My Hero Academia Fumbled The One Reveal That Could Have Changed Everything

Published Aug 30, 2026, 11:46 PM EDT Casandra Ronning is a staff writer for Screen Rant's anime section. Since mid-2024, she has dedicated herself to expanding her knowledge and experience in the entertainment industry. She is most proud of conducting an exclusive interview with popular voice actor Stephanie Nadolny. Sign in to your ScreenRant account My Hero Academia has several great twists and reveals throughout its eight-season run. Many times, these fundamentally changed how audiences perceived the characters or even the story itself. That said, some revelations hit harder than others, and some arguably didn't live up to expectations. One such reveal that wasn’t as shocking or compelling as others has to be who the U.A. traitor was. Given how devastating betrayals usually are in stories, My Hero Academia’s traitor plot line unnecessarily lacked impact and emotional weight. Had the series taken a different route, it could have easily become one of the most memorable moments in the story and a far stronger test for the central heroes. My Hero Academia instead played it safe and delivered a resolution that served the needs of the story but sacrificed greater nuance and depth that could have elevated it to one of the anime’s greatest moments. My Hero Academia’s U.A. Traitor Reveal Lacked Impact The possibility of a traitor within U.A. High School was established early on in the series, prompting fans to theorize for years as to who it could possibly be. By introducing the idea early on, My Hero Academia effectively built anticipation and suspense around the reveal; however, when Yuga Aoyama was revealed to be the traitor in Season 7, the response from fans was rather divided. His and his family’s allegiance to All For One was born out of fear and coercion rather than pure malice, making his backstory and circumstances sympathetic while adding weight to his character. By making his involvement a tragic act of desperation, it wasn’t difficult to forgive Aoyama for betraying the heroes. That said, his redemption did come across as rather rushed, leaving little time for his classmates to fully process the weight of his actions. Given that Aoyama was never positioned as one of the series’ central characters, audiences had limited emotional investment in his character, and even Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki had minimal ties with him. Throughout the series, he had only a handful of memorable moments and occasional development, which essentially relegated him to the background alongside many other students in Class 1-A. In the end, Aoyama simply lacked the narrative presence needed to make his betrayal truly leave behind a major impact. So despite his complex, sympathetic background, choosing him as the U.A. traitor ultimately wasn’t very satisfying. Had My Hero Academia chosen a different path, the traitor plot could have easily become one of the series’ greatest and most unforgettable turning points. One Change Could Have Made the U.A. Traitor Arc Unforgettable My Hero Academia could have made the plot line stronger if they chose a character whose betrayal would have brought forward greater emotional consequences and weight. If the traitor were Shoto Todoroki, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, or Ochaco Uraraka, the revelation would have been devastating and immediately created a major fracture within the storyline, the class, and even the viewers themselves. If the series picked someone who held substantially stronger connections to the central cast, the immediate impact would be unforgettably powerful and would have had the potential to become the series’ most memorable moment. The stakes would have felt heavier, the fallout more complex, and the story’s themes of saving and being saved would have a much stronger payoff. From the Slime Villain to the Final War · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know My Hero Academia? “Plus Ultra!” 🏫U.A. HighClass 1-A 🧡All MightSymbol of Peace 💥BakugoDIE!!! (affectionately) ❄️Half-Cold Half-HotTodoroki Shoto 👻League of VillainsDecay incarnate GO BEYOND → 01 My Hero Academia’s protagonist is a Quirkless boy in a Quirk-saturated world who dreams of becoming a hero. Bakugo derisively nicknames him “Deku” (a play on the kanji for “useless”) before he eventually reclaims it as a hero name. What’s his actual name? AIzuku Midoriya BEijiro Kirishima CTenya Iida DDenki Kaminari ✓ Correct! Izuku Midoriya. The series opens with him as a 14-year-old Quirkless middle schooler obsessively cataloguing pro heroes in his battered notebooks. The kanji for his nickname Deku (弟卜) reads as “useless” in Bakugo’s mocking context, but Uraraka points out it can also be read as “dekiru” (“you can do it”) — which is the framing he eventually adopts as his hero name. