- For the Want of a Nail Series: Deku? I think he's some pro... | Mastermind: Strategist for Hire | Mastermind: Rise of Anarchynote | Viridian: The Green Guide | Cheat Code: Support Strategist | Shadows: The Horror Movie Heroes | Erazerhead: The Unknown Hero
Art by @clairess_art.
Image used with permission.
Image used with permission.Izuku Midoriya and Hitoshi Shinso are never going to be the kind of heroes that make civilians think "oh, thank god we’re saved," when they arrive at the scene. There's too much prejudice against them, so a kid with a villain quirk and one with no quirk at all are never going to be able to inspire that sort of trust.
So instead of becoming heroes that bring hope, they decide to become the next best thing.
The kind of heroes that make villains think, "oh, fuck, we’re screwed."
Shadows: The Horror Movie Heroes is a My Hero Academia fanfic by myheadinthecloudsnotcomingdown. It can be read on Archive of Our Own here.
Tropes in Shadows: The Horror Movie Heroes include:
- Achievements in Ignorance: After accidentally revealing herself as playing a villain in a crowded restaurant before the exercise even started, Kyoka figures out how to project her heartbeat and put everyone around her into a daze.
- Adaptational Badass: Even amongst the other fics in the same series, Izuku's achievements in the first two chapters stand out. In chapter 2 of Deku?, Izuku chose a codename. In Mastermind, he started looking for a job. In Viridian, he started being a vigilante, and in Cheat Code, he started trying for the support course. In Shadows, he had just used his investigative skills in order to find which school Shinsou went to and used that knowledge and the rumors to figure out where he lived, appearing outside of his window in the middle of the night.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- Shinsou is introduced while being beaten up for having a 'villainous' Quirk in the first chapter, whereas in canon he appears during the Sports Festival.
- Jirou and Denki are introduced before the villain exercise, almost a year before canon.
- Gran Torino is introduced as someone Jirou wants to train with before the villain exercise, rather than during the Stain arc.
- The Big Three are introduced as second years during the villain exercise rather than during the Internship arc.
- Adaptational Intelligence: As is typical of all stories in the series, Izuku uses his brain much more than in canon; in this case, he draws inspiration from how Shinsou's bullies were scared of him, using the sludge villain's fear of All Might and memory of attacking Midoriya in order to get him to let go of Bakugou.
- Adaptational Sexuality: One of the tags for the fic indicates that Jirou, Denki, and Hitoshi will end up in a relationship, indicating some level of queerness amongst the participants.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Izuku's investigative abilities lead to him finding out which school Shinsou goes to, then finding out where he lives, less than a day after meeting him.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Or, at least, the kid determined to become a hero with you does. Izuku uses his investigative skills in order to use Shinsou's uniform to track down which school he goes to and figure out where he lives. On the same day he meets Shinsou. In Chapter 2.
- Cat Scare: A rare human example early in Chapter 2 - Shinsou ends up scared after seeing a human-shaped shadow in his window, only to discover it to just be Izuku, whom he'd met earlier that day.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Toshinori was already setting off alarm bells in Jirou's head before he took her into an isolated area, admitted "I haven't been entirely honest with you..." and started to shift into his other form. She naturally assumes the worst and maces him.
- Dramatic Irony: All Might is impressed by the kid who scared away the Sludge Villain using the villain's fear of him, and wishes he knew who the kid was so that he could offer them One For All, but was certain that they would become a fantastic hero on their own. What he doesn't know is that it's the same quirkless kid that he said couldn't be a hero not half an hour ago.
- Fantastic Ableism/Fantastic Racism: In addition to Midoriya being looked down upon for not having a Quirk, Shinsou is bullied and beaten up due to his "villainous" Quirk.
- Guile Hero: Midoriya's whole schtick. During the first chapter, he scares off the slime villain by shouting that All Might was just down the street and would be there in a moment, despite knowing that he was out of energy for the day.
- Hero Killer: Played with since no one dies for real, but in terms of the exercise, the Shadows duo of Izuku and Hitoshi are responsible for the majority of the deaths of the heroes, villains, and civilians.
- Inspired by…:
Clouds herself stated the fic to be inspired by Hero Class Civil Warfare in her TikTok announcing the fic. - In Spite of a Nail: Izuku still saves Bakugou from the Sludge Villain in spite of All Might's time limit having run out for the day - appropriately enough, it's by exploiting the Sludge Villain's fear of All Might by bluffing that he was just down the street.
- Internal Reveal: Jirou first learns of One For All in Recovery Girl's office, waiting for All Might to recover from her pepper-spraying him.
- Manipulative Bastard: Izuku and Hitoshi manipulate everyone in the exercise so that they can come out on top. One highlight is manipulating Nejire with tall tales of Yuzu sacrificing herself to protect him when he himself eliminated Yuzu so he could be taken to the Hero's Agency with none of them knowing he's one of the villains.
- Metaphorically True: Izuku comes to conclude All Might's statement he couldn't become a Hero was this, reasoning that whilst he couldn't become a Hero like him, he could still become a Terror Hero.
- My Beloved Smother: Inko is uneasy around Shinsou, and only allows him to come over because she doesn't want Izuku hanging out with him where she can't be nearby.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Hitoshi's bullies have this reaction when he arranges for them to see a decoy notebook filled with Izuku's musings about their Quirks.
- Before the exercise even begins, Kyoka accidentally reveals herself as having the role of a villain by showing her villain token when trying to purchase breakfast. The waitress then immediately screams it for all to hear in the restaurant, to see how she gets out of the situation she's put herself into.
- Point of Divergence: Like the rest of the fics in the series, Izuku Midoriya does not receive One For All.
- Spiritual Antithesis: The fic serves as an antithesis to Deku? I think he's some pro... - whilst both involve Izuku going to UA to become a Hero, Deku? involves Izuku training to become a conventional (if Quirkless) Hero whilst Shadows has Izuku planning to become a full-blown Terror Hero.
- Terror Hero: Midoriya and Shinsou are set to become this, as the central theme of the story. In particular, they plan to use U.A.'s Civil War exercise, which is open to civillain volunteers, to show off why the heroes want them on their side.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Not only is Katsuki ungrateful for Izuku saving him from the Sludge Villain, he compensates for it by tracking him down with his lackeys to beat the hell out of him. No 'grace period' here.
- Un-Sorcerer: Much like in all the other fics, Izuku here is Quirkless.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Recovery Girl tears into All Might after getting himself pepper-sprayed by Jirou:"This is your own damn fault, All Might. Seriously, what were you thinking? Cornering a young lady like that?! Honestly, I almost wish she’d done more than just blind you, because maybe then you would actually learn your lesson!"
- Along similar lines, Gran Torino is furious upon meeting Jirou for the first time, calling Toshinori out on sending her to meet with him alone, only to find that he didn't — because he didn't inform her about him, and she sought him out after hearing his name in hopes of getting answers."That's even worse, you nincompoop! Were you really so sparse on the details that this girl had to go out of her way to find somebody to give her some answers?"
- Recovery Girl tears into All Might after getting himself pepper-sprayed by Jirou:
