Tomura Shigaraki

This article is about All For One's adopted son and successor. For the Got-It-All Mall clerk, see Tenko Tejina.

Tomura Shigaraki, real name Tenko Shimura, was the main antagonist of My Hero Academia.

He was the leader of the League of Villains, making his first major appearance as one of the main antagonists of the U.S.J. Arc. He was raised by his master, All For One, with the goal to kill All Might, the "Symbol of Peace", and ultimately destroying the society he represents. He soon merged his organization and the Meta Liberation Army to form the Paranormal Liberation Front, becoming its Grand Commander and later inheriting the All For One Quirk.

As a result, All For One's vestige seized control of his body and tried to merge the two of them into a new being. Eventually, Tomura was able to thwart his master's attempt at usurping his body and soul, reclaiming autonomy and declaring himself Izuku Midoriya's arch-enemy.

Tomura was eventually defeated in battle by Izuku, when his will was once again overtaken by All For One. Learning of his true origins, Tomura helped Izuku take down his former master once and for all. Though his body was sacrificed in the process, he declared that he fought to destroy until the very end.

Appearance#

Tomura was a slim young man with pale skin and a great deal of wrinkles around his eyes from scratching at allergies that irritated the surrounding skin since his childhood. His lips were chapped and uneven, with a small mole on the right underneath his lip, and visible scars on his right eye and across his lip on the left. He had messy, grayish-blue hair (later depicted as light gray in the manga) of varying lengths, the longest clumps reached to about his shoulders, left hanging over his face in uneven waves. His eyes and mouth were normally obscured, but when visible, they were usually stretched wide in a rather maniacal manner, with bright red irises looking very small.

When Tenko was at the age of five, his was originally dark black in color, as well as having dark gray eyes instead of red. He also had dried patches of skin around his eyes, though his lips were shown to be healthy in appearance. After his Quirk manifested, his appearance changed, giving him a wrinkled face, his hair color to a more light blue, and his eyes slowly turned to red after the first manifestation. After suffering shock from losing control over his Quirk, he was taken aghast and gripped his right eyelid with his fingers in horror, clawing a deep scar into it, as the left side of his lip was scarred by his father grabbing a pair of pruning shears, which he then used to hit his son across the face.

When in his civilian outfit, he always wore plain red sneakers that were similar to Izuku's, along with black pants which expose his ankles, and a matching long-sleeved V-neck shirt (which he keeps tucked into his pants in the manga). He also wore a plain black hoodie over the top with the hood pulled low over his face to hide his identity, and carried one of his disembodied hands in his pocket.

His villain costume consisted of fourteen embalmed hands, all positioned so they were holding onto him on different parts of his body. These hands were taken from dead individuals and embalmed by Kyudai Garaki, who gave them a zombie-like grayish-blue color and attached to their bases a golden box with two holes drilled into the bottom.

Each pair of these hands originally belonged to an individual killed by Tomura during the time his Quirk first manifested: the ones on his neck were his mother's; on his arms, his grandfather's; on his forearms, his grandmother's; on his wrists, his sister's; and the ones on his chest and shoulders were from two unnamed street punks he killed.

The hand that held Tomura's face, which he sometimes kept in his pocket, is his father's left hand, called "Father" by him. The right one was accidentally destroyed by him, so Kyudai had to make one to hold on the top of Tomura's head; this hand was connected to his mother's pair through two red cords and later revealed to be from his paternal grandmother, Nana Shimura. Almost all of the hands were either destroyed, lost, or discarded; only Nana's hand remained which he used as his mask. For the rest of his outfit, Tomura just wore his regular black clothes, bar the jacket.

After All For One's arrest, Tomura's hair had grown a bit longer, and he adopted a long hooded leather coat that he wore over his costume. He also added two additional red cords to connect the hands on his shoulders to the hands on his chest. During his fight with Re-Destro, Tomura's left hand was crushed, leaving only his ring and pinky fingers. After the Revival Celebration, Tomura wore a black formal suit underneath a red coat with a white fur collar similar to Overhaul's, and a temporary leg brace. His right arm and hand were bandaged after having unleashed the destructive true strength of his Decay Quirk, and he wore an black brace fitted with prosthetic fingers for his left hand. After his Quirk awakened, his hair has also changed color once again, from light blue to pure white.

During the events of Heroes: Rising, Tomura is seen wearing a new set of his old clothes and a dark red trench coat, which were supplied to him by Re-Destro.^[3] His leg is also shown to have completely healed by this time. Although he is depicted with his original hair color in the film, this is likely due to the movie's staff not having finalized details of his updated design during production.

By the time the Heroes raid the Jaku General Hospital, Tomura wore a black bodysuit with several mechanical enhancements similar to that of Nine's. He also dons X-Less' red cape once he finally awakened from his deep slumber, although the top part of his body suit was destroyed in his battle with Endeavor and the cape was completely incinerated. Tomura also acquired a small hole in each of the palms of his hands as a result of acquiring the "All For One" Quirk. It's also shown that he lost his skinny figure in the process and gained a more muscular physique, and his left prosthetic fingers were replaced with a bio-mechanical device. In the anime, the scarring that was caused by Decay during his fight with Re-Destro remained on his right arm, leaving most of it red and cracked, but later disappeared after healing from Endeavor's Prominence Burn.

After the Paranormal Liberation War, his body began to break apart as a cost of overusing All For One with an incomplete body, resulting in cracks and scars protruding all along his arms and neck, stretching down to his stomach. His eyes also became white and faded when All For One was in control.

During the fight against Star and Stripe, in which the consciousnesses of Tomura and All For One began to fuse into one being, he wore a black formal suit, with his usual red sneakers, and a long red flowing cloth draped around his neck; the suit representing All For One's desire to present himself properly, and the latter for Tomura's general uncleanliness. He also wore a fingerless brace on his left hand, and his hair began to grow longer and flowing during this event as an effect of their two minds becoming one. In the aftermath of the fight however, most of this outfit was destroyed and reduced to only his pants, and later donned a new red ragged cape, along with left hand being fully healed after regenerating from his battle with Star.

During the Final War, Tomura possessed the ability to transform his left hand into a grotesque and heavily deformed clump of countless, writhing fingers that branch off one another and vary in size, which was a result of the Quirk Singularity, as his body was being forced to adapt to his vast amount of Quirks. During the conflict, he was hit by Katsuki Bakugo's Howitzer Impact: Cluster, scarring the right side of his face and burning off a portion of his hair, giving him a partial resemblance to All For One.

Due to the accumulating damages he received by the Heroes while under the effects of Erasure and the result of the Quirk Singularity, Tomura's body morphed itself into an absolute defense form, which was a much larger and bulkier tone, with swollen fingers and hands covering his torso and legs. His left arm was also much larger than before, the tips of his fingers and thumb taking on the appearance of his deceased family's heads. Fingers also grew out from the back of his head and neck, clinging to his face and covering his mouth.

When Erasure was undone, Tomura's body exploded, undoing the metamorphosis and resulting in his original personality re-emerging from within, molting out of the defense form and reverting his body back to his prime state, albeit his skin looking more wrinkle with his face being less-so. His former skin was also still latched onto his body from around his waist and he still wore his pants which was more damaged.

