History Fanfic / Coyote

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19402837 Coyote]]'' is a ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' ForWantOfANail fanfic written by Creator/RalphHayesJr that shows Izuku's life if he had a friend in childhood rather than having his canon FriendlessBackground.

* AccusationFic: Midoriya goes through Aizawa's Quirk Assessment Test as he does in canon. As per canon, Aizawa threatens to expel the student who gets last in the test. Once the test is done, he reveals it was a trick to bring out their best potential since they did not want to be expelled. However (unlike in canon), all the students decide to drop out because they do not trust [[{{Jerkass}} Aizawa]] with their futures. The OriginalCharacter also knees Aizawa [[GroinAttack in the crotch]] and faces [[KarmaHoudini no repercussions]] for assaulting his teacher. All of the UA teachers then [[WhatTheHellHero call out Aizawa]] and list why his methods are immoral, wrong, and do more damage than good and Aizawa is suspended from teaching until further notice.
* AdaptationalBadass: Thanks to Riley's prompting, Izuku is more combat-ready and has actual martial training before he obtains a Quirk. It's mentioned that he's actually fought off bullies more than once.

** In Chapter 10, as part of a class assignment, Izuku, Riley and Mineta upgrade Midnight's outfit, making it much more protective plus improving her efficiency as a hero while still looking quite attractive.

** Izuku also qualifies. A specific example would be his fight with Hitoshi Shinso, where he offers NoSympathy towards the latter's situation in regards to [[BadPowersGoodPeople his]] [[CompellingVoice Quirk]] and how people have treated him over the years because of it as well [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong as call him out for being "wrong"]] for being upset with said situation. He similarly laughs at Shoto's abuse when Riley makes light of what happened. He also takes the time to dismiss a few of his own classmates' and other characters' Quirks as unimpressive.
* AdaptationalVillainy: While {{canon}} Aizawa is presented as a SternTeacher and a PragmaticHero, here his methods are reframed as cruel and a massive risk to both his students and the hero community in the long term. He expels students on whims rather than for any justified reason, refuses to admit that he's fallible, and doesn't care that several students in the class he expelled a few years back were DrivenToSuicide. He's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech raked over the coals]] and suspended without pay -- all but outright fired -- for his callous attitude. [[spoiler:This goes double after the manga reveals that he he ''doesn't'' actually expel students... or rather, he expels them and then immediately re-enrolls them, to give them a taste of how unforgiving heroism can be without ''actually'' hurting them.]]

* ChivalrousPervert: Riley; it's clear he enjoys all the fan servicey costumes that various female heroes wear but it's also clear he has a great deal of respect for his female classmates.

** While the League of Villain's attempts to invade the USJ was originally a botched job in canon, here is is way worse. Not only were there more heroes and hero-students there, but with the improvements in quirk analysis, costume modifications, the entire Support-Course student body armed with experimental support gear coming in from the back and Coyote's masterful distraction, Izuku and Mineta were able to incapacitate both Nomou and Kurogiri before they knew what hit them and the League was decimated almost immediately. Even Aizawa calls it a "CurbStompBattle".

* ForWantOfANail: Iida and Kendo become the Class Representatives in the voting.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Aizawa claims that his expelling students who don't meet his standards are meant to weed out those who don't have what it takes. No one else at the meeting agrees, though.

** Riley's mom isn't happy that he seems to be in trouble over the fight Bakugo tried to start to say the least and is ''furious'' that the school was willing to sweep Bakugo [[FantasticRacism bullying a child for being Quirkless]] under the rug because of Bakugo's powerful abilities.

* OhCrap: Bakugou's reaction when he sees Izuku and Riley are in Class 1-A with him.

* PsychoactivePowers: Riley's Oobleck grows weaker if he think's he's hurt someone, or is otherwise emotionally compromised.

** Riley Coyote's name and ToonPhysics quirk are an obvious reference to [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Wile E. Coyote]]. He might also be a reference to Coyote, a TricksterGod from Myth/NativeAmericanMythology, especially since he is mentioned being a Native American ethnically.

