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Bone of My Sword

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Bone of My Sword is a My Hero Academia fanfic on Archive of Our Own by Bronywankenobi that can be read here.

Izuku’s parents bring him to the United States to take part in a secret experiment to give him a Quirk, where he ends up meeting and befriending Pony Tsunotori.


This fanfic provides examples of:

  • 0% Approval Rating:
    • Due to their general jerkassery and arrogance, combined with Iida's habit of jumping to conclusions and unwillingness to reign in Monoma and Mineta's behavior, Class 1-A quickly earns the ire of the entire student body.
      • By Chapter 16, this has reached the point where Kirishima is practically convinced that he should just drop out and quit heroics entirely, due to his Jerkass Realization and all the hatred his class has been garnering.
    • According to Momo, nobody in Class-A feels that they can trust Iida with their problems due to his jerkass attitude. It gets to the point that many of the 1-A students are amused when Mina talks back to him.
    • Class 1-A's disgraceful performance in the Sports Festival, combined with Iida kicking up a fuss on live TV, practically destroys their reputation to the world at large.
  • Acquired Situational Narcissism: Class 1-A, due to All Might constantly canceling classes with 1-B as well as having gone through the USJ Incident, turn into a bunch of arrogant jerkasses who brag about their experiences on social media. This quickly earns them the hatred of the rest of the school, and comes back to bite them hard during the Sports Festival when the majority of the class is unable to live up to the public’s expectations.
  • Actually Pretty Funny:
    • Despite the seriousness of the situation, the majority of U.A.'s staff can barely contain their laughter when they see the blackmail video of Mirio Togata accidentally activating Permeation on the toilet.
    • Even Bakugo of all people can't help but laugh when Mina mocks Iida's holier than thou, control freak tendencies.
    • Katsuki nearly laughs again when Yaoyorozu shouts "Todoroki, please! For the love of all things in creation: do NOT pull another Iida!" Though he stops upon realizing that the rope connecting them could've easily been severed by the spike trap Shouto had triggered.
  • Adaptational Badass: Due to a combination of having a Quirk, better training, and more confidence, Izuku is much more capable here, even being one of the top scorers in the U.A. Entrance Exam.
  • Adaptational Jerkass:
    • Aizawa is much worse here than in canon, his teaching style fostering a toxic environment among his students and causing most of them to develop an every man for himself mentality. He also forbids his students from being in relationships with each other and attempts to expel Uraraka after she accidentally damages blackmail evidence, and even advocates the expulsion of students who aren't even in his class simply for being victims of said blackmail scheme.
    • Monoma, due to being in Class-A here, is even worse than his canon counterpart, going from taunting his sister class to outright bullying and trying to spy on their training sessions.
    • Iida is obsessed with the prestige that his family lineage and attending UA gives him, lacking any understanding of what it means to be a hero beyond appearances, and in general has a "holier than thou" attitude which only worsens as the story goes on. He does little-to-nothing to curb Monoma and Mineta's behavior, accuses Yaoyorozu of only getting into the course via nepotism as justification to ignore her concerns, slaps and manhandles Mina when she calls him out on his behavior. It all culminates at the Sports Festival, when even after being called out for his behavior by Midnight on live television and being given a “The Reason You Suck” Speech by Yaoyorozu, he is still convinced that he and he alone is in the right, trying to force Kawakami into giving up her rightfully earned spot in the second round on the justification that she looks like a villain, which Midnight and Endeavor intend to have him expelled for.
    • This can be said for most of Class 1-A here, due to the toxic environment of their class making them unwilling to help each other out to the point that Uraraka and Ashido have to start training with Class 1-B out of desperation. It really says a lot about how bad 1-A has gotten when Bakugo of all people is one of the tamer ones.
  • Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
    • In canon, Izuku and Pony have very little interaction with each other. Here, they're childhood friends and are currently dating.
    • Due to Izuku having moved away when he was young, he and Bakugo only have extremely vague memories of each other at best, and come to hate each other (Izuku towards Bakugo after the latter taunts him for saving a group of trapped students, and Bakugo towards Izuku for seemingly being the one person he may have to expend effort to defeat).
    • Due to being in Class 1-B, Izuku has a much poorer relationship with Class 1-A.
    • Monoma, likewise, is constantly taunting and even outright bullying Class 1-B due to being in Class-A here.
    • Class 1-A as a whole. Due to Aizawa fostering a toxic environment, the class has developed an "every man for himself" mentality and are perfectly content to leave their classmates out to dry.
    • While not as close to them as Class 1-A, All Might is said to still have a pretty good relationship with Class 1-B in canon. Here, his relationship with them is strained due to his Chronic Hero Syndrome causing him to constantly miss classes with them, and then later destroyed outright after he expresses his belief that Quirkless people cannot be Heroes. It gets to the point that Endeavor is made 1-B's primary Heroics teacher simply because they have so little faith in All Might.
    • Due to not having One For All, Izuku's relationship with All Might doesn't go beyond teacher and student, with Izuku later losing respect for All Might after the latter expresses his belief that Quirkless people can't be Heroes.
    • Uraraka and Setsuna have little to no interaction in canon. Here, they enter into a relationship with each other.
    • Monoma and Mineta don't interact much, if at all, outside of the Joint Training Arc. Here, Mineta is Monoma's lackey and joins in his harassment of Class 1-B.
    • Endeavor and Hisashi Midoriya aren't known to have interacted at all in Canon. Here, they became friends after Endeavor broke up a fight between Hisashi and a Quirkist Detnerat representative at a convention a few years back, to the point that Endeavor recognizes Izuku as Hisashi's son despite not having met him before.
    • Despite being good friends in canon, Iida and Yaoyorozu are nowhere near as close here due to Iida's attitude and blind faith in authority, the two slowly coming to despise each other.
    • Iida is one of Izuku's best friends in canon. Here, since Iida has quadrupled down on his initial "holier than thou" attitude, Izuku shows a bitter hatred for Iida after he antagonizes his friends and tries to force Izuku to transfer to 1-A against his will.
    • In contrast, Tensei and Iida's relationship becomes more strained because Iida Took a Level in Jerkass and warns him that if he continues down that path, he will find himself alone when he needs help the most.
    • Aizawa is shown to have a fairly decent relationship with his fellow teachers in Canon. Here, it’s pretty obvious they have no respect for him given his poor and outright toxic handling of his class and his skewed standards, with the rest of the staff calling out his constant putting down of students like Uraraka when he has done nothing to try and correct their mistakes. This eventually culminates in Chapter 25, when Nezu tells Aizawa that by the end of the Sports Festival, Aizawa will either find himself on the streets or that the vast majority of his privileges will be revoked; he hasn't decided which because Aizawa's role in everything has enraged him so much that he doesn't feel comfortable making a formal decision until he calms down.
  • Adaptational Sexuality: Uraraka and Setsuna are canonically straight as far as everyone knows. Here, they're both bisexual and enter into a relationship with each other.
  • Adaptational Superpower Change:
    • Instead of One For All, Izuku's Quirk is Bone of My Sword, which allows him to change the density of his bones as well as pull them out and use them as swords.
    • It's revealed in Chapter 22 that Melissa successfully gained a quirk of her own thanks to the same project Izuku was a part of.
  • Adaptational Villainy: It is heavily implied that Mineta is involved in his uncle's human trafficking ring due to the grape headed boy sending the man pictures of female U.A. students.
  • Adults Are Useless:
    • Aizawa is the most prominent example. He is almost criminally negligent towards his own class to the point Uraraka and Ashido sign up to transfer to 1-B due to his negligence causing them to fall behind. He also sticks his neck out to protect Monoma from a very well-deserved suspension while trying to justify the latter's actions. He even outright states that he refuses to actually teach his class and wants them to figure things out on their own. He also acts like his class is supposed to immediately know everything and gets annoyed when they realistically don't.
