This is one of the most popular shounen heroes of all time, and yet for some reason no one
seems to understand why.
So in this video I'm gonna explain exactly what makes Izuku such a fantastic protagonist.
Midoriya, or as his kind and not at all abusive childhood-friend Bakugo called him, Deku,
a nickname for someone who can't do anything, is a surprisingly controversial main character
for many people.
While he ticks of an impressive number of Shounen tropes, like his unique power, his
tragic childhood or his constant strive to up his abilities, Deku also gives of a way
more vulnerable, insecure and feminine vibe than most typical shounen heroes, even though
all, or at least most of them, share similar insecurities.
Deku however, despite wielding the strongest quirk in the story, is surprisingly open about
these insecurities, as well as his emotions and his generally empathetic nature.
And it's this twist on the stereotypical hard-boiled, tough guy protagonist who buries all negative
thoughts and emotions deep within himself, that seems to give Midoriya a bad reputation
with some anime and manga fans.
And yet, it's exactly this openness about his own feelings and weaknesses, that make
Deku and his journey to becoming the greatest hero of all time a story that is more than
worth following along.
It's a story about growth, both on a personal level AND on the level of society, making
Boku no hero way more complex and deep than it appears to be on the surface.
And so, to understand what makes Deku a fantastic main character, we will look at his personality
and story arc, his major flaw as a character as well as his relationships with Bakugo and
Tomura and how both shape the story around him.
This is the story of Midoriya Izuku.
The first thing you need to do, if you want to understand any character in a story, is
figure out what the central theme, the central moral argument of said story is, that the
author tries to convey through the characters and the plot.
What's the take home message, when we are done?
In the case of Boku no Hero hero, after over 300 chapters, it is quite clear, that the
central moral question that Horikoshi is exploring, is both surprisingly basic and complex at
the same time: What does it mean to be a great hero?
Duh.
But this question implies a lot more than you might think.
Because the story explores this problem, by contrasting two polar viewpoints, individualism
and collectivism.
In other words, what does it mean to be a great hero on a personal level and what does
it mean to be a great hero from the viewpoint of society.
Right from the start, we are told that Midoriya wants to become the greatest hero, that saves
everybody.
A statement, so vague and so shounen, that I'm 95% sure Hirokoshi chose it on purpose,
so he could put his own twists on it.
At the same time, We get introduced to this society, that similarly seems to be as straightforward
and simple as it gets: The peaceful citizens are protected by the good heroes from the
bad villains, paining this quirk society as a peaceful utopia, only that everyone has
superpowers.
And despite everyone having a unique superpower, this society is normal.
When everyone's special, no one is special.
And when you think about it for a second, the wording Horikoshi chose here is also very
clever.
a story about heroes and villains, sets our expectations for these groups as starkly as
humanly possible, especially as in the first couple of arcs, both groups fulfill these
expectations perfectly.
Villains do bad things and the heroes stop them to save and protect everyone.
And yet it doesn't take all too long, until you realize that this initial black and white
view of the Boku No hero world, is not reality, but we are literally sharing Midoriya's faulty
worldview for a large part of the story.
Midoriya thinks that being a great hero, means saving people being assaulted by bad villains,
that cause all the pain and suffering in this otherwise perfect society.
His major flaw as a character is his fanatic idealization of the hero world, that is projected
on the number one hero all might, that Midoriya almost worships like a god.
So, why exactly does Deku think that way?
While in general, society itself seems to propagate this simplified image of good and
evil as well, the deeper answer can be found with the Deuteragonist of the story.
Deku has endured verbal and physical abuse from Bakugo for over 10 years.
He's 15 now, that means for over 2 thirds of his life.
In this society that is shaped and defined by quirks and that lives under the guard of
the hero profession, Deku is one of the rare cases where a quirk has not manifested.
In other words, he's a normal human being, like you and me.
*Which makes him relatable* Only that in this society of superpowers, this makes him the
true outcast.
Being a very kind-hearted and altruistic person by nature, that wants to help people, having
no quirk put so much distance between him and his dream of becoming a hero, that Deku
had no other choice but to either completely idolize or detest them.
The fact that Bakugo kept treating him like a piece of trash for not owning a quirk, manifested
such a strong sense of low self-worth and insecurity within him, that when he finally
got the chance to become a hero against all odds, he embraced this one thing he always
wanted as all good and all powerful, completely incapable of seeing it's flaws.
Even after Bakugo stopped constantly picking on Deku, you still see him twitching and stuttering
whenever he is around him, again and again taking away from the confidence that Midoriya
slowly builds over time by mastering one for all and fighting for and with his friends.
I believe this is quite often overlooked, but as he says himself in this panel here,
Midoriya truly hates Bakugo.
He admires him, ever since they were young, yes.
But he hates him for the way he treated him.
And it is the low sense of self-worth that Bakugo beat into him over and over and over
and over, that makes Deku blind to the reality around him, idolizing the hero profession
so much, that he keeps putting his health and life on the line to such an absolutly
ridiculous and unhealthy extend that it quickly becomes worrying to everyone around him.
