Summary
- Samuel Abraham betrayed David Shield, hiring real villains to stage an attack, who ended up betraying him back.
- Rokuro Nomura betrayed Pop Step, kidnapped and turned her into a villain, which shocked everyone.
- The Hero Public Safety Commission's betrayal of Lady Nagant led to tragic consequences and a lot of self-reflection.
The main story of My Hero Academia is long, ambitious, and features a large cast of characters, so it was only inevitable that some of them would end up betraying each other. Throughout the series’ ten-year-old run, many Pro Heroes and villains have intentionally switched sides and, as a result, backstabbed some of their closest allies.
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Naturally, these shocking betrayals had a huge impact on the plot and have completely altered the public’s perception of these characters, both in-universe and in real life. Needless to say, there have been a lot of egregious character betrayals in My Hero Academia, but the following are the absolute worst ones in the entire series.
Warning! Spoilers Ahead!
7 Samuel Abraham
Betrayed David Shield
- Debut: My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
In the franchise’s very first feature film, viewers were introduced to David Shield, All Might’s former American sidekick, and his assistant, Samuel Abraham. David had invented a Quirk Amplification Device that, at one point, was confiscated by their higher-ups because it was deemed too dangerous, so he and Samuel decided to hire fake villains that could stage an attack and get their precious invention back for them.
However, unbeknownst to David, Samuel had actually hired real villains that would pay him real money for his efforts, which is how the dangerous Wolfram ended up attacking I-Island and had to be stopped by All Might and Deku. For someone who initially seemed like a non-important side character, Samuel’s betrayal was shocking and unexpected, and it should be no surprise that Wolfram ended up backstabbing him and even tried to kill him. Fortunately, David saved his life by jumping in front of the bullet, so it can be assumed that Samuel eventually realized his mistake and tried to atone for his actions.
6 Rokuro Nomura (Number Six)
Betrayed Pop☆Step
- Debut: Chapter 26 (Vigilantes Manga) Episode 1 (Vigilantes Anime)
At one point in the story of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Pop☆Step and the rest of FeatherHATS meet their new band manager: a strong Pro Hero named Rokuro Nomura. In the following days, he and Pop became quite close to each other, as Rokuro encouraged her with her music career, went out for drinks with her, and even comforted her when she was having self-confidence issues.
But of course, their friendship was a sham all along, because Rokuro Nomura was a fake identity created by Number Six, the main antagonist of Vigilantes. After gaining her trust, he betrayed, kidnapped, and used the Queen Bee quirk on Pop☆Step to turn her into Bee☆Pop, a dangerous new villain with enough power to destroy Naruhata. Needless to say, Number Six’s plan was extremely cruel, and it further cemented him as one of the most evil and ruthless villains in the entire franchise.
5 The Hero Public Safety Commission
Betrayed Lady Nagant
- Debut: Chapter 173 (Manga) Episode 53 (Anime)
In the world of My Hero Academia, the Hero Public Safety Commission is an important Japanese government agency in charge of managing the relationships between civilians and Pro Heroes. Or, at least, that’s what they were supposed to do, because at one point they manipulated Lady Nagant, a respected heroine who was secretly working for them, into becoming a cold-blooded assassin who would murder any hero or villain the agency deemed corrupt.
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Naturally, this betrayal ended up taking a heavy toll on Nagant’s psyche, since she began questioning her morality, especially after she saw that people still respected her for her public work as a Pro Hero. When she questioned the president of the Hero Public Safety Commission about this, he threatened her for asking too many questions, so she ended up killing him and, as a result, she was later imprisoned in Tartarus. In the end, the Hero Public Safety Commission and Lady Nagant technically betrayed each other, but there’s no denying that what they did to someone who was once seen as a beloved heroic figure is unforgivable.
4 Keigo Takami (Hawks)
Betrayed Twice (And The Rest Of The League Of Villains)
- Debut: Chapter 184 (Manga) Episode 87 (Anime)
The #2 Pro Hero, Hawks, was Lady Nagant’s successor, seeing as he also secretly worked for the Hero Public Safety Commission, which allowed him to be part of a brilliant plan that would give them a significant advantage in the battle against the League of Villains. Hawks befriended the league by pretending to be a corrupt hero who had switched sides, and he even staged Best Jeanist’s murder to gain their trust.
Of course, he was acting as their friend so he could gather crucial information about the League of Villains (which later became the Paranormal Liberation Front), which is how the Pro Heroes knew exactly how and when to attack the hospital before Shigaraki Tomura’s transformation was completed. The villain Twice was particularly heartbroken by Hawks’ betrayal because he had grown to like him as a person, and the feeling was mutual. To make their situation even more tragic, Hawks was forced to kill Twice before the villain could activate his deadly Sad Man’s Parade attack, and Dabi broadcast video footage of this event to portray the hero as a ruthless killer.
