Summary
All For One's unexpected backstory reveals deep pain and a desire for others to share one's pain. The Villain's loss of his brother made him stronger, changing his personality forever. Despite his twisted love for his sister, All For One's views clash with the Heroes fighting against his reign of terror.
All for oneNotorious symbol of evil My Hero Academy, is revealed to be motivated by something other than his desire for world domination. In chapter 421, the Villain revealed that he continued because of the immense pain he felt after seeing Yoichi's remains, the only remaining memory of his brother, destroyed.
It was an unusual feeling for the cruel man, because now he wanted everyone to share his pain. Seeing All For One care for others is something never seen before in the series. The cunning and devious symbol of Evil has never shown any compassion, love, or even appreciation for anyone but himself. This is even more shocking because he was the one who caused his brother's death in the past.
All because of someone who now knows loss
The main villain of My Hero Academia has never had this feeling
My Hero Academia chapter 407 reveals the origins of both All For One and Yoichi, children born during the period when Quirks appeared. Since his birth, the future Symbol of Evil has considered the world his own, wanting to control everyone and everything. The name he gave his brother, Yoichi, implied that his sibling was just another object he possessed.. All For One's paranoid tendencies became even more apparent when he began killing and stealing Quirks simply because he wanted them. To make matters worse, when his brother tried to fight him, the Symbol of Evil killed Yoichi himself.
Although not explicitly stated in the manga, it is likely that All For One did not mourn his brother when he died, as he knew that his vestige would live on within One For All. The villain believes that once his target regains Yoichi's powers and conquers the world, he will be reunited with his assets. The man never expected to lose his brother before absorbing One For All. When this happens, he realizes that his only family is now gone. Although the Villain is unaware of it, he most likely has a deep love for his brother.
The complete loss of control makes the AFO even more powerful
All For One is cornered by the Heroes, but his loss makes him stronger
Aside from All Might, no Hero has been able to defeat the Symbol of Evil. For many years, he ruled Japan in the shadows, unhindered and unrestricted. Whatever he wants, he gets, no matter the cost. The Final War arc demonstrates that the previously undefeated Villain is slowly realizing that his reign of terror is in danger of coming to an end. The Japanese Heroes will fight to the end to see this man defeated, as evidenced by Deku's willingness to sacrifice his Quirk to achieve this goal.
Despite being around for decades, the Symbol of Evil was never able to solve these cases, becoming fearful of actually losing. Not only was his main plan thwarted by Bakugo and All Might, but even his Plan B seemed to have gone wrong. Shigaraki's body was now his, though the young man had taken so much damage that the vessel was barely able to fight. The final nail in the Villain's coffin is the appearance of all available Heroes on the battlefield. For the first time in his life, the Symbol of Evil found himself cornered.
Tragedy makes everything stronger
The villain's beliefs conflict with the heroes' beliefs
After realizing that his brother was gone, All For One declared that he had become stronger through the pain and regret he felt. This is an important observation, because All for One has always been characterized by a lack of emotion, which is atypical for a villain. He tells Deku that he now understands that what makes people more resilient is tragedy, and all must feel what he feels. However, Sero, a side character thus far, interjects to say that tragedy does not make people stronger and that he wants to help his friends and family not suffer. Despite standing before the Symbol of Evil, Sero is not afraid to speak up because he feels empowered by his friends and allies.
It is this small moment that helps us understand why All For One is wrong. The loss of his brother may have awakened emotions other than greed in him, but his perspective remains unchanged. He believes that because he has lost everything important to him, others must suffer the same fate. On the other hand, the Japanese Heroes are fighting precisely to prevent civilians from suffering as they did during the war. Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of the manga, is sending a strong message of cooperation and kindness. He also subverts the typical shounen code of a hero becoming stronger after loss and tragedy.
Does All For One really love Yoichi?
All For One's twisted love for his brother
His deep belief that Yoichi is something else he possesses blinds him to the brotherly feelings he has for his siblings.
Some time after being born, All For One and Yoichi's mother died, leaving the newborns to fend for themselves. This was the first time the future Icon of Evil had to rely on his powers to survive. Things got worse after this event, when a war against humans with Quirks began in Japan. During this time, although unconsciously, All For One used his abilities to keep himself and Yoichi safe from those who wanted to kill him. Due to his immaturity, All For One never realized that he cared deeply for his brother..
As he spends most of his days planning to take over the world, he never stops to think about how he really feels towards his brother. His deep belief that Yoichi is something else he possesses blinds him to the brotherly feelings he has for his siblings. It wasn't until he realized he would never see his brother again that he began to understand what he had lost.
In the end, All For One had to endure extreme loss to develop more humane feelings within himself. Sadly, it seems that even the loss of his brother wasn't enough to convince him to stop his rampage against Japan. However, this small moment proves that in Horikoshi's eyes, even the most unforgiving of villains My Hero Academy there is some humanity in it, including All for One.