Keigo Takami

Keigo Takami,^[3][4] also known as the Wing Hero: Hawks, is a former Pro Hero, having become the No. 2 Hero on the Hero Billboard Chart JP.^[1]

After the Final War, he became the new president of the Hero Public Safety Commission.^[5]

Appearance#

Keigo is a young man of average height with a slim and narrow build. He has feathery, ash blond hair that is swept messily backward, with some of the front tufts sticking up in arcs above his head. He has two square-shaped piercings, one on each side of his ear, though they're often concealed by his headphones. His eyebrows are notably thick, having a similar texture as his hair, and he has faint stubble on his chin.

His eyes are golden-brown and rather triangular, with two small black triangles just below his tear ducts and in the top corners of his eyes, making them resemble those of a bird. His Quirk, Fierce Wings, granted him a set of large, bright red feathered wings. Although the sizing of his wings is somewhat inconsistent, they are mostly shown to reach over his head when folded.

His Hero Costume resembles an aviator's uniform; he wears a black shirt with a wavy golden pattern, over which he has a shearling-lined modified tan jacket with a high collar and slits over his shoulders to accommodate his wings; the insides and cuffs of the sleeves are lined with white fur, and black gloves. He has a red square-shaped lobe piercing in each ear, although these are rarely visible as he usually wears a pair of yellow ear-protective headphones over them. A rounded, yellow-tinted (blue in the manga) visor protects his eyes, presumably from UV radiation above the clouds and dirt particles at high speeds.^[6]

After the Paranormal Liberation War, and following several injuries given by Dabi's Blueflame, Hawks' wings were left as weakened stubs. During his time recovering, he temporarily wears a respirator mask and uses a text-to-voice app on his phone to talk to others, although he soon regains his use of speech and his wings eventually start growing back.^[7] Upon returning to hero work, his hair is cut much shorter, while the left side of his face has a jagged scar from his cheek to his neck, and severe scars across his entire back to his upper neck. He also donned a new visor and his black undershirt has two golden buttons on the neck area.

By the time of the Final War, Hawks wore prosthetics on his wings so he could try to reach his previous high speeds, as Recovery Girl's Heal Quirk was unable to properly restore them.^[8] He also had several katana, which he used in place of his since-burnt feather blades.^[9] In the conclusion of the fight, he loses his wings completely after his Quirk is stolen from him by All For One.^[10] He shortly afterwards was attacked by some of Himiko Toga's Doubles, now having a giant knife slice mark on the right side of his chest and face.^[11]

In the aftermath of the Final War, Keigo has a large jagged scar on his forehead and now wears a black suit with a white shirt underneath. He also still carries one of his katana on his back.^[12]

Eight years after the Final War, Keigo looks mostly the same, mainly only wearing different type of business suits, such as a orange suit jacket with a blue pinstripe dress shirt underneath or a full white business attire.

Personality#

Hawks is shown to be highly intelligent, both emotionally and logistically. He promotes a carefree and jovial attitude, while his constant vigilance often hides under layers of serenity and equanimity. Hawks acts laid-back while being on constant alert, usually speaking his mind and coming off as quite rude at times.

Hawks follows the orders of the Hero Public Safety Commission without hesitation, but with subliminal cynicism. Nevertheless, he dislikes formalities, often acting unpredictably while being cocky and taunting. He acts nonchalant and jokingly submissive since he does not care about social status or recognition. Hawks uses a lot of sarcasm, such as when he agrees serenely when Katsuki Bakugo claims to have been faster, and he reacts with ironic adaptation when someone claims him to be lesser.^[13]

Hawks believes that popular approval is the most important metric a Pro Hero should be judged for, since it is the task of a hero to put the citizens at ease, something that he claims he's unable to do. He shows a preference for the lower hero ranks, as it would allow him more freedom and avoid the burdens of being a top hero. He states his wish is to patrol in a free, leisurely fashion and "take it easy."^[14] Still, Hawks is said to be ferocious in regards to his Pro Hero duties, understanding the importance of a leader figure among all heroes after All Might's retirement. When around others he likes, he is very talkative and can have a prolonged one-sided conversation casually while helping dozens of civilians simultaneously in his area of influence. He also claims that he will always strive for what he longs for.

