History Fanfic / BoundByChains

* ChekhovsGun: In Chapter 17, Agatha gives Izuku a necklace shaped like a miniature version of the chains he's wrapped in while traversing the Mirror World as thanks for agreeing to her requests to explore the real world. She claims he will understand the value of this gift in time, so he wears it everywhere he goes from then on. [[spoiler:In Chapter 33, Izuku is cornered by two cult members of the FSS when he hears the words of what is implied to be Izanagi, briefly manifesting the powers of a Persona in a real world when he breaks the necklace like he uses his chains. Not only does this let him cast magic like Zio, but it gives him enough of a physical boost to flip a man larger than himself. The necklace then reforms around his neck for later use.]]

* AdaptationalBadass:
** During his stay in California for the past ten years, Izuku took up boxing in an attempt to train to eventually become a Hero. While he claims to be nothing special, it still gives him an edge when fighting and surviving against the Shadows of the Mirror World. His hand-to-hand combat skills is then further refined thanks to mentoring by Kaina Tsutsumi. And that's not even getting into his abilities as the Wild Card.
** Thanks to said abilities of the Wild Card, Izuku is able to summon a plethora of Personas to use against Shadows. This allows him to remain flexible in the battlefield and target the weakness of enemy Shadows to stun them, allowing his team members to capitalise on their downed state.
** Any character that unlocks their Personas, granting them a wide range of elemental and physical abilities. So far the list consists of Izuku Midoriya, Kaina Tsutsumi, Katsuki Bakugou, and Himiko Toga.
** Thanks to near constantly gaining combat experience in the Mirror World, as well as fighting heavily armoured foes that his normal explosions have trouble damaging, he develops the AP Shot ultimate move earlier than in canon which happens post-Kamino Arc.

* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul:
** Kaina Tsutsumi's first interaction with Izuku in canon was as an enemy before eventually an ally, while in this AU they first meet with the former saving the latter and helping in the rescue of Katsuki Bakugou and eventually mentoring Izuku to improve his combat skills. Their relationship has grown close after months together with Kaina occasionally fluffing his hair.
** Thanks to moving away to another country for ten years, the relationship between Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya never deteriorated to the point that Katsuki dared Izuku to "take a swan dive off the roof". Although upon their reunion their relationship is still very much estranged, it somewhat improved after after Izuku's rescue of Katsuki from his Shadow and subsequent spending time together. Even then cooperation is still tense, with both of them snarking at the other and leaving each other on the hook for things like restaurant bills.
** As part of their deal, Himiko agreed to work with the team to eliminate Shadows and rescue humans in exchange for a consistent supply of blood and Izuku being her 'boyfriend'. While Izuku does so reluctantly and sees their relationship as not being a real one due to being formed by a contract, Himiko wishes desperately for Izuku to fall in love with her, to the former's disturbance.
** In canon, Katsuki Bakugou never interacted with Himiko Toga or Kaina Tsutsumi. But in this AU he is part of the team of Persona users and works closely with the two although he often insults them and doesn't bother using their real names.
** Hisashi Midoriya has yet to make an appearance in canon, but in this AU he appears close to the beginning and is the Sun Arcana for Izuku's Social Link. He teaches Izuku how to create his infiltration tools such as smoke bombs in exchange for scrap he collects in the Mirror World, although he remains oblivious to the source of the raw materials Izuku brings for him.
** The Big Three debuted in canon around the Shie Hassaikai Arc, with Izuku primarily interacting with Mirio over the rest. In this AU, Izuku meets Tamaki Amajiki at his job at a convenience store, and befriends him after coming to his defence when he couldn't speak up against an ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife and getting fired in the process. After that he befriends Tamaki and was invited to train with him and the rest of the Big Three as thanks and as an apology for getting him fired, becoming the Star Arcana Social Link.

* ArmsDealer: Of the Local Blacksmith variety, crafting weapons for Izuku out of 'trophies' collected from defeated Shadows and taking great pride in their creations.

