Fanfic / Mastermind: Rise of Anarchy

For the Want of a Nail Series: Deku? I think he's some pro... | Mastermind: Strategist for Hire | Mastermind: Rise of Anarchy^note sequel to Strategist for Hire unrelated to the series | Viridian: The Green Guide | Cheat Code: Support Strategist | Shadows: The Horror Movie Heroes | Erazerhead: The Unknown Hero

Izuku Midoriya, aka Mastermind, is finally behind bars, but that doesn't mean that his influence on society was imprisoned with him. In fact, Mastermind's arrest has only brought more publicity to his reign of terror. Add that to the fact that he still has allies on the outside and, well...

Hero society created him, so now they have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

Mastermind: Rise of Anarchy is a My Hero Academia fanfic by myheadinthecloudsnotcomingdown. It can be read on Archive of Our Own here.

As a sequel to Mastermind: Strategist for Hire, spoilers for that fic will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

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Tropes in Mastermind: Rise of Anarchy include:

• 11th-Hour Ranger: A villain example. Lady Nagant joins the League after Tartarus is destroyed.
• A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 6 focuses on Class 1-A during a stealth exercise, in particular focusing on Tokoyami's thoughts on Hero Society.
• Accidental Murder:
  • In "Rematch", Katsuki goes off on one of his vigilante targets and inadvertently kills him.
  • During the Tartarus breakout, Shigaraki's Quirk goes haywire and starts destroying the whole building — and everything caught in its path. Including All For One and the Wild Wild Pussycats.
• And This Is for...: Mandalay screams "This is for Kouta, you monster!" as she injects Muscular with the Quirk cancelling serum.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Discussed. As far as Natsuo is concerned, Endeavor was one of these through and through, while Fuyumi prefers focusing more on the fact that he was murdered by two of his own sons. Sons that he heavily abused, though she doesn't believe that justifies anything.
  • Chapter 41 features the Pussycats murdering Muscular with their bare hands and claws, with Mandalay personally slitting his throat. Given everything the victim did with their life and their complete lack of remorse for any of it, it's hard to mourn the loss.
• Association Fallacy: Since Fumikage interned underneath Hawks and was previously kidnapped by the League, many of his peers at U.A. fear that it's only a matter of time before he turns traitor himself.
• Battle of Wits: Nedzu sees himself as still engaged in one with Mastermind, despite the latter's incarceration. He finds the prospect quite exhilarating, despite the high stakes.
• Broken Pedestal: Kirishima's regard for Bakugou was completely shattered upon learning that not only was he a major bully, but that he felt absolutely no remorse for anything he'd done.
• Brutal Honesty: Cece specializes in this, being extremely upfront and to the point with her clients and her advice.
• The Cameo: Ogawa, Maki, and Akiko, all members of a villain rehabilitation group in Viridian: The Green Guide, appear after Bakugou runs into them robbing an ATM while out as a vigilante.
• Commander Contrarian: Fuyumi's introduction has shades of this; while Natsuo is celebrating the prospect of finally getting their mother out of the mental hospital, Fuyumi implies that she deserves it since she still loves her criminal sons, then gripes about how their family will never be complete again after their brothers killed their father.
• The Corrupter:
  • Monoma intends to use his position at U.A. to help tempt others to defect away from Pro Heroism. He's particularly interested in seeing if he can't get Fumikage and Eri to turn.
  • In a different way, Izuku is slowly corrupting Nedzu into similar thought lines; more impressively, he's doing it without ever leaving his cell or cluing Nedzu on his new outlook.
• Crapsaccharine World: Fumikage mentally compares the world of Pro Heroism to this, comparing it to an oil stain that somebody dumped glitter into.
• Crazy-Prepared: Izuku had plans prepared for when he got arrested, with a different plan depending on where he's sent, up to and including Tartarus.
• Create Your Own Villain: Keeping in line with the themes of the previous installment:
  • Tokoyami Fumikage is driven into villainy after Class 1-A sees a picture of him talking to Hawks and presumes the worst, assaulting him and sending him right into his former mentor's waiting arms.
