The enormously popular anime series My Hero Academia features a world full of powerful heroes and villains. However, not all costumed characters are created equal. Here are the strongest characters in My Hero Academia, ranked.
5) Shigaraki (All For One)
The first villain to hold the title of All For One at the start of My Hero Academia is a man simply known as Shigaraki, with much about his background remains a mystery. Shigaraki’s younger brother, Yoichi Shigaraki, is the first person to possess the powerful One For All Quirk, the antithesis of his older brother’s Quirk. This creates a lifelong animosity between All For One and anyone who wields the One For All Quirk, including All Might.
The All For One Quirk lets Shigaraki steal and pass on Quirks to others, with Shigaraki obsessed with acquiring the One For All Quirk as it would allow him to reunite with the spirit of Yoichi. All For One is the first villain to grievously wound All Might in battle, with subsequent rematch being so physically taxing on All Might that it burns out the Pro Hero’s ability to use One For All. Shigaraki augments his powers through the use of an experimental drug, but this makes him increasingly unstable and leads to his downfall.
4) Cathleen Bate (Star and Stripe)
Japan isn’t the only nation in My Hero Academia to have Pro Heroes, with the story bringing in heroes from other countries as the series progresses. The greatest Pro Hero in the United States is Star and Stripe, who, like series protagonist Izuku Midoriya, grew up inspired to be a hero like All Might. As the new wielder of the All For One Quirk, Tomura Shigaraki, becomes a growing threat, Star and Stripe arrives when All Might calls for international reinforcements.
Star and Stripe possesses the Quirk New Order, which allows her to reshape the nature of things she comes into contact with under her will. This power extends to Star and Stripe being able to change the nature of her own Quirk, which she later repurposes to destroy other Quirks that try to interface with it. This change allowed her to destroy several Quirks stolen by Tomura, severely weakening him and confirming that Star and Stripe is one of the strongest characters in My Hero Academia.
3) Yagi Toshinori (All Might)
All Might is the eighth wielder of the One For All Quirk and the most famous Pro Hero in the world at the start of My Hero Academia. The man behind the All Might alter ego, Yagi Toshinori, is a weakened man when not in the empowered state after enduring near-death wounds at the hands of All For One. This leads All Might to begin secretly searching for a successor to the One For All Quirk, selecting Izuku Midoriya.
The One For All Quirk lets the user store immense amounts of raw power, granting them extraordinary levels of strength, speed, and endurance, and boosts any preexisting Quirk in the user. Every subsequent inheritor of the One For All Quirk is stronger than their predecessor as the absorbed energy and abilities transfer to each generation, giving All Might access to a vast reservoir of power. Because of this, when My Hero Academia begins, All Might is recognized as the strongest Pro Hero in the world, though he keeps the true nature of his powers a secret from the public.
2) Izuku Midoriya (Deku)
At the start of the series, Izuku doesn’t have any identifiable Quirks of his own, making him ostracized by his peers. This forces Izuku to rely on his cunning and strategy when he begins training at U.A. High School before it is revealed that he is the ninth and potentially final inheritor of the One For All Quirk. After a rematch against All For One permanently burns out All Might’s ability to use the One For All Quirk, Toshinori passes on his Quirk to Izuku, who leaves school to focus on stopping the villains.
As with previous users of the One For All Quirk, Izuku inherits all the power and abilities of those who previously wielded the Quirk. Unlike All Might, Izuku is able to tap into the full potential of the Quirk, communicating with the echoes of past One For All users and gaining the ability to use all the inherited Quirks. This allows Deku to surpass All Might’s power considerably and become the greatest hope to defeat Tomura and his army of villains.
1) Tomura Shigaraki (All For One)
Just as All Might took on a protege in Izuku, All For One gained a protege in Tomura Shigaraki, raising him from an early age. All For One secretly plotted for Tomura to be the one to steal the One For All Quirk from All Might after failing to acquire it himself for years, while Tomura possessed the deadly Quirk of disintegrating everything he touches with his fingertips. After All For One’s defeat, Tomura takes control of the League of Villains and inherits the All For One Quirk, stopping Shigaraki from using it to take control of Tomura’s body.
Channeling the All For One Quirk, Tomura can steal the Quirks of others he comes into contact with, adding to his immense power. He also retains the ability to disintegrate anything or anyone he touches, something his enemies learn the hard way as he expands his ambitions. Merciless and driven, Tomura is the most devious villain in My Hero Academia.
And those are the strongest characters in My Hero Academia, ranked.
My Hero Academia is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
