History DeconstructorFleet / MyHeroAcademia

* BystanderSyndrome: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since it's {{enforced}} due to highly restrictive Quirk regulation laws. Even if someone has the Quirk for a situation they won't be able to help if they lack a hero license. And if they do use their Quirk they'll either be labeled a villain or vigilante so most seek to stay out of trouble. While this mentality is supposed to keep people safe from Quirk misusage and getting civilians endangered it's actually caused more harm than good. Mainly, had someone other than [[BigBad All For One]] stepped in to help a young Tenko Shimura after (partially) accidentally killing his family [[ForWantOfANail the plot would've been]] ''[[ForWantOfANail very]]'' [[ForWantOfANail different]].

''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is fond of deconstructing the tropes it utilizes, being a ClicheStorm; particularly tropes otherwise freely utilized in action-based manga:

* BystanderSyndrome: [[JustifiedTrope]] since it's {{enforced}} due to highly restrictive Quirk regulation laws. Even if someone has the Quirk for a situation they won't be able to help if they lack a hero license. And if they do use their Quirk they'll either be labeled a villain or vigilante so most seek to stay out of trouble. While this mentality is supposed to keep people safe from Quirk misusage and getting civilians endangered it's actually caused more harm than good. Mainly, had someone other than [[BigBad All For One]] stepped in to help a young Tenko Shimura after (partially) accidentally killing his family [[ForWantOfANail the plot would've been]] ''[[ForWantOfANail very]]'' [[ForWantOfANail different]].

* BystanderSyndrome: [[JustifiedTrope This is legally]] {{enforced}} due to highly restrictive Quirk regulation laws. Even if someone has the Quirk for a situation they won't be able to help if they lack a hero license. And if they do use their Quirk they'll either be labeled a villain or unlawful vigilante so most seek to stay out of trouble. While this mentality is supposed to keep people safe from Quirk misusage and from getting innocent civilians endangered situations it's actually caused more harm than good. Mainly, had someone other than [[BigBad All For One]] stepped in to help a young Tenko Shimura after accidentally killing his family the plot of the series would've been ''very'' different.

** While 80% of the population does have superpowers [[SuperpowerLottery only a small percentage of them have powers that are powerful and practical enough for superhero work]], especially when abilities can be as varied and random as they are in this series. Most Quirks are either very hard to use or flat-out useless in a fight such as Inko's minor {{Telekinesis}}, Daikaku Miyagi's [[HornedHumanoid mundane horns]] or David Shield's [[AbnormalLimbRotationRange extra-flexible fingers]]. Even a sizeable number of heroic students and pros had to train extensively to find practical uses for their powers such as Best Jeanist and his [[ClothingCombat Fiber Master]] quirk, Aizawa and his [[PowerNullifier Erasure]] quirk and Mirio and his [[{{Intangibility}} Permiation]] quirk.
** The series also shows how just about everyone having superpowers means they can often be in the wrong hands. Aside from villains the most obvious examples of superpowers being in the wrong hands, the remedial testing arc and Izuku's childhood show how chaotic and dangerous things can get when it includes ''children'' since with very few exceptions Quirks develop when one is 4 years old. Kids with strong Quirks can be particularly monstrous due to having power but little emotional maturity or empathy. Furthermore, as Shigaraki and Eri demonstrate some children's powers have been outright ''deadly'' to people unlucky enough to be around them when their Quirks first activated [[HowDoIShotWeb because they had no idea how to control them]]. There is even an InUniverse ConspiracyTheory that the ability of Quirks to strengthen over generations and combine to form new powers will eventually result in society being destroyed when its population ends up consisting of people with Quirks too powerful to control.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: After the Paranormal Liberation War ends with many cities destroyed and escaped criminals running rampant alongside the villains public opinion of heroes plummets. Most of society hurls nothing but criticism and insults at heroes, blaming them for the country's ruined state. While some heroes like Endeavor endure the abuse and keep fighting, yet most simply retire rather than risk their life in the significantly more dangerous environment only to be hated. Even some such as Death Arms, who keep going at first eventually get worn down by the negativity and retire due to severe stress and low morale.
* {{Intangibility}}: As shown by Mirio, this power, which is often a StoryBreakerPower is one of the hardest powers to use. Becoming intangible, Mirio becomes unable to breathe, hear or see since he is intangible to air, sound and light, even falling through the floor if his feet become intangible. Aside from the [[FridgeHorror clear emotional scarring and how fatally dangerous this can be]] this power is only useful because Mirio dedicated his life to training with it and mastering it.

