#prince of parallels kohei horikoshi | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pikahlua · 3 years

Text

Uh oh Katsuki is in danger

I can’t believe it’s come to this. Every word in this post is going to bring me extreme agony.

I haven’t wanted to say anything about this for a while because I was a) scared of being right and b) extremely terrified of being right. I want a certain subsection of my meta posts to just fade into obscurity and have no one remember them. I want them to be wrong. I didn’t want to have to come back to this.

Fuck it. We’re here. It’s the endgame now.

Hi, let’s talk about how Katsuki is gonna have a bad time.

Horikoshi delivered unto us a terrifying message at Jump Festa 2022. @hanashimas has a good translation up.

I have desperately wanted to see the Japanese version of it, because holy shit is it cheeky. This asshole. This absolute bastard.

Towards the beginning, he states this:

MHA is at a state where it will reach its goal in a about year….if things go smoothly.

If things don’t go smoothly, then Yamashita [Daiki]-kun will probably be reading the same letter again next year at JumpFes.

I’ve been sluggishly drawing for more than 7 years now, but now that we’re in the Final Act, I plan to vent everything that I’ve been sluggishly saving up until now in it.

The way I read this is, everything he hints about in this letter is related to the endgame. It is the final arc. Any hints here are hints about how it all ends. This is it, buckaroos.

I’ve held off on my opinions about it because I wanted to see the setup of the endgame first. But I did have...feelings when I read the whole message. Those came through in my reblog tags.

I didn’t elaborate further also because I hoped to do so in a post someday (now). At the time I just was too busy and tired anyways. But you’ve asked, and so shall I deliver.

Here’s the line that sent the internet into a tailspin:

I’ve said this to Okamoto [Nobuhiko]-kun in LINE, but Katsuki will be having his greatest scene in the manga in future developments. I hope people who like Katsuki and hate Katsuki will look forward to it.

It’s cute. You’re all very cute. I’m sure Horikoshi giggled maniacally at your freak-out. I know I did.

But as a Katsuki fan, this is the part that had me screeching:

And then, we have Deku and Shigaraki.

Even though his consciousness is becoming more and more ambiguous, he’s [Shigaraki’s] a mass of destructive instincts and frustrations. He’s the greatest obstacle in Deku’s goal of “saving”.

Saving and Destroying are both born out of ego. Whose ego will win in the end? Is it even a matter of winning or losing? How will things go? What shall I do? What am I supposed to do??

Well, everything’s somehow gonna come off alright I guess!

Do your best, Deku! Destroy it all, Shigaraki! Die, All for One!!

“What? This part? Katsuki isn’t even mentioned! This is explicitly a section about Izuku and Tomura. Why on earth would you lose your mind over this vague bullshit?” - Unenlightened You, 2022

Because it’s in code, you sweet summer children.

The whole damn thing is very, very intentionally using conspicuously specific words to avoid setting off the alarms. Except they actually set off all the alarms. And that’s probably on purpose, because Horikoshi loves telling us exactly what to expect and lets our imaginations do the work to fill in the blanks and fool ourselves. He does this all the damn time.

How do I know? BECAUSE I CAN READ THE DAMN CODE!

It’s true, I’m not always right (gasp) about the ultimate meaning, but I can damn well tell when the code is there pointing in the generally correct direction.

And now I’ve gathered the signs and assembled the ruins and drawn the circles and pulled out the translation notes and done the calculations and I’m ready to motherfuckin’ do this.

So here’s the tea.

THEORY: Katsuki Bakugou is gonna be possessed

Table of Contents I. The meta warning signs II. “Wait, didn’t you say Izuku was gonna be possessed?” and other sordid tales III. Maybe Izuku is actually a reliable narrator IV. Katsuki’s greatest fear V. The history of One For All VI. Izuku’s unspoken feelings VII. Izuku vs. Tomura but not like that VIII. Decoding Horikoshi’s prophecy IX. tl;dr À̴̡͍͑͘A̵̢̼̟͘͝A̴̢̪͎͒͑̚A̴̟͓̺͛̓͘À̵̪͔͍͊͝A̴̠͖̟̒̓̚Ä̸̡̙͔́͐͠A̴͔̫̼̿͠À̵̠̠͙͒͆Ä̸̢͔̪́̔͐A̴̙͎̪͋̐̒A̵̡̞̓̓̀A̸̘͖͊͆͊A̸̢̟̝̓̐͠A̴͍̺̟͑͝͠A̸̦͍̠͑̈́Ä̵͓͚͓́́͛A̵̺͓̿̔͘͜A̴͕͔͖̽̽͘A̴͕͖͉͆͊̓A̸̝̻͉̐͒A̵̺̞̾̐͜͠A̸͓͖̺͛̐͘A̸͎̝̻̒̈́͝A̵͇̪͎̾̿A̴̪͙͖̓͒A̸̫͖͖͐͌̕A̵̙͕̙̓͘͝A̵̻̙̼͊̈́͠A̴̞̘̟͊̾̕A̸̢̪͔̓̀͒A̵͎̞̪͊͛̀Á̸̢͇̺̚͝A̴̼͕͍̓̓͝Á̸̝̠̫̿͒A̸͎̫͙͑͒Ä̴̡̘̪́͐̿

Here’s what I’m gonna do for you. First, I’m gonna tell you what’s definitely not gonna happen (section I). Second, I’m gonna point out all the allowances I’ve made in my other predictive metas (section II). Third, I’m gonna walk you through all the foreshadowing and unresolved plot points leading to this theory (sections III-VI). Fourth, I’m gonna put all the pieces together for you (section VII). Fifth, I’m gonna decode Horikoshi’s Jump Festa message (section VIII).

And last: I must scream.

I. The meta warning signs

Do you know why the MHA movies exist? Sure, yes, capitalism, money, cool movies, shiny animation, yada yada. But that’s not what I mean. Do you know why the concepts of these movies exist?

These movies exist to show us what if scenarios.

Argue until you’re blue in the face about their canonicity. I could not possibly care less if they count as canon. The point is that they are showing us really awesome things that could have been in the manga proper but for whatever reason won’t be. The movies have been crossing possibilities off the list of things that could happen in the ending.

