My Hero Academia Gives All Might an Epic Final Fight

All Might's power is long gone in the My Hero Academia manga, but spin-off series Vigilantes is giving the old #1 hero one last chance to shine!

Warning: contains spoilers for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes chapter 122!

The former #1 hero, All Might, is one of My Hero Academia's most popular characters, even though his days of superpowered heroics are long behind him. The unfortunate consequence of that fact is that All Might isn't getting to fight in the manga's final battle, but the canonical spin-off series My Hero Academia Vigilantes is offering All Might a chance to go out on a high note by offering one last chance to battle his nemesis All For One at the peak of his power.

As a prequel, Vigilantes is set in an era where All Might's power has only just begun to wane. The incredible power he wielded in his prime has been on display in earlier arcs, such as the Tokyo Sky Egg arc, where he worked alongside America's then-top hero Captain Celebrity. Still, All Might's appearances in Vigilantes have been scarce, and a look at his everyday life back then gave a reason why: he's just too busy, and he can't be everywhere at once. When this final arc's fight against Number Six started to exceed what Naruhata's local heroes could handle, they sent Vigilantes' protagonist Koichi to get All Might, but Koichi instead wound up facing off Six on his own, leaving a signal he could only hope All Might may see.

They first decided to call in All Might back in chapter 103, and while other big heroes like Best Jeanist and Endeavor made it to the battleground, there was still no sign of All Might... until the most recent chapter, 122, where the musclebound hero made a dramatic entrance with his iconic catchphrase, "I am here!" With his signature strength and flair, All Might took out dozens of the flame-bodied minions that Number Six's giant kaiju-esque form had unleashed at the instant he arrived. Endeavor is predictably less than enthused by the assist, while All For One curses his nemesis' interference, as always. Number Six is still alive, however, so the fight isn't over yet, despite the fact that Six's body has been reduced to little more than a pile of bones.

Over the intervening 19 chapters, Koichi has taken an incredible beating as he tried to fend off one of the most dangerous villains in the entire franchise to date, breaking so many bones that he's already realized this will be his last vigilante gig, regardless of how it ends. Like Deku, Koichi looks up to All Might tremendously, to the point where his vigilante costume is just a hoodie themed after All Might's costume. Getting props from his idol is definitely the kind of reward that Koichi is owed at this point, but it looks like he may get to live an even greater dream: fighting villains at All Might's side.

While from a narrative perspective, All Might's arrival would seem to take away from the drama due to his essentially invincible nature, it's Koichi's connection to the hero that makes this worthy of a climactic appearance. And, from a meta perspective, giving a character as big as All Might one final moment of awesome to send him off as My Hero Academia moves towards its  larger end is a move that's sure to please fans.

Next: My Hero Academia Proves Shigaraki Can't Survive With its Akira Reference