Izuku Midoriya/Relationships

Family#

Inko Midoriya#

Inko is Izuku's mother, and she cares deeply for him. When her son finds out he's Quirkless and therefore cannot be a Hero, she apologizes profusely as if it were her fault. It is hinted that she blames his sadness on herself and has gained weight as a result, but it is unknown if this is true.

However, once Izuku receives his new Quirk, One For All, and gets into his dream school, U.A. High School, she is happy for his newfound powers but feels guilty about her former beliefs. Inko tries to make it up to him and show her support by creating a costume for Izuku, using the design she had seen him sketch in his analysis notebook. She brings up her past actions and apologizes for not believing that he could be a Hero, reassuring Izuku that she will support him all the way on his path to accomplish his dream; Izuku is touched by this and thanks her.

Despite these words of encouragement, it is evident that Inko becomes worried for Izuku when she sees the distressing amount of damage done to his body after he used his new Quirk. Indeed, after the ordeal at the training camp, Inko is completely against him resuming his studies at U.A. due to the staff's inability to properly protect her son. Izuku is shocked at this and cannot seem to say anything to shift his mother's firm stance. Only after Izuku shows her Kota's letter, a sign that he is truly on the path to being a Hero, does she change her mind about U.A.. She also makes All Might promise to take care of him, and stay alive for him.^[1]

While upgrading his costume, Izuku only adds a few things on it and refuses to modify it even further as he is attached to it. He appreciates that his mother made it for him and he wants to keep it as a reminder that she is supporting him.^[2]

During their brief reunion for New Years, Izuku lets her know of his predicament with his powers and, while she is worried, Inko is proud of him for saving Eri.

As of the breakout at Tartarus, Inko became aware of the nature of Izuku's acquired Quirk, One For All. When Izuku told his mother he was going to leave U.A. in order to search for the League of Villains and keep his loved ones out of harm's way, Inko shares a tearful goodbye with her son, sorrowful but understanding about why he decided to make this choice.

After being moved to a U.A. evacuation shelter alongside the other civilians, Inko watches a live broadcast of her son battling Tomura, cring at the sight of seeing her son in the life-or-death battle. Later on, just before Izuku lands fatal blow against All For One, Inko runs closer to the livestream screen and tearfully shouts at Izuku to "do your best".

After the Final War concluded, and the restrictions on the dorms were lifted for U.A. students, it's heavily implied that Izuku took the offer to live at home with Inko for the rest of his time at U.A. High School.^[3]

Hisashi Midoriya#

Hisashi is his father but he has not been seen much in either his or his wife's life, as his whereabouts and status are unknown. It is unknown if Izuku had a stable relationship with Hisashi considering that he was absent for most of the time. All that is known about him is that he took a work post abroad and that his Quirk allows him to breathe fire.

U.A. High School#

Faculty#

All Might#

Izuku has always admired All Might and strives to become a hero just like he used to be.^[4] In their first meeting, All Might saves Izuku from the Sludge Villain and signs the happy boy's notebook. However, Izuku is very shocked to see All Might's true form and is dismayed when the latter tells him being powerless does not fare well at all for his chances at becoming a hero.

Despite this, Izuku earns All Might's respect after he runs toward the Sludge Villain in an attempt to save Katsuki, and a mentor-student relationship blooms between the two when All Might chooses him as his successor.^[5] While All Might's training on Izuku is rough, he continues to give it his all in the hopes of achieving his dream. All Might and Izuku grow closer when All Might listens to Izuku's drive to train and do more than he has to become a great hero, with All Might impressed by Izuku's resolve.^[6]

All Might is Izuku's confidante, mentor, and friend in and out of school, and they share a mutual respect for each other's heroism ideals.^[7] All Might returns Izuku's admiration by telling him that he was formerly Quirkless before he was given One For All. All Might is also impressed by how much Izuku has improved his Quirk after his time with Gran Torino, and deems it is time to tell Izuku of their Quirk's history.^[8][9]

Izuku's admiration and respect for All Might are so great that he avoids attacking All Might during the First Term Final Exam,^[10] but when it turns out he has no choice but to attack him with one of Katsuki's Grenadier Bracers, Izuku apologizes in advance.^[10]

At first, Izuku is an extreme fanboy who tries to imitate All Might from his style of name and costume design. As he matures, later on, Izuku slowly learns to become his own hero and develop his own style.^[1] This change is noticed by All Might, who is proud to see Izuku on his way to becoming his own hero, improving his unique skill and style.

Izuku has an almost father-and-son-like relationship with All Might, treating him as a father figure, demanding his respect and the truth from him during times where All Might would rather preserve Izuku's focus on becoming a Hero. After the breakout from Tartarus, All Might has taken to supporting Izuku during the boy's vigilante activities, with Izuku keeping his distance from others to avoid All For One homing in on him through the connection between their Quirks.

Unfortunately, after his battle with Lady Nagant and All For One's message to him that "it's his turn", Izuku keeps his distance from All Might as a result of the overwhelming pressure to keep his family and friends safe, and ultimately leaves him behind to go off on his own against All Might's objections.^[11]

However, after his classmates snap him back to his senses and bring him back to U.A., Izuku's relationship with All Might reverts back to normal, with Izuku apologizing to All Might for his cold behavior and thanking him for helping him as much as he could.^[12]

Eight years later, Izuku and All Might still maintain their strong relationship, with hints of their old master-protégé dynamic persisting even after the former reached adulthood.

Recovery Girl#

Recovery Girl is one of the few people who know about Izuku's Quirk. She often scolds Izuku for using his Quirk dangerously, as he consistently requires the use of her healing Quirk.^[13]

After the U.A. Sports Festival, Recovery Girl reaches her breaking point. Fearing that he will continue to cause serious harm to himself as long as he thinks he can just be healed by her, Recovery Girl refuses to heal Izuku's self-inflicted Quirk injuries.

Shota Aizawa#

Shota is Izuku's homeroom teacher. Initially, Izuku does not recognize him as a Pro Hero and was put off by his deadpan demeanor.^[14] This lasted until the latter uses his Erasure Quirk to restrain him, which causes Izuku to realize he's Eraser Head, a Pro-Hero that he respects for his power and capabilities. At first, Shota firmly does not believe Izuku can be a Hero due to his reckless behavior when using his Quirk, as he would be useless in battle if he kept getting injured. However, Izuku proves to Shota that he has potential; the latter is extremely impressed and sees Izuku's potential in becoming a Pro Hero.^[15]

Throughout the series, their relationship can be defined as a rocky, troublesome student-teacher relationship. As his teacher, Izuku listens to Shota's orders and advice in order to improve himself. He has some level of respect towards Shota, as he is surprised at the latter handling several villains by himself. However, Shota's cold and logical personality conflicts with Izuku's own, making it difficult for the two to get along. Out of all his students, the exception being Katsuki, Shota appears to antagonize Izuku the most whenever he does something that upsets him, a recurring problem being Izuku overusing his Quirk and breaking his body. As such, Shota refers to Izuku as the 'Problem Child'.

However, Shota is still Izuku's teacher and as such, ultimately cares for him. He offers some level of consolation and guidance for Izuku when he is upset, and he will make sure Izuku does not do anything dangerous and act upon it. In return, Izuku once tries to help Shota when he decides to fight off several members of the League of Villains and is amazed by his abilities since he realizes he greatly underestimated his teacher.^[16] However, he is horrified to watch him being overpowered by Nomu at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint.^[17] This shows the more caring and inspirational side of Shota helps Izuku get along better with him. Izuku also carries his teacher to safety after All Might appears.

It is possible another reason they sometimes do not get along well is because of Izuku's personality and mindset bearing similarity to All Might's, who Izuku looks up to. Shota and All Might do not get along, and this is extremely evident in Shota and Izuku's relationship.

When Izuku appears to him injured after his battle with Muscular, Shota immediately wants to scold him for being reckless but sees that he only got wounded to protect Kota. He also scolds Izuku for joining in the rescue of Katsuki, which put him in danger. Regardless, Shota encourages him in the mission to rescue Eri, something that causes Izuku to see that he wants him to atone for betraying his trust.

Recently, Shota has taken note of Izuku's Quirk gradually changing and after asking him about the phenomenon, Shota gets a vague answer.^[18]

During the Paranormal Liberation War, when Tomura targets Eraser Head to stop his Erasure Quirk, Deku stops Tomura alongside Katsuki. While holding him back, Deku exclaims that contrary to what Gran Torino said that losing One For All would be the worst-case scenario, losing his teacher who had always looked out for him would be worse, hence Izuku refusing to stand back while Shota's life is on the line; these words touch Eraser Head, and make him more determined to stop Tomura Shigaraki.^[19]

During the Final War, just after Deku loses his arms, Shota arrives through Kurogiri's warp gate, using Eri's horn to help return his arms, Shota tells him that he cannot die until he has heard Eri sing. Shota trusts Deku to land the final blow against All For One, telling all the other heroes to clear a path for the young hero.

Eight years after the Final War, Izuku has become a teacher at U.A alongside Shota. Shota, however, asks him to not be so easy on his students and to be a bit stricter when dealing with them.

Class 1-A#

Izuku has formed positive relationships with all of Class 1-A due to his kindness, bravery, and intelligence. He cares about them all dearly, and vice-versa. While most of the class was initially weary of Izuku due to his self-injuring Quirk and mild demeanor, they all quickly came to admire him after seeing his performance in the Battle Trial. Even those who do not initially take kindly to him, most notably Shoto Todoroki, ultimately come to value Izuku for his natural heroics. Initially overwhelmed by how his classmates view him, Izuku quickly came to value his friendships with them, especially as they were his first real friendships since his falling out with Katsuki. It has been shown that part of Katsuki's anger and jealousy toward Izuku is over how popular he is with the rest of the class, in direct contrast with their social standing in middle school.

Izuku's classmates clearly think highly of him and have come to see Izuku as a leader figure, despite his initial shyness and the difficulties he had with his Quirk. When he was initially elected class representative (albeit due to his two first friends - Ochaco and Tenya - casting votes along with him, rather than his actual standing in the class at that point), the class was immediately receptive of him in the role as well as his decision to pass the position over to Tenya. During the Provisional Hero License Exam, his emerging leadership skills play a key role in his class's victory against the other schools. This also shows that almost all of his classmates are willing to listen and follow his lead, and even those he only knows casually respect him enough to follow him. During the events of Mission: Humarise, when Izuku was falsely placed as a suspect on the run for mass murder, all of his classmates refused to believe that he could have done something so terrible.

Following the Paranormal Liberation War, Izuku put enough trust in his classmates to reveal the truth about his Quirk and the reason he's been targeted by Tomura and All For One via personalized letters sent to all of his classmates, before leaving U.A. High to protect them from potential attacks.^[20] While he is fighting hired Villains, he thinks about all of his classmates and hopes to smile with all of them once he's done.^[21] However, Izuku is displeased when Class 1-A - none of whom ever accepted Izuku's departure - come to save him, exposing themselves to the danger he tried to protect them from. So, he tells them to get out of his way, sparking a conflict between him and his friends.^[22] During the fight, Class 1-A reminds Izuku of all the times that he had inspired and cared for them, showing how much they really care about him.

Later during the Final War, a large segment of the class does everything they can to stand their ground against All For One in a desperate attempt to prevent the Villain from reaching Izuku.

After the Final War, when going to where Izuku and Ochaco were talking, they later express sadness at hearing how Deku's quirk is fading. Eight years later, they are all shown to still be in touch, albeit the entire class has rarely been united due to conflicting schedules. It is then shown that all of them, lead by Katsuki, have been funding a special project made by Hatsume and Melissa so Deku could go out and be a Hero again, and all of them are then shown charging forward to answer the call.

Katsuki Bakugo#

Izuku and Katsuki have known each other since early childhood, though despite being close back then, their relationship had a very uneven foundation that would go on to deteriorate over the years. Like a lot of kids around them, Izuku and Katsuki both had a passion for Heroes, with their biggest inspiration being All Might.

Additionally, Izuku always idolized Katsuki for his confidence and how often he would excel at a lot things, which the latter always relished in, though the respect wouldn't typically be returned. Even before they were around the age when Quirks would normally develop for children, Izuku was still a victim of being teased or picked on by Katsuki, most of the time in front of his friends or other children. Often the source of his ridicule would come from Izuku being "worse" at him at things like bouncing a ball or skipping stones across a pond.

Katsuki eventually gave Izuku the derogatory nickname "Deku", which stems from "Dekunobou" or "someone who can't do anything": a nickname he always refers to him by. In the English dub of the anime, the explanation for the nickname is a shortening of "Defenseless Izuku". Interestingly enough, Izuku returns the favor by calling Katsuki his childhood nickname, "Kacchan".

Once Katsuki developed his Explosion Quirk and Izuku was diagnosed as Quirkless, the former's egoism brought on by both the praise from his new ability and his childhood friend lacking one ballooned. After Izuku tried to help him out of a creek he fell into during an outing, Katsuki's simple feelings of superiority over Izuku turned into open resentment. While on the surface Katsuki felt that his perception of Izuku soured because he didn't want to accept help from someone he deemed much weaker than him down, deep down it was because he was jealous of Izuku's selflessness and heroic personality, which he himself lacked and was unable to process and come to terms with at the time.

After the incident, Katsuki's heinous treatment of Izuku eventually morphed into vicious bullying, with Izuku now going out of his way to limit his interactions with or even outright avoid him if possible. As brought up by his middle school friends and later elaborated on by him, Katsuki treatment of Izuku tends to grow more aggressive and frequent whenever the subject of Heroes is brought up by his victim in any capacity, with him taking specific ire at the fact that someone like him is still holding on to his seemingly impossible dream of becoming a Hero several years later.^[23] Despite their dynamic, Izuku still will occasionally try to stand up for himself or even other people if he feels justified enough, though this would often result in him getting hurt even more or what little confidence he gains getting quickly shot down.^[24]

While Katsuki attempts to struggle his way out of the Sludge Villain's grasp, Izuku surprises him by rushing to his aid. Much later, Katsuki catches up with him and berates him for his actions, calling him a Quirkless failure, most likely out of pride. Izuku's heroic act is also what causes All Might to choose him as his successor of One For All, thus making Katsuki indirectly responsible for his acceptance into U.A. Katsuki has also eased up on his harassment of Izuku ever since the incident outside of verbal insults, though the boy still instinctively flinches whenever he comes across him.^[25]

Izuku stands up to Katsuki and enrolls in U.A.. He also reveals his new Quirk, with Katsuki reacting in surprise as the latter angrily questions if Izuku intentionally hid his powers from him. In a training battle, Katsuki attacks Izuku, but once again Izuku surprises Katsuki by revealing he has been memorizing his moves and knows how to counter them, as he once possesses a strategy book that details all of Katsuki and other's moves before Katsuki burns it. Finally standing his ground against Katsuki, Izuku tells him that he is no longer the same kid Katsuki used to bully, even stating he will use the nickname Katsuki gave him as inspiration.^[26] Enraged by Izuku's bold claims, Katsuki attacks relentlessly to get him to use his Quirk, which works but ends with Izuku defeating him for once.^[27][28] After the exercise, Izuku catches up to Katsuki and tells him he obtained his powers from someone else, but Katsuki seemingly does not believe it and swears to defeat him.^[13]

Izuku states that Katsuki makes all of Izuku's insecurities about himself bubble to the surface.^[29] Despite their strained relationship, Izuku still admires him for his strong Quirk, natural combat capabilities, confidence, and his ability to win. Since the end of the Battle Trial Arc, Izuku has not spoken to Katsuki on friendly terms due to Katsuki considering Izuku his arch-rival. Izuku is also surprised to see Katsuki is the one being teased by their class, a complete reversal of their middle school days. Even still, Izuku maintains respect for Katsuki and is shown to care for him, as shown when he tried to ensure Katsuki's safety from the villain attack. Despite Izuku's best efforts, Katsuki is still captured by the Vanguard Action Squad, so Izuku uses all his strength in an attempt to save him and spirals into despair after he fails to do so. Directly after, Izuku teams up with Tenya, Eijiro, Shoto, and Momo in an attempt to rescue Katsuki from the League of Villains' hideout.