* SpitTake: When the teachers watch Riley's video on why he left Aizawa's class, a few of them do this.

* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Mina solves Hagakure's problem with not being able to wear a costume or carry support items by having her demonstrate that as long as she's using something that's part of her body, the invisibility will cover anything, leading to Support making her a suit from her hair, which retains the invisibility and covering effects.

* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: When called out for the "Brute Squad"'s simplistic tactics, Shishida points out that his team were a group of four melee brutes up against a team who had ranged attacks, battlefield control abilities, and were defending with a five-minute headstart to prepare the field in their favour. Under those circumstances, simply using their strength to smash through everything in their path (including walls) is a valid way of addressing the strategic disadvantages they were under.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: When Riley sets up the "genuine Native American BloodBrothers ritual" with Izuku, Izuku points out that [[LampshadeHanging the American Indians didn’t actually do blood brother ceremonies - they were actually made up by Hollywood]]. Riley retorts that since he and his dad are both genuine Native American Indians, a ritual that they made up themselves is still technically a genuine Native American ritual.

* BloodBrothers: Riley does a ceremony for this on Izuku's birthday as a reassurance that nothing is going to sever their friendship.

* SkewedPriorities: Riley is initially very sad when he gets his Quirk because despite "Ability to summon things from imagination" being amazing, he's upset that he doesn't have the power of "Summon infinite [[TrademarkFavoriteFood pie]] forever."

* AdaptationalBadass: Thanks to Riley's prompting, Izuku is more combat ready and has actual martial training before he obtains a Quirk. It's mentioned that he's actually fought off bullies more than once.
** Toshinori mentions briefly that by the time of the Quirk Assessment Test, Izuku can actually use 5% of One For All, which he couldn't do in canon. The only reason he kept breaking his arms in Aizawa's test and the Entrance Exam were because he was backed into a corner.

*** Aoyama gets a surgery that allows him to use his "Navel Laser" without hurting himself - which allows him to fly, Iron Man-style.

*** Asui begins to collect her toxins for long range application.
*** Uraraka gets a device that nullifies her nausea from using her powers on herself and a set of [=CO2=] jets that she can use to propel herself and to extinguish fires.

*** Sato equips himself with energy drinks that allow him to use his strength for longer with less problems.

*** Mineta figures out how to launch his sticky balls at high enough velocity to make the ceiling shake.

* AdaptationalIntelligence: While Izuku's Quirk analysis is a well known trait, here the ''second'' he sees new Quirks he will instantly start going over every trait and use it could possibly have. And we do mean '''every'''.

* AdaptationalVillainy: While {{canon}} Aizawa is presented as a SternTeacher and a PragmaticHero, here his methods are reframed as cruel and a massive risk to both his students and the hero community in the long term. He expels students on whims rather than for any justified reason, refuses to admit that he's fallible and doesn't care that several students in the class he expelled a few years back were DrivenToSuicide. He's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech raked over the coals]] and suspended without pay -- all but outright fired -- for his callous attitude. [[spoiler:This goes double after the manga reveals that he he ''doesn't'' actually expel students... or rather, he expels them and then immediately re-enrolls them, to give them a taste of how unforgiving heroism can be without ''actually'' hurting them.]]
--> There was some mumbling of agreement to that, with hints of resentment. It was starting to seem to the students like Aizawa's teaching method consisted of finding any hint of good cheer or self-confidence in his students and squashing it as ruthlessly as possible. They'd only had him for two lessons now and already they were getting sick of him.

* [[AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength Afraid Of His Own Strength]]: Part of the reason why Riley subconsciously nerfs himself [[AfraidOfBlood when he thinks that he's made someone bleed]] is because, even ''before'' his Quirk manifested, his canine mutations meant that he had to be very careful not to accidentally hurt other kids. It's noted that this kind of mindset is not an unusual issue among new Heroes, and might actually be much more common than what's reported, because so many people have access to abilities that could be potentially lethal.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Izuku still has to cope with this from his classmates due to being Quirkless. Even his friendship with Riley doesn't offer much of a reprieve as the rest of the class consider him a burden on the latter.

