My Hero Academia: The Strongest Character In Every Arc, Ranked

by

The popular anime My Hero Academia tells a long, exciting story broken down into several arcs, which can be grouped into three main parts, following Deku’s journey to becoming a powerful hero. Unexpected moments, like Yuga Aoyama’s difficult choice to betray his friends and Bakugo’s life-threatening injury, have been key to the story’s impact. However, fans also love the action and want to know who the strongest characters are, making it interesting to look back at each arc and assess everyone’s power levels.

Smaller story arcs often don’t stand out because they lack significant events and tend to blend into larger arcs. In contrast, major arcs clearly showcase power differences between characters. It’s notable how some characters in My Hero Academia start relatively weak but become incredibly powerful over time, and vice versa for others. We can judge these characters’ importance within an arc by how strong they are during that specific storyline.

UA Sports Festival Arc: Katsuki Bakugo

Funnily Enough, Bakugo Didn’t Feel Like He Earned It

Image via studio Bones.

During the UA Sports Festival tournament, Katsuki Bakugo proved to be the strongest student competitor. While the world outside of UA High had even more powerful heroes and villains, the story focused on the students at that time. Bakugo clearly stood out as number one in the competition, although he faced tough challenges from Shoto, Deku, Fumikage, and even Tenya Iida. It’s not surprising that these four made it to the final round.

I watched the final match and thought Shoto could have taken the win if he’d really pushed himself with both his ice and fire abilities. It seemed like he was holding back, almost fighting himself, which ultimately cost him the match. Bakugo, though, was all in. He was determined to unleash everything he had with his Explosion Quirk, even using incredibly powerful moves like the Howitzer Impact. He powered through Ochaco, Eijiro, Fumikage, and finally Shoto, earning the gold medal. But even with the win, Bakugo didn’t seem completely satisfied. It was a clear sign that simply being strong wouldn’t be enough to make him truly happy as a hero.

Joint Training Arc: Shoto Todoroki

Shoto Learned How to Go Plus Ultra

The Joint Training Arc mainly served to introduce Hitoshi Shinso as a hero-in-training and to reveal Deku’s growing mastery of One For All. However, it also significantly changed how everyone viewed the students of Classes 1-A and 1-B. The arc highlighted surprising strengths in some students, confirmed expectations for others, and revealed weaknesses in a few. Overall, it forced a reevaluation of the potential of all first-year students at UA.

During the recent arc, several strong students like Deku, Shoto, and Fumikage demonstrated their abilities. However, Fumikage was unexpectedly defeated by Kinoko’s mushrooms, and Deku struggled to control his new Blackwhip technique. Ultimately, Shoto Todoroki proved to be the most accomplished fighter, finally exceeding Bakugo in terms of mastering his own powers. Importantly, Shoto had learned to fully utilize the fire aspect of his Quirk, a significant step forward after relying primarily on his ice abilities for so long. While still developing, Shoto’s progress throughout the arc was remarkable.

Hideout Raid Arc: All Might

United States of Smash Was All Might’s Swan Song

Image via studio Bones.

The Hideout Raid Arc immediately followed the Forest Training Camp Arc, and fans of My Hero Academia often see them as one continuous story about Bakugo’s kidnapping by and rescue from the League of Villains. Since the heroes’ abilities didn’t change much between these two arcs, the Hideout Raid Arc is often used by viewers to determine which character is the most powerful. All For One, the main villain, initially seemed unstoppable as he defeated many pro heroes, but ultimately, a symbol of hope rose to challenge him.

All Might wasn’t just a powerful hero; his unwavering bravery and selflessness defined him. He used the last of his energy to land one final, devastating blow – a United States of Smash – securing victory in the Hideout Raid Arc. However, this win came at a great cost. With All Might no longer able to fight, and new villains emerging after All For One’s defeat, the world was left vulnerable and searching for a new protector.

Shie Hassaikai Arc: Overhaul

Overhaul’s Quirk Boasts Endless Possible Uses

Image via studio Bones.

Izuku Midoriya, known as Deku, really stepped into his own as a hero during the Shie Hassaikai Arc. While he’d previously shown courage – like rescuing Izumi Kota in Season 3 – Season 4’s arc felt different. Fully suited up, Deku made a firm commitment to save Eri, which made him feel less like a student in a tight spot and more like a professional hero with a responsibility. This situation demanded a powerful villain to push Deku to his limits, and that villain was Overhaul.

Find all 10 pairs Results

0
—
More Games

Both Mirio and Deku showed incredible strength during the Shie Hassaikai Arc, but neither could defeat Overhaul on their own. Deku only won because Eri used her Rewind ability to heal him while he was using the full force of One For All. Overhaul was essentially unbeatable in a one-on-one fight during that arc, which makes the heroes’ eventual takedown of his organization even more impressive. While Tomura did destroy Overhaul’s arms at the last moment, crippling him, Overhaul remained the most powerful fighter throughout the arc, even considering Tomura’s presence.

Paranormal Liberation War Arc: Tomura Shigaraki

Bakugo Nearly Died Shielding Deku From Tomura’s Wrath

Image via studio Bones.

Season six of My Hero Academia began with the intense Paranormal Liberation War Arc, marking the start of a full-scale conflict between heroes and villains. This arc initiated a period of ongoing battles, ultimately leading to a fight for control of Japan. The first major part of this conflict saw Tomura Shigaraki emerge as the most formidable fighter, a result of the dangerous experiments conducted by Dr. Garaki.

Even powerful heroes like Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist struggled against Tomura, but he was ultimately stronger because he could use multiple Quirks simultaneously. His enhanced Decay Quirk, once awakened, was so devastating that heroes had to completely change how they fought. This more powerful version of Tomura even attempted to kill Deku, and nearly killed Bakugo while trying to use him as a shield.

Final War Arc: All For One

The Symbol of Evil Refused to Fade Away

Image via studio Bones.

All For One’s position as one of the most powerful characters in My Hero Academia constantly changed, as he gained new abilities and suffered setbacks. Before the events of Kamino Ward, he was considered an unstoppable force, but his defeat there diminished his strength. He didn’t regain his top-tier status until the Final War Arc, where he became a central figure in the conflict.

During this conflict, several heroes and villains demonstrated incredible power, including Tomura and Deku, but All For One was still the strongest, though only by a small margin. He fought like a one-man army, unleashing devastating attacks – comparable to those seen in Dragon Ball – that destroyed large areas of the battlefield. Disturbingly, he even exploited Eri’s Rewind Quirk to gain an advantage, a dark echo of when Eri willingly lent her power to Deku to defeat Overhaul earlier in the series.

Read More

2026-02-15 20:08