In the superhero genre, the greatest ideological foil or the most prominent rival is typically a villain. Batman's personal tragedy inspired him to adopt a strict moral code, while the Joker's mysterious past pushed him into a cycle of cruelty and anarchy. Spider-Man learned that "With great power comes great responsibility," while the Green Goblin wields his strength with mad excess. My Hero Academia, which ended its 10-year run recently, is full of heroes clashing with villains thanks to their contrasting beliefs. But one of the most fascinating things about it comes from the fact that the backbone of this war doesn't come from the main character's conflict with a primary antagonist. Rather, it comes from his relationship with someone he considers his partner.
The protagonist of My Hero Academia is a teenager named Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without a Quirk (AKA a superpower) in a world where many people are granted one naturally. Though he remains deeply interested in the world of heroes and the ways in which Quirks work, it does render him an outsider and a target for bullying by the hot-tempered Katsuki Bakugo, a kid with the apt Quirk of being able to create explosions with his hands. This dynamic matures a little bit when both are enrolled in U.A. High School, an academy for training future heroes, but it does not diminish Bakugo's sense of loathing for Midoriya, especially when he acquires his own Quirk and is taken under the wing of All Might, the world's greatest hero, who both students idolize.