    • Zig-Zagged with Nezu. He comes off as genuinely wanting to help his students and even helps Uraraka out when her poor living conditions come to light, and even rips into All Might over his negligence of 1-B. However, he continues to give Aizawa leeway for his behavior despite the fact that Class 1-A is completely out of control, even allowing Aizawa to continue on with whatever "grand lesson" he has in store for 1-A, despite he himself being horrified by it and outright acknowledging that it has the potential to ruin 1-A's future. It is only come the Sports Festival and witnessing Iida's callous actions that Nezu reaches his breaking point and decides that he'll be completely restricting Aizawa's freedoms going forward, and only on the off-chance that he doesn't conclude that just fire him outright is still a good idea once he eventually comes down from his moment of Tranquil Fury.
  • All for Nothing: Endeavor has a bit of a BSOD upon learning that All Might is likely planning to retire soon, as he realizes all his efforts to create the "perfect successor" who could surpass the Symbol of Hope are a waste, since he's ruined his familial relationships for a goal that he would have naturally gotten thanks to the passage of time.
  • The All-Solving Hammer: Shouto treats "his mother's ice" like this, stubbornly insisting that it's all he needs to succeed in face of... increasingly mounting evidence to the contrary.
  • Apathetic Teacher: Aizawa, hands down. He constantly neglects his class in favor of sleeping and does nothing to try and help them improve. He even outright states that how his students improve is not his concern and that he fully expects them to figure things out on their own, which goes against the point of U.A. being a school. He also defends Bakugou, Mineta, and Monoma from punishment, even though the former is a borderline psychopath, Mineta is an outright sexual predator, and Monoma is constantly harassing and antagonizing the rest of U.A., Class 1-B in particular. He also acts completely nonchalant about Nezu scolding him for not telling his class about Hound Dog, making the excuse that they should have known without his input.
  • Armor-Piercing Question:
    • After All Might accidentally reveals his Quirkism, he takes advantage of how Izuku doesn't know his Secret Identity to talk to him as Toshinori. After hearing how he was bullied when everyone "thought" he was Quirkless, he tries comforting him, but...
      Toshinori: I'm sorry to hear that. But at least it worked out for you in the end. Your quirk was just late coming in so—
      Izuku: So that makes it alright?!? So I only deserve to be treated like a human being if I have a quirk?
    • When Vlad King and All Might get into an argument about the latter's Fantastic Ableism, there's this exchange:
      Toshinori: If I had known [Slip Stream] had a quirkless daughter then—
      Kan: Then what? Well? What would you have said? That it's too dangerous for a hero to have a quirkless child? That he should give her up?
      Toshinori: What? No!
    • The argument above culminates in Vlad pointing out that All Might is gradually losing his power and will eventually be quirkless himself, "So shouldn't you be treated the same way you treat them?"
    • Endeavor asks this to the class when Ibara asks if there are times to stay and comfort a civilian they have rescued.
      Endeavor: Let me put it this way: which would keep you up more? Would it be failing to save someone because you were busy dealing with another crime? Or would it be arriving too late to save anyone because you wanted to stay and chat with someone who was doing fine after you saved them?
    • When Iida kicks up a fuss about the majority of 1-A failing to clear the first event of the Sports Festival, saying they would have saved the H.U.C. employees if they were given clearer instructions, Midnight is so disgusted that she briefly drops her flirty persona to voice what everyone who was stunned silent by Iida's words is thinking.
      Iida: The supposed poor performance of myself and my classmates is due to a failure on U.A.'s part to provide the proper information. This is both inappropriate and shameful on the part of such a prodigious institution. We are all exemplary students within the hero course who have diligently worked hard to uphold the standards of this fine school. Had we been simply informed of how points would be obtained, then naturally we would have saved those people you hired.
      [Midnight glares him down as a Stunned Silence falls over the stadium]
      Midnight: I see. How unfortunate. [cracks her whip, then points it at him] Tell me young man, are you only willing to save someone else if it will benefit you?
      [Iida recoils as though she'd slapped him, though it's unclear whether he's reacting to her words or the volume at which she spoke]
    • "Repercussions" has this exchange:
      Nezu: Your student thought that he could simply demand that another student give up their earned spot within the next round. He walked over to the same girl who Young Mineta sexually harassed, the same girl who Young Iida then tried to downplay the seriousness of the act, and grabbed her. He tried to drag her while berating her into giving him what he wanted. I wonder when he learned that doing such acts were acceptable? Could it have been when he attacked Young Ashido and faced no consequences?
      Aizawa: [visibly paling] You... heard about that?
  • Ascended Extra: Hisashi Midoriya's presence in canon is limited to a passing mention in the first chapter and he is stated to be working abroad. Here, he is a much more active part of his son's life.
  • Bait-and-Switch: All Might's excuse for not being physically present at a meeting is that he was called in to save someone named Timmy from a well is believed by Vlad to just be a bad lie, only for Endeavor to start complaining about Timmy himself, revealing there really is a Timmy who falls down wells regularly due to having a Quirk that leads him to abandoned and dried up wells.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Kiaria Rekka absolutely despises most of Class 1-A, seeing them all as lacking loyalty. This hatred is so overpowering that she's willing to risk not passing the second event just to ensure Katsuki, Yaomomo and Shouto don't pass either.
    • Shouto manages to hit Yaoyorozu's HARD when he betrays her and Bakugou, then declares that "You and your worthless creations will just get in my way. Especially your useless cannons." Cue Yaomomo declaring "I'LL SHOW YOU USELESS CANNON!" before showing off just how far her Quirk can be pushed.
  • Big "NO!": Mineta lets one loose in Chapter 26, lamenting how his supposedly meteoric rise to fame has crashed and burned before he got to "grope any groupies".
  • Big "SHUT UP!": Shinsou roars this at Iida when the Entitled Bastard starts harassing Kawakami over how she supposedly isn't "worthy" of advancing in the Sports Festival.
  • Big "WHAT?!": Nighteye gives this when Nezu threatens to fire All Might over his negligence of Class 1-B.
  • Bilingual Backfire: Pony's American friend Sarah points out that Pony pleasures herself to a picture of Izuku, believing he won't understand a word she’s saying. Izuku points out, in fluent English, that he can understand her.
  • Blaming the Victim:
    • This is what Aizawa's attempts to expel everyone who was targeted by the blackmailers boils down to. Far as he's concerned, it's entirely their fault that anything could be used against them in that fashion in the first place. Nezu points out that it's basically a massive class-action lawsuit waiting to happen, and that they could run the risk of photos and video footage of naked U.A. students to come out.
    • Likewise, Iida believes that if they can't handle the teaching mannerisms of Aizawa, then they shouldn't be in the hero course, even stating that Uraraka deserves to expelled despite not even knowing what Aizawa wants to expel them for, and stating that Kirishima doesn't deserve to be in the Hero Course after he suffers a near mental breakdown.
    • When Nezu scolds Aizawa for not telling his class that they could consult Hound Dog for support, Aizawa bluntly replies that "rational students" would've known about counseling being an option without needing to be informed about it. He also pointedly doesn't respond to Nezu's declaration that he wouldn't have let Aizawa expel Kirishima for seeking help.
  • Broken Pedestal:
    • All Might becomes this for Izuku and the rest of Class-B after he expresses his belief that Quirkless people can't be Heroes.
    • Class 1-A's abysmal performance during the first phase of U.A.'s Sports Festival, coupled with Iida's Never My Fault rant being broadcast live, shifts the public's perception of the lot from noble up-and-coming heroes who'd conducted themselves well in a crisis to selfish Glory Hounds who'd grossly exaggerated their skills and milked that incident for all it was worth.
  • Caught on Tape:
    • During the first event of the Sports Festival, Iida is recorded looking at a woman pleading for help in disgust before turning away. This footage gets replayed on the jumbotron immediately after Midnight challenges his declaration that nobody in 1-A would've failed the Secret Test of Character if they'd only known they'd get points for rescuing people.
    • Nezu reveals that Monoma’s mocking of Jiro and Kirishima’s disastrous attempt to rescue H.U.C. members was also caught on camera, leaving the public disgusted with him.
  • Chick Magnet: Izuku becomes this in his previous school after he passes the U.A. Entrance Exam. It's outright stated a fight nearly broke out between between at least a dozen girls who wanted to sit with him at lunch.
