My Hero Academia: Deku could still have One For All after all

My Hero Academia’s biggest twist came when Deku lost One For All during the Final War, but one fan theory says he hasn’t lost it after all.

Deku got One For All at the beginning of My Hero Academia. His idol, All Might, passed down the Quirk to him to give him a real chance at fulfilling his dream and becoming a hero. Since then, he’s worked day and night to master the powerful Quirk.

However, he had to give it up in the final fight against Shigaraki. It started when the villain managed to steal Danger Sense (and thus, the fourth user Shinomori) from Deku. This led to Kudo hatching a plan to forcibly transfer the other past users to Shigaraki to destroy him from within.

Thus, despite feeling horrible about giving up All Might’s gift, Deku transferred every other user’s Quirks to Shigaraki. This left him with only the embers of One For All, similar to what All Might had after passing the Quirk to Deku.

It was a depressing moment for both the character and readers. Though the young hero isn’t Quirkless at this point, he’ll be very soon when the embers finally burn out. After such a long journey, nobody wants him to return to being Quirkless again.

Kohei Horikoshi/Shueisha

But one My Hero Academia theory says Deku still has One For All, even if it’s not in its final form. According to the theory, the embers aren’t the end of the Quirk, but the beginning. By giving up the past users, it’s gone back to its primitive stage, the way Yoichi manifested it.

Meaning, the Quirk will get stronger with Deku. And one day if he passes it to someone, it’ll get more powerful. Maybe this could’ve happened to All Might’s embers, too. But unlike Deku, the former number-one hero was too injured to cultivate more power.

In fact, that’s the only reason why All Might had to retire. He could no longer withstand the power of One For All. But Deku is still young and in prime condition. So, he can cultivate the Quirk’s power with his immense will to save people, making it stronger for the next generation.

“The interesting thing is that Deku hasn’t said that his embers are getting weaker. When All Might had the embers he constantly said that his embers were getting weaker and that his time limit was decreasing,” commented one user on Reddit. “I feel like we might get an inverse where Deku’s embers are revealed to be getting stronger.”

“Cultivating strength, one for all, all over again,” joined another.

“Deku had a year’s worth of stockpile time, atop the multiple lifetimes OFA had already achieved. With his careful use, I believe Deku will be able to shepherd what he has left – even with the occasional big swing – for years to come,” added a third.

My Hero Academia has only two chapters left: Chapter 429 and Chapter 430. We’ll learn if Deku still has his Quirk in one of these two chapters.

Until then, find out why My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 12 is delayed and why fans are angry with Chapter 428’s cliffhanger. You can also check out our guides on the major character deaths.