Fanfic / Why Are We Here Again?

Why Are We Here Again? is a My Hero Academia Alternate Universe Fan Work by cloud_nine_and_three_quarters, who is also the author of Canary.

Instead of 1-A being a class for heroes, twenty would-be future villains are chosen across the country being forced to attend the class that helps eliminate future villains and reintegrate them back into society.

Expect plenty of Adaptational Backstory Changes within the story, discrimination, and redemption arcs.

Why Are We Here Again? provides examples of:

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: It's kind of inevitable when Class A in this universe is actually a class to help students not fall completely into villainy and reintegrate them back into society. While the students aren't completely angsty and brooding, compared with their original counterparts who don't have to deal with their families' disappointment, society's discrimination of them, and their past decisions, you can certainly expect more angst than usual.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: There are a lot considering most, if not all the students attending had to have their backstories changed in order for them to be accepted as "villainous" behavior.
  • When Izuku finally hit his limit (re: his classmates' treatment of him), he hacked into his school records to completely ruin them all (and the school itself) and ensure Bakugo finally got his Karma Houdini Warranty.
  • When Uraraka's family hit hard times, she became a rather well-known thief to support them financially (not that they knew). She went by the alias "Zero" and even made headlines occasionally. She was sold out by a rival competitor and soon found herself in Class A. She seems to regret her actions now though.
  • For the past 2 years Shoto has been living with Dabi who "kidnapped" him so he could get him away from Endeavor. After getting caught and separated from Dabi, he's forced to attend Class A much to his constant irritation and frustration.
  • Tensei was attacked and crippled by Stain earlier, prompting Tenya to attempt to find the Hero Killer and arrest or kill him. Getting caught led to him being sent to Class A.
  • Tired of being stuck in a glorified Gilded Cage by her overprotective parents. Momo started sneaking out to parties and befriending rather terrible friends that pressured her to use her Quirk illegally by giving them fake money, clothing, etc. Eventually, she was caught and sent to Class A after being sold out by them. She's mentioned how much she regrets her previous actions.
  • Thanks to Shoji's frightening looking appearance, a lot of people treated him like a villain which soon resulted in him being wrongfully accused of doing petty crime. Unfortunately, soon after he lashed out at an old classmate for some reason or another and was soon sent to Class A to be "reformed". However, it should be mentioned he got off lightly as other people believed he should've had a more severe punishment.
  • Before getting caught on the job and arriving in Class A, Hagakure used to be a professional thief. Society led her to believe that she wouldn't be worth anything more than that and after becoming a thief she was later given the code name "The Invisible Thief". She was also the one that sold out Uraraka.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Thanks to Uraraka's previous career as a thief before landing herself in UA, she had the foresight to learn martial arts much earlier and is very proficient at it, as well as learning skills like lockpicking.
  • Monoma ends up helping Izuku capture Muscular after copying Aizawa and Kaminari's Quirks, using the former to cancel his transformation and the latter to knock him out.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: After Class A's second fake break-out, the teachers post Lemillion to keep watch on Izuku, in order to make sure he won't escape, much to his frustration.
• Adaptational Heroism: From Himiko Toga of all people. Apparently, she was a Class A student the year before the current batch for her dangerous Quirk and unstable mindset. She was the last to graduate and ended up going to the Support Class at UA after getting a handle on her Quirk and desire for blood.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Monoma is even a bigger Jerkass here than in Canon. In canon, his rivalry and antagonistic behaviour towards Class 1-A was more understandable because they were much more popular than 1-B after the USJ incident. However, here, he's been provoking and taunting the whole class for no reason whatsoever besides the sole reason of discrimination. However, following the Sports Festival, he begins to lighten up and even tries to cheer Izuku up after a particularly nasty argument with Bakugo leaves him in a bad state, and by the end they consider each other good friends.
• Adaptational Name Change:
  • Aoyama decides to pick Spotlight as his future Hero name instead of Can't Stop Twinkling.
  • Bakugo chooses Ground Zero as his Hero name.
  • Frostfire for Shouto.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Juzo Honenuki from Class 1-B. After Izuku manages to save his life during the USJ incident, he warms up to Class A really quickly despite it being the "villain" class. He defended them to Class 1-B on multiple occasions and helped Izuku do dishes during his detentions in his homeroom. Class A themselves started warming up to him despite how much bad blood is between their two classes, to the point that they even invited him to sit with them during the Sports Festival!
• Adaptational Villainy: Mineta was disliked in Canon due to his lewd and cowardly behavior, but he eventually develops true heroic tendencies. Here, he proposes the other 1-A students to sacrifice Honenuki to the villains in order to save themselves after they get trapped on the Shipwreck Zone. Unsurprisingly, the others were disturbed by his suggestion, and later on most of the class went to Izuku and asked if he could do anything to get Mineta expelled. As it turned out, that issue fixed itself after Izuku learned that he was the traitor the entire time.
