My Hero Academia: Is Tomura Shigaraki dead? Explored

My Hero Academia is slowly inching towards its conclusion and it’s quite clear that fans have mixed feelings about this. There are plenty of talking points in the manga at the moment. However, there is one character that stands out, and he is none other than Tomura Shigaraki. He is the main antagonist that all heroes are fighting against.

He has terrorized countless lives and the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of the heroes. However, an interesting event took place in chapter 420 of the series, which led to fans asking one question in particular - is Tomura Shigaraki dead in My Hero Academia?

No, Tomura Shigaraki isn’t dead. A closer inspection of the aforementioned chapter will give fans some understanding as to what really happened to Shigaraki Tomura in the dreamscape and the effect it had on him in the real world.

Disclaimer: This article contains massive spoilers from the manga chapters.

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What happened to Tomura Shigaraki in My Hero Academia?

Tomura Shigaraki as seen in the anime series (Image via Studio Bones)

In the latest chapter, fans saw the return of a character they least expected - AFO. This was something that a majority of the fanbase detested since he found a way to come back despite the death of his physical body. Deku, on the other hand, managed to achieve his goal partially and he managed to bring about a change within Shigaraki’s heart.

The consequence of this was the severe psychological damage inflicted on Shigaraki. This allowed AFO’s vestige to take over Shigaraki’s body. In the dreamscape, AFO also berated both Shigaraki and Deku. AFO insulted Shigaraki for being weak and stated how he never took a single decision. Everything that he did was planned by AFO and he was a mere puppet. Meanwhile, he was angry with Deku since he got in AFO’s way, stopping him from retrieving the One For All quirk.

Midoriya Izuku as seen in the anime series (Image via Studio Bones)

Soon, they exited the dreamscape and Deku was left with no arms. Furthermore, AFO took over Shigaraki’s body and declared him dead.

However, Shigaraki is not dead. He was afflicted with a great deal of psychological damage, resulting in his vestige becoming incredibly weak. This allowed AFO’s vestige to take over Shigaraki’s body.

This is why fans wanted to know about Shigaraki. The fact that AFO declared him dead seemed to have caused some confusion among fans. However, it’s highly unlikely that Shigaraki is actually dead and his vestige showed signs of desperation.

AFO as seen in the anime series (Image via Studio Bones)

The silence following his conversation with AFO wasn’t a sign of death. We believe that Shigaraki’s vestige is still intact, and therefore, he is alive. However, we urge the fanbase to wait for subsequent chapters to confirm whether or not this is the case.

The spoilers for chapter 420 have been released, showing that Shigaraki will not receive much screen time. This means fans will have to wait for the subsequent chapters to confirm this.

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Does Shimura come back to life?

In the moments when AFO took over the body of Tomura, remnants of Shigaraki tried to go against him. However, AFO created a hand around his mouth, replicating Tomura's signature look, and effectively shutting him up. While there were no signs of protest from him in chapter 241, there are chances that his consciousness is buried deep within the body. Defeating AFO might help him regain control over his body.

Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2024 progresses.

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Related Links:

Crawl in fear AFO, the unsung My Hero Academia heroes are here

My Hero Academia: Deku Losing his arms may have been Horikoshi's most pointless stunt yet

"Go read JJK then" - My Hero Academia fans viciously defend Deku's miraculous recovery in chapter 420

My Hero Academia: Shigaraki had a bigger plan for Bakugo than anyone realized