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A world where super powers were becoming more and more commonplace every day. Crime becoming rampant as law enforcement is helpless with new, formerly unthinkable ways of crime can be committed. Heroes arise to fight back but it’s still too much. Then, with a laugh and a smile come the hulking form of one man. All Might, the Pillar of Justice, is here. Able to punch so hard and fast that the weather changes due to the sudden pressure changes of his moves. Capable of leaping city blocks in a single bound. More powerful than a locomotive. But who is All Might? How did he get to be the #1 Hero in all of Japan and possibly the world? Let’s find out!

Toshinori Yagi was born in a time where Quirks, super powers, were not necessarily the dominant part of mankind’s existence but were getting closer to the 80% of the population it is today. Toshinori was born Quirkless but had a strong desire to help others. It was this energy that Nana Shimura picked up on that made her decide that Toshinori was the perfect recipient to be the eighth wielder of the unusual Quirk, One For All.

Most Quirks are something you are born with or not, One For All has a different path though. During the first generation of Quirks entering the world, there was one man who possessed a dangerously powerful Quirk, All For One. This Quirk allowed him to take others’ Quirks and make them his own or give them to others. His brother was born Quirkless, or so they thought, and decided to grant him a power-amplifying Quirk. No one is quite sure if it was out of pity or to manipulate his brother to work for him, having begun a criminal empire with his collected powers and granted gifts. It turned out the brother was not without a Quirk, his own was similar to his brother’s, he could pass on Quirks. Now with his own Quirk and this power-amplifying one, a new Quirk was born, One For All. Brothers would face off but All For One proved to be too much for his brother. Instead of giving up, the younger brother took One For All and passed it on to another, and this path would continue, with each new recipient adding to its might, reaching to Nana Shimura who already had her own Quirk.

Now blessed with One For All, Toshinori proved a prodigy to learning how to wield One For All with relative ease the way none before him had. Now possessing a Quirk, Toshinori would go to UA High, Japan’s premiere school for Heroes, he’d find that when focusing on his Quirk, he was basically preforming the ultimate buff pose and become a great deal larger and buffer than he normally was and was effectively unrecognizable except for his hair style and eyes. Under the tutelage of Nana and the surly Gran Turino, Toshinori would learn to be a great Hero, fully utilizing all 100% of the power of One For All, and begin figuring out what to do with the ever-rising crime rate. By the time he had graduated, Toshinori was already making waves among the Hero scene. In his first outing as All Might, he’d easily rescue one hundred people in under ten minutes in major disaster, all with a laugh and smile to reassure those he saved.

Soon, Toshinori was cleaning things up all over the place. Crime is getting taken out so fast that most up and comers in the field of crime causes them to close up shop before even attempting to deal with All Might. Heroes are effectively private brands and the All Might brand becomes the hottest thing around, his business was booming. He’d pick up a sidekick, Nighteye, to help him out as the kid had foresight, which Toshinori always lacked. The Hero Ranking System has All Might at the top of the charts for years in a row. Crime statistics begin to enter all time lows thanks to his merely being a presence in the world, no one wants to deal with All Might. Except for one person.

The entire reason One For All became a Quirk to begin with, All For One, made his presence known and Toshinori knew he was the only one who could go up against him. Nana was gone, thanks to All For One, leaving Gran Torino and Toshinori with the guilt of failing their friend. The world was in danger, All For One’s reach was getting bigger and bigger with each passing day he was allowed to keep acting of his own accord. Nighteye pleaded with Toshinori not to go forward with his plans, his Quirk allowed him to see into the future and he said that Toshinori was on a path that would get him killed eventually. Not able to let All For One go merely to protect himself, Toshinori pushed on, figuring this fight could be his end, but if it meant All For One went down with him? It’d be all worth it, even if it meant losing Nighteye as an ally. Once more, the wielders of All For One and One For All fought, All For One was believed dead but he destroyed a good chunk of Toshinori’s abdomen before the fight was over. Surgeries were needed to get Toshinori just breathing again, he’d lost several vital organs in the fight but was able to pull through.

Beyond dealing with such injuries, Toshinori realized that the strain of the damage meant he could only transform into his musclebound One For All state for limited periods of time now, a few hours at most. This went on for years, with Toshinori hiding from the public that their Symbol of Peace was weakened and slowly losing his fight to keep his powers. He would begin looking for a potential ninth wielder of One For All, for what he believed was the inevitable return of All For One and so the world could have a new Pillar of Justice. UA High would reach out to having him be a teacher and so he could see the best of the best of the Heroes that would be the next generation who could be candidates for One For All.

Even though he was limited for how long he could take on his mighty form, Toshinori couldn’t help himself from helping others. Any crime or trouble he came across, if he could help, he would. This was none the more clear than when he rescued a Quirkless boy from a slime monster criminal. He thought things were over and he could take the criminal to the authorities and get home in time without wasting what precious few minutes he had left for the day to be mighty. That is, until he realized the boy was a super fan who latched onto his leg while he leapt high into the sky. Making sure the boy was safely back on solid ground he was ready to quickly leave, feeling his powers slipping away, the boy asked him if someone without a Quirk could be a Hero. Toshinori told him no, that it was too dangerous for those without Quirks to go up against those who did. This took up too much time and he had to depower in front of the boy. He explained the truth and told him to keep it secret but that he still thought the world of Heroics was too much for a kid with no Quirk.

Leaving the dejected boy, he’d begin walking to the nearest police station to give them the slime criminal when he saw a crowd, while dealing with the boy in the sky, he must have dropped the bottle because there the slime criminal was, holding another boy hostage. Having run out of time, Toshinori looked on in horror, helpless to save the boy, hoping another Hero could arrive to save the day. That’s when he saw the boy he had saved from earlier, the one he told couldn’t be a Hero without a Quirk, run headlong into fighting the slime monster without a moment’s hesitation. This inspired Toshinori, who had realized his advice to the boy was wrong, he could become a Hero. Pulling all he had in him, Toshinori turned into his mighty form once more to vanquish the slime monster one more time.

He’d find the boy, Izuku Midoriya, afterwards when he’d been chastised by other Heroes for running in with no Quirk and nearly getting himself killed. Toshinori realized he had found the new recipient of One For All right in front of him. He would train young Midoriya like Nana had trained him, this boy could go beyond anything he could ever do and when All For One returned, and Toshinori dreaded but knew he would, Midoriya would hopefully be ready.

There you have it! All Might is the Superman and Captain America of the My Hero Academia setting. He’s got the power and grace to put the masses at ease. He’s also a wounded warrior who does his best to fight on and inspire others. He’s been a part of the series since it started and things are getting pretty heated in the anime. He even has some past events popping up in a soon to be released theatrical film. What lies in store for All Might’s future? We’ll have to wait and see! Until next time!

Suggested Reading
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net