* BloodKnight: Katsuki Bakugou fits this, with his bloodlust often getting the rest of the team in trouble such as in Chapter 12 where his impatience and overconfidence in his abilities leads to a failed raid against a Warlord Shadow. He also makes it loudly clear that he dislikes sneaking around and orders from Izuku that prevents him from engaging in combat. It is implied in Chapter 26 that his Shadow could be amplifying this trait as of late, with his eyes glowing red and almost ignoring Izuku's orders to fall back when faced with an overwhelming horde of Shadows.
* BlowYouAway: Izuku's initial Persona, Don Quixote, utilises spells from the "Garu-" line which blasts enemies with razor sharp wind. Izuku's own version of Orpheus, Orpheus Sicarius, also utilises Wind-based spells instead of fire from the "Agi-" line.
* BoxingBattler: During Izuku's stay in California, he joined his school's boxing club in order to train to become a Pro Hero but only sporadically trained after he was expelled after retaliating against bullies threatening a classmate. Once he returns to Japan he uses his skills to fight against Shadows using gauntlets provided by the Merchant when not using a Persona.

* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Katsuki Bakugou wields a hatchet given to him by Izuku for missions where stealth is required as his explosions are too loud for a sneak attack.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Mirio Togata's punches have been compared to rubber bullets shot by Kaina's Rifle by Izuku after being struck by them during a spar. Izuku's durability is also assumed initially assumed to be a Quirk due to constantly getting getting back up for rematches against Mirio despite injury that would leave most people staying down.

* CombatPragmatist: Due to being outnumbered heavily in the Mirror World, the protagonists rely on stealth tactics and guerrilla warfare in order to fight against Shadows. This involves by-passing the horde of Shadows and going for their Leaders or Warlords instead, which will disperse the Shadows under their command and clear out an area.

* CrutchCharacter: Izuku's Shadow sends out calls to the Sea of Souls to give Izuku several Personas to use before he even learns how to use the Velvet Room. Among them, Cú Chulainn stands out as an especially strong and fast physical attacker that's a great boon to have when Don Quixote's wind spells fail to faze Sekhmet. After Cú Chulainn is used as part of Izuku's first attempt at fusing his Personas, he is quick to resummon Cú Chulainn because of how useful it is.

* DeathSeeker: Kaina after her request for retirement was denied, realising that she would either work with the HPSC as their assassin until her death, or that she would be killed if she did retire. She pulls a TakingYouWithMe on the HPSC President, shooting him in the head and believing she would be executed for her crimes but [[DidntSeeThatComing didn't expect for them to throw her in]] [[HellholePrison Tartarus instead]].
* DeviousDaggers: Primary weapons of Himiko Toga used against Shadows. Kaina also uses one as a back-up melee weapon when she fights on the frontlines with Izuku.

* DogsAreDumb: Subverted by Spot, Izuku's Link in the Chariot Arcana, who is seen to be remarkably intelligent and capable of somewhat holding a conversations with Izuku through the latter interpreting his gestures and tone of his barks. He even possesses enough emotional intelligence to identify that a boy he was playing with was sad, and dragging Izuku to buy a manga as a gift to cheer him up.

* FirstNameBasis:
** Kaina Tsutsumi initially insisted Izuku call her by her first name, at first to keep her identity a secret from him. After it was revealed and they begun to work closely together, she allows him to call her by her first name for convenience.
** Himiko insists that Izuku calls her by her first name as they are in a 'relationship' due to their deal.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: While talking with Katsuki, Agatha comes to the conclusion that her attempts to comfort her struggling twin sister may have instead driven her away, as Agatha's coddling would have felt like CondescendingCompassion.

* MoralityChain: What Izuku serves as to Himiko Toga, being the main reason she did not continue on her path of extorting people of their blood in exchange for releasing them from the Mirror World.

* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Agatha, being a Velvet Room Attendant and lacking knowledge of [[NoSocialSkills human social cues]], regularly gets up close with Izuku when she needs to make an inspection such as when analysing if his Personas were having an influence over his actions, or the trouble he has attuning with Personas. Izuku slowly got used to this behaviour and is now somewhat unfazed when she gets close instead of bursting into a stuttering mess.

* PunchPackingPistol: Izuku's secondary weapon when fighting in the Mirror World, often using it to knockdown heavily armoured foes that his gauntlets are unable to injure, or attack enemies outside of melee combat range.
* PuppyDogEyes: Used by the dog, Spot, in order to persuade Izuku to spend some of his remaining cash in order to buy a manga.