  • Childhood Friends: Izuku and Pony. Despite living on opposite sides of the planet, the two manage to keep their friendship strong through occasional visits and daily video calls.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: Izuku and Pony, who have known each other since childhood, have recently gotten together by the time of the present day.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: Deconstructed with All Might, as it causes him to miss several classes with 1-B to the point that Nezu has to put his foot down and threaten to fire him if he misses another class without a very good reason.
  • Contrived Coincidence: Not only do Izuku and Pony live on the same floor in the student dorms, but they're also in the same class as well. Izuku even muses on the odds of this.
  • Control Freak: Iida, Iida, Iida. As Aishido puts it when he accuses her and Urakaka of acting 'unheroically' by having a casual conversation as they walked into class:
    Mina: Guess we know what your hero name is going to be: Thought Police. Can't wait to see you out in the field, calling people a villain whenever you feel like they are not living up to the standard you set for them. Chasing down people for the 'horrible' crime of talking too loudly or having a conversation that you feel is bad. Somehow I don't think people will be cheering when they see you. More like living in fear, too afraid to cross the street because if they cross 'too soon' or 'too late' you'll speed over and arrest them.
  • "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Saotome, one of the students behind the blackmail scheme, states that his reasoning was due to being treated as nothing more than a glorified janitor during his Internships. The U.A. Staff point out that he could have just reported the companies in question.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: Todoroki insists that he doesn't NEED to use his father's fire for anything, and that his mother's ice will always suffice. His continued insistence upon this when faced with spikes designed specifically to counter his love of creating glaciers causes his classmates no end of grief, and very nearly costs his team the second round of the Sports Festival.
    Yaoyorozu: Todoroki. There is a fine line separating stubbornness and stupidity. And you crossed it a long time ago.
  • Death Seeker: Olivia signed up for the empowerment program not because she wanted a Quirk, but because she'd heard there was a chance she could die and was hoping she'd be one of the unlucky few who didn't survive the procedure.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Has its own page.
  • Disappointed in You:
    • Tensei all but states this when he learns how poorly Tenya has been treating his classmates, though he also expresses disappointment in himself, knowing that Tenya looks up to him as a role model.
    • Played With when Blackhound chides Sir Nighteye, telling him "You know, I held out a little bit of hope that I was mistaken. You've really let me down by throwing your lot in with Detnerat." Sir Nighteye is completely confused by the accusation, and ends up telling him a carefully edited excuse... which causes Blackhound to revise his stance:
      Blackhound: No, forgive me. I misspoke. I am very, very angry to hear that.
  • Disproportionate Retribution:
    • Aizawa attempts to have Uraraka expelled for what basically amounts to minor vigilantism and accidental destruction of evidence, and later noted that he would have both her and Ashido locked away in the deepest parts of Tartarus for the rest of their lives if he had his way.
    • One of the training exercises All Might does with 1-A involves robots acting as civilians for them to interact with, with Iida and Katsuki reacting poorly. The former threatens to arrest any of the robots who so much as look in his general direction, while the latter responds to one of the robotic children asking him for an autograph by screaming at them until they start sobbing, then blows them up for being "annoying."
    • Iida's response to Mina talking back to him after he harasses her and Ochako for having a completely innocent conversation about anime? To slap her in front of the entire class and then shove her against a wall.
  • Doublethink:
    • Iida insists that Aizawa can do no wrong because he's a teacher at U.A., so he simply MUST know what he's doing — they wouldn't hire anyone incompetent or incapable of doing their job, after all! Yet whenever other teachers and staff at U.A. challenge his rigidity or call out Aizawa as wrong, Iida finds some way to dismiss their expertise.
    • Despite having been formerly Quirkless himself, Toshinori believes the Quirkless shouldn't be involved with anything involving heroics — not even tangentially. Kan calls him out and challenges this, though the main thing that pierces through his stubborness to some extent is being brutally reminded that he'll eventually lose his power — does he want to be treated the same way he's treating the Quirkless?
  • Dramatic Irony: In canon, the primary reasoning behind Monoma's constant antagonism towards 1-A is that they are arrogant glory hounds, who have allowed the fact that they were "lucky" enough to survive a villain attack go straight to their heads. In this story, guess just which member of 1-A is the one crowing the loudest about facing off against real villains?
  • Dramatically Missing the Point:
    • Following the first event of the Sports Festival, Midnight coldly rips Tenya a new one over his Skewed Priorities, and he finds himself facing the disapproval of the crowd after being shown footage of him turning away from a woman begging for his help. Not only does Tenya come away from that convinced that they're only upset that he failed to make it through to the next event, the point she was trying to make is completely lost upon Neito as well.
    • When Principal Nezu confronts Aizawa about covering up Iida's prior assault on Ashido, sarcastically asking if he thinks that had anything to do with the culprit's subsequent brazeness in assaulting Kawakami, Aizawa is more concerned with figuring out who snitched on him.
    • The second event prominently features traps that counteract Shouto's tendency to thoughtlessly cover everything with ice. This does not stop Shouto from continuing to try thoughtlessly covering everything with ice, or from stubbornly insisting "his mother's ice" is all he needs to succeed.
  • The Dreaded Toilet Duty: After Mineta brazenly attempts to sexually assault a girl in the middle of a crowded classroom, Aizawa furiously declares that since he'd lied about needing to use the bathroom so he could pull this stunt, he's going to get very well acquainted with every single restroom on campus.
  • Ear Ache: Taken to Body Horror levels during the Sports Festival's second event, when Yaoyorozu has their ears shrivel up to the point that they look like they're on the verge of falling off the sides of their head.
  • Entitled Bastard: Iida, which comes to a head at the Sports Festival when he tries to force his way to the next round after a disastrous showing in the first. Even being informed that he's going to be removed from the Hero Course has done nothing to curb this behavior.
  • Everyone Has Standards:
    • For as much of an asshole and a terrible teacher as he is, even Aizawa is not amused by Monoma, Mineta, and Iida making asses of themselves in front of the entire school.
      • Likewise, Aizawa is absolutely furious when Mineta barges into Class 1-B in the middle of class and tries to sexually assault Fuyumi in front of everyone.
    • While Monoma, Mineta and Iida dramatically miss the point, the rest of Class 1-A watch the footage of everyone else helping the rescue targets in dawning horror. The majority of their classmates also react with dismay when they see that Kirishima and Jiro are trapped, though Monoma just mocks their plight.
    • In the aftermath of the first event, many heroes show disgust at 1-A's actions, with like Gang Orca and Ryukyu saying that Kirishima, Jiro, Ashido, and Uraraka are the only members of the class that show true heroic potential due to not forgetting the rescue part of the job, though the former appreciates that Yaoyorozu at least had enough awareness to realize something might be wrong and try to go back before being stopped by the proctor.
    • After Iida tries to force a student with a 'villainous' quirk out of the Sports Festival, Midnight and Endeavor drag him away, with Midnight saying that there is no way Aizawa can save him from getting removed from the Hero Course after everything he'd done that day.
    • Katsuki laments that he was robbed of a classmate he would have actually respected and loved to work with upon learning that the only reason Kiaria Rekka — a Gen Studies student who has a wealth of impressive and powerful abilities connected to consuming fire — didn't pass the Hero Entrance Exams was because the test uses robots and doesn't allow prospective students to bring any tools that they didn't make themselves.
  • Fantastic Ableism:
    • One of the students involved in the blackmail scheme is Quirkless. Not only was he screwed out of all job opportunities due to his extra joint but he had to resort to blackmailing people with their darkest secrets so that he didn't end up being one of the many Quirkless who become statistics. Though it's also heavily implied that he's become so distrusting and paranoid that he's even begun internalizing otherwise innocent situations as Quirkism.
    • While he was already in trouble for how he kept neglecting their class, All Might completely loses the regard of Class 1-B when he declares that Quirkless people can't become heroes. While he tries justifying himself to Vlad King later, including claiming that he can't possibly be Quirkist because he's got a Quirkless honorary niece, Vlad repeatedly challenges him on his Doublethink:
      Toshinori: That wasn't what—
      Kan: From what I'm hearing, it’s the only way it could have been interpreted. You said it yourself. That there are villains out there that can't be defeated without a quirk. That's where your focus is. The quirk! Not outsmarting someone whose quirk is superior to yours. Not training your body to take on more powerful opponents. Not having gear to compliment your abilities and make up for your shortcomings. No! You focused only on the quirk! It goes against everything those kids have been working on since they started their training sessions.