He appears relaxed in situations of great pressure, such as during the Japanese Hero Billboard Chart. Hawks' gestures are lively, expressive, and highly personalized, as he always wants to get his voice across. He claims to be "bad at keeping it in," even though he possesses complete control over his facial expressions and body language, which makes him an extremely skilled liar. But apparently, he adores the truth, finding lying to be too much work. These traits allowed him to easily work his way into the Paranormal Liberation Front, and the slight change in his normally relaxed demeanor expertly conveyed to Endeavor the information about the Front's aims and change of leadership.

Hawks' cunning has been shown multiple times, as he outsmarts the surveillance monitors placed on his wings, as well as planning his actions ahead in order to have explanations for the Hood incident. He is rational and more far-sighted than other Pro Heroes, allowing him the best chances to go undercover, being chosen personally by Madam President to infiltrate the League of Villains.

While undercover, he maintained his laid-back yet vigilant demeanor, conversing casually with the villains and carefully monitoring himself, aware of their distrust in him, especially Dabi, who kept him at arm's length and focused on finding ways to exploit him. He also remained cautious and observant, recognizing Twice as the largest threat to the Heroes after overcoming his trauma and unlocking the full deadly potential of his Quirk, moving in to detain him immediately after blowing his cover.

He has also demonstrated his intelligence through his investigative work. After a string of Heroes were attacked and lost their Quirks, Hawks concluded that due to the power of their Quirks, they might have been stolen rather than destroyed, and his analysis later proved to be correct as Nine had been the culprit behind the Quirk thefts. Likewise, he was quickly able to deduce the truth behind One For All and its connection to All Might and Izuku Midoriya. He was then able to use his analytical skills to try to better understand One For All and All For One, being the one to theorize that All For One could never steal the Quirk because he lacks any semblance of hatred required to take it.

While Hawks may seem uninterested in most things, he has a good heart, as he saves every single witness from Hood's attack and is silently disgusted at the strain of maintaining his duty-act as a double agent amidst a cabal of villains and terrorists. He also feels guilty about Endeavor's scar, having coaxed the High-End Nomu attack into a contained area to reduce casualties.^[15]

While he seems relaxed and under-challenged as typical of most prodigies, Hawks is in fact hard-working and under constant pressure with his hero career. It is proclaimed that he trained endlessly to maximize the techniques in which he uses his wings, refining his rescue, support, and combat abilities. As a mentor, he can easily come off as dismissive due to his tremendous speed and skill, with even his sidekicks serving to just clean up the aftermath of his hero work. However, he did eventually show genuine respect towards his work-study trainee, Fumikage Tokoyami, for trying to keep up with him. Later, Hawks took Fumikage for a fly over the city and encouraged the student to continue sharpening his skills and not just focus on areas where he is lacking, saying that those who can fly should fly, advice that pushed Fumikage to further hone his Dark Shadow Quirk and grant himself flight as well.

In his childhood, his father, Takami, forced him to stay locked up in the house in fear that Keigo would be found and traced back to him, and he was unable to interact with the outside world or anyone his age. Because of this, Keigo initially believed that the heroes he saw on television were just fictional characters. Furthermore, he was subjected to constant physical and emotional abuse by his father. Keigo would be kicked simply for turning his back to his father, who would constantly say how it would've been better if Keigo was never born. Seeing how broken both of his parents were, Keigo held in his emotions and became determined not to endure the same fate.