* ShipperOnDeck: The Big Three believe there is something brewing or going on between Izuku and his Velvet Room Attendant, Agatha. Mirio even offers to Izuku to take a dive in a sparring match with him in order to impress Agatha, to which Izuku denied with embarrassment. Nejire also almost screeched in joy when they witnessed what appeared to be an intimate moment between the two at the end of Chapter 17.

* WillfullyWeak: After being ostracised and her parents' reputation taking a hit from her trying to reveal the truth of a corrupted Hero, Kyoka wilfully weakens her own Quirk by stemming her enhanced hearing, helped by using noise cancelling headphones.

* ChekhovsGun: In Chapter 17, Agatha gives Izuku a chain-shaped necklace much like the ones he's wrapped in while traversing the Mirror World as thanks for agreeing to her requests to explore the real world. She claims he will understand the value of this gift in time, so he wears it everywhere he goes from then on. [[spoiler:In Chapter 33, Izuku is cornered by two cult members of the FSS when he hears the words of what is implied to be Izanagi, briefly manifesting the powers of a Persona in a real world when he breaks the necklace like he uses his chains. Not only does this let him cast magic like Zio, but it gives him enough of a physical boost to flip a man larger than himself. The necklace then reforms around his neck for later use.]]

* CurbStompBattle: Izuku insists on challenging a Cognition of Makoto Yuuki above Agatha's warnings because of his desire to see how far he has to go as a Wild Card. The battle is over so quickly that Izuku can't process what happened, waking up in Agatha's lap as she treats his wounds.
* CursedWithAwesome: How Kyoka used to see her enhanced hearing as it made others fear her and isolate her, worrying that she may spy and listen in on their secrets with her ability.

* ElementalWeapon: Gauntlets used by Izuku and purchased from the Merchant have several elemental affinities which he can use to target weaknesses of Shadows.

* HyperspaceArsenal: Within the Mirror World, Izuku can swap between any of his gloves and gauntlets at will to match the elemental weaknesses of his foes without having to carry them on his person or equip them manually.

* JackOfAllTrades:
** Izuku Midoriya serves as one thanks to the abilities granted to him by the Wild Card. He is able to take on many roles due to wielding multiple Personas. He is also proficient in many skills such as hand-to-hand combat, basketball, creating infiltration tools, online gaming, strategising and coordinating.
** Kyoka's Shadow wielded many elemental spells such as Fire, Ice, Wind, Nuclear and Holy when battling the protagonists which made it a difficult opponent with its foresight abilities.

* LostInACrowd: One of the methods that the protagonist use to sneak past Shadows. The Stealth skill taught by Himiko allows them to appear like a Shadow to other Shadows and lets them blend into packs and use them to sneak around and avoid combat. Although this can be bypassed with Leader Shadows being able to see through their disguises, and unique Watchtowers that dispel their Stealth.
* LoveFreak: Himiko Toga is desperate for a romantic connection, making a deal with Izuku that he must become her 'boyfriend' in order for her to aid him in his missions in the Mirror World against Shadows. He soon discovers that she's just as romantically experience as he is (meaning none at all), and is basing all their interactions off romantic stories and films.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In ''My Hero Academia'', Kyoka was never depicted as having any particular hangups about using her Quirk, with her personal conflict being rooted in her belief that she's somehow giving up on her parent's musical legacy by choosing to go to hero school. In this story, her Shadow taunts her about how people can't trust her because of how easily she can listen in on people's conversations while insinuating that people are avoiding her because she supposedly knows all their secrets. The Shadow also indicates that Kyoka is self-conscious about how her Quirk affects her appearance while asking if she'd prefer to be Quirkless. Her angst stems from an incident where she overheard corrupt heroes plotting EngineeredHeroics and reported them to the police, only to be loathed as a liar when those heroes and the terrorists they fought wound up dead (with the implication that both groups were silenced by the HPSC).

