Izuku Midoriya

Izuku Midoriya, also known as Deku (デク), is the main protagonist of My Hero Academia.

Though born without a Quirk, he manages to catch the attention of the legendary hero All Might due to his innate heroism and has since become his close pupil as well as a student in Class 1-A at U.A. High School. All Might passed on his Quirk to Izuku, making him the ninth holder of One For All.

Appearance
Izuku is small for his age, his round face framed by a short mess of fluffy dark green hair which sticks up at odd angles around his head, casting noticeably dark shadows onto itself. His eyes are large and somewhat circular, their irises the same green color as his hair, and are usually stretched quite wide, giving him an innocent appearance. He has a set of four symmetrical freckles in diamond formations, one on each cheek, but despite these prominent traits, he is often described as being plain-looking.

Though he was initially very skinny, Izuku has gained an array of toned muscles after his ten months of extensive training with All Might, and as the series progresses these are shown to become more developed and defined as he gradually grows stronger.

After his fight with Shoto Todoroki, the fingers on his right hand became slightly deformed, and his hand shows scarring. His right arm was further damaged after his fight with Muscular, leaving various other scars all over it. Following his recovery after said fight, Izuku wears a compression sleeve on his right arm in order to support the heavy damage it sustained.

During his days, he wore a plain black  uniform with yellow buttons, accompanied by white sneakers. While at home, he wears a green over a white shirt and grey sweatpants.

At U.A., he wears the standard male uniform: a light gray blazer with dark turquoise trimmings over a white dress shirt and dress pants, along with a red tie which he doesn’t do up properly, leaving it much shorter than it should be. Instead of the plain brown shoes worn by the majority of the student body, he usually wears oversized red boots with thick white soles, laced up to the top.

Izuku's original hero costume is a green full-body jumpsuit with a red belt, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves, along with his signature red boots. He also wears a mask with long ear-like protrusions that resembles All Might's haircut, and a respirator with a smile on it that also reflects this said hero's. The costume is severely damaged as a result of his fight with Katsuki Bakugo, and has to be repaired, meaning that during the U.S.J. Arc and Save! Rescue Training, he has to wear the U.A. gym uniform. This consists of a dark blue high-collared tracksuit with thick white lines over his torso and down his legs, forming the letters “U” and “A”, and along with this, a respirator.

The second hero costume has a few changes, and now looks sturdier and more combat-ready in appearance. The knee pads have been extended to his legs and reach up to his thighs, and his new gloves are tinted beige, and are decorated with blue stripes. His respirator is now metal, diamond-shaped, and has eight holes. Izuku goes without a mask in his second suit.

During the Provisional Hero License Arc, Izuku had his costume upgraded again to suit his Shoot Style, by adding iron soles to his red boots to increase the power of his kicks. Arm braces were added, and his knee pads now have yellow bolts fastened into them (they were originally added in his second costume in the manga). Sometime later, just before the School Festival, Mei Hatsume creates support gloves to better help him use his powers for long-range attacks.

Following the Joint Training Arc, Izuku adds the gloves to his hero costume and uses them in combat.

Personality
Izuku is a very timid, helpful, and polite boy, frequently overreacting to abnormal situations with exaggerated expressions. Due to being bullied for lacking a Quirk, he is initially portrayed as insecure, more reserved, and non-expressive. These traits are especially present around Katsuki Bakugo, who constantly subdued him for his aspirations to be a hero. However, after being accepted into U.A. High School, making new friends, and facing Katsuki during the Battle Trial Arc, Midoriya gradually turned into a more confident and brave person, eventually developing leadership skills.

Additionally, Izuku is a quite diligent and strong-willed student. His dream drove him to write down notes about everything he knows in regards to Hero's Quirks. Because of this practice, Izuku has developed a great analytical mind and can form complex battle plans in seconds, which factor in both his allies' and enemies’ Quirks. Izuku externalizes his observations through endless mumbling, a habit which annoys or scares his peers. Izuku often writes down his observations in a notebook he refers to as Hero Analysis for the Future.

Izuku is a caring person and never hesitates to rescue someone in danger, even if he knows that he is not strong enough to do it. Often, he does this on a whim, taking a more careless approach than the usual overthinking he goes through. Izuku often helps people with personal and emotional problems, even if it does not concern him, claiming that a Hero should meddle in other people's lives, though it could nonetheless lead him to be unduly meddlesome, annoying a few people he tried to help. Still, Izuku's heroic spirit is recognized by many, having earned the loyalty and gratitude of characters that were previously antagonistic to him such as Tenya Iida, Shoto Todoroki, Hitoshi Shinso, Kota Izumi, and leading him to be acknowledged as a true hero by Stain.

