Fanfic / Overcharged

Izuku Midoriya's life changed in one single moment when he was just four years old. The day his quirk first activated. The day he first overcharged. Years later, though he is the only one, he has never forgiven himself. But maybe with a little push from people who care, he can finally take a step out of his past and into the future.

Overcharged by Etheriell is a My Hero Academia fanfic exploring what would happen if Izuku was born with a powerful quirk that awoke under less than ideal circumstances, and the healing process he ends up going through as a result from that awakening.

Overcharged can be found on FanFiction.Net here and on Archive of Our Own here.

Overcharged contains examples of:

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • Izuku is deeply traumatized from his Quirk awakening killing his parents and countless civilians to the point not only he is plagued by nightmares but has completely given up on his dream, seeing himself as nothing but a monster.
  • Katsuki is an interesting case where his angst is directed from somebody else. He has no problem over losing a leg during the incident but over the fact that nothing he does can help his best friend and surrogate brother move on from his trauma.
  • Ochako's money problems were so bad growing up that she developed an eating disorder, skipping meals in order to leave money for her family. One time she even considered eating from the trash before snapping out of it.
  • Denki's parents completely disregard his attention deficit as laziness instead of a serious condition worth of noticing.
  • Mina's father is homophobic, saying her interest in girls is "just a phase" she will get over with.
  • Fumikage accidentally lost control over Dark Shadow during a nightmare years ago and deeply traumatized his younger sibling to this day.
  • Downplayed with Momo. She always wanted to be a hero, but her parents wanted her to pursue Heroics because it's the family business.
• Adaptational Backstory Change:
  • Izuku awakens his quirk after being struck with a massive lightning bolt, resulting in the death of his parents along with thirty-five other civilians. He’s then taken in and adopted by the Bakugo family.
  • Himiko gets adopted by Chizome, who helps provide her with blood and a stable life. This allows her to eventually meet and befriend Ochako.
  • Toya was the one who accidentally scarred Shoto, which caused Rei to divorce Endeavor and leave with the kids, minus Shoto.
  • Keigo was saved from being raised as a Commission assassin by Nezu and ended up becoming a U.A. student alongside Tenko and Toya, the latter of whom he ended up dating.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Izuku is born with a powerful quirk, allowing him to store energy that can be used to attract, deflect, or shape objects. And that’s before receiving One for All and the Vestige Quirks.
  • Ochako massively unlocks her quirk during the ten months of training, expanding her skills to not just remove gravity, but also increase it and manipulate its direction. This allows her to enhance her punches and kicks by increasing her own gravity, as well as overpower a Nomu by crushing through massively increased gravity.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Both Ochako and Himiko show up a year before UA begins, transferring into Aldera for their final year.
  • The Vestiges appear as soon as Izuku gets One for All.
  • Sir Nighteye comes in to help Toshinori train Izuku, Katsuki, Ochako, and Himiko, and he reappears again during the internships.
  • Tenko appears during these same ten months, as Toshinori brings Izuku to him to help Izuku work through the trauma of his quirk awakening.
  • Eri is found around the same time and is brought to UA in order to protect her from Chisaki.
  • Hawks and Touya show up before the Sports Festival via phone call, and make physical appearances after the Festival but before the internships.
  • Mirko appears during the internships, choosing to take on Ochako to train her.
  • Lady Nagant shows up during help classes train for the Final Exams.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Himiko enrolls in UA’s Hero Course, inspired to be a hero by Chizome and Ochako.
  • Chizome is less like his series self and more like his Vigilantes self, acting as an anti-hero vigilante Stendhal. He says that Himiko's influence helped him not to give in to his canon self's Black-and-White Insanity.
  • Tenko Shimura was saved by All Might after his family's death and currently is a rescue Pro Hero called Chronos.
  • Since Rei separated from Endeavor after Shoto's incident, Toya did not grow up in a broken and abusive household and is a Pro Hero alongside Tenko and Keigo, going by the name Pyre.
  • Twice was saved by Himiko during the Internships, and after getting proper medical help, he is set to work as a waiter at Heat Rush.
• Adaptational Modesty: Momo gets a new Hero Costume by the time internships come around, covering up more skin than her initial Costume, which was the same as her canon Costume.
