Fanfic / A Waterbending Quirk

A Waterbending Quirk is a Crossover fanfic between Avatar: The Last Airbender and My Hero Academia written by dragonfire-217.

A waterbender in a strange land. Katara had heard that statement before, but nothing could prepare her for what she got herself into. After a battle with Ozai loyalists awakens an angry spirit, Katara finds herself in the world of Quirks. Saved by Tensei Iida and wishing to become a hero like him, she joins UA and becomes a part of Class 1-A and all their adventures.

Can also be found on Archive of Our Own here.

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A Waterbending Quirk provides examples of:

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • Fumikage Tokoyami gets this. While not much in canon has been released about his past, here he has major insecurities regarding his appearance, particularly his bird head. Kids used to bully him by putting birdseed in his lunch and would make disparaging comments. Things came to a head when they cornered him in an alley and wouldn't let him leave until he ate a worm, and since it was almost night, Dark Shadow attacked in defense of Tokoyami. As a result, though, everyone instead started treating him like a freak.
  • Momo Yaoyorozu has this as well. She reveals that when she was younger, some of her classmates exploited her quirk by making her create money or things they wanted through bullying. When she finally stood up for herself, they hurt her, and while she wanted to go to UA, her parents had donated a large sum of money to her middle school to grant her the recommendation to UA, meaning she never fully earned it herself. This causes her to feel unworthy of being in UA at times.
  • Mirko has this added to her character. While she was younger, a friend of hers killed an attacker in self-defense, but then realized he enjoyed the feeling of taking someone's life. Soon, he went on to become the hunter Muteki, and she is now determined to be the one to bring him in when given the chance.
  • Itsuka Kendo develops this later in the story. After being saved by Katara on several occasions, Kendo begins to feel like she is unable to do the same for her. Her guilt leads to her breaking down after the battle with the hunters, feeling upset that she wasn't able to save Katara from getting critically injured.
• Adapted Out: This has been done to several characters throughout the story.
  • The first is Rikudo Sato, whose spot in class is taken by Katara.
  • Another is Hitoshi Shinso, who doesn't appear in the story at all in order to keep the focus on the main cast.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: Alongside the canon examples (Froppy, Mirko, etc.) Dabi recruits a gang of 10 animal-based Quirk users original to this fic known as the Hunters for his plans to capture Shoto and Katara.
  • The first member introduced is Haraka (Swahili for "swift") whose Quirk gives him the attributes of a cheetah, namely teeth, claws, and speed.
  • The second member on screen is Rogue (referring to the term used for male saltwater crocodiles who don't share space), having a Quirk that mutates him into a humanoid saltwater crocodile.
  • The third is Sasori (referring to the Japanese word for "scorpion"), whose "Emperor Scorpion" Quirk gives her the claws, stinger, and exoskeleton of a scorpion.
  • The fourth is Kobura (Japanese for "cobra"), whose "Spitting Cobra" Quirk makes him into a Snake Person.
  • The fifth member is the leader Iktomi (referencing the mythical Lakota trickster), whose "Redback Spider" Quirk makes her a beautiful and curvaceous spider woman with Extra Eyes and Spider Limbs on her back.
  • Iktomi's second-in-command, and the sixth to be introduced, is Muteki (Japanese for "invincible"), whose "Velociraptor" Quirk gives him the teeth and claws of a Velociraptor.
  • The seventh member introduced is Kavik (Native American for "savage"), whose "Leopard Seal" Quirk essentially makes him a more dangerous version of the Spotted Seal Quirk user Selkie, and also immunizing to cold temperatures.
  • The eighth member introduced is Fisi (Swahili for "hyena"), who has a "Hyena" Quirk that gives him the teeth and claws of a hyena, and as to be expected of such, he is The Hyena of the group, laughing wildly.
  • The ninth member to be introduced, and the one who reveals the Hunters to the protagonists, is Vixen (named after the term for a female fox), whose "Red Fox" Quirk gives her the ears, tail, and claws of a red fox. Her role is information gatherer, but Iktomi has her become a Sacrificial Lamb for their plans, though it turns out that she's a Trojan Prisoner, leading the police into a trap.