* AdaptationalHeroism:
** After escaping from Tartarus by accidentally being dragged into the Mirror World by Shadows, Kaina has spent her time since then helping to save as many humans as she can from the Shadows. This is in contrast to canon where she initially believed the country was better off under the rule of All for One as at least he was honest with his villainy.
** To a certain extent, Himiko Toga. While she does occasionally bring humans into the Mirror World and blackmail their way out in exchange for their blood, she keeps her word and does no harm to them even when they refuse. She also rescues humans trapped in the Mirror World in exchange for their blood, keeping them safe from Shadows, and eventually joins Izuku's team after they offer her a consistent supply of their blood as well as Izuku agreeing to be her 'boyfriend'. This is in stark contrast to canon where she has committed multiple murders.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange:
** Izuku Midoriya is initially more depressed and jaded than his canonical self, due to experiencing more physical bullying in America as well as being expelled once for defending a classmate against bullies with physical force. When confronted by Katsuki, it is revealed that overtime Izuku's dreams have deteriorated to the extent he deep down wants to become a Hero just out of spite towards everyone that doubted him, and Izuku shamefully acknowledges that as the truth. He initially viewed his goals towards being a Hero as the only reason he has for living.
** After awakening his Persona and forming bonds, his attitude has taken a positive shift and is now more akin to his early canon self where he excitedly mutters aloud and is eager with his training. He is also seen smiling more often and more confident thanks to his Personas as well as combat training in the Mirror World. While acting as the field leader, he noted by his friends for taking on a more serious and tactical Persona that prioritises both the mission and the safety of his teammates.

* AdaptationalWimp: Kaina Tsutsumi's skills in canon apparently remained the same after years of imprisonment in Tartarus, being able to keep up with Izuku Midoriya during the Dark Hero Arc where he had access to new Quirks granted to him by One For All, as well as increased mastery over controlling his power. She was also capable of sniping off Shigaraki's hands during the Final War Arc from hundreds of kilometres away. In this AU the ten years of incarceration caused her skills to become rusty, reducing the range and power of her Quirk considerably that she requires the aid of Izuku Midoriya and others to exterminate Shadows.

* AstralProjection: One of the abilties Kassandra has that allows Kyoka Jirou to project herself over long distances and communicate with her allies in the form constructed of blue flames.

* BeleagueredBenefactor: Izuku Midoriya serves at the main source of supplies and weaponry for the entire team, seeing as he is the only one with income from multiple part-time jobs. However the others, mainly Katsuki and Himiko, take advantage of this by footing the bill to him everytime they go out for dinner, and while Izuku gripes a lot of times on how much they're costing him he still reluctantly covers for them anyways.

* BridalCarry: Subverted. After dealing with Kyoka's Shadow, Himiko fakes an ankle injury in hopes that Izuku would come over and carry her even though he already has his hands full with Kyoka. Her expectations are dashed when an irritated Katsuki grabs her by the waste and lifts her like spare luggage.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Izuku has a compulsive desire to help others after being inspired by videos of All Might saving people. This also works against him, as his teammates easily guilt trip him into treating them to a meal after defeating Dive Bomb's Shadow.

* DeadpanSnarker: Izuku has some shades of this as when he was asked jokingly by Kyoka how the 'workplace' (Izuku's group of vigilantes) is, he responds with:
--->'''Izuku Midoriya:''' The hours are terrible, food and supplies are paid for but there's no salary, half the time someone wants to shoot, stab or blow up each other, and every night we spend in mortal peril.

* TheEmpath: A unique ability granted to Izuku thanks to the Wild Card's access to the other Arcanas. By forming a Social Link he is able to tap into the associated Arcana in order to grant him understanding of actions and motives of a person. This is shown during his and Katsuki's investigation where they confronted by a gang of criminals and Izuku was able to use the Devil Arcana to understand and convince the criminals not to seek revenge after they beat them.

