Tbh monoma’s ‘asshole moments’ mostly seemed like comic relief moments to me (his pettiness is a funny gag dont @ me) not something really malicious. Even Hori said he isn’t a bad guy and he regrets making monoma appear so unlikable. Glad hori is finally taking him serious and giving him a backstory to his behavior and it confirms what a lot of us suspected. Monoma was most likely shunned for his quirk, they told him he was worthless and couldnt be a hero which led to a big inferiority complex. He has to find his own path and I Hope he can still get some character development this arc.
monoma’s power lies in talking.
“actually, bunny,” one of you snotty superfans sneer, “Monoma’s quirk is-”
“Dude, I know,” I recline in my giant armchair, sunglasses on and a mimosa in hand while shirtless Aizawa brings me another. “His quirk is copycat, but his power lies in talking.”
It’s hard having a non physical quirk. We know that, Shinsou knows that, it’s pretty much a large talking point in fandom. What we don’t really talk about is how Monoma’s quirk is technically physical, but vastly inferior to any quirks that aren’t close range. Basically, it’s impossible for him to become a hero without having a team of already capable, strong-quirked mid-to-long range fighters with him, in which Monoma is pretty much rendered useless because of his time limit, plus the limits of whatever quirk he copies and his lack of experience/finesse.
So what does he do?
He talks.
He taunts, he jeers, he riles up his opponents until they’re seething, furious, unfocused.
Angry enemies are stupid enemies, and as they rush in closer to deal a more devastating blow, Monoma evades. The boy is fast (he dodged a blow from Midoriya’s uncontrollable quirk, separating him from shinsou) and moves fluidly.
He operates on a strike-and-evade principal, with the first strike being contact to steal someone’s quirk and evade to keep himself out of danger.
Monoma may seem like an asshole, but he does what he needs to in order to use his quirk. He knows his conduct is un-sportsmanlike, and seems to me that he has already come to bitterly accept that he can’t be a normal hero. But he doesn’t have to be. Sure, it’s gaining him enemies (bakugou) but it’s also gaining like likeminded friends, determined to grab the spotlight while they still can (the entirety of 1B).
So yeah, he’s not an asshole for no reason bakugou, he’s doing what he needs to in order to flourish.
my monoma headcanon got confirmed. my boy basically got shunned in the past for having no quirk of his own and relying on others.. he realizes his quirk is unconventional and sometimes he has to do unconventional things to be the hero he wants to be.