Curate, connect, and discover
If you were to turn 9 and his squad into main series villains, how would you do so?
Tough question actually, because there's a lot of different things you can do with a group of characters like them.
And I don't want to make the classic "role swap" in which everything in the timeline is almost the same minus which characters fill X spot.
For Nine specifically, I would start his story right after Kamino and the defeat of AFO.
An idea I would like to play is he and Shigaraki could actually act as rivals of sorts when AFO is out of the picture (but he would still have a part on the story).
As both groups will start from the very bottom without much resources, and Nine will have his empty copy of the AFO quirk to fill with new quirks different than the canon, perhaps only keeping the more iconic ones as Hydra just because is so cool.
Actually the quest for find the ideal quirks and one that solves the cell degeneration would be an important part of Nine developement, rather than just happen offscreen.
As for what new quirks he could steal, that's not something I don't have very clear yet (so I accept suggestions) but one of them would be Dabi's blueflames. Lol I just want see Nine with epic blue flames.
...
Oh and an idea that always loved is that Nine needs another rival that isn't just Shigaraki, but someone else who is his direct opposite in terms of world view and ideology.
And that's no one else than Overhaul
Think about it, Nine and Kai are just the perfect foils for each other.
The concept of a quirk supremacist and an anti-quirk believer having a ideological (and literal) war for control the underworld and reform the world into their own view could be epic.
And for that to happen obviously we need to keep Kai as a recurring villain for most of the story. I would create a dynamic where a lot of villains groups will have internal battles while at the same time the heroes are another problem to deal.
But wait, you need soldiers for that to work.
And what best army for Nine than the one which literally believe in quirk supremacy?
Look I will die on the hill that MVA as a concept for an arc is literally made for Nine and his team.
The idea of Re-Destro wanting to contact a villain group that is getting more recognition and in the end they found common ground due beliefs fits way more with Nine than it does to Shigaraki.
I mean it's obvious, Nine is basically the living incarnation of all the ideals of the original Destro. If his descendant meet him he would instantly adore Nine.
...
So that's just a part of all my ideas.
I would like to better put them together into something more consistent. Need to work on it, perhaps some day I will make a story based on this rewrite idea.
@bibibbon I was reading your post and thinking when you mentioned Mummy, and certainly is sad and disappointing that out of Nine's crew he was the one to get the short stick in terms of screentime and interactions with his own leader.
Such a cool looking villain with an awesome power shouldn't be treated like fooder.
But eh... I guess they really need give Bakugo an easy victory to show how badass he can be compared to the other loosers from the class.
Anyway, before getting absorbed by my hater side I can share my ideas about rewrite Mummy, because like his friends is fun write about him and fill the empty space left by the author.
Starting for his backstory:
This idea isn't entirely mine, but I love the concept of Mummy and Edgeshot being related.
Interesting to think because they share same birthdays, both their quirks have the aesthetic of red tape, they have grey hair and the names "Kamihara" and "Makihara" sound strangely similar.
I've seen people write them as twins, but I like more the idea of them having a big age gap in case of being brothers which fits more with Shinya being in his 30s in canon.
And so both Hoyo and Shinya being brothers born in a very traditional japanese family would make room for some family drama, as is more than probably that Shinya being the first born and with a quirk like foldabody would probably be seen as the pride of the family.
While Hoyo is seen as lesser and never able to live up to the level of his older brother, especially after Shinya got accepted at UA and started pay less attention to Hoyo.
While during his early childhood Hoyo only support was Shinya when he left the family state to focus on his studies Hoyo was alone with a family that never supported him and constantly remembered him how inferior he was.
Hoyo will reach a break point when his parents tried to get rid of him when he was entering on his teenage years, and he discovered they sold him to a mysterious organization that was looking for young low tier soldiers (which for some reason still happens in MHA world and nobody seem to care about it).
Note: This organizagion will be no other than the MLA but isn't really important for the story for now.
And so, without anything to lose since Shinya was long gone at that point, Hoyo escaped the family state and never came back. He also invented the false surname Makihara, as he didn't want anything to do with his family.
That would be the beginning of some rough years living in the streets for Hoyo.
