Horikoshi reveals Izuku Midoriya's greatest failure

My Hero Academia is one of the biggest and most popular anime series of the last decade, and a big reason for that is the incredible story that the writer of the series, Kohei Horikoshi, has woven around a cast of absolutely phenomenal characters. The series' protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, is one of the most beloved characters of all, and expectedly so. Fans love Izuku Midoriya for his incredible tenacity, and more than that, his kindness, which drives him to save everyone in need around him. Izuku Midoriya is the epitome of what a hero should beand he has created an untouchable place for himself as a hero, especially after the final war.

While most fans consider Izuku Midoriya to be a perfect hero, there is actually one thing he failed to achieve in his lifetime as a hero, and that is his original goal. When the series began, Izuku Midoriya clearly mentioned that this was his story of how he became the greatest hero. At the end of My Hero Academiahowever Izuku is not considered the greatest heroand that title still belongs to someone else entirely, to be his mentor, All Might.

Izuku could never become the greatest hero

His dream was never to be the #1 hero

• Horikoshi changed Izuku's words at the end

• Class 1-A became the biggest heroes

When talking about Izuku Midoriya's dream, there is a misconception among fans, largely stemming from mistranslations in the manga. First things first, Izuku Midoriya never wanted to be the #1 hero. He really wanted to be like All Might, but the actual rank of hero never touched him.

Izuku also didn't want to be the strongest hero of all time, simply because he never claimed to be. What he stated at the beginning of the series was that My Hero Academia was the story of how he became the greatest hero. Largest is a term that can have many meanings, unlike No. 1 and Strongest.

But at the end of My Hero Academia, Horikoshi changed Izuku Midoriya's words. While he initially said that he alone would be the greatest hero, what happened in the end meant that he and his classmates were all together the greatest hero. Horikoshi himself addressed this in an interview:

Question: Chapter 1 ended with “This is the story of how I became the greatest hero”, and in chapter 324 it was changed to “This is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes”. Then in chapter 430, the story ends with “This is the story of how we all continue to reach out to others together”. Was this the plan from the beginning of the series?

Horikoshi's answer: No! It wasn't! I originally planned for it to end with Deku becoming a teacher and saying “You can be a hero!”. Having used up his powers but looking all confident… like that. The reason it was changed is because this series was no longer a story just about Deku and One For All. In this series I explored “What does it mean to be the greatest hero?” and the answer this manga came up with is that it means “extend a hand to others”, so I thought to write the answer and that's how the final monologue of chapter 430 became what it is now.

Horikoshi confirms that All Might is still considered the greatest

The final MHA Fanbook confirms All Might as the greatest

As confirmed by Horikoshi himself, while he started the series with the goal of Izuku Midoriya being the greatest heroit wasn't just about him at the end. All of Class 1-A became the biggest heroes. In fact, Horikoshi himself explained what it meant to be the greatest hero and for him the essence of it is to save someone by reaching out to them. In that regard, it makes sense that All Might is still considered the greatest hero in the world of My Hero Academia, even after the final war.

My Hero Academia last fanbook officially confirms it All Might is the greatest hero of all time. This makes a lot of sense since he has been a hero for decades and saved far more people than anyone else. All Might was the symbol of peaceand even though Izuku saved the world, he definitely didn't save as many as All Might did. In the end, Izuku's goal that he announced at the beginning was never fulfilled.

The My Hero Academia manga ended with 431 chapters for fans to read. All these chapters are available on Manga Plus. As for the anime, this series is still waiting for its final season, which will be released later this year. The series can be seen on Crunchyroll.

Release date

April 2, 2016

Network

TBS, MBS, Nippon TV

Directors

Shouji Ikeno, Tsuyoshi Tobita, Ikuro Sato, Takudai Kakuchi, Masashi Abe, Tetsuya Miyanishi, Kazuma Komatsu, Yoshifumi Sasahara, Masayuki Otsuki, Daisuke Tsukushi, Takayuki Yamamoto, Yohei Fukui, Takuro Tsukada, Masatoyo Takada, Naomi Nakayama, Sayaka Morikawa, Takanori Yano

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  Daiki Yamashita

  Izuku Midoriya (voice)

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  Kaito Ishikawa

  Manga Fukidashi (voice)