My Hero Academia could still end with Deku having a Quirk, and chapter 424 teases how

Modified Jun 04, 2024 09:30 GMT

Izuku Midoriya as seen in My Hero Academia (image via Shueisha)

My Hero Academia chapter 424 officially marked the end of the Final War arc of the series that has been running for almost a hundred chapters. It not only saw All For One and Tomura Shigaraki's stories come to an end, but it also featured the death of the One For All Quirk.

There's no doubt that Deku was devastated to let go of the Quirk that was passed on to him by All Might. To him, One For All was the gift he had received from his childhood hero. As such, willingly sacrificing it not only left Deku almost powerless, but also with an overwhelming sense of loss.

However, there's a possibility that the Quirk may not be completely gone from Deku's body, as My Hero Academia chapter 424 subtly hinted at One For All still being alive inside Deku.

My Hero Academia chapter 424 hints at Deku still possessing a Quirk

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During his battle against Tomura Shigaraki, Deku willingly gave up his One For All Quirk to the latter, so that the vestiges could attack his body from the inside. In doing so, Deku was successful in putting an end to Shigaraki's rampage and extinguishing all of the hatred inside his heart. That said, Deku pulled it all off at the cost of his Quirk, as he was left almost powerless following the transfer.

After defeating All For One with the embers of One For All that were still inside him, Deku supposedly lost the last remaining bit of his Quirk. It was later confirmed in My Hero Academia chapter 424, that although Deku could still feel some embers of the Quirk inside him, he will likely lose them eventually and become completely Quirkless like All Might.

That said, Deku claimed that he doesn't mind being Quirkless anymore, since he was born without a Quirk to begin with and gave away One For All on his own volition. In fact, he said that he was rather happy since he was able to live his dream of becoming the world's greatest hero.

Deku along with the previous users of One For All (image via Bones)

Many took Deku's words in My Hero Academia chapter 424 as a direct confirmation of One For All's death, especially since the Quirk no longer has any reason to exist after All For One's defeat. However, given that Deku was once again seen to be returning to his high school life at the end of chapter 424, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that he might still possess a Quirk by the end of the series.

Since he said that he can still feel the embers of One For All inside him, it can be assumed that he still possesses a part of the Quirk, possibly to a larger degree than All Might did after the Kamino Incident. This is because at the time, All Might didn't describe his condition following his battle against All For One the same way as Deku did.

Although it seems likely that One For All is actually dead, it's also possible that the embers inside Deku may be the remnants of the Quirk left within the larger, encompassing All For One Quirk that Shigaraki may have transferred to him before dying. On the other hand, it could also be a new Quirk created by uniting One For All and the All For One Quirks, which would also require Shigaraki transferring it to Deku when they worked together to stop All For One.

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This would certainly give a whole new meaning to Yoichi Shigaraki's words in My Hero Academia chapter 423, where he said that Deku wanted to complete the One For All Quirk in the right way. This new Quirk created as a result of the union of One For All and All For One may not completely manifest itself in Deku's body just yet, especially since he currently doesn't feel anything more than embers of the Quirk.

That said, it is certainly too soon to confirm anything at this point. Now that My Hero Academia is currently in its Epilogue, it's entirely possible that Horikoshi may choose to have Deku return to his roots as a Quirkless boy in a world filled with heroes.

Now that he has been officially recognized as one of the greatest heroes all over the world, Deku doesn't necessarily need One For All anymore to contribute to the Hero society. Instead, he could choose to mentor the next generation of heroes like his childhood hero, All Might.