My Hero Academia is a series full of heroes and villains. Any series such as this wouldn't be nearly as heart-stopping or impressive if it didn't have dramatic villains. And no villain is more iconic that Tomura Shigaraki.
Tomura is the villain that Midoriya and his allies have come up against time and time again. Being the leader of the League of Villains, he's determined to hunt down All Might in particular, while also creating havoc for any and all heroes he comes across.
And we're going to tell you ten things that are absolutely vital to know about Shigaraki's character.
This list contains spoilers from the manga.
10 His Real Name
This may be hard to believe or remember, but Tomura Shigaraki is not his real name. After all – if he was going by his real name then All Might would have had a better chance at figuring out who he was. Instead, Tomura Shigaraki's true name is Tenko Shimura.
9 Decay
Tomura's quirk is one that is both terrifying and not to be underestimated. His quirk is called Decay, and that is a very appropriate name indeed. Though perhaps Disintegration would have been a more accurate description.
Tomura can disintegrate anything he touches. This is a quirk that he's progressively pushed throughout the series (especially so in the manga). Originally he had to make direct contact with all five fingers. But later he found that indirect contact would work as well, if he was properly motivated. If you want to see the fight in which Tomura really pushed his quirk, check out the manga and look for the scene where he fights Re-Destro.
8 Raised to Hate Heroes
Tomura has plenty of reasons to be a messed up human being. We're not saying he's right to go about hunting heroes. But we are saying that we certainly understand why he's not doing so well. Tomura's family life was not an ideal one.
Through a series of events and situations Tomura's father, Kotaro hated superheroes. And by extension that meant he hated a lot of quirks as well. He raised Tomura to hate heroes as well, going so far as to be physically abusive whenever the subject came up.
7 A Breaking Point
As with anyone, Tomura hit a breaking point. After one particularly brutal beating from his father (set off when his sister, Hana lied about what was happening), Tomura's quirk came into full bloom. And it was not a pretty scene.
Tomura's quirk, Decay first targeted his pet dog, sadly enough. Then Hana, and by that point, Tomura was not in a good state of mind. His mother, grandmother, and grandfather all went next, leaving only the father behind. Though he didn't last much longer – and it's sage to say that he was the target Tomura enjoyed taking out.
6 Loyalty to All For One
All For One found young Tomura shortly after he broke down and killed his entire family. And naturally, All For One quickly realized what a good little pawn he had found. He took Tomura under his wings and raised him to be the man we all know him as today.
As such, Tomura's loyalty to All For One is unshakable. All For One is arguably the only person that Tomura truly cares about, and all he wants to do in life is making him happy, or at the very least prove himself to his master/adoptive father figure.
5 The Reason Behind the Hands
Did you know that the hands on Tomura actually serve a purpose? More than that, they actually contain meaning as well. Tomura had a lot of trouble controlling his quirk in the beginning – as evidenced by what happened to his family. The embalmed hands were offered as a way of giving Tomura some control in his life, both literally and symbolically.
The hands are the first people Tomura ever killed. The one on his face is his father's (the other one had originally been on the back of his head, but that had been destroyed). The ones around his neck belonged to his mother. His grandfather's hands are on his upper arms, while the grandmother's can be spotted on his elbows. The ones around his wrist belong to his sister, even though they don't really look like a child's hands. And finally, the ones on his shoulders and sides belong to random men that managed to make Tomura very angry. And thus we have the basis of Tomura's hand collection.
4 Missing Memory
There was a good chunk of time in Tomura's life that he didn't have most (or perhaps any) of his memories. That was done by All For One, possibly as a way of giving Tomura better control over his quirk. We don't know how much was taken away. But we do know that he got all of those memories back during his fight again Re-Destro (this flashback was triggered when his sister's hand was destroyed during the battle). So now Tomura is working at full functionality, with all his memories back where they belong.
3 3.Shockingly Intelligent
It's easy to look at Tomura and see him as little more than a creepy villain. But he's so much more than that. He's a person with a lot of potential, if for no other reason than his keen intellect. He's a shockingly bright person, as evidenced by the way he controls his League of Villains.
We've seen Tomura doing plenty of plotting throughout the series, and while not all of his plans have worked out too well for him, there's little doubt that they did better than anybody else could have. And there's little doubt in our minds that planning is where Tomura shines.
2 Grandson of Nana Shimura
One of the biggest conflicts about Tomura Shigaraki is that he's Nana Shimura's grandson. Nana Shimura, as fans might remember, was the previous wielder of One For All. She's the one who handed it down to All Might.
She left Tomura's father, Kotaro, because she sincerely believed that he would be safer without her in his life. After all, the family of a hero such as her would likely be heavily targeted. Instead, Kotaro grew up into a bitter man. And the rest, as they say, is history.
1 Growing in Strength
And lastly, Tomura is without a doubt the mirror to Midoriya. And that means as Midoriya gets stronger, so does Tomura. In the manga, we've seen his quirk get progressively stronger, thanks in part to the drugs he's gotten his hands on.
And it isn't going to stop there. Tomura has set a plan in motion, one that should result in his quirk being so much stronger by the end. Not even manga fans know how strong he's going to get. Only time will tell. But he's not done yet.