My Hero Academiais an anime that focuses on the classic battle between good and evil. But what makes its story so unique is the inclusion of Quirks, a wide range of superhuman abilities that most people are born with. While the majority of the population possesses some type of Quirk, there is a small percentage of people who are born without one.
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Izuku Midoriya is among the minority born without a Quirk, but after a freak incident with the number one hero All Might, he’s bestowed a powerful Quirk calledOne For All. How is One For All different from other Quirks? We take a deep dive into the history of this mysterious Quirk, and its importance in My Hero Academia.
One For All’s Origin
The history of One For All begins with theoverarching villain of the anime, All For One. Many years before the events of My Hero Academia, shortly after Quirks first appeared and chaos was widespread, All For One used his Quirk to tear down the social constraints of the “normal world” and empower the strong.
He was able toforcibly steal other people’s Quirks and give them to someone else, which allowed him to recruit loyal servants. One of the few who resisted All For One’s corruption was his brother,Yoichi Shigaraki.
In an attempt to persuade his brother to join him on his conquest, All For One gave Yoichi what he thought was a useless stockpiling Quirk. However, not only did his brother not bend to his will,Yoichi already possessed a Quirk that was unknown to anyone.
Yoichi’s Quirk allowed him to transfer it to another person, but had no other abilities, making it undetectable and useless. All For One’s forced Quirk onto Yoichimerged with his dormant one and created One For All.
Stockpiling Power
One For All’s main function as a Quirk isstockpiling other abilities and enhancing them. Although Yoichi possessed One For All, he had a weak body that wasn’t able to utilize its power. But as One For All was transferred to a new user, the Quirk was able tocompound the previous wielder’s Quirk and strengthen the user’s innate ability.
Until Izuku Midoriya received One For All from All Might,each user was only able to use their innate Quirk, but now enhanced. At first, Midoriya would exhibitsuperstrength similar to All Might,but other Quirks began to manifest. These Quirks belonged to the previous users of One For All, as their consciousnesses and abilities were stored inside the Quirk.
Gearshift
Allows the user tomanipulate the velocity of any object touched by the Quirk user and enhance its speed.
Fa Jin
The user is capable ofbuilding up and storing kinetic energyby performing repetitive movements. The user can then release the energy to enhance their speed and power.
This Quirkdetects nearby threats.
Blackwhip
The user produceslong ropes of dark energythat can be used for grappling, trapping, and increasing mobility.
Smokescreen
The user generatesthick clouds of purple smokethat engulf the surrounding area.
The user canlevitate.
Users
Izuku Midoriya became theninth userof One For All after receiving the Quirk from All Might. Each of the previous users strengthened the Quirk and tried to defeat All For One but failed. OnlyHikage Shinomori, the fourth user,chose not to face All For One and focused solely on improving One For All for the next generation.
Yoichi Shigaraki
One For All originated in Yoichi Shigaraki, the brother of All For One. When All For One forcibly gave Yoichi a stockpiling Quirk, it merged with Yoichi’s unknown dormant transfer Quirk and created One For All. Yoichi’sstrong sense of justice and refusal to succumb to All For Onestrengthens the core of One For All.
Second User
The identity of the second user is unknown but he was theleader of a resistance groupagainst All For One. He found Yoichi locked in a cell but instead of killing him, he showed him sympathy.
Third User
The identity of the third user is unknown but he waspart of the resistance groupwith the second user. Both the second and third users were killed by All For One.
Hikage Shinomori
Hikage Shinomori is theonly user to not fight All For One. Instead, Hikage secluded himself andfocused on enhancing One For Allfor his eventual successor. Before All Might,Hikage possessed One For All for 18 years, the longest of all the users. His cause of death was old age, but it’s later discovered that One For All willrapidly reduce the user’s lifespanif they already had a Quirk before receiving it.
Daigoro Banjo
Daigoro Banjo went by the Pro Hero nameLariat. Although One For All significantly enhanced his strength and power of Blackwhip, Daigoro was killed by All For One.
En
En received One For All from Daigoro Banjo during a battle, while Daigoro wastrapped under rocks. His Smokescreen Quirk isn’t an offensive-focused ability, but extremely useful to retreat. En also perished at the hands of All For One.
Nana Shimura
Nana Shimura is thegrandmother of Tomura Shigaraki, whose real name is Tenko Shimura. Nana left Tenko and her family to fight against All For One; she wanted her identity to remain hidden to protect her family. Nana was All Might’s mentor and fought alongside Gran Torino.
Toshinori Yagi
Better known as All Might, Toshinori Yagi became the greatest Pro Hero in history after receiving One For All from Nana Shimura. Toshinori used One For All for 40 years and was the only user to successfully defeat All For One in battle, butsuffered major injuries that drastically reduced his ability to maintain One For All.
Izuku Midoriya
Izuku Midoriya and Toshinori Yagi are theonly two users of One For All that were originally Quirkless. Izuku is also the only user to use the full range of Quirks by the predecessors.
After discovering his brother possessed this mutated Quirk, All For One searched for One For All and tried to steal it. All For One failed at stealing the Quirk, butstill managed to kill every userbesides Hikage and Toshinori Yagi (All Might). Naturally, Hikage and Toshinori were the two longest users of One For All, with Hikage having the Quirk for 18 years and Toshinori for 40 years.
While researching One For All’s predecessors, Toshinori discovered that Hikage died of “old age” but he was still middle-aged. He speculated that possessing One For All in addition to the Quirk you’re born with willsignificantly reduce the user’s lifespan. Toshinori, and Midoriya now,won’t have their lifespans affected by One For All,because they were Quirkless when they received it.
