Tear Jerker / My Hero Academia

"...do you think...I can be a hero, too...?"

There's a good reason why My Hero Academia is known for causing us to get in touch with tear Quirks we never knew we had: it doesn't pull its punches with reality checks about how we envision the ideal hero if the genre applied to real life and transcended the world of comics.

From the very start, we are told "Not all men are created equal" — at least in this world of Quirk-based favoritism. Not everyone is cut out to be a hero, some "heroes" are imitators and posers, others are selfish-minded and heroes in name only, and heroism is not always a pretty road to take. And attempting superheroism, the pinnacle of heroism, is a double-edged sword, because striving to be the best can break someone... or deny and destroy those that get left behind and caught up in the chaos.

Spoilers Off applies to all "Moments" pages, so all spoilers are unmarked.

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Works with their own pages.

• My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
• My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising

In General

• Midoriya's relationship with Bakugo. They started as friends, but as Bakugo's Quirk grew stronger, he became more arrogant and started bullying Midoriya. The moment Midoriya showed genuine concern for him after he fell off a log into a shallow river, Bakugo's superiority complex made him interpret it as pity, causing their strained friendship to collapse into full-blown animosity.
• Apparently, Shoji has a creepy, very toothy smile under his mask and wears the mask because his former classmates said he looked too scary to be a hero.
• Tsuyu used to have a Friendless Background because people also thought the limited emotional range of her face was creepy until she met someone else without any friends who has the appearance of a snake, who teared up when Tsuyu asked if they could become friends. The fact that snakes are natural predators of frogs makes this all the more endearing, but proves that even in post-Quirk society, discrimination reigns; there are a lot of people still out there who refuse to accept weird-looking people as normal, and mock the Quirkless.
• One might wonder why people are so nonchalant about people who have bizarre physical features in the world of My Hero Academia. It's because several generations have gone by since the discovery of Quirks among humans, and much like the Civil Rights Movement in our world, it had to go through a movement of acceptance and goodwill. When All Might explains the origins of the Quirk-proliferated society, we learn there was indeed a time when it was not accepted as normal because the number of people with Quirks was minuscule compared to now after they integrated themselves and had offspring and dramatically raised the amount, and people who had appearances that we might consider freakish were treated with discrimination and as inhumans. Horikoshi almost certainly pulled that inspiration from X-Men, where discrimination against mutants is a major theme.
• There is a newscaster with a Quirk called Big Horn who gained the ire of some of the public because he cut off one of his horns to make it easier to shoot camera angles of him. He seems like Horikoshi's closest attempt to a political diatribe of the media. Time will tell if Horikoshi decides to insert his backstory into the manga for real.
• As the series progresses, it makes it increasingly clear that (far from being the one-dimensional thugs, monsters and wannabes that they were initially portrayed as) the villains are not only every bit as human as the other characters, but in many cases were driven to crime because of circumstances outside of their control or were failed by the very system that was meant to safeguard them. It says a lot that by the time the Paranormal Liberation War Arc rolls around, Twice's death at the hands of Hawks is portrayed less like a close call and more like a Shoot the Dog moment.
• The Fantastic Racism faced by civilians born with mutation quirks. There's no wonder so many joined up with the League of Villains to fight All Might at USJ when some probably get heroes tossed at them for so much as breathing.
• Many of the the pro-hero teachers at UA seem to have been chosen specifically due to a particular injury (physical or mental) or character flaw that both isolates them from society and makes them especially fit to teach the students and subjects they are assigned. Many have a personal beef with society and / or AFO himself, but unlike the League of Villains chose to channel their trauma to good ends. In particular:
  • Aizawa and Mic's best friend died in a building collapse when AFO sicked a giant villain onto their hometown in what Garaki admits to have been a failed assassination attempt on the former. Mic eventually chose to stay behind at UA to face the trauma head on and inspire others into greatness, whereas Aizawa initially boycotted hero society altogether to become an independent, underground hero before being coerced into becoming a teacher as a form of therapy. Aizawa's experiences as a, for some time, homeless underground hero and private investigator made him a bitter person but in the end also made him the most apt to teach the students the importance of empathy for the less fortunate and considering one's environment when fighting.
  • All Might was the mightiest hero known to man and the "ideal" hero, a long term enemy of AFO since the latter killed his mentor. His experiences as the "number" one meant that he, more than anyone, had to put up appearances and was assigned to events too violent for others to solve.
  • Both Aizawa, Thirteen, Cementoss, and Nezu are furthermore born with quirks that are heavily stigmatized and all of them had to fight tooth and nail for recognition. Aizawa was considered "basically quirkless" growing up, Thirteen's power was frighteningly destructive in nature, Cementoss is a mutant and Nezu is an escaped lab experiment.
  • Nemuri's mentor was greviously wounded in the same attack that claimed her, Aizawa and Mic's best friend and her costume led to censorship laws within hero society.
  • Nezu as previously mentioned is an escaped lab rat and faces discrimation as an animal-to-human mutant. He has a distinct lack of understanding and sympathy for human emotion but is so dead set at fighting the Lo V and AFO that he'll go to any length to protect his school, the one place where he is allowed to feel safe.
• The series as a whole winds up being one big Trauma Conga Line for Aizawa, who grows more haggard and pitiful by the end of each arc - eventually winding up a depressed wreck by the time of the Final War.
  • To start off he was bullied and made fun of for being weak in his teens, he later watched his Living Emotional Crutch and Childhood Friend get brutally killed in a building collapse and despite the events being noticeably traumatizing to him his teachers do little to help him, the man eventually winding up on the streets after graduating where he isolates himself and takes on Death Seeker tendencies.
  • After he joins UA (in itself an attempt by his friends to keep a close eye on him), students keep harassing him and spreading rumors about him until the current Class 1A where he actually grows to care for his students, but is forced to raise them into child soldiers and watch them get hurt or even die, as with Bakugo following his decisions.
  • Then it turns out his dead friend's corpse has been revived and brainwashed into protecting a man who mutilated him and put his students in danger, and just when he is about to break through to Kurogiri, he hits a new low losing both his quirk and his leg - meaning the chances of him getting him back are practically null, he can't help his students fight anymore and he might lose custody of Eri as well.
  • All in all by the time of the final arc Aizawa's grumpy, stingy exterior that has been presistent throughout the series is all but gone, replaced by desperacy and melancholy instead.

Entrance Exam Arc

• When four-year-old Midoriya first learned that he was Quirkless, he spent a whole night rewatching the All Might video that inspired him in the first place, crying and desperately trying to cling to his dreams of heroism. When he tearfully asks his mother if he could still be a hero, she could only hug him tightly and apologize to him. The older him, remembering this moment, inwardly answers that this obviously wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
  • In the English dub, she adds how much she wishes that things turned out better for him. This was clearly her trying to soften the blow and acknowledge how hard it would be to grow up as a Quirkless person, but it’s still cold comfort— she likely didn’t know how to explain other methods of being a “hero” (at least, not a Pro Hero) while not having or needing a superpower, in a way Izuku could understand and accept at the time.
• When Midoriya first meets All Might, he asks him if it would be possible for him to be a hero despite being Quirkless. All Might, doing his best to let the poor kid down easily, tells him that hero-work is too dangerous to do without a Quirk. With how gravely All Might himself was wounded in the line of duty, you can't blame him for trying to dissuade Midoriya, but even still: imagine your personal hero, the person you looked up to your entire life, telling you that your dreams will forever be beyond your grasp. It's heart-wrenching.
• And afterwards, doubling as a heartwarming moment, All Might comes and tells him that Midoriya's actions changed his attitude towards his question — he tells him he can become a hero. In that moment, all the grief, frustration and pain from everybody around Midoriya telling him he couldn't, shouldn't bother or should give up came crashing down on him, as he clutched his heart, fell onto his knees and broke into tears. The optimism is there, but the sadness is genuine as well.
• Just how alone Midoriya was at the start of the story. It's clear that no one ever put any real stock in his chances of becoming a hero, not even his mother. When he wasn't being mocked and beaten up, he was invisible to his peers. The anime even makes a point of showing him walking in a black void just to underscore how lonely he was. It's heartrending how novel the idea of having friends is to him when he starts attending U.A.

Sports Festival Arc

• When it's revealed that Midoriya's headband will worth ten million points during the second event, everyone, even his friends, glares at him, indicating that they now see him as a nothing but a rival that needs to be defeated. It's pretty dour to think that they can turn on him within a second, reflecting how quickly pro heroes in the real world will turn on each other to get ahead.
  • It's very much possible that the entire thing was in his head. He teamed up with at least two people who were glaring at him (Tokoyami and Uraraka), and while many people did want to go after his points, it was also a game and competition.
• Todoroki's backstory combines this with nightmare fuel. His father, Endeavor, forcefully married his mother, Rei, in order to breed a child that could surpass All Might as #1 Hero. Rei was very loving and encouraging towards him, even going so far as defend him from Endeavor's brutal training, but she eventually snapped and poured boiling water over the left side of his face because it reminded her too much of Endeavor, leaving him permanently scarred. She was sent to a mental hospital not long after, where she's remained since. Endeavor doesn't even refer to Todoroki as a person, calling him "it".
  • In the English dub, Endeavor refers to Todoroki as his "masterpiece", which further dehumanizes Todoroki and worsens the implications behind how highly he viewed pushing his son's Quirk limits over anything else.
  • The delivery of Midoriya's plea to Todoroki to use his fire side is this, heartwarming, and awesome in both languages: in the Japanese version, it's asked as an empathizing, assertive and matter-of-fact rhetorical question to further push Todoroki to use his fire not for Endeavor's satisfaction, but both to defrost himself and seize his chance to win the match. In English, it's a straightforward and encouraging statement that helps convince Todoroki that his fire Quirk certainly doesn't make him Endeavor or Endeavor's tool in any way, shape or form.
    Midoriya: (in the Japanese dub) IT'S YOUR POWER, ISN'T IT?!
    (in the English dub): IT'S YOURS! YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS!
• You have to have some sympathy for Shinso. His "Brainwashing" Quirk made it so that his old classmates always assumed he would make a good villain before even thinking of him as a potential hero, and it was useless during the U.A. Entrance Exams, forcing him to settle with entering U.A.'s General Studies Department with little hope of ever making it as a hero. The fact that plenty of strong and useful Quirks can be overlooked by the entry exam makes one wonder how many kids have had their dreams crushed by the bad luck of having a Quirk that isn't flashy or explosive. Aizawa, who previously threatened to expel any student he deemed too weak, even expresses sympathy for Shinso, explaining how he's against the way the entry exam is structured for this very reason.
  • My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, a spin-off from the main story, reveals that Aizawa was in a similar situation during his time at U.A.; while he managed to get into the hero course since the entrance exam changes every year, he had very little confidence in his Quirk due to it lacking in combat power.
  • There's also Shinso's motivation for participating in the Sports Festival: he wants to show off his Quirk and beat the Hero Course students so he can transfer into the hero course. He manages to get to the festival's third phase... And his first opponent is Midoriya, the only one in the competition who could break through his Brainwashing.
  • The whole time, Shinso admits his jealousy toward Midoriya for having a Quirk worthy of a hero, claiming that he could never understand what it's like to be denied your dream due to your birth. Unbeknownst to him, Midoriya does understand what that's like, and he sees a reflection of himself when he sees Shinso's resentment and envy.
• Chapter 36: Uraraka tries her hardest to put up a fight against Bakugo, but ultimately she overdoes it and collapses. Her struggle to say she can still fight mixed with calling out to her dad is very heart-wrenching.
• Chapter 37: Uraraka plays off her loss as no big deal in front of Deku, but when she is alone she breaks down crying while on the phone with her dad telling him she's sorry she didn't do better, so she could get scouted and start earning money. Falls into Heartwarming when her dad says he's nothing but proud and how Uraraka has more chances to show the world her stuff.
• Chapter 44: Iida sees his brother in the hospital and breaks down in tears as Tensei apologizes for having Iida see him defeated like that. Worse, Iida's mom goes from yelling at him in an authoritative tone to put on a surgical mask for sanitary purposes to outright fainting the moment she first sees how horribly injured her eldest son is. The anime makes it even sadder — Iida barges into the hospital in a full-on run and causes the orderlies to yell at him, then he finds his mother in a state of disarray outside the post-op. When the two are allowed inside, Tensei can barely bring his voice above a quavering whisper, teetering on the edge of death, his mother falls to her knees and slumps against the door in horror, and his younger brother Tenya howls with tearful grief.

Hero Killer Arc

• Iida throughout the entire arc. He's so hurt by his brother's injuries that he ignores his friend's offerings of help and focuses solely on getting revenge. When he finally confronts Stain, Stain labels him and his brother as fakes, to which Iida tearfully claims that Tensei was a great hero who saved many lives and that many people looked up to, and that Stain had no right to take all that away from him, going so far as to claim that he'd kill Stain to avenge his brother. Stain then calls Iida out, pointing out that Iida should really focus on saving Native, the pro hero Stain was about to kill before Iida interrupted him, since real heroes are meant to be selfless. Iida's response, which he says while holding back his tears and with a breaking voice, is heartbreaking:
  Iida: Say whatever you want to about me, you're still just a criminal who hurt my brother!
• Chapter 59: All Might tries to force himself to tell Midoriya that he won't be by Midoriya's side when he faces "All for One" but can't bring himself to do it. It's killing him to lie to his protege about his short lifespan.

School Trip Arc

"On that day...We who were aiming to heroes...Completely lost to the villains."

• Chapter 70: When Midoriya asks All Might if there have ever been people he couldn't save, All Might responds that of there are always people he can't help just because they aren't nearby, and he has to force himself to smile in spite of there being so many people he can't help.
• Kota's entire situation is this. He ended up losing both his parents, only to hear other heroes claim that they were incredible for giving there lives up to save others, and now lives with his aunt and her team of heroes who help train kids to be heroes. He's surrounded by people whose careers remind him of his painful loss.
• Kota's Trauma Button is smashed barely a day afterwards when he encounters Muscular, the villain who killed his parents and plans to do the same to Kota. Midoriya manages to save him in time, but Muscular gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown in response. Probably the saddest moment of the whole fight happens when Muscular is in the process of crushing Midoriya, and all the hero-in-training can do is yell for Kota to run and mentally apologize to his mother and All Might for failing to survive.
  • In the anime, this line from him to Muscular can feel even more wrenching.
  Kota: It's all your fault! Nothing in the world is right anymore, and it's because of crazy people like you!
• It can be especially upsetting to see Tokoyami's Quirk, Dark Shadow, completely envelop him as he screams in anguish for his friends to run away from him. Shoji and Midoriya can only watch in horror as their friend is being tortured by his own Quirk. Jesus.
  • The anime has Tokoyami crying and screaming in agony during Dark Shadow's rampage.
• Chapter 82: The League of Villains manages to take Bakugo, much to Midoriya's horror. Before he gets taken, Bakugo warns him to stop. Not with his usual arrogance and pride, but out of fear.
  Bakugo: Don't come, Deku!
• Chapter 83: The results of the fighting that took place; Pixie-Bob is in critical condition, Ragdoll is missing, multiple students are in critical condition from injuries and Mustard's poison gas, and the rest are not only divided on how they should handle what's just happened, but also completely defeated by it. Not helping is that Midoriya is torn between wanting to help rescue Bakugo, and knowing that it's something he should stay out of from experience.

Hideout Raid Arc

• Iida gives his reasons for why he doesn't want to go rushing off to save Bakugo; he's frustrated as the class president, but he's terrified of his classmates making the same mistake he did. He even specifically mentions that seeing Midoriya in the hospital reminded him of his brother.
• Chapter 88: Shigaraki was alone before meeting All For One, who shaped his hatred of heroes and only sees him as a tool.
  • It gets worse as the following chapters make it clear that All For One was basically like a father to him, and he raised him purely because he knew that raising the grandson of All Might's mentor would hurt All Might. He also says that he knew All Might would defeat Shigaraki in the U.A. invasion and still sent him anyway.
• Chapter 92 has All For One revealing to All Might that Shigaraki, who All Might has been fighting and trying to capture, is the grandson of All Might's beloved mentor, Nana Shimura. The way All For One mockingly gestures a smile the way she used to is gutwrenching. Poor All Might ends up having a Heroic BSoD.

  All Might: [Shigaraki]'s... my master's grandchild... My God, how would she feel if she learned how he turned out?!

  • Even further than that, All Might ends up deflated on national broadcast in front of everyone. As the symbol of peace being seen not only reduced to a husk of his usual form, but also seen by millions having a breakdown, you can see the desperation in the faces of the crowds as they start chanting for him to win. And the person stuck in the rubble behind him is crying and begging him not to give up. Elsewhere, so are Midoriya and Bakugo.
• Chapter 94: All Might using up the last of his power to defeat All For One.
  All Might: Goodbye, All For One…! … Goodbye, One for All.
  • Metawise, in the English Dub Christopher Sabat teared up after voicing that line.
  • Midoriya realizing that the age of All Might, his and so many others' childhood hero, is now over.
  • After the battle is finished, All Might, tired and exhausted, points to the news camera and says "Now, it's your turn...!". To the public at large, it seems like a warning to other would-be villains that their time is coming, but Midoriya, his protégé, knows what this message really means. It's Midoriya's turn to fill in the shoes that All Might has now ultimately left behind, and it brings the poor boy to tears, while Bakugo just stares at him, seemingly understanding what's going on.
• Midoriya and All Might meeting up on the beach where he trained to inherit One For All. Midoriya starts to break down crying over recent events and then throws himself around All Might in a tight hug, bawling uncontrollably at the top of his lungs. All Might tries to remind Midoriya that he told him to let go of being a crybaby... before breaking into tears along with him.
• The revelation that not only did Nana Shimura lose her life fighting a powerful villain, her husband did too. Worse, his death prefaced hers and occurred before he got to raise their child with her. This caused her to willingly give up her child for adoption to spare him from the tragedies associated with heroism, and before she ultimately died taking on All For One as well.
• After the School Trip arc, Ragdoll was captured by the League of Villains and had her Quirk stolen by All For One. While she was rescued by Tiger and the other heroes, she was still left Quirkless. In the aftermath, she's seen sobbing◊ while her teammates try to comfort her. Both Mandalay and Pixiebob are in tears as well, while Tiger is trying his best not to cry.
• Deku's mom is still afraid of her son getting hurt, to the point where she admits that she's started having thoughts where she wishes her son never got a Quirk.
• A subtle one, but in the chapters following the immediate aftermath of the Kamino battle, All Might starts wearing clothes that fit him rather than larger baggy ones to accommodate his hero form. It's a minor detail, but it shows that he's had to adjust to the fact that his time as a hero is over and adjust his day to day lifestyle to accommodate that. For a man who kept doing the job even as his body broke down, that must not have been an easy truth to accept.

