What does it take to become a hero? Are they defined by their (super)powers or some human trait elevated to legendary status? Here's a series dedicated to discovering what makes someone a hero and if a plain boy can be worthy enough of ever being a hero. The images on this page are 400x225 pixels to keep the size small enough. Click any image for the 1280x720px version, with size ranging between 69 and 123 KB.
In a world with superpowers, bullies are extra mean. We see three bullies punching out a kid and Izuku Midoriya, the protagonist, trying to protect him and getting punched down as well. He says he learned people aren't created equal at age 4. After that, he had no setbacks. In this world, powers are called Quirks and it seems everyone has one. Everyone, except Izuku. It all began in China, with the birth of a baby that emitted light. Soon after, Quirks began appearing everywhere and became quite ordinary, with 80% of world's population having a superpower. So, some of them became superheroes and others became super-villains.
At the start, we see a huge monster tearing up the city, with a fascinated crowd of onlookers. Fangirls are there too, cheering their favorite superhero. One of them, Kamui Woods, is about to entangle the monster when a giant supergirl, Mount Lady, dropkicks it. She provides ass-istance and the crowd takes a few (thousand) pictures. The government starts paying superheroes.
Izuku is in school, with a bunch of weirdos hoping to become superheros too. There's no point in grading them, so the professor just throws away the test results. We meet Katsuki Bakugo, who thinks himself the best of them, and the only one capable of surpassing All Might, a Captain America superhero.
Izuku tries to grovel in front of Katsuki and the dude burns his notebook. We see Izuku's flashback to when his mom showed him the video of a disaster showing the debut of All Might.
If the pinky toe is missing a joint, doctors presume the person has a Quirk. Izuku has two joints, meaning he has no Quirk. Normally, kids would inherit one from the parent or a combination of both (his mom can use telekinesis and his father breathes fire). Izuku just wants to be a hero but can't. Izuku gets intercepted and choked by a slime monster that tries to take over his body. All Might appears from the manhole and starts punching the slime monster, freeing Izuku, who goes all fangirl and clings onto him as he flies away. All Might lands on top of a building and is about to walk away, when Izuku asks if people without a Quirk can become heroes.
All Might isn't feeling well. We saw him bleeding in the previous episode and now he's transformed into a dessicated scarecrow.
The slime monster was trapped in a bottle by All Might, but it got lost in transit and Katsuki kicks it, freeing the monster. All Might spills the beans – he's keeping up the pretenses and it's all just posturing. He sits down and asks Izuku to never tell it to anyone. It's all due to a nearly fatal injury he got 5 years ago. Right now, he can only maintain his poofy form for 3 hours a day. It was during the fight against Toxic Chainsaw. All Might asked it not be made public so people keep their faith in heroes. Izuku should become a police officer if he wants to help; All Might tells him to be realistic and realizes he lost the bottle with the slime monster.
A smoke cloud billows in the distance. All Might ambles towards it. It's the evolved form of the slime monster that's taken Katsuki hostage and appears capable of draining Quirks from those it holds. Katsuki tries to explode to break free but the slime absorbs it all. The two start fusing in a freaky Akira/Tetsuo way. Mt. Lady appears but can't approach the spot without squashing everyone. Kamui Woods can't approach because of the fire. All Might watches it all but can't do anything; his time limit is gone for the day.
Izuku feels crushed by the notion of never becoming a hero as he notices the slime monster wreaking havoc. He realizes it's his fault All Might dropped the bottle. The crowd starts doubting All Might's dedication as he grips his chest in pain. Izuku feels immense guilt and hopes help will come soon. He rushes towards the slime monster and throws his backpack at it, letting Katsuki breathe for a moment. He tries scratching at the slime monster. All Might transforms and rushes in to destroy the slime monster, risking his life. With one punch, the slime monster is scattered to thousand winds but All Might is completely drained of his power as the crowd looks in silence. The rain starts falling due to All Might's punch and the crowd cheers but he's barely standing on his feet. Izuku gets scolded by minor heroes but Katsuki is praised for his toughness.
Izuku goes back home when Katsuki catches up with him and yells at him for trying to help. Katsuki calls him a nerd and storms off. All Might charges in and deflates in front of Izuku, offering his thanks and saying that he is an inspiration. All Might says that a hero experiences his body moving without thought. Izuku is proud and remember his mom's apologizing for not giving him a Quirk. All Might asks if he acted without thinking and tells him he can still be a hero. Izuku falls to his knes and bawls his eyes out. This now becomes the story of Izuku becoming the greatest hero.
