The Fundamental Misunderstanding of Izuku Midoriya | My Hero Academia - Character Analysis

After ten years of following Izuku Midoriya and all his pals from Class 1A, we're finally about to see just how he becomes the Greatest Hero.
With My Hero Academia finally coming to an end, and manga fans split on how the war ended, a lot of Twitter "drama" surrounding Izuku Midoriya has started up all over again.
Over the years, Deku's had a lot of fans, and a lot of haters. While I've always been a fan of our main hero, I could understand arguments made by those who didn't. Well, all but one that is...
And so; in honor of My Hero's seventh season, and the end of the manga, I decided to finally make a video I've long sat on. A video in defense of Izuku Midoriya, and why our newest wielder of One for All is deserving of the power and legacy handed to him by All Might.
Because at the end of the day, My Hero Academia isn't a story about becoming the number one hero. It's a story meant to detail what it takes to become a hero, a true hero in comparison to those taking advantage of the fame hero society can provide.
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[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Your friendly bot here fucked up and didn't pay attention to where he was grabbing things from. Uploading a new thumbnail so I'm not pulling someone else's renderings. But wanted to give a quick plug to the creator of the original Deku image: www.deviantart.com/r3dl1on83/art/Izuku-Midoriya-Season-7-Render-1036011706

[@blueflameboi]

Deku is an amazing protagonist and I’m tired of people thinking he is not!

[@PhantomGrb]

Agree

[@ChaoticTechnician]

The real worst Shonen goes to Chargeman Ken.

[@Dicktator13]

without a doubt a well written character just sucks the author made him hela annoying

[@troymanansala7739]

Same here. In fact, it's because of Deku's flaws that I can connect to him more rather than if he's too good. So I wish people would stop bashing him.

[@angax100]

People can have opinions ya know

[@tiquezgraham7963]

They tend to forget my hero is a love letter to American comics it's not about being an underdog it's about being a good person

[@oettamsues6311]

He is literally the incarnation of THE hero. His sacrifice and stubborness, knidness and altruism, he is great! He broke himself to save people, what other things someone should ask to be convenced? Boh

[@CookiesNcreeme06]

“He’s touched his fellow heroes and students”

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

No!

[@NewNotNewbMargieA]

Not only did Deku run to save someone without thinking even though he didn't have a quirk, that person was the one who bullied him mercilessly. Bakugou even told him to jump out the window and kill himself. Though I like Bakugou's growth, he doesn't deserve to be the MC.

[@lenabach3047]

Just wanted to add my two cents on the 'Bakugou is a prodigy' take. It's true that a lot of things come easily to him on the first try, like doing tricks with balls and skipping stones. And he was born with a quirk that inherently has a lot of potential. But here comes the 'but': He honed that quirk since childhood. When he manifested it, all it could make was tiny firework sparks. To get the fire power he has during the UA entrance exam, he must have used and trained his quirk for years, otherwise it would be much, much weaker. And the mid-air mobility is also a skill he must've first come up with and then seriously worked towards. Not to mention that he probably didn't get abs and super strong shoulders out of nowhere. I can't prove that he put in as much work as Todoroki or Midoriya during the 10-month long training, but he certainly hasn't been sitting on his ass either (considering that he always knew he wanted to be a hero and his prideful, obsessive personality wouldn't have allowed him to slack off). Other than that I really like the video.

[@taqresu5865]

There are other indicators too, like his battle sense. In many respects he is as observant as Deku. He doesn't let his pride or confidence get in the way of reading the situation. If anything, his confidence is what makes him so formidable because he doesn't hesitate to act accordingly, that winner's mentality, so to speak.