    • Played completely straight with the Detnerat Company, which focuses primarily on making support gear for those with powerful Quirks, and outright refuses to cater to the Quirkless population, considering it a waste of resources.
    • Iida displays this to people with villainous quirks, when in canon, he has shown no sign of that.
  • Foil:
    • Aizawa vs. Vlad King: While Vlad is shown to care about his students, going out of his way to support them all and try to help them succeed, Aizawa is a Sink-or-Swim Mentor who repeatedly insists that his class should be able to "figure things out themselves". Aizawa also actively discourages his students from helping each other or seeking outside assistance, and shows blatant favoritism towards a select few.
    • Aizawa vs. All Might:
      • Although Aizawa ostensibly has far more experience teaching than All Might, both prove to be incredibly neglectful for different reasons. Aizawa's an apathetic and has sadistic tendencies; All Might has Chronic Hero Syndrome and dismisses his duties.
      • Both zero in on specific students to give special attention; Aizawa is blatant in his favoritism and Selective Enforcement, while All Might is self-aware enough to try and avoid giving away that he only cares about certain students... even if only because he doesn't want to draw unwanted attention to his potential successor or deal with being accused of favoritism.
      • Faced with the debacle that opens the Sports Festival, All Might immediately recognizes just how badly he screwed up. Aizawa, meanwhile, doubles down so hard that his first order of business is going after two of the students who DIDN'T fail the Secret Test of Character.
    • All Might vs. Endeavor:
      • All Might may be the more popular Pro Hero, but he turns out to be a terrible excuse for a teacher, to the point that he has to be threatened with getting fired in order to get him to take his duties at U.A. more seriously... and even then he still has ulterior motives towards 1-B. By contrast, Endeavor is shown to take all of his obligations seriously.
      • All Might views the Quirkless with Condescending Compassion, insisting that they can't be heroes and shouldn't be remotely involved with anything connected to heroics, as it's simply "too dangerous" for their kind. Endeavor, meanwhile, believes that Quirkless people can potentially become heroes if they have access to the same resources as the Quirked.
      • While both can be stubbornly set in their ways, Endeavor privately acknowledges that he's done rather unpleasant things in the name of his own ambitions, including being an Abusive Parent who's Vicariously Ambitious. He is also much faster to recognize and regret his mistakes than All Might, who repeatedly reassures himself that everything he does is For the Greater Good.
    • Yaoyorozu vs. Iida:
      • Both come from wealthy, privileged backgrounds; Yaoyorozu is Spoiled Sweet and initially doesn't recognize how much she's benefitted from her high status, while Iida is obsessed with upholding his family's legacy and proving his superiority.
      • Iida eventually accuses Yaoyorozu of having been coasting along on her parents' riches and connections while he's been working hard to prove worthy of his place at U.A. Yet he's the one who proves more entitled in the long run, even citing his surname as "justification" for demanding somebody else surrender their spot in the Sports Festival to him.
      • Iida is inflexible and shows No Sympathy for others, while Yaoyorozu is considerate and grows increasingly worried about the lack of harmony in their class and how it's coming apart at the seams.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Iida effectively embodies all the worst aspects of Aizawa's teachings, having absorbed every nasty Skewed Priority his teacher preached. Right down to outright ignoring people that require rescuing as a "distraction".
  • Groin Attack: While it doesn't actually hit him, Shouto very nearly takes a shot straight to the family jewels from a hidden spike trap, causing him to freeze in horror while the male members of the audience collectively wince. Katsuki isn't as lucky.
  • Hard Work Hardly Works: Averted, but repeatedly Discussed.
    • Throughout the series, several characters express concern that they Can't Catch Up no matter how hard they try, something which is reinforced by the heavy emphasis placed upon flashy and "naturally powerful" Quirks.
    • Mirio admits to Midoriya that this was one of the reasons he rejected the chance to "enhance" his power (without explaining exactly what this would have entailed). He feels as though taking such a shortcut wouldn't just betray himself and how much he'd worked to get this far, but everyone who sees him as an inspiration for how far he'd managed to make it through effort alone:
      Mirio: My mentor has never steered me wrong before and I know he wants what's best for me. Using this quirk, I could have the dream I've always wanted. To save a million people. Maybe even going beyond that. But then... would I have actually earned any of it? All the work I put into my body, all the training I put into mastering and perfecting my quirk to be like this... it feels like I'd be tossing it away in order to take the easy route. That I only go that far because of the boost and not what I've done for myself.
    • During a conversation with Toshinori right after All Might smashed Izuku's former regard for his idol, Izuku calls out the idea that there can't be Quirkless heroes because they wouldn't be equipped to handle every single scenario. He points out that there's no such thing as a Quirk or ability that automatically counters EVERYTHING, and by that logic nobody should try to be a hero, and should just give up on anything that challenges them.
  • Holier Than Thou: Iida combines this with Control Freak; he constantly looks down upon his classmates and attempts to micromanage, nitpick and criticize everything they do. Such as harassing anyone who dares to show up to class with just a few minutes before it begins.
  • Honor Before Reason: Uraraka is reluctant to accept any kind of aid with her poor living conditions due to not wanting to accept handouts. Setsuna puts a stop to that real quick.
  • Horrible Housing: Uraraka's student apartment is a small, one-room place with a cramped bathroom with no shower, dirty water, flickering lights, an oven that doesn't work half the time, outdated locks, an improperly sealed door, and violent neighbors. This, combined with Uraraka's meager supply of food, leads Setsuna to get Principal Nezu to intervene and put her in the student dorms out of fear the gravity girl won't even survive her first winter there.
  • Hypocrite:
    • Setsuna refers to Aizawa as this for being so willing to expel his students for dating, yet keeping Mineta around despite his constant sexual harassment of other students.
    • Vlad King calls Aizawa out for constantly punishing Uraraka's faults when he has done nothing to try and help correct them.
    • Iida comes off as this for calling Mina selfish when she refuses to break her promise to 1-B to not divulge information about their training sessions, all this while joining the rest of the class into selfishly trying to pressure her into breaking said promise.
    • The entire U.A. staff call Aizawa out for wanting to expel Uraraka over accidental destruction of evidence and vigilantism when he has defended students who are either sexually harassing all the girls or exposed themselves in front of an entire class (both of which are very serious and for the former, a career ender).
  • I Meant to Do That: During the Sports Festival, Monoma proposes that Class 1-A attempt to save face for their failing the first event en masse by claiming they totally intended to do that, as part of a plan to let their top three shine while the rest stepped back. Because after all, they're clearly still the "superior class" at U.A., aren't they~?
  • I Reject Your Reality:
    • Fujita, one of the students behind the blackmail scheme, states that his reasoning was that he had been screwed out of several internships because he was Quirkless. However, his homeroom teacher states that at least one incident was apparently due to the company he was supposed to intern with having accepted too many applicants and that he was guaranteed a spot next year, something that Fujita refuses to believe.
    • Iida outright dismisses Yaoyorozu's concerns over how that their class is falling apart, instead stating that the victims of this development have no business being in U.A.
    • Even after being called out on live TV and then told off by Yaoyorozu for his behavior, Iida absolutely refuses to believe he has done anything wrong and tries to bully Kawakami out of her spot in the Sports Festival out of the delusion that he is more deserving.
      • Even after this incident gets him booted from the Hero Course, Iida refuses to accept he did anything wrong and believes the most disgraceful thing he did was not making it to the second event.
  • Ignored Epiphany: Even after being called out on his short-sighted, self-centered and massively entitled attitude several times in rapid succession during the Sports Festival, along with seeing the whole audience reacting to his behavior with disgust, Tenya fails to grasp why, treating his impending expulsion as a Bewildering Punishment and convincing himself that Aizawa will defend him if he does something stupid in response.