All Might tells Izuku he is worthy to inherit his Quirk. Izuku is stunned but All Might tells him he has to decide whether he will accept the offer. All Might tells Izuku that he dodged this question in interviews and wasn't born with his Quirk. Izuku mumbles about fan theories regarding All Might's Quirk, which he reveals as called "One For All". This particular Quirk is cultivated from one hero and passed on to the next worthy successor, which is what Izuku showed himself as. In that moment against the slime monster, Izuku was more heroic than anyone else. That's the All Might's secret. Izuku stands up and accepts it. All Might is impressed.
The next day at the beach, Izuku tries pulling a fridge with poofy All Might sitting on it. Izuku wonders why he's doing it when All Might tells his body isn't a proper vessel and that an unprepared body won't be able to handle One For All; the body will blow up and the limbs will fall off.
The purpose of picking up trash is to train his body and also clean up the beach that's filled with trash. All Might tells him being a hero means doing volunteer work, no matter how boring it might be. Izuku looks around at the mountain of trash and wonders if he can do it. All Might tells him he can't go to the top school for heroes, U.A., without a Quirk. So, Izuku has 10 months to train his body to become worthy. All Might gives him a training and even sleeping schedule but Izuku is excited.
Next up is the training montage. Izuku is drained but keeps going. He calculated that he has about 98 days of training... His teacher interrupts his daydreaming and students giggle at him being such a wreck. Izuku does pushups and bench presses as he chows down tons of food, jogs, does curls, swims and vomits. Eventually, he is able to carry All Might in his poofy form on his back. Autumn has arrived but Izuku can't take any more. He has three months left but his body is overworked. All Might asks if he's been overdoing the plan. Izuku thinks he has to work much more than other people or he will fail.
All Might is impressed by his spirit and understands his feelings. The plan will be adjusted. It's the day of the entrance exam and Izuku is screaming at the rising sun on the beach. All Might is stunned with how clean the beach is and commends Izuku. He shows him how weak he was ten months ago and tells him his body is finally a suitable vessel. Izuku feels blessed and cries tears of joy. All Might tells him it's time for the award ceremony, plucks a strand out of his hair and gives it to Izuku, who has to eat it. What?! The idea is absorbing his DNA.
Izuku approaches the building and wonders if he received One For All. Katsuki comes through all sullen and Izuku is again reduced to a blathering kid. Izuku realizes Katsuki didn't do anything to him since the slime monster encounter and there's no need to fear him. Izuku trips and a girl holds him up with her telekinetic Quirk. Izuku is ecstatic for speaking to a girl (he didn't actually say anything).
The exam is a show, with a DJ running it. There's apparently going to be a televised show. The DJ is "Voice Hero, Present Mic". Izuku goes fangirl again and Katsuki, sitting right next to him, tells him to shut up. There is a scheduled 10-minute battle against 3 mock villains as part of the exam. They earn points based on their level of difficulty; it's forbidden to attack other students. One student, Number 7111, notes there's a fourth villain in the pamphlet. Voice Hero explains that the fourth villain is an obstacle worth zero points and there's no need to fight him. The DJ quotes Napoleon:
A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortune.
Izuku is shaking as the exam is about to start.
People are confident and even have equipment to match their Quirks. Izuku notices the girl that helped him and wants to thank her. Number 7111 stops him and people notice Izuku, thinking they are lucky that he's so nerdy. We flash back to the hair swallowing. All Might tells him he'll feel something in 2-3 hours but it's a problem he couldn't test drive One For All. He tells him that he should yell something to use it but the first mock villain barges in, a house-sized robot. Izuku is frozen as another student destroys the villain and rushes away. Six minutes left. Students have been destroying the villains all over the place as the girl has 28 points and Number 7111 has 45 points.
The idea behind the exam is to gather information about villains, corral them in one place and destroy them quickly. Supervisors watch the exam from a dark room and one of them presses a button labeled "Yaruki Switch". Students are shocked as some massive mech rolls in. It's the 0-point villain. It's an enormous robot, the size of a skyscraper. Everyone else runs away. Two minutes left. Izuku thinks about all the wasted effort and notices the girl trapped beneath the rubble. Izuku jumps up and one-punches the villain using One For All.
All Might is in the supervisor room and smiles approvingly, telling that the spirit of self-sacrifice is what a true hero has.