After his father was arrested by Endeavor, Keigo realized that heroes are indeed real, and his hope was reinvigorated after being freed from his father's abuse. Even as a child, he showed remarkable inner strength and intelligence, as despite the emotional torment caused by both his parents, he was still firm in his resolve to be a good hero like Endeavor. Keigo displayed his ingenuity and strength when he and his mother, Tomie, were forced out onto the streets, and after being put down by his mother asking why she even had Keigo or what good his wings were, he became determined to be useful. While his Quirk would have made it easy to steal wallets and purses, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead, he used his Quirk to intervene in a high-speed automobile crash, saving the lives of many people and garnering the attention of the Hero Public Safety Commission, saving both him and his mother from their life of poverty.

Despite his troubled past and being taken in by a corrupted government who saw him as a mere replacement for Lady Nagant, Hawks was determined to strive and become a hero like his idol, Endeavor. Through the years, he underwent a harsh training regimen by the HPSC to become an undercover double agent for the safety of society. By the time his training was complete, he still retained his optimism, unlike his superior. He also continued to look up to his idol even after Dabi's public recording (which exposed Endeavor's past of abusing his family). Hawks even went so far as to expose his own past for Endeavor's sake, believing that unlike his own father, Endeavor has truly changed for the better.

Hawks' optimistic side is what leads him to want to find the good in others, potentially due to his own personal guilt over never truly forgiving his mother, something he commends Shoto Todoroki over after learning of his reconciliation with his own mother, Rei. Alongside trusting Endeavor and witnessing his growth, as well as believing Lady Nagant still has the heart of a hero even after her turn to the dark side, the biggest example of his compassion was with Twice, who he managed to develop a genuine bond of friendship with (even while undercover). Having realized that Twice was truly a good person at heart, and feeling remorseful for exploiting his trust, Hawks held a genuine desire to help the villain rehabilitate, even if the plan ultimately failed.

Following the Final War, Keigo's supportive nature remains intact as he accepts the loss of his Quirk, becoming the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission and choosing to do all he can to help out. He gives Lady Nagant a full pardon for her crimes, but is disappointed upon hearing that she still wishes to remain in prison out of fear of being exploited again. He also offers his support to a now retired Endeavor, who has chosen to spend the rest of his life making amends for his actions in order to protect his family, telling the former Flame Hero via text to let him know if he needs anything.

During a meeting with All Might, Keigo decides to make some changes to the hero ranking system, wanting to acknowledge everyone's efforts in the Final War and not just the heroes, saying that even the greatest can't do everything by themselves and wishing to use these changes to cultivate more heroes and people who are willing to help. Eight years later, his previous words about everyone pitching in to help have come true, resulting in the bright future that he had foretold, including using his contacts in the Commission to help push for increased funding for Ochaco Uraraka's Quirk Counselling projects.

Abilities#

Overall Abilities: Hawks was ranked 3rd of Japan's Pro Heroes, before taking the spot of No. 2 after All Might's retirement. When he was eighteen years old, Hawks became one of the top 10 Pro Heroes before taking the No. 3 spot in the four years that followed, making him the youngest top Pro Hero as well as the fastest to reach such a high ranking in Japan. Fast and cunning, Hawks possesses incredible skill and finesse over his Quirk, Fierce Wings, which he primarily uses for flight, high-speed combat, and supporting his allies' mobility using detached feathers. Even as a child, Hawks demonstrated remarkable skill and prowess, being able to singlehandedly save multiple people in a huge car accident with the automobiles going at 130 km/h.

In spite of his prowess, Hawks is aware of his Quirk's weakness and will not exhaust his quills unless absolutely necessary. To compensate for his Quirk being unable to enhance his overall brute strength, Hawks employs his plumes as bladed weapons. Combined with his celerity, Hawks can rapidly slice through enemies^[16] or fire off smaller plumages from his wings like daggers.^[14] His overall Quirk proficiency allowed for Hawks to become both a top Pro Hero and one of the swiftest fighters in the world. In fact, Hawks subdues common criminals so quickly his subordinates only serve as clean-up, while Hawks moves on to his next target.^[17]