Of all Heroes, the Symbol of Peace has impacted Midoriya's life the most, seeing as how Midoriya models himself after the former Number One Hero. Many of Izuku's decisions and actions result from his desire to become a Hero similar to All Might, and thus he has a great devotion for him, to the point of collecting several pieces of various Merchandise related to the Hero and emulating several of his traits. Having inherited his Quirk, one of Izuku's current priorities is to be able to live up to his idol's legacy, as he is always looking for ways to improve his usage of One For All, being aware of the immense pressure that is succeeding the greatest Hero of all time.

Izuku appears to have a more brash and abrasive side to him. This typically shows up when he finds himself in combat. This side of him makes him act more like Katsuki, being rather loud and unwavering, and also with a strong drive towards victory. He claims that this is because he sees Katsuki as the embodiment of what someone who strives for victory should be. He has also admitted that he doesn't like this side of him very much and tends to keep it in check.

Abilities
Overall Abilities: Izuku’s greatest asset prior to receiving his Quirk was his vast knowledge of fundamental hero skills and tactics. Izuku studied pro heroes for years and is able to apply that knowledge during crisis situations in a practical manner. His immense bravery and desire to become a hero was also a key factor greatly in helping his ability to protect himself and others. Before gaining his Quirk from All Might, he took on the Sludge Villain and rescued Katsuki Bakugo because of his boldness and applications of heroic skills.

Having been trained by All Might for months in order to get his body physically ready to inherit One For All, he gained a muscular physique that allows him to perform at parameters higher than that of an average student outside U.A.'s hero course. After inheriting One For All from All Might, he was granted the ability to harness a stockpile of powerful energy. He could move faster than the eye can see and take down an enormous villain bot in a single punch. However, the physical backlash prevented Izuku from being able to fight properly or compete with his peers on an even playing field. Even so, he still possessed impressive physical durability, and his drive allowed him to withstand the drawbacks of One For All. Izuku's heroic traits, combined with his usage of One For All earns him 7th place in the U.A. Entrance Exam, having scored the most rescue points out any other applicant.

Despite the intense drawbacks of One For All, Izuku's wits allow him to use One For All in ways that are still effective in battle. He also retains his ability to act instinctively based on his notes and possesses basic hand to hand combat knowledge. This is shown when he is able to fight against Katsuki for a short time during the battle trial thanks to his knowledge and novice combat experience, even though Katsuki is the superiorly talented student. Even more impressively, he overwhelms Shoto Todoroki in single combat because the latter was only using his ice. Even with only using his right side, Shoto is the most promising student in Class 1-A at the time, but Izuku is able to force him to use his left side. When Shoto and Izuku battled and were about to have a final clash with their powers at their fullest, the collision would’ve either destroyed (most of) the U.A. Stadium, or killed them both, if not one of them. This was prevented thanks to the intervention of Cementoss and Midnight, signifying how powerful Shoto and Izuku are when fighting toe-to-toe.

Following his training with Gran Torino, Izuku gains more control over One For All and improves his overall fighting skills greatly. While using One For All: Full Cowl, Izuku gains greatly enhanced maneuverability, strength, and a reduction in the physical backlash using his Quirk creates. This allows him to compete more closely with his classmates in the physical aspects of the Hero Course and even allows him to fight properly against villains like the Hero Killer. By doing this, Izuku is recognized as one of stronger students of Class 1-A, as noted by Pixie-Bob. During his battle with Muscular, an A-Rank villain whose physical strength and Quirk allowed him to endure 100% of One For All's power, Izuku was also able to successfully defeat the villain by going beyond One For All at 100%. Izuku stated that the entire Bakugo Escort Squad (consisting of himself, Shoto, Katsuki, Fumikage Tokoyami, and Mezo Shoji) working together, have the potential to take on someone of All Might's caliber.

As his mastery over his Quirk improves, so do his practical skills. His bravery, resolve, and intelligence remain steadfast, pushing him to get stronger as well. Izuku eventually develops his own unique fighting style in order to separate himself from All Might. This further propels Izuku's skills to elite status. By their second fight, Izuku is able to fare much better against Katsuki. Even though Katsuki still holds the advantage in physical traits and wins, Izuku is able to injure him to some extent, showcasing his drastic improvement.

By the time of the U.A. School Festival, Izuku plays a key part in defeating several capable villains like Overhaul, and holds his own against members of the League of Villains. He is even able to best Gentle Criminal in battle on his own, even after the villain is empowered by La Brava's Quirk.