Back at U.A. sometime later, Katsuki remarks to Izuku that he is really making his borrowed power his, revealing he believes Izuku's story of obtaining a Quirk, which worries Izuku.^[30]

Later on, Katsuki and Izuku take out their stress on each other in an emotional fight, which Katsuki wins.^[31] After the fight, Katsuki learns the full truth of Izuku's Quirk and his connection to All Might, which he seems to understand and decides to keep the secret to himself.^[32]

Unbeknownst to him or Katsuki, Shota has seen their bond having a big effect on the rest of the Class 1-A despite that they are not leaders or the most popular. Izuku and Katsuki's passion inspire everyone in the class and raises the standard for success.

Since then, the two better understand each other and have become more reminiscent of that of a proper "friendly" rivalry, although they still had a long way to go. Katsuki is later shown to be willing to work with Izuku in combat and be less malicious towards him overall, which is most prominently shown during their battles against Nine on Nabu Island. During the climax of their conflict, when Izuku gave One For All to him, both thought that the action would end Izuku's dream, with Katsuki verbally telling him so and adding was going to become Quirkless again. Despite how much Izuku would lose upon making the transfer, he accepted that he had to in order to save the people of the island and the fact that Katsuki would be next wielder, believing that All Might would understand and accept the outcome.

Together, they were able to defeat Nine, and One For All miraculously remained in Izuku's body. In the end, both of them talked to each other and were smiling, showing that their fierce rivalry gradually becoming more friendly.^[33]

The two have shown to be at a recovery period in their relationship. They're allies in battle, and support as well as challenge each others' strengths in weaknesses. Their core fundamentals being that Katsuki wants to win while Izuku wants to save. All Might encourages both of their philosophies as well as their mending friendship. However, Katsuki has yet to formally apologize for his past behavior, and both him and Izuku have yet to reach a comfortable stage of their friendship where they openly refer to each other as friends.

In the Paranormal Liberation War Arc, Katsuki went along with Izuku in his attempt to draw Tomura's attention away, demonstrating how significantly his degree of care for Izuku's safety has progressed. Although he doesn't admit it, he does show some level of respect for him and considers him his true rival for the number one hero spot. When Deku's life was in peril as Tomura launched Rivet Stab at him, Katsuki rises up out of instinct and is injured by the attack. Deku, already enraged up from all the wrongs Tomura had committed, turns to a feral state.

Later on, during the Dark Hero Arc, Izuku starts to become exhausted from all the stress and burden. Dictator uses his Quirk to send a mob of citizens to attack Izuku. However, Katsuki actively saves Izuku from Dictator using AP Shot to defeat him and freeing all the citizens.

After Tenya successfully retrieves Izuku, Katsuki confesses that his body moved on it's own to save Izuku, the true nature of his bullying before calling him by his real name and properly apologizing for his prior bullying.^[34] Afterward, Katsuki actively tries to avoid calling him Deku outside of its codename status and instead regularly refers to him by his first name. Due to force of habit, Katsuki slipped up the first time he tried this, though Izuku took no offense and even suggested that he could still call him Deku if he was struggling to correct himself.^[35]

Even after moving back to the Height's Alliance, their relationship has hardly change when it comes to becoming the No. 1 Hero. Izuku and Katsuki continues to have a stable respect for one another and have no troubles fighting and even training together in the leadup to the Final War. In the beginning of said conflict, Izuku and Katsuki were sectioned into the same group for the final battle against All For One and Tomura. However, Izuku was caught in in a trap by Himiko which dragged him to a different portal created by Neito.

After Izuku escaped from Okuto Island, he was generally worried about Katsuki and the other classmates until he returns to the U.A Flying Sky Fortress. Upon arriving, he was devastated when he found Katsuki's corpse, having to be killed by Tomura, causing him to go into shock. Seeing all the other barely conscious Heroes sends Izuku into a further induced stress, while "Tomura" mocks him for his tardiness. With his fear realized about Katsuki's death, his stress turned into rage which once again overwhelm Izuku as his Quirks begin to spiral out of control until Mirio Togata reappears to Izuku. He attempts to talk some sense into him, telling him that everyone is still breathing and that Edgeshot is saving Katsuki's life, so they need to keep on fighting because they haven't lost anyone yet.

It was right then that Izuku calms his nerves and entrusts his hopes to Edgeshot to revive Katsuki while he engages Tomura in a fated battle.^[36]

Later, once All For One has All Might at his mercy and no one is left to save him, Katsuki emerges from the floating U.A. fortress, to Izuku's astonishment. He immediately rockets forward and seamlessly grabs Izuku's hand so he can receive an additional boost to save their childhood hero. Once All Might is saved, Izuku entrusts Katsuki with stopping All For One, while he focuses on defeating Tomura.

Katsuki joins Izuku once again during the final battle against "All For One" when he blasts Kurogiri in order to prevent him from getting pulled into another Warp Gate. Once the war is over, Katsuki worries about Izuku once again. Upon reaching his and All Might's room, he overhears their conversation about how Izuku still has the embers of One For All and that he would eventually end up Quirkless. This revelation brings Katsuki to tears as he laments if he'll still be able to compete with him once again, only to be reassured by the latter.

Once Izuku returns to being Quirkless again, Katsuki and his fellow classmates would eventually fund the creation of a mechanical suit using the data gathered from All Might's battle with All For One 8 years ago. The suit was created with the help of Mei and Melissa, and it was eventually delivered to Izuku by All Might himself. Once he received the suit, Katsuki then calls out to his friend to join him in their Hero work. About a month later, Katsuki subtly tries to invite Izuku to work at his agency, but is turned down. He also tells Izuku to think more highly of himself, warning him that giving everyone special treatment means that no one is truly special to him, words that later prompt Izuku to reconnect with Ochaco and confess his feelings for her.

After Izuku's return to hero work, he and Katsuki move up in the hero rankings to No. 4 and 5 respectively, continuing to compete for the rest of their life, just how they had promised.

Ochaco Uraraka#

Not counting Katsuki and All Might whom he knew beforehand, Ochaco is the first person that Izuku interacted with at U.A. High School, wherein prior to the Entrance Exam, she used her Quirk to stop him from falling on the ground after he tripped over his own foot. In turn, he saved her from being attacked by a giant robot and she returned the favor by ensuring he landed safely on the ground after jumping to her rescue, afterwards trying to appeal to Present Mic to give him her own exam points so he would pass out of further gratitude. The two met again after becoming classmates and soon became close best friends alongside Tenya Ida; they get along very well and their discussions are always bright and friendly. They share similar ways of quick thinking, tenacity, perseverance, and high spirit, which contributes to their close friendship.

From the beginning, it is indicated that Izuku has a crush on Ochaco even before she herself developed a crush on him, but lacks the self-confidence to realize or act on it. In their first meeting, Izuku was too stunned to speak, before afterwards congratulating himself on talking to a girl (even though he didn't actually say anything). A running gag is Izuku blushing and getting flustered whenever Ochaco happens gets too physically close to him, though this occasionally translates to other girls. Ochaco is the one who turned his once demeaning nickname "Deku" into a positive identity for him, saying it gave her a "never gives up" vibe. Although Izuku seemed to initially accept the name solely because Ochaco liked it, he came to value her meaning of it during their battle with Katsuki. This led to him choosing it as his hero name and acknowledging Ochaco as the motivation for it, which touched Ochaco just as much as it irritated Katsuki.

They mutually respect each other, as Ochaco is inspired by Izuku, striving for his level of tenacity and perseverance. They are protective of one another, as Ochaco quickly called the police after she found Tomura threatening Izuku. Izuku thinks of her as a brave and resourceful person by herself and considers her very capable of devising strategic plans on her own. He even defends her from Katsuki when he thought she was incapable of fighting on her own and had help from Izuku.

Another example of his confidence in Ochaco is seen during the Provisional Hero License Exam. Himiko Toga (disguised as Camie Utsushimi) used her Quirk to impersonate Ochaco, but Izuku saw right through her disguise, as "Ochaco" jumped into danger without a plan, something he knew that the real Ochaco would never do. When Himiko sees Ochaco, she tells her that Izuku trusts her immensely.

When they first met, Izuku was barely able to hold a conversation with her, due to his timidity towards girls, but as he gets to know her more he is able to speak confidently with her, but still sometimes blushes when she stands too close to him.

Over time, Ochaco has developed a crush on Izuku, and in turn Izuku's feelings seem to grow. For example, he felt immensely touched when Ochaco turned his nickname "Deku" into a positive identity for him, that inspired him to choose it as his official hero name. He also confidently defended Ochaco from Katsuki when the latter thought she fought him valiantly only because she had guidance from Izuku. Other small interactions like being flustered when caught by Ochaco touring I-Island with Melissa Shield further supports this, along with growing tenderly concerned for her during their battle against Nine on Nabu Island. It’s also shown that while Izuku is very easily flustered when any girl comes close to him, Ochaco is the usually the girl that makes him blush the most often, cluing in that he likes her more than other girls. In the early days of their relationship, Izuku would sometimes get so embarrassed around her that his entire face turns red and he would be unable to speak or look her in the eye.

Also of note, Ochaco is the only girl in the series (outside of Nana) that Izuku has openly and directly commented on in terms of her appearance, with surprisingly little nervousness and hesitation.^[37] Of these comments that Ochaco herself heard firsthand, she would always be put into a mild fluster due to being caught off guard by the sudden flattery.^[38][39]

While participating in a joint training exercise with 1-B, when Izuku was first manifesting Blackwhip, Ochaco was the first to realize he couldn't control it and came to his aid. After, she showed was concerned for his well-being. His reckless regard for himself had lead to her understanding heroes need protecting too, and she makes a vow to watch out for anybody who needs it as a hero who saves people to help them and not just for money. He would also inspire her to add hooks to her gauntlets for rescue a while later.

Afterward, at Christmas, she and Izuku receive each other's Secret Santa gifts with ecstatic looks on their faces. Ochaco got Izuku a bag of Mochi Chips, and Izuku got her an All Might keychain. Ochaco has taken to carrying this keychain he gave her on her belt, causing Mina to tease her. But at that time, Ochaco smiled and responded in a slightly nervous way while putting the keychain away, indicating that she felt a little less embarrassed about her feelings for Izuku. After starting up work studies again, Class 1-A showed off their new moves to All Might. Ochaco and Izuku shared a touching moment where they thank each other for making one another stronger, fist-bumping. This is witnessed by the rest of the class, cluing them in to their budding relationship.

During the Paranormal Liberation War, when Izuku broke off from the group and decided to go off on his own alongside Katsuki, Ochaco watches him go off while feeling concerned about him. After the battle, when Izuku fell into a coma, Kyoka asked if Izuku was alright, in which Ochaco responded that she feels worried as she stood in front of the door of his hospital room.

While Izuku continued conversing with the predecessors while unconscious, All Might left the room, and Ochaco was the first person to go in to check on him. Back at Heights Alliance in April, Ochaco and her classmates received individual letters from Izuku. Her letter said how Izuku thanks her for everything, confessing the truth behind his Quirk: that he received it from All Might, how All For One and Tomura are after him, and that he must leave because of it. After she read her letter, she calls him a dummy for his rash decision making, deeply worried.

She later joins the rest of 1-A in tracking him down to bring him back to U.A. When it's Ochaco's turn to speak with him, she explains she and the others are more than willing to go after Izuku even though she understands he's only trying to keep them safe. Before Ochaco can finish her sentence, Izuku tries to run away. Ochaco gathered her classmates to launch Ida after Izuku to capture him, thinking to herself how she knows that she and everyone has something to say to him, but they know their words alone won't have any effect. She acknowledges the class don't want to be protected by Izuku, or that they're rejecting Izuku's own beliefs and his actions. She and the others just want to be with him.

When the class succeed in rescuing Izuku, they bring him back to school. Yet as he suspects, the civilians refuse to let him inside. They know he's the rumored boy Tomura was pursuing. After they were convinced U.A. would provide them sanctuary, they're scared about allowing in what they consider a "ticking time-bomb". Izuku is about to leave but Ochaco grabs his hand to stop him and tells him it's okay, as she is determined to not let him go.

She shouts down the crowd on behalf of Izuku and everybody's sakes, firmly rebutting every criticism thrown against him and the heroes with compassion and logic. Izuku, deeply moved and thankful for her passionate defense of him, is reduced to tears and falls to his knees. Thanks to her speech, Izuku is allowed inside and is able to rest properly for the first time in weeks.

After shacking up at the dorms, Izuku asks where Ochaco is and wants to thank her personally, but she already went to sleep because the day's events had exhausted her. Then Cathleen Bate buys the Heroes of Japan time to regroup and track down the villains with her sacrifice against Tomura and All For One. And then the reveal of Aoyama being a spy for All For One also puts a great strain on the class dynamic as they zero in on destroying the diabolical mastermind for good, making things far too busy as everybody prepares for a second war.

Ultimately, it would take another week of waiting for Izuku to finally get the chance to speak to Ochaco personally at Class 1-A's new mobile stronghold, Troy. He meets her on the cliffs overlooking the damaged cityscape the day before the operation against All For One, thanking her profusely for her speech. This makes Ochaco embarrassed as he keeps showering her in compliments, and when she calls herself weird Izuku rambles about how pretty her hair looks making her further flustered. They then get to discussing Himiko, with Ochaco relating that she held complicated feelings toward the serial killer, but realized it wasn't fair to judge her too harshly since she knew nothing about her. She makes it clear she can never forgive her, but she's thinking about reaching out and attempting to save her all the same.

Izuku is pleasantly surprised to hear this, as he himself holds similar feelings toward Tomura. He explains he felt the presence of a little boy inside him and wants to save him if possible. Ochaco chuckles and remarks "both of us are kind of weird". They spend some more time together in silence, surveying the damaged city as they wait out the final hours before their upcoming confrontation with All For One and the rest of the League, knowing it'll be the fight of their lives.

Later, during his final confrontation against Tomura, despite the villain mocking at his attempts to "save him", Izuku stands his ground, using his memories of Ochaco as inspiration to keep fighting.

After Izuku finally defeated All For One once and for all, he attempted to talk to Ochaco about something important, but was unable to as she quickly deflected the conversation. Izuku however, would go on to express deep concern for Ochaco, noticing how she was putting on a cheerful front to mask her pain and grief over the death of Himiko. Finding her alone and in anguish one night on the hillside outside of Troy, Izuku insists that Ochaco let out all of her repressed feelings, taking note of how she always prioritized others over herself. Recalling how she has always saved him every step of the way on his journey, Izuku openly calls Ochaco his Hero and takes her hand to comfort her, finally allowing her to cry her heart out over her failure to save Himiko. Being able to relate to her feelings as he felt similarly over his failure to save Tomura, Izuku assures Ochaco that so long as they continue to go above and beyond to reach out to others even when nobody's asking, their actions will continue to make a difference.

