History's Greatest Villain (史上最悪の
Summary[]
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The U.A. Team discuss their plan against Tomura Shigaraki.
A few days before the Final War, the team of Heroes and students tasked with fighting "Tomura Shigaraki" are going over the battle plan inside of the Makeshift Fortress: Troy. Best Jeanist is reiterating the importance of the Coffin in the Sky being the battlefield for their takedown operation, as the Villain can unravel their plans if he were to reach solid ground.
Nejire Chan and Suneater believe that the Hero is referring to the fact that they'd be at a huge disadvantage fighting "Tomura" on the ground, which sparks some confusion as their battlefields have been completely evacuated, meaning they'd presumably just be protecting all of the buildings and structures. Edgeshot and Best Jeanist clarify that it's for a greater purpose, as guarding the ruined city below assures that everybody affected by the Villains will have a life and future to go back to once the fighting has concluded.
Tomura can feel his former master's demise.
Best Jeanist believes that the biggest threat to that in their eventual fight is the chaos intertwined with the Villain's unfiltered personality and hopes that the All For One "half" inside him stays as a constant, as while similarly cruel, "Tomura's" master is the type to have something and someone to rule once he stands unopposed. Otherwise, with all the hatred and power he's been saddled with, the Tomura "half" would want to just destroy everything once he gets the chance. The Hero says the most important phase in this conflict is what happens after their side secures a victory, as what follows needs a solid foundation to rebuild the country on.
In the present, the fight between Tomura and Deku has now been taken to the ocean, due to Villain using Decay to rot away and sink a massive chunk of the Shizuoka Prefecture. Tomura says that he could sink the entire country in a week at this rate, assuring that Japan has no chance of the recovering from the destruction that he and his side have unleashed. Deku, of course, isn't going to allow that to happen and dishes out an all-out offensive on Tomura by combining the powers of Gearshift, Fa Jin, and Danger Sense. He has also placed his respirator over his face to help stabilize his breathing amid the rough ocean waves. While his attacks are keeping Tomura at a bay, Deku unfortunately still hasn't found a way to permanently disable the Villain.
With Danger Sense stolen, Tomura can easily dodge Deku's attacks.
In the midst of their battle, Tomura senses that All For One has died, and muses that his master's death could've been prevented if Dynamight never intervened. With some sick sense of gratitude, Tomura thanks the student, as his meddling has made the man come back stronger than ever. Tomura then launches himself forward, now being able to match Deku's speed, and prepares to use All For One and Decay simultaneously as he spreads open his hand and places it on Deku's face. In an instant, Deku slashes off Tomura's fingers thanks to Danger Sense's quick activation. While the boy's body is unharmed, his Quirk wasn't, as Daigoro informs Deku that Hikage, along with Danger Sense's Quirk Factor, has been stolen by Tomura. Much more could've been pilfered if not for his intervention, as Hikage pushed his comrades away from the "hand" reaching into the vestige realm, before he was snatched by the All For One Quirk.
Tomura isn't that interested in Danger Sense now that it's in his possession, but he won't complain since it's an additional aid in his desire to destroy Deku. He demonstrates as such by effortlessly dodging the flurry of Gearshift-enhanced Blackchains sent out by Deku, before diving down and blasting the boy with a huge burst of energy from his hand. Deku manages to block the brunt of the attack by creating a cage of Blackwhip tendrils around himself, but the resulting force causes him to skip across the surface of the ocean like a stone. As he keeps blasting him backwards, Tomura asks why Deku is still trying to view him as a human, as if he were to take a good look, he'd find that this aspect of him is no longer a part of him.
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Deku's mask crumbles in battle.
Eventually, Deku crashes near the base of Mt. Fuji. As he unfurls the Blackwhip tendrils, his respirator crumbles in the palms of his hands. Bruce chimes in that thankfully, Danger Sense's Quirk Factor was only stolen and not the stockpile of physical strength, as that part of One For All is stored separately from the other abilities. Worried for everyone's safety, and now aware that their vestiges and the entirety of One For All can now be stolen instantly, En begrudgingly recommends that Deku make a tactical retreat.