Keen Intellect: Izuku has proven to be exceptionally intelligent on many occasions, displaying both keen observation and analysis as well as adept intuition and resourcefulness. It is usually his intelligence that has helped him more than his Quirk. Izuku is able to formulate strategies that take advantage of the situation and uses his knowledge to creatively utilize the Quirks of other people to their full potential, such as distracting Katsuki in their first mock battle and working together with Tsuyu Asui and Minoru Mineta to escape the villains at the flood zone in the USJ. Izuku also has extensive knowledge on Pro Heroes, his classmates and their Quirks, as he takes note of them in great detail in his Hero Analysis for the Future. His great foresight in this manner has earned him the praise and shock of many. Izuku's intelligence has allowed him to figure out One For All's mechanisms, allowing him to utilize the Quirk more efficiently in a short span of time. Gran Torino even compliments Izuku's intelligence, saying that Izuku is the type of person who thinks before he acts. Izuku's intelligence is so vast that it allowed him to rank fourth in the academic exams, which showed that all of his training doesn't hinder his studies. During Provisional Hero License Exam Arc, Izuku also deduces the strategies of the schools and correctly figured they would come after his class first after seeing the U.A. Sports Festival. In his match against Mirio Togata, Izuku is able to predict the latter's movements and could have landed a blow on him if not for Mirio's Permeation Quirk. Despite him not scoring a hit, Izuku's deduction impressed Mirio. When fighting Overhaul, Izuku decides to use Eri's Quirk Rewind to his advantage and use One For All to 100%, since he knows she could rewind the damage.

High Pain Tolerance: Izuku has shown on many occasions that he is able to handle and bear with a lot of pain, such times are mostly due to the repercussions from over-using his Quirk. However, he can still manage to move his body despite feeling excruciating pain, which was seen in his fights with Muscular and Katsuki.

Quirk
One For All (ワン・フォー・オール): Given to him from Toshinori Yagi, or, as he’s more commonly referred to as, All Might, Izuku's Quirk gives him access to stockpiled power, granting him superhuman strength and greatly enhanced agility and mobility by spreading his power through his body.

Though he has yet to demonstrate superhuman speed, immense reflexes, and durability on the level of All Might, Izuku has shown to be able to properly control a small percentage of One For All's power, using it to enhance his strength, speed, and agility. If Izuku does not keep One For All below his current limit of 20%, his body can be immensely damaged by the force of his movements. Izuku has also displayed a type of mental connection to the previous users of One For All.

Recently, Izuku's reflexes and speed have improved with the use of One For All, being able to hold his ground against various incoming attacks during the Provisional License exam. Izuku's control of One For All has improved as his current maximum is 20% of One For All's power while in Full Cowl, at the time of U.A's School Festival.

The core of One For All, which was hidden within the stockpiled physical power of Izuku's predecessors, possessed the Quirk factors of the previous generations, and have merged with it, causing it to continuously grow inside of Izuku. Eventually Izuku will be able to manifest six other Quirks besides One For All itself. The known Quirks that Izuku has manifested so far are:
 * Blackwhip: The Quirk that had belonged to a bald One For All predecessor. It creates whips of black energy which can be used to grab objects from long distances, and can also allow the user to pull themself towards said objects.