As Izuku started to inflict damage on Tomura by forcibly passing on the Quirks of One For All inside of him, Tomura's body instinctively adapted into his more monstrous blob form of fingers out of desperation, but now extending throughout his body, effectively coating himself under thick layers of fingers like a cocoon. After Izuku manages to destroy it, All For One's vestige once again took over Tomura, nearly destroying his mind in the process. As a result, Tomura's hair seemed to flow more, his body was paler, far lankier, and decrepit, with sunken eyes and the addition of two of his remaining grown fingers on his shoulders, and a stuffed dark hand with a deep red box base grew and formed over his mouth to silence the lingering memory of Tomura and his cries. After Izuku managed to land a direct punch on "Tomura", the latter's body began to crumble and fall apart, but All For One used the former's Quirks to forcibly stop the crumbling. The conclusion of the battle saw All For One's vestige extinguished for good, and Tomura's body disintegrated into ashes, ending his life.

Personality#

Tomura Shigaraki was a very twisted, malevolent, and maliciously warped young man, who was considered to be the polar opposite of Izuku Midoriya. He didn't care for his or almost anyone else's life, having no qualms about performing evil deeds like murdering innocent people.^[4][5] Tomura was initially perceived to be a "man-child": arrogant, selfish, dependent, and demanding, becoming irritated or downright angry if things didn't go according to plan and using video game terminology showing his detachment with reality and childish mentality. Unlike his mentor, Tomura lacked subtlety, preferring to eliminate problems through force.

Much like a child, Tomura seemed unable to cope with his own feelings, instead lashing out and abusing both others or himself, clawing at his own neck when he became frustrated. This particular tic stemmed from the abuse he suffered from his father and being neglected during his childhood, with All For One claiming that it represented his suppressed urge to kill and destroy.^[6] While Tomura was a very irritable person at the beginning of the series, Tomura would learn to be more patient and self-controlled in subsequent appearances, as a consequence of multiple failed plans and All For One's arrest.

Tomura was proud of the League of Villains, wanting to prove that his organization had the necessary power to shake society and taking pleasure in mocking those standing in his way. He didn't tolerate others making light of the League's name and loathed the idea of certain personalities joining him, as was the case with Dabi and Himiko Toga at the beginning, which was made worse by the fact that they were both inspired by Stain, who had previously refused membership and overshadowed Tomura's Nomus in terms of media exposure after the Hosu Incident.^[5] For similar reasons, he looked down on the Shie Hassaikai for their intentions of ruling the underworld over the League. In the end, however, Tomura was able to set his pride aside in order to properly adapt and acomplish his goals, having adopted Stain's ideology to enlist more members to his cause and forming a deal with the Shie Hassaikai for the development of the Quirk-Destroying Drug.

Initially, Tomura seemingly caused destruction just for the sake of it and felt directionless about the League's path forward after Stain's arrest. It would take a hostile encounter with Izuku in a mall for Tomura to develop an epiphany and become aware of his true convictions: to crumble hero society through All Might's death. Tomura always had a desire to kill All Might, but out of an impulsive expression of anarchy towards a society that hurt him and caused his mental instability.

After hearing from Izuku, Tomura realized that All Might is what he hated about both Izuku and Stain, wishing to see them, as well as society as a whole, lose their Symbol of Peace.^[7] Following All Might's retirement and during the League of Villains' encounter with the Meta Liberation Army, Tomura's convictions grew from crippling society to completely destroying it, apparently as a result of an innate sense of pain and suffering caused by the past memories of his abuse. By Tomura's own admission, he hated everything that breathes, displaying an extreme form of nihilism.

Despite Tomura's general disgust of life, there were a select number of people he held in high esteem. He had a close relationship with his mentor, All For One, the one person who came to his aid when he found himself alone and lost as a child. Tomura held a great amount of respect and attachment for All For One, always referring to him as "Sensei"/"Master" and being concerned for his well-being.^[8] Incidentally, Tomura happened to carry All For One's family name (Shigaraki), which symbolized a relationship close to father and son. Tomura also had Kurogiri as a trusted confidant and adviser, despite treating him harshly at times. Kurogiri's capture was noted to have made Tomura upset as the latter valued the former's company and abilities.

Aside from those two and Kyudai Garaki, who all had a hand in raising him, Tomura initially appeared rather distant towards his other allies in the League. However he did show to care about them in his own ways. He bonded with Spinner over their shared love of video games, to the latter's surprise.^[9] He also cared about them enough to prioritize their comfort once he obtained the necessary finances, and became enraged when Overhaul killed Magne and destroyed Mr. Compress' arm. Beforehand, when Kurogiri labelled the other League members as disposable pawns, Tomura corrected him by saying that they are instead valued allies.^[10] Tomura displayed both faith in the League's capabilities and trust in them to do right by him and their group, as seen when he confided in Himiko and Twice before appointing them to aid Overhaul (knowing they would intentionally sabotage the Hassaikai from within, even without his orders).^[11]

Furthermore, when Himiko questioned Tomura on his newfound goal to destroy everything, he revealed that his allies were exceptions, saying that he always has room for them and their goals while telling them to live life however they see fit. This proves that Tomura had developed a true form of care towards his allies, even if he only seldom showed it.^[12]

This further set Tomura apart from All For One as he actually had goals and desires beyond himself, and genuinely values his allies, while All For One saw his "friends" as nothing more than disposable tools. His exclamation that he "won't be corrupted" by his master's influence implied that, while Tomura was potentially more dangerous and destructive than All For One, the latter was far darker and eviler for caring about nothing but himself.

As a child, Tenko was shown to be relatively normal, even kind and compassionate. He held a great love for his family and a strong desire to become a hero someday, much like Izuku. However, the constant abuse he suffered from his hero-hating father made him psychologically fragile, being terrified of his mere presence. Because of this oppressive upbringing and the inaction from the rest of his family, Tenko felt that his whole family never truly supported him and believed that the house he grew up in masked rejection with kindness, becoming increasingly frustrated when the abuse grew worse. Eventually, Tenko's Quirk manifested for the first time and the boy finally snapped, destroying his household and all his family members.

When Tenko was left to wander the streets, being left traumatized and unrecognizable from the incident, he remembered how nobody came to his aid and did their best to ignore him. He believed at the time that this was punishment for killing his family and his memories soon faded from his mind, leaving him as a hollow and lonely boy. When All For One arrived to help him and took him in, Tenko cried out of sheer emotion. Even after being beaten up by two thugs however, Tenko still repressed his desire to kill them, only finally caving in to his murderous urges when All For One encouraged him to act how he pleased. Following this, Tenko donned the hands of his family before hunting down and killing the men who attacked him. Upon taking his first step to becoming a Villain, All For One rewarded the boy and renamed him, leading to Tenko becoming Tomura, the future Symbol of Fear.