Eight years after the Final War ended, the former Class 1-A students get together for a party to congratulate Shoto on reaching the No. 2 spot in the Hero Rankings. By this point, both Izuku and Ochaco are being pushed to think more about their personal lives and wants by those close to them (Tsuyu for Ochaco and Katsuki for Izuku) due to their selfless personalities. During said dinner, Izuku watches her smiling and laughing with her friends, thinking back to Katsuki's words about giving "special treatment" to others. After stopping a car heist together and going their separate ways, Izuku realizes his feelings for Ochaco and goes looking for her, finding her alone in a crowd. He tells her that, while he respects and loves everyone (especially their friends from 1-A Class), he really wants to spend more time with her now, even into the future. They both blush, as Ochaco is pushed up close to Izuku by Himiko's spirit, telling her to embrace her own feelings and live her life the way she wants to. Ochaco happily replies that Izuku's feelings were mutual, much to Izuku's joy, and the two clasp their hands together to start a new relationship.

Tenya Ida#

In their first meeting, Tenya labeled Izuku's muttering about heroes as a distraction and thought he would be a hindrance to the school which earned Izuku bad attention from his peers. However, in the entrance tests, Izuku surprised Tenya by selflessly going back to save Ochaco and using his Quirk to destroy a giant robot in the process, and was the only one to deduce that Izuku's motivations were entirely altruistic.

When they met again in class, Izuku first thought that Tenya was scary akin to Katsuki and that they wouldn't get along, but was surprised when Tenya instead immediately apologized for his previous treatment to him and (mistakenly believing that Izuku had figured out the Rescue Points system of testing on his own) even said he considered Izuku better than him in many ways after the entrance course, much to Izuku's bafflement. Later that day, Tenya offered to walk home with Izuku, and they were joined by Ochaco. Subsequently, Izuku got to know Tenya better, where he found out that while the latter was serious he was also kind and they ended up becoming best friends alongside Ochaco.

Izuku and Tenya are usually friendly with each other. They are usually seen together having friendly discussions. Izuku resigned as Class President and named Tenya as his successor, knowing that he has better leadership qualities than him. After Tenya is defeated by Shoto, Izuku is saddened to see his friend lose. Tenya has often compared Izuku to his brother, for whom he has great admiration for.

However, sometimes their friendship slightly falters such as when Izuku criticized Tenya for seeking revenge against Stain and Tenya punching Izuku in the face for acting recklessly by attempting to save Katsuki. Despite this, Izuku and Tenya's friendship has rebounded back many times despite these mishaps, mainly because they are only concerned for each other's well being.

In the Stain situation, Izuku was deeply concerned about Tenya's mental state and tried to console him, but Tenya brushed this off and affirmed their friendship. Not buying this, Izuku tries to save him from his death and would later do so alongside Shoto Todoroki. While recuperating at Hosu General Hospital, both Izuku and Tenya resolve to become stronger together. After this particular encounter, Tenya admires Izuku even more, valuing how he saved Tenya not only from death but also his sinister thoughts, similar to Shoto.

During the climax of the battle when Class 1-A combines their powers to catch up to Izuku, Tenya is chosen to be the one to grab Izuku, due to his leadership role, close friendship with Izuku, and being the speedster of the class. Through the combined efforts of the class, Tenya gets launched into the air and grabs Izuku's hand. Tenya would say that Ingenium is the Hero who will grab the hand of a lost child and that giving help that's not asked for, is what makes a true Hero, paralleling Izuku's words to Tenya that meddling where you don't need to is the essence of being a Hero. These words would cause Izuku to openly break into tears upon hearing those words, and (along with Katsuki's apology and Ochaco's speech later on) would be the catalyst to him conceding.^[40]

Shoto Todoroki#

Shoto originally saw Izuku as his arch-rival, due to him having connections with All Might (a person with whom his father has a major rivalry with). Izuku, on the other hand, has always held great respect for Shoto, admitting that he is far stronger than him. Shoto confronts Izuku at the U.A. Sports Festival, asking if he is All Might's secret love child, but the latter denies this as Shoto decides to reveal his family history. After hearing Shoto's tragic backstory and seeing his sadness, Izuku starts to show sympathy for the pain he went through and resolves to help him overcome his dark past by getting him to use his power, telling Shoto that the power is his own and not his father's. Although Izuku loses to Shoto while trying to help him, Izuku's actions do have an impact as Shoto starts reacquainting himself with parts of his past he had forgotten and stops rejecting his power. Shoto also recognizes that Izuku knowingly insisted on helping him, despite knowing it would lead to Shoto's victory.

Shoto even comes to his aid when Izuku and Tenya are attacked by Stain, telling his father he was going to "help a friend" when he received Izuku's location. They work well together, going on to defeat the infamous hero killer. After the battle, Izuku and Shoto are on friendly terms with each other, with Izuku even laughing at Shoto's expense when he was worried that he was cursed to always hurt people's hands. They are good friends thereafter — Shoto, who was previously shown to have little interaction with his classmates, starts to hang around with Izuku and his friends more frequently, even joining their lunch table.

Throughout the series, Izuku has had subtle parallels with Shoto's mother, Rei Todoroki. From giving Shoto eerily similar glances, Rei during her mental breakdown, and Izuku during his match with Shoto, to Shoto being openly vulnerable around both of them. Shoto has a deep love for his mother, and a deep friendship with Izuku as he was the one who inspired him to reach out to others.

Izuku is shown to worry if Shoto learns of his power, a good example was seen when Shoto asks him of his second Quirk when it awakes in his match but Izuku is able to cast it aside.^[41]

Shoto offers both Izuku and Katsuki a chance to intern with him and his father signifying the bond he's made with the two. During the Endeavor Internship arc, he invites the two over for dinner where they meet his family and learn more about the history of the Todoroki's. Tensions grow when Natsuo refuses to accept the normalcy of seeing his father take on an attentive role, believing he still hasn't taken accountability. Izuku intervenes to help Shoto explain his feelings. He claims that he believes that Shoto is preparing himself to forgive his father, and that he's a "caring person". It's heavily implied that he assesses this through his internalized feelings towards Katsuki and their rough past. Natsuo confirms Izuku's way of describing Shoto, explaining that he couldn't do the same because he's not as caring as Shoto. Just before that, Izuku called Shoto by his hero name, which also is his given name "Shoto". Upon departing their internship, Shoto's sister, Fuyumi, shares Izuku's hand and thanks him for being Shoto's friend.

During Shoto's fight with his older brother in the Paranormal Liberation War, despite having all of his limbs broken, Deku fires his Blackwhip from his mouth to assist Shoto. When Dabi tells Deku to stay out of the fight since it was none of his business, Deku replies that it was his business because he is Shoto's friend.^[42] Later on, Shoto would openly criticize Endeavor for letting Deku and All Might work alone, and during the battle between Class 1-A and Deku, tells Deku to let them share his burden of defeating All For One. He later joined the rest of the class in tracking him down to bring him back. He prevented his escape and told him to let the class join him in taking on his burden, knowing it was taking an emotional toll on him.^[43]

Tsuyu Asui#

Tsuyu quickly became friendly with Izuku within the first few days of class, requesting he call her by her first name, which is something he frequently forgets or is too shy and polite to do, so she corrects him. He sometimes remembers and forces himself to call her by her name to make her happy. Tsuyu even noticed the similarities between Izuku and All Might's powers early on, which worried him so he has to give her a vague answer. Like a lot of her classmates, Tsuyu quickly grew a respect for Izuku and his heroic resolve, as well as his victory against Katsuki in their Battle Trial match.

During the U.S.J. Arc, she saves him from being attacked underwater and they work together well against their enemies. In turn, Izuku also tries to save her from being attacked by Tomura but fails, though they are both saved by Shota and All Might in the end.

In the Rescue Trial Arc, she is receptive of Izuku's plan to subdue the swimming villains, showing not only respect but also trust. After Shoto defeats Izuku in the Sports Festival, Tsuyu is one of the few students who go to Recovery Girl's office to see if he is okay.^[44]

Tsuyu also implores Izuku not to join in Eijiro's plan to rescue Katsuki, since the recklessness could make them no different from Villains. After the rescue succeeds, Tsuyu apologizes for harshly doubting their plan to save Katsuki, as they apologize for worrying her and they manage to mend their friendship.^[45]

During the battle between Class 1-A and Deku, Tsuyu would tell Deku that he matters to her as a friend and that it's okay to cry when you're scared. She says that if he wants to remain strong like a comic book superhero, she and the others won't let him go at it alone.^[43]

Fumikage Tokoyami#

Their friendship is built on mutual respect towards each other. They team up along with Ochaco and Mei during the Cavalry Battle. Fumikage respects Izuku as a leader, as he leaves him with making the decisions of their team. Izuku himself respects Fumikage's strength and the power of his Quirk, acknowledging him as one of the strongest combatants in Class 1-A. They later sit beside each other to watch the Sports Festival. Izuku later cheers on Fumikage and Tsuyu during their exam when they are up against Ectoplasm.

During the training camp, Izuku along with Mezo resolve to save Fumikage from his rampaging Dark Shadow, a quest in which they eventually succeeded. After Fumikage is kidnapped by Mr. Compress, Izuku chases after the villain in order to save Fumikage as well as Katsuki. After Katsuki is captured, Fumikage tries to comfort Izuku.

Fumikage later joined the rest of the class in tracking him down to bring him back to U.A.. When trying to bind Izuku, he brought up how Izuku helped him with his Quirk. He was also shocked to see Izuku overcoming his power with his new strength.

Eijiro Kirishima#

Izuku is on good terms with Eijiro, as in the U.S.J., as when Izuku is wounded from trying to help All Might with Tomura, Eijiro tries to help him. Izuku is thankful though worried the latter will discover All Might's secret, but Cementoss intervened.^[46] Even early on in their first semester, Eijiro is sometimes shown to intervene when Katsuki starts antagonizing Izuku.

In U.A. Sports Festival Arc, when Shoto tells Izuku that he will defeat him, Eijiro tries to stop them from any further arguing, and after Izuku starts to talk negatively about himself, Eijiro tries to encourage him. Eijiro also tells Izuku that he is envious of his Quirk.

Eijiro seems to admire Izuku's growing confidence and seems to be impressed by his quick thinking and logical reasoning. He also seems capable of understanding Izuku's feelings to some extent, understanding how he feels when he is unable to rescue Katsuki. Eijiro also asks Izuku to help him in his plans to rescue Katsuki from the League of Villains. Izuku respects Eijiro by admiring his determination and he is aware of the bond Eijiro shares with Katsuki, which is what gives him the idea that Eijiro should be the one to retrieve him.

Days before the Shie Hassaikai Raid, Eijiro consoled Izuku after he told him, Ochaco, and Tsuyu what happened after meeting with Eri and Overhaul. In the Shie Hassaikai Arc, Eijiro and Izuku are shown to be on even better terms than previously, often interacting in friendly ways. They also take part in the Shie Hassaikai Raid and defeating several villains. Overall, the two are good friends.

Eijiro also participated in attempting to bring Izuku back to U.A. because of All For One hunting him. It is revealed that Eijiro is well aware that Izuku once tried to save Katsuki from the Sludge Villain. He compared what the class was doing was similar to how he took action. This showed that he respected his fellow classmate for his bravery.^[47]

Yuga Aoyama#

The two first met at the U.A. Entrance Exam where Yuga saves Izuku from being attacked by a robot, though he does say he only did this for points, as he remarks that the latter makes good bait and that he would most likely not see him again as he doesn't think he'll be accepted into U.A..^[48] Izuku later excels in the exams and therefore becomes classmates with Yuga. It has been shown his opinion has not changed, as he again remarks on Izuku's lack of skill to Ochaco. However, Izuku surprises him with his powerful Quirk which allows him to remain in the school.^[15][49]

After this, the two have no further interaction that was notable until the Remedial Course Arc. Yuga acts strangely around Izuku, who would note that he can never get a good read off the latter.^[50] Izuku is later scared when Yuga spies on him as he sleeps and leaves a message (written cheese) to say he knows Izuku's secret, which left Izuku wondering if Yuga is aware of the truth about his Quirk. In training, Izuku is called out to by Yuga and is shown one of his new moves, though it causes Yuga severe stomach problems to use. Seeing him in this state, Izuku takes Yuga away to recuperate before he asks him what he meant in his message.

Yuga explains that he is aware of Izuku not being accustomed to his Quirk and reveals that he has gone through a similar experience and compares his powers leaking out in his childhood out to Izuku's initial lack of control of his own Quirk. He then tells Izuku that he is not alone in hardships, as it is better to face them together or they won't excel. His words relieve and cause Izuku to smile and thank him for his support. After a few days, Izuku and Yuga become good friends, with some of the class noting on their more frequent interactions.^[51]

During the U.A. School Festival, Izuku and Yuga make a frayed rope, with the latter claiming it as a symbol of their friendship. He is tasked with securing Yuga as the disco ball since the class knew of their bond.

After the war, he was stunned to discover from Toru that Yuga was the traitor who had been aiding All For One. When confronting him, Izuku revealed that he noticed Yuga was not being his usual self while Yuga admitted with great remorse that this was all true.^[52] Yuga also noted how he fell into despair upon learning of their similar stories on being Quirkless, before he reluctantly tried to attack only for Toru to intervene. Izuku managed to stop him and his parents from fleeing and brings them back to the school grounds for interrogation. During so, Izuku tells Yuga that despite learning that he was the traitor, he doesn't bear any ill will to him, comparing him to Lady Nagant; a person who's spirit was crushed, but not their soul, and citing all the other good things he has done over the school year. He reaches his hand out to him and tells him that he still believes he can be a hero, and that no one should be labeled a villain for the rest of their lives for committing a single crime.^[53]

Minoru Mineta#

Izuku gets along very well with Minoru, who sits behind him in class, especially compared to most of his classmates. Although like most of his friends, he is put off and disgusted by Minoru's perversions, although he still admires his heroism and quick thinking in difficult times. In turn, Minoru has come to admire Izuku for his acts of heroism and for believing in his abilities as a hero, though he is somewhat skeptical at first of Izuku's determination.

The two have become friends, particularly following their battle together against the League of Villains alongside Tsuyu. They have also been seen talking to each other and hanging out in-between classes on occasion. During the obstacle course, Izuku was the only one who was concerned for Minoru when he was hit by a villain bot and shouted if he was okay, and in the Beast's Forest, Izuku rushes in to save Minoru from one of the Earth Beasts. In turn, Minoru comforted Izuku after he failed to secure an internship offer following the sports festival. It has been hinted throughout the series that Minoru is jealous of how Izuku gains attention and affection from other females (Ochaco, "Camie", Mina, etc).

It appears he has picked up some of Izuku's habits, as he uses his own knowledge of heroes' Quirks to defeat Midnight. Witnessing this, Izuku is impressed by Minoru's ingenuity and praises him for it. During the battle between Class 1-A and Deku, Minoru says that he never thought the power of One For All was amazing, but what made Minoru admire Izuku was how he leads everyone to victory despite being scared himself.

Once Izuku broke down into tears, Minoru attempted to rush to comfort him but was held back by Tenya. After the civilians accepted Izuku back into the high school, Minoru ran to comfort him alongside Kota. He later helped bathe Izuku and agreed with them they forgive Yuga despite him being a unwitting traitor for All For One.

Mashirao Ojiro#

They get along well, though Mashirao didn't team up with him since Izuku was a target in U.A. Sports Festival Arc. Despite this, Mashirao still tries to warn him about Hitoshi's Quirk, Izuku also standing up for him after Hitoshi insults him. Mashirao worries for him but is relieved when he emerges from the fight victorious.