  • After Nedzu exploited Katsuki's descent into vigilantism as King to further set up Ochako's rise as a Symbol, Katsuki decides that if they're going to be evil, they might as well become the best villain out there.
• Crossing the Burnt Bridge: As part of the fallout from several Class 1-A students attacking Tokoyami out of suspicion of him being a villain, Shoji, Satou and Kouda all left. The remaining students later try to reach out to them, and while Satou is willing to talk to them, Shoji refuses to see them.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: In Chapter 13, Death Arms effortlessly swats Bakugou away when he attacks, sending him flying down a side street and straight through a window.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Within the author's own series. In chapter 25, Bakugou ends up killing a robber, who the narration hints at, and Clouds herself later confirms as being Ogawa, a member of the Villain Reform Program who befriends Bakugou in another fic.
  • In chapter 41, the Wild, Wild Pussycats kill Muscular.
  • In chapter 44, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow kill Edgeshot, and Shigaraki accidentally kills the Wild, Wild Pussycats and All For One during his Quirk Awakening.
• Didn't Think This Through: Kirishima, Sero, Ashido, Yaoyorozu, and Jiro decide to accuse Tokoyami of being a traitor based on the fact that they spoke to Hawks shortly before Bakugo's arrest, causing them to run away and join the League. Aizawa calls them out on this noting that if Tokoyami was innocent and joined the League of Villains as a result, then they are responsible for his Face–Heel Turn.
• Distinction Without a Difference: Iida tries reassuring his worried classmates that they aren't holding an intervention, simply confronting their friend about her self-destructive tendencies and reminding her that they're around to help. Shinso points out that that's the definition of an intervention.
• The Dog Bites Back: Tomura sees blowing up Aldera and killing its staff not just in terms of getting revenge for Izuku, but him and his fellow baddies lashing out against a society that enables their mistreatment.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • After meeting a student he expelled and learning they've turned to vigilantism, Aizawa wonders how many of his other former 'problem children' have done the same. He also wonders how many of them are as bad as 'King', a vigilante who's becoming notorious for their extreme violence. The reader, meanwhile, is aware that King is Bakugou, one of Aizawa's current 'problem children'.
  • Aizawa declares that he must expel Bakugou because he's not going to allow any of his students to become heroes that will just break the system even more. He's blissfully unaware that in his absence, the rest of Class 1-A assaulted Fumikage and drove him out of the dorms.
• Elephant in the Living Room:
  • Mandalay is caught completely flat-footed when Pixiebob drags one into the open by demanding to know about the notes they were all sent. She's further flummoxed when her teammates seem to be ignoring the matter at hand in favor of decoding the secret message contained within.
  • When Natsuo and Fuyumi start arguing over whether or not Enji was an Asshole Victim, Natsuo states that he married a quirk rather than a woman. Rei then points out that she played a part in the abuse as well, triggering an awkward silence.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Discussed. While Inko still loves Izuku, she feels he would have killed her had she confronted him before his arrest, not knowing she is one of the extremely few people he loves unconditionally.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Discussed during a conversation about Abusive Parents, with Monoma noting how somebody could be cruel to others but not to a select few.
• Everyone Has Standards: Fuyumi is willing to berate her mother for continuing to love Touya and Shouto even after they became villains, but she's aghast at the notion of blaming her for the way Enji abused her and the rest of his family.
• Evil Gloating: All For One, like in canon, tends to gloat or monologue against his enemies when he believes he has the upper hand in any way. This bites him in the ass when, thanks to battle high (due to beating the Pussycats) and the awareness that his protege/pawn was saving him, he reveals Shigaraki's connection to All Might's predecessor. Shigaraki's vocal disgust and rage with the link distracts the villain long enough for Pixiebob to inject the Quirk-cancelling serum into All For One... and forced Shigaraki into awakening his full quirk in trying to save him, killing the Pussycats and All For One and destroying Tartarus.
• Evil Feels Good: Tokoyami discovers he genuinely feels more comfortable in the League than at UA - he has his mentor back, they include him into their plans and give him the impetus to experiment with his Quirk rather than confine him into a single role. Most importantly, much like Izuku, he's discovered a place where he feels actually wanted and respected.
