WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia #295, by Kohei Horikoshi, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available now in English from Viz Media.
Much news about My Hero Academia has come out in the final weeks of 2020, including the announcement of a third movie and more about Season 5 of the anime. One of the more interesting and overlooked pieces of news is the future return of an unexpected villain: Moonfish. Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of My Hero Academia, made a comment regarding this during 2020's Jump Festa, an annual exposition held in Japan that often has news about games and anime.
Moonfish is both a dark and memorable character despite his minimal screentime, but his return in and of itself isn't all that noteworthy. Rather, it's the implications of his return that are cause for interest. Moonfish is currently being held in Tartarus, a maximum-security prison designed for villains. Fans have already been speculating about the potential for a story arc centered around a prison break, and this news on Moonfish just made the chances of it happening much more likely.
The theory of a prison break happening first took off when All Might mentioned that he intends to go visit Stain in Tartarus. The date of All Might's foretold death approaching, and as a mentor character in a shonen series, it's generally expected that he won't survive to the end of the series. Dying while caught in the midst of a prison break would be both a dramatic and somewhat unexpected way for All Might to make his exit. In fact, that single day could be the moment when both titans of the previous generation – All Might and All For One – are swept off the playing field.
Why? The driving force of this arc would be Shigaraki, with the fate of everyone in Tartarus falling into his hands. Several events in the War Arc have made it an excellent strategy for him to stage a prison break. Not only have several of his key allies – including Gigantomachia, Dr. Ujiko and possibly Mr. Compress – been captured by the heroes, but his conflict with All For One is escalating to levels where there will surely be a reckoning. All For One has repeatedly taken control of Shigaraki's body without his consent and recently allowed Shigaraki's allies to be captured by the heroes as a punishment for his failures. Both of these decisions will surely leave Shigaraki furious in the aftermath of the War Arc.
All For One's presence in Tartarus makes a prison break a doubly perfect move for Shigaraki. In one fell swoop, he'll be able to free his allies and have his ultimate confrontation with his mentor. Depending on the outcome of that confrontation, All For One will either be freed or killed by Shigaraki's hands. Should the latter happen, that will help cement Shigaraki as the true villain of My Hero Academia.
There are of course many other dangerous villains locked up in Tartarus as well. Moonfish aside, Stain, Mustard, Overhaul, Muscular and potentially new formidable dangerous villains could be freed – turning Shigaraki's latest losses into a long-term victory. The losses the heroes have faced in the War Arc may seem immense, but if this theory proves true, they've seen nothing of Shigaraki's promised destruction yet.
