My Hero Academia may be one of the biggest Shonen series out nowadays, but that doesn't mean that even some of the most hardened fans still don't have questions about it. The series has been going on since 2014 and has introduced a myriad of different characters, each with a deep history, if not just plenty of intrigue with their character design and Quirks alone.
As such, it's easy for character details to be lost in the shuffle, as the series is constantly moving and shifting between different focuses. One such character that fans are still trying to get to know is All Might. He's Izuku's main mentor whose past and even current agenda are shrouded in some mystery. For new fans trying to get into the series or old ones who may have missed something, here are 10 questions answered about All Might.
10 How Strong Is He?
All Might immediately premiered in the Shonen world as one of its strongest figures. His initial appearance literally had him punch so hard that he was able to summon a storm. This begged the question of how strong he is exactly. Creator Kohei Horikoshi hasn't provided any solid stats as of this writing, but that hasn't stopped wide speculation, especially by the analytical nerds over at Death Battle.
They posited that the power of the storm creating punch was equivalent to a little more than 24 gigatons of TNT. Going by All Might's estimate, that he could've defeated the USJ Nomu with five punches instead of 300, and they also predicted that his pre-injury self was about 60x stronger. Doing the math, there's a whole lot of American behind All Might's fists.
9 How Fast Is He?
Because strength isn't everything, people have also wondered how fast the Symbol of Peace is. As muscle bound as the guy is, efficiency is key to being a great hero. The people at Death Battle also have an answer for this. Basing his speed based on his ability to race down a staircase in under 30 seconds, they estimated that All Might is able to move at about 29x the speed of sound.
For those keeping up (being realistic, who could?), that means there's been gigatons of Plus Ultra hunting down villains at mach speed. There's little mystery as to why crime rates went down.
8 What's His Successor Rank?
One For All was born from an unusual situation where All for One gifted his younger brother the ability to stockpile power. For any regular person, this really wouldn't mean anything. However, whether All for One knew it or not, this perfectly complimented a hidden ability within his younger brother to hand down Quirks to other people.
Thus, One for All is born. Counting the original user, One for All has been held by seven other people before it reached All Might, making him the eighth and greatest holder until now. Midoriya Izuku may be the ninth holder, but he has some pretty big shoes to fill to keep up with the eight's legacy.
7 What's His Real Name?
The series made it clear early on that All Might, despite his glimmering demeanor, is one of those secretive types of superheroes. Given his strange history and direct relationship with the world's greatest villain, his identity has been protected by a strong inner circle.
While not a lot is known about his upbringing, fans do at least get to know his real name: Toshinori Yagi. "Toshi" to his closest friends, All Might forsook that previous identity to maintain his stance as the Symbol of Peace.
6 Who Is His Master?
Inherent to One For All is the need of its current user to pass on their abilities to another generation. Izuku obviously had All Might give him One for All and train him in the ways of using it and being a hero. As awesome as All Might is, his abilities and attitude are attributed to his own mentor, the 7th inheritor, Nana Shimura.
She was a Pro Hero who had the Quirk, Float, and was even related to Shigaraki Tomura. Alongside Gran Torino, she molded All Might into the Symbol of Peace that fans know and love.
5 What's With His America Gimmick?
One of the strangest things about Japan's #1 Hero is the fact that he just doesn't look Japanese. All Might is heavily modeled off of the American sensibility of superheroes, as well as Japan's perception of the ideal American as a whole, i.e. large, buff, blonde, and blue-eyed. A lot of this can be chocked up to Kohei Horikoshi's Marvel influences and the current boom of the superhero genre.
In story, however, All Might did work and train in Los Angeles, California before he took his mantle in Japan. The American influences are apparent in his costume and move set, with attacks like Texas and Oklahoma Smash, attacks that generate tornadoes, actually correlating with the U.S.'s tornado heavy territories.
4 How Old Is He?
Given his abilities and unique condition, All Might's appearance varies wildly across the series. In his hero form, he's large and healthy, practically brimming with life. However, in his regular form, he looks like he really should be in a hospital. He's incredibly skinny, constantly coughing up blood, and has abyss like eyes that should haunt children.
Such disparity in his appearance makes it hard for fans to gauge how old he really is. However, working with the story's timeline and some analysis by Death Battle and a really detailed Quora post, All Might is most likely 48 at the beginning of the series and 49 in the current story.
3 Is He Going To Die?
All Might is one of those characters that just waves a death flag as soon as he premieres. Out of a lot of anime characters, he probably has the least ambiguity given his regular form's demeanor and the comedic tendency to constantly be coughing up blood. Many thought that his recent encounter with All for One would be his last, but he was fortunately able to pull through. However, the appearance of his old sidekick, Sir Nighteye, would soon bring fans back to earth.
In a flashback to the events after All Might beat All for One for the first time, Nighteye predicted that he would die in six to seven years to a powerful villain. About five years had passed between then and the moment that he met Midoriya Izuku. Despite his major victory and his propensity to remain in the sidelines, All Might's reckoning is coming very soon.
2 What's His Relationship With Detective Naomasa?
One of All Might's most understated and mysterious relationships is with one Detective Naomasa. After the events of the Stain Arc, Midoriya was surprised to find that a regular detective not only knew All Might's secrets, but was one of his closest friends. Since then, Naomasa hasn't really been brought up much, leaving fans to speculate how close he and the #1 really were and if he would turn up as the infamous traitor.
However, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes would stifle some of those worries, as it would actually go into detail on their history. Naomasa is actually a detective who happened to discover All Might's secret identity after a comedic turn of events. However, he not only promised to keep All Might's secret, but even offered to do all of his hero paperwork.
1 Who Is He Voiced By?
One of the first things that an anime fan may notice and even be driven mad by is the sound of a familiar voice in another anime. When My Hero Academia first premiered with a cast of voice acting veterans, tons of people played the "Who's Who?" game. This is no different for All Might, whose strong voice and writing demanded some attention.
His Japanese voice actor is Kenta Miyake, who has a lot of supporting roles as a voice actor but really got to break out as All Might. The same can't be said for All Might's English voice actor, Christopher Sabat, who's voiced iconic characters such as Major Armstrong, Vegeta, and Roronoa Zoro.