Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia, Season 7, Episode #19All Might is one of My hero academias most popular characters, but despite this fact, there are some fans out there who feel like the story would have been better served by killing off the hero a long time ago. However, episode #19 of season 7 proved that All Might still has a lot of value in it My hero academias history, and his role is as critical as ever.
All Might is a crucial mentor character throughout My hero academiaBut especially early on, when Deku and his friends are still just learning the ropes of being a hero. Having the greatest hero of all time as their teacher was an incredibly valuable experience, and the students of Class 1-A were not only able to learn the realities of hero work, but also the ideals that are so essential to being that kind of Hero. That the world needs. All Might’s mentor role made him a character that would have been easy to kill off, with many fans pointing to the All Might vs. All for one fight as when it should have happened.
All Might’s mentor role continues over his students
No other character commands the respect all could do
However, killing everyone at this mid-story juncture would be a huge mistake. All Might still paid a heavy price there, losing the last embers of his power and becoming Quirkless, meaning they wouldn’t be able to count on his strength in the future. But all of them still have a lot to offer the story; Not only was he a font of knowledge on the past users of One for All for Deku, but he also still had a lot to teach his students. Most importantly, however, All Might still had a massive amount of​​​​​​respect from his students which gave his words added meaning.
This is seen very clearly in episode #19, “I’m Here,” when All Might orders Todoroki and Ida to go to Dobby’s place and attempt to prevent him from self-destructing in an explosive manner. The couple aren’t sure they can make it in time, but all of Mayte’s faith in them gives them the strength to try. All of his words carry far more power than anyone else’s because of how his students feel about him; His faith in his students, not just Deku, comes from his experiences training with them, something that would be lost if he were killed.
The growth of all my characters proved that he had not overstayed his welcome
All may continue to grow and show why he was #1
He was a figure who did everything by himself – he earned the name “symbol of peace” because people could count on him alone. However, without his power, everyone has to learn new ways to contribute, and to equip others with the responsibilities he once took on.. It wasn’t an easy lesson for him, but he took to his new role as a teacher with gusto after his loss of power. He has certainly been a much better teacher since losing his power than he was before, building relationships with all the students rather than just Bakugo and Deku.
And contrary to Deku’s behavior, he still needed someone to look out for him, just like every mite did in his “dark hero” days. While a rift has grown between them during this time, this is again only possible because all power is still around; The arc wouldn’t have worked nearly as well if everyone was dead, and Deku had no one trying to provide for him. And since All for One alone did not die in the fight, because everyone would die there, his death would feel useless at this stage. Instead, All Might is getting one more shot at his old foe in a Thorn match.
Killing off characters isn’t always best for the story
Character deaths can add drama, but that doesn’t mean that’s what should happen
Many proponents of having everyone die earlier in the story cite the emotional growth it would force Deku to undergo as a reason to kill him off.. However, the story proved that it is not necessary for all might to die to force the growth of Midoriya. As the successor to all of Mayte’s power, Midoriya already felt the weight of having to take on the role when his powers disappeared. Midoriya without all of May would have simply been left alone and fumbling, without the benefit of all of May’s insight into One for All’s past and power.
Killing off a character can be beneficial to a story, and authors shouldn’t necessarily shy away from doing it. However, killing everyone just because it “makes sense” for him to die at a certain point is not a good reason to do so. Horikoshi clearly weighed the value of All Might’s presence, and decided it added more to it My hero academia to keep him alive, and history has since proved that he was right to do so.