Summary
There’s certainly no shortage of villains in the world ofMy Hero Academia, but while many of them are little more than troublesome roadblocks for the heroes to overcome, others would go on to have a tremendous impact on the wider story. Though the villains only make a few brief appearances here and there in the early arcs of Midoriya’s epic journey, they become much more prevalent and dangerous as the story goes on, with the stakes rising higher and higher in the process.
With that being said, there are a few particular key individuals who have played a big part in directing the plot in order to get one step closer to achieving their ultimate goal. When reflecting on theMy Hero Academiastory, it’s these villains who ended up being notable for their relevance, influence, and impact as a whole.
8Kurogiri
Heroes And Villains Alike Have Used Kurogori’s Quirk To Warp Themselves Out Of Danger
Unlike a lot of villains in the series, Kurogiri, or Oboro as he was once known, didn’t want to become an enemy of society. In truth, his corpse was recovered and turned into Kurogiri by All For One, who used his Warp Quirk to protect him andhis Leagueon many occasions. After Bakugo is kidnapped, for example, Kurogiri uses Warp to get every member of the League out of danger, considering at least a few of them would have definitely been killed if the fight had gone on.
Kurogiri would also become an extremely important character in the final war, where his portals became a crucial component of the heroes' divide and conquer plan of attack. It can be easy to forget about Kurogiri with how much of a focus the other League members get, but he played a massive role in keeping several characters alive when things started looking a little bleak.
7Overhaul
Overhaul’s Quirk-Destroying Bullets Become Incredibly Important Later In The Story
The Rewind Quirk, which is possessed by a young girl named Eri, is an ability that Overhaul took a great interest in. As a result, the dangerous villain would use her blood for his own selfish goals, creating bullets that are capable of removing Quirks entirely by utilizing Rewind. He would actuallytest out one of these bullets on Mirio, and though the plucky hero would get his Quirk back a little later, the traumatic event still pushed him to grow as a character.
Where Overhaul’s influence can really be felt, though, is during the final war where All For One reveals that he forced Dr. Garaki to reverse-engineer the drug. As a result, he was able to gradually become younger, which greatly enhanced his strength and mobility to the point where even an army of heroes struggle to deal any damage to him. Overhaul’s inclusion in the story would also lead to Eri joining the heroes' side, where she would use her Quirk for the sake of good.
6Twice
Twice’s Quirk Becomes A Major Problem For The Heroes To Deal With In The Later Story Arcs
Twice’s Quirk, which allows him to create clones of anything he touches, is somewhat of a double-edged sword. While the ability is the main reason why Twice ended up losing his mind, due to him struggling to verify whether he was the original Twice or just a clone, it’s alsoincredibly powerful when used offensively. During the Meta Liberation War, Twice’s Sad Man’s Parade attack ends up flattening an entire city, but that’s not the only time it would be used to such devastating effect.
Because Toga still had a sample of Twice’s blood, she was able to turn into the man himself during the final war, unleashing an even deadlier version of Sad Man’s Parade. This would be so dangerous that it became a specific target for the heroes to deal with, since an endless swarm of mindless clones can deal a ton of collateral damage if they are kept unchecked.
5Stain
Stain Inspired A New Wave Of Villains To Rise From The Shadows
Though Stain doesn’t actually show up in person all that often throughout the story, it’s his influence which is so important. Stain believes that society should be “cleansed” of heroes who are only in the profession of fame and money, though his way of going about this involves brutally murdering anyone he deems as unworthy. Many villains, including the likes of Toga and Spinner, would use Stain as their inspiration to stand up to the society which threw them aside.
Much later, Stain shows up to give All Might the pep talk he needs when he finds himself falling behindMidoriyaand the others, which is ironic considering this guy was once known as the ‘Hero Killer’. Stain managed to shake the pillars of hero society, so that Shigaraki and All For One could tear them down not long later.
4Dabi
Dabi’s Memorable Performance Broke All Trust In Hero Society
Dabi may seem all quiet and reserved for a lot of the story, but it’s in the later arcs where he begins to really make his mark on the story by completely shattering all the trust the people had in hero society. Dabi’s Dance refers to a moment where Dabi, who is being broadcast to the entire country thanks to Skeptic, reveals the dark side of the Pro-Heroes. Learning that Endeavor abused his own children and that Hawks murdered a villain in cold blood forced people to question whether they could truly trust the people protecting them, considering all of this was hidden.
Not long after, Dabi would go into overdrive with his Quirk, turning into a ticking nuclear bomb who was only stopped in time by Endeavor. Speaking of Endeavor, Dabi’s grand reveal would be a very important moment in his own development as a character, while also pushing him beyond his limits power-wise.
3Kyudai Garaki
Garaki Is Responsible For Turning Shigaraki Into The Monster He Would Become
Garaki is a character who only makes his presence known for small sections of the story, but as soon as he started speaking with Shigaraki face to face, it was made immediately clear that this weird and creepy doctor was going to be a key player in the final saga of the story. It turns out Garaki used his skills to manufacture the deadly Nomus, which are all capable of ripping a group of heroes to shreds thanks to theirbolstered strength and durability.
When Shigaraki needed to get up to speed to inherit All For One, he looked to Garaki, who was responsible for turning Shigaraki into his ultimate form, giving him access to multiple Quirks at once. Garaki’s mission in life was to make anything All For One dreamed of a reality, and it’s fair to say he succeeded, for the most part.
2Tomura Shigaraki
All For One’s Student Has Brought Terror And Destruction To The World
Though he has always had a very eerie and disturbing appearance as a villain, Shigaraki didn’t seem all that intimidating when he first showed up at U.S.J. After All For One is apprehended and taken down, Shigaraki steps up as the leader of the League of Villains, and starts making some major strategic plays so that he can become powerful enough to destroy everything in sight. Not only did he remove Overhaul’s ability to use his Quirk, he also became the leader of the Meta Liberation Army, and once he acquired more power from Dr. Garaki, he was destroying entire buildings and cities single-handedly.
While All For One is undoubtedly a huge target for the heroes to take down, Shigaraki, thanks to his awakened Decay Quirk, is seen as being just as dangerous by the end of the series. After all, it would be that Quirk which he used to kill the number one hero of America, which is just one of the many memorable feats achieved byAll For One’s student.
1All For One
All For One Has Been Running The Show From The Very Beginning
It’s honestly staggering just how much of the story in general has been dictated by All For One, who is a mastermind in every sense of the word. As someone who once ruled all of Japan from the shadows, and was responsible for giving Shigaraki his Decay Quirk, All For One essentially set the stage for the main plot to begin. He would also use Aoyama as a spy to keep tabs on Class 1-A for the entire story, which is a prime example of how he uses fear to force people to submit.
This isn’t even mentioning his combat skills, which he puts on full display in the final war between the heroes and villains. BecauseAll For One can collect and use multiple Quirks, it means he feels more or less unstoppable, with even All Might struggling to take him down, and being forced to use up the embers of his own Quirk to deal any significant damage. All For One has been the chess master moving the pieces from behind the scenes for a very long time, undoubtedly having the biggest impact of all the villains in the series.
