Deku's unhinged battle strategies in My Hero Academia put all other Shonen protagonists to shame

My Hero Academia protagonist Izuku "Deku" Midoriya has always been the subject of criticism in the anime and manga community, but his fighting style and battle strategies don't always get the credit they deserve. Deku might be a somewhat shy, introverted individual, but his fighting style displays a wild side, taking a lot of risks to get an edge over his enemies.

This is quite visible from early on in My Hero Academia when Deku is still getting used to the One For All Quirk and the physical demands that power has on his body. Despite having fingers and limbs broken, Izuku tends to find a way to keep fighting, which might be one of the most amazing feats in the series— and battle shonen in general— since the average shonen protagonist doesn't have to fight that way.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

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Deku's fighting style in My Hero Academia is lot more extreme than average battle shonen protagonist

A major reason why Deku's way of fighting is so unhinged is because of the physical demands of his One For All Quirk. His body wasn't getting used to this power at a fast pace and this took a huge toll on him, constantly breaking his limbs every time he threw a punch, which is a major plot point for his character arc in the earlier portions of the story.

This leads to some iconic moments for his character, such as his battle against Shoto Todoroki, where he broke each of his fingers as ammunition to attack the latter. Then, when his fingers got broken, he used his mouth to keep attacking with said fingers, which highlights how far he was willing to go, especially considering how he wasn't going to be able to fight for a while.

His battle against Muscular was another example, as he was willing to sacrifice his arms to defeat the villain and protect a little boy named Kota, thus becoming one of Izuku's crowning moments in the series.

This is also shown during his first battle with Tomura Shigaraki, when he used Blackwhip through his mouth when his limbs were already destroyed, which is something that a typical shonen protagonist wouldn't have to do.

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More examples

Carnage Deku as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

There are other iconic moments in My Hero Academia where Deku has been cornered and managed to make do with what he has. Another example was during his final battle with Tomura Shigaraki and the protagonist was getting hurt, which is why he chose to cover his body with Blackwhip to keep moving, thus leading to a form that has become known as "Carnage Deku".

It is also quite telling that when fighting All For One at the end of the manga, his arms were cut off, and Deku was quick to adapt to the circumstances even if they were restored soon after. That shows how Deku got used to the idea of losing limbs and adapting to the circumstances, which is a context that a typical battle shonen protagonist doesn't have.

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Final thoughts

Deku and his character arc in My Hero Academia will get criticism but his unhinged fighting style deserves a lot more praise. He has proven to be quite resourceful and even a bit wild, which is something that a lot of people don't expect due to his characterization, when compared to the traits of a classic shonen protagonist.

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