My Hero Academia Chapter 421 confirms Deku is now Quirkless

Spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 421 have emerged online, and they confirm that Deku is now Quirkless in the manga.

My Hero Academia has been going through its Final War Arc for quite a while now. But it’s becoming clearer with every new chapter that the arc is at its last phase, with the arcs of major characters like Bakugo, Shoto, and Ochako finally resolved. The only thing left is Deku’s climactic battle against Shigaraki.

However, the manga took a right turn with the shocking reveal of All For One’s return. The villain has taken over Shigaraki’s body — but what’s more shocking is the condition the protagonist is currently in.

After losing both of his arms to Shigaraki’s Decay in the imaginary world, Deku was in a gruesome condition. Though Eri’s Rewin healed Deku, he’s transferred every vestige of the previous users of One For All to Shigaraki. 

This was all in accordance with the plan Kudo made. By transferring the previous users of OFA to Shigaraki, Deku made the villain susceptible to the damage their Quirks cause. However, this also left Deku in a troublesome predicament.

After much speculation after Deku’s status, the aspiring hero confirms in My Hero Academia Chapter 421 that he no longer has a Quirk. He’s transferred all of OFA and the Quirks of every previous user to Shigaraki. That means all of those now belong to AFO.

Deku also reveals in the new chapter that all he’s left with are the embers of OFA. His condition is similar to that of All Might when he fought AFO in Kamino. 

Though Deku being Quirkless paints a pretty bleak picture for the heroes, the confirmation of having the remnants of OFA is promising. That means, like All Might, Deku can fight AFO on the same level and can even potentially do major harm. 

However, given that AFO now has access to very powerful Quirks like Gearshift, Fa Jin, and Blackwhip. He also gets a major advantage from Danger Sense, on top of the various Quirks he already possesses.

Deku being Quirkless once again is ironic of My Hero Academia. The aspiring No. 1 Hero started his journey as Quirkless and before the biggest fight of his life, he loses his Quirks once again. Though the future now looks bleak, it should be remembered that the manga promotes hopes and dreams. So, things could turn around for Deku in the future.

On the anime front, My Hero Academia Season 7 is all set to debut in Spring 2024. The series also has an upcoming anime movie coming, titled My Hero Academia: You’re Next.