Hero License Exam Arc

• Chapter 98: Apart from Tsuyu (see below), Kirishima is the hardest hit by Aizawa's announcement that he would have not only expelled the people who went to rescue Bakugo, but also the ones who kept quiet about it. All he wanted to do was save his friend, so he's clearly guilty about how many people got into trouble because of him — not just those who went, but those who tried to talk him and the others out of going.
• Chapter 99: Seeing Tsuyu cry because of what she said before about Midoriya, Kirishima, Todoroki, Iida, and Yaoyorozu going to rescue Bakugo. She had told the aforementioned three that their actions would mean breaking the rules and make them no different from villains. She realized that her words were too severe and to hear the others went through with it, she found herself feeling disappointed and she came to believe she couldn't have fun talking and joking around with her classmate anymore. Thankfully, they forgive her.
  • Even worse in the anime, where we her voice, typically as unchanging as the girl's countenance, crack as she audibly struggles to hold back tears.
  • Tsuyu also mentions in passing that until Aizawa's lecture that morning, she'd been under the impression that she'd successfully convinced Kirishima and the others not to go. One can only imagine how badly she'd have taken it if any of Bakugo's rescuers had come to harm, or if Aizawa had ended up expelling most of the class.
• An understated but still sad part is the part in which one of the examinees pleads with Midoriya not to eliminate him, since it's his last chance to pass the test. Midoriya sadly says that he has to succeed, too, before doing what he has to and eliminating him. When you consider that only about one in fifteen people can make it through the first stage of the exam, you realize that while most of Class 1A passed, a lot of other people ended up going home empty-handed.
• Chapter 115 shows us that some of the villains can be just as sympathetic as the heroes, as Twice's backstory is shown. After a traumatic incident involving his clones killing each other, he was left with severe mental problems that flare up if he's not in costume, and he thinks to himself the only reason he's in the League of Villains is because everyone needs a place where they belong, and that heroes would only be interested in saving people who are healthier than him.
• Chapter 118/ Episode 61 — Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2: It's revealed that Bakugo blames himself for All Might losing his powers, and when Bakugo confronts Midoriya about how the latter got One For All, he breaks down and shows us how badly he took All Might's retirement, tearfully blaming himself for the hero losing his powers. At that moment, Midoriya realizes he has bottled this suffering up in private and the only way Bakugo can come to terms with this pain is if he vents it in a fight, so Midoriya stops trying to defend Bakugo's attacks and starts attacking him in earnest.
  • Actually, Bakugo's fragile emotional state is this in both languages from the moment he starts the fight:
    • In the Japanese dub, he seems aggressive as usual especially since this is truly personal to him, but you can clearly hear voice cracks from Nobuhiko Okamoto's performance, as though he's rapidly giving up his default "tough" façade to reveal the real sadness and turmoil and is on the verge of tears. Through this we can hear just how troubled Katsuki is by everything as he really does sound like a child who can't understand things in any way but by lashing out.
    • In the English dub, it's amped up a bit further — Clifford Chapin absolutely sells Bakugo's troubled way of lashing out, but this time, he's built up all the rage from deducing the events behind Midoriya's empowerment and All Might's retirement and putting it all into the first phase of the fight. One YouTuber even describes the moment he cracks as akin to a caged animal: he's showing weakness and he knows it, but in demanding that Midoriya fight back, his "tough" façade doesn't quite give way. It does, however, showcase all the heavy remorse and bottled-up suffering he's felt after the hideout arc. He even asks brokenly, "What the hell am I supposed to do?!" We really get the sense that he isn't used to properly venting at all, and that he's already talking through his tears rather than seeming to be on the verge of them.
    • This also makes his mother's scolding about his weakness being the reason he'd been captured in the first place a lot more sobering. Their past argument really did have an effect on his insecurity about his "being the strongest and the best will get you the number one ranking" mindset.

Internship Arc

• Chapter 125 reveals that Magne has a friend who accepts her even though she's a villain. The reason this is sad is because not two pages after we learn about her, everything from Magne's waist up is reduced to chunks by Overhaul's Quirk.
  • Then there's the League's reaction. Shigaraki, Twice, and Toga are left in shock, while Mr. Compress leaps into action and tries to compress Overhaul. Unfortunately, he's hit with a bullet that temporarily nullifies his Quirk before he can touch Overhaul, which allows Overhaul free access to blasting Compress's arm off. Shigaraki tries to retaliate by decaying Overhaul, but his crew saves him and he escapes unscathed. Twice tries to go after them, saying that it's his responsibility since he brought Overhaul there in the first place, but Toga tells him to help Compress, before looking down sadly at Magne's bloody magnet.
  Toga: Big Sis Mag... No!
• Chapter 131 shows that after All Might explains to Deku about Nighteye warning him back then to stop continuing his hero duties after his fight with All For One because he would die in 6-7 years and that he gave his powers to Deku before Togata, who was the intended candidate as his successor, Deku was more concerned and saddened that All Might would die either this or next year even though he avoided death and only lost his powers in his final battle with All For One.
• Chapter 135 reveals more of Eri's situation. Midoriya and Mirio's reactions are a gut-punch, especially when another hero, the ill-mannered and dismissive Rock Lock, rather unfairly criticizes them (Nighteye's organization as a whole) for not doing more to help her.
  • Even worse in the anime, as Midoriya is the first one to get an inkling of what the situation is about when Fatgum shares his findings during Kirishima and Amaki's gang fight... then, when Nighteye reveals what he found out about Chisaki — and especially about how Eri factored into his plans — you can just see the moment both Mirio and Midoriya put two and two together from their encounter in the alleyway.
    • It's a small detail, but in the manga, a grim-faced Mirio was looking down after Nighteye's Wham Line, as though the shame of not realizing how much Eri was suffering at first, and/ or he was gradually realizing the gravity of her situation. In the anime, he's looking up with Midoriya, and the special effects really emphasize that the Wham Line hit them both like a train.
• Chapter 138 reveals Chisaki has a father who is desperately on life support and may be the mentor who taught him to be his heir in the Yakuza, so he has something of real personal value to lose if the raid on his compound goes awry. It also gives justification to why Chisaki is so afraid of getting sick and hates disease.
  • And then Chapter 142 implies that Chisaki caused his illness in the first place because he didn't like how he was leading the Yakuza.
  • From the Hassaikai Boss's perspective, the child who he took in and raised ended up growing into a cruel monster who rejected all of his teachings and was willing to conduct horrific experiments on his young granddaughter under the twisted belief that it would make the Boss happy.
• Chapter 152: Mirio is hit by a Quirk-nullifying bullet and gets a Really Depowered Montage to emphasize it. Despite this, though, he keeps fighting Overhaul to protect Eri.
• Chapter 152-153: Shin Nemoto is shown crying through the broken goggle of his plague mask because he failed his friend Overhaul, before passing out. Then Overhaul deliberately cannibalizes Nemuto's body to make himself strong just because he knows Nemuto would gladly sacrifice himself for his friend's sake... it's just callous and brutal.
• Chapter 161: The death of Nighteye. The whole chapter really hammers in the tragedy of the arc; Mirio loses his mentor and his future as a hero with a Quirk, Toshinori loses his former sidekick and ally, and the possibility of death for the remaining cast becomes very real.
• Eri's entire story in this arc! Even after she was rescued, the ramifications of her isolation and abuse become present, starting with her unable to consciously smile.
• Overhaul's horrified realization after Shigaraki takes his arms that now, without his quirk, he has no way of bringing his boss out of his coma. Heartbroken, all he can do is break out into hives and scream in agony and regret.
• Watching the sixth ending in the anime is this for the manga fans who read ahead. It presents Eri's story leading up to the Shie Hassaikai in all its sadness and it happens at the end of every episode, even the silly catch-up episode at the start of the fourth season, like a constant reminder jabbing at the viewer of what is going on in the background.
  • Unlike the manga, this ending gives glimpses of Eri's life before her Quirk manifested. She scribbled pictures, played outside… everything a normal little girl would do. The shots of her mother feeding and cuddling baby Eri are particularly harsh, since whatever love she had for her daughter wouldn't last.

Culture Festival Arc

• The 7th ending, while containing quite a few sweet past moments of most of the ensemble cast (All Might winning a past Sports Festival, young Shoto and his parents posing in front of his primary school, and several happier moments during a Culture Festival that feature pre-villain characters such as Toga and La Brava), does not hold back on showing through the montage of 1-A's sleepless nights that the Hassaikai raid is weighing on everyone's minds whether they were directly involved or heard what happened. Of note is Mirio, who looks to be crying; how much of a facade may he be putting currently, just for the sake of Eri, Deku and any other people he feels still count on him?
• The photos of happier times in the 7th ending can be pretty sad once you realize what will happen to the people in them.
  • Aizawa, Yamada, and Shirakumo's photo is them having fun at their school festival. Considering that Shirakumo died in his second year of high school, he probably didn't live to see the next festival.
  • Tobita's photo is him looking completely in his element as his class hosts a café. It's sad to think that he will be expelled from hero school soon after this and Takeshita (who's right next to Tobita in the photo) will completely forget about his classmate in the future.
  • Aiba's photo has her in the background looking shyly at her crush, who would later reject her and cause her to fall into depression.
  • Toga's photo shows how she was before the stabbing incident: a seemingly normal girl smiling and happily hanging out with her friends.
  • Shoto's photo shows him clinging timidly to his mother on his first day of school, likely in fear of his irritated father. And among the pictures of the other Todoroki siblings, Fuyumi and Natsuo, is the burnt edge of an unknown photograph. This most likely represents Toya Todoroki, the eldest child who died young.
  • Hawks' photo stands out because while the other photos are sad in retrospect, they at least show happy memories. Meanwhile, Hawks is shown blindfolded, practicing his Quirk, and surrounded by men in suits who probably only see him as a hero candidate rather than a boy being robbed of his childhood. It's the only photo without anyone smiling.
• Chapter 167: Nighteye's funeral. Centipeder takes over his organization and Bubble Girl is in very modest and forlorn clothing, seeming much more subdued than in her debut. On a lighter note, Mirio is welcome back anytime despite losing access to his Quirk.
• Chapter 170: Even though Eri has been freed from Overhaul's clutches, she still sustained a lot of psychological damage. This is cemented by the fact that she is physically unable to smile.
• Chapter 178: La Brava's backstory is that after she gave a love letter to someone she had admired from afar in middle school, she was derided and ridiculed as a Stalker with a Crush. This drove her into NEET-dom, hiding away with nothing but her computer and even considering suicide until she came across Gentle's early videos.
• Chapter 179: Just like his partner, Gentle had a very sad life that ultimately drove him to a life of crime. He started out as an idealistic young man who dreamed of becoming a famous hero, but couldn't make the grade and kept failing the provisional license exams no matter how hard he tried. During this time, he came across someone falling from a tall building and tried to use his Quirk to save them, only to collide with a hero who was already on the scene. As a result, both the person who was falling and the hero ended up being injured very badly. As a result, both he and his parents ended up deep in debt paying reparations to the victim and fines for hindering a hero and unlicensed use of a Quirk. During this time, he was finally expelled from school, which caused his parents to disown him and violently throw him out of the house. The final straw came years later when he was barely making a living off part-time jobs and ran into a former classmate who had made it as a pro hero, but when he tried to say hello he found that his classmate didn't even remember his name. The despair he felt upon realizing someone he knew had already accomplished his dream while he himself was living a completely forgettable life drove him to the decision that if he could never be remembered as a hero, he would make a name for himself outside of the law.
• Chapter 180: La Brava's reaction as she, after running back to warn Gentle of the heroes' approach, discovers him being defeated for real by Midoriya. The poor woman almost shatters mentally as she cries and begs Midoriya to let Gentle go, screaming about how much the latter means to her, and how she will die if he gets taken away from her life.
  • Gentle, as he listens to her, comes to the realization of how heavily his existence has been braided into La Brava's life, remorsefully blaming himself for reluctantly permitting her to follow him and his endeavors. However, this epiphany allows him to make one final push of resolve to settle matters as a genuine hero would, for once in his life of failures, before he surrenders, which turns it into a heartwarming moment instead.
• Chapter 181: Gentle willingly surrenders to the U.A teachers. He believes that his greatest crime was to brainwash La Brava in the first place, even though she chose to help Gentle willingly. Gentle realizes his mistakes and is grateful to Midoriya for this. Gentle wishes Midoriya well as he is apprehended by Hound Dog.

Joint Training Arc

• Tokoyami unintentionally making Todoroki remember some very traumatic events from his childhood, including his father's disgusting rant about his eldest brother's weakness. He remains spaced out until Iida's encouragement brings him back to the present.
• Monoma lets slip his mask for a second when talking to Shinso. Turns out, like Shinso, he too grew up derided for wanting to be a hero with his Quirk. So he felt a sense of camaraderie with Shinso. He even says that for people like them to become heroes, they cannot aspire to be like the ones they idolized, but instead take on the roles of Anti Heroes.
• Midoriya suddenly loses control of One For All after Monoma's taunting manages to get to him, shooting out black tendrils that tear up the landscape and propel him around against his will. All the while, he's tearfully wondering why this had to happen now when he was so proud of the progress he'd made and begging One For All to stop. Turns out that more powerful Quirks are manifesting within Midoriya.
• In spite of his antagonistic behaviour thus far, there is something almost poignant about Monoma's internal monologue when he attempts to copy One For All — only for it to come to naught and leave him open to being easily captured by Uraraka.
  Monoma: I can't get stronger on my own. I don't possess the right stuff to be the main character. I can't walk down that straight, noble path like you people. Still, I don't resent what I've been given. Because it's necessary to pull off these kinds of masterful performances — the ones in which the supporting role upstages the lead!"

Meta Liberation Army Arc

• We get details about Shigaraki's past before he meet All For One. His Quirk awakened one day and he accidentally disintegrated his entire family! Those hands he wears are all that remain of them. Because of the trauma he doesn't really remember much before then. And during Chapter 227, he gets a brief flashback to when what looks like his older sister showing him a picture of his grandmother.
• Toga's backstory is sad due to being a case of Truth in Television. She was originally a happy little girl until her Quirk manifested, and she gained her fixation with blood. After showing her parents a bird she killed, they were disgusted and told her to stop it as it wasn't normal, and brought her to a Quirk counselor which amounted to telling her to suppress her impulses for the sake of looking normal. While her classmates all thought of her as a bright and happy young woman, she was really only wearing a mask until the day she snapped, unable to hold back the impulses any longer. This caused her to stab the boy she had a crush on, then drink his blood with a straw as she cried Tears of Joy. The resemblance to a child with depression or with a mental health issue is easy to make, especially with her snapping leading to the stabbing and possible death of a classmate drawing comparisons to infamous school killings like Columbine.^note Which isn't actually a case of someone snapping, but it's the first thing anyone thinks of. Made worse is how the entire time the flashback occurs, Curious of the Meta Liberation Army is hounding Toga with the fact she could have been normal were it not for the current societal stigma hampering her, and that she and Re-Destro planned to make a martyr out of her for being a Tragic Villain.
  • The type of Quirk counseling she went through sounds horribly like those real-life cases of "cures for homosexuality" and the like.
• Twice finds Toga heavily wounded, possibly in critical condition, and after arguing with the darker side of his personality which treats her dismissively, he bursts in tears. Soon after he's faced by a group of people all with his own face, in truth puppets created by the Quirk of MLA's Tomoyasu "Skeptic" Chikazoku. Knowing the trauma Twice underwent because of misuse of his own Quirk (as shown in Chapter 115), such a tactic against him is nothing short of cruel.
• Why are superpowers in this world called such a cute name as "Quirks?" Chapter 232 tells us how: An ordinary woman gave birth to a superpowered child during the time those with powers were persecuted. She begged the world to show compassion for her child. The power didn't make the kid a monster, "This is just my child's Quirk!" She begged people to change, to make a world where her child and others with powers could live as freely as the rest of them. And she was murdered for it. Simply for asking that her child be given the same rights and considerations as everyone else.
  • The worst part of that story? Said child grows up to be the terrorist Destro, a villain said to have been on par with All For One, and basically the My Hero verse's answer to Magneto. All in his mother's name.
• During Shigaraki's battle with Re-Destro, his long-buried memories of his family start resurfacing... and they're so unbelievably sweet that it would probably be heartwarming if we didn't know what happened to them later on. He remembers all the times his sister, his mother, and his grandparents all comforted him while he was crying (something he apparently did a lot of), and how his big sister Hana would always take his hand... And what triggers these memories you might ask? Re-Destro destroying their severed hands, the only things he has left of them.
  Shigaraki: That was Hana's hand...
  • Worse still, we see why he wears those hands the way he does: shock of all shock, it was All For One's idea, a way to make sure the pain and anguish of losing them like that would never heal, so Shigaraki could always use it to motivate himself.
• In the flashback, we see why Shigaraki came to be what he is. Back when he was Tenko Shimura, his father hated the idea of heroes because his mother (Nana Shimura, the one who inherited One For All before All Might) was constantly away on hero duty and eventually put him up for adoption in order to protect him. And when she died, he came to believe that heroes have to abandon their families in order to continue their duties. Just the mere mention of heroes caused him to beat Tenko. Tenko's sister, Hama tried to support his dream, and even wanted to follow his dream herself, but she's still just a child. When her angry father demanded to know who had broken into his office and peeped at the picture of his hero mother, she broke down in tears and said it was all Tenko's idea, clearly terrified of the punishment she'd face. And when Tenko's powers activated, the first victim is implied to be the family dog.
  • What makes this even worse is that it wasn't just his father's beating that caused Tenko to snap. It's the fact that nobody in his family was willing to intervene and stop him. Poor Tenko's desperate pleas for help going unanswered is a truly heartbreaking sight. For dramatic irony after the fact Tenko's mother and grandparents confront his father and even Kotaro admits he went too far$ however its all too little, too late and Tenko, as he sobs and hugs his beloved dog, admits that he hates everything.
• After the dog, Tenko accidentally kills Hana, who had come to apologize for how she acted previously. Soon after, due to his partial resentment towards his grandparents and mother, he accidentally kills them as well — but his mother, even while she's falling to pieces, tries to reach out to him for a hug. Finally, a shocked Kotaro, realizing Tenko has already killed the rest of his family just by touching them, hits the boy in terror with a garden tool to keep him at a distance. Tenko then kills him in a blind rage and gives in to his evil, having lost what little sanity he had left.
  • It's especially tragic because his sister tries to apologize to him, and his mother goes out of her way to give him a hug. Tenko knows that he desperately wants their affection and their help and tries to reach out, but the stress building up in his mind was too much for him, which leads to his hatred-fueled Quirk to take over and kill them anyway. He even tries to apologize to his dad, but what is the last thing he sees of Kotaro? From his POV, his own father and last living family member blames him, recoils in terror, and tries to hit him with a pair of garden pruners. No wonder he snapped.
    • And from Kotaro's POV, he would have considered reconciling with Tenko had he not recoiled with terror and rage at seeing his entire family dead with his own son being the cause of it. And rather than try to help his son, he falls back on violence to solve his problems. When that fails, he pathetically tries to plead with him, showing just what a horrible father and man Kotaro grew up to be, a stark contrast from the happy little boy who loved his mother.
• When little Tenko is wandering down the street, mentally pleading for someone to help him, no one does because because he looks really scary. Tenko's mind is in complete disarray, the guilt of killing his family preventing him from speaking, wondering if this was punishment for what's done. Eventually someone does reach out to him...All For One. The worst possible person a scared, lost, vulnerable child could run into. From there, All For One sinks his claws into Tenko's psyche and shapes him to become the psychotic Tomura Shigaraki he is today, effectively tarnishing Nana Shimura's legacy and corrupting her grandson to become the opposite of All Might's Symbol of Peace, a Symbol of Fear.
  • When the flashback is over, Tomura crushes the hands and declares he doesn't need them anymore as he goes on to battle Re-Destro, sinking further into darkness and essentially "abandoning" his old family and memories, fully embracing his role as the insane and evil surrogate son of All For One.

