WARNING: The following contains minor spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 341, "The Story of How We All Became Heroes, Part Minus 1" by Kohei Horikoshi, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available now in English from Viz Media.
My Hero Academia is set in the far future, where supernatural Quirks have redefined society in many ways, some for the better, and others definitely for the worse. In this era, nearly everyone is born armed with a Quirk, and most importantly, these Quirks are not created equal in terms of firepower or society's view on them. Some Quirks are more of a curse than a gift.
Heteromorphs are characters with mutated physical appearances, often carrying visible animal features, such as a person with a snake head or even a bird head. These individuals have suffered discrimination for years. With All For One rising into an advantaged position, some heteromorphs are beginning to view villains not as criminals, but inspiring heroes -- most of all the gecko hero Spinner. Clearly, the term "hero" is more subjective and fluid than Pro Heroes and the Japanese government would like to admit.
When Pro Heroes Fail To Inspire Everyone
In superhero comic books, in-story characters and real-life readers usually accept a concrete, black-and-white view that heroes are always good, and villains are always bad. There is ample evidence to support this, from heroes risking their lives to save innocent civilians to villains breaking the law and harming others for their own gain. In My Hero Academia in particular, professionals such as All Might himself routinely save lives and defeat criminals to uphold the law while the likes of Overhaul abuse others and cause chaos. These are cut-and-dried examples that help keep hero society running, but there is a hidden side, and that hidden side has more merit than the bureaucracy may want to acknowledge.
Pro Heroes always do their best for the people who need them, but even the best heroes have their limits. In fact, these professionals might put up with some of society's darker aspects -- such as discrimination against heteromorphs -- because they lack the means or will to fix these deep-rooted, systematic social issues. Few, if any, Pro Heroes are symbolic to the pariah heteromorphs. For the especially desperate, at-risk heteromorphs who can't find allies in Pro Hero society, turning to villains instead may seem like the only answer. The lack of heteromorph and other alienated minority representation in the glorified Pro Hero system can be disheartening, at least.
This has been a failure of hero society for decades, and as All For One returns to power, the darkest consequences are beginning to arise, including a grassroots movement to tear down the civilization that rejected the outliers. The Pro Heroes never saw, or refused to see, it coming.
When "Hero" Has A Subjective Definition
Some philosophies or worldviews state that good and evil are concrete and objective, and morality and justice are the same no matter how a person views them. The story of My Hero Academia has a different perspective, especially in recent chapters when the villains go on the march. Recent events portray a world where "hero" is a looser term than the likes of Superman or Captain America would appreciate; where a hero is merely an inspiration for someone else, even if people are being inspired to commit crimes or harm others. It's easy to think that "hero" is synonymous with "goodness," and for decades in My Hero Academia's world that was largely the case. But that was never entirely the case. Now, the term "hero" seems to be split evenly between do-gooders and villains who inspire their respective communities.
The Pro Heroes and villains share the term "hero," proving how subjective and neutral the concept of a hero really is. A recent example includes the heteromorph villain Spinner, who serves as a symbol for all heteromorphs who feel alienated from society. Spinner did for them what Pro Heroes didn't, and countless outlaws, outcasts and shut-ins are forming a movement to follow Spinner's example and create a world where they are validated. To them, Spinner is a true hero, and the Pro Heroes are villains who upheld societal norms that rejected the heteromorphs. In this new era, anyone can be a hero, and what really matters is if they can validate and inspire other people. Such a blurred line spells trouble for the traditional heroes such as Endeavor and Hawks. Since this battle is no longer just between Quirks, and is now over the very definition of "hero," no matter who wins, society will be changed forever.