At first, Tomura expressed heavy remorse for accidentally killing his family upon losing control of his newfound Quirk. The severed hands that Tomura wore all over himself were the only physical remnants of his dead loved ones, and he claimed that they made him feel simultaneously sick and calm.^[12] Despite his sadness, Tomura claimed to have experienced a partial relish in his family's demise since he considered them responsible for letting him suffer at his father's will. However, everything shown portrays otherwise, with it later being implied that Tomura gaslighted himself into believing he wanted it. Tomura admitted that he felt a cathartic pleasure while ending Kotaro's life as retaliation for his abusive treatment.^[13] During his fight against Re-Destro, Tomura overcame his past shackles of guilt after getting his memories back, having used his childhood feelings to further fuel his hatred and becoming even more driven to end society.^[14]

Despite his past, however, Tomura held no hatred towards his family, excluding his father. This was shown when he assured his sister in his visions that he wasn't mad at her for framing him and also assured his mother that he was fine while turning back into a child in front of her, proving that a part of Tomura still cared about his family. However, he was willing to reject their pleas in order to continue the pursuit of his evil conquest, telling them not to reject who he had become and showing that he wouldn't let them hinder his goals. Upon meeting his paternal grandmother, Nana, for the first time, he coldly expressed his hatred for her regardless of the circumstances that allowed them to meet.

After gaining the power of All For One, as well as the enhancements to his body, Tomura began to show traits similar to that of his master, such as a condescending and mocking demeanor, along with a terror-inducing presence and a desire to steal any Quirk that piqued his interest, such as One For All and New Order. Regardless, he still maintained his nonchalant yet menacing attitude during battle and was capable of showing a savage anger towards his enemies, as demonstrated during his fight against Izuku and Eraser Head. Even after having been incinerated and inches away from death, Tomura refused to give up and vowed to destroy the hero society that had caused him so much suffering, believing that his sheer power and determination would see him through.

Despite feeling grateful towards All For One, Tomura outright stated to him that he wished to carve his own legacy and become even greater than his master. However, Tomura quickly began to detest All For One after learning that his true goals were to use his body as a vessel and take it over permanently. Tomura even went as far as to try and attack All For One's vestige and later refused to be his master's "pawn" whilst trying to regain control of his body. When he sensed his master's death, Tomura expressed no remorse or sympathy for him, though blamed himself for failing to break Katsuki hard enough. Nonetheless, he was indebted to All For One for raising him and granting him his power, because if it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have become the strongest villain.

As their time sharing the same consciousness continued, Tomura had shown to have entered a state of identity crisis, being unsure of whether or not he was actually Tomura Shigaraki, All For One, or even Tenko Shimura. This was shown to be the result of Tomura and All For One's wills merging together, with the elder Shigaraki summarizing that they would combine to become a new evil entity altogether, with Tomura's hatred accelerating the process. Despite this, Tomura still continued to fight his former master's control, unwilling to let this happen.

By the time of the Final War, Tomura and All For One's minds had nearly melded together as one, creating an entity that featured a mix of Tomura's nihilism and desire to destroy everything, and All For One's will to use his power to rule over all. However, deep within the vestige lies another entity, that of Tomura's previous form as a young Tenko.

During their first encounter in the vestige world, Izuku revealed that he could hear a crying child deep within Tomura, and following the latter's fight against Star and Stripe, Tenko was shown to be surrounded by an onslaught of hands, thinking about Izuku.

During the fight against the Heroes, Mirio Togata unintentionally caused Tenko's personality to re-emerge after he claimed he didn't have any friends, which Tomura furiously denied, bringing up his childhood friends Mikkun and Tomo, and his pet dog Mon. This suggested that a part of Tomura still wanted to be saved and that his previous scared and lonely self wasn't completely gone.

Despite that, Tomura affirmed that he and Tenko both held the same goal upon reclaiming his body from All For One: the destruction of everything. "Tenko" was representative of his origin that he implanted deep within All For One's vestige as a means of winning back control of himself and the All For One Quirk. Even though Tomura acknowledged that a part of him was still in pain, he didn't desire anyone's pity and saw the rest of the world as no different from the abusive house he grew up in, desiring to eradicate everything associated with it while claiming that this would be the only thing that would grant him salvation.

He also claimed that he had no true interest in One For All, and that his previous obsession with stealing it was just a forced extension of his master's will, but was still willing to steal it and its accompanying Quirks in order to rid himself of Izuku, the only one capable of stopping him.

Tomura also took the opportunity to taunt and mock Izuku during their final battle, being impressed by his opponent's strength, but annoyed that he was holding back and still treating him as a human being despite his desire to decimate Japan. He would then assure Izuku that he had buried the crying Tenko inside of him and that he was doing just fine as a way of telling him that he was beyond saving. Despite this, he still had his fellow comrades from the League in his mind, having expressed his desire to make the "flattened horizon" that Spinner was looking forward to.

Although he assured Izuku that Tenko was gone, it is soon discovered that he buried his origin underneath a leaden shell made of his hatred. Once Izuku used the Quirk Factors of the past One For All users to attack and invade his soul, Tomura began to panic and instinctively shielded himself, but to no avail.

Once Izuku successfully breaks through Tomura's shell of hatred, he gets him to explain his desire for destruction. It's revealed that Tenko and Tomura were one and the same, and that he holds great insecurity due to being born with the hands he has. Tomura also reveals that he never truly wanted his family to die, but deluded himself into believing that he did because he couldn't understand why he was born this way otherwise.

Eventually, he genuinely opened up to Izuku and revealed that he would continue to destroy because he insisted the villains need a hero of their own and envisions the League standing beside him as inspiration. This confession shows that, deep down, Tomura never truly lost his desire to be a hero.

However, Tomura became truly broken when All For One returned and revealed that he was the one who had orchestrated the events of his birth and upbringing, including giving him his Decay Quirk when he was a child, encouraging his father's strict attitude, leading to the abuse and misery he suffered in his childhood, and ultimately causing the deaths of his entire family. All For One stated that he himself was responsible for Tomura's creation, destroying his life, and molding him into the villain he became, gloating that his reason for being was all because of him and that Tomura never made a decision all by himself.

In his supposed final moments, Tomura remembered everyone he ever hurt as he shattered, presumably reflecting upon his own agency when he committed those actions.

Even when all seemed lost for him; however, Tomura would be saved from vanishing by his grandmother and later decided to aid the One For All users and Izuku in destroying All For One for good. As his body proceeded to crumble away, Tomura briefly mourned for Kurogiri and acknowledged Nana for saving him before he faced Izuku one last time in the vestige world, recounting how he never managed to destroy anything while also admitting that he may have been a crying child after all, acknowledging his humanity that he previously denied and possibly accepting that a part of himself as Tenko still exists. As a final request, Tomura tells Izuku to let Spinner know that he never gave up on his goal to destroy and even encouraged Izuku to do his best while genuinely smiling at him.

Following the Final War, Izuku stated that even though he managed to reach Tenko and shatter his hatred, he remained the leader of the League of Villains to the very end, demonstrating that despite everything, Tomura still wanted to be remembered as the villain he became rather than the victim he was born as. All Might surmises that even though Tomura's life couldn't be saved, Izuku still managed to save his soul, allowing him to pass away in peace. This is proven eight years later, as Izuku manages to become a hero again thanks to All Might and his former classmates, he looks back and sees Tomura's spirit, smiling at his former arch-enemy in approval.

