My Hero Academia Revisits Its First Villain After 9 Years

My Hero Academia is about to bring its manga to an end, but before the future hits the heroes of Class 1-A, the final battle is revisiting the past. The Final Arc has seen the return of a handful of heroes, and former villains, looking to help out Deku and his companions in saving the future of Hero Society. Unfortunately for the crime fighters, a villain from Midoriya’s past has made a comeback and holds the title of being the first villain that the star of the series encountered in the manga.

Warning. If you have yet to read the latest chapter of My Hero Academia’s manga, Chapter 383, you might want to steer clear as we’ll be diving into spoiler territory. There are multiple fights that are taking place all at once in this final battle and its unsurprising considering just how many heroes and villains are clashing. Toga is using the power of Twice to cause havoc, Shigaraki is fighting against Deku as All For One and One For All collide, and All For One is fighting against a handful of heroes who have him on the rope. However, a curveball was thrown at the heroes in the form of the “Sludge Villain”.

Never receiving a proper name, the sludge villain finds itself enveloping Shinso as it had once done with Deku and Bakugo, prior to Izuku gaining the power of One For All. When found out by Red Riot, the villain reveals himself and divulges his approach to the final fight, “Ya spotted me! Machia waking up means we win, yeah? So why risk my neck in some stupid battle? The only heroes left these days have got serious guts so I thought I’d pretend to fight a little and then sneak away. I gotta say, this push-over makes a way better hiding spot than that plucky middle school kid!”

Luckily for Red Riot, who nearly is swallowed by the sludgy antagonist, he’s saved by Alien Queen who unleashes an acid attack that sets the path for Shinso brainwashing the unnamed villain. Of course, defeating this villain was simply a warm-up to the biggest threat in front of Shinso and company in the rampaging Gigantomachia, who remains one of All For One’s strongest minions to date.

What other characters from My Hero Academia’s past do you want to see make a return before the manga ends? Do you think the heroes will ultimately claim victory? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of UA Academy.