My Hero Academia: Star and Stripe’s Death, Explained

Things are turning dark for My Hero Academia as the hit anime series returns for its seventh season. This includes a major death straight out of the manga series by creator Kōhei Horikoshi. Spoilers ahead for the one of the most shocking deaths in My Hero Academia.

Despite flying into Japan backed by a whole squadron, the American Pro Hero Star and Stripe dies in battle with the current All For One, Tomura Shigaraki. Given Star and Stripe’s reputation as the strongest Pro Hero in the United States and with her own unique Quirk, or superpower, her untimely end comes as something of a tragic surprise. Here’s how Star and Stripe dies in the My Hero Academia manga series and why this defeat isn’t a total loss for the Pro Heroes.

How Star and Stripe Dies in My Hero Academia

After Star and Stripe battles Shigaraki in the My Hero Academia Season 7 premiere, she has difficulties using her Quirk, New Order, against him. Though Star and Stripe can use her Quirk to alter the properties of any object, person, or environment she comes into contact with, it loses its effectiveness if her target has an unstable sense of self, which really only comes into play when it’s used on sentient beings. As Shigaraki is in the midst of an identity crisis after absorbing his mentor All For One’s psyche, Star and Stripe’s Quirk doesn’t properly work on the villain.

Seeing Star and Stripe in action, Shigaraki wants her Quirk for himself as part of his growing number of Quirks stolen from his victims. In the middle of an epic rematch against Star and Stripe, Shigaraki feigns death after he is hit by a seismic punch. Star and Stripe follows by using New Order to absorb the raw power of intercontinental nuclear missiles. Using his own Quirks, Shigaraki distracts the squadron to seize the opportunity to attack Star and Stripe. Refusing to risk her teammates’ lives to finish Shigaraki off, she stands her ground.

Shigaraki grabs Star and Stripe by the face and begins to absorb her Quirk, draining her life force. Through New Order, Star and Stripe is able to slow this process, but is unable to save herself. Moreover, Star and Stripe, in her final moments, uses New Order to change the nature of the Quirk itself. Once Shigaraki completes its absorption and kills her, it reacts explosively against the other Quirks Shigaraki absorbed. This destroys them while also injuring Shiragaki.

With Star and Stripe’s death, My Hero Academia displays one of its most tragic moments in the entire series. And yet, though Shigaraki is victorious, Star and Stripe’s quick thinking significantly weakened the story’s greatest villain and gave the surviving Pro Heroes a fighting chance against him.