• Exact Words: Ochako and Tsuyu makes a deal with Mastermind where the former two makes the latter promise to not kill the top fifty heroes. He then makes a big showing that demonstrates that he could have killed them, he just didn't need to, which greatly boosts his reputation. The former two are upset as while what he did isn't in the spirit of the deal, he still technically kept it, so they're still on the hook for their end of the bargain.
• The Face: Shigaraki notes that Mr. Compress serves as this when livestreaming their destruction of Aldera Junior High.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Principal Nedzu proves incapable of adapting to how Nothing Is the Same Anymore, seeking to restore the old Status Quo by any means necessary. His Pride is partly to blame for this; on some level, he wishes to prove that he's smarter than Mastermind, spurring him to make destructive and ill-considered moves while convinced that he's just as brilliant as ever.
  • The Wild Wild Pussycats fall into the trap of desiring Revenge upon Muscular and the League of Villains to the point that they are willing to cross various lines to secure it. This ultimately leads to their cooperation in the Tartarus breakout, with the intention of betraying their temporary allies... and their deaths when Shigaraki's powers go haywire.
  • All For One, much like Principal Nedzu, is excessively arrogant and basks in the control he supposedly holds over everything, leading to his Evil Gloating and intentionally revealing Shigaraki's connection to Nana to him, setting off the chain of events that leads to his demise.
• Foil: Katsuki, Fumikage and Ochako's respective situations parallel and contrast each other:
  • Katsuki has become a social pariah for the role he played in creating Mastermind, which he denies — he only blames himself for not ensuring that Deku 'remembered his place'. Over time, he spirals ever further down the road of vigilantism as an outlet for his anger, unwilling or unable to see how his actions make him no different from Mastermind himself.
  • Fumikage similarly finds himself regarded with suspicion; unlike Katsuki, however, this has nothing to do with his own behavior and is more guilt by association with his former mentor. His attitude towards Hero Society is more neutral/mixed than how Katsuki and Ochako see it, as he recognizes the darkness and flaws inherit in the system. Monoma also regards him as a worthy candidate for potential conversion, unlike the other two.
    • Katsuki and Fumikage also directly contrast each other in how they both become villains. Both are effectively pushed towards it — Katsuki as Nedzu's Unwitting Pawn while Fumikage is scapegoated and driven out by his peers. But while Fumikage's Then Let Me Be Evil moment feels deserved, as he embraces the community the League offers, Katsuki is Driven by Envy and his inability to accept being seen as less threatening than 'useless Deku'.
  • Ochako throws herself into training out of Survivor Guilt and the desire to 'make up for' being unable to prevent All Might's death. This single-minded focus makes her prime material for a replacement 'Symbol of Peace' for others to latch onto, sharply contrasting the isolation Katsuki and Fumikage face.
• Get Out!: Katsuki spits this at his own mother when they show up at the police station.
• Great Escape: Mastermind made a lot of plans in case he gets sent to prison. Shouto found them and a big portion of the story is the League preparing for the Tartarus breakout.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Katsuki grows jealous of Mina for continuing to have a close friendship with Eijirou after his own relationship with him falls apart.
• History Repeats: As time goes on, it becomes clear that Uraraka is being primed to follow in All Might's footsteps... as well as those of Hawks, being a child pressured into becoming a great hero with no regard for her personal well-being.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Izuku exploits the way that Edgeshot's Quirk works by trapping him in his flattened state until he's exhausted.
• I Have No Son!:
  • Inko blames her son for corrupting Todoroki, and apologizes to Todoroki Rei for it.
  • Implied with Masaru giving his son the cold shoulder. Mitsuki herself isn't certain how she feels, privately questioning whether or not she still loves Katsuki after all he's done.
  • Even Evil Can Be Loved: In contrast, Rei is fully supportive of Shouto and Touya, as they've found a loving family in the League despite their actions.
• I Reject Your Reality: Katsuki can't accept the idea that 'useless Deku' became a supervillain capable of bringing down All Might, and insists that Izuku is the delusional one.
• Ignored Epiphany: Following his tumble from grace, Katsuki decides to deal with it by proving that he's a better villain than Deku.
