WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia #285, by Kohei Horikoshi, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available now in English from Viz Media.
My Hero Academia is pulling no punches in its latest arc, having killed off more characters in the last thirty chapters than it has in the entire series. But death isn't the only grim outcome for the heroes giving their all to stop the Paranormal Liberation Front. Permanent injuries are increasingly common given the fates of Aizawa, Hawks and Mirko, with more surely to be revealed once people receive treatment and the bodies are tallied in the aftermath of this arc.
Now, in My Hero Academia #285, it seems even the series protagonist isn't immune to permanent injury. Deku has been warned multiple times throughout the series that if he keeps shattering his arms using One For All at 100%, he'll become unable to use them. But since Gran Torino's death at the hands of Shigaraki, it seems he no longer cares.
The death of Deku's mentor spurrshim to unleash several 100% Smashes on Shigaraki as the villain continually regenerates to survive the blows. The chapters leading up to #285 saw Deku's arms already blackened and bloodied from the force of his attacks, but in spite of this he continues to pummel Shigaraki with his mangled arms. He's not unaware of the consequences, either. At the start of the chapter, he recalls Recovery Girl warning him that he has two or three more 100% Smashes before he permanently loses the use of his arms. The pages following this warning have Deku using 100% Smashes four times.
This juxtaposition makes it clear that Deku won't be escaping the arc unscathed. Deku losing the use of his arms has been set up for years, with series creator Kohei Horikoshi laying the groundwork as far back as the Hideout Raid arc. So while speculation abounds that Deku may have his arms eventually healed by Eri's Rewind Quirk, or that one of the Quirks hidden within One For All will repair him, what's been done won't be easily undone. It's probable that Deku will have to live -- and fight -- without the use of his arms for the foreseeable future.
The extent of the damage to his arms, as well as how Deku will be able to fight onward despite his injuries, remains in question. It's possible both Deku and Bakugo will be out of commission for a time after this latest arc, but the prosthetics or the creative use of Blackwhip could go a long way towards putting Deku back in the game. It's another way that he'll have to walk his own path as a hero, rather than relying solely on All Might's guidance.