** During the Hero License Exam, Todoroki, Bakugo and Yoarashi attempt to do this. It results in all of them failing the exam with the explanation that their inability to work together is damaging to the generation of heroes focused on unity and teamwork that the Hero Commission is attempting to create to compensate All Might's retirement. In particular, Yoarashi and Todoroki stopping to deal with their personal issues with each other during the fight against Gang Orca almost gets Shindo [[FriendlyFire killed]] and [[WhatTheHellHero them brutally reprimanded by Midoriya]].
** Following the battle with the Paranormal Liberation Army run by the League of Villains, Midoriya becomes a OneManArmy working with the top pros to help defeat the League and protect his classmates. Eventually he drops even that and goes it alone to protect everyone, causing his mental and physical states to get worse while also pushing himself to the point of exhaustion. By the time his classmates find him he's barely holding it together and so determined to protect them he tries to get away from them, forcing them to capture him so he doesn't get hurt or die.

* OnePersonOnePower: Each person, barring very few exceptions has one Quirk which gives one power or a highly connected subset of powers such as [[AnimalThemedSuperBeing Tsuyu's frog Quirk]]. This means that each super is essentially a baseline human outside of their power. This can lead to CripplingOverspecialization where a hero's power is useless in a given situation like Mt. Lady's [[GiantWoman gigantification]] in a closed-off area, leaving them no opportunities to use their powers. It also means that most only need to think of a single counter to make their opponent functionally powerless such as Mineta holding his breath to avoid Midnight's KnockOutGas or [[CastingAShadow Tokoyami]] becoming an essentially mundane teenager when in bright light. This also means that unlike most superhero works mundane weapons are still very dangerous to Pro Heroes with even someone as powerful as [[PowerUpFood Tamaki Amakiji]] being vulnerable to getting shot with a gun and [[GravityMaster Uraraka]] and Tsuyu vulnerable to being stabbed by Toga's knives because their powers don't [[SuperToughness prevent weapon-related injuries]]. Rock Lock, a hero with the ability to freeze things in place, powerful enough to counter a [[PsychoSerum Trigger-using]] [[GeniusLoci Mimic]] almost dies when Toga sneak attacks him and stabs him in the back.
* PassingTheTorch: There is a recurring theme of successors receiving the problems of their predecessors and the stress and tribulations of having to live up to the example set for them.
** Midoriya inherited One for All from All Might but it's incredibly destructive and he doesn't have the natural aptitude for it while All Might "had" a natural aptitude for it and therefore can't optimally train Midoriya. So the poor kid spends lengthy amounts of time in the hospital and has almost completely ruined his arms.
** The holders of One for All were also handed down an immense responsibility and danger. The immense power also came with it the ire of its pursuer and his efforts to eradicate the line meant most holders had to hand One for All down as they died to avoid it dying as well. Izuku doesn't have to fight All for One because All Might used up the last of his power to defeat him but he does have a monumental job of trying to fill in the last guy's shoes.

* WillfullyWeak: Due to the trauma he was put through as a child Todoroki refuses to use his flame powers to spite his father, aiming to become a pro with only his ice powers. While portrayed sympathetically, he maintains this even in the TournamentArc, wherein during his fight with Midoriya he begins losing a fight he otherwise would have win at full power. Midoriya calls him out on this, telling him while he cannot understand his trauma, holding back and purposely weakening himself in a tournament where everyone is giving it their all is a slap to the others faces, especially since he gradually starts losing. This inspires him to use his powers from then on, but he still has to deal with the trauma.