* EleventhHourSuperpower:
** Izuku first awakens his Wild Card abilities against Katsuki's Shadow to save himself and Kaina from a powerful Shadow minion, awakening Cú Chulainn. He also later awakens Jack Frost when both Cú Chulainn and Don Quixote fail to harm Katsuki's Shadow in any way.
** In Chapter 30 after Shadow Kyoka proves to be impossible to strike, Agatha lends Izuku aid in the form of knowledge to perform Fusion Spells as repayment for the aid he has been giving her in the Aeon Social Link.
* EnlightenmentSuperpowers:
** As per ''Persona 4'', people's Shadows can become their Personas when they confront and accept their repressed feelings and thoughts instead of rejecting them. In doing so, they gain the supernatural power to wield their former mask as an extension of themselves in the Mirror World while also coming to terms with their personal hangups. Kaina confronted hers in the past and gained the ability to summon Hodr to her aid, resulting in her somewhat more idealistic disposition compared to the depressed, cynical wreck she was in ''My Hero Academia''.
** Subverted by Katsuki, who refuses to accept his Shadow's words of accepting personal weakness and tries to subjugate it by force. The Shadow plays along and willingly lets itself get absorbed by Katsuki, allowing him to conjure magical fire to attack the Shadows. But he lacks the ability to summon a Persona or properly direct its powers because of his unwillingness to confront himself, with his chains glowing red instead of blue like the others.

* TheGunslinger: After discovering that realistic model guns become real weapons in the Mirror World, Izuku began adding pistols to his arsenal in order to boost his combat ability. Thanks to training provided by Kaina, he is able to take down large and armoured foes using trick shots.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Kaina was one a Pro Hero under the name Lady Nagant who was beloved for her skills and battle prowess. But she was secretly a wetworks agent assigned by the Hero Public Safety Commission to murder Villains and corrupt Heroes before their actions could make the news. The guilt of her actions ate at her until she asked to retire, only to get ResignationsNotAccepted. She snapped and murdered the president of the HPSC, getting thrown into Tartarus for he trouble. But after accidentally escaping through the Mirror World, she confronted her Shadow and awakened her Persona, which she uses to wage a one-woman war on the Shadows for the sake of others until Izuku and Katsuki arrive in the Mirror World.
* HeelRealization: What happens to someone with a Warlord Shadow once it gets destroyed. After some time they are forced to reflect on their past actions without the biased they have built up, being confronted with the full weight of their actions. The first Warlord Shadow, a Pro Hero by the name of Dive Bomb, felt immense guilt upon seeing his warped reflection and confessed his sins.
* HeroicComedicSociopath: Himiko complains about not being able to stop a dog-abusing gangster in the real world when Izuku stops her, whining like a child denied dessert.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation:
** Izuku initially didn't think well of himself upon hearing he had been chosen and blessed by fate with the Wild Card, believing there had to be some sort of mistake and that he was unworthy of the power. It takes a talk with Agatha to cheer him up and snap him out of this thought.
** Kaina starts to feel insecure after seeing the protagonists perform well without her aid due to Kyoka's superior Navigation ability.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: As she spends more time in the Mirror World practicing, Kaina slowly regains her old skills before she was thrown in [[HellholePrison Tartarus]] allowing her to ricochet bullets and kill or injure multiple Shadows with single shots before repositioning and taking cover. Izuku is slowly learning this as well thanks to Kaina's training, learning basic trick shots to take down larger armoured opponents.

* IronicName: The dog Izuku forms the Chariot Link with is named Spot despite not having any on his fur. This name comes from Izuku thinking that Spot's fur was similar to Cerberus, whose name can be translated to "spotted one".

* MentorArchetype: What Kaina Tsutsumi is to Izuku Midoriya. She teaches him what she had been taught by the HPSC such as acrobatic skills, hand-to-hand combat and eventually using firearms. She also helped to guide him through the basics of the supernatural nature of the Mirror World. Besides physical combat, she also teaches him about the dark side of Hero Society in order keep him from blindly trusting the system.
* MentorInSourArmor: Kaina Tsutsumi wasn't initially enthusiastic about training a child to help her fight against Shadows and save humans, responding negatively towards Izuku's idealism before slowly being worn down and coming to respect him.

* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Himiko doesn't have a vested interest in saving people like the others, instead working with the team because they're the only people she can relate to as fellow Persona users and help her satiate her blood obsession. To her credit, she genuinely sees the others as her friends and she does her level best to aid their cause.
* OlderSidekick:
** While it's impossible to tell how old Agatha is given the non-linear nature of the Velvet Room and its inhabitants, she is described as resembling a college-aged woman. As the Velvet Room Attendant of the story, she has devoted herself to aiding middle schooler Izuku on his journey to oust the Shadows of the Mirror World, providing much needed exposition and aid in handling his Personas.
** Kaina Tsutsumi defers to Izuku's orders in combat while in the Mirror World, citing the reason as that she has faith in his tactical abilities as well as the fact that she is unused to working in a team only following orders back when she was an agent under the HPSC.
* OnlySaneMan: Izuku Midoriya is this to the team, regularly stopping fights and arguments hat break out between Katsuki, Himiko and Kaina, being capable of refocusing on their objective and missions.
* OrganicTechnology: Kaina's Quirk, "Rifle", allows her to fold her right arm back to reveal a complete gun mechanism that can be used with bullets molded from her hair.

