My Hero Academia: One For All’s Only Weakness Makes Perfect Sense

The My Hero Academia anime reveals the only weakness of Deku’s Quirk, One For All, and it makes perfect sense for the story’s future developments.

Warning: SPOILERS for My Hero Academia Season 6 episode #131.The My Hero Academia anime reveals the only weakness of One For All, the powerful Quirk of the protagonist, Izuku Midoriya (Deku), and it makes perfect sense. One For All was born with the intent of stopping the villain All For One and his power to steal any Quirks, which is why it can’t be taken from its user forcibly, with one, significant exception.

In episode #131 of My Hero Academia, an unconscious Deku meets the vestiges of the previous users of One For All in the ethereal realm of his mindscape. Their conversation unveils many mysteries about Midoriya’s power and its relation with All For One. Most importantly, the vestiges reveal that the villain has engineered a way to finally steal One For All, and it all hinges around his protégé, Tomura Shigaraki. All For One believes that only an emotion stronger than the collective will of One For All can allow him to steal the Quirk, which is why he fostered Shigaraki to feel the greatest hatred possible against the world. After taking over Shigaraki’s body, then, All For One should finally be able to get what he wants.

Related: Even My Hero Academia Fans Missed Shigaraki’s True Dangerous Power

One For All’s Weakness Is The Reason Why All For One Groomed Tomura

The Quirk known as One For All is actually the result of the merging of two different abilities. When All For One forcibly gave his brother Yoichi an unnamed Quirk with the ability to stockpile power, this merged with Yoichi’s own, yet-unrevealed Quirk, whose only ability was to be transferred to others. This gave birth to the legacy of One For All, passed on to many “successors” through the years, with the intent of one day ending the threat of All For One. The villain, for its part, has been trying to steal One For All, but with no success, as the nature of the Quirk allows it only to be transferred willingly. All For One, however, found a way around this limitation: making Shigaraki’s hatred so strong that it can overcome the willpower of the nine One For All users.

This unexpected weakness of One For All actually makes perfect sense. The origin of this Quirk is, according to One For All’s first user, Yoichi: “A strong will that refuses to yield to All For One“, so it’s only natural that the villain himself would not be able to steal it. However, if willpower is the reason for One For All’s power then it makes sense that a stronger willpower could overcome it. Being a villain, All For One naturally believes that negative emotions are more powerful than positive ones. This is why he endeavored to create a vessel like Shigaraki, so twisted and broken that his hatred extends against every aspect of the “hero society” that has hurt him.

My Hero Academia’s Final Battle Will Be More Than Physical

This duality between One For All and All For One is part of what makes My Hero Academia so compelling. This battle is not just about who is stronger or has the greatest power, it’s about feelings and willpower. Ultimately, One For All‘s weakness means that this clash will be decided by which is stronger between hatred and hope, but fans will have to wait until My Hero Academia‘s finale to find out.

More: My Hero Academia: Dabi’s Powers And Appearance Explained

Season 6 of My Hero Academia is streaming on Crunchyroll.