Abilities#

Overall Abilities: Tomura was the most powerful villain in the world, having surpassed that of even his master All For One and contended with every Pro Hero in combat, thanks to his physical and analytical skills. As the leader of the League of Villains, Tomura had total command over his powerful subordinates. During the U.S.J. Incident, Tomura had the mettle to briefly take on the formidable Pro Hero Eraser Head, and successfully used his Decay Quirk on the Erasure Hero's right arm. Tomura was even confident that he could take down Izuku, Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki, and Eijiro Kirishima, four extremely powerful U.A. High School students, although at the time, he didn't know the full extent of the quartet's abilities. Tomura was capable of battling Gigantomachia for a month and a half, not giving up until he was able to make the behemoth submit. When he faced Re-Destro, and his left hand was partially destroyed, Tomura's prowess had been suddenly enhanced to levels beyond his natural parameters. According to Re-Destro, if Tomura had his newly increased physical parameters during the Kamino Incident, he would've easily taken out at least one or two of the Pro Heroes during that event, even without his Decay Quirk.^[15]

After a fierce battle, he was not only able to defeat Re-Destro and gain control of the latter's army, but also tamed Gigantomachia with his accomplishment. Similar to his master, Tomura's aura was capable of instilling fear into others, and his mere gaze was enough to paralyze Trumpet's followers, who were under the influence of Incite and given orders to eliminate Tomura.^[16] This was seen again when he encountered Izuku and Katsuki, with his mere presence being powerful enough to instill hallucinations of death into both teenagers.^[17] After Kyudai Garaki conducted body modifications to Tomura, his overall abilities have surpassed all of the Pro Heroes to the point where just his physical abilities were on par with All Might when the latter had One For All. He fought multiple top level Pro Heroes and Hero students for an extended period of time with solely his bodily modifications. Due to his immense power, Tomura eventually grew to be feared worldwide due to being able to kill the immensely powerful Star and Stripe, one of the world's top heroes. Eventually, the world became so afraid of him that nations, including the United States, were already planning to pledge their allegiance to him, so that casualties would have been kept to a minimum, should Tomura have sought them out.^[18]

As the result of the Quirk Singularity, his body began to morph into its ideal form, giving Tomura an ultimate absolute defense form which increased his abilities greatly, enabling him to grow fingers endlessly, and transforming his body into a more bulky and heavier tone. His abilities had increased so dramatically at this point that he surpassed even All Might and All For One at their prime. In the Final War, despite having his Quirks nullified by Erasure, and fighting in a battlefield specifically designed to counter his abilities, Tomura still proceeded to directly overpower and nearly kill every hero that was at the U.A. Fortress before Izuku finally arrived.

His body had adapted itself to not only enhance his speed, strength, and stamina, but he also possessed the ability to adapt his body into any situation, depending on what fit his desired mental state. His power was at the point where the only person who could fight him on equal terms was Izuku with One For All. After gaining back full control of his body, with All For One's persona no longer holding back his destructive tendencies, Tomura was able to unleash his true capabilities, dominating Izuku using 120% of One For All, and threatening to decay all of Japan within just a week.

Tomura was later shown to possess the power to battle Izuku using One For All and its Quirks at their full potential on equal grounds, and overwhelm the young hero further in the fight. Kudo, the second user of One For All, went on to state that, in terms of strength, Izuku was no match for Tomura, though Tomura himself admitted that he might not be able to recover should he take a direct hit from one of Izuku's full-power smashes. Izuku was ultimately forced to sacrifice One For All and the Quirks within it by forcefully transferring it into Tomura to attack his soul from within to defeat him. The forcible transfer not only destroyed Tomura's leaden soul, but his body took heavy damage from the transfer due to the sheer power contained within the Quirk.

Even when his leaden soul was destroyed after All For One's vestige retook control of his body, he could still overwhelm every Hero who had come to aid Izuku in the final battle at Mt. Fuji.

• Enhanced Strength: Tomura was stronger than his build suggested, capable of holding Izuku by choking him with only four fingers while his victim displayed visible difficulty in trying to fight back.

• Enhanced Durability: Tomura was able to withstand a point-blank blast from Katsuki's Explosion Quirk, sustaining little to no damage. He was even capable of battling Gigantomachia for a month and a half, and withstand the behemoth's attacks.^[19] This trait carries on to the point where he manages to withstand a brutal beating from a powered-up Re-Destro.^[20]

• Enhanced Speed: Tomura was able to move very quickly, which helped him to touch his targets and activate his Quirk with minimal contact. He was able to appear before Tsuyu Asui in an instant and see Izuku after the latter had jumped at a speed that rivaled All Might's, immediately reacting afterwards. Only All Might himself was too fast for Tomura to track. Even when he was notably exhausted during the battle against the Meta Liberation Army, he swiftly swung himself atop a wall to avoid a massive onslaught of Army members, to their surprise, before disintegrating many of them in an instant. When he battled Re-Destro, he was able to move so fast with minimal wasted movements, that Re-Destro was taken by surprise by the increase in speed he had obtained.

• Enhanced Reflexes: Initially, Tomura's reflexes were on human levels, though still decently sharp as he was able to block Eraser Head's attacks during the raid on the U.S.J. While during his first battle with Gigantomachia, Tomura could barely dodge any attacks from the behemoth, but over the course of his training while fighting him, his reflexes had sharpened, allowing him to subsequently evade around Re-Destro's Stress: 100%.

Keen Intellect: Tomura possessed a sharp mind and is analytical, being able to deduce the workings of his opponents' abilities simply by observing them in action. He quickly deduced Eraser Head's weaknesses in combat and took advantage of them.^[21] Tomura had a certain skill for unexpected plans, even when his intentions are apparently clear. He pretended to collaborate with Kai Chisaki and the Shie Hassaikai, sending Twice and Himiko to their hideout to apparently support them in the raid against the police and Heroes, while in reality it was all a plan to gather information from the inside.

After Kai was defeated and arrested, he used this information to ambush and successfully steal his drugs, while also amputating both of his hands leaving unable to use his Quirk ever again. After battling Gigantomachia for over a month, Tomura realized that the behemoth has gotten much slower compared to the League of Villains' first encounter with him, and strongly believed that he would soon have Gigantomachia successfully tamed.

A further display of Tomura's wit and proficiency for tactical planning was when the League of Villains were threatened by Re-Destro to either face the Meta Liberation Army in Deika City, or be located by the Heroes and face arrest. Tomura concocted the plan to go and face Re-Destro's army, knowing that Gigantomachia would soon awaken from his slumber and locate Tomura instantly, doing this as to have Gigantomachia plow through the MLA's warriors, which would serve to simultaneously chip away at the behemoth's immense stamina and take out their opposition.^[22]

This plan to kill two birds with one stone was successful, and thanks to Tomura's outstanding display of power while defeating Re-Destro by freeing himself of his past and awakening his true power, he was successful in taming Gigantomachia and having Re-Destro surrender his forces to him, resulting in the formation of the Paranormal Liberation Front.^[16]

As an almost fully merged consciousness of Tomura and All For One's vestige, he possessed all the knowledge, experience, intelligence, and cunning of the original All For One. During his battle against Star and Stripe, Tomura was able to quickly surmise the functions and limits of her Quirk, New Order, realizing that if the Quirk could give her infinite strength, then Star would have killed him immediately by crushing his head.