  • Insane Troll Logic:
    • Shouto legitimately believes that Endeavor had staged Fuyumi's attempted kidnapping in some roundabout way to get him to use his fire, even after Endeavor himself points out, in detail, that such a scheme would risk destroying his career and reputation.
    • Likewise, when Endeavor states that he isn't trying to force Shouto to use his fire, Shouto believes that this is some kind of reverse psychology to get him to use his fire.
    • After being knocked out of the Sports Festival in the first round, Tenya harasses several of his peers about HE'S supposedly more deserving of advancing than them. In order, his reasoning is: Yaoyorozu doesn't deserve it because she has empathy for others and wanted to go back to check on them after finishing; Kawakami has a "villainous" Quirk; Shinso's Quirk is also allegedly "naturally villainous" AND he dared to intervene while Iida was attempting to drag Kawakami away; Mina (who explored a new medicinal use for her acid while helping with the rescue efforts) "doesn't take anything seriously"; and finally, Pony shouldn't even be at U.A. because she's an American student at a Japanese school.
  • Insistent Terminology: Shouto repeatedly refers to the ice part of his powers as "his mother's ice", and refuses to use "his father's fire".
  • Irony: Yoroi Musha believes 1-B is at a disadvantage due to having Endeavor as their teacher instead of All Might, not knowing that Endeavor has consistently proven the more competent teacher of the two.
  • Jerkass Has a Point:
    • Played With when Toshinori tries to defend his alter ego's Fantastic Ableism by hammering on how the Quirkless simply don't have access to the same kind of resources, training and opportunities that those with Quirks can access. Izuku concedes the point, but adds "Not yet," much to Toshinori's confusion. It's crystal clear that Izuku's takeaway is not the point he was trying to make; whether he realizes it or not, Toshinori believes the Quirkless shouldn't have the same opportunities, while Izuku sees that as something worth changing.
    • Similarly played with regarding Aizawa's "grand lesson" for Class 1-A. Whatever it entails, Principal Nezu is privately horrified that he can actually understand the reasoning behind it, even though he doesn't agree with the Sadist Teacher's methods.
    • While Iida's “The Reason You Suck” Speech to Yaoyorozu is completely uncalled for, he does make a salient point about her being a Sheltered Aristocrat who hadn't fully grasped just how privileged she is. The rest of it is pure Psychological Projection, though.
    • Following the first phase of the Sports Festival, Recovery Girl privately acknowledges that Aizawa has a point that his students should Know When to Fold 'Em and retreat from scenarios that they're ill-equipped to handle. However, she also acknowledges — and points out — that it was Aizawa's responsibility to teach them about such things, both in terms of arming them to better handle various situations they'll face as Pro Heroes and identifying when it's best to retreat.
  • Jerkass Realization: Kirishima has one after joining in the efforts to force Mina to betray Class 1-B and share their training regime, realizing that he's become a bully just like the ones who picked on him before.
  • Karma Houdini:
    • Downplayed: While Mineta, Monoma, and Iida do face consequences for their actions, their punishments in a lot of cases are not quite proportionate to the crimes. Mineta is the most egregious case of this, as his punishment for barging into 1-B and attempting to sexually assault Fuyumi in front of Vlad King and the entire class is cleaning the school bathrooms.
    • Iida's warranty finally runs out during the Sports Festival when he harasses Kawakami and tries to force her to give up her spot in the second round, with Midnight and Endeavor making it clear Aizawa won't be able to protect him this time and that he's very likely to be expelled.
  • Kick the Dog: When Rekka didn't make it into the Hero Course due to how her Quirk wasn't perfectly suited for dealing with U.A.'s robots, Aizawa was the one who sent her rejection letter... and made sure to scold that 'a rational student would have come more prepared.'
  • Let Me Get This Straight...: Said word for word by Blackhound in Chapter 25.
    Blackhound: Let me see if I got this straight. You think I have been planning to kill All Might who helped my country with its insane villain problem. And to do that, I have been using Izuku starting at the age of four, to drop off information? No offense to the young man, but what was going on in his elementary school wouldn't really help with my 'evil plan'. I could have gotten more information off the web or any of my employees stationed in the country! Oh, oh wow. [bursts out laughing until he manages to calm down enough to continue speaking] Let me guess, you planned on looking into my future to check and see if your theory was correct. What were you expecting to see? That I have some hidden base inside an active volcano, using the geothermal energy to create these bio-weapons en masse while stroking a cat on my lap?
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Downplayed, but when Shouto finds out Fuyumi and Endeavor are working at U.A. due to an attempted kidnapping of Fuyumi, Shouto demands to know why he didn't know. Fuyumi points out that she tried to tell him, but he's been ignoring her every single time she's tried to make conversation, even realizing that Shouto probably tuned out Aizawa telling Class 1-A about the new teaching setup as well.
  • Meaningful Echo: Shouto's declaration that "All I need is my mother's ice" takes on much darker connotations when he betrays his own teammates during the second event.
  • Moment of Weakness: During the second event, Shouto subconsciously uses the fire side of his Quirk. Despite seeing how incredibly effective this was, he regards it as a shameful slip in his control.
  • Moral Myopia: During "Repercussions", Tenya starts shaking in absolute outrage upon realizing that he's being expelled much like he believes Ochako and Mina are going to be expelled, ranting about how he doesn't deserve the same treatment as those who dared talk back to an authority figure like himself. The irony of this is that Tenya DID, in fact, do just what he's condemning them for, talking back to teachers like Midnight when they weren't telling him what he wanted to hear.
  • My God, What Have I Done?:
    • Kawakami's mother has this reaction when counseling makes her realize just how horribly she has been treating her daughter.
    • Endeavor's reaction when he finds out that All Might is likely to retire soon, realizing he had basically destroyed his own family for nothing.
    • Kirishima's reaction when he realizes his attempt to help the class pressure Mina to give up 1-B's training regime has not only made him no different than the bullies he claims to hate but has also likely damaged his friendship with the acid girl.
    • Tensei has this when he realizes that Tenya has completely misinterpreted him as a role model.
    • All Might has this when he realizes a good deal of 1-A's disgraceful performance in the Sports Festival is partially due to his inadequate teaching and focus on combat.
  • Necessary Drawback: When Genma Nanashi uses his Curse Quirk to inflict a disability onto a target, he's forced to bear a weaker version of the same affliction. He's also limited to only being able to use his Quirk four times before he has to release one of the 'curses'.
  • Never My Fault:
    • Iida absolutely refuses to accept that he's the one in the wrong after Mina kicks him across the room in response to him slapping and assaulting her for talking back to him after he harassed her and Ochako for having an innocent conversation about anime.
    • When Nezu chastises him for not informing his students that they are able to go to Hound Dog for counseling, Aizawa just brushes it off and states that his students should already know that without his input.
    • Iida refuses to accept that it's his own fault he was knocked out of the first round in the Sports Festival, blaming the school for not directly telling them about the Secret Test of Character, before going so far as to try and bully Kawakami into giving up her spot under the delusion that he's "more deserving". Even after this incident results in his removal from the Hero Course, he still refuses to believe he’s done anything wrong and believes the most disgraceful thing he did was not moving on to the next round.
    • When Nezu confronts Aizawa over covering up Iida's harassment of Mina and terminates his "grand plan" on the spot, warning him that there's a good chance he'll be fired, Aizawa's internal thoughts never once acknowledge that he's the root of the problem.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: The reporter Koto Kitsune moonlights as a commentator on MMA and boxing matches, and isn't shy about expressing her desire to see blood, suffering and carnage during the Sports Festival. It's repeatedly noted that her gushing and complaining tends to make those around her annoyed or uncomfortable.
  • Noodle Incident: A more serious example: Nezu's statement that Aizawa is constantly reminding his coworkers that he is allowed to punish the students in his class as he sees fit implies that his attempted expulsion of Uraraka is far from the first time he has dealt out punishments his coworkers didn't agree with or found too harsh.
  • Not Helping Your Case: Iida's remarkably good at putting his foot into his mouth, but the best illustration of this is his insistence that nobody in Class 1-A would have failed the Secret Test of Character if they'd known they'd get rewarded for rescuing people. Suffice to say, that is NOT the brilliant defense he clearly believes it to be...
