To Be Hero X has been a thrilling and widely unpredictable ride that has kept a majority of its viewers deeply engaged from start to finish, and it just dropped one of the best finales of anime 2025. The audience has been gradually introduced to a slew of wonderful and well-written characters, each with their own distinct personality and sorrowful history. Despite such a large cast to explore, Li Haoling was able to make everything work by connecting every hero through the progression of one overarching story.

Fans were able to witness that story come full circle in To Be Hero X Episode 24, “X.” The 3D animation style that the donghua initially became known for made its return, along with an endless stream of visually stunning fun thanks to X’s epic, reality-bending fight with the multiple heroes that were sent to assassinate him. Although much of the series’ lore has been fed to the audience over the course of the past few episodes, the finale came with a series of Haoling-style plot twists, frustrating fans yet flawlessly setting the stage for Season 1.

Nice Makes a Shocking Appearance in To Be Hero X’s Season 1 Finale

The hero named Nice was promoted as one of To Be Hero X’s main protagonists, yet he was killed off within the first ten minutes of Episode 1. Since then, fans have been speculating about the events that led him to his tragic demise. They went off very few clues, as Nice had no live screen time since his first few moments, and practically none of his history was explored beyond Episode 2 — at least, not until Episodes 20–23.

As the audience got to know other heroes like Dragon Boy, Ahu, and Smile, Nice’s devastating path from aspiring hero to Shang De’s puppet unfolded. It was revealed that he was never the true hero he initially wanted to be. Instead, he stumbled down a dark path where success was prioritized over morality. This was exhibited most when he was willing to allow Shang De’s fear-created henchman to possibly kill Xin Ya and Ahu just to retrieve a document, showing that he learned nothing from the Ruins Incident or Smile’s death.

Nice’s following failure led to Shange De officially dismissing him, and that was Nice’s breaking point before his suicide. Due to Nice’s constant presence in the To Be Hero X official voting poll, fans have long been crafting theories about Nice’s possible resurrection. However, although many viewers had come to the conclusion that Nice lived somehow, the series still took everyone by surprise when he made his appearance during the long-awaited Heroes Ranking Tournament.

Along with the other Top Ten heroes that have been introduced, save for E-Soul, Nice walked out onto the platform, sporting a series of fractures across his face and body. These fractures marred the “perfect” image he had tried so hard to uphold, practically symbolizing the broken marionette he had been to that point. Observant To Be Hero X fans have also noticed that there seems to be a strange purplish substance beneath these cracks, which could be an indicator that Nice is somehow kept alive using Fear. And considering Shang De’s experiments with the substance, that possibility is not out of the question.

A New Character Spells Out Dark Times for To Be Hero X’s Future

To Be Hero X’s finale unveiled a new animated sequence to play along to a new version of the donghua’s opening ballad, “INERTIA,” created by Hiroyuki Sawano. The animated sequence features an unnamed character that appears to have a connection to X and his origins, as she’s seen chasing after him on an ordinary day in order to read his destiny using tarot cards. This encounter seems to be the very thing that set X on his current path as a hero. While the interaction seemed to be an overall friendly one, fans have already started speculating that this mystery girl could actually be To Be Hero X’s final antagonist.

Later in the sequence, X and the other heroes are seen facing off against a villain who looks eerily similar to the girl who had given X that fateful Tarot reading. The fact that this villain seems to create hordes of dark soldiers from what appear to be massive Tarot cards only furthers the connection between the two figures. Not only that, but this villainous figure has also made brief appearances in the original opening sequences as well as other promotional material, thus indicating a major role in the donghua’s overarching story.

Hero X Seemingly Forfeits the Ranking Tournament

One of the most exciting things about To Be Hero X’s season finale was seeing every one of the Top Ten Heroes step into the spotlight at the Ranking Tournament, especially when many of them appeared in the donghua’s 3D animation style for the very first time. The most important appearance, however, is when X took center stage. What makes this moment so significant is that he didn’t don his iconic white suit; instead, he unveiled his civilian form, thus revealing his secret identity to the world.

X then tells the audience that it was time for him to “clock out,” meaning that he may have willingly forfeited the match and given up the title of X. To Be Hero X fans have been looking forward to witnessing X compete against the other Top Ten heroes in the Ranking Tournament since day one. Despite the incredibly fun and visually stimulating showdown he had with lesser heroes during the finale, X choosing to retire from his long-held position as the top hero rather than fight might have come as a disappointment to many viewers. However, that doesn’t mean that X is done fighting.

While it is likely that “clocking out” meant that X was done being X, he obviously still has more to do than show the Hero Affairs Commission that attempting to assassinate him was unnecessary. Season 1 has shown that the entire Trust Value System, along with the inner workings of the Commission, is heavily flawed and corrupted. From what has been seen of the new opening sequence, which serves as a preview of what to expect in Season 2, there’s a bigger fight ahead that involves the cooperation of every hero who can lend a hand.

X isn’t forfeiting his coveted title to just retire and return to his life of normalcy. He’s forfeiting it to show the world that there are more important things to focus on than seeing who gets to sit at the top and to show the Commission that there is a better way to do things. There is still a lot about X that the audience doesn’t know, but it’s certain, from the speech he gave to Ahu, that he wants to herald change and prepare everyone for the second coming of Zero.

To Be Hero X Episode 24 Was a Frustratingly Amazing Finale

To Be Hero X’s first season started off with a bang during the Nice and E-Soul Arcs. It did stumble during its middle arcs, particularly with the pacing and animation, but the donghua never lost sight of the unique story it was trying to tell. From Episode 1 to Episode 24, Li Haoling showed off a diverse roster of heroes and used their individual stories to expand the world he invented, creating a near-perfect balance of amazing character exploration and world-building. And what’s great is that there is more story to unfold.

Not all the questions that To Be Hero X fans had been asking throughout Season 1 were answered, and the finale actually raised even more confusion. Why was E-Soul (Yang Cheng) missing from the tournament when he was so adamant about beating the other heroes for first place? Why is Nice in the arena when everyone believed he was dead up until that point? Who exactly is that girl with the Tarot cards?

There are also some loose ends that have yet to be addressed. X’s dedicated episode hardly explored his backstory and gave little to no information about who he was. Little Johnny has yet to discover the truth about who killed his father. There’s still no answer as to why E-Soul killed Moon.

Although all these unanswered questions and all these loose ends could drive fans to the brink of insanity after the journey they’ve been through, leaving them open keeps everyone engaged and creates excellent opportunities for To Be Hero X Season 2 to become the banger it’s been set up to be. With a long-dead hero back in the running, a glimpse of the story’s biggest villain, and Hero X’s goals unveiled, the second season holds a lot of promise. It’ll just be a grueling wait until its eventual release.