• Immediate Sequel: The fic starts with Class 1-A's trip to the mall and Mastermind's arrest, both of which happened near the end of Strategist for Hire.
• In-Series Nickname:
  • Two are mentioned in the opening of Chapter 7, during a news broadcast on Mastermind's impact on society.
    • The deaths of All Might and Endeavor and the defection of Hawks, all due to Mastermind, lead to the title of #1 Hero being nicknamed the Cursed Throne.
    • Near the end, Mastermind himself is referred to as the Symbol of Freedom, a nod to him referring to himself as such at the end of Strategist for Hire.
  • As vigilantism rises, one particularly violent individual becomes known as 'King'. Namely for the sake of having something to call them.
• In-Universe Catharsis: Deconstructed: After losing his friend, Kirishima, and becoming a social pariah, Bakugou decides to become a vigilante as a means to relieve his anger and stress since the cause of his woes, his bully victim, Midoriya, was in jail. He beats up small time criminals in increasingly violent ways and it would only be a matter of time before he accidentally kills someone. This finally happens in chapter 25 when he kills one of a group of robbers, partially mistaking him for Kirishima.
• Innocently Insensitive: After running into one of his former students and learning he's become a vigilante, Shouta wishes him luck, stating that "I hope your second try goes better than the first." Given that he was the one who ended Shiguro's first attempt by expelling him, his well-intentioned remark hits a sore spot.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Mastermind's Quirklessness is made public at a press conference held by Tsukauchi, Nedzu and Tsuragamae after his capture, whereas the reader would have known of that since the beginning.
  • "Rematch" features Ochako and Tsuyu putting together the pieces and realizing that Katsuki is the vigilante King.
  • "Predator" has Tsuyu realizing just what Nedzu and Monoma are plotting.
  • "Corpse" has Ochako noticing that she looks like a corpse, comparing herself to All Might's weakened form, and realizing that if she keeps burning that candle at both ends, she's going to die.
• Internalized Categorism: Ragdoll suffers from this; society has taught her that she's practically useless without a Quirk, and while she's well aware of Mastermind's existence, she despises him. Rather than seeing him as potentially proof that she's not worthless after all, she simply hates the notion of having anything in common with him.
• It's All About Me: Katsuki is so self-absorbed and so convinced that Might Makes Right that he takes being sent home to await trial as a personal slight. He can't take the notion that Izuku is considered to be a worse threat than him, and it bothers him so much that he runs away from home intending to become the number one villain.
• It's All My Fault: Inko blames herself for failing to prevent Izuku from being pushed into becoming Mastermind.
• Laugh Themselves Sick: Midoriya does this when he sees Bakugou being charged with villainy.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste:
  • Principal Nedzu follows this philosophy, latching onto various disasters in hopes of promoting Uraraka as the next Symbol of Peace, along with boosting the profiles and careers of his remaining students.
  • He takes advantage of Katsuki's vigilantism as King to play them as an Unwitting Pawn, sending Uraraka after them.
  • Upon hearing about the assault on Tartarus, Nedzu wants to send Class 1-A to the front lines as a publicity stunt.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": The Heroes sent to stop the Tartarus breakout react with silent horror when they see Mastermind is already out of his cell.
• Meaningful Echo: Tomura repeats one of Bakugou's most infamous lines before executing the staff at Aldera:
  Shigaraki: So why don't you take a swan dive off the roof and hope you'll be better in the next life?
• Might as Well Not Be in Prison at All: Mastermind had plans in place in case he gets sent to prison. Plans the League of Villains acted on. He also subverted at least one guard who smuggles news to him to keep him in the loop.
• Minor Major Character: Mastermind is easily one of the most feared villains in Japan and the majority of the story is focused on how everybody is reeling from the impact of his crimes and legacy, and yet Mastermind himself plays a minor role in this sequel due to being locked up in Tartarus.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Months of alienation culminating in an attack out of mere suspicion results in Tokoyami joining the League of Villains. The Class 1-A students responsible eventually regret their actions, but that is only long after the fact and the damage is already done and likely irreparable.
