Summary
A character’s design plays a huge part in fans’perception of said character, so Kohei Horikoshi’s decision to adorn Shigaraki Tomura with 14 human hands that grip his body served its purpose well in his presentation. However, these unsettling visual elements are far from being just a grim aesthetic choice.
They are rich with symbolism which represents key facets of Shigaraki’s character, backstory, emotional trauma, and his development into one of the most menacing villains in shonen anime. To understand the symbolistic importance behind what Shigaraki wears, fans must understandhow his descent to villainy started, and All For One’s influence in his life.
Shigaraki’s Tragic Origin And How It Shaped His Life Forever
The Makings Of A Troubled Villain
The hands that cover Shigaraki’s body are a constant reminder of the horrifying event that shaped his life and future. Shigaraki Tomura was born Tenko Shimura to an abusive father who resorted to questionable methods to dissuade him from his obsession with heroes. After one of their episodes,Tenko manifested his Decay quirk, and in a moment of panic and confusion, he killed his sister, mother, and grandparents. His father witnessed this and hit Tenko in the face, turning his panic into rage and murderous intent. He charged at his father and eventually killed him, finding joy in the fact that he would never be abused by him ever again. However, the truth behind this incident is that it was not an accident, as fans had been led to believe.
Everything from top to bottom was orchestrated by All For One, even the birth of Tenko only happened because he convinced Kotaro Shimura to give birth to another child. He planned to create a vessel with a great amount of willpower, capable of stealing One For All from the vestiges, as they prevent any forceful transfers of the quirk.All For One also stole Tenko’squirk factor as a baby and waited till that faithful day of the incident to transfer the Decay quirk to him. As expected, All For One was also there to “save” him after the incident occurred as no one else offered to help the orphaned kid out and blamed society and its twisted ways for why he was not saved earlier. Before long, All For One began grooming Tenko and subtly instilling the hatred of heroes and society in him.
The Hands That Shigaraki Dons Are A Constant Reminder Of Society’s Failure To Save Him
The Reasoning Behind Shigaraki’s Urge To Destroy
Unbeknownst to Tenko,All For One had secretlygathered the hands of his dead family members and had the Doctor gift it to him. He did not start wearing them till an incident involving two thugs, after which All For One encouraged him to do whatever he pleased to make himself feel better, as constructs such as ethics were only put in place by people who seek to manipulate others. After putting on the hands of his family, and specially reserving that of his father for his face, he freed himself from the voice in his head that stopped him from murdering those two thugs and was reborn as a new individual. His memories as Tenko became fully suppressed and as such, All For One named him Shimura as a reminder of the incident that forever changed his life. He uses the hands to manipulate Shigaraki through the constant reminder of the emotional trauma, anchoring him to his dreadful past and instilling within him a desire for destruction and rebellion against society, one strong enough to go against thewillpower of the One For All vestiges.
One can also associate those hands with the concept of control, as that is something that he has struggled with for much of his life. For much of his early life, Shigaraki struggled with control over his emotions, powers, and fate, but when he finally dons the hands, he does not have to answer to anyone but himself and his impulses. Now, he seeks to gain control over the world around him, as he believestheir neglect of the less fortunateis why people like him are thrust into such a terrible life. He believes the only way society can ever be truly reformed is by going through the cycle of death and rebirth, like a phoenix, which explains why he will stop at nothing to destroy it all, even if it means facing off against some of the greatest heroes ever.
Shigaraki’s Eventual Liberation From The Burden Of The Hands
A Step In His Evolution To Becoming The Ultimate Villain
Shigaraki seemed to lose composure when people took his hands off or damaged them, but he eventually overcame this as his character became more complex. During the Meta Liberation Army Arc,the battle between Re-Destroand Shigaraki was a real eye-opener for him, as it was an integral character arc that would change him forever. Many of Shigaraki’s hands were damaged in that battle, and the sudden influx of emotions caused him to start remembering more about his childhood and the memories he had suppressed.
This lifted a subconscious limiter in Shigaraki and enabled him to activate his quirk with only two fingers instead of his whole palm. He later found peace in the memories of his dark times and those who helped him through it, eventuallybreaking away from his traumaand destroying the hand of his father. With all his memories back, and a true understanding of himself, he deems the other hands unnecessary and finally lets go of that creepy suit. However, he kept one of the hands to preserve his image from the public.
My Hero Academiais now available to stream onCrunchyroll.
My Hero Academia
In My Hero Academia, some humans have superpowers called quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and since he was a child, he has always wanted to be a hero. However, his lack of a quirk has always held him back, but a chance encounter with All Might after discovering a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers around Deku and a class of heroes-in-training at UA. This school shapes young quirk users into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-tempering tasks. With young Deku inheriting the “One-For-All” quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while facing off with dastardly supervillains.