During the Vs. Hero Killer Arc, he is very amazed that Izuku improves his Quirk and overcomes his drawbacks.^[8] He also tries to comfort Izuku at the training camp after he was the only one left without a partner.

During the battle between Class 1-A and Deku, Mashirao grabs ahold of Deku with his Tornado Tail Dance, telling him that he'll never forget how frustrated he got for him during his fight against Hitoshi at the Sports Festival, and they all can't overlook how ragged he's become fighting alone.^[43]

Mezo Shoji#

The two have had little interaction, but are on good terms and have respect for each other. Shoji saves Izuku twice during the school trip, first from a rampaging Dark Shadow and second from Himiko. Mezo trusts Izuku, as he is willing to lead the out of control Dark Shadow towards where Shoto and Katsuki were despite the danger it placed him in, as that was Izuku's plan. Mezo also carries an injured Izuku on his back throughout the attack during the training camp.

Despite their efforts they fail to save Katsuki, resulting in Izuku breaking down. Along with Fumikage and the others, Mezo tries to comfort Izuku on their loss. Later he visits Izuku in the hospital with the rest of the class.

During the battle with Deku and Class 1-A, Mezo aided Fumikage and Momo Yaoyorozu in binding Izuku. He brought up what Izuku said about getting strong to even scare All Might and asking if the class really looked helpless.^[43]

Denki Kaminari#

Izuku and Denki are on good terms and they're sometimes seen talking together. Denki also considers Izuku as "very diligent". He is also seen to praise Izuku when the latter saves All Might by using for the first time, his shoot style during training to create ultimate moves. Like Minoru, Denki has been shown to have been slightly jealous of Izuku gaining affections of females like Himiko and Ochaco, however he still views him as a good friend.

During the battle between Class 1-A and Deku, Kaminari grabs onto Izuku telling him that even though One For All is important, and they may not have any hobbies in common, he's still someone he considers a friend.^[43]

Hanta Sero#

Izuku and Hanta are shown to be on good terms with each other, and are friends. Like most of his classmates, Hanta visited Izuku while he was recovering from his injuries, and tried to comfort him over the loss of Katsuki. In the Provisional Hero License Exam, Izuku and Ochaco grouped up with Hanta, and displayed great teamwork in eliminating some of the opposing teams. Hanta would also comment on how Izuku's Blackwhip is similar to his Tape quirk, and trained with Izuku alongside Ochaco, Tsuyu and Katsuki. During the battle between Class 1-A and Deku, Hanta reminds Izuku on how scary-looking Blackwhip is, while Deku remembers him teaching him how to control its shape.

Kyoka Jiro#

Though they rarely interacted initially, Izuku and Kyoka mutually seemed to be on solid terms with one another. Early on, Izuku showed a great deal of respect for her Quirk, praising Earphone Jack for his use as both an espionage tool and weaponry.

During the I-Island incident, Kyoka followed Midoriya’s lead as they worked well together alongside their classmates in freeing the island from Wolfram’s takeover. The days before the School Festival, the two interact more frequently. Kyoka finds Izuku's notebooks where Izuku notes heroes and his classmates' abilities very interesting and impressive, and asks him for pointers to help advise the band. He is happy to share a habit with someone else, even if Kyoka only wrote about music he is very impressed and he happily agrees to help her with her notes leading up to the School Festival. During final preparations for the festival he comments on how Kyoka 'knows her stuff.' when it comes to music. Later during his fight with Gentle Criminal he recalls his time preparing for the Festival with Kyoka and the others and this helps give him the strength to fight harder to prevent him from getting the festival canceled and to make it back in time to help in the performance.

During the Joint Training Battle against Class 1-B, she is shown to be visibly and vocally worried when Izuku's Blackwhip emerges and goes out of control.

After the resulting battle with Tomura Shigaraki, Kyoka shows up outside of his hospital room asking Ochaco if he's woken up yet.^[54]

During the battle between Class 1-A and Izuku, Kyoka tells Izuku she is very happy that he not only helped her with how to organize notes during the Culture Festival, but also sharing a hobby of note-taking. She also comments how Izuku got stronger.^[43]

Kyoka was also willing to support Izuku, and cares for him enough that when thinking of All For One making Izuku suffer because he has One For All makes her angry, and would dare to attack anyone who would harm her friends.

Mina Ashido#

Izuku and Mina get along well, though they have rarely interacted. Mina has a playful bounce off of Izuku's muttering, though she doesn't seem to mind it, unlike most characters. Their relationship improves during the weeks leading up to the School Festival, when, interested in Mina's dance skills, Izuku asks her to teach him some dance movements, a job that Mina happily accepts. She and Izuku are shown to have a great time despite the latter's bad dancing.^[55]

During his fight with Gentle Criminal, he uses Mina's dancing moves to out-maneuver him, and mentally thanked for the help after pulling it off successfully.

Mina has been shown to be fairly concerned for his well being like a lot of their classmates, as she visited him in the hospital when he was injured following his fight with Muscular. She also asked Izuku about his Quirk acting strange before their match against Class 1-B. Both of them helped each other in defeating Class 1-B, showing that they work well together. After their team wins the fifth round in the Joint Training Battle, Mina teases both him and Ochaco for the latter grabbing onto Izuku so hard in her attempt to save him, which causes both Ochaco and Izuku to turn bright red in embarrassment.^[56] Although he is unaware, Mina supports him and Ochaco and hopes for them to be together. Despite this, they seem to be on friendly terms.

After the battle between Izuku and Class A, Mina pleaded Izuku to come back with them because she didn't want to lose anyone anymore, showing that she cares for him.^[47]

Momo Yaoyorozu#

Momo didn't have a very high opinion of Izuku at first. When analyzing his win in his Battle Trail against Katsuki and Tenya, she criticizes his poor planning and lack of strategy in order to achieve victory, as the well as the fact that he destroyed the building and his Quirk in the process.^[13] When both were chosen to be class representatives, it's loosely implied that on top of the fact she was outvoted for the top spot, she wasn't too expectant from the fact that someone as nervous and jittery as Izuku would be leading their class. Their partnership wouldn't go anywhere significant however, due to Izuku stepping down for Tenya to replace him.

While Izuku hadn't expressed any strong opinions on Momo by this point, he at the very least seems to respect her skills and Quirk like most of people in his class back then, as he was impressed by the fact that she was able to take down a zero-pointer robot in the Sports Festival with a single cannonball shot.^[57]

While there wasn't much one-on-one interaction between the two afterward, there were some signs Momo's perception of Izuku improved over time. When discussing his Quirk's drawbacks before a training exercise, she expressed it with more worry and matter-of-factness.^[8] Both also never showed issues working on the same team and towards a common goal, such as during Wolfram's takeover of I-Island, and their rescue attempt to save Katsuki from the League of Villains, along with Tenya, Eijiro, and Shoto.

Over time, Izuku and Momo seemed to eventually grow into fairly close friends. When she was struggling to defeat Saiko Intelli and her classmates during the Provisional License Exam, she thought back to when he expressed his determination to save Katsuki from the League of Villains, and used it as source of inspiration to calm herself down and think of a proper strategy.^[58] Despite her being the smartest person in Class 1-A, she has been shown to look up to Izuku for his leadership, showing a significantly improved level of respect and confidence in him. The feeling is mutual for Izuku as he reveals in his first conversation with Gentle Criminal that he's fortunate to have Momo as his friend.^[59]

She also joined the rest of the class in trying to get him to return to U.A. after leaving to search for All For One and Tomura. With help from Fumikage and Mezo, Momo attempted to trap Izuku with some of her creations; electrical tape, and a device to put him to sleep, though he quickly broke out of both. She implored him to come back to U.A., stating she and the others were prepared to fight side by side with him while prioritizing his safety.^[43]

Toru Hagakure#

The two have not interacted much, though Izuku and Toru are on good terms. Unlike most of his classmates, Toru does not seem to mind when Izuku is muttering to himself. One week before the First Term Final Exam, she sat with him, Tenya, Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Shoto at the Lunch Rush Cafeteria while discussing how they were going to pass it. Toru also joined the rest of her class in trying to get him to return to U.A. after he left to protect them.

Like the rest of her class, she puts great trust in him. This was the best seen when she discovered that Yuga Aoyama was the U.A. traitor and immediately rushed to tell Izuku this news as soon as he spotted him.^[52] Toru had defended Izuku from Aoyama's Navel Laser and was present when apprehending him and his parents.

During the final battle with "All For One", she jumps in front of a laser attack sent at Izuku and refracts it in order to clear a path for him to take down the Villain.

Class 1-B#

He is on good terms with most of Class 1-B, except Neito Monoma, who heavily resents and envies the class.

Neito Monoma#

Due to his resentment and envy towards Class 1-A, Izuku is often a target of Neito's taunts and mockery.

During lunchtime, he intentionally bumped into a rambling Izuku's head and sarcastically apologizes to him, commenting that his head was so big that he just couldn't help but to bump into it. Izuku was silent as Neito insults him and the rest of Class 1-A, saying that they only want to gain even more attention just like they did in Sports Festival and when Izuku, Shoto, and Tenya encountered Stain, before being knocked out by Itsuka Kendo twice. Izuku didn't seem to take it that personally, only commenting on Neito's strange, obsessive behavior.

Their next significant interaction involves their clash during the fifth round of the Joint Training Battle, with Neito constantly taunting Izuku and referring to himself as a "side character" and Izuku as a "main character". Neito manages to use Full Cowl after touching Izuku but is pinned down by Ochaco before even getting the chance to attack him. Izuku was even worried at what might happen if his Quirk was copied.^[60]

Even though Class 1-B loses the match, Neito still retains his old demeanor. Neito begins to rant about how his team didn't lose in terms of substance and reveals his newfound knowledge relating to Izuku's Quirk. He implies that he could easily beat Izuku if they were to have a rematch.^[56] Despite his disrespectful and harsh attitude during the battle, Izuku does not seem to hold any grudge against Neito, in fact he was worried about him when he tried to use One For All, fearing for his physical integrity.

The next day, while trying to find more out about Eri's Rewind to help Shota, Neito reveals aspects of One For All that Izuku himself doesn't know. Neito says that he couldn't use Izuku's Quirk properly because, just like Eri's, it requires stored-up energy to work, and as Copy can't take that it isn't possible for him to use it. Izuku was relieved to hear this failed, due to the repercussions of an unprepared vessel using One For All.^[41]

Other schoolmates#

Mei Hatsume#

Izuku and Mei first meet during the Sports Festival. Mei takes an immediate interest in Izuku when he gets first place in the Obstacle Race and as a result, got the ten-million-point headband for the Cavalry Battle. She sees this as an opportunity to bring attention to her inventions by using Izuku and approaches him before the battle, asking to join his team. In return for her joining, she offers him and his other teammates support equipment to aid for their battle. Her tendency to get in his personal space creeps Izuku out, though they still get along well because of their shared admiration for Heroes, with the start of their first major conversation being his fasciation with a jetpack Mei created being similar to a Hero he admires, Airjet.^[61]

After the U.A. Tournament, the two do not meet again for a while, until Izuku wants Power Loader's help in improving and redesigning his costume. Mei recognizes him during their second encounter, but doesn't appear to remember his name, and dismisses it in order to go back to her inventions, only to return her attention back to him when he brought up his purpose for entering the workshop. She provides Izuku some options for improvements on his costume and soon creates Izuku's Costume Gamma.

Overall, the two generally get along well as Izuku has no problem talking with Mei following their first encounter. Izuku appears to tolerate Mei better than some of his classmates, like Tenya and Ochaco, since he shares some similarities to her as he creates ways to counter the Quirks of others and rambles, and she does the same about gadgets. Izuku also has expressed frequent admiration for her inventions and mechanical ingenuity, though is less than thrilled at the fact that a lot of her devices tend to explore or potentially grievously injure himself or his friends.

It is shown that while still having trouble training, he goes to see her for a new gadget that might help him progress with his powers. She has gotten used to him, as she now remembers his last name, in contrast to her old mistake. Izuku is still friendly to her though he is put off by her habit of getting in his personal space.^[62]

Mei later gives Izuku the new mechanical gloves that he asked for. She hands him the instruction manual for them before running off after he thanks her.^[63]

Mei would later develop a hybridized version of his Air Force Gloves and Mid Gauntlets after both were destroyed. She would also be a key developer of his new suit alongside Melissa Shield,

Hitoshi Shinso#

They first meet in the fighting tournament of the Sports Festival. Izuku learns much about Hitoshi's Quirk from Mashirao, but accidentally plays into Hitoshi's hands, though the powers of those who previously wielded One For All free him from Hitoshi's control. Hitoshi is shocked by this and tries to control Izuku again by claiming to be jealous of Izuku's Quirk because of its combat efficiency.

Izuku ignores him, though internally understands Hitoshi's situation as he himself was considered unfavorable due to having no Quirk before One For All. Before their battle in the Sports Festival, Hitoshi and Izuku are hostile to each other, the former due to his issues stemming from his Quirk and his perception of the Hero course, and the latter in defense of Mashirao. After their battle, Hitoshi seems to have gained respect for Izuku, telling him not to lose too pitifully while Izuku respects Hitoshi's goal to enter the Department of Heroics.

Afterwards, they meet again, and while Izuku is friendly to him, Hitoshi ignores his greeting. Izuku is later shocked that Hitoshi would play a role in a training exercise in the Department of Heroics.^[64] Izuku looks forward to a rematch between them and remarked to himself how fitting it was since he had visions of his Quirk both in their last fight and future fight.^[65]

When Izuku's Quirk goes out of control during their clash in the fifth round, Hitoshi, with Ochaco's help, manages to stop Izuku's rampage.^[66] Thanks to that, Izuku returns to normal and the round continues. He ends up beating Hitoshi in their rematch, but is still surprised and impressed at his vast improvement. Later, Izuku thanks him and Ochaco for saving him, something Hitoshi took in stride. Izuku was also amazed that Hitoshi will be in the Hero Course for the second year.^[56]

Mirio Togata#

At first, Izuku is largely put off by Mirio due to the unusual nature of their first encounter, being his face phasing through a wall while the boy is taking out the garbage. Furthermore, Izuku is skeptical of Mirio's status as one of "The Big 3" at U.A. due to the older boys's subpar performance in the Sports Festival the previous year. This changes after Mirio gives an excellent demonstration and explanation of his Quirk and fighting technique, after which Izuku grows to have a great amount of admiration for him, even commenting that Mirio talks just like a Pro Hero already. Mirio also respects Izuku for his quick thinking in their exercise.

Izuku's respect grows upon learning that Mirio was one of the originally proposed candidates for inheriting One For All. Though sometimes he is still a bit put off by Mirio's intense amiability and enthusiasm, Izuku and Mirio get along very well and are very similar in terms of heroic ideals. Mirio puts in a good word about Izuku with Sir Nighteye, and the two work together in an internship there for a while.

He was visibly disturbed when he learned that Mirio's Quirk was taken by Overhaul, and expressed anger towards the Villain for that.

After Nighteye's death, when Izuku sees how optimistic Mirio is, Izuku goes as far as to vaguely propose to Mirio that he could take his Quirk, indicating how Izuku believes that Mirio is truly the worthier candidate for One for All, like Nighteye had said. However, Mirio turns it down as he has faith that Eri might master her Quirk to restore his and believes in the words of Nighteye about being a hero.

Izuku is impressed by this and accepts Mirio's determination, and it seems they become closer friends afterwards. The two get along and Izuku still looks up to Mirio for maintaining a smile in spite of his situation, which is something All Might also did in the face of adversity.^[5]

During the Paranormal Liberation War, Izuku is very happy to see that Mirio has regained his Quirk, thanks to Eri.

