All For One - The Image of Evil (My Hero Academia) 

Timestamps for mobile! 00:01 - Intro 02:52 - Chapter 1: The Glutton 09:10 - Chapter 2: The Deceiver 11:58 - Chapter 3: The Equalizer 15:22 - Final Chapter: The Darkness

In the manga Endeavor said it best, AFO is just..... empty. He smiles at everything cause he doesn't know how to feel

AFO isn’t the only example of villains being a perversion of a religion in this series, we also have Overhaul and the Shie Hassaikai being a perversion of Buddhism as well

I think what makes AFO such an interesting character is that he has the aura of a villain in an American comic book. Sort of like a Lex Luthor or Doctor Doom, except without any sort of noble motive

Ngl I love him due to his simplicity, he’s not after some hidden agenda, he’s just a horrible dude who does horrible things to get powerful. He just happens to be pretty damn smart and efficient at getting that power.

“This is the story of how I became the greatest demon Lord” -AFO chapter 297 I like how much he loves acting like a complete monster, it’s always nice seeing a villain like that, such as palpatine in Star Wars.

I always loved AFO in the story. He was less of a character and more a force of nature, the personification of how horrible quirks can be for the world, and how such an incredible gift to the world can come back to bite you in the ass

AFO being human evil makes sense as he does from time to time make good points yet doesn’t care enough to be hypocrite

I find it really interesting how much the "take" part of the quirk influenced All for One. Because, remember, his quirk isn't JUST taking quirks. Its taking and giving. Both two halves of the same whole, both equally influencing him,, yet All for One is controlled by the taking part. Why not the giving? Imagine if instead of the quirk psychologically influencing AFO to take, it influenced him to give. To give back, to help others instead of himself. To me, instead of the quirk causing him to lust for power, it just increased and overloaded and lust that was already there, buried under a normal person. He focused so much on the taking aspect because it was already there, meanwhile the giving part wasn't.

All For One is the only villain I can remember that develops after he's arrested, like we've learned so much more about AFO when he's behind bar, like how sickenly evil he realy is, how masterful he is at manipulation and prediction, and even his characteristic and ideaology, it just makes us fear the day he eventually broke out more and more Edit: The other villain I can remember that's also developed after he's arrested would be Hannibal Lecter

Something I copped onto in the middle of this video when you said that he isn't even really a person, just his own Quirk personified: His visual design seems to play into that, with his lack of eyes, something which is immediately used to identify humanity almost makes him out as this inhuman creature. It's a very classic design trope, to give a creature/monster either no eyes or dead looking eyes to show how far from human they are. Hell, the creators of Alien's Xenomorph famously did it to make the alien a far scarier and unpredictable monster. AFO lacks eyes and a nose, which him look totally alien compared to the rest of the cast, and helps solidify him as something not quite human.

I think that's why I like AFO in mha, unlike others he has no purpose or vision, nor does he need to. He just lives his dreams to his fullest nor caring for his subordinates or ppl. In a story where every villain origin backtracks to the hero society and its flaws, he is unique and different from others, which makes him interesting.

What’s interesting about All for One is that any quirk he takes loses its individual value. Any quirk that stood out because of its capabilities and the personality of its user would become lost in the superpower quagmire that is AFO, becoming just another quirk in his toolbox. Him fusing all those quirks together in his fight with All Might shows how little he cares about those quirks beyond their function and how One for All could meet the same fate if it was stolen.

"That loyalty ends up being more than just a few presents at his daughter's wedding"... Nice reference

Good God, man. This was sooo good. AFO truly represents what we fear the most that lies in the deepest, darkest regions of the human heart. He even managed to wriggle into Deku's heart and brought out his hunger and relentlessness.

Minor quibble: Not sure it's really fair to call AFO an equalizer, since he doesn't really level anything. He just replaces old hierarchies with new ones that place him at the top.

I agree with a lot of what you said however I will say this. All for one does have a goal. His one greatest desire is to become the greatest villain the world has ever seen and the one quirk he wants above all else is one for all because he knows for a FACT that it's the only power capable of stopping him. He read comics as a kid and he knows deep down his brother was right. In the end the hero always wins and so AFO has spent the last 150 years trying to change that narrative and failing because One For All refused to submit. So yeah while his hunger is endless? He does have a goal in mind and I believe that he thinks stealing one for all with complete him because he often refers to the quirk as his little brother and so I can imagine his thought process being "If I can make him mine? Then at last I will be whole and this world shall be mine" He's basically got the evil equivalent to a shonen protagonist dream and it's genius in my opinions.