• And the Adventure Continues: The story ends just before Class 1-A takes the Provisional Hero License Test.
• Animal Lover: Given how sweet and gentle Koda is, one would wonder why he was enrolled in Class 1-A as a vigilante. According to Asui, he released stray dogs from the pounds across the city and helped an abused circus lion find a nice home in a zoo before the Pro-heroes caught him.
• Arc Words: "There's power in powerlessness", which symbolizes how Izuku can turn his supposed weakness as a Quirkless person into a strength of his own.
• Armor-Piercing Question: After Bakugo's latest string of insults at Izuku, Kirishima becomes fed up with him.
  Kirishima: No. Man, you... you can’t [be a hero]. Not like this.
  Bakugo: You don’t know the first thing about what it takes to be a freaking hero.
  Kirishima: Do you?
  (Stunned Silence)
• Ascended Extra:
  • Class B plays a much more pivotal role in the story compared to Canon. Especially Juzo Honenuki, who plays the Nice Guy of the class and befriends Class A. They're all directly involved in the USJ incident and are frequent rivals of Class A because of all the bad blood between them. Though the antagonism varies from student to student.
  • Mei Hatsume also has a bigger role in the story as her friendship with Midoriya blossoms during all the detentions he has with her, becoming a close friend and useful companion over time. This is especially shown when she helped Class A make support items for the Sports Festival after he asked her.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Midoriya. Just. Everything. Midoriya does in this story, whether it's using it to help his classmates with their Quirks or setting up well-thought-out strategies, all of his analysis is incredible and well deserving of praise.
• Batman Gambit: Midoriya tricks Monoma into copying his Quirklessness and lets him and Class 1-B believe he can actually steal Quirks. It takes until the Sports Festival for them to find out the truth.
• The Bet: Izuku and Nezu make a deal shortly after Class 1-A's breakout attempt: if Class 1-A (counting Shinso and Toga as part of the class) manages to sweep the Sports Festival by working as a team and Izuku is in the podium, then Nezu will arrange for them to take the provisional hero license exams the following September. They manage to pull it off.
• Beware of the Nice Ones: Nezu was absolutely right to be wary of Izuku's potential and his decision to rehabilitate him before he slips completely into villainy. He might be Quirkless, but as Nezu acknowledges, he's extremely intelligent and his charisma and natural leadership abilities could potentially unite villains together.
  Nezu: Imagine a leader – and take another look at that boy. He wouldn’t go down in a battle of raw strength, where a hero would appear victorious and as legendary as the warriors of old. If he so willed, I believe he could wage a battle of wits, unlike any of us have ever seen. All he needs to do, is slip.
• Big Brother Instinct: Gender-inverted with Asui and her little brother who was a constant Bully Magnet. The teachers didn't do anything to help either only giving firm lectures to the bullies. It got to the point where they would leave dead frogs in his locker and that's when she took matters into her own hands by confronting them herself. Unfortunately for her, no matter how many times she defended him there was always more. The school eventually got sick of the complaining and fights so they marked her down as a vigilante and sent her packing to Class A.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Todoroki's family, no question. Just like Canon, their family dynamics are completely dysfunctional, more so in this universe because Shoto was with Dabi for 2 years and hates Endeavor even more if that was possible.
• Big "YES!": Ochako after defeating Honenuki in the last match of the tournament's first round, because it ensures that Class 1-A fulfills the first condition of The Bet Izuku made with Nezu.
• Bloodlust: Played with. Toga admitted that she used to be a member of Class A before graduating and becoming a member of the Support Class. Her Quirk forced her to act out of her mind if she was deprived of blood. UA solved this problem by changing her diet and exercising her Quirk. She can still be intimidating though.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Izuku has not forgotten how All Might crushed his dreams once upon a time and seems to hold a serious grudge against him. Not just All Might, as we quickly come to find out - he's lost his faith in all heroes. After the Sludge Villain incident, he completely tore up all his hero posters and threw away or sold his merchandise. Not to mention all his admiration and respect for Bakugou went down the tubes at the same time as well. It is very obvious to people that he outright hates the man now. And it honestly becomes even worse upon learning All Might used to be Quirkless himself. However, a sincere apology and the reveal he had considered Izuku to be the next wielder of One For All helps repair their relationship a bit.
  • All the students of Class A easily count. There are good reasons why they've decided to become vigilantes, thieves, villains, and outcasts to the rest of the public, being disillusioned by heroes for different reasons.
  • After Izuku chases down Shoto during the Stain arc, Shoto comes to grips that he shouldn't idolize Dabi as much as he does after he finds out he joined the League of Villains. He slowly comes to terms with the fact that his brother never cared about him as much as the goal of killing their father - not in the way Midoriya does at least, since Dabi never tried to rescue him from a hopeless situation before.