He also quickly learned that New Order requires a living target's identity to align with Star and Stripe's own understanding, and that he survived her rule that his heart would stop due to him questioning his true identity. From this comprehension, Tomura also realized that because of this, New Order works far more effectively on non-living things, as Star's one-sided understanding of an inanimate object is enough for her to enforce a rule of her choosing.^[23]

Indomitable Will: Stemming from his traumatic past, abuse, and his hatred of the hero society, Tomura had a remarkably strong willpower which fueled his desire to destroy. When fighting Re-Destro, despite the villain's superior strength, Tomura refused to yield, and this determination allowed him to re-awaken the true power of his Quirk. This willpower was enough to strike a sense of fear in Re-Destro, who was single-handedly defeated in battle. Tomura's aura remained frightening enough that his gaze petrified all of Trumpet's followers who were empowered by Incite to kill him. His willpower and hatred of the current society was so strong that even after having his stabilization process interrupted and left biologically dead, he was able to bring himself back to life through the sheer force of his hatred.^[24]

Despite being overwhelmed by powerful attacks from multiple heroes, Tomura continued to push through the pain and surpass his limits throughout the fight. Even when being charred to a crisp by Endeavor's Plus Ultra Prominence Burn and barely remaining conscious, Tomura refused to yield and attempted to fight against the remaining heroes with whatever he had left, even in his horrendous condition. One of the reasons All For One chose Tomura to receive the All For One Quirk is that Tomura's will and hatred could potentially be strong enough to force One For All to come to him and override the will of the current user and the spirits housed within. While he failed at the initial attempt (whether his hatred/will was insufficient or due to his body being incomplete was unclear), his will was strong enough to begin to erode One For All and start to draw it to him. The spirits within One For All even stated that it would be possible for Tomura to steal One For All if his body and will were strong enough.^[25]

Even when the vestige of All For One was taking control of Tomura's body, Tomura's willpower never wavered from anything, even from his master. His strong willpower was so immense that he hid his own core deep within his own soul, and without All For One noticing, he was able to reclaim himself from the inside and out, following the path toward his origin as he continues down his dark crusade to destroy everything that created the abusive house he lived in.^[26] Tomura's willpower was also able to resist All For One's Warping Quirk, swallowing it as he told his Master not to get in his way.^[27] Tomura's will has now reached the point that it has surpassed that of the One For All users, leaving both the Quirk and its additional Quirk Factors vulnerable to being stolen by him.^[28] When Izuku forcibly transfers all the Quirks from One For All into Tomura, the villain was briefly able to resist the transfer through sheer willpower alone before Izuku managed to successfully transfer the Quirk into him.^[29]

His pure hatred showed no limits even within the vestige world as he was able to battle against Izuku's, even being able to shield both him and Nana from reaching out to him. It was right there that his willpower shaken after Izuku pulled through, destroying his leaden soul, and was defeated in the battle of willpower. However, once Izuku had broken through his shell of hatred and listened to Tomura's rationalizations of his path, his will was weakened enough that All For One could regain control and swallow Tomura up once more.^[30] Despite his demise, Tomura's vestige still remained within, saved from destruction by the vestige of his grandmother, and when the ember of One For All resonated with All For One, he rose up alongside the Vestiges of One For All to destroy All For One once and for all.^[31]

Body Modifications: After becoming leader of the Paranormal Liberation Front and earning the respect of Gigantomachia, Kyudai Garaki subjected a willing Tomura to body modification surgery. While the details of this surgery and its effects are unknown, the doctor believed that it would allow Tomura to surpass the powers of One For All. Even before the surgery was finished, a hero as powerful as Mirko was overcome with fear when she sensed him in his surgery capsule to the point that she attempted to smash it, and quickly told the other heroes that Tomura could not be allowed to awaken from the surgery no matter what.^[32]

Indeed, Tomura's physical abilities had increased so exponentially that, upon his awakening, Endeavor went as far as to compare him to All Might.^[33] The modifications allowed him to withstand the power of his awakened Decay Quirk, giving him the ability to disintegrate masses as large as the entire Jaku Hospital, a portion of the surrounding city and the nearby forest and mountains in one fell swoop with minimal backlash.^[34] However, because his modification was interrupted before completion, his new body remained unable to fight for long periods of time without breaking down, requiring him to rest for a significant period of time to stabilize and regressing upon receiving enough damage.^[35][36]

• Overwhelming Strength: After the surgery, Tomura's natural physical strength was augmented by several stupendously high levels, allowing him to move freely in the air with only his arm movements. Endeavor went so far as to compare Tomura's strength to All Might, though Dr. Garaki stated that Tomura's strength was not quite on-par with All Might's, since any further remodeling of his body would've overburdened his mind.^[37] Even this level of strength was strong enough to easily overpower both Endeavor and Ryukyu while his Quirks were erased, as well as Deku with 45% of One For All. Furthermore, he was able to fire a Quirk-Destroying Drug and hit Eraser Head with it from several feet away simply by flicking the bullet with his fingers.^[38] After his body was completed and he adopted his absolute defensive form, Tomura is shown strong enough to easily break out of Best Jeanist's carbon fibers in a instant, defeat Mirko, Tamaki, and Nejire in one punch, and erupt the entire battlefield of the U.A. fortress.
• Enhanced Mobility: Thanks to his augmented immense strength, Tomura could use his legs to jump extremely high, with enough force to shatter the ground beneath him. He could also easily maneuver himself in the air, even without the aid of his Quirks. In his absolute defensive form, Tomura was shown to shake the entire U.A. fortress with a single leap.

• Overwhelming Speed and Reflexes: After Tomura underwent months of painful surgery, his speed and reflexes were significantly enhanced, allowing him to outmaneuver Endeavor and move across Jaku City in very little time, as well as outpace several other heroes. When pushing his body past its limits, his speed increased even more, managing to catch Gran Torino, one of the fastest heroes in the world, and impale his chest before he could react. In addition to his increased speed, Tomura's reflexes were significantly sharper, as he was able to evade around Endeavor's Hell Spider while in midair. During his final battle with Izuku, and after stealing Danger Sense, his speed and reflexes had increased even further to the point that he could keep up with the young hero while he is using both Gearshift and Fa Jin, dodging Blackwhip and Blackchain, which were empowered by both Quirks.

• Overwhelming Durability and Endurance: The modifications to Tomura's body significantly increased his physical durability, allowing Tomura to withstand Endeavor's strongest attacks. Tomura was also able to take Katsuki's AP Machine-Gun, likening the explosions to mere fireworks.^[33] His remarkable durability showed itself when he was able to stay conscious after enduring Katsuki's Grenadier explosion and Endeavor's Vanishing Fist, but more impressively, manage to endure Izuku's Wyoming Smash, all while having his Quirks erased. He was also strong enough to endure multiple smash attacks from Deku at 100% in repeated succession. Perhaps his most remarkable feat of durability was when he was able to withstand Star and Stripe's State-of-the-Art Hypersonic Intercontinental Cruise Punch, an attack with enough power to be seen from the Japanese mainland, although Tomura was forced to bury himself underneath the ground to avoid the full brunt of the blast and had most of his body destroyed by the force of the blast.^[39] In his completed state, his durability had increased to the point that he could withstand a multitude of attacks from many pro heroes simultaneously. His remarkable durability was shown again when he endures Deku's Detroit Smash: Quintuple and Overdrive charged last punch, and manages to survive even with a large hole within his stomach.