Izuku feels similarly to when he attacked the slime monster. One minute left. Now he's falling down from the sky and feels like an idiot for testing out his body with this borrowed power. He questions himself and plans to attack the ground but both his legs and his right arm are broken. He only has his left arm. The girl slaps him and stops him a few inches from the ground, vomiting rainbows afterwards. Time's up and the sirens blare. Students are smug but Izuku is devastated.
Students wonder how come he has such as amazing Quirk but acts so jumpy all the time. Number 7111 recollects what happened and tells himself that he would have acted the same way if it had not been an exam. A midget grandma comes in and doles out gummy bears. She looks at broken up Izuku and kisses him. It's the Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl, U.A. nurse that can heal anything.
One week later, Izuku is at home daydreaming as his mom is wondering if he's all right. Izuku realizes he barely passed the written exam but knows he got 0 points in the battle exam. Not just that, but he hasn't heard any word from All Might. He didn't tell his mom what happened. He feels like he let All Might down. The results are here. Izuku takes the letter to his room and tears it open. In it, a holographic projection of All Might, who apologizes for not being able to contact him sooner. He says he's working at U.A. as someone off camera gestures him to change subjects.
0 points on the practical exam means Izuku did not pass the U.A. exam. All Might plays a video-in-video, showing the girl coming to negotiate about Izuku and sharing points with him. The girl is emotional and begs to share a point with Izuku. All Might tells him the villain points weren't the only metric that day. DJ tells her that's not an option. All Might tells him about rescue points given by a panel of judges, who awarded him 60 points. The girl, Ochaco Uraraka, got 45 rescue points. Both of them have passed. Izuku can't believe it. All Might tells him it's now his hero academia.
All Might is at the beach as Izuku runs in and almost blows his cover. All Might congratulates him and explains that he didn't reveal to U.A. that he trained him, since Izuku would consider it cheating. All Might explains he got offered the job at U.A just as he started thinking about finding a successor for One For All. Izuku talks about how he has no control over his Quirk but All Might tells him there's no helping it and that it was expected but he will be able to train his vessel eventually. After passing on the torch, All Might will shrink and disappear, having finished his task.
Izuku's mom is so proud of him as he's packing to leave for U.A. Less than one in three hundred enter U.A. 4 people go through recommendations but 36 go through the regular exam, split in two classes of 18 people. Izuku is at the classroom door as he sees Katsuki and Number 7111, Tenya Iida, arguing. Katsuki promises he'll be crushing him. Tenya asks Izuku if he knew about the trick scoring in the practical exam and apologizes for underestimating him. Ochaco appears and starts fangirling at Izuku. We flash back at Katsuki beating up Izuku to admit how he tricked his way into U.A. Izuku tells him it's because of his own effort.
Izuku is perfectly nervous as a guy in a sleeping bag appears. It's a sleepy teacher, Shota Aizawa, who gives them jerseys and takes them out for Quirk assessment. All Might is reading the U.A. rulebook and realizes what's going on. Shota tells them they will be throwing softballs with their Quirks. Katsuki launches it in the atmosphere and it falls 705 meters away. Shota isn't impressed and tells them they have 3 years; whoever comes last in all eight fitness tests will be expelled on the very first day of school.
Shota tells them they will face hardships every day and have to overcome them. The real thing starts right now. Next up, 50 meter dash. Tenya's Quirk is Engine, giving him super speed. Ochaco's Quirk is called Zero Gravity and makes her nauseous if she exerts herself too much. Yuga Aogama's Quirk is Navel Laser that causes him stomach ache if he uses it too much. Izuku is worried that he won't be able to control his Quirk. All Might told him the trick to controlling One For All is feeling. Izuku tried to explain what it felt like to use the Quirk and mentions an egg inside the microwave. All Might told him to focus on the egg not exploding and that will help with control.
The next test is grip strength. Third test is standing long jump. Then, repeated side steps, ball throw (Ochaco gets infinity on this one), long distance run, sit ups and seated toe touch. Izuku hasn't been able to impress in the tests, he tries to activate his Quirk but throws the ball only 46 meters. Shota tells him he erased his Quirk, which is his Quirk. He is the Eraser Head, underground hero that shies away from the media.
All Might is watching from around the corner and thinks how he's not getting along with Shota, who tries to get under Izuku's skin trying to tell him he can't be a hero with his Quirk. Shota returns his Quirk and tells Izuku he has two more tries. Shota thinks Izuku has no potential. Izuku activates his Quirk and throws the ball using only his index finger for a 705-meter result. Shota smiles. All Might is impressed that Izuku used One For All just with his finger to minimize injury and maximize result.
