Fanfic / Tales of the Dekuverse

Tales of the Dekuverse is a series of My Hero Academia reaction fanfics done by Zayden StormVoid (who's also done My Hero Pokedamia) where the students and staff of UA and various Pro-Heroes watch various series.

Unlike many reaction stories where the cast simply reacts to what they're watching, the viewings actually form the backbone of the story, with the characters being motivated and growing from what they watch instead of simply giving commentary. This mixes in with plotlines that are concurrent and intersect with the viewings.

The first story is Welcome to the MCU (FF exclusive) where the cast watches the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The story was officially completed on June 9th, 2022, and a sequel was uploaded on the same day.

The second story is MHA Watches Death Battle (AO3 exclusive) where the characters watch the web series DEATH BATTLE! instead.

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Tales of the Dekuverse provides examples of:

In General

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Many of the cast get their fair share of trauma over past regrets and traumatic events.
  • Izuku's Dark and Troubled Past gets expanded in the fic, as not only did his father divorce Inko after finding out that Izuku was Quirkless, he was also physically beaten in addition to verbal insults, even having burn scars hidden away from Bakugou's bullying. Chapter 20 of Welcome to the MCU makes it clear that despite seemingly forgiving Bakugou for his past abuse, it's shown that deep, deep down, Izuku still holds lingering resentment.
  • Likewise, Bakugou's guilt over his past bullying of Izuku and lying about it to both his mother and Inko are much more apparent, with Welcome to the MCU showing snippets of this guilt and self-hatred bleeding through his thoughts as he further witnesses his MCU counterpart going through Trauma Conga Line^note Living the high-life of a successful weapons developer while ignorant of the suffering it causes, getting tortured by Raza's men with no means of defending himself, being terminally ill from the palladium poisoning, the possibility of his father ruining the life of a close friend under the assumption of him being a Soviet Spy, thus Sins of Our Fathers, etc. in the form of Laser-Guided Karma and the hardships that Izuku's MCU counterpart is going through in his introduction film^note seeing every beating and insult hurled at Izuku Rogers from others as himself performing the deeds.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • While Bakugou isn't above violence in his bullying of Izuku (as implied by Izuku correctly predicting Bakugou starting with a right hook in their first fight), it isn't clear to what extent he had done. Here, the fics show that he would often physically beat Izuku until he was black and blue, as well as using his Quirk to leave physical scars on the latter.
  • Monoma's Green-Eyed Monster tendencies towards Class-1A are often Played for Laughs in the canon manga. In Welcome to the MCU, it's exaggerated to Irrational Hatred levels, allowing his insults to range from mean-spirited to straight-up slander at the very worst when his jealousy of them hits a breaking point, such as calling Bakugo a "villain in all but name", constantly calling out Izuku Rogers "uselessness" and criticizing his actions in the "Captain America: First Avenger" segment, and nearly calling Inko All Might's whore. The MHA Watches Death Battle version largely subverts this, keeping his comments closer to canon in being petty but never outright venomous, largely thanks to being kept more in check by others like Itsuka and Shinso.
  • Hisashi straight-up divorced Inko when Izuku was diagnosed as Quirkless, whereas no such thing is implied in the canon manga.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In canon, while even he can get disturbed by Mineta's perversion, Izuku still considers Mineta a friend, and even admires him for his ingenuity and quick thinking when regarding heroism. Here, while Izuku calls Mineta a friend, he's much more willing to beat the crap out of him should he start acting perverted, especially if it's towards any of the girls that like him, having no issue leaving an Impact Silhouette from punching him that hard into the ground, or tying him to a chair and then hanging said chair off the roof of the school when particularly annoyed.
• Adapted Out:
  • Zayden confirmed they would not be covering any "joke" fights for the Death Battle story (e.g. "Justin Beiber VS Rebecca Black") or shown on-screen (e.g. "Goomba VS Koopa"). Including sequel fights (e.g. "Goku VS Superman 2") that either serve no purpose to the character's development or are too controversial and unnecessary.
  • They also confirmed that The Incredible Hulk (2008) would not be covered in Welcome to the MCU They'll still use the characters as they were featured in other movies but this film will be left to the wayside.
  • Zayden stated they won't cover any of the shows set within the MCU because of their sheer length. It's played with here as the shows' actual connections to the movies have become increasingly nebulous in recent years (courtesy of corporate restructuring) so focusing strictly on the movies possibly keeps the story focused on the MCU in its entirety.
• Alternate Self: A key feature of the stories is that the various fighters in Death Battle and the assorted cast of the MCU are alternate versions of the characters watching the different series. It's especially notable for MHA Watches Death Battle as the characters can have several different characters act as alternate versions of themselves. The technology that allows the cast to view the series also identifies whose alternate counterpart is whose when they first appear. Zayden reveals in the author's notes that they base the counterparts around similarities the character would have with them, whether it be personality, powers, or various other attributes. A full list can be found here.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Downplayed and quickly subverted. Initially, the Pro Heroes and the U.A. Staff are skeptical of the existence of the The Multiverse despite being shown the device sent to them but quickly get over it due to the already fantastical elements of their own world.
• Ascended Extra: Setsuna Tokage, despite being one of the Recommendation Students in canon, was one of the lesser prominent members of 1-B in canon, with her status as one of the Recommendation Students even being an Informed Attribute when her team loses to Bakugo's team to showcase his development. Here, she becomes a more important character via her interest in Izuku, joining the "Sisterhood" intent on sharing him, with MHA Watches Death Battle even having her let in on the secret of One For All after she eavesdropped on him out of concern.
• Berserk Button:
  • Uraraka's is wasteful spending. She hates when people spend exorbitant amounts of money on frivolous indulgences. Momo wisely avoids mentioning any similar behavior from her parents when this comes up.
  • It would be easier to list what doesn't set Bakugou off but lord help you if you even think of saying a single bad word about his Honorary Aunt Inko.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Izuku. He's already like this in canon but here he has a temper that likely exceeds Bakugou's when he gets really ticked off.
• Beyond the Impossible: This is pretty much the norm for the cast's reactions as they witness their alternate selves going through traumatizing events that would break any other person and come out on top of things.
• The Chew Toy: Kaminari and Mineta regularly get the crap beaten out of them for being perverts, whether warranted or not, and usually by either Izuku or Bakugo. Kaminari in particular stands out due to his canon Hidden Depths being downplayed in favor of using him for comic relief, typically at his expense such as Kyoka constantly mocking him. Zayden received plenty of complaints from the comments that their treatment was going too far and being a Double Standard in MHA Watches Death Battle, but instead escalated it as a troll move.
• Combat Compliment: The cast would frequently give these to their alternate selves being able to fight and overcome numerous obstacles.
• Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: The cast constantly does so for Eri and Kouta whenever age-inappropriate material appears on the screen.
• Cuteness Proximity: Eri. She is constantly doing things that make several of the cast almost die from how cute she's being. Even Bakugou isn't completely immune to her antics.
