One Year After It Ended, My Hero Academia Still Hasn’t Revealed Deku’s Dad

My Hero Academia officially ended its run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last Summer, and the series has never gotten around to ever revealing Izuku Midoriya’s father despite many opportunities to do so. Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga series officially ended its run last Summer, but in the year since has returned with not only two special epilogue chapters that took place after the end of the story, but even a huge new Ultra Age fan book that has further revealed even more details that didn’t make it to the main story. So it’s been “ending” for the past few months now.

My Hero Academia is in a rare position in that while it might have ended its story, series creator Kohei Horikoshi has been able to return to the series with not only new chapters but also reveal all sorts of smaller side information and details that there wasn’t any time for during its run. Even with all of these opportunities, the series has yet to reveal something My Hero Academia fans have been wanting to see a hint of since it began. There is still no look at Izuku Midoriya’s father, or even a hint that he exists at all.

Deku Doesn’t Have a Dad in My Hero Academia

Deku having a present (or even seen) father isn’t the most necessary thing for his character. When he was first introduced in My Hero Academia, Deku was revealed to be a boy who idolized All Might and wanted to become a hero just like him. Then discovering that he was born without any quirk of his own, it was a shock to both him and his mother because both parents at least had quirks. Deku’s mother Inko had the ability to attract small objects to herself, and she mentioned how Deku’s father had the ability to breathe fire.

Neither of these quirks were notable in any real way, but it was still a shock to see that Deku wasn’t born without one at all. It even sparked theories for years that Deku’s quirk had been stolen, but this was later debunked as the series never confirmed it to be the case. This was notable as it was the first and final time that Deku’s father was ever mentioned in the series at all. Noting that he was working abroad in some unknown region for some unknown period of time, Deku’s father was then relegated to obscurity from that point on.

But even with the releases of its special epilogue chapter and Ultra Age fan book that came with new details about pretty much every notable character, it didn’t reveal anything more about Deku’s father at all. It not only highlights how little this character means in the grand scheme, but also further highlights how Deku’s parents overall had been left in the background as the fights got more intense. It was the same case for all of Class 1-A’s heroes, but at a few of them got both of their parents on screen for a brief time.

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My Hero Academia Gave Deku Other Father Figures Instead

My Hero Academia was never really interested in revealing Deku’s father anyway, and Horikoshi’s reluctance to do so even with a sketch or something small after its finale further points that out. It’s because the series instead gave Deku more father figures as he started on his journey to becoming a pro hero. Deku’s connection with All Might is the most important relationship in the entire series, and the two of them are much closer than just being a mentor and pupil. The two of them grew alongside one another in many different ways, so Deku needed this connection to exist without any distraction.

Removing Deku’s father from the equation meant that Deku would then be more open to all of the older figures in his life. This didn’t stop at All Might, however, as Deku met many older figures to fill this role over the series like Sir Nighteye, Gran Torino, and all of the other Vestiges within One For All’s power. Deku was a sponge to all of these father type figures in his life, and his actual parents were unfortunately pushed to the side to help bolster these connections.

It’s why even Inko was pushed to the sidelines. She speaks with Deku ahead of the final one last time when she’s reacting to his injuries, but the two never get another full (spoken) scene together through to its grand finale. It’s because Deku was needed to save the world, and unfortunately heroes don’t really need parents when it gets to that level of intensity. But even after the finale, Deku’s dad is still hilariously nowhere to be found.