My Hero Academia: The Reason All Might Is The Most Powerful Teacher

Creating a power ranking for any shonen anime is a dangerous game. Fortunately, in the case of My Hero Academia, which has found a substantial U.S. audience on Netflix, one particular superhero instructor has a clear claim to the top prize.

All Might (voiced by Kenta Miyake) is the brawny Number One hero in the wide world of My Hero Academia, and by a significant margin the most powerful teacher at U.A. Academy. Since taking a step back from his hands-on approach to tackling crime, All Might has been teaching at the prestigious school where superheroes are trained and sent off into the world to do good. As you can probably imagine, most of the faculty at U.A. are blessed with some seriously powerful Quirks (series parlance for a superhero ability), but All Might still stands apart from the pack.

We're introduced to this gifted crimefighter on the anime's very first episode, and over many seasons he remains the top dog. Much of this has to do with the nature of All Might's unique Quirk, but the rest of his preternatural strength derives from his altruistic mission to do good and stand as a symbol of peace in a troubled Japan.

Before we get the chance to see All Might in the flesh, we're introduced to his heroics through a viral video that the young Izuku Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita) watches on repeat. You see, Izuku dreams of becoming a hero, and plans to do just that once he gets his Quirk. In the world of My Hero Academia, the vast majority of people manifest their Quirks around the time of adolescence. A small minority never develop a Quirk, and this is unfortunately the fate of young Izuku. In a tearful scene, Izuku watches the inspirational video of All Might saving person after person from a scene of destruction, while crying over his shattered dreams of becoming a hero himself.

Fortunately, the teenage Izuku ultimately meets his hero in person. That day, Izuku learns exactly why All Might is the most powerful teacher on My Hero Academia, and how he might just have the chance to follow in his hero's footsteps despite his disability.

All Might's Quirk — a mystery to everyone but Izuku — is called One For All, and it grants its wielder all the accumulated powers of every One For All holder that came before. As it turns out, All Might is much like Izuku. He was born Quirk-less, and only became Japan's Number One hero after inheriting One For All from the seventh user, Nana Shimura.

Here's an illustrative list of just a few of the amazing feats All Might has performed using his acquisitive Quirk: He lifted an entire sky bridge up to save the people trapped under it; He punched the 500-meter Tokyo Sky Egg up into the air; He once generated so much atmospheric pressure with a punch that it actually changed the weather over Japan; He blew up a helicopter in mid-air using his bare hands; He's also, of course, the only hero in Japan with the skill to stand-up to the Number One villain: All For One.

But what's anecdotal evidence worth without any hard data? Fortunately, the impact of All Might's work is also reflected in the numbers. Crime statistics show that crime dropped below 6% after All Might started patrolling the streets — and this was at a very dangerous time for Japan. Villains with powerful Quirks were running amok, and few heroes had the strength to bring them to justice. That's the kind of impact that any politician would be happy to run on.

Of course, careful viewers will point out that All Might currently suffers from a pretty serious injury sustained in his battle with All For One. That injury places a real limitation on the amount of time All Might can spend wielding the full strength of One For All, though we don't think this simple catch is enough to override all the evidence already cited.

All Might is without a doubt the most powerful teacher on My Hero Academia – at least until Izuku surpasses him.