Two Heroes exists to give us an All Might and Izuku OFA team-up

Heroes Rising exists to give us an Izuku and Katsuki OFA team-up

World Heroes’ Mission exists to give us solo spectacle battles each for Shouto (Flashfire Fist), Katsuki (the thumbs-down victory pose), and Izuku (United States of Don’t Make Me Say It Smash)

These things happened in the movies PRECISELY BECAUSE they would not happen in the manga. We are not getting these things in the manga. All Might lost OFA’s dregs at Kamino Ward. Shouto is not going to use Flashfire Fist. Izuku is not going to do that unmentionable punching atrocity again if he knows what’s good for him. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Do you understand what I’m saying here? Did y’all see my little endgame bingo card? That little square on the last row labeled “BakuDeku out-of-sync or disagree”?

Katsuki is not getting a cool solo battle where he wins. He’s not getting an All Might or Endeavor victory pose. He’s not getting a fight where he uses One For All even temporarily. He’s not getting a beautifully-synced team battle with Izuku against a common foe.

So...what the fuck is he getting?

NOW you have my permission to lose your shit.

II. “Wait, didn’t you say Izuku was gonna be possessed?” and other sordid tales

Look, we’ve all said some things. Some we don’t regret.

I’ve gone deep into my theory several times on how I think Izuku could end up possessed by AFO or even someone else. Technically, I’m not saying that won’t happen still.

I’m just saying I’ve covered my bases.

I wrote this little prediction post a while back about how the MHA ending could end up a bookend of the beginning arc with the sludge villain. I broke the first arc down into a formula I believed could make its comeback in the final arc. That formula went a little something like this:

Villain possesses Person A

Hero saves Person A

Villain possesses Person B

Person A tries to save Person B and fails

Person A’s actions inspire a hero to save both Person A and Person B

And then I spent many words explaining ad nauseum how I knew which characters would be slotted into the formula, just not which spots they’d end up filling:

[...We] know the final battle is going to involve at least these players:

Izuku Midoriya

Katsuki Bakugou

Tomura Shigaraki or All For One

[...]

Will Shigaraki and AFO both be involved in the final battle? It’s possible. Shigaraki is currently possessed by AFO, and we don’t know if that’s going to be resolved before the final battle.

[...]

Will other characters be present? No idea. The possibilities here are endless.

So I’ve broken the events of chapter 1 down into a formula, and I ran it with many different characters. Although I can’t be sure who will play which roles, this is how I currently expect it to play out[...]

The point is, I knew there was a possibility I chose wrong. I knew it was possible Katsuki could end up possessed instead of Izuku, but I went with Izuku for the sake of exploring the formula. I wanted to follow that possibility to its logical conclusion because it interested me.

But I did consider multiple combinations. I did consider that the formula could be played almost exactly the same as it had been in the first chapter. I did consider the possibility that Katsuki would be the one possessed instead of Izuku.

I just kept it to myself because I...sometimes write fanfiction and wanted to use that scenario for something else.

So if you’re interested, read that post again and swap Izuku’s and Katsuki’s roles. See how well that works out. Now panic a little.

Then come back and read through this list of points I’ve lightly explored in other metas that are totally relevant now (click the link if you’d like to read the meta posts, but you’ll find the links repeat at various points in this post later on).

Katsuki is a major piece of the story-line about victims learning to accept help

Katsuki’s name means “self-victory,” so he probably needs to “defeat himself” in some way

Katsuki’s character arc ends with him saving the ultimate victim

The only fight that can end Katsuki’s character arc is Deku vs Kacchan, Part 3

Katsuki and Izuku gotta hold hands in DvK3

Katsuki saves Izuku’s heart by relating to him and opening up

The narrative rewards Izuku for imitating Katsuki

Katsuki has spoken his truth, but Izuku has not (and that’s kind of a death flag)

We’ve seen Katsuki’s “Save to Win,” but we haven’t seen Izuku’s “Win to Save“

Quirks and personalities are tied together, potentially by the concept of “heart”

The Second and Katsuki are connected, possibly by reincarnation

AFO may have the ability to control a person’s actions against their will

AFO may have killed the First, Second, and Third users by controlling them and forcing them to kill each other

Katsuki doesn’t want to be the reason for Izuku’s downfall

Katsuki is a point of weakness for Izuku

Izuku is Katsuki’s inspiration to save people, and Katsuki doesn’t want what happened to All Might to happen to Izuku

AFO is keenly interested in Izuku’s rage state and knows Katsuki works as his weak-point

Tomura is a beautiful butterfly, and Katsuki has the bug-catching net

Katsuki parallels Tomura

Katsuki also parallels Star and that’s terrifying

No seriously, he parallels Star, whom strategically sacrificed herself to cripple the enemy and save her team

If Katsuki somehow gets AFO, it would totally complete this parallel

AFO’s plan is to overwhelm OFA with hatred, but what if the person he possesses uses their emotions to possess him back?

Izuku is walking into the final arc with a smidge of hubris

I’ve connected way too many dots.

III. Maybe Izuku is actually a reliable narrator

All right, let’s see that foreshadowing!

How does everything that came before the final arc lead to this conclusion? Let me count the ways.

We’ve already seen the above page paralleled when class 1-A went to save Izuku at Kamino, but it could absolutely come back again. This is essentially Deku vs Kacchan, Part 0. We all know the Rule of Threes. I wonder if there will be a kid for Izuku to protect from Katsuki’s wrath in the final arc version. Tenko Shimura, perhaps?

Ah, the moment I would say the narrator Izuku has gotten his closest to lying to us. When you consider how Katsuki turns down Tomura’s offer to go villainous in Kamino, it really does make Izuku’s narration above seem rather harsh.

But, uh, the story isn’t actually over yet. We can’t say for sure Katsuki doesn’t end on the “path towards bad,” now can we?

Katsuki has been set up as an example of the “heroes and villains are two sides of the same coin” plot point. There are a lot of parallels between Izuku and AFO, which you could take to mean what you want. To me, it feels like AFO and Izuku are two sides of the same coin: pure good and pure evil. They espouse the same values but from their own camps. They are endpoints on the scale.