Tomura then lands and says he can hear what they're plotting and starts a chain of destruction on the forested area behind him, before getting back up and confidently walking forward. The Villain knows that any attempts of escaping will give One For All more breathing room to grow stronger and potentially take him down another day, so Tomura wants to assure that Deku and the other vestiges will be killed on the spot. He wishes to do the same to anywhere they might run to as he's doing now, in service of the flattened, empty horizon that Spinner wants to see so much. Finally, he wants to sink Mt. Fuji, since Decaying it from the top will cause an unstoppable chain of destruction, which Daigoro quickly tells Deku about.
"Somewhere inside you... is a person."
En tells Yoichi that Tomura is no successor of All For One, as while their archenemy will at least preserve some of what he conquers for his own benefit, his protege is the embodiment of destruction and ruin: someone who seeks to destroy everything and leave nothing behind. Even with all this crumbling rubble headed straight for him and remembering what Tomura tried beating into him several times, Deku holds onto his ideals and says everything he's seeing is connected to what's deep inside of his opponent somehow. He then thinks back to what Ochaco told him about not being able understand how Himiko processes common sense, as despite everything Tomura's done, Deku stills views his adversary as a person underneath all that villainy.
Deku then powers One For All up to 100% in his right arm, with the output shattering his Mid-Gauntlet to bits as he begins to reinforce his arm with Blackwhip. Tomura's Danger Sense starts going off, as Deku plants his feet into the dirt and throws his reinforced arm forwards. With some quick thinking as he was being flung into Mt. Fuji, Deku was able to store up kinetic energy to fuel Fa Jin by using Blackwhip to forcefully flex his muscles. Thanks to this, Deku was able to max out Fa Jin's power storage and fuel it into this current attack, in the form of an enormous Delaware Smash that sends Tomura into the air and rips out the ground that was being affected by Decay.
Tomura finds Deku in the Smokescreen with Search and attacks him with Rivet Stab.
Tomura, inside the massive cloud of dust that was kicked up, picks up that uprooting the ground will cut off any attempts for Decay to spread out, but feels it's ultimately futile since he can just touch it again. Danger Sense goes off once more, but Tomura realizes he can't see anything, as the dust seems to be sticking in the air despite the lengthy amount of time that's passed. The Villain then dodges a barrage of Blackwhips and a Blackchain erupting from below, as Danger Sense activates once more and Tomura throws an anticipatory punch forward.
Deku then dives down from above and slugs Tomura in the arm using his own enhanced arm, which breaks off the Villain's hand. With another bout of ingenuity, Deku was able to send out Smokescreen and apply the Low Gear speed to it, providing him with plenty of cover to attack from with Blackwhip and Blackchain, and allowing the student to create openings by misdirecting Tomura's Danger Sense.
Tomura tells Deku the boy inside him no longer exists.
However, Deku's plan is quickly compromised once he begins storing more kinetic energy with Fa Jin, as En warns him that Tomura can instantly lock on to his location with Search. Tomura does just that, and sends out several tendrils of Rivet Stab towards Deku. As if things couldn't get any worse, Gearshift has timed out, immobilizing the Hero and forcing him to catch his breath from the Quirk's recoil. Deku still pushes himself to reach out to the essence of the crying, young boy inside Tomura, as he rockets himself forward using Fa Jin and tries to go for a kick, which the Villain easily dodges.
Tomura says that all people try to interpret the world based on their personal views of it and nothing else, and they'll make up any all types of reasons for the thing that don't fall into it in order to make themselves feel better. The Villain feels that Deku is trying to do the same in viewing him as his old self, as that part of him was overcome long ago thanks to him expanding his own worldview, so nothing is holding him back at this point.
Deku refuses to give up on Tomura.
Nana hears her grandson's words from the vestige realm, and despite her previous support in Deku trying to save Tomura, she reluctantly tells the boy that's it's time to give up, as the man is beyond saving at this point. The woman marks Tomura as the highest wall that the student's heroic philosophy could face, and that it's more worthwhile to blow her grandson away in one shot with all the power he can accumulate instead of climbing over it.
