Izuku Midoriya

Midoriya Izuku
My Hero Academia character
Deku as pictured from the Cover of My Hero Academia, Volume 17
First appearance	My Hero Academia #1, "Izuku Midoriya: Origin", July 7, 2014
Created by	Kōhei Horikoshi
Voiced by	Japanese: Daiki Yamashita[a] English: Justin Briner[b]
In-universe information
Alias	Deku
Occupation	Student at UA High
Family	Inko Midoriya (Mother) Hisashi Midoriya (Father)
Nationality	Japanese
Quirk	One for All
Birthday	July 15

Izuku Midoriya (Japanese: 緑谷 出久, Hepburn: Midoriya Izuku), also known by his hero name Deku (Japanese: デク), is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the manga series My Hero Academia, created by Kōhei Horikoshi. He is a nerdy and ambitious high schooler misfit and the 9th (and current) holder of "One For All" (ワン・フォー・オール, Wan Fō Ōru), a superpower which combines six different individual superpowers, or "quirks", together and creates powerful bursts of energy, and also has the unique ability to be passed off to other people.^[1]

Initially born without a "quirk" to call his own, Izuku nevertheless grew up with aspirations to become a superhero in his own right. Nicknamed "Deku" by childhood classmate and rival Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku would later save him from a villain, in turn winning over the interest of All Might, Izuku's childhood idol and #1 hero, who in turn passes down his sacred One For All quirk to him. After being accepted into U.A. High School, Izuku's classmate Ochako Uraraka inspires him to embrace his nickname and use it as his hero name.

In the anime adaptation of the manga, Izuku is voiced by Daiki Yamashita in Japanese and by Justin Briner in English. Izuku has received praise by critics for his character development and personality and has also made consistent appearances in popularity polls related to the series.

Conception and creation[]

This section needs expansion. You can help by . (August 2021)

Izuku was initially created as Jack Midoriya, an ill salaryman working for a superhero supply company. This prototype appears only in a 2008 one-shot comic written by Horikoshi called My Hero.^[2] He was later changed to a high-school student for My Hero Academia, however, his character remains largely unchanged.^[3]

Appearances[]

In My Hero Academia[]

A woman cosplaying as Izuku in his superhero outfit

Izuku is first seen in My Hero Academia as a 4-year-old boy about to be beaten up by three other classmates, one of them being Katsugi "Kacchan" Bakugo, who has the ability to create explosions. Izuku was born without any unique superpower, or "Quirk", to call his own unlike his parents and 80% of the world's population. Despite this setback, he grew up with aspirations to be a hero in his own right and began to idolize the superhero All Might. Throughout his childhood and into his teen years, Izuku would often be bullied by Bakugo, who would give him the name "Deku", which roughly comes from the Japanese term meaning "Good for Nothing", to mock his overall worthlessness.

Ten years later, Izuku has a chance encounter with All Might (real name: Toshinori Yagi), and asks him if he too could be a hero, even though he possesses no Quirk. All Might, after he ends up revealing his true appearance, tells him in response to dream more realistically and to consider becoming a police officer. Later, when an unnamed villain with mud-like liquid abilities attacks Bakugo, Izuku without proper thought, runs up to try and save him, which in turn gives the worn out All Might (who can only do hero work for limited time a day due to a fight with All for One that destroyed half of his respiratory system) the proper motivation to finish off the villain.^[4]

Later, an impressed All Might meets up with Izuku and tells him that he wants him to inherit his quirk "One for All". Izuku accepts the offer and after ten months of training by All Might in order to prove his worth (in that time, Izuku turns 15), he is given a special strand of hair by All Might to eat in order to obtain One for All, just hours prior to the UA entrance exam. Izuku first uses One for All during the practical part of the exam to save fellow competitor Ochako Uraraka from being squashed by falling rubble. In turn, she demands Izuku get some of her points for the practical, not knowing that by saving her, Izuku had passed the exam. In honor of his acceptance, his mother Inko fabricates him his very own supersuit, a teal colored suit based off a sketch Izuku once drew. Izuku is placed in a class with Katsuki and Ochako, the latter of whom inspires him to embrace "Deku" as his hero name due to sounding similar to "dekiru", which roughly translates to "you can do it."

Izuku becomes an encouraging influence to his classmates, such as allowing class prodigy Shoto Todoroki to let go of traumas that prevented him from using his powers to the fullest potential.^[5] After nearly a year of school activities and internships, some of which are intercepted by villain attacks, Izuku learns that All for One's apprentice Tomura Shigaraki has become powerful enough to steal One for All.^[6] Due to this, Izuku decides to leave U.A. so he can combat Shigaraki and his army of villains without endangering his classmates, who he had informed about his leave. Prior to leaving, he informs his classmates and several of the top heroes about One for All, the latter of whom assist him in hunting down the villains.^[7][8]

In other media[]

Izuku plays central roles in "My Hero Academia: Two Heroes" and in "My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising". He also appears in the spinoff light novel series "My Hero Academia: School Briefs", as well as the comic parody "My Hero Academia: Smash!!", which depicts "My Hero Academia"'s events in a more comedic manner.^[9]

Izuku appears as a playable character in the My Hero Academia video games "My Hero Academia: Battle for All", "My Hero One's Justice", and "My Hero One's Justice 2".^[10] He also appears as a playable character in the video game Jump Force^[11][12] along with All Might and Katsuki Bakugo.

Powers and abilities[]

Izuku's quirk "One For All" has the ability to stockpile one's power and release it in a burst of strong energy. Since this quirk can be passed down from user to user, the different quirks of previous One For All holders also become imbedded into One For All as well, one such power being "Blackwhip",^[13] formerly held by the fifth user of One For All, "Daigoro Banjo", which enables the user to use streams of black energy in order to grab objects and capture enemies. Another quirk inherited by Izuku is "Float",^[14] a quirk once used by "Nana Shimura", All Might's former mentor and the seventh user of One For All. Other quirks inherited by Izuku from the previous One For All users include "Fa Jin",^[15] "Danger Sense"^[16] and "Smokescreen",^[17] previously used by the third, fourth and sixth user of One For All respectively.

Reception[]

Justin Briner (pictured) is Izuku's English voice actor

Popularity[]

In a 2018 My Hero Academia character popularity poll by Crunchyroll, Izuku tallied up in first place with 11,429 votes.^[18] In the yearly Japanese My Hero Academia popularity polls, Izuku commonly ranks second place behind Katsuki Bakugou, although he has placed first in the first ever poll with 2,314 votes, and third in the fourth poll with 8,301 tallied votes.^[19][20]

Critical response[]

Izuku's character has received positive reviews from critics. Nick Creamer of Anime News Network called Izuku a "very likeable character" and noting that "he's joined by a rich cast of teachers and classmates who all add their own personality(...)."^[21] While discussing his frequent appearances on My Hero Academia popularity polls, Nerissa Rupnarine of CBR wrote that Midoriya stands out on his own despite following some common shōnen tropes, adding that Izuku's character development "(...) is truly admirable and captivating to watch."^[22] In his review for the My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising movie, Teo Bugbee of The New York Times mentioned how Izuku's tenderness "[added] to the film's surprisingly emotional potency."^[23]

Notes[]

References[]