Katsuki isn’t on that same scale. His scale is shared with Tomura.

Because they are both compact essence of pure, destructive instinct. Katsuki just represents the heroic side of that instinct as the legacy he inherits from All Might.

We even have Tenko screaming Katsuki’s catchphrase at his origin.

The Kamino Ward arc sets these two up as parallels pretty explicitly.

And now, the fact that Katsuki is going to face Tomura without Izuku but with Best Jeanist around is a giant tell that we’re coming back to this point again. Tomura tossed his coin and landed on villain, but there’s more to it than that. His scale is not on pure good versus pure evil but freedom/instinct versus restraint/rationality. His beef is with society. And he thinks Katsuki should have the same problems with society he does.

Katsuki’s coin is gonna get flipped again. And if it lands hero-side-face-up, AFO is there sitting inside Tomura’s body ready to intervene just like last time.

We’re gonna finally find out what this threat was all about.

IV. Katsuki’s greatest fear

Take a look at all the imagery of Katsuki fighting off the sludge villain’s puppetry in chapter 1/episodes 1 and 2. It’s all over this prediction meta. There’s an entire section dedicated to possession imagery in the whole series in this one.

And look at his face when he vents his guilt about how his own kidnapping resulted in All Might’s retirement.

Just so you know, he’s not over it.

I’ll say it again:

I don’t think it’s a stretch for me to say one of [Katsuki’s] worst fears is being a victim, particularly as a means of getting to someone he cares about such as All Might (just look at his trauma over what happened with the sludge villain in middle school). After all, Katsuki believes All Might’s downfall could have been avoided if only he had been strong enough to not be victimized by AFO and the League of Villains.

So it’s not that Katsuki wants to protect Izuku; Katsuki doesn’t want to be the reason for Izuku’s downfall.

Katsuki did not get his revenge against Shigaraki at Jakuu. He was blatantly denied revenge, in fact.

So he’s going into this final arc with a history of being possessed, a massive and exploitable complex about being victimized, the propensity to blame himself for his part in the downfall of his loved ones, and a problematic vengeance fantasy he’s using to mask his vulnerability.

That’s what we call “tempting fate,” my friends.

V. The history of One For All

That cheeky bastard Horikoshi actually went and left the One For All origin story a mystery until the final arc.

That spells disaster. That means it will be relevant to the ending. And we all know somehow it’s all gonna come back to Katsuki. Because of this asshole.

And that asshole is the only one whose quirk we don’t yet know.

I’ve given my general thoughts on the possible OFA history and the Second’s possible connection to Katsuki, and I would be remiss if I didn’t reiterate that there’s a possibility AFO can control people against their will and force them to fight their friends. If true, that could come back in a big way for the final arc quite easily.

And then @siflshonen dared to point out to me the resemblance between the Second’s facial scar and this page of nightmare fuel in chapter 286:

That was the moment I threw up my hands and started writing this damn meta anthology post.

Oh, and let’s not forget that time I compared Yoichi and the Second to Tomura and Katsuki:

History repeats itself or some shit.

VI. Izuku’s unspoken feelings

There’s one more important piece to this puzzle, and that’s how Izuku plays into everything that will happen.

Given this theory, the above panels are actually painful to read. “The gifted will break this world.” Izuku, please smack this upstart prick.

But the utility of this arc may have been to also serve some purpose in the final battle. There is an interesting focus on Katsuki that we could easily dismiss, even though he’s not involved in the fight.

And there’s also the question of Izuku’s emotional instability...

...which AFO learned he could use Katsuki to exploit during the Jakuu battle.

But...

There’s something else important we learned during that arc as well.

We learned that just as Izuku sees Katsuki as his Image of Victory, Katsuki very well likely sees Izuku as his Image of Self-Sacrifice.

Katsuki can probably be used as a point of weakness against Izuku, but what about the other direction? Perhaps Izuku can use himself as a point of strength for Katsuki’s sake.

Izuku still hasn’t told Katsuki he’s Izuku’s Image of Victory.

It must be said, and we’re going into the final arc now. Where do you think would be a good place in the story for this to come out?

VII. Izuku vs. Tomura but not like that

So here’s the concept:

Much like in my Izuku possession theory, let’s say Katsuki is the one who gets pulled into the Tomura-AFO singularity. He might even do it on purpose as an attempt to sabotage AFO and rescue Tenko, all in a manner similar to how Star(s) & Stripe(s) went out. In the process, he could be swallowed by the vortex of hatred inside Shigaraki and lose his sense of self to it. Izuku definitely goes after him, but how’s he gonna pull Katsuki out? What will the battle really be about here?

It’s going to be about two forces pulling Katsuki in opposite directions (either figuratively or literally).

On the one hand, he’ll have Tomura Shigaraki pulling him in the direction of destructive instincts. Katsuki will be encouraged to let go of his rational brain and just give into the instinct to destroy (or really, explode) that comes with his Explosion quirk. His weakness will be his desire for revenge that merges with the hatred Tomura embodies. He won’t be able to escape so long as he holds onto that dark wish.

On the other hand, he’ll have Izuku pulling him back to the side of heroism and saving, back to rationality, back to his true sense of self. Izuku is the best person to do it because he knows Katsuki best; he emulates Katsuki with everything he does. He’ll tell Katsuki about his Image of Victory and “talk like Katsuki because he wants to win” in order to restore Katsuki’s identity. And Katsuki’s going to finally have to take Izuku’s hand and accept help to get out of there. But, if Tomura wins the tug-o-war, Katsuki will likely pull Izuku into the void with him because Izuku ain’t letting go no matter what. If this doesn’t work, Katsuki will be Izuku’s downfall.

It’s the classic shoulder-angel versus shoulder-devil scenario. Izuku is our narrator, but Tomura jumps in as the narrator for “My Villain Academia,” and isn’t that convenient? Could it be the narrators are both in the process of trying to reach Katsuki to turn him to their side? Until he chooses, Katsuki is a coin flipped in the air. Which version of his “self” will claim “victory” in the end?

Stare harder at that manga cover!!!

VIII. Decoding Horikoshi’s prophecy

So, I promised I would translate the hidden message in Horikoshi’s Jump Festa words. Here we go now.