• Morality Chain: The 'Bakusquad' served as one for Katsuki; following its dissolution, the explosive blond has grown increasingly unhinged — though Tokoyami muses that he might be 'revealing his true character' instead.
• Mundane Solution: Lately, a lot of banks and high-end stores have begun purchasing special safes made of a heat-resistant alloy specifically to counter Dabi's abilities. However, they are near worthless against Tokoyami's Quirk.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Played With. After Bakugou accidentally kills Ogawa, he's briefly horrified before that shock gives way to outraged demands that his victim wake up.
    • Fully subverted, however, when he becomes a villain, saying he was an extra who probably deserved it.
  • The remaining students of Class 1-A eventually regret their role in turning Tokoyami to villainy. They feel like complete failures after they realize what a complete fuck-up that was.
• Mythology Gag: A particularly dark one - Bakugou runs across and attacks a group of bank robbers trying to steal an ATM, accidentally killing one of them. In Viridian: The Green Guide, another one of Clouds' fics, the bank robbers are attendees at a villain rehabilitation centre Bakugou attends after his Heel Realization early in the story, with the one he killed being Ogawa, his best friend.
• The Needs of the Many: Ragdoll insists that bringing down the League of Villains, All For One and Mastermind is worth whatever pain they need to put Eri through since the villains hurt far more people than just a single child. Mandalay agrees, but Tiger and Pixiebob don't.
• Never My Fault:
  • Downplayed slightly; Katsuki doesn't blame himself for causing Izuku's downward spiral. He blames himself for not paying enough attention to Deku. To his mind, if he'd noticed that Deku was 'forgetting his place' and beat him back down, he wouldn't have been able to get as far as he did. Beyond that, he refuses to accept any responsibility for his actions and resents being blamed for anything Deku did.
  • Katsuki also blames Midoriya for destroying his friendship with Eijirou. Since the crux of the matter is that he shows absolutely no remorse for everything he did to Deku — he didn't do anything wrong, no matter what Eijirou or anyone else says.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: "Family" features the rest of Class 1-A turning on Tokoyami, assuming him to be yet another traitor thanks to him being sighted talking to Hawks. By refusing to let him explain what happened, attacking their classmate instead, they ultimately drive him off into Hawks' waiting arms.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Ochako's intervention in a high-speed chase makes her a prime target for a society desperate for another 'pillar' to place all their hopes upon.
• Noodle Incident: Little is mentioned about the fight between Kirishima and Bakugou after Bakugou's past is revealed, other than Cementoss having to rebuild at least three walls due to it and Aizawa placing both of them under house arrest.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Ragdoll is disgusted by the notion that she and Mastermind have anything in common — mainly that they're both Quirkless, and that she's having to endure the pitying looks of her teammates and the belief that she's officially 'useless' in the eyes of the rest of the world.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Played With in Chapter 18. After a harrowing encounter, Ochako rants about the villain's cowardice, unaware that Katsuki is the person she's ranting about. However, he's more pissed off by her 'mistake' than anything else.
• Oblivious to His Own Description:
  • Bakugou is confused when he first meets Death Arms, as he hears him yelling "Stop, villain!" and looks around to see who he's referring to. Death Arms has to clarify that he's addressing him, much to Katsuki's outrage — after all, he was just beating up a bad guy himself!
  • Along similar lines, he's incredibly aggravated by hearing Ochako describe him as a Dirty Coward who beat a man half to death.
• Off the Rails: By the start of this sequel, there have been so many changes to the canon of My Hero Academia that it is no longer following even a recognisable The Stations of the Canon plot.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Midoriya has an Oh, Crap! moment upon seeing all of Tartarus and everything in it dissolving into dust, and shouts for everyone to get in the water.
• The Perils of Being the Best: Before Mastermind's reign of terror, UA's focus on creating popular heroes was a major factor in it becoming the top hero school in Japan. Afterwards, in the wake of how its hero program painted a massive target on its students' backs, said focus started driving would-be students away from UA, leading to Aizawa being asked to essentially rebuild its curriculum from the ground-up.
• Please Wake Up: Played very darkly when Katsuki yells at the man he just killed to "Wake the fuck up!"
