Did Hawks Die in My Hero Academia? (& What Happened to Him?) 

Being the favorite character of many fans of the My Hero Academia manga, nobody would want Hawks to die. The series of tragic events in the manga would leave anyone wondering if the Pro Hero died. Losing Hawks will be unbearable to fans, making many fans want to find out what exactly happened to him. So, did Hawks die? 

Hawks did not die in the manga. Although, he has had two near-death experiences; the first was during the Paranormal Liberation War arc, where he suffered serious burns from Dabi’s blue flame but got saved by Tokoyami, and the second was during the Final War arc, where Endeavor came just in time to protect him from All For One’s Rivet Stabs.

Now that we know that Hawks didn’t die, “What then happened to him in My Hero Academia?” would be the next question. Hawks could have died or been seriously injured on two occasions in the manga, though he got severely injured in one of them, thus losing his wings. However, he got saved just in time, thanks to his team. In the remaining part of this article, you will find all about the instances in which Hawks almost died. 

The Paranormal Liberation War Arc

Hawks joined the Paranormal Liberation Front as a double agent in a mission to gather sensitive information for the Hero Public Safety Commission. He devotes himself to the cause of the Paranormal Liberation Front and even becomes close friends with Twice. He gets Twice to trust him enough until he gets the information he needs from him and then reveals himself as a Double agent.

Twice feels betrayed and becomes mentally depressed that he has put the League of Villains in danger again, just like he did when he brought Overhaul to the League, killing Magne and destroying Mr. Compress’ arm. Hawks tells Twice that he plans to apprehend and take him into custody once the war is over. He believes Twice is the most dangerous threat to the Heroes because of his Double Quirk.

He says he could redeem Twice and help him start again because he believes Twice is a good person. However, Twice gets angry at this and unleashes his Sad Man’s Parade but Hawks easily counters this using his feather blades and incredible speed. Hawks is reluctant to kill Twice, but since Twice wouldn’t give up, Hawks says one of them has to die.

As he tries to finish off Twice, Dabi suddenly enters and blasts him with his Blueflame Quirk, throwing him and Twice off. Hawks’ major weakness is fire, which easily destroys his Fierce Wings and makes him powerless. Dabi steps on Hawks’ head and tries to burn Hawks again with his flames, but Hawks frees himself and Twice using his feather blade.

Hawks now sees that he doesn’t have much chance against Dabi since he doesn’t have many feathers left and has lost his wings. He also considers that there isn’t much space to avoid Dabi’s flames, so he thinks of just focusing on the mission and moving him and Twice away.

Twice creates a clone that stops Hawks from crawling away, telling Dabi to burn him. Dabi then blasts another flame at Hawks, which breaks the window, throwing him off. Twice starts to make clones of himself and tries to help the PLF but Hawks surprisingly flies in again through the other end.

Dabi discovers that Hawks flew out with the fire earlier to deceive them so he could come and attack them. Dabi then shocks Hawks by calling him his real name: Keigo Takami. This distracts Hawks, who begins to wonder how Dabi knows his real name, giving time for Dabi to unleash another blast at him.

A few moments later, just before Twice could finally escape, Hawks kills him. Dabi gets very angry and starts to burn Hawks’ wings and feathers, intending to kill him. However, Hawks’ student, Fumikage Tokoyami, arrives just in time to save him.

As Tokoyami tries to escape with his severely wounded mentor, he crashes down with him on the concrete, and Hawks goes unconscious. Dabi then appears and tries to unleash another blast, but Geten interrupts with a sudden ice attack.

Tokoyami eventually escapes with Hawks and carries him to the medical camp. Hawks’ wings are already severely damaged. Hawks only spent a few days at the hospital and left when he had only barely recovered. 

The Final War Arc 

After the incident at the Paranormal Liberation War Arc, Recover Girl couldn’t heal Hawks completely, so he now has to rely on prosthetic wings. Not having his natural wings has reduced his efficiency and speed, and he is no longer as powerful as he used to be.

The fight against All For One began with Endeavor and Hawks trying to defeat him. They believe the masked villain depends solely on his mask for survival, and they plan to destroy the mask so they can defeat him once and for all. During the fight, Endeavor gets seriously wounded and falls to the ground, leaving only Hawks to combat the villain.

All For One tries to attack Hawks with the Air Cannon Blast, knowing fully well that Hawks can’t resist it since he is now relying on prosthetic wings. However, Jiro arrives flying on Tokoyami and blocks the attack. The battle continues, and the three heroes eventually fight together to destroy All For One’s mask.

Just as Hawks plans to finish off All For One for good, All For One unleashes several Rivet Stabs to gather the broken pieces of his mask. Hawks sees this and tries to protect the young heroes from the attack with his own body, but Endeavor jumps right in and takes the stabs with his arm, saving Hawks but losing his arm in the process. 

Looking at these, we can say that Hawks could have died on three occasions, considering that Jiro and Tokoyami also saved him from All For One’s Air Cannon Blast. The fact that Hawks is no more as powerful as before exposes him to more danger in battles. Anyway, he still resolves to keep carrying out his heroic duties, not minding what happens to him.

We don’t yet know how things will eventually turn out for him in future events, but let’s hope the Pro Hero keeps getting enough support from the other Heroes and doesn’t get killed eventually. Till then, Hawks lives on!