Some people really like to erase Endeavor's impact in Hawks' life like Endeavor is some kind of a blurred black void of bad memory that we prefer to not talk about.
The shiny beacon of heroism that people think Hawks is now, used to have a grey, indifference view towards the Heroes. He used to think heroes are just shiny fictional figures on TV. They preached about saving people yet people like him are stuck in a circle of inescapable poverty and crimes. The Endeavor plushie his mom bought for him was just like a plaything.
That changes the moment Endeavor captured his thief father. Then he believed Heroes are real, and they can MAKE CHANGES. Even though he was adopted by Shady Government Business later. While he was growing up in that harsh environment, the only thing that kept him sane and hopeful is the idea that "Heroes" like Endeavor can help make changes to poor souls like him! The dialogue between him and Lady Nagant doesn't exist for nothing! HELL, if Hawks doesn't have Endeavor in his life, he would be exactly like Lady Nagant!!
But, "Well it could have been any Hero that captured Hawks' dad" is that right? Well then, what's the point of Hawks' character really? That he is just a government henchman that had good ideologies but forced to do bad things, that he will make up for it by defeating the big bad at the final war arc? Isn't that, just, Lady Nagant? She helped save Deku in the Final War arc. What's the point of having 2 identical characters?
Say, the endpoint of Hawks' character was to be free of his shackles, revenge the HPSC by being their leader, change the machine completely, and make society a better place where "heroes have too much time to kill" right? What is the stepping stones in each of his character development journey that lead him into this endpoint? He needs optimism, compassion, and empathy to be able to decide to do that. Then how did the story portray him having all of that virtues? By making him react to Endeavor's true story!!! He knew about Endeavor's abusive background, then he acknowledged and appreciated that Endeavor is putting in the efforts to CHANGE!! If Endeavor was not a huge figure in Hawks' life, the author would NOT drawing him eardropping the Todoroki family dramas and cheering Endeavor up for nothing!!
Some people are really shocked and disappointed that Hawks forgive Endeavor. What? So, in these people's mind, Endeavor is just some random in Hawks' story that he randomly crosses path with. For a character like Hawks, there are so many other ways to write in different scenarios that don't include Endeavor. But the author did all that. So, Endeavor is fucking important to Hawks, duh!
