Some time ago, a younger Izuku Midoriya stands up to Katsuki Bakugo in order to defend another child from being bullied. Katsuki doesn't take "Deku" seriously and mocks him for being Quirkless and attempting to play hero. Back to present time, a now 14-year-old Izuku watches as Heroes battle an enormous villain.
One day long ago in Quig Quig, China, a luminescent baby was born with a unique power. Then, as time passed, the similar phenomena happened all over the world, and soon the majority of the population had obtained superhuman powers known as "Quirks". Due to that, people were able to pursue heroism as a profession.
As Backdraft keeps citizens at a safe distance, Kamui Woods battles the gigantic criminal. Kamui Woods states that the villain used his Quirk for illegal purposes, and uses Lacquered Chains Prison on him in an attempt to stop his movement.
However, Mt. Lady shows up and uses Canyon Cannon to defeat him. Several people start photographing the heroine as she declares that today is her debut and asks for the rest to be left up to her. Izuku starts rapidly taking notes about Mt. Lady's Quirk, Gigantification. A man wonders if he's aiming to be a hero, wishing him good luck, to which Izuku happily answers that he'll do his best.
At Aldera Junior High, a teacher lectures the class about considering their futures. He says he will hand out the printouts on the students' desired life-course, but knows they all want to be heroes. As the class starts using their Quirks, he reminds them they're not allowed to use them during school hours.
Katsuki tells the teacher not to group him with everyone else because he's superior. His classmates yell at him for that, but Katsuki tells them to shut up, and they remember he's aiming for U.A. High School. As the students comment about the difficulty of the exam, Katsuki declares he aced the mock exam and intends to surpass even All Might as the top hero. The teacher mentions that Izuku also wants to go to U.A. The whole class then turns to face Izuku, erupting in laughter moments later.
Izuku's classmates say there's no way he will be able to get into the hero course if all he can do is study. Izuku attempts to defend himself, but Katsuki aims an explosion at him, saying that Izuku shouldn't put himself in the same level as him since he's Quirkless. Izuku explains that he is not trying to compete with Katsuki, and is only trying to follow the dream he had since childhood because he will not know if he can accomplish it if he doesn't try. Katsuki says that the exam is impossible for him, as the whole class looks down on Izuku, snickering.
Elsewhere, a villain with a fluid, slime-like body is on the loose. As a crowd nearby watches him run away, a person comments that there is no end to villains. A man then answers that there indeed is an end to them, because he is there. Back at Izuku's middle school, he picks up his notebook while reading about and incident in his phone, but as he gets ready to get home and take notes, Katsuki approaches, exploding the notebook with his Quirk. He then throws it out the window, and tells Izuku, who does not reply to his taunts, to give up on U.A. and dive off the rooftop. As Izuku picks up his notebook, he remembers an incident from his childhood: watching a video of All Might making his debut as a hero, saving over 100 people. Izuku says he wants to be just like him, but is later told by a doctor to give up: he has two joints in his pinky toe, which shows that he is Quirkless. Later that day, Izuku watches the video again, crying, and asks his mother if he can still be a hero like All Might, to which she starts crying and apologizes. Izuku remembers that day and wonders if someone out there will give him the answer he longed for.
Back to present time, Izuku is attacked by the runaway slime-like villain shown before while walking home. Suddenly, All Might appears and uses Texas Smash against the villain, a powerful wind pressure move that defeats the villain. Izuku vaguely sees All Might and faints shortly thereafter. Once Izuku wakes up, he's shocked to see his idol right in front of him. He asks for his autograph, but sees it's already on his notebook. After seeing Izuku is safe, All Might starts leaving with the villain in his custody, but Izuku grabs onto his leg and ends up flying with him. When All Might realizes it, he tells Izuku to let go of him, but Izuku says he'd die if he did, so All Might looks for a place to land on. All Might starts bleeding from his mouth, and gets worried due to it. All Might lands on the rooftop of a building. Izuku asks the man if someone who doesn't have a Quirk could also be a hero like him.
Tropes present in this episode include:
- Adults Are Useless:
- After the teacher singles Izuku out as also being an applicant to UA he does nothing to stop Bakugo from practically assaulting him during class. This is moments after he tells the students that using your quirk in class is prohibited.
- Izuku's mother Inko did little to reassure her son after he finds out that he does not have a quirk. Instead of reassuring him that he could be a hero in spite of the odds, she instead breaks down crying, apologizing to him for not having a quirk. To be fair, there is no way around telling him the bad news without breaking his heart, as she doesn't want to lie to him.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Worried about his future to become a hero, Midoriya asks both his mom and All Might if a quirkless person like him is capable of being one.
- Break the Cutie: As a small child, Midoriya was heartbroken to learn he was among the 20% who'd never develop a Quirk. Because of this, the chances of becoming a hero when he grows up are slim to none.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Izuku is first introduced at the age of five, a quirkless little boy defending a peer that was getting picked on by Bakugo and two other boys, crying from fear but still willing to be a hero for a person who could not defend himself.
- Bakugo gets two: first was when he was five, ganging up on a weaker kid with his explosion quirk, and then in present time when he calls everyone else losers, singling out the quirkless Izuku (a person he sees as an inherent loser) and threatening him, even going so far as to goading him into suicide. And this is the guy who wants to be a hero.
- A video clip is shown of All-Might’s first appearance, saving hundreds of people from a collapsing building with a young, inspired Izuku watching it.
- In a Single Bound: All Might does this leap after making sure Izuku is okay. Unfortunately, he accidentally snags onto All Might’s pant-leg when he does this.
- Ms. Fanservice: When Mt. Lady barrels in a stops the villain, the camera accentuates her butt and her skintight outfit. All of the spectators are clearly into it.
- Muck Monster: The Sludge Villain that almost kills Izuku.
- Oh, Crap!: Izuku reacts this way when All Might de-transforms into an unrecognizable skeleton man.
- One-Hit Kill: All Might takes down the Sludge Villain with a single Texas Smash.
- Punch-Clock Hero: It is established that being a "Pro-Hero" is a job, the heroes treated like celebrities who do hero work to out-do each other and gain popularity. This is seen when Mt. Lady crashes in and stops the villain, a smug look on her face while Kamui Woods (who was there first) is bewildered when she gets the credit.
- Suicide Dare: The wannabe hero Katsuki casually tells his life-long victim that if he's so desperate to get a Quirk, then he should take a swan dive off the school building and pray for one in the next life.