When Izuku finally arrives for his confrontation with Tomura in the Second War, he is horrified to see the Heroes' injuries, Izuku begins to lose his head and rage as "Tomura" proceeds to taunt him. However Mirio calms him down saying that they haven't lost anybody yet, so they need to keep fighting. "Tomura" claims it's all merely "empty talk" to avoid facing facts and reality, but Mirio continues that as Heroes, they have to talk the talk in order to turn their ideals into reality. This helps him calm down, apologizing to Mirio. When Izuku then asks if the real Tomura is still there, Mirio rebuts "All For One's" lies, by telling Izuku about the previous incident when he spoke harshly to him, causing him to throw a fit as if he were a child, knowing he isn't "fully merged"; the more he was provoked, the more unstable he became.

Civilians#

Kota Izumi#

Despite developing a brotherly bond between them, at first, Kota despised Izuku and Class 1-A for always working so hard to better themselves against fighting villains. He even went as far as to hit Izuku in the crotch for trying to be friendly towards him, as he voices his dislike of heroes. In spite of this, Izuku holds no grudge and tries to get along with Kota due to their similar circumstances of both being "Quirkless" (Izuku not originally being born with a Quirk and Kota refusing to use his Quirk), though he has no luck due to a disagreement in their ideals. Because of his past, Kota ignores anything that dealt with Heroes and Villains, and even Quirks altogether. After finding his secret hideout, Izuku tries talking to Kota, only for him to snap at Izuku because he's never gone through what Kota has.

However, Izuku saves Kota from Muscular (who is also the same Villain that killed Kota's parents) after realizing he is in danger. When Kota asks why Izuku took it upon himself to save him, especially by how he treated him, Izuku states he had seen the latter was in danger and he had to save him. Izuku shields Kota from the Muscle Augmentation Villain at all costs, even going past his limitations just to keep Kota safe.

During the battle, Kota uses his Quirk out of desperation in an attempt to help Izuku. From this, it is shown Kota has gained respect for Izuku and Kota would watch Izuku overpower and defeat Muscular. After the battle, he tells Kota that his parents died to protect him and says he risked his life for him because he wants his acknowledgment as a hero. Izuku then tells Kota to help save others just as he helped save him.

At the hospital, Izuku soon gets a letter from Kota, who apologizes for his previous treatment towards him and thanks him for saving his life. He is extremely happy to have impacted on someone, especially someone who had originally hated heroes. Izuku later uses the letter to show All Might and his mother that he is well on his way of being a hero after having an effect on someone. As Izuku reunites with Kota, when the Wild, Wild Pussycats visited U.A., and Izuku is happy to see him and thanks him for the letter and tells Kota that he'll treasure it forever. Shino draws his attention to Kota's new red high-top sneakers, which closely resemble Izuku's own signature shoes, to Kota's embarrassment. Then, Shino reveals that Kota insisted on having red shoes an indication of the admiration and connection between them. Despite Kota's reluctance to admit it, Izuku sees that Kota now looks up to him.

Upon seeing them, Izuku happily exclaims that they are osoroi (お揃い). While broadly translated as "matching," Izuku's use of the term carries a deeper sense of intentional bonding and shared identity in Japanese culture; by using this specific word, Izuku isn't just pointing out a similarity, but is actively validating their connection and welcoming Kota into his world. This recognition from Izuku causes the usually stoic Kota to break into a genuine smile for the first time.^[67] This moment highlights Izuku’s ability to inspire others, signaling a profound strength in their bond and acknowledging Kota's newfound respect for the path of a Hero.

Kota has left a lasting impression on Izuku, broadening his understanding of the world and challenging his assumptions about hero society. During the training camp, upon finding out about Kota's resentment towards quirks and hero society, Izuku recalled his encounter with Tomura, whose hatred towards hero society initially seemed unfathomable to Izuku. This realization led Izuku to acknowledge the flaws and failures of the system that had shaped both Kota's and Tomura's perspectives, and to recognize that the hero society he had always idolized was not perfect.

Later, during Izuku's second encounter with Muscular, his futile attempt at empathizing with the Villain leads him to further reflect on Kota's transformation from an angry, resentful child to a kind and happy boy. This memory inspires hope within Izuku that perhaps, even Villains like Tomura could find redemption and a path away from violence and destruction. In this moment of contemplation, Izuku can't help but wonder if, had he understood this possibility sooner, things could have turned out differently—a realization that fuels his determination to continue seeking understanding and empathy in a world filled with conflict and violence. The lessons learned from his relationship with Kota thus drive Izuku's continued belief in the possibility of a better, more understanding world, where even villains can be reached through compassion and empathy. After months of fighting alone to protect his loved ones, Izuku faces resistance upon his forced return to U.A. by civilians who reject him. However, Ochaco's heartfelt speech in support of Izuku's heroism deeply moves him. Overwhelmed by the tumultuous situation and Ochaco's words, Izuku falls to his knees. Inspired by her speech, Kota runs to comfort Izuku. As Kota embraces him, he apologizes for his fear and confesses that he wants to be like Izuku—a brave and selfless hero. Moved by Kota's admission, Izuku recognizes the impact he has had on Kota's life and the deep bond they share, feeling a renewed sense of determination and gratitude for their friendship.

As Class 1-A readies for the Final War, a visibly worried Kota approaches Izuku, hesitantly asking if he's truly leaving U.A. Izuku confirms his departure, and the emotional weight of the moment is palpable. When it's time for farewells, Izuku's bond with Kota is solidified as he shares this tender moment not only with his mother but also included Kota, further emphasizing the depth of their connection and brotherly bond, and the unique place Kota holds in Izuku's life.

As the Final War unfolds, Izuku's positive influence on Kota's heart and heroic spirit becomes evident when Kota demonstrates concern for Izuku's well-being during his intense battle with Tomura Shigaraki. Drawing inspiration from Izuku, Kota comforts a distraught Eri by holding her hand, showcasing how even small acts of compassion can be heroic—a testament to the depth of their connection. Moreover, Kota embraces the "crybaby" trait he shares with Izuku, asserting that his emotional vulnerability only strengthens his resolve in adversity. This heartfelt acknowledgment of their shared qualities emphasizes the profound impact Izuku has had on Kota, as he finds inspiration in the very trait that Izuku has struggled with, demonstrating the resilience and determination they both embody as heroes. Their mutual growth and emotional connection illustrate just how deep their bond has become over time.

Izuku's connection with Kota deepens as Kota is rooting for Izuku during his climactic battle against All For One. Kota's support for Izuku is evident as he calls out to him using the affectionate nickname "Midoriya-niichan" (Big brother-Midoriya), reflecting their strong brotherly bond. This event highlights the mutual growth and emotional connection in their relationship, as well as the impact of Kota's unwavering belief in Izuku during a critical moment. As Izuku prepares to engage in battle, Kota can be seen shouting 'Do your best!' offering a heartfelt encouragement to Izuku during this crucial moment. Izuku's influence on Kota was profound, inspiring him to follow in his footsteps and enroll in UA's hero course. Through their interactions, Izuku's heroic example and caring nature encouraged Kota to embrace the path of heroism, despite his initial distrust of heroes. Despite the passage of time and changes in their circumstances, Kota's relationship with Izuku remains deeply personal. Even in formal settings where he is expected to address Izuku as 'Deku-sensei,' Kota sometimes accidentally calls him 'Midoriya-niichan.' This slip-up illustrates how deeply ingrained the affectionate address is, showcasing the enduring nature of their close brotherly bond, persisting despite the changing dynamics of their lives.

Izuku's influence on Kota was profound, inspiring him to follow in his footsteps and enroll in UA's hero course. Through their interactions, Izuku's heroic example and caring nature encouraged Kota to embrace the path of heroism, despite his initial distrust of heroes. Despite the passage of time and changes in their circumstances, Kota's relationship with Izuku remains deeply personal. Even in formal settings where he is expected to address Izuku as 'Deku-sensei,' Kota sometimes accidentally calls him 'Midoriya-niichan.' This slip-up illustrates how deeply ingrained the affectionate address is, showcasing the enduring nature of their close brotherly bond, persisting despite the changing dynamics of their lives.

Kota’s Hero costume also appears to serve as another visual testament to his deep bond with Izuku. While the design is a tribute to his parents' costumes, Kota seems to have deliberately changed the signature vest color from red to green in reference to his now-teacher, creating a permanent evolution of the connection they share.

Eri#

Izuku and Eri's first meeting was happenstance, being when the former was patrolling with Mirio out in the streets. When Izuku first encounters Eri, seeing the bandages she had as well as how fearful she was towards Overhaul, Izuku tries to protect her from him until he is forced to let her go back. After learning how Eri is being experimented on by having Quirk-erasing bullets manufactured from her body, Izuku is horrified by the act and angered at himself for letting her go back to that. Shota even deduced that Izuku is going to act recklessly to try and save her even if he tried to stop him, which Izuku didn't deny.

When they finally reunite in the battle against Overhaul, Izuku immediately follows orders to try and rescue Eri, and even pushes himself to use One for All 20% to protect Eri and defeat Overhaul. Even though he is beaten down by the villain afterwards, and Eri comes back to Overhaul declaring that Izuku cannot save her, and this is not his business, Izuku declares that because Eri was crying, he would save her no matter what.^[68]

After taking Eri from Overhaul, Izuku tells her that he will not let go of her again. When he experiences her Quirk being used, and being told how dangerous it is to be with Eri, Izuku still refuses to let Eri go, explaining that because of how her Quirk has reverted the damage he has done to himself using 100% before he could even feel pain, he states that Eri possesses a "kind, gentle Quirk", something that drives Eri to tears because she is always told that her Quirk is destructive and dangerous. This also makes Izuku go as far to use Full Cowl - 100%, something that would destroy his entire body at blinding speed, to make use of Eri's Quirk, and asks her to lend him her strength.^[69]

After the battle is over and they are in the hospital, despite Izuku being discharged, he wants to stay by Eri's side until she wakes up, but is eventually convinced by Shota to go back.^[70]

Izuku later meets her again and is able to properly introduce himself to her. He and Mirio invite her to the School Festival to have fun after noticing she is still haunted by Overhaul's influence.^[71]

When she arrives at U.A., he is excited to see her and promises to perform for her on stage.

Izuku is intent on fulfilling his promise as he prevents Gentle Criminal from attacking the school and fights the villain by himself. Izuku later performs on stage and catches a glimpse of Eri smiling, pleased at his success. Eri seems to even consider Izuku as her older brother, due to their close bond. After the concert, Eri rushed over to Izuku so she could tell him how much she enjoyed the performance, and the two, along with Mirio, enjoyed the rest of the School Festival together.

After Eri moves into U.A., Izuku is excited by her arrival and looks forward to spending time with her.

The day after Class A and B's Joint Training Battle, Izuku accompanies Eri and Mirio at Shota's request as they see if Neito can copy her Quirk. When this fails, Eri is saddened by this and thinks her Quirk is trouble for everyone. However, Izuku cheers her up by telling her that she saved him with her power, explaining that learning to control her power and how she uses it will lead to positive things. His words have an inspiring effect on Eri that by the time of Class A's Christmas party, she has a more positive attitude around others.

Prior to the start of the Final War, Eri along with Kota say goodbye to Izuku before he and Class A leave for the Makeshift Fortress: Troy.

During the Final War against the Villains, Eri worries as she watches Izuku fight the ultimate battle against Tomura in a desperate attempt to save the world. Eventually she grows worried enough that she turns around, holding back her tears, and attempts to run toward the exit to join the war, but Ectoplasm stops her.

Ectoplasm explains that all the fighting from the Gunga Mountains and Kamino has seriously damaged the evacuation route system, so it's unable to move anyway and they cannot leave the shelter until the war is over. Ectoplasm continues to say that he knows she still hasn't replenished enough energy for her Rewind, so she wouldn't be able to do anything if she got there, and he tells her all they can do now is have faith in him.

Eri cries as she remembers herself telling Izuku her dream to sing for him and everyone else after being inspired by Kyoka, and Izuku was delighted, telling her that he wants to work extra hard now. Unable to leave the shelter, and her Quirk still useless, Eri could only continue to watch as Izuku battles Tomura, losing his arms in the process. Ultimately, Eri makes makes the drastic decision to have Ectoplasm cut off her horn and presents it to Shota upon his return to gather reinforcements, telling him to give it to Izuku so as to heal his arms. Knowing that she couldn't go to the battlefield, Eri wanted to do whatever she possibly could to support her hero, even if it meant permanently damaging her Quirk. With Izuku able to rejoin the final fight against "All For One" alongside his comrades, Eri continues to cheer him on together with the civilians.

Melissa Shield#

Despite the short time they've known each other, Izuku and Melissa have become well-acquainted with each other. During their initial meeting, Izuku was flustered by Melissa by how close she got to his body when examining his scars and Hero costume. Once Melissa started touring him around I-Expo, Izuku quickly bonded with her over their similar interests in Heroes and support tech. The two also share a goal in wanting to save people. Melissa also shared her past of being Quirkless, as Izuku related to her since they both overcame it in their own way.

During the events of the I-Island Incident, Izuku and Melissa showed great teamwork and cooperation in stopping Wolfram and regaining control of I-Island's central tower, in a way that mirrors how All Might and David Shield used to work in their earlier years. Izuku comes to see her as a good friend and develops a protective side to her as he defends her from any attacks made by Wolfram or his henchmen.^[38]

After the Paranormal Liberation War, it's implied Melissa was the one that aided Izuku by sending him the Mid-Gauntlets in his solo mission against the Villains.

The two would later meet again sometime before Izuku graduated from U.A., and she would later become a key developer in his new armored costume, allowing him to return to Hero work eight years following the Final War.^[72]

Katsuma Shimano#

Deku met Katsuma during the Hero Work Recommendation Project, when his sister Mahoro organized various schemes to try to show him that Heroes were not a big deal. All in all, Katsuma apologized to Deku for his sister's antics, starting a better relationship when they discover that the two share a similar admiration for Heroes. Izuku realizes that Katsuma wants to be a Hero, although Katsuma didn't considers his Quirk good for that. However, Izuku assures him that anyone can be a Hero as long as they focus on putting their effort, which made the boy very happy.

During Nine's attack on Nabu Island, the relationship between the two gets closer, with Izuku protecting Katsuma from the Villains and praising the boy's bravery on numerous occasions, as well as thanking him for using his Quirk to heal him. When he prepares to leave the island, Izuku says goodbye to Katsuma, saying that he will be waiting for him at U.A. High.^[33]

Katsuma would eventually follow up on Izuku's words and would begin attending U.A.'s Hero Course eight years after the Final War.^[73]

Mahoro Shimano#

At first, Izuku's relationship with Katsuma's older sister wasn't very good. Mahoro tried to show her brother that Heroes are useless, so he was the victim of several of her pranks. However, Izuku held no grudge about it, and was mostly glad that the two children were safe in the end. After his conversation with Katsuma, he knew that Mahoro's behavior is because she wants to prevent Katsuma from becoming a Hero because it's dangerous, which reminded him of his mother's concern about him.

