felt the same way when watching the first few episodes of the series, but on the other hand the whole presence of the Support classes would have made that weird anyway if we assume the structure of the school wouldn't change for the different narrative. Suddenly he'd have a completely normal place for him to fit in while still pining to be a hero and the whole all-or-nothing approach he takes wouldn't have really worked or made sense.

Either way they've been doing some creative-enough things with how he's developing his own style that it doesn't bother me as much as it used to.

 

[Cenauru]

All the other quirks would have to be scaled down alot for him if he stayed with no powers the entire time. I don't really understand this complaint at all, it would ruin everything else because there's quirks for EVERYTHING, including whatever Deku would be without his powers. And it would be even worse if Deku coincidentally never ran into a single quirk that made someone's strategic ability tower over his, that would be incredibly poor writing. At that point he's even more of a chosen one with a world that conveniently gives him a space to exist.

 

[Lotus]

I felt the same way when watching the first few episodes of the series, but on the other hand the whole presence of the Support classes would have made that weird anyway if we assume the structure of the school wouldn't change for the different narrative. Suddenly he'd have a completely normal place for him to fit in while still pining to be a hero and the whole all-or-nothing approach he takes wouldn't have really worked or made sense.

Either way they've been doing some creative-enough things with how he's developing his own style that it doesn't bother me as much as it used to.

Click to shrink...

It's kind of a given that you'd have to do some major changes if you were to do a story about him being Quirkless

 

[Ogodei]

What offsets me is how "conservative" their world is. Not that every shonen needs to be One Piece levels of "eat the rich" but I feel like they could be doing a lot more to show the inequity that would be inherent in such a world.

Again, I don't need it to be full "fight the power," but it leaves the world feeling a little hollow when your options are to be a hero of justice or be a mustache-twirling villain.

 

[Seesaw15]

To counter act that all Horikoshi has to do is make the Tech in the world more advance then it currently is and also have Deku be a "Peak-Human". Sure he wouldn't be taking on Muscular anymore but I can see a smart person taking on Stain.

Click to shrink...

At that point I don't see the under dog appeal. Deku would either have genius level intellect or access to billionaire level tech. A quirkless kid who's desperately trying to play catch up with a power he just got vs his peers who have had theirs since birth is compelling.

 

[Vex]

If he had no quirk for the entirety of the show it would have been more boring. We wouldnt have gotten some of the coolest climaxes in shonen late last year (anime) if it wasn't for him getting something.

And to be honest, he still is the Batman of mha, he is the one of the only ones who uses his head to fight. (Remember the bakugo escape sequence?) But his weakness is that he tends to overthink things and doubt himself. I just love it when young midoriya snaps and goes berserk because you can still see fear in his face and feel the fear in his voice as he does his signature smash techniques. He's not sure if the attack will work, and that vulnerability is really cool.

Like others have said, the dynamic between oru maito and midoriya is dope.

 

[RochHoch]

If that's true his editor sucks. I love My Hero Academia but these pseudo-underdog stories where the "underdog" is just a hidden chosen one are getting tiring.

Click to shrink...

Try World Trigger. Its a pretty solid shounen, and the protagonist is a very well executed underdog who's less special than most of the entire cast.

 

[Cess007]

I found Deku and All Might incredible boring. The only reason I read the manga is because I found the rest of the cast terrible endearing and fun.

 

[AgentLampshade]

I've been waiting for a Batman analogue to appear for quite some time. Either they've already shown up in the manga (no spoilers) or the author is saving it for I dunno... 2nd year?

 

[Monster Zero]

I've grown bored of it. Black Clover has more likeable characters.

 

[Vex]

I've grown bored of it. Black Clover has more likeable characters.

Click to shrink...

I've been meaning to begin watching this. But it looks so edgey.

 

[Wispmetas]

That's why Mumen Rider from One Punch Man is the best.

 

[Deleted member 52442]

Horikoshi originally intended to have Deku stay Quirkless, but his editor said no.

His relationship with All Might made the change worth it imo.

Click to shrink...

That was the original concept actually, he was supposed to be a support item specialist

Click to shrink...

Mind blown his editor said no to this but OK'd him being obsessed with abusive Bakugo

And agreeing with others saying Deku is boring, I prefer the side characters and especially the villains and what's going on with them at this point.

 

[SteveWinwood]

yeah that's definitely what i thought too

i was kind of disappointed with it after that

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I made it two episodes in before I quit. I can only imagine how much worse it would've been if Deku spent the entire series screaming constantly because he has no powers.

 

[Feep]

OP, this is slightly off-topic, but you should read Worm. The heroine *does* have powers, but they're seemingly massively underpowered/useless compared to most...but she uses them in incredible ways.

Plus it's fucking incredible.

Okay bye.

 

[NHarmonic.]

I've been getting bored lately, tbh, with the whole genre by the way. This genre is filled with the same story beats, the problem is one piece has done the same ones 15 years before and better, so it's kinda difficult to keep enjoying new attempts at the same old, same old.

I keep wishing for something as impactful character wise as Water 7 was, but nothing gets there...

 

[Monster Zero]

I've been meaning to begin watching this. But it looks so edgey.

Click to shrink...

Asta and Yuno are infinitely more likeable than Deku and Bakugo. Yami vs All Might is a tie for me.

 

[Deleted member 35077]

At least his quirk has some limitations in place that put him in danger if not used properly. I would stop considering him an underdog if they start giving him more superpowers that aren't just extensions to super strength, would even call it bullshit as that would automatically make him better than everyone else in his class.

 

[HStallion]

I think its more disappointing what a rote shonen it became with a large cast of rather one note characters. The vast majority of villains have been so fucking forgettable when they're often what makes or breaks long form super hero story.

 

[pochi]

It would have been interesting.
Last time I read the manga is that

Spoiler

Deku can use the Quirks of previous owners.

It's gonna be problem in the future that he can become more OP.

 

[Cess007]

And agreeing with others saying Deku is boring, I prefer the side characters and especially the villains and what's going on with them at this point.

Click to shrink...

The background story they give to the villain that dissolved his sister, mother and grandparents was fucking dark and incredible. I loved it.

 

[diakyu]

Daily reminder that equality in the mha doesn't exist, I love mha but the typical work and it will all pay off is simply not true in it. Quirkless deku would get blown back.

 

[Joe]

OP, this is slightly off-topic, but you should read Worm. The heroine *does* have powers, but they're seemingly massively underpowered/useless compared to most...but she uses them in incredible ways.

Plus it's fucking incredible.

Okay bye.

Click to shrink...

lol, I came in here considering making the exact same recommendation. Worm is the fucking greatest.

 

[Deleted member 52442]

I've been getting bored lately, tbh, with the whole genre by the way. This genre is filled with the same story beats, the problem is one piece has done the same ones 15 years before and better, so it's kinda difficult to keep enjoying new attempts at the same old, same old.

I keep wishing for something as impactful character wise as Water 7 was, but nothing gets there...

Click to shrink...

holy shit water 7 was so good, the usopp parts especially i related to so hard