The NEXT
In the aftermath of the War, and the decline of hero society, Deku leaves U.A. High, working alongside All Might and the Top 3 Pro Heroes to track down the remnants of the League of Villains, as well as continue to harness the full power of One For All in preparation for the final battle against All For One.Tropes
- Achilles' Heel: Nagant may have a powerful and versatile Quirk that allows her to make any number of shots she wants to from improbable distances and angles, but her quirk's combat capabilities are limited solely to her right arm, which transforms into her rifle. Break the arm, break the rifle and vice versa. Nagant is left unable to fight anymore after Izuku lands a well-aimed blow to her rifle, shattering it and rendering her effectively unable to use her Quirk, even if she's still mobile.
- Always Someone Better: Snipe, in a past interview, admits that he couldn't hold a candle to Nagant's superior Quirk and marksmanship. There is also the fact that she can mold her hair into various types of bullets.
- And Then What?: In a flashback to her time working in the Hero Public Safety Commission, Lady Nagant discussed her role in assassinating targets and covering up their crimes and if that was any better than brainwashing to the current president. When the president replied that it was all necessary to preserve the faith heroes build up Nagant directly questions what is supposed to happen next. The president's less than satisfactory answer led to Nagant killing him and becoming completely disillusioned with Hero Society.
- Arm Cannon: Lady Nagant, the traitor of the Hero Public Safety Commission, has a Quirk that allows her to create a large sniper rifle, scope included, from her right arm, and mold bullets from her hair.
- Badass Boast: When someone makes a comment of things returning to normal, Izuku only has four words to say: "I'll make it so."
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Stain shows up in 317, listening in to All Might and Izuku's conversation as the latter tells him he doesn't need to follow him around anymore. Despite the current social situation arguably being what Stain wanted, where heroes who signed up for fame or fortune are quitting the job because they are facing non-stop criticism from civilians despite their best efforts, Stain's pensive and downcast expression shows he's not happy with the outcome, as he didn't wish for complete societal collapse, nor for people to lose faith in the very idea of heroes in the first place, merely for the title to be more selective and bestowed only upon those worthy of it.
- Big Damn Heroes: In chapter 318, Izuku is exhausted and unable to fight back against Dictator's People Puppets without hurting them. At the last moment, Bakugo shows up and incapacitates Dictator, saving Izuku and the people.
- Bloody Hallucinations of Guilt: In a flashback, Nagant goes to shake the hand of a young fan, only to hallucinate that her hands are drenched with blood, due to all the killing she did for the Safety Commission.
- The Bus Came Back: Ketsubutsu Academy students Yo Shindo and Tatami Nakagame appear for the first time since their debut in the Provisional Hero License Exam, and are attacked by Muscular.
- Continuity Nod: After his battle with Nagant, Midoriya spots a distraught Kai Chisaki (Overhaul) who, since his escape, is desperately trying to find the former boss of the Shei Hisaikai; claiming that he wants to apologize for his failures. Midoriya says that he will take him. That said, he reminds Chisaki that he should be apologizing to little Eri for putting her through so much pain back in the Internship arc.
- Cool Car: Hercules, the vehicle All Might uses when patrolling the city, is a heavily armored one that takes a direct blast from a grenade and doesn't fall apart. Its defenses are only breached when two hired thugs shoot what look like Thunder Spears directly on the windshield, piercing the glass and delivering their explosive ordinance inside the vehicle, but even then the car is shown to be perfectly drivable in subsequent chapters, meaning the danger the attack presented was more to All Might himself than Hercules.
- The Cowl: Deku becomes more like this, as opposed to All Might, generally hiding in the shadows and using his Smokescreen Quirk to conceal himself from All For One and his followers.
- Crapsack World: In the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War, Japan resembles the time when All For One's power was at its peak, and when no one was strong enough to directly oppose him. Banjo's vestige within One For All remarks on it.