''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is fond of deconstructing several of the tropes it utilizes, being a ClicheStorm; particularly, tropes that are otherwise freely utilized in shonen manga:

* BystanderSyndrome: [[JustifiedTrope This is legally enforced]] due to the highly restricted Quirk regulation laws. Even if someone has the perfect Quirk for a bad situation, they won't be able to help if they lack a hero license. And if they do use their Quirk, they'll either be labeled a villain or an unlawful vigilante, so most people seek to stay out of trouble. While this mentality is supposed to keep people safe from Quirk misusage and from getting innocent civilians dragged into dangerous situations, it has caused quite a few problems. [[spoiler: Mainly, had someone other than [[BigBad All For One]] stepped in to help a young Tenko Shimura after he accidentally killed his family, the entire plot of the series could've been ''very'' different.]]

** While 80% of the population does have superpowers, [[SuperpowerLottery only a small percentage of them have powers that are powerful and practical enough for superhero work]], especially when Quirks can be as varied and random as they are in this series. Most Quirks are either very hard to use or flat-out useless in a fight, such as Inko's minor {{Telekinesis}}, Daikaku Miyagi's [[HornedHumanoid pair of mundane horns]], or David Shield's [[AbnormalLimbRotationRange extra-flexible fingers]]. Even a sizeable number of heroic students and pros had to train extensively to find practical uses for their powers, such as Best Jeanist and his [[ClothingCombat Fiber Master]] quirk, Aizawa and his [[PowerNullifier Erasure]] quirk, and Mirio and his [[{{Intangibility}} Permiation]] quirk.
** The series also shows how just about everyone having superpowers means they can often be in the wrong hands. Aside from villains, the most obvious example of superpowers being in the wrong hands, the remedial testing arc and Izuku's early childhood show how chaotic and dangerous things can get when everyone includes ''children'', since with very few exceptions Quirks develop when one is four-years-old. Kids with strong Quirks can be particularly monstrous due to having power but little emotional maturity or empathy. Furthermore, as [[spoiler: Shigaraki and Eri]] demonstrate, some children's powers have been outright ''deadly'' to the people who are unlucky enough to be around them when their Quirks first activated [[HowDoIShotWeb because they had no idea how to control them]]. There is even an InUniverse theory that the ability of Quirks to strengthen over generations and combine to form new powers will eventually result in human society being destroyed when its population ends up consisting of people with Quirks too powerful to control.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: After the Paranormal Liberation War [[spoiler: and many cities are destroyed and escaped criminals run rampant, public opinion of heroes plummets. Most of society hurls nothing but criticism and insults at heroes, blaming them for the country's ruined state. While some heroes, like Endeavor, endure the abuse and keep fighting, most simply retire rather than risk their life in the now significantly more dangerous environment only to be hated. Even some of the heroes, such as Death Arms, who keep going at first eventually get worn down by the negativity, and retire due to the severe stress and low morale.]]
* {{Intangibility}}: As shown by Mirio, this power, which is often a StoryBreakerPower, is one of the hardest powers to use. Becoming intangible, Mirio becomes unable to breathe, hear or see, since he is intangible to air, sound, and light, he even falls through the floor if his feet become intangible. Aside from the [[FridgeHorror clear emotional scarring and how fatally dangerous this can be]], this power is only useful because Mirio dedicated his life to training with it and mastering it.

