Toshitsugu Kudo is a historical figure within the world of the story, a battle-hardened resistance leader from the earliest days of quirks, then known as Meta Abilities. He lived during a chaotic era when society was still grappling with the sudden emergence of superpowers and the rise of the villain who would later call himself All For One. Kudo emerged as a determined and composed soldier who recognized the existential threat posed by All For One's unchecked power and gathered a force to oppose him. His demeanor was serious and somewhat apathetic, shaped by years of violent conflict in a lawless time. Despite that stoicism, he was capable of compassion and surprising moral clarity. During a mission to strike at All For One’s stronghold, he initially intended to kill the villain’s younger twin brother, Yoichi Shigaraki. Upon seeing Yoichi’s weakened state and his desperate desire to be free, however, Kudo had a change of heart and chose to rescue him instead. This decision proved pivotal. Yoichi, who had been forcibly given a power stockpiling quirk by his brother and possessed a separate ability to bestow quirks, merged those factors and passed the resulting power, One For All, to Kudo. In doing so, Kudo became the second user and the first inheritor of the quirk. All For One, enraged by the rescue and later by the escape of Kudo’s group, hunted them down and murdered Yoichi. Kudo himself was fatally wounded in the subsequent fighting. Before dying, he passed One For All to his trusted partner Bruce, ensuring the power would survive. His death, and the defiant smile he wore knowing the quirk had moved on, fueled All For One’s hatred to an even more obsessive degree. The villain went on to slaughter every person connected to Kudo, erasing his bloodline entirely. Kudo’s original quirk was Gearshift, which allowed him to manipulate the speed and trajectory of small objects he launched from arm-mounted gauntlets, effectively turning them into high-velocity projectiles. Combined with One For All’s strength, his combat style remained aggressive and tactical. Although he was never able to defeat All For One in his own lifetime, Kudo’s legacy is foundational. As a vestige within One For All, his consciousness persisted and later guided future users, including Izuku Midoriya, from within the quirk’s inner realm. In the final conflict of the present era, Kudo’s memory became a psychological weapon. All For One, upon seeing Katsuki Bakugo’s ferocious resistance, was immediately reminded of Kudo due to their strikingly similar appearances and unyielding spirit. That emotional disturbance, rooted in All For One’s deep-seated hatred for Kudo, contributed to the villain’s downfall. Kudo shares no biological link to Bakugo, but their spiritual connection as relentless opponents of tyranny makes Bakugo a symbolic successor. Kudo’s role in the story is therefore dual: he is the historical origin of the resistance that led to One For All’s creation, and his echoes in the present serve as a reminder that the will to oppose evil can transcend generations.