Keigo Takami

Keigo Takami, also known as Wing Hero: Hawks (ウィングヒーロー ホークス), is the former No. 3 and current No. 2 Pro Hero.

Appearance
Keigo is a man of average height with a slim and narrow build. He himself has pointed out that his back muscles are not broad enough (though this is more of a metaphor portraying his lack of ability to lead and provide stability). He has feathery, ash blond hair that is swept messily backward, with some of the front tufts sticking up in arcs above his head. His eyebrows are notably thick, having a similar appearance to his hair, and he has faint stubble on his chin.

His eyes are golden-brown and rather triangular, with two small black triangles just below his tear ducts and in the top corners of his eyes, making them resemble those of a bird. The marks around his eyes are natural, as it is shown that he already had them as a child. His Quirk grants him a set of large, bright red feathered wings. Although the sizing of his wings is somewhat inconsistent, they are mostly shown to reach over his head when folded.

His hero costume resembles an aviator's uniform; he wears a black shirt with a wavy golden pattern, over which he has a tan jacket with a high collar, the insides and cuffs of the sleeves lined with white fur, and black gloves. He has a red square-shaped lobe piercing in each ear, although these are rarely visible as he usually wears a pair of yellow headphones over them. His headphones most likely have protection purposes, since the velocities in which he moves are capable of damaging eardrums beyond repair. A rounded, yellow-tinted (blue in the manga) visor protects his eyes, presumably from UV radiation above the clouds and dirt particles at high speeds. His jacket is specially modified, with two large slits over his shoulder blades to accommodate his wings.

After the Paranormal Liberation War, and following several injuries given by Dabi, Keigo momentarily wore a respirator mask device and communicated with a voice simulator through his phone due to his vocal cords being injured and his wings burned off.

As of the Dark Hero Arc, he's recovered from his wounds, as well as his vocal cords, but his wings are yet to be fully restored. His hair is also cut much shorter. While the left side of his face has a jagged scar from his cheek to his neck.

By the time of the Final War Arc, Keigo now wears prosthetics on his wings, so that he can try to reach his previous high speeds, as Recovery Girl's Heal Quirk was unable to properly restore them. He also has several katana, which he uses in place of his since-burnt feather blades.

Personality
Keigo is shown to be highly intelligent, both emotionally and logistically. He promotes a carefree and jovial attitude, while his constant vigilance often hides under layers of serenity and equanimity. Keigo acts laid-back while being on constant alert, usually speaking his mind and coming off as quite rude at times.

Keigo follows the orders of the Hero Public Safety Commission without hesitation, but with subliminal cynicism. Nevertheless, Keigo dislikes formalities, often acting unpredictably while being cocky and taunting. He acts nonchalant and jokingly submissive since he does not care about social status or recognition. Keigo uses a lot of sarcasm such as when he agrees serenely when Katsuki Bakugo claims to have been faster, and he reacts with ironic adaptation when someone claims him to be lesser.

Keigo believes that popular approval is the most important metric a Pro Hero should be judged for since it is the task of a hero to put the citizens at ease - something that he claims he's unable to do. Keigo shows a preference for the lower hero ranks as it would allow him more freedom and avoid the burdens of being a top hero. He states his wish is to patrol in a free, leisurely fashion and "take it easy."

Still, Keigo is said to be ferocious in regards to his Pro Hero duties, understanding the importance of a leader figure among all heroes after All Might's retirement. When around others he likes, Keigo is very talkative and can have a prolonged one-sided conversation casually while helping dozens of civilians simultaneously in his area of influence. He also claims that he will always strive for what he longs for.

Keigo's cunning has been shown multiple times as he outsmarts his surveillance monitors, as well as planning his actions ahead in order to have explanations for the Hood incident. He is rational and more far-sighted than other Pro Heroes, allowing him the best chances to go undercover. He has also demonstrated his intelligence through his investigative work, being quickly able to deduce the truth behind One For All and its connection to All Might and Izuku Midoriya. He was then able to use his analytical skills to try to better understand One For All and All For One, being the one to theorize All For One could never steal the Quirk because he lacks any semblance of hatred required to take it.

He appears relaxed in situations of great pressure, such as during the Japanese Hero Billboard Chart. Keigo's gestures are lively, expressive, and highly personalized, as he always wants to get his voice across. He claims to be "bad at keeping it in," even though he possesses complete control over his facial expressions and body language, which makes him an extremely skilled liar. But apparently, he adores the truth, finding lying to be too much work. These traits allowed him to easily work his way into the Paranormal Liberation Front, and the slight change of motivation expertly conveyed to Endeavor the information about the Front's aims and change of leadership.

