What Does Being My Hero Academia’s Number One Hero Even Mean Anymore?

The Hero Rankings are a major aspect of hero society, with civilians normally looking to the [...]

By Evan Valentine

The Hero Rankings are a major aspect of hero society, with civilians normally looking to the heroes higher on the Billboard Chart and crime fighter aspiring to reach the top to act as the strongest heroes in the world, but in My Hero Academia's anime and manga, do these ratings even matter any more? With Endeavor taking on the number one spot following the retirement of All Might, due to his latest battle with All For One, the rankings definitely had a negative effect on the Todoroki Clan, leaving one to wonder if they're even worth it any longer.

Warning. We'll be diving into slight spoilers for recent events in My Hero Academia's manga, so be forewarned if you aren't caught up with the latest chapter in Kohei Horikoshi's epic Shonen series.

The Hero Ranking System works to inform the public which heroes are the best at their jobs, not simply in their overall power level, but the number of crimes they are able to stop alongside the general reception of said heroes to the general populace. In the final episodes of the fourth season of My Hero Academia, we were able to see the stark differences between the number one and two heroes in Endeavor and Hawks, with the powerful heroes having insanely different personalities and approaches to their sworn duties as superheroes.

My Hero Academia Hero Rankings
(Photo: Toho )

In the manga, we've seen how Endeavor put his family to task in a bid to create progeny who would be able to surpass All Might, specifically aiming to have them become the number one hero. Losing his son Toya in his obsession, with the eldest Todoroki eventually becoming the villain Dabi, Endeavor's pursuit is a symptom of a larger problem in Hero Society that churns many heroes within the wheels of its operation.

As things seem right now, Midoriya is looking to not only become the next Symbol of Peace but the next number one hero himself, utilizing the power of One For All in dong so. The problem is that the villains have a point about the damage that Hero Society is having on the world at large, but have gone too far in their desire to not be challenged when it comes to murder and general crimes they wish to commit. As the War Arc has nearly shattered the public's trust in the heroes, it's clear that the next generation isn't simply going to have to defeat the League of Villains, but also figure out a way to break the system in favor of something new.

Do you think the Hero Rankings are a dangerous, outdated system for the world of UA Academy? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

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