[@panjamysy]

Also, as much as I love Bakugou the best thing about him is his change BECAUSE of Deku. Seeing him go from a nasty bully to a reliable ally to our MC is what makes him a great character.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Bakugou has a really interesting change. Honestly, the only thing that makes me wish we got a bit more time before the final war, was I liked seeing how his interactions with Deku evolved. He was a slow burn, but a lot of it really paid off in these last few arcs

[@manuelchacon3437]

What most people didn’t recall about Deku is how all his actions and intentions where directly linked to him wanting to Prove he was worth of his power. Even at some points being willing to transfer One for All for the greater good, like in MY HERO ACADEMIA: TWO HEROES movie in the final battle willing to give it to bakugo or When he find out Mirio was quirkless in the hospital, and was seriously considering transferring his quirk to him. HE IS SERIOUSLY COMPROMISE WITH THE CONCEPT OF (TO SAVE THEM ALL…)

[@cahrles2687]

I think a lot of people skipped the critical thinking part of English literature classes, the type of people to think everything that is said by the characters is right and can't have bias, the shoes are red and just red. Midoriyia is a great protagonist and is fun to read and watch, what more do you need of a shounen

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

It’s funny you mention that. I remember disregarding a lot of things I learned in English classes, only to get older and realize they were right about just about everything. But I definitely have noticed a weird trend of people taking everything at face value. Now a days a villain can’t even be too evil without risking the general audience believing the writer actually thinks and feels that way

[@cahrles2687]

@@animatedstorytelling1996 Ikr it gets so frustrating, the way, why would someone go through the great lengths of writing a story for over ten years for details not to matter, look beneath the surface of what were are given and draw your own conclusions, but contemporary reading has reduced to a level of tell don't show it's hard for people to comprehend taking initiative.

[@janimationsxy2562]

I really love this Video so much I find all your points valid keep up the good work

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Thanks, I’m glad you liked it!

[@midnightexpress3604]

Lifting the sky alone is a struggle, all that weight on your shoulders, no matter how strong you are, you are going to buckle and eventually break under its ever pressing force. But when many hands, many legs, many people standing shouldering the sky, when you buckle. Someone will always be there to give you time and security to stand back up. That is the world of Heroes that Midoria has inspired, a world that whilst it may be without Atlas, still has so many willing to keep the sky aloft.

[@ajayxerx1511]

how the hell was one for all unearned, he had to train to get that power almost everyone else in series was born with a quirk at an early age if anything he is one of the people to actually EARN a quirk.

[@motionfist7431]

Float and Zero gravity have a massive difference. Deku can't change his gravity or the gravity of other people. All he could do is float and fly in one direction. So the complaint that float makes zero gravity irrelevant never made sense.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

A lot of the complaints suggesting he was stealing people’s roles never really did. Some people really just hated Deku and looked for any little way to belittle his journey

[@munkhgalamarmend8809]

@@animatedstorytelling1996 also that makes no sense having the power similar to a lot of his classmates makes takes those classmates' roles becasue it doenst deku is still a single person he cant do too many things at once he need support from those people

[@Itsamezee371]

I hate the fact that people say that bakugo should have inherited ofa because bakugo already had explosion an already super powerful quirk and bakugous personality didint seem like the type of person worthy of ofa because he literally told deku to kill himself.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

He also wouldn’t accept it. A large part of his character is he wants to reach the top with his own power. So all the talk of Bakugo inheriting One for All kills who he is as a character

[@panjamysy]

I am so tired of the Deku hate. He is a wonderful MC. Not my favorite character in the series, but very loveable and a very GOOD person. His ability to see the humanity in the villains is a very amazing thing.

[@ManakiGTaiyo]

IMO, the series isn’t bad at all, it’s just majority of the fandom is pretty weird…

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Yeah…there’s certainly a real weird group in there. I’m still disgusted by the thought there are people that think Eri and Deku are an acceptable ship.

[@mindduxx]

Deku is the perfect representation of heroism and is an amazing protagonist he's relatively the same as spider man and superman

[@thett3167]

most people that have issues with deku just ignore the fact that he’s a 15 year old with literally all of japan on his shoulders to that i have to ask, what were you doing at 15?

