Technology in TP: A Guide

Despite being several decades in the future, the technology of My Hero Academia, and thus, that of True Path, is not greatly advanced beyond the present day. People still travel, communicate, and fight in largely the same fashion as they do in the early twenty-first century. However, futuristic technology does exist--it’s simply rare, limited to governments, secretive villain organizations, and a handful of megacorps.

The Rules:

1) Quirks over Technology: This is both a simple rule, and one that is broad, and easy to misunderstand. Powerful technology exists in TP. Technology exists that is capable of challenging, or replicating the effects of most Quirkers, or Quirks. However, the driving force of the True Path Universe should always be Quirkers; Heroes and Villains. Thus, Technology should exist either in the hands of Heroes and Villains, a tool for them to use, or in the hands of NPC allies and antagonists to present interesting challenges and plots. Quirkers are not there to be overshadowed by Batman, however.

2) Most Technology is Common: Common human weaponry (Guns, Military Instruments) should be capable of presenting a threat to all but the most powerful Quirkers. Exceptional technology is used by exceptional people, and does not generally impact the world as a whole.

3) Exceptional Technology has Exceptional Origins: The corollary to the last statement is that the reason exceptional technology isn’t common is that it isn’t mass producible. It’s comic book-tech, made using rare, fictional metals, by impossible geniuses, and often, using quirks. There’s no such a thing as a standard-issue jetpack, or mecha, or railgun. Every bit advanced technology should be custom-made for the character who uses it, unless it’s part of a staff-sanctioned plot device (A squad of government-backed cape-killers.)

4) The Black Market Has an Edge: In the True Path setting, public fears lead to many Quirk-based technology being banned, and driven underground. The first supervillains had no such restrictions, and thus, gained an important technological edge. Governments have begun to close the gap (sometimes, ironically, by hiring ex-villain inventors), but still lag behind.

5) Let Support Studies Shine: Other nations have their own traditions, but in our UA, Support Studies was founded alongside Hero Studies as the primary source of student gear, suits, and weapons. Thus, no new organization should reasonably expect to replace them as the source of UA gadgetry.