3 Toya Todoroki (Dabi)
Betrayed Endeavor (And The Rest Of The Todoroki Family)
- Debut: Chapter 57 (Manga) Episode 31 (Anime)
Dabi’s backstory is nothing short of heartbreaking: he was born as Toya Todoroki (Endeavor’s first son), and he wanted to become a powerful Pro Hero, just like his father. However, due to Endeavor’s ruthlessness, physical & mental abuse, and insatiable hunger for power, Toya ended up accidentally burning himself with his own flames, and his family mistakenly believed that he had died.
One for All carefully manipulated Toya into hating his own family and the rest of Japan’s hero society, which prompted him to become Dabi, a cynical and murderous villain who used his potent blue flames to kill everyone in his path, including other Pro Heroes and innocent civilians. On top of that, he also went on to expose Endeavor’s interfamilial abuse on live television and even tried to kill him and the rest of his family during the Final War. While Dabi’s reaction to his father’s mistreatment is somewhat reasonable, his complete disregard for the lives of innocents who had nothing to do with it (like his siblings, his mother and all the civilians he murdered) made his betrayal all the more egregious and abhorrent, especially when considering that his younger brother, Shoto Todoroki, had also suffered a lot, and yet he was still able to become a Pro Hero.
2 Yuga Aoyama (Can't Stop Twinkling)
Betrayed U.A. High School
- Debut: Chapter 3 (Manga) Episode 4 (Anime)
My Hero Academia fans spent many years wondering which character was the supposed U.A. High School traitor who was feeding vital information to One for All and the League of Villains. In Chapter 336/Episode 141, it was ultimately revealed that the traitor was none other than the Class 1-A student, Yuga Aoyama, whose family had remained loyal to One for All after the villain had given him a quirk (because he was born without one).
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This reveal was undoubtedly one of the most dramatic moments in the entire series, because the rest of Class 1-A (including Deku himself) were heartbroken by it, since they had grown to like Aoyama and considered him their friend. The feeling was mutual, however, because he hated how One for All forced him to keep betraying his friends and putting them in danger on numerous occasions.
Fortunately, Aoyama was not only able to rebuild his friendship with the rest of the class, but he also got a very satisfying redemption arc when he took advantage of his relationship with One for All at the very beginning of the Final War Arc. At the end of the day, Aoyama was able to double-cross the cruel person who had forced him to betray his friends.
1 Zen Shigaraki (All For One)
Betrayed Shigaraki Tomura (And Many Others)
- Debut: Chapter 59 (Manga) Episode 33 (Anime)
All for One, the main antagonist of the My Hero Academia series, is a cruel, selfish, and power-hungry villain, so it should be no surprise that he exploited and betrayed a lot of people throughout his tenure as the Symbol of Evil. While some of the most prominent examples include people like Dabi, Spinner, and pretty much the entire League of Villains, his sudden betrayal of Shigaraki Tomura was the worst one.
After Tenko Shimura awakened his Decay quirk and accidentally killed his entire family, Zen Shigaraki took care of him, gave him a new name and identity, and slowly taught him everything he needed to know to become a powerful villain that could destroy society, just like him. However, it was ultimately revealed that One for All never really cared for Shigaraki, and that he was just manipulating the poor kid so he could become his new vessel. To make things even worse, One for All also confessed that he had given Tenko a modified version of Overhaul’s quirk when he was a kid, meaning that he was the evil mastermind behind his family’s tragic death. This is the worst betrayal between two characters in the entire series, but the realization that One for All never cared for him at least allowed Shigaraki to help Deku defeat the Symbol of Evil at the end of the story.
- Release Date
- 2016 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- TBS, MBS, Nippon TV
- Directors
- Shouji Ikeno, Tsuyoshi Tobita, Ikuro Sato, Takudai Kakuchi, Masashi Abe, Tetsuya Miyanishi, Kazuma Komatsu, Yoshifumi Sasahara, Masayuki Otsuki, Daisuke Tsukushi, Takayuki Yamamoto, Yohei Fukui, Takuro Tsukada, Masatoyo Takada, Naomi Nakayama, Sayaka Morikawa, Takanori Yano
Cast
-
Daiki YamashitaIzuku Midoriya (voice) -
Kaito IshikawaManga Fukidashi (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio
- Bones
- Creator
- Kōhei Horikoshi
- Japanese Title
- Boku no Hero Academia
- Number of Episodes
- 159
