AFO defied a key Quirk weakness in My Hero Academia

Modified Jan 17, 2025 15:30 GMT

OFA defied a key Quirk weakness in My Hero Academia (Image via Bones)

Quirks in My Hero Academia are one of the most unique powerscalings in anime. However, with great powers comes an equal weakness that prevents a user from overusing his abilities. The prime example of this is Uraraka developing nausea and Kaminari losing his senses after using their quirks. However, one person was devoid of these weaknesses: All for One.

All for One's quirk allowed him to steal infinite quirks, and he never showcased a weakness that the heroes could use to overpower him. He died after using Eri's quirk, which wasn't the quirk's weakness. However, the sole reason why he never had a weakness might be because he backed each weakness with the effects of another quirk, becoming a perfect being for holding multiple quirks.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the manga series and has the author's opinion.

My Hero Academia: Why All for One never had a weakness?

All for One as seen in the anime (Image via Bones)

All for One was the central and final antagonist of My Hero Academia. Also known as the Demon Lord, the antagonist was born a hundred years ago when the first quirk appeared on Earth. However, he was also born with a thirst for power and his quirk (the same name as the one the series called him).

So, since birth, he has started his journey to steal others' quirks. However, he could never achieve the quirk of his brother, One for All of Yoichi. This led to them fighting for decades as the previous user of One for All would always pass the quirk to another person, thus continuing the cycle.

Despite him never achieving One for All, All for One was a powerhouse and arguably the person's medium for quirks. The All for One quirk granted its user the ability to render others useless after stealing their powers. So, the antagonists had tens, if not hundreds, of quirks at his disposal, which he stole from others in his hundred-year journey to obtain One for All.

However, one interesting thing about his quirk was that it didn't have a weakness. For instance, Uraraka's zero gravity quirk allowed her to negate gravity and make everything, including herself, weightless. However, overusing the quirk made her nauseous. Just like this, All for One never showcased a weakness as he kept stealing quirks without holding back.

Ironically, the reason behind it was very simple and also due to a special quirk. All for One countered every weakness a quirk brought him with the powers of another quirk. For instance, in the past, Professor Garaki gave the Life Force quirk to All for One, which doubled the antagonist's life span. However, the quirk came with the drawback of weakening its user's physical abilities.

So, All for One countered this weakness with quirks that gave him physical abilities, like Brawn Boost (physical power boost). So, the antagonist was devoid of any weakness, not because he didn't have any, but because he countered every one of them with another quirk.

Final thoughts

All for One as seen in the manga (Image via Kohei Horikoshi/Shueisha)

This feat of My Hero Academia's antagonist might be one of the most underrated. All for One was undoubtedly a menace, whether as an antagonist or a quirk user. However, his thirst for power soon became the reason for his demise, as the Life Force quirk didn't give him eternal life. So, he chose Eri's quirk and became so young that he was banished from existence.

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Edited by Toshali Kritika