• Disappeared Dad: Izuku's father isn't around, with Welcome to the MCU and MHA Watches Death Battle stating that he and Inko divorced when Izuku was declared Quirkless.
• The Dreaded: All For One is still capable of inducing fear in the cast despite being currently locked away.
• Harem Genre: Izuku is being crushed on by all of his female classmates, Setsuna from 1B, Hatsume, Nejire, and Melissa, and he returns the sentiment, even if he doesn't fully recognize his feelings for the girls. Rumi Usagiyama/Mirko and Shino Sosaki/Mandalay are likewise shown to be developing feelings for Izuku in "MHA watches Death Battle", and Shoto is shown to be a Shipper on Deck for Izuku and his sister Fuyumi, with Zayden elaborating that nothing is certain yet, but that Izuku does still have the crushes he had on Mirko and Lady Nagant/Kaina Tsutsumi.
• Hidden Depths: Bakugou shows a few as the stories go on.
  • He shows a soft spot for Eri like the rest of the cast, being unable to completely resist how adorable she can act. He also tries to get others to behave themselves around her, if in his own explosive way.
  • He's also implied to have a soft spot for Inko. He calls her "Auntie", whereas Izuku tends to use the slightly more formal "Aunt" to refer to Mitsuki, implying he's a bit more attached to her as an Honorary Aunt than Izuku is to Mitsuki. Bakugou also shows anger on Inko's behalf towards Hisashi leaving.
  • Admits that despite girls adoring him in Aldera he had no interest in dating any of them because they were in his words "arrogant, stuck-up, bratty and worshipped the ground I walked on". Kirishima is surprised because that sounds exactly like Bakugou's type. By contrast, he actually likes Ibara because she's kind, polite, and humble, to his own astonishment because he normally hates those traits in people. Kirishima speculates that Bakugou is hoping that she'll see those same traits in him.
• Honorary Uncle:
  • Eri declares various members of Class 1-A as her uncles and aunts given how close she is to Izuku and how close he is to them.
  • Izuku and Bakugou both regard the other's mother as an aunt figure.
• Hypocrite:
  • Lampshaded with Bakugo constantly in his inner monologue in the form of a Hypocrisy Nod. He gets (rightfully) angry whenever he sees Izuku's counterparts being mistreated in the viewing when he himself relentlessly bullied and tortured his former friend for over a decade and lied to his mother and Inko about it. This acknowledgment only worsens his guilty conscience.
  • In a Psychological Projection way, this fits Monoma big time, moreso than Bakugou.
    • Monoma tends to snidely mock and criticize the usefulness of Badass Normal Heroes and what little they could do without superpowers or without the help of others, when he once told Shinsou about the importance of intelligence and pragmatism for heroes like themselves during the Joint Training Arc, and his own Quirk, Copy, depends on copying the Quirks of others (which he needs to touch them and the copy Quirk only last for 5 minutes), with the Logical Weakness of being functionally Quirkless without them. This is not lost among his classmates, leading them to repeatedly call him out, especially in an Insult Backfire way by Yui Kodai.
    • In the "Rainbow Dash vs Starscream" segment of MHA watches Death Battle, he tries to claim a moral high ground by spouting how pragmatism is unheroic when he literally talked about its values and necessity during the Joint Training Arc. This too gets called out.
    • In his Dark and Troubled Past, he had to deal with people calling him out of his worth as a Hero due to the nature of his Quirk, but does the same thing plenty of times to the members of Class 1-A throughout MHA watches Death Battle and Welcome to the MCU.
    • He shows No Sympathy to Class 1-A whenever they show genuine remorse and views their kindness as nothing but deception, to the point of being perfectly justified in doctoring pictures of both Midoriya and Bakugou to libel them for misdeeds at the end of viewing Phase 1 in Welcome to the MCU. If you have already read the three above examples, then you get can a good picture of his mindset.
• I Hate Past Me:
  • Bakugou's inner monologue shows that his Character Development in canon has caused him to regret his past behavior towards Izuku and he regards his actions back then as a Dark Secret he fears being made known.
  • Downplayed with Aizawa, but after learning of One for All in Welcome to the MCU, he berates himself for not being able to connect the dots to Izuku's lack of control over his Quirk being the result of him getting the Quirk only mere moments before the Entrance Exam and was under the assumption of Izuku being a slacker. As well as showing slight remorse over his unjustified harsh treatment of Izuku.
  • When seeing how many superheroes without powers can overcome the odds against powerful enemies, All Might regrets his words to Midoriya in their first meeting and resolves to make it up to him in addition to his poor teaching.
• Irony: For a Genre Savvy guy who has a good enough understanding of shounen and superhero storytelling to be able to exploit it to his advantage, Monoma is surprisingly blind to the numerous hidden, "in-between-the-line" moments of the viewings in both MHA watches Death Battle and Welcome to the MCU.
• "Let's Watch Our Show" Plot: The premise of the settings.
• Noodle Incident: Izuku and Bakugou are taught how to cook by their mothers. Whatever happened still freaks both of them out to this day.
• Parental Substitute:
  • Izuku to Eri. He's her "Papa" as far as she's concerned and he happily fills the role for her.
  • Izuku admits to seeing All Might as one after years of hoping his own absent father would return.
• Parent with New Paramour: All Might is dating Inko and tries to keep it hidden from Izuku. When Izuku does find out in Welcome to the MCU, he's perfectly fine with it and is more upset that All Might tried hiding it from him than he is about their dating.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man:
  • Izuku's harem fell for him because of his kind and gentle personality.
  • Gender inverted with Bakugou who admits he's developed a romantic interest in Shiozaki because of her kind personality, much to his own bewilderment because he normally doesn't like those kinds of traits.
• Suspiciously Clean Criminal Record: As his and Izuku's past are slowly unraveled through the viewings and the obvious tension being shown, the U.A. staff took a look over Bakugou's school records and noticed how "clean" it was despite his obvious anger issues and perchance for violence while Midoriya's records are littered with plenty of black marks despite his timid and nice personality. This allows them to come to the conclusion of the systematic Fantastic Ableism that is practiced by Aldera Middle School.
• Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to the fighters being showcased in the viewings, the cast steadily becomes more powerful and skilled than canon by implementing the movements displayed by their multiverses counterparts, as described in the beginning of chapter 27 in MHA Watches Death Battle.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Gender inverted for Izuku who may not be fully cognizant of his feelings for the girls but will lash out and threaten Mineta if he perves on them or their counterparts from other worlds.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Played with. Izuku admits that he's desperately wanted his father involved in his life but after no contact at all in spite of all of his efforts, he's fully ready to just give up any hope of the man coming back.
