Humans have a habit to categorize things, for all its faults, it helps make things easier to comprehend. So when you live in a world of monsters and heroes, you’re going to want to know how to react to such dangers. The Hero Association is here to fund Heroes to protect the Earth from the threat of all monsters and make sure each Hero and monster is put in the correct category. So who makes up the Hero Association and how do they do all this cataloging? Let’s find out!
Several years ago, a man kept eating so much crab that it turned him into a crab monster. A young boy decided it was a good idea to vandalize this creature, so he became a target of rage. Thankfully, a random salaryman was there to rescue the boy and fight the monster off. The boy would turn out to be the grandson of multi-millionaire, Agoni, who realized that the world needed protection from such dangers.
The Hero Association was that desire made manifest. Thanks to Agoni’s investment along with other wealthy people, businesses, and a fund made by the general populace, people could become professional Heroes. All one had to do was take a test that included a physical portion to test their skills and abilities along with a written exam to see how dedicated to helping others, a Hero could be certified and ranked by a grading and number system.
In three years time, the flaws in such a system were becoming clear. While having a tier system for both the power of a Hero and the threat of a monster allowed for better ideas of who to send out for certain problems, it also made a hierarchy. Within the Hero Association, the general public, and the Heroes themselves, Tier and Rank matter more for what makes a Hero worth caring about, their deeds can be completely overlooked.
While monsters were given a system that meant people could respond appropriately, everyone only really wanted S-Tier heroes to save them. Even worse, to keep your Tier, you may for a team, not to better protect the people, but to keep your quota for heroic behavior so you don’t Rank out of your Tier. Effectively, heroic gangs would form, to keep other Heroes from advancing simply so others will not lose their own scores.
You could also do extremely well on one portion of the Hero exam, only to fail another and thus get ranked entirely incorrectly. The most powerful person in existence could be listed as C-Tier when they could stop any threat with a single punch. The Hero Association also heavily favors marketing S and A Tier Heroes so that not only do those Heroes get paid more by the Association, but by advertisers as well. Things are only getting worse as it seems now the monsters that are capable of sentient thought are forming their own association to better fight against Heroes.
There you have it! The Hero Association is the organization that the one-punch man, Saitama, himself is a part of. He is the perfect example of all the faults in the Hero Association. He’s listed as C-Tier when he’s capable of handling any threat to the world single-handedly. Will the Hero Association be able to fix itself and thus the world, in time? We’ll have to read to find out. See you next time!
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One-Punch Man
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
