How the League of Villains Failed as an Organization

Key conclusions

• The main goal of the League was to destroy All Might and dismantle the Society of Heroes.
• Shigaraki initially had no goal, but became a leader inspired by Stein.
• Members such as Togo and Dabi have banded together with personal goals, leading to a lack of shared ideology.

The League of Villains is a complex organization with eccentric personalities and different ideals and ambitions. Initially, Shigaraki Tomura became the leader of this organization with one goal in mind: to kill All Might, the Symbol of Peace and the Badge of the Society of Heroes. While initially Shigaraki had no particular conviction or goal with the League of Villains other than to get rid of what he disliked, with his new members he needed to become a leader who inspires and demands loyalty and respect.

However, the creation of the League of Villains as we know it is filled with various ideals and goals that diverge from the ambitions of the organization's leaders. Although the members of the League of Villains shared one minor goal, the dismantling of the current Society of Heroes, they failed as an organization in My Hero Academy.

What was the main purpose of the League of Villains?

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

The League of Villains is an organization originally founded by All For One. However, All For One soon handed over the League of Villains to Shigaraki Tomura when he came of age. All For One gave Shigaraki to the League to nurture his thieving side and train him to be his perfect vessel when he becomes the Demon Lord.

At the beginning of the series, Shigaraki has yet to achieve his big goal of using the League of Villains as an organization. Like many other villains, Shigaraki dealt with All Might and wished him dead due to being forgotten by the Society of Heroes. The USJ incident was probably one of All For One's orders, thus being carried out by Shigaraki and a horde of lower level villains.

First of all, we want to waste All Might. Then we would like to destroy everything that we do not like.

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

Unfortunately for Shigaraki, it took him a while to understand what the leader of the League of Villains was all about. His actions then caused the League of Villains to align themselves with Stein, allowing him to gain powerful allies. However, while the League's prospects were certainly looking up, newly anointed members such as Himiko Toga and Spinner were enamored with Stein's ideology rather than the League.

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

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

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

As mentioned above, several members of the League of Villains wished to achieve their own goals with the help of the League. Twice Jin Bubaigawara did not join the League of Villains because of a higher purpose; he joined them in search of comrades or like-minded people who would accept him for who he was.

Chemist Togo joined the League of Villains after being inspired by Stain's record and hearing his ideology. Toga was previously discriminated against by the Society of Heroes for her “villainess” and tendencies, which led her to a life of villainy. In Chapter 222, Shigaraki mentioned that he intended to destroy anything that opposed Toga's ambitions to find Midoriya Izuku and Uraraku Ochaka.

Comrades have different wishes. Do as you wish.

Upon hearing this, Togo immediately wonders if the things she liked will also be destroyed, to which Shigaraki clarifies that his comrades' wishes are different. Even though Shigaraki has explained his meaning, his desires to destroy will still coincide with those of his comrades, especially Togi who loves Deku as Shigaraki wishes to kill him.

Additionally, Dobby, now known as Todaroki Toya, joined the League of Villains only to gain the power to destroy and defeat Indevar, his father. Although Dobby never truly followed the League of Villains' goals, he followed Shigaraki's orders when necessary and bid time for the fatal battle between Endeavor and Shoto. Dabi also explicitly stated that he would “move on his own volition”, thus demonstrating just how dysfunctional the League was under Section 222.

Spinner originally joined the League of Villains because he wanted to make a big difference to the discrimination against heteromorphs, something that Stein also inspired him to do. In Chapter 223, Spinner expresses his displeasure with the League as there are no more “traces of the taint”. Spinner also believes that the Society of Heroes 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.

In general, each significant member of the League of Villains sought to realize their own goals and ideas, and used the League as a means to that end. Organizational members usually follow their leader and believe in his goals and aspirations. However, the League was based on something other than this theory. While the League members followed Shigaraki's orders, there were times when they did so reluctantly.

• Himiko Toga and Twice were disinterested and angry that they were forced to join the Shi Hosaikai after they killed Magne.
• The members of the League showed irritation when they no longer had a place to hide and had to find rest in dilapidated buildings.
• Dabi outright refused to fight Giganmachia, stating that he would not help defeat Machia in Chapter 222.

Ultimately, the League of Villains shared only one common goal: to destroy the current Society of Heroes, which had failed them in so many ways. To achieve this goal, they set out with their own ambitions, using the League to do so. However, Shigaraki's goal was always to defeat Omnipotence, the symbol of peace and beacon of hope, and destroy everything.

While the League members would like to see the downfall of modern society, the destruction of Shigaraki's “everything” creates a conflict of interest. At this point in the series, Shigaraki's anger and hatred has grown to the point where simply stating his ideals shocks his comrades. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​front-endecial even though the members didn't like the current society, Shigaraki destroying everything would have no society to return to, thus additional conflicting goals.

The League failed as an organization while the Liberation Army succeeded

When assessing the League of Villains internally, it is clear that there are conflicting goals as each member seeks to use the League for their own gain. Although many members have expressed dissatisfaction, they continue to work with the League as it is the fastest way to achieve their goal.

However, there was an occasion when the League faced an organization with accomplished goals and shared beliefs. The Meta Liberation Army is a powerful villainous organization that wants to free Quirk users and demands the free use of Quirks, claiming that they are a basic human right in a 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 brought the new army out of the shadows, using his influence to gain allies and followers. Also, unlike Shigaraki, Re-Desto gathered hundreds of loyal followers who supported his vision and ideals.

During the Meta Liberation Army arc, even though the League members pursued the same goal of freeing Giran and slowing down the Giganmachia in one fell swoop, they still did not have the same loyalty as the Liberation Army members, showing Shigaraki's abilities as a League leader.

While the League of Villains became a prominent group after merging with the Meta Liberation Army, at their core they remained a group of villains who failed to form an organization with different common goals and loyalties. If the League hadn't allied with the Liberation Army, the power they gained in the Last War would likely have been negligible.

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