[@torch_warden8177]

i remember watching anime, reading books i didnt get at the time and making friends i didnt keep

[@Devorador_de_sonhos]

yes, comparing a character from a fantasy work with reality, nice argument

[@EskChan19]

Have the people who say that Deku has just started out OP started watching the show at season 6? Because anytime before that he WAS the underdog. He got a quirk that for the majority of the story he couldn't even use. And even when he could pretty much everyone was still stronger than him. It was really only once he started awakening the quirks of the former users that he started to get OP. But at that point he had been through so many battles and situations where he stood up despite NOT being strong enough that he EARNED that. Yes, One For All, used fully, makes him pretty much the strongest person in the verse. But the thing is that he EARNED that through pain and self sacrifice. And to be honest that's the reason I kinda hope that it turns out that he still has One For All too, maybe Shiggy gave it back to him or something, there WAS this foggy mist going from him to Deku before he smiled and said he was curious to see what Deku will do from now on. But it would feel kind of dumb to have the end of the story just reset him back to the beginning. Because like I said he earned his power, so it would be shit to take it from him once he has earned his power. That would be like Naruto ending with him becoming hokage for a day, then suddenly everyone decides to hate him again so he has to go back to sitting on his swing while everyone hates him. Or Ruffy becopming king of the pirates just for the series to end with "And by the way two days after that the age of the pirates ended and Ruffy became a fisher".

[@janimationsxy2562]

your 100% right Deku has earn his states as the greatest hero!

[@monke1419]

Yeah, it’s true, but like…stain did respect todoroki. Deku showed up and showed with words and actions that what he believes to be the meaning of a hero, and stain spared with him because of what he saw. Then todoroki showed up, did the same thing, and stain actually decided to spare him. He went to stab him, but said that he was a real hero unlike Native, so he changed his mind and went for him, but then Deku woke up and blocked him to save native. Both Deku and todoroki were accepted by stain as real heroes worth sparing or at the very least worth killing iida and native instead. It wasn’t until later tho that todoroki states that stain is now going for the kill for all of them due to being desperate. He even nearly cut off todoroki’s arm. They beat his ass and then he later saved deku from a nomu. He even technically noticed iida’s changed philosophy being that of a hero, but he just didn’t buy that a person could change that quickly, so he was still tryna kill him.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Was just re-watching that fight, and yeah. I’d been so busy trying to dispute complaints I’d seen about Stain and Deku, I didn’t even pay attention to the fact that Todoroki wasn’t a target either. Probably a much better dispute.

[@violettracey]

Thank you so much! I liked when you talked about how Deku inspires others around him to become better. A lot of series focus on just the power of the main character, and have the whole final battle ride on them. That is not wrong, but MHA is just not that kind of story.

[@pela10]

Great video, great quality, new subscriber

[@diversemike611]

Bro cooked with this video 🙏🏾

[@jasonblack2477]

Dekus power isn't even unearned😂. Goku had Talent Luffy ate a devil fruit and Naruto had Kurama from the start lmao

[@Pixieawldzz]

Even tho hes a crybaby i still love him as a MHA character

[@FoundRace]

fire video

[@pathfinderlight]

I stopped liking Deku because of his repeated deliberate injuring of himself to activate his quirk.

[@Froggy-Dreams]

That’s stopped and now only happens in crucial moments within the series nowadays like the fight with shigaraki if he used any less he would have probably died on multiple occasions such as with muscle guy he’s living the true heart of a hero he is ready to sacrifice everything just to save one person like the son of the water hose hero’s or eri he is the definition of a hero

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

A large part of this early series falls on All Might too. He should have been working with Deku to control the power before doing what he was in classes and the Sports Festival. But I understand what you mean. I was super relieved when Full Cowling got introduced, because when he was still breaking limbs in Season 2 I was starting to get a little tired of it too.