While Keigo may seem uninterested in most things, he has a good heart, as he saves every single witness from Hood's attack and is silently disgusted at the strain of maintaining his duty-act as a double agent amidst a cabal of villains and terrorists. He also feels guilty about Endeavor's scar, having coaxed the High-End attack into a contained area to reduce casualties.

While he seems relaxed and under-challenged as typical of most prodigies, he is in fact hard-working and under constant pressure with his hero career. It is proclaimed that he trained endlessly to maximize the techniques in which he uses his wings, refining his rescue, support, and combat abilities.

In his childhood, his father, Takami, would force him to stay locked up in the house to ensure no one could discover and capture him, and he was unable to interact with the outside world or anyone his age. Because of this, he initially believed that the heroes he saw on television were just fictional characters. Furthermore, he was subjected to constant physical and emotional abuse by his father. Keigo would be kicked simply for turning his back to his father, who would constantly say how it would've been better if Keigo was never born. Seeing how broken both of his parents were, Keigo held in his emotions and became determined not to endure the same fate.

After his father was arrested by Endeavor, Keigo realized that heroes are indeed real, and his hope was reinvigorated after being freed from his father's abuse. Even in his youth, Keigo showed remarkable inner strength and intelligence, as despite the emotional torment caused by both his parents, he was still firm in his resolve to be a good hero like Endeavor. Keigo displayed his ingenuity and strength when he and his mother were forced out onto the streets, and after being put down by his mother asking why she even had Keigo or what good his wings were, he became determined to be useful. He intervened in a high-speed automobile crash, saving the lives of many people and garnering the attention of the Hero Public Safety Commission, saving both him and his mother from their life of poverty.

Despite his troubled past and him being taken in by a corrupted government who saw him as a mere replacement for Lady Nagant, Hawks was determined to strive and become a hero like his idol, Endeavor. Through the years, he underwent a harsh training regimen by the HPSC to become an undercover double agent for the safety of society. By the time his training was complete, he still retained his optimism, unlike his superior. He also continued to look up to his idol even after Dabi's public recording (which exposed Endeavor's past of abusing his family). Keigo even went so far as to expose his own past for Endeavor's sake, believing that unlike his own father, Endeavor has truly changed for the better.

Keigo's optimistic side is what leads him to want to find the good in others, potentially due to his own personal guilt over never truly forgiving his mother, something he commends Shoto over after learning of his reconciliation with his mother. Alongside trusting Endeavor and witnessing his growth, as well as believing Lady Nagant still has the heart of a hero even after her turn to the dark side, the biggest example of his compassion was with Twice, who he managed to develop a genuine bond of friendship with (even while undercover). Having realized that Twice was truly a good person at heart, and feeling remorseful for exploiting his trust, Keigo held a genuine desire to help the villain rehabilitate, even if the plan ultimately failed.

Abilities
Overall Abilities: Keigo was ranked 3rd of Japan's Pro Heroes, before taking the spot of No. 2 after All Might's retirement. When he was eighteen years old, Keigo became one of the top 10 Pro Heroes before taking the No. 3 spot in the four years that followed, making him the youngest top Pro Hero as well as the fastest to reach such a high ranking in Japan. Fast and cunning, Keigo possesses incredible skill and finesse over his Quirk, Fierce Wings, which he primarily uses for flight, high-speed combat, and supporting his allies' mobility using detached feathers. Even as a child, Keigo demonstrated remarkable skill and prowess, being able to singlehandedly save multiple people in a huge car accident with the automobiles going at 130 km/h. In spite of his prowess, Keigo is aware of his Quirk’s weakness and will not exhaust his quills unless absolutely necessary. To compensate for his Quirk being unable to enhance his overall brute strength, Keigo employs his plumes as bladed weapons. Combined with his celerity, Keigo can rapidly slice through enemies or fire off smaller plumages from his wings like daggers. His overall Quirk proficiency allowed for Keigo to become both a top Pro Hero and one of the swiftest fighters in the world. In fact, Keigo subdues common criminals so quickly his subordinates only serve as clean-up, while Keigo moves on to his next target.

