My Hero Academia: Horikoshi Changing Hawk’s Original Design Saved Fans from a Nightmare

Despite his original design being vastly different, Hawks from My Hero Academia has become a fan favorite. While some are drawn to his role in the series’ plot, others appreciate his unique character design, making him a beloved figure among fans. Those who appreciate his current appearance have much to thank for as it has evolved significantly from its initial version.

After All Might lost his quirk completely in the battle against All For One, the character Keigo Takami was introduced into the series. He has since made frequent appearances, portraying a double agent for the League of Villains. These actions have gained him a strong fan following.

Nonetheless, his final character design deserves some recognition for contributing to the popularity, as it prevented fans from potentially enduring a nightmare scenario.

Why the Red Sox won the 2018 World Series

The Appreciation for Hawks’s Design Change in My Hero Academia

The 2018 World Series Victory: How the Red Sox Came Out on Top

In My Hero Academia, we see that Keigo Takami, commonly known as Hawks, possesses wings given to him by his quirk. Despite his average height, his wings are the only feature that sets him apart from a regular human appearance.

The character’s design has been highly successful as fans are drawn to his cool persona. This is evident from his consistently high rankings in the series’ popularity polls, which have remained strong since the fourth round.

Background character as seen in My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (Image via BONES)

Therefore, when @_wikkk, a fan and X user, shared a post revealing the original character design of Hawks created by manga artist Kohei Horikoshi, many others were taken aback. This initial design portrayed Hawks as a heteromorph, resembling a humanoid bird much like Class 1A’s Tokoyomi.

Interestingly, even though the character design was not initially intended for Hawks, it still made an appearance in the anime film, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes. It was featured as a background character in the movie.

How Fans Reacted to the Comparison of Hawks’ Old and New Character Designs

The original design for Hawks, which was shared on X, seemed to be disliked by fans who loved the character because of his design.

Hawks as seen in My Hero Academia (Image via BONES)

There were even fans who went as far as to claim that if Kohei Horikoshi had not altered the design, they would have taken drastic measures.

“WHAT IS THAATTT,”one fan exclaimed.

“if the first one had been his design i wouldve k*lled myself,”another fan said.

On the other hand, there were fans who had conflicting thoughts on the character design. Although they appreciated the inclusion of more heteromorphs in the series, they found it difficult to imagine Hawks in his previous appearance after being familiar with him for a while.

“Current hawks is hot but I do also love the idea of having more heteromorphs in the series,”a fan said.

“The old design is cool too, I could imagine him being Hawks’s sidekick. But I’m glad the Hawks we know exists,”another added.

“The one on the left goes gard though,”another fan said.

Some fans, on the other hand, believed that the character design was impressive. Nonetheless, they would have preferred the character to be portrayed as a sidekick to the Wing Hero. Despite this, there were fans who adored the character design and wished to see Hawks in the same attire.