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Who Is Deku’s Dad? Theories On What Happened To Him!

With the help of some interesting speculations, this is everything you need to know about Deku's dad and his whereabouts.

Izuku Midoriya, better known as ‘Fatherless Deku’ has several mysteries to his name. Slowly and steadily, all of them are getting untangled. But there is this one question that has always been there – Where is Deku’s dad?

The fans are still waiting for the answer but I don’t think we all have to wait any longer for Papa Midoriya to make his debut. Although that doesn’t change the innumerable speculations and theories the fandom has put forward.

Is he even alive? Is there a bigger picture to all of this? Any MHA fan would want to know the answers about the man who can prove pivotal to Deku’s characterization.  

That’s why I took the burden to answer every prominent question out there related to Deku’s father. And while I am at it, I will also take a look at some plausible and senseless theories because why not?

Along with that, I might just put out my theories regarding Deku’s dad too. So, without stepping out of the house to buy milk for the family, let’s get started. 

Who is Deku’s Father?

Deku’s father is Hisashi Midoriya (let’s say you first heard the name here). 

Deku’s mom Inko talked about him in the very first chapter. Apart from that, we only know that he works abroad and isn’t with his family.

Remember when Deku and his mother went to the doctor to confirm whether he has a quirk or not? Hisashi still was nowhere to be found.

From this information, we can infer that Deku’s dad has been absent from their life for quite a long time. If I were to be more specific, then it’s been more than 12 years and Deku most probably doesn’t know much about his father. Or is Inko hiding something?

At this point, it’s quite apparent that Horikoshi loves wordplays. In fact, he was pretty proud of the name Ochako Uraraka. So what was stopping him from playing with the protagonist’s father’s name?

Yes, the name ‘Hisashi’ is a reference to the word ‘hisashiburi’ which translates to ‘it has been a while’ or ‘long time no see’. I mean hey, that’s pretty good and witty thinking. 

The ‘Missing Father’ Shonen Complex:

It’s not the first time a shonen protagonist’s father is missing from the storyline. And it’s fair too; because it gives freedom to the protagonist which wouldn’t have been possible if they had a dad around them.

Let’s take a simple example of Naruto’s father – Minato Namikaze. If he were around, Naruto would never be the man he is today.

Most of the shonen stories are about empowerment; having parents hampering and chiding you all day doesn’t help in that aspect.

minato hohenheim and ging
The pillars of ‘missing father’ shonen complex

Moreover, the mangaka is now burdened with additional development of two elders while maintaining the flow of the story with the protagonist’s viewpoint.

On a side note, the missing parent can act as an excellent plot device if utilized well. Take the examples of Hohenheim and Ging – they were pretty good in their respective shows.

I mean a guy can’t possibly think of having an adventure when he has a happy and stable life with his parents. There’s just no motive left and therefore nothing to chase.

Thus, eliminating the idea of parent(s) from the story allows it to unravel in a better manner. 

What happened to Deku’s Dad?

Hisashi Midoriya is in incognito mode, that’s the only rational answer as of now. He’s working somewhere abroad and is able to provide financial security to his family.

Anything beyond that would be just speculating stuff. Let’s say I might have a few theories that might be able to answer more about Deku’s long-lost dad.

It can sound like some over-the-top stuff but hey each to their own, right?

The Normal Guy:

Hisashi Midoriya is a normal salaryman. There’s nothing more than that. To make it sound more plausible, remember Bakugo’s father?

He and his wife had contrasting personalities and their kid picked up on his mother’s attributes. Wait, that sounds kinda similar, doesn’t it?

Yes, it does. Deku also has the characteristics of her mother – caring and supportive.

Furthermore, the series has pressed on Deku and Bakugo’s daunting parallelism several times. So if Deku’s dad comes out as someone who’s reckless and erratic but a normal person; I won’t be surprised. 

The Not-so-Normal Guy:

Hisashi is working as a covert spy for the Hero Public Safety Commission, just like Hawks. The HPSC investigates the most dangerous cases of criminality so it’s possible that they might be behind AFO too.

And he is helping the autonomous organization to reach its goal. Although there’s a catch, we have seen that HPSC isn’t all about peace, sunshine, and roses.

