Fanfic / What it Means to Be a Hero

What it Means to Be a Hero is a My Hero Academia Fanfic written by DeusVerve.

The premise of the story is that when Izuku asks All Might if he could be a hero without a Quirk, All Might says he can. This causes a domino effect which results in a lot of changes to the canon of My Hero Academia.

The fic is completed as of 23 July 2022, finishing at 95 chapters and 278,089 words.

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Tropes in this fic include:

• Abusive Parents: Shouto's Training from Hell at the hands of Endeavor is nothing new, but his father's embarrassing defeat at the hands of Re-Destro causes him to drive Shouto even harder than before. His being The Quiet One isn't just because he's aloof; Endeavor scorched his throat during a training session and left him unable to speak until around the Sports Festival.
• Adapted Out: Mineta fails the U.A. entrance exam and therefore does not get into Class 1A. His only appearance is a small cameo during the entrance exam.
• Adaptational Badass: The League of Villains as an organization is far more dangerous due to absorbing the remnants of the Meta Liberation Army into their ranks. Downplayed in that none of the canon members that joined because of Hosu are part of the League.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Nezu, Eraserhead, Himiko Toga, Endeavor, Re-Destro, Curious, Sir Nighteye, Togata, Amaki, and Nejire all appear during the ten months between the time All Might and Izuku meet and the UA entrance exam.
  • Mina, Tokoyami, Kyoka, and Mei all make appearances at a party celebrating the end of the Meta Liberation Army.
  • Shinso, Tsuyu, Kaminari, Kirishima, Mineta, Sero, and Koda make their first appearance during the entrance exam.
  • Spinner appears during the sports festival watching Wani, a class Z student with a similar mutation Quirk to him.
  • Hawks shows up during Day 2 of the Sports Festival to watch the students compete during his time off.
  • After the climactic battle between All Might and All for One, Lady Nagant and Star and Stripe are set up to make their official presence in the storyline.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Himiko, due to being found by U.A. before she became a serial killer. She ends up enrolling in U.A. at the same time as Izuku.
  • Played with regarding "The Strays". They're made up of pre-LOV villains (Spinner, Magne, Twice, Compress, Dabi) and created their vigilante group for the sake of one-upping heroes in general. But they are committed to helping the community and any citizens in need of help. It's played straight as the penultimate chapter has them receiving official hero licences as a reward for their efforts.
  • Nedzu decides to hire Lady Nagant as his new humanities teacher to not only lead her to the path of redemption but also to stick it to the corrupt but powerless hero commission.
• Adaptational Intelligence: In the original series, Inui was the designated counselor of U.A. and was regarded as a joke character due to acting like a rabid security dog rather than a dependable counselor. In this story, he actually lives up to his title as Izuku goes to him for regular therapy sessions and helps improve his mental health.
• Adaptational Sexuality:
  • In canon, Izuku has only ever shown attraction towards women. Here, he's bisexual.
  • In canon, Nejire and Yuyu's sexualities are unknown. Here, they're an openly lesbian couple.
  • The author reveals in the notes of Chapter 47 that they consider Mei to be sapiosexual, meaning that she is attracted to geniuses and geniuses exclusively.
  • Miruko is revealed to be attracted to women in Chapter 88 after seeing her childhood Hero crush Stars and Stripes.
• Adaptational Villainy: The staff of the Aldera school district are members of the Meta Liberation Army, using the schools as a way to influence prospective heroes with their ideals and indoctrinate the students to their cause.
• Affectionate Nickname: Inko refers to her son as "Sunshine".
• All for Nothing: In Chapter 60, Dabi bitterly laments that his long-term plan of ruining his father's career has gone up in smoke after video footage of Shouto's confession led to Endeavor's arrest. While he's glad that his father lost everything thanks to his masterpiece, he can't help but feel resentful over how Shouto was the one to commit the deed and not him.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: Mina Ashido has pink skin, as per canon. However, Tsuyu reveals to Izuku and Ochako that her natural skin tone is green, and that she uses her canon camouflage ability to adjust her color to a more normal hue, because of the bullying she experienced for it in her previous schools.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Nezu asks Sir Nighteye a series of questions about what exactly makes him more qualified to choose All Might's successor than the man himself.
• Armor-Piercing Response: An interesting variation in that All Might does this to himself when he tells Izuku that instead of being a hero like himself Izuku should be a hero like Izuku.
