My Hero Academia chapter 412 highlights the greatest flaw in Deku's heroism

Following the conclusion of the recent Shueisha and Weekly Shonen Jump holiday publisher, fans saw the spoiler process for My Hero Academia chapter 412 begin earlier this week. Likewise, fans got an early and exciting look at the alleged events of the issue, which appears to be an exciting and intriguing one (especially given its apparent conclusion).

While nothing regarding My Hero Academia chapter 412 is considered canon until present in a Shueisha-certified release, the series’ spoiler process is historically very accurate. Resultantly, fans are discussing the upcoming installment in author and illustrator Kohei Horikoshi’s original manga series as if it had already been officially released.

However, one aspect of My Hero Academia chapter 412 which fans are specifically focusing on (and for good reason) is the appearance of a roadblock in Izuku “Deku” Midoriya’s ideals. In fact, this roadblock highlights the greatest flaw of his personal brand of heroism due to the fact that not everyone can be, let alone wants to be saved.

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My Hero Academia chapter 412 forces Deku to reconcile being the greatest hero with not saving everyone

Why it’s the greatest flaw in Deku’s heroism, explained

Throughout the series up until My Hero Academia chapter 412, Deku had generally been able to find some sort of redeeming factor in his major enemies or provide inspiration for them to change. This rings particularly true for Lady Nagant, Gentle Criminal, and La Brava, all three of whom are initially introduced as villains but become heroes in their own right in the series’ final arc.

The success of all three of these cases implicitly suggested, to both fans and Deku, that the protagonist’s unique approach to heroism actually can prove to be achievable. The Paranormal Liberation War arc also seemingly further confirmed this, with Deku seeing a crying Tenko Shimura inside the hateful soul that was Tomura Shigaraki.

However, flash forward to My Hero Academia chapter 412, and Shigaraki continues to reaffirm to Deku that he not only doesn’t want to be saved, but has nothing to save inside of him. Deku seemingly confirms this by peering into his soul, instead finding a symbol of Japan’s destruction rather than the crying child he saw previously.

With this, Deku is presented with the reality that his brand of heroism is flawed when it comes to people like Shigaraki, who can’t or don’t want to be saved or redeemed. Likewise, Deku is also forced to change how he fights these individuals, which is evident by Nana Shimura’s pleading to kill Shigaraki in one swift blow.

Unsurprisingly, My Hero Academia chapter 412 sees Deku pushback on this, forcing Kudo and the other One For All Vestiges to come up with their own plan (which they seemingly do). Regardless, Deku’s attitudes and philosophies are still forced to change, even if he adjusts by handing over the reigns to the Vestiges within him.

It’s also worth mentioning that, while the issue does allegedly see Kudo come to terms with Deku’s ideals and their origins, he nevertheless seems intent on taking matters into his own hands. This likely serves as further reinforcement that, despite Deku’s indomitable will, he’ll have to change his philosophy in one way or another in order to defeat Shigaraki.

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