My Hero Academia: Are Tenko Shimura and Tomura Shigaraki the same person? Explained

Modified Mar 27, 2024 09:00 GMT

Are Tenko Shimura and Tomura Shigaraki the same person? (image via Sportskeeda)

Tomura Shigaraki is without a doubt, the most vile and irredeemable villain of the My Hero Academia series, second only to his master, All For One. His endless desire to destroy everything in his sight has made him an unstoppable force of nature, whose power dwarfs that of most of the Heroes in the series.

Like a majority of the characters, Shigaraki had a pretty tragic past that set him on the path to becoming one of the most dangerous villains in history. However, what surprised fans the most about his gut-wrenching backstory, was the stark contrast between his personality as a child and the person he is today.

What's more, his original name prior to becoming a villain was actually Tenko Shimura, who seems like a completely different person from Tomura Shigaraki, leading fans to come up with multiple theories about the coexistence of his two different personalities.

My Hero Academia: Tomura Shigaraki is the result of Tenko Shimura's pain and suffering

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One of My Hero Academia's most infamous villains, Tomura Shigaraki's tragic backstory was explored in great detail in season 5 of the anime. To the viewers' surprise, Shigaraki used to go by the name of Tenko Shimura during his childhood. However, his name wasn't the only thing that was different.

In fact, his personality as a child was completely different from his malevolent and twisted nature as an adult. Despite the stark contrast in his personality, it is an indisputable fact that Tenko Shimura and Tomura Shigaraki are indeed, the same person. That said, people can interpret his two personalities as two sides of the same coin, especially since they are the exact opposite of each other.

During his childhood days, Tenko was a cheerful, kind, and passionate boy, who aspired to become a hero one day. However, his hopes and aspirations were shattered by his father, who had an extreme amount of disdain for Pro Heroes.

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As a result, Tenko was often abused by his father due to his love for heroes, which caused him to become extremely fragile psychologically. In spite of that, Tenko had a strong love for his family.

With time, however, Tenko grew increasingly frustrated with his family due to their inaction towards his abuse. Furthermore, his oppressive upbringing led him to believe that his family would never be supportive of his desires.

His sanity finally snapped when he manifested his Decay Quirk for the first time, as he inadvertently ended up murdering his entire family. That said, he later on admitted that he felt some form of cathartic satisfaction when he killed his own father, as he considered it as retribution for his abusive treatment.

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Tenko eventually developed a twisted and malevolent personality after meeting All For One. He became his disciple and adopted the name of 'Tomura Shigaraki'. He also wore the severed and decayed hands of his family members all over his body for majority of his appearances, as he claimed that it made him feel both sick and calm simultaneously.

To many viewers, Tenko Shimura's transformation into Tomura Shigaraki was both captivating yet tragic. It served as a cruel reminder of just how one bad day can transform even the most kind-hearted and innocent person into a heartless monster. That said, Shigaraki's actions are pretty much irredeemable at this point in the My Hero Academia series, irrespective of his tragic and abusive upbringing.