Is Shigaraki Tomura a Good Villain? How Strong is He Right Now?

In the latest episode of My Hero Academia’s Season 6, Shigaraki drives even the number one hero, Endeavor against the corner with his multiple quirks.

You can truly see how powerful Shigaraki has grown from how Endeavor’s fire barely scratches him. Whenever the latter’s fire burns his skin, he simply regenerates it with Super Regeneration Quirk.

Shigaraki’s multiple quirks, his immense speed of evolution, and his tragic backstory make him a perfect, well-rounded villain in My Hero Academia. He is so strong that even All Might in his prime won’t be able to stop him. He’s on par with All for One in his prime.

5 reasons why Shigaraki Tomura is a great villain

A great villain doesn’t only have brains and brawns, but they also have a compelling three-dimensional character that makes the audience to root for them.

Even though many fans found Shigaraki annoying at first, he has grown to become a fan-favorite character admired by everyone. Here are some reasons why I think Shigaraki is a perfect villain, even comparable to the Joker from Batman.

Shigaraki’s past acts as a perfect foil for the heroes. No hero helped Shigaraki when he became homeless in his childhood and lost his parents. Instead, it was the villain, All for One, who took him under his wing.

His backstory shows that heroes don’t swoop in to save the suffering masses every time, leaving them alone to fend for their lives.

Shigaraki goes through a major character development throughout the series. He quickly evolves from a pathetic villain who easily gets beaten by amateur heroes in Season 1 to a terrifying villain who can absolutely steal Deku’s One for All if he wants in Season 6.

Shigaraki is evil just for the sake of being evil. There has been a trend of morally complex villains recently, but Shigaraki is a breeze of fresh air by being a morally black character through and through.

He is often referred to as a man-child by others, and the goal behind his actions is quite simple: he hates everything that breathes and wishes to destroy everything.

Shigaraki has the leadership charm. Even though Shigaraki despises every form of life with passion, he views the League of Villains as his valued allies. He places their faith on them, and in return, they give him their loyalty.

He also bonds with other members of League on regular basis; for example, he shared his love for video games with Spinner.

Shigaraki is an absolute nutcase. Since his psyche is so unstable, every move of his unpredictable. For instance, it’s revealed that Shigaraki had One for All quirk all this time, much to the surprise of the fans.

Who can defeat Shigaraki?

There is no hero around who can defeat Shigaraki yet, except Eraserhead who can hold off his abilities with Erasure quirk. Only Deku in his prime or Eri with her mastered Rewind quirk can defeat his Decay quirk.

Eri’s Rewind quirk can reverse Shigaraki’s body into a younger state. This will get rid of all the multiple quirks he has gained and reduce the power of Decay.

Though it seems impossible for a quirk like One for All to beat Shigaraki, we do see Deku beating up Shigaraki in Chapter 369 of the manga. This is because One for All is resonating with All for One, and the former has evolved over the course of series as well.

Why is Shigaraki so strong?

Shigaraki has always been strong. He was perfectly fine even though his legs and hands were shot off by Snipe in Season 1.

Shigaraki is strong because he has control over multiple strong quirks, including All for One, Search and Decay. He has a complete control over League of Villains and Nomu. Even Star and Stripe’s nukes can’t harm him because he has the Super Regeneration Quirk.

Besides, he also trained with Gigantomachia for months without any rest, which levelled up his physical strength. 

About My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected in 24 tankōbon volumes as of August 2019.

It follows a quirkless boy Izuku Midoriya and how he backed the greatest Hero alive. Midoriya, a boy who has been admiring heroes and their ventures since the day he was born, came into this world without a quirk.

On one fateful day, he meets All Might the greatest Hero of all time and discovers that he was quirkless as well. With his diligent attitude and unwavering spirit about being a hero, Midoriya manages to impress All Might. He is chosen to be the heir to the power of One for All.

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