Endeavor Internship Arc

• A flashback to Todoroki getting burned as a child reveals a detail that makes it all the more gut-wrenching. As soon as Rei realized what happened, she immediately began apologizing and attempted to use her ice Quirk to soothe Todoroki's burn. It's possible that her speedy attempt at recovery actually made the scarring worse, as it's terrible first aid to immediately apply ice to a burn.
• The entire situation regarding Toya Todoroki is immensely tragic. The eldest Todoroki sibling, and Endeavor's original choice for a successor, he was the first one to receive Endeavor's training on how to use his Quirk. Unfortunately for him, while his flames were even hotter than Endeavor's own Hellfire Quirk he inherited his mother Rei's weaker constitution completely dashing his chances as a successor since he would suffer from Endeavor's weakness of overheating from extensive use of his Quirk except to an even greater degree. Not realizing this in time led to a horrifying accident that is heavily implied to have both killed him and worsened Rei's mental breakdown, leaving the Todoroki family more shattered than ever. Even before he started having his change of heart, it's shown to be one of the few things that Endeavor truly regretted, and the rest of the family can barely even talk about him without breaking down.
  • Natsuo is revealed to have been particularly close with Toya and firmly believes that Endeavor is responsible for his death, which is a large part of why he refuses to forgive his father. He even tearfully admits that he's been hearing Toya's voice in his head.
  • To make matters worse, Endeavor's attempt to save Natsuo from physical danger only adds more confusion and cognitive dissonance for Natsuo. Natsuo's pain serves to make Endeavor realize just how taxing it was for Natsuo to try to live Fuyumi's idea of normalcy.
• Even after all the horrible things Endeavor did to his family, it's still quite sad to see him accept that it's fine if Natsuo doesn't forgive him, and realize that the best thing he can do for his family is to remove himself from their lives. You can see that Fuyumi's heartbroken about it, and that Endeavor seems to be resigned to being unable to fix things between himself and his family.
  "I've been seeing the same dream every night. A dream of a family without me."
• Natsuo's expression when Endeavor tells Fuyumi of his plans to move the family. He rightfully does not want to be around his father but the ambivalence hurts because it's such a human pain.

Paranormal Liberation War Arc

• Shortly after the flashback arc about Aizawa's younger days at UA in the Vigilante spin-off has wrapped up, we are hit by the revelation that the Warp Quirk of the villain Kurogiri, currently imprisoned in the Tartarus, is made up from fusing several Quirks and the base is Cloud, the Quirk of Aizawa and Yamada's classmate and dear friend Oboro Shirakumo. There are also hints that Kurogiri is not merely a person with that Quirk but is, in fact, a revived and heavily mutated Shirakumo who has also been subjected to heavy mind manipulation. As Aizawa hopes to awaken some lost memories in him, for the first time in the series we can see him crying while an equally helpless and devastated Yamada looks on.
  Aizawa: Yamada and I are teachers now...
  • The anime version of this scene does not hold back on how gut-wrenching this is for the both of them. At first, the both of them refuse to believe that it's their old friend and Aizawa spends the entire time on edge while Yamada is the one trying to act calm, his hand visibly shaking as he tries to put it on Aizawa's shoulder. And it only gets worse when they confront Kurogiri and realize that it is indeed their friend Shirakumo. Aizawa constantly has his hand over his mouth to keep himself from throwing up. The two try to reawaken his memories, their pleas becoming more desperate until Aizawa is practically crying. Watching the normally stoic and calm Aizawa be on the verge of tears is truly heartbreaking to behold.
    • Also, the reason Aizawa and Yamada try to awaken Shirakumo's memories? Because if they couldn't, then they would have to use Shirakumo's parents to do it. Imagine being Shirakumo's parents and finding out that not only was your child killed, but was also turned into a freakish abomination.
• All Might finding out more about the previous One for All users. As it turns out, the concept of a "One for All successor" was not implemented until Nana Shimura chose All Might. Instead, they were all those who resisted All for One's operations and got themselves killed for it at relatively young ages, and they simply entrusted One for All to their closest ally to keep fighting. There's a tragic feel in the image of each previous user calling out their ally in desperation, to entrust them with this power in their final moments, just so one day it can grow powerful enough to defeat All for One.
• Twice and Hawks' relationship seems pretty genuine at first but later chapters reveal that Hawks is merely manipulating the villain to leak out the location of the PLF, under orders of the Hero Commission Services. Hawks himself even admits that he doesn't enjoy doing this towards someone he considers a "good person". What makes this more harsher is that Twice himself was willing to help Hawks with his goal of living in a free society.
  • Cut forward to Chapter 263, Hawks has made his move to restrain Twice for the greater good. The look on Twice's face is heartbreaking due to the fact the poor guy's been already betrayed many times for trusting others. Its even shown that Twice looks pretty devastated over Hawk's "betrayal".
    • As icing on the cake, Hawks genuinely did like Twice — he's just so unable to understand the League's Undying Loyalty for one another that he honestly believes that quietly arresting Twice and offering him a chance at a new life is the best option. Really makes you agree with Twice, that Hawks is someone to be pitied.
  • In the following chapter, Twice suffers a Villainous Breakdown, realizing that this is the second time he endangered the League of Villains by trusting someone he shouldn't have, after his introducing Overhaul to the group resulted in Magne's death. With his mask partially ripped off, he refuses Hawks' invitation to atone for his deeds, and unleashes the Sad Man's Parade.
    • Unlike when he fought the Meta Liberation Army, where the doubles were all filled with righteous fury, every single Twice in the Parade can be seen crying bitterly at yet another betrayal.
• Chapter 265: As Hawks has him pinned down and coldly lays out the situation, Twice gives him a tearful Shut Up, Kirk! in response:
  Twice: You people ain't heroes. Never are. Never were. None of ya. You throw us to the wolves. All of us downtrodden folks.
  • Worst part of all of this, is despite how biased Twice is and how he never got to experience or talk to genuinely good heroes from the series such as All Might or Deku, he's not exactly wrong - many villains in the series were driven to crime either because of circumstances outside of their control or were failed by the very system that was meant to safeguard them, and Twice is no different. He really did have a bad luck.
• Chapter 266: Twice's death is heartbreaking. He laments the entire chapter on how his life has been a failure but for everything the LOV did for him, he tries his best to repay them in his last moments. After a Gory Discretion Shot of the previously reluctant Hawks bringing down a feather sword on the real Twice as he makes his final clones, a single clone manages to rescue Compress and Toga before returning the latter's handkerchief. This clone begins to fall apart and dies happily, disagreeing with Hawks' comment that he was unlucky and dissolving into Toga's arms.

  Twice: It's true that in my life, I kept on falling and failing. I got tricked, lost a friend... and I still got fooled, again. Must've looked pretty pathetic and useless to other people, constantly looking for myself. But then I was blessed to find people I cared about. Who could ask for anything better? I hope you die, Hawks. What right do you have to call a guy like me unlucky? I was happy with my life, with my friends.

• Chapter 267: Twice's death gets a teensy bit sadder when Dabi reveals he isn't broken up at all over what Hawks did to him, with the point being driven home by a Wham Shot of Dabi pulling a gleeful expression towards the prone Hawks. The most sorrow he shows towards his death is lamenting over the loss of the destructive potential of his Quirk, and while he does claim to be incapable of showing emotion properly thanks to his extensive injuries, the sarcastic mocking tone Dabi uses throughout his resulting beatdown of Hawks makes it clear he's not sincere at all. One of the comrades the poor guy had been fighting beside this whole time, someone he'd have been willing to die for, only ever saw him as a weapon against the Heroes, whereas the friend who wanted to spare his life if possible was forced to betray and literally backstab Twice to prevent massive loss of life, which ended up happening anyway. Twice was used and manipulated by both people in the room with him, and the only one who actually cared about his life was forced to end it.
  • Once the full context behind his Slasher Smile is revealed later, it becomes doubly sadder. Dabi had been secretly filming Hawks the whole time he was attempting to kill Twice, and got the act fully recorded on tape. Though he doesn't know it, Hawks just provided Dabi all the ammunition he needed to and a devastating blow against the public image of heroes—Dabi's true goal—and the psychotic madman can't suppress his glee at the fact. Him slowly roasting Hawks alive once the latter is defenseless and unable to summon his feathers comes across as less an act of revenge for Twice's death and the loss of a valuable asset, and more him taking his sweet time disposing of a hero in the slowest and most agonizing manner he can manage to enjoy the moment more. His mocking speech to Hawks once he reveals his true identity to him underscores this, as he had no real reason to 'spoil the surprise' to a man about to die other than to let him know just how bad things were about to become and make sure he died in despair. Dabi played Hawks and Twice off against each other to get exactly what he needed out of both of them, and got away with it scot-free — in fact, he was ecstatic at their misery, because It made Twice look like a relatable victim, and he loved tearing down one of the top heroes both metaphorically and physically.
• Chapter 270:
  • As he is interacting with the memories of his mother and sister, we see a rare moment of tenderness from the normally callous Shigaraki. Something that makes his decision to embrace All For One's legacy despite this all the more gut-wrenching.
  • As much of an amoral bastard Dr. Garaki has proven himself to be, it's hard not to feel a little sorry for him as he weeps over the utter destruction of his life's work. He also correctly predicted how Quirks would have evolved many decades prior, with the "Quirk Singularity" theory that only recently in-universe is finally finding credit. Had the scientific community not ridiculed him back then, such formidable genius could be working for the good of humanity.
  • The memories of his dead family members appear to Shigaraki, all desperately trying to hold him back from following in All For One's footsteps — in a bit of symbolism, their hands are all gripping him in the exact same places he once wore them. His father even appears, looking sorrowful for his son. And the last ghost to appear? Nana Shimura, and the way she grips the back of his head implies the mystery hand All For One gifted to him was hers. They all try so hard to get him to stop — and he turns and destroys them all without a second's hesitation, telling them not to reject who he is. As Shigaraki walks completely into his Sensei's darkness, the last thing we see is the crumbling face of Nana, watching her grandson embrace the path of villainy.
    Nana: Don't forget...
  • While Present Mic is dragging the doctor away from Shigaraki, he reveals that it wasn't Shirakumo who had been his primary target fifteen years ago, but Eraser Head. For whatever reason, it just happened to be Shirakumo who was caught in the blast radius instead of Aizawa, thankfully denying the doctor and All For One access to what would've no doubt been an almost unstoppable combination of Quirks to have at their disposal. So, in the end, the only reason Shirakumo was killed and then turned into a Nomu was because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and his killers/torturers were actually gunning for his best friend all along.
    Dr. Garaki: You're... you're Kurogiri's friend, aren't you? Back then... I really wanted to get my hands on Erasure instead...
• Chapter 272:
  • As the heroes try and flee from Shigaraki's Decay wave, Aizawa gets his foot caught by a Nomu. Crust uses one of his shields to cut the Nomu's hand and then throw Aizawa to Ryukyu who is safe by being airborne, but he's caught by the wave. Aizawa can only watch in horror as Crust crumbles to dust, smiling and giving a thumbs up. We hardly knew Crust but he dies like a true hero, smiling even in the face of death like his idol All Might.
  • As the tables look to be turning disastrously against the heroes, even if they still managed a victory or some tie at this point, the effects are going to be devastating for them and the public: several minor heroes have fallen and among the Top 10 one is dead, two are crippled and the fate of another (Wash) is unknown. And the count may rise as by the end of Chapter 273 Endeavor prepares to face off with Shigaraki...
• Chapter 280: When it looks like the heroes have Tomura dead to rights, he gives Endeavor a Shut Up, Kirk! that hits a lot closer to home for the Flame Hero than Shigaraki could possibly be aware of, but Endeavor's reaction makes it clear that it landed all the same.
  Shigaraki: (in the Japanese dub) You heroes... hurt your families... to help strangers. My father told me that...
  (in the English dub) You heroes… In order to save strangers you don’t know, you hurt people who love you. That’s what my father said to me…