** Bakugo finally finds himself saying one insult too many when he demeans Riley because he has an aversion to causing bloody injuries on his opponents (as in, he gets a HeroicBSOD that lasts days and his powers perform badly on the meanwhile if he does) and Izuku gives him a One For All-enhanced ''NeckLift'' and warns him, while ''strangling him'', that if he ever tries to exploit this against Riley in any way, shape or form, he is going to suffer ''big time'' for it. Bakugo, who normally acts like he would rather die than bend the knee to anybody, gurgles out an agreement before All Might orders Izuku to let go.

* CelShading: Riley's oobleck is described as having a cel shaded look to it, with Riley in full-hero gear making it look like his entire body has the same look. He can make it harder to notice, however.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: When Izuku first meets Riley the latter shows off a fire extinguisher that he has on hand because he's worried over the city buildings being made of paper and a volcano igniting them. He loses this as he grows.
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: While Riley isn't necessarily unintelligible, Izuku has known him long enough to anticipate patterns in his antics and helps properly gauge people when Riley is up to something.

* CycleOfRevenge: Ryu Inui credits this as being the dynamic that has existed between Izuku, Riley and Bakugo since they were children (as well as the source of Izuku's BerserkButton) not unlike a prolonged [[Film/TheThreeStooges Three Stooges]] routine.
--> '''Ryo Inui''': Bakugo would bully or harass Izuku, Riley would retaliate with one of his stunts or pranks, Bakugo would attack Riley, Izuku would leap to his defense--
--> '''Nedzu''': And round and round we go...

* DumbassHasAPoint: Mina[[note]]who, in canon, has a one out of five in her intelligence stat and had the second lowest score on the midterms[[/note]] makes the very astute observation that the easiest way to get Hagakure a working suit is to make it out of something that shares her invisibility field since, as she has the invisible girl demonstrate to the class, anything covered by something that has said field turns invisible as well. This leads to Support making Hagakure a suit from her hair.

** While Bakugo broke Izuku's second egg, the ''first'' one broke because Izuku tripped going out the door (on the doorjam, specifically) almost immediately after getting it.
** While the League of Villain's attempts to invade the USJ was originally a botched job in canon, here is is way worse. Not only where there more heroes and hero-students there, but with the improvements in quirk analysis, costume modifications, the entire Support-Course student-body armed with experimental support-gear coming in from the back and Coyote's masterful distraction, Izuku and Mineta were able to incapacitate both Nomou and Kurogiri before they knew what hit them and the League was decimated almost immediately. Even Aizawa calls it a "CurbStompBattle".

* FantasticRacism: Izuku and Riley have to deal with this from their peers and teachers at school, the former due to being Quirkless and the latter for being a foreigner who also happens to have a physical mutation [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman that makes him look like an animal]]. It gets so bad that authority figures go out of their way to make their lives harder, giving both a general distrust of authority figures and the experience to deal with them as [[KarmicTrickster accordingly]].

* FixFic: On top of being an AccusationFic for certain characters and moments, Riley's presence has also led to improvements in the performance and behaviors of certain characters, such as a chapter dedicated to Izuku's skills in quirk-analysis being used to upgrade the performance of his classmate's quirks and designing more practical hero costumes for them.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: In "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19402837/chapters/86618014 omake]]", Riley reasons that Eraserhead's high standards are born out of PsychologicalProjection; because a quirk like his would be uselesss in the entrance exam, he had to go the long way through the Gen Ed program, thus developing envy towards those who were able to make it into the Hero Course on their first try. Rather than sympathize, Riley just calls him a {{Hypocrite}}.

* HardTruthAesop: Systematic racism and ableism exist. Such a system cannot change overnight and it can't be ignored, so get clever, find every loophole you can, cherish whatever friendships you have and make the best of that bad situation.

** Riley resents that he and Izuku were discriminated for being a foreigner and Quirkless respectively, and yet Riley has no problem throwing out ableist slurs.
** Mineta is told to tone down his pervertedness because he might reflect badly on all of Class 1-AB and yet Riley is allowed to act like a mentally unhinged person in the front of the press to chase them off, even though it could very well reflect poorly on the entirety of U.A.