• Bully Turned Buddy: Downplayed and eventually Defied by Izuku and Bakugo. After a lot of character development from both of them over the course of the story, they both agree that they'll never actually be friends again. However, they're willing to work together on building their planned Super Team.
• Cassandra Truth: After Honenuki gets trapped with Midoriya in the shipwreck zone during the USJ incident, Midoriya confesses that he's Quirkless and that he fooled Class 1-B into thinking he had a Quirk that can steal other people's Quirks. Later when Honenuki tries to explain this to his class, everyone keeps talking over him, so he decides it would be more entertaining to see how the big reveal inevitably happens, and just let his class believe whatever they want. It isn't until the Sports Festival that Class 1-B finds out the truth.
• Cool Sword: Izuku learns how to wield a sword and Momo provides them for him. He carries it on his back so it's easier to maneuver but noted that its sheath looks like it is crossing out the 18 on the back of his uniform, as if defying that symbol of control over him.
• Counterfeit Cash: Momo, of all people, used to produce fake money, clothing, and other things for her friends after they found out what she was capable of doing and begged her to make some for them. She did in a desperate attempt because she was afraid she'd disappoint them if she didn't comply, but when they were caught they immediately ratted her out and she was sent to Class A for it.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • While technically Jiro is there for "villainous" behavior all she really did was eavesdrop on Endeavor once. Sadly, she learned too much and since UA didn't know her personally if she would blab the information not, they thought it best to enroll her in Class A to keep an eye on her just in case.
  • Shoji barely avoided worse than Class A. He was regularly, wrongfully accused of committing petty crimes, and when he lashed out at a former classmate, his poor record meant that a more severe punishment was ‘required’, but he was sent here as a last chance.
  • Hilariously, Izuku suffers from the same problem as Jiro. His stay in Class A has nothing to do with hacking into his school's security systems (since he didn't get caught), making sure his old classmates had black marks on their records for bullying him for so long, getting his teachers fired and potentially his old school shut down for corruption, and publicly shamed heroes for not doing anything during the sludge incident. Nope. It had to do with him knowing All Might's secret and UA not knowing if they could trust him enough to keep it a secret which consequently earned him a ticket straight to Class A. It was actually because Nezu investigated Izuku and realized the great potential Izuku had: certain that, if left to his own devices, Izuku would become a terrifying villain that heroes would be hard pressed to defeat, he brought him to Class A so he would become The Leader and make the group a Super Team.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Izuku hates being looked down on for being Quirkless. It's what fuels his hatred of All Might and dislike of heroes, causes a brief fallout with the rest of Class A when they keep coming back for him during their second break-out, and causes him to reject Monoma's first apology because he's only doing it after learning Izuku's Quirkless.
• The Dreaded:
  • Izuku slowly becomes this to the general public and the heroes for being Class A's Class President despite being Quirkless, leading them into two close escape attempts to become vigilantes and giving a lambasting "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the public after getting third place in the Sports Festival.
    Dabi: Half the villainous population in the country wants to know that kid; he’s got the heroes quaking in their boots. Bet they regret taking him into UA.
  • Class 1-A increasingly becomes feared as well as they prove their ability and defy and beat the expected narrative at the Sports Festival.
    Media expert: –Killer, Stain, was defeated by the provisional hero, Lemillion, alongside three members of UA’s infamous class 1-A – often dubbed the class A threat – namely, the class president, Izuku Midoriya, their vice, Tenya Iida, and the son of the number two hero, Shoto Todoroki.
• Driving Question: The fanfic title is one for the whole story. It gets an answer as the closing line of the story.
  Midoriya Izuku: Why are we here again? Well, the answer is simple, isn’t it? We’re here to be our own heroes.
• Entertainingly Wrong:
  • While Izuku can't stand Mineta, he admits that he is smarter than he acts. As such he deduces that if Mineta was the traitor and possesses a phone that would have enough overwhelming evidence to make him instantly be guilty, he'd have enough sense to hide it somewhere very secure. After scouring his dorm room, Izuku finally found what he was looking for underneath his pillow.
  • During their first encounter, Monoma tries to copy Izuku's Quirk, only to find himself unable to use any of the Quirks he has previously copied. Izuku realizes Monoma somehow copied his Quirklessness, but Monoma and eventually most of 1-B believe Izuku has some sort of power-stealing Quirk.
• Epiphany Therapy: Reconstructed. Despite Izuku pointing out that all of Shoto's actions have always either been to spite Endeavor in some way or to please Dabi, he gives an encouraging speech about forgetting both of them and just doing what he wants. Of course, as inspiring as the message was, a pretty speech only goes so far, but it does begin to set Shoto on a healthier path.