- The state of Modern Japan represents the overwhelming sense of doom and dread that forms the background of the storyline. The Heroes know that the war isn't over and they're mentally preparing for the inevitable final battle with AFO, the League and the powered up Shigaraki.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Midoriya's second bout with Muscular is a much quicker and more decisive victory, with the villain who once forced the boy to the limits of his physicality brought down within a chapter without getting a single hit in.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Lady Nagant started her hero career with bright-eyed enthusiasm, but the Safety Commission hired her as an assassin who preemptively killed corrupt heroes and villains without trial in order to cover up their crimes and keep up Hero Society's shiny image. This caused her to become disillusioned, and would signal her turn to evil, as she currently believes that Hero Society is nothing more than a sham.
- Declaration of Protection: In chapter 313, All Might delivers one so chilling it sends his attackers packing:"Stand aside... That boy has borne so much more than I ever have - a burden I forced on him! And still, he idolizes me! The day anything happens to that kid is the day I die!"
- Downer Beginning: The aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War has sown discord and chaos into Japan, with All For One and many other villains running roughshod and trust in pro heroes at an all-time low.
- Flat Character: Discussed. Motivated by Tomura's inner "crying child", Midoriya questions Muscular about why he became the mass murderer he came to know, and if there was any other path he could take. Muscular just confirms that there's really nothing more to him than what he sees, and that he has no intention of fixing himself.Muscular: You trying to sympathize with me or something?! Peddle that crap somewhere else!! Cuz all you'll find in my soul is blood and violence!!
- Genre Shift: The series takes a bit of a turn here to match the new, darker tone of the post-PLF world. We've transitioned from an action comedy series to a gritty drama where several heavy topics like societal upheval, the distrust of authority and the realities of vigilanteism take the forefront.
- Heroic RRoD: Discussed and Invoked. Following Lady Nagant's near-death and AFO's threats to make Izuku the target of his schemes going forward, Izuku becomes desperate to make headway in thwarting his plans, doubling down on his efforts to save every civilian he can, pushing away his helpers like All Might in case they also get hurt in the crossfire, and pushing himself relentlessly to keep saving people, ignoring the advice and concerns of Endeavour and the vestiges to take things easier on himself in the process. By the time he faces the 3rd of AFO's Hired Guns, he's too exhausted to properly fight back and is almost overwhelmed when the villain attacks him with a small army of People Puppets, exactly as AFO predicted and was counting on.
- History Repeats: Discussed. Nagant believes that even if Midoriya beats All For One, and restores the public's faith in Heroes and the status quo, things will go right back to where they were before with the public only seeing the bright and shiny side of Hero Society while the dark truth is hidden and ends up gnawing at someone else.
- Horrifying Hero: By chapter 317, Izuku's Clothing Damage has worsened through his relentless non-stop fighting against random criminals and AFO's Hired Guns to the point that the civilians he's saving express concern over whether he's even a hero in the first place, not helped by his refusal to explain himself to them and multiple Quirks, a sign of AFO's influence that even random civilians can recognize. It's to the point that he resembles Garou, the Hero Hunter or Guts in the Berserker Armour more than he does a hero.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Going off on his own places Midoriya into various dilemmas where he has to use the Quirks of the predecessors to fight. During his fight with Lady Nagant the Third even warns Midoriya on using his Quirk recklessly since he hadn't even tested it yet though Midoriya counters that the situation is desperate enough that he has no other choice.
- Ironic Echo: All For One uses All Might's "You're Next/It's Your Turn" in classic villain fashion. Whereas All Might uses it to tell Midoriya that it's time for him to take on the role of Symbol of Peace, AFO uses it to let Midoriya know it's his turn to suffer in his predecessor's place.
- Know When to Fold Them: Discussed. In a flashback, Hawks warns Midoriya that All For One will likely send other villains after him. He adds that of all the villains under his wing, Lady Nagant is likely the most dangerous and Deku should avoid her at all costs.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Lady Nagant's shock at the fact that Midoriya has multiple Quirks indicates that All For One withheld the information about it from her.
- Lured into a Trap:
- After Hawks saves Lady Nagant from falling to her death and repeats Midoriya's words about her still being a hero, Nagant decides to tell them that she was meant to send Deku to the former headquarters of the Creature Rejection Clan. Midoriya and several of the top heroes storm the mansion intending to take down All For One and Shigaraki once and for all... only to find the place empty. Turns out All For One never believed that Nagant would defeat Midoriya and correctly predicted she would have a change of heart and left a message directed to him before the entire mansion detonates.