Katsuki’s gonna do a big thing. In light of where you suspect this is going based on this giant brainrot, you might be able to glean how this scenario could be enjoyed by those readers who both like and dislike Katsuki. There’s going to be a full reckoning of his character down to the core of his identity. And he’s gonna probably do some noble shit in the process.

And then, we have Deku and Shigaraki.

These two will definitely face each other in some way, straightforward fight or not.

Even though his consciousness is becoming more and more ambiguous, he’s [Shigaraki’s] a mass of destructive instincts and frustrations.

Shigaraki is becoming more and more defined by his urge to destroy, his instincts, the personality essence that comes with his Decay quirk. Weird that Horikoshi uses some extremely Katsuki-coded language (“destructive,” “instincts,” “frustrations”) to describe this scenario. Very meta of him to talk about Shigaraki’s consciousness becoming so ambiguous. Wonder if someone else’s consciousness is influencing that ambiguity, and I don’t just mean AFO’s.

[Shigaraki]’s the greatest obstacle in Deku’s goal of “saving”.

That’s a weird way of putting it, Horikoshi. If we were looking at a straightforward fight between Shigaraki and Deku, I’d expect you to word this as “Deku’s greatest obstacle is Shigaraki.” But no, you specifically say Shigaraki is an obstacle to Deku’s goal of saving. So Deku needs to save someone? Who could that be?

Saving and Destroying are both born out of ego. Whose ego will win in the end?

Way to imply that these egos are Izuku (Saving) and Shigaraki (Destroying) without actually naming the characters. Makes it easy for us to just assume you mean Izuku and Shigaraki. But what if you don’t, Horikoshi? What if that’s just what you want us to believe? Because I see that “win” word choice, and that’s more Katsuki-coded language, you precious madman. Could it be that these are Katsuki’s dueling egos? “Whose ego will win in the end?” Perhaps I should read this as: will Izuku’s influence or Shigaraki’s influence over Katsuki have the stronger pull? Who will Katsuki be when he comes out of this?

Is it even a matter of winning or losing? How will things go? What shall I do? What am I supposed to do??

More Katsuki-coded language! Winning or losing? “Is it even a matter of winning or losing?” Ohhhh way to hint that this isn’t a straightforward fistfight at all. I see you, Horikoshi. I see you.

Well, everything’s somehow gonna come off alright I guess!

It fuckin’ better.

Do your best, Deku! Destroy it all, Shigaraki! Die, All for One!!

HORIKOSHI, I STILL SEE YOU.

“Do your best, Deku!” Do his best at what? Fighting? Saving? Something else? That’s definitely a reference to the newer meaning behind the Deku nickname.

“Destroy it all, Shigaraki!” Give into those instincts, Handsy! P.S. What all is it he’s supposed to destroy exactly? His enemies? Society? The world? AFO? The AFO quirk? The OFA quirk? Oh hey, “all” is in the names of both AFO and OFA, huh...

“Die, All For One!!” THAT’S KATSUKI’S CATCHPHRASE, YOU MONSTER. I FUCKING SEE YOU AND YOU’RE NOT SMOOTH.

VIII. tl;dr À̴̡͍͑͘A̵̢̼̟͘͝A̴̢̪͎͒͑̚A̴̟͓̺͛̓͘À̵̪͔͍͊͝A̴̠͖̟̒̓̚Ä̸̡̙͔́͐͠A̴͔̫̼̿͠À̵̠̠͙͒͆Ä̸̢͔̪́̔͐A̴̙͎̪͋̐̒A̵̡̞̓̓̀A̸̘͖͊͆͊A̸̢̟̝̓̐͠A̴͍̺̟͑͝͠A̸̦͍̠͑̈́Ä̵͓͚͓́́͛A̵̺͓̿̔͘͜A̴͕͔͖̽̽͘A̴͕͖͉͆͊̓A̸̝̻͉̐͒A̵̺̞̾̐͜͠A̸͓͖̺͛̐͘A̸͎̝̻̒̈́͝A̵͇̪͎̾̿A̴̪͙͖̓͒A̸̫͖͖͐͌̕A̵̙͕̙̓͘͝A̵̻̙̼͊̈́͠A̴̞̘̟͊̾̕A̸̢̪͔̓̀͒A̵͎̞̪͊͛̀

Katsuki’s character arc of learning to save people necessitates that he saves an unsavable victim at the end. Since he’s going to face Tomura without Izuku’s help, Katsuki is probably going to be the one who saves Tenko Shimura.

However, MHA defines heroism as both victory and self-sacrifice. For Katsuki to truly demonstrate his mastery of saving, this rescue will have to involve a drastic sacrifice on his part. He may find some way of swapping himself in for Tomura or just dive in after him in order to save Tenko from AFO’s possession.

Izuku is the main character. He’s gotta come in and save someone. But he’s also gotta come in and win a big fight to demonstrate his mastery of victory. If Tenko can’t fill either role of victim or enemy, then Katsuki’s gonna have to play both parts.

AFO has the potential to force others to move against their wills. He has the potential to force friends to fight each other.

In all likelihood, we’re gonna have Katsuki stuck in the middle of Izuku and Tomura’s fight, but it will be one where the Tomura-AFO singularity tries to force Katsuki to lose himself to destructive instincts while Izuku vies to revive Katsuki’s sense of self and break him out. Or, there’s the possibility that Katsuki intends to self-destruct in order to take the Tomura-AFO singularity down with him while Izuku tries to convince him not to.

Hey, they’re fighting at UA! That’s where Ground Beta is! Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 3 where it ends with holding hands, anyone?

And now, I commence the screaming.

SAVE HIM SAVE HIM SAVE HIM SAVE HIM SAVE HIM SAVE HIM

912 notes · View notes

pikahlua · 2 years

Note

Maybe I'm an idiot but how did the ShigAFO vs Bakugou fight paralleled with Uraraka vs Bakugou fight?

Feast your eyes.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Exhibit D:

Exhibit E:

Exhibit F:

Exhibit G:

Exhibit H::

Exhibit I:

Exhibit J:

Bonus:

#ask pika #anon ask #my hero academia manga spoilers #katsuki bakugou #ochako uraraka #tomura shigaraki #all for one #AFO #parallels #prince of parallels kohei horikoshi

116 notes · View notes

pikahlua · 3 years

Text

Quirk Singularity Doomsday: Deku’s Gonna Be Possessed REDUX

It is TIME.

