I spent way too much time thinking about quirklessness and the concept of becoming a hero, so I need to word vomit.
Canonically, there is nothing barring a person from becoming a hero quirkless. Like, sure, people are going to think you're stupid for trying, but legally you are allowed to. And theoretically, with the right amount of training/use of strategies, you could do it. While you might not be able to be a super high-ranked pro unless you are that skilled, I think you could easily get a job as a pro hero.
And honestly, having a quirk doesn't immediately equal being at an advantage; for instance, your quirk might be super weak in terms of power, like a very weak fire quirk that can only light a match, or you might simply have a super useless quirk like Rody's, which gives you no advantage. So these people with quirks would be on par with quirkless people or may even be at a disadvantage if the quirk hinders them.
Also, we know for a fact that after all might, the crime rate has gone down a lot, so your average heroes will not be facing someone like the muscular and even if they do, there is a pretty high chance they will die anyway even with a quirk unless they have a very powerful quirk. So either way, it's not like there's a specific risk posing to only quirkless heroes.
So there's really no reason why there couldn't be quirkless heroes.
The real question is why anyone would even want to be a pro hero? It's a very high-risk, low-reward type of job. You're much better off doing something that doesn't require you risking your life every day when there's no guarantee you'll even be getting paid well unless you are at the top.
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It's a bit disappointing that after Deku gets OFA, the topic of being quirkless doesn't come up as much. The idea of a quirkless hero being plausible is only brought up in the end when Deku gets his hero suit. And though I like this ending for Deku as it proves to his season 1 self that a hero doesn't have to have a quirk, I can't help but wish that that fate was also given to Bakugo.
Bakugou goes from a bully who terrorises Deku for being quirkless to one of his best friends, who goes as far as spending eight years to commission a hero suit for him. He goes from needing to believe he is perfect and flawless to understanding that changing and improving is what makes a hero.
Granted, his problem with Deku is more personal than ideological. He has an inferiority complex that Deku can't help but trigger by naturally showcasing hero qualities, whilst being unlikely to become one. It's very probable that if Deku did have a quirk, Bakugo would still bully him in middle school, and they'd still have largely the same issues as they do in canon.
But... does his worldview on quirklessness change? And more importantly, does the story challenge the idea of quirk supremacy through a character who represents what exalting it does to a person?
Think about it. Bakugo is kind of the antithesis of quirklessness. He has a strong quirk and knows how to maximise it's usefulness in battle. Deku is near obsessed with Bakugo largely because of this. Bakugo is the paragon of a world that praises those with good, useful quirks and shuns those who don't even have one.
He becomes cocky from childhood, striving to be perfect and the number one hero. It's all he can think about; he obsesses over it and doesn't take defeat well. Why would he? With a quirk like his, he's destined for greatness. Everyone tells him so.
Wouldn't it be quite poignant then for Bakugo to end up quirkless in the end as well? To have those expectations stripped away and allow him to understand who he truly is without his quirk and everything attached to it? To still, against the odds, still make it as a hero, but this time as a quirkless one? And to have to struggle in that with Deku, someone he's ostracised and refused to understand in the past.
Because at the end of the day, even though Bakugo changed for the better, he still remains a gifted kid with the weight of everyone's prospects on his shoulders. Just like the world in MHA remains to believe in quirk supremacy.
thinking about how in the ending, izuku is telling a kid with lame quirk that he can be a hero, and...
idk. i really think they should've have him talk to another quirkless kid instead. full circle and all that.
and i understand that the reason why he isn't talk to a quirkless kid is that quirklessness is becoming more and more rare with each generation, but... should it?
i know quirklessness-as-disability isn't canon, but i think it could've been really good if it was. and i think that the percentage of quirkless people in the population stabilizing out at 20% would make sense, because quirklessness is not hereditary as far as we know. both izuku's parents had quirks, and there's no "oh! my aunt was quirkless" or anything like that mentioned.
what i mean is it isn't a matter of like... people being born that don't have any quirk genes at all- again, izuku's parents have quirks. its just... a hiccup. so it honestly really shouldn't fade out of the population altogether. i think the "quirkless people will become so incredibly rare" thing was kinda stupid.
anyways. like everything else to do with quirklessness, it could've been so cool IF horikoshi committed to the idea and wasn't a talentless hack of a writer
"Oh no... here we go, another mha confession from this negative, mha hating bitch!"
I have for a quite long time been annoyed for how quirkless are portrayed in the series. And the only series that do them justice is the vigilante spin off.
I have a big interest in biology and science, and believe me when I say this, humans are the most athletic species on earth. Yes, there are animals that are physically faster and stronger. However, humans are great with many different physical activities. We can lift, run, swim, climb, jump, punch, kick, throw and tackle. Now tell me, how many animals can do all of this?
Humans are also a species that have a great diversity with body mass and height, which can give each individual their own physical specialties. Like, if a person is lean and has long legs, they might be a pretty great runner. Or, if a person is heavy and stocky built, they might be a pretty great wrestler.
Anyway, let's get back to MHA.
In MHA, quirkless are considered "weaker" because they don't have a quirk. But, to that, I say bullshit! I very much doubt that every single person with a quirk is "stronger" than a quirkless pro wrestler or "faster" than a quirkless pro runner! Because not every quirk is about physical abilities.
I also have been hearing this interesting idea, that people with quirks might have higher durability. But I personally don't agree that everyone of them would have it. I don't think a person with the quirk of... let's say; hands made of paper, would be very durable to sharp objects. A "human" might get a slight cut or a gashing wound from a sharp object. A piece of paper would be cut in half, because it doesn't have the same thickness and layers as a human body.
