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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →At the opening of My Hero Academia’s eighth and final season, Izuku Midoriya (Deku) and Tomura Shigaraki sit at the top of the combat-power conversation, with All For One close behind. This is an editorial ranking—not an official franchise list—and it freezes each character at the season’s opening story point, before later outcomes change the picture.
The anime’s official announcement says the season begins with the events of manga volume 40. That cutoff matters: it keeps the ranking from mixing opening-season fighters with their later-season or epilogue versions.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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My Hero Academia, Vol. 1 | $6.60 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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My Hero Academia Box Set 1: Includes volumes 1-20 with premium | $142.55 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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My Hero Academia, Vol. 2 | $7.98 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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My Hero Academia Volume 1-5 Collection 5 Books Set (Series 1) | $48.22 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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My Hero Academia, Vol. 3 | $6.71 | Buy on Amazon |
How this ranking works
“Strongest” is not a published statistic in My Hero Academia, and the official materials do not provide a top-ten combat ranking. This list is an editorial judgment based on each character’s likely effectiveness in a fight at the same story moment.
The comparison weighs five factors: offensive force, defense and survivability, speed and mobility, range and versatility, and constraints such as injuries, temporary power-ups, gear, or the ability to sustain an ability. A character’s placement reflects the whole fighting package, not just the largest possible attack.
#1 Best Overall
- Middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but he hasn't got an ounce of power in him
- What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called “Quirks”
- Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study
The Final Season is the anime’s eighth season and begins with volume 40’s story, according to the official anime announcement dated October 12, 2024. Studio Bones describes the central conflict as the heroes’ final battle against Shigaraki and All For One, with Deku facing Shigaraki and All Might’s confrontation with All For One reaching its resolution (BONES series page).
The 10 strongest characters at the season’s opening
1. Izuku Midoriya (Deku)
Deku ranks first for the breadth of his combat toolkit and the ceiling of his inherited One For All power. The season’s central matchup places him against Shigaraki, a signal of how consequential his role is in the final conflict. His strength is not simply raw force: his mobility, ability to adapt, and access to multiple capabilities make him difficult to answer with one tactic.
The ranking uses Deku’s season-opening state, not the later status described in his official character profile. That profile traces his Quirk history from being quirkless to inheriting One For All and eventually becoming quirkless again; the latter is a later timeline state, not the snapshot ranked here (official Deku profile).
2. Tomura Shigaraki
Shigaraki is the closest challenger to Deku and the principal opposing force in the season’s central battle. His combination of destructive threat and resilience makes him more than a powerful target: he can force an opponent to manage the danger he poses while trying to survive the fight themselves.
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Rank #2
- MHA Fandom: Midoriya inherits the superpower of the world’s greatest hero, but greatness won’t come easy.
- Includes: The first 20 volumes of the bestselling My Hero Academia manga.
- Format: Softcover, 3840 pages.
He sits just below Deku here because the ranking gives the protagonist’s broad combat options a slight edge in an overall matchup. The official season materials establish the importance of their clash, but do not assign either fighter a numerical strength score or declare a winner at the opening point.
3. All For One
All For One’s season-opening position reflects a major temporary advantage: the official announcement recaps that rewind restored him to his prime before the final season begins. That restoration gives him a formidable combination of experience and combat capability, making him a threat even alongside the younger fighters at the center of the conflict.
His third-place position is a judgment about the specific opening snapshot, not a claim that his power is fixed. Rewind makes the timing of any assessment especially important; this list does not carry his condition forward into later events.
4. All Might, in powered armor
All Might enters this period without his own Quirk and relies on powered armor equipped with technology inspired by Class 1-A’s Quirks, as the official season announcement recaps. That makes him a special case: his placement measures the armored fighter at the opening conflict, not the former Symbol of Peace at his peak.