Without proper studies (since he only got the basics at home instead of going to an actual school) and technically being a fugitive of his own family, Hoyo only could resort of stealing and other minor crimes for try to survive being homeless.
I imagine he also tried to gain some money doing dirty jobs for other criminals, which might be why we see him beating thugs in the street during the flashbacks.
That being said, this empty life style wasn't something Hoyo was happy about.
He still feel the necessity of prove himself and try to became something better, he was angry at the world and his family, and he also missed Shinya despite he didn't want to admit and prove his brother his worth.
Despite Hoyo's quirk still seemed to be quite useless as he couldn't do much with his puppets and give up at some point.
That was until he meet Nine...
My idea of how they meet is that Hoyo was hired to expulse Nine from the territory of a criminal gang that didn't like a homeless man like him was wandering in there.
Expecting just another quick job for a bit of cash Hoyo used his quirk with and old scarf to create a puppet out a vending machine, with he would use to intimidate the white haired man described by the gang.
Worse case scenario would be him having to beat the man in case he resists but isn't like he cared.
What Hoyo didn't expect is that when he meet the white haired man this one would have an aura of calm around him and rather than look intimidated by him or his puppet, he only got a glaze of interest coming from him.
"That... looks like a very powerful ability you got there" Nine commented very calmly looking at Hoyo like if he already knew everything from him.
Hoyo was a bit confused by the statement (and internally a bit intimidated by the way the white haired man seem look through him) but he only wanted to finish the job quickly as he was hungry and needed the money the gang offered.
So he tried to attack the white haired man with his puppet, but in the blink on an eye a small lightning bolt hit the puppet and make it explode.
Hoyo was pushed back by the explosion and the white haired man was still there with an unfazed expression.
"Not that powerful yet but..." Nine said looking at Hoyo "I can make it stronger" He said like it was a promise.
Nine then walk away and Hoyo tried to follow him without understand anything of what was happen, until they were almost in front of the gang hideout.
Hoyo observed how the white haired man rising one of his hands at the sky, and he didn't realize how suddlenly the dark clouds covered what until some moments was a very clear night.
A lightning bolt came from the sky and impacted the buildings Hoyo knew the gang used to hide, making the ground vibrate as they explode illuminating the night with the fire and the white haired man was stading there with the same bored expression as he that act of destruction was nothing for him.
Hoyo was totally speechless by that demonstration of power.
"I assume they won't represent a problem for you from now, I understand they wanted you to get me out of here so you don't have to worry for not get the job done" the white haired man said with the same calm Hoyo was used at that point.
For some reason it reminded him to someone else...
"Huh... and what do you want from me?" Hoyo replied rising his eyebrown tried to show more confidence that he actually felt "This kind of "favors" can't be for free"
"From you? Nothing..." Nine said plain and simple "Maybe offer you something, but first we should get out of here, he police and heroes can be annoying and they probably were alerted by my little spectacle" He said before walking out of the scene.
Hoyo didn't know why but he started walking behind the white haired man. There wasn't much to lose anyway...
"Are you hungry? Personally I am, so maybe we can get some food" Nine said after notice the young boy was following him.
Hoyo agreed on that, he really could get something to eat.
...
After all that happened Nine started to explain to Hoyo what his ideals and dream to change the world, a dream he really wanted to share with Hoyo for some reason.
Even if he didn't believe he meet the standards of power the white haired man claim to have, but Nine keep insisting on the potential of his quirk and how Hoyo was stronger than he realize and how wrong society was for overlook his true potential.
Not much time later Hoyo meet a friend of Nine, a really intimidating mutant who called himself Chimera and that name was fitting considering he was a mix of countless animals.
Hoyo found the guy to be quite charismatic and funny regardless of his loon however, and he was also very compromised to follow Nine's vision for the ideal world he evisioned.
And one day Nine also surprised Hoyo with a gift: a lot of red bandages that he notice were more resistant and powerful than anything he previously used to activate his quirk.
"Your power is greater than you think Hoyo, don't believe what the weakelings tried to make you think all your life. You can be better than them, you can fight for the world we deserve" Nine said in the most genuine way Hoyo ever heaf from someone.