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Monoma's reaction when his attempt to spy on Class 1-B's training results in him standing buck naked before the entire class and an angry Vlad King after the Quirk he had copied from Hagakure runs out.
    • Played for Laughs when Pony's American friend Sarah realizes that Izuku is fluent in English and therefore understood her when she revealed Pony pleasures herself to a picture of Izuku.
    • Endeavor's reaction when he sees the urgent text Fuyumi had sent him consisted only of her location, knowing that she would only send something so vague if it were a serious emergency.
    • Iida reacts this way when he starts raging at Fuyumi for "being out of uniform" and suggesting she has no place at U.A., only to learn she's a student teacher. His cronying instincts kick in, only for her to shut him down... and then he notices Endeavor's presence and realizes he'd just witnessed him harassing his daughter.
    • Iida visibly pales after Midnight dresses him down following the first event of the Sports Festival, and he hears the crowd murmuring and muttering their agreement.
    • Happens again to Iida when Endeavor and Midnight intervene after he attacks someone with a 'villainous' quirk.
    • Aizawa pales when Nezu sarcastically asks him if he thinks his refusal to punish Iida for attacking Mina might have convinced him that it would be perfectly acceptable to harass Kawakami. It's noted that his voice actually shakes when he asks "You... heard about that?"
    • Nighteye reacts this way when Blackhound not only calls him out on attempting to stealthily use his Quirk on him, but has his bodyguards come out of hiding, revealing there were witnesses and it wouldn't just be his word against the hero's. His internal panic intensifies as Blackhound casually reveals how he's done his homework and is well aware of several of Nighteye's little secrets, pointing out the potential consequences of his little stunt.
    • After looking up the Quirks of the students who decide to target the 1-A trio during the Sports Festival's second event, Sir Nighteye starts shaking and warns All Might that he thinks their marks are doomed.
    • Fuyumi has a Downplayed version when she reads up on the assailants' Quirks, quietly saying "Oh" as the implications sink in.

  • One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In "Breakdowns", Yaomomo admits to Ochako and Mina that she's aware the two of them will be "leaving them" after the Sports Festival. Both assume this means that she knows they'll be transferring into 1-B; Yaomomo, however, mistakenly believes that they're being expelled. As a result, she's confused by how calmly and happily the two are taking it, and comes to the conclusion that they're just grateful to be escaping the insanely toxic environment of 1-A.
  • Only Sane by Comparison: As time goes on, Bakugou emerges as arguably the most sane of Aizawa's 'favored students'. Make no mistake, he's still got some sociopathic It's All About Me tendencies, but when placed alongside Iida, Todoroki, Monoma and Mineta, he's the only one who displays something approaching self-awareness.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
    • While watching the opening ceremonies of the Sports Festival, several people are struck by how much happier Endeavor seems, clashing with his usually dour and serious demeanor.
    • Midnight completely drops her flirty persona when Iida starts complaining about the outcome of the Sport Festival's first event, fixing him with an icy glare that makes Izuku mentally compare her to a snake about to strike. She's similarly cold and to the point when she informs Iida of her intention to see him expelled from U.A. after he displays quirkism on top of everything else.
    • Katsuki discovers during the Sport Festival's second event that Yaomomo is so accustomed to him being a self-absorbed Jerkass that she's thrown off by him expressing even the slightest concern or care for anybody else. Even when he's only doing so because he doesn't want to lose.
  • Open Mouth, Insert Foot:
    • When All Might tries to explain his shock to Vlad about a Quirkless kid in the Business course, all he does is dig his hole deeper.
    • When Iida ends up asking why he got zero points, Midnight gave him the Armor-Piercing Question above, but he ends up showing himself to be a racist, quirkist teen on live TV.
  • Out-of-Character Alert: Endeavor almost glosses over an urgent text sent to him by Fuyumi, only to realize something is seriously wrong as the text only consists of her location, as he knows she wouldn't send him something so vague otherwise.
  • The Paranoiac: Downplayed with Shouto. He doesn't think that everything in his life is the result of his father's machinations. Just any inconveniences or problems that can't be overcome with liberal use of the ice-half of his quirk inherited from his mother.
    • He refuses to believe the story of his sister nearly getting abducted (and potentially worse), instead reasoning that his father staged it just so he could have an avenue to join the school faculty and oversee Shouto's training even at school, despite being told (among other things) that Endeavor is only interacting with Class 1-B.
    • When some General Education students managed to overpower him during the second round, he quickly comes to the conclusion that they were secretly planted by his father earlier in the school year to act as deliberate counters to ice and thus force him to use his fire if he hadn't done so by the Sports Festival.
  • Point of Divergence:
    • Izuku still ends up cleaning Takoba Beach, this time with the assistance of his entire class and some teachers from U.A. supervising.
    • Because Aizawa's teaching methods do not even qualify as teaching, Ochako and Mina get their classes switched to 1-B as it becomes clear the environment is toxic and in many ways, very unsuitable.
    • Because they do not have Izuku to help humble them, Class 1-A turns into a toxic hellhole that’s rapidly falling apart at the seams.
    • After Fuyumi is nearly kidnapped and rescued by her father, Nezu offers Endeavor and Fuyumi teaching positions due to All Might struggling to teach two classes and 1-B showing no trust in All Might and to help better protect Fuyumi.
    • Due to Aizawa's blatant favoritism and poor handling of his students, Present Mic has a member of the media commentating on the Sports Festival with him.
    • Whereas in canon, all of 1-A moved on to the second round of the Sports Festival, here only a few of them move on due to their disgraceful behavior and ignoring the fake rescue targets.
    • Due to Izuku not being in 1-A, the class turns into a toxic hellhole and Iida's holier than thou attitude never gets tempered, turning him into a delusional jerkass on a power trip.
    • By the end of the first event, it's already guaranteed that Monoma, Mineta and Iida were getting the boot from the Hero Course, if not UA entirely, while with the exception of Jiro, Kirishima, Uraraka and Ashido, the rest are gonna have to have to spend a few extra years as sidekicks to salvage their reputations.
    • The 2nd event is getting to the top of the mountain, with Midnight having Bakugou, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu chained together for the event.
  • The Power of Friendship: Class 1-B gets to repeatedly show off the values of this during the Sports Festival.
    • During the first event, they immediately move to aid the other participants after Todoroki creates one of his signature massive screw-off glaciers with no regard for those around him. They also pass the Secret Test of Character with flying colors.
    • In the second event, Uraraka and Midoriya's teams are first and second to the summit by virtue of working together, each member of their respective groups getting to show off the versatility of their Quirks while supporting and protecting each other along the way. Midoriya's team also gets to show off a few Combination Attacks.
  • Psychological Projection: This is one of Iida's Fatal Flaws — he repeatedly assumes that others think precisely the way HE does, and if they don't? Well, that's just proof that they're lesser than him.
    • He simply can't fathom why Izuku doesn't want to transfer into 1-A, as his class is obviously superior to 1-B — surely Izuku must agree with that—!
    • When he and the others who'd focused on finishing the race see footage of what the other students have been doing, Iida assumes that both they and the audience are disgusted at how many participants allowed themselves to be "distracted" by the rescue targets. He also interprets the collective sigh of relief at the trapped Kirishima and Jiro being rescued from beneath a collapsed building is just relief at not having to "witness such embarrassment" anymore.
    • He also believes that he can convince those supervising the Sports Festival to let him trade places with one of the 'undeserving' students who advanced... because obviously they'll completely agree with him that he shouldn't have been eliminated, right? Even after Midnight had already torn into him, he still expects her to side with him.
    • Monoma also engages in this, as seen in Chapter 26. When trying to rally his classmates to help him seize control of the narrative, he notices that some of them aren't paying attention. In particular, he notices that Tsuyu is Trying Not to Cry, and wonders if they're regretful that they won't get to show off their superiority more or hopeful that his plan will work. No other possibilities occur to him.
  • “The Reason You Suck” Speech:
    • Iida gives a frankly undeserved one to Yaoyorozu when she tries to bring up the fact that their class is falling apart, accusing her of having only gotten into U.A. through her family's wealth and connections, driving the poor girl to tears.