The sole reason that he created Shigaraki is that he doesn't have a strong hate enough to take OFA so he made Tomura grow with a huge hate inside for everything to be able to fight the OFA predecessors will and steal the quirk to then take over Shigaraki's body and finally have everything. This really shows that this man has an endless hunger, as you said "he takes and takes and takes" even if he has to plan and wait for 20 or more years.

The crazy thing is that we don't know next to nothing about him but always has presence when he is on screen and we enjoy how evil and petty he is

aged better than it should.

If you really think about it, AFO spelled out the whole “Your Quirk is a huge part of your personality” thing quite literally when he stole Ragdoll’s Quirk.

Horikoshi has had so many opportunities to replace Shigiraki with another villain that I'm sure AFO will not be the final antagonist.

AFO's personality being nonexistent (besides his greediness and desire for power) could also be because he has so many quirks that he's kept or copied over the years (or even just ones that he's taken temporarily and passed on). People's quirks generally influence their personality (and vice versa) and there could be evidence that even having a quirk temporarily pass through you can still leave a lasting impact (all-might still having his muscle form after OFA left him (not 100% sure on this point tho)), so him having so many quirks as a part of him/pass through him could have made all the personality traits that came with them subtly impact him, but almost cancel out over time due to how many conflicting traits he has at once, leaving only his most dominant personality trait of greediness/desire for power that comes with AFO be prominent bc it's his main quirk and has the most hold over him. Either that or I'm wrong and it's bc he's just bland lol.

I love Afo. Having some Thanos style villain who has motivations and ideals is fine, but there's something satisfying about Palpatine, Carnage, King Ghidorah and AFO being just petty, nasty bastards.

17:00 you son of a gun, you called it.

I think that the fact that you and many other members of the fandom want him gone just further adds to him: He doesn't go away. He's the perpetual virus, infecting the world and story from the beginning, no other goal or desire than his personal hunger and continued existence. he doesn't care that he made the perfect villain in the form of Tomura, only that he has the perfect body and weapon to settle his longest (and really his only) obstacle. And in this world of division and strife, where your standing in life is determined by a genetic lottery, with the villains of the story being people, who at their core want to build a better world, the strongest villain being a selfish parasite who refuses to just die is just *_perfect_*

So AFO is like Darth Nihilus, the literal *Lord of Hunger*

Well, now, isn’t this something. All For One’s main scene isn’t Pride or Greed, but Gluttony. Makes sense, but it’s nice seeing that sin as the main theme of literally the biggest antagonist for once, especially since it will be passed down to Tomura when the time comes

9:28 I just realized this panel is paralleling what Deku at the beginning of the series, "This is the story of how I became the world's greatest hero".

I feel all for one will die by biting more than he can chew. LITERALLY! He will be able to steal one for all, but then he will die because of how much quirks he has and because of how powerful one for all is already.

To me, All For One is a mix between Lex Luther and the Joker from American comics. Despite being a somewhat cartoonish villain, there’s something about his villainy that is simply fascinating to me.

If you think about it, All For One is the literal manifestation of pure evil, of all evil... Like Luthor, he is brilliant and capable but only uses for his own selfish goals. Like the Joker, he revels in the death and chaos he creates and feels nothing. Like Brainiac, he consumes and takes, destroying anything in his way. Like Darkseid, he is powerful and imposing, leader of many other evil people and a tyrant without equal. He is the very essence of evil, he is selfishness itself in human form, he has no morals, no guiding force to create, only to eat and destroy, all that exists is there for him to consume and play with for his own amusement. Other villains in the story have something that humanizes them, something that made them what they are, but All For One is True Evil.

I think it's perfectly fine to have villains that don't have a higher goal or belief. Palpatine from Stat Wars and Littlefinger from Game of Thrones being good examples. They both were entirely self serving, yet they are amazing forces in their universes

This is what is refreshing about All For One. He isn’t a villain that is fighting for some grand cause. He is simply the personification of entitlement. He embodies abusive power dynamics that seek only to perpetuate themselves and force the world around them to submit to their will. All that drives him is power, and his unabashed love of power ironically gives him depth even though on paper he would be a mustache-twirling villain. He is the perfect adversary for All Might who embodies self-sacrifice so much so that it’s destructive. Horikoshi really has a great way of adding so much complexity through sheer simplicity.

