Summary
My Hero Academiabegan with the story of Izuku Midoriya, who had constantly looked up to the number 1 hero in Japan, but also the symbol of peace in the world. All Might, by the beginning of the story, is already past his prime, and as a result, he can only do less than what his powers with One For All allowed him to do before. Even so, this doesn’t stop All Might from being a powerful and inspirational hero as an individual as well as Toshinori Yagi. However, there does remain a singular question forMy Hero Academiato answer.
If All Might used to be in his prime, just exactly how strong was he in his prime to begin with? And how long did it take for him to get to his prime, and what major achievements did he achieve during said time, along with what it meant.
Extremely Powerful Prime
And How Did All Might Succeed
While we don’t know too much about All Might’s strength or even his achievements during his prime, thereissome evidence to indicate how strong he might have been beforehand. For one, All Might is extremely confident in his ability to handle villains with nearly no problems, unless they are All For One, although that is to be a given. Duringthe battle with the Nomuthat was meant to defeat All Might, the hero had to exert more effort than he did ever back in his prime before defeating the Nomu by launching him outside USJ and into the wilderness. To understand just how strong All Might could have been in his prime, there is a quote that allows for some context, and the numbers imply something rather impressive.:
I really have gotten weaker…in my prime, 5 hits would’ve been enough. But it took more than 300 hits. - All Might
According to the quote above, 5 hits against the Nomu he fought would have been enough to defeat it, as opposed to 300 hits after his injury from All For One. Which is to say that All Might in his prime must have been 60x stronger than the All Might we know and see in the show all the way back to the first season. This is an implication that All Might certainlyhad earned the rightto become the Symbol of Peace, and especially one of the strongest heroes at the time. After all, Prime All Might also fought against Prime All For One, and while he had a debilitating injury to the stomach, he managed to almost defeat All For One. Consider that, Prime All Might was the only shot they had at defeating Prime All For One back during the Golden Age, and it shows in their rematch in season 3. However, there are other factors we need to consider other than strength. What did it mean for All Might to be in his prime back then?
The Symbol Of Peace
Prime All Might’s Influence
All Might during his prime wasn’t just supposed to be a powerful hero who could defeat every villain with one shot. He was supposed to represent stability and peace during a time when villainy and Quirks were rapidly running rampant at the time. When he inherited OFA from Nana Shimura, he had dedicated himself solely to becoming a Symbol of Peace, and succeeded with the best of intentions. For better or worse, however, his influence during his prime and eventually even his later years also made the civilians rather over-reliant on heroes to be there to fix everything. While this behavior is not entirely desirable, Prime All Mightrepresented the peak of the Hero Ageand what Quirks could do for the people at the time, so it would only make sense for them to be reliant on someone who was effectively their very own Super Man. However, another quote from All Might in particular may represent Prime All Might best in intentions:
It is fine now. Why? Because I am here! - All Might
Ultimately speaking, All Might was a Quirkless young man who got lucky enough to be mentored by Nana Shimura and Gran Torino to become the next best hero. Eventually, he did become the Symbol of Peace, and promised the civilians and the people at that time of chaos that everything would be fine because he was there. Because PrimeAll Might represented the best of the bestand the symbol of peace, and because he was the one who could have defeated the great evil that was All For One. Now, Prime All Might is no longer a thing, as we have seen the entire show and manga. However,My Hero Academiastill isn’t finished with All Might, and it is most likely that All Might will still remain a good example for so many people. That’s the truth about Prime All Might, he was more than just power. He is a good example.
