#But this could tie into the DFO theory too

[donkeys-waffles]

I love this very much!!!

But it also reminds me, something about Izuku that I always found interesting was his tenacity towards saving the villain. How Izuku had a whole shift in his perception based on his fight with Gentle Criminal. How now he wants to SAVE the villain (Unless you're Overhaul.) One point that has been illustrated through the whole series is how he shakes people's entire perspective of themselves and the world, (Shoto, All Might, and so many others,) and saves them in the process. He literally looks at the BS and tells them exactly what they fear the most but need to hear.

And what has All for One been doing for two hundred years? Running from the truth, and Izuku's waiting around a corner ready to deliver a cold slap of hard TRUTH.

It's believed that AFO's abilities were also stockpiled in OFA, what if like Yoichi, AFO's memories were also saved and the first activation of AFO gives us his REAL backstory (without his stupid bias).

And knowing Izuku, no matter how much he hates AFO for what he's done, no one can convince me that boy is going to turn a blind eye to that shit. He's 100% gonna say something, he's the Todoroki family therapist for a reason.

AFO Purposeful Dehumanization

If people are confused at why AFO wants to be dehumanized here's a more proper analyst. It takes away his personal responsibility as a person with the excuse it in his nature. That he could NEVER redeem himself or even try to change because he is just evil. That of course it natural he would kill his little brother, it not like he cried. Also it was those rebels fault anyway so of course he lashed out at the betrayal!

No one caring about the human he is can be quite comforting. He doesn't need to ever think about making up or apologizing. He doesn't need to consider even the IDEA of redemption if is just a monster. Or worry about such silly things like forgiveness. Or care about the pain that he was abandoned into the streets it natural for a evil monster.

Yet he still wanted to be around people. He latched onto the villain because he had followers that surround him. He still had taken cared of Yoichi more then himself even if was for selfish reason.

Acknowledging his humanity would be acknowledging it wasn't his nature to be evil. But that he made a conscious choice and the consequences were a disaster. That he had hurt his family by accident, that he can't make up for that. That all these choices were his own personal responsibility. That he killed Yoichi not out of maliciousness but because he acted out in anger. To which he might never be able to forgive himself for.

For some people, acknowledging such things is terrifying and it better to pretend that "just how you are." Then ever think you can change, because that also means all the pain and hurt will weigh on you. That you fucked up your own life. Who wants that burden willingly?

But in the end these are excuses of a man terrified of his own humanity and the grief that would bring. He is fully conscious of his action and being humanized doesn't give him the out he craves. So he runs away from reality, because that is what this man is doing.

Because once he is humanized, he no longer has the excuse it in his nature. And instead he isn’t in control of his destiny, he was a victim who became an abuser and every mistake was all his fault.

[doodlegirl1998]

I never liked the Traitor twist. If I were given a chance to rewrite it, here's how I would've done it.

Instead of a traitor, it would instead be a person with a quirk to travel as a shadow, that would explain how they would be able to get the information for the USJ and the Training Camp. and Izuku could even have a bit of a meetup with them who blackmails him into keeping quiet about who they are or else they'll reveal he's the reason All Might retired.

They're a spy for hire, charging a hefty price to spill/keep secrets to villains. As being in the shadows can help with learning various things about people, no matter how big or small.

And to top it all off... they were previously a student of Aizawa's class that was expelled for "not having enough potential" Thus they couldn't face their family and ran away from home, becoming a villain.

This would show the effects of Aizawa's expulsion and how it's not as clear cut as he thinks it is, that it actually has negative consequences and where his students might end up. This would make Aizawa think twice and realize that his expulsions did more harm than good and now it's come back to hit him with the cold reality.

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

That is an excellent rewrite of the Traitor twist because how Hori wrote it in canon it just doesn't make sense.

1) Yuuga should have been caught way before now. He doesn't have invisibility to conceivably sneak around the way that Toru does. And UA should have security cameras.

2) He is one of the bottom students of the class. An argument could be made that he was hiding some of his skill set but Hori doesn't set that up (unlike that moment in the sports festival when he did for Kaminari) beyond occaisional fourth wall breaks.

3) What even is Aoyama doing as traitor? I've seen @justatalkingface talk about how they would have utilised the traitor plot and it is so scary and narrative breaking how AFO could have used this effectively yet he just didn't... For some reason. (A DFO argument could be made here, yet even if this theory turns out being true, AFO has no reason not to go after All Might, the rest of the staff and students properly.)

4) How is he getting Info to AFO directly without the staff / students with hearing quirks finding out? This just is a plot hole. Perhaps Yuuga didn't call, perhaps he passed on coded messages to his parents, perhaps... Nothing. This is giving Hori too much credit. You can't tell me Nedzu didn't monitor communications of everyone when they were in the dorms via the schools wifi / network. Nedzu should think something is suss especially if a student is talking with their parents in code.

