Kohei Horikoshi Inspired a My Hero Academia Character After Lionel Messi Because of His Editor’s Love for Football

Kohei Horikoshi My Hero Academy is known for taking inspiration from some of the most interesting and famous elements of pop culture and transforming them into a world of superheroes willing to fight for good and evil. Whether drawing inspiration from comic book heroes or other anime and manga characters, Horikoshi’s work has brought together pieces of the world into one big compilation.

When opportunities are so vast, there’s no doubt that inspiration knows no bounds either. People can take inspiration from leaves, cars and idioms. So, thinking that football could play such a large role in the development of a fan-favorite character wouldn’t be too far-fetched to assume.

Football found its way to Kohei Horikoshi

Kohei Horikoshi is no stranger to the vast forms of entertainment present in the world. One of them was also the FIFA World Cup. In an interview for the Fifth Anniversary Project in 2019, My Hero Academia Editor Honyasan (via Comicbook) spoke about his great passion for football.

During the World Cup, I told this story to Mr. Horikoshi. I love football and when Mr. Horiksohi found out about it, he started broadcasting the World Cup every time I was there waiting for the manuscript and all that. Watching the video, Mr. Horikoshi himself became interested in football too.

He found the story of Lionel Messi exceptionally inspiring and found himself telling this exact anecdote to My Hero Academy author. Horikoshi, the absolutely warm friend that he is, whenever Honyasan came to collect the manuscripts from him, he would organize the World Cup so that the publisher could enjoy it.

This very thoughtful act was enough to draw the author into the world of football as well. The more he put it on, the more he felt intrigued by the sport. Very quickly, the world of football and Lionel Messi gave birth to Keigo Takami.

Lionel Messi and the Hawks Go Hand in Hand

Seeing how Kohei Horikoshi’s interest in football was growing, Honyasan took the opportunity to tell the author more about Lionel Messi. Seeing how much the My Hero Academy The author was not surprised that a new character was born from his latest interests.

When I told him about Messi, he told me he thought it was an interesting story. The next week, or maybe the week after that, Hawks history was born. So it’s kind of a modification, like he kind of wants to make the other side out to be a big bad guy, that sort of thing.

Hawks was born from Horikoshi’s direct inspiration for Messi, claiming that the footballer was the model while the fictional character became a modified version. It didn’t take him long to create an entire character, creating a unique personality and a peculiarity with an even more interesting backstory; right after hearing about the Argentine footballer.

Horikoshi took one of the world’s most famous footballers and turned him into a strong, fierce, and inspiring fictional character. He became someone who had a story as tragic as many villains, but he chose to become such a symbol of hope.

My Hero Academia is available on Hulu and Crunchyroll.