ZABANIYA! by Kary
- "Heroes...they all miss the bigger picture. They conform to society, they limit themselves. I'm tired of this. I have been given a chance. I too shall be a hero...but not like them. Beware villains...the Evening Bell has tolled thy name...and the world shall know: the Assassin has risen from the grave."
Assassin Among Heroes is a crossover fanfiction between Nasuverse (more specifically Fate/Grand Order and The Garden of Sinners) and My Hero Academia written by Darkscythe Drake.
Ritsu Ogawa is your average high school student… as average as one can be in a world where 80% of the population have a special power: normal grades, a nearly non-existent circle of friends, and a few hobbies with what to spend his time, with his favorite being to visit the local museum… Until by chance, meet the owner of the place, who, after a little chat and for being the one who visits the place more than most, decided to gift him an interesting mask and dagger…
It is hosted on Fanfiction, SpaceBattles and Archive of Our Own.
This series provides examples of:
- Achievements in Ignorance: He fought Stain, an Ax-Crazy, Blood Knight in a full front fight, alone, trying to defend someone else... And he wasn't aware of who he was fighting!
- Amazon Chaser: Ritsu's attraction to Shiki Ryougi is not only unhindered by how lethal she is, it seems to be the main reason for it.
- Anti-Hero: Ritsu/Shinigami's Modus Operandi is to hunt and kill criminals, often in a very brutal fashion. This stands out all the more in a world where all heroes – even ones like Endeavor – are expected to abide by Thou Shalt Not Kill.
- The Apprentice: Ritsu becomes this to the spirit of Hassan-i-Sabbah himself, becoming the first Hassan the world has seen in centuries. However, even though he gains his own Noble Phantasm, he still has a lot to learn.
- Asshole Victim: You can't really feel bad about the people Ritsu has been killing: rapists, molesters, drug dealers... And the list goes on.
- Badass Normal: Not counting his Noble Phantasm and Assassin skills, Ritsu has been trained in infiltration, sabotage, knife and hand-to-hand combat, and scare tactics.
- Big Damn Heroes: Ritsu saves Ingenium from being grievously injured by Stain.
- Black-and-White Morality: How Ritsu views the heroes' Thou Shalt Not Kill code, and to an extent, he's shown to be right. His own methods are much more morally gray, and he admits to that fully. That said, he also rejects the Black-and-White Insanity of Hero-Killer Stain, and instead follows his own path.
- Broken Pedestal: Domino becomes this to his fans. Also, on a more general sense, those who saw a Hero of all things doing an extreme criminal activity under their noses.
- Byronic Hero: Ritsu is a stoic, deeply introspective young man with few to no friends, seemingly not wanting any, and a sense of personal ethics completely at odds with the society he lives in. He utterly rejects the conventional moral systems of his society in favor of a more morally nuanced but extremely brutal brand of justice that he enacts by his own hands.
- Combat Pragmatist: Being trained to be an Assassin means that he depends on strategic stabs or his own Noble Phantasm; Zabaniya: Delusional Judgement.
- The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Sort of. Ritsu thinks that heroes should exercise some lethal force if the situation requires it, but the heroes prefer to subjugate everyone... even if a serial killer murders someone in front of them.
- Cool Mask: The mask not only acts as a link to the first "Hassan-i-Sabbah" but also acts as a downplayed Soul Jar.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The fight between Stain and Shinigami could be described as one, as Ritsu was giving everything and Stain was holding back the whole time.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Yes, he has a skull mask and an outfit that makes him look like a grim reaper. Yes, his mentor is the one from which the word "assassin" comes. Yes, he has killed more people than your average guy. But at the end of the day - Ritsu's a good guy (albeit a morally grey one).
- Deadpan Snarker: Ritsu certainly is one.
- Devious Daggers: The main tool for his job and the one he was trained.Hassan: A knife is the ideal weapon for any mission of stealth. It is easily concealed, can be as light as a ball of cloth, and can fell any foe in one strike. Even if thou art not an Assassin, a good knife or dagger is always useful.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": Jirou calls him "Ritsu-Oji" in a joking way… He isn’t amused.
- The Dreaded: Shinigami's exploits gradually make him into the boogeyman of the criminal underworld, and many such criminals become significantly more wary, or even give up the criminal lifestyle entirely.
- Establishing Character Moment: When his first kill doesn't make him sick or paralyzed in fear, you know he's a natural killer.
- Expy: Shinigami's official suit is based on EMIYA (Assassin) with a few features from Assassin's Creed, such as the hidden blades with the grappling hook from Assassin's Creed Syndicate.
- Fame Through Infamy: The debut of Ritsu as an Assassin was through a leaked video showing how he made a hero confess about his child-trafficking ring and then killing him by setting him on fire.