I really appreciate the use of Sukuna's theme in the final chapter. They are a comparable evil.

Being the Greatest Demon Lord ain't easy!

All for one is a fantastic example of a fantastic character who’s over use ended up invalidating what made him great in the first place

Oceaniz: ALL FOR ONE IS CAPITALISM ITSELF! Me: WOAH, WHAT THE FU-

I don’t think My Hero would have been the same without you & pineapple. Thank you again for all the quality videos and here’s to 100K

An astounding piece of analysis done. Really makes you wonder: does the quirk make the man/woman or does the man/woman make the quirk? Age-old debate between the primacy of agent vs structure in shaping the individual. Already knew that MHA was a well written manga but god damn, did not expect this.

I think an interesting part of All For One is that, with all the quirk vestiges stuff that comes up later in the story and all, that one aspect of him, HIS quirk, the ability to take, that inherent greed manifested as his superpower, is the singular thing he was always able to distinguish among the countless remnants of so many people he now holds. His greed for more and more powers made it so he is a bottomless void of likely hundreds of peoples greed.

If there’s ever gonna be one moment where the whole my hero fandom will rally in joy is whenever this potato man kicks the bucket

With all the AFO content in the Final Battle, can’t wait for a follow up

That's why he grew fond of Izuku because he reminded him of himself. I think AFO also dreamed to be the best super hero just like Izuku but ended up to be the opposite because of his experience ( We don't know as of now his real story so that's what I came up to).

Oceaniz you are the goat of the medium and the zenith of humanity. You easily guessed AFO being a capitalist and it's amazing

If Shigaraki does manage to overcome AFO which i most definitely think he will, he would basically be the Apocalypse/extinction personified as if there is one thing destruction brings, its change for better or worse

I seriously need to know how the heck AfO and Yoichi became so different, like, how can a man like AfO even be born while his little brother is so pure and good. Forget all these MHA movies that are basically fanfictions, I need a movie about their backstory. I know you said you like the fact that he has basically no humanity left but id like to see his story and how he snapped

I love the fact that people like yourself are taking these characters off the page and screen and giving them solid thought and attention.

wow what an absolute banger. this is a certified hood classic.

"It's not an excuse, but it is an explanation." That was really good.

You actually did it. I've never liked All For One, he was a brief and underwhelming villain who didn't compare to Overhaul, Stain, or anyone major. Yet he was the "big bad of MHA" the largest pillar ignoring the ever growing Shgaraki. Yet, you calling attention to his dark inverted savior/messiah symbolism. Or his capitalism symbolism. It..really reinforces that All For One isn't a person. He's been so consumed by his quirk and it's hunger..that he's become..pure. evil. You actually got me to appreciate this character. Because the meat of his character I was looking for, was ironically not the point. The meat comes from what he represents. And that's cool too. Thank you Oceaniz (Fingers crossed AFO dies soon)

Yeah yeah AFO is great and all BUT YOU SEE THAT EDITING SKILLS THOUGH? Flipping master piece!

Wasn't Machiavelli's book, the one he's quoting in the beginning, basically him airing out a lot of the dirty secrets of the ruling class at the time? I remember Blue from OSP doing a video about it.

AFO is one of my favourite ‘villains’, his mental agility is astounding and the true sense of dread he commands you to feel is immense, and brilliant.

I love when you pull your accent for dramatical or comedical purpose. One of my favorite lines of yours ever was when you said that "any man that cries in any circumstance less than *ragnarok* must not be enough of a man" or something. It was so funny

It's a fitting irony how All for One idolized the demon lord from the comic he used to read, and today he looks straight up like a monster from a horror movie, specially without his mask.

me and my brother were actually talking about this a few days ago, it went from Shigarakis motivation to What All For One wants, and we couldn't really come up with an answer. This video is great

When I think of AFO I'm reminded by a quote from the Expanse "Some men just need to own everything." It's not about making everyone bow to his whim, but the knowing that if he wanted to, he could make them all bow.