Katsuki is enraged by Izuku's result and charges at him. Shota launches his bandages made out of carbon fiber and special metal alloy wire. We also learn Shota's Quirk erasure effect disappears when he blinks. At the end of the day, Shota shows them the results. Izuku is last in class. Shota tells them he lied about the expulsion rule so they give their best.
All Might confronts Shota and tells him he used the expulsion rule on last year's class, meaning he sees the potential in Izuku. Recovery Girl tells him healing draws up the person's stamina; if he keeps getting injured, he'll die. Tenya catches up with Izuku and Ochaco comes in too.
The next day, they're in English class and DJ shows them four sentences on the blackboard, asking which one is wrong:
It's a trick question, because all of them are wrong. They have lunch in the cafeteria and then basic hero training in a classroom by All Might. He gives them costumes based on their Quirks and requests, asking them to come in to the battleground.
We flash back to three weeks before, when Izuku talked to All Might, who told him he has to change his Quirk registration, with small changes accepted for known Quirks but it will probably be OK in cases where there was "none", such as with him. Izuku gets a bunny suit that resembles All Might's silhouette. Ochaco has a skin-tight bodysuit and Izuku blushes. All Might tells them they will be doing 2vs2 battles indoors, which is where "villains" are hiding.
The task is trying to catch the "villains" or get the nuclear bomb they've planted somewhere inside their hideout within the time limit, with a nice reference to the Final Fantasy VII battle screen. Their teams will be decided by drawing lots, to inspire them to think on the fly. Izuku gets paired with Ochaco. Tenya and Katsuki are the second pair and go against Izuku and Ochaco. All Might tells the former pair to go all out and feel free to act like villains; he will step in if they go overboard.
Izuku is trembling because he has to face Katsuki. Ochaco tries to instill confidence in him. All Might announces the start of the battle as he and the rest of the heroes watch the action on a screen. He tells to himself he'll grade Izuku strictly. Izuku and Ochaco enter the building through a window. It's got narrow corridors when Katsuki jumps out and punches a wall, narrowly missing Izuku's head. Izuku grabs his arm and slams him against the ground. Katsuki says he's been analyzing his moves for a long time, noticing he always starts with a right hand swing. Katsuki doubles down and lunges at him.
We see Katsuki and Tenya discussing Izuku prior to the encounter. Katsuki feels tricked. We see Izuku and Katsuki as kids, where the latter was always filled with confidence, but after his Quirk manifested, he became a villain. Tenya contacts Katsuki for an update but he tells him to sit still and guard the bomb; Tenya is exasperated. All Might shows other students the capture tape, which can be wrapped around an opponent to eliminate him. Izuku tries wrapping it around Katsuki's arm but narrowly fails.
All Might is pleased with how dilligent Izuku was when writing his notebook on heroes; the fanboy knowledge is paying off. Izuku starts running away while trying to formulate a plan. Katsuki is furious chasing him and taunts him to come and fight. Students are giddy with excitement. All Might thinks this kind of self-aggrandizing attitude is too much. Izuku rethinks his plan and realizes he should join Ochaco and find the bomb to defeat Tenya on his own rather than wasting time with Katsuki.
We again flash back to their childhood, when the bullying first started. They skip stones, demonstrate their Quirks and grow up. Izuku tried to fit in but never could, fanboying over Katsuki, who just kept doubling down with his rage and hate. Almost like a villain. Ochaco finds the bomb and hears Tenya soliloquying over being a villain. The girl starts giggling and reveals her position instead of radioing Izuku.
Tenya reveals that he's prepared the room by removing all the movable objects she could use. She contacts Izuku and reveals her position – directly above. 6 minutes left. Katsuki finds him and channels his rage. Izuku feels no fear anymore. Now we learn Katsuki can launch his explosions from his costume, creating an enormous fireball that blows Izuku away. All Might is scared and tries to radio him. Katsuki slowly approaches, teasing Izuku to use his Quirk.
Ochaco notices Tenya is occupied and tries jumping over him to touch the bomb. Tenya activates his Quirk and just moves it away as Ochaco lands face first on the floor. All Might doesn't want to stop Katsuki but warns him that he can't use that power; it's destroying the building he should be protecting. Izuku tells Ochaca to grab a pillar. Katsuki jumps over Izuku and blasts him in the back. Students call him talented as he rushes in and starts punching Izuku, telling him he's always going to be inferior.
Ochaco whines it's a lynching. Students watching say Katsuki isn't playing as a hero. All Might wants to stop the fight but is also curious to see them duke it out. Izuku stands next to the window; he's directly below the floor with the bomb. He tells Katsuki that he's an amazing person but he'll surpass him. The two lunge at one another. All Might thinks these are the first genuine emotions other than "I want to be a hero" from Izuku. Students gasp as the two collide and Izuku attacks upwards, blasting a hole through the building while receiving the full blast to his face. Ochaco grabs the pillar and launches the debris at Tenya, who covers his head and lets her jump over him to touch the bomb and win. Izuku is broken up one floor below as the timer runs out. Students are agape but All Might is smiling and pronounces heroes have won this round.
Students can't believe the winners have been so badly bruised while the losers are untouched. That's the grim reality of being a hero. Katsuki recalls what just happened and realizes he would have probably lost. All Might interrupts his daydreaming and proclaims Tenya as MVP of the fight. One of the students, Momo Yaoyorozu, explains that Katsuki acted out of personal grudge and Izuku's plan was rash while Ochaca let her guard down when approaching Tenya, who was the only one to prepare for the fight. Heroes only won because this was training and All Might sweats trying to cover for Izuku. Momo is one of the four students admitted through recommendations.
Match 2 begins. One of the "villains" is an invisible girl that decides to get naked so she can't be seen. We are introduced to a hero, Mezo Shoji, whose Quirk is Dupli-Arms, letting him duplicate his body parts on his extra arms. The other hero, Shoto Todoroki, touches the building and freezes everything, waltzing right past the villains and touching the bomb. Even All Might feels the cold. Shoto's Quirk lets him manipulate the temperature of whatever he touches: right hand burns, left hand freezes. He is the second hero admitted based on recommendations.
All Might proclaims class dismissed and runs off. He is well aware of Katsuki's pride but feels losing his power and turns into a dessicated scarecrow. Recovery Girl scolds All Might for letting Izuku being so badly injured. All Might tells that his Quirk's nature is only known to a tight group of people. Recovery Girl asks if being a symbol of hope is so important. Izuku comes to and gets released, thinking that Shota will bind him in his wrappings.
Izuku enters the class and everyone is overjoyed. Eijiro Kirishima and Hanta Sero, Yuga Aoya and Mina Ashido, Tsuyu Asui, Sato, Mineta, Yuga Aoyama. Ochaca tells him Katsuki went home without saying anything. Izuku runs out to find him as he's slowly walking off. Izuku spills the beans about One For All but doesn't tell who he got it from. Katsuki trembles in rage. Izuku promises to beat him one day using his own power.
Luckily, Katsuki doesn't believe him at all. He even realized Momo's criticism of him was wrong. Katsuki doubles down and promises to become number one in U.A. Katsuki is stopped by All Might, who tries to teach him a lesson. Katsuki shrugs off his pandering and walks off. Girls watch from the window and call it "the fated battle between men". All Might asks Izuku what they were talking about.
Students get interviewed by the media, who want to know how All Might is doing as a teacher. Shota tells them to stop making a fuss. One of the news reporters tries to walk after him but a massive barrier jumps up in front of her – there are sensors throughout the U.A. campus and anyone trying to get in without an ID will be shut off.
Shota gives his opinion on the training performance. He repeats his opinions from the first day and tells the students he will pick a class representative. Students start frothing but Tenya silences them all, saying they should hold an election. Izuku gets 3 votes, winning the election. Tenya got 0 votes, meaning not even he voted for himself. Deputy representative will be Momo, who got 2 votes.
Izuku doubts if he can do it but Tenya tells him he voted for him. Ochaco asks him if he's a rich boy and he says he's the younger brother of Turbo Hero, Ingenium, who has 65 sidekicks working at his Tokyo agency. The bell rings and a female voice announces that there's a level 3 emergency, meaning someone is trespassing on school grounds. It's the press but the students are already stampeding.
Tenya touches Ochaco and starts floating. He activates his Quirk and spirals out of control, grabbing a pipe near the ceiling to say it's all OK. He reminds students to act as they should and not panic. Izuku is talking in front of the class, saying that Tenya should be the class representative because he has shown his cool. Shota tells them they're wasting time and should hurry up. Tenya humbly accepts. U.A. faculty examines the destroyed barrier and wonders how the media managed to do it.
