The principal villain, All For One, in the popular anime My Hero Academia, has captivated viewers’ interest from his first appearance. As the series progressed, fans sensed an intriguing yet incomplete dimension to this character, lacking backstory context.
This left many with a feeling that integral pieces were still missing regarding his origins and motivations. Finally, in the long-awaited 407th chapter, revelations emerge, further illuminating his shadowy past.
Through well-placed flashbacks, audiences gain meaningful perspective into the experiences that shaped this fearsome antagonist.
Without spoiling, insights emerge explaining the genesis of his vision and ideals, shedding light on his outlook.
While full analysis awaits more reveals in coming episodes, these glimpses inject fresh depth into the storylines swirling around this prominent foe.
His newly fleshed-out presence interjects further layers of complexity into the clashing of values across good and evil forces within the My Hero Academia realm.
My Hero Academia One For All Backstory: Explained
The secret origins of the notorious villain All For One and his brother Yoichi trace back to unexpected biological beginnings.
Their mother, a poor prostitute, developed a peculiar tumor-like growth sprouting spikes from her left arm while pregnant with the two children.
This “disease” was an early manifestation of supernatural abilities that would later become known as Quirks.
Oblivious to the strange malformity, the physically drained woman carried the pregnancy for 8 grueling months as the unborn babies siphoned her vitality.
She ultimately perished, giving birth riverside, alone except for vagrant rodents ready to devour the fresh corpses. But as she took her last breath, the aberrant tumor evaporated into thin air.
The disappearance of this growth implies the elder child somehow absconded with the anomalous physical trait in the womb.
This theory aligns with All For One’s signature ability to extract and integrate Quirks. The peculiar hole in his right hand likely traces to this stolen power obtained before even exiting the womb.
By a fateful stroke of luck, the current swept the deceased young mother and her newborn children away before the lurking rats fed.
This spared All For One and his brother from perishing abandoned and ignoble deaths peppered by vermin.
The path ahead for the two orphans raised chilling questions. Would they follow their mother’s woeful footprint or forge a sinister new trail?
Their emergence connected to the earliest stirrings of superpowers later rocking society. But at this stage, All For One had already harvested the first known Quirk before his first gasp of air.
The seminal ingredients for his rise to domination were spuriously sown.
Just one year after All For One’s ominous debut, the first intrinsically luminescent infant was documented in China, heralding the mainstream emergence of metahuman abilities.
These enigmatic powers dubbed “Quirks” arose not only among new generations but also suddenly manifested in youth yet to reach adolescence.
However, initial societal reception to these developments proved hostile, not celebratory. The concept of paranormal talents spawned perceptions that such endowed individuals were aberrations forfeiting humanity.
As the first known Quirk holder predating this wave, young All For One faced profound isolation and prejudice. The orphaned child was scorned as “the paranormal’s progeny” unfit for community inclusion.
Fearful superstitions even held that proximity could transmit this infecting differentness. Yet the boy had already extracted retribution for such callousness using the eerily spiked extrusion inherited from his doomed mother. With this, he gruesomely executed all who shunned him.
This spine-like Quirk power served as more than self-defense for the ostracized child. It forecasted the means through which All For One would one day subjugate any who dared doubt his might.
The first Quirk would enable the rise of the first Supervillain long before the dawn of Heroes.
So, the glowing Chinese infant may have welcomed the discovery of meta abilities but also unintentionally sparked the schemes of one obscured by shadows.
The Macabre Genesis of All For One’s Ambition
Even as a helpless newborn, the extent of All For One’s ruthless ambition manifested in a disturbing fashion.
To extract every ounce of advantage from his tragic beginnings, the minutes-old infant cannibalistically drained residual energy from his own deceased mother’s corpse.
This gruesome act of biting her lifeless breast to steal any lingering traces of her mysterious Quirk perfectly foreshadowed his worldview.
All For One embodies the philosophy that all of the existence serves only to empower him. He considers himself the rightful benefactor entitled to anything useful others possess – abilities, devotion, resources, or more.
Those unable or unwilling to provide such obligatory offerings forfeit any purpose or worth to him. They represent not people but mere pests warranting extermination.
This is reflected by his casual willingness throughout his rise to supremacy to discard anything now lacking utility.
The sadistic baby who fed on his mother like a parasite presaged the callous tyrant, reducing cities to fodder.