[@panjamysy]

It's not his fault he was just handed a power that he wasn't taught to harness and then thrown into the Hero Course where he had to use it. The only time I agree he didn't need to was the Sports Festival.

[@motionfist7431]

​​​@@animatedstorytelling1996 the blame also falls on Nezu and Aiezwa. Nezu knew that Deku was Allmight OFA successor and did nothing to help. Aiezwa had access to Deku's quirk registration which reads that Deku was Quirkless until he recently manifested his quirk. He gave Deku the most unhelpful advice which was to try harder. Seriously what terrible advice to give to someone whose quirk breaks their bones every time they use it.

[@greyworld6242]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1011">16:51</a> I have literally never heard this until now. Also can please do more videos on the other bnha characters. If you’re going to analyze Deku can do it with the others that also deserve it. Also also should wanted to be a hero because of your own reasons be treated as a bad thing? Is that wrong? <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1211">20:11</a> and is that universal fact? The dark Deku arc should’ve been longer. Do you believe their are still flaws with the story in the manga that need to be addressed? Ps. Hori has just announced that the story has 5 chapters left now. Don’t believe me look it up!

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

I’ve been so chronically online I’ve come across about a billion threads for all sorts of things. Which helps with videos like this. A lot of the Black Hole and Spotlight Stealer complaints actually were found via a podcast made by the people that made that abridged series mentioned in the video. But there’s definitely flaws in the story. I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the final war altogether. And thought most of the year between the two wars happened really fast. It doesn’t really bother me that it ends in five chapters. There’s a good deal I’d like to see them cover, but I imagine that the last chapter will probably be 40-60 pages, as a number of manga has done that in the past. Realistically, unless we get a flash forward, we’re not seeing them fix hero society. More likely the series ends with them taking the steps to try and do so.

[@greyworld6242]

@@animatedstorytelling1996 yeah I agree.

[@striker07927]

Hey! That’s my Deku Render in the the Thumbnail.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Hey! Sorry, I thought I found official art from the anime. Didn’t mean to grab something you made

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Did a re-edit with an screenshot from the trailer. Sorry again. I should have paid more attention to where I was grabbing from.

[@striker07927]

@@animatedstorytelling1996no no, it’s fine, in fact I was actually kinda surprised in a good way when I saw it and pointed it out, I should’ve been more clear on that part, my bad.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

@striker07927 oh, no worries! It was a great render

[@Devorador_de_sonhos]

deku is a boring character because there is no conflict, he is a good guy and that's it. After the issue of him learning to use his powers ended, nothing interesting happened to him anymore, he doesn't question whether any villain really deserves to be saved despite the evil things he does to others, he always puts himself in a dangerous situation without even the slightest bit of appreciation for life itself. He has practically no negative character traits: fear, envy, resentment, hate, bitterness, nothing, he is a bucket of altruism and unlimited empathy and that is very boring because it is not real. In the first seasons you could sympathize with his fears and want to see him grow, but then Deku is just a good guy who does good and that's it. People prefer bakugou because he is an incredibly flawed character, and he learns to deal with his weaknesses, realizes that he was a horrible person and evolves

[@saikyue4462]

I mean Deku is a good protagonist depending on what hes trying to be, its just that this style of protagonist most people dont like in a shonen. Giving up Power to reach an inner child of someone instead of just fucking killing the mf is something no one who watches a shonen is looking for.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

I kinda wish they’d have gone more into the One for All and All for One relationship. A lot of theories kind of revolved around the idea that both would destroy the other. I remember there being a bunch of quirk singularity theories after the end of the first war. But there’s not really anything in the story that points to this being necessary. It could have been an interesting twist if he had to destroy his quirk to destroy All for One, but I agree. There’s a lot at the end that didn’t make a good deal of sense. I think My Hero got a little to wrapped in its endgame. Like nothing mattered by All for One’s defeat so it was ok, without thinking that even when the story ended, the lives of its characters technically go on…