• Worthy Opponent: A given from the MHA cast when many of the fighters and heroes are shown to them from DEATH BATTLE and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Exclusive to Welcome to the MCU

• Adaptational Early Appearance: Of an unusual nature. The cast watches Thor second when the film is actually the fourth one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, becoming familiar with the characters and concepts introduced in that movie earlier than the established release order of the movies would have them see it.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Izuku does this to All Might when he finds out about the hero dating his mother. Considering how much Hisashi's departure hurt her and the grief she's had to go through because of Izuku's own path as a hero, this isn't surprising.
• Papa Wolf: Izuku to Eri. After getting an If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her... warning about dating his mother All Might briefly consider using Eri as a shield but just as quickly discards the idea because it's likely to make Izuku actually murder him if he tries it.
• Reformed Bully: Turns out Ibara used to be a Holier Than Thou fundamentalist who violently attacked a former student for disagreeing with her views, only to have a brutal case of regret, calling herself a monster and break apart in her mother's Cooldown Hug. She later spends what's implied to have been years trying to atone for her attack on the girl and fully aware and understanding that said girl might not ever forgive her. It was not until Ibara used her quirk to save the girl from a car accident that said girl forgave Ibara and actually slowly became her friend. Ibara uses this past to reveal to Bakugou that the two of them are not that different and in the end, he's a much better person than he himself believes to be.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In chapter 20 of Welcome to the MCU, All Might give this to both Bakugo and Izuku after witnessing the infamous You're Nothing Without Your Phlebotinum/"The Reason You Suck" Speech scene between their MCU counterparts.
  All Might: "Bullshit. What the two of them said, it's all bullshit. And the two of you know it too.
  (To Bakugou): Young Bakugou, you know that despite everything, you have changed, and for the better. Both you and Stark. At the beginning of this year, you would rather lead yourself to failure than work with a partner or a team. You saw yourself as invincible and others beneath you. Stark was much the same. Choosing self-interest and profit for blind ignorance and lives were taken. But now look at you two. You feel guilt over your mistakes and failings, you recognize your own weaknesses and grow from them, you worked with others and counted on them, and work every day to be better than who you were before. And Stark, yourself, he has changed. He puts the safety of others before profit, he keeps his armor to himself to protect others from themselves, he appreciates and expresses it to his friends and those he cares for, he grew from the resentment and mistakes of his past and his father and was willing to sacrifice himself for others. You and Stark do not need to pretend to be Heroes, for both of you Are Heroes. Rogers has seen footage, he has not seen the reason, nor the Heart.
  (To Midoriya): And you, Young Midoriya, you know fully well, out of anyone here, that it's not a power that makes one special. It's not the Quirk or serum that made you or Rogers truly special. You two have faced many setbacks, much failure, many hurdles, and trials. A year ago, you couldn't control your Quirk, a fault entirely of my own doing. You've stumbled, you have fallen behind, you've lost and damaged yourself many times. And look at Rogers. He fell behind his fellow soldiers, he was a setback and rejected many times, and many looked at him and told him no, just like you. You both gained powers of your own, but it was never the power that made the two of you special. It was this (All Might tapped his finger at Midoriya's head). And this (He pressed his finger as Deku's heart). You passed the Entrance Exam by saving Young Uraraka, sacrificing yourself, even if it meant no points. You stayed in the Hero Course because of your mind and resourcefulness. You gained control and made your Quirk your own in less than a year while others took their whole lives. And despite the obstacles and new changes, you always pushed forward and proved yourself more than worthy. You sacrificed your own body over and over, always for the sake of victory, and, more importantly, the safety, well-being, and good of others, whether they wanted to or not, like a true Hero. And Rogers is the same. It was his mind and valor that won him the serum, not strength. It was his courage and heart that saved Barnes and those captured men and made him a true soldier. It was his heart and shortcomings that kept him a good, heroic, selfless, and compassionate man. And it was his willingness to sacrifice everything, including his own life, that saved the world from Red Skull's tyranny. Stark may be right that you are powerful because of something you were given, but he was wrong in that it made you two special. You and Rogers are worthy and special because you failed and fell, but always got back up and never gave up.
  (To both): You two know that whatever history the two of you share is but a memory and past, a past that the two of you should not be shackled by. Neither the two of you nor them. Whatever words may be said can always be forgiven and put in the past. And whatever feelings may be hurt can always be mended and given a second chance. I do not ask for the two of you to forget what was said, nor will I say excuses for either of them. Just remember their words and prove the other wrong and keep moving forward to be Worthy, True Heroes."

Exclusive to MHA Watches Death Battle

• Actually Pretty Funny: Everyone, even the generally no-nonsense Aizawa and Endeavor, can't help but laugh when seeing Starscream get repeatedly offlined in a montage with cancan music.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Thanks to Zayden using information on the various series released after the Death Battles originally aired, numerous fighters are given access to additional abilities that, while not changing the outcome of the fight, makes for more impressive feats for the cast to view.
  • The fights depicted lack a lot of the elements that depicted bias' in the original versions, allowing certain fighters to have a more fair representation in the viewing. Prime example being Michelangelo of the TMNT. In the actual Battle Royale, Michelangelo is treated like a joke, being depicted as a Lazy Bum and The Stoner while glossing over his positive traits before being killed very quickly. Here, he's given a lot more credit as a fighter and individual, with his quick defeat being attributed more towards Leonardo capitalizing on his being the "weakest" of the four while Donatello kept Raphael preoccupied, in turn making it less a mark against Michelangelo, and more a positive of Leonardo's ingenuity.
• Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. While not evil, Wiz and Boomstick are morally bankrupt in canon, having no shame in admitting to doing horrible acts, apparently did something constituting a war crime that Vought used to blackmail them into doing "The Seven Battle Royale", and regularly abuse their interns, Jocelyn in particular. Here, the two are still lacking in moral fiber, but they are shown to have a lot more standards, such as admitting to feeling uncomfortable at forcing the TMNT to fight each other due to their being family, and the impetus behind their sending the device into the Multiverse in the first place was to make sure their data wasn't used by their government in a bid for interdimensional conquest.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • The girls of the hero course, Mei, and Melissa all undergo a downplayed case of this in MHA Watches Death Battle. In an effort to figure out how Izuku feels about most of them, they try to spike Mineta's drink with an aphrodisiac that will ramp up his perversion towards them enough for Izuku to step in and beat him down. While the girls don't like Mineta and don't hesitate to punish him in canon, they'd never go as far as to drug him and set him up to get physically beaten. Played with later on as, after Izuku accidentally ingested the aphrodisiac and begins suffering side effects from it, they all realize they screwed up, and that even had Mineta ingested it as planned, not even he deserved to be in constant pain, making them feel even more horrible for thinking of the plan in the first place.
  • Kyoka's treatment of Kaminari. While canon often has her serving as The Gadfly to him, she never outright harmed him unless he was directly making fun of her or being a pervert, and even then it only amounted to her jabbing him with her earphone jacks, the two being genuine friends otherwise. Here, she's much less forgiving of his behavior, makes fun of him whenever she can, has no problem with Izuku or Bakugo beating him up when he starts acting perverted, and even knocks him out with a frying pan just because his excitement at "Ryu Hayabusa vs. Strider Hiryu" was annoying her, and stopping Momo from suggesting they wake him up.
