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My Hero Theory: What is Hawks?

In the never ending debate of exactly what type of bird-heteromorph Hawks is supposed to be, and everyone's theories are fascinating, I want to throw out an absolutely bonkers theory.

First, something that confused me about his character design is why he has slit pupils. That's not a noted bird trait. It's more commonly found in ambush predators like small cats, snakes, foxes, etc.

I admit, the most likely reason he has slit pupils is Horikoshi just thought it would look cool and didn't care how accurate it was to general bird anatomy. And honestly? Fair. Nobody's saying the slit pupils didn't look awesome. And there is one bird species that has slit pupils and it's the black skimmer. (Also fun fact, the only other bird that doesn't have round pupils is the penguin, which has square pupils. The more you know.)

Anyway, I guess since Hawks has slit eyes, headcanon he shares the same vision advantages Toga has which I discussed in this post.

Second, though, is I'm kinda skeptical of the idea that he's strictly a 'bird'-heteromorph. In spite of the fandom occasionally adding fangs and talons to his design, his only canon non-human features are his wings and his eyes, only one of which is primarily an avian trait while the slit pupils are a rare exception in birds. The Quirk itself is just called 'Fierce Wings' and Hawks is a name he gave himself, which could indicate he simply identifies as a bird and we could move on.

But for the sake of argument, think about this:

Personally, when I hear the words 'slit pupils,' my brain goes to cat.

Wings = Avian

Slit pupils = Felidae (small cat)

With the existence of Ryukyu in the My Hero world, we know that Quirks can be mythical in appearance.

So with a combination of feline and avian qualities in a single person and folklore being at play...

...I'm gonna throw out the theory that Hawks is a griffin-heteromorph.

Yes, lions and eagles both have round pupils, so it's not a perfect theory, but I've seen modern depictions play with the griffin designs that are different type of bird/cat combination.

Admittedly, this theory is probably more shitpost than theory, but I think it’s fun.