5) The parallels with Izu are perhaps the only positive thing about this. But even that is utilised poorly. Izuku isn't allowed to reflect on his own past once when this Aoyama situation should have opened a lot of old wounds for him. Izuku wasn't allowed to think of the grey area of this situation once he brushed off Mic's concerns that they were all victims here along with Toru and Ojiro's hurt to tell Aoyama "you can still be a hero." While this is nice for Yuuga (since he was a traitor by force) it brushes off everyone elses feelings on the matter. Izuku has become more and more black and white as a character (and in his views) and this starkly highlights it.

Furthermore, your version where a villainous ex-student of Aizawa's with a shadow quirk is the cause of the traitor suspicions is much more interesting and plausible.

It would make more sense for them to be able to sneak around undetected.

It confronts Aizawa with the devastating impact of his teaching without any narrative cushioning.

It encourage Aizawa to grow as a teacher or quit after getting 1A through their first year.

This would tie the class closer together rather than tearing them apart and pitting members against each other (which is why I dislike the Izuku vs 1A fight along with how this Traitor arc was handled.)

It makes Nedzu look like less of a moron in general for the disbelief of Mic suggesting there is a traitor because he wouldn't be able to see any evidence of one in the cameras or student communications.

[figurativepieceoftrash]

Okay, so there’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a while that I’ve (surprisingly) never seen any DFO theorists point out. Everyone knows that Izuku is associated with sheep, in fact, every animal-related art piece Horikoshi has created has depicted him as either as a sheep like this example here:

Or as someone with an implied supernatural connection to one (the only example of this is in the poll art but shhh):

People do acknowledge this, and I see fanart related to it on a pretty regular basis, but I’ve never seen anyone really explore the symbolism of sheep, especially in relation to their historical/cultural juxtaposition with and genetic relation to goats.

Goats are typically considered to be a demonic symbol in Western religion, with the image of the goat often being directly conflated with that of the Judeo-Christian figure Satan. Y’know. Like, the devil. Who you might also refer to as the king of Demons. 

It might be a bit too speculative on my part, but I certainly think that with all the demonic references surrounding All For One’s character, you definitely could draw symbolic parallels between himself and Lucifer, especially considering that they both have close, first positive and later antagonistic, relationships with the wise, almost mythically revered “ultimate good” figures of their respective narratives, serve as irredeemable antagonists/ultimate evils, tend to engage in manipulative behavior, and are closely associated with the concepts of sin and corruption (poor Aoyama). Horikoshi also really likes to sprinkle fun little references to Western literature/concepts/media in his work so. Something to keep in mind.

Now this wouldn’t be super interesting on its own. Like. Yeah. AFO could be symbolically represented as a goat. Real interesting bro. But when you consider the fact that Izuku is often depicted as a sheep, things start to get a little more interesting. Because not only are goats and sheep closely related genetically (shoutout to the family group Bovidae and its subfamily Caprinae) but they also have a history of being juxtaposed against each other in Christian-inspired texts and media. 

While goats represent sin, agency, and temptation, lambs are symbols of innocence, moral malleability, and humanity, often being led by a more experienced shepherd archetype (hero society/All Might here) without truly comprehending the gravity of their actions. This might tie into Izuku’s budding reluctance to adhere completely to the precedents set by hero society as well as his newfound intention to save villains. Now that Izuku is branching out from authoritative forces, he’s able to express a more fluid and complex morality than in previous chapters, shedding his innocence while retaining moral purity (the sheep in the most recent art had horns, which shows maturity as well as another parallel to goats, who are much more strongly associated with horns than their fluffy cousins).

The idea of equal but opposite is very prevalent throughout bnha, especially when tied to All For One and One For All (it’s literally present in the names, you can’t escape it), meaning that such a clear duality may further aid the AFO/goat connection.

As a recap, AFO may have a connection to goats based on subtext. To my knowledge, Horikoshi has never associated him another animal. Goats and sheep are closely related, and are often juxtaposed in numerous Western cultures.

I may delete this later if I go back and realize I was being conspiracy theory levels of ridiculous here, but for now, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[gentrychild]

Why do you think we're getting so many reveals at once in this arc? It's like back to back nonstop chapter after chapter reveals. I'm a little worried, I guess? It feels like too much, but I guess there are still plenty of loose threads to tie up.

My working theory:

Some poor assistant: “Horikoshi! The DFO fans are about to break the doors! They want their reveal!”

Horikoshi: “Let’s draw other reveals as fast as possible! It will slow them down!”

The poor assistant, now trembling in fear as the DFO theorists are howling: “But for how long?”

Horikoshi: “We will get there when we will get there!”

Another assistant: “You know what else could work? Some simping content!”