• Ascended Extra: Nezu becomes a more prominent character in the story after learning of Izuku's abuse and hero potential.
• Awesomeness by Analysis:
  • Izuku's hero analyses are very good for someone who is untrained that they impress both All Might and Nezu.
  • Nezu was able to connect the Aldera school district to the Meta Liberation Army just by following the lawyers that they hire after the school is shut down for several crimes.
• Back for the Finale: In the last chapter, Bakugou returns and has a civilized conversation with Izuku over everything that's happened.
• Badass Boast: All Might gives an epic one to Re-Destro before battling him head on.
  All Might: Have you not heard of Aldera, fiend? You claim to be for the freedom of Quirks, and yet your followers allowed, no, encouraged the abuse of a child because he wasn't born to your standards! Your creed is nothing more than an excuse to further your own power! No child will ever be hurt that way again! The tyranny of your so-called 'true-freedom' will never come to pass! Why? Because I am here!
• Bait-and-Switch: Aizawa lambasts his students for how badly they tailed Izuku, only for all of them to reveal they were tailing one of the others.
• Berserk Button: For both Nezu and All Might, harming children is this.
• Break Them by Talking: Just like in canon, All For One does this to All Might by telling him the truth about Shigaraki. Fortunately, All Might is able to turn the tables by telling his hated enemy about how Shigaraki betrayed him.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Any respect or admiration Izuku had for Sir Nighteye goes down the toilet after the four-eyed jerk criticizes him for being unworthy of inheriting All Might's Quirk.
  • In Chapter 59, public opinion turned on Endeavor after a video of Shouto confessing to Endeavor's decade-long abuse was leaked online which threw the whole world into a frenzy.
• Chekhov M.I.A.: When the leadership of the Meta Liberation Army is captured by the Heroes and military, Geten is not mentioned with the rest of them. We later find out he escaped and is now working for the League of Villains.
• Cooldown Hug: All Might gives one to Izuku during their first meeting.
• Cover-Blowing Superpower: A variation. Izuku couldn't use his Support Gear during an infiltration exercise as he noted his gear had a very distinctive noise, one which his classmates would almost certainly recognize.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Endeavor is able to one shot Curious during their battle.
  • Overhaul vs Stain in Overhaul's favor.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: All Might vs Re-Destro is in All Might's favor. Re-Destro was able to match All Might for a short period of time and tire the hero out that after his defeat, Chitose was able to get a free shot.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Four of Overhaul's top men, Chronostasis and three of the 8 bullets (Nemoto, Setsuno, and Tabe), are killed by Stain in his war against the Yakuza.
  • Stain is killed by Overhaul in their duel.
  • The Emperor of Quirks is rendered to dust after his brutal beating by All Might mixed with Aizawa's Erasure interfering with his anti-aging Quirk.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: After turning on the League of Villains, Bakugo asks if Shigaraki was really stupid enough to think someone who tried to enter the Heroics Course would join a group of villains.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • During his turn in an infiltration exercise, Izuku is captured because he simply opened a door without checking the room first. Unfortunately for him, Momo put a motion sensor on the door. Afterwards, it's also pointed out that Izuku only looked for guards and didn't check for any other security systems such as cameras.
  • In Chapter 83, the Strays admit that leaking the controversial data from the Hero Public Safety Commission after All Might announced his official retirement was not one of their brighter ideas as it results in the public being in an uproar over heroes in general.
• The Dog Bites Back: When it goes public that the HPSC bought Hawks as a child and conditioned into a spy and assassin, he posts a Twitter comment which not only essentially confirms the accusation, reveals that after the Tokyo Invasion, they were more concerned that a Quirkless kid was in the UA's Hero Course and how that would impact their status quo. The HPSC officials are in such a panic that they post a reply ordering him to take it down, which everyone can see. He refuses, and calls them deadbeats who never paid for his child support while growing up.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: For the infiltration exercise, Kyoka is prevented from "finding" infiltrators until they make a given amount of noise, even when she already hears them, because she'd win every exercise before anyone even entered the building and no one would learn anything.
• Dropping the Bombshell: Nezu does this when he tells the U.A. staff that the Aldera school district is part of the Meta Liberation Army.
• End of an Age:
  • Nezu comments that there will never be another lone Symbol of Peace after All Might retires and that the hero system will either have to adapt or die.