• Adaptational Name Change: Since Katsuki never called Izuku "Deku", Izuku picks "Tempest" as his hero name.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Katsuki, by a fair mile. He is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, with emphasis on the "Heart of Gold". Abrasive and loud most of the time, yes, but he is a genuinely nice guy who cares about his surrogate brother and his friends.
  • Since Katsuki is not a bully here, Tsubasa is a close friend of him and Izuku instead of one of his cronies.
  • Thanks to Himiko's positive influence, Chizome is a far kinder man than his villain canon self.
  • Tenko and Toya, while still having trouble in childhood are good friends to each other and to their respective juniors.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
  • Pretty much all of Himiko’s relationships with the rest of Class 1-A are positive thanks to her being a member of the class rather than a member of the League of Villains.
  • Rather than being enemies, Izuku and Tenko are on good terms with one another, Tenko helping Izuku deal with the trauma of his quirk awakening and even giving him his phone number to call him whenever.
  • In canon, Shoto and Dabi have a very antagonistic relationship, Dabi being fully willing to kill Shoto if it will help take down Endeavor. Here, the two start out with a somewhat awkward relationship thanks to them being separated after Shoto got his scar, but they ultimately end up with a positive one.
• Adaptational Skill:
  • Izuku and Katsuki know JSL, as they learned it in the case Katsuki seriously damages his hearing from his quirk.
  • Izuku knows how to play guitar and sing, revealed when Kyoka brings him down to listen to her perform a few days after he’s released from the hospital.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: Unlike in canon, Izuku is born with a quirk called “Overcharge”, though he isn’t exactly thrilled about having it.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: Izuku and Katsuki with Nine. Nine fired off a lightning bolt while trying to escape the authorities to distract said authorities with the damage from the bolt. The bolt ends up hitting Izuku, who absorbs the energy and awakens his quirk in the process. The event killed thirty-seven people and injured two hundred and twelve people, including Katsuki, who lost a leg. After meeting Nine again during the USJ, the two end up forming a blood pact to take him down.
• Ambiguously Human: Is the Hero Killer some mutated Nomu prototype? Is it a sentient combo platter of Quirks that ended up possessing some random person? Both? Neither? Who is to say? Even All for One admits not knowing what the monster is, only that is dangerous and not to be messed with.
• And I Must Scream: Incapable of saving Tsubasa and being forced to watch his former friend dying in front of him, Izuku lets out a heartbroken scream that echoes through the skies of Hosu.
• Arch-Enemy: Izuku collects a few during the story. First there is Nine, who caused his parents' death; Overhaul for hurting Eri; All for One due to being the next wielder of One for All and the one backing Nine up; and finally Garaki, for turning Tsubasa into a Nomu.
• Armor-Piercing Question: During Izuku’s first meeting with Tenko, the latter asks the former why he views himself responsible for the results of his quirk awakening, which resulted in lost lives, when he does not view Tenko responsible for the results of his own quirk awakening, which also resulted in lost lives.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Mituski and Masuru Bakugo, since they are far more recurring in the story, being Izuku's guardians.
  • Hitoshi is a Class 1-A student.
  • Nine and his crew are the main threat of the story.
• Awesome by Analysis: Izuku frequently pulls out his analysis notebook to either collect more data or share his information. His advice often helps his classmates make breakthroughs in using their quirks. He also uses his own observations on his own quirk to make breakthroughs in using it and the Vestige quirks.
• Batman Gambit: During the Battle Trials, realizing that Izuku and Momo set traps in every possible exit point, Katsuki decides to take both of them by surprise by dropping from the roof of the building they are hiding.
• Battle Harem: The one formed by Izuku, Shoto, Himiko, and the 1-A girls.
• Battle Couple: Whoever is not a part of the polycule counts as such. Examples include: Eijiro and Katsuki, Denki and Hitoshi, and Toya and Keigo.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Izuku is a very sympathetic person. However, if you hurt those close to him, he will not hesitate to strike back and strike back hard.
• Brick Joke: At the beginning of the story Izuku promises that the first thing he will do when Katsuki gets a boyfriend is to show him their embarrassing baby photos. True to his word, as soon as Katsuki and Eijiro become an Official Couple during the beach party, Izuku posts their photos on the class group chat.
