My Hero Academia Reveals The Origins of Shigaraki’s Quirk

Warning: Contains spoilers for chapter #419 of My Hero Academia.

My Hero Academia has finally revealed the origins of Shigaraki’s quick, confirming one of the darkest theories about Shigaraki’s origins. The latest chapter at last confirms that Decay was never Shigaraki’s original quirk and was indeed given to him by All For One as part of his grand scheme to steal One For All.

Chapter #419 of My Hero Academia reveals that Shigaraki hadn’t been born with Decay, but another quirk factor passed down by his parents which All For One took away when Tenko was only an infant. The chapter also reveals that All For One obtained Decay from Dr. Garaki and the quirk originally had the ability to reverse its effects as well, similar to Chisaki’s quirk Overhaul.

However, All For One stripped away this ability and gave Shigaraki only the remaining half of the factor with the ability to destroy. The chapter also confirms that the suspicious man who took young Tenko home seen in chapter #235 and in chapter #415 was indeed All For One, as fans had theorized.

All For One Gave Shigaraki Decay

My Hero Academia created by Kohei Horikoshi, chapter #419 “Design”

First seen in chapter #235, the faceless man who took young Tenko home appears to be an insignificant memory. The scene takes up only a very narrow panel and is easy to miss since it is at the very beginning of Shigaraki’s backstory. However, chapter #419 reveals that it was during this meeting that the mysterious man, now revealed to be All For One gave Shigaraki his quirk.

The latest chapter shows that All For One transferred the Decay quirk while holding young Tenko’s hand and leading him home, having approached him on that fateful day with this very goal in mind. This revelation confirms that Shigaraki’s allergies and itchiness, which developed only after the curious incident, were indeed due to Shigaraki receiving the Decay quirk.

All For One Engineered the Deaths of the Shimura Family

While All For One does not explicitly state why he chose Kotaro’s family in particular, it is pretty clear that he did so because of his grudge against Nana Shimura the seventh user of One For All. All For One possesses quite an elaborate information system, so it could not have been very hard to find Nana’s family despite her desperate efforts to keep Kotaro hidden and safe.

Chapter #419 reveals that other than giving Shigaraki his highly destructive quirk, All For One also sowed the seeds of discord in the family, indirectly causing the deaths of the Shimura family just to make Tenko vulnerable enough to be groomed into his pawn. Interestingly, Yoichi predicted that All For One was indeed capable of such meticulous planning as early as chapter #305. Yoichi speculated that All For One may have schemed to hijack Shigaraki’s body and soul as part of a grand plan to acquire One For All, and the latest chapter proves Yoichi knew his brother well indeed.

Shigaraki Could Have Turned Out Differently

Given the prominent role played by Decay in Shigaraki’s dark backstory, one can’t help but imagine how differently he might have turned out had he kept the quirk he was born with or even the complete version of the Decay quirk along with the ability to revert its effects. Shigaraki’s original quirk may have been a slightly different version of Nana Shimura’s Float quirk which could have seen him actually become a hero like his grandmother.

Even the original version of the Decay quirk could have been used for good in a multitude of ways if controlled. Shigaraki could have made an excellent rescue hero with the ability to save people crushed beneath debris or even a fearsome fighter. Overhaul is an excellent example of what such a quirk would have been capable of only adding to the tragedy of Shigaraki’s character.

Overall, Shigaraki has become My Hero Academia‘s most tragic character in a single chapter. The revelation that All For One was behind his tragedy comes as an especially hard blow as Shigaraki finally took responsibility for his actions and appeared to be letting go of his hatred. The origins of Decay and All For One’s return have certainly shifted the tide of the battle once again and it is difficult to predict what direction the story will take from here on out.

My Hero Academia is available from Manga Plus and Viz Media.

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