Everything changed during the attack on Nabu Island, where Izuku fought with all his might to protect her and Katsuma from Nine. After defeating the Villains, their relationship improved greatly, and since then Mahoro respects Izuku.^[33]

Rody Soul#

Izuku's relationship with Rody did not start out well, as the U.A. student pursued the street rat when he had ran off with a case of stolen jewelry following a robbery involving two Villains. Izuku eventually caught up to Rody, though the latter managed to make Izuku back down by saying that he was a businessman while also bringing up that Izuku was doing hero work in Otheon without proper jurisdiction. After a short scuffle over the case, Izuku was shocked to find out that Rody's briefcase contained a number of books, notes and documents, with no stolen jewelry to be found. After this, Izuku profusely apologized to Rody for suspecting him, leaving Rody to anxiously walk away to try and recover the stolen goods, although Izuku notices his nervousness and follows him to inquire if he's okay.

Once the Otheon Police arrive and corner Rody, Izuku tries to defend him only to save the young man when the police open fire on him. Later on, after escaping the police and a Villain pursuing them, Izuku resolves that they find out the secret of the case. When Rody says that he doesn't want to be involved, Izuku promises to protect him should trouble arrive. Regardless, the two are given no choice but to team up when Izuku is framed for mass murder and Rody is placed as his accomplice.

Even after Rody tried to abandon Deku and turn the briefcase over to Humarise (Izuku was woken up by Pino, representing Rody's reluctance to leave him behind), Izuku still saved him from Rogone and took an arrow to the chest protecting Rody. After escaping the villains, Rody expresses his surprise over how Izuku ran to protect him, despite being betrayed by him. Izuku responds by telling Rody that he can't help but save someone in trouble, regardless of who they are. Over time, Izuku and Rody bond closer as they travel to Otheon's neighboring country Klayd, with Rody even telling Izuku about his dream to be a pilot, his past and his little siblings, Roro and Lala. Likewise, Izuku tells Rody about how he struggled with his Quirk and how he's grown during his journey to become a hero. Their relationship ultimately grows from unlikely partners of circumstance to trusted allies.

At one point, Izuku asks about Rody's Quirk, and Rody tells him after Izuku promises not to laugh. Rody confesses that Pino is his Quirk and that she reflects his inner feelings, making it impossible for him to lie. Despite Rody's embarrassment, Izuku tells him that he sees his Quirk and being unable to lie as a great power.

After the two solve the briefcase's secret, alongside Katsuki and Shoto, Izuku resolves to stop the Trigger Bombs using the deactivation key Rody's father sacrificed his life to build. Izuku was shocked and devastated to see Rody apparently betray him again by giving the key to Flect Turn, but then saw Pino confirm that his actions were a lie to get Flect to drop his guard. Together, Izuku and Rody managed to deactivate the Trigger Bombs and save the world. As they part ways, Rody tells Izuku that he's glad to be rid of him and not to come back to Otheon as he only causes trouble, but Izuku sees Pino crying over his departure confirming those words to be a lie, and the two embrace as they bid each other farewell.^[74]

Giulio Gandini#

Izuku first met Giulio when the latter arrived to assassinate Anna Scervino, who was being held hostage by Ginji. Izuku immediately stopped him, binding Giulio's arm cannon with Blackwhip. Giulio aimed his revolver at Izuku, but strangely, the latter's Danger Sense did not react implying that Giulio had no intention of harming Izuku.

The two met again within Dark Might's fortress. Here, Giulio dismisses Izuku as the child that got in his way earlier, saying that his Quirk is ignorance while asking that he leave and go die somewhere else. Izuku is miffed, having never been insulted so politely. Despite their initially frayed relationship, the two are forced to team up to deal with Paulo Gollini and his henchmen. Giulio kicks Izuku out from their cover so he can act as a decoy before taking down the Gollini minions. While acting uncaring towards the young hero, Giulio did save Izuku just after he was knocked out by Dark Might.

Giulio then proceeded to strap Izuku to his motorcycle, intending to use him again as a human shield if need be. Upon learning of his hero name, Giulio remarks that "Deku" is an odd name, but Izuku smiles, saying that he's grown to like it. While Anna was temporarily freed from Deborah Gollini's Day Dream, Izuku stopped Giulio from shooting her, noticing the pained look in Giulio's eyes and that he didn't want to go through with it. When Anna is captured once again, Giulio shouts at Izuku for ruining his last chance at ending Anna's suffering. Giulio then tells Izuku and his classmates about Anna, having used his Neutralization Quirk in the past to help treat the pain caused by her own Quirk, Overmodification. However, Anna was kidnapped by the Gollini Family and after losing his right arm, he can no longer use Neutralization to help her.

While Giulio falls into hopelessness, Izuku and his friends soon come around to help him, saying that Anna can still be saved and encouraging Giulio not to give up. Giulio later follows Izuku, Katsuki, Shoto, and Fumikage deeper into Dark Might's fortress, telling Izuku that he may still have a chance at seeing him smile.

Giulio reveals to Izuku that Dark Might's Quirk is Alchemy, a Quirk that allows him to transmute matter by using objects as a catalyst as well as Dark Might's true identity: Valdo Gollini, the head of the Gollini mafia family. When Dark Might arrives, Izuku and Giulio fight him together but are soon overpowered. Dark Might comes close to killing Giulio, but Izuku jumps in and manages to save him.

Later when Anna's Quirk goes berserk, Izuku helps Giulio get closer to Anna by flying him during all the chaos. Here, Izuku turned out to be right; Giulio never wanted to kill Anna and only wanted to give her the life she deserved. However, Giulio turns out to be compatible with Overmodification, allowing Neutralization to re-emerge and permanently suppress Anna's Quirk Factor. Izuku is clearly happy when Giulio accepts Anna's request to stay with him.^[75]

Giulio and Anna later watch Izuku during the Final War from the U.A. shelter.^[76]

Anna Scervino#

While their interaction was minimal, Izuku clearly cared for Anna, attempting to save her from Ginji immediately after spotting her. However, Anna pleaded with Izuku not to touch her, but her Overmodification quickly struck the young hero with pain, much to his confusion. Upon seeing Giulio shoot Ginji with a sniper, Izuku quickly moved to deal with him in fear that he might hit Anna.

Later, Izuku stops Giulio from shooting Anna, knowing that killing her isn't what he truly wants. While Anna was soon captured again, upon learning of her story and the burden of her Overmodification Quirk, Izuku became determined to help her. When a brainwashed Anna was about to kill Giulio at Deborah's command, Izuku shouted at her to stop. He would later help Giulio reach Anna in hopes of neutralizing her Quirk.

Once the Gollini Invasion finally ends, Izuku is happy to see Giulio and Anna reunite, now as loved ones instead of servant and client.^[75]

Alongside Giulio, Anna later watches Izuku during the Final War within the U.A. shelter.^[76]

Pro Heroes#

Gran Torino#

Gran Torino requested Izuku to be his sidekick in an internship so that he can properly teach Izuku about the One for All Quirk. Izuku first learns of him from All Might and wonders what type of mentor he is after All Might becomes scared.

Gran Torino and Izuku were off to a bad start when they first met, with Gran Torino putting up a façade of being senile and Izuku being disappointed with having to train with someone who was no longer functional. However, when Izuku moved to leave Gran Torino promptly dropped his façade and showed Izuku what he was really capable of as Izuku was amazed by his true nature.^[77] He saw the similarities between All Might and Gran Torino's personality shifts which helped him better understand their connection and accepted the offer to train.^[78] He started to gain respect for Gran Torino, politely calling the elderly hero "Mr. Torino". They bonded to an extent and Torino's teaching helped Izuku gain better control of his Quirk without hurting himself. Torino also protected Izuku from a Nomu while Izuku was worried for him.

Gran Torino has shown to be impressed with Izuku, stating that All Might chose a fine successor, due to Izuku's quick thinking and potential even stating that Izuku has the potential to become a "monster" due to these traits. As they parted ways, Gran Torino asked him what his name was and Izuku replied it was Deku, with Gran Torino becoming the second person to make Izuku proud of his nickname.^[8]

It also shows how strong their connection was when Tomura punches Gran Torino in the chest, Deku screams in pain. In previous situations, after Izuku is put in a situation that negatively effects his emotions, his power tends to increase and when he saw Gran Torino on the floor, he was able to control Blackwhip for a longer amount of time than usual.

Sir Nighteye#

Izuku was very surprised to hear that All Might had a sidekick from Gran Torino. In their first meeting, he was intimidated by Sir Nighteye. The two were mostly at odds due to Sir's cold nature and skepticism of Izuku being the next Symbol of Peace. However, they both realized they were huge fans of All Might, with both having extensive knowledge of him as well as extensive collections of merchandise. Sir hired Izuku as an intern, and Izuku has been working since then to prove his worth to him.

After learning more about All Might's relationship with Nighteye, Izuku wanted to make the two meet so they can reconcile. Though Izuku wasn't able to find the time to bring it up due to the rescue mission for Eri, he got to tell him after the rescue was complete and Nighteye was taken to the hospital.

Izuku was horrified when he learned that Nighteye was going to die, and pleaded to him to keep hanging on, and cried for him as he died but not before Nighteye gave Izuku his blessing as All Might's successor.

Despite how Nighteye praised Izuku for being able to change the future, giving him hope for once, Izuku ultimately believed that Nighteye was right about Mirio being the worthier heir for One for All and even tried to pass it onto Mirio, but was rejected. Izuku also decided to live to Nighteye's expectations as a way to honor his memory.

Endeavor#

They first meet during the Sports Festival, where the Pro Hero tells Izuku to not hold back against Shoto. After having heard about Endeavor's conflict with All Might, and knowing about Shoto's past, being disgusted to hear him view his son as a tool, Izuku annoys Endeavor with his declaration of not being All Might, and that Shoto isn't Endeavor.

They meet again when Shoto tells him and Katsuki to intern under his father. While Endeavor is uninterested in training the others besides his son, he still remembers Izuku's words to him earlier, commenting to him about them.^[79] After finally committing to training them, Endeavor is surprisingly able to understand Izuku's mumbling about the nature of his Quirk and how he wants to control it, providing him with useful advice. He develops a newfound sense of empathy and understanding towards Izuku, recognizing his power as not only similar to All Might's, but also likening the danger the raw power has to his body to his families' Quirks, saying he's "just like us", though Izuku is unsure of what he means. His teachings and training are what eventually allow Izuku to have full control over Blackwhip.^[80]

During the Paranormal Liberation War, he demonstrates worry for Deku when he realizes that he is Tomura's target, and then a sense of trust when them, Katsuki, and other Pro Heroes work together to take down Tomura.^[19] During Shoto's fight with Dabi after it is revealed he is his older brother Toya, Deku ended up standing up for Endeavor, telling Dabi that while his past actions were awful, he is trying to change, and he wants to watch him do so. His words ended up snapping Endeavor back to his senses allowing him to get one final blow on Gigantomachia.^[42]

Endeavor also worked with Izuku, alongside Hawks, Best Jeanist, and the Lurkers in the pursuit of All For One and the League of Villains.

Hawks#

Izuku first met the pro hero after he assisted with Starservant's minions. He was very amazed to meet him, as Hawks just became the second best hero in Japan while the latter was impressed that he and his classmates were helping Endeavor.^[79]

Hawks also worked with Izuku, alongside Endeavor, Best Jeanist, and the Lurkers in the pursuit of All For One and the League of Villains.

Police Force#

Naomasa Tsukauchi#

Izuku met Naomasa after the events of the U.S.J. Incident, Naomasa came to Recovery Girl's Health Office to question All Might on the villains who attacked the U.S.J, Izuku was surprise to see that it was ok for Naomasa to see All Might in his skinny form, All Might introduced Izuku to Naomasa.

After the incident with Tomura unintentionally meeting Izuku at the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall. Izuku was brought to the Police Station to report everything that happened during that Incident. As Izuku wished that he could have done more to detent Tomura, Naomasa consoled Izuku that he did a great job keeping his cool in that situation as most people would have lost their cool. Naomasa also called All Might to the police station and told Izuku not to worry as All Might never failed to save someone. Naomasa also call Inko to the police station informing her of the Incident. Naomasa also told Sansa Tamakawa to give them a ride home.

Kenji Tsuragamae#

After Izuku, Tenya, and Shoto defeated the Hero Killer: Stain at the Hosu Hospital he told the three about Stains's injuries and that it was against the law for unlicensed heroes to bring any injuries to any villains and that how the early heroes applied to the rules. He told the three that they would have to face the consequences of breaking the law, while also telling them that their supervisors would receive punishment as well.

However, since Kenji did not want to ruin any of the young heroes futures, he told them that Endeavor would be given the credit on taking down the Hero Killer, meaning that they would not receive any repercussions for their actions, nor would they receive any praise for defeating Stain. As they agreed for Endeavor to receive the credit, Kenji also bows to them and thanks them for keeping the peace.

League of Villains#

Tomura Shigaraki#

Tomura is Izuku's arch-nemesis. Due to them being groomed to be the successors of their respective mentors, Izuku and Tomura mutually despise each other; Tomura despises Izuku for his admiration of All Might (someone he hates) while Izuku is disgusted with Tomura's villainous actions. During the U.S.J. Arc, Izuku saved All Might, which caused Tomura to take an interest in Izuku, as shown when he watched Izuku's match during U.A.'s Sports Festival.

Later in Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, they unintentionally met each other again, so Tomura decided to talk with Izuku about the difference between him and Stain. After hearing Izuku's thoughts on the matter and before leaving the shopping mall, Tomura declared that the next time they meet, he would show Izuku no mercy.

Narratively, Tomura is considered to be a dark reflection of Izuku. While Izuku works toward becoming the greatest Hero, Tomura strives to become the greatest Villain. Izuku and Tomura share many similarities, such as a preference for wearing red sneakers and initially having near-total dependence on their respective mentor figures before gradually developing as their own distinct Hero and Villain. Interestingly, when Tomura was five years old, he bore a striking resemblance to Izuku. As young children, both Tenko and Izuku had a strong admiration for Heroes that were complicated by factors out of their control. Tomura by the abuse from his father, and Izuku by his Quirkless status and ostracization because of it.

Later on, during the Paranormal Liberation War, Deku goes into battle with Tomura when he learns that he intends to come after his Quirk. While originally attempting to avoid him, he engages him along with Katsuki and the other heroes in an attempt to protect Eraser Head. As the fight goes on, Deku's hatred for Tomura continues to grow, and it only worsens when he sees the villain impale Gran Torino in the chest. After seeing this, Deku screams and grabs Tomura, declaring that he will never forgive the Villain, bearing the same amount of hatred for Tomura as the latter would never forgive anyone like him because he is a hero.^[81]

However, after Tomura's attempt to steal One For All, Izuku witnesses him being usurped by and trying to fight back control against All For One, who eventually succeeds in taking command of his main body. Despite all the terrible, unforgivable things he's done, Izuku still thinks back to Tomura's troubled face and recognizes him as someone who needed saving.^[82]

When conversing with the One For All vestiges, they all understand Izuku's hesitation, having sensed his emotions when he first noticed Tomura suffering. Regardless, Nana states that Tomura is likely beyond saving and urges him to find the resolve to kill him if necessary. In response, Izuku reflects on how he felt Tomura's emotions while inside the mental world, and he was able to see a little boy crying inside. Izuku notes that while Tomura did kill many people and hurt many friends, One For All was meant to save people, and ultimately, while he does acknowledge the possibility that he may have to kill Tomura, Izuku still voices his desire to try and save Tomura first.^[83]

Once Izuku defeats All For One's vestige within Tomura's body, it allowed him to emerge once again. While his central aspect as "Tenko" was still crying out to Izuku to save him, it could only manifest itself through continued spite in his present self as "Tomura", pushing Izuku away by declaring he was "[his] Villain."