• Faking the Dead: Shoto's older brother Touya faked his death after his Quirk went out of control and his family assumed he was dead. Unbeknownst to them he was alive and after surviving he ran away in panic before changing his name to Dabi.
• Flaw Exploitation: Class B figures out early on that, no matter what, Class A wouldn't ever leave Izuku behind. They use the class' Undying Loyalty towards their President and target him during the second break-out attempt, knowing that if he was captured, they would come back for him. To prevent this, they always try to have someone to protect him while they're trying to escape, which doesn't really help his insecurity complex with being Quirkless.
• Flipping the Bird: Played for Laughs. A rather hilarious example of this was done by Shoto showing exactly what he thought of the audience during the Sports Festival on live television, much to their horror and Class A's hysterical laughter. Followed up with assorted cursing.
• Frame-Up:
  • Played with. Izuku outright admits to himself that if Hagakure did turn out to be the traitor, he wouldn't even care and would find some way to frame Mineta of it in order to expel him. This is mostly due to knowing Hagakure would have regretted her actions not knowing this would have happened and her actually doing something useful to help them. Unlike Mineta who only suggested they work with the villains and sacrifice a member of Class 1-B in order to survive. This never came to be as Mineta actually did turn out to be the real traitor.
  • Later, it's revealed that, due to Shoji's grotesque and frightening-looking appearance, many people treated him like a villain. Shortly after he was framed and wrongfully accused of petty crimes, and after lashing out at an old classmate, he was sent to Class A.
  • When arrested, Ochako was also accused of thefts she had not committed. Of which it is implied they were ones Hagakure had committed.
• Framing the Guilty Party: To Izuku's delight, Mineta was guilty of being the traitor, so Izuku happily delivers evidence to get Mineta expelled.
• Friendly Rival: Juzo Honenuki. After the USJ, he begins to make friends with Izuku, and through him a good part of Class 1-A. He even sits with them after losing to Uraraka. By the end, when the rest of Class 1-B lets their sister class go to save Izuku, they all seem to be heading in this direction.
• Genghis Gambit: Part of the reason behind the Class A approach is to get the students to bond together and bring each other away from villainy by providing them with an enemy in the form of the system itself.
• Gracefully Demoted: After Iida goes after Stain a second time and was caught, Eraserhead takes his vice-president status away as punishment. Iida accepted this demotion gracefully with no complaints.
• Great Escape: Class A does three separate attempts:
  • The first time, before the Sports Festival, so they can become vigilantes on their own. Izuku forgets to account for Class 1-B, who warn the teachers and stall 1-A for several minutes.
  • After the Sports Festival, Izuku suggests pulling another, secretly expecting to ensure the teachers will arrange for tougher security while they are at home, keeping Dabi away from Shoto. The objective is successful, but Izuku learning that his classmates had decided to keep someone guarding him during the escape causes a short-term rift between him and the others.
  • After summer camp, the entire class (save for Jiro and Hagakure, who are in the hospital) stage a third break out so they can help rescue Izuku and Shoto from the League of Villains. They successfully get out of U.A, carry out the rescue attempt and return to U.A. with no injuries. This was also supported by Aizawa, who "accidentally" left their dorm door open as part of his final test for them.
• Grew a Spine: Izuku grew one after he got his dream was crushed by All Might and got sick and tired of being Bakugou's doormat. He set up an elaborate scheme to get Bakugou sent to Class A so he could finally learn some humility (while giving all of his other classmates a black mark and ensuring the teachers would get investigated) and refuses to cower before him anymore. To add to that after figuring out exactly why he was sent to Class A and his potential to be a villain... let's just say his self-esteem shot through the roof.
• Hates Their Parent: Yeeeaaah, no one would find both Dabi and Shoto fitting these boxes perfectly surprising, considering how much of an Abusive Parent Endeavor is. Izuku even pointed out that almost all of Shoto's decisions had to do with either spiting or doing the exact opposite of what his father would have wanted. Thankfully, Izuku starts to break him out of that toxic mindset.
  • Interestingly, despite what happened to them, and what they have done, the rest of Class 1-A has loving families.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door:
  • A big part of Shoto's Character Development is deciding which side he's actually on. First, he's trained to become a hero by Endeavor, then changes sides and joined Dabi as a villain, then he meets Izuku and decides to be a vigilante. After that doesn't work out, he decides to become a hero, then villain again, and so on and so forth.
  • It's lampshaded in Izuku's case after Shoto keeps pressing him, demanding which side he's actually on.
    Izuku: I’m... not on anyone’s side. I-I’m on my side!