* LoonWithAHeartOfGold: Riley is far less prone to following into the same prejudices as most other people, having been Izuku's only friend long before he gets "One For All" and [[KarmicTrickster frequently targets bullies and obstructing adults]] (or "obstacles" as he calls them) for his pranks. It probably has something to do with general prejudice people have towards gaijin and people with quirk mutations, giving Riley the sobering perspective that people like Bakugo would not have. On top of that, Riley is utterly dedicated to making other people happy and if he ever causes someone harm, especially an innocent, his powers go on the fritz.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: One of the reasons Riley is such an effective distraction during the USJ attack is that his Oobleck suit makes him NighInvulnerable, so he can engage on reckless behavior that would be fatal for anyone else.

* MagicalNativeAmerican: Riley's father is a Native American, cultivating a stereotypical image to throw off his business clients' expectations, and Riley himself resembles an anthropomorphic coyote. He and Izuku participate in a blood brother ritual (with Riley dressed in Native American attire). His Quirk lets him create [[MadeOfIndestructium indestructible weapons and armor]]. His father's quirk, [[SuperSmoke Smoke Signals,]] allows him to create smoke and use it to form elaborated images.

'''EMT''': Between the gallons of glue, tape, and those purple sticky ball things we found all over, take your pick. Several have some really unpleasant fungal infections. One fellow had some nasty scratches all over like he’d tackled a rose bush, and another is gonna need to have a horn removed from an awkward location... We had to sedate several. Someone left them floating weightless up on the ceiling, and I don’t know WHAT the hell the "spooky white haired girl" or "the creepy bird kid" did to them, but they were in total hysterics by the time they got down... We had to dig up a couple who were half-buried in solid floor. Oh, and a few animal bites here and there, just to round things out. Oh, and you might tell the Support kids that the net guns, bola shooters, the like were okay but the tasers, stun rays, and sonic cannons might be considered excessive.

** He also uses an ableist slur to refer to the press when they cause panic for setting off the alarm signaling a perimeter breach.

* PunnyName: Riley's full name is "[[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner Riley Coyote.]]" His father named him after it, so it was definitely deliberate.

** Unfortunately for Bakugo, Riley hears of this and proceeds to give ''him'' a spectacular and hilarious one in the form of a song and dance number (set to the tune of "Gangnam Style") mocking his arrogance and cruelty, which leaves Izuku crying with mirth and helps to remove the wedge.

---> '''Aizawa:''' [[CruelToBeKind I did them a favor.]] If they couldn’t handle a little difficulty--\\
'''Nedzu:''' Oh really? Let’s review what happened to the last group on whom you showered this particular benevolence. ''(puts down a folder and opens it up)'' Let’s start with the 20 students you expelled a couple of years back… Six of them applied for transfers to our competitors, graduated and went on to become Pro Heroes. Four of them overseas. They are all on record as disparaging U.A. to the press as having an undeserved reputation, by the way… [[TragicDropout Six of them were unable to complete their education and are now struggling as minimum wage workers. Four more of them dropped out completely and now have criminal records as Villains]]. And five of them [[DrivenToSuicide committed suicide.]]\\

* RedOniBlueOni: Riley and Izuku respectively. Riley is manic, extroverted and full of snark, while Izuku is composed, introverted and down to Earth. Both are extraordinarily intelligent, but while Riley's intelligence is based around wit, opportunism and on-the-spot thinking, Izuku is much more methodical and analytical, capable of deconstructing a person's Quirk in a way that the Quirk user themselves did not understand. When it comes to Quirks, Riley's is an ImaginationBasedSuperpower that he [[WeakButSkilled learns to master through years of careful study with Izuku's help]], while Izuku's power gives him SuperStrength of [[UnskilledButStrong unmatched thresholds of power, but lacks the experience to use it]] constructively. Lastly, Ryu Inui cites that both of their primary flaws are both contradictory and complimentary to one another; while Riley is willing to get his hands dirty and will mess with an opponent, if he gets too ruff and draws blood he'll nerf himself and pull all of his punches, while Izuku is unwilling to defend himself but will inflict his uncontrolled strength on a person if they intend ill-will on Riley.