• Broken Ace: Izuku is incredibly powerful, even before receiving One for All. That immense power does not erase the trauma sustained from his quirk awakening.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Nine doesn't recognize Izuku as the boy he nearly killed with a lightning bolt nearly a decade prior upon meeting him at the USJ. Needless to say, Izuku goes ballistic when the man who ruined his life and killed his parents casually dismisses him. Of course, as soon as he does recognize him, Nine keeps taunting him over this fact.
• Cast Full of Gay: It’s easier to list out who isn’t queer.
• Combo Platter Powers: The combination of Overcharge, One for All, and the Vestige quirks gives Izuku an abundance of abilities to use.
• Cooldown Hug: Shoto gets one from his mother and siblings upon reuniting with them.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Gearshift was already this in canon, but combined with Overcharge it becomes even more powerful and destructive. The downside is that overuse of it depletes Izuku's energy and body a lot faster than in canon.
• Death by Adaptation: Both Inko and Hisashi died during Izuku’s quirk awakening.
• Decomposite Character: Since Chizome is not a villain here, someone else took his role as the Hero Killer. This ended up being an Eldritch Abomination created by All for One and the Doctor.
• Disabled in the Adaptation:
  • Katsuki has a prosthetic leg due to losing one during Izuku’s quirk awakening.
  • Chizome loses an arm during his fight against the Hero Killer.
• Disappointed by the Motive:
  • When Izuku finds out that the reason for all the misery that All for One brought to the world ultimately boils down to a desire to become the Demon Lord from the comic book he and Yoichi used to read growing up, his reaction is an understandable You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!.
  • Same goes when he (barely) listens to Nine's Hannibal Lecture and social Darwinist ideology. His only reaction is a simple "Is that it?"
• Energy Absorption: One of the facets of "Overcharge" is that it can drain energy from other sources in order to supercharge Izuku, allowing him to use the energy for attacks, defense, and constructs. To his horror, however, it also unconsciously drains the Life-Force of everyone around him, something he realizes after he suddenly feels energized and Mei feels exhausted just from touching her. He then remembers how everyone in his class has been unusually exhausted as of late and enters a panic attack at the thought he's the cause and has been slowly killing them just by being near them, prompting him to rush through the door into the night before anyone can stop him.
• Expy: The Hero Killer here is an original character, based on Fiddlesticks from League of Legends, that weaponizes shadows and nightmares to take down opponents.
• Every Man Has His Price: How the students, or more specifically Momo, make the trainers fight All Might during the Final Exams: Mirko gets to fight the Number One Hero, Gran Torino gets a lifetime worth of taiyaki (and chance to mess with his student), Chizome uses it as a thanks for the autograph All gave him, and Nagant gets a seat on Momo's favorite restaurant, which she owns.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Given how the USJ was even worse than canon, as well as the dorms being established from the beginning of the first year, Class 1-A is far more united than early in the story.
• First-Name Basis: A lot of Class 1-A refer to each other with their given names rather than their surnames. Himiko specifically asks for people to use her given name due to her surname being the same as her former parents.
• Foreshadowing: Shortly after Final Exams, everyone begins feeling tired beyond belief, which they initially just chalk up to fatigue from their school work and exams. Even people like Tenya and Mina start feeling exhausted too though, as well as having weird dreams. Izuku soon realizes that he is the cause, his Quirk unconsciously draining the Life-Force of everyone around him, something he realizes after he accidentally touches Mei and she goes from energetic to exhausted in an instant. The idea that he's the reason everyone is being drained sends Izuku into a panic attack, and makes him fear he'll end up killing them if he stays around them, prompting him to run off into the night before anyone can stop him.
• Frills of Justice: Himiko’s Hero Costume resembles gothic lolita fashion, right down to the frills.
• Gone Horribly Right: During the fight against the Hero Killer, Izuku uses his Quirk to absorb the nightmares that are nearly killing his friends and it works. Unfortunately it also has the side effect of also draining the life energy of anyone who is near him afterwards.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Izuku has one during the impromptu quirk assessment upon seeing Denki’s quirk in action.
  • He experiences another one when Nine appears at the USJ, recognizing him as the man involved in his quirk awakening. The blue screen doesn’t last for long before he goes hard on the offensive.
• Heroic RRoD:
  • If Izuku uses too much of his quirk, he’ll collapse and risk his body completely shutting down.