  • And in Chapter 94, that revelation comes to fruition with Yuuei being officially shut down and how U.A. University will take its place in the next coming school year along with a high school branch. The two schools will be dedicated to teaching more meaningful lessons in heroism while ensuring that the students have sufficient support so they can grow up to be heroes without the toxic mentalities of the past system.
• Enemy Mine: In Chapter 75, Shigaraki willingly drops off a folder containing crucial information relating to All For One's operations and bases in front of Nezu. His reason being that he wants his former master to be taken down and intends to have the heroes do so on his behalf.
• Epic Fail:
  • During an infiltration exercise, Aoyama and Todoroki both fail miserably. Aoyama was apparently flashy enough to get spotted long before reaching the warehouse he was supposed to infiltrate. Todoroki, on the other hand, decided to forgo stealth altogether and openly assault the building, giving him the worst score in the class.
  • For the following exercise, tailing someone without them noticing, Izuku spots Ochako reading a newspaper upside down and five of his classmates blatantly standing on a rooftop nearby. Though it turns out, they were all tailing each other, not Izuku.
• Everyone Has Standards: Both Midnight and Vlad King are appalled to discover that Toga was forced to go through Quirk suppression by her parents.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Shigaraki can't understand why Bakugo refuses to be a villain.
  Shigaraki: Don't you like winning? Haven't you too been crushed by society? Told how to act and behave? Don't you want to use your Quirk whenever you want, for whatever you want? Don't you want to be the strongest? Have everyone walking by on the street see you and know fear? Aren't you also shackled by the expectations of Heroes? I don't understand... why didn't you join us?
• Evil vs. Evil: After the downfall of the Meta Liberation Army, Stain starts targeting villains again in an attempt to cause reformations to the Hero society by becoming a savior and showing the failure of the hero system. His current target is Overhaul.
• Exact Eavesdropping: While snooping around Dr. Ujiko's laboratory, Kurogiri ends up overhearing the mad doctor discussing with his superior about their secret plan to take over Shigaraki's body.
• Exact Words: To quote Shigaraki in Chapter 75: "All For One taught me to destroy everything I hate. And I've decided that I hate him."
• Expository Hairstyle Change: After the USJ, Himiko starts putting her hair up in braids and dyes it green to match her adopted family's.
• Fantastic Ableism: Members of the Meta Liberation Army think that Quirkless people are less than human.
• Forced into Evil:
  • All for One coerced Aoyama into being his spy by kidnapping and holding his parents hostage.
  • It is made clear Hawks is not a fan of working for the shady Heroics Public Safety Commission but sees no way out of it. Once their crimes come to light though, including against him, he is happy to throw them under the bus.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Izuku noticing Tsu looking green has nothing to do with her being sick. Green is actually her real skin colour but she uses her camouflage abilities to hide it.
  • There is a major ice attack during the Ground Omega incident. That was Geten who had joined the League after the Meta Liberation Army was defeated.
• Government Conspiracy: It's all but stated that the Hero Commission has been involved in securing the public image of multiple heroes by ensuring that their dark deeds and dirty laundry never see the light of day. After Endeavor's public arrest, Compress discusses with his fellow Strays how the abusive monster has been receiving support from the Commission since the beginning. He even deduces that Endeavor may not be the only hero to gain such support.
• Happily Adopted: Himiko happily accepts being adopted by the Midoriyas.
• Heartfelt Apology: Subverted in the last chapter. Bakugou doesn't apologize for his decade as a bully towards Izuku, but he does admit that what he did to Izuku was wrong and it was in no way justifiable. Izuku even notes that his admission of guilt is a big step and he'll get around to apologizing in the future.
• Heel Realization: Failing the Practical Exam (and thus ending up in Class 1C) starts putting Bakugo on the path to realizing how far he'd fallen. Izuku calling him out and saying he's just another MLA thug furthers it. But it's when Kurogiri approaches him that Bakugo truly realizes just how villainous he's become if actual villains consider him one of their own.
• Hero of Another Story: While All Might was busy fighting All For One, the Strays managed to break into the Hero Commission and steal private information about their hero employees while sporting somewhat serious injuries.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: After Endeavor's public arrest and the reveal of his abusive past, the general public had developed a negative impression towards all heroes. This is worst shown when a mob tries to harass the 1-A kids during their mall outing.