• Chapter 281:
  • Shigaraki continues his Motive Rant from the previous chapter. It's clear that as much as Shigaraki hated his abusive father, he ended up internalizing some of Kotaro's beliefs about heroes, making Shimura's decision to give Kotaro away for adoption all the more tragic.
    Shigaraki: You heroes pretend to be society's guardians. For generations, you pretended not to see those you couldn't protect and swept their pain under the rug. It's tainted everything you've built. That means your system's all rotten from the inside with maggots crawling out. It all builds up, little by little, over time. You've got the common trash, all too dependent on being protected. And the brave guardians who created the trash that need coddling. It's a corrupt, vicious cycle. Everything I've witnessed... this whole system you've built has always rejected me. Now I'm ready to reject it. That's why I destroy. That's why I took this power for myself. Simple enough, yeah? I don't care if you don't understand. That's what makes us... heroes and villains.
  • Gran Torino getting horribly wounded by Shigaraki. Before that, he thinks back to when Nana Shimura sent her son to the orphanage for his own protection and breaking down in tears when telling him her decision. And he knows now that despite her good intentions, her actions played a part in the creation of the monster that is her grandson.
  • Deku's reaction to Gran Torino's wounding. His expression is equal parts rage and sorrow, and you remember that he's still a 16-year-old who just witnessed someone dear to him mortally wounded.
• Chater 282:
  • Following above, Deku's reaction to Shigaraki mutilating Aizawa. All of their vows of protection and nothing they did to fullfill them wound up mattering; Shigaraki still got to Eraser Head and despite the latter self-amputating to keep his quirk, the bloodloss leaves him vulnerable to Shigaraki's claws and he loses his quirk anyway getting his right eye clawed out. Midoriya and Todoroki manage to tear Shigaraki away but it's too late. When Deku reaches Aizawa he looks as dead to the world as Gran Torino.
• Chapter 283:
  • As the students at Gunga witness the carnage left in the wake of Gigantomachia's rampage, it is hard not to feel for them as they are hit hard by the realization that they only barely managed to escape dying:
    Yaoyorozu: We only survived because they didn't consider us worthy enemies. That's why we're alive...
    • This gets worse as a traumatized Mineta wonders out loud whether this situation could've been avoided:
    Mineta: Did we do the right thing? Really? And the heroes too? Did they make the right choices? Seriously?! This whole nightmare... Didn't we just make it all worse?!
• Chapter 284 really hammers home just how self-destructively self-sacrificing Midoriya is at heart, and how much it worries the people around him. He's repeatedly slamming Shigaraki with 100% smashes in a desperate attempt to overwhelm the villain's insanely powerful Healing Factor, in spite of the damage it's doing to his body; as a reminder, it was previously established that doing so could permanently cripple him, ending his hero career here and now, but he just doesn't care as long as it means stopping Shigaraki. A flashback reveals that both All Might and Bakugou are becoming increasingly concerned with his behavior, and the look on present-Bakugou's face, of all people, as he realizes what Midoriya is doing is gut-wrenching. The chapter-ending Cliffhanger shows him preparing to unleash all of One For All's stored energy in a massive attack that, win-or-lose, will almost certainly cripple, if not kill Midoriya.
• Chapter 285 ends on a real whammy. Endeavor grabs Shigaraki from behind and proceeds to burn him alive, but he still survives anyway and wounds Endeavor. Then he tries to attack Midoriya, but Bakugo pushes him out of the way and takes the blow. Internally, he says there were no thoughts in his mind and that his body moved on its own.
• Chapter 287
  • How does Tomura react to seeing Nana Shimura? He casually tells her he hates her with all of his heart. This is all that's left of the family she tried to protect. Perhaps even worse, he doesn't even hate her specifically- he just hates her as much as everyone else.
  • The chapter ends with Himiko wanting to have a word with Uraraka and Midoriya regarding if Twice was a human that needed to be saved.
    Himiko: ... Where do they draw the line? If heroes are supposed to save people then was Jin not considered a person..? Will they kill me too? That's what I what to ask Izuku and Ochako. Depending on their answer... I'll be fine.
• Chapter 288 has a hero telling Uraraka's group that the current situation is the heroes' fault, and they must protect the innocent people who don't deserve to die just because the heroes failed, which drives home how low morale is at the moment.
• Chapter 289:
  • Despite its brevity, the fight between Uraraka and Toga winds up packing a heavy emotional punch: As twisted as her affection for Uraraka is, it is clear that Toga still genuinely wants to form a connection with the hero. Something which hits painfully hard when her attempts to explain her situation only act to further alienate Uraraka; ultimately conceding to her opponents declaration that she has to accept the consequences for the way she has chosen to live her life:
    Ochako: If you're gonna live as you please and threaten people, then you also have to live with the consequences.
    Himiko: *Tearing up* Right, thought so.
  • What hammers this home even further Toga's heartbroken expression as she says that. Something that afterwards gives even Ochako pause for thought:
    Ochako: She was crying...
• Chapter 290:
  • Dabi reveals his tragic childhood as Toya Todoroki and the full extent of Endeavor's abuse in a pre-recorded story that is being broadcast on television and the internet, destroying any standing Endeavor had as the No. 1 hero. The speech is also broadcast to Rei Todoroki (who was scheduled for a release from her facility at the time) and Hiroshi Tameda, the kid who stuck up for Endeavor in the Pro Hero Arc, the latter of which just stares in silence as he is unable to process who Endeavor really was.
    Dabi: I am Toya Todoroki. The eldest son of Endeavor. To date, I've killed over 30 innocent people in cold blood and today, I'd like everyone to know exactly what drove me to such despicable acts. Once upon a time, Endeavor yearned for nothing but power. But when he found himself unable to surpass All Might, he despaired. To concoct even stronger Quirks, my father forced the woman who would become my mother to marry him. That's when my father created me, in pursuit of his selfish, egotistical dreams. But alas, I was a failed creation. It didn't take long for him to reject me. I was tossed aside and forgotten. These murderous flames of mine are Endeavor's flames.
  • Toya flat-out admits to crying to Natsuo asking why he even existed and his original revenge plan involved killing his own younger brother Shoto.
  • As Dabi proceeds to gloat over the shockwaves his revelation has caused, it is difficult not to feel sorry for Shoto and Endeavor as a look of horrified realisation slowly dawns upon them. Endeavor especially, with the poor man looking like he just aged twenty years in a matter of seconds.
    • Whether or not one considers Endeavor worthy of sympathy after all he has done, you can't help but feel some degree of empathy for him as Dabi keeps rubbing all he has done to his face. Remember, this is a man who squandered his morals and family in his efforts to surpass All Might, only to eventually get his wish in the one way he never wanted and have to come face to face with the horrible deeds he had done for said dream while trying to change for the better and live up to his duty as the new No. 1 hero. Dabi's confession to the country and to Shoto and him is, in the worst case scenario, a powerful Heel–Face Door-Slam that guarantees that nothing he ever does will allow him to mend his mistakes.
    Dabi: You were finally number one! It's all you ever wanted! But it must've weighed on you, right?! Or was all that praise and admiration like chicken soup for your soul?! When, at long last, you could stare your kids in the eye, didja finally start to feel the warm and fuzzy bonds of family?! You must've thought "as long as I face the future, I can be better!" I can tell you're at a loss of words, so here's the answer! The past never dies! Get it yet?! You reap what you sow! So let's tango, you and me, Enji Todoroki! A dance with your son, here in Hell!
  • Worse still, we also have to take into account the repercussions of Dabi's revelation. Japan had just lost its Symbol of Peace and was still ambivalent on accepting Endeavor, not to mention the escalation of damage after All Might retired. This is not just a Broken Pedestal moment for Endeavor, but also one for the entire Hero Society. Things will never be the same after this arc.
• Chapter 291:
  • Hiroshi Tameda breaking down from the sheer weight of Endeavor's sins and then witnessing the video recording of Hawks killing Twice.
    • How Dabi got said recording is a fridge-Tearjerker. Dabi stashed some of the discarded Spy Cameras Hawks shed off before his fight with Twice on his body before bursting into the room in his apparent Villainous Rescue of twice — meaning he paused before entering and calculated the best possible moment to appear in order to help motivate Twice to go on a rampage. It was possible for Hawks to non-lethally subdue Twice on his own so long as the former was fast enough, but Dabi intentionally intervened in order to force Hawks into a No-win scenario — either his genuine sympathy for Twice stays his hand and Twice unleashes Sad Man's Parade on the assembled heroes below, or Hawks sacrifices a tragic soul to protect the many — in which case, Dabi has all the ammunition he needs to strike a crippling blow against the very image of heroes, alongside his own Existence. The shots of Twice brokenly sobbing in the footage, combined with Dabi's fake words of sincerity, just sell how he used and discarded a broken man who thought Dabi was his friend. To add further Fridge Horror when one looks at Dabi's actions ^note  Forcing Hawks to kill one of the top ten Heroes on the billboard besides Endeavor to get into the league, getting information on Hawks' Dark and Troubled Past to use as leverage against him well in advance of Hawks' betrayal, and heading straight to where Hawks is when the raid against the PLC starts, in contrast to everybody else prior to that fight, this means that Dabi he likely knew Hawks as a traitor the whole time — but allowed him to join the PLC regardless just for the chance to get proof of the Number Two Hero engaging in Dirty Business that he could use for his whole agenda. The PLC's numbers, the Nomus, the plans they'd made to tear down hero society — Dabi risked throwing away all those advantages just for the chance to get further 'evidence' that heroes were corrupt and flawed, betraying not just Twice, but everybody in the league all to further his own goals—- and considering the aftermath of the broadcast, it's hard not to argue that it didn't pay off dividends for him.
  • Natsuo standing in a classroom and staring in shock at his phone. Especially heartbreaking is how close he and Toya used to be, with a huge part of his hatred towards Endeavor was because he blamed him for Toya's death. Now he's learning that his brother wasn't dead after all, but was actually a villain all along and is bringing out their family's dirty laundry into the light in the worst possible way.
  • Endeavor has a flashback to when Toya was young, and Fuyumi had just been born. Contrary to his children's beliefs, Endeavor and his wife had truly been in love and wanted a large family together, and though he wanted a child with a combined ice and fire Quirk, he still loved all of his children. Seeing what Toya has become, and having his sins thrown into his face yet again, leaves him so devastated that he doesn't even try to protect himself from Dabi's flames.
  • Endeavor is so broken by Dabi's revelation that he doesn't believe the villain standing before him is his first-born child, telling Dabi to take back what he believes is a lie, only for Dabi to throw the truth back at him with a manic grin fixed on his face.
  • Shoto, Class 1-A's The Stoic, is openly crying as he tries to protect his father from his estranged older brother — an older brother who has just admitted to years of planning to kill him! Meanwhile, all of Japan now knows about Shoto's abusive childhood and his best friends, his teacher, and his father are still critically injured. Shoto also openly calls Endeavor "Father" to try to snap him out of his shock. Shoto might never be able to truly forgive his father but it's clear that he doesn't want him dead. Poor kid can't catch a break. The anime makes this scene even sadder thanks to a ''gut-wrenching' performance from Yuki Kaji.
  • Just as Dabi jumps down to attack Endeavor, the man thinks back that during the time of his sons supposedly fatal training accident he never believed his son truly died. And now he is confronted with the ugly truth and he is shocked to the point of not being able to move as he is being attacked.
• Chapter 292:
  • As Shoto tackles Dabi, confronting him about how his machinations came close to getting Natsuo, who had supported Toya in his darkest moments, killed. Dabi's response? Natsuo's death would have made Endeavor suffer, so it was worth it to him. When Shoto asks him if he's gone crazy, Dabi confirms it, cackling that he's lost his feelings for anybody and anything. It's both horrifying and heart-breaking to see how utterly consumed Dabi/Toya is by his hatred for his father.
    • Speaking of Endeavor, notice that he's still frozen even after Best Jeanist's arrival. It goes to show just how broken Enji has become after seeing how low his eldest son has gone in his hatred for him.
    • In the anime, there are two differences in Dabi’s voice that still make the whole thing sadder; while Hiro Shimono performs the villain as a mentally disturbed and hateful man, Jason Liebrecht portrays the insanity and the physical toll that his Quirk is most likely taking on his voice. And his asking Endeavor to “dance with him in hell” indicates a childish desire for Endeavor to recognize him, twisted into the villainous traits he would develop in the present…
  • A somber detail. As the battle against the Near High End Nomus goes on, one of the heroes estimates that they have taken out around half of them at the cost of their own half. If we also take into account the heroes that have been killed in the mansion raid, Shigaraki's awakening and by Gigantomachia's actions, this means that the heroes have surely lost dozens if not hundreds of their comrades in a single day. And this is not even taking into account the number of civilians who have also been killed in the crossfire.
  • Izuku desperately trying to return to the fray, even after his body has been destroyed for using One For All at full strength, to support Best Jeanist. What makes this more poignant however is that he calls himself out to not be the worthless Deku of old that couldn't save anyone. This confirms that Izuku's past as a bully victim for being Quirkless has left him with severe self-worth issues, to the point of having internalized the abuse lunged at him, and paints his previous reckless behaviour in a more painful light.
• Chapter 294:
  • The first few panels of this chapter drive home how costly this war has been for the heroes. Several high-ranked pros are in critical condition with Hawks, Ryuku, and Gran Torino unconscious, Miruko and Aizawa amputated as well as Crust and countless others, dead.
    • If that wasn't enough to showcase how bad things are, a few panels show both Izuku and Bakugou somehow still in the fight. Let's not forget that those two are still teenagers who are gravely injured and should be getting medical attention instead of being in the middle of the battlefield.
  • When Compress laments that he and the rest of the League of Villains have yet to achieve their dreams, one panel shows Toga wiping her face with her sleeve. It's clear her confrontation with Uraraka is still hurting her.
• Chapter 295:
  • The look of despair on Midoriya's face as Shigaraki, now controlled by All For One, escapes with the League of Villains. He can't forgive Shigaraki for all of the people he's killed, but he has started to see him as a victim of All For One who needs saving, and regrets not being able to help him.
  • Spinner doesn't take the All For One controlled Shigaraki's order to abandon Mr. Compress and Gigantomachia to "punish" Tomura well. For all of the League's crimes, they look out for their own, unlike All For One.
• Chapter 296:
  • As the war ends, its conclusion is shown in great detail. The city has been completely destroyed with cries of despair overlapping from panicked civilians trapped under rubble.
    • One example shows a little boy trapped under some rubble with his younger sister trying to pull him free. Despite the boy protesting for his sister to leave him and save herself, she doesn't leave and it takes a last-minute save from Uraraka and Tsuyu before the children are crushed by rubble.
    • Another grim example shows an injured man begging Uraraka to save his wife. The man is in poor shape with blood falling down one side of his face with a heavily injured arm.
  • The destruction of the city causes some heroes to lose faith in themselves and their work. One hero voices his desire to find a new job in front of the destroyed city and within earshot of Uraraka.
  • It is not only the civilians who have lost their lives in the war, with many heroes now confirmed dead, including high-ranking pros, heroes from past arcs, and fan favorites.
    • One death that hit particularly hard is Midnight. Though her body is never shown, Kirishima and Ashido, two of Class 1-A's most upbeat students, are crying over her body with Yaoyorozu burying her face in her hands and Sato standing above them with a pained look of disbelief on his face. As a character who debuted during the first arcs of the series, it hurt many fans when her fate was revealed. Her death hits particularly hard for Yaoyorozu as Midnight's last words to her were her expressing faith in Yaoyorozu's leadership skills. One can only imagine the tremendous guilt she must be feeling.
    • What makes Midnight's death hurt all the more is how... quiet it is. Sir Nighteye had an entire Final Speech after an epic Heroic Sacrifice and had an entire chapter dedicated to his sendoff; Crust went out in a Dying Moment of Awesome saving hundreds and giving some final words of encouragement to Aizawa, and his death was the highlight of its chapter. By contrast, Midnight was Killed Offscreen and her death is essentially a 2-3 panel footnote. Nemuri Kayama was a part of the story since essentially the beginning. She was one of the three "main" teachers of UA alongside Aizawa and Present Mic. She had entire segments dedicated to her backstory and her personality. She was one of the main focal characters in Vigilantes. In the end though, none of this matters, and she ends up being just another statistic in the consequences of Shigaraki's insane ambition.
  • While the manga only shows a couple of panel of this scene, the anime makes it even more painful as it animates them crying and begging for her to wake up, not yet able to process her cruel death.
    • A minor example is Native also being shown on the list of casualties. The same Hero that Iida, Todoroki, and Deku risked their lives to save from the Hero Killer Stain still died during the chaos of the war. It doesn't help matters that in Chapter 283, he was seen fighting the Near High Ends with one of his arms being chewed off by one of them, meaning it's incredibly likely he died from being mauled to death.
  • Despite winning their trust in the Pro Hero Arc, the public is now openly voicing its disdain for Endeavor as the people question the integrity of the No. 1 Hero and his representation of heroes. Dabi is now closer than ever to accomplishing his main goal.
