Saturday, November 26, 2022

Character Analysis: Deku (Feat Grand)

 

Background

Some unknown time into the future, a child was born and suddenly started to glow a bright light. This infant was the first example of the next step in human evolution: superhuman abilities. Many generations later, these Meta Abilities, or Quirks as they would come to be known as, come in all shapes and sizes. 90% of the world’s population has them in some form or another, but most of these Quirks are rather simplistic. Lift tiny objects, secrete glycerin from your skin, automatically losing every argument you ever have, but there are those with truly amazing powers. And so, the age of the superhero had begun! In this world, heroes aren’t just the ones who save the day, they’re celebrities who do it as a job, work for agencies, learn about it in school, negotiate brand deals, but no one in this modern era of hero society was more fitting of the title of “hero” than the number one himself: All Might. A man who could save everyone, a man who could win every fight, a man brimming with so much positivity and do-gooderness that he became the very Symbol of Peace throughout the world. Everyone looked up to him, loved him, aspired to be like him, but very few could match that admiration quite like one young Izuku Midoriya.


An All Might fanboy through and through from a young age, Izuku couldn’t wait for the day when his Quirk finally manifested and he could work towards becoming a hero. Unfortunately, that day would never come for him as he was born Quirkless, no super ability to call his own. Due to this, Izuku was bullied for almost all of his life, and by no one more than Katsuki Bakugo, who dubbed him “Deku”, “Good-For-Nothing”. Despite all the harsh childhood experiences however, Izuku had the beating heart of a true hero, preserving and never giving up on his dreams. One day, he would be attacked by a sludge villain and saved by none other than All Might himself. Following the hero, Izuku learned of his true identity as a skinny figure, and was told by the number one himself that he didn’t have a chance. 


Heartbroken, Izuku was ready to give up on his dreams until he saw the sludge villain attacking Bakugo. His body moving on its own, the powerless Izuku leapt into action to try to save his friend, only for All Might to come in and save the day once again. He would later find the young boy again, and deemed him a worthy successor to his power, someone who was truly willing to save people not for the money or the fame, but because it was the right thing to do. And so, after ten months of training, Izuku Midoriya was granted the Quirk One For All by All Might and attempted the entrance exam for U.A High School, one of the most prestigious hero schools in the country. While he did not destroy a single robot (worth points) in the entrance exam, he managed to score 60 Rescue Points, allowing him to be admitted to the hero course Class 1-A. And so, his life as a student hero began!

Experience

Since Deku had no power to call his own for most of his life, he spent a lot of his time studying the Quirks of pro-heroes and the people around him. By the start of the series, he had made at least 13 volumes of notes on them, and continued to take more on all of his classmates while at U.A. For ten months before the U.A entrance exams, he trained with All Might at the local beach to prepare his body for One For All’s power. He attended U.A for about a year and learned many of the basics of hero-ing there such as combat, rescues and Super Moves by the likes of Eraserhead, Present Mic and Midnight. During that time, he interned with Gran Torino, did a work study with Sir Nighteye and the new number one hero Endeavor. During this time, he continued his training regiments and learned new fighting styles from some of his classmates.

Equipment

Note: Similar to what I did for Madara, equipment and abilities that coincide with each other with be bolded.

Costume Zeta

The basis of Deku’s fourth and current version of his hero costume. While his Beta costume was almost a complete overhaul from his Alpha costume, his Gamma costume was more of an upgrade to the pre-existing design in comparison, though Deku doesn’t want to change the base design too much since the original came from his mother’s love and support. Costume Zeta is essentially the Gamme costume modified to include Deku’s latest Mid-Gauntlets and Air Force Gloves (more on those in just a moment), as well as Gran Torino’s cape to honor his mentor. 


Originally, the costume was merely a jumpsuit to provide Izuku with some good maneuverability, which is still something kept in mind with the upgrades. Now the basic pieces of this costume include the green suit, a hood to cover his face, a belt, knee pads, a guard mask, and his red shoes. On top of those however, he also has a number of support items to help him control, regulate and augment his powers which were done up by Mei Hatsume.

Iron Soles

An attachment to his red shoes that were added upon Deku’s decision to switch Shoot Style to his primary fighting method. When the soles connect with something with a strong impact, they create a second strong motion, similar to the blowback feature of a gun. If a kick fractures rock, the blowback will shatter it.

Air Force Gloves

While learning to use 20% of One For All to create blasts of wind as a long-range attack, Deku found that he was struggling with aiming and targeting. These gloves were created to give them focus and aim, allowing him to properly hit targets with his finger flicks and minimize surrounding damage. The gloves were also later upgraded with little slots for Deku to shoot Blackwhip out of, and another version created again after they were destroyed in the Paranormal Liberation War which came with…

Mid-Gauntlet

These support items from America were created to help brace Deku’s arms and minimize the damage he sustains from higher levels of One For All, though they won’t survive 100% power. When Deku returned to U.A, Hatsume made him a new pair.

Abilities

One For All

The Quirk that Deku received from All Might which allows him to stockpile power for insane levels of strength, speed and durability. When activating his Quirk, he can focus it on one part of his body, such as his arm for a devastating punch, or spread it throughout his body, but we’ll say more on that in a moment. The drawback of this power is that Deku’s body is not actually fully adjusted to it, and accessing 100% of its power will shatter the bones of the body part he’s activated it in, and even just going slightly above his limits will damage him. Deku is able to control One For All’s output however and can currently harness 30% of its power continuously and 45% in short bursts thanks to all his training.


