My Hero Academia: 8 Characters Who Hate Deku The Most

Highlights

• Some of Deku’s peers started off disliking him, but many ended up liking him due to his charisma and dedication to heroism.
• Sir Nighteye doubted Deku’s abilities as All Might’s successor, causing tension during their interactions in My Hero Academia.
• Characters like Neito Monoma and Hitoshi Shinso show resentment towards Deku for various reasons, highlighting his complex relationships.

As Izuku Midoriya is built as a traditional shonen protagonist in My Hero Academia, it’s unsurprising for a lot of his peers and even rivals to view him as a figure worth respecting. Ever the fan of heroes and the virtues they stand for, Deku won’t stop at nothing to try and save others – both as a Quirkless teen and even after gaining a Quirk of his own. Due to his natural charisma and consideration for others, a lot of people end up liking Deku despite initial misgivings.

As such, it’s quite surprising to learn that there are some individuals whose misgivings towards Deku begun as strong dislikes and even outward hate towards the character. Not only that, but Deku’s interactions with villains have earned the ire of some of them – particularly those who are convinced Deku’s efforts of heroism are worthless in the face of sheer evil.

8 Sir Nighteye

Still Believes A Quirkless Boy Can’t Be The Symbol Of Peace

During their students’ internships in the My Hero Academia story, Mirio Togata takes Izuku to his mentor – Sir Nighteye. As it turns out, Sir Nighteye wasn’t just a former sidekick of All Might but was well aware of the nature of One For All. In fact, Sir Nighteye doesn’t beat around the bush when he initially tells Izuku of his apprehension that All Might chose a Quirkless person like him to inherit being the Symbol of Peace. This was especially when Sir Nighteye not only already groomed Togata, a student with just as strong a heroic drive as Deku, to inherit the ability but also when he foresaw All Might dying in the near future.

While Togata doesn’t show any resentment towards Deku for being One For All’s inheritor, Sir Nighteye was skeptical of the youngster’s abilities. Not only has Deku demonstrated a lack of full control over the power, Nighteye perceived that his lack of overall training compared to Mirio may be detrimental to the battles to come. While not necessarily hateful towards Deku, he’s one of the few to openly doubt Deku’s capabilities.

7 Neito Monoma

Jealous Of The Attention Class 1-A Had

Among the more hilarious ways a My Hero Academia character has ever shown animosity against Izuku was through Neito Monoma of Class-B. Known for his eccentric and boastful nature, Monoma is often seen as deliberately mocking and provoking Class 1-A – much to the annoyance of his own classmates. Despite this initial show of malice, any observer is quick to realize how this stems from Monoma’s own jealousy and insecurity: he just wants Class 1-B to get the same attention as Class 1-A, and he wanted to motivate his classmates who have more “heroic” and “main character” Quirks compared to his own “side character” Copy Quirk.

Monoma’s aggressive nature didn’t help Izuku’s Quirk instability during the Joint Training with Class 1-B, as this caused Izuku’s Blackwhip to go haywire. Despite his jealousy and resentment towards Izuku and Class 1-A, Monoma still wants to be a true hero. Thanks to his Copy Quirk, he’s managed to replicate the injured Eraser Head’s Erasure ability, providing Deku with an enormous advantage by disabling some of Tomura’s Quirks during their epic clash.

6 Hitoshi Shinso

Izuku Had A Blessing He Doesn’t Have

Originally from the Department of General Education, Hitoshi Shinso became infamous in the My Hero Academia story for his Brainwashing Quirk. Capable of controlling anyone who answers back to his prompt, Hitoshi’s childhood was filled with people fearful of him due to his villainous Quirk. This made him resentful of people with more combative Quirks suited for heroic work, ever eager to prove to others that someone like him could still become a Pro Hero.

In turn, his animosity towards Izuku in their match seemed to be more of a projection of his resentment than outward personal hate. It’s only thanks to the vestiges of One For All helping Deku that he managed to break free of Hitoshi’s grasp, securing the win. Since then, Hitoshi and Izuku had a more civil relationship, being eager to have a proper rematch against him.

5 Muscular

A Heavy-Hitter That Hated Deku For Holding Back

Ever the traditional shonen protagonist, Deku would always at least try to know someone’s intentions before fighting them all out. Unfortunately for him, this doesn’t necessarily apply to Muscular. Known originally as Goto Imasuji, this member of the League of Villains was specifically assigned to find Deku and kill him during their assault of the Beast’s Forest. Much to Deku’s horror, Muscular’s Muscle Augmentation allowed him to match One For All’s raw power in terms of strength, durability, and speed – to the point where Deku had to overexert and render himself paralyzed just to incapacitate him during their first meeting.

