Is Nana Shimura related to Tomura Shigaraki: Is Nana Shimura related to Tomura Shigaraki in My Hero Academia? Explained

Nana Shimura was initially introduced in My Hero Academia as the mentor of Toshinori Yagi, aka All Might, and the seventh user of the One For All Quirk.

Her character is extremely crucial to the narrative, as her actions not only led to Toshinori transforming into All Might and becoming a Pillar of Hope for the world, but they also inadvertently led to the creation of Tomura Shigaraki, who went on to wage war against and almost annihilate the Hero society.

While it has since been long confirmed that Nana Shimura was directly related to Tomura Shigaraki, fans often wonder about how exactly the former caused the latter's descent into madness.

Is Nana Shimura related to Shigaraki? Explained

Nana Shimura as seen in the anime (image via Bones)

To answer the aforementioned question, Nana Shimura is, in fact, related to Tomura Shigaraki, who was known as Tenko Shimura in his childhood days. To be more precise, Nana Shimura is Tenko Shimura's grandmother.

While the two characters didn't have many interactions in the series, Nana always felt a tremendous amount of guilt towards Tenko, especially since her actions inadvertently led to him being targeted and groomed by All For One to become his successor. Additionally, her actions also led to the complete destruction of her family, as Tenko accidentally ended up killing them after falling into the clutches of All For One.

The Shimura family tree in My Hero Academia

Tenko Shimura as seen in My Hero Academia (image via Bones)

While the Shimura family tree wasn't explicitly explored in the My Hero Academia series earlier, they eventually got a significant portion of screentime during the exploration of Tenko's backstory.

In the series, the Shimura family tree started with Nana Shimura, who had a son named Kotaro Shimura. Although the two initially had a close relationship during Kotaro's childhood days, Nana eventually had to give him up and leave him in foster care so as to protect him from the dangers associated with her Hero life.

Kotaro went on to have a family of his own one day. He married a woman named Nao Magi, with whom he had two children, Tenko Shimura and Hana Shimura. Apart from his wife, two children, and a pet dog, Kotaro shared a house with his wife's parents as well: Mako Magi and Chizuo Magi.

The role Nana played in Tenko Shimura becoming Tomura Shigaraki

Tenko Shimura accidentally kills his family (image via Bones)

As mentioned earlier, Nana Shimura was compelled to leave her son, Kotaro, in foster care due to the dangers associated with her job as a Hero. While her intentions behind leaving her son were justifiable, as she wanted him to be safe and happy, it ended up having the opposite effect on Kotaro.

Kotaro believed that his mother had selfishly abandoned him in order to continue her life as a Hero. As a result, he developed a strong hatred for heroes altogether and strictly forbade any discussions regarding heroes in his household. Whenever any one of his children broke this rule, Kotaro was emotionally and physically abusive towards them.

Unfortunately for Tenko, his ambition to become a great Hero one day often resulted in him being physically attacked by his father. Kotaro's rage forbade any member of his family coming to Tenko's defense, as all they could do was watch on helplessly.

Tomura Shigaraki as seen in the My Hero Academia anime (image via Bones)

In spite of all his cruel and unforgiveable actions, Kotaro did not intend to become an abusive father towards his children. His abusive nature was a direct result of his childhood trauma and hatred for all heroes. However, no amount of self-realization could stop Kotaro from continuing to use violence on Tenko, especially after he witnessed his son losing control over his awakening Quirk and thereby attempted to bring him into submission.

However, Kotaro's actions and his family's continued indifference towards Tenko ended up backfiring in the worst possible way, as the latter ended up snapping and losing control over his Decay Quirk, which led him to accidentally kill his entire family.

Upon learning that her actions had resulted in her grandson being discovered by All For One, who groomed him to become his successor as Tomura Shigaraki, Nana fell further into despair. She ended up blaming herself for this outcome as well as the demise of her entire family, which she believed happened due to her decision to abandon Kotaro as a child.

That said, she ended up redeeming herself in the end by apologizing to Kotaro and her grandson for all the pain she had caused them, inside the core of Tomura's mind. She also managed to save Tomura's vestige from being destroyed, as the two of them worked together to defeat All For One alongside all the other users of One For All.