My Hero Academia features an ensemble cast, with protagonist Izuku Midoriya being one of 20 talented Class 1-A students at the U.A. school. His classmates all have remarkable Quirks of their own, but early sketches reveal many Quirks were a bit different -- especially Ochaco Uraraka's.
Many Class 1-A characters were only slightly changed from their initial MHA sketches to final design, but Ochaco was completely overhauled from her originally intended role. She was going to be the giant hero Mt. Lady, but that would have caused a real headache for Kohei Horikoshi further down the line. Here's how different the story and characters may have been.
The Initial Design of Mt. Lady Had Her as a UA Student
When My Hero Academia author Kohei Horikoshi first designed his characters, Ochaco was named Yu Takeyama, the final name of the Pro Hero known as Mt. Lady. This prototype of Yu would have been a student in Class 1-A, and her then-blue hair was shorter than that of the real Mt. Lady. She lacked the trademark purple horns on her hero costume and had different designs on the main body as well. Early sketches also depict her in the U.A. school uniform with hair similar to that of Class 1-B's Yui Kodai.
Having a gigantic classmate like this fighting by Izuku's side would have been amusing and a real novelty, but the design could have presented serious issues in the MHA story. If student-Mt. Lady turned huge in battle, she would overshadow her classmates -- often literally -- and it would be difficult to fit her into the panels or TV screen alongside her classmates. Her Pro Hero design avoids this issue since she fights with just one or two allies at a time, rather than having a handful of relatively tiny classmates clustered around her giant feet.
This size discrepancy would have led to confusing battle scenes, and worse yet, student-Mt. Lady would have little room to grow and learn as a hero. She would already have a serious advantage with her Gigantification Quirk, so there wouldn't have been much room for innovation or creativity.
MHA's Final Designs of Ochaco & Mt. Lady
In the end, Yu Takeyama became a youthful Pro Hero making her debut while the prototype female student became the beloved Ochaco Uraraka. Ochaco's Zero-Gravity Quirk is much more appropriate for a student and underdog like her, who has everything to prove. Using it effectively calls for creativity and teamwork, as Ochaco showed during the U.A. sports festival and her fight scenes alongside Tsuyu Asui. Ochaco cannot simply become a colossus and crush the villains -- she has to fight smartly instead, much like Izuku.
Ochaco's non-lethal Quirk also fits her gentle and constructive personality in My Hero Academia. Her cheerful nature can lift people's spirits and make them feel weightless in their mind. Likewise, Quirk is ideal for construction, the industry in which her parents work, and she hopes to help them out one day. Mt. Lady could also be helpful for construction, but she's better suited for destruction, causing a lot of collateral damage while operating as a hero. Her giant, attention-grabbing size also fits her flamboyant personality, since she revels in the spotlight.
Ultimately, My Hero Academia's final designs for Mt. Lady and Ochaco both found the perfect Quirk for their personalities and goals, and Izuku's classmate won't ever break the school's roof by turning into a giant.
