My Hero Academia: 7 biggest fakeouts from Horikoshi so far

Koheo Horikoshi loves to surprise his readers in My Hero Academia. Every now and then, he will misdirect everyone with a sleight of hand and make it seem like he will go in a certain direction, only to go the other way instead. Suffice to say, Horikoshi wants to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

For better or worse, My Hero Academia has plenty of fakeout scenarios. This is what prevents the series from becoming too predictable. Of course, with the final arc underway, there is always a possibility that Horikoshi will add more twists and turns in his story.

Disclaimer: There will be major spoilers from the manga.

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My Hero Academia fans have dealt with a few red herrings

7) Bakugo becomes a villain

In the early days of My Hero Academia, it was clear that Bakugo seemed more villainous than heroic. He was overly antagonistic, could barely get along with his classmates, and was a fierce arch rival to Deku.

When he was kidnapped back in the Forest Training Camp, some readers were very worried that he would turn to the dark side. The League of Villains were desperately trying to recruit him.

In the end, Horikoshi didn't want to make Bakugo into another rival villain character. The Class- 1-A student remained firm in his resolve to become a hero, taking on the entire league in the process. Readers could only breathe a sigh of relief when that happened.

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6) AFO prepared for Deku's trick

Right before the final war took place, Deku managed to pull a fast one on AFO. The heroes set up a plan to gather all the villains in a single location. When they would arrive, the heroes would use the Warp Gate Quirk to send everybody to different locations, thereby choosing favorable match ups.

Some readers believed that AFO knew that would happen, so he would send clones in place of the real villain. It turns out that Horikoshi went for the simplest route as AFO really did show up with all his forces.

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5) Tamaki’s attack makes a difference

My Hero Academia Chapter 361 really hyped up Tamaki Amajiki and his powerful super move. The Manifest Quirk allowed him to convert everything he ate into a giant plasma cannon.

Several heroes were already struggling against Shigaraki. Even then, Tamaki's friends believed that he could do something really special. Mirio Togata and Nejire Hado considered his Quirk to have "unlimited potential," with some readers also hoping that he would deal some major damage.

In the end, none of that really mattered. My Hero Academia Chapter 362 revealed that Shigaraki was completely unaffected by Tamaki's attack. Understandably, some of his fans were unhappy with how that played out.

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4) Gran Torino seemingly meets his end

My Hero Academia fans were definitely expecting a lot of casualties in the Paranormal Liberation War and Gran Torino seemed like a very easy candidate. The aging mentor was nearing retirement in My Hero Academia and had already served his purpose in the story.

Shigaraki ripped a massive hole in Gran Torino's chest during the war. Many readers felt it would've been a tragic end for the character, but also a necessary one. Furthermore, it would've raised the stakes in the first war.

Of course, most readers jumped the gun on his potential death as Gran Torino ended up surviving, albeit forced into retirement.

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3) Twice survives Hawks

Twice was a high priority target in the Paranormal Liberation War. Hawks knew that if he got away, then he could potentially use his powers to duplicate villains. With that being said, they finally had their confrontation during the war itself.

At a certain point in the war, the perspective switches focus to Himiko Toga and Mr. Compress. A hero was just about to attack them when "Twice" made the save. The villains assumed that everything was perfectly fine.

Unfortunately for them, this wasn't the original "Twice." The real one had already died to Hawks. Instead, he used up the last of his strength to create a dying clone. It's among the cruelest fakeouts in My Hero Academia history.

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2) Hagakure is the traitor

Horikoshi knew what he was doing in the U.A. Traitor arc. My Hero Academia Chapter 335 makes it seem like Toru Hagakure was the suspect, as the issue ended with a panel shot of her lying in the shadows.

For context, AFO just gave a villainous monolog about having "friends" in the U.A. Many readers assumed that he was referring to Hagakure.

However, it only took a single chapter to disprove it altogether. My Hero Academia Chapter 336 reveals that Yuga Aoyama was the mole, and Hagakure was simply watching him from afar. Several comments have aged like milk since that particular chapter.

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1) Bakugo’s potential demise

During the first rounds of the final war, Shigaraki/AFO laid complete waste to Bakugo and ripped a hole in his chest. Unsurprisingly, My Hero Academia fans were devastated at the possibility of his death. To make matters worse, Bakugo's pulse has completely stopped by this point.

No matter how this plotline is resolved, there will be a fakeout for a particular audience. If Bakugo does survive, then his "death" was nothing more than a bluff. However, if he really did bite the dust here, then Horikoshi subverted expectations and called out everybody's bluff.

Readers still can't decide whether or not Bakugo is truly dead. It's going to be a long few weeks in the community, that much is certain.

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