With this being a story in which The Hero of My Hero Academia turns into the Big Bad, Apotheosis contains many depressing moments.
Warning! As per wiki policy, all spoilers are unmarked.
- Izuku is the Villain Protagonist in this story, and is a massively tragic one. Unlike in canon, he takes All Might's suggestion to give up on being a hero much harder, never getting the chance to prove himself to All Might and obtain One for All. After 10 years of constant harassment, bullying, and racism, the shy, kind boy we all know and love snaps, descending into villainy all to prove society wrong and force the changes that are necessary to make sure that no one suffers as he did, all the while becoming a cruel, prideful tyrant, a shadow of who he once was.
- To make this worse, Izuku's Start of Darkness wasn't actually All Might's dismissal of his dreams, nor was it even when he started working with villains to fund the Infinity Gauntlet. In fact, Izuku always planned to use his Gauntlet to become a hero, only working with criminals because he recognized that no hero would fund his project. What really set him down the path to becoming a villain was his realization of how corrupt the hero system is and just how much people like him suffer on a daily basis. This was the spark that changed his goals from being a hero to instead upheave the entire system and replace it with a fair one, by any means necessary.
- To make this even worse, the story has made it clear that, despite how twisted he has become, Izuku is still the same person deep down. Someone who wishes to save everyone, to create a world in which barely anyone has to suffer, to be a hero to those who desperately need one. His end goals are incredibly heroic and noble, it's his means that show the boy as the villain he turned into.
- To make this even worse, multiple moments throughout the story, from his befriending of Ochako and Mei, his willingness to help Todoroki with his problems, his interactions with his mom, to his deep admiration and kindness to those on his side and those who prove themselves to be "true heroes" shows that the heroic boy that was seemingly killed by All Might is still in there, simply being held down by layers of hatred and anger. One almost wishes that any of the heroes could have gotten through to him before it was too late.
- Izuku crying Tears of Joy when All for One genuinely complemented his intelligence and goals and told him that he would achieve great things. It's very clear that this is the first time Izuku has ever received such praise, making it all the worse that said praise ended up coming from the Incarnation of Evil instead of any of the heroes Izuku once looked up to.
- The first comment Nezu makes on Apotheosis is how sad it is that someone so young would turn to villainy.
- Even after obtaining an internship at Geonosis and becoming their top intern, it's made clear that Izuku still deals with bigots who think he is inferior for lacking a quirk everyday. He gives Uraraka the blueprints to a staff that would be useful to her quirk because his previous client was a bigot, something that enrages Ochako.
- All Might's and Tsukauchi's investigation to discover if Izuku is Apotheosis can be best described as All Might mentally getting punched in the gut several times. He feels a large amount of regret for his words immediately, and it is very clear that All Might desperately wants to believe that Izuku is innocent. However, as the evidence piles up, All Might is forced to accept that a tactless mistake on his part sent a bright, promising young boy to the dark side.
- In particular, All Might's and Tsukauchi's interview with Inko truly hits just how hard All Might screwed up. Learning that Izuku was bullied and chastised for chasing a near impossible dream, learning just how hard Izuku worshiped him, and that he was the hero Izuku looked up to most and that he let him down without any consideration. It very mentally rattles All Might, to the point where this was likely the moment that All Might decided to arrest Izuku privately so that the latter could be redeemed without outing him as a villain. Too bad Izuku counted on All Might doing this.
- Related to the above, there is the moment in which Inko shows All Might her son's extensive collection of his merch, thus giving All Might the picture that he was the hero Izuku looked up to the most, as well as setting in how badly his words screwed Izuku up. What's worse, Izuku actually threw out his collection. It was only saved by Inko, who was hoping that her son would one day return to his old self.
All Might's thoughts: It looked like the kid ordered the whole damn store catalog. - Even before Izuku outed himself as a villain, Inko could clearly tell something was up with her son, and that he was a different person than who he once was. The only thing she asks All Might to do is to talk with him, hoping that he would bring her son back to who he once was.
- Given that Inko was well aware of how badly Izuku was bullied, on top of recognizing how sad Izuku looks whenever she gets to see him, there's a good chance that Inko feared that her son would attempt suicide.
- Having being forced into a corner by the government, U.A. High school had no choice but to expel Uraraka. Her classmates are distraught about this; Tsuyu is crying over Uraraka's departure and Shoto is regretful for what has happened.
- The next time they see each other again, now on opposite sides is a real heart-wrencher. When All Might asks if she made the right decision to join Izuku Midoriya, Uraraka tells him off that she has chosen her side, as if reminding the hero that the only reason she's here because he turned her back on her.
- Aizawa chewing out on Bakugou is not only anger at the teen for attacking a government official but also for his role in getting Uraraka expelled from U.A.
- Using his newfound government position, Izuku devoted his time in tending to the hundreds of quirkless orphans who society has left to rot.
- Iida's brother, Ingenium was tossed aside by the government as they refused to help him regain his ability to walk. What's worse is that the money that could have been used to help Ingenium is instead used to cover up Endeavor's messes. Iida is in despair after hearing this.
- All Might listens on in shame that so many quirkless and those with impractical quirks have committed suicide because they couldn't stand any more of the social ostracization.
- All Might's predicament; he lost his reputation, One For All, and is now forced to flee from Japan to avoid being caught by Izuku.