Time for the long-awaited revamping of my Deku’s Gonna Be Possessed theory!

I’ve received several asks about varying themes that are encompassed in these topics, and I’ve been yammering about how this theory needs an update with all the new information we have. And then we got GLORIOUS CHAPTER 330, which really set off my alarms. So, let’s do this.

THEORY: Izuku Midoriya will be possessed by All For One, and I’ve got ideas about how that final battle will go down.

Table of Contents

I. Possession as a recurring theme in MHA II. All For One’s goal III. What is One For All? IV. Hatred: Quirk Singularity Doomsday V. Tomura Shigaraki parallels Shouto Todoroki VI. Tomura Shigaraki parallels Katsuki Bakugou VII. Tomura Shigaraki parallels Izuku Midoriya VIII. The Final Battle IX. tl;dr

I. Possession as a recurring theme in MHA

First of all, I’d like to bring to everyone’s attention how often possession (puppetry, absorption, control, etc.) is used as a plot point in My Hero Academia. Let’s take a look at our examples:

“Deku” is an idiom that refers to a wooden doll with no arms and legs used in kugutsu puppetry

Katsuki is possessed by the sludge villain

Noumu are pieced-together corpses with no functioning brains, lacking free will and following commands without question

At the USJ, the students are teleported around the facility by being drawn into Kurogiri’s misty body

Hitoshi Shinsou has a brainwashing quirk where he can get others to do whatever he says (with some limitations on their capabilities)

Shouto is created by his father to be a vicarious stand-in for Endeavor’s goal to surpass All Might, and his breakaway from that shadow in his life is the revelation that his wishes and power belong to him and not his father

The vestiges of One For All move Izuku’s fingers for him against Shinsou at the sports festival

Tokoyami loses control of Dark Shadow in the woods at summer training camp and is pulled along for the ride as the quirk monster goes berserk

Katsuki is kidnapped by being sucked into a portal by a League of Villains who expressly want to induct him into their group (and later reveal they are willing to do so via coercive measures)

Pretty much every instance of Kurogiri’s warp gate has this imagery, including Tomura being forced to leave the Kamino Ward against his will by All For One

Shishikura massages the flesh of his enemies until they resemble little meatball lumps, all against their will

Toga’s quirk covers herself in a shell resembling anyone whose blood she drinks, allowing her to manipulate a copy of their body as well as manipulate those into believing she’s who she imitates

Overhaul behaves possessively of Eri, using her quirk for his purposes and not caring about her humanity, and convinces her she is a cursed human who deserves to be treated this way

Overhaul breaks apart the bodies of his own subordinates to absorb them into his, healing himself and making him into a chimeric, powerful monstrosity

Ending captures Natsuo and uses him as a hostage to get Endeavor to kill him

Izuku is engulfed in OFA!Black Whip energy as he succumbs to rage over AFO!Tomura stabbing Katsuki

And at this time I feel like I’ve made my point, so I can skip all the smaller examples and move straight to how AFO forces the One For All quirk on his brother and traps him in a vault

AFO historically manipulates and coerces others to do his bidding

Hell, the nature of the AFO quirk is to absorb other quirks and do whatever one likes with them

AFO wants to steal OFA from Izuku and absorb the quirk (and his little brother) into his control

AFO booby-traps the Air Walk quirk he gives to Lady Nagant should she defect

AFO likely extorts the other assassins he sends after Izuku post-jailbreak

And of course, AFO possesses Tomura

What’s all this mean, you may ask? It means Horikoshi’s got possession on the brain lol.

II. All For One’s Goal

Look, I don’t have time to go into everything I’ve written about All For One. So let me just give you the highlights:

All For One is obsessed with control

All For One is obsessed with emotions...despite supposedly not having them

AFO’s vestige is using Tomura’s hatred to merge with Tomura and take over his body (re: chapter 330)

AFO plans to use Tomura’s hatred to override the will of One For All and steal it (re: chapter 286-287)

All For One has taken notice on several occasions of Izuku’s propensity for anger

All For One probably has Izuku bugged via a vestige hidden inside One For All let’s stop kidding ourselves

So what does All For One want? Well we know at the very least he wants One For All, and he has ideas about how to get it. More on that in section IV.

III. What is One For All?

I’m revisiting this old theory for a reason, so you should probably read it, particularly what it has to say in the beginning about the nature of One For All. I focus particularly on language about One For All starting to grow and kick and how Izuku is going to “complete” One For All and how One For All is stockpiling something.

It all ties back to emotions.

The new point I’d like to drop is about what Banjou tells Izuku when they first meet.

“When you use this power in anger, it’ll really start working for you. What really matters is controlling your heart. It’s okay to get mad. That rage can be the source. But in the meantime, you gotta control it better, okay?”

Anger, rage, and lack of control. It seems to me like this is a gateway to the emotions of hatred All For One cultivates in Tomura. If Izuku doesn’t control his heart, could he not end up just as Tomura has?

I know people like to make fun of Izuku for not acknowledging how Black Whip seemed to come out in response to his emotions, but we shouldn’t just dismiss the conclusions drawn in this scene. Before Izuku’s turn in joint training, we did see an ominous scene of AFO at Tartarus saying he could hear his little brother’s voice. I think All For One did have something to do with Black Whip’s awakening, and it’s not a good sign for Izuku.

“That makes you the same as him.”

I don’t think this language is coincidental...

IV. Hatred: Quirk Singularity Doomsday

I mentioned in part 2 of my final battle blueprint that Tenko has the number “ten” in his name (and the Japanese sound “to” in his new name Tomura, which is a way to pronounce the number 10). This is concerning because all One For All users have numbers symbolically utilized in their names. Izuku’s “ku” is homophonous with Japanese for the number 9, and he is the ninth user. All the users thus far have their assigned numbers in their names somewhere.

So Tenko having “10″ in his name implies he could be the next successor of OFA.

Additionally, one of AFO’s major goals is to take the OFA quirk for himself.