  • The tenth and final member introduced is Sokudo (Japanese for "speed"), whose "Peregrine Falcon" Quirk gives him the wings, talons, and eyes of a peregrine falcon.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Due to rescuing Katara and taking her in, Tensei Iida becomes far more of a presence in the story, as he's the one who ultimately inspires Katara to join UA.
  • Recovery Girl also gets some additional screen time, as Katara asks her to mentor her in her healing capabilities in the light of Tensei's crippling at the hands of Stain.
  • Additionally, Mina Ashido, Fumikage Tokoyami, and Momo Yaoyorozu become close friends of Katara, making them more prominent.
  • Itsuka Kendo is featured more prominently, having a friendly rivalry with Katara but after the attack on the training camp, Itsuka joins the students to Kamino to rescue the others. Due to her actions, she is forced out of Class 1-B and put into class 1-A.
  • Burnin' gets more prominence, as she becomes one of Katara's rivals during her internship with Endeavor.
  • Edgeshot is developed more, since he takes both Momo and Bakugo under him for internships.
  • Mirko is given an earlier introduction to ths story than canon, as well, since she takes Bakugo under her for work studies and her connection to the Hunters member Muteki.
  • Takeshita, in canon, had little action in canon apart from helping in the evacuation of civilians in the Paranormal Liberation Arc. Here, however, he joins the assault on the Hunters and is Katara's partner against Kavik. His Quirk was unknown in canon, but here, he's directly shown to have the ability to manipulate bamboo.
• As You Know: A more justified variation of this trope is implemented for the introduction of the Sports Festival. While the other students know what it is, Eraserhead is aware of Katara's Fish out of Temporal Water status and thus she legitimately does not know how important it is, so he explains it for her by starting with this.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. The fanfic does not shy away from leaving its female characters with scars.
  • Katara's body has become covered with quite the number of scars. She has a burn scar on her left arm from getting Shoto to use his pyrokinesis, and a scar on her shoulder from a Nomu using a drill against her. Most recently, she has a large scar on both her chest and her back from where she was impaled by Iktomi.
  • Momo has a scar on the side of her stomach from getting sliced by a chainsaw.
  • Tsuyu also has a shoulder scar.
  • Kendo develops large scars on her hands from the injuries from Rogue and Iktomi.
• Big Damn Kiss: After the fight against All For One, Katara and Shoto share one, cementing themselves as an Official Couple.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Katara and Shoto have this relationship. As a result of his father's draconian methods and obsession with becoming the number one Hero and the effects it had on his family, Shoto is stoic and resentful to his father, while also being very socially awkward around others. Katara, on the other hand, is an All-Loving Hero who believes in Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!, doing what it takes to save others and also being far more social. Nevertheless, the two love each other dearly.
• Brutal Bird of Prey: The tenth and final member of the Hunters is Sokudo, who wields a "Peregrine Falcon" Quirk, which gives him the wings and eyes of a peregrine falcon, while also replacing his hands with the talons of one as well. He is, like the other Hunters, a ruthless mercenary.
• Code Name: Just like all heroes-in-training, Katara adopts one of her own: Ryujin, after the dragon deity of the sea.
• Crossover Couple: Katara and Shoto.
• Crush the Keepsake: Kya's betrothal necklace is one of the last mementoes of Katara's home dimension, but when Iktomi determines that it's precious to Katara because of it belonging to her mother, the Hunter proceeds to crush it in her palm. Bakugo, knowing of Katara's extra-dimensional origins, is furious, as are the others due to understanding the meaning of it being her mother's, but Katara is left flashing back to Kya's face, with the ending of the chapter saying that Katara felt something snap. After the fight is done and while Katara is recovering, Bakugo goes back to try and repair it.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Just as in canon Avatar, bloodbending is one of the most sinister applications of waterbending, and thus far, Katara has only used it in very dire scenarios, despising the idea of using it. However, Aizawa points out that while bloodbending may seem evil, it's more important how Katara uses it, stating that his Erasure quirk could just as easily be used for evil, yet he is still able to use it for good. Even earlier, Shoto, Tenya, and Izuku all reassure her that her bloodbending could just as easily be used for good as it could for evil, with Izuku pointing out that she could use it to stop villains before they have the chance to hurt anyone.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Katara and Shoto's relationship has aspects of this. Endeavor has made it obvious that he really does not like Katara, seeing her as a snake since she attacked him. This has been shown to lessen as time passes.