• History Repeats: At the start of the Tokyo War Arc, Nedzu is in his control room and overhears multiple stations citing villain and Nomu attacks in various precincts of the city. In Chapter 79, All For One sits in his throne room and hears from his doctor about his various bases and facilities being raided by the heroes.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • During the battle trial, to defend the objective Shoto freezes the building that he's in. However all this does is cool Shoto down more and tire him out so he's at his limit right away. This allows for Kirishima who can smash through the ice, and Jiro whose Quirk can shatter the ice to capture the objective.
  • All for One going behind Tomura's back because he was worried about Tomura's independence results in a chain of events that results in Tomura and Kurogiri fleeing the League of Villains.
• Hostage Situation: The League of Villains manage to abduct Izuku, Himiko, Uraraka, Yuyu, and Kendo to use as meat-shields before launching their attack.
• Humble Hero: Izuku genuinely wants to help people as a true hero regardless if he has a Quirk or not. He even confesses to Bakugou that the title of Number One Hero never mattered to him in comparison to helping his fellow man.
• Hypocrite: Himiko calls the MLA out for this after they're dismantled, pointing out that despite preaching about freedom of Quirk usage they did nothing to help those whose Quirks were considered "villainous" and were persecuted for it, like herself or Shinso.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Played with regarding Izuku's goals. He does want to be a hero who helps others, but he also wants to embrace his Quirkless nature after learning how much he's accomplished without a Quirk. Even when Toshinori presents him with the chance of inheriting One For All, Izuku politely refuses stating that gaining such power would prove Aldera and the MLA right regarding their toxic beliefs about Quirks and the Quirkless.
• I Shall Taunt You: Ms. Joke's training regiment for her intern Shinso involves teaching him how to provoke and irritate his opponents during combat which can make it easier for him to mentally manipulate them.
• Inherent in the System: Much of the abuse that Izuku takes is a result of his school encouraging the students to bully him.
• Insane Troll Logic: Stain starts killing villains and other hidden threats to society in an attempt to discredit "false heroes" and make him seem like the good guy. In his mind, this would somehow lead to the reformation of the hero system.
• Internal Reveal: In Chapter 82, All Might decides to reveal his true form to the public while announcing his retirement.
• In-Series Nickname:
  • Aizawa refers to Nezu as "The Rat".
  • Shinso takes to calling Izuku "captain" due to his taking command in the entrance exams.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Sir Nighteye still lectures Izuku about he's unworthy of One For All, despite Izuku not having it, because he didn't do his research.
  • Just like at the end of the Provisional Hero License Exam Arc, Bakugou takes Izuku to the Ground Beta site to talk with him. But rather than antagonizing him into a physical confrontation, the two boys have a civil conversation over what it means to be a hero along with how much they've grown since Aldera.
• Irony: Izuku turns down All Might's offer to receive One for All, wanting to prove he can be a hero on his own merits. Because of this, Nighteye is able to arrange for All Might to offer his Quirk to Mirio as he'd planned... and Mirio also turns it down, for very similar reasons.
• It's All About Me: Bakugo thinks that he is destined to be the best of the best. His school promoting that idea is not helping.
• It's Probably Nothing: Averted. When Izuku is semi-spotted by a pair of guards during an infiltration exercise, they check where they saw him, then send one guard back to his post while the other sweeps the area.
• Jaded Professional: Hawks is fully aware of how corrupt the HPSC is and hates working for them. The first thing he does when their dirty laundry all gets exposed to Japan is use his Twitter account to fan the flames even further by pointing out the Skewed Priorities.
  Number One Birdie @Hawks
  So a lot of people are asking me if the HPSC actually bought me as a child. I’m more concerned about how they ordered me to find out if a Quirkless kid was in UA’s Hero Course because they were worried about their bread and circuses falling apart
  #HPSCWhistleblown
  
  Number One Birdie @Hawks
  To be clear, they were more concerned about removing this kid than they were about the Tokyo Invasion. ;) Priorities, amiright?
  #HPSCWhistleblown
  
  Heroic Public Safety Commission Official @OfficialHPSC
  @Hawks Delete this
  
  Number One Birdie @Hawks
  @OfficialHPSC Pay my child support, deadbeat
  #HPSCWhistleblown
• Late to the Tragedy: Tsuyu feels absolutely terrible that she's safe offshore during the Siege of Tokyo while the rest of her classmates are risking their lives and doesn't know whether they are still alive.
• Load-Bearing Hero: Mount Lady holds an entire office building only to be tricked into shrinking to save herself. Ochako prevented a tragedy by pushing her quirk to its absolute limits, floating the entire building.
• Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot:
  • Nezu investigates Aldera middle school for Izuku's abuse as an independent case. This leads to discovering that the school is an indoctrination facility for the Meta Liberation Army.
  • Invoked as part of a class exercise. Each student is given a pack to investigate a seemingly minor crime, and each are different. Izuku has trouble making sense of his which is a robbery at a pharmacy until unrelated comments from Dark Shadow inspire him to share information with his classmates. This results in them all realizing that each of their packets which contains one minor crime are all part of a single larger conspiracy. Aizawa is happy his students figure it out.
• The Mole: Aoyama is revealed to be the League's spy.
• Money to Throw Away: In Chapter 70, Shouto has been kind enough to cover his friends' expensive lunch with Endeavor's credit card. It helps that the monster is locked up so he couldn't stop him if he wanted to.
• Must Make Amends: Sir Nighteye sincerely apologizes to Izuku for the way he treated him, admitting that he only looked at the boy's shortcomings rather than his strengths.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Yoarashi Inasa is horrified to learn about Endeavor's crimes because it means he was being a jerk to a domestic abuse victim back when he was being judgmental to Shouto.
• Newspaper-Thin Disguise: While seemingly tailing Izuku as part of an exercise, Ochako pretends to read a newspaper. Upside down.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: During his final against All Might, Izuku uses a synthetic version of Midnight's quirk on the hero. This knocks out All Might and allows for Izuku and Momo to pass, However it also reveals to Momo and Toga, All Might's true skinny form.
• Noble Demon: Compress during the attack on Tokyo. He may be a villain, but even he cannot turn an eye to the destruction before him. He uses his Quirk to save a woman and reunite her with her son and makes sure that they get away safely. A nearby hero even tells him that he did a good job and if anyone asked that Compress was given permission by the hero to use his Quirk in public in order to help the civilians caught up in the attack.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Himiko devastates the Noumu that injured Izuku by using the Quirks of her entire class against it.
• Non-Indicative Name: Lampshaded by Izuku regarding Shinso's Brainwashing Quirk. "Brainwashing" refers to affecting someone's way of thinking over time, while Shinso's Quirk functions closer to hypnosis or possession. The name makes his powers sound inherently villainous, and Izuku states that his Quirk counselor should be sued for it.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Izuku calls out Sir Nighteye's prejudice as sounding just like the Meta Liberation Army.
  • After tearing Sir Nighteye a new one for his verbal abuse of Izuku, Nezu reminds him that All Might was also once a Quirkless middle schooler.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The Heroes and Japanese military were able to capture most of the Meta Liberation army Cells including both Trumpet and Skeptic off-screen.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Re-Destro has this reaction when All Might, Endeavor, and the Japanese military show up to arrest him and dismantle the Meta Liberation Army.
  • The conclusion of the Final Exams Arc features Momo and Himiko reacting this way when they see All Might's civilian identity.
  • The Strays revealed secrets about the Heroics Public Safety Commission they knew would destabilize society and risk a rise in crime, but they believed it was necessary, and were reassured by the fact All Might was still around to keep things from going totally off the rails. So they were dismayed when they learned their whole reveal was timed to be released just hours after the man announced his retirement...
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Invoked during the Sports Festival Arc. After the disastrous events of the USJ Attack along with how Shigaraki was able to obtain personal information on the students, Nezu and the school faculty require each UA student to choose their new hero alias so they can be referred to as such during the festival.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Downplayed with Aizawa in regards to All For One. After learning from All Might about his dark history and how they're destined to face off in one final showdown, Aizawa volunteers himself to take part in that battle to ensure that the boogeyman is thoroughly defeated so he won't even lay a hair on his students.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • The bombastic Mitsuki and the gentle-hearted Masaru become melancholic and furious respectively after learning that their son deliberately bullied Izuku for 10 years out of arrogance.
  • During the Internship Arc, Izuku claims that Mirko, a Top 10 Hero who loathes working with others, offering an internship to Ochako is an impressive feat.
• Original Character:
  • One of the new students in Class 1-A is a girl named Hikari Joyato.
  • The newly created Class Z consists of original characters.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Hawks appears poorly disguised during the Provisional License Exam Arc as an overseer and with the name "Tori Taka" which literally means "bird hawk". Izuku can't help but shake his head over his presentation.
