My Hero Academia's Final arc's climax: Horikoshi's radical take on Tomura Shigaraki's redemption

My Hero Academia's Final arc has reached its climax with chapter 423. The final Smash has been thrown and the vestiges of All for One are finally fading away. With that, however, came a development some fans are not happy with: Tomura Shigaraki's redemption or lack thereof.

Many fans believed Tomura would be redeemed or otherwise saved in some way, so naturally, his fate made some fans angry or otherwise disappointed. Many had been hoping for Shigaraki to be free of All for One's manipulations, and to decide his path and fate, pointing to many such hints and examples of others doing so in My Hero Academia as proof.

While a serious analysis of My Hero Academia's final arc and chapter 423 is possible using that lens, it's worth pointing out that there was nothing left of Tomura but mere embers at the end. The chapter provides the culmination of Shigaraki's story that happened in My Hero Academia up to that point. A further, deeper analysis is needed as to why this is a more authentic end to Shigaraki's story than his being purely redeemed.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for My Hero Academia, up to and including the current manga chapter at the time of writing. All opinions therein are exclusive to the author.

My Hero Academia's Final Arc: Tomura Shigaraki's redemption and fate explained and dissected

My Hero Academia chapter 423 summary

Expand Tweet

As per the buildup during My Hero Academia's final arc, in My Hero Academia chapter 423 All for One's final gambit failed him. Tomura Shigaraki's body was far too damaged to function normally with all the high-powered quirks All for One had left and was falling apart. Refusing to die, the villain attempted to gain a new body and keep fighting.

After Bakugo interrupted Korogiri's attempt to teleport All for One's body out of the area, Izuku's final punch hit All for One's body. As All For One is dressed down by Deku and his brother Toichi, he is called a pathetic and lonely person. With that, the final vestige of the villain is torn apart by all the previous Quirk users he stole from including Tomura.

The last remnant of Tomura Shigaraki fades away, with Midoriya reassuring him that the last vestige of the world he hated was destroyed with All for One. The ending showed All for One's final body fading into dust, with nothing remaining of the Symbol of Evil but dust and echoes.

Tomura's tragic past

My Hero Academia has a lot of characters with tragic pasts, heroes and villains alike. With My Hero Academia's final arc, the humanization of villains isn't necessarily to set up a redemption arc but rather to show how easy it is to fall into villainy: whether it's from sheer bad luck and a bad employer as with Twice, societal abandonment and neglect with Toga, discrimination with Spinner and Magne, manipulation and desperation with Aoyama, and Dabi's experience with parental abuse.

My Hero Academia chapter 418 revealed that Tenko Shimura's tragic past was a massive scheme orchestrated by All for One, providing the possibility of redemption, if he was freed since Deku was talking to Tenko. Everything was against Tomura from the start: All for One stole his original quirk, Tenko's father was hateful against heroes and never explained why, and Tomura's Decay quirk was given to him by All for One.

The deaths of his family and his father's abuse made Tomura bitter and hateful. All for One had a perfect mold to sculpt into a successor, but never actually intended for Tomura to take over. It was all lies that fed Tomura's hatred, with All for One's actual goal to be the one ruler over whatever remained.

No real agency and being possessed

Tomura's lack of agency revealed in My Hero Academia's final arc (Image via Studio Bones, Shueisha)

After a certain time in My Hero Academia's story, Tomura's agency as a villain was lost. Everything following the events of the Overhaul debacle was orchestrated by All for One. While Tomura carried out many of these plans by himself, he was being led on by All for One all the way through.

Gigantomachia would only respond to All for One's commands or his successor, it took four months to get him under control. The Meta Liberation Front fight was a massive battle that nearly burned out Tomura's quirk and body. Even when he was helped by the Doctor and unleashed during the Paranormal Liberation War arc, it was only All for One possessing him that prevented his capture or death.

All for One's "upgrades" to Tomura included planting a sliver of consciousness inside Tomura to eventually erase Tomura's psyche. This wouldn't come into full fruition until the Final War arc when Tomura's body was puppeteered by All for One. Chapter 419 in My Hero Academia's final arc confirmed it: All for One orchestrated everything in Tomura's life since birth.

Taking back control

Tomura takes back control throughout My Hero Academia's final arc (Image via Studio Bones, Shueisha)

Tomura had to fight All for One to be able to battle Star and Stripe on his terms, and when the New Order exploded inside him, it only fractured his psyche and body even further. Despite All for One trying to play it off, something snapped inside Tomura: Tenko Shimura began to reawaken.

Thanks to the massive damage left behind by Stars and Stripe, Tenko Shimura was able to reach out to Izuku Midoriya for aid. Throughout My Hero Academia's Final arc, Tenko kept resurfacing, especially when Mirio mocked Tomura for not having friends and he spat out the name of his sister and dog that he had thought were long forgotten.

Tomura revealed that he shoved Tenko, a core part of himself deep inside, and thanks to the heroes distracting All for One and Midnight shooting off Tomura's arms, Tomura was able to take control back. It didn't change his goals of destroying society and everything that spawned his hated father's house, but it did help him regain himself.