A villain is holding a family hostage and All Might slaps him silly. He flies away but feels his powers fading. After he gave One For All to Izuku, he felt himself losing his strength. We flashback to the moment when Izuku confessed to talking about One For All to Katsuki, giving him only a slight scolding.
Shota holds a class, telling his students that they will be tutored by him, All Might and another person. They will be rescuing someone and can choose whether to wear their costumes. Tenya is shouting orders and they board the bus. Izuku is chatting with the frog girl, Asui, who tells him his Quirk looks an awful lot like All Might's. They are greeted by Space Hero, Thirteen, who looks like Michelin Man. The students enter the dome and discover a whole landscape with a slew of disasters, called Unforeseen Simulation Joint, USJ. All Might is resting as Space Hero, Thirteen shows them his power, Black Hole, that can suck up anything and turn it to dust.
Space Hero, Thirteen tells students that making one wrong move can kill others or them so they should be careful. The lessons they are taught here are meant to make them more aware of their full capabilities. A dimensional tear appears and some creature with human hands pulls it agape. Shota tells students to stay still. It's the villains pouring out of the dimensional tear.
The villains wonder where's All Might and if he'll show up if they start killing kids. They were the ones who broke through the barrier the other day. One of the students tells that this surprise attack was carefully planned with a goal in mind. Shota orders an evacuation. Izuku asks Shota if he can handle it and he says he has more than one trick up his sleeve. The dark ghost villain stops the students and tells them that they are the League of Villains, who arrived to see All Might draw his last breath. He traps them underneath a dome of dark energy and warps everyone to a different place. Izuku is tossed into the lake, where a shark villain charges at him but Asui rescues him to the shipwreck.
They recall what the dark ghost was saying and realize villains have the U.A. schedule. The water-type villains suround their ship. Izuku tells they should attack and fight them off. All over the training zone, fights are taking place. In U.A. lounge, All Might is futilely trying to contact Shota and Space Hero Thirteen but doesn't realize somebody is blocking the communication. Principal Nezu comes into the lounge, showing him news of All Might resolving three incidents before coming to work. Principal tells All Might to stay and relax for a little bit. Principal Nezu pours tea for both of them and starts talking about the theory of teaching.
The rest of the students can't go out because of the dark ghost. Space Hero, Thirteen tells Tenya to go out and alert the school, which would pretty much just need going past the dark ghost, where the working sensors are. The dark ghost tells them they're idiots for discussing their plan in front of him. Space Hero Thirteen sucks the dark ghost inside his right index finger.
Izuku suggests Asui and Mineta fight the villains, who probably don't know their individual Quirks. Izuku says that they have the upper hand because of the element of surprise. Villains haven't tried to climb the shipwreck because they are wary of their Quirks and are waiting for them to come to the water. Mineta says he can pull balls of rubber off of his head and let them stick to any surface but can't pull off too many or he'll start bleeding. Mineta pulls off a bunch of balls and tosses them in the water, where villains cautiously avoid them. Izuku says they should wait for the enemy to become perfectly certain of their win before attacking. The shipwreck is sinking after one of the villains slashes it in half with his Quirk.
Izuku jumps high in the air, aims his Quirk between the villains around the shipwreck and knuckle-whips, causing a whirlpool to appear. Asui jumps up with Mineta and grabs Izuku by the thigh, dragging him away. Mineta starts throwing sticky balls, causing all the villains in the water to stick together. Izuku's left hand thumb and middle finger are useless.
Izuku scolds himself for taking such a huge gamble. Asui tells him to stop muttering about and think what to do next. Izuku suggests going to the exit. Shota has drawn the entire lot of villains to him. Mineta is terrified but Izuku mentions Shota being overwhelmed, despite having goggles that stop villains from knowing who he's looking at. We hear Izuku's narration that this was their first mistake – thinking they can actually win.
Meanwhile, Shoto is owning villains with his freezing powers without breaking a sweat. He thinks of them as lowlife thugs sent there to impress the students with the sheer numbers.
Shoto tells the thugs he froze that they will slowly die from cold unless they tell him how they planned to take out All Might. We're introduced to another student, Kyoka Jiro, whose Quirk is Earphone Jack, allowing her to amplify the sound of her heartbeat and send it out as shockwaves. She pushes Kaminari, whose Quirk is generating electricity around his body, onto villains. Momo creates an insulation sheet to cover herself and Kyoka and Kaminari stuns all the villains around them but that causes his brain to overload for a while. Momo has a clothing mishap as well.
