My Hero Academia is one of the hottest shounen anime of today. A lot of the things in this show are unique; The story, the main cast, world-building, complexity of characters,….the list goes on.

One of the more interesting things about this show is its MC Izuku “Deku” Midoriya ….and no, we’re not talking about his green hair, but that too.

Deku as a shounen protagonist seems pretty generic. He’s an underdog character, born without anything special who’s trying to make their dream a reality. That’s as generic as it gets for a shounen MC, but Deku’s a bit different.

A common staple among shounen protagonists is how dense they are…the likes of Asta and Natsu come to mind, but Deku is actually the direct opposite as he’s someone who’s mind is actually sharper than his body.

Even after acquiring powers he’s still an incredibly quick learner, with even the likes of Gran Torino stating that he thinks on a regular basis, which is why he’s able to learn and grow at a very fast rate.

Growing up quirkless obviously had an impact on him, affecting the manner in which he approaches situations and even his style of combat. At his core is perseverance but also ingenuity, always a step ahead he doesn’t need to see the whole board, just the next move.

A heart of gold and will of steel he’s in the end just another shounen protagonist, and yea the others are not half bad but in the end…they’re just not Deku.