And Hoyo really felt weak but also strong for equal reasons that moment, as never during his whole life he felt supported the way Nine made him to feel. Not his own blood family, not even Shinya, but this man who only wanted to give him and Chimera a better world to live.
Hoyo knew that moment that his life and heart belong to Nine and his cause forever, he give him a real family and home without even expect anything from Hoyo other than fight together like a team.
It motivated Hoyo to push himself and his quirk over the boundaries, training endlessly with the help of Nine and Chimera, so what once was the ability of control a single puppet quickly became the power of create armies of puppet soldiers thanks to the gift Nine give to him.
He even discovered an inhate talent with the sword, a gift courtesy of Chimera by the way.
Hoyo was poweful indeed, just like his friends believed.
But he also wanted a new identity as well, as his born name no longer felt something that represented who he was.
Then Hoyo became Mummy, and he used the bandages gifted by his leader to cover his body.
He felt safe and powerful like that.
Mummy finally meet himself that moment and knew who he really was.
...
P.S:
-Despite I make Shinya look like a careless and selfish brother in the backstory, I actually think later when he found what his parents did to Hoyo he resents them and felt totally guilty for not being there for his little brother. Edgeshot look for Hoyo during years hoping to find him someday and be a family again, he also keep his parents out of his life after what they did to Hoyo.
-I don't mention Slice here because I think she was the last one to join the team some time later than Mummy.
-While their age difference isn't actually that big, I like the idea of Mummy considering Nine a big brother figure and somehow filling the empty space left by Shinya.
One thing that is now unfair to ask is...what is Nine's name? Look hori treated him as an afterthought but his lack of origins works better than the comical twnko's origins.
Yes his family was all killed thanks to him but ...I can't help to think that scene was too ridiculous.
We never saw anyone mentioned them again, not even shig. (He remembers them in MVA and we do see the disgusting human puppet hori flay around) But that's it.
So Nine...
Im not one of those people who think a new character needs to be related to a pre stabelished one. Nine doesn't need to be a Todoroki, Shimura or hell even a lost Midoriya (hahahahahahaha as if hori would care for this family)
But ....imagine if Nine was related to Oboro, somehow, wouldn't that be interesting?
Maybe, maybe not.
Oboro's character became a thing to turns Aizawa into a better character...and fails. Kuro was sacrificed for nothing.
The thing about Shigaraki/Tenko backstory is that it feels... a bit overdramatic?
Well we can say that about his whole character, but the part of his backstory in particular when he kills his family is so exagerated for the sake of shock value that it kinda feels comical.
Horikoshi tried a bit too hard on make MVA feel like the edgier and "different" arc of the series, but the contrast in so big that I can't take it seriously.
Especially when Hori already nailed a dark tone without being super explicit or over the top.
Take the simplicity of Eri's backstory for example:
No blood, no unnecessary violence, just two panels giving a basic idea of what happened to Eri's father and yet the image of those clothes lying on the floor is much more haunting and eerie than the enterity of Shigaraki backstory.
Why Horikoshi stop being subtle with his storytelling?
...
Anyway going back to Nine real name, or the lack of one, I think it's interesting how that aspect of his character adds to the underlying theme of how AFO and Garaki dehumanize people, especially the ones that are part of their experiments.
We know very well how AFO doesn't view other human being as persons but rather objects that belong to him. This starts with his very own twin brother, which name Yoichi means something like "my first possesion".
And just like Nine, number 6 from Vigilantes was a child which whole life was modeled by AFO. They both are just numbers without a real name.
In this case the idea is presented even more explicitly because Six was a child who suffered some kind of amnesia and couldn't even view himself as a normal human with a face.
He even died as a monster without ever know if he had an identity outside being the number 6.
It's funny how you mention the idea of Nine and Shirakumo being connected somehow, as isn't the first time I've hear that.
It's interesting notice how they share this common theme about sky and clouds as part of who they are (Nine's name also is supposedly a reference to the term "cloud nine") both Nine and Oboro are individuals willing to sacrifice their own lifes for others, and ironically both of them ended being experimented by Dr Garaki.
I even have the headcanon of Kurogiri being the "Number 7" in this line of experiments were Nine and Six belong, as sort of missing link between Six and the sentient nomus.