Hatred all-consuming clouds redemption chances

Tomura's hatred throughout My Hero Academia's final arc (Image via Studio Bones, Shueisha)

One message that My Hero Academia has repeatedly stressed throughout its story is the need for a good support system, and how the Hero Society's current system has a lot of fundamental flaws that push people into villainy. Acts of redemption or atonement need to be done, whether that's being given a second chance or through sacrifice.

Attitudes also need to change, from individuals and the system. The problem that many of the villains have is how their pasts consume and define them, something the heroes don't have. My Hero Academia's narrative doesn't blame people for what happened to them, the only judgment is placed on their villainous actions.

As much as Tomura has suffered, his all-consuming hatred of the hero society and the lives he ended makes it difficult to understand why fans thought that he was going to be redeemed in the traditional sense. Tomura was tunnel-visioned by hatred throughout the entire story, even declaring that villains need a hero in My Hero Academia's final arc in chapter 418.

Tomura's death and redemption: literal and figurative

Tomura Shigaraki's final fate in My Hero Academia's final arc (Image via Shueisha)

Tomura getting his mind back didn't stop him from trying to destroy everything. Far from it, it meant he fought harder against Izuku throughout My Hero Academia's final arc. Even at his very core, after transferring One for All to him, getting to see Tomura's memories, and getting to talk to Tenko throughout chapters 415 to 418, Tomura refuses to stop being a destructive force.

All for One then revealed that he engineered everything since Tomura's birth in chapter 419, effectively erasing Shigaraki. As the villain begins to die, due to his body disintegrating, the aid from the Vestiges and Nana Shimura, and the unlikely teamwork between Tomura and Deku, they share one final conversation. Tomura tells Deku to let Spinner know he never stopped fighting to destroy.

When Deku tells Tomura that what he fought to destroy was already destroyed, he means the shackles of hatred placed on him by All for One. Tomura lived as a villain, but his soul is freed and redeemed by helping to end the Symbol of Evil. He never stopped being a destroyer but found peace in the end.

Tomura's fate: true to other villains

Various villain endings in My Hero Academia's final arc (Image via Shueisha)

Tomura Shigaraki's story is a sad one. He was ultimately used and groomed from the start as a weapon. This lack of "true" redemption, where Tomura repents and becomes a better person, may be disappointing to fans who want it but it's very true to its idea of redeeming people and villains, especially in My Hero Academia's final arc.

Dabi didn't get redeemed, he was still cursing Endeavor and his family as he was stopped. Toga and Stain sacrificed themselves for the people they loved and the beliefs they held, Toga giving Ochaco her blood so she could survive, and Stain fighting All for One so All Might could live.

Shigaraki's soul is redeemed by aiding to end the Symbol of Evil, revived by Nana Shimura for that one action. It's closure to Shigaraki's story, as a "pure" redemption of Shigaraki was not happening. He was already too far gone with hatred and contempt, always trying to destroy and never giving that up.

Fan expectations and authenticity

Expand Tweet

Therein lies the rub for fans when it comes to Tomura's fate: most fans were expecting more. Considering how My Hero Academia's Final arc proceeded, with all the twists and turns that it took and all the characters involved, it would take a major rewrite to truly change how the finale went for Tomura and others.

In the Shonen battle genre, the villain being redeemed by the hero is something fans were sick of when Naruto overdid it by talking down villains. Before any fan tries to bring up the counterpoint of Aoyama, Gentle, La Brava, and Midnight, it should be noted that those four were given second chances that they took to the fullest to help save people.

The fact of the matter is that ending My Hero Academia's final arc with Tomura being a good person would've felt artificial given how My Hero Academia has dealt with villains before. It's much more sincere and authentic to its narrative and genre that the villain, given so many chances and rejecting them all, dies proud that he kept trying to destroy things.

Final thoughts

Tomura's final words in My Hero Academia's final arc (Image via Shueisha)

Ultimately, Tomura's story in My Hero Academia's final arc ends not with a bang, but with a short conversation with him and Deku as he slowly fades out of existence. His body was already disintegrating due to All For One overusing his powerful Quirks, and his psyche being erased. It may not be everyone's favorite, but it's realistic to the series overall and far more authentic than making Tomura a good guy.

While fans will probably debate this ending for a villain who's been there since the beginning, it's not the worst ending a villain has ever had. Naruto's Madara Uchiha was backstabbed by Black Zetsu and replaced by Kaguya Otsutsuki out of nowhere, Dragon Ball Super's Gas had to be killed by Frieza in a new form, and there are plenty of other worse endings to a villain or anime as a whole.

My Hero Academia's final arc has proven very satisfying and the greatest arc the series has had overall. The fact that some fans grumble about how things ended for some villains is nothing compared to the impact it has already had on the story and characters as a whole. Even if Tomura Shigaraki wasn't fully redeemed in the traditional sense, fans should see how it makes sense given time.