Fans are not very happy about Chapter 418.
Manga spoilers ahead!
Summary:
- Recent plot twist in My Hero Academia makes fans think All For One’s plan is ridiculous.
- He apparently gave Tomura the Decay Quirk.
- That ruins Tomura’s entire character.
All For One used to be the main antagonist of My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia). In fact, he was so important to the whole story that even after his death, many consider him the main villain — despite Tomura Shigaraki currently being one.
And yes, All For One’s impact on the story can’t be understated. He has been behind many events of the series, all for the sake of his grandiose plan. The only problem is: neither his plan, nor his involvement with it, makes any sense at all.
His Goal Is Simple
All For One’s goal is painfully simple: initially, he wanted to rule Japan, but eventually, his ambitions extended to ruling the entire world. However, he prefers to manipulate others from the shadows, without intervening himself.
As such, many events in the manga and anime have been orchestrated by him in his endless goal for power. Horikoshi went out of his way to show how much of a genius planner All For One was, but the result is ridiculously unbelievable.
AFO Gave Tomura Decay
Chapter 418 of the manga revealed that Tomura’s Decay wasn’t even his original Quirk, and the previously known information about him wasn’t even true. Tomura’s real memories were repressed as a result of severe trauma.
In reality, All For One gave Tomura the Decay Quirk, which resulted in him killing his father. While this plot twist has been speculated about for years, now we finally have confirmation of it — but fans aren’t happy at all.
Essentially, All For One seemingly knew that Tenko Shimura would be born, then planned to give him the Decay Quirk and was very convinced he would pick up as his successor as Tomura.
This level of planning borders on precognition, and it’s impossible to believe AFO is just that smart — but that’s not even the issue here.
This Ruins Tomura’s Character
The biggest problem with this plot twist is that it undermines Tomura’s entire character. He isn’t a traumatized kid with a dangerous Quirk who is a victim of unfortunate circumstances. He was planned to be turned into AFO’s successor from the very beginning, and this makes his character reliant on AFO even more than before.
It feels like everything he has ever done was because of his mentor’s intervention, and he had no agenda of his own whatsoever — making him even more pathetic of an antagonist (especially considering he’s the main villain of the series).