My Hero Academia has kept fans guessing and dreading the moment that the series could kill off one of its biggest icons: All Might. Since My Hero Academia began back in 2014, fans of the series have seen death flags hanging all over All Might – from the crippling injury slowly breaking down his body, the soul spirit that already exists inside One For All, to the numerous foreshadows (including one future prophecy) that All Might would fall in some kind of final battle with a villain (or his nemesis All- For One), it’s been all but assured the hero would die.
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…That is, until now.
In My Hero Academia Chapter 405, series creator Kohei Horikoshi finally makes a meta-style about-face turn, by having All Might come to the realization that the assurance of his death isn’t as certain as he (and we) have always thought it was.
The chapter picks up the Final War Arc with the pivotal moment when Katsuki Bakugo finally makes his return to the battlefield, after suffering some seemingly fatal injuries. Bakugo made his return just in time to save All Might from death at the hands of All For One, who has had the benefit of having his physical form de-aged (through Eri’s Rewind quirk) into its youthful form. Even with a suit of hi-tech, quirk-mimicking, armor, All Might ended up suffering massive injuries and looked like he was going to die for sure – but then Bakugo came exploding back onto the scene.
In a vision, All Might talks to his old (now dead) partner Nighteye, who assures him that this was the moment of death he foresaw with his quirk, and warned about. However, fate has been “reshaped” by the youth, and All Might’s notion of a tragic shonen-style mentor character death no longer applies:
“You are a hero, but you’re also human,” Nighteye tells All Might. “You can’t possibly die so readily.”
This moment is a major thematic payoff for My Hero Academia‘s story if you’ve been following it closely. At the start of the story, both Bakugo and series lead Izuku Midoriya were inspired by the example of All Might’s heroism – but only Deku truly embodied it, as he started out powerless like Toshinori Yagi, but possessed the same kind of selfless heart, throwing himself into danger to save the reckless Bakugo from a villain attack. Over the course of the manga/anime’s run, Bakugo has slowly but surely learned from Deku’s example, and started to emulate it in his own heroic practice. The fact that he threw himself into harm’s way to save his own idol from a dark fate is about as big a moment for Bakugo (the biggest supporting character in the series) as we could have hoped.
…That is unless Bakugo is the one to finish All For One, while Deku takes down Tomura Shigaraki. That’s the kind of epic conclusion My Hero Academia fans have been praying for.
My Hero Academia releases new manga chapters online.