* SecondPlaceIsForWinners: The first Heroes vs Villains' battle pits a team of WeakButSkilled Villains against relatively UnskilledButStrong Heroes. While the heroes win, they all end badly battered while the villains are comparatively fine.

* ShutUpHannibal: Neito Monoma, as usual of him, has nothing more to say to Class 1-A than smug denigration when the collected Class 1 meets for its first day (and Izuku and Riley are providing ideas to the other students in how to improve their Quirk use) and imperiously asks if there is something they can recommend him. The whole classroom yells back one word: "THERAPY!"
* SkewedPriorities: Riley is initially very sad when he gets his Quirk, because despite "Ability to summon things from imagination," being amazing, he's upset that he doesn't have the power of "Summon infinite [[TrademarkFavoriteFood pie]] forever."

** When Momo complains that she doesn't know what the costume components Izuku hands her during their attempts to give Mineta a better costume are made of, Izuku asks her how she knows that she's succeeded with making items, prompting the realization that she can just use her Quirk backwards to figure out what things are made of.

* ThoseWilyCoyotes: Riley embodies this to a tee, taking cues from the likes of the classic moralizing Coyote of Myth/NativeAmericanMythology to the wacky cartoon antics of [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Wile E. Coyote]]. He's an [[WolfMan anthropomorphic coyote]][[note]]though technically he's a human with mutation-quirk genetics[[/note]] of Native American ancestry with a predilection for pranks, an analytical mind and an ethical drive in his desire to become a hero. Combined with a quirk that gives him the ability to make whatever he wants and the result is a KarmicTrickster with a habit of putting [[BullyHunter bullies]] and authority figures [[KnowNothingKnowItAll that think they know better]] in their place like (ironically) WesternAnimation/BugsBunny making fools out of WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd and WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam.

* UtilityBelt: The 'Midoriya Layout', a complete kit of support gear that becomes part of the UA hero classes' outfits, including protective gear, medical supplies and communication devices, as well as weaponry adapted to each hero's abilities and quirks; much of this equipment is carried on an actual belt, and is designed to be compact and light so it's easy to carry and doesn't interfere with the hero's moves, plus economic enough so most of it can be acquired on normal sports shops, hardware stores, and Army-Navy surplus; later, the Support Class work on Izuku and Riley's basic design to make it much more resistant.

* WeaponizedBall: When it comes to long-ranged attacks, Izuku specializes on throwable weapons; aside from conventional ones like boomerangs and kunai, his personal [[UtilityBelt Midoriya Layout]] includes industrial ball bearings about the size of ping pong balls and lead-shot ‘hackey sacks.’ Thanks to his SuperStrength and accuracy, the balls and sacks can impact with great force without causing permanent injuries.

---> '''Kamui Woods:''' We're Pro Heroes, young man. We know better about what we do than you. We knew that we didn't have a Quirk suitable for dealing with that villain...\\

** Chapter three is basically a big one to Aizawa over... well, everything about his teaching style.

* AdaptationalVillainy: While {{canon}} Aizawa is presented as a SternTeacher and a PragmaticHero, here his methods are reframed as cruel and a massive risk to both his students and the hero community in the long term. He expels students on whims rather than for any justified reason, refuses to admit that he's fallible and doesn't care that several students in the class he expelled a few years back were DrivenToSuicide. He's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech raked over the coals]] and suspended without pay -- all but outright fired -- for his callous attitude.

