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With the conclusion of My Hero Academia season 6’s first half, fans saw the Pro Heroes walk away with a pyrrhic victory following Shigaraki’s retreat. Despite winning the battle known as the Paranormal Liberation War, the overarching conflict against villains is far from over.
In terms of detriment to the Pro Hero society, the loss of several of their finest was only surpassed by the reveal of Dabi as Toya Todoroki, which all of Japan is now aware of. With this, My Hero Academia fans saw the public’s faith and trust in Pro Heroes become almost non-existent, with even their most steadfast believers questioning their intentions.
Now, fans must watch as the Pro Heroes try their best to pick up the pieces and put them back together following this costly conflict.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from My Hero Academia season 6, episode 14.
My Hero Academia’s Paranormal Liberation War sees villains deliver a crippling blow to Pro Heroes in their “victory”
As mentioned above, the most obvious way the Pro Heroes were affected by the Paranormal Liberation War’s events comes from the physical loss of some of their best. Midnight, Majestic, Crust, and more tragically died due to the conflict, leaving voids in My Hero Academia’s contemporary and future Pro Hero society.
Even those who survived didn’t leave the war with the same caliber they had when the war began. Mirko and Hawks especially symbolize this, with the former losing her right leg and left hand to the High-End Nomu she fought. Meanwhile, Hawks was so badly burnt in his fight with Dabi that he’ll be forced to use prosthetic feathers to continue his Hero work.
Shockingly, however, neither of these general losses would be the most impactful to the Pro Hero society at large. This prize would instead go to Dabi’s video package, which revealed his cruel childhood with Endeavor to the world. As aforementioned, this completely shook the public’s faith in Pro Heroes and the Pro Hero society.
The reveal demonstrated how cruel Endeavor was to Toya when growing up, forcing him to train in order to inherit Endeavor’s dream of besting All Might and being the No. 1 Hero. While My Hero Academia fans have always found Endeavor to be a little extreme, this information from Dabi revealed the true evils of Endeavor’s obsessive personality.
Despite being an isolated incident, society, in general, begins turning on Pro Heroes, suspecting all of them of harboring some dark secrets. Hawks’ alleged killing of Best Jeanist, which Dabi also publicizes, further fuels this feeling of suspicion against the Heroes, despite Jeanist being alive and volunteering to play dead to help Hawks’ mission.
This change in public opinion had many effects on the Pro Hero society, but likely none more so than on the motivations of the Pro Heroes. While the job was already difficult enough, turning it into a thankless one makes it even more difficult to endure every day.
This causes many Pro Heroes to leave the job altogether, resulting in even more “casualties” from the Paranormal Liberation War.
The chain reaction doesn’t stop there, with My Hero Academia emphasizing that many suffered from low morale due to the above consequences and developments. While the series’ core group of Pro Heroes stayed on, it’s heavily implied that the Pro Hero numbers are currently a fraction of what they were at the onset of the war.
This further fuels civilian discontent with Heroes since there is much more crime than before, and many who were once deterred by the overwhelming presence of Pro Heroes are now taking advantage of their lower numbers. In turn, those affected blame the Pro Heroes for not being there.
In many ways, the reasons behind My Hero Academia’s Pro Heroes being in shambles despite their pyrrhic victory are interconnected on some level. Many reasons tip dominos over, which somehow comes back to the starting reason, further exacerbating citizens' discontent with their would-be saviors.
Be sure to keep up with all My Hero Academia anime, manga, and live-action news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