• Author Avatar: Zayden themselves is a character in the fic, acting as an interdimensional god watching the characters react and inserting their influence in the name of making things more "interesting". This gets deconstructed once several of the cast learn of their existence and actions, as they are reasonably terrified as a result, the idea that someone is making them act Out of Character for the sake of their own ideas while being powerless to stop them nearly causing Aizawa to stop the viewings altogether. As while a writer will wish to first and foremost make their fic interesting, to the characters themselves, the writer instead comes across as a Jerkass God who will twist their very beings for a joke, all while being helpless to stop them, effectively making it a Cosmic Horror Story from their perspective in a manner similar to that of D. D. Drosselmeyer in Princess Tutu.
• Brick Joke: When Mirio makes an especially bad pun while watching "Mario vs. Sonic", it causes Chirping Crickets, with it noted that Tsuyu was trying to find the source. Later in the same viewing, when Mirio made another bad pun, the narration notes that there would have been Chirping Crickets, but Tsuyu already found and eaten them. This would then morph into a Running Gag where the narration would note Chirping Crickets would be appropriate, but is still miffed that Tsuyu ate them already.
• Brown Note: Played for Laughs during "Shao Kahn vs. M. Bison" with Boomstick's singing. Several of the more serious-minded viewers quickly succumb to Sanity Slippage upon hearing him sing his song about Master Bison parodying Captain Planet, with Endeavor needing to calm himself down before he burns everything around him to ash, Present Mic and Midnight needing to stop Aizawa from trying to strangle himself with his capture scarf, Bakugo and Iida slamming their heads into their armrests, and Momo and Kyoka nearly doing the same were it not for Izuku giving them a Cooldown Hug. Edgeshot and Ryukyu are the only serious-minded ones largely unaffected, the former just getting a migraine, and the latter having adopted a "roll with it" mentality for the viewings.
• Cerebus Retcon: The teachers being willing to overlook students who really act up getting attacked by other students. Initially, it's implicitly because the behavior they're showing is reprehensible to them such as Mineta's perverted behavior or Monoma taking his taunting too far. Later on though, when the teachers are set to punish Izuku for blatantly threatening Mineta, something all but said to be Zayden exerted their influence over the teachers to stop them from doing so, falling in line with Zayden finding the slapstick style punishments doled out humorous and their declaration they'd screw around with them if they think it would be funny, making all previous iterations retroactively suspect, the implication that too was Zayden overriding them.
• Dead Alternate Counterpart: Several of the cast's counterparts are or have died at some point, with the cast unintentionally picturing their own world's version in the place of the deceased, causing no small amount of pain and grief. While watching them die in a Death Battle can cause momentary issues, the viewers are at least aware that, as simulations, the deaths didn't occur, but the same can't be said for the deaths outside of the Death Battle. The only subversions stem from situations where Death Is Cheap, such as Dragon Ball, since even if their counterparts died there, the cast are aware they likely will be or have already been revived by the Dragon Balls.
  • Of Izuku's counterparts, Daisy the Rabbit, Liu Kang, and Zack Fair have all been killed. The former in particular came as a result of Kaminari pointing said detail out while everyone else was laughing over the idea that Izuku's counterpart was not only an actual rabbit, but Bakugo's pet, Kaminari pointing it out causing the mood to drop severely.
  • Upon learning that Aerith Gainsborough's counterpart was Ibara, many of 1B and Bakugo can't help but see Ibara when Aerith was Impaled with Extreme Prejudice by Sephiroth, Vlad King nearly crushing his armrest in anger at thinking one of his students had been killed in another reality.
  • Both of Melissa's known counterparts, Gwen Stacy and Maria Robotnik, were cruelly killed, Izuku, Toshinori, and David all feeling sick to their stomachs at the thought of Melissa herself being in their place, and Melissa herself horrified to think that could have happened to her too.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Over the course of the viewings, it becomes apparent that the values of the viewers won't always match with those of the worlds they see. The world of My Hero Academia is, at the point in time of the viewing roughly three months before the Paranormal Liberation War and the reevaluation of the characters' morality, one founded on Black-and-White Morality regarding "Heroes" and "Villains", and the idea that one needs to have a "Quirk" to be a Hero. As a result:
  • Seeing individuals considered the "greatest heroes" of their worlds be revealed to legally be vigilantes is disconcerting to many viewers and some of the more morally dubious actions some of the fighters do cause them to be labelled "villainous" as a result. One such case was when viewing the story of Isabella "Ivy" Valentine. Upon learning she's a Well-Intentioned Extremist intent on eliminating the dangerous Soul Edge, even if it means hurting the innocent in the process, Mt. Lady notes that such behavior isn't really "heroic", prompting Aizawa to comment she likely isn't a Hero, and is likely an Anti-Hero at best, a Villain at worst. Even All Might has a reductionist mindset on the subject, being reminded of Stain's crusade when thinking about Ivy, and declares that it doesn't matter what their intentions are, by the end of the day they're both no better than simple murderers. This is despite the only similarity between the two being their zealousness, and that otherwise Stain is a delusional madman, and Ivy is genuinely right in her assessment of the dangers of Soul Edge.
  • Seeing fighters acting as badass normals ends up flummoxing the viewers, with even some of the Pro-Heroes like Endeavor finding themselves unable to comprehend a "Hero" that is by all means "powerless". Learning that Bruce Wayne/the Batman, considered one of the "greatest heroes" of the DC Universe, has no special abilities whatsoever, but is instead just a highly disciplined man who uses his money, martial arts training, and intelligence to stand at the same level as "gods", causes the viewing to practically stop, as everyone is left completely astounded at such a possibility. Even All Might and Izuku, both formerly Quirkless themselves, can't believe what they're seeing due to having internalized the idea that they wouldn't have been Heroes had they not obtained One For All, and how despite Izuku achieving his dream of becoming a Hero, they only proved their world right by Izuku getting One For All.
    All Might: 'I may have fixed my mistake and told Young Midoriya that he could become a Hero, but I never fixed my mistake and said that you could become a hero without a Quirk.'
• Demoted to Extra: Downplayed. Both Kamui Woods and Death Arms were initially present in the viewings, but were Out of Focus compared to the rest of the viewers. After the first day, the two decided to focus on patrolling rather than continue the viewings, though they did swear to secrecy about the device itself. In their place, the viewers were joined by Melissa and David Shield.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Bakugo's reactions to some of the more violent aspects of Death Battle, namely certain weapons and powers, very much resemble him being sexually aroused and coming close to orgasm.