- Glory Hound: How Ritsu sees the modern heroes (sans All Might and maybe Endeavor). Though unlike Stain, he doesn't view them all as automatically deserving of death for it.
- Good Is Not Nice: Shinigami certainly can be described as a Terror Hero. In all the situations he has been involved in, he has saved people... by killing criminals and evildoers.
- The Grim Reaper: Even though the public and the heroes have given him many names, the police decided it should be "Shinigami", after the god of death in Japanese mythology.
- The Hermit: Ritsu doesn't have friends and only speaks with people (sans his mother and people who work in places he usually goes) at a cordial level.
- Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: The aversion mentioned in canon's page is discussed and goes through deconstruction and reconstruction through Domino and Shinigami. Because Heroes are paid by their reports, if they don't get arrests, rescues, etc. then they have no income, which is what caused Domino to dive into Engineered Heroics due to an oversaturation of the market. Ritsu also pretty much describes the trope, saying that goods and services cost money and thinking that heroes should act as mendicants, basically religious beggars, stopping villains and protecting people is foolish. Unfortunately, Stain wasn't having it, too lost in his fanatical pursuit of the ideal that All Might inspired.
- Hero of Another Story: Aside from his friendship with Jirou, Ritsu's story as Shinigami very rarely crosses over with the main storyline of My Hero Academia, which is mostly proceeding unaltered from what we see.
- Hilariousin Hindsight: The Old Man of the Mountain's disciple received the nickname "Old Man" from Kyoka Jirou.
- How Is That Even Possible?:
- What people think of Ritsu when they realize that they can't remember what he looks like other than the fact that he wears a hood and a skull mask.
- How the heroes reacted after they theorize that Shinigami has "multiple Quirks".
- The Informant: Dabi volunteers to become this for Shinigami, giving him information on the criminal underworld and helping him track down certain difficult-to-find targets.
- It Gets Easier: Subverted. His first kill didn't make him sick or cause him revulsion... He was actually a little happy that he killed a criminal.
- Kill It with Fire: Shinigami invokes this by setting his victim on fire with his Noble Phantasm.
- Loners Are Freaks: Ritsu isn’t a social butterfly (and most of the people around him remark it).
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Chapter 9 is the best example as Ritsu gains his own Noble Phantasm: Zabaniya: Delusional Judgement.
- Odd Friendship:
- His relationship with Dabi can be described as such: Dabi tells him about new targets and information about the underworld, but Dabi was the one to make the offer of his own free will.
- His relationship with Shiki Ryougi: He knows she's dangerous, yet he goes to her house and becomes her sparring partner.
- Old Master: The "Old Man of the Mountain", even though is more like a Spirit Advisor, can still train in a more physical form.
- Original Character: Ritsu/Shinigami is not a native character to either My Hero Academia or Nasuverse, and is instead a completely original creation.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Ritsu considers a good job when all the criminals he chases prove themselves that they should meet the pointy end of his dagger.
- Professional Killer: Being trained to be a Hashsashin, he has reached an acceptable level on his skills... more if he wants to reach his Mawla's acceptable level.
- Robbing the Dead: Ritsu does this with his targets, as medicine and gear for assassinations doesn't grow on trees.
- Secret Identity: No one will think Shinigami is just a high school student.
- Secret Identity Vocal Shift: Ritsu's Shinigami mask makes his voice sound much deeper.
- Skull for a Head: The main part of Ritsu's Shinigami outfit is the skull mask from the "First Hassan".
- Spared by the Adaptation: Thanks to Shinigami's interference, Tensei Iida will run again.
- Stealth Expert: Thanks to "Presence Concealment", Shinigami can't be seen (only perspective people can), and with "Information Erasure", his appearance can't be remembered (even through video).
- Stone Wall: For more skilled targets, Ritsu will try to tire out his opponents or make them do mistakes before going for the kill.
- Super-Senses: Ritsu's Quirk is Super-Hearing.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: The root of the ideological divide between Shinigami and the Pro Heroes; the latter believes in and follows this principle no matter what. The former very much doesn't, and is willing to put those beliefs into practice.
- Villain Killer: Shinigami has been called this by criminals and many more.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The reaction of Ritsu (and the public) after Domino confessed not only being the head of a child-trafficking ring... But also keeping some of those kids in order to rescue them.
- Wrong Context Magic: Ritsu is essentially a Demi-Servant with the entire Assassin class as a whole, with all of its associated abilities, absolutely none of which conform to the rules of Quirks; most notably, the fact that he quite obviously displays multiple abilities, something All For One, and those heroes who know of All For One, all find extremely interesting.