* PersonalityPowers:
** Many of the main cast have Personas that reflect themselves, either by personality of similar stories.
*** Izuku Midoriya's initial Persona is Don Quixote, referencing both have desires to become heroes in their own times but their dreams are labelled impossible or delusional.
*** Kaina Tsutsumi's Persona is Hodr, the blind god manipulated by Loki into shooting and killing Baldur with a mistletoe arrow similar to how the HPSC manipulated Kaina into being their weapon and agent.
*** Katsuki Bakugou's Persona is Sekhmet, an Egyptian war goddess also called the Eye of Ra whose bloodlust laid waste to Egypt, reflecting Katsuki's own bloodlust and eagerness for combat.
*** Himiko Toga's Persona is Carmilla, a female vampire who preyed on humans. Both are seductive (or rather Himiko tries to be), as well as intense in their passion and anger. They both also possess a thirst for blood.
** Inverted with Izuku when wields an Arcana as he finds that it affects how he would usually act. The Strength Arcana would allow him to feel more brave and confident in his actions and the Devil Arcana makes him more have more pragmatic inclined to use unsavoury methods such as snapping a villain's neck, something that terrifies him. Agatha explains to him that these are not his Personas affecting his actions, rather focusing and bringing out aspects that already exist within himself.
* PerpetualPoverty: PlayedForDrama and PlayedForLaughs. The Midoriyas are in a shaky financial situation after Hisashi loses his job, forcing them to move back to Japan. Hisashi struggles to find work, settling for a part-time job as a waiter for a restaurant that Izuku finds himself working at while trying to make ends meet. Izuku also needs to make money to fund his extracurricular activities. He's constantly draining his wallet on food, supplies, social outings, and his use of the Velvet Room. His constant lack of cash becomes a RunningGag as he meekly begs his friends to go easy on him and his wallet. At one point, he has to DineAndDash when he doesn't have enough money to pay for a bowl of ramen, leaving Katsuki to pick up the tab.
* PowerFist: Izuku's primary method of combat outside of his Personas, sold to him by the Merchant. While they don't exactly grant him enhanced physical punches, Izuku possesses many variants that grant him various elemental affinities.

* PowerIncontinence: Suffered by Katsuki Bakugou due to not properly forming a Persona in his stubborn refusal to accept his Shadow. This leads to something not exactly a Persona but not completely a Shadow. While it retains high firepower, Katsuki is only able to release the fire instead of controlling its direction or volume. He is also unable to access the other utility and combat spells that Sekhmet used in its fight against Izuku such as Tetrakarn. In recent chapter it is implied he is slowly being overwhelmed by Sekhmet's bloodlust.
* PlayingWithFire: Katsuki Bakugou does so using his Persona, Sekhmet, which specialises in magic allowing it to dish out powerful blasts of fire. Currently he is unable to control it, only able to release his flames in large AreaOfEffect blasts that can injure his allies if he's not careful.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The protagonists consist of a Quirkless hero-wannabe, an overachieving ex-school bully, a wanted assassin, and a blood-obsessed stalker all brought together by circumstance.

* {{Seer}}: Kyoka's Shadow is able to see the future, enabling it to dodge or react to nearly any attack before it goes off. This renders it extremely difficult to defeat even after Kyoka starts to accept it. It's only brought low when Agatha awakens Izuku's ability to perform Fusion Spells, overwhelming the Shadow with a wide-reaching and devastating attack that it can neither dodge nor block.