• Dramatic Irony: The viewing for "Ivy Valentine vs. Black Orchid" would see Mineta actually practicing restraint in gushing over the fighters' bodies, namely out of fear that Izuku would beat the shit out of him after having previously put the fear of god into him, going as far as having a Good Angel, Bad Angel moment over it. Little did he know, Izuku was much too preoccupied due to suffering the effects of an aphrodisiac, the narration pointing out this was likely the one time Mineta could have been as shameless as he wanted without fear of being beaten by Izuku.
• The Dreaded: While the already existing example, All For One, still casts a shadow over many of the viewers' heads, several of the fighters prove themselves to be terrifying to everyone:
  • Even before getting to his own Death Battle, Darth Vader manages to frighten the viewers with his mere presence. Aside from the obvious visual similarities to All For One, Vader's very aura sends chills down the spine of everyone watching, those present at Kamino directly comparing it to the killing intent All For One gave off after he blasted away dozens of heroes in a Curb-Stomp Battle. The pros are even left wary of Luke's powers due to being Vader's son, as while they try to avoid invoking Sins of the Father, the idea of anyone of Vader's lineage having that kind of power is disconcerting.
  • Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic's capability as an ever-evolving entity capable of copying the powers of anyone he fights was already concerning enough for the viewers, but after seeing him become the nightmarish "Metal Overlord" and destroy Dr. Wily's and Eggman's armies before ravaging the simulation world he was in, the students and pros alike are in agreement: if Metal Sonic ever comes to their world, he'll do the same.
  • Shao Kahn, the Konquerer. Not only is he capable of devouring souls like his associate, Shang Tsung, but he also claims their powers without needing to take their forms. What's worse, based on Wiz's calculations, he's consumed over 60 Billion souls and has no exploitable weaknesses outside of his arrogance and being confined to the rules of the Mortal Kombat tournament, with not even the latter stopping him from just launching a flat-out invasion. This leaves him a nigh invulnerable One-Man Army that none of them could even hope to put down and leave them in constant fear that one day, he will lead the forces of Outworld to their world.
  • Downplayed with Fulgore of UltraTech. While it does unnerve the various Pro-Heroes due to how resilient it is, the more concerning aspect is that it's powered by a nuclear reactor, making it extra difficult trying to disable it without causing a nuclear meltdown. As Endeavor put it, they would need to meticulously strip Fulgore of his limbs and head, all while running the risk of said extremities being connected to the reactor, making disabling Fulgore akin to disarming a walking nuclear-powered bomb.
  • Godzilla, the King of the Monsters. In addition to being a Walking Wasteland due to his nuclear origins, he's more than five times larger than Mt. Lady's largest height, extremely durable, intelligent, regenerative, and overall destructive. Add on its "Burning Godzilla" form that reduces industrial steel to molten goop just from standing near it, the viewers are all in agreement: Godzilla is a living nightmare, and none of them have any chance of surviving should he ever show up on their doorstep.
• Dumbass Has a Point: While Kaminari can be an airheaded pervert, he does make the occasional wise comment, something that even Kyoka is forced to accept. Such as during "Shao Kahn vs. M. Bison", when he comments that the idea of the Mortal Kombat tournament is actually "humane". While at first everyone is gaping at his saying such, once he explains that, at least with the tournament, only a few dozen people will die via the tournament compared to the countless deaths a flat-out interdimensional war would bring, everyone reluctantly agrees.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Certain details weren't entirely ironed out by the fic's beginning, with things subtly changing as a result of either Zayden hitting their stride or canon outdating certain details.
  • Early chapters had the notion of "vigilantes" be considered by others, even the pro-heroes, as a more gray area, with many appreciating the efforts of the good ones and being weary of the bad ones. Later chapters, to fall in line with the Deliberate Values Dissonance of the MHA world compared to others, have the notion of several of the fighters being vigilantes be seen as initially marks against them until more of their character is explored further, at which point some feel them being called "vigilantes" is disrespectful, giving the impression of "vigilantes" being considered bad by default. The only real subversion to this is Aizawa, who has a more nuanced take on Vigilantes overall due to his own experiences with the Naruhata Vigilantes in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
  • Early in the fic, Manga Fukidashi was depicted almost like he was incapable of talking, and had to use his speech bubble head to communicate. "Starscream vs. Rainbow Dash" in particular had Reiko and Itsuka explain that Class 1-B had to actually take the time to learn how Manga communicated so as to be a united class, with Itsuka saying his speech bubble is his version of talking. Later chapters would have Manga fully capable of talking on his own, his speech bubble head more used for visual gags reflecting what he is currently saying.
  • Combined with Adaptational Jerkass, Monoma is depicted in a much more unfavorable light in earlier chapters of the fic, with particular attention being paid to the fact that his two known counterparts, Starscream and Bass, are/were villains. Zayden would admit themselves this was deliberately due to their belief that Monoma was the UA Traitor, and trying to provide an In-Universe reason for Nezu to suspect him. After the canon manga revealed the true identity of the traitor, however, this aspect was largely dropped, with Monoma's characterization falling more in line with that of his canonical Jerk with a Heart of Gold characterization.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Bakugou still has a volatile Hair-Trigger Temper but he makes it clear that Mineta's perverted behavior legitimately ticks him off and he's one step away from blasting him when he acts up.
  • When Bakugou's choice winds up winning for the "Felicia vs Taokaka" fight he tries to gloat about it but stops right away when he sees Eri crying over the fight.
  • Kyoka may be an unrepentant gadfly to Kaminari, but she doesn't actually want him to get hurt for real, actually showing concern for him when he expresses a desire to replicate Raiden's moveset only to then learn that Raiden occasionally discharges so much that he blows himself up in the process.
  • Mineta may be a shameless pervert with no qualms about openly lusting after his female classmates and their various counterparts, but he draws the line at anything involving Eri, especially since she considers him her "silly uncle".
• Foregone Conclusion: Something Zayden has acknowledged is that, at the rate the cast is watching the series, namely watching half a season a day, and the fic taking place before the three-month timeskip between the "Endeavor Internship" arc and the "Paranormal Liberation War" arc, then it's all but certain that the cast will learn about One For All and Izuku & All Might's Teacher-Student relationship much earlier than canon, namely via the Season 6 finale "All Might vs. Might Guy", which has both details included as late arrival spoilers. So anytime Izuku and All Might begin worrying about their secret being exposed, even making the box require Izuku's permission to reveal anything, it's really only a matter of time before their secret is out.
• Four Terms Fallacy: Deconstructed and Played for Laughs with Togaru Kamakiri in Chapter 38: Batman vs Captain America. Before the video begins, he braggedly asserts that Captain America would win as a Foregone Conclusion in what he calls "simple math": "Spider-Man defeated Batman, Spider-Man and Captain America are evenly matched, so, Cap beats Bat. Simple math.". Nobody buys this "simple math" at all, especially Itsuka, as it ignores plenty of factors (aside from the rules of Death Battle) that could result in a different outcome. Once Batman wins the battle against Captain America instead, Kamakiri's initial confidence quickly turns to worry, and then anger and regret regarding his foolish decision in overtly supporting Cap's victory. Oh and as well as losing the bet he made with Setsuna before the video.