- Another variant happens again in Chapter 318, when Izuku's desperation to make headway against AFO's plans and save as many people as he can causes him to run himself ragged to the point of exhaustion, leaving him easy prey from AFO's 3rd Hired Gun, Dictator, who swarms Izuku with a small army of controlled civilians when he's alone and too weak to properly fight him off without hurting people in the process, exactly as AFO instructed him to.
- Mistaken for Terrorist:
- A civilian woman with a gigant mutant Quirk is harassed by a group of edgy and paranoid vigilantes, who thought she was a villain waiting to catch them off guard, based purely on her appearance. Thankfully, Midoriya quickly defuses the situation and arranges with All Might for her to be taken to a shelter. Assuming she had an ordinary life beforehand, the increase in villain activity has made things difficult for innocent people such as her.
- Later on, Izuku himself falls victim to this through rumors, thanks to his demonstrated multiple Quirks, something even average civilians can connect to All For One, refusal to explain himself to those he saves and increasingly dark and intimidating appearance through accumulating damage from non-stop battling against villains running amok in society. The only way civilians can tell he's not a villain is that he's relentlessly saving people, but people are noticeably intimidated towards the mysterious savior and unable to make their minds up about him and his intentions.
- Motive Rant: Nagant gives one to Izuku about how the Commission used her to kill villains and even heroes without any of them getting a trial in order to ensure that the public was never aware about the darker side of Hero Society. She believes that if the Commission is so corrupt, then even a world ruled by All For One would be better, if only for being more "transparent".
- On One Condition: After his battle with Nagant, Midoriya spots a distraught Kai Chisaki (Overhaul) who, since his escape, is desperately trying to find the former boss of the Shei Hisaikai; claiming that he wants to apologize for his failures. Midoriya says that he will take him to the boss after the battle with All For One is over... but only if Chisaki is willing to apologize to Eri for putting her through so much pain back in the Internship arc.
- Resignations Not Accepted:
- Implied. When Nagant hinted at not wanting to be the Safety Commission's hitman anymore, the current head remarked that she "this isn't the kind of job you can simply walk away from". So she turned in her resignation with a bullet right through the chairman. She was sent to Tartarus, under the cover story of murdering another hero instead of the Commission head, before All For One broke her out.
- Midoriya left UA to prevent any villains from potentially attacking his friends, but Principal Nezu, in a heroic sense, reveals that due to these circumstances, or in spite of them, he is allowed to return to school at any time.
- Secret-Keeper: Discussed and Deconstructed. Hawks, Endeavor and their various allies convene in Chapter 317 to plan their next course of action once their lead that Nagant provided becomes a dead end. Edgeshot brings up the possibility of simply telling as many people about the circumstances of OFA as they can, so as to gather more allies and resources to help track down and combat AFO before he's finished perfecting his control over Tomura's body. Endeavor points out that, despite the advantages and the fact that the number of active heroes they could recruit are dwindling by the day, they still can't afford to tell anybody else about OFA as that would simply result in Izuku becoming The Scapegoat for all of society to place their frustrations on, which would unnecessarily burden him when he's already under a lot of pressure from AFO's mind games. Plus, they cannot tell other heroes, as the ones that do quit their jobs might end up leaking details to the press regardless, who are aware of the existence of OFA and its importance thanks to Tomura's public statement during the war, so they have no choice but to keep the number of people in the know to a minimum. On the flip side, it's pointed out that AFO isn't revealing the truth behind OFA either, as that would force the heroes to mobilize and lock Izuku away for his own protection, something AFO doesn't want, forcing both sides into keeping the details quiet for the foreseeable future.
- Super Smoke: En's Quirk "Smokescreen" has the ability to generate a thick cloud of smoke. Deku is inexperienced so he ends up clouding his vision when he uses it.
- There Is Another: After Lady Nagant has been defeated she reveals to Midoriya and Hawks that she wasn't the only Hired Gun send out by All For One to capture the hero with a flashback showing six silhouettes of potential new threats Midoriya will have to encounter.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: While backed by All Might, Endeavor, Best Jeanist, and Hawks, Midoriya prefers to handle most of the search for All For One and Shigaraki alone, if he can help it. With villains likely sent after him by All For One, he doesn't want anyone to be caught in the crossfire, or used as a hostage. This is heavily deconstructed, as it takes a huge toll on Deku's physical and mental health, as well as combat abilities.