That seed of profound entitlement and greed germinated from exploiting her last remnants of energy via her death. It was but the first consumption in All For One’s endless hunger.
This uncovered history lays bare that the greatest villain was, in fact, born one – both destined by fate but also by a conscious choice to place the entire world under his heel.
All For One’s view of people as disposable possessions meant even loyal allies faced erasure if their usefulness expired.
All For One deems Shigaraki’s consciousness unimportant now, coveting only his protege’s body as an upgraded vessel. This chilling willingness to erase the man’s very soul and identity epitomizes
All For One’s philosophy – the essence of a person holds no inherent worth so that it can be discarded on a whim.
Yet, one contradiction to this materialistic view was his brother Yoichi. Despite the frail sibling representing no threat and providing no value, All For One kept him around slavishly.
This upside-down dynamic stemmed from the villain seeing Yoichi as just another belonging – an ornament from his past to keep.
As infants, All For One had robbed Yoichi in the womb of nutrients necessary to develop properly. So the younger brother remained stunted and feeble, incapable of resisting his sibling’s domineering possessiveness.
When Yoichi futilely attempted to deter All For One’s burgeoning acts of evil and oppression as they grew, he faced only mockery and punishment for defying his “owner.”
The nascent villain would simply kick down this harmless obstruction to his ambitions without a second thought.
Yoichi posed no genuine obstacle to All For One, indulging every self-serving whim, just an occasional nuisance swatted away without a care.
Yoichi’s Naive Dreams and the Erosion of Brotherly Bonds
At the time, Yoichi’s aspirations to follow in the footsteps of fictional heroes appeared as naive fantasies. However, these simple convictions planted seminal notions of justice and virtue standing against evil.
In time, this philosophical seed would germinate into the pillars upholding modern Hero Society. But for now, it highlighted the innate contrast between the young brothers – one drawn to power corrupted absolutely, the other clinging to innocence and ideals not yet stomped out.
Yoichi’s kindhearted nature shined in his steadfast belief that hidden goodness must dwell within his brother, too.
After all, fuzzy memories persisted of tiny hands clinging together long ago before machinations of control and domination overwhelmed family bonds.
Yoichi hoped those faint recollections reflected some lingering potential for redemption. But three years later, the globe’s swelling legions hailing the luminescent One For All heir posed too threatening a challenge to All For One’s designs.
A prompt assassination removed this figurehead of resistance, along with Yoichi’s thin hopes.
To justify this cold-blooded act, All For One invoked faulty rationale around birth order semantics since other predated cases of early-stage Quirks existed before this notable one.
But clearly, pathological jealousy and insecurity fed worries that this unique baby’s phenomenal influence left All For One vulnerable to losing his self-anointed status as the rightful wellspring of all superpowered beings.
Just as heroes in Yoichi’s comics would eliminate threats by any means, so too would this rising villain sweep aside any obstacles to TOTAL domination by any methods necessary. The darker side might win out once more.
The Turning Tide in the Battle of Ideologies
As All For One continued consolidating absolute power and influence through brutal means, events largely aligned with his orchestrations apart from one critical development – his brother Yoichi slipping away.
Ironically, a fortuitous new friendship seeded the beginnings of defiance.
A vagabond named Kudou fatefully extended his hand to the long-oppressed younger brother at his lowest moment.
This simple act of sympathy and solidarity resonated deeply, forging a bond holding greater meaning to Yoichi than any prior relationship.
In dramatic fashion, Kudou whisked Yoichi away from the only family he had ever known into an uncertain new path guided only by their tightening kindred spirit.
All For One was incensed by this unexpected challenge to his authority and entitlement over his sibling.
Raging at the audacity of the two outcasts united in flee from his domination, the seething villain violently asserted his control.
In an act symbolizing the final severing of fraternal ties, All For One brutally severed Yoichi’s hand – the one that had reached out so hopefully towards liberation and conscience.
The bloody deed served as a turning point, crystallizing the philosophical battle lines between rising good and evil.
By savagely attacking the physical embodiment of Yoichi and Kudou’s bond, All For One attempted to quash the notion of resistance finally sparked within his long-submissive brother.
Instead, he achieved the opposite – catalyzing Yoichi to awaken into the pioneering opponent, setting the stage for All Might’s eventual climatic clashes.
The age-old conflict between coercive power and courageous spirit has origins in this fateful confrontation, and the parting of ways betwee
