The fandom of My Hero Academia has countless fan theories out there. Seriously, if you check out any forum on the subject you’ll quickly find yourself overwhelmed by them all. However, that doesn’t mean that all fan theories are equal.
Some of the theories out there are mind-blowing. Others, we find ourselves hoping to be true. And sometimes, those two end up overlapping. So here are ten of our favorite theories that we really hope end up becoming canon at some point.
10. No Such Thing As Quirkless
One of the larger fan theories out there revolves around those without quirks. Or at least, ones that don’t appear to have quirks. This theory insists that everyone actually has a quirk by this point in time. It’s just that perhaps twenty percent of the quirks are useless, or are not given the opportunity to be noticed.
For example, One For All was created because somebody who thought they had no quirk was then given a quirk. Then it became clear that they did in fact have a quirk; the ability to give quirks. If we assume that he’s not the only one to have an invisible quirk, so to speak, it leaves us with a lot of questions. Perhaps the rest just haven’t had the opportunity to have their quirks triggered? Or they’re so minor as to be considered a trait instead of a quirk.
9. Midoriya & All Might Have Quirks
Related to the fan theory above is another set of fan theories. Both Midoriya and All Might believe that before One for All came into their possession that they had been quirkless. This theory disputes that assumption.
What if, like their processor, their quirks were just not that obvious? Or at least not activated until given the right set of circumstances. There are hints throughout the series that support this theory, such as All Might’s transformations when powered up versus his normal appearance. Or the fact that both have theoretically used their extreme willpower to change the course of fate (this hasn’t yet been shown in the anime, so we’re keeping it detail light).
8. Dr. Tsubasa Corruption
Dr. Tsubasa is the doctor that broke little Midoriya’s heart. You remember him, he’s the one that told Midoriya and his mother that the boy was quirkless. And he did so rather cavalierly to boot. Later, we see Dr. Tsubasa once again. Only now he’s All For One’s doctor.
Now, technically his presence here could just mean he’s taking care of All For One’s health and helping out with other medical needs along the way. But there’s a more sinister implication as well. Dr. Tsubasa could be reporting on the children he sees, helping to identify which quirks are worth stealing. Worse, he could have a way of stealing them directly.
7. Bakugo’s Quirk is Not His Own
Speaking of Dr. Tsubasa and stolen quirks; there’s a fan theory out there that Bakugo’s quirk is not his own. This one requires a little bit of a leap of faith since it’s a theory based on a theory, but it also sort of fits.
The theory is that Bakugo has a stolen quirk, transferred to him from Dr. Tsubasa. If Dr. Tsubasa was working for All For One, and say was transferring quirks to people with personalities that could hopefully be more easily controlled (even if Bakugo did bust their hopes later in the series), then this holds up. And where would this quirk have come from? Midoriya. Yes, that’s right.
Based on Midoriya’s parentage, his quirk likely would have been a combination of flame and telekinesis. Not it’s not a perfect fit, but its close enough. It could perhaps even explain why Bakugo targeted Midoriya so much – some part of him felt jealous or instinctively protective against the young boy.
6. Dabi’s Quirk is Stolen
There’s another theory out there revolving about Midoriya’s supposedly stolen quirk. Only in this instance, it didn’t end up in the hands of Bakugo (no pun intended). Some fans believe that Dabi is the one with Midoriya’s quirk. And it makes a whole lot of sense. Flames coming from the hands? Yeah, that sounds like Midoriya’s quirk, or at least, what it could have been.
Plus there’s the fact that we don’t know how long Dabi has been working with All For One, but it’s reasonable to assume that if he was granted this quirk, it would have been for quite some time now.
5. The Winged Nomu
Remember the Winged Nomu that specifically targeted Midoriya after the fight with Stain? What if we actually knew who that was? A fan theory out there posits that we’ve actually seen that poor victim before – back when he was just a child. This theory would even explain why Midoriya had been targeted as he was.
Back when our characters were just kids, Bakugo hung out with a couple of other bullies who fawned over his every word. One of those boys happened to be a winged creature – eerily similar to what we saw later in that Nomu. Could they perhaps be one and the same? He might have even targeted Midoriya out of habit – it’s what he did as a child, after all.
4. Traitors Everywhere
If you spend any time at all digging through MHA fan theories, you’re going to come up against one or two (or ten) fan theories about who is the traitor. Essentially we know that there is in fact a traitor within UA – the enemy just has too much information for it to be anything else. The question is, who is the traitor?
Everyone seems to have their preferred theory on the matter. Everyone from Present Mic to Kaminari has been scrutinized, and added to the list. Some fit better than others – but that could just mean that there’s a really good covert agent in the works.
3. Izuku Midoriya & All For One?
One of the craziest MHA fan theories out there is the debate on who Midoriya’s father is. Now, it may seem like the answer is obvious. After all, while we don’t know much about Midoriya’s dad (thanks to his absence) we do know a little bit about him. For example, we know that Midoriya’s dad has a mild telekinesis quirk. But… could it have actually been more than that?
What if Midoriya is actually All For One’s son? It would explain his father’s apparent absence in the series. Plus, there are already ties between heroes and villains in this world. All Might and Shigaraki Tomura already have a connection (All Might’s predecessor). So why not have this connection go the other way as well?
2. Dabi Is A Todoroki
This is probably one of the more popular fan theories out there. And we’re all for it. What if Dabi is a Todoroki? We know that Shoto has two brothers and a sister, yet we’ve only ever seen one of the brothers, and his sister (this hasn’t happened in the anime yet, but it’s coming up soon).
So, that left fans wondering. Could Dabi be this missing Todoroki? His skill quirks certainly match up. And we know that Endeavor was displeased with the way his quirks combined in his children – right up until Shoto was born. It isn’t a huge leap to guess that he would have considered the blue flames to be a failure as well.
1. An Imposter in the Crowd
Last, but certainly not least, is the fan theory that argues that one of our favorite characters has been replaced. Back during the first fight against the League of Villains, Aizawa defended his students, even at great personal risk. He ended up taking a lot of damage in the process. So much damage, in fact, that we were led to believe that there was a chance that he might never be able to use his quirk again (thanks to the damage by his eyes).
However, Aizawa was back in school not a day later – though heavily bandaged. And while his quirk seems diminished (the limit has decreased due to the strain it puts on his eyes), he seems relatively unharmed.
Assuming of course, that this is actually Aizawa, and not a replacement. The theory is that this isn’t actually our favorite sleepy teacher. But in fact a spy from the League of Villains. A league capable of stealing and transplanting quirks.