How do we fulfill this subtle prophecy?

We have AFO absorb Izuku just as he has done to Tomura.

If All For One is using Tomura’s hatred to break the rules of the vestige world and take over Tomura to become some new being, well...could he not do the same to Izuku?

He’s very pleased by Izuku’s big rage moment. Machia notices two people with the scent of his “master” AFO at that same moment. Could AFO perhaps absorb Izuku in the vestige world using his rage? Using hatred?

Quirk Singularity Doomsday

If All For One absorbs Izuku and Tomura, they become one being. That’s a singularity.

And maybe we can extrapolate this to AFO’s big long-term evil plans, his goal to become the world’s greatest demon lord. Maybe AFO wants to own all quirks, the ultimate singularity of power conceivable.

He may want to do this by stealing all the quirks, but I don’t think that’s it. I think he wants to control all the quirks. What happened to Lady Nagant implies that All For One rigged the Air Walk quirk so that if she betrayed him he could punish her. Maybe AFO’s goal is to put a piece of himself in every quirk, to control every person, every power on the planet.

Horcux theory indeed.

V. Tomura Shigaraki parallels Shouto Todoroki

Bet you haven’t heard that parallel before.

I’m bringing it all together now so we can have our final battle. If all events in the story have had similar themes of possession, then they may also be hiding how the heroes are gonna win. I believe many story-lines will receive callbacks at the end, not the least of which is the very first chapter of the story.

However, the flaw in chapter 1 is that Shouto Todoroki is not in it.

So let me try a new one: What if the final battle narrative is set up much like that of the sports festival?

The sports festival narrative presented us with Shouto Todoroki center-stage. We learn his backstory and motivations, and we watch how those are understood and acted upon by Izuku and Katsuki.

To Izuku, Shouto is a victim. Izuku vies to save Shouto even at the expense of losing the sports festival. He prioritizes saving Shouto over winning the tournament. He successfully saves Shouto (although that isn’t resolved completely), losing his match in the process.

To Katsuki, Shouto is an opponent. He wants to defeat Shouto at his best, understanding he cannot do so if Shouto can’t get past his family troubles before the match. Despite his efforts to save Shouto for the sole purpose of drawing out his full power, Katsuki prioritizes winning over the rescue. He successfully wins the match, but not in the way he wants because he fails to save Shouto.

They’ve both learned a lot about saving and winning since then.

So now let’s do a lightning round of parallels between Shouto and Tomura:

Both use “ore” as their pronoun of choice

Both grew up with strict (abusive) fathers

Both are youngest siblings

Both have a family legacy of heroes

Both have houses that serve as symbols of their fathers’ legacies and their own family traumas

Both have festering hatred born of their childhood traumas

The old Endeavor attempts to live vicariously through Shouto. AFO attempts to live literally through Tomura.

Shouto starts out seeing his quirk as belonging to his father, not himself. Tomura literally receives AFO’s original All For One quirk.

Shouto’s story is about individuality and achieving freedom from his past and family legacy. Tomura’s journey through MVA shows his goal is that of ultimate freedom, and in order to be saved he must be separated from AFO.

Izuku Midoriya wants to save both of them from their hatred.

We’ll bring it all together in part VIII.

VI. Tomura Shigaraki parallels Katsuki Bakugou

I’ve been working on a mega-post about this for a while, but can we please stop pretending there aren’t major parallels between Tomura and Katsuki, too?

(I promise to link the mega-post back here should I ever finish it.)

Here are some of the parallel highlights:

Both use “ore” as their pronoun of choice

Both have red eyes and similar aesthetics (like considering themselves kings/gods)

Both use their hands for their quirks, which are quirks of pure destruction

Both speak with rude grammar patterns, use video game terminology, and scream “die” at people

Both behave freely in spite of what society tells them they should do

Both want to surpass their mentors, not become them

Both have character arcs centered around learning true leadership

But most importantly, I think we would be remiss to ignore that Katsuki and Tomura have been set up as “two sides of the same coin” that are heroes and villains.

If they could come to an understanding, perhaps Katsuki could even have a chance of saving Tomura?

VII. Tomura Shigaraki parallels Izuku Midoriya

Oh, it’s the easy one. The one everyone defaults to without ever considering the previous two sections. Fine, let’s do this.

Both had the hearts of heroes from childhood

Both resemble each other in childhood in appearance and personality

Both experienced the shame of quirklessness and how that would affect their dreams to be heroes

Both are students to mentors that are respectively the world’s greatest hero and villain

That whole hatred [waves hands] thing I’ve mentioned in previous sections

Both have inherited the batshit wild quirks (AFO and OFA)

Both are on track to be possessed like whoa

And honestly, everyone has their own perceptions of these two and their parallels because they’re the most obvious, so insert your favorites here.

VIII. The Final Battle

Now to fit the pieces together. Here’s the concepts I now expect for the final battle:

AFO will absorb OFA, trapping both Tomura and Izuku inside him.

This fulfills the expectations that Tomura will inherit OFA as well as that AFO will steal it, but it also gives Izuku the ability to keep OFA once he’s rescued.

Izuku will try to reach Tenko in the vestige world.

Perhaps the narrator Izuku has been talking to Tenko from the very beginning?

I also fully expect the All Might vestige to come into play at some point here.

Meanwhile, the Singularity comprised of AFO, Tomura, and Izuku will have to be subdued in the real world by Katsuki and Shouto working as a team.

Katsuki’s “Why do I always get lumped in with him?” question from the Endeavor Agency arc becomes hilarious in retrospect.

Because Izuku’s life will be merged with Tenko’s, their survival will become dependent on each other. In other words, Izuku will have to prioritize his own survival in order to save Tenko. Win to save.

Make all the parallels between Tenko and Eri that you like, I won’t stop you.

Katsuki will be unable to defeat the Singularity without first finding a way to save those trapped inside it, thus separating them and reducing AFO’s power. He may do this through connecting with Izuku, but he could also do this by connecting to Tenko. Save to win.

Oh god, the implications this has about Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 3 should we not get that until the final battle. Izuku promised he’d make OFA his own and then defeat Katsuki. OFA wouldn’t be “his own” in this case, so neither Izuku nor Katsuki would be okay with Katsuki losing for additional emotional reasons.

