Shota Aizawa aka Eraserhead my hero academia One of the iconic heroes and trainers beloved by fans. Even though, or maybe because of, fans love his character so much, there’s still a lot to know about him.
The truth of the matter is that Aizawa is an extremely complex character with a painful past and the real reasons why he does what he does. In fact, here are ten surprising facts about Aizawa that all fans will appreciate.
This list contains spoilers for the My Hero Academia manga.
details make a difference
Aizawa may often be considered a bland character, but it’s clear that this is a mask. Aizawa is actually a very caring person, but he has some quirks in his personality. For example, did you know he actually likes cats?
Admittedly though, his room was as empty as the personality he presented to the public. This could be a preference for minimalism, or it could just be that he really doesn’t care what his surroundings look like.
didn’t choose his name
While most heroes would spend hours agonizing over what their hero’s name should be, Aizawa didn’t. He made the mistake of having one of his classmates (Present Mic) give him a hero’s name.
Admittedly, Aizawa really didn’t think the name would stick and figured he’d have time to change it later. He was wrong. Learn from this experience, okay?
Care more than you think
Aizawa is once again very good at making people think he doesn’t really care about anything. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, Aizawa actually cares a lot about his students.
This is something he’s proven time and time again, from all the times he’s unintentionally thrown into battle for them, to the smaller teaching moments. Even his expulsion rate shows how much he cares: He would rather students fail than enter the field and die.
Fight to change the system
Speaking of Aizawa giving failing grades to students, this is part of his attempt to change the way UA is structured. You see, in Aizawa’s case, they sent the kids into battle unprepared and basically left them to be slaughtered.
When Aizawa expels a student from UA, he emphasizes that it won’t be permanent. He actually re-registered them. This may seem a little strange, but the purpose is to awaken students to expect ease in life. This is their “life” to live and hopefully they learn and move on.
In-depth understanding of the training required by students
Aizawa is actually an incredibly capable teacher. He can appear harsh at times (such as when he expels an entire class of students), but he does care about their individual needs. He was seen going to any lengths to inspire his students.
Whether it’s lying to their face, getting them into a competition, or giving them a specific challenge. It is believed that he allowed Momo and Shoto to catch him during the exam because he felt Momo’s confidence needed to be boosted.
One reason for his indifference
Shota Aizawa experienced shocking things in his relatively short life. All of this feeds into why he tends to act more aloof (although, to be clear: Aizawa has always been a mild-mannered character).
When he was a student, he lost one of his best friends. Baiyun leads the man. They teamed up with Present Mic and had such lofty dreams of how far they could go. Those dreams were shattered, something Aizawa never fully got over.
Support different types of heroes
Aizawa is definitely a character who can see the value in others, even if they can’t see their own. This was one of the many reasons why he chose to support the neglected hero in training: Shinzo.
Shinso was a hero who was overlooked due to the dark side of his quirk, but Aizawa saw the potential in it. He considers himself Shinso’s mentor. When you think about how many people Shinso is helping, you’ll quickly be shocked.
The Downside of His Quirk
As he’s proven time and time again, erasure is one of the most important quirks in the series so far. But there are undoubtedly downsides and risks to this quirk. First, there’s one obvious symptom: dry, red eyes.
Things get worse after he is seriously injured while protecting a student. Additionally, his quirks are rather limited. If he wants to stay in the block, he can’t blink or lose sight, which makes things difficult. To make matters worse, when his quirk is used, he immediately sends out a signal – making him a target.
New Guardian
As mentioned above, Aizawa does go above and beyond for his students and others he sees as having potential. He also recently became a guardian, although this was partly due to lack of options.
Due to his quirks, Aizawa is considered the perfect 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, looking beyond her quirks and seems to genuinely care about her mental health.
He even smiles from time to time
This was probably the most incredible fact: Aizawa did smile from time to time. In fact, when he does let go, he has a huge smile on his face. But usually, it’s because one of his students surprised him or succeeded in some way. More evidence that he cares about them more than he lets on.