• Frying Pan of Doom: Following their viewing of "Zelda vs. Peach", Momo makes one for the rest of the girls to use, their targets being Monoma when he won't stop ranting, Mineta and Kaminari when they act pervy or especially stupid, and one occasion Mirio when he made an especially bad pun and Nejire wanted to Dope Slap him. It eventually landed and currently remains in Kyoka's possession, who won't hesitate to whack someone and knock them unconscious if they annoy her. She does let Nejire borrow it though in case Mirio needs another good smack for one of his puns.
• Giving Up on Logic: Most of the other viewers of Death Battle have largely come to accept the seeming absurdity of the multiverse and the feats of the various combatants. This is not the case for Iida and Momo, the two of them regularly being baffled by the craziness they're watching and having their brains short-circuit, Iida's arm chopping getting faster and faster out of frustration to the point it becomes a blur. Despite their eventual decision to wave the white flag however, metaphorically in "Terminator vs. RoboCop" and literally in "Luigi vs. Tails", the two still can't help but express their bafflement at the absurdity of certain things they witness.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil:
  • Played with. Several of the viewings can cause this reaction from the viewers in regards to the motivations and actions of the more anti-heroic or villainous characters, largely due to the fact that the viewers, at this point canonically, still view things through a lens of Black-and-White Morality, and judge the characters based less on their motivations or circumstances, and more on their actions.
    • Kratos ended up garnering a mixed reaction from the viewers because, tragic circumstances aside, he still brought about the apocalypse, and left a trail of bodies in his quest for revenge on the Gods of Olympus.
    • Many of the viewers are dumbfounded upon learning that part of M. Bison's motivation for trying to take over the world stems from environmentalism, Ibara is particularly flummoxed since she too is an environmentalist.
    • Ivy Valentine's crusade against the demonic Soul Edge earned this reaction among several viewers who, up to that point, had thought she was a heroic individual, particularly due to her willingness to harm the innocent if it means wiping out all traces of Soul Edge's influence, herself included. Aizawa himself compares her to M. Bison in that, even if her goal is noble, she is more than likely a villain when all is said and done, with even All Might being shown to have a reductionist mindset towards her, comparing her to the much more unhinged Stain.
  • Downplayed as the entity in question isn't "evil", but functions on Blue-and-Orange Morality. After Izuku ends up adversely affected by the device when turned into a counterpart to both Kratos and Spawn, Izuku, Nezu, All Might, Aizawa, Gran Torino, Recovery Girl, and Setsuna confront the device on what happened, learning that what happened was due to a celestial and multidimensional entity, Zayden's Author Avatar. When they ask why, Zayden themself responds, saying they did it For the Lulz. While to Zayden, it's their job as the author to make things more interesting, to the characters the notion is terrifying, that Zayden would mess with Izuku mentally and emotionally just for fun, and are left heavily on guard when, even after being provided shielding to prevent further influence, Zayden says they won't screw with them much, it all but said they will pull something again regardless of the shielding if they think it would be entertaining. Aizawa actually wanted to stop the viewings then and there out of fear, Zayden might make good on their word, making it clear that to the characters, Zayden is a Jerkass God.
  • In regards to certain counterparts, it's more that the cast can't comprehend who certain counterparts are when the versions they know are "evil" in their world, largely due to being unaware of the larger circumstances surrounding the versions they know. Those who are aware or come to the conclusions themselves are more understanding as a result.
    • When it was revealed that Taokaka's counterpart in their world is Himiko Toga, many were confused as to how someone like Taokaka, an airheaded hometown hero with a good heart, could be counterparts with whom they see as a psychopathic mass murderer. As Zayden themself outlines though, Toga is not a bad person at heart, just someone dealt a crap hand in life and forced down the path of villainy as a result, so having her be the counterpart of Taokaka is their way of demonstrating that, were the circumstances different, Toga could have been a genuine hero.
    • When first learning of Oboro Shirakumo, many of the students only see him as the civilian identity of the villain Kurogiri, and end up questioning why he is the counterpart of more (anti-)heroic characters like Shadow and RoboCop. As the staff is forced to realize though, and later Shoji correctly theorizes, it's because of the counterparts relationships with counterparts of one Dr. Kyudai Garaki, both cases having Shirakumo's counterpart be a result of Garaki's experimentation and being made into something they're not, suggesting that Shirakumo himself was turned into Kurogiri, who is less an actual villain, and more a semi-sapient Nomu. Once he's given another counterpart in Cyrax, the students witness Aizawa, Present Mic, and Midnight emotionally break down, and quickly realize that not only is their belief correct, but that Oboro Shirakumo was someone the three were close to before he was twisted into a tool of All For One.
    • Many of the cast are quite confused as to why Lady Nagant was receiving several counterparts that were tragic figures when, to their knowledge, she's a Fallen Hero locked away in Tartarus. As Nezu correctly ascertains though based on the similarities between her counterparts and discrepancies in what "officially" happened, Kaina Tsutsumi was more accurately used and then betrayed by her employers, the HPSC, and was subjected to a Frame-Up before being thrown in Tartarus to keep her quiet. His realizing this is what convinces Nezu to finally act on his concerns about the HPSC and contact Hawks, to put a stop to their crimes.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Played with. While they're ultimately just an Author Avatar intending to make the story more interesting, from the perspective of the characters, Zayden themselves is one. They're considered a Jerkass God willing to emotionally and mentally harm Izuku for the sake of "entertainment", and have no issue exerting their influence over the entire cast. Aizawa is understandably weary about continuing the viewings upon learning of their existence, even with the shielding they were given, and is proven right when Zayden stops the teachers from punishing Izuku for threatening Mineta since they considered it "funny".
• Hidden Depths: Eri of all people proves to be The Gadfly regarding the sisterhood feelings for her "Papa" Izuku, teasing Ochako and Nejire over how obvious their feelings for him are and that he undoubtedly reciprocates, even if he doesn't realize it. She ends up leaving them blushing messes with steam coming out their ears and has to stop herself from calling them "Mama" so they don't pass out.
• Internal Reveal: Aizawa and Setsuna are the first of the cast to be made aware of the existence of One For All and all it entails, the former after demanding to know what was going on with Izuku's "episode" during the viewing of "Kratos vs. Spawn", the latter after wanting to check on Izuku and eavesdropping.
• The Kid with the Leash: Mei can get pretty frantic whenever a piece of technology catches her eye and has to be held back at times by Izuku from lunging at the device so she doesn't demand it give her schematics each and every time. This got to a point that Izuku had to briefly sit closer to her during "Fulgore vs. Sektor" so he could keep her restrained with Black Whip, and needing the help of Itsuka, Jurota, Sato, and Mirio to drag her back to her seat after she learns about MechaGodzilla in "Godzilla vs. Gamera".
• Noodle Incident: Wiz and Boomstick are apparently not welcome in New Mexico, Wiz having to remind Boomstick of this as a reason to lay low when the latter suggests they go out to Las Vegas.
