My Hero Academia may end with Deku having One For All, the AFO fight's setup shows how

In his attempts to save Tenko Shimura in the My Hero Academia manga, Deku had to sacrifice One For All and the rest of his Quirks, seemingly reverting to the same Quirkless state he was in at the beginning of the series.

Now that all of Deku's Quirks are in the hands of TomurAFO (Tomura Shigaraki's body with All For One's mind), fans are beginning to realize that their worst fears of the protagonist permanently losing his Quirks may have come true after all.

That said, a recent fan theory on social media suggested that this might not be the case, as Deku losing his Quirks may only be temporary and that the series will likely end with him getting One For All back from the Demon Lord.

My Hero Academia: Fan theory proves that Deku will get his Quirks back from All For One

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According to @TheGameAllStar on X, readers of the My Hero Academia manga have been led to believe that Deku may lose his One For All Quirk for good by the end of the series. However, it may all be a simple misdirection, as Deku losing his Quirks is probably temporary.

As per the user, Horikoshi had Deku temporarily lose his Quirks, in order to level the playing field for the rest of the characters. Given the overwhelming power of One For All, it's entirely possible that none of the other characters would have been able to help or even keep up with Deku and All For One, if the former still had his Quirks. As such, their arrival on the battlefield would have meant nothing, since Deku would have been the only one who could rival All For One's power.

By having Deku momentarily lose his Quirks, Horikoshi gave the other heroes a chance to shine for some time, until Deku eventually regains his Quirks and delivers the final blow to All For One.

Deku as seen in the My Hero Academia anime (image via Bones)

The user further continued that One For All and the rest of Deku's Quirks most likely still exist. The first instance of this was shown at the end of My Hero Academia chapter 419, when the Danger Sense Quirk had activated not once but twice. However, it went unnoticed by both Deku and All For One.

Another important thing to remember is that it has been seen time and time again that a vestige never truly disappears. This claim is backed by All For One and Star and Stripe, since both of them made their respective appearances even after they were thought to have ceased to exist.

Furthermore, it was stated by Deku himself that he needed the Gearshift Quirk to keep up with Tomura Shigaraki's speed. As such, if TomurAFO now starts swiping Quirks off of Deku's friends, it would only make matters worse. If this does end up happening in the upcoming chapters, having All For One ultimately defeated by Deku, who still has embers of One For All inside him, would narratively make little sense.

Tenko Shimura as seen in the My Hero Academia anime (image via Bones)

Lastly, Tenko Shimura is still alive inside TomurAFO, since All For One noticed a fragment of his consciousness still inside him. After taking all these points into consideration, the user came up with a definitive conclusion for their theory.

According to @TheGameAllStar, the heroes will likely manage to eventually overwhelm TomurAFO towards the end of the final battle. As the fight goes on, Tenko's emotions will likely come back into play as he starts to find a renewed purpose for his existence.

Once Tenko eventually reaches a breaking point, it will be at that moment that he might momentarily take back control of his body from All For One. During this time, he could return One For All and the rest of its Quirks back to Deku.

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However, the only difference this time would be that Deku would have emptied some of the stockpile of his power inside One For All, to the point where using 100% of its power would not damage Deku's body anymore.

As such, Deku would not only get One For All and the rest of his Quirks back, but it might also come with Tenko escaping from his body as the 10th wielder of One For All, thereby completing the protagonist's desire to save him. Following this, Deku, with the combined power of One For All and his friends, would manage to put a decisive end to All For One, ending his reign of terror for good this time.

The user thereby concluded their theory by reaffirming their belief of Deku getting his Quirks back in the upcoming chapters of the My Hero Academia manga, since his being Quirkless once again would be a fate too cruel for a Hero like him.