#teaching the wolves to hunt (headcanons || Fumikage Tokoyami);

[wolfpackmuses]

So! I’ve finally come up with some headcanons and ideas for a Tokoyami fantasy AU verse. Some of these aren’t really based off any specific media, some of them are based off DnD concepts, and some is just pulled from some other fantasy stuff I know about.

With that, I’ll share some of those below!

Tokoyami in a fantasy verse does a lot of work as a merchant for many of the local markets, with him owning an apple farm on the outskirts of some city/village.

However, despite the outward portrayal of him just selling apples and other apple-related products, he does live somewhat of a double-life.

For his double-life, he does occasionally take up jobs to hunt down certain targets as a bounty hunter and uses his companion, Dark Shadow a large crow-like bird to travel and to help track down targets.

In this sense, he can use Dark Shadow as a tracking bird that can be used from the air while he travels on foot to wherever the target may be.

Dark Shadow can actually take the shape and size of a normal crow, if it is needed, and Tokoyami has the specific ability to call him back by a certain phrase to where he takes on a normal crow appearance.

For most of what Tokoyami does though, he does end up using a bow and arrow to find his targets and get them from range. While he is versed in some short range combat, thanks to his father’s insistence on at least learning how to use a sword, long range combat is his expertise.

Tokoyami, for the most part, takes on the characteristics of the Ranger class from DnD, mixing in elements of the “Beast Master” archetype, like having Dark Shadow to hunt with him, and the “Gloom Stalker” archetype, such as being able to attack quickly like in Stalker’s Fury or even through evading and dodging enemies in Shadowy Dodge.

That said, he is not overly powerful or anything and there are limitations to what he can do, like the short range combat or his inability to always avoid dangerous situations.

Tokoyami’s life prior to him taking on his apple-farm and bounty hunting wasn’t the most extravagant. He grew up in a household that was more middle-class, with both parents also being merchants and his family not having the most money.

However, both of Tokoyami’s parents did go missing when he became a teenager and it is assumed they ended up getting ambushed and taken during a travel back from a nearby market festival.

Tokoyami, despite this, kept up his parent’s legacy and has become mainly known as a successful merchant with lots of fun goodies in apple flavoring, but is more widely known as a proficient bounty hunter in “darker circles”.

Tokoyami also is not the most trusting of people, as many can imagine. So if you come across him, expect him to give you the cold shoulder for a while.

One final thing to mention: Tokoyami also knows how to play string guitar and, at one point, considered it to be his career path once he was able to get out into the world a bit, before his parent’s disappearance. Tokoyami does sometimes still play, but he’s seemingly done it less due to not… really having a need to, even if it’s something he’d love to continue doing.

General art of what he and Dark Shadow looks like can be found below. Original art was by Mia0309, but I can’t find an active source for said photo.

[wolfpackmuses]

So here are some thoughts I've had regarding a Third Year AU for Tokoyami!

Third-Year AU Headcanons

Dark Shadow is not as wild as they once were and handles commands from Tokoyami much more easily thanks to training.

With training, Dark Shadow is also not affected nearly as much by light, but they are not immune and do still lose some fighting ability in the sunlight.

However, at night, Dark Shadow can still be as angry and wild as they were, but now they fight alongside Tokoyami and his classmates instead of going against Tokoyami's orders/wishes.

Speaking of, Dark Shadow can fight independently to a degree now. It's more so as a way to keep the heat off Tokoyami and to protect him, but he can fight a group of enemies that wasn't noticed before while others handle the first group.

Tokoyami has learned to try and be more open with his classmates and not be as secretive and edgy all the time

He still won't share everything with someone, but he is much better about talking to his classmates and actually communicating things now.

Apparently, working with Hawks has given him some sort of notoriety amongst the other lower classes, as well as some in the public. There seem to be quite a few who recognize him now in public, although Tokoyami tries to stay out of the limelight.

The scars from the battle do still follow Tokoyami, especially in the look of his feathers, with a lot of them not having fully healed back like they had looked prior to the war.

Tokoyami also still fears that Dark Shadow could break free from control due to the power of the quirk, but Tokoyami has a better grasp on how to work with Dark Shadow now instead of simply commanding the quirk around.

New methods of arming himself were acquired, such as claw-like gloves that can extend or retract claws to fight in close quarters, to take on the idea of using his quirk as a way to help him fight, not to be the only way to fight others.

Tokoyami does still wonder if what happened to Keigo with him protecting Tokoyami and his quirk was truly worth it. Sure, it helped Tokoyami, but he still does feel guilty about what happened, now that Keigo no longer can use his quirk.

With this though, Tokoyami has spoken with Keigo and the two are still on good terms with Hawks still giving advice to Tokoyami, even if he doesn't physically have the ability to use a quirk anymore.

Tokoyami, despite everything the class went through, still wants to keep in contact with everyone and has thrown out the idea of starting another band for the class so they can all keep up with one another in some capacity.

Tokoyami is not entirely sure what he wants to do after graduation. The idea of still being a pro-hero is there for him, but now that he's seen the worst of the worst in terms of villains, he isn't as keen on the idea of starting his own agency or anything anymore. He has had thoughts of taking over Keigo's agency, but there is still a lot that needs to be done on that front.

As you can imagine, there is now a thought being floated around the other classes that Tokoyami is actually more powerful than Deku, Bakugo, or Shoto now that so many saw his power against AFO. While this is something that he never confirms or denies, Tokoyami personally believes he probably is the strongest, but he doesn't want to take anything away from his classmates.

Speaking of this, Tokoyami has enjoyed talking to other heteromorphs at the school in his third year, to help them get better with their own quirks and to start a trend into the "new age" of heteromorphs being accepted more freely than they may have been prior.

One more for now: Despite the success Tokoyami has had at U.A. and with him being a mentee to Keigo during a lot of his time in the hero program, Tokoyami still truly wonders if being a hero is right for him. While he can't say for sure what is driving some of these thoughts, he has had ideas that he could become a villain and let Dark Shadow roam free. As of now, he has not told anyone else about these thoughts or the long discussions he's had with Dark Shadow about these possibilities, except for one person... Keigo.