I swear to god if this sort of showdown is how Izuku finally gets access to the Second’s quirk (and if we have to wait that long for the OFA history flashback) I will flip a goddamn table.

The only way to reach Izuku or Tenko to save them will be to help separate their identities from the swirling mass of hatred AFO uses to merge them together. Shouto will have to help Izuku get his sense of identity back by returning the favor of the “It’s your power, not his!” moment from the sports festival.

This is all in service of the fact that Katsuki and Shouto did extracurricular hero license training together, specifically to teach them the power of heart, how to connect with another person, how to reach out one’s hand so that a victim will reach back and take it.

And then they all whale on All For One’s decrepit body together idk.

Maybe Tenko just disintegrates the man. Fuck yeah!

IX. tl;dr

AFO is making a giant vestige blob of hatred so he can eat Izuku and get OFA but Katsuki and Shouto will be like OH NO YOU DON’T THIS STORY HAS THREE HEROES and when they all pop out of that blob Tenko will be like NUH-UH THERE’S FOUR and then they dog-pile the evil potato man.

259 notes · View notes

pikahlua · 3 years

Text

Who is Katsuki Bakugou’s villain counterpart?

I need to get this idea out there, even in its shortest form, or I’m going to lose my mind.

You look at the characters of My Hero Academia and think you see easy obvious villain counterparts, each character’s final boss, so to speak. Izuku vs. Tomura, Ochako vs. Himiko, Shouto vs. Dabi, etc. right?

And then there’s Katsuki.

Uh?

Uhhh???

UhHhh/?H?h//?

And then people start floundering like um maybe it’s Spinner? Or All For One? Or we’re wrong about Izuku vs. Tomura? Maybe it’s All Might, or Izuku? Katsuki himself (his name means “self-victory,” after all)??? Will Katsuki actually be a villain in the end??? IDK?????

All of these and more are valid guesses and worthy of further discussion, but I need to posit one simple idea.

Katsuki has no villain counterpart

Hear me out.

The central question of MHA’s narrative is, “What is a hero?” The most rudimentary metric we’re given at the very beginning is a measure of victory and rescue.

From the beginning of the story, two characters establish themselves as paragons of these traits via the UA entrance exam: Izuku Midoriya, our protagonist, embodies rescue, scoring 60 rescue points (for self-sacrifice) and 0 villain points; Katsuki Bakugou, our deuteragonist, embodies victory, scoring 77 villain points (for combat) and 0 rescue points.

These scores tell us everything we need to know, that these two are already extremely proficient in one category of heroism. While they haven’t achieved full mastery, from a narrative perspective there isn’t much room for growth in their respective areas of strength.

However, they are both utterly deficient in their weak categories. And that’s how the main story is structured.

MHA is the story of how Izuku Midoriya, a powerless kid with the heart of a hero, gains great strength that he has to learn to control and use to save people. He has to learn to win in order to save people.

Conversely, it’s also the story of how Katsuki Bakugou, a combat savant with poor moral intelligence, learns to reach out to people in need of saving in order to win their hearts. He has to learn to save people in order to win.

So if MHA is the story depicting their respective growths, then the story must naturally lead to the following ending:

1. Izuku Midoriya will defeat the ultimate villain

2. Katsuki Bakugou will rescue the ultimate victim

(manga spoilers below the cut)

Please take a look at the character designs of the 1st and 2nd OFA users in this all-important frame:

Everyone has commented on how much they resemble Katsuki and Tomura, and I think that may be on purpose. This is why I keep saying I won’t be surprised if Katsuki is the one who ends up saving Tomura. Tenko Shimura could easily be the ultimate victim.

That said, there’s one more possibility, and it’s not mutually exclusive from Katsuki saving Tomura.

Deku vs. Kacchan 3 could result in the same ending.

Izuku could defeat Katsuki, and Katsuki could save Izuku.

Izuku could make OFA his own and defeat Katsuki, proving his strength and finally surpassing Katsuki as a warrior. And Katsuki could save Izuku from his self-sacrificing mentality by making a true winner out of him, protecting Izuku from himself and surpassing him (and/or All Might) as a savior.

All I’m saying is: Katsuki’s character arc doesn’t resolve with a battle...unless it’s against Izuku.

#anime only friendly #katsuki bakugou #izuku midoriya #bakudeku #not shippy but like this is important to their relationship #tomura shigaraki #yoichi shigaraki #OFA Second #prince of parallels kohei horikoshi #meta #deep dive #deku vs kacchan 3 #soft feral gremlin son

592 notes · View notes

pikahlua · 3 years

Text

How many times do I gotta say it?

Katsuki parallels Tomura.

66 notes · View notes

pikahlua · 3 years

Text

Star versus the Forces of GOT’EEEEM

Okay, I finally have, like, interesting thoughts about the current manga arc. So here’s the outline of my mini-ramblings:

Y’all sometimes let Horikoshi play you like a fiddle and honestly? you should keep doing that

Was I right? Or was I right?

American exceptionalism (no, not like that)

BUGS

New Order: Star can step on me

Star is Katsuki-coded (and really, did you expect any less of me than to say something like this?)

WOW are we finally getting something truly AFO-centric?

Nerfed or no?

Okay but WHAT IF-?

(The bolded sections are probably the most important in terms of serious meta.)

Y’all sometimes let Horikoshi play you like a fiddle and honestly? you should keep doing that

For how predictable MHA can be, this fandom sure isn’t genre savvy about its predictions sometimes. And actually, that’s awesome! Makes the story more enjoyable, because Horikoshi is a master of meeting your expectations 90% of the time just so that the unexpected 10% blows your minds. I just think it’s funny that the “unexpected” parts are when the story does exactly what it tells us it’s gonna do lol.

Was I right? Or was I right?

Okay, so my early predictions were:

All For One’s hubris at the start of the arc was foreshadowing that things wouldn’t go according to his plan: RIGHT

All For One won’t steal New Order: WRONG, but then...

