Warning: SPOILERS for My Hero Academia Season 6 episode #16 (#129).
The My Hero Academia anime has revealed the past of its No. 2 Pro Hero, Hawks, and it’s so tragic that it puts to shame anything that the villains of the series have gone through.
My Hero Academia is full of tragic backstories that give motivation and personality to its characters, starting from the protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, who grew up as one of the “normal” people in a world where everyone has superpowers. Villains usually have the most heartbreaking stories, as shown by the series’ main antagonist, Shigaraki Tomura, who killed his family after awakening his destructive Quirk, and was then raised and manipulated by the world’s greatest villain. However, one Pro Hero stands out from the rest due to the difference between his tragic past and how he grew up instead.
Episode #129 of My Hero Academia, titled “The Hellish Todoroki Family – Part 2“, shows Hawks’ tragic childhood as the son of a runaway criminal and a passive and detached woman. Hawks’ father took advantage of the woman (who had an observation Quirk) to hide, and Keigo was born as an unwanted consequence. The “family” lived in a run-down shack at the edge of town, with the father unable to leave due to his status as a fugitive, and the mother watching TV in an almost comatose way. Keigo’s father often beat him for no reason, and the only time his mother showed a glimpse of affection was when she bought him an Endeavor doll, which ended up making the boy obsessed with heroes. One day, Endeavor actually caught his father, thus ending the nightmare, which made little Keigo realize that heroes were indeed real and not just fiction.
Later, Keigo was recruited by the Hero Public Safety Commission, after he was seen saving the lives of many people in a high-speed car accident. Because his mother was poor and unable to adapt to society, Keigo accepted so that she could be safe and he could become a hero like Endeavor, whom he now idolized. However, the Commission trained Hawks to be a perfect spy and do their dirty work. Despite all that, Hawks never truly abandoned his ideal of a hero. This is the reason why Hawks hesitates in killing Twice, even if that is his exact mission. Despite his troubled past and being taken in by a corrupted government that saw him as a mere replacement for another assassin, Lady Nagant, Hawks was determined to strive and become a hero like his idol, Endeavor.
The main difference between Hawks and the villains who share a similar, tragic past, is that he never abandoned his optimism. He still tries to find the good in others and has not lost hope in a positive future, while villains like Endeavor’s son, Dabi, have been so twisted by their traumas that they can only look at the world with nihilism. As a kid, Hawks was a victim of abuse, but rather than blaming the heroes for not saving him sooner (like Shigaraki does), he looks up to them as a beacon of hope for the people. This is why, despite sharing a tragic past similar to many villains’, Hawks has become one of the greatest heroes shown in My Hero Academia.
My Hero Academia‘s Season 6 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