• Parents as People: Inko does her best to raise her son but was unable to see what was happening to him at school.
• Point of Divergence:
  • The story begins with Izuku being told by All Might that he could be a hero without a Quirk.
  • This leads to Nezu finding out about Izuku's abuse at Aldera and investigating the school an investigation that culminates with the downfall of the Meta Liberation Army.
  • During the capture of one of the Meta Liberation Army cells Vlad King and Midnight find Toga which prevents her from going crazy and leads to her adoption by the Midoriyas.
  • The defeat and exposure of the Meta Liberation Army allows for Nezu to change aspects of U.A.'s sports festival and entrance exam.
  • Due to the changes to the entrance exam there are several new outcomes. There was a third category for points, cooperation points which led to everyone having higher scores than canon. Izuku was able to get first place due to his training at U.A. and leadership skills. Mineta was replaced by Shinso and OC Joyato was able to get into Class 1A replacing Bakugo.
  • Because All Might isn't a teacher and wasn't scheduled to attend, the League of Villains do not attack the USJ, and the field trip proceeds without incident. Instead, they launch an attack on the third-year's trip and abduct three first-years, a second-year and a third-year as hostages. And All Might still isn't there.
  • Because of the different circumstances of the League of Villain's attack on UA, specifically the part where UA students were kidnapped from either their homes or on their way to school, Nedzu proposes turning UA into a boarding school earlier than canon.
  • All Might was not present for the League of Villains' attack for different reasons. In canon, it's because he engaged in heroics on his way to work. In this fic, it's because he was called away to handle an event that could have been handled by any one of dozens of other heroes. This leads him to realize society is too dependent on him and he decides to start focusing more on being a teacher to give society time to adjust to him not being around.
  • As part of the security measures taken against the League of Villains, the Hero students are told to pick their Hero Names before the Sports Festival so that their real names aren't known and the Sports Festival itself is completely reworked. The third years have their events first, followed by the second years then first years, the Support Course students show off their invention capabilities in a separate event from the Hero and General course students, and the Hero and General Course students fight in a battle-royal style event for their first round.
  • Due to the League of Villains attacking Class 3-B rather than 1-A, the students get far fewer internship offers as they are far less well-known.
  • Izuku gets a lot more internship offers after the Festival, due to not breaking himself as a consequence of not having One For All.
  • During the Internship Arc, the heroes end up acquiring Eri after Stain managed to abduct her from Overhaul's lair along with killing his subordinates. Stain is killed for his efforts and All For One unleashes a large-scale Nomu attack in a variety of cities. Also, Inko is made 10 years younger after Eri accidentally uses her Quirk on her.
  • Because the League never got Stain associated with them and due to dropping public sentiment on Heroes due to Endeavour's domestic abuse becoming public, Spinner gets the idea to form a vigilante team, and Compress, Magne, Dabi, and Twice join him.
  • Due to Izuku declining All Might's offer to be his successor, the Number One Hero offers Ochako the opportunity to take One For All and serve as his heir.
  • Because of All for One's behaviour causing Tomura to begin doubting the former actually cares about the latter, Kurogiri attempts to put him at ease by trying to find proof that All for One does want the best for Tomura. This search results in him overhearing a conversation between All for One and his doctor that proves Tomura is actually right, and he tells Tomura to flee.
  • Thanks to the participation of Aizawa and Hawks during All Might's grand rematch with All For One, the Fairest Hero is able to defeat his hated foe without exposing his true form during the fight. However, he does reveal his true self to the public a few days later while explaining how he became a skeleton man.
  • For the Provisional License Exam Arc, Hawks explains that the exam will now have tougher guidelines and only five percent out of 1,500 hero hopefuls will earn their license. This is in part because of how the Hero Commission was exposed and stripped of their power and how the World Heroes Association has decided to take over and ensure that the new generation of heroes are worthy of their positions.
• Polyamory: As of Chapter 64, Izuku, Tsuyu, and Ochako enter into a triad relationship.
• Precision F-Strike: When Sir Nighteye gives his canon speech about how Izuku is unworthy to inherit One For All, Izuku cuts him off with an angry "Fuck you" before launching into a Cluster F-Bomb.