• The Nose Knows: Hound Dog, having the "Dog" Quirk, has an impeccable sense of smell, and can pick up even the faintest odors. It's strong enough that he can smell the brimstone and mistletoe coming off of Izuku that came from his being linked to Kratos, and it's all but said he could even pick up Zayden's scent due to detecting an unknown scent permeating the entire room, since it was Zayden who was responsible for Izuku being linked to Kratos and Spawn.
• Not So Above It All: Several of the younger pro-heroes like Mt. Lady and Ryukyu are shown to be fans of Pokémon, Mt. Lady even telling Midnight that Kamui Woods partially based his "Lacquered Chain Prison" Super Move off of a combination of both the "Vine Whip" and "Frenzy Plant" attacks.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • "Kratos vs. Spawn" would see Izuku acting uncharacteristically solemn and angry in regards to both fighters, even giving detailed backstories on both of them despite the viewing not detailing them and said backstories being something he reasonably shouldn't know. When later meeting in private while also letting Aizawa know about One For All, they decide to ask the box itself why this happened, and reveals it was because of two factors: that Izuku is the "Main Character" of his world, and Zayden. As a "Nexus Point", Izuku is more likely to connect with the Nexus Points of other worlds, and Zayden decided to override Kratos and Spawn's original counterparts^*Before the box was cut off it was going to identify Kratos' counterpart as Bakugo, and while Spawn's is unknown Bakugou says it would "obviously" be Tokoyami by linking them to Izuku, allowing their emotions and memories to influence him, Zayden themselves doing it because they thought it was funny.
  • Around the beginning of Season 2, Izuku begins acting... weirdly. He starts getting even more flustered by the girls complimenting him while mentally acting like a Crazy Jealous Guy, begins having mood swings where one second he's his usual nice if somewhat timid self, the next he's got barely restrained Tranquil Fury as he puts the fear of God into Mineta after he acts even slightly perverted, and starts suffering headaches that slow down his notetaking. The girls who are all interested in him manage to realize what happened: Izuku accidentally drank a cup of coffee with a high-powered aphrodisiac in it that they had intended Mineta to drink as part of a plan to see if Izuku was interested in them and would get jealous. Once they see how much pain he's in, they confess what they did to Midnight who in turn tells Nezu, who sends Setsuna and the unknowing Iida to get the classes some snacks and drinks while Setsuna goes to Midnight's office to get a multipurpose antidote, which they slip to Izuku. While it fixes most of the aforementioned issues, Izuku is still slightly more confident and flirtatious, if only more aware of it now.
  • Nezu normally has a jovial and mischievous air to him, even if his inner thoughts are more serious than his demeanor would suggest. After Bakugo expresses irritation at Kurogiri getting three counterparts, all of whom are tragic in nature, Nezu is displaying Tranquil Fury as he tells Bakugo to be quiet, the reason why becoming painfully apparent to the other students once he does so: Aizawa, Present Mic, and Midnight all acting emotionally distraught with each reveal, the students realizing that Oboro Shirakumo was not only someone the three of them knew, but was forcibly transformed into Kurogiri. The realization is enough to make Bakugo quiet down without a fight, and Izuku admits he finally understands why the staff are so terrified of Nezu.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Justified Trope. Due to the contents of the device, and Death Battle itself, coming from a universe alternate to that of My Hero Academia, there will be a lot of references to modern pop culture from real life that will be lost on the viewers, either due to the events taking place in the distant past before the Dawn of Quirks, or simply not having occurred in their world at all. During "Kratos vs. Spawn", when Boomstick makes a joke about Kratos' ash-covered skin being the reason for Michael Jackson's vitiligo, none of the viewers know who the "King of Pop" is, though Present Mic does mention someone similar named "Miracle Johnson", suggesting he is their world's version.
• Properly Paranoid: Aizawa's concern that, even with the barriers provided by the device, Zayden would continue to affect them For the Lulz is proven true when, after Izuku puts the fear of God into Mineta right before "Ivy Valentine vs. Black Orchid" and ends up inadvertently terrifying everyone else, the teachers are subtly influenced to ignore Izuku doing so rather than discipline him as they desired, the narration all but saying that Zayden is responsible. This in turn falls in line with how he's admitted via Author Notes that he finds Kaminari and Mineta being The Chew Toy funny even if his detractors don't, and deliberately increased it to spite the detractors, with the Author Note for that very chapter even reiterating as such.
  Despite their desire to discipline Mineta and Midoriya, even, strange urge wafted over them, like a presence urging them to ignore what happened, and it worked to an effective degree. That last trace of this feeling was devilish chuckling that was mischief personified.
  Zayden: (AN) Oh, and for those of you that have a problem with my anime comedy spoof of Mineta and the pervs being hilariously punished for their pervert ways and want me to stop, I will let old Cap say my thoughts: "No, no I don't think I will."
• Running Gag:
  • Izuku devolving into one of his muttering storms while watching is common, typically resulting in someone needing to snap him out of it. At first, it was Bakugo yelling to get his attention, then Kota spraying him with his Quirk. It eventually expands to Momo doing it too, with her usually stopping when someone points it out, sending her into a Crush Blush.
  • Whenever someone makes a particularly Incredibly Lame Pun, usually Mirio, the narration will note that the room is completely silent, even devoid of Chirping Crickets because Tsuyu ate them.
  • Someone getting a dazed look in their eyes and walking towards the screen in a trance over something shown, typically Bakugo or Mei.
  • Someone guessing that Bakugo and Boomstick are counterparts due to their love of violence and crass nature.
  • Mei, and later Melissa with her, eyeing interesting tech and wanting to recreate it, causing Power Loader, and later David, to get an Imagine Spot of them succeeding and dreading the mayhem they might cause.
  • Kirishima and Tetsutetsu simultaneously yell out "Manly!", which even gets lampshaded as being repetitive by the others.
  • Tokoyami and Kuroiro saying "Revelry in the Dark" whenever something emo comes up. Reiko begins joining them later on after her crush on Tokoyami becomes known, with the three even speaking at once a few times, something that unnerves the others like Honenuki.
  • Izuku foresaw the idea that he'd be taking a lot of notes while watching, so he brought with him an entire bag of notebooks. The problem is, people keep taking them to his minor annoyance, even the very one he's using at the moment. Mei and Melissa keep taking it for whatever tech catches their eye, Mina and Toru tricked him into giving them one to document shipping material, the girls that have feelings for Izuku tricked him into giving them one to strategize how to get together with him, Mineta once took it to write down the bust sizes for Ivy and Black Orchid, Kaminari takes it to write down various one-liners and memes, and even Mirio took one to take notes on improving his incredibly lame puns.
• Ship Tease: There's quite a few pairings going on outside of Izuku's growing harem, All Might's secret relationship with Inko, and Bakugo and Ibara crushing on each other.