Rank #3
The armor gives him a range of tools and lets him confront a vastly powerful opponent, but external equipment is also a constraint. He depends on the suit rather than an innate Quirk, so his performance cannot be treated as equivalent to his former, unarmored state. His matchup with All For One is one of the season’s defining conflicts.
5. Katsuki Bakugo
Bakugo’s Explosion gives him powerful offense alongside the mobility and combat skill that make him dangerous at close and intermediate range. His official character profile identifies Explosion and emphasizes his strong fighting ability (official Bakugo profile).
He falls below the four figures above because this ranking reserves its highest spots for the season’s central powerhouses and All Might’s extraordinary armored intervention. Bakugo remains among the strongest students, but a high placement should not be mistaken for an official power scale.
6. Shoto Todoroki
Todoroki’s Half-Cold Half-Hot gives him a versatile balance of ice and fire, letting him attack and control space in different ways. The official profile describes him as one of Class 1-A’s top performers and identifies his Quirk (official Todoroki profile).
His versatility earns him a place near the top of the student group. He ranks below Bakugo here because this list gives greater weight to demonstrated overall combat ability and the broader threat each character presents at the opening snapshot—not simply the number of elements in a Quirk.
7. Endeavor
Endeavor belongs in a top-ten discussion because the Final Season’s conflict is not only a contest among students: the official studio synopsis identifies the Todoroki family confrontation as a major strand of the final battle. As a professional hero, he brings experience and a high-level combat role to that conflict.
His position is lower than the leading six because the cited official materials establish the season’s matchups and student profiles but do not provide a standardized comparison of Endeavor’s opening-state abilities against the other candidates. This placement is a reasoned judgment, not a canon ranking.
8. Hawks
Hawks is a credible contender for the lower places because the final conflict is fought by a wider group of heroes, not only the headline combatants. His value in a fight comes from the combination of mobility, reach, and tactical support that a versatile hero can bring to a crowded battlefield.
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The available official season synopsis does not rank Hawks against the other candidates or provide a numeric measure of his strength. His placement therefore reflects the practical value of a mobile, adaptable hero in the conflict rather than a claim that he can overpower the characters above him in a direct duel.
9. Mirko
Mirko merits consideration as a close-range fighter with the experience to operate in a high-stakes battle. She is not one of the season synopsis’s named central matchups, so this ranking does not treat her as a peer of Deku, Shigaraki, or All For One in story importance.
Her place at ninth is an editorial estimate among the broader set of combatants. The official materials cited here do not offer an authoritative ten-character list or a shared statistic that would settle her position against other heroes.
10. Best Jeanist
Best Jeanist rounds out the list for his potential to contribute control and battlefield support rather than relying only on a single overwhelming attack. In a large conflict, restraint and coordination can make a fighter useful even when they are not the strongest individual combatant.
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The tenth spot is the least definitive placement: the official season materials establish the main conflict and several high-priority fighters, but do not specify a complete top ten. Best Jeanist is included as a strong, tactically valuable contender, not as an officially certified final entry.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the top four are a different kind of comparison
The first four places do not describe four interchangeable fighters. Deku and Shigaraki anchor the season’s central clash; All For One enters with his prime restored through rewind; and All Might fights without his Quirk, using powered armor instead. Injuries, temporary conditions, and external equipment make a single, timeless “strongest” order misleading.
Studio Bones’ synopsis also identifies the Todoroki family confrontation and the Ochaco–Toga encounter as important parts of the Final Season (BONES series page). That broader story context is why this ranking includes leading student fighters and professional heroes as well as the central villains.
Quick Recap
What this ranking can—and cannot—say
- It compares one moment: the story opening of the eighth season, which the official announcement places at volume 40.
- It is not an official list: no cited official source publishes a standardized combat score or top-ten ranking.
- It does not use later versions: post-opening developments and epilogue states are outside the comparison.
- It treats support and condition as part of the fight: All Might’s armor and All For One’s rewind are central to their opening-season placements.
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