  • In the final few pages, we see All For One commanding his Near High-End Nomu's through Shigaraki to free his original body from Tartarus.
• Chapter 298 continues the fallout with the heroes, particularly the students, struggling to pick up the pieces after the war.
  • We see Aizawa lying in the hospital with his leg amputated and with Present Mic at his bedside. Present Mic is about to mention Midnight's death when Aizawa cuts him off, wanting to know how the students are. It's clear that Midnight's death hurts, particularly after learning the truth about what happened to their old friend Shirakumo. But as much as Aizawa wants to mourn his old friend, he's trying to put on a brave face for both himself and his students.
  • Speaking of the students, we see some of Class 1-A gather around Todoroki, who's recovering but cannot speak due to his throat being burned by Dabi's attack. Todoroki looks outside to see a gaggle of reporters gathered outside the hospital. Thanks to Dabi airing their family's dirty laundry, Todoroki's life is about to get very rough.
    • In the same scene, we see Ashido still grieving over the loss of Midnight with Momo trying to comfort her while holding back her own tears. It's painfully obvious that Midnight's death and the war as a whole has left permanent physical and emotional scars on the students and seeing the usually bubbly Ashido reduced to tears is nothing short of heartbreaking.
  • The chapter ends with Bakugo running down the hallway to check on Midoriya, who's in pretty bad shape due to overusing One For All and is now in a coma.
  • The Villains don't get away unscathed either. While All for One is giving out orders while he rests up, Spinner makes it clear that he and Shigaraki bonded over their shared love of Video games and such, and he has no loyalty to the parasite that's basically stolen his friend and leader away. As said before, for all their faults, the League looks out for each other, not a distant, power-hungry boss.
• Chapter 299 shows the origin of Hawks and to call his story a tragedy would be the nicest way to describe it. His father was a runaway criminal who constantly abused him, seeing him as the reason why he couldn't be free. And his mother helped his father go on the run and was too emotionally distant to care, so Hawks just silently endured the abuse. Later, Hawks' father went out one day... and didn't come back. It turns out he was arrested by Hawks' idol and hero, Endeavor. After that, Hawks and his mother were forced to live in a subway, scrounging for money whatever possible by any means. That is what his mother wanted him to do and she even questioned why he even had those "useless wings". But Hawks eventually called the police and the Hero Association helped the two of them start a new life by making them cut ties with Hawks' father.
  • Hawks' condition as he's in the car with Best Jeanist is truly pitiable. His wings are still burned from his fight with Dabi and he's so badly damaged that he's in a full body cast and he can't talk so he has to rely on a phone to communicate.
  • When Best Jeanist stops a criminal from robbing a store, he asks why the police or a local hero hadn't shown up. The store manager explains that the police are too busy with the prison break and the people criticized the heroes so much, they all quit. Best Jeanist sees that Dabi's revelation of what Endeavor did had greatly affected everyone's trust in heroes and he knows it's about to get worse. To put things into perspective, we get a panel of people at the scene, half happy, half looking from upset to downright hateful (previously, only villains would look at heroes so badly), in the presence of Jeanist whom we were told sat at the top of approval ratings.
    • One person in the crowd mutters to himself "Who needs heroes?" while wearing what looks to be support gear. It looks like some civilians are seriously considering vigilantism, which is a sobering and horrifying thought.
  • We learn how Dabi was able to learn Hawks' real name. Turns out Dabi and some Paranormal Liberation soldiers tracked Hawks' mother down and forced her to reveal everything she knows about Hawks. Wracked with guilt for the role she played, she left town, leaving behind a letter apologizing for everything. Despite finding some relief that his mother and the Safety Commission no longer holding him back, he can't deny the irony that he turned his back on the former to become hero he is today before Dabi's involvement.
• Chapter 300 has things continue to get worse as we see just how far society's faith in heroes has fallen. Now, they've taken to belittling and smearing them, as if they never truly understood what heroes stood for in the first place.
  • The chapter begins with the Cider House gang (the same gang Bakugo and Todoroki stopped when they got their licenses) robbing a store when they are suddenly attacked by a group of civilians wielding support gear. The ensuing fight causes considerable collateral damage and when Wash shows up to help, he is met with a barrage of insults from the survivors who accuse him of arriving too late. As foreshadowed in the previous chapter, many civilians have lost faith in heroes and decided to take matters into their own hands, which is exactly what Re-Destro predicted would happen. The villains are succeeding in their plan to destabilize society.
    • Tying into the above, the narration talks about how people are scrutinizing heroes more and even beginning to question what truly makes a hero. While this is happening, we see Stain head to his hideout and retrieve his katana, ready to pick up where he left off. And with trust in heroes at an all-time low, it seems more and more people are taking Stain's ideology to heart...
    • Yoroi Musha, the #9 Hero and one of the oldest and longest serving Pro Heroes, announces his sudden retirement due to the increased scrutiny and criticism while admitting to himself that he became a hero solely for the fame and admiration. And his decision is met with boos and jeers from the crowd, accusing him of shirking responsibility and taking the coward's way out by resigning. And he is just one of many heroes who are noted to be resigning.
    Yoroi Musha: All I ever wanted... was love and respect...
    • Perhaps the saddest panel in the chapter is a picture of a statue of All Might with a sign tied around its neck that says "I AM NOT HERE!", a cruel Ironic Echo to his famous Catchphrase and a perfect representation of society's crumbling faith in heroes. Even more tragic is that at the beginning of the war, a young child was shown passing by this exact same statue and feeling inspired by it. Now society has lost so much faith and trust in heroes that they don't even have faith in the Symbol of Peace himself.
  • The chapter ends with Endeavor finally awakening from his medical procedure as he reflects on everything that's happened, outright crying as he feels the weight of his sins and regrets finally crash down on him. Society is largely putting the blame for the war on Endeavor's shoulders, despite him just being one man. As he himself states, Enji Todoroki may have survived, but the hero Endeavor has died. Thankfully, Rei and the rest of the family arrive to snap him out of his depression. Endeavor's grief was portrayed wonderfully by Tetsu Inada.
  • Two panels with Toya/Dabi stand out in the chapter. One where Endeavor recalls a young Toya crying is pretty heartbreaking; particularly the raw emotion on his face and tugging at his hair. The other is of Dabi without his shirt and his back shown, showing that the charred skin on his body have spread. A somber detail showing how much of himself he's willing to destroy to get his revenge on Endeavor.
• Chapters 301 and 302 are a two-parter called "The Wrong Way To Put Out A Fire" that finally reveals the full truth about Toya and the Todoroki household. And the full picture manages to be even more tragic than anything we could've imagined.
  • Dabi laying on a couch while reflecting on his actions and how they will affect his family while crying a single tear of blood. Thanks to him overusing his Quirk, Dabi's scars have grown and it's gotten so bad that he says that he can't feel anything. And the worse part is that he doesn't seem to even care as it's all for the sake of destroying Endeavor. To further punctuate this point, when he addresses each member of the family, he uses more affectionate terms for his mother and most of his siblings, but addresses Endeavor by his full name and Shoto as just that, showing how much his hatred for them has consumed him.
  • The flashback showing Endeavor and Rei's marriage. While the series has mentioned Quirk marriages before, it is truly sobering to actually see it firsthand as it's clear this is a marriage of convenience. Rei is marrying Endeavor for the sake of her family name and Endeavor just wants an heir to help surpass All Might.
  • It is revealed that though Toya had inherited his father's Hellflame Quirk, he also inherited his mother's genes and her aptitude for cold, meaning that he would burn himself whenever he used his flames. Despite that, he idolized his father and wanted to be just like him, inheriting Endeavor's desire to surpass All Might. To that end, he continued to train his Quirk regardless of the damage it did to his body and despite Endeavor and Rei's attempts to get him to stop. Ultimately, what drove him to villainy was Endeavor's emotional abandonment and rejection of him once he realized Toya will never be able to succeed him as a hero. The look on little Toya's face when he sees each of his new siblings is that of a child who has realized his entire purpose has just been taken from him and there is nothing he can do about it but only look at each of his new replacements. And when Endeavor focused his attention to Shoto, Toya took it as a sign of rejection and violently lashed out, even attempting to harm the infant Shoto.
    • Even worse, an argument with Rei makes it clear that Endeavor stopped acknowledging Toya was not because he came to feel disdain for his son, but because he realized that Toya was going to kill himself if he didn't stop using his Quirk. Distancing himself was a misguided attempt to get Toya to give up on his desire to become his successor. It's even implied that he was hoping that Shoto's birth would finally make Toya relent.
    • On top of that, Toya's breakdown when he tells about his classmates expecting great things from him because he's the son of Endeavor, shows another layer of the pressure that ultimately crushed him. Part of the blame of Toya's tragedy is on a societal system that existed well before Endeavor.
  • The chapter also takes its time to show Endeavor's gradual Sanity Slippage and how he wanted to have more children in hopes of an heir with an ideal Quirk despite full knowledge that doing so might backfire. While it did cause the births of both Fuyumi, Natsuo, and eventually Shoto, by that time Endeavor was completely consumed by his jealousy and ambition to surpass All Might. In the next chapter, Endeavor even admits that he knew that he couldn't go back to the way he was after seeing Toya's supposed death and he focused his obsession on Shoto, resulting in him becoming the abusive father we see at the beginning of the story and the reason Rei scalded Shoto's face with a kettle of boiling water.
  • After Toya's outburst, Endeavor decides to ban the others from interacting with Shoto so he can focus on his training and entrusts Rei to look after Toya. When Rei says that all Toya wants is for Endeavor to acknowledge him, he replies that all he can show anyone is the world of heroes, to which Rei scathingly says that Endeavor is just running from his problems. The cracks in the family are beginning to show.
  • Five years later, we see the now infamous scene of Endeavor dragging Shoto away to train as the young boy begs his father to let him play with his siblings. Keep in mind, he's just five years old at the time. Toya meanwhile, glares at the two of them hatefully. Later that night, Toya rants to his younger brother Natsuo about his feelings towards Endeavor, but Natsuo just wants to go to sleep, and he tells Toya to talk to Fuyumi about his problems. Despite his obvious emotional instability, it's clear that Toya just wanted someone to talk to and while he didn't mean to be insensitive, Natsuo brushing him off only ended up isolating poor Toya further.
    • It also becomes evident that in the present, Natsuo feels terribly because only growing up he realized the weight of the rants Toya poured at him.
  • Rei attempts to dissuade Toya from his obsession with Endeavor, telling him that there's more to life than being a Hero. That causes Toya to lash out and even blame his mother as part of the problem since she was basically married into the family only to produce a successful child to surpass All Might and to Toya, his inability to prevent his Quirk from burning himself made him a failure in Enji's eyes. The look of heartbreak in Rei's eyes is truly gut-wrenching.
  • Toya continued to train his Quirk until his flames grew strong enough to turn from red to blue while also learning that his fire is directly connected to intense emotions. Then, on Toya's thirteenth winter, he wanted to show his father the progress he'd made. And how does Enji respond? By berating him for using his Quirk despite the damage it's doing. But Toya insists that he's made progress and that he's not a mistake. Later, Toya went back to Sekoto Peak, expecting Enji to come... and he doesn't. This results in Toya's rage going out of control and he burns down the forest, resulting in his disappearance. And all Enji could find of his firstborn son were just pieces of his jawbone.
    • Your child having a mental breakdown and immolating themselves. The fact that Toya burning himself during training and hiding it is eerily similar to self-harm patterns in real life just makes it even worse.
    • For example, Toya realizes that he gets worked up when he's crying. One of the first places his flames start growing are under his eyes, as if he's subconsciously trying to make himself stop.
    • Endeavor is seen watching the massive fire in horror, then among the burnt trees in the aftermath. Did he come as soon as he heard about it, realizing what had happened? Or was he already in the area because he had ultimately decided to meet Toya there, even just to bring him back home? Because even in the latter case, if he reached Toya in time, many things could have gone differently.
    • Prior to the above, we see Endeavor wailing on Rei for letting Toya train while the young Shoto steps up to his mother's defense. All the while, Natsuo and Fuyumi huddle together in fear. It is a truly explicit and heartbreaking example of domestic abuse.
    • After the flashback, Enji admits, after initially saying that he thought he'd only fan the flames of Toya's desire, that he didn't go because he didn't know what to say to him, with Rei admitting she didn't know what to say either.
  • Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the Todoroki family was that this all could've been prevented. While Endeavor's abuse and neglect was the root cause of it all, as Rei admits, they (save for Shoto) all failed Toya when he needed them the most and are all responsible for his descent into villainy. Rei was too afraid of Endeavor to stand up to him, Fuyumi just wanted to keep up appearances, and even Natsuo admits that he could've talked to Toya more. But it also ends on a hopeful note as the family decides to come together to stop Dabi.
• Chapter 304:
  • The revelation that Izuku Midoriya may most likely be the final bearer of One For All. As it turns out, One For All is a Deadly Upgrade to anyone who already had a Quirk, though only one of the previous bearers actually lived long enough for it to become apparent. All Might and Midoriya were able to push the Quirk to its fullest potential because they were Quirkless beforehand, but... Quirkless people have practically vanished by this point. Izuku and Melissa Shield are abnormalities, and it's likely that they'll utterly vanish by the next generation, so there will be no one to safely pass it to.
    • Even if by some miracle Midoriya were to find a Quirkless person with a sense of justice, they would never be able to handle the strain of having One For All due to all the power it has accumulated over the years. Midoriya himself had to undergo rigorous training just to prepare his body to handle One For All's power and even then, he's unable to draw on its full power without suffering horrific injuries to his body. Fans have always assumed that the series would end with Midoriya passing the Quirk on to yet another successor, but now that can never happen. This proud Heroic Lineage that Midoriya has spent the entire series striving to live up to... will most likely die with him.
    • Compounding things further, this revelation signals that he is now the last hope anyone has at stopping All For One. If he fails then Japan, and possibly the entire world, is doomed. As if the poor boy wasn't under enough pressure already...
    • When All For One's brother talks about how the previous bearers wish they could have communicated and relay this information, they note that it could've prevented several unnecessary deaths and an image of Sir Nighteye is shown. All Might and his former sidekick and friend spent their last year estranged because the latter believed that Midoriya was an Inadequate Inheritor when in truth he was the only viable option.
  • Nana Shimura solemnly requests Midoriya to kill her grandson to destroy All For One. She knows that Tomura is the product of the biggest mistake of her life and that Midoriya killing him is the only way to repent for that.
• Chapter 305:
  • Nana is too depressed to smile anymore. Her talk with Izuku is heartbreaking, as she laments over her failed decisions with her family, which resulted in Tomura Shigaraki. She is ashamed of burdening Izuku with the consequences of her failures and suggesting him to kill her grandson.
  • Izuku's resolve to understand Tomura and try to save him moves Nana to tears. Although he doesn't dismiss the possibility of killing Tomura...
• Chapter 306: There's a reason why this chapter's title is "The Final Act Begins".
  • As Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist hold a press conference, they're accosted by one of the members of the press, for the damage Gigantomachia caused, her own mother's injuries, and the numerous other damages, and how the heroes appear to want to side-step the issue. It's a grim reminder that Heroes and their reputation are permanently damaged going forward, and even if the villains are stopped, nothing's going to magically fix what's happened.
    • Hawks also confesses to the killing of Twice: while Hawks reaffirms that he had no choice but to kill him to prevent more death, he also blames himself for not being able to find a way to help him. A somber reminder that though they were on opposing sides, Hawks genuinely liked Twice and truly regrets having to kill him.
  • Midoriya leaves letters to all his friends at UA, explaining that he inherited a unique Quirk from All Might, that All For One will do anything to get it and for that reason, he has to leave UA so All For One won't use them to get to him. When Uraraka reads her letter, she has one thing to say.
    Uraraka: You idiot…
  • During the final page, when Izuku overlooks the city, one thing that stands out is his vacant expression. All the spark, dreams, and hope he once had, even in the face of villains like Muscular or Overhaul, are replaced by a jaded look. A grim reminder that even someone as hopeful and heroic as Izuku can be worn down by the violence and his self-imposed exile. Some fans have noted that the final pages of the chapter are a Call-Back to the first chapter's introductory moment to middle-schooler Midoriya. Both moments have him noting a "giant villain", though from different perspectives. Comparing the two moments side to side makes the difference between Midoriya then and now that much more of a tearjerker, having seemingly lost that idealistic innocence he once carried, from admiring heroes as a Quirkless civilian to being the hero he's wanted to be in a society reeling from irreversible revelations.

