Chapter 1

Izuku Midoriya: Origin (：オリジン) is the first chapter of Kohei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia.

Summary
The chapter begins with a flashback: a young Izuku Midoriya stands up to Katsuki Bakugo, in order to defend another child from being bullied. Katsuki mocks him for being Quirkless and attempting to play hero.

Back to present time, a now 14-year-old Izuku watches heroes battle an enormous villain. A brief prologue is then shown: one day in Keikei City, China, a luminescent baby was born with a unique power. Then, as time passed, similar phenomena happened all over the world, and soon the majority of the population had obtained superhuman powers—known as "Quirks". Due to that, people were able to pursue heroism as a profession.

Kamui Woods is shown battling the villain while a crowd watches. Izuku approaches them, wondering who is fighting. Kamui states that the villain used his Quirk for illegal purposes, and uses Lacquered Chains Prison on him to stop his movement.

However, Mt. Lady shows up, using Canyon Cannon on the enemy to defeat him. Several people start photographing the heroine as she declares that today is her debut and asks for the rest to be left up to her. Izuku starts rapidly taking notes, and a man wonders if he is aiming to be a hero, wishing him good luck, to which Izuku happily answers that he will do his best. At Izuku's middle school, a teacher scolds the class, telling them it is time they think about their futures. He says he will hand out the printouts on the students' desired life-course, but knows they all want to be heroes. As the class starts using their Quirks, he reminds them they are not allowed to use them during school hours.

Katsuki tells the teacher not to group him with everyone else because his Quirk is stronger. His classmates yell at him for that, but Katsuki tells them to shut up, and they remember he is aiming for U.A. High School. As the students comment about the difficulty of the exam, Katsuki declares he aced the mock exam and intends to surpass even All Might as the top hero, but is interrupted by someone mentioning that Izuku also wanted to go to U.A. High. The whole class then turns to face Izuku, erupting in laughter moments later.

Izuku's classmates say there is no way he will be able to get into the hero course if all he can do is study. Izuku attempts to defend himself, but Katsuki aims an explosion at him, saying that Izuku should not put himself in the same level as him since he does not have a Quirk. Izuku explains that he is not trying to compete with Katsuki, and is only trying to follow the dream he had since childhood because he will not know if he can accomplish it if he does not try. Katsuki says that the exam is impossible for him, as the whole class looks down on Izuku, snickering.

Elsewhere, a villain is on the loose. As a crowd nearby watches him run away, a person comments that there is no end to this kind of people. All Might then answers that there indeed is an end to them because he is there.

Back at the middle school, Izuku picks up his notebook while reading about an incident in his phone, but as he gets ready to get home and take notes, Katsuki approaches and destroys the notebook with his Quirk. He then throws it out the window and tells Izuku, who does not reply to his taunts, to give up on U.A. and dive off the rooftop. As Izuku picks up his notebook, he remembers an incident from his childhood: watching a video of All Might making his debut as a hero, saving over 100 people. Izuku said he wants to be just like him, but was later told by a doctor to give up: he has two joints in his pinky toe, which shows that he is Quirkless. Later that day, Izuku watched the video again, crying, and asked his mother if he could still be a hero like All Might, to which she teary apologized.

Izuku is then attacked by the runaway villain shown before while walking home. He fears for his life but is saved by All Might, fainting shortly after. Once Izuku wakes up, he is shocked to see his idol right in front of him. He asks for his autograph but sees it is already on his notebook. After seeing Izuku is safe, All Might starts leaving, but Izuku grabs onto his leg and ends up flying with him.

Elsewhere, Katsuki's friends comment that he may have gone too far bullying Izuku this time, to which he replies that it is the boy's fault. While they are talking, Katsuki is attacked by the same villain that attacked Izuku.

Atop a building, Izuku asks All Might if someone who does not have a Quirk could also be a hero like him. As Izuku explains his ambitions, All Might reaches his limit and goes back to his normal form. Izuku is shocked to see his true form, and All Might shows him a wound he received five years before, and gives the boy a lecture on the responsibilities of a pro hero: a pro must always be ready to risk his or her life, and so he cannot tell Izuku he can do it even while being Quirkless. As he takes the stairs down the rooftop, he notices that the hero he had captured is missing and that there are explosions in another area of the city.

In the area where the explosions are happening, heroes are trying to fight the villain who has taken over Katsuki's body, but to no avail. All Might watches, scolding himself for wasting time and now being unable to fight. Izuku thinks about All Might's words while walking down the street, and approaches the crowd watching the explosions. He notices it is the villain All Might saved him from and realizes it must be his fault the hero is now unable to save the new victim, mentally apologizing. However, as he makes eye contact with Katsuki, he rushes to his rescue while the other heroes attempt to stop him. Izuku remembers his notes and attempts to fight the villain, throwing his bag at him. Katsuki asks why he is there, and Izuku answers that it is because Katsuki's eyes were pleading for help. As the villain attempts to attack Izuku back, All Might protects him, admitting he scolded the boy for something he had not done himself: risk his life in order to save other people, as a Pro Hero. All Might then defeats the enemy with Detroit Smash.

Later, the heroes scold Izuku for risking his life and praise Katsuki for fighting back. Katsuki goes after Izuku and tells him that he never asked to be saved and that Izuku should not look down on him. Then, All Might meets Izuku again and says that the boy was the one who made the difference in the previous situation, despite being Quirkless, and that he did the same thing other top heroes had done before: moving before he could even think in order to save another person. At last, he tells a crying Izuku that he can become a hero.

Chapter Notes

 * This is the first chapter in the series, as well as the first chapter in the Entrance Exam Arc.
 * Izuku is still in middle school and desires to go to U.A. High School despite being Quirkless.
 * Inko and Hisashi Midoriya's Quirks are introduced.
 * Izuku meets All Might in person for the first time.
 * All Might defeats the Sludge Villain.
 * After witnessing Izuku's bravery and lack of hesitation in trying to save Katsuki despite having no Quirk causes All Might to tell Izuku that he too can become a hero which leaves the boy in tears.

Trivia

 * In the chapter, silhouettes of various well known American and Japanese superheroes are seen, with some of the more prominent being, , , , and . The other two superheroes are , and.
 * Tatouin Station (田等院駅) comes from.
 * Aldera Junior High School (折寺中学校) comes from.
 * This chapter is the longest in the entire series, covering a total of 51 pages compared to the average of around 15-20 pages per chapter.

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