Upon finally regaining complete control of his body, Tomura announces that he has no desire for One For All, proving that his previous obsession with stealing the Quirk was merely an extension of his master's will. "Tomura Shigaraki" and "Tenko Shimura" state their one and only hope: the destruction of everything that stemmed from the abusive house he grew up in and the eradication of everything associated with it, telling Izuku it will be the only thing that will save him. The two archenemies clash, with Tomura Intending to destroy Izuku, the only person in the world with the power to stop him, once and for all.

During their final battle, Tomura constantly mocks Izuku's continued desire to "save him" even as the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Tomura states that people interpret the world around them through narrow, limited windows, and when the world throws the inexplicable at them, they concoct rationalities to put themselves at ease, and tells Izuku that he is simply cramming Tomura into his own narrow worldview. He tells Deku that just like he is able to see the One For All vestiges inside him, he is able to see deep inside himself, as within Tomura is a visage of crumbling buildings melded together burying the persona of Tenko Shimura.

In order to defeat him, Izuku begins transferring the vestiges of One For All's wielders, hitting this mental core he's hidden away. Tomura's instinctive fear of confronting the source of his trauma visibly terrifies him like nothing he's dealt with before, screaming at Izuku to stay away from him. As he does so, he flashes back to Kotaro trying to push him away, reminding himself of the way his own father acted in a moment of desperation. By reaching the core, Izuku manages to reach through to Tomura after holding his hand and preventing him from decaying Hana, even at the cost of his arms. Izuku stymies his desire for vengeance through this act of pure, honest altruism, and it prompts him to open up. Tomura explains that even if Izuku could stamp out his hatred, or become "hollow," he'd still need to be the "Hero" for the Villains who required one.

Unfortunately, Izuku overcoming Tomura's hatred prompts the resurgence of All For One, who emerges from the house Tomura grew up in and explains how he manipulated Kotaro into giving birth to Tenko and gave him the Decay Quirk that caused the deaths of his family, separating the two from their catharsis. He manages to "delete" Tomura with all that remains being a lingering echo, as he bears down on Izuku for seemingly sacrificing Yoichi's vestige along with One For All.

In the end, Tomura joins forces with the One For All users and Izuku to defeat All For One for good after Izuku reawakened them all through resonance with his final One For All ember, punching his and Yoichi's Quirk factors together. Tomura admits to Izuku he may have been right; that maybe he was just a crying kid on the inside who couldn't even destroy his hands, which had been rewound back by Eri's horn. Izuku explains that while he couldn't forgive Tomura, he fought because he wanted his suffering to end so it wouldn't spread to other people. Tomura requests Izuku to tell Spinner that he fought for destruction until the end; Izuku, however, says he'd already managed to destroy what he needed to, and the two former enemies part ways on amicable terms. Later, Izuku is shown to feel guilty for failing to save Tenko’s life.

When visiting Spinner, Izuku encouraged Spinner to write a comic about Tomura, promising he would never forget him. Eight years later, as Izuku becomes a Hero again, he looks back and sees Tomura’s ghost smiling at him.

Dabi#

Izuku briefly meets Dabi when the Vanguard Action Squad attacks Classes 1-A and 1-B's field training. He dodged Dabi's fire attack and witnessed him abduct Katsuki.

He meets Dabi again during the Paranormal Liberation War in Jaku City after he arrives on the back of Gigantomachia, where he is stunned to learn that Dabi is actually Shoto's eldest brother and Endeavor's first son, Toya Todoroki, whom he had learned about from Shoto when he invited him and Katsuki to his house for dinner. He listens to Dabi claim that he plans on killing Endeavor and tries to stop him before Best Jeanist arrives.^[84] When Shoto starts fighting Dabi and starts getting overwhelmed, Deku uses Blackwhip to help him, causing Dabi to retort for him to stay out of family business. Deku replies saying that Shoto is his friend and Endeavor is his mentor, and while he knows Endeavor's actions were awful, he is watching in earnest how he is trying to change. He yells to Dabi that he isn't Endeavor, which has no effect on Dabi but wills Endeavor to finally take action again.^[42]

Himiko Toga#

Himiko first encounters Izuku when the Vanguard Action Squad attacks Classes 1-A and 1-B's field training. Himiko jumps him and briefly introduces herself before she is pushed away by Mezo. Unbeknownst to Izuku, the two meet again during the Provisional Hero License Exam where Izuku believes her to be Camie Utsushimi, a student from Shiketsu High School. This encounter only raises Himiko's interest in the boy, as she notes that their interest in each other seemed to be mutual. Izuku is surprised by her fighting abilities, but finds her to be a somewhat scary person the more she interacts with him.

Despite Himiko being a villain, Izuku actually goes out of his way to save her from harm, albeit she was disguised as Ochaco. Being saved and carried to safety in a princess carry by her love interest, Himiko found out that the boy would save somebody even if that person was his opponent. Revealing her Quirk to him but not her real identity, she was curious about how far his good will reached. During the second exam of the Provisional Hero License Exam, Izuku acknowledged her wishing good luck to him.

After the License Exam, Izuku wanted to talk to her again about her stealth techniques, but he was disappointed when he found out she had already left.

During Eri's rescue operation, he ran across her yet again when a disguised Himiko lovingly tried to cut him with her knife. Her Quirk was deactivated by Shota and her identity was revealed, giving Izuku a shock as he was saved by his teacher. Putting two and two together, Izuku figured out that Himiko was likely the same girl that he had sparred with during the license exam confirming suspicions that the League of Villains infiltrated a school other than U.A. and leading to greater interaction between Shiketsu and U.A. High.

In nearly all their encounters, Izuku has been shown to be downright terrified of Himiko's maniacal obsession with him and her deranged personality.

During the final war, Himiko manages to nab Izuku by surprise, and Hikage Shinomori theorizes that Himiko's "love" for Izuku is so strong that his Danger Sense Quirk doesn't register her as a threat, despite Himiko then lunging at him with a knife. Shortly afterwards, Himiko confesses her feelings to Izuku and asks him to be her boyfriend, much to the young hero's shock, confusion and embarrassment. It is revealed here that during all their encounters, Izuku never once imagined that she liked him. The two then share what their perceptions of a couple are, with Izuku saying that they're supposed to do things like hold hands and go on dates, while Himiko says she wishes to become exactly like her lover.

After Himiko shares her feelings with him, Izuku responds by saying that he can understand her wanting to become someone else and compares it to how he admired All Might as a hero, but says that he can't understand wishing to hurt someone to achieve that. Izuku's response turns Himiko off however, believing that he's rejecting her like everyone else (although it is more likely that he was doing the opposite and was trying to reach out to her). This causes Himiko to forgo her feelings towards Izuku and attack him for real.^[85]

Muscular#

Izuku meets the Villain when Muscular nearly kills Kota. Muscular expresses surprise to recognize Izuku and told him that he has orders to kill him while Izuku resolves to face him alone.^[86] In their fight, Muscular takes glee in tormenting Izuku who pushed his body and Quirk to their limits. Izuku was also horrified to learn from Muscular that Katsuki is also a target for the League and to learn Muscular is the same Villain who killed Kota's parents, which installed his dislike of Quirks and the Hero society.^[87]

Overcoming his internal struggle, Izuku fought back harder and pushed him back, leaving Muscular surprised and impressed. Muscular took the time to fight all out and overpowered Izuku but he is saved by Kota who distracts him enough for Izuku to use One For All at 1,000,000%. With a combined Delaware Detroit Smash, Izuku is able to break apart Muscular's muscle fibers and send him flying deep into the rock wall, finally defeating the Villain.^[88]

Deku reunites with Muscular several months later, stopping him from crushing Grand to death. As he holds Grand's unconscious body, Deku somberly remarks how his Danger Sense was running wild and it made sense Muscular was responsible, getting ready to fight him a second time.^[89] During their second battle, Izuku makes an attempt to reach out to Muscular and questions his destructive behavior and why he's a villain, even calling him by his real name: Goto Imasuji. Muscular responds that he simply wishes to cause bloodshed so he can die with no regrets and tells Deku not to waste time by trying to sympathize with him. After realizing that Muscular could not be reasoned with, Deku overcomes Muscular's attacks and defeats him.^[90]

Muscular was the last Villain Izuku directly defeated before getting his Provisional Hero License and gave him a sign on the bodily damages done onto his body if he overexerts himself. This also causes him to develop a new fighting style with his kicks. He's also the first known Villain that Izuku fought after leaving U.A. High and choosing to fight Villains on his own.

All For One#

While he and Izuku went a long time without directly interacting, All For One has made it his mission to hunt down every One For All wielder he can find in an attempt to steal the Quirk and make his brother, the original user, become one with him. When Izuku became the ninth and final user of One For All, it makes All For One his most dangerous foe alongside Tomura, as he inherits him as a nemesis by accepting All Might's power.

Once All For One deduced that Izuku was All Might's successor, he prepared to crush the boy's heroic spirit with an all-or-nothing plan to destroy him and acquire One For All at last. During his time in Tartarus, All For One lost interest in All Might and moved on to Izuku, fantasizing about tormenting him. Izuku, on the other hand, knew there was a chance he'd have to go up against One For All's mortal enemy someday even if the details of the supervillain's plan wouldn't be deduced until months after his imprisonment.

Upon witnessing All For One in the flesh, Izuku felt overwhelming fear, seeing visions of him and his friends dead by his hands. Izuku's feelings toward All For One became extremely spiteful near the end of the Paranormal Liberation War, when the latter takes over Tomura's body and stabs Katsuki, following it up with dismissing the efforts of all the heroes trying to stop Tomura as "pointless". Enraged, Izuku lost his calm and went straight toward Tomura/All For One, leaving him vulnerable to getting One For All stolen.

In the vestige world, All For One mocked Izuku's altruism as a weakness and claimed that All Might made a mistake choosing him as a successor. Yoichi and Nana, however, fought back against him, rebutting that Izuku's perceived weakness is exactly why he was chosen for this power. All For One fails in stealing One For All, and while he acknowledges Izuku as a threat to his plans, he is still dismissive of the young hero.

All For One finds Izuku to be predictable, and exploits this quality to try and break Izuku's spirit. He anticipated that Izuku would reach out to Lady Nagant, so he detonated her using a self destruction quirk he'd planted into her in secret. He also left a video message at the former Creature Rejection Clan hideout when the Heroes investigated it, telling Izuku that society will always exclude certain people and label them Villains, so he is fighting an endless and ultimately pointless battle. All For One's manipulation makes Izuku paranoid to the point that he doesn't try to reach out to other Villains he sends his way and begins working alone, making civilians fearful of the Hero. His attempts to exhaust and isolate Izuku were thwarted when Class 1-A brought him back to U.A., though he shrugged it off.

Izuku's hatred toward All For One would grow further when he learns that he forced Yuga Aoyama to become a mole for him, endangering the students' lives numerous times. He and his classmates become newly determined to defeat All For One in the coming battle to decide the fate of the world. He and Aoyama ended up drawing him out to a secluded parking lot, whereupon All For One summoned his army of villains in a moment of arrogance and allowed the heroes to spring their counterattack using Warp Gate.

Upon encountering each other again at the floating U.A. High School, All For One jeered at Izuku over the death of Katsuki and the heroes' devastating injuries. Izuku once again lost control of his emotions and was in severe danger of All For One breaking his spine until Mirio calmed him down, informing him that everybody else was still alive and that Katsuki could possibly be revived by Edgeshot. Remembering Banjo's words about controlling his anger, Izuku was able to keep his cool and prepared to fight, asking All For One if Tomura still remained after his forceful merger with him.

All For One, while unaware Izuku was trying to save Tomura, still sensed he had a plan to defeat him that involved the young man, so he bluffed by saying Tomura was gone and that he was the dominant personality. He was quickly proven to be lying by Mirio, prompting him to lunge at Izuku in another attempt to steal One For All, knowing his control over Tomura weakening meant his window to take back the Quirk was dwindling. However, Izuku had unlocked Gearshift, which allowed him to move far faster than Tomura's body afflicted by Erasure could keep up with. All For One was left stunned and unable to move by Izuku's attacks, expressing his petty hatred for him and the heroes before insisting he hadn't lost just yet, vowing that victory or defeat for Heroes and Villains would be decided very soon.

In the ensuing chaos, All For One found himself overwhelmed with demented fury at Nagant's interference which allowed Tomura to supersede his control of him, suppressing his master beneath all his rage and hatred while he did battle with Izuku in his place. But after Izuku breached Tomura's mental defenses by launching and destroying the individual quirk vestiges comprising One For All into his body, All For One managed to reassert control over his vessel and derided the two young men, saying Tomura was an "imbecile" who'd never made a decision on his own and that Izuku was a worthless boy who'd carelessly destroyed One For All and Yoichi, which he deemed exclusively his. Emerging in the real world, weakened and devastated at what seemed to be the permanent loss of his brother, "All For One" prepared to kill Izuku in retaliation for sacrificing One For All before being stopped by the timely intervention of Aizawa, Hanta Sero, Mashirao Ojiro, and Rikido Sato.

As the Heroes left standing filed in through the portals Aizawa had Kurogiri create, "All For One" explained that "color" left his world once he felt Yoichi's vestige shatter, and he was able to avoid Izuku's transference attacks as a result of not caring about anything anymore. The implication being that, with nothing left to accomplish now that he couldn't reunite with his brother, he had set his sights on killing Izuku in a final act of revenge ahead of his vague goal of ruling the world, determined to end the person he'd come to despise over any other enemy he'd faced in his century long reign of terror. He entered into battle against the wounded Heroes once more, using his most powerful attacks indiscriminately as he tried to wipe out the remainder of All Might's and, now Izuku's, legacy for the hurt he believed it had caused him.

In the end though, despite fighting to kill each other, Izuku expressed pity towards "All For One". He remarked that he wasn't a monster beyond understanding or even a demon lord; just a lonely man without any friends, something that ultimately proved to be true, as despite his evil nature, it was shown that "All For One" still loved Yoichi and desperately wanted his brother back no matter what. As a final act of compassion, Izuku adjusted his earlier attack so that the remains of Yoichi's vestige stayed intact, allowing "All For One" to spend his final moments with his brother. Izuku then eradicated "All For One" entirely by mashing his and Yoichi's Quirk Factors together with Tomura and the vestiges' aid, who had re-awakened in response to Izuku's remaining ember, ending the man's tyranny for good and saving the world.

Shie Hassaikai#

Overhaul#

While interning with Sir Nighteye, Izuku learned of the Villain and his connection with the Yakuza. Not too soon, Izuku meets him in person when Eri ran to him for help and Kai arrived shortly after. Izuku immediately recognized him and was nervous to find him so easily, though Mirio helped him to maintain his cover and the Villain doesn't appear to notice they are aware of his identity. Izuku wanted to question him on his treatment of Eri, and Overhaul appeared to be ready to attack, but Eri runs back to him.

While the Heroes were doing investigations, Izuku and Mirio both agree they have to stop Overhaul and save Eri from him.

Izuku went beyond his limits with One For All by using 100% and having Eri continuously rewind the damage done to his body.^[68] In the struggle, Izuku and Kai were both relentless but Izuku emerges as the victor.^[69] Despite his victory, Izuku was nearly killed by the spiteful Villain but Eri saves him and Overhaul is left defeated.^[70]

Overhaul is the first major Villain Izuku fought after he obtained his hero provisional license, though Izuku had help from Eri to defeat him.