Super Moves

 * Detroit Smash (デトロイトスマッシュ): The same as All Might's move, except Izuku does it in the form of an uppercut.
 * Delaware Smash (デラウエアスマッシュ): Izuku flicks his finger to create a powerful wind pressure shock wave that has enough force to break large chunks of ice. Due to using this attack at 100%, it fractures said finger, limiting the time he can use this move without gravely injuring himself up to ten times.
 * One For All: Full Cowl (ワン・フォー・オール フルカウル): Through his training with Gran Torino, Izuku was able to unlock this stage of his power and get better control of his Quirk. This technique allows Izuku to activate 20% (previously 5% which was then improved to 8%) of One For All throughout his body, letting the power course and flow through him instead of concentrating it in one location. According to Izuku, this technique gives him greater maneuverability. Activating this technique gives him enhanced strength, speed, mobility, and agility. It also prevents him from breaking his bones when attacking. The cost of using this technique reduces the damage of how much his attacks do since instead of centering the power into a certain area, Izuku spreads it throughout his body.
 * 5% Detroit Smash (5 パーセント デトロイトスマッシュ): Izuku activates One for All: Full Cowl at 5% then jumps into the air and delivers an enhanced downward punch to the opponent. He has also used this move in the form of a straight, forward facing punch.
 * Double Detroit Smash (ダブルデトロイトスマッシュ): Izuku and All Might combine their Detroit Smashes into a single, devastating charge. They performed this final attack against Wolfram, shattering through a humongous chunk of metal and causing a huge explosion that destroyed Izuku's Full Gauntlet.
 * Delaware Smash Air Force (デラウエアスマッシュエアフォース): Izuku uses his upgraded gloves that Mei Hatsume made for him to direct a blast of compressed air against his foe, possessing enough concussive force to stun Gentle while he was in mid-air, giving Izuku an opening to catch up to him. By using all five of his fingers, he can launch up to four Delaware Smashes simultaneously.
 * One For All - 30%: A technique that allows Izuku to use 30% of One For All throughout his body, giving him a higher boost in power and speed. This percentage was used in conjunction with Melissa Shield's Full Gauntlet, which nullified any drawbacks to using One For All at higher percentages. Because of this, it is unknown how this state affects Izuku's body under normal conditions. When using One For All - 30%, Izuku is able to effortlessly keep up with All Might.
 * One For All - 100%: A technique that allows Izuku to attack using the full power of One For All in the desired part of his body, with the cost of said body part breaking upon execution. Further usage of the same limb after an initial attack can cause scarring, as seen with his fights against Shoto (causing Izuku to get surgery on his right hand due to injuries) and Muscular (leaving multiple scars across his right arm).
 * 100% Detroit Smash (100% デトロイトスマッシュ): This move involves Izuku activating One For All at 100% in his arm and then striking his target with a lunging punch.
 * 1,000,000% Delaware Detroit Smash (1000000% デトロイトデラウエアスマッシュ): This move is the strongest smash move in Izuku's arsenal, which involves him activating One For All at 100% during an adrenaline rush and then striking his opponent with a full-swing attack. When performing the move Izuku first uses a full-handed Delaware Smash, then delivers a devastating Detroit Smash. During the climax of his battle with Muscular, Izuku not only managed to overpower but launch his augmented opponent with enough force to create an impact crater in solid rock with the strike alone, thus defeating him.
 * One For All: Full Cowl - Shoot Style (ワンフォーオール フルカウル シュートスタイル): While using One For All: Full Cowl, Izuku uses a fighting style that focuses more on kicking. Izuku concentrates One for All: Full Cowl's effects in his torso and legs rather than his arms, allowing him to put out even more power due to the fact that the human leg muscles are naturally stronger than the human arm muscles, granting him enough power and stability and allowing him to step away from the shackles of having to imitate All Might.
 * Shoot Style: St. Louis Smash (シュートスタイルセントルイススマッシュ) While using the Shoot Style, Izuku leaps into the air and before swinging around to deliver a roundhouse kick to the opponent's face. Izuku used this move to incapacitate Gentle Criminal, who had been empowered by La Brava's Lover Mode Quirk to match Izuku's use of One for All: Full Cowl at 8% of its power.
 * One For All: Full Cowl - 20%: Izuku uses 20% of One for All's full power and distributes it throughout his body, giving him an even greater power and speed boost. While it won't cause his bones to break, it does put immense strain on Izuku's body, causing him great pain to the point that it feels like his bones are on the verge of breaking.
 * Manchester Smash (マンチェスタースマッシュ): Izuku leaps into the air and flips forward to bring down an axe kick upon his opponent. Although Chisaki managed to dodge it, it pulverized the ground thoroughly enough that Chisaki wasn't able to completely retaliate with his Overhaul Quirk.
 * One For All: Full Cowl - 100% (ワン・フォー・オール フルカウル 100): Izuku activates One For All to its fullest extent throughout in Full Cowl, granting him a tremendous boost in speed and strength that allowed him to easily overwhelm the likes of Kai Chisaki. This was first used against Chisaki to protect Eri. The power increase seemingly gives him fire-like trails coming from his eyes and light colored hair. He can currently only use it infinitely with no damage done to his body while in physical contact with Eri. Since Eri has the ability to rewind the state of a person's body, any damage done to Izuku's body by using One For All at 100% would continually be undone by Eri's Quirk which proved useful in his fight with the villain.

