Nothing spices up an anime quite like a betrayal between allies. That sounds very evil, but it usually has some misunderstanding at its core and a lot of mixed feelings overall. But you can’t deny all the angst it adds to the plot. Which, of course, my dramatic heart loves to read. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I just want a Shonen plotline that doesn’t have any drama between characters, but I can’t deny how I love crying over it, like with My Hero Academia and the character Hawks.

When it was revealed that Hawks had to kill off Twice in the manga, who happens to be a fan-favorite Villain, fans were left horrified. But it was something that had to be done. Twice was one of the biggest threats in the League Of Villains and neutralizing him was the need of the hour. However, Hawks did try and land only non-fatal blows on Twice, fully intending to bring him in alive. But when Dabi joined in and both started pushing back, he knew there was only one option left.

And that was a huge blow both to the characters in the series and the fans that enjoyed it. Twice was popular amongst readers of the manga because of his zany personality. It’s very endearing how wild and out there he can get, with both his actions and the way he shows his love for other characters. His antics, along with his genuine camaraderie with the people on the Villain frontlines, such as the Paranormal Liberation Front, really sell him as this lovable antagonist. Think Deadpool from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But the way his character arc panned out; it was clear his popularity was making him almost untouchable. A lot of fans were convinced that he was going to defect to the Pro-heroes and become an ally. Because they wanted good things for him. But when given the chance by Hawks, well, that’s what we’ll break down in today’s Lore Analysis. Let’s see why Twice’s fate was doomed from the start.

Twice: A One-Man Army

Twice is fashioned after the new age of Superheroes. I used Deadpool as an example, but he does have the same vibe going on. He’s cynical with extremely good comedic timing, and you fall in love with him faster than you do with anyone on the Hero front.

It also helps that his tale of villainy is one the audience can empathize with. Born Jin Bubaigawara, he lost his parents at a formative age and then had to survive on a mediocre job. But even that was taken out of his hands when an accident happened, and the victim turned out to be his boss’s relative. And after a lifetime of being betrayed and having things taken from him, Jin used his Quirk to create clones of himself. Because he was the only one, he could trust.

However, that backfired when he started using those clones for criminal stuff, and because they were clones of himself, they got lazy and refused to do the work as well. Soon enough, with no one else to talk to, the clones started overpowering him. It got so bad that the clones fought for 9 days until only one Jin was left standing. Which made him feel like an impostor in his skin and led to the formation of a Specified Dissociative Disorder. And slowly, but surely, he learned to live with it.

In a way, his mental instability became his strength. With the villains, he found a place he could belong to.

Why Twice Needed To Be Nerfed For The Plot:

Twice’s Quirk, known as Double, is cool. Not only can he make clones of himself, but other people as well. And those clones aren’t just for show, they inherit the Quirks of the people they emulate. And they can just keep on multiplying.

This effectively means that he can copy-paste the entire League Of Villains by himself, Quirks and all. That’s like having a personal army in the form of one individual. Imagine if he had survived the fight with Hawks, and headed to the Central Hospital where Tomura Shigaraki, his leader, was getting his Quirk, All-For-One, modified. If that had happened, there would multiple Tomura’s with 100% control.

He was too much of a loose end to keep alive. And so sadly, he needed to be written out of the story.