My Hero Academia: Is All For One Dead? How Did He Die?

Warning: The following article contains major spoilers from My Hero Academia & Demon Slayer manga. Read ahead at your own discretion!

Ladies and gentlemen, Bakugo has finally done what most deuteragonists couldn’t—he has killed a main villain.

Chapter 410 titled “Farwell, All For One” marked the death of My Hero Academia’s mastermind and Shigaraki’s babysitter, All For one, as he dipped for good by de-evolving into a baby and an egg cell via his own attack.

But how did this happen? Even All Might wasn’t able to kill him in Kamino. So why is Bakugo so special to get the W?

First, let’s discuss the circumstances that led to All For One’s death.

Is All For One dead?

Yes. All For One died in a pathetic state, where he was literally crying like a baby.

(MHA Chapter 410)

The funniest thing about it is that he went back to a state before he was born and simply vanished. Those of you reading this would think “how and why??”

How did All For One die?

Well, AFO died at the hands of Bakugo. But the assist came from little Eri! Yes, the same Eri we saw in the Overhaul arc, giving Deku his Super Saiyan Blue form.

Eri’s quirk, rewind, enables her to revert a living person’s body to a prior state, allowing her to make her victim physically younger, cure injuries, and repair physical mutations.

Being a mutation herself, she once accidentally rewinded someone’s body to a point before they existed, erasing them completely.

(MHA Chapter 156)

Overhaul used Eri’s quirk to make quirk-erasing drugs, a means of destroying one’s Quirk Factor, the biological mechanisms behind the functioning of quirks, as was in the case of Mirio.

All For One got his hands on one of them through Doctor Kyudai. After stealing a couple of drugs from Chisaki, Shigaraki gave a bunch to Twice and Kyudai to replicate and mass produce them, but it ended in failure.

However, what’s interesting is that Kyudai was actually successful in replicating the bullets. During the raid on the Jaku General Hospital, X-Less however melted the majority of them. Even though all the bullets were gone, Kyudai used the same know-how as before to create another drug for All For One.

In chapter 364, the doctor realized that the drug was manufactured through Eri’s quirk, and by focusing on the original effects of the quirk, he created another dose of the drug for one-time-only use.

(MHA Chapter 364)

Through that drug, All For One extracted Eri’s quirk and added it to his arsenal. Kyudai warned him of the side effects, but All For One used her quirk anyway while facing Endeavor, reverting the villain back to his prime strength temporarily.

(All For One reverted back to his prime using the Rewind drug)

The effects accelerated when he fought against All Might, forced to continuously exert himself and use his quirks constantly, thereby making him rewind from a young adult to a child at a much faster rate.

(All For One reverted back to his childhood)

All these battles drained his energy and his ability to contain Eri’s quirk, which the doctor revealed that once activated, it cannot be stopped.

Once Bakugo entered the scene, it was all over for him. By that time, his energy levels were an all-time low, plus his exertion reached a level where All For One was reduced to a freakin’ baby!

Bakugo vs All For One

Bakugo came rushing in to save All Might in Chapter 405, much to everyone’s surprise. The Class 1-A hero looked pretty battered, but All Might gave his arm armor to protect Bakugo not only from All For One but from his own attack!

He wasted no time blasting the hell outta AFO, starting with his face.

(MHA Chapter 405)

Edgeshot confirms that Bakugo’s speed increased so much that it even made Shigaraki shudder in fear. But All For One didn’t budge, thinking that the boy wasn’t worth getting worked up on. He thought Bakugo was a mere filler character, but he didn’t know that Bakugo was a descendant of the 2nd holder of One For All, Kudo! (At least that’s the leading speculation)

He realized that Bakugo had something within him that made AFO hate the guy more than even All Might! The drive to save the people around him, even his worst enemies, presumably emanated from Kudo.

During his battle with Shigaraki, Bakugo experienced a quirk awakening. But he didn’t reach his full potential until he faced All For One.

In chapter 406, he found the secret behind unlocking his explosion quirk’s full power. When the sweat on his palms explodes, it causes recoil damage to Bakugo’s body. This has been a problem for the young lad since the beginning, but now he has figured out the trajectory of the pain that flows throughout his body.

Through that trajectory, he can access the location and timing of his backup blasts and use them fully on All For One.

(MHA Chapter 406)

After this, Bakugo was unstoppable, much to All For One’s frustration. He not only landed an explosive explosion after a powerful explosion, but his speed and reflexes utterly blew him away. In response to All For One’s impressive use of his quirk capabilities, Bakugo displayed his own exceptional abilities.

Even though he was at the height of his powers, Bakugo this time managed to keep up with All For One after fully realizing its might.

Even more terrifying is Bakugo’s assertion that he could outdo Deku in this condition.

All For One unleashed a terrifying attack called “Omni Factor-Unleash: All For One Goal” on his opponent to prevent the fight from dragging further.

But Bakugo proved once again that he was HIM and unleashed an explosive attack powerful enough to blow AFO’s attack into nothingness. The villain’s demise got even closer when he insulted Bakugo as a mere side character, prompting him to blow AFO even further with continuous explosive blasts.

AFO believes that the quirk factors aren’t operating as they should, and it’s not simply because of the explosions. “Is it because my body has become too small and fragile?!”, he wondered. That’s when we realize AFO is now a child within the vestige world as well.

That’s when Hawks’ quirk’s vestige appears, claiming that all of AFO’s rage has caused the vestiges and quirks to lose control, including Eri’s quirk.

In Chapter 410, he planned to take over Shigaraki’s body in order to steal One For All. Unfortunately for him, though, he has become a baby in the real world.

(MHA Chapter 410)

As a last resort, baby AFO launched a missile from his mouth to hit Bakugo in the head. But the dude grabbed it through his teeth and ignited the explosive back at AFO, finally vaporizing him.

This sounds too similar to Demon Slayer and Muzan innit?

(All For One’s death in My Hero Academia)

(Muzan’s death in Demon Slayer)

Why Bakugo was the perfect person to take down All For One

Some may argue that Deku or All Might should have put All For One to rest. But actually, Bakugo shares too many similarities with All For One, hence becoming the perfect candidate to take the villain down.

Both were born with incredible power and believed that because of the abilities they possessed, they were inherently better than others. Obviously, both wanted to pursue completely opposite paths, but it was that strong superiority complex that led to their dickhead personalities.

How Bakugo treated Deku as a kid was in the same sort of aggressive, bullying way AFO treated his brother Yoichi. Look no further than chapter one, where Bakugo literally tells Deku to KILL HIMSELF!