  • Ochako overdoses on quirk usage while taking on the Nomu at the USJ, leaving her incredibly weak and in need of extensive recovery.
• Hypocrisy Nod: Izuku understands that what happened when he was young was not his fault, but as he points out, while the rational part of him says so, the emotional part of him cannot accept it.
• Ironic Name: Tenko's hero name, Chronos. In Greek mythology, Chronos was the father of gods, who devoured his own children out of fear they would usurp him, which eventually happened when Zeus killed him. Tenko mentions that one of his reasons for being a hero is to spite his father, who hated them and tried to make him give up his dream with his abuse.
• It's All My Fault: Izuku frequently blames himself for the events caused by his quirk awakening despite not blaming Tenko for the deaths from his quirk awakening. Izuku still struggles with self-blame even after learning about Nine making the lightning bolt that hit him.
• The Mentor: Sir Nighteye is one to Izuku, Katsuki, Ochako, and Himiko during the ten months of training before the entrance exams.
• Love at First Sight: Katsuki is completely flabbergasted by Eijiro when the two meet during the Entrance Exam.
• Love Epiphany: Occurs quite a few times amongst various members of the polycule.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Izuku delivers a massive one to Nine and the League during the USJ once he recognizes the villain as the one who caused his parents' death. It gets so bad that Nine is forced to use the Nomu's secret power-up and pretty much rage-quits the assault before All Might arrives.
• Parental Substitute:
  • Mitsuki and Masuru became this to Izuku after his parents' death.
  • Chizome became one to Himiko after she was kicked out of home.
  • Anan Kurose/Thirteen, became one to Tenko growing up.
  • Izuku becomes this to Eri, and all the girls who fall for him become her honorary mothers.
• Polyamory: Initially a triad between Izuku, Ochako, and Himiko. It ends up expanding during the course of the school year to include Tsuyu, Momo, Kyoka, Mina, Toru, and Shoto.
• Promoted to Parent: Izuku to Eri.
• Properly Paranoid: Upon noticing his concerning Lack of Empathy after his encounter with the Hero Killer, Izuku fears that absorbing his friends' nightmares may have a side effect of making him lose his emotions. At first, the Vestiges manage to calm him down and say that was a temporary thing, only for the truth to turn out to be just as bad. Turns out Overcharge is stealing the energy of those around Izuku, at the same time it causes them to have nightmares.
• Reality Warper: The Hero Killer here can trap people in shadows, twisting the environment into an abyss that also replays memories and dark fantasies.
• Related in the Adaptation:
  • Izuku and Katsuki are adopted siblings, the Bakugos adopting Izuku after his quirk awakening.
  • Chizome adopts Himiko not long after she starts living on the streets.
• Revenge Before Reason: Upon realizing Nine is the man who caused his parents' death, Izuku goes ballistic against him and his crew during the USJ, to the point he ignores Danger Sense warning him about the Nomu and nearly dies in the process.
• Running Gag: every time Izuku reveals that he is Nezu's personal student, people's reactions are to shudder in fear and say Izuku is going to help the principal take over the world.
• Shout-Out:
  • Himiko is mentioned a few times to be wearing Cheshire Cat pajamas.
  • Izuku's opening speech during the Sports Festival was partly inspired by the same one from One for All and Eight for the Ninth. The author themselves admit it was a complete accident.
  • Mina's hero name "Queen" is also her hero name in A Hero Rises.
  • Later chapters feature fanfic recommendations for other works in the ending author’s notes.
• Sleep Cute: On the morning after the Sports Festival, Izuku takes a nap on the common room couch. Not long afterwards Eri comes along and decides to cuddle with him. Upon waking up and spotting the sight, the whole class can't help but coo and take pictures of it.
• Spiritual Antithesis:
  • To One for All and Eight for the Ninth. While having different beginnings, both works feature an incredibly powerful Izuku with access to both the Vestiges and their quirks far earlier than in canon. In addition, both stories feature Izuku in a polyamorous relationship. However, Overcharged is far kinder to Katsuki, with him and Izuku being very close thanks to growing up under the same roof. Overcharged also develops its polycule differently, starting out with just three members before more join– including Shoto. The other members also develop feelings for multiple members in the relationship rather than feelings for just Izuku. Izuku also develops empathic abilities thanks to One for All, but in Overcharged he can feel the emotions of everyone around him, instead just the people he is in love with.