• Overwhelming Stamina: Tomura demonstrated a significant increase in stamina, being able to withstand great pain and continue standing after multiple powerful attacks even without the use of the Super Regeneration Quirk. Despite being struck by both Katsuki and Endeavor's ultimate moves in succession, Tomura was still able to continue fighting, pushing past his limits and moving faster than before. However, because of the incomplete stabilization, his body momentarily started to break down, with his super regeneration taking a minute to kick in.^[35] The stabilization interruption continued to have a toll on his body, as Izuku noted Tomura's regeneration had slowed down even further after taking hits from him at 100%.^[40] Even after being pummeled by Deku with multiple smash attacks at 100% and being charred by Endeavor's Prominence Burn, Tomura was able to retain his consciousness and keep fighting. Even after Deku punched a large hole through his stomach and exploded out of his apex form, Tomura was still able to keep fighting, after just a few moments of getting used to having full control of his body back.

• Accelerated Growth Rate: Due to both the body modifications and the extra Quirks Tomura had received, his body had begun to mutate to adapt to the immense power he held. This manifested at first in the missing fingers from his left hand partially regrowing (fully regrowing in the anime) but it could vastly accelerate to produce a monstrous blob of grotesque, writhing fingers of various sizes, through which he could potentially use his Decay for an even more devastating effect. Tomura seemingly had some control over reversing the growth.^[41] In Tomura's own words, as All For One took root within him, his body adapted to the legion of stockpiled Quirks, as well as environmental factors, searching for its ideal form.^[42] However, his core body was still far more durable than the finger growths.^[43] When placed under immense mental stress, Tomura's mutations began to distort, with the faces of the Shimura family appearing amidst the growth.^[44]
• Adaptation: As a result of his body continuing to change and grow, Tomura's body could adapt to deal with new threats. After being injected with toxic venom by Tamaki Amajiki, Tomura manifested a mouth across his body to vomit up the poison.^[45] Due to the accumulating damage Tomura received by the Heroes while his Quirks were erased by Neito's Erasure, Tomura's body morphed itself to form an absolute defensive form where he covered himself in an armor made from his hands. Tomura's body manifested this form instinctively when it senses an attack he cannot afford to be hit by, such as when Izuku forcibly transfer all the Quirks and One For All into him.^[46]
• Increased Strength: In his absolute defensive form, Tomura's already-impressive strength increased even further, allowing him to effortlessly defeat the U.A. heroes who had resisted him so much until then.
• Increased Durability: Tomura's new ultimate defensive form increased the durability of his already durable body, being able to brush off a Faux 100 Percent Smash from Izuku Midoriya, and being able to withstand his Detroit Smash: Quintuple (albeit bleeding severely from the impacts and suffering visible damage to his body).
• Molting: Tomura possessed the ability to molt his body like a caterpillar to shed his old and damaged body into a brand new one, as shown after Izuku inflicted catastrophic damage to his body while being under the influence of Erasure. When this occurred he also released a massive explosion, though it is unknown if this was the result of the molting or due to the use of a Quirk.^[47]

Quirks#

Decay: Tomura's Quirk allowed him to disintegrate whatever he touches with all five fingers. It would take effect whether the target is organic or not. The disintegration spread quickly and would spread through the victim's whole body if they did't amputate the decaying body part. This Quirk was secretly given to him by All For One. Prior to the transfer, the Doctor modified it from its original form, removing the part that allowed the user to reverse the effects, leaving the Quirk purely destructive in nature.^[48]

Because the Quirk had to touch a solid object in order to be activated, it was possible to counter it through manipulation of fluids or particles, such as Snatch's sand body.^[49]

During his battle against Re-Destro, Tomura's Quirk underwent an Awakening that bolstered the effectiveness and reach of Decay. Decay no longer required all five fingers to make contact to activate,^[15] and now functioned in a solipsistic fashion where anything or anyone connected to what he was touching suffered its effects. This allowed him to Decay large areas simply by touching the ground once, with the first instance being Deika City.^[16] Decay's ability to spread from object to object was something Tomura was able to achieve during his first activation of the Quirk, but the subsequent trauma caused him to suppress this facet of his ability until his Quirk Awakening.^[13]

Not only did Tomura manage to increase Decay's power, but he also managed to obtain a much greater degree of control, allowing him to choose specific targets to be spared from his Decay or direct the path of destruction. This allowed him to preserve the Near High-End Nomu when he decayed Jaku General Hospital,^[50] and create a tunnel through the seabed to escape from the State-of-the-Art Hypersonic Intercontinental Cruise Punch during his battle with Star and Stripe.^[39]

Initially, Tomura's body was unable to withstand the backlash of using Decay on such a wide scale, with his first activation heavily scarring his arm.^[16] After his surgery, Tomura's body was enhanced to the level where he did not suffer backlash from using his Quirk, resulting in being able to achieve such feats of destruction more frequently, and with a much greater radius. After All For One's vestige completely regains control of Tomura's body, seemingly destroying Tomura's spirit in the process, he noted that Decay was destroyed alongside his rage and hatred as a result of the mental damage.^[51]

All For One: This Quirk was the original version of All For One used by his master.^[52] It allowed him to steal other people's Quirks and use them as his own. In addition, he could transfer individual Quirks onto anyone he chose. Just like its counterpart One For All, this Quirk contained the vestigial will and consciousness of its previous wielder. However unlike One For All, the vestigial will of its previous wielder sought to usurp Tomura's body using his negative emotions such as anger and hatred as a catalyst. This made the relation between past and present users more parasitic than symbiotic unlike its counterpart, thus allowing the elder Shigaraki's vestigial consciousness to take over instead. However, with enough willpower and outside interference, Tomura was able to regain control of both his body and the Quirk itself.

In addition to the stockpile of Quirks from his master, Tomura had access to the vestige realm of All For One, as contained within the Quirk similar to its counterpart Quirk, One For All. Furthermore, since the Quirks were counterparts to each other, the vestiges of the earlier users resonated with the Quirk and could peer into each other's inner workings.

• Super Regeneration: Tomura possessed the ability to regenerate from any injuries at high speeds, allowing him to withstand Endeavor's Hellflame.^[53] Tomura's original version was damaged during the battle against Star and Stripe, causing it to not function correctly. Because of this, he swapped it with one of the Near High-Ends' version.^[54]
• Search: Tomura possesses Ragdoll's former Quirk, allowing him to view up to one hundred individuals at a time. He could see them from a distance and through obscuring barriers. This Quirk also allowed him to identify their weak points.^[53]
• Air Cannon: Tomura could fire large blasts of pressurized air from the palms of his hands.^[53]
• Radio Waves: Tomura could disrupt radio waves and cause communicators to malfunction.^[17]
• Rivet Stab: Tomura could create black tendrils that have red prominent cracked lines from his hands and his spine as an offensive technique, which was shown when he was stabbing Endeavor and Katsuki with them.^[55]
• Heavy Payload: Tomura could increase the amount of damage being dealt.^[56]
• Scatter: Tomura could split up projectiles allowing them to scatter all over.^[56]
• Springlike Limbs: Tomura could coil his muscles, allowing him to enhance his physical strength and push himself through the air.^[56]
• Wing: Stolen from a Near High-End Nomu, this Quirk granted Tomura the ability to grow black wings from his back and fly.^[57]
• Accelerator Rings: This Quirk allowed Tomura to generate repulsion rings that allow him to propel himself through sharp bursts of acceleration. He displayed fine control over it, allowing for complicated midair maneuvers.^[58] This Quirk was his original quirk prior to receiving Decay,^[51] before it was stolen from him as an infant. It had grown tremendously in strength having mingled with and merged with several of All For One's Quirks since being stolen.^[59]
• Impure Beam: This Quirk allowed Tomura to release a powerful beam of light from his hands.^[60] Unlike All For One, Tomura's enhanced physique allowed him to use this Quirk without severely damaging his body.
• Danger Sense: Stolen from Izuku and One For All, this Quirk let Tomura detect nearby threats.^[61]
• Dark Ball: This Quirk allowed Tomura to release an array of dark balls.^[62]
• Spearlike Bones: This Quirk generated drill-like bone structures from Tomura's body.^[63] This Quirk originally belonged to All For One's mother.
• Unnamed Oxygen Quirk: This Quirk allowed Tomura to produce air from his hands.^[64]
• Unnamed Flight Quirk: This Quirk allowed Tomura to suspend himself and maneuver through mid-air unaided, granting him flight.^[65]
• Unnamed Black Lightning Quirk: This Quirk allowed Tomura to shoot black lightning bolts anywhere from his body, including his hands.^[58]
• Unnamed Barrier Quirk:This Quirk allowed Tomura to generate a transparent barrier that emited faint purple light.^[66]

