#using some inspo from PROMARE

[meeko-mar]

Ok I just thought of this. 

This is a further, further thought about my Kidnapped Deku Theory, about the captivity of Izuku, as well as the FUNCTION such an event would serve in his story. Surprise influence from a different Anime(movie) plays into my thought on this. 

Now. Imma just preface this with: Part of me hopes I'm wrong about this, cause I like Compress and I don't want him to die yet.

But here we go.

So, Deku gets kidnapped, and somehow, the whole group, (probably minus Machia) escapes.

They bunker down in some hidden location. Shigaraki is way too depleted to physically do anything about stealing OFA at this particular point, so for now they just restrain Izuku where they can keep a close eye on him until shiggy gains enough strength . Izuku is desperately tired as well and cannot even hope of fighting back yet. So sit in captivity he does. And he observes.

And now here's where the whole thing of "Izuku needs to realize that the villains need saving too" thing comes into play,

Compress is SUPER injured. And unless one of them has some pretty adept med skills, it's unlikely that he'll get proper medical treatment for his wounds. So...barring anyone coming up with sudden healing Quirks, be it Shigaraki Or Izuku, it's likely that Compress will die. 

Izuku is going to have a front row seat to the league as they lose, and mourn the loss of their friend.

Like I said I kinda don't want compress to die, but if his death has a purpose, aside from the escape of Shigaraki, maybe it's a step towards humanizing the League to Izuku. Up until this point, to him, they have been a nefarious, one-dimensional entity who has done nothing but terrorize his class and caused mayhem and death.

And nooo, this definitely ain't gonna erase any of that terrible shit they’ve done, or want to do, and he sure as hell ain’t gonna become their friend, but seeing some more relatable  moments and seeing that even these guys are a found family and mourn each other's losses and that they sacrifice for one another too. It's gonna give him something more to think about in the big picture(and maybe make him realize some of the flaws in their Hero Society)

And, even though Izuku has chosen the profession of Hero, it doesn’t mean that he’d witness Compress’s death and be happy about it. He’s not the type to sit there and say “GOOD, you all deserve it, one less villain in the world!” (that’s Bakugou’s thing, after all) Izuku is a naturally kind and empathetic person. He can understand death and loss, and even though he cannot agree with their methods of rage, murder and destruction, he could come to understand some of the more nuanced roots of it. He wants Villains to face justice for their crimes, but he’s never been the type to actually wish death upon them (even when he’s trash-talking them while emulating Bakugou’s style). 

((not to diverge too far, but I think the same goes for his understanding of Touya, he can grasp that Enji Todoroki was an absolute shit-heel to his kids/wife. He has a concept of abuse and how that had affected Shoto, and has in fact snapped back at Enji himself back at the sports fest when he really didn’t have to or even have the place for it, BUT It still doesn’t change the fact that Dabi was so far out of line in trying to murder his own brother that yes, Izuku is still super justified in what he said to Dabi instead of stopping mid-battle and trying to work it out with him. Like I said before, this ain’t that type of Talk-no-Jutsu anime. BUT I DIGRESS, BACK TO OUR TOPIC))

Like I said before and will say again til I’m blue in the face, Izuku’s understanding and developing vision of this world is more nuanced than that, and this is basically a slow-burn. He’s still young and learning, and he just needs those perspectives and experiences to edge in to his pre-conceived and admittedly exclusionary notions of heroism and society.

Secondly, Toga is also going to be mourning the death of Twice, who was killed at the hands of a hero that Izuku has worked with/admired himself. She’s going to have her own issues with Izuku and she may get the chance to have a more extended conversation with him, not like how the convo with Ochako was so stunted because Ochako was trying to apprehend Toga and was full of anger and adrenaline...Izuku in this situation will probably have no other option than to hear her out entirely. Assuming she’s not trying to stab him or suck his blood while she’s doing so. 

The third thing that could affect him and his outlook, is that Izuku has already seen AFO’s manipulative tendencies over Tomura in the Quirk “dimension”, so he even has that to think about as well...potentially more, if Shiggy gets to try stealing OFA again. So there’s also that, which I think Hori is going to expand on later no matter what, arguably there was that one panel already that showed Izuku try to run towards Tomura as if to save him(not sure if that was what was happening, but we shall see).

Izuku may find himself in the den with villains, but he may see more pieces to the puzzle, and it might be the perspective he needs to truly become the world's next symbol of hope.  

OKAY ADDED CONTEXT TIME. I suddenly realized where I think I got this particular vision. 

If you have seen the Studio Trigger movie, PROMARE, there is a scene where the plucky protagonist, Galo, finds where a group of the Burnish are hiding, and the Deuteragonist, and Burnish leader, Lio knocks him out and ties him up. (without being too spoilery, the Burnish are people who have sometimes uncontrolled bursts of flames that have a habit of causing much destruction and death)

From here, Galo witnesses how they take care of each other even when the public image of the Burnish is a harsh and fearful one of rigid oppressionand dehumanization. He sees that they need to eat to survive, and most importantly, he witnesses one of their number perish after being a victim of many human experiments, and he sees them try to save that person, and then mourn, before they all leave. Additionally, Lio explains to him what the Burnish experience is actually like, as opposed to the narrative that is out there surrounding them, that Galo knows.

Now, Galo wasn’t exactly hateful against the Burnish people to begin with, but due to his job being a firefighter(an occupation in this world that is super Hype, kind of like Heroes in BNHA), his lot in life runs opposed to them by nature. He serves to protect others from the chaos that the Burnish people (mostly unintentionally) bring about...(also a bit like the Hero society.)

But this scene, set in a cave, with him restrained and with no option but to observe, serves to humanize the Burnish people, which obviously serves as the catalyst to the rest of Galo’s development and his choices later to stand up and help Lio.

BTW, PROMARE is an absolutely EXCELLENT movie and I highly recommend it...my hubby and I only just now got to watch it one of the first nights we were stuck at home sick. We slept on this the first year or two it was out, but it’s really good.

And as I was typing this and looking at a Meta video on YT about PROMARE it clicked that I must have gotten a little brain worm from this scene. Sorry if this got too far out of BNHA, and I didn’t share anything very spoilery.

So, RETURNING TO DEKU, and long story short: what would be the point of Deku getting kidnapped, especially at this time when the Villains have faced loss with Twice, and are quite likely to face it again if Compress dies from his wounds??

I think it’d be very very similar to this Promare scene, and would serve...almost the same function. Again, he’s not gonna become friends with the villains, and they are not going to turn to the Hero side, either. And it bears stressing, it doesn’t erase or condone or change Deku’s opinion on any of their criminal actions. Of which, there are many.

But it’d force Izuku into a different perspective, and he might learn a bit about at least some of their past, and their reasons for villainy... If they feel like explaining any of that to Izuku. It’s going to build on that foundation that his fight with Gentle and La Brava built. (Y’all, I love Gentle and his fight with Deku was important, if I’m reading these breadcrumbs right)

Anyway, this was super long, hopefully wasn’t too hard to follow, But my Kidnapped Deku Theory just keeps growing-- H E L P.