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Fanfic / The Fundamental Essence of Villainy

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"If I can’t beat you, old man, I can ensure we both lose! What do you say, Player 2?! How’s about a New Game Plus?!!"

— Tomura, Apotheosis

The Fundamental Essence of Villainy (and how one Izuku Midoriya fucked up the whole routine) is an ongoing My Hero Academia fanfiction series by DragonSlayer16 wherein Izuku acts as a third party during the canon events. It can be read on Archive of Our Own here.

Works in the Fundamental Essence of Villainy series include:

Tropes in the Fundamental Essence of Villainy series include:

Abusive Parents: Toga's parents denied her the blood she needs to avoid starving, force her to be someone she's not, and overall treat her less like a daughter and more like a doll.
Actually Pretty Funny: Before Izuku confessed telling the rest of the girls in his crew the truth about his past, Kyoka thought he was having an affair. This cause the girls, including Izuku, to laugh.
Adaptational Angst Downgrade: Because Ragdoll was never captured, she didn't suffer from losing her Search Quirk.
Adaptational Badass: Itsuka Kendo has the One for All Quirk and unlike in cannon, her Big Fist Quirk has merged with One for All into a singular quirk; sparing her from aging rapidly.
Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Dabi and Shoto Todoroki are on better terms here than in cannon and both have an interest in joining Future of Japan.
Adaptational Villainy: A few characters:
- Izuku Midoriya, canonically the 9th holder of One for All, is sent back in time to before canon with All for One and One for All, as well as all of the quirks contained by both. He acts somewhere between a villain and a vigilante, depending on the situation.
- Ochako Uraraka is revealed in Zero Hour to have been a cat burglar, working to provide for her parents. Izuku hires her to break into Tectonic's agency before meeting her there and offering her a permanent job working for him.
- Mei Hatsume. Rather than joining UA's Support Course like in canon, here Izuku meets her before the Support Course exam and offers her a place in his group.
- Momo Yaoyorozu, who joins the crew during the events of Masquerade to get away from her traditional parents.
- Kyoka Jirou joins the crew after the events of Hosu, believing that her aiding the vigilantes is damning enough as being one of them that she can't return to UA.
- Melissa Shield joins the group after her father is arrested and Izuku reveals what he knows about the future to her.
- Tsuyu Asui and Itsuka Kendo joins after the the summer training camp attack due to the former having Quirk Mutation discrimination against her and her family and the latter feeling that Future of Japan has a better chance of being the Next Symbol of Peace.
Asshole Victim: Tectonic, an extortionist hero who takes bribes and evades taxes. He gets his just desserts.
- Muscular got beaten up badly by Izuku and his Muscle Augmentation quirk got taken away from an old fashioned way.
Battle Harem: Izuku is in a relationship with every girl in his crew, and they are all capable of handling their own in combat.
Beneath the Mask: Frayed Edges discusses the masks that Izuku and Himiko wear (or wore). Izuku's mask served the purpose of shielding him from the bullies at his Quirkist school, while Himiko's mask made her into the "perfect daughter" her parents wanted her to be.
Berserk Button: Izuku gets furious when someone harms his mother or uses her as a hostage, All for One found out the hard way.
Big Damn Heroes: Izuku sends a Nomu and Ragdoll with his warp quirk to Kyoka and the rest of the Wild Wild Pusseycats to ensure Ragdoll was never kidnapped this time.
Brought Down to Normal: Muscular is rendered Quirkless due to Izuku taking his Quirk.
Chekhov's Gun: Talking to Katsuki causes him to tell Inko, Aizawa and Naomasa Tsukauchi that Izuku is not a serial-rapist villain — that Inko initially thought at first — but a well-meaning vigilante — because Izuku and the rest of the members Future of Japan has save Katsuki's class and one of his classmates joins the FoJ on her own free will.
Crazy-Prepared: La Brava has created several alternative HeroTube accounts in case videos of Gentle Denouncements get taken down.
De-power: Rather than killing All for One because some Heroes will locate the villain in mere minutes; Izuku uses his own All for One quirk to steal some of All for One's quirks like strength quirks, speed quirks, self-healing quirks, and personal favorites — like Air Cannon and Force Activation Quirk.
Enemy Mine: Kyoka fights along side with Mandalay and Tiger against Magne and Spinner.
- Down Played with Izuku and All Might for fighting against All for One as both of them want to stop the villain at any means necessary. Izuku will tell All Might with Nedzu and Aizawa on how he got One for All and All for One.