And so, while the impulsive and egocentric Bakugo has to learn to be more considerate
of others, something that I will discuss in detail in his analysis, the neurotic and altruistic
Midoriya has to learn to respect himself more and make harder decisions, in order to actually
be able to save others.
A great example of this insight beginning to dawn on him, is when Izuku can't save Bakugo,
as he has already sacrificed both his arms.
For the longest time, proving himself to be worthy of inheriting one for all and becoming
a hero is more important to him than his own well-being, even if it means being less effective
and useful.
Now, while Midoria's need for self-realization and maturity is quite evident early on, the
story takes a while to reveal the other aspect of Midoria's flaw, the ambiguous and dark
side of the hero society.
However more and more, you learn that this world, where good heroes save the innocent
citizens from the evil villains is a lot more morally gray and complex, than you originally
thought.
As so often is the case with apparent utopias in stories, it turns out, that it's the hero
society itself that produces its villains in the first place, as, big surprise, most
people aren't born evil, but become who they are as the result of their circumstances.
Yes there is also some exploration of the concepts nature vs. nurture in boku no hero,
but primarily, Horikoshi focuses on external circumstances.
Exploring what makes people into villains, is a major aspect of the story, that is explored
in a number of ways, going as far as making the villains the main characters of certain
story arcs.
And the central symbol for this all, is none other than Shigaraki Tomura, the anti Deku,
whom we follow on HIS path to becoming the strongest villain.
Firstly, we understand that in this society of quirks, there are two very fundamental
flaws.
Both of them are explored over and over again.
The first of these is the notion that people with destructive or dangerous quirks are treated
as outcasts and incompatible with society.
This of course is a pretty straightforward metaphor for general racism in the real world.
Discrimination based on physical attributes, one has absolutely no control over.
No matter if it's Tomura, Dabi or Twice, at some point we get that these people don'T
have terrible quirks because they are villains, no, they are villains because they have horrible
quirks.
A fantastic example for this is Eri, who mirrors Tomura's story almost completely with the
exception that the heroes actually end up saving her, as they failed to do with Tomura.
The second flaw of the hero society is that the profession of heroes, that is far beyond
all good and noble, additionally has eradicated the common sense of compassion and altruism
in the society at large.
This point is especially pronounced in Tomura's backstory.
Instead of helping the lost child, people simply assume that some heroes will do the
job, not bothering to do anything themselves.
Thus ultimately, it's the society of heroes themselves that creates most of these villains,
by failing to do what Midoriya idealizes about them, saving everyone.
This is interesting, because Midoriya and Tomura of course mirror each other extremely
closely, with Deku himself being a victim of discrimination and neglect, only that he
gets taken in by the hero all might, while Tomura gets taken in by One for all.
Don't forget that Tomura wanted to be a hero too.
And yet Midoriya is only starting to recognize very very slowly, this truth about the world,
that the society of heroes that he has thought to be perfect, is not so perfect after all.
And that brings me to Deku's character arc, and what actually makes him a true hero, even
if it takes quite a while in the story to get there.
The payoff however is just the better.
As a result of these two character flaws, no self worth and blinding idealization of
the hero world, what emerges only very slowly, but very clearly throughout the story, is
that Midoriya's arc is about understanding the complexity and faults of society while
at the same time growing past his personal flaws to truly become a hero that can save
everyone, even, no, especially someone as apparently un-redeemable as Tomura, who by
mere chance was forced to take the path opposite to Izuku.
And this arc is in full progress now.
Especially in his more recent encounters with Tomura, Midoriya is starting to to see the
world for what it is, yes heroes help and are important to keep the balance in a world
full of dangerous superpowers, but the system is neither perfect nor unfailable.
Similarly he is starting to grow as a person, as with the mastering of his abilities and
all the set-backs he had from going over-board with his self-sacrificial attitude, he has
started to mature, fight smarter, thinks about himself more and overall starts to form his
own opinions and believes about what it means to be good hero.
This slow emancipation from all might and the other heroes he always admired is important.
Imitation is a strong theme within the story.
Over and over, we are shown that trying to be exactly like someone always leads to tragedy
and failure.
Instead, Horikoshi promotes the idea, that taking inspiration from those you admire is
great, as long as you walk your own path and find your own way of doing things.
We see this with Iida, who tries to be like his brother, Todoroki and his mother, Twice
and his clones and of course Deku and Bakugo who both try to imitate their respective ideal
of all might.
No matter which of the the countless examples you take, they always end in failure.
Imitating someone else, brings suffering, not
self-realization.
Ironically enough, it is Deku's incredibly pure and straightforward character, that changes
the mind of many of these people, Iida, Todoroki, ect.
And finally, Deku also starts to realize this more and more.
All might wasn't perfect, as he also couldn't save everyone.
Instead Deku starts going his own path, unlocking new powers of one for all, while realizing,
that saving everyone also includes those that the current society has abandoned.
The kick off to this development is this moment here, where Midoriya realizes that instead
of punching like all might, it might suit him way better to kick.
And so, in the end, it's Deku's genuine goodness and desire to help others and improve the
life of those around him, his immeasurable courage and ability to change the hearts of
those around him, that make him a true hero.
And while it might be frustrating at first to follow him as a protagonist who starts
form a very negative point on his character arc, the more the story and Deku progress,