Even if AFO gets anything close to what he claims to want out of this battle, there will definitely be some sort of twist: RIGHT

We’re going to get something about her history with All Might before she can die: RIGHT, though sadly contained within the same arc

(Will she die after that? [shrug]): “RIGHT” in whatever sense this can be considered a prediction lol

Horikoshi’s also hinted vaguely at her having a personality, but I guess that can be fleshed out in this fight alone: RIGHT

And okay, it’s fun to gloat, but I acknowledge that I really hedged my bets here with some of these, so please note I’m just participating in the satiric trend of hilariously unmerited arrogance. These all are way too vague to be called ACTUAL predictions.

This is all really just to illustrate one thing, which was the point of the original post: any in-universe character (especially a villain) who says their plans (or their predictions of the future) out loud will automatically be wrong about it to some degree. Why take one panel to tell us everything that’s gonna happen in the next few chapters and then actually draw out that very thing for the next few chapters as described?

American exceptionalism (no, not like that)

Okay, but I’m not gonna act like this was Horikoshi’s best writing or anything just because he made one correct (if loudly broadcasted) writing choice. I’m still very confused about how none of this was foreshadowed even in the chapter where Horikoshi teased Star’s existence (chapter 303).

Yeah, there is a lot about this arc and Star’s character that...make for really awkward discussions about how the US is or is not portrayed. To some degree, it reads like Horikoshi watched a bunch of old Hollywood movies recently and wanted to reference them all in one go because they don’t fit as references anywhere else in the future story. And yeah, that’s...just...I don’t know what the state of education and general public knowledge is in Japan about post-war USA-Japan relations, but I do wonder about it now.

Then again, it’s not like most or any of that is covered in American public education either.

Actually, in light of that thought, I’m kind of surprised this arc didn’t end up far cringier than what we got. Maybe I should be counting my blessings here...

BUGS

BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS

Hell, this isn’t even the first time we’ve seen an army of ants! Although interestingly the sides are switched this time.

WHO’S THE ANT NOW, LOSER?

Okay but again with that reversal of One versus Many? Where the One is unexpectedly the hero and the Many is the villain and his nakama (well, maybe not so much in this particular case...)? FASCINATING.

...

Yeah, I, too, immediately noticed the hairstyle of the forefront vestige’s silhouette. I, too, quirked ([snort]) an eyebrow.

New Order: Star can step on me

That is all.

Star is Katsuki-coded (and really, did you expect any less of me than to say something like this?)

I’m just sayin’:

Both have initials KB

Both smile like terrifying monsters in the face of defeat (see above)

Both have a reputation for doing whatever the fuck they want fuck you

Both bite as their last resort

Both have a not-subtle-at-all war-theme for their character stylizations

Both are characters focused around the concepts of “Number One Hero”, vague god complexes, and comradery/growing into team leaders

Bombs and explosions. Rotating missiles. Howitzer Impact aka Katsuki the Amazing Human Missile. ‘Nuff said.

Both admire All Might but also kind of try to one-up him whenever they get the chance (because it’s about SURPASSING All Might)

Tell me Star’s final move there wasn’t the most amazing pettiest “even when I lose I still win” shit SHE ESSENTIALLY TURNED HER QUIRK INTO A SELF-DESTRUCTING BOMB DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

I can’t believe I’m about to use a filler episode as support but it really doesn’t get any louder than this

“Star” of the show. Get it? GET IT?!

I guess this makes Kaminari the pilot

Additionally, just because I can:

Now to NOT extrapolate Star’s fate to Katsuki please god no

WOW are we finally getting something truly AFO-centric?

As much fun as Star was this chapter, I was already pumped before she got up to her antics. Because holy crap, we’re getting actual insight into AFO’s character?????

“It all begins here, Yoichi. About that comic I read with you that day, it’s not that I didn’t know there was a continuation. I knew what came next; that’s why I stopped reading!”

THIS. This can be interpreted in so many fascinating ways!!!

Is AFO saying he thinks the villain won in the comic? Is he that arrogant and genre-unsavvy?

But the fact that he acknowledges Yoichi’s contention means he did hear when Yoichi said, “The villain always loses.” So AFO actually knows the villain loses now.

So...did he know that then, too? Did he not want to continue reading because he didn’t like that ending? Is all of this an attempt at writing a new, exciting, different, unpredictable story? (lol Horikoshi you’re not subtle)

Or maybe it wasn’t about preference at all. Maybe it’s about prediction. Remember, AFO thrives on control and loves making predictions about how people will behave. Maybe he got bored with the comic the moment he knew how it all ends? (ha! so he’s my antithesis)

But since we see a brief shot of baby Yoichi here, since we get a brief glimpse at AFO’s deeper thoughts, since the chapter ends with AFO’s composure cracking in the face of “the ghost of All Might,” since the fight technically isn’t over yet, could it be that...this arc is about exploring AFO’s character? His...his backstory??

ARE WE GONNA FINALLY GET OUR AFO+OFA FLASHBACK?

CAN WE GET SOME GODDAMN NAMES ALREADY?

[makes grabby-hands for the Second]

Nerfed or no?

If not, did this whole arc just serve the purpose of nerfing TomurAFO? Or is that even what’s happening? I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I still don’t have a lot to say on this. Sure, it looks like some quirks were lost, but where does it go from here? I wonder if this will serve the purpose of creating some quirk blob or turning TomurAFO into an unstable monster that eventually rampages out of control maybe. The point is, could things actually still get worse?

Okay but WHAT IF-?

Just for funsies, I thought about it...

Based on the way Star worded her final New Order, I don’t think New Order should cannibalize itself in the end?

Which means it could still technically exist in a person with no other quirks.

So, you know, a quirkless person?

...

Could...could All Might get New Order eventually?

(Or really anyone but...just at the price of their quirk getting eaten NO THANKS)

#Star(s) and Stripe(s)#Kathleen Bate #All For One #AFO #Katsuki Bakugou #don't look at me like that you knew i'd find a way to tie him in #yoichi shigaraki #toshinori yagi #all might #prince of parallels kohei horikoshi #horikoshi you madman #BUUUUUGS #i am always right even when i am wrong #bnha 333 #mha 333 #mha spoilers #mha manga spoilers #my hero academia spoilers #my hero academia manga spoilers

99 notes · View notes