Dark Hero Arc

• Chapter 307:
  • The people's reaction to Shindo Yo and Nakagame Tatami's arrival is just sad. They say that they don't want to be saved by heroes anymore and that they are capable of defending themselves without them. Even after a month has gone by, the general consent on heroes is still split and it's going to stay that way for a very long time.
• Chapter 309:
  • The simple fact that Izuku has chosen to leave UA after dreaming about attending after all these years is heartbreaking, even though it's to protect his friends. There's no telling if he can even return after the Shigaraki threat is dealt with for good.
  • Even if she's been now let into the secret of One For All, there's nothing Inko can do to prevent Izuku's decision to distance himself from her and UA for their good, as he knows Shigaraki is coming for him again sooner or later. He hugs and tries to reassure her as Inko breaks down in tears.
  • While thanks to his strengthening over time Izuku doesn't take as much damage from using One For All at full power as he did previously, it doesn't mean there's no more danger for his arms going forward, only that their deterioration is slower. In fact, the moment he hugs Inko also shows clearly that he's got further scars on his right arm, and some smaller ones can be noticed on his left too now.
  • Gran Torino gives Izuku some somber advice that killing someone can technically be a way of saving them. In other words, a Mercy Kill.
• Chapter 310:
  • The chapter opens up with a group of armed civilians attacking a woman with a Mutant-Type Quirk, ignoring her pleas to stop and believing her to be a villain trying to get them to lower their guard. Thanks to the rash of villain attacks from the escaped prisoners, the civilians have become paranoid and are now attacking anyone with a similar Quirk. Even Midoriya calmly defusing the situation does little to change their minds as the civilians walk away blaming the woman's appearance for their actions. While discrimination against those with Quirks has been alluded to before, particularly in Spinner's, Destro's and Tsuyu's backstories, to actually see it unfold is truly sobering. Daigoro even hangs a solemn lampshade on how backwards everything's going.
    Daigoro: It's like we've slid back in time to darker days. Waiting with bated breath, hoping not to stand out. Just like back during the advent of the exceptional.
    • It gets worse the more you think about it. As a reminder, people without Quirks are the exception and Deku and All Might are just two out of a shrinking minority. The civilians attacking that woman probably have Quirks as well, but they see someone that looks like the woman and immediately assumes she's a villain. As far as they know, her Quirk probably only extends to just looking the way she does while one of those civilians could be hiding a Quirk that would be considered dangerous if they used it wrong, and from what we have seen in recent chapters, that would cause more casualties than preventing them.
    • The anime adaptated scene is just as brief, but even more harrowing. Whereas the woman was still standing while attacked throughout in the manga version, likely due to her tall stature, the anime has her actually knocked down by a civilian's weapon attack and curled near a wall, fearfully begging for mercy before Deku arrives. Before the civilians leave, Deku shows them her crying, emphasizing that she never meant any harm. When they leave, the manga has her trying not to break down as she explains how she ended up in this situation, while the anime had her cry over how everything spiraled out of control for that one night.
• Chapter 311:
  • Daigoro's words in the previous chapter are proven true when the people that Endeavor rescued from one of the prison escapees form a mob and begin shouting at him, blaming him for everything gone wrong and even start throwing rocks and garbage at him. One of the people in the mob even asks Endeavor if he's seen the families of Dabi's burn victims. Shows how impactful the revelation of Dabi's video has had on the masses and how they see Endeavor as the root cause for the creation of such a dangerous villain.
• Chapter 312:
  • While we saw a glimpse of it in the Tartarus Prison Break, this chapter shows just how far Overhaul has fallen. The loss of his hands (and by extension, his Quirk) along with the overwhelming guilt of being unable to undo the coma he put his Boss in has reduced the once proud and arrogant Yakuza leader to an utterly broken man, obsessively mumbling about how he needs to see the boss. Even with all of the horrible things he's done, especially to Eri, it's hard to not feel some degree of sympathy for the man. Even Lady Nagant took pity on him, viewing him as another victim of hero society, and took him with her despite having no reason to do so.
  • Nagant seems to be an uncharacteristically kind and sympathetic character for a Tartarus inmate, but the minute AFO tells her that Izuku is standing in the way of her dream of causing the downfall of hero society, she gets a hardened look in her eyes and speaks disgustedly of how Izuku must be another person clinging to the false dream of heroes. Nagant is somebody completely separate from Dabi or AFO, yet she shares their derision toward the idea that there can be such a thing as a real-life superhero whole-heartedly. Given that AFO brings up how she killed a singular hero to get locked up with the rest of the deranged lunatics around them, and her actions towards Overhaul, it's highly likely that Nagant had good reasons to kill that hero only to be demonized by the society she had spent so much time and effort into protecting to uphold his image, instead of acknowledging that those in the hero profession aren't always shining beacons of morality. Her kindness towards Overhaul seems to be because she (wrongfully) believes that he's also a fellow victim of society as well. It's clear that the issues with heroes are something that has been slowly building up for a long time, longer than even Izuku and Tomura's ongoing conflict that has exposed the inherent flaws in the system, and putting things back together to a state of normality might not be possible anymore.
• Chapter 314:
  • We finally learn Nagant's full backstory and it's equal parts tragedy and Nightmare Fuel. Lady Nagant started as an idealistic child who held a positive outlook towards being a hero, being overjoyed when her Quirk brought her to the attention of the HPSC, offering her a golden opportunity to achieve her dream, but instead of saving people like she thought, she was trained by the Hero Commission to assassinate potential criminals to uphold the image of hero society, depriving them of due process or the right to a fair trial. One of her many, many victims is shown desperately begging for his life, protesting that all they've done is discuss potential society-disrupting actions, without having committed any actual crimes before she blows his brains out. Despite her misgivings about her actions, she complied with them for the sake of Hero Society, even as the guilt began to overwhelm her over her ever-growing body count. At one point, Nagant was approached by a group of children around the same age as she was when she first got recruited, wanting to shake her hand, admiring her as a hero. Far from being able to celebrate how she's finally achieved her dream, however, all Nagant can see is her outstretched hand to the children covered in her victim's blood, showing how she's sacrificed far more than she gained from working for the Hero Commission. She finally reached her breaking point when she confronts the President of the Commission and point-blank asks him if killing potential criminals will really help society, to which the President responded by brushing off her concerns as a Necessary Evil, and when she showed further signs of questioning her role as a cog in a machine, not-so-subtly threatening to kill her if she resigned, leading Nagant to kill him. She was then sent to Tartarus with the official story of her killing a fellow hero in an argument used to cover up the scandal, which she bitterly notes was just another way that the HPSC obscured the ugly truth behind their false peace, that even the real reasons for her fall from grace were fabricated to fit into the pre-existing narrative they upheld. Honestly, it's little wonder why she's become so disillusioned that she believes a society controlled by All For One would be better, simply because he'd be more transparent.
    • Also, it's left unclear how long this has been going on for. At the very least, these clandestine killings were happening while All Might was earnestly running himself ragged with non-stop hero work as the Symbol of Peace, putting a sobering picture over his genuine efforts to be a symbol of hope and comfort to those in need throughout his career. Whilst he was acting in a genuinely heroic capacity, the very system he was helping maintain was committing acts on par with villains to maintain the public perception of heroes as Pillars of Morality — and given what kind of man he was, All Might never knew about it. Even as he was doing his best to help, All Might's efforts were also just another cog in a machine the HPSC maintained at the expense of others.
    • Worse, though neither of them know it, Nagant's claim that maintaining the prior peace would merely result in another innocent individual having to sacrifice their innocence and morality to maintain the public lie is completely correct... because it already happened. Nagant's flashbacks show the HPSC chairman she murdered was accompanied by an assistant that would become his future successor — the same woman who helped recruit the young Hawks and direct him in his clandestine work in infiltrating the League, even asking him to ignore potential civilian and hero casualties in favor of completing his mission. Given Hawks' comments about Nagant being his 'Senpai' in the HPSC, It's heavily implied that Hawks was recruited specifically to replace Nagant's position as the HPSC's front-line agent, and it's worryingly unclear if the switch in duties from assassination to spy-work was because the HPSC learned to handle their agent's psyche with more care — or Hawks' own moral code was too strong to be convinced to kill unless in the most dire of situations.
• Chapter 315:
  • Lady Nagant's life continues to be a tragedy. Midoriya had managed to defeat her and save her from falling to her death. But just when he was about to convince her to fight alongside him, All For One cuts the heartwarming moment short via an explosive implant. First, Nagant was used as a tool for the HPSC, then she was used as a tool for All For One and may end up paying for it with her life. And All For One, cruel sadist that he is, doesn't hesitate to hang a mocking lampshade on it.
    All For One: To the very end, you were just a tool to be used. Curse your blessing of a Quirk, if you must. Alas the hapless, woeful Lady Nagant...
    • The scene is even more tragic if you look at it from Midoriya's point of view. After a hard fought battle, he managed to beat Nagant and was just about to convince her to join him only for All For One to have her cruelly betrayed and (possibly) murdered. Considering that Midoriya left U.A. because he didn't want anyone he cared about targeted by All For One, to watch someone die right in front of him because she was swayed by Midoriya's genuine heroism will no doubt be traumatizing for him.
    • It gets worse. AFO's comments imply that this was the outcome he was planning for all along when he sent Nagant after Izuku. Her ignorance of Izuku's multiple Quirks — something AFO would have been well aware of, his vestige counterpart having witnessed him using them in battle — implies that AFO deliberately withheld the information from her, just so they she'd be unprepared and lose against Izuku in a straight fight. Nagant wasn't sent after Izuku because she was an experienced assassin with a massive list of kills and impressive combat abilities, she was sent to die in front of him because she was a Hitman with a Heart that Izuku would be compelled to try and redeem after realising that she wasn't as bad as her reputation made her out to be, only for AFO to render all his efforts in the battle pointless in the end. The battle for OFA is one of emotional willpower, not physical superiority, and AFO is putting in the effort to try and break Izuku however he can before the rematch to make it easier for him to steal the Quirk, no matter how cruel or heartless his schemes need to be for him to achieve that goal.
• Chapter 316:
  • Overhaul outright crying tears of regret while begging to be allowed to see his boss again and apologize. Nothing changes the fact he is still a monster for his treatment of Eri (especially seeing as how he still lacks remorse for it, only thinking of how he can use her power to heal the boss), it's clear he does truly care about his boss despite everything he's done and truly feel guilty for what he's done to him.
• Chapter 317:
  • During a conversation with Endeavor and the heroes, we learn that another Pro Hero has resigned due to the overwhelming pressure put on them. This time, it's the hero Death Arms. During this, we see shots of Death Arms taking off his costume while lamenting that no matter how hard he tried to help, he was met with a barrage of negativity that drowned out the few supporters he had, saying that he thought he was a hero but he's only human. It's made even sadder when you remember that Death Arms was one of the first heroes introduced to us at the beginning of the story alongside Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods, the trio later serving as bodyguards during U.A's Culture Festival. Mt. Lady's somber expression shows that the news hurt her as well as the readers.
    Death Arms: This job's been running me ragged. I can't seem to catch a break. And what do we get for it? Rants, doubts, rage. Yeah, I know there's still some support for us out there, but one loud heckler easily drowns out ten fans. I've never felt like this before. I thought I was different. Better. I'm sure we all did once. But nah, I'm no hero. Only human.
    • Best Jeanist points out that at this point, any hero could just give up and none of the rest could blame them. It's easy to talk about being selfless, but it's much, much harder to do when the entire world hates you either way. Death Arms is among those who at least tried to persevere than others, but there is no telling who else followed suit instead of quiting instantly.
  • We then cut to the saddest part of the chapter. After defeating the second hired gun, Midoriya is about to leave when All Might tries to get him to eat something. However, Midoriya tells All Might that he no longer needs his help as he can now utilize 100% of One For All using Fa Jin. The sad part is that All Might is fully aware that Midoriya is pushing him away for his own safety as he himself did that with his former sidekick Nighteye. All Might wants to tell Midoriya that he can rest, but it's too late as Midoriya flies off, leaving All Might alone.
    • Many readers found the scene to hurt even more because the chapter happened to release in America and Europe on 2021's Father Day. Knowing how much of a father figure All Might has become to Midoriya, seeing the boy leave him behind (even if to protect him) while taking a very self-destructive path feels like a troubled child refusing the help of a loving parent.
• Chapter 318:
  • There's a reason why the title of this chapter is called "Reckless" as it continues to show just how much of a toll the hunt for the League of Villains has taken on poor Midoriya and how dangerously self-sacrificing he is at heart. Despite both Endeavor and the Vestiges of One For All advising him to take a break at different points, Midoriya continues to push his body to its limits as he searches for All For One, defeating villain after villain without stopping to rest or even eat. During the montage, we get to hear Midoriya's inner thoughts as he expresses his desire to stop the League so everyone can be at peace, sounding almost like an obsession. It all boils to a head at the chapter's climax where Midoriya, exhausted to the point that he can barely stand, faces off against the villain Dictator. Dictator uses his Quirk to control the civilians around him and attack Midoriya, who's so exhausted that he can't even fight back and can only deliriously ramble about how he'll save them and he just needs to come up with a strategy. It's truly heartbreaking to see Midoriya so determined to save everyone even if it kills him. Thankfully, Bakugo comes to Midoriya's aid.
  • At one point, Midoriya saves a trio of civilians from a group of villains, but his haggard appearance and use of multiple Quirks initially lead them to believe that he's one of All For One's minions. Even after he makes it clear he's not a villain, the civilians are still afraid and run off. Given that Midoriya's life's goal is to be a hero people could look up to, watching Midoriya be feared by the very people he's trying to save is saddening and shows how far he's fallen.
• Chapter 319:
  • This chapter demonstrates how much of a mirror Deku has become of All Might. His student has absorbed his self-sacrificing tendencies and has picked up his self-destructive habits of pushing his friends away and pushing past his limits without care to his body, and now Deku can't even stand on his own without Black Whip. He's become so beaten up and tattered, reflecting All Might's haggard skeletal civilian state, not giving a damn about his well-being, and dismissing all concerns with a simple "I'm fine." What's worse is that, as Bakugou states, All Might can't stop him, because he was exactly like him in his prime. The two of them working together without anyone else balancing them out would just make things worse for the both of them, fueling each other's self-destructive spiral.
    Bakugo: But you don't know the first thing about Deku. He's screwed up in the head. The guy never takes himself into account. Just says crap like "I'm fine". All Might became the Symbol of Peace with the same mindset. So he won't be the one to stop Deku. Listen, Endeavor! You can't leave those two alone with each other! Not them!
  • When Class 1-A confronts Deku, he demands they all get out of his way. Without any means to get through to him, the entire class prepares to fight him.
• Chapter 320:
  • Midoriya trying to escape his 1-A classmates to little success. As his classmates lay out everything they can to restrict him and try to get him to either listen to reason or take a break, even reminding him of how much he has impacted their lives, Midoriya gets more and more desperate to escape them. Everyone (both the readers and his classmates) knows he's trying to distance himself so no one gets caught in the crossfire of his fight against All for One, and as they try to reassure him that they're willing to stand by him and help regardless of the danger, the readers can tell just how desperate Midoriya is getting to make sure everyone but him is safe.
    Midoriya: [out loud] Ughh!! Stop! Stop, already!! [thinking] I get it! I know you're all just worried about me! You're worried, deep down in your hearts. I know that for a fact, because... there's no real danger or malice here. Danger Sense would've alerted me otherwise, but you guys aren't setting it off at all! [out loud again] So please! Get away from me. I'm begging you! I mean it! I'M FINE!
    • Tellingly, during the fight, Midoriya loses his mask. While it seems rather innocuous at first compared to everything else, it's actually quite symbolic as it represents Midoriya's mask of the intimidating vigilante being stripped away to reveal what he truly is underneath: A frightened, traumatized boy who's had the weight of the world suddenly thrust upon his shoulders and finds himself crushed underneath the sheer weight of his newfound responsibility.
• Chapter 322:
  • After an emotional and heartfelt apology from Bakugo, Class 1-A finally manages to convince Midoriya to come back to UA. However, Yaoyorozu points out that getting Midoriya back was the easy part and things will only get harder from here on out. And the next few panels show that she wasn't exaggerating as the civilians camped out in UA take the news of Midoriya's return... quite badly. Fearing that his presence will endanger them all as he's the one Shigaraki is after, they outright refuse to let Midoriya in and demand he be hidden somewhere else. Seeing the crowd protest his return almost causes Midoriya to turn back had Uraraka not stopped him. Considering that Midoriya has spent the arc risking life, limb, and his mental and emotional health to keep the civilians safe, to see them reject him like this, even if it's for justified reasons, can be really hard to watch.
    • In a sad way, the utter rejection of Izuku's needs over those of the masses camped inside UA, despite being equally, if not more deserving of aid and support than the citizens themselves, draws a parallel to Young Tenko's own depressing experience in the aftermath of his Quirk's awakening, faced with Society's collective Bystander Syndrome and forced to accept that, regardless of how much he needs or wants it, none of these people around him value him over themselves and their own wellbeing, being ostracised and isolated because he's too much trouble to look after rather than turning a blind eye to a child in need. Izuku has always been Tomura's Foil, and now he's being forced to walk a mile in his Arch-Enemy's shoes in the midst of this current societal breakdown. Izuku at least has the support of his Classmates in his hour of need, but Tenko only had AFO willing to look after him, and that was only to turn him into a twisted mockery of the very legacy that spawned him.
  • Ashido hasn't gotten over Midnight's death, as she tells Midoriya that she "can't stand the thought of losing anyone else". It's tough to see the traditionally-cheerful Ashido in that mindset.
• Chapter 323:
  • Picking up where the previous chapter left off, Best Jeanist attempts to explain why Midoriya should be allowed to rest at U.A. His pleas, however, fall on deaf ears as the crowd is still afraid that Shigaraki might target him. And they become so angry that it sets off the boy's Danger Sense, implying that some may want to do more than just drive him away. Considering that, prior to receiving One For All, Midoriya was ostracized for being Quirkless, it's truly ironically sad to see him be rejected because of his Quirk.
  • Among the crowd of people are Kota, the boy Midoriya saved from Muscular in the Forest Training Camp arc; Eri, the poor girl he saved from Overhaul and helped smile again during the Culture Festival (who is also being held close by Monoma of all people), and the tall woman with the Mutant-Type Quirk who Midoriya rescued from a group of armed civilians in Chapter 310. Now they have to watch as their hero is shunned and rejected. Inko, Midoriya's mother is also among the crowd weeping as she sees that the people have turned so hostile against him. Then Uraraka intervenes on Deku's behalf explaining he didn't deliberately endanger them by returning — the UA students under the faculty's instruction brought him back themselves. Uraraka points out how bloodied, torn and scarred the boy is for wanting to protect them. Having spent months worrying about her son, Inko can only bawl her eyes out at the sorry state her son is in.
    • And away from the crowd, standing outside the UA fortress are Hawks, Shoto, and Endeavor, who himself is dressed in a trenchcoat and hat. Thanks to Dabi's machinations, Endeavor's reputation is so thoroughly shot to hell that he can't go out in public without needing a disguise. Shoto himself looks gutted that he can't stand by Deku and the rest of his class in this moment, since there's no telling how the crowd would react to him, despite him being entirely blameless with regards to his family's problems.
• Chapter 324:
  • Uraraka continues her impassioned plea to let Midoriya stay at U.A. During this, she outright tells the public that the heroes are just as afraid as they are, which cuts to the real tearjerker. The public has spent so long viewing the heroes as these infallible gods and now that the heroes have failed to protect them, they have completely lost faith in them, forgetting that they are just as human as the rest of them.
    Urakaka: If you want me to stand up here and reassure you, I'm sorry! I can't do that right now! That's because we're all gripped by that same fear and unease! We're all neighbors here — including him! Please... Lend him your strength... So we have a shot of smiling together into the future! What he needs is your help! Please! Find it in your hearts to let him rest and recover together with all of us! Izuku Midoriya is trying to take on all the responisblity that comes with his power, but he's still got plenty to learn himself! He's just a regular high school kid! This place is his Hero Academia! LET HIM STAY HERE!!!
  • Throughout Uraraka's speech, Midoriya begins to tear up as he thinks back to the moment he first met Uraraka. And the chapter ends with Midoriya falling to his knees and crying for what was likely the first time in months as both Kota and the Tall Woman rush through the crowd to comfort him. After spending the entire arc acting as this invincible One-Man Army and feeling he had to shoulder the burden alone, watching Uraraka go out of her way to defend him causes him to finally break and let out months of pent up sadness and angst.
  • It took Uraraka shouting at them with a megaphone and seeing Izuku collapse on his knees sobbing to finally get through to the crowd and remind them that they're jeering at and trying to send a beaten, battered, and weary teenager back into the cold, hostile territory Japan has become. There are quite a few faces showing they're horrified with their own cruelty.
• Chapter 325:
  • The Mutant-Quirk woman Midoriya saved in Chapter 310 reveals that she tried to go to several other shelters before finally making it all the way to U.A., but was turned away at each one because none of them would accept people with Mutant-type Quirks, even during these dire times. ^note  Spinner of the League had previously stated to his fellow villains that out-of-the-way towns tend to show prejudice to people like him. So, it can be frustratingly bad now that those like the woman in the dense, diverse cities have to experience this themselves, if they haven't already. The solace to this predicament is that she discovers that Midoriya just happens to attend the very school she's taking refuge now, so it's heartwarming she can thank him in person.
  • A subtle moment between Endeavor and Shoto has Shoto acknowledge Endeavor as Father and remind him they're in this together, while it would be a heartwarming moment the scene is cut to an image of Dabi's eyes and how he's watching them. It's clear that Shoto is reminding Endeavor they have to work together to stop Toya. The somber faces Endeavor makes when Shoto reminds him makes it clear Endeavor has not forgotten but has tried his hardest to come to terms with facing his eldest son again.
  • Despite the chapter appearing to end on a hopeful note, with Uraraka managing to convince the civilians to accept Izuku's presence and give all the heroes still fighting for them a chance to recuperate and attempt to restore normality, the chapter still ends on a somber, ominous note, with a shot of All Might, his Face Framed in Shadow, sadly turning and walking away from UA, it being clear that he's deeply upset and affected by how useless he was at resolving Midoriya's crises, how inconsequential he was to the resolution, which was all handled entirely without his presence, and how he inadvertently made Midoriya's Chronic Hero Syndrome worse because he didn't recognize the signs that his protege was being pushed towards the breaking point until it was too late, because he ignored his own warning signs when friends like Nighteye tried to do the same for him. Compounded with his talk with Aizawa, where he admits his powerlessness in his current body frustrates him, it's clear that All Might doesn't believe he deserves to join Izuku behind UA's walls, given how badly he feels he's failed him as a teacher and mentor. And whilst Izuku's friends and family are now safe and protected, All Might is all alone and undefended in a society where villains under All For One's employ run rampant...
    The Rain Still Pours...
• Chapter 326:
  • All Might's general emotional state in the chapter: Despite all his efforts, the world he built was shattered in an instant and he couldn't help Izuku when he needed it the most, despite promising Inko he'd protect him. The poor man truly feels like a failure and there's nothing much he can do about it now that he is once again Quirkless.
    • Stain's reaction to All Might's current state is rather sad in retrospect. He's seeing his hero at his lowest point and despite all the threats and zealotry, All Might senses no bloodlust from him, suggesting his more zealotous moments during the chapter are less threatening an imitator and more pain from seeing his idol reduced to his current state.
  • The anime adaptation of this chapter has Midoriya having a nightmare about All For One and Shigaraki, causing him to wake up and nearly attack Uraraka with Blackwhip. A sobering reminder that Midoriya still has quite a lot of trauma that won't be magically healed by a rousing speech and a hot bath.

Star and Stripe Arc

• The short-lived arc of Star and Stripe ends with her sacrificing herself to stop Shigaraki before he can steal her Quirk. Especially with her remembering an encounter with All Might that inspired her to become the hero she was. And her men can only watch as their leader literally crumbles to dust before their eyes.
• With the death of Star and Stripe, all the world's heroes are ordered to pull back, despite their refusal to leave. This pretty much means that the Japanese heroes are on their own despite a war being on the horizon. Even worse, All Might was actually looking forward to seeing Star again as much as she was, implying that unless they met prior, they never got to see each other again since he saved her as a travelling student.

U.A Traitor Arc

• Chapter 336: After seven years and 336 chapters, the identity of the U.A. Traitor has finally been revealed. And it's not a teacher or a staff member, but one of Class 1-A's own students: Yuga Aoyama. And The Reveal manages to be equal parts tragic and shocking.
  • Aoyama's backstory. It turns out that like Midoriya, he was actually born Quirkless and was shunned by his peers as a result. His parents, desperate to help their son achieve his dreams, went to All For One, who gave him the Navel Laser Quirk, a Quirk that was incompatible with his body and needed support gear for him to control it. However, this meant that now they were forced to work for All For One with the threat of death should they fail or betray him. Never has a Deal with the Devil looked so tragic.
  • Just the sheer amount of guilt Aoyama and his parents feel. It's made painfully clear that none of them take any pleasure in what they're doing but feel that they have no choice, his parents even telling Aoyama that they would've never gone to All For One if they knew it would result in all this. Aoyama is particularly wracked with guilt over having to put his classmates in mortal danger countless times by leaking information about the U.S.J. Training and the Forest Training Camp and thought that once All For One was arrested in Kamino, he could finally be free of him, only for those hopes to be dashed when All For One broke out of Tartarus. It's truly painful to watch the usually cheerful and sometimes campy Aoyama be reduced to tears.
    • In retrospect, Aoyama's actions are extremely heartbreaking. His rescue of Tokoyami during the training camp raid was done in part out of guilt for indirectly endangering him in the first place, and his inability to attack Dabi and the rest of the League was because he was consumed by his own fear and self-loathing over having brought these psychotic killers after his friends. He actually tried to flunk out of the licence exam due to his hidden Guilt Complex over directly helping with the fall of All Might, only for Iida's earnest desire to leave none of his classmates behind to motivate him to try and sacrifice himself so Iida would be forced to leave him behind. When this ended up rallying the rest of the class to rescue them, Aoyama still passed, but only because he felt motivated to become a hero to atone for his mistake now. His Odd Friendship with Midoriya was in part started because of their Commonality Connection — because Aoyama recognized Izuku also had trouble using a power his body wasn't used to and mistakenly believed he'd also received a power from All For One, seeking companionship with what he though was somebody in the same position as him, only to have the full truth crash down on him when he read Izuku's letter. His Attention Whore tendencies and obsession with standing out were because he'd never been able to do that before as a child and was making up for lost time. His Hidden Depths reveals were because of him struggling with the truth of his actions and inability to admit that to anybody, coming close but always pulling back at the last second. Aoyama is a young man who earnestly wanted to be a hero, but because he was gifted his powers by One For All's Evil Counterpart, his dream has become a waking nightmare, exactly like Yoichi warned about during the vestige vision Izuku received.
  • Hagakure's and Midoriya's reaction to the reveal is equally saddening. Hagakure is utterly stunned by the revelation that Aoyama was the traitor, her mind flashing back to the aforementioned attacks on the U.S.J and Forest Training Camp. And when she and Midoriya go to confront him, the look on Midoriya's face as Aoyama breaks down and confesses is nothing short of heartbreaking.
    Aoyama: Do you hear me, Midoriya? I'm a despicable villain.
• Chapter 337 continues the fallout of the U.A. Traitor reveal as the rest of Class 1-A discovers the terrible truth. And to say the news is devastating for them would be the understatement of the millennium.
  • First, there's Hagakure's reaction. She is downright furious to learn that Aoyama is the traitor and demands to know how Aoyama could work for the villain who put them in danger time and time again and plunged all of Japan into chaos, yet still act as if nothing happened. And to punctuate just how emotional this is for her, we get a partial reveal of her true face for the first time in seven years, complete with Berserker Tears.
    Hagakure: We coulda been killed, time after time. And now all of Japan is, like, totally messed up. What was going through your head this whole time in school with us?! Living in the dorms with us, even?! Well? SAY SOMETHING AOYAMA!!!
    • Worse, when Aoyama is brought before the rest of Class 1-A, he's shown thinking on her words, showing that they hit a lot harder than we thought.
  • Aoyama is later brought before the rest of Class 1-A as they learn the truth. And their reaction is as heartbreaking as you'd expect. All Might's expression is one of utter anguish and Principal Nezu asks the class to leave the room, but they refuse, feeling that they have as much of a personal stake in this as anyone else. And we're treated to a panel showing the class' shocked and horrified expressions, with Ashido in particular on the verge of tears as she clings to Jirou. Kirishima is in denial and screams at Aoyama to tell him it's not true while Ojiro, who's comforting Hagakure, outright asks Aoyama what he would've done if he hadn't been caught. The news of Aoyama's betrayal has rattled them all to the core and things may never be the same for the class.
  • While trying to convince Aoyama to help them, Midoriya thinks back to what happened to Lady Nagant and to the cheese message Aoyama sent him, clearly blaming himself for being unable to help either. Becomes Fridge Tearjerker when you realize that Aoyama is a mirror of Midoriya. As Bakugo points out, Aoyama was once a Quirkless kid who received a Quirk like Midoriya. But where Midoriya was given a Quirk by All Might and trained to be a hero, Aoyama was found by All For One and forced to be his puppet. Midoriya likely saw a bit of himself in Aoyama.
• Chapter 338:
  • The chapter starts on a sobering note, with Tsukauchi acting as a major Moment Killer to Izuku's impassioned speech to Aoyama last chapter, pointing out to him that, regardless of his feelings on the matter or the extenuating circumstances, he still conspired with All For One to help him enact his plans, and Aoyama cannot take Izuku's hand because he's tied up and restrained in police custody. Even if the rest of 1-A still has faith in him as a hero and are willing to forgive him, the decision on how to deal with Aoyama is out of their hands, and he will be judged and sentenced by the system — something that Jin and Gentle's backstories showed would be crippling to his future. Regardless of how he was helping them, his unwilling aid to All For One will forever haunt the young boy, who can only attempt to atone however he can, if he's even allowed the chance to.
    • Before he and his family are escorted out, Aoyama is forced to wear a muzzle as a precaution just in case his Quirk's self-destruct feature activates just for talking.
    • Of note, even Present Mic, one of Aoyama's teachers, expresses disbelief that they've so willing to overlook his actions and still think of him as their fellow classmate and hero in training, despite being the biggest victims of his betrayal. Mic is somebody who's known Aoyama personally and helped guide him through the class teaching session on how to become the best hero he can and even he doesn't fully believe that Aoyama can come back from what he's done. The general public, should the truth come out, would be far less understanding towards Aoyama's situation. Beyond even that, Mic has always been depicted as the happy-go-lucky one between him and Aizawa, but whilst Aizawa's still willing to have faith in his student, Mic can't summon the same belief in Aoyama's good nature. Meeting the revived Shirakumo, learning that the traumatising incident in their past was no accident, and discovering that Aizawa was the actual target all along seems to have greatly soured Mic's outlook towards anything connected to All For One, to the point that he just doesn't believe Aoyama's capable of being better than he was because he received his powers from such a corrupting influence.
  • Whilst Awesome, the shot of the class wearing a collective Death Glare as they begin preparing to enact whatever plan Aizawa came up with is a sobering one. These are kids who should technically be in their second year of school about now, but thanks to All For One's plans and the ongoing societal breakdown, they've all been forced to rapidly mature much quicker than they should have. Now that All For One's plans are even targeting their classmates directly, they've got expressions of suppressed rage and anger on their faces that should not be on the faces of children, but they've got no other choice if they want to save people from his schemes.
• Chapter 340 has Aizawa meet with Aoyama where he's being held. Aoyama is suffering from crippling guilt and fear, and now that they're in private, Aizawa admits that Aoyama may no longer be welcome at U.A., even if Aizawa has no intentions of expelling him.
• Chapter 341: A hindsight version with the already tragic death of Twice when it's revealed that Dabi had managed to get a sample of his blood to allow Toga to transform and use his Quirk. Remember that the threat Twice's Quirk posed was the reason that Hawks was forced to kill him, despite the fact that he liked him, so the fact that the danger lives on through Toga means that Hawks' motivation was in vain and he killed Twice for nothing.

