Izuku Midoriya

"I'm not gonna be your worthless punching bag Deku forever... Kacchan. I'm... I'm the Deku who always does his best!"

- Izuku Midoriya to Katsuki Bakugo in "Rage, You Damned Nerd"

"A smiling... dependable... cool hero... That's what I wanna be! That's why I'm giving it everything! For everyone!"

- Izuku Midoriya.

Izuku Midoriya is the main protagonist of the popular manga and anime series My Hero Academia. His Hero name is Deku and he was originally Quirkless but after meeting All Might and impressing him with his bravery, he gains One For All becoming its ninth user.

He is voiced by Daiki Yamashita in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Justin Briner in the English version of the anime.

Appearance
Izuku is a teenage boy with green eyes and black curly hair with green highlights. During his time at Junior High School, he wore a black gakuran uniform with yellow buttons. In Yuuei, he wears the standard male uniform: a light grey suit over a white dress shirt and dark green dress pants, along with a red necktie. Izuku usually wears over sized red shoes.

Though initially very skinny, Izuku has gained an array of well-developed abdominal muscles after his extensive training with All Might.

History
When he was a child, Izuku greatly looked up to and admired heroes. Being a huge fan of All Might, he wished to be a hero like him once he got his Quirk. However, by the time the children of his age had started manifesting their powers, Izuku still showed no signs of having any special abilities. Due to that, his mother chose to take him to a doctor, where he received the news that the fact that he has two joints on his pinky toe meant he would never have a Quirk.

Later on that same day, Izuku kept watching videos of All Might on his computer and tearfully asked his mother if he could still become a hero. She hugged him and apologized, words that Izuku would remember as not what he wanted to hear.

Even so, Izuku kept aiming to be a hero and to get into U.H. Academy. That led him to be constantly bullied and ridiculed by his childhood friend, Katsuki, and his classmates, who believed it was impossible for someone without a Quirk to ever become a hero.

Personality
Izuku is a very timid, helpful and polite boy. Due to being bullied since childhood for being born without a Quirk, he is initially portrayed as insecure, being more reserved and not self-expressive, especially in front of Katsuki Bakugo. However, after being accepted into U.A. High and facing Katsuki during the Battle Trial Arc, he has gradually become more confident and brave.

Izuku is also very diligent and strong-willed. Since he greatly admires heroes and has always dreamed to be one since his childhood, he developed a habit of writing down notes about everything he knows about heroes and their Quirks, including even other U.A. students. Because of this practice, Izuku has developed a great analytical mind and is easily able to form complex plans in short amounts of time, often taking advantage of his allies' Quirks to put them in motion. This aspect also helps him in figuring out ways to counter Quirks used by his opponents. Izuku also has the tendency to overthink about anything that grabs his attention, which makes him start mumbling to himself a lot.

Izuku is a caring person, and will never hesitate to rescue someone in danger, even if he knows that he's not strong enough to do it. Often, he does this on a whim, taking a more careless approach than usual. Izuku has also shown to be selfless enough to try to help people with personal, emotional problems, even if it doesn't concern him.

Of all heroes, All Might is the one that has had the most impact in his life, with the hero having shaped most of the goals and beliefs that he follows since childhood. Many of Izuku's decisions and actions are inspired by his desire to become a hero similar to All Might, and thus he has a great devotion for him, to the point of emulating several of his traits.

Izuku appears to have a more brash and abrasive side to him that mostly 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 has even gone as far as to taunt Katsuki when the two of them fought when he is in this mentality. He claims that this is because he sees Katsuki as the embodiment of what someone who strives for victory should be. He also has admitted that he doesn't like this side of him very much and tends to keep it in check.

After some time, Izuku has moved past some of his desire to be like All Might and instead be the top hero on his own which was further motivated after he saved a little boy from a villain and the latter called his hero in a thank you letter.

Trivia

 * Izuku Midoriya is similar to Atsuko "Akko" Kagari from Little Witch Academia in personality.
 * Both Izuku and Akko were inspired by their childhood idols (Izuku idolizes All Might while Akko idolizes Shiny Chariot) to become the very best.
 * Both Izuku and Akko were born as an ordinary human (Izuku lacks a Quirk and Akko has a background of an ordinary human).
 * Both have similar personalities, are optimistic and never give up.
 * Both have a rival that they later become friends (Izuku with Todoroki and Akko with Diana).
 * Occasionally, Akko appears alongside Izuku as an supporting member of the anime heroes.
 * He also is one of the most popular and recognizable anime heroes and as well as one of them being a Superhero as well, in addition to being one of the primary members of the Shōnen Jump multiverse.
 * Izuku also bears some similarities to Will Stronghold from Disney's 2005 Superhero film about a fictional High School called Sky High, who were born weak and powerless. Later both the protagonists have been given/developed powers related to strength, And are willing to give their lives to protect their loved ones.
 * They are Rivals to both Pyro-Powered Based characters Bakugou Katsuki/Shoto Todoroki and Warren Peace.
 * They are friends with 2 girls Ochaco Uraraka and Layla Williams (whom are unaware that the girls have a crush on them)
 * Although Izuku is friendly with all of his classmates (though this is one-sided with Bakugou), his closest friends are Ochaco Uraraka and Tenya Iida. He is good friends with Shoto Todoroki (post-UA Sports Match) — all three explicitly refer to him as a friend on at least one occasion. Izuku is also friends with Tsuyu Asui, who is shown to sit at his table during lunch.
 * Izuku shares the same birthday with Ichigo Kurosaki (another Shonen Jump character who is the main protagonist of Bleach) which is on July 15.

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