      Iida: At least got into the hero course on my own merits!
      Yaoyorozu: I took the same exam as—
      Iida: [cutting her off with a sharp laugh] No, you didn't. You took the recommendation exam which should only be for those whose quirks are recognized by other pro-heroes. But you? You got in via your money and family connections. If you had taken the regular entrance exam, there is no doubt in my mind you would have crashed and burned. And do you know why? Because you can't buy villain points when the villains are robots. You would have only lasted three minutes making those stupid, immobile cannons you love so much before your body gave out and needed to be rescued.
      Yaoyorozu: ...Is that how you really see me?
      Iida: That's how the entire class sees you. It's honestly beyond naïve of you to believe that your wealth has nothing to do with you being in 1-A. Sure, you can make whatever you want but that just shows what type of person you really are. Can't do something yourself then get something to do the work for you. I bet you even used your money to ensure that you got the class rep job! Admit it! That or you used your—
      [he hears her sobbing over the line, but continues his Breaking Speech until she hangs up]
    • Shortly after the above incident, Tenya tells his older brother everything that's been happening at U.A., spurring Tensei to combine this with a "The Reason I Suck" Speech:
      Tensei: I thought I was being a good model as to what a hero should be. I thought I taught you better. But, if acting like that is what you took away, then I think I'd better stay away for a while.
      Tenya: No brother! You've done nothing wrong! It's people like Ashido who—
      Tensei: She did nothing wrong. Other than standing up for herself and her beliefs.
      [...]
      Tensei: What is unacceptable is how you are trying to justify your actions. She did nothing more than going to another agency, training with them along with other heroes because you refused to help. Because you put them down. And now you are demanding that they share any information they see. Training regimen, equipment, maybe info on an upcoming Trigger raid. Anything you can use that they showed her in confidence. And what you said about your fellow classmates? Do... Do you honestly believe that that mindset will make people want to follow and support you? [pauses for a minute before turning to leave] I'm going home. I hope you open your eyes before it's too late or else you'll end up alone when it matters the most.
    • Izuku calls Iida out on his rampant hypocrisy in Chapter 20, listing off all of the offenses Iida had committed in the course of a few minutes:
      Izuku: Theft, attempted destruction of another student's property, false allegations, and cutting in line. Not exactly the makings of a hero around here. As the Vice-Rep of 1-A, I hope you know just how seriously the school takes such matters. Especially calling another student a spy for the villains given what happened at the USJ. Even if you said it in the heat of the moment, it can have some dire consequences. So how about you go to the back and calm down while you wait to get your lunch like everyone else.
    • Chapter 23 sees Midnight ripping Iida a new one when he complains about failing the Secret Test of Character in the first event of the Sports Festival:
      Midnight: I see. How unfortunate. Tell me young man, are you only willing to save someone else if it will benefit you?
      [Tenya recoils, looking up to see video footage of him abandoning a woman who'd begged for his aid]
      Midnight: You speak about the prestige of this school. You speak to the crowd, the world at large about how you are an exemplary student within the hero course. Yet when the time came, when you saw someone begging for your help, you turned your head. You ignored the victim without a second glance. No hesitation, leaving them to their fate while you chased after a different prize. Now, here you stand, instead of reflecting on where you went wrong and apologizing on behalf of your class on where you failed and promising to do better you blame the school. How shameful and short-sighted you naughty, wicked child.
    • Yaoyorozu finally turns the tables and returns fire in Chapter 24 when Iida attempts to guilt-trip her into surrendering her position in the Sports Festival to him:
      Yaoyorozu: Ha! That's rich! Your 'legacy' seems to amount to nothing more than a gilded rocking horse with nothing but rotten wood inside. Maybe you were right when you said I only got into this school because of my money. Maybe I would have failed the normal entrance exam. But, do you know something? I am taking this seriously. That last event, I actually feel disgusted with myself for not having the courage to go and save those people calling for help. And I will work hard so that I never feel that way again. But you? You don't even feel shame after being called out in front of the entire world. No, the only thing I bet you care about is that your status of being an 'upstanding student at a prestigious academy' is being called into question. Trust me when I say this, you can cover something with gold all you want, but when that object is nothing more than a pile of shit it will always be a pile of shit.
      [pauses for a moment while he stands trembling in silent rage]
      Yaoyorozu: And maybe you're right about me not earning my spot in the next round. Which is why I plan on offering it up to two people who do deserve it: Kirishima and Jiro. However, I don't think that they will accept my offer. Do you know why? Because, unlike you, they have integrity. I'm willing to bet that they will turn me down the moment I bring it up, telling me that I earned that spot. That they wouldn't feel right when they believe they didn't do anything to deserve it.
      Iida: You... you dare?!?
      Yaoyorozu: Are you going to attack me like you did Ashido? Hm? Is that how your family operates? When people don't fall in line to your overbearing and outrageous demands you simply resort to violence like some common thug?
  • Refuge in Audacity: Completely defied. Mineta barges into Class 1-B in the middle of class and attempts to sexually assault Fuyumi right in front of Vlad King and the rest of the class. He is stopped by an angry Aizawa before he can so much as touch her.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: As Jiro explains to Momo in Chapter 16, if she gets expelled, she could sue U.A. for an unjust expulsion or go into any other career path or even a different hero school. Her and Kirishima? They'd lose out on their tuitions and, with a black mark from U.A., they'd be lucky to even get into a basic high school.
  • Secret Test of Character: The first event of the Sports Festival winds up functioning this way: while presented as a race, the course is filled with H.U.C. members posing as people requiring rescue. This goes largely ignored by most of Class 1-A; not only does this result in them scoring poorly, it seriously damages their reputation.
  • Secretly Selfish: One of the main reasons All Might gets invested in repairing his strained relationship with 1-B after skipping so many sessions is because he considers Midoriya to be a potential candidate for taking One For All. While he recognizes how this could be 'misread' as selfish if he doesn't play his cards correctly, he remains in denial about how it IS, in fact, self-centered.
  • Selective Enforcement: Boy howdy, does Aizawa ever practice this. It takes Mineta attempting to assault a girl in full view of another classroom for him to give the pervert more than a slap on the wrist, while he threatens to expel other students for dating. He also lets Monoma and Iida run rampant and encourage incredibly self-centered behavior from their peers while Blaming the Victims and getting pissy when he's not allowed to expel Uraraka on trumped-up charges.
  • Shamed by a Mob:
    • Played With when Mineta attempts to assualt Fuyumi in front of a classroom full of witnesses. Mineta doesn't care about their presence or condemnation; Aizawa, on the other hand, does, leading to him actually punishing the Predatory Pervert for once.
    • Most of Class 1-A is subjected to this at the climax of the Sport Festival's first event, as the entire audience is collectively disgusted by their conduct. Iida gets special focus from the crowd after he tries defending his classmates in the worst possible way, leading to whispers wondering whether his conduct is typical for his family.
    • Iida then gets subjected to this in smaller scale while attempting to make Kawakami surrender her spot to him, as everyone who rushes to her defense then glares him down.
  • Sink-or-Swim Mentor: Deconstructed with Aizawa, where his entire teaching method revolves around expecting his students to immediately understand and know the ideal course of action in their hero training, resulting in his students fearing him more than respecting him, all while he wonders why some of them don't even try approaching him for help when past experience has taught them that he'd dismiss them on the spot. It's even all but stated by the time of the Sport Festival that he allowed Class 1-A to develop the toxic atmosphere that it did as an elaborate ruse to "teach" them about proper hero conduct, with the Sports Festival meant to act as a wake-up call that they aren't acting like heroes and should have realized it sooner without his intervention.
  • Skewed Priorities:
    • Aizawa does nothing more than scold Mineta for his constant sexual harassment of his female peers, which the other teachers state would destroy his career otherwise, and at one point even outright states he feels Mineta's "potential" outweighs his disgusting behavior, yet he is perfectly willing to expel his other students just for dating.
    • Iida constantly berates his classmates for minor offenses such as inflicting negligible damage to the desks or soiling their gym uniforms, while utterly failing to do anything about the blatant conduct violations of Bakugo, Mineta and Monoma (and eventually himself as well).