• Didn't See That Coming: This happens many times through the story.
  • In the USJ attack, Tokoyami is amazed to watch Katara take out most of the villains in the storm simulation building very quickly, seeing she is far more powerful than he is.
  • Aizawa begins growing curious of what other abilities Katara may have when he sees her rip water from vines, meaning she may be able to do that to more things.
  • Both Momo and Bakugo are shocked to realize they both are going to Edgeshot's agency together.
  • Katara and Shoto both never expected their feelings to grow for one another after how they started out as rivals.
  • When trying to steal Katara's supposed Quirk, All for One is certainly surprised to learn she has no Quirk.
  • The heroes' attack on the Hunters' was a perfect example of this, with all of them falling into the villains' trap.
• Dumbass Has a Point: It's Mineta who suggests that rather than having Shoto and Katara go out for a date, they bring the restaurant to UA instead. Downplayed in that it was Shoji's idea, but the after dinner idea of a movie on the grass was legitimately his own. His class is stunned at how good an idea it is.
• Experienced Protagonist: Katara is this in spite of being a Fish out of Temporal Water. Due to having been in combat against several different opponents back in the world of the Avatar, she has a major leg up in knowing how to use her waterbending in combat situations, ending up in first place during the entrance exam (much to Bakugo's chagrin).
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Suffice to say, Katara is definitely this in the beginning. Coming from a land with almost no industrialization means the high tech world of My Hero Academia is an immensely unfamiliar setting. What certainly doesn't help is that the most advanced nation of her world was a warmongering one, so Katara ends up mistaking a car for a Fire Nation tank.
• Force and Finesse: This is shown when Muscular challenges Kavik to a duel. While his raw strength and speed is greater than the Hunters member, Muscular's straightforward attacks become predictable, and using his own skill and experience, Kavik is able to penetrate through his opponent's defense and land a devastating blow.
• Foul Fox: The hunter Vixen plays into this perfectly, as her "Red Fox" Quirk gives her the ears, claws, and tail of a red fox. While she appeared to be a terrified victim forced to work for the Hunters, it turns out she is just as ruthless as any of them herself. She is so clever and good at lying that no technology or Quirk can detect her lies.
• Go Through Me: When the Commission attempts to take Katara with them, the staff of UA all adamantly refuse to let her go to them, and make it clear that she is under their protection, standing in front of the school's entrance.
• Heinous Hyena: One of the Hunters is Fisi (Swahili for "Hyena), who has a "Hyena" Quirk that gives him the teeth and claws of a hyena. He is arguably the most down-right insane of the gang, laughing off most threats and being more than happy to provoke others, making him The Hyena.
• Heroes' Frontier Step: In-Universe, the reason Ingenium agrees to take Katara in was witnessing her save a young boy during her flight without even thinking about it.
• Hero Insurance: Zigzagged. The police chief insists on making Katara pay for the damages she caused, good deeds or not. Ingenium, however, agrees to take those costs (as well as taking Katara as a charge).
• Jealous Romantic Witness:
  • Tokoyami suffers from this after seeing how close Katara and Shoto become. He has had feelings for Katara for quite sometime, feeling turmoil assuming she simply never looked at him the same way due to his appearance. He eventually rekindles his friendship with her and accepts her choice, with Katara assuring him that he'll find someone and he'll always be her friend.
  • Uraraka has this as well. While she had feelings for Izuku since the beginning of school, she unknowingly began growing competitive when she saw Momo and Izuku were growing much closer. After having a small emotional night once she saw the other pair really felt close to one another, she accepted the fact and even suggested Momo to push forward and reveal her feelings, helping her get together with Izuku.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Bakugo doesn't change from his canon self, being a rather blunt, hot-headed, and arrogant hero in training, but he points out to Kendo that Katara coming from another world and not having a Quirk hasn't changed anything about what she's done ever since her time in class or all the times she's fought alongside them, something Kendo comes to acknowledge.
• Like Brother and Sister: Tensei and Tenya develop this relation with Katara, Tensei especially seeing her as a little sister.
• Logical Weakness: Many of the Quirk users have this problem.
  • Tsuyu has a weakness to ice attacks or being exposed to cold temperatures thanks to her "Frog" Quirk as Katara unintentionally discovers, which makes sense when one remembers that frogs are ectotherms, dependent on their environment to regulate their temperatures.
