12 Ridiculous Early Concept Designs Of Iconic Characters

Avid otakus can't name a hotter shounen anime than My Hero Academia. The series breaks down the barrier for entry for anime, with its bright and pleasing color pallet, compelling characters, and fun premise. UA High School is a Japanese version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, only for heroism and quirkiness.

Before the show first aired, a few changes had to be made to the protagonist, the endearing Izuku "Deku" Midoriya. When the show was first being brainstormed, young Deku originally wore his hair down over one eye, which might have made his crying scenes easier to animate. His hero gear looked a little more menacing than his green power suit. At one point the edgy name Fiend Kid was pitched, but was crossed out on the concept art.

Differing wildly from what the show ended up doing, Deku started with no power, but remained powerless for the whole story, using gadgets, intuition, luck, and a little help from his friends to send the villains packing. He could have been an anime Batman.

The editors felt that making the main character lack any powers might make him fade away, as the ones born with quirks would eventually have to keep bailing him out. Seeing how popular the series is now, it looks like they made the right call. Editors, where would we be without them?