#also i think that if dad for one WERE going to happen then horikoshi wouldve teased it more by now if not already done the reveal

[kaleidoscopic-quiddity]

as someone who's personally never been a big dad for one fan, why don't you like it? 👀

obligatory disclaimer that ppl can headcanon/theorise whatever they want, im fully aware that AUs are just ppl having fun and dont necessarily reflect what they want to/think will happen in canon, etc etc

okay so, to me dad for one is fundamentally antithetical to who midoriya is as a character and his position within the narrative. midoriya is not a chosen one. yes he was literally chosen by all might to inheret ofa, but midoriya is different from a lot if shounen protagonists in that there was nothing inherently special about him other than his heroic spirit. he doesnt have a demon inside him like naruto, or saiyan abilities like goku, or even a hyper genuius intellect like senkuu. midoriya is literally Just Some Guy who happened to get noticed by all might. which is actually what makes his story all that more powerful. yes, midoriya being quirkless ends up working to his advantage with ofa and the whole 'last holder' thing does kinda feel like destiny but ultimately, all might chosing midoriya wasnt predetermined. there wasn't some grand prophecy or legend, there was no fates whispering in all might's ear, its just that in that moment with the sludge villain, all might saw midoriya be a hero and knew that he was the right person to inheret ofa.

objectively i get the appeal of 'ofa, a quirk born out of defiance to afo, is passed onto his hero son who takes him down' as like this cool narrative parallel but to me it undermines the whole basis of midoriya's character. he didnt get involved with ofa and afo and all might because of some hidden deeper connection between them all linking their destinies or whatever. midoriya is involed with everything that hes involved in because regardless of the circumstances of his birth, regardless of whether or not he got a quirk or met all might or got into UA, he was always going to be a hero no matter what.

with shigaraki, the whole sereniputous narrative thing of 'the grandson of one of the ofa users is groomed by afo to be the 'next him' and is the super villian nemisis of the current ofa user' works because shigaraki's defining character trait, his core theme, his 'origin' if you will, of hatered, is literally a product of the relationship between ofa and afo. shigaraki would literally not be the character that he is without his life, before it even began, being shaped by ofa and afo. but midoriya's origin is completely seperate from that, his origin is that of being a hero, no matter what, before he even knows a single thing about ofa and afo, before his life is shaped by them in any meaningful way.

i think there are two moments in bnha that make it blatantly obvious to me that dad for one was never going to happen.

first is back during the sports festival when, after hearing todoroki's backstory, midoriya kinda breaks the 4th wall a bit and thinks 'if we were in a comic book, he'd be the main character'. and the thing is? thats totally true!! yes 'kid with no powers in a world where everyone has powers' is a quintessential shounen manga story set up, but its not a super-hero story set up, as far as western hero comics (which horikoshi obviously takes massive inspiration from) go, todoroki with his tragic backstory and special dual-power would be the main character, which is what makes it all the more poignant that midoriya is instead. yes he inherets this great legendary power from the greatest hero ever and gets embroiled in this centuries long battle between good and evil, but prior to that, theres nothing about midoriya, other than his overwhelming heroism that made all might choose him, which is a choice wholly made by all might rather than some predetermined destiny thing, that makes him a main character.

the second is during the paranormal liberation war when afo tries to steal ofa and critises all might and the other vestiges for allowing the quirk to fall into the 'wrong hands' by ending up with midoriya, who he deems as weak, only for yoichi to defend all might's choice in selecting him as successor and his + the other vestiges' choice to remain within him. that has nothing to do with midoriya being some perfect, narratively appropriate, parallel inspired chosen one, hell its even before the 'you'll probably be the last user because your quirklessness makes you perfect for ofa in a way that quirked people arent' reveal. yoichi and the other vestiges' support and defence of midoriya, just like all might's chosing of him to be his successor, comes from nothing other than the understanding that midoriya is a true hero through and through.

'but leo! doesnt the fact that midoriya is a true hero mean it would be even more poignant if he were the son of the greatest villain ever' i hear you all cry, and the answer is no.

because if midoriya is all for one's son then it makes too much sense that he inhereted ofa. he goes from being this true hero who embodies the will of everything ofa and its users stand for, who is ready to carry on their legacy and offer the world hope in a time of despair, to being the ~perfect~ narrative choice to inheret ofa to fulfil a circle of fate and break a generational curse.

in the canon universe, if all for one is midoriya's dad, midoriya goes from being this character who's sheer conviction to win and save, to be a hero, despite his non-suited circumstances, and nothing else about him, makes all might, who had already planned to go to UA and select a student to be his successor, pick him, out of all possible people, to inheret ofa, to suddenly being the only possible successor. if dfo is true then it doesnt matter that in another life mirio or bakugou or someone else couldve been the 9th user, because by being all for one's son midoriya is put in such a narratively perfect position to inheret ofa that its obvious it was literally never going to be anyone else. which to me, wholly and completely undermines all the poignancy and narrative weight in midoriya, who had absolutely nothing to do with ofa and afo but who was such a genuine hero that all might and the ofa vestiges chose him regardless, being the one to inherent ofa.

so yeah, i dont like dad for one, (and villain deku AUs for pretty much the same reasons), and thats why im convinced it'll never happen. because for all his many flaws horikoshi definitely knows how to craft a narrative, and i think hes both too smart and too good a writer to undermine his own protagonist's origin like that.