Deku refuses, and tells Nana that if her assessment is true, then Tomura wouldn't have hung on to and put a lid on his childhood memories after all this time. Nana begins to tear up at Deku's words once again, as the Hero rushes forward and proclaims that he won't stop punching until that lid breaks. Kudo was afraid of something like this happen, as even though he found the notion of saving Tomura naive at first, he's been with Deku long enough to know that this is what drives the boy to push himself. Deku believes everyone has a heart no matter how a person's born or what they grow up to be, and Kudo wants to hold out on and trust in that too.
Star and Stripe lets All Might's vestige know about Tomura's mental scar.
Suddenly in the vestige realm, the vestige of Star and Stripe appears and points down at a crack located inside Tomura's shielded core and tells All Might's vestige that there is a sad child in there. The real All Might, fighting to stay awake while Edgeshot watches over him, says that he can feel the core of One For All coming apart as he speaks. Kudo then closes his eyes and tells Deku to do exactly what he's about to tell him: part ways with One For All, which shocks the other vestiges.
In the midst of Kudo's risky proposal, Deku is blasted into the dirt by Tomura, as the Villain starts remembering his encounter with Star and Stripe, and the warning her fading vestige gave about the spirit of a Hero always persisting as long as people help each other. The boy desperately tries to gather himself and asks Kudo what he means by giving up One For All. First, the man asks Deku to calm his mind, or else they risk Tomura listening in on them. The soldier then points to the weak spot in Tomura's rotten core that was fished out by Star and Stripe, which turns out to be a mental scar carved out by the deceased Hero.
Deku suffers from Gearshift's blowback, as Kudo tells him to forcibly transfer One For All.
Kudo tells Deku that at this rate, Tomura will completely overpower him in terms of strength, so their best option is to bring the assault on the inside. To achieve this, Kudo suggests transferring One For All directly into Tomura's scar, allowing them to crash into and tear open the wound, making the Villain's mind vulnerable. Deku and En aren't following his logic, as giving Tomura One For All will just turn their shared Quirk against them. Kudo clarifies that he means a brutal, forceful transfer, and likens it to how Katsuki tends to angrily hand back papers to Izuku during class.
The man does admit that there's no guarantee that this plan will work, so he offers to use himself and Gearshift as a guinea pig for the plan, since thanks to Hikage's sacrifice, they know that a partial transfer using only the stored individual Quirk Factors is possible in some way. If his hunch is right, Kudo will be able to attack Tomura's core with the full force of his Quirk Factor without having Gearshift stolen. En vehemently protests Kudo performing the test and offers himself as a sacrifice, as he feels Smokescreen is way more expendable compared to Gearshift, and compromising the latter Quirk will take away their shot of victory. Kudo shuts him down, saying that Deku will die if he's still immobilized, and parting with Gearshift will instantly cancel the Quirk's cooldown recoil. Additionally, if Tomura tries to use it after the transfer, he'll be forced into recoil and be wide open.
Deku can't bare the idea of parting with the Quirk gifted to him by his hero.
Bruce adds his two cents, noting that while he won't question his leader's judgement, the other soldier feels the cons outweigh the pros in this instance. Kudo tells his subordinate that the two have made a lot of harsh decisions during their previous fights with All For One, and what he's asking Deku to do is no different. As the student forces himself to get up while further enhancing his body with Blackwhip, Kudo notes of the boy's unbreakable spirit, and wants to believe that his viewpoint is right. Nana agrees with Kudo and notes how much he's pushing himself to live up to the potential of the Quirk her successor and his Hero rewarded him with.
Kudo asks Daigoro to stick close to Deku and tells Yoichi that he can now take things from here. With all of the other vestiges now on the same page, Kudo asks Deku how he feels about their proposal. Now on his feet, Deku says he'll go through with it, as he screams out while finishing up coating his body with Blackwhip tendrils.
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Deku faces off against Tomura with Deku Overlay.