Face–Heel Turn: Kyoka joins the group at the end of Hosu, because Endeavor made her think that the mere fact they aided the vigilante group is damning enough that they can't return to UA. His agency later slandering her just cements her decision.
- Tsuya and Itsuka joins the group after the League of Villains attack from the training camp because of Mutation Quirk discrimination on the former, and the latter thinks she can be the next Symbol of Peace if she joins the group.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Yoroi Musha is not well liked nor respected by his peers. Justified as he is one of the causes of having Momo join Future of Japan. Backing up the HPSC President's reasoning that the said group should be held accountable did not gain any favors.
Hazy-Feel Turn: Itsuka feels conflicted about Future of Japan after he saved her and Kota from Muscular and knows that Izuku told her that he has All for One and One for All Quirks combined. Because of those reasons, she joins FoJ.
Humiliation Conga: Tectonic has all of his crimes exposed to the public, all of the money drained from his bank account, and is strung up by his ankles and left hanging off his agency building in nothing but his boxers.
Izuku: A friend of mine suggested it.
- Death Arms was the first corrupt hero to be exposed to the public by Gentle Criminal and La Brava's HeroTube channel, Gentle Denouncements.
In Spite of a Nail: Katsuki Bakugo still gets kidnapped by the League of Villains. Future of Japan let this happen to get All for One.
- It's revealed there are no extra students in 1-A taking Ochako and Momo's places, as Aizawa expelled them before they became relevant.
Internal Reveal: Izuku reveals the truth about the time travel and how he has both One For All and All For One to Melissa in order to get him on his team.
- He also reveals the truth to the rest of the crew in Slipstream. Fortunately, the rest of the girls took it well.
- He told Itsuka about his history of how he obtained One for All and revealed that her quirk has more powers.in her arsenal. That causes her to join Future of Japan.
Irony: All for One — who wanted to steal One for All — has some of his own quirks stolen by Izuku — who has both All for One and One for All.
It's All My Fault: How Inko felt after seeing the news that her son was responsible for Momo's disappearance at masquerade ball event, as well as the disappearance of Ochako, Mei, and Himiko — with the latter's parents murdered — thinking her son is a sex-crazed degenerate. This ended when Katsuki told her that Izuku once tried to recruit him to FoJ, but didn't due to the reason stated on We Used to Be Friends example below. He also said Izuku's not a pervert and saved Class 1-A at USJ and Hosu causing her to see her son as a vigilante.
Look Behind You: Izuku manages to escape Eraserhead at the USJ using, of all things, a "there's something on your shirt" joke.
Izuku: Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Eraserhead! Apologies for sticking my nose in your business, but I was just stamping my ‘good samaritan’ card for the day, and figured you all could use some help!
Eraserhead: [activates his quirk] You're under arrest.
Izuku: Fine, I guess I had that coming, but before we even get into that, you got some blood on your shirt.
Eraserhead: [looks down, before realizing, only to find Izuku gone]
Masquerade Ball: Masquerade, as the title would suggest, takes place at a charity masquerade ball.
Mental Time Travel: Zig-Zagged. Izuku is taking the place of his past self; however, he has his more muscular frame from around the time he was sent back, as well as a vestigeless One for All despite not having met All Might yet, not to mention All for One and all of the quirks that entails, similarly without vestiges.
Izuku: If my consciousness got rewinded back to 2 years in the past, why am I still in-shape?!
- Izuku later theorizes that his body is still in shape because of the collection of strength, durability, and healing Quirks that were given to him with All For One that crafted his body into the perfect vessel for One For All. He believes that if he didn't have those when he got sent back, he would have exploded.
Mythology Gag: When pretending to be a hero student intern during the events of Hosu, Ochako gives her canon hero name and says that she's interning under Gunhead, who she originally interned under in canon.
No-Sell: Izuku no-sells most of the USJ Nomu's attacks.
Tomura doesn’t know what he dislikes more, the way the green brat kept smirking, or how he blocked Nomu’s punch. He really is underleveled.
Point of Divergence: Because Izuku and Momo are not in Class 1-A, Iida, Shoto, and Kirishima has Mina Ashido and Fumikage Tokayami joining them to rescue Bakugo.