In actuality, it’s a corrupt organization that will do anything to maintain the status quo of heroes and peace in society. So, maybe Hisashi is on a mission and doesn’t know the wrongdoings of the organization.

What is Hisashi Midoriya’s Quirk?

It has already been revealed long ago that Hisashi’s quirk is to breathe fire. And yes, that’s it, that is the only thing Horikoshi ever disclosed about his quirk.

One can make some assumptions regarding the meta ability Deku’s dad has. But it’s quite difficult to even think of what his quirk would look like with all the vagueness surrounding it.

However, a part of fandom has already associated Hisashi’s quirk with Endeavor and Dabi. It sounds ridiculous because it is actually ridiculous. 

Why Endeavor or Dabi can’t be Deku’s Dad?

I don’t even know how people even come with these silly ideas. Because Hisashi has a fire-related quirk, it doesn’t mean that it’s correlated to Endeavor or Dabi. 

Endeavor and Dabi
Endeavor and Dabi – the rogue son and a careless father

Let’s get to Dabi first – long story short, he’s too young for that.

The rogue Todoroki is 24 years old for god’s sake. He was planning to take revenge against his father the whole time, in the midst of that, why would he try to be a family man?

It doesn’t even make sense. Also, let’s not forget that he’s too YOUNG. 

Coming onto Endeavor, it’s impossible. He was busy honing up his offspring to beat his rival AllMight. I don’t think he would even waste a second to think of trivial matters such as why not have another child to increase the competition.

Moreover, the reason for his redemption is his family and his family alone. There have been no other revelations that point towards Midoriya. And it won’t ever happen.

So, the idea of Endeavor or Dabi being Deku’s dad was, is and will always be null.

What does Hisashi Midoriya look like?

There’s not much information to have a proper grip on what Deku’s dad looks like. So, I can only speculate about his personality and appearance.

And while it might be fun doing this, I’m just assuming everything as of now. Do not take this seriously.

Appearance:

The very first thing that comes to my mind when I try to picture Hisashi is that he must have black hair. Given that Deku has green hair with black shades, it makes sense; genetics are a thing.

His dad might’ve freckles too, with a broad face. Let’s say he is not as chubby as Inko but got a lean figure due to overworking.

As of yet, I can’t comment on his eye color because Deku has green eyes (like his mother’s). 

Personality:

Reckless and Impulsive. These were the very first adjectives that popped up in my mind.

We know that Deku has inherited a lot of attributes from his mother only but she isn’t the careless type. In retrospect, Deku’s dad can be. Along with that, the young hero had a very humble beginning with an extraordinary dream.

So, one can assume (for the better) that Hisashi might be a good parent/husband. Although he wasn’t there in the upbringing of his son; the oddities can be seen.

Those characteristics can be traced back to Deku’s dad. 

On a side note, if Hisashi somehow is a larger-than-life character then it might just ruin the whole mood for me. The sole reason being Deku also didn’t start as a larger-than-life protagonist.

Instead, he was quite the opposite – a timid kid with extraordinary dreams.

Is AFO Deku’s Dad?

The question that runs rampant in the MHA fandom is this one; whether AFO is Deku’s dad or not. All for One has been stealing quirks for quite a while so the probability of this happening isn’t zero.

But there’s one thing that doesn’t add up in the equation. AFO always wanted the best of the best quirks to be his own so then why would he go to someone like Inko Midoriya?

I mean no disrespect to the kind and beautiful lady but all she can do is pull small objects towards her. With that kind of quirk, the offspring won’t be someone whom AFO can call his successor.

However, there again lies a slim chance that AFO was hiding from the masses and he did everything to go unnoticed. And that’s why he tried to live like a normal person for a while to stay low.  

All For One
For the first and last time, AFO can’t be Deku’s dad

Then again comes the infamous lines – Horikoshi is a huge fan of Star Wars. Yes, he is and we as an audience have seen the excellent reveal of Dabi Todoroki.

Along with that, everyone has witnessed the spectacle of Shigaraki being the grandson of Nana Shimura too. But hey AFO wears a Vader-esque mask so that must mean something right?

It probably does and in a way, it’s pretty obvious and a bit poetic. One For All is Luke Skywalker and All For One is Darth Vader.

There it is, a certain facet of being a father remains in this too. If not true then at the very least, it’s quite debatable.