• Properly Paranoid: Aizawa is suspicious as to why Hawks decided to drop in the commentators' booth to watch the U.A. kids perform during the Sports Festival. Given his role as a dutiful agent of the Hero Commission, it's all but stated that he's looking to scout potential candidates to join him, and is also under orders to investigate rumours of a Quirkless student in the Heroics Course.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Bakugou regards the outcome of the Tokyo Invasion Arc as this. Even though the heroes won by defeating the villains, they could not prevent the countless deaths and civilian casualties that were lost during the war. The former bully recounts the despair-induced reactions of his classmates who lost their own loved ones, proving that "heroes beating villains" doesn't guarantee a meaningful victory.
• Refuge in Audacity: As mentioned above, Hawks shows up in the Provisional License Exam under the guise of "Tori Taka" to MC the event. When an examinee asks the obvious question of whether he's actually Hawks, "Mr. Tori" responds that he isn't, because Hawks has wings. When the exam is over, he retrieves his folded-up wings from beneath the podium and walks away in plain sight of everybody.
• Sadistic Choice: Kinzoku Hagane gives one to Mt. Lady in Chapter 53. As she's occupied with holding up an entire building filled with civilians, she could either let go of the building to protect herself from his upcoming spear attack. Or she can take the brunt and die.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Shouto confesses to Izuku that Endeavor comes from a wealthy background and has access to influential lawyers, meaning that any cases against him regarding his abusive history will barely put a dent on his reputation and heroic standing. This is averted though when Endeavour's crimes are made so public that nothing can save him.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The end of chapter 63 involves Kurogiri insisting that he and Shigaraki run away after learning of All For One's true intentions.
• Selective Obliviousness: When it comes out that Aldera middle school was a Meta Liberation Army indoctrination facility, all Bakugo gets out of it was that they wanted him to follow Re-Destro, not that he was manipulated into believing that Quirks were everything in life.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Izuku and Himiko are equally repulsed by Bakugou's insinuation that they're dating, considering that they're adopted siblings and all.
• Shed the Family Name: After learning about his dark master's true intentions, Tomura has decided to forsake the last name that All For One gave him.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Chapter 13 Himiko is watching a cartoon cat trying to catch a mouse.
  • The Midoriya household watch a classic anime movie about a young witch in Chapter 16.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Bakugo's response to Shigaraki not understanding why he refuses to be a villain is to tell him that he's been won over by All-Might and he'll never be a villain.
• Skewed Priorities: The HPSC is more concerned that there could potentially be a Quirkless hero than they are with the major terrorist attack. Hawks is disgusted but keeps it to himself since he's under their thumb and can't do anything besides sabotaging his own efforts to figure out Izuku's identity. The first thing he does when it goes public about his childhood with them, is reveal this on Twitter, and makes a point of noting the skewed priorities involved.
• Spotting the Thread: After the USJ attack, Nezu begins to suspect a traitor at U.A. While the press break-in still explains how the League of Villains knew about the schedule for the training exercise, the fact that several students were abducted from their homes - and moreover, that the League knew Bakugo's personal history well enough to try recruiting him - implies someone at the school leaked sensitive information.
• Start My Own: After the disastrous events of the Tokyo War Arc, Shuichi decides to start his own vigilante group made of pre-LOV villains for the sake of one-upping heroes in general.
• Stepford Smiler: Even after being removed from her abusive household, it takes Himiko a while to stop habitually putting on her "normal" mask when interacting with people. She does get better eventually, though.
• Support Party Member: Aizawa fulfills this role during the ultimate showdown between good versus evil. From a long distance, he uses his Erasure Quirk to neutralize All For One's attacks allowing All Might to attack him.
• Super-Power Meltdown: During the Tokyo War Arc, Endeavor loses control of his hell flame after being shot by a Trigger dart. This leads to him becoming a living ball of fire that attacks everyone and everything with his fire power.
• Super Team: Nezu and Toshinori have decided that the best solution to replace All Might as society's Fairest Hero in the Land is to promote the idea of creating hero teams to handle villains and emergencies. While they currently aren't as popular as solo heroes mixed with how the Hero Commission wouldn't support the concept, the Rat and aged hero know that hero teams can help create a stronger society.
• That Man Is Dead: Izuku references this concept when standing up to his childhood bully and renouncing him as a friend.
  Izuku: Kacchan was my brother in all but blood. Bakugou Katsuki is just some kid who used to beat me up after school.
• This Means War!: When Nedzu calls for a "War Meeting" he means that someone earned his full wrath and he's going to use all his resources, including the teachers at UA, to annihilate his enemy:
  • Aizawa remembers that the first time had been to one it had been because a local gang had attacked a UA student. Eighteen hours later the entire gang had been arrested, with many being left catatonic after dealing with Nedzu directly.