I know this might never be read but I’m gonna post it anyway. All for one is 7’3. He is over 120 years old. He is a puppet master and the ultimate thief. And the reason why he does all of this is because he can. He knows what his power can do, so he uses it in the way almost anyone would. For personal gain. That’s why he dresses like an office worker, why he is able to predict anyone’s moves and responses, and why we never see the entirety of his face. Because he represents how anyone born into his situation would do what he does. He is like the onceler from the Lorax book. They represent how this could happen to anyone. That’s why he is one of the greatest villains in all of fiction. He is the Everyman and the onlyman.

Villains like Light, Eren and Ymir, (before the Fumbling) Lelouch, even Akito (From FruBa) etc... Are interesting, of course, but sometimes just having a villain who's literally just an asshole, like All for One, Medusa, or Naraku can be pretty fun, too.

Oh wow, I am totally speechless, this was incredible! The research, the editing, everything. You're my favorite youtuber when it comes to mha analysis videos, your work is truly impacable 🤩🤩🤩

Asking what AFO wants is like asking what a ideology wants. A country is composed of people. It has finite needs and desires. Even at it's worst it will stop when it's greed is sated. But an idea, a fantasy, is boundless and will consume and destroy without end, like an impassive machine. He is not so much without ideology as ideology personified: your ideas don't care about you. They only care about sustaining and propagating themselves. People don't have ideas. Ideas have people. I direct your attention to the world of politics. --isms like "Liberalism" and "Conservationism" are all "merchants of happiness" that claim to sell people a vision of the world where everything will be set to right if they but give up their free will to the respective ideology. AFO is a deceiver, but lies with surprising infrequency; if all he ever did was give people the wrong quirk, he wouldn't be trusted enough to gain the people's loyalty. In any case, he's still the one who profits off of the exchange. The situation as a whole offers him so much leverage, and people are so willing and able to deceive themselves, he rarely needs to. In this light, even Machiavelli's vision of man is a saint compared to AFO. He is not human he is *inhuman.* That which can only be made possible when people surrender their humanity to idols -- idolatry. I don't think AFO could ever save the world even if he was good. Redistributing quirks isn't enough to address the inherent inequity of hero society. People are only ever born with one quirk and these quirks vary dramatically in quality and effect. Even in an ideal situation where people could change quirks instantly and at will would still leave some quirks more in demand than others and no two people could have the same quirk at the same time. (A situation AFO could never sustain as just one guy.) His cooperation could be invaluable to scientific progress into an understanding of quirks, but this could still readily happen without him. AFO ability to regulate quirks is practically designed to be exploited by the nature of quirks themselves. Nobody else in the world has this power over quirks: even if AFO tried his damnedest to unify people, the nature of his position would cause people to spontaneously fight over him as though he were a commodity. And that's exactly what happened. If he himself did not lead the people to usurpation, they would do so in his name regardless. Just as wars were fought over Christ centuries after his death. The figure is dead, but the figurehead; the symbol, the idea, lives on and continues to parasitize people's minds. (At least from one point of view. Ideas have their benefits as well, but AFO is mostly a cynical interpretation.) For all we know AFO *was* a good man, but the significance of his power warped society around him and, starring into the abyss of endless human depravity around him, eventually became the abyss. If so, then the quirk is all that's left of him. As a mirror image of this, All Might and Deku fight to save people over and over and over again until there is nothing left of who they are but the empty shell of the hero. A bodily husk that moves on it's own. AFO isn't evil. And for that Matter, OFA isn't good. Neither spell anything but destruction without the other.

His ost and voice acting (especially his dub) will NEVER make me hate him He's so raw

Great Video once again Oceaniz, almost as good the Shigaraki video. Also really interesting the "AFO is a Capitalism Metaphor" and the Uncle Sam Pose Reference, that part was pure gold.

Pretty sure AFO is only around 120 years old, around the same age as Kyudai Garaki. We know that they were from the first generation of quirk users.

Ah, my second favorite character because he's such an enigmatic force much like Palpatine.

Excellent video, you did a great job with the editing! I do think that AFO will meet a fate similar to that of Darth Sidious and every Sith Master meets, he will die by his apprentice's hands. He'll probably laugh merrily while that is happening, yes. And I do think that's not only because it'd be "like" SW but because it is necessary to the story. Just like you've explained, AFO's goals while very destructive are not focused at all. The man just wants to have fun, everything else really is accidental.

I enjoy your videos. Being an anime only watcher it is definitely nice to stumble across one that doesn't have to dive into the manga as much. Love to see it!