* SuperiorSuccessor: Kyoka Jirou is this to Kaina Tsutsumi as the former's Persona, Kassandra, proves to be a much more efficient Navigator compared to Hodr's more limited abilities. Kassandra can communicate with the team over long distances without technological aid, can detect Shadow activity from kilometres away without line of sight, identify Shadow movement through walls (something Hodr can do but only if Kaina focuses through her Quirk's scope) as well as plot routes towards destinations.
* SupportPartyMember:
** Kaina takes this role in the team once Katsuki joins. Her Persona, Hodr, grants her a level of navigational abilities similar to [[VideoGame/Persona3 Mitsuru Kirijo]] but it's range is rather limited as she was only able to pick up Shadows within the same building as her and could only be lengthened through focusing using the scope created by her Rifle Quirk. It also couldn't pierce through walls when using her scope, further weakening her abilities in underground areas.
** She is succeeded by Kyoka Jirou who becomes the new Navigator with her Persona, Kassandra, which has a superior range compared to Hodr and more precise analysing skills that can predict attacks from enemies as well as communicate with allies over long distances without technology.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Katsuki makes it clear that he'd rather not cooperate with the rest of the team, only doing so because it was the condition that allows him to train against Shadows in the Mirror World. While he has animosity with everyone, he dislikes Kaina the most and often insults her. With Himiko he finds her more to be an annoyance, and only listens to Izuku's orders by the bare minimum.
* ThemeNaming:
** The Personas of the protagonists are all themed around misguided figures whose actions led to their own destruction:
*** Izuku's Persona, Don Quixote, set out with delusions of chivalry and glory, causing much chaos and misfortune before returning home regretful of the harm he caused and succumbing to deathly illness.
*** Kaina's Persona, Hödr, was the blind son of Odin and Frigg who was tricked by Loki into killing Baldur, the god of light. Outraged, Odin would sire a child named Vali with the giantess Rindr. Vali would then grow to adulthood in a day and murder Hödr out of vengeance.
*** Katsuki's Persona, Sekhmet, is an Egyptian goddess of war and destruction and an aspect of Ra whose unquenchable bloodlust nearly laid Egypt and mankind to waste until she was rendered drunk enough to end her rampage and return to Ra.
*** Himiko's Persona, Carmilla, fell in love with a teenaged girl named Laura. But this romance would end when Carmilla is exposed as the vampire Millarca and staked to death by the father of one of her former lovers/victims.
*** Kyoka's Persona, Kassandra, was a Trojan oracle who was cursed to utter prophecies that would never be believed by the god Apollo after spurning his affections. She then failed to convince her people of the threat of the TrojanHorse, leading to the destruction of Troy. She was then taken as a SexSlave by Agamemnon and murdered by his jealous wife, Clyemnestra.
** Agatha, the story's Velvet Room Attendant, continues the tradition of the attendants being named after characters from Mary Shelley's ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''. In this case, Agatha is named after the young girl whom Frankenstein's monster observes to learn speech and ettiquette, only for the monster to be chased away by Agatha's family when he tries to introduce himself to her.
* TookALevelInCynic: Izuku as the story progresses loses his WideEyedIdealist views on Hero Society, going from seeing all Heroes as genuinely good people to realising there are those that take advantage of their power and are corrupted, and he was in fact blind to quite a few tragedies because of his perception. He wishes to learn more from Kaina on how corrupt the system is to prevent himself from being blind to the truth ever again. Nevertheless he still retains a mostly optimistic outlook, believing they can bring change through eliminating Warlord Shadows plaguing the country.

* TraumaCongaLine: Experienced by Kyoka Jirou. After her entire class was kidnapped by Shadows, she awoke in the Mirror World blindfolded and forced to run blindly through a city full of Shadows guided by mysterious voices in her head giving her directions for three days without food and water, or much rest while believing she was the SoleSurvivor of her class. After she returns to the real world she still has trouble closing her eyes or the darkness as it reminds her of her experiences.
* UselessUsefulSpell: Toga's Quirk allows her to take on anyone's appearance and voice by consuming enough of their blood. While this would make her a terrifying infiltrator and serial killer, it's worthless against the Shadows of the Mirror World as they attack human being indiscriminately.

* WorkingClassHero: Given his family's already tenuous financial situation, Izuku starts working multiple part-time jobs to help make ends meet. This becomes even more important after returning to the Mirror World, as so many of his activities require money that he otherwise wouldn't have.