  • When the other girls of 1-B agree to help the girls in love with Izuku, they all reveal to be harboring their own crushes, either directly or internally, which the others offer to help with.
    • Itsuka is carrying a torch for Tetsutetsu, Yui catching her mumbling about him in her sleep much to her embarrassment.
    • Reiko has a crush on Tokoyami, and the two quickly sync with each other's interests as they agree to meet up after the viewing.
    • Kinoko reciprocates Kuroiro's feelings for her, but was oblivious to the fact he was obviously crushing on her until she was told.
    • Pony doesn't admit it to the others, but she mentally admits to having a crush on Shoto. Unbeknownst to her, Shoto already has a girlfriend, Camie of all people.
    • Yui doesn't admit her crush, but she openly has feelings for Shinso and frequently enjoys seeing the few smiles he lets out when he thinks no one is looking.
  • Aizawa and Enji both force themselves to think about the women they love to distract themselves from looking at Chun-Li.
    • For Aizawa, it's Miss Joke, revealing he does actually love her despite his constant rejections of her marriage jokes.
    • For Enji, it's Rei, who he still loves after all these years and wants nothing more than to atone for what he did to her and his children.
  • Tamaki and Yuyu have been dating in secret, not wanting Nejire to find out because they know she can't keep her mouth shut and would likely question them non-stop. Mirio knew about it, only because he walked in on the two making out one time when phasing through the wall. Mirio meanwhile, while not actively carrying a torch for anyone, thinks to himself about romance and can't help but picture Bubble Girl.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: Up to the viewing of the "Pokemon Battle Royale", Bakugo and Ibara largely received Ship Tease via subconsciously crushing on the other, but never acting on it. When they do interact with each other during the Battle Royale, it's via an argument over who is at fault for burning down the forest, Ibara getting uncharacteristically angry as she and Bakugo shout at each other... only to realize they're right in each other's faces once Aizawa restrains them, leaving them blushing messes. Despite being told to go sit back down and that Bakugo will be getting detention for "instigating", both of them can only fight to hide their blushes while thinking to themselves, Bakugo wondering if Ibara always smelled that nice, and Ibara wondering if Bakugo's eyes were always beautiful.
  Ibara: You Barking Pomeranian!
  Bakugo: The Hell you call me, you Holy Chia Pet!
• Spanner in the Works: The girls' plan to try and slip an aphrodisiac into Mineta's coffee as part of their plan to gauge Izuku's jealousy ends up falling apart thanks to Iida, Izuku, and Sato. Mei and Melissa had intended to distract everyone with a new invention, but Iida rushed over and grabbed it before bringing it outside out of fear it would explode like many of Mei's other inventions. Izuku meanwhile, being able to know where Toru is just on instinct, nearly caught her slipping the aphrodisiac into what was supposed to be Mineta's mug, preventing her from double checking before Sato gave everyone their mugs, Mineta and Izuku were given each other's coffees, resulting in Izuku ingesting the aphrodisiac.
• The Stations of the Canon: Played with. While Zayden has made clear that the events of the fic are their own timeline and as such not guaranteed to follow the same route as canon, being set at the tail end of the "Endeavor Internship" arc and before the three-month time skip before the "Paranormal Liberation War" arc, there are numerous nods to canon events still occurring. However, Zayden has elaborated that said events are occurring this time more as a result of the viewings rather than in spite of them, with certain details different as a result, acting as Adaptation Expansion to certain details that could reasonably label the fic "canon adjacent", but that more than likely the fic itself will eventually lead to canon going Off the Rails just by sheer virtue of the knowledge the cast obtains from the videos, one possible example being the cast being made aware about the details regarding Lady Nagant much earlier than canon.
• There Are No Coincidences: Three consecutive battles all saw an individual be identified as a counterpart of Kaina Tsutsumi, aka the former Pro-Hero Lady Nagant. While some of the students, Izuku included, are more confused as to why she of all people is showing up so much and being connected to tragic figures when she's an alleged Hero Killer, Nezu is quick to notice a pattern among her counterparts. Namely, that all of her counterparts^*Kitana, Strider Mariya, and Black Orchid are people once on the side of good before being used and betrayed by a more malicious entity, two of whom would end being saved by a counterpart of Izuku's^*Liu Kang and Jago and one who was killed by someone working for the same organization but was kept in the dark until it was too late.^*Hawks' counterpart Strider Hiryu Due to this, Nezu is convinced his concerns about the HPSC are true and is planning on talking with Hawks to try and take the HPSC down for their crimes.
• Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Lampshaded by Gran Torino while watching Godzilla's analysis in "Godzilla vs. Gamera", specifically when a Japanese government official asks why Godzilla couldn't have picked another country to make his stomping ground. Gran Torino laments wondering about their own world sometimes, over how despite their being over 190 countries across six different continents, Japan just happens to be the place where both the world's greatest hero, All Might, was born, and where the world's greatest evil, All For One, originates from and resides in.
• The Unreveal: Despite the device revealing the identities of countless individuals, including several details the viewers were otherwise unaware of like the identity of Daruma Ujiko/Kyudai Garaki or Kurogiri being made from Oboro Shirakumo, two individuals' identities are constantly obstructed whenever the device tries to reveal them: All For One, and Dabi. This gets Played for Drama as it causes the cast to question why their identities, in particular, are being obstructed, and leads Nezu to believe that it's Zayden deliberately interfering for their own amusement. Whether it actually is Zayden In-Universe is unclear, particularly due to the device having been programmed to self-destruct if it was hacked into, but the metatextual reasoning is owed more to it being heavily implied All For One is Hisashi Midoriya, and Dabi being Toya Todoroki, both elements that would require bigger reveals than being offhandedly mentioned in the middle of a Death Battle, hence the device's reasoning of being "classified based on current timeline".
• Wham Line: The viewing of "Godzilla vs. Gamera" would mark the end of the third day of viewings, but while everyone else was packing up and leaving, Kyoka found she had received mysterious text messages on her phone. From Zayden. While the first is a simple "hello", the next one is more concerning to Kyoka.
  Zayden: We need to talk.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Aizawa is livid upon learning about One For All, more specifically that Izuku was given it the day of the Entrance Exam, resulting in Izuku's constant bone-breaking ever since that day. Not to mention being Locked Out of the Loop for so long despite said knowledge being important to his teaching Izuku, as he realizes his treatment of him was unfair in retrospect and a possible danger to the class.
  • After they're left with no choice but to tell Midnight about what they did, she lays into the "sisterhood" interested in Izuku for their poorly thought-out plan to find out if Izuku would get jealous over Mineta being a perv towards them, especially when several of them show No Sympathy towards what they almost did to Mineta, calling what they did excessive and dangerous. As such, she loops Nezu in, the two agreeing to not tell Aizawa so he doesn't try and expel half his class along with several other classes' students, so they can cure Izuku of the aphrodisiac, but that the "sisterhood" will be punished for what they did, even if in private.

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