*** Riley [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy tells a villain he's distracting him while calling him "big turdblossom"]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Izuku points out how impractical Midnight's outfit is, noting how high heels and tearaway cloth make for a horrible hero costume. He also notes that using air pumped nozzles would not only address the stated reason for why her costume is designed the way it is but would also improve her Quirk's efficiency.
*** Riley also chimes that continuing to use her current costume won't help her maintain her looks, which are a big part of her hero image.
** In a world where EveryoneIsASuper, Japanese culture has been forced to become at least ''somewhat'' more accepting of counseling than in our world instead of viewing it as "[[TherapyIsForTheWeak shameful]]" because a significant amount of Quirks can run amok under the influence of unstable emotions.
** With how much people are conditioned from childhood in civilized countries against hurting each other, combined with the prevalence of potentially lethal superpowers, it's not uncommon, especially among new or upcoming Heroes, for people to mentally limit their abilities out of fear of hurting others like Riley does. His canine features also didn't help.
** No matter how strong you are, going head-first against an enemy without having enough information or a plan means that, most of the time, you'll get badly battered even if you manage to win in the end.
** In the USJ, Aizawa tries to stress just how dangerous quirks are and if they aren't careful they could kill (or at least gravely harm) themselves and others with them by accident. Ibara Shiozaki retorts that most of them have had their powers since they were toddlers and have learned how to live with them their entire lives, with the risk of accidental self-harm from their quirks being incredibly rare. Not only that, but statistically people are less grievously hurt by careless quirk usage than by everyday risks in one's own kitchen and that fear-mongering about their quirks will only psyche the students out at crucial moments.
** Riley's Quirk is ''extremely'' dangerous because his ToonPhysics damage cushion only applies to him and as he demonstrates during his rebuttal to Uraraka's accusation that he was just playing around during their match, a single slip with one of the many weapons he can make with his oobleck could lead to someone permanently maimed or even dead.

** Aizawa's handling of the Quirk assessment test runs into several realistic outcomes that he didn't encounter in canon:
*** Aizawa's threat to expel the worst-performing student ultimately leads to the entire class dropping out because none of them want to risk their futures on the whims of a petty {{Jerkass}} who kicked out an entire class for not meeting his standards, which they had been warned of ahead of time. They may be striving to be heroes but you are not going to entrust achieving your goal to someone who acts like that, especially after they prove a warning you received about them right.
*** Aizawa revealing that Izuku actually passed the test and claiming the expulsion threat was a ruse isn't seen as a sign of triumph like in canon. Riley is infuriated that Izuku was basically led into maiming himself for no reason by a teacher. The claim about the ruse also helps the class decide to leave because it served as validation for an earlier warning.
*** Aizawa's expelling an entire class from a few years ago and his threat that he can do so with the current one isn't seen as TheSpartanWay like in canon. The rest of the faculty are incensed, noting that parents, alumni, sponsors, and even the Ministry of Education are going to tear strips out of the school for an entire class being expelled on the first day.
*** When Aizawa tries justifying his harshness towards Izuku by pointing out the boy's lack of control over his Quirk, All Might angrily fires back that Aizawa knew that Izuku lacked that kind of control and it's Aizawa's job to teach him how to gain it, not punish him for what he hasn't learned yet.
*** Nedzu notes that the entire class dropping out wasn't out of solidarity (except for Riley and Uraraka, who did it out of personal loyalty to Izuku) but because all of them were warned ahead of time how strict Aizawa could be and how likely he was to expel them if they didn't meet his criteria. There aren't going to be close bonds between a bunch of people who had only just met in the morning for the first time.
*** Izuku and Riley are incredibly cynical and mistrusting towards teachers because of how many have actively worked against them in reaching their goals, to the point they had to become ProperlyParanoid in order to even make it to U.A. They're naturally suspicious and wary once they actually make it into the school and look into who their prospective teachers will be, discovering Aizawa may prove to be a problem. They were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt right up to the point where he legitimized their worries.
*** The results of Aizawa expelling an entire class are shown. Half of them went to seek schooling at other hero schools while badmouthing the school to the press over it. The other half either wound up not finishing their education and scraping by on minimum wage, dropping out completely and becoming villains, or committing suicide. Getting expelled from such a prestigious school is not just a matter of "you aren't cutting it here": either other rival schools will seek to get their hands on such talent or no other school will touch them because of who did the booting out. One commenter mentions that [[TruthInTelevision in a highly competitive society like Japan]], being expelled from a school can lead someone to be DrivenToSuicide.
*** It gets pointed out that Aizawa's teaching methods are very much AwesomeButImpractical, showing that while the students that do pass go on to become incredible heroes it's often at the cost of nearly twice as many being kicked out because they don't meet Aizawa's standards. Nedzu also raises the issue that part of why Aizawa is so lauded as a teacher is that he tends to get students that qualify as prodigies who he doesn't have to invest much effort in actually teaching while dismissing anyone of lesser talent.
*** It's pointed out that in addition to all the other flaws he has, he constantly sleeps in class and looks slovenly in the extreme.
** When Momo talks about her Quirk to the class, Izuku points out that it ''can't'' work the way that she ''thinks'' it does, turning body fat into different forms and materials, because with the mass of the objects in the Apprehension test alone (at least 100 kilos), she'd have ''killed herself'' from losing all that body mass at once. Izuku instead proposes that the body fat is just metabolized as part of whatever process produces the materials from where they're ''actually'' coming from.