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Izuku Midoriya. Eijiro Kirishima is the red-haired Hardening Quirk user who’s Bakugo’s best friend. Tenya Iida is the engine-legged class president. Denki Kaminari is the Electrification Quirk user who short-circuits into “wheyyy” mode at his limit. Deku is Izuku Midoriya. NEXT → 02 In the show’s opening arc, All Might passes his unique stockpile-and-transfer Quirk to Deku, making him the ninth holder of a power that has been refined across generations. Each previous holder leaves behind their own ability inside it. Name the Quirk. AAll For One BOne For All CPlus Ultra DSymbol Quirk ✓ Correct! One For All — a Quirk created when the original Quirkless holder was given a power-stockpiling ability by his villainous brother, who would later become All For One. Each holder strengthens it before passing it on. By the time Deku inherits it, six previous wielders’ Quirks (Float, Blackwhip, Smokescreen, Fa Jin, Danger Sense and Gearshift) are also accessible from within. He’s the ninth and (initially) final user. ✗ Wrong. The answer is One For All. All For One is the antagonist Quirk — the one that steals and gives Quirks — and is also the name of the original villain who founded it. “Plus Ultra” is U.A.’s school motto. Deku’s inherited power is One For All. NEXT → 03 Class 1-A’s perpetually-exhausted homeroom teacher is also the underground hero Eraser Head, whose Quirk lets him cancel another person’s Quirk simply by looking at them. He sleeps in a yellow caterpillar-style sleeping bag, drinks jelly pouches and is fiercely protective of his students. What’s his name? AHizashi Yamada BShota Aizawa CToshinori Yagi DSekijiro Kan ✓ Correct! Shota Aizawa — hero name Eraser Head, civilian name perpetually-rumpled Class 1-A homeroom teacher. His capture-weapon scarf and Erasure Quirk make him one of U.A.’s most dangerous combatants in close quarters — though the Quirk only works while his eyes are open, which he uses dramatically to prep dramatic stares before unleashing. Voiced by Junichi Suwabe in Japanese and Christopher Sabat in English. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Shota Aizawa. Hizashi Yamada is Aizawa’s loud blonde best friend — the hero Present Mic. Toshinori Yagi is the civilian name of All Might. Sekijiro Kan is Class 1-B’s homeroom teacher Vlad King. Eraser Head is Aizawa. NEXT → 04 Deku’s childhood frenemy Katsuki Bakugo is one of the franchise’s most popular characters — explosive in temperament and in Quirk. His sweat is nitroglycerine-like, ignited at his palms to produce concussive blasts. Name his Quirk (which is also the official Quirk name). ADetonation BHellflame CExplosion DCombustion ✓ Correct! Explosion. Bakugo can secrete a nitroglycerine-like sweat from his palms and ignite it — the harder he’s sweating, the bigger the boom. His U.A. Sports Festival hero costume includes the iconic grenade-shaped gauntlets that store and release the sweat for his “Howitzer Impact” ultimate move. After much fan voting and his own multiple rejections of cute hero-name suggestions, his final hero name is Dynamight, the God of Explosive Destruction. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Explosion. Hellflame is Endeavor’s Quirk — the #1 hero post-All Might. “Detonation” and “Combustion” aren’t official Quirks. Bakugo’s sweat-into-nitroglycerine palm-ignition power is officially named Explosion. NEXT → 05 The League of Villains is led by an unstable, severed-hand-wearing young man with a Quirk called Decay — touch with all five fingers, and matter crumbles to dust. Trained by All For One as the heir to his throne, he eventually inherits the original villain’s Quirk-stealing power. Name him. ADabi BTomura Shigaraki CStain DKurogiri ✓ Correct! Tomura Shigaraki — born Tenko Shimura, grandson of the seventh One For All wielder Nana Shimura, raised after a tragedy by All For One himself. Decay is one of the franchise’s most terrifying Quirks (it spreads on contact and has no upper limit). After the Paranormal Liberation War arc he absorbs All For One’s power and becomes the series’ final-arc primary antagonist. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Tomura Shigaraki. Dabi is the League’s blue-flame user (and a Todoroki family secret). Stain is the “Hero Killer” ideologue who inspires the League. Kurogiri is the misty warp-gate butler. Shigaraki is the League’s leader, identifiable by the array of severed hands he wears as a self-soothing fashion choice. NEXT → 06 All Might is the world’s top hero and the eighth holder of One For All before passing it to Deku. In his weakened civilian form — the result of a brutal injury inflicted by All For One years before the series begins — he’s a hollow-cheeked, blood-coughing teacher at U.A. What’s All Might’s civilian name? AToshinori Yagi BEnji Todoroki CKeigo Takami DDaigoro Banjo ✓ Correct! Toshinori Yagi. The injury that left him with a perpetually-bleeding stomach wound came in his climactic fight against All For One five years before the series begins — the same fight that killed his predecessor and mentor Nana Shimura’s legacy. Toshinori’s gaunt civilian form vs. his bulked-out hero form is among anime’s most distinctive transformation gags. Voiced by Kenta Miyake in Japanese, Christopher Sabat in English. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Toshinori Yagi. Enji Todoroki is Endeavor (Shoto’s father, the new #1 hero after All Might retires). Keigo Takami is the Wing Hero Hawks. Daigoro Banjo is the fifth wielder of One For All. All Might’s civilian self is Toshinori Yagi. NEXT → 07 My Hero Academia began serialisation in Weekly Shonen Jump in July 2014, ran for over 10 years and over 430 chapters before concluding in August 2024 — one of the defining shonen titles of the 2010s and 2020s. Name its mangaka, who has openly cited Naruto and Western superhero comics as primary influences. ATatsuki Fujimoto BGege Akutami CKohei Horikoshi DEiichiro Oda ✓ Correct! Kohei Horikoshi. He’d previously had two short-lived Jump series (Oumagadoki Doubutsuen, Barrage) before pitching MHA, with All Might consciously designed as an Americanised Superman/Bruce Timm pastiche. The series accumulated over 100 million copies in print and ran from July 2014 to August 2024. Horikoshi is also a fervent ghibli/Western-superhero fan; he’s done illustrated tributes to Spider-Man and Batman. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Kohei Horikoshi. Tatsuki Fujimoto created Chainsaw Man and Fire Punch. Gege Akutami created Jujutsu Kaisen. Eiichiro Oda created One Piece. Horikoshi is MHA’s mangaka and was one of Weekly Shonen Jump’s headline creators throughout the 2010s. NEXT → 08 The MHA anime adaptation has been a flagship of its production studio since the first season aired in 2016, with seven seasons, four films and a regular slot in the global streaming spotlight. The same studio is behind Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Mob Psycho 100 and Bungo Stray Dogs. Name it. AMAPPA BStudio Bones CWit Studio DMadhouse ✓ Correct! Studio Bones (officially BONES Inc.) — the Suginami-based studio founded by ex-Sunrise producers in 1998. Bones is one of the most respected action-anime houses, with credits including Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Soul Eater, Eureka Seven, Mob Psycho 100, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and Bungo Stray Dogs. MHA has been their flagship contemporary IP since 2016. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Studio Bones. MAPPA does Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man and the final Attack on Titan seasons. Wit Studio did the early Attack on Titan seasons (1–3) before MAPPA took over, plus Vinland Saga and Spy x Family. Madhouse did One Punch Man season 1, Death Note and Hunter x Hunter (2011). MHA’s anime is Bones. REVEAL MY RATING → U.A. Provisional License · Final Score Your Hero Standing 🧡 / 8 Symbol of Peace — or still Quirkless? ⤴ PLUS ULTRA AGAIN Whereas Aoyama was forgiven easily, a major character’s betrayal would have cut far deeper and likely would have led to a far more painful conflict. To build on that, if a major character betrayed the class and had done so willingly rather than being coerced, Deku and his classmate’s resolve to save everyone would have truly been challenged, making their reconciliation and redemption all the more meaningful and earned. While Aoyama’s backstory was well written, his limited role undeniably had an influence over how the revelation was received by fans. A more prominent character turning out to be the traitor could have pulled My Hero Academia into darker, more mature territory, all while creating consequences that extend beyond the reveal itself by challenging the heroes and everything they believed about saving others. Movie(s) My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018), My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019), My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission (2021) TV Show(s) My Hero Academia Video Game(s) My Hero Academia: Battle for All, My Hero One's Justice, My Hero One's Justice 2 First Film My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018) Cast Daiki Yamashita, Kenta Miyake, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Ayane Sakura, Yûki Kaji, Aoi Yuki, Kaito Ishikawa, Toshiki Masuda, Marina Inoue, Yoshimasa Hosoya Character(s) Izuku Midoriya, All Might, Katsuki Bakugo, Ochaco Uraraka, Shoto Todoroki, Tsuyu Asui, Tenya Iida, Eijiro Kirishima, Momo Yaoyorozu, Fumikage Tokoyami