Shota Aizawa, aka Eraser Head from My Hero Academia is one of the iconic heroes and trainers that fans love so much. Despite, or perhaps because of, how much fans love his character, there is still so much to be learned about him.
The truth of the matter is that Aizawa is a shockingly complex character, with a painful past and real reasons for behaving the way he does. In fact, here are ten surprising facts about Aizawa that all fans will appreciate.
This list contains spoilers from the My Hero Academia manga.
Contents
It’s In the Details
Aizawa may come off as a bland character more often than not, but it’s pretty clear that this is a mask. Aizawa is actually a very caring person, with several quirks in his personality to boot. For example, did you know that he is actually quite fond of cats?
Though admittedly his room is just as empty as the personality he presents to the public. This could be a preference towards minimalism, or it could simply be that he really doesn’t care what his surroundings look like.
Didn’t Pick His Name
While most heroes spend what is surely hours agonizing over what their hero name should be, Aizawa did not. He made the mistake of letting one of his classmates (Present Mic) give him a hero name.
Admittedly, Aizawa really didn’t think the name would stick and thought that he would have time to change it later. He was wrong. Learn a lesson from that experience, will you?
Cares More Than You Think
Once again, Aizawa is really good at getting people to think that he doesn’t care much about anything. A fact that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, Aizawa actually cares quite deeply about his students.
It’s something he’s proven time and time again, from all of the times he heedlessly threw himself into battle for their sake, to the smaller teaching moments. Even his expulsion rate indicates his level as caring: he’d rather students fail out then get into the field and die.
Fighting to Change the System
Speaking of the rate at which Aizawa giving his students failing grades, this is part of his attempt to change the way U.A. is structured. You see, as far as Aizawa is concerned they’re sending children into fights unprepared, basically setting them up to be slaughtered.
When Aizawa expels a student from U.A., he makes a point of not having it be permanent. He actually re-enrolls them. That may seem a bit strange, but the intent is to wake up students expecting life to be easy. This was their ‘one life’ spent, and hopefully, they’ll learn going forward.
A Solid Understanding of the Training His Students Need
Aizawa is actually a shockingly competent teacher. He may come off as harsh at times (such as when he expels an entire class worth of students), but he does care about their individual needs. He’s been witnessed doing whatever it takes to motivate his students.
Be it lying to their faces, throwing them into a competition, or giving them a specific challenge. It’s believed that he allowed Momo and Shoto to capture him during their exam, because he saw a need for Momo’s confidence to be raised.
A Reason for His Apathy
Shota Aizawa has gone through a shocking amount in his relatively short life. All of that blends into the reason he tends to act more apathetic (though to be clear: Aizawa has always been a character with a blander personality).
Back when he was a student, he lost one of his best friends. Oboro Shirakumo. They, alongside Present Mic, had teamed up and had such high dreams for how far they could go. Those dreams were cut short, and it’s something that Aizawa has never quite gotten over.
Backing A Different Sort of Hero
Aizawa is absolutely a character who can see the worth in others, even when they can’t see it in themselves. That is one of the many reasons why he opted to lend his support to a neglected hero in training: Shinso.
Shinso is a hero who was overlooked thanks to the darker side of his quirk, and yet Aizawa saw the potential there. He’s taken it upon himself to be Shinso’s mentor. When you think about how many people Shinso is helping, it quickly becomes staggering.
Drawbacks of His Quirk
Erasure is by far one of the most vital quirks in the series, as he has proven again and again. Yet there’s no doubt that there are drawbacks and risks associated with the quirk as well. First, there’s the obvious: dry and red eyes.
That got worse after the severe injuries he took in defense of his students. Additionally, his quirk is fairly limited. He can’t blink or lose line of sight if he wishes to maintain a block, which can make things difficult. To make matters worse, his floating his immediate signals when his quirk is in use – making him a target.
Newly Minted Guardian
As mentioned above, Aizawa has really gone above and beyond, both for his students and others whom he thought had potential. He’s also recently become a guardian, though that is partially thanks to the lack of options.
Thanks to his quirk, it has been deemed that Aizawa is the best person to take charge of Eri. At least until she learns how to control her quirk on her own. Even so, Aizawa has proven himself capable of caring for her beyond her quirk, seeming to actually care about her mental well being.
He Even Smiles From Time to Time
This one may be the hardest fact to believe: Aizawa does actually smile from time to time. Actually, when he really lets go he can have a complete grin on his face. Though usually, that’s because one of his students surprised him or succeeded in some way. More proof that he cares for them more than he lets on.