Why Could the Meta Liberation Army Be MHA's Best Villains Yet?

SPOILERS FOR MHA ANIME AND MANGA AHEAD. YOU WERE WARNED

My Hero Academia has shown us that while heroes are the face of all things good about society, there are always villains to counter them. The anime has shown us a decent amount of villains so far: The League of Villains, who attacked UA and kidnapped Bakugo. They are very important so we'll talk about them later. Stain was a villain with an extremist motive and was defeated by Deku, Tenya, and Shoto. Then there's All for One, who was defeated by All Might in season 3 with thatt epic United States of Smash! Chisaki, aka Overhaul, who tortured poor Eri and was defeated by Deku at One for All Infinite 100% in season 4!

And now...wait, who's the big villain of season 5?! Class 1B?! The League of Villains? Well, that statement is half correct. Let's talk about what Hawks mentioned a few episodes ago - the Meta Liberation Army. My manga readers already know the answer, so y'all will have to take a few seats for this video and let the anime only crowd speculate!

What exactly is the Meta Liberation Army? Hey everyone! Leo Rydel here and I wan to talk about why the Meta Liberation Army could be MHA's best villains yet! But before we go any further, be sure to hit that subscribe button YouTube and follow Anime News Network on social media! Before we go much further, be warned, there will be spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 5 and the manga in this video, so go catch up and come back if you're not!

Alright, let's jump in. Hawks told Endeavor about the Meta Liberation Army in a sneaky way. In episode 102, Hawks presents Endeavor with the book Meta Liberation War. Hawks called it a popular book with "predictions of the future." 'Cause that doesn't sound creepy as hell! Hawks secretly highlights passages for Endeavor and speaks of "a society completed by personal responsibility." As we know, he is a double agent for the villains and heroes, so he can't outwardly tell Endeavor the information he needs to know on the Meta Liberation Army. The highlighted portions read "the enemy is the Liberation Army" and stated their numbers to be over 100,000, with a timeline of only four months until things start to happen.

So...why do they seem like they could be the best villains yet? Well, for starters, the Meta Liberation Army has massive numbers. 100,000 people in an army is enough to overwhelm anybody, and let's not forget, we've seen how the pro heroes have been deceived before. In the first episode, a crew of pro heroes were willing to let Bakugo die when they couldn't defeat the sludge villain. They were also willing to let Bakugo remain kidnapped in season two when the League of Villains took him.

Speaking of season two, remember when Deku took down Muscular all by himself? I don't think an army of 100,000 heroes and villains would get beat down by a child like that, and as we saw in season one, the pro heroes always show up at the last minute anyway!

All Might was the symbol of peace for a number of reasons--he was never too late, he always found a way to win no matter what, and he had strength beyond most of the One for All users. The current group of pro heroes most likely won't stand a chance against 100,000 strong, especially without All Might as their Number One Hero. Or would they?

Next, let's highlight the fact that the Meta Liberation Army has a philosophy by first talking about Stain. Stain was another villain who had extremist beliefs. He believed many of the heroes were only in it for the fame. He took it upon himself to "cleanse" society of false heroes and stain his hands in their blood. His ideas set into motion a lot of villains coming out of the woodwork.

Now, back to the Meta Liberation Army. The book Meta Liberation War highlights the ideology of the Meta Liberation Army and Hawks calls it a "bestseller," which means the message in the text is relatable to some. One of the reasons people join cults is because they typically share the same thoughts or beliefs relating to the cult. Hawks even mentions there are heroes that believe in the ideology described in the text. Hawks reads a passage from the book describing, "if you give freedom to a limited number of people, then the negative consequences will go to others."

Well, let's dive into what they actually want. The Meta Liberation Army believes that usage of quirks is a basic human right and that quirks should be used freely among users. They are the My Hero Academia version of The Brotherhood of Mutant -- their take could sound like a good act taken too far. They don't just want freedom for quirk users -- they think quirk users are superior to people like Deku, who were born without quirks. When the Army says "negative consequences will go to others," they mean non-hero quirk users. Sure, it'd be nice if users could use their quirks whenever, but it's also dangerous.

This philosophy is larger, and a little more convincing that anything that Chisaki, The League of Villains, or Stain have presented so far. Removing quirks and/or taking over the world sounds pale in comparison to liberating the masses and allowing people to use their abilities freely. Freedom is something everyone wants, but what The Army is really suggesting is actions without consequences. Their ideology will be enticing to people on the surface and could upend all of society if enough people support it. And remember I talked about The League of Villains earlier? All for One has turned Shigaraki into someone whose goal is to rid the world of All Might and the hero society they live in. It's possible that a deal could be reached between The League and The Meta Liberation Army.

But honestly, the scariest thing about The Meta Liberation Army is most likely their secrecy. We're now five seasons into My Hero Academia and unless you're a manga reader, we have yet to hear more details about the Meta Liberation Army's book or "ideology." Being hidden for this long is dangerous, furthermore, it'd be hard to tell who is and isn't a member of the army. I promise I'm not spoiling, but any, and I mean any, of the pro heroes could be believers of The Meta Liberation Army's philosophy. Think about how chilling that could be. Could you imagine if Hawks and Endeavor were lined up, ready to take on the army, but then all of a sudden the rest of the Top 10 were ready to fight with the army?!

So with all that being said, villains like Shigaraki and Chisaki don't have the numbers or convincing philosophies to pose a threat as great as The Meta Liberation Army. And, they definitely didn't and don't have the grand scale of numbers. So how could the heroes of My Hero Academia stop them? Well, when up against this many villains, it's going to take every hand on deck to win. This includes any of the UA students, retired heroes, anybody out of the country, anyone! It's going to take a lot of people to stop The Meta Liberation Army, and they're going to need it.

But let us know, what do you think about My Hero Academia's upcoming villains? Do you think there's a hero or villain out there that could take down the entire army? I mean, All for One was defeated by All Might, so he's out! Let us know what you think in the comments and if you think The Meta Liberation Army could be My Hero Academia's best villains yet!

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