  • One of the students Katara battles during the license exam has a spinning Quirk, which, while good at defending, causes nausea.
  • One of the hunters, Haraka, has a cheetah Quirk which gives him immense speed above other heroes, but causes exhaustion at a very fast rate when running at full speed.
• Monstrous Seal: In contrast to the Pro-Hero Selkie whose Quirk is "Spotted Seal", Kavik, a member of the Hunters, has a "Leopard Seal" Quirk, and is a ruthless hitman, though he is the most business-oriented. He also appears to be highly ranked, leading training over some of the other members.
• Mythology Gag: At the end of their date, Katara and the others bemoan watching Battleship, though Kaminari argues "But the effects were decent!", much like Sokka did in The Ember Island Players.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: The Hunters' ranks include Rogue, whose "Saltwater Crocodile" Quirk mutates him into a humanoid crocodile.
• Next Tier Power-Up: Katara receives this because of the spirit energy residing inside of her from the event that sent her to the world of My Hero Academia. This power up has come in bursts of moments of emotional and physical threats, granting her a boost in her bending abilities. For her healing, it was able to help her heal Tensei's spinal injury, and has increased the speed at which she can heal other injuries to the point of mending broken bones and damaged organs in only a few moments. Her offensive abilities can be increased as well, able to rip water from multiple trees at once instead of just one. So far, she has somewhat mastered this power within herself, able to tap into it during the final fight with Iktomi by creating an enormous water dragon. During the fight against Kavik, she also learned how to plantbend, using Takeshita's bamboo.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Bloodbending is generally one of the most frightening techniques in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but All For One instead finds it extremely fascinating, and only makes him crave Katara's assumed Quirk even more.
• Nightmare Sequence:
  • Katara has this after the League of Villain attacks, watching as Tomura uses his Decay Quirk on Zuko, laughing as he reaches for her; this leaves her thrashing and screaming, leading Tensei to wake her up.
  • Katara has another after she returns from the hospital after the battle with the Hunters, imagining Dabi attacking Shoto while she is impaled by Iktomi once more.
• Official Couple: Shoto and Katara become one after All Might's fight against All For One, and Izuku and Momo become a couple soon after.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You:
  • Shoto has this mentality at the beginning of school with Katara. He wants to prove to his father he is better at something than he is but this disappears after Katara makes him open his eyes and accept himself.
  • Mirko follows this ideal as well. Because she feels responsible for her old friend Muteki becoming a criminal, she feels that she needs to be the one to stop him. It's also because he's far too strong for the average hero.
• Opposing Combat Philosophies: Katara experiences this with Kirishima, who would rather charge forward in a fight instead of coming up with a plan first.
• Panthera Awesome: The first member of the Hunters introduced is Haraka, with a "Cheetah" Quirk. As can be expected, he has the teeth, claws, and tail of a cheetah, and also has a cheetah's speed, and his hair is blond with black spots, much like a cheetah's fur.
• Papa Wolf: All Might is most definitely this for his students, but he takes particular care in Izuku and Katara, viciously threatening All For One to stay from them, and also standing against the Public Safety Commission when they attempt to take Katara away from the academy.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Mirko fits this description. Despite being shorter than most, much to Bakugo's surprise, she is one of the fastest and physically strongest heroes.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Iktomi, the leader of the Hunters, is no slouch. She is a ruthless assassin and mercenary, with her being strong enough to use a truck attached to one of her webs as a makeshift flail.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Ingenium, who offers Katara leniency after seeing her more noble actions during her flight from the authorities, like restraining the heroes without harming them and even rescuing a little boy.
• Romantic Wingman: Mina Ashido plays this role for Momo, seeing she has had feelings for Izuku but was too embarrassed to act on those feelings.
• Scary Scorpions: The Hunter member Sasori fits this trope. Her "Emperor Scorpion" Quirk gives her the claws, stinger, and exoskeleton of a scorpion, and she is also a vicious mercenary.
• Science Is Bad: In-Universe, Katara sees technological development as bad due to the Fire Nation's role as the most advanced power of her world. She destroys the first car she sees as a result of this.