* ArtisticLicenseEducation: Aizawa's special dispensation to expel students under his own authority from Canon is highlighted further here, [[RealityEnsues in a]] "[[AccusationFic I don't know what the hell I (the Principal) was thinking when I allowed it]]" fashion.

* RealityEnsues:
** Izuku points out how impractical Midnight's outfit is, noting how high heels and tearaway cloth make for a horrible hero costume. He also notes that using air pumped nozzles would not only address the stated reason for why her costume is designed the way it is but would also improve her Quirk's efficiency.
*** Riley also chimes that continuing to use her current costume won't help her maintain her looks, which are a big part of her hero image.
** Aizawa's handling of the Quirk assessment test runs into several realistic outcomes that he didn't encounter in canon:
*** Aizawa's threat to expel the worst-performing student ultimately leads to the entire class dropping out because none of them want to risk their futures on the whims of a petty {{Jerkass}} who kicked out an entire class for not meeting his standards, which they had been warned of ahead of time. They may be striving to be heroes but you are not going to entrust achieving your goal to someone who acts like that, especially after they prove a warning you received about them right.
*** Aizawa revealing that Izuku actually passed the test and claiming the expulsion threat was a ruse isn't seen as a sign of triumph like in canon. Riley is infuriated that Izuku was basically led into maiming himself for no reason by a teacher. The claim about the ruse also helps the class decide to leave because it served as validation for an earlier warning.
*** Aizawa's expelling an entire class from a few years ago and his threat that he can do so with the current one isn't seen as TheSpartanWay like in canon. The rest of the faculty are incensed, noting that parents, alumni, sponsors, and even the Ministry of Education are going to tear strips out of the school for an entire class being expelled on the first day.
*** When Aizawa tries justifying his harshness towards Izuku by pointing out the boy's lack of control over his Quirk, All Might angrily fires back that Aizawa knew that Izuku lacked that kind of control and it's Aizawa's job to teach him how to gain it, not punish him for what he hasn't learned yet.
*** Nedzu notes that the entire class dropping out wasn't out of solidarity (except for Riley and Uraraka, who did it out of personal loyalty to Izuku) but because all of them were warned ahead of time how strict Aizawa could be and how likely he was to expel them if they didn't meet his criteria. There aren't going to be close bonds between a bunch of people who had only just met in the morning for the first time.
*** Izuku and Riley are incredibly cynical and mistrusting towards teachers because of how many have actively worked against them in reaching their goals, to the point they had to become ProperlyParanoid in order to even make it to U.A. They're naturally suspicious and wary once they actually make it into the school and look into who their prospective teachers will be, discovering Aizawa may prove to be a problem. They were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt right up to the point where he legitimized their worries.
*** The results of Aizawa expelling an entire class are shown. Half of them went to seek schooling at other hero schools while badmouthing the school to the press over it. The other half either wound up not finishing their education and scraping by on minimum wage, dropping out completely and becoming villains, or committing suicide. Getting expelled from such a prestigious school is not just a matter of "you aren't cutting it here": either other rival schools will seek to get their hands on such talent or no other school will touch them because of who did the booting out. One commenter mentions that [[TruthInTelevision in a highly competitive society like Japan]], being expelled from a school can lead someone to be DrivenToSuicide.
*** It gets pointed out that Aizawa's teaching methods are very much AwesomeButImpractical, showing that while the students that do pass go on to become incredible heroes it's often at the cost of nearly twice as many being kicked out because they don't meet Aizawa's standards. Nedzu also raises the issue that part of why Aizawa is so lauded as a teacher is that he tends to get students that qualify as prodigies who he doesn't have to invest much effort in actually teaching while dismissing anyone of lesser talent.
*** It's pointed out that in addition to all the other flaws he has, he constantly sleeps in class and looks slovenly in the extreme.
** When Momo talks about her Quirk to the class, Izuku points out that it ''can't'' work the way that she ''thinks'' it does, turning body fat into different forms and materials, because with the mass of the objects in the Apprehension test alone (at least 100 kilos), she'd have ''killed herself'' from losing all that body mass at once. Izuku instead proposes that the body fat is just metabolized as part of whatever process produces the materials from where they're ''actually'' coming from.
** In a world where EveryoneIsASuper, Japanese culture has been forced to become at least ''somewhat'' more accepting of counseling than in our world instead of viewing it as "[[TherapyIsForTheWeak shameful]]" because a significant amount of Quirks can run amok under the influence of unstable emotions.
** With how much people are conditioned from childhood in civilized countries against hurting each other, combined with the prevalence of potentially lethal superpowers, it's not uncommon, especially among new or upcoming Heroes, for people to mentally limit their abilities out of fear of hurting others like Riley does. His canine features also didn't help.
** No matter how strong you are, going head-first against an enemy without having enough information or a plan means that, most of the time, you'll get badly battered even if you manage to win in the end.
** In the USJ, Aizawa tries to stress just how dangerous quirks are and if they aren't careful they could kill (or at least gravely harm) themselves and others with them by accident. Ibara Shiozaki retorts that most of them have had their powers since they were toddlers and have learned how to live with them their entire lives, with the risk of accidental self-harm from their quirks being incredibly rare. Not only that, but statistically people are less grievously hurt by careless quirk usage than by everyday risks in one's own kitchen and that fear-mongering about their quirks will only psyche the students out at crucial moments.
** Riley's Quirk is ''extremely'' dangerous because his ToonPhysics damage cushion only applies to him and as he demonstrates during his rebuttal to Uraraka's accusation that he was just playing around during their match, a single slip with one of the many weapons he can make with his oobleck could lead to someone permanently maimed or even dead.

