Prime Deku Vs Prime All Might, Explained

Summary

• Prime All Might dominates in pure power with his incredible strength and force generation.
• Prime Deku wins in mastery of One-for-All for mastering all quirks, unlike All Might.
• Prime All Might excels in heroic qualities, embodying the perfect hero with experience and dedication. Total: 10 characters

Here at Gamerant, we love to speculate, especially when it comes to imaginary battles between two powerful characters who never get the chance to face each other in the main series. Not only a fight between a hero and a villain but a friendly sparring between two heroes as well. For this “what if” topic, the focus will be on Deku and All Might, specifically between Prime Deku and Prime All Might.

Prime Deku is Deku in the final arc of My Hero Academia where he fully mastered the power of One-for-All (OFA). Prime All Might is All Might during his heyday as the no.1 hero in Japan where he single-handedly defeated All-for-One (AFO). They will be judged based on three criteria: Pure Power, Mastery of One-for-All, and Heroic Qualities. So, between the two greatest wielders of OFA, who stands above the other?

Pure Power

As the name suggests, Pure Power is the sheer amount of force that a hero can generate in a fight. No matter what type of quirks a hero might have, at the end of the day, they need a certain amount of force behind their attacks in order to defeat the villain. Be it Bakugo’s barrage of explosions, Shoto’s wall of ice, or Hawk’s high-speed slashes, those who can generate a great amount of force will have a better chance of defeating their opponents.

Prime All Might

Prime All Might is the embodiment of power. While he can’t use the other quirks within OFA, he is a master of using the energy stock-piling nature of this quirk. Thanks to this, he can produce immense strength, speed, agility, and durability. A casual punch from All Might will send a fairly strong hero flying. A serious punch from All Might, such as his signature Detroit Smash, can create a huge crater on Earth and produce wind pressure that can be felt several blocks away.

Prime Deku

Deku can also use OFA’s energy stockpiling feature, though not as effective and efficient as All Might. In fact, accessing even 10% percent of this power is enough to break his bones. That being said, thanks to proper training and some support devices, Deku can now generate a sizeable amount of force in a fight. He can dish out about 40% consistently now. Any more than that and he will wreak his body. That’s why Deku prefers to use the different quirks in OFA to formulate the best combination of attacks against his opponents, rather than pure strength.

Winner: Prime All Might

When it comes to pure power, nobody in the series, be it heroes or villains, comes close to the absurd amount of force that Prime All Might can generate. That’s why he dominated everybody during his heyday.

“How’d a suplex make an explosion like that? All Might’s in a whole different league!!”

–Minoru Mineta, Chapter 18

Mastery of One-for-All

Both Deku and All Might were born without a quirk. They have no chance of becoming a hero until they receive One-for-All from its previous wielder, with All Might being the 8th user of OFA and Deku being the 9th. Both of them work hard and spend hours of training in order to master OFA. So let’s see which one of them has a better grasp of this unique quirk.

Prime All Might

As explained earlier, All Might has mastered the energy stock-pilling aspect of One-for-All. Thanks to this, he gained extraordinary strength, speed, agility, and durability. That being said, he never manifested the other quirks that exist within OFA. So he never really has the chance to play around with quirks such as Blackwhip or Smokescreen. That being said, considering he managed to become the number one hero and the symbol of peace with only this one particular part of OFA, there’s arguably no need for All Might to use the other quirks in OFA.

Prime Deku

Deku is the exact opposite of All Might. He too has access to the overwhelming raw power of OFA, but unlike All Might, Deku’s body cannot adapt to that absurd power which is why he is often injured when he uses it. That’s why he opted for the path of synergy instead. Unlike the previous wielders of OFA, Deku manages to manifest every quirk that has been stock-piled in OFA. The 2nd’s Gearshift, the 3rd’s Fa Jin, the 4th’s Danger Sense, the 5th’s Blackwhip, the 6th’s Smokescreen, the 7th’s Float, and All Might’s Strength. It takes a while until he fully masters each quirk, but by the end of the series, Deku can pretty much use all of those quirks with ease.

Winner: Prime Deku

The limitations of his body makes Deku have no other option but to master every quirk in OFA. The result is a hero who finds the perfect synergy between different quirks and incorporates it into a highly dynamic and unpredictable fighting style.

“Our quirks are mostly standalone abilities that will never rise to the level of ultimate moves. It’s almost like you have too much respect for these quirks. Instead, think of them as simply tools in your arsenal. Approach the problem strategically and use your tools to put together a plan.”

—En Tayutai (6th user of OFA), Chapter 308

Heroic Qualities

Now that we’ve talked about power and quirk mastery, it’s time to talk about how good they are at their job of being a hero. This category is admittedly skewed more towards All Might simply because he has been in the industry for way longer than Deku. That being said, Deku is the person who defeated the ultimate villain and brought peace to the world, so he’s definitely not a slouch either.

Prime All Might

Prime All Might is the embodiment of what it means to be the perfect hero. He has the power to dominate his opponents, the care and intellect to save as many victims as he can while comforting them at the same time, and the relentlessness to keep doing his best no matter what. And he did it for years without complaining or compromising on any of those important qualities. Those are the qualities needed to become the symbol of peace. That’s why All Might is respected by his peers, feared by his enemies, and loved by the people.

Prime Deku

As the number one fan of All Might who has the privilege of being taught by the man himself, Deku certainly has the same ideology, drive, and principles as All Might. What he hasn’t mastered yet is how to incorporate all of that knowledge into the field. He has the right mindset, but he doesn’t have the experience to put it into practice yet. After all, even mundane things like evacuating the citizens, setting up a first aid base, reassuring injured victims to keep them calm, and something as simple as putting on a smile to cheer up the victims, are some of the requirements of being a hero. Deku still needs to work on those things.

Winner: Prime All Might

A couple more years on the job, and Deku will undoubtedly become as great as All Might. But since we are comparing Prime Deku and Prime All Might, then the answer is clear. In their Prime, All Might is a better Hero than Deku.

“In the worst of times, All Might would maintain that grin and devote every fiber of his being to the people! It had nothing to do with powers or quirks. The man we knew as All Might could not live his life any other way. He carved those ideals into his soul and was lauded for it!”

—Hero Killer Stain, Chapter 326

With a score of 2 to 1, Prime All Might is the winner of this comparison.

My Hero Academia is available to stream on Crunchyroll.