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Izuku is sent to this state temporarily after the second escape attempt fails and he figures out that the class was secretly bodyguarding him since Class B personally started targeting him first. Even after the rest of the class explains their reasoning, which even he admits is sound, he can’t help but feel "useless" compared to them for being quirkless. It certainly didn't help matters that it came from people who he genuinely considers friends didn't believe he could defend himself when it came down to it. He even considers transferring into the Support Class with Mei before Aizawa snaps him out of his funk and gave him a much-needed confidence boost.
• How We Got Here: The story begins in medias res when 1-A is doing their first break-out attempt, and after that goes back to the first day of school.
• I Am Spartacus: After the failure of their first escape attempt, Izuku tries to take the fall for it. This causes an immediate round of others trying to claim the blame.
• I Regret Nothing: While Iida acts like he regrets his actions going after Stain since he paralyzed his brother, he admits later that the only thing he actually regrets out of that whole ordeal was getting caught and getting sent to Class A.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every chapter is titled with a question that is related to the chapter's theme. For example, the first, "How Did This Happen?", introduces the concept of Class 1-A and Izuku's first day, and the second, "Who Are You?", shows the students introducing themselves. The only stand out is the last chapter, "The Answer", which ends with the answer to the Driving Question that is the story's title.
• Idiot Ball: When Monoma copies Tokoyami's Quirk, he thinks that Class 1-A's warnings not to use it are only intended to keep him from using it on them. The heavy rain and hour ensure Monoma's Dark Shadow goes berserk and begins to attack everyone around him, including Monoma: it's only Izuku forcing Monoma to copy his Quirklessness that prevents further damage.
• Implicit Prison: Class A is often compared to a prison by the students particularly and for good reason too. The kids are completely cut off from the outside world. They are forced to live in dorms away from home, they have no access to any means to communicate out of school and the only thing they have is a set of old cellulars that can only call or text each other or the teachers, and the communications are constantly being monitored by the teachers.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Even though their backgrounds are wildly different, all of canon's Class 1-A is here as well.
  • Similarly, Tenya and Ochako become Izuku's first friends in the class.
  • The USJ is attacked the same way as in Canon. The only difference being Class B was along for the ride too.
  • Izuku wins the Obstacle Course by using the mines to impulse himself over the rest of the racers.
  • Izuku still ends up saving Iida from Stain along with Shoto.
  • The summer camp gets attacked by the League of Villains.
• Irony:
  • Izuku cannot help but contemplate the irony of managing to get Bakugo sent into Class A - only for he himself to end up in Class A as well.
  • The fake break-out was meant to ensure there would be more security at the Todoroki's in case Dabi came by. In the end, the extra security was little more than a speedbump for Dabi, while Izuku's later attempt to run to Hosu to find him gets stymied by his extra security.
• The Kindnapper: Played with. Dabi decides to kidnap Shoto as a chance to get away from Endeavor. Shoto is hardly resistant in the matter as Nezu notes that there weren't any signs of a struggle and he even fights off Pro-heroes who try to "save" him. Not to mention, after being forced to attend UA, he keeps trying to find a way to get back with him. He eventually realizes that Dabi has always been more obsessed with his hatred of Endeavor than interested in helping his brother, and Dabi's later efforts are definitely against Shouto's will.
• Last-Minute Project: After Izuku reveals Present Mic's entomophobia to the class, they are all too happy to take advantage of this to run him out of class. Cue the exams, and all of them have to work like hell to make up for their poor knowledge of English.
• The Leader: After the first break-out attempt, Aizawa decides to pick Izuku as 1-A's Class President, as he has witnessed his strategic skills and charisma that have earned him the Undying Loyalty of (most of) the class. This trait was actually why Nezu got Izuku into U.A., having realized his great potential to not only unite the class, but turn them into a heroic Super Team.
• Let's See YOU Do Better!: Discussed. Aizawa advises Izuku that if anyone says he cannot be a hero because he is quirkless to ask the critics who have quirks if they could do a better job.
• Life Saving Misfortune: Most of 1-A's students regard their place in U.A. as something they want to escape, but eventually it proves to be something good because it allows them to make friends with people in the same situation, lets them train and learn how to use their Quirks in a controlled situation and eventually sets them on the path to become a Super Team that may be able to help change society for the better.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • While interviewing Shoto, Detective Tsukauchi informs him that his mother Rei has no idea of his 2-year disappearance, as it would have only been detrimental to her already fragile mind. It would have undoubtedly reversed whatever progress the doctors had made with her.
  • As it turns out, Natsuo and Fuyumi still believe Touya is dead and that Endeavor killed him. They have no idea he survived and became a high-profile mass-murdering villain who later "kidnapped" Shoto for 2 years.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • The original plan Izuku came up with when they were going to become vigilantes was to always use self-defense when fighting villains and using their Quirks. That's exactly how Izuku and Shoto fought Stain without any serious vigilante charges against them: they tried to end it peacefully first and when that didn't work, they provoked him into attacking them first.