** When he decides to prank Kaminari and Mineta for trying to convince the girls in their class to dress up as cheerleaders, Riley instead convinces the male members of their class to dress up in drag as female cheerleaders and even perform a routine. From how the story describes it, they come across as caricatures of drag queens that are used to insult {{Transgender}} people and exhibit the [[CampGay negative stereotypes]] of gender-nonconforming people, a fact that is made explicit as the narration describes Riley's intent with this stunt was to "trigger every alternate lifestylist from Tokyo to Okinawa".

** Izuku also qualifies. A specific example would be his fight with Hitoshi Shinso, where he offers NoSympathy towards the latter's situation in regards to [[BadPowersGoodPeople his]] [[CompellingVoice Quirk]] and how people have treated him over the years because of it as well [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong as call him out for being "wrong"]] for being upset with said situation. He also takes the time to dismiss a few of his own classmates' Quirks as unimpressive.

* CelShading: Riley's oobleck is described as having a cel shaded look to it, with Riley in full-hero gear making it look like his entire body has the same look.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: In the first chapter, Riley complains about how in Japan, surnames are used first and given names are used last.

** He describes himself as a "living bundle of ADHD" where he deliberately acts crazy to scare off reports on UA grounds. In real life, ADHD is much more complex than simply hyperactive behavior and getting easily distracted.

** Riley gets angry at the characters [[SerioursBusiness not eating Oreos properly]] and insists on educating them on the "proper" way, which he likens to Japanese tea ceremonies. Except the comparison doesn't work as tea ceremonies have been a part of Japanese culture for centuries while Oreos are just a brand that hasn't been around for nearly as much time (they were introduced in 1912).