- Underestimating Badassery:
- A pair of villains attack All Might's car and prepare to fight him as he escapes, believing that he's no longer a threat since his retirement. All Might seems to prove them wrong, as his determination and Declaration of Protection to Midoriya completely scares them off.
- Despite having notable experience as a hero, Lady Nagant grossly underestimates Midoriya's cunning and assumes that he's on the run. It never occurred to her that he was trying to ambush her.
- Villain Has a Point: Nagant believes that the Hero Public Safety Commission cares more for its cheerful public image, as opposed to improving society. She was hired as an operative to kill anyone who posed the slightest threat behind the scenes, and had no right to question or refuse orders. When she finally snaps under disillusion, she murders the head of the Commission and is soon arrested, with a cover story that she murdered another hero. Midoriya doesn't disagree with her that reality isn't black-and-white, but he resolves to offer everyone a helping hand to make things better.
- Visual Development: When Izuku first appears in the arc's beginning, his battle-damaged hero outfit looks more intimidating but still recognizable as the heroic look Izuku was originally going for when he first wore it, showing how he's becoming more of an intimidating presence towards the villains he's facing, and beginning to step into the role of Japan's greatest hero, thanks to the experiences he faced during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc hardening him and his willpower. Following Lady Nagant's near-death experience from All For One body-trapping her, aware Izuku would try to Save the Villain, and leaving a recorded message for Izuku making it clear that he's only getting starting with tormenting the boy, Izuku starts throwing himself even harder into his protective duties, even pushing away All Might in an attempt to keep him safe and rushing non-stop from battle to battle, his Clothing Damage worsens, to the point that his appearance intimidates even the civilians he's saving, who express concern as to whether Izuku's even a hero in the first place, showing how self-destructive his current path is and how it's pushing him away from his childhood dream of being able to save people like All Might did.
- The Worf Effect:
- The last time they met, Muscular was the villain that brought Izuku the closest to death he'd ever been, forcing him to go beyond his physical limits just to survive, which ended up permanently damaging Midoriya's body. When they next meet, Izuku has unlocked multiple options to handle opponents in a fight thanks to OFA's Combo Platter Powers and demonstrates how much more experienced and versatile he's become as a result. It helps that Shindo's last-ditch attack had weakened Muscular far more than he realized, which allowed Izuku to exploit the openings in the villain's armor and defeat him with one punch.
- Lady Nagant gives Izuku one hell of a difficult fight when she appears, forcing Izuku to rely on Fa Jin for the first time in a desperate gamble to beat her. When she warns that All For One hired other villains besides herself to attack Izuku it indicates they'll be an even more difficult challenge... except Izuku defeats the second Hired Gun off-panel in 317, winning near-instantly. This implies that Izuku's difficulty with the first fight was due to his opponent employing a long-range fighting style against his mid-range abilities, as well as the fact that she was also a sympathetic character who had fallen on hard times and whom Izuku was more concerned with trying to help than treat her as a criminal who needed to be put down.
- World's Strongest Man: Deconstructed, in a similar vein to All Might's own tenure in the position. Izuku's multiple quirks and sheer power with OFA at this point make him a good contender for the position, shown by him handling multiple highly-dangerous Tartarus escapees without issue and Hawks himself noting that Izuku could probably handle any of them save for Lady Nagant.note However, when Izuku starts pushing himself beyond his limitations in order to protect everybody from AFO's schemes, this also means that there's nobody around who's capable of forcing him to stop for his own good, even when his own actions are detrimental to his health. If not for Bakugo stepping in to save him, Izuku would have eventually succumbed to one of AFO's Hired Guns after pushing himself to the point of exhaustion.
- You Are Not Alone: In chapter 319, when Izuku's UA friends finally manage to catch up to him, they remind him that he's not in this alone and can count on them. Unfortunately, Izuku initially refuses their help for fear of endangering them, leading to a clash.