Final War Arc

• Chapter 348:
  • As scary as Toga's Villainous Breakdown upon being rejected for the last time by Deku might be, it is heart-wrenching, seeing how her reaction in chapter 289 to being rejected by Uraraka has greatly affected her and made what was left of her sanity go away, and her transitioning from an Ax-Crazy yandere whose motivation stemmed from desperately wanting to have affection to an outright remorseless killing machine who now wants everyone dead is truly soul-crushing.
• Chapter 350:
  • We see Toya make the full transition into Dabi. After the accident on Sekoto Peak, Toya was left an unrecognizable charred husk but held on long enough to recover after a three-year coma. Even still, his first thoughts was to go back to his family and apologize for what he said and did, and maybe even show his evolved quirk to Endeavor. When he realizes that the family essentially moved on, that Endeavor didn't change and just trained and abused Shoto, as if Toya never even existed, he snaps. He states that Toya really did die that day, and all is left is Dabi, who will make his mark on the world by burning down everything Endeavor held dear. Dabi also makes it abundantly clear that he intends to die in the process.
  • Even though no one told him whether or not his family visited while he was in a coma, Toya assumes that Enji didn't come and immediately justifies it, hopefully saying that his father must have been "just too busy with work" but must be "really worried".
• Chapter 356:
  • The chapter gives us a brief insight into Endeavor's past, specifically the origin of his hero name. Turns out that when he was younger, he witnessed his father attempt to rescue a girl from a villain only for both of them to die in the process. This in turn was the catalyst for his inferiority complex and his envy towards All Might. His obsession with surpassing him was in reality his obsession with overcoming that feeling of weakness he felt upon the death of his father. While in no way does it excuse the pain he inflicted on his family, it's easy to see how a traumatic event like that shaped Endeavor into the man he is. The fact that we learn about this bit of Endeavor's past on Father's Day makes this even more of a gut punch.
    • It's also explains a bit about why Enji was such a horrible dad to his own kids — losing his father at such a young age, he had no role model to emulate when raising them, nor somebody he could turn to for advice when the situation with Toya started getting out of hand. Again, it doesn't excuse the choices he made, but it does help show that he made those choices in part because he didn't know how to be a good father, something he's still struggling with by the present day.
• Chapter 359:
  • Aizawa has an O.O.C. Is Serious Business moment after he witnesses Shigaraki preparing to deal the finish blow to Bakugo and finds he is completely helpless to do anything about it. Aizawa, who has always valued rational behavior, breaks apart completely and pleads for anyone at all to go and protect him, but Deku is delayed and everyone else is too far away.
• Chapter 360:
  • Shigaraki beating up Bakugo while delivering a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how he'll always be in Midoriya's shadow no matter how hard he tries. That it was enough to leave Bakugo in tears shows that it hit a sore spot.
    Shigaraki: You once said you've always admired All Might's triumphs. Well, it's time for a reality check, Katsuki Bakugo. No matter the heights you reach, you'll never be more than Izuku Midoriya's hanger-on — a minnow in One For All's wake.
• Chapter 361:
  • Mirio's comment about Shigaraki having no friends in the previous chapter actually manages to get through to him and cause the Tenko Shimura part of his personality to momentarily surface. It's sad reminder that underneath the monstrosity Shigaraki has become, there's still a sad little boy in there.
    Tenko Shimura: I do have friends... CUZ MIKKUN AND TOMO SAID "YOU'RE REALLY NICE, TEN." AND MON LIKES TO GO ON WALKS WITH ME!! DIDJA KNOW THAT? HUH?! SO YEAH! I'VE GOT FRIENDS!!
  • On the subject of friends, we learn a little of Nejire's backstory. Due to people being envious of her Quirk, Nejire's attempts to make friends often ended with her driving people away as they assumed she looked down on them. Tamaki and Mirio were the first people to befriend her, leading to them becoming U.A's Big Three.
• Chapter 362: Three words: Katsuki Bakugo's death.
  • Realizing that Shigaraki has singled him out as a target to get to Midoriya, Bakugo decides to tackle him head on rather than run around waiting to get killed. He tells Best Jeanist to look after the others as he engages Shigaraki in one last fight, overtaxing his Quirk by causing explosions all over his body to give himself a tremendous speed boost due to a side effect of his Cluster technique. Sadly, even this is not enough and Shigaraki ends up impaling him through the heart, causing the built-up sweat to explode from within and kill him. The final shot of the chapter is an image of a bloodied Bakugo lying dead on the ground with a gaping hole in his chest.
    • During his battle with Shigaraki, as he overtaxes his Quirk by causing explosions all over his body due to a side effect of his Cluster technique. He begins to realize that this was what Midoriya was going through all this time and finally acknowledges that he was the one trying to keep up with Midoriya all along, even calling him by his real name rather than his nickname Deku.
    Bakugo: My whole body hurts. Battling through the pain. Fighting while trying to spot the enemy's tics and habits. That's basically the path you had to walk, yeah? So, Izuku... Can I... still catch up to you?
    • When Shigaraki lands the killing blow, we get to see Bakugo meeting the vestige of All Might. In one of Bakugo's most human moments, he openly admits his flaws at the beginning of the story and expresses his one regret: That he never got All Might to autograph his trading card. And to twist the knife even further, that same card is seen lying right next to Bakugo's corpse.
    Bakugo: Oh... Right. So... Uh... Thinking back to when we finally met... I was pretty much a punk, going through some stuff. And now it looks like I missed my chance to ask. (Pulls out his All Might trading card, looking at it fondly.) Man, I wanted an autograph so bad.
  • Afterwards, we see a brief panel of Bakugo's parents observing the weather, with his mother Mitsuki commenting that Bakugo hates rain. One can only imagine the devastation they'll feel upon learning what happened to their son, especially after Principal Nezu and Aizawa promised them that they would keep Bakugo safe after he got kidnapped by the League of Villains.
  • The shocked reactions of the other team members are sad enough, but Best Jeanist's reactions are particularly heartbreaking, with him initially trying to stop Bakugo from fighting Shigaraki and being the first to comment on the condition of his heart. While he initially wasn't fond of Bakugo when he first interned under him, he slowly grew to respect him, even calling by his hero name Dynamight. Now the poor man has to watch as the boy he formed a bond with dies in front of him. Making matters worse, Bakugo has a hole in his chest much like Jeanist did when All For One blasted him back in Kamino. No doubt he was having flashbacks to that day.
• Chapter 363 isn't any better as it continues the fallout of Bakugo's death:
  • Poor Monoma, who has to keep his eyes open to prevent Shigaraki from using his Quirks, has a front row seat to Bakugo's death and is left in complete disbelief as he thinks back on Bakugo's vow to achieve perfect victory at any cost. Sure, he'd antagonized him as a part of Class 1-A, and was a jerk in general, but he never wanted a fellow schoolmate to die, and so brutally at that.
  • The Big 3's reaction to Bakugo's death, especially Mirio's as he collapes to his knees and thinks back to his promise to protect everyone until Midoriya arrives, clearly blaming himself for what happened.
  • Speaking of blaming oneself, Mirko charging at Shigaraki while berating herself for not killing Shigaraki back during the Paranormal Liberation War arc, feeling none of this would've happened had she done so.
    Mirko: Back then... If only I coulda murdered you... If only I'd been one hop faster!
  • Just to twist the knife of Bakugo's death, Fuyumi sees the children he and Shoto worked with during the remedial arc talking about how Bakugo and Shoto will win.
  • And then there's the devastated look on Aizawa's face as he watches one of his precious students die in front of him, unable to help him due to his own injuries and him keeping Monoma's Copy Quirk going. Shigaraki rubbing salt in the wound doesn't help.
    Shigaraki: This time, he's truly dead. Since you took a backseat this round, you turned out to be quite the letdown, Eraser.
  • Dabi is revealed to have survived his battle with Shoto by copying his Phosphorus technique and he torches two of the sidekicks as Burnin tells Shoto to run.
  • Doubling as Nightmare Fuel, the simple fact that for all the heroes' efforts and planning, the villains still manage to get the upper hand. Skeptic has hacked the heroes' communications and has spies at U.A. feeding him information, Dabi survived his battle with Shoto by copying Shoto's Phosphorus technique, and All For One has been restored to his prime thanks to Eri's Rewind Quirk. Worse, Skeptic specifically starts hacking the heroes defences to move the massive shelters housing the innocent civilians to the surface, with the full intent to eliminating everyone who's housed inside, simply because they showed faith in the heroes' assurances of protection and safety, which the fanatical liberation followers believe make them unworthy of a place in the 'new world' they're building from the ashes of the old one. Hundreds of men, woman and children who merely wanted a place to house their loved ones whilst they weathered the ongoing crises outside are being singled out just to serve as a warning to anybody who still holds onto hope that the heroes can save the day. All For One's words make it clear that the villains are not going to stop until they're dead or have ruined everything the heroes seek to protect, even those uninvolved in their idealogical conflict. The second act of the war begins on its Darkest Hour and things aren't looking good for the heroes or the civilians who put their trust in them.
• Chapter 364:
  • We get a brief look at the situation around the globe and things are looking bleak. In Washington D.C., the city is in ruins due to a riot caused by supporters of All For One, with a panel showing a random mugger pinning somebody underfoot with a gun pointed at their back, next to a sign that says "We are All For One", showing the lengths of his influence and the desperation he's driving everybody into, despite the efforts of the governments to maintain order. An arguement between Admiral Timothy Agbar and the President reveals that countries all across the globe are considering surrendering to Shigaraki and the President is considering the same if only to minimize casulties and wait for a better moment to strike. This leads to an impassioned speech by Agbar, who reminds him why Star and Stripe fought so hard.
    Agbar: Do you know what Star really was fighting for? Why do you think Cassie followed in her idol's footsteps and died for it?! I'm sure you haven't really forgotten!! Children observe adults as they grow. Adults in turn support the children as they pass it forward. And so on to the next generation. Heroes have always wielded their power in the name of that cause!
    • What is both heartbreaking and horrifying, is the fact that these people are not doing this out of fanatical loyalty to the villain. Star and Stripe, the world's greatest hero now that All Might retired, went to fight against Shigaraki and lost. To the world, if she couldn't stop that monster, no one can. And since they don't know about Midoriya or One for All, they just abandoned all hope that someone will save them.
  • The chapter's ending. Good news! Bakugo can be saved! However, it comes at a hefty price. Edgeshot decides to use his Quirk to enter Bakugo's body and repair his heart by filling in the missing pieces. However, Best Jeanist notes that doing so will surely kill him. Edgeshot is fully aware of this and solemnly says that he leaves the rest in his hands, even calling him by his real name "Hakamada". And we're treated to a picture of both Edgeshot and Jeanist during their time in U.A., revealing that the two of them used to be classmates akin to Aizawa and Present Mic, with an implied similarly close bond. Despite that, Jeanist can only look on as his close friend prepares to trade one life for another with his Ultimate Move, Ninpo: Thousand Sheet Pierce-Zenith.
• Chapter 367:
  • Crossed with Heartwarming, the tearful look of sheer relief and joy on Mirio’s face upon realizing that Deku has finally made it and that he and heroes stalled Shigaraki long enough for him to arrive. For such a normally jolly character, the desperation he's displayed the last few chapters ending with him finally getting some kind of reprieve is very catharic.
  • Deku’s reaction to seeing the heroes wrecked state since he wasn’t there to help them as he should’ve been, in particular Bakugo's own seemingly dead body. Despite the tumultuous and fraught relationship they’ve had, Bakugo’s possible death is enough to at least temporarily make Deku forget his conviction to save Shigaraki and causes him to nearly cross the Despair Event Horizon. More heartbreakingly, it appears Deku’s anger isn’t so much directed at Shigaraki or AFO for landing the blow, but at himself for not being there in time to stop it. Thankfully, Mirio prevents the worst from happening.
• Chapter 370:
  • Spinner's condition in this chapter is truly pitiable. All For One granted him multiple new Quirks and made him stronger, but those Quirks are taking a severe toll on his mind to the point that he's become little more than a drooling, mindless brute who's barely able to string complete sentences together. It's both horrifying and heartbreaking to see the lovable Stain fanboy become essentially Gigantomachia #2.
    Spinner: Dun... know... wut... he... saying. Ever since All For One... gave me power... head getting... fuzzier. Welp... whatever. Me just... do wut... me told.
  • The saddest part of all of this? Spinner is putting himself through this for no other reason than to help Tomura. The problem? All For One's vestige has subsumed Tomura's personality and Tomura hasn't been the one giving orders for quite some time, and if All For One gets his way, he never will again. Spinner made a Deal with the Devil accepting those Quirks, and it was All for Nothing except becoming All For One's Unwitting Pawn.
  • We are given hints of Shoji's backstory and it doesn't paint a pretty picture as we see a young Shoji with his face bandaged up. And the chapter ends with a reveal of his real face for the first time in seven years, revealing some scarring and what appears to be a Glasgow smile, indicating somebody tried to cut off his jaw when he was younger.
  • Just seeing the prejudice that Heteromorphs have endured with a group of them having been massacred in the past because they were seen "as gross".
• Chapter 371 fully elaborates on Shoji's backstory. It turns out that he grew up in a racist backwater town and faced horrific discrimination due to his arms, at one point getting beaten up by a mob of people, resulting in the scars he bears today. The reason he wears the mask is both to hide his scars and to avoid people believing he seeks revenge. Even worse, the reason he was attacked by the mob in the first place? The next chapter reveals that it was because he dared to rescue a little girl from drowning.
• Chapter 372:
  • Shoji continues to try to reason with the Heteromorph army, begging them to not let those like All For One exploit their wounds just like what happened to Aoyama as he thought about him, letting them know that their children might be the next target of said hatred of heteromorphs, and to not just be mere avengers. What ultimately convinces them to stop? Seeing the doctors and nurses in the hospital, both human and heteromorph, standing hand-in-hand and forming a barricade, willing to risk their very lives to protect the patients at the hospital. And then Spinner rushes through them all in his single-minded zeal to reach Kurogiri. It ultimately takes seeing the literal monster Spinner has become for them to realize that for all the propaganda of liberation, all they're doing is just perpetuating the cycle of violence.
    • Speaking of the doctors and nurses, the brief close-up of one of the doctors and nurses, one of whom even helped the 1A students recover in the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War, shows both of them with dark circles underneath their eyes, and despite their glare showcasing their determination not to move, it's also made clear how tired each and every one of them is. Even with Midoriya and the rest of the heroes tirelessly fighting to restore peace and order, it's clear that the hospitals and staff have been put under immense pressure from the influx of patients or those in need of emergency treatment, a number that will see a further increase from the scale of the current fighting, It's a somber reminder that no matter how hard the heroes try, the current situation will leave deep scars and painful losses for people all over the country from those caught in the collateral of the fighting.
    • On the topic of Spinner, when Shoji tries reasoning with the Heteromorphs, Spinner counters that people will always hate Heteromorphs and nothing will change if the heroes win, citing one moment when he was sprayed with pesticide because he dared to walk in public (explaining why he was such a shut-in). And as he races to where Kurogiri is, he thinks about how he was a nobody before he met Shigaraki, and now after meeting him he has amassed a loyal following of allies... only to find that they are no longer following him. To twist the knife further, the panel shows a young Spinner running down the hallway to symbolize how far he has fallen from the young man in his past and that he has become the very monster people see him as. And the tragedy of it all is that he's so far gone mentally thanks to all of the Quirks pumped into him that he doesn't even realize it.
• Chapter 373: Present Mic is desperately trying to get to Kurogiri before Spinner can "activate" him, afraid that if he fails - Aizawa will lose the one good thing he has left (his memories of Oboro). Present Mic is prepared to kill Kurogiri in order to prevent this, afraid he'll lose his sole remaining friend. This is especially poignant with the events of Vigilantes in mind and generally just how much effort Mic has put down throughout the years in trying to fill the hole Oboro left in Aizawa's chest and get his friend back to a functional life, while ignoring the fact that he himself was just as close to and distraught by Oboro's death. Compared to Aizawa, Mic considers Kurogiri an affront to Oboro's existence and would rather focus on the friend who's still alive.
• Chapter 374: Mic's look of genuine despair as Kurogiri wakes up, and it's not Shirakumo.
• Chapter 382: Toga's Sanity Slippage has genuinely caused her to come undone. Even in the massive Sad Man's Parade, she was unable to utilize the Quirks of anyone other than Twice— which causes her no end of misery. We even cut to a vulnerable and distraught Toga within her mind, despite being in Twice's body, horrified and distressed because she can't become Twice in any manner but physical. When Uraraka searches throughout the horde, she figures out who the real Toga is in midair— a Twice clone in a Troubled Fetal Position and crying Broken Tears.
• Chapter 384: It's revealed that Gigantomachia realised that his loyalty to All For One was for naught as he was essentially abandoned with barely an afterthought along with realising that Tomura Shigaraki was being possessed by All For One, without the man himself bothering to assure Gigantomachia that he's all right. Small wonder why years of waiting for his master going down the drain broke him to the point he's working with the heroes to make sure he stays dead.
• Chapter 386: In the heat of everything, as Iida and Todoroki are making their way to stop Dabi, and All Might is preparing to hold off All For One, a single shot could be seen of Hawks solemnly hugging Tokoyami's injured body, the former having apparently dragged himself over to his student if the trail of blood on the ground is any indication. After expressing immediate fear of Tokoyami dying to All For One the moment he saw his student on the battlefield, despite all of Hawks' efforts to protect him, having shielded the young boy so many times, and even having his Quirk taken in his desperate attempt to keep AFO away from him, he still wasn't able to protect his student in the end. The lack of confirmation of whether or not Tokoyami will actually survive the injuries he sustained only makes the shot more heartbreaking...
• Chapter 387. Dear God, the Todoroki family can’t catch a break.
  • Rather mundane compared to what it foreshadows but at the start of the chapter Geten, currently talking with Mr. Compress, explains why Rei was sold off to Endeavor in the first place. Her family, the Himura family, were a once proud and powerful bloodline with many lineages. However, the age of quirks slowly stripped away the power and prestige the family held, along with causing the family itself to dwindle. Not helped by the fact that they kept marriages between members from different branches out of hatred at the thought of tainting their bloodline with outsiders, especially mutants. Mr. Compress notes that Spinner mentioned such discrimination before. Rather sobering considering the end result of the damage said discrimination has done to Spinner. The tale of the Himura family is merely another example of it.