• Plot Parallel: Eri compares Ochako's situation to her own: just like how Overhaul convinced Eri that her Quirk was dirty and evil to keep her in his clutches, Ochako is being manipulated by Principal Nedzu for their own selfish ends. Aizawa is thunderstruck by her words.
• The Power of Friendship: All For One mockingly asks the Wild, Wild Pussycats if they plan to beat him with this during their Curb-Stomp Battle.
• The Power of Hate: After revealing Shigaraki's connection to Nana Shimura, All For One goads him to "Use that anger to fuel you."
• Refuge in Audacity: A fashion designer creates an outfit modeled after All For One, insisting that the shock value will make their collection all the more memorable.
• Rejected Apology: Almost everyone Inko meets hates her for being Mastermind's mother. When she visits the families of Izuku's victims to apologize for what he did, most refuse to even open their doors, and the ones that do cuss her out or throw things at her. The only person that actually hears her out is Rei, who doesn't think Inko should be apologizing at all.
• Revealing Cover-Up: Aldera Middle School attempted to cover their own butts by destroying their records of Midoriya and Bakugou's time there. This doesn't work out the way they'd hoped.
• Related in the Adaptation: Monoma, the traitor at UA, is heavily implied to be All for One's grandson.
• The Rival: In a dark twist, Katsuki sets out to become the top villain just to 'prove' his supposed superiority over Izuku.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The League of Villains decides to get attention again by seeking revenge on behalf of Mastermind by burning down the area around Aldera, taking the staff hostage, and then throwing them off the roof, all of this being livestreamed.
• Sadistic Choice: Played With with the Wild Wild Pussycats, who find themselves facing a dilemma: in order to complete their plan, they need Eri's blood so they can replicate Overhaul's Quirk-removing serum. If they don't go through with it, then their efforts will be All for Nothing, but if they do... will they be able to live with themselves?
• Saying Too Much: All For One boasts about his accomplishments, including one that Shigaraki wasn't aware of: turning the grandson of All Might's mentor against him. Notably, he did this deliberately, presuming that he'd be able to manage and exploit the reaction this would garner. Turns out he was dead wrong.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: When he calls a contact in order to have them redirect any news about King to Uravity, Nedzu opens the call by declaring "Am I a rat? A bear? Who knows? What's important is that I'm the principal of U.A.!"
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: For months, Tokoyami has been alienated out of fear he will become a villain due to his association with Hawks. When the rest of Class 1-A confronts him and attack him over Hawks contacting him without giving Tokoyami a chance to explain himself, he decides there's no other place for him and he turns to Hawks for help.
• Selective Obliviousness: Bakugou has convinced himself that Izuku is still a Quirkless weakling and that he simply got a swelled head and 'forgot his place' once he no longer had to deal with him 'reminding' him. He refuses to acknowledge that said 'Quirkless weakling' killed the Symbol of Peace and upended society.
• Shipper on Deck: Following the trend from its predecessor, Shoto and the League ship Dabi and Hawks.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: Ochako's costume is altered over time, becoming more streamlined and optimized, with the pink parts being tone-shifted to a dusky rose.
• Slowly Slipping Into Evil:
  • Even if he refuses to see it, Bakugou is slowly beginning to act more and more like a villain, taking a liking to brutally beating low-lives, enjoying the reputation he's building as the vigilante King, and having more trouble holding in his temper.
  • Principal Nedzu is quietly setting up Uraraka to become the next Symbol of Peace, refusing to acknowledge the damage they're doing in the process. After all, isn't the stability they could create as the next Symbol far more important than ensuring they don't destroy themselves in the process?
  • The Wild Wild Pussycats teeter on the edge of this as they contemplate retrieving some of Eri's blood in order to recreate Overhaul's serum, with all four members having very different perspectives on the matter.
• Spanner in the Works: Monoma's plan to convert more U.A. alumni to Mastermind's side is complicated by Mustard, who isn't in on the scheme and immediately starts antagonizing Fumikage and Eri.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: Natsuo makes clear that he doesn't miss his father. While Fuyumi rebukes him for joking about it, she admits that she also can't blame any of her siblings for wanting Endeavor dead, and that the world is likely a better place without him.
