Hech Horlock's real role.
Everything we've seen about Mayor Horlock so far has been rather mysterious. We know that he trained Velou, we know that he was once a part of the Hunter's Guild, and that he's possibly been in cahoots with Lycaon and Cinderella. So what's his goal here? What does he gain from leaving the Guild and working with someone on the Red List? This troper believes that the mayor is possibly working for a third party faction, playing both the Hunter's Guild and the Red List for...some goal. His care for Velou seems genuine, but after Chapter 8, I'm feeling rather suspicious. Merriopios' Absurd Phobia has some tragic and nightmarish basis in a Dark and Troubled Past.
It's Played for Laughs for now, but it could be that the poor guy had a bad experience with the leftovers of a monster—perhaps even his friends and family, such as having to hide amongst the scraps to avoid being eaten with the rest of them and obscure his scent until the monster left, which might have taken a long while if it was feasting. It's possible any leftovers reminds him about the horrible experience he barely survived, and that's why he tends to freak to at the sight of them. Velou is the distant past life of Midoriya Izuku.
The Hunters Guild was ultimately successful in its goal of vaccinating humanity against lycanthropy, and eventually werewolves and other monsters went extinct and faded to myth. Eons later, a similar but distinct aggregation of genetic traits to those that produced werewolves led to the appearance of Quirks. Velou's soul reincarnated in this era as Midoriya, who shared his predecessor's dedication to protecting people. The lingering fate-altering effects of the magic used on and to create Velou are the cause of the various improbabilities that plague Izuku's life: why he was born quirkless, why he just happened to be in the right place at the right time to meet and impress All Might, why he was able to change the trajectory of Todoroki's character arc at the sports festival, why he was able to arrive just in time to save Iida, why he can No-Sell Sir Nighteye's future sight with enough effort, and so on. Even his choice of allies carries some echoes of the past:- Grimm's traits are split between All Might (extremely powerful hero who would be the main character if not for Velou/Izuku, who is suffering from the effects of a past fight, and as a result is stuck in a weak form for all but a few hours each day) and Eraserhead (a strict, dour, Sink or Swim Mentor Combat Pragmatist)
- Many of Debonair's traits go to Endeavor, being a heavily built hand to hand combatant with powerful heat abilities stacked on top and (eventually) an injured left eye. Her general appearance and hot-bloodedness, on the other hand, have bled into the existence of pro hero Mirko.