    • Most of Class 1-A ignore the H.U.C. members posing as rescue victims in favor of finishing the race during the Sports Festival, completely ignoring that a Hero's job is to save people above all else.
  • Slave to PR: Nezu's inner thoughts reveal that one of the main reasons he hasn't fired Aizawa yet is because of how poorly it would reflect upon the academy. He also feels that he needs to take recent events into account; for instance, firing him after the USJ assault would spark speculation that Aizawa had betrayed U.A. And even if the media didn't pounce on that, he could still be targeted and picked off by the League of Villains taking advantage of his weakened state and no longer having the school's protection.
  • Smug Snake:
    • Monoma. He's so bad that he continues to act like an insufferable prick even after very narrowly avoiding suspension.
    • Sir Nighteye is extremely confident that he'll be able to use his Quirk on Blackhound without his target realizing it, with his internal narration stressing how much he looks down upon the wealthy American. He's caught completely off-guard when Blackhound casually calls him out on it.
  • Sole Survivor: Izuku is the only subject to survive the experiment designed to grant Quirks to the Quirkless population. This becomes subverted later on when Melissa Shield undergoes the same experiment and also survives as well.
  • Stunned Silence:
    • One falls over the entire arena after Iida protests how the first round of the Sports Festival turned out. Supposedly, the only sound that can be heard is Present Mic's sunglasses sliding off his face.
    • Another hush falls over the audience when Katsuki unleashes a Cluster F-Bomb in response to Shouto's stubbornness. Even Koto is stunned:
      Koto Kitsune: Ah. Present Mic, we wouldn't happen to have a profanity filter on... would we?
      Present Mic: No.
      Koto Kitsune: So that means that the whole world just heard that?
      Present Mic: I'm afraid so.
  • Tempting Fate:
    • Early on in the Sports Festival, Present Mic blatantly favors talking up 1-A while putting down 1-B. In particular, he dismisses the latter's focus on working together, "looking before they leap" and generally being more cautious and thoughtful as though those aren't important traits to have. He winds up regretting all his shit-talking when those very same skills ensure they perform well during the first event, while most of 1-A does absymally.
    • While Aizawa acknowledges that he can't prevent Iida from being expelled from the Hero Course after so many unflattering moments were broadcast live during the Sports Festival, he tells himself that Iida would simply be transferred to General Studies or the Business Course... provided he doesn't do anything stupid. Cut to Iida deciding to do something stupid, confident that Aizawa will side with him.
    • Monoma's plan to salvage Class 1-A's reputation hinges entirely upon Bakugou, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki completely dominating the rest of the competition. Immediately after he explains this, we cut to the trio discovering that Shouto's ice is countered by special spikes hidden in the course.
  • They Just Don't Get It:
    • No matter how many times Iida is called out on his selfish, snobby, holier-than-thou attitude or Skewed Priorities, he remains stubbornly rigid and continues to insist everybody else is to blame for his misfortunes.
    • Similarly, Aizawa NEVER admits that his horrible "teaching methods" are responsible in any way, shape or form for 1-A's dramatic decline.
    • Apparently, whatever Aizawa's "Grand Lesson" for 1-A is, it involves getting Izuku to transfer classes. This is in spite of the fact that Izuku has made it very clear multiple times that he does not want to transfer to 1-A.
  • Toxic Friend Influence:
    • On top of Aizawa effectively encouraging an "every man for himself" attitude, having students like Monoma, Mineta and Bakugo around suffering no real punishment for their misbehavior while others get punished for their supposed "weaknesses" molds most of 1-A into increasingly self-centered Jerkasses.
    • Monoma's influence is especially virulent; his constant posturing, bragging and harping on all the ways Class 1-A is supposedly superior to their peers stokes their Acquired Situational Narcissism.
  • Twitchy Eye:
    • At the end of Chapter 25, Katsuki feels his eye twitch when Shouto coldly declares that "I will win this match on my own, using my mother's ice." He notices that Yaomomo might have had the exact same reaction.
    • Katsuki's eye twitches again when he senses that Monoma is doing something that's likely to piss him off. And again when his classmate's Annoying Laugh carries over to him.
  • Wham Episode: Chapter 17 reveals that Mineta's uncle is part of a human trafficking ring that has set its sights on U.A. students, and heavily implies that Mineta himself is involved in the whole thing.
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • The entire student body quickly turns on Class 1-A when Iida attempts to downplay Monoma's bullying of 1-B and Mineta's sexual harassment of another student.
    • Vlad King chews All Might out for his constant negligence of Class 1-B.
    • The rest of the faculty are disgusted with Aizawa's reasoning for wanting to expel Uraraka, which basically amounts to vigilantism and accidental destruction of evidence when he hasn’t batted an eye to the rest of his class' antagonism of Class 1-B.
    • Tensei explains to his brother that Ashido switching classes is akin to switching an agency but that his reasoning is invalid to demand punishment and warns him if he keeps going down this path, then when he needs help the most, he will be left alone.
    • Nezu gives an indirect one to Aizawa over not informing his students that they are able to see Hound Dog for counseling. Aizawa just brushes it off and states that his students should know this without his input.
    • During the same exchange, Nezu makes clear that he would not tolerate Aizawa attempting to expel somebody for the 'crime' of seeking help. Aizawa also ignores this.
    • Nezu lays into Aizawa over how his negligence is causing 1-A to grow increasingly out of control.
    • Mina's friendship with Hagakure takes a hit due to the invisible girl's nonchalant attitude towards Monoma violating both hers and other people's privacy by copying her Quirk.
    • Midnight, Shinso, Izuku and Endeavor give one to Iida, which culminates in Midnight making sure that Iida will not be in the heroics course for much longer.
    • Both Ryukyu and Gang Orca are appalled by Yoroi Musha's building up of 1-A after their frankly disgraceful performance in the Sports Festival.
    • Recovery Girl lays into Aizawa when he tries to scold a recovering Kirishima and Jiro for their reckless actions during the first round of the Sports Festival, stating that their confidence has already taken a hit and that a good chunk of the blame lies on Aizawa for not properly training them.
    • Nezu lays into Aizawa for how he covered up Iida assaulting Mina, spelling out that his refusal to discipline them contributed to their horrific actions during the Sports Festival.
  • Windows of the Soul: Brought up during "Opening Remarks"; both Rei and Inasa Yoarashi are taken aback when they see how Endeavor smiles while discussing his recent appointment to mentor Class 1-B. Yoarashi even starts to second-guess his decision not to attend U.A., reflecting how he'd chosen not to go because he didn't want to spend time with "someone with the same eyes as [Endeavor]", namely Shouto. But seeing how warm the man's eyes are now causes regret to creep in.
  • Worthy Opponent: Seen when Katsuki faces off against Kiaria Rekka. Upon realizing just how powerful her Quirk is, he rages at the sheer unfairness of her not being able to make it into the Hero Course, agreeing that it was "fucked up" that Aizawa insulted her in his rejection letter. He even wishes she was one of his classmates, going so far as to think she'd make an excellent sidekick!
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
    • When Ochako reluctantly admits her crush and expresses her fears that she's not worthy of pursuing a relationship with them, Pony lists off all her positive traits and reassures her that Setsuna is just as interested.
    • Nezu encourages Kirishima when he's doubting whether or not he has any right to pursue a career in heroics at all, much less be at U.A.:
      Nezu: No, no. None of that. Young Kirishima, do you honestly believe that I would expect you to walk into this class knowing everything there is to know about how to be a hero. That you would always make the correct decision? [shoots a meaningful glance at Aizawa] Hardly. Why, if that were the case, there would be no need for a Hero Course here at U.A! We would have just told you to get your license and devoted more resources to the Support Department! Young man, making mistakes is a part of life. A part of the journey of being, well, anybody! But the important thing is that you realize where you went wrong. Take your recent behavior with your class. Yes, you have been acting in a manner that most would call 'entitled'. Or maybe 'self-serving' would be another way to put it. But you have taken that first step realizing just where you went wrong. So there is a chance you can make things right.


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