Shigaraki's most important moment in My Hero Academia is his most misunderstood

Modified Dec 28, 2024 06:30 GMT

My Hero Academia fans didn't understand a major Shigaraki moment (Image via Bones).

My Hero Academia is known for several elements in its series, and one of the most prevalent is its three-dimensional villains, with Tomura Shigaraki perhaps being the best example. When he was a kid named Tenko Shimura, he had to deal with the tragedy of accidentally taking the lives of his family and was originally perceived as gleeful while doing it, but this was a narrative tool by author Kohei Horikoshi.

Shigaraki is the one telling these events and has proven to be a very unreliable narrator, as evidenced by the events that play out later in My Hero Academia. He shows genuine remorse for the death of his family and how he didn't get the understanding that he wanted, which proved to be a major plot point during the events of the final war arc.

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

Shigaraki lied to the audience when talking about the death of his family in My Hero Academia

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

Once it was revealed that Tomura Shigaraki used to be Tenko Shimura and got his family killed because of the activation of his Decay Quirk, he proved to be a very unreliable narrator. He tells the audience that he took great pleasure in murdering his family and how their deaths were a relief for him, which proves to be a lie as the story progresses since that is a major element that Deku taps into during the final war arc.

This is because Shigaraki has been manipulated and groomed by All For One since the moment he was born, and a lot of his worldview has been shaped by what that villain taught him. That is further emphasized by the fact that these two characters are clashing in the final arc for control of Tomura's body, which highlights his master's true intentions.

When looking back at the flashback, Tenko Shimura was trying to hug his mother during the deaths of his family, which proves that he did care about them. Shigaraki is trying to lie to himself and prove that he is the monster All For One told him he is, but that is ultimately not the case.

More about Shigaraki's character

Deku and Shigaraki as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha).

It is common knowledge in the My Hero Academia fandom that Tomura Shigaraki and Izuku "Deku" Midoriya are meant to represent opposite pacts, with one being a villain and the other a hero, respectively. Both characters have risen to the top of the ladder of their respective areas and have mentors (All For One and All Might), making their final clash all the more compelling.

Ultimately, Shigaraki, much like most of the members in the League of Villains, serves as a natural consequence of hero society and what happens when certain situations are left unattended. While it is true that All For One manipulated Tenko Shimura's life, he was never approached by heroes and never got the support he needed, which is a major topic that Horikoshi tried to address throughout the story.

Final thoughts

Tomura Shigaraki lying to the My Hero Academia audience might be one of Horikoshi's smartest decisions as a writer since it serves to highlight his own inner contradictions as a character. Moreover, it is also a smart narrative tool to keep a certain degree of mystery as the story progresses.

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Edited by Somava