The hook of My Hero Academia was that the protagonist was the lone non-superpowered individual in a world where most people have them. Deku was a young boy who desperately wanted to be a hero like All-Might, yet his dreams were seemingly dashed before he knew it. Fortunately, for everyone’s favorite green-haired, best boy, Deku was given a second opportunity for his dreams when All-Might offered him One For All, a quirk that can be passed down from person to person. Deku soon found himself with super strength that allowed him to join UA High to learn how to become a professional hero.
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My Hero Academia initially posits that Deku didn’t have a chance to become a hero without One For All. However, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes suggests quirkless people could become heroes without powers. One of the main side characters in Vigilantes is revealed to be quirkless and fights without any abilities, standing toe-to-toe with other superpowered people like Shota Aizawa. Vigilantes proves that with enough drive, anyone has the capabilities to be a hero, even quirkless people like Deku. A quirkless hero also ties in nicely with the end of the My Hero Academia manga and Deku’s fate at the finale.
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Knuckleduster Doesn’t Have a Quirk in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes
Knuckleduster is a vigilante clad in black attire and a black headband. It was initially believed the hero had a quirk that gave him super strength and durability. But during a fight with Aizawa, the professional hero attempted to erase Knuckleduster’s quirk, yet discovered he had no quirk. It is established that most people in the My Hero Academia world have quirks, with those without powers considered to be in the minority. There are multiple civilians with mundane quirks or abilities that don’t make them ideal superheroes, so the world is filled with a vast variety of different types of humans. Nonetheless, the franchise establishes how difficult and nearly impossible it is to be a professional superhero without a quirk. That is why it was devastating for Deku to discover he didn’t have a quirk.
Nevertheless, Knuckleduster is a living example of someone being a hero without superpowers, showcasing an opportunity for other people like him. Knuckleduster has to work outside the law to be a hero and become an illegal vigilante. The character also works under Batman logic, where he defies the realistic capabilities of a real-life person. Knuckleduster is seemingly at peak human strength and agility, yet even by those standards, his strength is inhuman. Even when trained by All-Might, Deku’s normal human strength never seemed to reach the same power as Knuckleduster’s.
Spoilers for the end of My Hero Academia
Knuckleduster Offers A Good Outlook for the End of My Hero Academia
The main series ends with the One For All burning out within Deku, leaving him quirkless once more. The series ends with a flash-forward where all the main characters are now adults, with Deku settling into his life as a powerless civilian again. Thankfully, his friends and mentors come through for him and give him a power armor suit that replicates the super strength he once had. Even though readers don’t get to see much of Deku’s second wind as a hero, Knuckleduster offers a good outlook for his future, showcasing that as long as there are people with the drive and courage, anyone can be a hero.