Izuku, Mineta and Asui see Shota wrecking villains left and right when the palmface villain approaches him and catches him off guard; there's a moment when Shota's hair covers his eyes, neutralizing his Eraser Head Quirk. Palmface villain touches and decays Shota's elbow. The palmface villain taunts Shota, telling him that he's not the last boss. A massive beastly villain called "Nomu" grabs and starts hurting Shota.
The dark ghost tells Space Hero Thirteen that his battle experience is low and he isn't used to fights. The Dark ghost opens a warp gate behind Space Hero Thirteen and causes him to kill himself with the black hole. The dark ghost is interrupted by another student as Tenya is about to reach the door. Katsuki and another student slap mini villains. Katsuki wants to destroy the warp gate when a small invisible villain jumps at him; Katsuki defeats him with one hand and without even looking.
Students all over the training site are decimating villains. Tenya manages to run out with the help of Ochaco and a few other students playing together. Shota is being crushed by a massive beast, who breaks his joints like a twig. Shota is sure the beast's Quirk is erased but he has such immense physical strength that it doesn't matter. The dark ghost materializes next to the palmface villain, who is called Tomura Shigaraki. The dark ghost is called Kurogiri. They discuss what just happened and Kurogiri relays the news of Tenya managing to escape. Tomura seems anxious and starts scratching himself, throwing a temper tantrum. Tomura says it's game over and they should go home.
Izuku thinks that the villains must have another plan. Tomura suggests destroying some of All Might's pride as Symbol of Peace and reaches for Asui but it turns out Eraser Head was watching him, disabling his Decay Quirk. Izuku uses One For All on Tomura from point blank and creates a massive shockwave. But, the arm he punched with isn't broken. He is happy but then realizes he punched Nomu without hurting him. Tomura commends Izuku and tells he's done with him. Nomu grabs Izuku, Asui launches her tongue and Tomura reaches for Mineta as something destroys the front door, raising a cloud of smoke. It's All Might and he's pissed.
All Might says he had a bad feeling and met Tenya on his way here. He says he's really angry but also proud that all is fine now. He's not smiling. He rips off his tie as students feel immense relief. Tomura stands up and says he's been waiting for this, calling All Might trash. Mini villains talk about attacking him but he destroys them in a nanosecond. All Might sees Shota and grabs him, Izuku, Asui and Mineta, telling them to go to the entrance. One of Tomura's hands has fallen off, that of his father, and he's anxious again. He picks it up and attaches it to his face, analyzing All Might's power, commenting that he is getting weaker.
Izuku tries warning All Might about Nomu but he tells him it's all fine and smiles. All Might tries hitting Tomura but Nomu gets in front of him. All Might doles out punches but Nomu is unfazed due to shock absorption.
Tomura comments that slowly gouging out Nomu's flesh would be the only way to harm him. All Might grabs Nomu and suplexes him. Izuku thinks about having to trust All Might, who must have exerted himself too much today.
We see Nomu fighting back, again unfazed. Tomura is happy and comments how this is an unexpected opportunity to Kurogiri. All Might is being hurt by Nomu, who touches his wound and wrestles him. Kurogiri says that Nomu's job was to hold All Might, who is being pulled into a warp gate; when he's halfway in, the gate will be closed, killing All Might. Izuku wants to go back and save All Might. He runs back at full speed, thinking about what All Might did for him. Kurogiri opens a warp gate and Katsuki jumps in, blasting him. Shoto is also there, freezing Nomu but not All Might.
Space Hero Thirteen is still alive and tells students to get out. Tomura says Kurogiri that their escape has been closed off. Katsuki says that Kurogiri's Quirk is exactly what he thought – only parts of the dark ghost can turn into a misty warp gate but there is an actual body underneath it, since Katsuki saw him say "that was close" at one point. Tomura comments how these kids make his League of Villains look bad. Nomu moves but his right leg and arm fall off. They regenerate instantly. We find out Nomu has several Quirks and works as a human sandbag, designed to take down All Might. Nomu attacks Katsuki to free Kurogiri but All Might intervenes and saves him.