From above, Tomura tries to go for an attack but is interrupted by Danger Sense before getting his arm sliced off once again, this time by a Blackwhip tendril at incomprehensible speeds. He then looks at his opponent and tells Deku that he doesn't look very heroic right now. In arming his entire body with Blackwhip, Deku has completely torn off the top part of his costume and made a makeshift mask with the Quirk. He also has a slew of tendrils snaking out of his neck, while some have collected on his fingertips and shaped themselves into claws.
As the fight between the two gears up for what seems to be its final round, the core of One For All begins to shine inside Deku's clawed hand.
Characters In Order of Appearance[]
- Best Jeanist (Flashback)
- Dynamight (Flashback)
- Mirko (Flashback)
- Nejire Chan (Flashback)
- Suneater (Flashback)
- Dabi (Mentioned)
- Ryukyu (Flashback)
- Rock Lock (Flashback)
- Toy-Toy (Flashback)
- Eraser Head (Flashback)
- Thirteen (Flashback)
- Gran Torino (Flashback)
- Present Mic (Flashback)
- Kyudai Garaki (Flashback)
- Inko Midoriya
- Tomura Shigaraki
- Deku
- Daigoro Banjo (Vestige)
- Yoichi Shigaraki (Vestige)
- Toshitsugu Kudo (Vestige)
- Bruce Lee (Vestige)
- Hikage Shinomori (Flashback, Vestige)
- En Tayutai (Vestige)
- All For One (Flashback)
- Toshinori Yagi
- Spinner (Flashback)
- Ochaco Uraraka (Flashback)
- Himiko Toga (Flashback, Mentioned)
- Lady Nagant (Flashback)
- Star and Stripe (Vestige)
- Edgeshot
- Mezo Shoji (Flashback)
Quirks[]
- Dragon (Flashback)
- Decay
- One For All
- All For One
- Unnamed Repulsion Quirk
- Danger Sense
- Air Cannon
- Search
- Rivet Stab
- Super Regeneration
- Dupli-Arms (Flashback)
Locations[]
- Makeshift Fortress: Troy (Flashback)
- Gunga Mountain Villa Ruins (Pictured)
- Jaku General Hospital Ruins (Pictured)
- Kamino Ward Ground Zero (Pictured)
- Shiketsu High School
- One For All's Vestige Realm
- Mt. Fuji
- U.A. High School (Flashback)
- All For One's Vestige Realm
Battles & Events[]
- Izuku Midoriya vs. Tomura Shigaraki (Continued)
- Quirk Apprehension Test (Flashback)
- Izuku Midoriya, Tsuyu Asui & Minoru Mineta vs. Villains (Flashback)
- Izuku Midoriya vs. Danjuro Tobita (Flashback)
- Izuku Midoriya vs. Kaina Tsutsumi (Flashback)
- Quirk Training Camp (Flashback)
- Hospital Raid Team & Trainees vs. Tomura Shigaraki (Flashback)
Anime & Manga Differences[]
- When En suggests for Deku to make a tactical retreat, the anime shows Bruce and Kudo reacting to his comment.
- When Tomura makes it to Deku's location near Mt. Fuji, the anime shows him touching and breaking the ground with his hands before the entire forest behind him crumbles as he walks.
- When Tomura expresses his desire to sink Mt. Fuji so Spinner can see the flattened horizon, the anime adds a brief flashback of the two friends happily chatting with each other.
- When Tomura is swarmed by Blackwhip and Blackchain tendrils, the anime adds him dodging the attacks and using Danger Sense before getting his arm punched off by Deku.
- The anime cuts the dialogue that goes with the flashback to Ragdoll explaining Search.
- The anime cuts the dialogue of the evacuees when Tomura is explaining the concept of narrow worldviews to Deku.
- When All Might's vestige "tells" Kudo to create a visual aid to explain One For All's forceful transfer, the anime doesn't show the moment where Deku came up with his "egg-in-the-microwave" analogy as an example.
- During the flashback of Katsuki passing some papers back to Izuku, the anime adds some dialogue of Katsuki insulting the other boy as he does so.
- When Deku activates Deku Overlay, the anime depicts a transformation scene where he activates and becomes it, followed by cutting off Tomura's arm for the second time.