Yo the end of the introduction was brilliant man 👌🏽🤦🏾

Babe wake up, Oceaniz released a new video

Goodness that thumbnails is spectacular

It's nice to hear an intelligent persons thoughts on this platform

Just came back from work and wanted an oceaniz mha vid, ty alot oceaniz

Bro, that intermission about being to introverted to reply to messages, might be the single most relatable thing I've ever heard from ANY RU-vidr. Like, sometimes I won't even reply to my families texts, because I just start feeling anxious for literally NO reason. It sucks, but it's nice to hear that I'm not the only one who does stuff like that. Your videos are super entertaining, and I look forward to them all the time. Keep being awesome dude.

Love your stuff man. Just found it, & I'm glad to have found a fellow creator that lives in Switzerland 💪🏼 Keep up the great work 🙏🏼🙏🏼

All for One is evil personified because that's the best way to describe him. He's not even an evil person. He's just evil. He plays with contradictions and hypocrisies simply because he can. He is, as far as I believe, is someone who understands the true nature of humanity and accepts it. To him there are no good and evil. Only actions and consequences. He acts the villain because it's what allows him to be true to himself, and not that he believes himself or anything. I am of course, a person who believes that humans are a bundle of hypocrisy, or even better. Humans are inherently evil. We ard evil, and we strive for goodness because it makes us feel good. We act responsible because actions have consequences. Heroes fight for good because they feel responsible. Because if they don't act, they regret it and feel sad. The selfless nature itself is very selfish. And villains to some extent act evil because sometimes society forces them. Sometimes theh may be insane. Sometimes they are just bad for the sake of being bad. I can't articulate my words properly...alas.

OMG what a great take on afo, i love your bnha analysis videos so much🖤

2:19 HAH! HE SAID IT! HE SAID THE THING!!!

Great video as always! I love your content

Waiting for the series to reach this point in the manga so I cant send this video to my online-only friend This video is perfection Some videos like the recent one (adaptation analysis) are things that we know but dont verbalize THIS ONE? My mind was blowing after every sentence! You exceeded yourself, Oceaniz Just amazing!

Now this is a great video. Respect, mate, instant sub.

Amazing video as always king!

I love this channel he know how to deconstruct the darkness in villains I can’t stop watching this & the shigaraki vid

Holy shit i wish i had a transcript of this video; like, this correlates with the concept of the BBEG of my D&D so much, you’ve given me so many revelation’s and inspirations, i don’t even know whether or not to even give him an alignment at all, or make him completely neutral now.

This went from 0 to peak oceaniz real quick, i love it

I only have to say that your ost placment in the video is better than the MHA anime

Bruh, I don’t know why, but I really hope All for One doesn’t die. In the end, I hope he’s trapped within OFA or something; being confined as a simple voice in Deku’s head that constantly tries to tempt him to the dark side like the devil. God, All for One might be my absolute favourite anime villain simply because of how remorselessly evil he is, like the Joker.

Hell we knew more about Nine’s motivation then AFO in the second movie! And he’s an all for one rip off! Lol AFO is a sentient supermassive blackhole! In the future we need a video on Toga. And a video on chisaki. And I hope you make a video on deku in the future because of you know…. What’s happening in the manga right now. I feel like shigaraki will be the one to kill AFO in the end.

Ayoo your discussion gives me chills man 🥶🥶

Finally, a video on everyone's least favourite bag of scrotal meat

The vibe at the start of this video was so dark and serious and then you hit me with 3:20 and had me almost choking on my cinnamon twist

Your editing is phenomenal!!!!!

new subbie!! i love your analysis vidsss!! They’re so interesting and entertaining - keep up the great workk~

Yoooooooooo i listened to your cover of over heaven, you killed it man

WOW! Great video! Few go in depth like you do! I am a massive introvert too, so I really understand! Some days, I just can't as well! You are awesome, new subscriber!

You did, you finally did it. You final called out capitalism and all its flaws on you RU-vid channel. So proud😭!

JUST SUBSCRIBED! KEEP GRINDING THAT GOOD CONTENT MY DUDE!

waw! just waw beautiful video, from the vibe created by the effects and the content *chef kiss* Edit: Honestly need more videos like this I loved it.

I already liked AFO as a villain but this has greatly deepened my appreciation of him.

8:25 ha I knew you where going to say hungry