Without looking, Hawks utilized his feathers to save citizens and animals, as well as apprehend villains, all while holding a walking conversation with Endeavor. When Hood appeared and engaged Endeavor, Hawks was able to effectively evacuate 76 citizens from the collapsing skyscraper before proceeding to aid the Flame Hero against the High-End Nomu. These feats display Hawks' effectiveness at multi-tasking and awareness of his surroundings. Hawks' main strength however happens to be his extraordinary speed, which enabled him to keep pace with Hood, who completely outpaced Endeavor, a combatant with high reflexes. Come winter, Hawks travelled from the top of a skyscraper and apprehended two villains at such a high speed that Izuku and Katsuki couldn't follow his movements.

In the Final War against the villains, despite his wings being permanently crippled, Hawks was still selected to fight alongside Endeavor against All For One, and came extremely close to delivering a killing blow with the assistance of Fumikage. Later, he still provided support that was crucial in helping the Flame Hero overwhelm him. As All For One became younger and more powerful due to the accelerated effects of the reversed-engineered Rewind Drug, the villain was effective at brutally defeating him and steals his Quirk. With his Quirk now gone, Hawks has effectively lost all of his speed.

Keen Intellect: Hawks has repeatedly shown to be a highly ingenious individual. Even if he can not compete with Endeavor and All Might in terms of raw power, Hawks' intellect is extremely formidable, enhancing his value as a hero to the level of the two high-grade crime fighters. Hawks is observant, collected, and quick-thinking in his verbal confrontations with Dabi and Endeavor. Hawks controlled a large number of feathers simultaneously without looking, while performing a seemingly relaxed conversation, making it appear that he is oblivious to the conflicts around him.^[14] During a sit-down with Endeavor, Hawks postulated that All For One was hiding more Nomus outside of Kamino than the ones that were found at the Nomu factory by the Hideout Raid Team, concluding that the League of Villains was searching for the hidden set of Nomus. Later on, during the attack by Hood, Hawks took proper safety precautions whilst vacating the citizens housed inside of the crumbling building. Knowing he wouldn't be able to secure everyone with the minimal plumes he had left, he shifted his focus to those trapped within the damaged portion of the structure, which proved a success. When Endeavor had Hawks use his remaining quills to impel him further into the sky, Hawks realized that it was part of Endeavor's plan to avoid collateral damage.

After Endeavor defeated Twice's Doubles, Hawks examined the demolished convoy, identified the container being a life support device, and assumed it was housing another Nomu creature, only to immediately redact his assumption, believing the containment unit was meant to hold something else. His presumption was correct as the life support pod was created for the villain Nine. Over the course of the next week, Hawks was informed that four Pro Heroes had lost their Quirks during that time, and accurately conjectured that victims' powers were stolen by someone with the same Quirk-stealing ability as All For One, and the victims were targeted due to their Quirks being useful. Hawks was even capable of gathering various sensitive information about the politics within the HPSC without their knowledge,^[15] and even tricked the surveillance of the Paranormal Liberation Front, all while maintaining his façade.^[18]

Indomitable Will: Despite his relaxed composure and carefree attitude, Hawks has some degree of willpower, strong enough to resist All For One's influence and control. Even after his Quirk was stolen by the villain, his Quirk Factor managed to form within the Vestige realm of All For One and was able to rally the other Quirk Factor Vestiges against the villain due to his negative emotions corrupting him, making All For One lose control of his Quirks during his final battle with Dynamight.^[19]

Former Quirk#

Fierce Wings: Hawks' Quirk granted him a pair of large, bright red, feathery wings on his back. These wings allowed him to fly, and he could telekinetically control the movement and nature of each individual feather with ease, enabling him to harden them into a blade-like state and/or shoot them as projectiles, as well as control their speed and trajectory. The feathers are light, yet considerably strong; with just a single feather, he is capable of carrying a medium-sized object, such as a rock or a person, and he can carry larger objects by using multiple feathers.^[14] With his many feathers, he is easily able to carry multiple loads at once. He can also feel the vibrations in the air through them in a manner similar to echolocation, allowing him to sense people's locations.^[20][21]