Tomura says he's angry at the world that determines one act as heroic and other as villainous depending on mere context. Killing All Might will show to the world he breeds violence. All Might calls it preposterous and Tomura a liar. Students want to help but All Might tells them to go away but this time it's fine. Izuku notices All Might is bleeding but he gives him a thumbs up. Tomura orders Nomu and Kurogiri to get All Might, who barely has a minute of power left. Tomura will deal with the kids.
All Might goes Super Saiyan and punches Nomu's fist. They exchange blows as shockwaves ripple all throughout the testing grounds. All Might thinks that he will simply have to give 110% to overcome Nomu. Izuku notices All Might is hitting at over 100% of his power with each punch. All Might tells him the motto of U.A., "Plus Ultra", meaning "go beyond", as he punches Nomu into outer space. Students are in awe but All Might feels completely exhausted after punching over 300 times. He tells Tomura and Kurogiri that they should finish this as soon as possible.
Tomura feels overwhelmed and that All Might used a cheat. Momo and Kyoka surrender to a villain who holds Kaminari hostage. Kyoka tries talking the villain into lowering his guard as other thugs come to. Tomura is scratching himself again as he thinks his intel was wrong. All Might tells him to come right over. Students want to leave All Might but Izuku notices the cloud of steam when he turns into a dessicated scarecrow. All Might can't move even one step but keeps up the bluff to scare Tomura and Kurogiri into surrendering. Tomura is anxious. Kurogiri tells him to calm down and that All Might has been weakened by Nomu.
Kurogiri says there's only a few minutes left before All Might's forces arrive, meaning they still have a chance to kill him. Tomura calls All Might the last boss. Tomura and Kurogiri lunge at All Might but Izuku jumps at them and is about to blast Kurogiri's body away when Tomura reaches through Kurogiri's portal and touches Izuku's hand.
All of a sudden, another teacher appears, a cowboy that starts blasting fools. At the entrance, Principal Nezu gathered all the faculty who were available to come help. Tomura realizes it's game over now when Kurogiri tries to warp them both away and the cowboy shoots him a couple times.
Space Hero Thirteen comes to and tries sucking them in when the two escape. Tomura swears vengeance. Shoto tells this was an experience they weren't ready for yet. Izuku is broken again and thinks he failed but the dessicated scarecrow tells him he saved him again by buying him time.
We meet another teacher, Cementoss, who has the Cement Quirk, helping him manipulate cement as if it was clay. Dessicated scarecrow says that the had to act recklessly. Tomura is back in his lair, shot and bleeding out, thinking he was defeated and lied to. A voice from a monitor tells him the info was good and his attack wasn't organized properly. The voice asks about Nomu and Kurogiri says that without precise coordinates, there was no way to retrieve him, even with the warp gate Quirk. Tomura says about Izuku, who had All Might's powers. The voice tells Tomura to gather elite villains and show the world why he has to be feared.
The police arrives and some of the students talk about where they were during the assault. Shota is in the hospital and the medical report says his eyes might have permanent damage. Space Hero Thirteen is also being treated as are All Might and Izuku. In the training area, Principal Nezu, cowboy and a hot teacher discuss improving security. Nomu is found in a grove on U.A. grounds. Principal Nezu seems way too cheery for what just happened.
Recovery Girl talks to Izuku and dessicated scarecrow, who says he might have overexerted himself to the point of shortening his time allowance. The detective is Naomasa Tsukauchi, All Might's friend. Dessicated scarecrow says villains did something dumb, since this class is very strong and they will become strong heroes.
In this season, we get a brand new intro song, which is a lot worse than the one in 1st season.
In the aftermath of the League of Villains attack, the police has arrested 72 villains. All Might is writing a letter recapping the first season's events, apparently addressing it to his old teacher. We learn All Might's name is Toshinori Yagi. Kurogiri and Tomura were not found in the police registry, meaning they are unreigstered.
All Might recalls what happend in the last season. Tomura appeared like a man-child, someone who never went through counseling mandatory for kids in the education system. How did the small-fry villains find Tomura? The principal again says some things that make him seem like he's agreeing with the villains. All Might reacts shocked but says nothing.
Izuku wonders if he could have helped in any way when villains attacked. Students discuss the events too. Why is the invisible girl wearing a uniform? Shota comes in all bandaged up and announces a school sports festival. Students wonder what any normal person would – is that safe considering villains just attacked?
Shota says it's a chance to show to the world the school's crisis management is on par, a reason that makes no sense. Anyway, in this world, U.A. sports festival has replaced the Olympics. This is a chance to get noticed by a pro hero.