  • During the capture-the-flag between Classes 1-A and 1-B, the former keeps exploiting the loopholes to win pretty much every round. 1-B tries to get the teachers to close the loopholes or exploit them themselves but Aizawa forbids it saying heroes are expected to win in spite of the villains not following the rules.
  • Before the Sports Festival, Izuku checks the rulebook and notices that there's no actual explicit rule against hacking the system, so he hacks it before the tournament to set up all of Class 1-B's survivors against those of 1-A who are likelier to beat them in the first round. Nezu catches him, but decides to let most of his changes slide because he thought it was the best part of the Festival.
  • He also finds out that the only group that has restrictions on Support item use is the Hero course - but Class 1-A is not part of the Hero course. Cue Izuku teaming up with Mei and Toga to make stuff for everyone.
• Luke, You Are My Father: As per the case of Dabi and Endeavor. A fact that Endeavor's still in denial about despite Dabi telling him up front who he really is beforehand. As such, his denial annoys and pisses Shoto off to no end.
  Endeavor: That man isn't my son.
  Shoto: He is- and you need to face that.
  Endeavor: He is not my son. That was a fabrication- a lie to keep you in check.
• Made of Indestructium: The students of Class A are all impressed by the durability of the brick phones they were given. They went through Kaminari's electricity, water, the shipwreck events at USJ, and all the numerous villains the class fought, and they didn't even have one dent in it.
• Magnetic Hero: Midoriya only needs one day to begin pulling in most of Class 1-A under his leadership, and even Bakugo (sometimes) follows his plans.
• Mark of Shame: Class A members are forced to wear red armbands with their seat number, numbered blazers, and ankle trackers to distinguish them from normal hero class students.
• Mistaken for Profound: The story opens with Sero Title Dropping the question to Kaminari. Kaminari morosely contemplates that none of them truly understand why they are there, only for Sero to interrupt him: he meant to ask why they are there on the roof in the middle of the night, because he had forgotten the plan, and he is now concerned about Kaminari's emotional state.
• The Mole: As it turned out, Mineta was the traitor in U.A. Something that made Izuku's job much easier to do in figuring out how to expel him when the class finally has enough of his behavior. There was suspicion of a second one after the summer camp was attacked, only for Dabi to reveal he had bugged Shouto's phone when they last met.
• Mundane Luxury: Inverted since the students of Class A are completely cut off from the outside while at UA, they mention occasionally how much they miss things they used to take for granted like the internet and their phones. Jiro, particularly, mentions how much she missed music.
• My God, What Have I Done?: As we come to find out Hagakure was the one who sold Uraraka out to the police. Before she didn't think a thing of it as they were only competition at the time but now that they're friends and she got to know her, she felt immensely guilty for it. Uraraka's subsequent reaction to that news didn't help with her guilt either.
• No. Just... No: A running gag is teachers saying this to Class 1-A and Izuku in particular.
  Aizawa: Don't. Just... Don't.
• No Place for Me There: The entirety of Class A realizes they don't have a place at UA to some extent at least. After all, the entire world views them as future villains, they'll always struggle in life because of the black marks on their records, and even if they do graduate to the hero course; they won't ever make it in the top numbers because of their history. Izuku suffers the most from it due to his Quirkless status. Well, this is how they feel until Eraserhead convinces them they do have a future and they can still be heroes.
• Number Two: Izuku made Iida his vice president, which the teen did his best to live up to, and everyone appreciated his efforts to pull them out of trouble. However, while they were happy with him doing that, outright orders were not something they tended to listen to unless the situation was actually serious. After Iida was demoted to third-in-command after going vigilante after Stain, Momo was made vice-president, and everyone made a point of obediently listening to her to tease Iida.
• Odd Friendship: Between Izuku, Mei, and Toga. You'd think in normal situations if you were treated as a literal test subject you would do your best to avoid that person. That did not happen here. In fact, Izuku even helped with their designs and they all became fast friends. They even offered to help Izuku and Class A with acquiring support items. This was a friendship truly made in hell.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The students of Class A knew there was something more than what met the eye when Midoriya darted out at the last minute to attack Shigaraki to save All Might during the USJ incident. After all, the Midoriya here doesn't have any of his reckless heroism that his canon counterpart has or any sort of idol worship of him, so it was oddly suspicious when he tried to save All Might (because he was All Might, he could handle it). As such they soon deduced there was something about All Might he knew that they didn't that forced his hand in an effort to save him - most likely some sort of weakness.
  • In the Summer Arc, Bakugo of all people is completely silent after he failed to rescue Shouto and Izuku. He just avoids making eye contact, and immediately goes off to be alone.