Without looking, Keigo utilized his feathers to save citizens and animals, as well as apprehend villains, all while holding a walking conversation with Endeavor. When Hood appeared and engaged Endeavor, Keigo was able to effectively evacuate 76 citizens from the collapsing skyscraper before proceeding to aid the Flame Hero against the High-End Nomu. These feats display Keigo's effectiveness at multi-tasking and awareness of his surroundings. Keigo's main strength however happens to be his extraordinary speed, which enabled him to keep pace with Hood, who completely outpaced Endeavor, a combatant with high reflexes. Come winter, Hawks travelled from the top of a skyscraper and apprehended two villains at such a high speed, Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo couldn't follow his movements. In the Final War against the villains, despite his wings been permanently crippled, Keigo was still selected to fight alongside Endeavor against All For One, and came extremely close to delivering a Killing Blow with the assistance of Fumikage Tokayami. Later, he still provided support that was crucial in helping the Flame Hero overwhelm him.

Keen Intellect: Keigo has repeatedly shown to be a highly ingenious individual. Even if he can not compete with Endeavor and/or All Might in terms of raw power, Keigo's intellect is extremely formidable, enhancing his value as a hero to the level of the two high-grade crime fighters. Keigo is observant, collected, and quick-thinking in his verbal confrontations with Dabi and Endeavor. Keigo controlled a large number of feathers simultaneously without looking, while performing a seemingly relaxed conversation, making it appear that he is oblivious to the conflicts around him. During a sit-down with Endeavor, Keigo postulated that All For One was hiding more Nomus outside of Kamino than the ones that were found at the Nomu factory by the Hideout Raid Team, concluding that the League of Villains were searching for the hidden set of Nomus. Later on, during the attack by the High-End Nomu, Hood, Keigo took proper safety precautions whilst vacating the citizens housed inside of the crumbling building. Knowing he wouldn't be able to secure everyone with the minimal plumes he had left, he shifted his focus to those trapped within the damaged portion of the structure, which proved a success. When Endeavor had Keigo use his remaining quills to impel him further into the sky, Keigo realized that it was part of Endeavor's plan to avoid collateral damage.

After Endeavor defeated Twice's League of Villains Doubles, Keigo examined the demolished convoy, identified the container being a life support device, and assumed it was housing another Nomu creature, only to immediately redact his assumption, believing the containment unit was meant to hold something else. His presumption was correct as the life support pod was created for the villain Nine. Over the course of the next week, Keigo was informed that four Pro Heroes had lost their Quirks during that time, and accurately conjectured that victims' powers were stolen by someone with the same Quirk-stealing ability as All For One, and the victims were targeted due to their Quirks being useful. Keigo was even capable of gathering various sensitive information about the politics within the HPSC (without their knowledge) and even tricked the surveillance of the Paranormal Liberation Front, all while maintaining his façade.

Quirk
Fierce Wings: Keigo's Quirk grants him a pair of large, bright red, feathery wings on his back. These wings allow him to fly, and he can telekinetically control the movement and nature of each individual feather with ease, enabling him to harden them into a blade-like state and/or shoot them as projectiles, as well as control their speed and trajectory.

The feathers are considerably strong; with just a single feather he is capable of carrying a medium-sized object, such as a rock or a human being, and he can carry larger objects by using multiple feathers. With his many feathers, he is easily able to carry multiple loads at once. He can also feel the vibrations in the air through them in a manner similar to echolocation, allowing him to sense people's locations.

As Keigo sheds more feathers, his wings gradually shrink, impairing his ability to fly. When he loses all his feathers, it takes at least two days for them to grow halfway back, which can be a considerable drawback. His feathers are not of infinite quantity and prove to be lacking in abundance during certain occasions. Keigo has mentioned that he does not have enough feathers to hold up a collapsing building, but does have enough to evacuate the victims from said building. Aside from the limited feather quantity, the biggest weakness of Fierce Wings is fire, as it can burn Keigo's feathers, severely impairing his mobility.
 * Feather Blades: Keigo plucks out two primary feathers from each of his wings, manipulates their nature, and uses them as swords to cut through his target. They are sharp enough to slice through two white Nomu summoned by High-End. It is also shown that he threatens Dabi with a single feather blade after the attack.
 * Enhanced Sight: Keigo has a very acute sense of sight. From the top of a skyscraper, Keigo was able to spot Endeavor between hundreds of citizens, which implies he has incredibly sharp vision.
 * Enhanced Speed: By his own admission, Keigo's strong side isn't muscle strength but his extraordinary speed. He was able to reach Endeavor's attackers from the top of a skyscraper effortlessly in the blink of an eye, which implies that he can reach much higher speeds. Keigo solves most fights so quickly that his sidekicks can't keep up with him, so he usually just leaves the aftermaths of his battles to them while he rushes to the next case.
 * Vocal Espionage: Keigo is able to use individual feathers to distinguish sounds from the second it changes in the air, allowing him to decode conversations and vocal information by sensing the vibrations. Especially after leaving the room or increasing the distance, this technique makes him a dangerous spy.