  • Directly in-story Nedzu calls for one for dealing with the Aldera School District as part of a wider operation to help the JSDF destroy the revived Meta Liberation Army.
• Tranquil Fury: Nezu is noted as sounding outright cheerful when he tells Sir Nighteye that he better have a good excuse for "verbally abusing a traumatized child".
• Training from Hell: Miruko's training regiment for Uraraka involves beating the daylights out of them until they unleash their "inner beast" and fight back.
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Or more accurately, Traumatic Superpower Evolution. Himiko gains the ability to use her classmates' Quirks after witnessing a Noumu nearly kill Izuku.
• Undying Loyalty: Kurogiri was purposely made to be loyal to Tomura. This bites All for One in the ass as Kurogiri prioritises Tomura's well-being over All for One's plans, so when he finds out about the body-hijacking plan, he tells Tomura and they flee.
• Unwitting Pawn:
  • All For One suggests using Endeavor as a potential tool after seeing his embarrassing performance during the Meta Liberation War Arc. This comes to pass during the Tokyo Invasion arc where Endeavor gets dosed with Trigger turning him into a walking WMD then his abuse gets leaked all over Japan greatly damaging the public's trust in Heroes.
  • Nezu considers that Sir Nighteye gave Mirio an internship for the sole purpose of grooming him into becoming All Might's successor which in turn would boost his agency's image.
• Villain's Dying Grace: Stain goes back to fight Overhaul after giving Eri to Nedzu and Izuku in order to give them some time to get Eri someplace safe and away from the Shie Hassaikai. Thanks to Overhaul's Quirk, all that is left of him is a puddle of blood and gore along with his signature blade.
• Villain Takes an Interest: In Chapter 27, the League of Villains sends Kurogiri to invite Bakugou with an opportunity to work alongside them.
• Villainous Rescue: During the Internship Arc, Stain is revealed to have abducted Eri from the Shie Hassaikai Clan as part of his mission of eradicating villainous criminals. He even drops the girl off with Nezu and Izuku while he went back to confront the leader.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 59 was a huge doozy to cap off the Tokyo Invasion arc. Endeavor's dirty laundry revealing he engaged in Quirk Marriage and is a domestic abuser is revealed and by the end of the chapter, he is arrested. While under other circumstances, it would be a good thing an abuser is brought to justice, the timing of it after the Tokyo Invasion arc severely damages faith in Heroes and shines a giant spotlight on Shouto.
  • Chapter 83. Right on the heels of All Might retiring, the Strays reveal every scrap of dirty laundry that the Heroic Public Safety Commission has, and the list is massive enough that literally no one can ignore the corruption. Lampshaded by Shuichi.
    Shuichi: So. It's come to my attention that we might have accidentally collapsed society.
  • Chapter 94 has some huge reveals. Nezu is turning U.A. into a University with an associated High School, and Star and Stripe tracks down The Strays and gives them Hero Licenses and full pardons for all past crimes.
• Wham Line: After the Licencing exams, the proctors announce no one is getting a license in spite of the large pass rate. They decided that due to the HPSC's numerous wrongdoings, heroics in Japan needed to be restructured and among other things, the minimum age for a provisional is now eighteen.
• Wham Shot: In chapter 31, Bakugou is down and sees a pair of distinctive red shoes approaching him and thinks they belong to Izuku for a moment before realizing they belong to the villain he's fighting (Tomura Shigaraki). A particular style of shoes made for quirkless individuals.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • When the Pro Heroes try to chastise Izuku for charging in to save Bakugou from the Sludge Villain, Izuku turns the tables on them by explaining how each of them failed to effectively manage the situation using their Quirks.
  • Both Izuku and Nezu separately call out Sir Nighteye for his verbal abuse towards Izuku.
• With Catlike Tread: During a stealth exercise, Aoyama is caught long before he even nears the warehouse he's supposed to infiltrate. Joyato considers it a success that she actually reached the warehouse before being spotted given that she has glowing marks on her body.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • The staff of Aldera Middle School encouraged the students to bully Izuku.
  • In the Internship Arc, Nezu and Izuku come up with several theories regarding what types of abuse Overhaul inflicted on Eri based on her physical appearance, behavior, and belief about her "curse".

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