• The Svengali: To Aizawa's horror, Nedzu has begun settling in this role for Ochako, tacitly worsening her trauma response by refusing to stop her obsession to train and indeed encouraging it by giving her permission to patrol alone, believing she's going to become a perfect hero on her own while he's only "showing her the path".
• Sweet Tooth: Anything Dark Shadow eats is instantly converted into energy. Apparently he and Fumikage discovered this after Dark Shadow binged on enough jellybeans to keep his host up for three days straight.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Fumikage and Dark Shadow come to this conclusion after their classmates assault and drive him out of U.A. over their own short-sighted assumptions.
• There Are No Therapists:
  • Averted - it is revealed Tokoyami was required to attend therapy after the training camp attack, and had his visits extended after Hawks' defection to the League. Sadly, this only adds to his sense of isolation, as none of his peers appear to be getting the same treatment. No matter how much they might need support. This leaves him thinking that he's being forced to attend because he's seen as another flight risk.
  • Further averted with the addition of Cece, a therapist Aizawa contacts for the sake of having his students talk to somebody who isn't on Nedzu's payroll.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Inko struggles with this - she can't stop loving Izuku or wondering what she did wrong, but Rei Todoroki's simple acceptance of the fact her son has become a criminal and come out all the happier for it deeply confuses her.
• Traitor Shot: Played With; Asui Tsuyu starts suspecting Monoma's true colors, and while secretly observing him, note that he has a tendency to smirk to himself whenever his badmouthing and questioning how Hero society works gets somebody to pause and consider what he's saying.
• Undying Loyalty: Tsuyu to Ochako, staying at her side even as she works herself to death and trying to help her not self-destruct. Having realized what Nedzu is pulling with her and that she cannot stop him, she's waiting for Ochako to realize it herself so she can help her use the power she'll have acquired in the meantime for Ochako's own goals.
• Unwitting Pawn:
  • Katsuki plays right into the hands of Nedzu — the rat allows him to go out patrolling as King in order to set him up as a target for Ochako to take down.
  • When Class 1-A finds a mysterious photo of Fumikage with Hawks, not one of them questions it, collectively leaping to the wrong conclusion and driving him away... and into the waiting arms of the League.
• Vigilante Man: Vigilantism is on the rise as more and more people start taking the law into their own hands, no longer trusting the official heroes to handle things correctly. In particular, Bakugou becomes one in order to take out his rage on any villains he can get his hands on, since he's unable to get his hands on Midoriya.
• Villain Has a Point: While Tiger is disgusted with the destruction of Aldera School, he notes that it was a horrible school that promoted bullying as a culture, creating a generation of angry kids.
• Villains Want Mercy: In "Rewards", the principal of Aldera tries to beg to be spared. Needless to say, he doesn't get any.
• Villains Out Shopping: The League likes to spend some of their free time doing things like sledding down stairs or making ice slides in abandoned parking garages. They also film themselves doing these things and post them online; having the footage go viral helps humanize them in the eyes of the public.
• We Used to Be Friends: Kirishima and Bakugou had an explosive falling-out after the latter's bullying past was revealed.
• Wham Shot: Chapter 25 opens with Nedzu watching Katsuki leave campus, coupled with The Reveal that he is fully aware of his extracurricular activities and intends to sacrifice him to further Ochako's rise as the next Symbol.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • An unjustified one is given in Chapter 26, in which the rest of Class 1-A confronts Fumikage over a photo of him talking to Hawks, accusing him of turning traitor just like his old mentor.
  • Aizawa verbally tears into 1-A after their actions push Tokoyami into joining the League, making it clear that he would have expelled them had Nedzu not prevented him.
• Workaholic: Uraraka. She resists admitting she has a problem until an encounter with a homeless man, who accidentally prods her into seeing herself as she really is after countless skipped meals and sleepless nights: a shell of a teenager with a foot in the grave.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child:
  • The League of Villains make sure to avoid harming any students during their destruction of Aldera Middle School. This is mostly a pragmatic move, as killing the children would damage their message and ruin their reputation as vigilantes instead of pure villains.
  • The Wild Wild Pussycats debate about this after Eri posts her viral video.

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