Former Quirks#

• Reflect: Tomura could reflect attacks back towards his opponents.^[56] This Quirk was destroyed by New Order.^[67]
• New Order: Stolen from Cathleen Bate, this Quirk allowed Tomura to set up to two rules upon his surroundings, manipulating them to his will. However, due to a rule Cathleen imposed on it before it was stolen, it revolted against other Quirks stored within Tomura's body, even destroying some of them,^[67] eventually leading to its self-destruction.^[57]
• One For All: Forcibly transferred by Izuku, this Quirk would have granted him the ability to stockpile an enormous amount of raw power, allowing one to significantly enhance all their physical abilities to various boundless levels. This results in unbelievable levels of strength, speed, stamina, agility, and durability. Izuku transferred One For All in order to destroy Tomura's leaden soul from within, which destroyed the Quirk in the process, leaving him unable to actually use it.^[68]
• Gearshift: Forcibly transferred by Izuku, this Quirk would have allowed Tomura to change the speed and/or velocity of any target he touches, including himself, ignoring the laws of inertia. However, the downside of this Quirk is that the user is paralyzed and can't breathe the moment it is used. As a result of Izuku using the Quirk past its cooldown period, Tomura was forced to suffer the recoil blowback. Izuku transferred the Quirk in order to destroy Tomura's leaden soul from within, destroying the Quirk in the process.^[69]
• Smokescreen: Forcibly transferred by Izuku, this Quirk would have allowed Tomura to generate thick clouds of purple smoke from his body. Izuku transferred the Quirk in order to destroy Tomura's leaden soul from within, destroying the Quirk in the process.^[70]
• Fa Jin: Forcibly transferred by Izuku, this Quirk would have allowed Tomura to build up and store kinetic energy by performing repetitive movements. Izuku transferred the Quirk in order to destroy Tomura's leaden soul from within, destroying the Quirk in the process.^[29]
• Blackwhip: Forcibly transferred by Izuku, this Quirk would have allowed Tomura to generate tendrils of black energy from his body that are good for grappling. Izuku transferred the Quirk in order to destroy Tomura's leaden soul from within, destroying the Quirk in the process.^[29]
• Float: Forcibly transferred by Izuku, this Quirk would have allowed Tomura to suspend himself in mid-air, granting him flight. Izuku transferred the Quirk in order to destroy Tomura's leaden soul from within, destroying the Quirk in the process.^[29]

Stats#

Equipment#

Disembodied Hands: The most characteristic element of Tomura's costume is a set of fourteen disembodied hands, covering his upper body and face. These hands are the remnants of his family, which he accidentally killed when his Decay Quirk manifested for the first time. The main hand on his face is called "Father". The hands were recovered and preserved by Kyudai Garaki, returning them to Tomura when he was rescued by All For One. An additional two sets of hands from two hoodlums were added to his villain costume. They have no other function than help Tomura's mind, who confesses that his hands make him feel calm and at peace, although also cause nausea.

During his battle with Re-Destro, all but one of the hands got destroyed and Tomura himself would end up destroying his father's hand that had covered his face as a way to liberate himself from the past. He would wear the remaining hand as his trademark mask, which was later revealed as Nana Shimura's hand. All For One would then use the hand as a way to fully gain control of Tomura's body, as the calming hatred he feels when wearing it gives him more control. During the Final War, Tomura's remaining hand was installed with a recording device of Tomura and All For One's voice and would be used by Spinner to awaken Kurogiri.

Knife: Tomura temporarily wielded a knife, which he used to amputate one of Kai Chisaki's arms after he used his Decay Quirk on it.

Communicator: During his incubation period while receiving All For One Tomura was provided a communicator that directly connected to the speaker around Gigantomachia's neck, allowing him to issue commands to his most powerful subordinate immediately after awakening.

Quirk-Destroying Drug: Tomura managed to salvage two Quirk-Destroying bullets from the machine X-Less destroyed in Dr. Kyudai's lab, which he would later use in the Paranormal Liberation War. He threw one at Eraser Head, which hit him in the leg, and intended to use the other one on Endeavor. However, the bullet meant for Endeavor was destroyed by Katsuki, and Eraser Head managed to amputate his own leg before the drug could destroy his Quirk.

Battles & Events#

U.S.J. Arc U.S.J. Incident Eraser Head & U.A. Students vs. Tomura & Nomu All Might & U.A Students vs. League of Villains Vs. Hero Killer Arc Hosu Incident Hideout Raid Arc Kamino Incident Hideout Raid Team vs. League of Villains Katsuki Bakugo vs. League of Villains Shie Hassaikai Arc Overhaul vs. League of Villains Shie Hassaikai Raid League of Villains vs. Snatch Meta Liberation Army Arc League of Villains vs. CRC League of Villains vs. Gigantomachia Tomura Shigaraki vs. Gigantomachia Revival Celebration Tomura Shigaraki vs. Re-Destro Paranormal Liberation War Arc Paranormal Liberation War Jaku Hospital Raid Hospital Raid Team & Trainees vs. Tomura Shigaraki Best Jeanist & U.A. Students vs Paranormal Liberation Front Assault on Tartarus Star and Stripe Arc "Tomura Shigaraki" vs. Star and Stripe Final War Arc Final War Operation Troy Pro Heroes & Trainees vs. Tomura Shigaraki Deku vs. "Tomura Shigaraki" Deku vs. Tomura Shigaraki Pro Heroes & Trainees vs. All For One

