Deku has obviously got a lot of common battle shonen protagonist archetypes going on ; he's aggressively empathetic, self-sacrificing to a fault, and every character he interacts with finds themselves drawn to him. Nearly all the protags of the "big" shonen mangas have these traits. Luffy, Naruto, Gon.
The big thing that makes Deku feel different? He's smart.
90% of shonen protagonists, particularly the most popular ones, are impulsive dumbasses. Incredibly likeable impulsive dumbasses, but Luffy/Naruto/Gon are all kind of stupid and act on instinct. They're cunning, sure, and can figure out clever ways to win a fight, but they are absolutely not the puzzle solvers of the group. Deku, on the other hand, is incredibly analytical and tackles every challenge with strategy and observation. In fact, one of his weaknesses is that he'll often overthink a situation and be unable to react in time. It might feel like a small discrepancy, but it makes a lot of big battles and sequences play out very differently than they would in One Piece or Naruto.
His interactions with the rest of the cast also feel unique because his personality is such a contrast from those other characters. Instead of being loud, brash, and having an inflated sense of self-importance, Deku is pretty much the opposite. He's meek, overly polite, and has some big self-esteem issues that he wears on his sleeve (instead of big self esteem issues that he constantly represses, like everyone else). So there's a lot about Deku that's familiar, but the things about him that are new/uncommon to a protagonist in the genre make him feel really refreshing. I like him a lot.