During Izuku's battle with Lady Nagant, he is shocked upon seeing Kai present, yelling at the former Pro Hero that she has to take him to his boss like she promised. Despite their past, Izuku uses Faux 100 Percent to zoom through the air and save his old enemy from being shot, saying that they'll talk later. Following the aftermath of the battle, Izuku coldly addresses Kai and remains contemptuous towards him for all the harm he inflicted upon Eri. Upon seeing Kai in a broken and remorseful state however, he agrees to honor Nagant's deal and take him to see his boss should he apologize to Eri as well.

Other Villains#

Stain#

Stain respects Izuku's reasoning to be a Hero and sees worth in letting Izuku live. Izuku, on the other hand, saved Tenya from Stain after intervening in the man's attempt to kill his friend. Izuku impressed Stain with his will to defend his friend and efforts to defeat him, which was something he deemed worthy as a hero. With the help of Tenya and Shoto, Izuku managed to defeat the villain.

When Izuku was captured by one of the Nomu-like creatures, Stain was the one who saved him, as the latter expressed shock at this act and was frightened by Stain's speech and aura before he fell unconscious. While Izuku does not approve of Stain's nihilistic methods, Izuku respects Stain for living according to his ideals and never giving up on achieving his ideal world, also comparing the respect they both have for All Might.

Because of their encounter, Spinner prevented his comrade Magne from killing Izuku declaring that he was the person that Stain saw fit to save thus being a man worthy of the title of a true hero.^[91]

Gentle Criminal#

Izuku first saw him on the internet and was confused by his crimes even wondering about his intentions.^[62]

Izuku unintentionally met him in person after accidentally bumping into him outside of school when getting supplies. Initially, Izuku did not recognize him until he heard his voice and remembered his habits. Izuku begged Gentle not to attack the festival, as the villain saw Izuku as an obstacle that had to be removed, but after learning that he was a student of U.A. high school he developed an interest in him.^[63]

As they fought more, Izuku was knocked down many times but wanted to honor his promise to Eri. His tenacity caused Gentle to gain a begrudging respect for him and steadily confided in him more of his past. After he lost the match and hearing of Izuku's dream, he treated the boy as an equal and told him to keep moving forward.^[92] Izuku still treated him like a threat and remains hostile to him, however, as they fought and after hearing of Gentle's past, he treated him with more respect and care, even stating he wouldn't laugh at his ambitions.^[93]

After defeating Gentle, he remained worried about him, even after being blasted into the air by him.^[94] Izuku later reasoned that had he not met All Might, he might have well become someone like Gentle, seeing the villain as a dark reflection of himself.

When conversing with the previous One For All users, Izuku notes on how he never really understood why the Villains he fought before chose to walk down that path, and when wondering if things could've ended differently if he'd understood what made them Villains, a flashback of Gentle and La Brava is shown, demonstrating the great impact his battle with Gentle had and how it made him see villains as people.^[83]

Gentle is the first villain Izuku officially defeated on his own, with no outside help.

During the Final War, Izuku was left completely surprised to find out that Gentle suddenly appeared to help the Heroes in preventing the U.A. fortress from plummeting to the ground.^[95]

Lady Nagant#

Izuku learns about Lady Nagant from Hawks following the end of the Paranormal Liberation War, as Hawks advised him to run from her should he encounter her. Sure enough, due to All For One liberating her and tasking her with capturing him alive for him, he ultimately ends up clashing with her, with Izuku hoping to force her to tell her where All For One is hiding.^[96] During his fight with her, he asks why she is working for All For One when she used to be a Hero herself, and listens to her story of how she worked as an assassin for the Hero Public Safety Commission and made several people "disappear" to preserve the image of their Hero Society. He tells her that he understands her points of view and knows that the world they live in isn't as black-and-white as it may seem, but despite knowing he was ignorant of all of that, he still feels like he needs to extend his hand to those who need it.^[97]

After he defeats her, he saves her from falling out of the sky and points out that the bullet that she fired at Kai Chisaki to try and get him to drop his guard was off by a bit and that if she was truly loyal to All For One, she would have just shot him immediately rather than give him a chance to surrender. As a result, he tells her that he believes she still has the heart of a Hero and asks her to join his side. Lady Nagant is impressed with Izuku and is about to call him a true hero, when All For One detonates her body. Her body explodes and Izuku screams in horror.^[98]

He was relieved that she survived and got more information from her before she fell unconscious from her wounds, but the incident served as a sore spot for him after. All For One correctly deduced that dangling her in front of him to make him try to save her was the surest way to stoke his fury, provoking him into coming after him alone. This tactic actually works for a while, and proves how much of an impression Lady Nagant left on him.

Later, he thought back to her when speaking his friend Yuga Aoyama, who had been exposed as a traitor, to express his faith that he could still be a hero and make up for selling information to All For One that had hurt the class. Nagant had helped Izuku realize that anybody can fall victim to circumstance, and that poor decisions are not always reflective of an individual.

During the Final War, just as Tomura was about to activate his Decay, Lady Nagant fired a bullet straight towards him, splitting his right arm off. This act has left Izuku completely surprised, knowing that another former enemy of his has now become an ally.^[95]

Eight years after the Final War, Izuku occasionally visits her alongside Hawks.

Dark Might#

Izuku first met Valdo Gollini when he and the Gollini Family first appeared in Japan to reclaim Anna Scervino after she was taken by the jailbreaker Ginji Kurau. Izuku was shocked at Valdo resembling All Might in his prime, but his Danger Sense was also going crazy, indicating that the new "All Might" was bad news. Shortly after taking Ginji down for betraying the Gollini Family, Valdo confronted Izuku, recognizing him as a hero in training before offering him a chocolate bar. Despite this, Izuku soon realizes that Valdo is nothing like All Might. The mafia boss brushes this off however, deciding that a petulant child can't grasp what he represents before using his Alchemy Quirk to create cameras and recording drones, hacking into Japan's news network to make an announcement.

Valdo announces that since All Might has retired and left "amateurs" to defend the people of Japan, with other countries abandoning them during their time of greatest need, he intends on taking All Might's place as the new Symbol of Peace and "embodiment of justice", declaring that now it's his turn, referencing All Might's final message as a hero. However, Izuku flies up and calls Valdo out for his "justice" saying that he used unnecessary violence and caused massive collateral damage, something that All Might would never do. Izuku soon realizes that while Valdo looks like All Might, he's nothing like him. Valdo simply scoffs, telling Izuku that he'll soon eat his words.

Shortly afterwards, Izuku and his classmates are all taken hostage in Dark Might's new fortress, the Symbol of Paradise. Upon meeting Dark Might again, the latter sees that Izuku can use multiple Quirks and wonders if he's All Might's successor. Izuku tries to attack him, but the imposter holds him in place before using Bologna Smash to send him flying.

Of all the villains he's faced, Dark Might has clearly struck a very bad chord with Izuku (and by extension Katsuki and Shoto) for impersonating All Might and using his beloved hero's image as motivation for his crimes. Upon partnering with Giulio Gandini to rescue Anna, Izuku soon learns that Dark Might is truly the head of the Gollini Family, the most dangerous criminal organization in Europe who wishes to destroy U.A. High School so he can rule over all of Japan. Izuku doesn't heed to Dark Might's pontificating, clearly not seeing him as the hero that he pretends to be and faces him to stop his evil plans and to save Anna. After a ferocious battle, Izuku, backed by Katsuki and Shoto, manages to defeat an empowered Dark Might by obliterating his monster form and destroying his whole fortress.

Predecessors#

The past users of One For All and Izuku's predecessors. Izuku senses their presence for the first time during the Sports Festival, when they briefly intervene to save him from Hitoshi's brainwashing. Months later, Izuku has a dream where he meets the predecessors properly and is shocked to learn that they are all conscious. According to All Might, Izuku is the first user of One For All to be able to communicate with the predecessors. The predecessors have difficulty communicating with Izuku, but they support him in his journey. It's to note after the fight with Nine, all the predecessors chose to stay with Izuku after he transferred the power to Katsuki, recognizing his willingness to protect others, even if it meant losing the power. Almost all the vestiges of the previous predecessors are seen welcoming him as one of them.^[33] Despite the fact that All Might no longer has the power, he can still sense his vestige within the vestige world.^[54] The predecessors are shown to care for Izuku, as the inheritors of One For All tell Deku not to push himself because of his injuries. They all share the one common enemy: All For One, the arch-nemesis of One For All.

Yoichi Shigaraki#

Sometime after Izuku inherited One For All, All Might narrates him the origins of One For All and the story of All For One's younger brother, Yoichi the first user of One For All.

After the fight with Endeavor and Hood, Izuku was exhausted after training he later went to sleep. Later, Izuku woke up to find himself in the vestige world, seeing all of the previous wielders of One For All. After seeing the history with Yoichi and his brother in the past, Yoichi wanted to show more of his history with his brother but at the time Izuku was only at 20% of his power. Yoichi also recognized him as the ninth user of One For All.^[99]

Later during the Paranormal Liberation War, after Tomura awakened with the All For One Quirk, Yoichi warned him that Tomura has awakened and his growing power and to stop him, when Tomura attempted to steal One For All from Deku. They appeared in the vestige world, where All For One was a half fusion with Tomura, and the two combined their power in attempt to steal One For All. After Izuku fell and Nana appeared to assist him, Yoichi appeared again, talking how his older brother always took advantage of people's weakness. He later assisted Nana to stop All For One and Tomura from stealing One For All. He deemed Izuku worthy of wielding One For All and said that they would follow him.

After the battle in the Paranormal Liberation War, Izuku fell into a coma, and he woke up in the vestige world, where he found himself in a room filled with chairs and all the predecessors except the second and third, who have their backs facing Izuku. Yoichi explains to Izuku what he and the rest of the users have gathered about the true nature of One For All based on the research Toshinori gathered and what his vestige told them. After Izuku said that he will try to save Tomura, Yoichi looked at Izuku with a smile.

The younger Shigaraki deeply respects and approves of Izuku as, like him, Yoichi has a strong sense of justice and responsibility to others while desiring to use his abilities to protect. Yoichi even goes to far to say they he is glad that Izuku of all people was chosen as the next successor.

Toshitsugu Kudo#

Izuku and Kudo did not interact much prior to the end of the Paranormal Liberation War. When Izuku went into a coma and found himself in a room with all the predecessors in a chair except for Kudo who was standing in front of a wall. Yoichi told Kudo to play nice and to help Izuku. Kudo was initially unwilling to help Izuku, viewing his ideals as foolish and not acknowledging him as a successor because he had never experienced the harsh times during All For One's height of power, believing he doesn't understand the responsibility of how much One For All means to end the war with All For One. However, after being convinced by Yoichi, Kudo decided to help Izuku alongside the rest of the predecessors to end the fight with All For One.

When Izuku says that he has to keep moving, Kudo agrees with Izuku, stating that the path he is choosing is the correct path, especially in this particular situation.^[21] Kudo of One For All was also supportive of Izuku because he reflects about how if there was anyone who could bolster Izuku, it would be those who share his resolve, can match his pace, and are willing to run alongside him, like his former classmates of Class 1-A.^[40]

Bruce Lee#

Izuku and Bruce did not interact much prior to the end of the Paranormal Liberation War. When Izuku went into a coma and found himself in a room with all the predecessors in a chair except for Bruce was standing in front of a wall. Yoichi later told Bruce to play nice and to help Izuku. Like Kudo, Bruce did not approve of Izuku or his ideals, even refusing to acknowledge him as a successor because Izuku will never understand the responsibility of how much One For All means to end the war with All For One. However, after being convinced by Yoichi, Bruce decided to help Izuku alongside the rest of the predecessors to end the fight with All For One.

Hikage Shinomori#

During the climax of the Paranormal Liberation War, after witnessing Tomura stab Katsuki, Deku unknowingly awakens Hikage's Quirk: Danger Sense. Though Izuku only knew Hikage from the notes taken by All Might about the previous holders, he formally meets Hikage along with the other users while he is in a coma from the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War. Hikage introduces himself to Izuku, explaining his past, his decision to train to strengthen One For All, and the cause of his death. When learning that Hikage died at the age of forty which he considered to be "old age" and that due him have a Quirk that to his life force being drained by One For All, Izuku is shocked and saddened that Hikage's life was ended so soon.^[100] During his battle with Tomura, he was dismayed that the latter was able to steal Hikage's quirk and prevented him from being alert.

Daigoro Banjo#

During Round Five of the Joint Training Battle when Izuku started to manifest Blackwhip and it goes out of control. After Hitoshi used brainwash to make Izuku stop, Izuku was sent into the vestige world. Daigoro appeared and told him it was time and scolded Izuku for using his Quirk wrong. He told Izuku that he couldn't use Blackwhip on thought anymore. He later told him to try harder to control his Quirk.^[66] When it was seen that Izuku still doesn't have a mouth and can't speak yet in the vestige world, he told him that it was ok. He later lectured Izuku, telling him that the black tendrils that he emitted earlier was because that Izuku thought of wanting to capture Neito, a perfect fitting for Blackwhip's uses and that's why it appeared.

He later explained to Izuku that the Quirk Factors of all the previous wielders have been inside of One For All for a long time dormant in a small core. He explained that it was expanding and growing larger and the same is happening to One For All itself. He later told that the strength of his Quirk was stronger due to the power of One For All. He told Izuku the key to controlling Blackwhip is by controlling his emotions. He told Izuku that he was going to have five more Quirks, he would later tell Izuku to do his best and that all the predecessors will be there to support him.^[101] When Izuku went into a coma and met all the previous user in a room, Daigoro told him that they needed to talk before he woke up and he will still have privacy and he was delighted to see that Izuku could now pronounce vowels in the vestige world. He also told Izuku that he could possibly be the last user of One For All.^[100] Before Izuku woke up from his coma, Daigoro suggested that Izuku should learn more about En and Hikage's Quirks. Even giving him adviced on how to use it while jabbing him in the stomach.

En#

After the fight with the Paranormal Liberation War, Izuku fell into a coma. Izuku woke up and found himself in a room in the vestige world where all the previous users of One For All sat on a chair except the second and third users, and during their conversation, En sat quietly. During Deku's rematch with Muscular, En spoke to him, acting like a mentor and giving him sound advice on how to best use his Quirk in conjunction with his other Quirks.

Nana Shimura#

Izuku first heard of her through All Might after he comments on how Izuku's mother reminds him of his master. He later sees Nana in his dream with the other One For All users. Afterwards, when talking with All Might about seeing these vestiges, he notes that Nana was very pretty.^[64] The two meet again in the vestige world, when Tomura attempts to take One For All from Izuku. All For One attempted to steal One For All but after Izuku tripped and fell down, Nana appeared and place her hand of his head. She tells him that he still can't move in his dream, but they will do something about it. After All For One and Tomura finish with their rants, Nana places her hands up in order to resist All For One's power. All For One, realizing that he doesn't have enough rage, tried to get Tomura to combine their power to steal One For All. Yoichi appeared, put up his hands, and together, the two of them stop All For One from taking One For All.^[102]

When Izuku is conversing with the vestiges of One For All inside the mental plane, Nana was silent at first but after all the predecessors where finished with their talking. Nana said back to the main topic she asks Izuku whether or not he is able to kill Tomura and put an end to his villainy for her.^[100] After hearing her explanation of the danger that Tomura poses and the necessity of having to end his life, Izuku replies that when inside the mental mindscape, he was able to hear the cries of a young boy inside Tomura's heart, declaring that he wants to try to save him before he tries to kill Tomura. Nana is brought to tears, apologizing to Izuku for testing him like that and asks him to send Gran Torino her regards.^[83] During Izuku's pursuit for All For One, she feels guilty for pushing her feelings onto Izuku, but is reassured by Daigoro, who says that to Izuku, every cause is a worthy cause.^[21]