Relatives#

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Trivia#

• Tomura was initially designed to be creepier, having empty, black eyes and mouth. Aside from those specific features, this design was not very different from his final one. His prototype codename was Sazanka.
• Tomura's surname contains the kanji for "death", "handle, grip" and "tree", and his first name contains "funerals". Additionally, his birth name contains the kanji for "intention", "village", "revolve" and "arc".
• Tomura's rankings in the Popularity Polls are as follows:
• Tomura ranked 19th in the First Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 16th in the Second Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 15th in the Third Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 24th in the Fourth Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 6th place in the Fifth Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 10th place in the Sixth Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 7th place in the First US Popularity Poll.
• Ranked 9th in the Global Popularity Poll.
• Kohei Horikoshi revealed that he found drawing inexpressive hands extremely difficult. He stated that he was on the verge of tears every week due to having to draw a particular character which we are left to assume is Tomura.^[71]
• This is further hinted at in Tomura's Volume 23 profile, where Horikoshi states that drawing him is terrifyingly difficult.^[72]
• Whenever Tomura appears in the story, Yoco Akiyama, one of Horikoshi's former assistants and a frequent spinoff author, prays for her boss's drawing hand.^[73]
• Tomura's preferred types of video games involve PvP (such as League of Legends), though he would often break his monitor in frustration from playing with bad teammates or getting trash talked. He later grew fond of simulation games, after All For One suggested he play something else.^[74]
• In the manga, some of Tomura's attacks in his absolute defense form use the same sound effects and font as Izuku and All Might's Smashes.
• Horikoshi revealed that Tomura is based on the protagonist of his first oneshot from 2007 titled "Tenko", starring the eponymous boy during war time in feudal Japan.^[2]
• Both share the same first name (Tomura's real name is Tenko Shimura).
• Both share the same power to disintegrate anything they touch with their hands.
• Both are orphans, having accidentally killed loved ones with their powers.
• Both are driven by a deep hate for the world and a very intense goal to destroy something in it. For Tomura, it's All Might and the world of heroes, and for Tenko, he wants to destroy all the swords in the world.
• The design and appearance of Tomura when he is young is similar to Tenko's, only with shorter hair.
• He shares his birthday with Naomasa Tsukauchi, Recovery Girl, and Kesagiri Man.
• The severed hands that Tomura wears across his body are remnants of the first people he ever killed.
• The hands around his neck came from his mother.
• The hands on his upper arms came from his maternal grandfather.
• The hands on his elbows came from his maternal grandmother.
• The hands on his wrists came from his older sister.
• The hands on his shoulders and sides came from two drunk men who hit him.
• The hand that he wears on his face came from his father.
• The hand he wears on the back of his head is a replacement given to him by All For One after he used his Quirk to destroy his father's other hand, later revealed to be the hand of his paternal grandmother, Nana Shimura.^[52]
• Tomura is one of the few people revealed to be descendants of the 3 most infamous villains: All For One, Destro, and Peerless Thief. In Tomura's case, he is the adopted son of All For One, the only descendant not blood related to their predecessor.
• According to Tomura's Ultra Analysis profile:
• After leading the U.S.J. Incident with a small army of villains and injuring Thirteen, Eraser Head, and All Might, Tomura's group gained notoriety all throughout Japan.
• His personality describes him as a "man-child".
• Tomura is the only known Quirkless character in the series to have his original Quirk taken and been given a completely new one.
• Tomura has technically possessed the most Quirks in the series. When he attained the All For One Quirk, he gained every Quirk that All For One had stolen while also possessing his own Decay Quirk, although Tomura was not seen using all of the Quirks at his disposal, unlike his master. However, between New Order destroying several Quirks inside his body,^[67] and All For One transferring several of his own Quirks away, it is unknown who had the most by the time of their deaths.
• However, Tomura has used the second most Quirks on-screen with a total of 16, behind All For One who has at least 42 known.
• Tomura's giant mutated form after his battle with Star and Stripe is similar to the final, grotesque form of Tetsuo Shima, the main antagonist of the manga series Akira.
• In the manga, Tomura's speech bubbles are drawn with jagged edges, but after regaining his memories, they are drawn normally. This is reflected in the English dub of the anime, with Tomura's voice being light and raspy, but after regaining his memories, it becomes less raspy and gets a slightly deeper tone to it.
• In the dub, his voice is also shown to become raspy as a child after he starts to give into his urge to destroy.
• Tomura has Canities subita, as his hair went from black to light blue following the trauma of involuntary killing his family.
• Upon recovering his memories and coming to terms with his past, Tomura's hair turned completely white.
• Tomura plays League of Legends, an interest he shares with Spinner.^[75]
• Ironically, alongside Dabi and Himiko, Tomura died the same way in which he had killed others; having his whole body disintegrate into ashes.
• However, while Dabi was defeated and Himiko stood down, in his final moments, Tomura sided with Izuku in order to finally put an end to All For One.
• Tomura's Japanese voice actress for when he was a child, Arisa Sekine, also voices Mawata Fuwa, Woman, and Rody Soul as a child.
• Following his augmentation and receival of All For One, Tomura develops a distinct butterfly motif.
• The surgery he undergoes is accompanied by imagery of him emerging from a cocoon with butterfly wings^[76]
• When discussing the threat Tomura's full potential poses the imagery of him with butterfly wings is used again.^[77]
• During his battle in the Coffin in the Sky, when pushed into a corner his body distorts into a spherical shape akin to a cocoon. Once he regains access to his Quirks, a new body emerges from within, shedding his old skin in a process similar to a butterfly molting.^[47]
• When "All For One" uses Omni-Factor Unleash, the transformation initially takes the form of giant growths replacing his arms as he hovers in the air, suggesting the image of monstrous wings.^[62]

Quotes#

• (To himself) "Create a world without All Might. And cause enough destruction to show them all how fragile their justice really is. From this day forward... that's my conviction. It's all about All Might."^[78]
• (To Overhaul) "Now you're a useless, helpless, Quirkless wonder. All that hard work you put in! It's mine now · Your life's gonna be a real nail-bitter now... not that you've got any nails left to bite. You should just sit back and watch · Have a nice life · Because this... is our time!"^[79]
• (To Kyudai Garaki) "Even if this hero society comes crashing down... even if I rise to rule the underworld... that weight in my heart is never gonna go away. It's why I hate everything. Every living, breathing thing just rubs me the wrong way. So why not destroy it all? Why not destroy everything?"^[80]
• (In regards to his mask) "These sorts of things too... all unnecessary."^[81]
• (To Kyudai Garaki, explaining his desire for more power) "When someone offers me something, I take it. It's true... I have no more need for delicate moves. But... I doubt this boost has made me unbeatable. Just ask CEO Baldy. He's still alive and kicking. And look at this arm. I went all out this one time, and this is what happened. How many of them are we gonna have to face, huh? I'm done taking the Heroes lightly. I'll use everything I've got to obliterate the dregs All Might left behind... The next time we meet, I'll finish them off."^[82]
• (To the Heroes in Jaku) "You Heroes pretend to be society's guardians. For generations, you pretended not to see those you couldn't protect and swept their pain under the rug. It's tainted everything you've built. That means your system's all rotten from the inside with maggots crawling out. It all builds up, little by little, over time. You've got the common trash, all too dependent on being protected. And the brave guardians who created the trash that need coddling. It's a corrupt, vicious cycle. Everything I've witnessed, this whole system you've built has always rejected me. Now I'm ready to reject it. That's why I destroy. That's why I took this power for myself. Simple enough? I don't care if you understand. That's what makes us heroes and villains."^[83]
• (To All For One and Izuku) "Everything I witness in this world of ours... led to the existence of that house. As Tomura Shigaraki and Tenko Shimura, I've got just one hope. The destruction of everything stemming from that house. That's the only thing that's gonna save me, hero."^[26]
• (To Izuku, his final words before disappearing) "Oh yeah? That depends... on what you people decide to do tomorrow. Make sure... you do your damn best."^[84]