** During the Hero License Exam, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Yoarashi attempt to do this. It results in [[spoiler: all of them failing the exam, with the explanation that their inability to work together is damaging to the generation of heroes focused on unity and teamwork that the Hero Commission is attempting to create to compensate All Might's retirement. In particular, Yoarashi and Todoroki stopping to deal with their personal issues with each other during the fight against Gang Orca almost gets Shindo [[FriendlyFire killed]] and [[WhatTheHellHero them brutally reprimanded by Midoriya]].]]
** Following the battle with the Paranormal Liberation Army, [[spoiler: Midoriya becomes a OneManArmy working with the top pros to help defeat the League, and to protect his classmates. Eventually he drops even that and goes it alone to protect everyone, causing his mental state to get worse and worse, while also pushing himself to the point of exhaustion. By the time his classmates find him, he's barely holding it together and so determined to protect them he tries to get away from them, forcing them to capture him so he doesn't get hurt or die]].
* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: When Quirks first began appearing among the population over a century ago, the transition was ''not'' smooth, especially since [[RiddleForTheAges nobody knows why or how it was happening in the first place]]. The cultural backlash, prejudice against the people who first got Quirks, and resulting violence was so profound that humanity ''technologically and socially regressed'', to the point where many people believe that humans would have already mastered commercial space travel by the time the series began if Quirks never existed.
* MesACrowd: As demonstrated by Jin Bubaigawara/Twice, this power can have disastrous consequences if abused. With the ability to create clones of not only himself but also of other people, he is incredibly useful to the League of Villains. Yet as his backstory shows, each clone has its own form of autonomy, and when he created a bunch of clones of himself to use as slaves and extra muscle each one believed itself to be the original Twice. Since each one didn't like the thought of being ordered around, this caused a massive fight to the death amongst them that lead to the current Twice being the only survivor. This caused his psyche to fracture and collapse on itself to the point where he's not even sure if he's the original Twice or a clone that killed his own creator, and his own Quirk threatens to "split" himself if any part of his body is left unexposed by his costume.
* OnePersonOnePower: Each person, barring very few exceptions, has one Quirk which gives one power or a highly connected subset of powers, such as [[AnimalThemedSuperBeing Tsuyu's frog Quirk]]. This means that each super is essentially a baseline human outside of their power. This can lead to CripplingOverspecialization where a hero's power is useless in a given situation, like Mt. Lady's [[GiantWoman gigantification]] in a closed-off area, leaving them no opportunities to use their powers. It also means that most only need to think of a single counter to make their opponent functionally powerless, such as Mineta holding his breath to avoid Midnight's KnockOutGas or [[CastingAShadow Tokoyami]] becoming an essentially mundane teenager when in bright light. This also means that unlike most superhero works, mundane weapons are still very dangerous to Pro Heroes, with even someone as powerful as [[PowerUpFood Tamaki Amakiji]] being vulnerable to getting shot with a gun, and [[GravityMaster Uraraka]] and Tsuyu being vulnerable to being stabbed by Toga's knives because their powers don't [[SuperToughness prevent weapon-related injuries]]. Rock Lock, a hero with the ability to freeze things in place, powerful enough to counter a [[PsychoSerum Trigger-using]] [[GeniusLoci Mimic]], almost dies when Toga sneak attacks him and stabs him once in the back.

** Midoriya inherited One for All from All Might, but it's an incredibly destructive power, he doesn't have the natural aptitude for it, while All Might "had" a natural aptitude for it and therefore can't optimally train Midoriya. So the poor kid spends lengthy amounts of time in the hospital and has almost completely ruined his arms.
** The holders of One for All were also handed down an immense responsibility and danger. The immense power also came with it the ire of its worst enemy, and his efforts to eradicate the line meant most holders had to hand One for All down as they died to avoid it dying as well. Izuku doesn't have to fight All for One [[spoiler: because All Might used up the last of his power to defeat him]], but he does have a monumental job of trying to fill in the last guy's shoes.
** All Might eventually reveals that for the most part, the passing down of One For All was a spur-of-the-moment decision made by the dying users, who chose whichever heroes were nearby at the time of their deaths. All Might, via Nana Shimura, and Midoriya, via All Might, are the only ones whose predecessors specifically chose and trained them ''before'' handing them the power.

** Tenya Iida is asked to carry on the Ingenium name from his brother, but the circumstances of the original Ingenium's retirement were so traumatic Iida initially can't accept the name and the responsibility he views in it, and later nearly gets himself killed in a failed revenge attempt.
** Also, heroes are not the only ones able to pass the torch. All For One takes advantage of a traumatized Shigaraki to pass down his powers so that one day, One For All will be defeated. [[spoiler: Even further deconstructed later when it's shown that All For One can mind control Shigaraki via said Quirk. Why else would a selfish villain willingly pass on their powers if not to grant themselves some kind of advantage and/or control over the new user?]]
* PersonalityPowers: A number of characters in the series have Quirks that reflect their personalities, such as Bakugo's explosive personality matching his explosive Quirk. In the Meta Liberation Army arc, this idea is deconstructed when Curious brings up theory that many people are actually changed by their Quirks, meaning they develop interests and personalities as a result of their Quirk having a biological effect on their being. She points out that Himiko's Quirk led her to have a natural attraction and admiration for blood, as well as a drive from a young age to try to drink it. That behavior was repressed by her parents and by society at large, forcing her to try to contain herself for years in regards to her feelings for blood. When her bloodthirstiness finally exploded after seeing a boy drenched in blood after a fight, she went off the rails and became a fully-fledged villain and serial killer. Curious mentions that this might not have happened had society been different and taken care of her properly, since it was literally a part of her being that nobody understood.

