"Reading Comprehension Devil" strikes My Hero Academia fandom over Hawks vs. Shigaraki debate

Although Kohei Horikoshi's magnum opus ended over a month ago on August 5, 2024, My Hero Academia fans are still reflecting on the series and its characters, as they continue to have countless debates and discussions regarding them on social media.

A recent post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), saw a fan comparing Tomura Shigaraki's character to other morally grey characters like Lady Nagant and Hawks in particular. The fan argued that despite having similar tragic backstories, Shigaraki was condemned by a majority of the fans as well as characters within the series, who deemed him to be deserving of the death penalty for his actions. On the other hand, Lady Nagant and Hawks were allowed to walk free in the end, irrespective of their actions.

However, as many others pointed out, this comparison didn't make sense in the first place, claiming that the original poster may have become a victim of Chainsaw Man's Reading Comprehension Devil.

My Hero Academia fan starts a Hawks vs. Shigaraki debate by comparing their backstories

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In a post that recently became a major topic of debate among the My Hero Academia fanbase, the original poster made an unexpected comparison between fan-favorite characters like Hawks, Lady Nagant and Tomura Shigaraki.

In My Hero Academia, Hawks and Lady Nagant are deemed to be morally grey characters, both of who were taken in at a young age and were subsequently manipulated throughout their entire life to commit crimes and other unimaginable atrocities.

Kaina Tsutsumi, aka Lady Nagant, initially had an optimistic outlook on life, as she desired to become a great hero one day. Unfortunately for Kaina, she was instead led down a dark path by her superiors, who trained her to eliminate villains and corrupt heroes alike. Her means were not always justified, as she was usually tasked with making those villains "disappear", who the Hero Public Safety Commission did not want to handle through the legal process.

Hawks as seen in My Hero Academia (image via Bones)

Keigo Takami, aka Hawks, was another victim of the Hero Public Safety Commission, who took him in at a young age and trained him to follow their orders without hesitation. As such, Hawks grew up to become a morally grey individual, who often had to undertake assignments that required him to commit borderline unethical acts.

Tomura Shigaraki on the other hand, shared a similar yet arguably worse backstory than the aforementioned two. His entire life was orchestrated by All For One, who indirectly caused him to suffer abuse from his father, which one day caused Shigaraki to snap and kill his entire family. From thereon, All For One took in Shigaraki and manipulated him throughout the series into becoming his successor as well as one of the worst villains the world had ever seen.

After comparing Shigaraki's backstory and ultimate fate to Hawks and Lady Nagant, the original poster claimed that the former was treated unfairly by almost everyone, given that he was deemed fully deserving of a death penalty for his actions, whereas the other two were eventually forgiven and allowed to walk free.

My Hero Academia fans' react to the Hawks vs. Shigaraki debate

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After taking into account everything the original poster had to say regarding the unexpected Hawks vs. Shigaraki debate, almost the entirety of the My Hero Academia fanbase ridiculed the original poster, who they claimed may have become a victim of the "Reading Comprehension Devil".

For those unaware, the Reading Comprehension Devil isn't actually a character from Chainsaw Man. Rather, it is a sardonic nickname that originated on Reddit, which is used to describe the tendency of certain manga readers to miss blatantly obvious plot details or misinterpreting written information.

"You forgot the part where the guy on the right was planning on destroying the world" one fan pointed out.

"Nagant was literally in prison before her introduction, she was given a second chance when she literally helped save the entire world. Hawks may have killed people, but they were still villains. SHIGARAKI IS LITERALLY A MASS MURDER WHO WANTED TO KILL EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING", said one fan.

"Hey what was manipulated guy gonna willingly do to Japan at the end? Hmm tell me", one fan questioned sarcastically.

The majority of the fanbase didn't let the opportunity to call out the original poster for their controversial take go to waste. Fans collectively ridiculed the original poster, saying that despite being morally grey characters who often committed questionable acts, Hawks and Lady Nagant were essentially wiping out villains. On the other hand, Shigaraki was a mass murderer, who wanted to wipe out the entirety of Japan from the map of his own accord.

"Me when I cut 90% of the story off so I can make my silly point valid", one fan said.

"One decided to do the good thing the other decided to destroy a country to its core", said another.

"Shigaraki literally said he’d destroy the entire country and that there was no saving him. Realistically what was anyone expecting?", another chimed in.

Shigaraki was indeed manipulated and controlled on a much larger scale by All For One than Hawks or Lady Nagant. While it isn't entirely wrong to sympathize with Shigaraki due to his tragic backstory, it certainly shouldn't be used to justify all the horrendous crimes he committed throughout the series.