Now, let's talk about All Might after he lost OFA!
I have noticed that there is this take from us fans and Horikoshi himself, that he's weak or sickly weak. And I'm not sure if I fully agree on it anymore.( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Let's talk about his physicality. He's 220cm(7'3") tall. It's says that his muscle form weighs 255kg(562lbs), realistically his weight would be very similar in his normal form as well. But let us play along. Let's say that he perhaps weighs approximately 90-103kg in his normal form. And the fact that All Might has the ability to flex his muscle like that( muscle form) means that he still have a quite amount of muscle mass. His large height does also build bigger muscles than someone with shorter height but similar build for their size. It's just how physics work. Like how a big tree is heavier than a small tree, even if they have the same girth.
So what is my point with this? Well, my point is that All Might would easily be able to tackle me, a 170cm tall, 67kg woman to the ground. And I'm pretty sure it would be just as easy against a 180cm, 80kg man.
But what about All Might's health. Yes, his health does effect his physical abilities. But I've also read a little about how living with only one lung and no stomach would be like. And the condition is not that bad actually. Yes, he does become breathless faster with only one lung, but he can still run and move without much problem. Like, what we see when he run as an exercise. Living without a stomach isn't much of a hassle neither, All Might mostly just need to think about what he eats, and the menu doesn't really lack protein. About his blood coughing: we're actually never told exactly what causes him to cough blood. It's highly possible that it's caused by something else rather than his lack of a lung or stomach. Could be a something about his only lung?... But, let's just go along with the fact that he coughs up blood if he overworks his body. Can that effect his physicality? obviously yes. But it wouldn't really have an effect on his body strength, only his endurance. I'm quite sure he could punch a bad guy without falling apart.
So where are these action scenes with All Might after he lost OFA? (excluding Iron Might) This is what have been bothering me. All Might would still have the spirit to do knockdowns, no matter his physical disability. This is why I think MHA underrestermate the quirkless (a.k.a real humans).
It would've been awesome if MHA got more into this quirk vs quirkless subject. It would actually have been beneficial for the "prejudice against the quirkless" storyline... that was pushed off.
Justice for quirkless!
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I want to be very clear about something! This is not a critique for different headcanons. This is only about the original mha story and for what's shown in the manga and anime. I welcome any sort of headcanon there is (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
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Thank you for reading this dorky and awfully written essay. It is about a subject I've wanted to share for a while, but didn't have enough courage until today.
If there are ny grammar or spelling errors, I apologies. Writing this long of a text can make me quite sloppy.
On no, 100% if I see that a My Hero Academia fic is using the 'Quirkless people wear red shoes' theory I will assume that the fic isn't very good.
Cause like? Yer telling me that you looked at a setting where humanity is so fucking variable that canonically folks can get shit tailored to fit if they go to clothing shops and such and want to buy something and you think there there'd only be one shoe brand that only comes in one color (somehow) that's made to fit the feet of quirkless people since they have an extra joint in their pinky toes???
Yer logic is bad and yer worldbuilding ideas likely have a billion distracting holes in them.
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So y'know how 20% of the population is supposedly quirkless, but Izuku is singled out for being quirkless and it doesn't seem like it's that common?
THEORY. I think the 80/20 percent is based on the WORLDWIDE population. Japan has a lower ratio of quirkless people because of U.A- people with powerful quirks moved to Japan to access U.A, and as a result, more people in Japan have quirks, while quirklessness is probably more common in places with a strong anti-quirk culture or less hero culture.
Me looking at people in the My Hero tags arguing that quirklessness isnt a disability in the setting: Of fucking course its a disability? It's a quirk based disability, not the only quirk based disability or most disabling but it would definitely be a disability if the typical nondisabled person in the setting has a quirk
also its something that gets diagnosed by a healthcare professional AND the way bitches be acting when their kids get diagnosed (ie: loosing hope for their future or getting medical intervention even if that disables the child in a different way)
like, yes they're 'able bodied' as I've seen folks argue but there's plenty of types of real disabilities where folks are able bodied? like?
quirklessness would simply be an invisible disability that doesn't impair the normal functions of the body. But there's still discrimination and stigma surrounding it.
like, if a non-disabled person in the setting is a person who is able-bodied, sane, neurotypical, AND has a quirk that doesn't cause them harm through normal use or when inactive. Then anyone who doesn't fit all of those is disabled as far as my understanding of how disability works
idk it just sounds weird as hell to see people go 'well this character isnt disabled b/c they're basically the same as an nondisabled person in real life' at a setting where the human baseline/the typical human in the setting is not like humans in real life
like, so long as the narrative of MHA decides to act like 1 in 5 people in the population being quirkless is a dying breed and something that parents decide to get risky medical intervention for if they have enough money (which Aoyama's parents getting a quirk from AFO is) then it should be considered a disability in the setting
My Hero Academia is wild b/c there's mountains of evidence that someone can exercise enough to just straight up become superhuman (ie. scrawny ass Izuku training for 10 months and being able to haul and run with a ~600lb man on his back by the end of it or Stain out speeding a fucking speedster even tho his superpower has nothing to do with enhancing his body) but the narrative insisted until the last arc that people needed actual superpowers (quirks) to be professional superheroes and then the writer decided that after losing his superpowers the MC can get some tech to go back to superheroing.
Like, that's just poorly put together worldbuilding that exists to serve the story the writer wanted to tell without thinking of the implications of shit b/c if every random fucker didn't have superhuman reflexes/durability/strength completely fucking unrelated to their actual superpowers fights would have been a lot more boring.
