How My Hero Academia’s One For All And All For One Are Connected
My Hero Academia (available to stream on Hulu) follows in the footsteps of the best anime series, starting out with a tight focus on the world it’s set in, but over the course of dozens of episodes, expanding and revealing the real nature of its universe. At the heart of the superpowered world is a pair of Quirks, All for One and One for All, that are destined to ultimately battle for the fate of the planet.
One For All Is The Ultimate Form Of Heroism
Gifted to Izuku by All-Might, One for All is unique among Quirks in that it’s passed down from one user to another. Originally, it appeared to only make Izuku strong like All-Might, but during My Hero Academia Season 2, while under the mind-control of Shinso, Izuku was visited by the “ghosts” of the previous One for All users. With their help, he broke the mind-control and won his match but was left with more questions than ever.
Later on, Izuku (now having adopted the heroic name of Deku), was able to manifest Quirks of the past wielders of One for All, starting with Blackwhip, the Quirk used by the fifth wielder, Daigoro Banjo. Slowly, more of these stored quirks started manifesting, and with eight previous wielders, that means six total Quirks (since All-Might has no natural quirk) will manifest in Deku.
The sharing of Quirks, powers, and even thoughts, makes One for All’s ultimate power level effectively limitless. In the world of My Hero Academia it’s the most selfless Quirk, which is ironic, considering how it was first created.
All For One Is The Ultimate Quirk Of Selfishness
All for One is capable of stealing Quirks, with the only exception being One for All, a fact that constantly drives the villain forward despite sustaining life-threatening injuries at the hands of All-Might. All for One has been hunting down One for All users for generations, killing them off but not before the Quirk can be passed on to a new successor.
There are limits to All for One’s power, with Quirks of My Hero Academia’s later generations harder for him to contain and forcing the villain to rely on a special serum that is slowly de-aging him. At the same time, instead of One for All’s past users supporting each other and Deku, All for One is haunted by nightmarish memories of everyone whose Quirks he stole through the years. Sadistic and uncaring, All for One claims that this doesn’t bother him, as he only ever cares about achieving his ultimate goal.
Ironically, the one time that the villain acted for the benefit of another will be his downfall.
All For One Created One For All
In the world of My Hero Academia Quirks are something people are born with, but One for All is the exception because All for One, in an attempt to bestow power onto his Quirk-less brother Yoichi, shared a power stockpiling Quirk. Neither of them knew at the time that Yoichi did have a Quirk, one that allowed him to transfer power to others. Using the newly created One for All power, Yoichi tried to defeat his evil brother, but unable to, he settled for sending his Quirk down through the generations, amassing power with each wielder until it was strong enough to vanquish All for One.
There’s irony in the world’s greatest villain being directly responsible for creating his nemesis, out of a brief moment of love and compassion for his brother no less. One brother taking every Quirk for himself, while the other shares with others, isn’t a very subtle message about the nature of good vs. evil, but then again, My Hero Academia’s charm comes from being upfront and earnest about everything.
The Final Battle Of One For All And All For One
Towards the end of Season 5, One for All’s past users make it clear that “now it’s time” for Deku, the current wielder of the Quirk, to get ready to face All for One. The call to action from the Quirk’s fifth wielder, Banjo, triggers a rapid boost in Deku’s power as he starts utilizing more of One for All’s power. The Dark Hero arc that closes out Season 6 reveals just how strong Deku has become just before All for One escapes from his prison in Tartarus.
Season 7 of My Hero Academia will continue building to the final confrontation, which won’t occur until the Final Battle arc is nearing its explosive conclusion. Every action of the heroes and villains from here on out will be to support their champion. The entire series is leading to the one moment when All for One and Deku finally unleash their full power against each other, and fans can not wait to see it play out.