• Painting the Medium: The Hero Analysis entries at the end of every chapter mark the progress made in the story. The first ones only have Izuku's writing, but as Ochako and he become closer she begins to write comments and make funny drawings. The chapter where Mineta is expelled ends with Mineta's analysis covered with mentions of his expulsion and status as a traitor, the one where Izuku is kidnapped finishes with Tsuburaba's analysis smeared with Ochako's tears and the final chapter ends with Ochako's hero analysis of Izuku, cementing his future as a hero, as well as a page with the entire class' autographs, symbolizing their future status as a Super Team.
• Playful Hacker: Izuku is a really good programmer and hacker - having used those skills to ruin pretty much everyone from his old school and get Bakugo sent to Class A. The heavy restrictions at U.A. keep him from accessing computers, but every time he gets a chance, he proves he hasn't lost it.
• Pointof Divergence: Since Izuku never received One for All's Quirk, the honor ended up going to someone else - who turns out to be Mirio, foreshadowed by Izuku noting that All Might's been tutoring him privately and Mirio confessing that recently he's gotten a major boost in power. This is later confirmed when it's Mirio's point of view.
• Powers Do the Fighting: Monoma's fighting style consists of copying useful Quirks and using them to fight. This leaves him with a very weak point, though - if he runs out of power (by, say, running out the clock on them with no other sources nearby) he's forced to fight on his own, and his fighting skills are way, way worse than anything else. Izuku takes advantage of this during the Sports Festival by touching Monoma - making him copy Izuku's Quirklessness - and then use his vastly better skills to force him to surrender.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Jiro unexpectedly delivers one to Bakugou when she gets fed up with his attitude. Surprisingly, while Bakugou's annoyed by it, he takes it to heart (somewhat) and respects her guts for calling him out like that. He even decided she was one of the most tolerable people in that school second only to Kirishima.
  • After Class A won the Sports Festival, Izuku ends up ripping the general public a new one and telling them exactly what he thinks of them. Specifically about their sudden willingness to cheer for their victory when all they've done for the whole Sports Festival is root for literally anyone who isn't Class A.
  • Natsuo also ends up pitching his own "Reason You Are A Garbage Human Being" speech to Endeavor after he crashed their first family dinner with Shoto and it. Was. Glorious.
• Rigged Contest: After checking the rules in the guidebook for the Sports Festival, Izuku noticed that there wasn't technically a rule stating he couldn't hack into the computer system and manually alter the fights so Class 1-A has a huge advantage against Class 1-B. While he does almost get caught mid-work, it turns out that Nezu allowed most of it to remain, finding it the most entertaining part of the festival.
• Rule of Symbolism: Aizawa notes the poetry in how it is eighteen of his students that come out of Kamino after rescuing Shoto and Izuku - who is number 18 in 1-A's class roster.
• Running Gag:
  • Class 1-A using Kacchan (Izuku's childhood nickname for Bakugo) to refer to Bakugo, and his explosive answer.
  • People freaking out when they hear Midoriya can supposedly steal Quirks, and then freaking out even more when they realize how this rumor started.
  • 1-A students stating that Midoriya gets them in trouble while Iida pulls them out.
• Secret Test of Character: Aizawa leaves the door to 1-A's dorms unlocked before the Kamino Ward raid to see if his students will be able to prove themselves. They pass the test flawlessly by rescuing Izuku and Shoto and returning to U.A.
• She Will Come for Me: Shoto believes Dabi will come rescue him after getting separated after 2 years and being forced to attend UA in an attempt to reintegrate him into society again. He later realizes that he'll have to escape himself since he realizes Dabi isn't going to rescue him in UA. Then Dabi would find him when he's not in such dangerous territory. The contrast is set when Izuku (who is supposed to be under house arrest in a city a couple of hours away by train) does everything in his hand to successfully find Shoto in the middle of Hosu while a battle is raging.
• Ship Tease: Even though nothing happens in-story (given that there is a tag stating there will be no romantic relationships), there's a lot of this between Izuku and Ochako. The two help each other a lot of times - even sharing some tender moments - and she's the only one allowed to write in Izuku's notebooks.
• Smart People Play Chess: Both All For One and principle Nezu seem very fond of the game. Despite his status as The Strategist however, Izuku barely knows how to play until the former decides to teach him. He proves to be a quick study though, and is soon playing regular games with the latter.
• So Proud of You: Aizawa makes it clear to his class that he's proud of them for proving themselves worthy heroes after they went above and beyond to rescue Izuku and Shoto from the League of Villains.
• Stern Teacher: Much to Izuku's apparent shock as he's not used to having Reasonable Authority Figures as teachers, he finds one in Eraserhead. His respect for him only grows after he defends the class from Monoma's discrimination and reveals he used to be in Class A as a "villain" himself.
• Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: As Momo stated, her parents have always been overprotective but as soon as she got her quirk, they became a lot more constricting. Frustrated with her lack of freedom, eventually that led to sneaking out, dressing up, and going to parties when she got bored. Though she mentioned after getting caught she regrets her past actions.
• Super Team: Inspired by Aizawa's talk about All Might, Izuku manages to convince Class 1-A to become this in order to become the replacement for All Might and upheave hero society by forcing them to change the rules.
• Terminally Dependent Society: As Izuku puts it, society's dependence on All Might has been hindering the finding of a potential replacement. Izuku proposes to 1-A that they become a Super Team that acts as a foundation, ensuring someone's fall will not collapse everything.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: During the Kamino Raid, Bakugo realizes that the only person that can convince Izuku to not only return to U.A., but also give the final step towards rejecting All for One and his offer, is Bakugo himself.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Monoma, after learning that Izuku is Quirkless and being forced to reassess his prejudices towards Class 1-A, has a Heel Realization and slowly becomes less confrontational and willing to listen to them. He even tells them to leg it when they stage their third break-out to rescue Izuku and Shoto!
• There Are No Therapists: Averted by UA who makes sure Class A has mandatory therapy sessions... or they would have if Eraserhead hadn't pushed back the sessions until after the Sports Festival.
• Troubled Teen: All of 1-A, to various degrees. Much of the story revolves around their struggles with distrust of authority and breaking out from self-destructive cycles.
• Undying Loyalty: The entire class (with the exception of Bakugou maybe) has this towards Izuku, to the point where after their break-out failed they all warned Aizawa that if Izuku was expelled then soon the school would find a reason to expel everyone. Shoto, in particular, even stated to Izuku upfront whatever path Midoriya chooses, he'll be there right alongside him. This is one of the reasons why Aizawa picks Izuku as the Class President and had, in fact, been expected to happen by Nezu, who brought Izuku into 1-A precisely because he had a great potential of becoming The Leader. Their loyalty is such that all of them (save for Jiro and Hagakure, who were in hospital, but later tell off the others because they missed out) break out of U.A. to rescue Izuku and Shoto.
• Unishment: While being treated as a test subject in the Support Class is usually deemed a punishment, it is not in Izuku's case. In fact, he makes fast friends with the local Mad Scientist Mei Hatsume and a previous ex-convict student of Class A, Himiko Toga. Played straight with Iida though, as he came back looking as if he was used as an experimental test dummy.
• Unknown Rival: As it turns out, Hagakure clocked Uraraka as her rival back when they both worked as professional thieves. Uraraka had no idea of the other girl's rivalry with her at the time. Something she paid dearly for later, when Hagakure ratted her out to the police to eliminate competition, which subsequently landed her in Class A.
• Weak, but Skilled: Izuku can't stand up to the more monstrously powerful villains, but his tactical mind, talent with a sword, and numerous support items all make him a dangerous opponent to underestimate, even before factoring in his status as The Chessmaster.
• Wham Line: During the USJ Arc, Shoto asks Izuku an earth-shattering question after he tells him he's planning on taking Shigaraki's offer and leaving UA.
  Shoto Todoroki: I’m not asking for you to try and stop me, I’m asking if you wanted to come with me.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • The background indicates that Izuku gave a heavy tongue-lashing to the heroes who stood by and did not act while Bakugo was about to be killed by the Sludge villain.
  • Kirishima to Bakugo when the latter goes too far in his insults to Izuku.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Izuku reveals to the disbelief of everyone else that Present Mic is terrified of insects. Something Class A is all but happy to exploit when he's teaching them, much to Eraserhead's irritation and Present Mic's sanity which has taken a major toll since then.
  Present Mic: I had one conversation with Midoriya and suddenly the entire class knows I hate bugs and now they’re EVERYWHERE! They watch me– they’re in my hair, in my clothes in my food–
• You Are Number 6: Instead of names, the teachers call Class A by their seat numbers. Izuku suspects this is secretly a genius dehumanization tactic to make the student feel guilty about their past actions and strive to do better. Then upon seeing the students' improvement, the teachers will start "remembering" their names all of a sudden in a subtle attempt to reassure them that they're doing good. Izuku and Bakugo's POVs reluctantly concede it is surprisingly effective. That doesn't keep the kids from having a few laughs at the USJ when Sero (who is number 13) begins to answer every time Aizawa and Vlad King ask 13 (the hero) something.
• You Remind Me of X: Izuku noted that Mirio reminded him a lot of All Might. He has a certain kind of presence that just makes him feel safe and he's a very easy-going person that even Izuku sort of likes despite his current distaste for heroes and All Might in particular.
• Younger Than They Look: Enforced by Momo who is well aware of this, and was able to sneak into parties she's not yet old enough to attend by dressing up accordingly.

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