As Hawks sheds more feathers, his wings gradually shrink, impairing his ability to fly.^[16] When he loses all his feathers, it takes at least two days for them to grow halfway back, which can be a considerable drawback. His feathers are not of infinite quantity and prove to be lacking in abundance during certain occasions. Hawks has mentioned that he does not have enough feathers to hold up a collapsing building, but does have enough to evacuate the victims from said building. Aside from the limited feather quantity, the biggest weakness of Fierce Wings is fire, as it can burn Hawks' feathers, severely impairing his mobility.^[22]

Following the Paranormal Liberation War, Hawks' Quirk was greatly hindered due to the injuries he received from Dabi. While his wings grew back enough for him to fly, he was forced to rely on prosthetics to compensate for his missing feathers, limiting his speed.^[8] During the height of the Final War, All For One stole this Quirk from Hawks, leaving him Quirkless.^[10]

• Feather Blades: Hawks plucks out two primary feathers from each of his wings, manipulates their nature, and uses them as swords to cut through his target. They are sharp enough to slice through two white Nomu summoned by High-End. It is also shown that he threatens Dabi with a single feather blade after the attack.^[16] Following the injuries his wings sustained, Hawks is unable to draw these blades from his remaining feathers, having to rely on katana instead.

• Enhanced Sight: Hawks has a very acute sense of sight. From the top of a skyscraper, Hawks was able to spot Endeavor between hundreds of citizens, which implies he has incredibly sharp vision.^[23]

• Immense Speed: By his own admission, Hawks' strong side isn't muscle strength, but his extraordinary speed. He was able to reach Endeavor's attackers from the top of a skyscraper effortlessly in the blink of an eye, which implies that he can reach much higher speeds. Hawks solves most fights so quickly that his sidekicks can't keep up with him, so he usually just leaves the aftermaths of his battles to them while he rushes to the next case.

• Vocal Espionage: Hawks is able to use individual feathers to distinguish sounds from the second it changes in the air, allowing him to decode conversations and vocal information by sensing the vibrations. Especially after leaving the room or increasing the distance, this technique makes him a dangerous spy.^[18]

Ultimate Moves#

Soundwave Vibration-Enhanced Flight Feather Blade: Taking advantage of Kyoka Jiro's Legato, Hawks flies around and hits his opponent with a blade. First used against All For One, it had enough power to break his reinforced life support helmet.^[24]

Stats#

Equipment#

Katanas: Hawks possesses three katanas, which were replacements for his since-burnt feather blades. He uses them to attack in a similar way to his feather blades.^[9] The first of them was destroyed when he attacked All For One's protective helmet,^[24] and the second was destroyed when it rebounded off of All For One's Hardflame Fan.^[25]

Battles & Events#

Pro Hero Arc Hero Billboard Chart JP Endeavor & Hawks vs. Hood Joint Training Arc Hero Agency Internships (Flashback) Hero Work-Studies I (Flashback) Endeavor Agency Arc Hero Work-Studies II Endeavor & Hawks vs. Starservant My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission Mission: Humarise Pro Heroes vs. Humarise Paranormal Liberation War Arc Paranormal Liberation War Gunga Mountain Villa Raid Hawks vs. Twice & Dabi Dark Hero Arc Pro Heroes vs. Robbers Final War Arc Final War Endeavor, Hawks & Trainees vs. All For One Uravity & Gunga Mountain Team vs. Himiko Toga & Doubles