  • To Ignited Spark.
    • In both Izuku undergoes an incident in his childhood that causes him to be deeply traumatized to use his Quirk, and eventually wins back the will to pursue his dream thanks to the help of his Childhood Friend and one of his love interests. In Spark is Ochako and Itsuka; in Overcharged is Katsuki alongside Himiko and Ochako.
    • In Spark, Bakugo deeply resents Izuku for seemingly winning one over him and constantly antagonizes Izuku and anyone close to him, while in Overcharged Katsuki is his main defender, trying (and for a long time failing) to convince Izuku he is not to blame for the event.
    • In both stories Nine and his crew take the League's role as the main threat of the story, but in Overcharged his grudge is rooted in the fact Nine caused the death of Izuku's parents.
    • Much like in Spark, several characters like Himiko, Tenko, and Toya went through a case Adaptational Heroism, but unlike in Overcharged, not all of them are actually better people. Toya, for example, is a Big Brother Bully who is emotionally abusive towards Shoto, and Stendhal may or may not be an agent of the Hero Commission.
    • Both are polyamory stories, but in Spark the main polycule is composed of Izuku, Ochako, and Itsuka, while here it's composed of all 1-A girls, plus Himiko and Shoto. Also, in Overcharged, Izuku and his first girlfriends manage to figure their feelings out pretty early in the story, while in Spark is really taking a while.
• Stalker without a Crush: There is an MLA agent called Escapade targeting Izuku and his friends, first following them during their beach trip and later after Hosu, all of the time waiting for the right moment to make her move.
• Stay with Me Until I Die: Tsubasa, turned into a Nomu and about to explode, begs Izuku not to leave him. Izuku complies, takes him up to the skies and, after erecting an energy barrier, stays close to his friend when the bomb goes off. His last words to Izuku are "Thank you".
• Stealth Expert: A skill developed thanks to Himiko training to be an underground Hero. Her internship with Aizawa helps improve these skills.
• Supernatural Fear Inducer: One of the Hero Killer's Quirks, Ravenous Nightmare, causes its victims to relive their most painful and scary memory. Combining it with Quirks such as Shadow Jaunt and Illusory Mist, the victim gets trapped into a literal wide-awake nightmare.
• Taking the Bullet: When Nine shot lightning at the kids when they were young, Izuku stepped in and took the hit for Katsuki. Unfortunetaly, it led to his Quirk overloading and causing the explosion.
• There Are No Therapists: Defied Izuku sees Hound Dog to help work through his trauma, and Ochako starts seeing him to address her former eating disorder.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Crazy as it sounds, but whenever Izuku has a nightmare, the following day will be awful, and this trend hasn't ended after getting to U.A. First sign is when he forgets his shirt, which leads to every guy in the locker room seeing the scars from his accident. Not long after that, his Trauma Button is crushed when Denki lets out a lightning blast during the exercise and causes him to have a panic attack. Maybe he is right, and the universe has it after him.
• Transplant: An inter-authors example. Ryoya Harushi is an Original Character from Rainy_Day's Street Fighting Heroes, while his restaurant, Heat Rush, originates from MIGHT+U, another of his works.
• Truce Zone: Much like in MIGHT+U, Heat Rush is this. Labels don't matter once you are inside of it, as long as you don't cause trouble you can enjoy the place and its services.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: While talking with Izuku, Ryoua mentions that by the end of his revenge quest, he was left almost completely alone, asking the young student to not fall on this path and let his friends help him.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • That's Katsuki's relationship with Izuku. And Ochako. And Himiko. And pretty much the whole class.
  • Tenko is this with Keigo and Toya.
• Wham Episode: Chapter 19 reveals exactly what happened during Izuku’s quirk awakening.
• What Is This Feeling?: Shoto starts to fall for Izuku, Momo, and Ochako after Hosu, but due to lack of experience on the matter, he doesn't understand what these feelings means, which prompts him to "research the matter properly". From the hugs he gets to the time he spends talking with them to compare their feelings. It takes a talk with Katsuki and Mina for him to understand he is in love with his friends.
• You Are Not Alone: Izuku gets this treatment from time to time in order to help him cope with his guilt, from Katsuki, the Vestiges, his girlfriends, classmates, mentors, and even Ryoya. It takes a while but he starts to accept it.

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