    • Eventually, the main Himura family was forced to sell off their offspring anyway to avoid going extinct altogether. When the branch families got wind of that, they bailed, leaving the once proud family a shell of its former self. While somewhat self-inflicted, the story of the Himura family is yet another that showed how rough the world got after Quirks.
  • Endeavor is still struggling in his battle with Dabi due to his injuries from his battle with All For One and his unwillingness to harm his own son, still seeing him as the little boy he tried to raise rather than the flaming demon he has become. The biggest tearjerker, however, comes when Dabi grabs hold of Endeavor and Endeavor inspects his chest and discovers... Dabi has his mother's ice Quirk. Instantly, Endeavor's life flashes before his eyes as he comes to the horrifying realization that Dabi could use his mother's ice Quirk all along and it's only now, when Dabi is on the brink of death, that this dormant power awakens. Realizing how badly he failed Toya, Endeavor decides that the only thing he can do is die along with Toya and prepares to launch into the sky only for Rei to appear and use her ice Quirk to cool the both of them off.
    • Doubling as Nightmare Fuel, this chapter has Dabi's body finally reaching its limits: His face has completely devolved into a blackened skull with whatever's left of it melting off, his bones visible though the rest of his body, and when he causes his own right arm to explode upon launching a massive Elemental Punch at his father, the insides of his stump show that underneath his completely charred skin is just pure heat and fire. But worst of all is that like Spinner, the damage he's dealt to himself has caught up to his mind, devolving it to a point where he starts speaking like a child, eager to show his father what he can do with his Quirk or asking Natsuo to play with him.
• Chapter 388. The tragedy of the Todoroki family hits its climax in this chapter as Rei uses her ice Quirk to cool off both Endeavor and Dabi, uncaring that the heat is burning her as well. Moments later, Fuyumi and Natsuo arrive and begin to use their ice Quirks to help cool Dabi down as well, begging their brother to stop his self-destructive rampage. Having realized their role in the whole tragedy, the family all comes together to stop Dabi, all while Endeavor tearfully begs Dabi not to kill them all but kill him instead. And to top it off, the chapter ends with Dabi having a vision of himself (missing an arm but lacking the burn scars) surrounded by his family smiling in approval, reminding readers that deep down, all he really wanted was his family's love and approval. The fact that this chapter debuted on Mother's Day is just another cruel twist of the knife.
  • The tragic part is that Dabi's imaginary spot does not include Shoto. Even now, his vision of a happy family is one without Shoto in it.
  • Even sadder is Dabi at this point has psychologically degraded to the point that he has lost all connection to reality due to his degrading mental state. What's worse is how it is heavily implied that Dabi cannot stop the explosion even if he wanted to, which means the self-combustion has reached the point that all the family can do is delay it for a few minutes at best, and he will explode one way or another...
  • Aside from the impending explosion, it isn't even getting into how damaged Toya's body has become with a glowing crack from his self-inferno within that is cracking across his skull and his eyes reduced to molten pits. This has all-but-guaranteed he won't live to see tomorrow, so even if the violent explosion is neutralized, Toya is simply too damaged to be saved anymore.
• Chapter 389: As Toya's mind has degraded, he realises to his joy that at long last his family is finally looking at him. Toya then muses to himself that, if it was always this easy, why they couldn't have paid attention to him sooner. It's a heartbreaking reminder that the pain in Toya's life could have easily been avoided had his family simply acknowledged him instead of brushing his problem under the rug.
• Chapter 390.
  • The combined efforts of Shoto, Rei, Natsuo, and Fuyumi produced enough ice to neutralize the worst of Toya's explosion, but not entirely. Toya is reduced to a charred skeleton, while Endeavor's entire body is covered in horrific third-degree burns and it appears that enough of his flesh has been burned off that his ribcage is exposed. Somehow still alive, Toya curses his family while Endeavor crawls to his eldest son to embrace him, telling him to aim all of his cruel words at the man who deserves it, while listing his greatest offenses against each of his family members and begging for forgiveness in what may be the final moments for father and son.
  • Toya's charred, horrifically disintegrating corpse calls back to the aftermath of that day on Setoko Peak, only this time All for One wasn't there to take him away; now he has the whole family there to watch the light fade from his eyes. In a way, Toya's ultimate fate is more of a second chance at a missed opportunity, a fact echoed by Endeavor apologizing for not being there the second he opens his mouth.
• Chapter 392:
  • Toga's backstory is further explored in a flashback where it's revealed that she didn't actually kill that bird she found, but she just found it after it fell from a tree and started sucking its blood. Her parents, however, overreacted and sent her to Quirk Counseling in an attempt to reform her. But when she tried to help a friend by sucking the blood from his injury, her parents more or less called her a monster. Years of suppressing her urges would cause her to eventually snap and attack her classmate.
    • During the flashback, we see Toga in a park surrounded by people expressing love in different ways while she chews on her finger in irritation, showing that deep down, she just wanted to be loved and accepted for who she was.
    • One panel in the chapter has her looking to her parents with tears in her eyes while wondering why no one else sucks blood like her and if they fight the urge to be themselves. Some fans have noted how the panel looks eerily similar to young Toya begging his father Endeavor to not see him as a failure. It really drives home the similarities between the two and like Toya, Toga really wanted her parents' love and approval.
  • Toga ranting to Uraraka about how she got to live a comfortable life while Toga was despised and rejected by society as a whole for being different, culminating in her stabbing Uraraka in the stomach, displaying clear jealousy towards Uraraka for having a life she never got to have.
    Toga: You don't know the first thing about me! Because you never wanted for anything! Because you've always followed their rules!! BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN INTO A PERFECTLY LIVABLE LIFE!! We're just built different! You people go on and on about your blessed, happy lives, but I don't get to feel a lick of that! Your rules tell you to pity me, BUT DON'T YOU DARE!!
• Chapter 393:
  • Toga is truly at a Despair Event Horizon, convinced that Ochako will simply abandon her to face execution upon capture or simply kill her outright like Twice was, her affection for Ochako completely smothered by feelings of betrayal, anguish and rage and convinced that Ochako's attempts at outreach are simply unwanted pity or egoistic vanity. Ochako however, while fighting back, insists that she wants to understand why Toga feels into villainy and to correct the miscommunications between them that led to this. Ochako even admits she's envious of Toga's ability to express her emotions so openly and calls her smile beautiful because of that, likely the first such compliment Toga has ever received, causing Toga to remember all the times her parents called her smile monstrous.
  • Despite her rage, gradually becoming unable to deny Ochako's sincerity despite Toga's initial Redemption Rejection and the damage she's inflicted on Ochako herself, Toga begins to tear up at realizing that Ochako truly sees her as a human being worthy of compassion and understanding instead of a deviant monster to be put down, the tears creating a striking image by floating upwards due to Ochako's Zero Gravity.
  • To cap it off, Ochako then offers to donate her own blood to Toga for life if she'll stand down and have their talk. This dramatic dialogue is accompanied by a symbolic sequence of panels depicting a child Ochako noticing a despondent child Toga alone amidst a crowd of happy people, holding the bird from Toga's flashbacks in grief. The child Ochako then walks over to Toga and rolls back her sleeve to offer Toga her blood to stop her sadness.
  • As shown in the opening flashback of the chapter, Toga's motive was to live as authentic a life as she could, but she had internalized her parents' views that she was a monster and thought the only way she could express her love was through violence, blind to the possibility of someone offering their blood voluntarily. Even the League didn't let her escape this, since they enabled her violence that ensured she could never actually have her love reciprocated. It's tragic that so much heartbreak and carnage could've been avoided had Toga's caretakers not been so fixated on making her "normal" that none of them saw such a simple solution. Ironically, through Ochako's offer, Toga has the chance to be her true self for the first time.
• Chapter 394:
  • Toga breaking out in tears as she finally relents on her murderous intent and just talks to Uraraka. Toga gets to share her honest emotions with another person outside of the League who is willing to try to understand her feelings and not judge her. Again, it just shows if either Toga's parents or even Quirk Counseling had encouraged Toga to find healthier ways to express her love of blood that the tragedy of Toga's life could have easily been avoided.
    Toga: I... fall in love really easily. With animals, with villains, with heroes, with boys, with girls. After all, they've all got such amazing blood pumping through them! They'd tell me to stop grinning! And I'd get so jealous! Izuku reminds me of a boy I used to like. His name was Saito. But it's not like I could just ask him for his blood. Cuz, like then he'd call me a freak or something!! Then he'd think I was definitely not cute at all! Just like you and Izuku, they'd all scold and lecture me on the right way to be. That's why I joined the League of Villains. Cuz with them, I can live and love how I needed to.
  • One panel shows a young Uraraka confronting an utterly monstrous-looking Toga. The Tearjerker here is that this is how Toga sees herself. Years of being ostracized and shunned by her parents and by society for her blood lust has caused Toga to internalize those feelings of self-hatred, believing herself to be a monster unworthy of love and affection, further driving home just how much damage her parents did to her sense of self-worth.
  • At the end of the chapter Toga solemnly realizes that her time limit is up, and the Sad Man's Parade begins going away. While they were used with murderous intent and barely recognizable as the affable Twice, Toga's clones were the last remanent of Jin left and, now that her time is up, Jin has truly left the world for good.
• Chapter 395:
  • One of Toga's clones manages to get in one slice on Hawks before its time runs out. Even after being calmed down by Uraraka, she still can't let Jin's killer get off scot free. For his part, Hawks just takes the injury in stride, accepting Toga's anger towards him for killing their mutual friend and acknowledging Jin as a decent man who deserved better.
  • Himiko Toga's sacrifice. Realizing the sincerity in Uraraka's words, seeing how much damage her Sad Man's Death Parade had done, and feeling that her only choices are either life imprisonment or death at the hands of a hero, Toga decides to go out on her own terms in a final act of atonement by saving the life of the first person to show her genuine kindness since meeting Twice. So she uses her Quirk to transform into Uraraka and uses her support gear to give Uraraka a blood transfusion, the very act Twice used to save her life during the My Villain Academia arc, with full knowledge that this will likely cost her her life. That her final speech is a direct parallel to Twice's final speech during the Paranormal Liberation War arc makes the moment all the more powerful.
    Toga: I wanted to become other people so badly. So in fits of jealousy and affection, I drank all of their blood. Maybe... just maybe... if I'd known this feeling sooner, then despite how badly I wanted to drain their blood, I woulda yearned to give my blood away too. If I experienced that sort of love, I maybe woulda had an easier time living in this world. In any case, I am Himiko Toga. I live and love how I please. That's how I made my way in life. Just a normal girl! With the cutest smile in the world.
  • The fact that Toga can use her Quirk for blood transfusions adds another layer of tragedy to her character. If her parents had bothered to actually raise her and teach her to manage her bloodlust in a healthy way, she could've grown up to be a great Rescue Hero or at the least a great nurse. In another life, Toga could've been saving lives rather than taking them.
  • It's somewhat subtler, but Toga points out a fact that hasn't really been addressed: No matter what the heroes try to do to redeem the members of the League, no matter how horrible their lives were that drove them to this point, they have still committed unspeakable crimes that can't simply be handwaved away. Even if they survive, even if they're redeemed, they'll either spend the rest of their lives in a cell or face the death penalty.
• Chapter 402
  • Deku is made aware that All for One has All Might in his grasp. Shigaraki makes it clear if Deku goes to save his mentor, then he will go back to UA and kill everyone there as revenge for damaging his body. The narration reveals Deku is trying his hardest not to show any tears, in an attempt to follow one of All Might's wishes to him in the past, not to cry so much. To add to the tear-jerker, All Might's vestige within One for All bids him farewell and disappears. While Deku is putting his duty above his personal wishes, his heart is breaking at the thought of losing his mentor and father figure. Despite the duo's best efforts, Nighteye's prediction has seemingly come true.
• Chapter 407:
  • Yoichi always refused to give up on his older brother, desperately hoping there was any good in him at all. The narration, however, makes it all but clear: there most likely isn't. All For One not only viewed Yoichi as his possession, never as a person, but might very well have simply been born a sociopath. No matter how hard Yoichi wanted to believe he could redeem his brother, he never had a chance and that desire was doomed from the very start.
  • Alternatively, a more charitable interpretation of AFO's backstory is that he never had a chance to grow up good, as both brothers were born from a homeless prostitute who suffered Death by Childbirth, in a time where Quirks were thought of as diseases, and where nobody would be willing to help them. AFO's selfishness and Might Makes Right tendencies were regimented from a survival instinct to not starve, and no one was willing to care for him or teach him right from wrong. The brothers happened to be born under the worst possible times, where Apathetic Citizens were on full display.
  • AFO's last thoughts during this flashback make him pitiable and childishly pathetic - he doesn't understand why his selfish instincts drove his brother away, but he cannot stand the existential loneliness of losing him. This is why he wants One For All so much, not solely for its power, but because he wants his brother's spirit to keep him company.
• Chapter 409: Bakugo lands the final blow on All For One, leaving him a crying infant in a crater. While everyone else is watching on in a mix of amazement or victory, including Bakugo's parents, there's a frame of Yoichi...watching forlorn and solemn. Even after long since accepted his brother is Beyond Redemption and his legacy struggling for decades to defeat him, Yoichi feels no joy at seeing All For One meet his end.
• Chapter 410:
  • Safely within U.A.'s bunker Inko can only cry tears of worry as Izuku continues to fight Shigaraki.
  • One old couple sheds tears when they see their house and land destroyed, with the husband crying over how his family had maintained the land for generations. It shows that even when this war is over many people will have lost irreplaceable treasures as a byproduct of the fighting.
• Chapter 412: The ending of the chapter, in which Kudo tells Izuku that to stop Shigaraki, he must sacrifice One For All, with the implications that unless there's an unforeseen development, Deku's career as a hero will be over when all is said and done.
• Chapter 416: As Deku desperately fights against Shigaraki, the battle is broadcast across the world as we see several people's reactions:
  • Eri makes a break for the exit in a fruitless attempt to rush to the fight to help Deku like in the battle against Overhaul. Ectoplasm stops her and reasonably tells her there's no way to reach him in any short amount of time neither has saved up energy for her "Rewind" power. Kota, in tears, takes her hand and tells Eri he understands how she feels, as seeing how hard Deku fights wants the young boy to try to help even when there's nothing he can do.
  • One of the Anti-Hero protestors, the one who had asked if Deku really thought he could fix things and bring their world back, has a look of horror as he remembers how Deku promised he would, knowing how he was amongst those who wanted to turn the hero away out of cowardice for his safety.
  • Momo and Denki are making their way to medics as they and other heroes are being evacuated off the battlefield as they watch Deku's fight on a smartphone, with the former having a look of worry over her classmate "going dark again" due to Deku's new form using Black Whip. Denki meanwhile talks about how when All Might appears he inspires this sense of reassurance that everything will be alright, yet the young man can't muster up the safe feeling when seeing Deku fight. With tears in his eyes, Denki asks Momo if this means he doesn't trust his classmate and friend to win and save them.
  • Meanwhile Tsuyu watches as Ochaco is helicoptered out of the field, barely clinging to life while Hawks and Fumikage lay still in sheer exhaustion from their battle.
  • Once Deku finally overcomes Shigaraki's defenses and moves in for the next blow, Shigaraki panics and screams for him not to come any closer. For just a moment, the hateful Shigaraki was replaced with the terrified Tenko.
• Chapter 417: Nana covering her mouth in horror and tearing up after seeing the adult Kotaro beat Tenko after he found him with her picture, bitterly claiming she's not his grandmother, but “a monster who abandoned her child” before spiraling into a rant against heroes, claiming they're people so focused on “sav[ing] complete strangers” that they ignore everything else, “hurt[ing] their own families” in the process. All she can do after mustering up the will to restrain him is admit it's her fault that he fell so low and indirectly pushed Tenko into villainy.
  • Nana, after witnessing this, realizes the real reason why Kotaro kept her picture despite loathing the very thought of her - it served as a constant reminder of what she’d done, and how her perceived “abandonment” of him in favor of hero work hurt him so deeply that he couldn’t move on.
• Chapter 419:
  • The Reveal that All For One had been manipulating Shigaraki ever since he was an infant. Ingratiating himself with Shigaraki's family, he stole the infant Shigaraki's original Quirk Factor before it could fully develop and years later replaced it with the Decay Quirk, which was actually a modified copy of Chisaki's Overhaul Quirk. In other words, nearly every tragedy and hardship Shigaraki went through was all thanks to All For One's manipulations.
  • With One For All reduced to nothing more than the stockpiled power, All For One is forced to somberly accept that the last vestige of his brother Yoichi is gone forever. While it doesn't deter him from his goal of world domination, he does admit that it feels pointless and empty now that his life-long goal of obtaining One For All has failed. It really adds weight to his statement that without Yoichi, everything he did was for nothing.
  • Midoriya losing both of his arms thanks to Shigaraki's Decay, leaving him at the mercy of a revived All For One. While Aizawa, Ojiro, Sato, and Sero come to his rescue, it doesn't change the fact that unless his arms are restored somehow, his career as a hero may effectively be over.
• Chapter 420:
  • The fact that between the two of Shirakumo's former friends, Present Mic is the one on the Despair Event Horizon, willing to give in and accept that Shirakumo is gone for good and it takes Aizawa to talk him out of it. Usually one would expect it to be the other way around, but Mic is just that much broken up about the whole ordeal.
    Mic: Aizawa...as far as spoils of war go, we drew a darkened dud here. So go ahead and forget about that little miracle back in Tartarus! We're 31 now...not schoolboys in U.A.'s Class 2-A. Not anymore...
  • Eri, figuring she can't be taken to the battle herself takes a different approach, and it's gut-wrenching to see. She had Ectoplasm break off her own horn as a means of using it to potentially rewind any wounds Midoriya suffered, with Aizawa pointing out this may have damaged her Rewind Quirk for good. Bear in mind Eri is only seven years old at this point and basically mutilated herself for the sake of Midoriya.

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