This defeat awakens a desire in Muscular to defeat Deku in an all-out battle, a dream he hoped to realize in their second encounter during the Paranormal Liberation War. While Muscular harbored no grudge against Izuku, he hated two things in this fight. First, he got annoyed that Deku tried reasoning with him. Second, he hated that Deku was more tactical instead of straightforward, as he was the only foe who could go toe to toe against Muscular in terms of strength.

4 Himiko Toga

A Yearning For Love That She Cannot Understand

The introduction of Himiko Toga in the story of My Hero Academia positions her as a stereotypical tsundere, with her blood-based body-duplication Quirk intensifying the trope with her obsession with Izuku Midoriya. While her initial obsession began only as wanting his blood, this evolved into the revelation that she “loves” him – with her vision of love involving her becoming one with the person she desires. This perception towards love stems from being held back and misunderstood by people around her, as they constantly tell her how her Quirk was making her into a “creepy” girl with a creepy smile.

While Toga’s feelings for Izuku places her as a rival of Ochaco Uraraka, the villain also gets a moment to confess to Deku. Although flustered, Deku said she understands Toga’s admiration, as Deku also wants to “become” All Might. However, Deku added he would never want to truly “become” the person he loved, much more hurt them like Toga would. This turns her off, transforming her love into scorn, as she declares Deku is just like the others. These events, which transpired during the Final War, resulted in Toga going all out against her former love interest, until Ochaco and Tsuyu Asui teamed up to defeat her.

3 All For One

Dedicated To Breaking Deku’s Spirit

Originally the progenitor of the criminal underworld of Quirk society, All For One and his advocacy for a world engulfed in darkness positioned him as the prime supervillain to beat in the world of My Hero Academia. However, while All For One had originally only intended to have All Might as his nemesis, his sights extended to the young Izuku – who he thought was likely brash and predictable enough that he could torment him and break his spirit before finally acquiring One For All to reunite with his brother Yoichi.

While All For One’s megalomaniacal displays seem to leave little room for thinking about anything else but his plans, his hatred and rage towards Izuku will slowly show in the climax of the Final War. When the One For All vestiges sacrifice their lights to try and penetrate Tomura’s mindscape, All For One saw this as Izuku carelessly leading the destruction of both the Quirk and his brother. This realization turns into blind rage as All For One resorted to simply destroying not just Izuku but also his legacy – everyone he and All Might cares for.

2 Tomura Shigaraki

One Who Sought Destruction To End His Pain

Despite their limited encounters throughout the start of My Hero Academia, Tomura Shigaraki would eventually harbor hatred and resentment towards Izuku. This partly stems from their similarities: Both are trained to be successors of archrivals (All For One and All Might, respectively), while both had idolized heroes in the past. Tomura’s hatred for Izuku initially stemmed from the latter’s admiration of All Might but worsened as All For One’s brainwashing had started to make him focus on claiming the One For All Quirk inside Deku.

Tomura’s position as All For One’s inheritor immediately places him as a rival for a heroic Izuku to stop. Izuku’s desire to try and save Tomura had prompted the latter to go haywire with his hatred, mocking Deku for willing to risk the world to save a villain willing to destroy it all. It’s eventually revealed within Tomura’s mindscape that a young version of him (Tenko Shimura) wanted to be saved, but his past trauma clouded this desire with spite and a desire to destroy everything associated with his horrible childhood. Before Tomura’s demise, he managed to help Deku destroy All For One’s influence in his body, with the two reconciling their differences.

1 Katsuki Bakugo

Hatred Stemming From A Superiority Complex

No one has had more of an immense enmity towards Izuku than Katsuki Bakugo, whose constant bullying of his former childhood friend even resulted in the insult-turned-nickname “Deku.” Bakugo constantly bullies Deku in the My Hero Academia story, originally for being Quirkless and eventually for suddenly having one that is somehow difficult to control. The series deuteragonist then develops a deeper anger towards Deku for somehow beginning to stand up to him, as well as the prospect of possibly contending against him for the “top hero” spot.

It’s eventually revealed that Bakugo’s animosity towards Deku stems from a superiority complex, having grown with praises and a natural talent that made him settle for no less than being at the top. It’s also shown that, while Bakugo feels he’s more skilled than Deku, he recognizes his childhood friend’s potential to be better than him. Bakugo eventually apologizes to Deku, leading the two to have a much more proper rivalry. This release brings Bakugo’s feelings full circle, as it seems his stubbornness and superiority complex are the only things holding back his honorable and caring nature.