How the League of Villains Failed as an Organization

Key recommendations

• The League's main goal was to kill All Might and dismantle the Hero Society.
• Shigaraki didn't initially have a purpose, but evolved as a leader inspired by Stain.
• Members like Toga and Dabi joined for personal goals, resulting in a lack of common ideology.

The League of Villains is a complex organization with eccentric personalities and different ideals and ambitions. Originally, 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 Shigaraki initially didn't have much conviction and purpose with the League of Villains, other than to eliminate what he didn't like, with his new members, he had to become a leader who would inspire and demand loyalty and respect.

However, the formation of the League of Villains as we know it is filled with varied ideals and goals that stem from the ambitions of the organization's leaders. Although the members of the League of Villains shared a minor goal, the dismantling of the current Society of Heroes, they failed as an organization in My Hero Academia.

What was the main goal of League of Villains?

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

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

At the start of the series, Shigaraki has yet to achieve the 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 for being forgotten by the Hero Society. The USJ incident was likely one of All For One's orders, thus being executed by Shigaraki and a horde of lower level villains.

First, we want to waste All Might. Then we would like to destroy all the things that are not to our liking.

Before the League of Villains became an established group, Shigaraki wanted to kill All Might and destroy everything he didn't like. However, when faced with Stain in the Vs. The Hero Killer arc, Shigaraki began to understand what it means to become the leader of the organization. Traditionally, an organization is a group of people with a particular purpose who work together to achieve that common purpose.

Unfortunately for Shigaraki, it took him a while to figure out who the leader of the League of Villains was. His actions then caused the League of Villains to connect with Stain, allowing him to gain powerful allies. However, while the League's prospects were certainly on the up, newly anointed members such as Himiko Toga and Spinner were more in awe of Stain's ideology than the League.

At this time, Shigaraki, as the leader of the League of Villains, was unable to gain allies who fully supported his ideals, as many joined after seeing Stain's ideology or sought to achieve their own objectives through the League.

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

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

As mentioned above, several members of the League of Villains wanted to achieve their own goals through the League's assistance. Twice or so, Jin Bubaigawara did not enter the League of Villains because of a greater gap; he joined them in his search for companions or similar individuals who would accept him as he was.

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

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

Hearing this, Toga immediately wonders if the things he liked would also be destroyed, to which Shigaraki clarifies that his comrades' wishes are separate. Although Shigaraki clarified his meaning, his desires to destroy everything would still coincide with the desires of his comrades, especially Toga, who loves Deku because Shigaraki wants to kill him.

In addition, Dabi, now known as Todoroki Touya, joined the League of Villains only to gain the power to defeat and defeat Endeavor, his father. Although Dabi never really followed the goals of the League of Villains, if needed he would follow Shigaraki's orders and bide his time until the fatal battle between Endeavor and Shoto. Dabi also directly stated that it would “move on its own”, thus proving how dysfunctional the League was in Chapter 222.

Spinner originally joined the League of Villains because he wanted to significantly change views on discrimination against heteromorphs, which Stain inspired him to do as well. In chapter 223, Spinner expresses his displeasure with the League as the “spot marks” no longer exist. Spinner also believes that the Hero Society has failed to help the Mutants. However, as the series progresses, Spinner becomes a true friend of Shigaraki and thus wants to support his goals and ideas.

Generally, each significant member of the League of Villains sought to achieve their own goals and ideas and used the League as a means to achieve that goal. Members of an organization usually follow their leader and believe in their goals and aspirations. However, the League was founded on something other than this theory. While the League members would follow orders given by Shigaraki, there were instances where they would do so reluctantly.

• Himiko Toga and Twice were disinterested and angry that they were forced to join Shie Hassaikai after killing Magne.
• The League members expressed dismay when they ran out of hiding places and had to find rest in dilapidated buildings.
• Dabi outright refused to fight Giganmachia, stating that she would not help her defeat Machia in chapter 222.

Ultimately, the League of Villains shared one common goal: the destruction of the current Society of Heroes, which had failed them in various ways. To achieve this goal, they set out with their own ambitions using the League to do so. However, Shigaraki's goal has always been to defeat All Might, the Symbol of Peace and Beacon of Hope and destroy everything.

While the League members would like to see the downfall of current society, Shigaraki destroying “everything” creates a conflict of interest. At this point in the series, Shigaraki's malice and hatred has grown to the point where just expressing his ideals would shock his comrades. Although the members didn't like the current society, in Shigaraki destroying everything, there would be no society to return to, thus additional conflicting objectives.

The League failed as an organization while the Liberation Army succeeded

When evaluating the League of Villains internally, it is clear that there are conflicting goals as each member tries to use the League to their advantage. Although many members have expressed their displeasure, they continue to work with the League because it is the fastest way to achieve their goal.

However, there was a situation where the League faced an organization with accomplished goals and shared beliefs. The Meta Liberation Army is a powerful organization of villains that wants to free Quirk users and demand free use of Quirks, claiming that they are a basic human right in the world with 80% of Quirk users.

Unlike Shigaraki, who shows no patience, impulsiveness and quick 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 to gain allies and followers. Also, unlike Shigaraki, Re-Desto has amassed hundreds of loyal followers who support his vision and ideals.

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

While the League of Villains became an established group after merging with the Meta Liberation Army, at their core they remained a group of villains who failed to form an organization with various common goals and allegiances to the cause. If the League hadn't 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.