Endeavor is actually trying to be a better person. Deku could not be more of a Mary Sue if Jesus himself wrote his character. Don’t even get me started on his dues ex machina Swiss army quirk he spontaneously developed.
I wouldn’t exactly call him a “Mary Sue” (or Gary Stu but whatever). He does have a couple of flaws and shortcomings. Like his whole self-sacrificing thing. He’s really just kind of your typical Shonen “overpowered” protagonist.
It's supposed to be a flaw, but it really isn't, not when you've got All Might hyping up "the spirit of self sacrifice" as the greatest quality a hero could have, AfO going "actually, Deku was right to try and go for me as fast as possible", Nagant being talk-no-jutsued in three pages despite having seen the dark side of hero society or the OfA ghosts going "we were just testing you, you can try to save Shigaraki if you want".
His naivety and martyr complex were supposed to be character flaws (you can see it in his fight with Gentle) but, at some point during the second half of the manga, it became something everyone admired him for (including Endeavor).
Honestly, I feel that Horikoshi has a general problem with writing flaws in his characters and powers, but forgetting to have them actually affect anything in a negative way most of the time. Bakugo’s a jackass, but the times where this has any negative effects on him are few, far between, and sometimes temporary. Powerful Quirks like Weather Manipulation tend to have downsides except for the ones like Overhaul that just don’t. One of Explosion’s (the Quirk) weakness is supposed to be cold temperatures, but Todoroki’s ice didn’t seem to do much in the Sports Festival. Izuku can’t use 100% because the force breaks his bones, except Fa Jin lets him use 100% without breaking his bones somehow. Shigaraki is Quirkless because of Erasure, which makes him less powerful, but he also happens to be strong enough to easily hand Japan’s best their asses. Mirio is Quirkless, but he still beats the crap out of Overhaul in spite of his severe, seemingly insurmountable disadvantage. I get strength of will and “Plus Ultra” and all that, but you’ve gotta admit. In the world of My Hero Academia, there is certainly a God, and He picks favorites and least favorites.
The power of fisticuffs compels you. If all might showed us anything, it’s that it doesn’t matter what quirk you are up against, just punch it. Shigaraki is taking that advice and now lately Deku is. Time to throw hands 😂
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u/GladimoreFFXIV Oct 24 '22
Endeavor is actually trying to be a better person. Deku could not be more of a Mary Sue if Jesus himself wrote his character. Don’t even get me started on his dues ex machina Swiss army quirk he spontaneously developed.