Pragmatic Hero: Exploited by Izuku, if Kyoka gets spotted by Eraserhead. The latter hero would most likely see the League of Villains as a bigger threat than Future of Japan. By the time the Villains are taken care of, she will have enough backup to get her to retreat.
Peggy Sue: The crux of the series. In Apotheosis, which serves as a prequel to the rest of the series, Tomura decides to give Izuku All for One and all of the quirks he held, before sending Izuku back in time 2 years using an awakened form of Rewind.
The Reveal: Butterfly Effect reveals that at some point years ago, All for One murdered Hisashi and stole his Quirk Fire Breath, and more recently, kidnapped Inko and tortured her for info on Izuku.
Self-Made Orphan: Toga, after killing both of her parents at the end of Frayed Edges.
Super-Empowering: Due to having All for One, Izuku engages in this with his teammates:
- Himiko is offered Stain's quirk in Frayed Edges, though as of Bloodied Bonds, she has yet to receive it.
- Ochako receives a telekinesis quirk that belonged to Reiko Yanagi in canon.
- Momo receives Compress, which she uses to store pre-made items.
- Kyoka receives Present Mic's Voice Quirk to fight off a Nomu, who was trying to capture Ragdoll.
Thwarted Coup de Grâce: Izuku was all set to kill All for One at Kamino while he was at his most helpless, but incoming Hero backup forces him to settle for taking as many as All for One's Quirks as possible.
Tranquil Fury: Izuku almost growled thinking about Overhaul for what that man has done to Eri.
Undying Loyalty: Himako, Ochako, Mei, Momo and Kyoka still stayed beside Izuku for sharing about his past with them.
Izuku: I…didn’t expect this type of reaction.
Himiko: [swats Izuku's arm] What were you expecting? Us to be mad? Yeah, it’s sad to hear, but…you’ve done so much for us, Izuku, we could never judge you for keeping this to yourself until you felt comfortable telling us.
Izuku: Do all of you share that sentiment?
Ochako [nodding with the rest of the girls] We also really wanna make out with you too.
Verbal Tic: As a side effect of the time travel, Izuku has picked up Tomura's canonical tendency to speak in video game terms.
Izuku: This isn’t some single-player RPG. And, well, I’d call myself your "Player 2", but that’s too generous to you. No, compared to me? You’re a trash mob. Should’ve grinded for more EXP, bud.
We Used to Be Friends: Izuku and Katsuki, before the latter bullied the former.
Izuku: I'm going to leave soon, Kacchan. And when I do? Things will change. I... well, let's be honest, I really want to ask you if you'd join me, more than anything in the world, but that's never going to happen. I just... We were brothers once, Katsuki. What happened to that?
What the Hell, Hero?:
- Aizawa is pissed at Death Arms and Endeavor for ultimately causing Kyoka to join Future of Japan, the former for not watching his intern and the latter for lumping Kyoka with with vigilantes and ultimately scaring her into believing she would be in trouble for simply working with them.
- All Might tears into HPSC President for not protecting Izuku's mother from getting kidnapped by All for One, despite having security on look out at Inko's apartment in case Izuku comes back. None of the heroes involved in the Kamino Raid, sans Yoroi Musha, are backing up the president's response.
All Might: All For One implied he’d had her for a long time. We had to have known of Izuku Midoriya well before All For One, but despite that, his mother was still taken. Explain that to me, Madame President.
HPSC President: Inko Midoriya was being watched, yes, but…
Mirko: But you kept the security light, just in-case greenie got homesick, huh?
HPSC President: They’re a threat-!
Edgeshot: A threat to who? They’ve never threatened me or my sidekicks before.
HPSC President: They’re a threat to Hero-Society as a whole!
Kamui Woods: If doing the right thing is a threat to Hero Society, then you better bring in the cuffs. But trust me when I say that I don't think I'm gonna be the only one who’ll be kicking and screaming on their way to Tartarus.
The Worf Effect: Izuku absolutely wipes the floor with the USJ Nomu (which, in canon, was strong enough to give All Might a real challenge).
Izuku remembers All Might's fight with the USJ Nomu, he remembers being blown away by the sheer power on display. He remembers being terrified of the massive monster, and being terrified for his mentor, who was forced to fight well beyond 100% of his power to put the monster down. This fight... was not at all like All Might's battle.
You Can't Go Home Again: It's generally stated that once a member joins Future of Japan, they can't return back to their families because they are technically going against the law.
You Remind Me of X: One of the reasons why All Might chosen Itsuka as his successor reminds him of his mentor, Nana Shimura.

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