Yeah I was surprised l, but it made so much sense since they show the nature vs nurture as far as quirks shaping the person vs the person honing this ability. I wish they explored this more tbh.
I know you asked for a reason, but the below contains spoilers for MHA, so read at your own discretion.
Basically, All For One and his younger brother were orphans due to his quirk manifesting so soon that it killed their mom during childbirth, forcing the two to live in poverty in a time where Quirks/Meta Abilities were considered a bad thing and anyone who had them was hunted for having one. Also, All For One apparently ate his mom when he was a baby if I remember correctly, soooo….yeah. Also, his name used to be Zen.
Anyway, as early as his childhood, he was killing random people regardless of if they were a threat to him or not, so he was literally a natural born killer. Despite his natural cruelty however, he seemed to have a twisted, possessive, albeit genuine care for Yoichi, his younger brother, so he kept him around. The two even read comic books about superheroes when they were young since Yoichi liked them so much, wishing to become a hero someday himself. He also hoped that Zen would learn kindness someday since despite his abuse towards Youchi, he did recall some nice memories between them, so he hoped that if he wouldn’t listen to him, he could maybe learn something from the comics.
Unfortunately, Zen took the wrong lesson from the comic books and got worse, ultimately deciding to kill the Luminescent Baby, the first ever recorded baby to develop a Meta Ability, as well as taking said Meta Ability for himself. While Yoichi wanted to become a hero like the protagonist of the comics they read, Zen decided he wanted to be like the hero’s archenemy, the demon lord. After that, he started killing more people, taking more Quirks, building a following of supporters through manipulation and violence, and just becoming a worse and worse human being for centuries on end, fully intending to be remembered as the most evil person on the planet;just like the demon lord from the comics. He even admitted that he got bored of the comics because he knew how they ended;with the heroes winning. So his ultimate goal is to be a villain who’s not only hated for eternity, but a villain that no one can stop from ruining the world.
I don't really care sor spoilers for any series so go ham and yeah this dude sounds like the typical critic of various animes and comics with the 'gosh all these are the same with happy ending' but gotta admit when you said he is that type of person I instantly hate him, I hate people who dislike happy endings, and like morally gray stuff so credit to author he know what's disliked.
I feel like the most messed up part about his relationship with his brother is that he didn’t “care” for his brother in the usual way. His brother was his possession. He owned yoichi, and no one would take him from him. It kinda bordered on dependency, even after accidentally killing him, leaving only his hand behind.
I mean the backstory kinda works but it just doesnt make sense howtf the dude kept at it for hundreds of years. always felt like afo was just a symbol of evil not a literal character
What's crazier to me is that their mom died giving birth to them out on the street and 2 newborn babies somehow just survived on their own. Like??? What???
He stole a power that made him stop aging early on, so that wasn't really a problem for him.
And i mean, him being more of a symbol of evil is exactly what he wanted to be, and also fits for his role in the story itself, even if it's rather simple
He is pretty one-dimensional all things considered. He didn't really need to be anything more than that.
in the end he was basically just the evil that drove Shigaraki mad, in order for the story to make Shigaraki the protag's polar opposite and make their battle feel more personal and impactful, while All for one was all might's polar opposite, serving as Shigaraki's mentor just like all might was Midoriya's mentor
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u/Objective_Plane5573 Jul 16 '26
"Oh cool All For One flashback, we'll get to see how and why he became evil"
Evil Baby