My Hero Academia proved All Might was the strongest hero, but fans aren’t convinced

My Hero Academia has firmly established All Might as the greatest superhero ever, but some fans have their doubts, despite some convincing evidence from the manga.

In My Hero Academia, All Might serves as a pretty well-rounded Superman analog. He’s kind, courageous, and has just about every useful power imaginable. Super strength? Yep. Super speed? Absolutely. Stamina? More than you could ever believe. He’s so strong that although he can’t technically fly, he can leap such that he might as well have wings.

At the start of the anime show, All Might has the One for All quirk, a transferable power that boosts all skills. While holding it, he became known as the greatest hero in the world, and for good reason. There are a couple of particular instances in the manga that demonstrate this, and one recently caused some intense discussion.

My Hero Academia fans are torn on All Might’s overall ranking

In My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, a spin-off prequel manga about a group of heroes who use their quirks for good despite not being registered heroes, features a particularly incredible feat from All Might. In one quick swoop, after working for three days straight, he stops criminals in Osaka in a literal blink of an eye.

A Reddit thread notes that Deku, the franchise protagonist, has never been that efficient. All Might in his prime managed to get a 0% crime rate in Japan, through his own diligence, creating some pretty lofty standards for anyone following in his footsteps.

But fans don’t think it’s that cut and dry. Shigaraki, one of the main antagonists and holder of the All For One quirk (the evil version of All Might’s), is believed to have been stronger. Characters within the universe have stated as much, and although we’ve not had a direct context between the two at their best, the data points towards Shigaraki.

“People seem to forget that Shigaraki became complete and reached 100%,” reads one comment on Reddit. “AFO directly states, during the Star and Stripe fight, that Shigaraki has vastly surpassed what he and the doctor thought was possible due to his sheer hatred. He’s more perfect then either of them expected.”

Other commenters are emphatic that Shigaraki is at All Might’s level, and Deku as well. Both are obscenely strong, moving at incredible speeds and able to knock heroes and villains below them hundreds of miles away. Of course, it’s all on a sliding scale of what serves the story, and All Might as an unobtainable target makes for a great aspiration whether you’re good or evil.

Ultimately, creator Kōhei Horikoshi won’t be bothered about any of this, instead focusing on making a stronger narrative at any given time. When it makes sense for someone to truly outdo All Might at his peak, it’ll happen. Until then, we can just debate it until new episodes and the next movie arrive!