Is Yuga Aoyama a villain in My Hero Academia? Explained

Modified Oct 22, 2024 14:30 GMT

My Hero Academia and the answer to the question "Is Yuga Aoyama a villain?" (Image via Bones).

My Hero Academia can oftentimes present the question "Is Yuga Aoyama a villain?" because of how he was introduced in the story and the plot twists that the manga later revealed. This has generated a lot of debates in the fandom about his role in the story, but there is no denying that he committed some evil deeds in the story.

Moreover, Yuga Aoyama might be one of the few My Hero Academia characters who has a full-blown redemption arc. He started as a secret agent of All For One to gain his freedom and eventually went on to make his own decision to become a hero. Therefore, it can be argued that Aoyama has a very transitional role throughout the manga and can be a hero or a villain depending on the context of the story in that moment.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Yuga's role in My Hero Academia

Aoyama as seen in the anime (Image via Bones).

Yuga Aoyama started as a villain in My Hero Academia since he worked as a secret agent for All For One and later became a hero when betraying the latter. He didn't do this of his own free will but because the evil overlord blackmailed him and threatened to kill his parents.

The reason a lot of people have the question "Is Yuga Aoyama a villain?" is because it is revealed before the final arc that he was the UA spy, which retcons his actions throughout the series. His friendship with Izuku Midoriya and how he helped the latter deal with the physical demands of his Quirk only emphasize this point.

Yuga's traitorous ways

Aoyama crying as he is discovered as the UA traitor (Image via Bones).

As mentioned earlier, Yuga Aoyama was born Quirkless and wanted to have powers to become a hero, which is why his parents went to All For One. The villain did that and also blackmailed them by using Aoyama as a spy on UA and gathering information from them.

For a long time in the series, author Kohei Horikoshi established this plot point earlier in the story and there wasn't a lot of information on the matter for several arcs. However, it was revealed before the final arc that it was Aoyama, which leads to the character's redemption in My Hero Academia.

Yuga's redemption

Deku was key for Aoyama's development and redemption (Image via Bones).

It is also worth pointing out that the protagonist, Deku, was a key player in Aoyama's redemption, as he was the only one who gave the latter a chance. Most people at UA were willing to give up on him and the main character was the only one who knew Yuga was doing this against his will, which is something that allows him to change.

Aoyama also decided to set a meeting with All For One so the heroes could catch the latter off guard. Moreover, he is involved in a couple of fights across the story in the final arc and also abandons UA in the epilogue as a way to pay for his sins, although he is seen with his former classmates during the eight-year time skip.

Final thoughts

The easiest answer to the question "Is Yuga Aoyama a villain?" is that he started as one in My Hero Academia, mostly a passive one since he worked as All For One's spy. However, he eventually betrays the villain and becomes a hero by his own volition.

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Edited by Madhur Dave