Summary

All Might's muscular form was a unique result of handling him One For All and his injury.
Deku cannot access a muscular form like All Might despite having the same Quirk.
Deku's access to the vestiges of One For All may not grant him all the holders' abilities, only their Quirks.

The Quirk One For All and how it works is one of the biggest mysteries throughout My Hero Academia. Deku has to train his body relentlessly to be able to hold the Quirk, and even then, his limbs break when he attempts to use it even a little.

However, inexplicably, it is implied that All Might had no trouble using One For All at its full potential when he first got it. All Might also seems to be able to access a muscular form when he activates this Quirk, which Deku was never shown to have been able to replicate. Even though they have the same Quirk, why can't Deku access a muscular form like All Might?

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All Might’s Original Form

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While some of the exact nuances of One for All in My Hero Academia aren’t explicitly explained to the audience, there are some clues we can use to determine what exactly is going on with All Might’s original form. In flashbacks to All Might’s earlier days, we see that he naturally possessed a tall and muscular body. After sustaining an intense injury during his, at the time, final battle with All for One before the series started, All Might’s body suffered deterioration that led him to his current state.

Although All Might’s skinny form is stated to be his true appearance, it wasn’t always this way. When All Might activates One For All, his body’s form changes to the previous state when he could handle the Quirk’s power. It seems that All Might's body transformation ability is unique to him because of the circumstances of his injury and his drawing out the maximum potential of One For All.

“Of course, I suppose All Might can’t wrap his mind around that. He was pretty much able to use One For All right off the bat, so I taught him in a very different manner. ‘Course he had the body going for him, so there’s that.” -Gran Torino in Episode 27

Gran Torino asserts that All Might, unlike Deku, had been able to handle the full impact of One For All from the beginning. This makes it likely that All Might’s muscular form is related to his unique ability to handle One For All so effortlessly, rather than being a transformation granted by One For All as an additional power.

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But what about the Vestiges?

Deku’s Unique Journey With One For All

my hero academia in vestige realm — The vestiges of the previous wielders that remain inside One For All. (My Hero Academia)

While this explanation for All Might’s muscular form makes sense, there are further complications to consider when it is revealed that Deku has access to the abilities of the previous One For All wielders. We see the previous wielders, including Toshinori Yagi, in the vestige realm when Deku visits it. Shouldn’t Deku be able to call upon All Might’s muscular transformation ability since he is there too?

While it’s unclear exactly what the limits of the vestiges are, it seems that Deku is only able to access the Quirks of the vestiges and not any of their other abilities. Unfortunately, the way the main series ends, we may never get to fully explore the potential the vestige realm has for One for All. It’s possible that at some point, Deku could have drawn on more than just the previous wielder's Quirks, making Deku's All Might-like form entirely possible. The only way for Deku to gain a muscular form at this point is to train for one and build the muscles himself.

Looking at the muscular form narratively, it mostly exists as an interesting twist for the beginning of the story and a gag for All Might’s character specifically. That means that, even if Deku had the opportunity to transform into a muscular version of himself, there isn’t much reason to do it in the story. All Might’s muscular form is often just a visual gag and is implied to be an empty show of flexing. Also, while All Might is stated to have been Quirkless, it’s possible that his muscular form is explained by some undetected Quirk that was never revealed. This would fit well with the story, as the original holder of One For All was thought to be Quirkless until his brother, All For One, forced a stockpiled Quirk onto him. While All Might’s muscular form may still have a degree of mystery in My Hero Academia, the clues left in the story are satisfactory for explaining why Deku never showcased the form like his mentor did.

My Hero Academia can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Hulu.

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