How the League Of Villains Failed as an Organization

Key Takeaways

• The League’s primary goal was to kill All Might and dismantle the Hero Society.
• Shigaraki initially lacked purpose but evolved as a leader inspired by Stain.
• Members like Toga and Dabi joined for personal goals, leading to a lack of shared ideology.

The League of Villains is a complex organization with eccentric personalities and varying ideals and ambitions. Initially, Shigaraki Tomura became the leader of this organization with one goal in mind: to kill All Might, the Symbol of Peace and icon of the Hero Society. While initially, Shigaraki did not have much conviction and purpose with the League of Villains besides doing away with that which he disliked, with his new members, he needed to become a leader who inspired and demanded loyalty and respect.

However, the League of Villains’ formation, as we know it, is filled with varying ideals and goals that break away from the organization’s leaders’ ambitions. Although the League of Villains members shared one minor goal, dismantling the current Hero Society, they failed as an organization in My Hero Academia.

What was the League of Villains primary goal?

Ridding the world of All Might and the collapse of the Hero Society

The League of Villains is an organization that was initially founded by All For One. However, All For One soon handed over the League of Villains to Shigaraki Tomura once he began of age. All For One gave Shigaraki the League to nurture his villainous side and nurture him to become his ideal vessel once he became the Demon Lord.

At the start of the series, Shigaraki had yet to reach a grand goal of using the League of Villains as an organization. Like many other villains, Shigaraki had a bone to pick with All Might and wished him dead due to being forgotten by the Hero Society. The USJ incident was likely one of All For One’s orders, thus being carried out by Shigaraki and a horde of lower-tier villains.

First of all, we want to waste All Might. Then we’d like to destroy all the things that aren’t to our liking.

Before the League of Villains became an established group, Shigaraki wanted to kill All Might and destroy everything he did not like. However, when confronted by Stain in the Vs. Hero Killer arc, Shigaraki began to understand what it meant to become the organization’s leader. Traditionally, an organization is a group of people with a particular purpose who work together to achieve this common goal.

Unfortunately for Shigaraki, it took him some time to understand what being the leader of the League of Villains. His actions then caused the League of Villains to connect to Stain, allowing him to gain powerful allies. However, while the prospects of the League were certainly looking up, the newly anointed members, such as Himiko Toga and Spinner, were awestruck with Stain’s ideology rather than the League.

At this point, Shigaraki, as the leader of the League of Villains, failed to gain allies that fully supported his ideals, as many joined after seeing Stain’s ideology or sought to accomplish their own goals through the League.

Did the members of the League of Villains follow the same goal?

Many were inspired by Stain and had varying ideals of what they wanted to accomplish in the League

As mentioned above, several members of the League of Villains wished to accomplish their own goals through the League’s assistance. Twice or, Jin Bubaigawara didn’t join the League of Villains because of a higher goal; he joined them in search of comrades or like-minded individuals who would accept him for who he was.

Himiko Toga joined the League of Villains after being inspired by the recording of Stain and hearing his ideology. Previously, the Hero Society had discriminated against Toga for her “villainous” Quirk and tendencies, leading her to a villainy life. In Chapter 222, Shigaraki mentioned that he intended to destroy everything, which conflicted with Toga’s ambitions of seeking out Midoriya Izuku and Uraraka Ochaco.

The wishes of my comrades are separate. Do as you like.

Upon hearing this, Toga immediately questions whether the things she liked would also be destroyed, to which Shigaraki clarifies that his comrades’ wishes are separate. Although Shigaraki clarified his meaning, his wishes to destroy everything would still coincide with his comrades’ wishes, particularly Toga, who loves Deku, as Shigaraki wishes to kill him.

Additionally, Dabi, now known as Todoroki Touya, only joined the League of Villains to gain the power to take down and defeat Endeavor, his father. While Dabi never truly followed the goals of the League of Villains, if need be, he would follow the orders of Shigaraki and bid time until the fatal battle between Endeavor and Shoto. Dabi also directly stated he would “move on his own accord,” thus demonstrating how dysfunctional the League was in Chapter 222.

Spinner initially joined the League of Villains because he wished to significantly change the views of the heteromorphs’ discrimination, which Stain also inspired him to do. In Chapter 223, Spinner voices his dissatisfaction with the League as “traces of Stain” are no longer there. Spinner, too, believes the Hero Society failed to assist the Mutants. However, as the series progresses, Spinner becomes a true friend to Shigaraki and thus wants to support his goals and ideas.

Overall, each significant member of the League of Villains sought to accomplish their own goals and ideas and used the League as a means to achieve this goal. Usually, members of an organization would follow their leader and believe in their goals and aspirations. However, the League was founded on something other than this theory. While the members of the League would follow the orders given to them by Shigaraki, there have been cases in which they would reluctantly do so.

• Himiko Toga and Twice were disinterested and angry at being forced to join the Shie Hassaikai after they killed Magne.
• The League members showed annoyance when they no longer had a hideout and had to find rest in dilapidated buildings.
• Dabi directly refused to fight Giganmachia, stating he would not help defeat Machia in Chapter 222.

Ultimately, the League of Villains only shared one common goal: to destroy the current Hero Society, which failed them in various ways. To accomplish this goal, they set out with their own ambitions using the League to do this. However, Shigaraki’s goal was always to defeat All Might, the Symbol of Peace and beacon of hope, and destroy everything.

While the League members would like to see the fall of current society, Shigaraki destroying “everything” creates a conflict of interest. At this point in the series, Shigaraki’s malice and hatred have grown to the point that just voicing his ideals would shock his comrades. Although the members disliked the current society, in Shigaraki destroying everything, there would be no society for them to return to, thus additional conflicting goals.

The League failed as an organization, whereas the Liberation Army succeeded

When assessing the League of Villains internally, it’s clear that there are conflicting goals as each member seeks to use the League for their own benefit. Although many members have voiced dissatisfaction, they continue to work with the League as it is the quickest way to reach their goal.

However, there has been an instance in which the League has faced an organization with fulfilled goals and shared beliefs. The Meta Liberation Army is a powerful villain organization that wishes to liberate Quirk users and demand the free usage of Quirks, stating that they are a basic human right in the world with 80% of Quirk users.

Unlike Shigaraki, who showcases no patience, impulsivity, and a quick-to-act temper, Re-Destro or Yotsubashi Rikiya, the leader of the Meta Liberation Army, bided his time and raised the new army from the shadows, using his influence to gain allies and followers. Also, unlike Shigaraki, Re-Desto amassed hundreds of loyal followers who supported his vision and ideals.

During the Meta Liberation Army arc, although the League members followed the similar goal of freeing Giran and slowing down Giganmachia in one swoop, they still did not have the same loyalty as those with the Liberation Army, which demonstrated Shigaraki’s abilities as a leader of the League.

While the League of Villains became an established group after merging with the Meta Liberation Army, at heart, they remained a ragtag group of villains that failed to form an organization with various shared goals and loyalty to the cause. If the League had not merged with the Liberation Army, the power they gained for the Final War would likely have been insignificant.

My Hero Academia is now available to stream on Crunchyroll.