My Hero Academia’s Ending: Deku Becomes the Symbol of Peace Without OFA

The final chapter of My Hero Academia, chapter 430, was released on August 5, 2024. However, while the series came to an end, the journey as heroes continued for the other students from the same class.

In order to truly understand this ending, we must look back at the beginning of the series. It was clear from the start that Izuku Midoriya was more fascinated with the concept of being a hero than actually becoming one. He was a curious boy who enjoyed studying and evaluating the powers of others. This is precisely what he grew into by the end of the series, making him a unique Symbol of Peace unlike All Might.

Please be advised that this article contains spoilers from the My Hero Academia manga series.

My Hero Academia: The Journey of Izuku Midoriya to Becoming the Symbol of Peace

Izuku Midoriya, as seen in the anime (Image via Bones)

The latest installment of My Hero Academia, chapter 430, began with an 8-year leap in time, revealing Izuku Midoriya as a teacher at U.A. High School. Meanwhile, his rivals such as Katsuki Bakugo and Shoto Todoroki were vying for the top spot among heroes.

Despite this, Uraraka and Tentacole, along with other students, persevered in their roles as heroes. Although, appearances can be deceiving.

From a young age, Izuku Midoriya has had a strong fascination with heroes, carrying around 3-4 notebooks filled with information about every hero he came across.

Deku helping Dai regarding his quirk use (Image via Shueisha)

In his notebooks, he chronicled the intricacies of each hero’s unique abilities, noting their vulnerabilities and strategies for defeating their adversaries. The character he had the most extensive information on was the Symbol of Peace, All Might, whom the protagonist greatly admired.

Therefore, it could be argued that Deku’s potential as a strategist surpassed his potential as a hero. This was made clear during his conversation with Dai, who expressed frustration with his seemingly useless quirk of throwing plates from his head. In response, Izuku quickly began thinking of ways to improve this ability, suggesting that Dai could follow in the footsteps of Mineta and train to strengthen his quirk.

All Might, as seen in the anime (Image via Bones)

This could potentially position Izuku Midoriya as the new Symbol of Peace, yet his role would be distinct from All Might’s. All Might represented the formidable presence that villains feared before they would even consider harming innocent civilians. He was also the one who popularized this concept and brought about a transformation within the hero society.

Deku would serve as a Symbol of Peace, but he would not directly engage in physical combat. Instead, he would use his strategic thinking to assess which quirks would complement each other and strategically position heroes in order to maximize their abilities.

Despite being different from All Might’s approach, Izuku’s past contributions during the final war and other challenges have proven him to be just as much of a hero as All Might. This is due to the unwavering belief and trust of the people, who have witnessed his heroic actions firsthand.

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