* AscendedExtra: In this AU, Kaina Tsutsumi becomes the mentor figure to Izuku replacing All Might's canonical role towards him. She uses her experience as a former Pro Hero and Persona's navigational ability to aid the team in their mission against Shadows.

* SupportPartyMember: Kaina takes this role in the team once Katsuki joins. Her Persona, Hodr, grants her a level of navigational abilities similar to [[VideoGame/Persona3 Mitsuru Kirijo]] but it's range is rather limited as she was only able to pick up Shadows within the same building as her and could only be lengthened through focusing using the scope created by her Rifle Quirk. It also couldn't pierce through walls when using her scope, further weakening her abilities in underground areas.

* MirrorCharacter: The story of Agatha's sister clearly mirrors Izuku's struggles with his Quirklessness. Both are people born "flawed" by the standards of their peers and suffered condescension, unintentional or not, for it while struggling to achieve their goals. The primary difference is that Izuku felt isolated from others for wanting to become a hero without a Quirk, while Agatha's sister isolated herself by fleeing the Velvet Room, leaving Agatha and their siblings confused and hurt.

** During one of their 'dates' in Chapter 26 Himiko Toga and Izuku Midoriya rescue a white Shiba Inu, the same type of dog as Koamaru from Persona 3. This dog eventually becomes the Chariot Arcana for Izuku's Social Links.

* {{Motifs}}: The most recurring iconography in the story is chains. The bonds one experiences in life are compared to a series of links bound together in a chain. Personas are summoned by breaking the chains that appear on one's body after accepting one's Shadow.

* OlderSidekick: While it's impossible to tell how old Agatha is given the non-linear nature of the Velvet Room and its inhabitants, she is described as resembling a college-aged woman. As the Velvet Room Attendant of the story, she has devoted herself to aiding middle schooler Izuku on his journey to oust the Shadows of the Mirror World, providing much needed exposition and aid in handling his Personas.

** Magician: Represented by Katsuki Bakugou, someone with great ambition that is matched by his great immaturity. It also represents that despite all Katsuki's talk, he has barely taken the first steps into his journey like Izuku has.
** Priestess: Represented by Kyoka Jirou.

** Lovers: Represented by Himiko Toga maintaining her warped sense of harmony through her obsession with love and desire to form relationships, with Izuku as her primary target of affection
** Chariot: Represented by a strange dog that Izuku befriends.

** Kyoka's Shadow wields ice as well as [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear]] and [[PlayingWithFire fire]] magic, using the former to impede and slow down its foes and the latter for more damaging attacks.

* TheTeamBenefactor: Izuku Midoriya serves at the main source of supplies and weaponry for the entire team, seeing as he is the only one with income from multiple part-time jobs.

* EleventhHourSuperpower: In Chapter 30 after Shadow Kyoka proves to be impossible to strike, Agatha lends Izuku aid in the form of knowledge to perform Fusion Spells as repayment for the aid he has been giving her in the Aeon Social Link.

* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: What Izuku insists to Katsuki after he catches him and Agatha on an outing to an airsoft field.

** Kaina's Persona, Hodr, shoots mistletoe arrows and beams of ice to cast its Ice-based magic given its associations with the frigid lands of Myth/NorseMythology.
** Kyoka's Shadow wields ice as well as [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear]] magic, using the former to impede and slow down its foes and the latter for more damaging attacks.

** Kyoka's Shadow wields ice as well as [[ILoveNuclearPwer nuclear]] magic, using the former to impede and slow down its goes and the latter for more damaging attacks.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In ''My Hero Academia'', Kyoka was never depicted as having any particular hangups about using her Quirk, with her personal conflict being rooted in her belief that she's somehow giving up on her parent's musical legacy by choosing to go to hero school. In this story, her Shadow taunts her about how people can't trust her because of how easily she can listen in on people's conversations while insinuating that people are avoiding her because she supposedly knows all their secrets. The Shadow also indicates that Kyoka is self-conscious about how her Quirk affects her appearance while asking if she'd prefer to be Quirkless. Her angst stems from an incident where she overheard corrupt heroes plotting EngineeredHeroics and reported them to the police, only to be loathed as a liar when those heroes and the terrorists they fought wound up dead (with the implication that it was at Kaina's hands).