The origins of One For All date back generations, when the overarching antagonist of the story, All For One, a man with the power to take and give Quirks, tried to force one on his brother, who was believed to be Quirkless. He attempted to give him a power-stocking Quirk, but as it turns out the brother did have a Quirk. On its own it was useless, just a Quirk that can be transferred to other people, but the Quirk Factors of both of these powers combined, becoming One For All and being passed down from generation to generation in order to fight that great evil. Deku is now the ninth wielder of One For All and has all the Quirks of previous users at a heightened level, even being able to communicate with the previous wielders both in and out of battle, though the super strength is still his bread and butter.

Super Moves

Full Cowling

By continuously spreading One For All throughout his entire body, Deku can greatly improve his strength, speed and agility without straining himself. He can use it to maneuver through the air with ease, something he learned from Bakugo and Gran Torino. The drawback to this power is that since Deku is spreading it throughout his body rather than centralizing it, his attacks overall do less damage, though he is capable of ramping things up to his arms specifically if he wishes to. While using it, green electricity appears around his body. Since Full Cowling requires continuous usage, Deku can only access it at 30%, with 45% being reserved for actual attacks rather than moving around. While he has gone 100% with it, this was solely due to Eri rewinding his body faster than he could destroy it. He cannot use it on his own without breaking himself open.


Later, when Deku was tasked with trying to create a fighting style that differentiated him from All Might, he used Full Cowling to develop his Shoot Style of fighting, which changed his focus from punches to kicking.


Super Moves


Air Force

After his battle with Overhaul, Deku came to realize that he struggles with long-range attacks and needed some way to be able to counter them. After consulting All Might about it, the answer presented itself in the form of using a higher percentage of One For All to create blasts of wind, giving Deku his own long-ranged attack. Since the wind blast was too widespread to make great use of it however, Deku asked Hatsume to make him specialized gloves so he could direct it. Thus, Air Force was born.

Super Moves


Fa Jin

The third user’s Quirk (unknown name). As Deku moves, he stores up kinetic energy in the different parts of his body. This energy can then be released in bursts of speed or power from those different parts, so even after using it in one leg, he can still give off another burst in the other.


By using the stored energy of Fa Jin with his bursts of One For All at 45%, Deku can use “Faux 100%”, which allows him to match the speed and power of All Might’s 100% without the recoil.

Danger Sense

Hikage Shinomori, the fourth user’s Quirk. It alerts Deku of potential threats, essentially a warning signal or a sixth sense by sending a sharp pain to his head. It helps Deku read and predict an opponent’s moves, sometimes barely allowing him to react when he otherwise wouldn't have been able to. Deku implies that it constantly goes off during a fight. It doesn't work well against multiple attacks in quick succession however, and if it doesn’t sense any malice or danger, it will not activate. Conversely however, Deku can be overstimulated by Danger Sense when faced with a crowd with overbearing negative emotions.

Blackwhip

Daigoro Banjo, the fifth user’s Quirk. Deku produces tendrils of black energy from his body. While Deku initially had trouble controlling it, even causing him pain, he eventually managed to master it once he reached Full Cowling: 30%. While primarily shot from the back of his hands, they can come from any part of his body, such as his back. He can produce multiple tendrils from his body, as many as seven, and they’re strong enough to lift cars. This makes it useful for tossing enemies around and keeping faster opponents still, though stronger opponents can pull Deku along instead.


Aside from just catching and lifting, Blackwhip can also be used for grappling and swinging through buildings by "sticking" to things and he can wrap it around his own arms to reinforce them and keep them from shattering at higher percentages of One For All. Blackwhip is still physical however, and it can be caught by others to throw Deku off his course.

Super Moves

Smokescreen

En, the sixth user’s Quirk. Deku produces a cloud of smoke from his body to obstruct people’s vision. It can simply cover his own body or larger areas such as roads. This allows Deku to get the drop on people with sneak attacks, though the reverse is also true if he spreads it too thin and the opponent ends up in a superior position. It can also be blasted away with enough force.

Full Blast

The maximum output of Smokescreen that covers all of Deku’s surrounding areas. While he states it can’t be spread far in the rain, it still manages to cover a city block’s worth of space.

Float

Nana Shimura, the seventh user’s Quirk. A pretty simplistic and self-explanatory ability, Float allows Deku to suspend his body in mid-air. While he can control his altitude, he is unable to “fly” with it, but rather make massive leaps through the air. However, he can propel himself through the air by using it in conjunction with Air Force, as well as Blackwhip to swing himself around.

Feats

Power

Scaling

Speed

Scaling

Durability

Skill

Weaknesses

While One For All is quite literally Deku’s greatest strength, it is also by all means his biggest weakness. Since Quirks are physical abilities that can be overtaxed or strained, the user’s body needs to be compatible with their power, which is why Deku had to go through so much muscle training before he could even obtain One For All. That being said, his body still isn’t fully adjusted for it, and accessing higher amounts of power can damage his body. Infamously, going 100% will completely shatter the bones in his arms, legs, or whatever other part of the body he uses it on. While adrenaline and willpower can allow him to power through the pain and even use his broken limbs in battle, doing so can lead to long-term scarring and even the complete loss of movement in his arms and legs. As such, he can currently only access 30% of the One For All’s power normally and 45% in small bursts without any recoil.


It has also been consistently remarked throughout the series that Deku struggles with faster opponents. Since his usual strategy is to try to predict an opponent's moves, people who can react faster than him can put him on the ropes easily since he can't read their movements. Conversely, he has a habit of telegraphing his movements and it’s been remarked that multiple characters can read his movements, with Chisaki even doing it while Deku was operating at 100%. Not even Danger Sense can keep him safe from multiple attacks coming in quick succession.


For miscellaneous stuff, Deku’s support gauntlets won’t survive 100% power and will be destroyed after it. If he spreads Smokescreen too thin, his opponents can use it against him, it can't spread too far in the rain, and enough force can dispel it. Blackwhip can also be caught by others and throw Deku off his course.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)