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Chapter Appearances#

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Trivia#

• Keigo's given name is composed of the kanji for "disclose, open, say" and "enlightenment, understanding", and his surname contains "hawk" and "see, visible, idea".
• According to Hawks' Volume 20 profile:
• His design is inspired by Takahiro, a character from Oumagadoki Zoo, one of Kohei Horikoshi's previous works. Hawks himself was originally supposed to be Takahiro as a transplanted character from Oumagadoki Zoo, similar to Uwabami and Kugo Sakamata, but that plan was discarded in favor of a new design.
• Takahiro in his original design would later make a cameo appearance in My Hero Academia: Two Heroes.
• His favorite food is chicken. Although Hawks is bird-like, his liking for bird-based meals makes him similar to a raptor, like his alias's namesake.
• When first introduced in the manga, Hawks had a silver/white color pallet to the designs of his headgear and shirt, while the anime gave it a warmer yellow/gold color. On the cover of Volume 27, his manga colors were officially changed to match the colors of the anime.
• Hawks' wings and overall appearance is similar to Angel/Archangel of the X-Men. Additionally, his backstory as the bastard son of a criminal and an innocent bystander and appearance is similar to Golden Eagle, the sidekick of Hawkman and member of the Teen Titans.
• Hawks didn't attend a heroics course in high school; instead, he was scouted for private hero education when he was a child.^[7]
• Hawks is the first Pro Hero explicitly stated to have not attended U.A. High School, currently making him the highest-ranking hero to not attend U.A. High.
• During an interview with Honyasan App, My Hero Academia's then editor, Yoritomi, revealed that Hawks' backstory is based off Lionel Messi's childhood. Additionally, the piercings Hawks wears was inspired by another soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo.^[28][29]
• Hawks holds the record for the youngest Pro Hero, as well as the fastest for a Pro Hero to become one of the top 10 Pro Heroes on the Hero Billboard Chart JP.
• He ranks 2nd in both the overall Hero rankings and in the Hero popularity rankings.
• According to the Ultra Analysis fanbook:
• Hawks was the youngest Hero to ever make it into Japan's Top 10, having done so before the age of 20.
• Hawks' personality is described as "sharp-eyed, sharp-eared".
• Horikoshi reveals during his talk with Tite Kubo that he came up Hawks' character to fill the double agent role in the story and that his present design was conceptualized along the way.
• Keigo grew out his facial hair to look more mature and hide his baby face whenever he talks to other adults.^[26]
• Keigo still has the Endeavor plush his mother bought him as a child and keeps it safe at home. The toy is his only piece of merchandise for the man, as he doesn't have the same appreciation for him as a regular fan.^[27]
• Keigo's ratings in the Popularity Polls are as follow:
• Ranked 4th in the fourth Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 11th in the fifth Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 7th in the sixth and Global Popularity Polls.
• Ranked 5th in the seventh and ninth Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 8th in the eighth Popularity Poll.
• Keigo shares several of his English voice actors with other characters:
• His main actor, Zeno Robinson, also voices Deidoro Sakaki.
• As a child, he is voiced by Emi Lo, who also voices Lala Soul.

Quotes#

• (To Endeavor) "I just wanna enjoy myself. Seriously. Do some leisurely patrolling, put in a few appearances, say "Aw shucks, no trouble today," and get a good night's sleep! That's my ideal life! I wanna make this world one where heroes have time to kill."^[30]
• (To the HPSC) "If dirtying my hands can somehow bring everyone peace of mind, I'll gladly take on this task."^[31]
• "I'm Hawks. The man who's a bit too fast. A society where heroes can enjoy a little boredom... I'll make it happen, I promise, at my trademark top speed."^[31]
• (To Fumikage Tokoyami) "I'm not especially interested in nurturing the next generation or anything, but... It's great that you're putting in effort to cover your weak points, like short-distance combat, but you shouldn't neglect improving on your strong points either. You're capable of moving much more freely. Look... take it from a fellow bird. If you've got wings, you should stretch them out and fly. There's no need for you to be confined to the ground."^[32]
• (To Twice) "I'll help you get back on your feet... You were dealt a bad hand, but you can atone for your deeds and start over. Because you're a good person."^[33]
• (To Best Jeanist) "When a person's backed into a corner or when they're truly free... that's when they show their true nature. That's why I think Bubaigawara was a decent guy... who was just desperate to be help and I feel... the same way."^[34]