** There is an InUniverse theory that the ability of Quirks to strengthen over generations and combine to form new powers will result in the world being destroyed by Quirks too powerful for their users to control. This is given clout by the young children in the remedial exam arc, who have unusually strong and esoteric powers that allow them to cause a great deal of trouble.
** Quirks being genetic has led to Quirk Marriages, where a couple marries to produce a child with a stronger power. Endeavor's worst acts were motivated by his knowledge that he could produce a superior heir by impregnating a woman with a complimentary Quirk if he just kept trying.
* SuperpowerLottery: Hawks had an incredibly strong Quirk at a young age, and he was practically forced to enter the heroics field when he publicly demonstrated it. He still wanted to be a hero, but notes he wasn't really given a choice.
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: [[spoiler: Because the League of Villains accepted [[TragicVillain Twice]] where the rest of society failed him for most of his life, [[TheMole Hawks's]] genuine attempts to talk Twice down and help him turn his life around comes across instead as CondescendingCompassion and enrages the [[EtTuBrute already distressed]] villain. In the end, Hawks is ultimately forced [[ShootTheDog to kill Twice]].]]
* TrainingFromHell: In most of the series, the TrainingFromHell is usually either PlayedForLaughs or used [[MiseryBuildsCharacter to improve the trainee]]. But Shoto was subjected to this since he was at least five years old, and it was shown to be a horrible experience for him that broke him mentally.

* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Following the murder of her husband, and before her death at the hands of All for One, Nana Shimura gave up her son Kotaro for his protection as she feared that he might be targeted by AFO in order to get to her. [[spoiler: While certainly well-meaning, the formative age at which he was given up left Kotaro with ''severe'' abandonment issues, and he was left unable to come to terms with his mother's sacrifice. This caused him to develop a deep hatred for the idea of heroes, believing that they care more about upholding the idea of justice and saving complete strangers than taking care of their families and those dear to them. His unresolved issues left him a stern and very cold husband and father, and he forbid any and all discussion of heroes in his house, with his physically violent tendencies being a factor in developing young Tenko's mental issues]].
* EvilIsCool: With the figure of Stain, the manga shows how damaging the concept can be to society, particularly younger people, as Stain goes from a semi-obscure and shadowy villain to a household name overnight. His cool visage and message and broadcast all over the media and merchandise is even produced and sold at malls. Since the attention Stain gets from the media encourages already troubled people such as Himiko and Dabi to become full-time villains, this essentially leads to a type of renaissance of criminals. This is troublesome because, even if these villains are cool they are still evil people who have hurt innocents, shown when Kaminari praised Stain's coolness, failing to realize he just praised [[spoiler: the man who permanently crippled his classmate's brother]] right in front of said classmate [[WhatTheHellHero until he is called out on it]]. Ironically, despite Stain himself having nothing to do with it, some of his adherents go on to [[spoiler: tear society down during the Paranormal Liberation War out of a desire to undo the fake hero society that Stain crusaded against.]]
* KirkSummation: As the series progresses, it gradually becomes clear that many of the characters who turned to villainy are not immoral monsters, but rather a collection of [[TragicVillain broken people]] who wound up being [[DrivenToVillainy driven to it]] after being [[CreateYourOwnVillain failed by Hero Society in one form or another]]. Needless to say, attempts to lecture them by the heroes usually end up either coming across as CondescendingCompassion at best and [[{{Dehumanization}} dehumanizing]] at worst. More often than not (such as [[spoiler:during the confrontation between Twice and Hawks]]) this often results in [[NiceJobBreakingItHero alienating the villains further]].
* StrongerWithAge: One for All getting stronger over time has resulted in it being unusable at 100% for the current user and [[spoiler:its boosting other Quirks, such as Black Whip, has also made them too powerful to comfortably use]]. Because of this, Midoriya's first breakthrough with Quirk usage was about how to properly hold back. It also means that much of the information the previous wielders had become lost when the Quirk becomes stronger, leading to the sources of help available being unable to offer much help beyond what they knew about the Quirks in the past.
* UndyingLoyalty: Gigantomachia's obsession with his All for One hinders his decision making greatly. He idolizes his boss so much that he will drop everything just to hear his voice and his desire to only give his boss the best means that he puts Shigaraki through hell even though he is All for One's chosen successor because Gigantomachia does not view him as worthy of the title. [[spoiler: His recent return to the final battle also shows that UndyingLoyalty has its limits, especially if taken for granted; [[BrokenPedestal All For One's callous betrayal of him is so profoundly shattering for Gigantomachia]] that all of his devotion swings hard into ''pure hatred'' for his master, being willing to go so far as to align with the ''heroes'' to destroy his master once and for all.]]
* WillfullyWeak: Due to the trauma he was put through as a child, Todoroki refuses to use his flame powers to spite his father, aiming to become a pro with only his ice powers. While portrayed sympathetically, he maintains this even in the TournamentArc, wherein during his fight with Midoriya he begins losing a fight he otherwise would have win at full power. Midoriya calls him out on this, telling him while he cannot understand his trauma, holding back and purposely weakening himself in a tournament where everyone is giving it their all is a slap to the others faces, especially since he gradually starts losing. This inspires him to use his powers from then on, but he still has to deal with the trauma.