• Screw the Money, This Is Personal!: Iktomi has this mindset after she is severely injured fighting Katara, wanting to kill her instead of capturing her as a ransom.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Only a select few know of Katara's real origins: they include the Chief of Police, Tensei, Aizawa, Tenya, Shoto, and Izuku. Later, it evolves to include the staff of UA and Tensei and Tenya's parents.
  • While he doesn't know where she originates, All for One knows now Katara does not possess a quirk. He wishes to figure out what she is and to discover what her power is.
  • Before they go on the raid after the hunters, Bakugo confronts Katara about who she really is. He noticed how her range of abilities shouldn't be from one Quirk, and the fact All for One couldn't steal her bending. Eventually, he confronts Katara about it, and Katara comes clean. While he does threaten to expose her if she doesn't have a spar with him, Katara realizes he was only bluffing about it.
  • Come the end of the Hunters arc, and Katara reveals the truth to everyone in the class as well as Kendo, though the general public remains unaware of the truth of her origins.
  • After becoming close with Izuku and the fight at the training camp, Momo gets to know All Might's secret and where Izuku got his Quirk.
• Seductive Spider: Iktomi follows this, as she's a curvaceous woman with a "Redback Spider" Quirk who wears a tight black dress that accentuates her curves, similar to Jessica Rabbit.
• Settle It Without Weapons: The hunter Muteki follows this ideal. He chooses to fight hand to hand with his targets, refusing to use weapons since it takes away his feeling of earning a victory. He wants to prove he's the better fighter on his own skill.
• Shaping Your Attacks: Katara's special move of choice is to gather water and form it into a massive Eastern dragon.
• Spiders Are Scary: Beautiful as she may be, Iktomi is still a ruthless assassin and rather freaky looking, with her multiple eyes and legs coming out of her back.
• Spirit Advisor: It eventually turns out that Katara's ability to waterbend is due to the Avatar's spirit choosing to save her, and the fragment that saved her was Avatar Kyoshi. Katara is able to communicate with her, but only she can see her.
• Swiss-Army Superpower: Katara's waterbending is definitely this compared to other Quirks. Her ability to manipulate both ice and water is definitely noteworthy (Quirks that manipulate both are described as incredibly rare, something mentioned by fellow students and Midnight), but her ability to heal, take water from around her, and control others makes her one of the most versatile heroes in training.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Happens to Stain in a twofold manner. His "Bloodcurdle" Quirk lets him paralyze those he drinks the blood of, but here, he ends up a victim of bloodbending, courtesy of Katara, forcing him to endure similar pain that his victims underwent; additionally, his crippling of Tensei Iida makes his bloodbending experience far more karmic, as Tensei served as a genuine hero, shielding Katara from her actions due to her being a Fish out of Temporal Water (even after she attacked the number two hero Endeavor) for no reason other than to help her, so Stain ends up looking like a self-righteous villain with his ranting against "fake heroes", something Katara brutally chews him out for.
• Throwing Off the Disability: At first, it seems Katara's attempts to heal Tensei's spine were in vain, and Tensei remains disabled like he was in canon. However, it eventually turns out that Katara was temporarily able to turn her water into spirit water, eventually reconnecting his spine and making it possible for him to walk again. At the moment, he has taken strides in being able to walk again, and has now reached the point of slowly pushing himself up to his feet and taking several steps.
• Villain Respect: During her fight against Stain, Katara states she'll protect anyone she can and that she won't let Stain kill Tenya. As such, Stain recognizes that she truly wants to help people and is unafraid to step in to do so even at risk to herself. As such, while he doesn't stop attacking, he does acknowledge that he doesn't want to hurt someone whom he sees as having promise for being a great hero.
• Villain Takes an Interest: All For One takes a vested interest in Katara because of her powerful hydrokinesis, and this interest magnifies when he finds out that her powers do not come from a Quirk, while Dabi is interested due to her connection to Shoto and Endeavor.
• Was It Really Worth It?: Katara concludes her "Reason You Suck" Speech to Endeavor with the question of whether becoming the number one hero was worth ruining his family.
• Wrong Context Magic: Aizawa confirms Katara's powers don't come from a Quirk because when he uses his Erasure Quirk on her, she's still able to use her powers. Because of this, All For One also finds that he can't steal her powers from her, something that increases his interest in her immensely.

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