Long story short – NO:

The idea of AFO being the father of OFA isn’t far-fetched because OFA is the only force that can put an end to his evildoings. Not to mention, the daunting parallelism and Horikoshi fanboying Star Wars remain the same.

Still, there’s a difference between taking inspiration and blatantly copy-pasting a part of the story. Furthermore, there’s one more piece of information that helps in debunking the whole theory of AFO being Deku’s dad.

It has already been revealed in 2018 but people chose to ignore it for some reason. Although it’s a double-edged sword, it can be seen as a supportive statement to prove the famous theory wrong.

Inko and Hisashi – A Broken Relationship?

To be a single parent is tough. What’s even tougher is to be kind and gentle to a kid like Deku. For a child bestowed with no quirk, Inko Midoriya has been very supportive from the beginning.

Although she did mess up at times, it wasn’t intentional and only happened because she wasn’t able to think clearly. At the end of the day, she loves her boy and understands his desire to become a hero like AllMight.

But what about her husband? 

Throughout the manga, one thing has become jarringly apparent – the absenteeism of Hisashi and everyone ignoring his existence.

Why is Inko neglecting her husband like that? Does Deku even know about his father? Is there something Inko is hiding?

A Delusional Marriage? (Theory):

Horikoshi is yet to introduce Deku’s dad in the series and Inko’s silence isn’t helping much. We have never seen her talking about her husband.

It looks like the marriage isn’t holding up and both of them are probably on bad terms. Additionally, there have not been any known occasions of her calling Hisashi to let him know about his son.

She never talks about him in front of anyone and Deku also doesn’t seem to know anything about his father. From the look of it, the whole situation looks pretty bleak. 

Inko Midoriya
Inko Midoriya; caring mother and a beautiful woman

But hey, maybe there’s a reason for that. It’s a wild guess at this point but perhaps Hisashi has gone full-on incognito and doesn’t want anyone to contact him.

If that’s the case then his wife not informing him on their son makes complete sense. Also, there’s this constant flux of financial security the Midoriya family gets from him. It means that he’s sending money to them regularly. 

And with all of this ruckus, it brings us to our final question – Are Inko and Hisashi still together?

I do like to think they are but because of the undisclosed nature of his job; it makes it quite difficult to pinpoint where their relationship is right now. One can only hope for the best, let’s see what Horikoshi has in the bag for us. 

Will we ever see Deku’s Dad?

Deku's dad San Diego Comic Con 2018
The hope to see Deku’s dad one day hasn’t diminished for the past three years

At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Horikoshi announced that Deku’s dad will be revealed soon in the future. And it’s been three years since that.

But hey, I do like to think that the time has come when we will finally get to see Deku’s dad. After all, it’s the arc where Deku’s characterization is looming above the black skies and his friends might not be enough to shoo the clouds away.

He needs something or to be more specific, a certain someone who will alter his reality in an instant. At this moment, Deku needs his missing father the most.

This is the perfect time to make his debut; a bright light in a world of eternal darkness. 

Now, it might turn out to be a change that could shatter Deku. Hisashi Midoriya may be an ally of AFO or a secondary antagonist.

One can’t ignore the fact that he has always been in the shadows, away from his family. That alone gives an opening for speculations like this.

However, this is all over the top fanfiction-like thinking, Horikoshi might surprise us with a twist of his own. Maybe Deku’s dad has been working on breaking the cycle of Quirk Singularity Theory or was just cheating all this time. Who knows, right?

Wrapping Up:

AllMight and Deku
AllMight smiling and Deku staring; beautiful dynamic

It would be a straight-up disrespect to not talk about AllMight before I end this article. Although not his biological father, he acted as an excellent mentor and a great father figure in Deku’s life.

The impact he has brought on the young hero is enormous. It’s all thanks to him that Deku’s able to wield OFA and strives to be a better person. Even in the recent chapters, all he wanted was to smile with his friends after the fight with AFO gets over. 

Horikoshi is certainly taking his sweet time to reveal who is the father of Deku. Still, whatever happens in the end, it will only make the story more interesting. Thus, the only thing we all can do now is wait and let the guy do his job.

Till then, let’s reread/rewatch My Hero Academia again.

Do you have any theories regarding Deku’s dad? Let me know in the comments below.  

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