Ultimate Moves

 * Soundwave Vibration-Enhanced Flight Feather Blade: Taking advantage of Kyoka Jiro's Legato, Keigo flies around and hits his opponent with a blade. First used against All For One, it had enough power to break his reinforced life support helmet.

Equipment
Katana: Keigo possesses one katana, which is a replacement for his since-burnt feather blades. He uses the katana to attack in a similar way to the feather blades. He used to possess three before the first was destroyed when he attacked All For One's protective helmet, and the second was destroyed when it rebounded off of All For One's Hardflame Fan.

Chapter Appearances

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Anime Appearances

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Trivia

 * Hawks' given name is composed of the kanji for "disclose, open, say" (啓) and "enlightenment, understanding" (悟), and his surname contains "hawk" (鷹) and "see, visible, idea" (見).
 * Keigo's design is inspired by, a character from , one of Kohei Horikoshi's previous works.
 * Keigo himself was originally supposed to be Takahiro, as a transplanted character from Omagadoki Zoo akin to Uwabami and Kugo Sakamata, but that plan was discarded in favor of a new design.
 * Takahiro in his original design would later make a cameo appearance in My Hero Academia: Two Heroes.
 * Keigo's wings and overall appearance is similar to of the.
 * Although Keigo is bird-like, he seems to have a special liking for bird-based meals, making him a raptor. His favorite food is stated to be chicken.
 * Keigo didn't attend a Heroics course in high school; instead, he was scouted for private Hero education when he was a child.
 * Keigo is the first Pro Hero explicitly stated to have not attended U.A. High School, currently making him the highest-ranking hero to not attend U.A. High.
 * During an interview with Honyasan App, My Hero Academia's then current editor, Yoritomi, confessed that Hawks' backstory is based off 's childhood. He told the interviewer, "You might be familiar with the overseas soccer player Lionel Messi, but his backstory is that at a young age he was scouted by Barcelona and joined. His father had lost his job and couldn’t afford the hormone medical treatment Messi needed for his illness, but thanks to his talent for soccer FC Barcelona agreed to cover the medical expenses for them. In exchange for receiving that money, Messi had to agree to live in Spain and only play soccer from a very young age. During the World Cup I told that story to Mr. Horikoshi. The next week, or maybe the week after that, Hawks' story was born."
 * Keigo holds the record for the youngest Pro Hero, as well as the fastest for a Pro Hero to become one of the top 10 Pro Heroes on the Hero Billboard Chart JP.
 * He ranks 2nd in both the overall Hero rankings and in the Hero popularity rankings.
 * Keigo's ratings in the Popularity Polls are as follow:
 * Ranked 4th in the fourth Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 11th in the fifth Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 7th in the sixth Popularity Poll.
 * Ranked 5th in the seventh Popularity Poll.
 * Keigo's English voice actor, Zeno Robinson, also voices Deidoro Sakaki.
 * Keigo's English voice actress as a child, Emi Lo, also voices Lala Soul.
 * In the English dub, the text-to-voice app for Hawks is voiced by Comona Lewin.

Quotes

 * (To Endeavor) "I just wanna enjoy myself. Seriously. Do some leisurely patrolling, put in a few appearances, say "Aw shucks, no trouble today," and get a good night's sleep! That's my ideal life! I wanna make this world one where heroes have time to kill."
 * (To the HPSC) "If dirtying my hands can somehow bring everyone peace of mind, I'll gladly take on this task."
 * ''"I'm Hawks. The man who's a bit too fast. A society where heroes can enjoy a little boredom... I'll make it happen, I promise, at my trademark top speed."
 * (To Fumikage Tokoyami) "I'm not especially interested in nurturing the next generation or anything, but... It’s great that you’re putting in effort to cover your weak points, like short-distance combat, but you shouldn’t neglect improving on your strong points either. You're capable of moving much more freely. Look... take it from a fellow bird. If you’ve got wings, you should stretch them out and fly. There’s no need for you to be confined to the ground."
 * (To Twice) "I'll help you get back on your feet... You were dealt a bad hand, but you can atone for your deeds and start over. Because you're a good person."
 * (To Best Jeanist) "When a person’s backed into a corner or when they’re truly free... that’s when they show their true nature. That’s why I think Bubaigawara was a decent guy... who was just desperate to be help and I feel... the same way."

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