Equipment

 * Costume Gamma (コスチューム): Following Izuku's decision to change his combat to Shoot Style, Mei Hatsume upgrades his second costume. New additions consist of improved arm bracers that span the length of Izuku's arm in order to prevent further damage to them and iron soles to increase his kicking power.
 * Iron Soles: Created by Mei Hatsume, the Iron Armor Soles attached to Izuku's signature red shoes. Upon kicking something, the soles absorb the impact and redistribute the kinetic energy back out to increase the impact strength of Izuku's kicks.
 * Air Force Gloves: Mei Hatsume gives Izuku a further upgrade to his costume with the addition of high tech support gloves. They allow Izuku to utilize pressurized air created by Full Cowl and use it as projectiles by flicking his finger.
 * Full Gauntlet (formerly): Created by Melissa Shield, it was given to Izuku after she figured out he was limiting his output of One For All during the faux villain course at I-Island Expo. The device allowed him to use his Quirk at higher percentages without the risk of self-injury. The gauntlet was later destroyed at the climax of Izuku and All Might's fight against Wolfram.

Trivia

 * Izuku was first planned to be an adult, as seen in the one-shot My Hero.
 * In the early concept stages of My Hero Academia, Izuku was known as "Mikumo Akatani". He had a longer and curlier hairdo, with bangs blocking one of his eyes. He was Quirkless in this concept, relying more on makeshift gadgets and luck to deal with obstacles. His hero costume was also slightly more intimidating. However, Horikoshi commented that he was unsatisfied with Mikumo's design, especially his hair. This made Horikoshi think up the current design with slightly shorter hair.
 * Regarding Izuku's academic life and performance, his U.A. data is as follows.
 * Student No. 18 in Class 1-A.
 * Ranked 7th during the U.A. Entrance Exam
 * Ranked 20th (last) for the Quirk Apprehension Test.
 * Ranked 4th in Class 1-A's mid-term grades.
 * Ranked in the Top 8 of the U.A. Sports Festival First-Year Stage.
 * Izuku's surname "Midoriya" contains the kanji for "green" (緑), "valley" (谷), whereas his given name Izuku is a combination of the kanji "coming out/being from a certain place" (出) and "long ago" (久).
 * "久" is also homophonous to "nine" (九), which refers to him being the ninth user of One For All.
 * "Deku" (デク) is another reading of his name Izuku (出久). Written with different kanji, it can mean a wooden figure or puppet, used as an insult for someone who can't do or achieve anything.
 * Izuku's nickname, "Deku", was given to him by Katsuki when they were little as an insult.
 * Later, Ochaco finds the nickname inspiring and says that "Deku" gives off a feeling of "I can do it" (頑張る), because of its similarity to the word meaning "to be able to do" (できる), pronounced "dekiru".
 * In the FUNimation dub, both Katsuki and Izuku indicate that his nickname is an abbreviation of a different nickname: "Defenseless Izuku", hence Deku.
 * Izuku's rankings in the Popularity Polls are as follows;
 * Izuku ranked 1st in the First Popularity Poll which made him the most popular character in the series.
 * Izuku ranked 2nd in the Second and Third Popularity Polls.
 * Izuku ranked 3rd in the Fourth Popularity Poll.
 * Izuku's favorite food is Katsudon, a pork cutlet bowl.
 * Izuku is the 7th oldest kid in his class, with his birthday taking place in July 15.
 * He also shares his birthday with another U.A. Student, being Mirio Togata.
 * In the U.A. Student Information Sheet that Shota Aizawa was using during Episode 39 of the anime, it was shown that Izuku’s Quirk is registered as "Super-Power" in public records, in order to protect the secret about One For All.
 * According to his costume breakdown in Volume 5, Izuku's Alpha Costume cost only ¥40,380 to make.

Quotes

 * (To All Might) "I have to work harder than anyone else to make it! I'll never catch up otherwise...! I want to be like you...! Like you. The strongest hero."
 * (To Katsuki Bakugo) "I'm not gonna be your worthless punching bag Deku forever... Kacchan. I'm... I'm the Deku who always does his best!"
 * (To Shoto Todoroki) "Just trying to meet expectations! A smiling... dependable... cool hero... That's what I wanna be! That's why I'm giving it everything! For everyone! Your experiences... your determination... I can't even begin to imagine what all that's like... but... If you become number one without giving it your all... Then I don't think you're serious... about denying him everything! That's why I have to win! I have to surpass you!"
 * (To Tenya Iida) "I-I've got a lot to say to you, but... That'll have to come later...! Because it's like All Might said... Giving help that's not asked for... is what makes a true hero!"
 * (To All Might) "I'll do my best! Whatever you say, All Might... I'll step up to the challenge! As long as you're by my side, I can do anything... That's how I feel, anyway!"
 * (To Kota Izumi) "If all the villains attacking tonight are on his level... everyone's in trouble. And they might be after us students. I need to tell Mr. Aizawa and the wild wild Pussycats what I know. If my actions can save any of them... Then I've gotta do something."

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