The clashes between the heroes and villains in My Hero Academia are not only a show of strength. They're also clashes of ideals, and to protect the societal order. Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of this masterpiece, made sure to deliver a lineup of antagonists whose motivations are as complex as those of the protagonists they oppose.

Some of them are products of the failed society that the heroes try to uphold. Others were failed by their family, leading them down paths they would not originally take in an attempt to get revenge or make some sort of change in the world, even though it is not right for them to take matters into their own hands. With that in mind, here are some of the My Hero Academia villains who have a point.

4 Jin Bubaigawara

A Victim Of His Quirk

Jin, popularly known as Twice, was forced into this life of crime by his quirk, which allows him to create duplicates of himself and anything else. He had opposing personalities that manifested when he made clones of himself due to his OSDD, which only stopped when he put on a mask. A certain conflict with his clones left him unsure if he was the original. This plunged him into an identity crisis that overhauled his personality and drove him to villainy.

Jin suffered an unfortunate life before becoming a villain. He lost his loved ones, his home, and his job. There was almost no way he could return to his normal life because of the multiple personalities rambling in his head. He took the League of Villains as his family, as they were the ones who took him in when he had no one else. He put himself on the line to protect Himiko Toga, which earned him the respect of Hawks, a high-ranking Pro Hero.

3 Dabi

Ignored And Emotionally Abused By His Father

Dabi, originally known as Toya Todoroki, is a victim of the cruel upbringing that comes with being Endeavor’s son. Endeavor groomed Dabi from a young age, and filled his head with dreams of surpassing All Might and becoming the number one hero. Dabi took his training very seriously, and would not mind hurting and burning himself despite his father’s warnings. Following the birth of Shoto, who possessed the quirk he lacked, Endeavor began to ignore Dabi. Dabi then kept pushing himself past the safe limits and hurting himself in training every day, in hopes of earning his father’s praise and attention.

Dabi eventually lost control after evolving his quirk and burning himself, which resulted in him being in a coma for three years. Discovering his father still did not care about him when he awoke broke him, and he rejected the name his father gave him. He then dedicated his life to being a cold villain with the aim of ruining his father’s name and putting him through all the suffering he had to go through as a child.

2 Shigaraki Tomura

Obssessed With Tearing Down The Society That Hurt Him

Like the majority of the villains in My Hero Academia, Shigaraki Tomura is the product of a failed society and, more specifically, a failed family. Tomura has no regard for human life, and this stems from the abuse he received from his father and his own loneliness as a child. The itch he gets is representative of an urge to kill someone or destroy something. Tomura's goal at the start of the series was to kill the Symbol of Justice, the Number One Hero of All Might. This is not because he has any personal grudges, but because he longs to see the society that failed him crumble. Killing All Might is a surefire way to achieve his goals.

The failed state of their society bred a lot of villains and ignored the suffering of a lot of children. The heroes seemed to only answer the calls of the privileged. After All Might’s retirement, Shigaraki decided that crumbling society would not be enough. He had grown to hate everything that breathed, and he decided that only the destruction and subsequent resurrection of societal order under him could serve as atonement for the pain he suffered.

1 Hero Killer Stain

Cleansing Society Of False Heroes Who Are Not Pure Of Heart

Hero Killer Stain is one of the first names to pop up in everyone’s minds when they think of an anime villain with an understandable motive. He appeared to be a cruel, manic killer who killed heroes for no reason, but he tried to cleanse society in his own twisted way. Stain was killing false heroes who became heroes because of fame, status, and money, and didn't care about saving people. He does not attack all heroes blindly. He was reluctant to go after Tenya Iida until the latter angered him and revealed that he was out for revenge, which Stain considers a selfish reason to use one’s quirk.

All Might and Deku are the only heroes to earn his praise due to their overwhelming selflessness and willingness to put themselves on the line for the safety of others. Stain is not a mindless killer, despite his extreme beliefs and actions. This is evidenced by the number of instances where he chose to assist the heroes and All Might, including in the Final War.