All for One’s Backstory and Origin in My Hero Academia Explained

Few anime characters are as hated as All for One. He is the overarching antagonist of My Hero Academia. Unlike other antagonists who had a reason or motive behind becoming evil, Kohei Horikoshi made All for One evil from birth. All for One has been alive for well over a century. During that time, he has committed acts of pure evil. Everything he has done is malevolent. While ruling the world is his motivation, he madly desires to acquire the One for All Quirk that originally belonged to his twin brother.

All for One’s Origin Paints His Evil Nature

All for One was born to an unknown mother, who died during childbirth, due to the former stealing her quirk and draining her life force in the process. Soon after giving birth to his twin, the woman died, leaving behind her two sons. The antagonist’s real name is Zen Shigaraki, and he named his younger brother, Yoichi Shigaraki. Having been born during the chaotic time when quirks were emerging, the villain used his Quirk-stealing ability to cause uproar through Japan.

He killed people and stole their quirks, took quirks from people who did not want them, and gave them to people who wanted strength in exchange for lifelong loyalty. As a child, he read about a “Demon Lord,” and due to his actions, soon started to imagine himself as one. Within a few years, All for One brought Japan under his control. Thus begins the malevolent and sadistic rule of the villain, who has it all.

All for One’s Family

All for One holds no empathy or sympathy for others. However, he still cared for his brother Yoichi Shigaraki. He was his only family after their mother died during childbirth. Even though Yoichi would oppose him, Zen Shigaraki never really harmed him. Thinking he was quirkless, he forcefully gave Yoichi a quirk-stockpiling ability. It was his twisted form of love and a way to stop his brother from opposing him. Zen even imprisoned him when he got fed up with his frail and weak brother.

All for One also became the mentor and adoptive father of Tomura Shigaraki. He gave him his family name and nurtured him to become evil, cruel, hateful, and chaotic just like him. He applauded Tomura’s success and criticized his failure to cause problems. While Tomura saw him as a guardian, All for One took him under his wings to nurture him as his vessel. Since Zen was getting older and his body was left in scars by All Might, he wanted to transfer his consciousness into a younger body.

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Also Read: All Might’s Armored Suit Explained and the Quirks That Power It in MHA

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All for One Has An Ability For Every Need

All for One has a horde of abilities, apart from his original quirk of stealing and giving quirks to others. His list of non-combat abilities includes warping, search, luminescence, infrared, fierce wings, radio waves, life force, etc. Likewise, he is also well equipped in the combat section with black lightning, hardening, decay, body bulk, razor blade, etc.

He has a quirk for almost every regard, and thanks to it, he has offense for every defense, and defense for every offense. However, his most potent quirks are Ultimate Quirk Combination and Omni-Factor Unleash. In the first instance, he enhances his right hand with all of his major and powerful abilities and uses it to crush his enemies once and for all. The second quirk causes him to summon all of his powerful quirks at once into his most potent attack.

All For One’s Enemies

All the Pro-Heroes are All for One’s enemies, since they want to end his terror once and for all. However, when it comes to deciding All for One’s greatest opposition, the One for All comes first. He passed it on to his younger brother, a stockpiling quirk. Unknown to him, Yoichi Shigaraki already had a quirk with no power that could be transferred to another person. The two quirks combined and came to be known as the One for All. As the One for All was passed from person to person, the quirk stockpiled the quirks of every user and finally came to Izuku Midoriya. All the people who possessed the One for All are All for One’s greatest nemesis. The people who possessed the One for All are as follows:

• Yoichi Shigaraki
• Toshitsugu Kudo
• Bruce Lee
• Hikage Shinomori
• Daigoro Banjo (Lariat)
• En Tayutai (Smoke-Eater)
• Nana Shimura
• Toshinori Yagi (All Might)
• Izuku Midoriya (Deku)

All for One killed the first seven users of One for All, but suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the eighth user, All Might. Unfortunately, it did not stop him from continuing his villainous activities to kill All Might and Izuku Midoriya.

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My Hero Academia Final Season is available to watch on Netflix.