'My Hero Academia' Teases One Nomu's Heartbreaking Identity

Looking at My Hero Academia from the outside, you might think its a fairly bright series. Its colorful palate and bright characters bring a lot of joy, but the series has its dark moments. And, if one teaser is right, then My Hero Academia is way darker than you think.

Over on Reddit, the anime fandom started buzzing when a a fan tried answering a long-held question. For some time now, fans have wondered why Izuku was singled out by the flying Nomu who tried to kidnap him after the hero-in-training took down the Hero Killer. Some feel the choice was a coincidence, but user KitKatCandy on Reddit has proof there's more to it. After all, the series' creator Kohei Horikoshi all but confirmed who the Nomu was in the manga awhile back.

As you can see below, the dark teaser posits the Nomu being someone whom Izuku used to know. Fans know the Nomu begin as actual people who are then warped beyond recognition, and this winged Nomu might have been Tsubasa, one of Bakugo's young friends.

The winged Noumu. from r/BokuNoHeroAcademia

It is impossible to connect how Tsubasa looked to the way the Nomu appeared. Yes, they both have similar wings, but this teaser draws most of its backing from the kid's grandfather.

If you are familiar with My Hero Academia, you may have realized Tsubasa's granddad is the doctor who diagnosed Izuku as quirkless. The old man came off nice enough, but fans think he has a dark past. The grandfather bears a striking resemblance to the doctor working for All For One to create the Nomu. So, if the older doctor needed fodder to create his Nomu, Tsubasa might have been used as a human guinea pig. So, fans aren't putting it past My Hero Academia to pull a Nina Tucker down the line thanks to this twisted teaser.

For those unfamiliar with the My Hero Academia juggernaut, the series was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has super powers but he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he's eventually scouted by the world's best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been collected into 15 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.

Are you convinced by Horikoshi's little hint here? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!