Shigaraki not being Quirkless was the My Hero Academia ending's greatest mistake

Modified Nov 07, 2024 04:28 GMT

My Hero Academia ending made a mistake with Shigaraki's Quirk (Image via Bones).

The My Hero Academia ending has been quite controversial among the fans for a wide variety of reasons, and one of the most prominent is the way Tomura Shigaraki was handled. Author Kohei Horikoshi made several decisions with this character that have been divisive in the fandom, and perhaps the most telling was the fact he wasn't Quirkless and had a normal Quirk all along.

It was revealed during the final battle in the My Hero Academia manga that All For One had removed Shigaraki's Quirk when he was a kid named Tenko Shimura and gave him Decay instead to destroy his family and traumatize him.

The idea of the evil overlord planting a Quirk on him to mentally destroy him draws an interesting parallel with Deku and All Might that, sadly enough, Horikoshi chose to ignore.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a publication.

The My Hero Academia ending didn't do justice to Shigaraki by not making him Quirkless

Shigaraki and All For One as seen in the anime (Image via Bones).

It was initially believed that Tomura Shigaraki, then a kid named Tenko Shimura, was born with the Decay Quirk and killed his entire family by accident. However, it was revealed during the final battle that All For One planned the whole event and planted said Quirk in him.

But in reality, Tenko had a different power all along, which proves to be a missed opportunity from author Kohei Horikoshi.

The idea of All For One taking a Quirkless kid and giving him powers to manipulate him would have drawn an obvious contrast and parallel with All Might and Izuku "Deku" Midoriya.

While All Might saw a hero in Deku and a worthy successor for his legacy, All For One merely saw in Tenko a figure that he could use to get revenge on heroes and further his goals.

However, Shigaraki had a regular Quirk all along and that breaks what could have been a great parallel that would have enriched the overarching narrative of the series.

It is something that author Kohei Horikoshi wasted and takes away a bit of gravity from the twist of the final battle.

The many issues of Shigaraki's ending

Tenko Shimura and Tomura Shigaraki as seen in the anime (Image via Bones).

There are some considerable mistakes that were made with Shigaraki in the final arc, such as him not being able to take down a single hero during the entirety of the war, which lessened his impact as an avatar of destruction as he claimed to be.

When someone like Overhaul manages to take down more heroes (Sir Nighteye) than Shigaraki as one of the final enemies, that reduces his threat level in My Hero Academia ending.

While the general perception of the All For One twist proved to be positive, it is also worth pointing out that the evil overlord planning Shigaraki's entire life robs the latter of agency as a villain.

Moreover, him having a Quirk that was meant to destroy made a lot of sense for his character and his negative arc, although this event makes that origin story a lot less powerful.

From a more conclusive perspective, Shigaraki never had a chance to have a full-blown battle with Izuku "Deku" Midoriya. The protagonist always tried to appeal to the villain's human nature, removing a degree of tension from the final battle, and never got to display the full extent of their powers.

Final thoughts

My Hero Academia author Kohei Horikoshi made the wrong decision when it came to not making Tomura Shigaraki Quirkless if he was going to follow through with the All For One plot twist.

In that regard, he wasted the opportunity of drawing a parallel with Deku and All Might, which could have been very fitting.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande