With My Hero Academia’s eighth season bringing the superhero shonen series to an end, now is the perfect time to revisit some of the villains that helped make the story of Deku and Class 1-A shine. After all, a hero is only as good as their villains and Kohei Horikoshi made some all-time antagonists to threaten Hero Society. In tackling the top ten villains of My Hero Academia, rounding down the evil-doers was not an easy task but we’re confident our “Top Ten Best My Hero Academia Villains” honors the antagonists who stand above the rest.
Muscular
Muscular, aka Goto Imasuji, was a great, early “one-on-one” villain for Izuku Midoriya to face, arriving in the third season of My Hero Academia. Tagging along with the League of Villains, Muscular wasn’t exactly a cerebral threat in the way that All For One and Overhaul could be, acting far more as a “grunt” than anything else. However, Goto’s bloodthirst nature and his desire to fight helped to create one of the best fight scenes for Deku in that third anime season. To say nothing of the satisfaction of seeing Midoriya take down Muscular with one hit in recent seasons following the League of Villains’ prison escape.
Overhaul
Overhaul, aka Kai Chisaki, was a unique villain in the history of My Hero Academia as his reign of terror was almost completely separate from that of All For One’s. A leader within the Yakuza, Overhaul’s Quirk allowed him to “disassemble and reassemble” anything that he touched. Kai not only led a large group of villains but he also created Quirk-earing bullets thanks to using the power of Eri’s rewind Quirk. Easily the biggest villain of My Hero Academia’s fourth season, Overhaul stands tall on this list of major shonen antagonists.
ReDestro
ReDestro, aka Rikiya Yotsubashi, was an interesting villain in that he didn’t necessarily want the destruction of Hero Society to start but he came to align his goals with those of Shigaraki and the League of Villains. Rather, the leader of the Meta Liberation Army simply wanted a world where the government didn’t regular anyone’s Quirks. The MLA grew throughout My Hero Academia amongst the populace as more regular citizens were finding themselves drawn to the cause. For ReDestro, his wealth, brains, and muscle granted to him by his Quirk, made the Meta Liberation Army leader a threat to be reckoned with who could have challenged Class 1-A on his own, outside of the League of Villains.
Stain
Stain was an amazing solo villain who first appeared in My Hero Academia’s second season, having such a strong presence and methodology that his message inspired countless villains to step up to the plate. Seeking to destroy heroes who he deemed “unfit” to be crime fighters, the swordsman with the ability to freeze those whose blood he consumed has taken on a far different role in the final war. Rather than allying himself with All For One and his forces, Stain is backing All Might for the last battle of the anime. Despite his shift to the light side, his villainous ways make him an easy pick for this list.
Spinner
Of all the villains that make up All For One’s forces, Spinner arguably had the weakest Quirk of them all. This fact changed when he got an upgrade from the “Demon Lord” but it wasn’t his powers that made the lizard-like villain stand out. Spinner’s appearance made him a prime target of harassment, showing that the world of My Hero Academia still had a prejudice against Quirk-wielders whose powers made them look far less human than others. Spinner was a perfect example of a villain who was far less evil than many of his comrades but still had a major part to play in the fight against Hero Society.
Twice
What’s not to love about Twice? Much like Spinner, Twice always felt like he was “along for the ride” when it came to the League of Villains but had a backstory, powerset, and personality that made him unique. Unfortunately, while Twice’s Quirk allowed him to create near-infinite doubles of himself, or any object he was touching, the antagonist had severe mental issues thanks to this as he was terrified of losing himself to his duplicates. Eventually dying at the hands of Hawks, Twice’s death still makes for one of the saddest moments of the series regardless of his affiliation.
Toga
Our readership would riot if we didn’t include the villainous Toga on this list and they would be right to do so. The blood-drinking villainess has been a major part of the series since her debut in season two, becoming a fan-favorite antagonist ever since. Harboring a twisted crush on Deku, not only was Toga a major force for evil but the villain helped to demonstrate the Quirk Singularity Theory as her powers evolved to wild, all-powerful levels. While she did recently die in My Hero Academia’s seventh season, her legacy on Hero Society and the anime medium on the whole won’t soon be forgotten.
Dabi
Of all the villains on this list, Dabi is arguably the most connected to Hero Society in terrifying ways. Revealed to be none other than the son of Endeavor and older brother to Shoto Todoroki, Toya Todoroki was a byproduct of both his father’s abuse and All For One’s manipulation following the Todoroki family fallout. Harboring a flame-manipulating Quirk that arguably made him stronger than every other member of his family in the fire department, Dabi is eventually defeated by Shoto in the final war. Dabi has, perhaps, the most rich backstory of any villain and it still has fans remembering him long after the manga’s grand finale.
Shigaraki
The heir apparent to All For One has a killer powerset and a mentality that has made him easily one of the most dangerous individuals aiming to destroy Hero Society. While his initial Quirk of decay was scary enough on its own, Shigaraki eventually evolves his powers before even receiving the full power of All For One to use for himself. Having what is a wildly tragic upbringing, Shigaraki’s status as the grandson of Nana Shimura twists the knife in All For One and establishes his ties to the crime-fighting world. Considering the biggest battle of the final season is Shigaraki facing Deku in a fight between All For One and One For All, it makes sense that the decaying villain would make this list.
All For One
The alpha and the omega, All For One is easily the biggest villain in My Hero Academia. Without the all-powerful villain, characters like Shigaraki and Dabi would not be the antagonists they are today. Were this a ranked list, it would be almost impossible not to put All For One on the top of the rankings. On top of his devilish personality and nigh-invincible powerset, All For One has a musical score that might go down as one of the best for any anime villain to date. With the final season setting up the final confrontation between the Demon Lord and All Might, what better way to end this ranking than with the villain that started it all?
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