I probably should make a post later explaining better this idea.
And yes for Horikoshi, Shirakumo was just a diposable character to make Aizawa look cooler and more edgy.
While the author of Vigilantes clearly invested a lot of effort on making Oboro a real and memorable character which complements Aizawa rather than just being an accesory. But that topic deserves it's own post as well.
P.S: I have an idea of what real name we could give to Nine, but I keep it for me at least for the moment.
hello I recently and after going through it I would like to ask some questions if that’s ok of course and sorry if you perhaps got one of theses questions before
1.what is your general opinion on Shigaraki cause I’m curious as a shiggy fan and just curious in general what other people who don’t like him as much or just in general don’t like him think of him
2. How would you write/rewrite shigaraki just in general or if nine was the main villian and Shigaraki was like a secondary villian and or maybe him joining up with nine
3. What do you think would have happened if nine found tenko
sorry if this ask comes off as annoying or rude I’m just general curious hope you having a good/night
Hello!
It's ok, I would try to answer the question the best I can as english isn't my first lenguage so sorry if you find errors here and there. So let's go:
1_ This may sound strange as my constant comments and critiques about Shigaraki may make look like I hate him, but isn't really the case.
I think is more he's a frustrating character to me because while on paper his concept is fine, I feel his presence ends up being detrimental to the quality of the story because the mangaka didn't know how kept Shigaraki relevant and his solution was artificially increase his status sacrificing other more interesting characters with potential just to elevate Shigaraki, especially Nine and Overhaul.
2_ Honestly I never thought on an in deep rewrite of Shigaraki overall character.
But If I have to say something he did works as a early antagonist considering the initial states of MHA and while I'm not fan of having a singular main villain (because in my ideal story multiple major villains should fight for the power) I think Shigaraki and Nine surely can coexist in the same story. They can even influence each other in fact.
After all an important part of Shigaraki as a character is how he develops a sense camaraderie and tries to became a better leader (even if there's a lot of problems with the execution if that idea in canon).
But Nine already had those qualities since the beginning, he's a good leader who always cared about his teamates and tried his best to protect them. He was a hero for them basically.
So why not make Nine a figure which inspires Shigaraki rather than his rival and Tomura attemps to became a better version of himself while looking what makes Nine a beloved leader, while at the same it time creates a contrast with AFO who was the only prominent figure on his life before.
It would also be funny if AFO didn't see coming how his two attempts of "successors" would became closer allies rather than rivals and join forces, eventually opposing him. Nine would never follow AFO selfish ideals, and he probably will fight to free Shigaraki from his control.
3_ This one is interesting, because I don't think Nine and Shigaraki have a big age difference in the first place.
Despite Nine got a more adult vibe he probably is at best middle 20s, which would make him 4-5 years older than Shigaraki in terms of canon age.
So in a scenario where Nine found Tenko after what happened to his family that day they both will still be kids.
But despite Nine seem to only care about people with stronger quirks and you can think "why he would care about a random kid in the streets?" I actually think Nine has this unconsious instict to protect others in a vulnerable situation regardless of their actual power. After all how he could guess people like Slice and Mummy were strong but he helped them anyway?
That being said I think Nine would do exactly the same for Tenko if he found him that day, extending a hand to him (metaphorically at least lol) and both would escape together while trying to survive on the cruel world of the streets as two orphans without any place to go.
Think about it as Nine being the big bro who tries to protect Tenko the best he can, because he knows Tenko can be a really strong person and both could take on the world someday. Of course Nine won't try to fuel Tenko's trauma unlike AFO, perhaps he will attempt to heal him and Tenko will recover a bit of his own selfless and sweet self with time.
While they grown together as a found family they eventually will meet Chimera, Slice and Mummy like Nine did in canon.
Idk how their lives should continue from there, but pretty sure all them will still fight for create the ideal world Nine always wanted for all of them.
So that's it, I tried my best to answer each question but probably I could've added a lot more but didn't want to make this too long either.
Perhaps one day I will do more post with ideas about how I would like the story to be. It's very fun write about Nine and Shigaraki actually.
Thank you for ask and read!