All for One's obsession with Yoichi is the My Hero Academia villain's biggest issue as a character

Modified Mar 25, 2025 11:30 GMT

My Hero Academia and the relationship between Yoichi and All For One (Image via Bones).

My Hero Academia is a series that establishes the nature of bonds and what it means to drive people forward, with the main villain, All For One, having a twisted version of that with his brother and the first One For All user, Yoichi. It was explained in the series that he was searching for One For All to get his brother's vestige and be together again, although that presents some inconsistencies regarding his character.

Considering that Izuku "Deku" Midoriya sacrificed One For All as he transferred by force to Tomura Shigaraki in the final My Hero Academia arc, Yoichi's vestige, along with the other past users, slowly began to pass away. In that regard, in case All For One had gotten his way, his brother being his main focus doesn't seem to fit with his actions and behavior throughout the story.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author.

Explaining the inconsistencies of All For One's character regarding Yoichi in My Hero Academia

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

The author of the series, Kohei Horikoshi, revealed in the final arc that All For One wanted to rule the world and obtain One For All so he could get his brother Yoichi once again through his vestige. He viewed him as his property, but this doesn't fit with the rest of his characterization, which generates many questions.

In case All For One had won against Izuku "Deku" Midoriya and the rest of the heroes, and got Tomura Shigaraki's body, which had One For All but with the dying vestiges, this characterization implies that the villain would have lost motivation without Yoichi. But considering he still had to deal with the threats from the rest of the world and new possible challenges, he would still have a lot of motivation.

Furthermore, this was established during his characterization throughout the story, to the point that he was imprisoned at Tartarus for a good portion of the series and was enjoying himself just thinking of the ensuing chaos. He even got pleasure from mentally torturing All Might when the latter visited him, so the idea that he wouldn't be able to carry on without Yoichi doesn't make a lot of sense.

The theories behind this new fact

Young All For One as seen in the anime (Image via Bones).

There is the possibility that Horikoshi decided to give All For One another layer to his characterization since he wanted to emphasize the value of bonds in My Hero Academia. This is also shown when he fought Katsuki Bakugo as he mentioned that the latter reminded him of the second One For All user, Kudo, and how much he hated him, which is another fact of his character that wasn't known prior to this arc.

Therefore, it makes sense since the villain, before this arc, was depicted as purely evil and simply taking joy from hurting others and ruling the world, which is consistent until the end. However, this addition also adds an inability to connect with others and view people as mere objects to possess, thus serving as a great contrast to Deku, All Might, and the rest of the cast.

Final thoughts

There is no denying that the Yoichi twist was a divisive decision regarding All For One's character in My Hero Academia but it is clear that he had more going in his motivations beyond his brother. That is a factor that perhaps could have been explained a lot better, as seen in the manga.

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Edited by Bharath S