* KirkSummation: As the series progresses, it gradually becomes clear that many of the characters who turned to villainy are not immoral monsters, but rather a collection [[TragicVillain broken people]] who wound up being [[DrivenToVillainy driven to it]] after being [[CreateYourOwnVillain failed by Hero Society in one form or another]]. Needless to say, attempts to lecture them by the heroes usually end up either coming across as CondescendingCompassion at best and [[{{Dehumanization}} dehumanizing]] at worst. More often than not (such as [[spoiler:during the confrontation between Twice and Hawks]]) this often results in [[NiceJobBreakingItHero alienating the villains further]].

* EvilIsCool: With the figure of Stain, the manga shows how damaging the concept can be to society, especially young people since the attention Stain gets from the media encourages already troubled people such as Himiko and Dabi to become full-time villains. This is also troublesome because, even if these villains are cool they are still evil people who have hurt innocents, shown when Kaminari praised Stain's coolness, failing to realize he just praised [[spoiler: the man who permanently crippled his classmate's brother]] right in front of said classmate [[WhatTheHellHero until he is called out on it]].

* AlwaysInClassOne: As the series goes on, the other classes at U.A. quickly grew envious and resentful of Class 1-A, due to a combination of both the media attention they get but also because all major villain attacks happen when at least some of the 1-A students were involved (USJ, Stain, Training Camp). This also affects their grades. Compare them to Class 1-B have better grades and better overall cohesion, not to mention only one of them had to take extra lessons during the Training Camp (Monoma) and all of them have earned their Provisional Licenses. On the other hand, Class 1-A is lagging behind from being at the center of the plot, with five taking extra lessons during the Training Camp (Kirishima, Sero, Ashido, Sato, and Kaminari) and two of their students have failed the Provisional License Exam ([[spoiler:Todoroki and Bakugo]]). In this case, being at the center of the plot often means being hospitalized or otherwise taken out of class, and it's even outright stated that part of the reason[[note]][[spoiler:Todoroki's failing was largely due to almost injuring someone due to getting in a fight with Yoarashi (who also failed the exam) and Bakugo failed due to showing a bad attitude toward the rescues]][[/note]] Class 1-B did better at the second portion of the Provisional Exam is because the attack on the USJ interrupted what was going to be Class 1-A's rescue training.

* EvilIsCool: With the figure of Stain, the manga shows how damaging the concept can be to society, especially young people since the attention Stain gets from the media encourages already troubled people such as Himiko and Dabi to become full-time villains. This is also troublesome because even if these villains are cool they are still evil people who have hurt innocents, shown when Kaminari praised Stain's coolness, failing to realize he just praised [[spoiler: the man who permanently crippled his classmate's brother]] right in front of said classmate [[WhatTheHellHero until he is called out on it]].