[@saikyue4462]

@@animatedstorytelling1996 I mean that kinda did come to life since Deku gave all his quirks including one for all to shigaraki which then conflicted within him and basically killed both shigaraki and all for one. But looking at Dekus 120% fake OFA smash where he hits 5 times at once cuz he used gearshift, it was clear that he could have easily defeated shigaraki like this and just kill him normally, so It was never necessary to make deku quirkless again at the end from what was already established

[@benjiago6800]

my main annoyance is that this whole series happens in what 2 years. there is no actual growing and moving to hero staus. they are stuck in school for8 seasons. like dude let them grow up.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

It’s a weird staple to most Shonen Anime. I’ve gotten used to it over the years, but I’ve certainly found it odd. Deku and his friends never going past their first year. Luffy only aging in One Piece via a time skip. I’m sure there’s probably a reason for it, but it’s strange

[@glantshenyego]

Not close to rental girlfriend

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

There’s no saving Kazuya

[@miniwhiffy3465]

eh?

[@venomouswyverns8819]

so its clear you didnt pay atttention to how bakugo actually is until season 3 ep 23 huh? no disrespect your not the only one, but bakugo while yes is a prodigy was no way complicit in his abilities, its shown that he put 110% into everything he does and was much more intelligent than most watchers gave him credit for, his freakout was that 110% wasnt the gold star like he thought but the standard for high profile UA and seeing people who he knew outclassed him was more than his ego could take at the time, but he still bounced back dont think he should lead the story or nothing but hes a much more interesting and complex character than people give him credit for and that starts WAAAAY before season 3 btw deku is an amazing character and as a crier myself no matter what the emotion i really relate to the greenette so thanks for defending the boy

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Bakugo did have to work to where he was, but a major part of his earlier character was believing he was the best. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t smart and talented to begin with, simply that he had to alter how he thought and approached things. I never claimed his change came at the end of season 3. This was an immediate wake up call from as early as episode 5.

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

I do agree though, people are way too prepared to lift one at the expense of the other. What makes Deku and Bakugo interesting is how they’ve been growing and leading together. Even if they weren’t always doing it side by side

[@venomouswyverns8819]

​@@animatedstorytelling1996 no yeah 110% he thought he was the best and his efforts were gonna shoe him in, his reality check was needed and early, and about the season 3 bit was just kinda words for words sake as it wasnt important WHEN just that nuances of his early charactization seems to elude you (like 96% of the fanbase) nothing wrong with that but it needed to be pointed out, tbh ive only seen like one person truly understand bakugo from begining to end at least on the yt side of things (though i never actively looked for anyone else ive never saw any either)

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

Got ya!

[@kevonenoch]

I think deku is a bad protagonist and his friends are too much when deku wanted to go solo we get see him get his solo fights then his friends ruin it and a waste considering he is animes spider man who fights villains by himself

[@ImchautzuCHAUTZU]

Not a huge MHA fan He's not the BEST protagonist ever but far from the worst.

[@whyhellothair425]

Not gonna lie if I thought anyone would take the role of protagonist from Deku I thought it would be Red Riot cause he is basically Deku but Actually interesting character wise

[@animatedstorytelling1996]

That’s a different one. Can’t say I’ve seen Kirishima suggested before. I think it really goes to show how interesting the supporting cast is though.

[@lionsenkei1621]

Hes ok just ok. My hero is ass

[@DemonbotX]

Deku is basically the same as Goku, he works hard to be stronger and master his abilities, if you want to say deku steals techniques from his classmates, don't say Goku doesn't, Goku doesn't have a single technique to himself, but no one mentions anything about that, kamahama, solar flare, kioken, spirit bomb, goku steals, and what about Naruto, he literally stole his first technique, shadow clone jitsu, deku is just the best, he's smart and strong, he cries a lot so, he's emotional

[@BoscoSal-ao]

Bakugou is a better protagonist than deku😂