Does This ‘My Hero Academia’ Theory Explain Shigaraki’s True Power?
Through more than three seasons of My Hero Academia, one of the biggest remaining mysteries [...]
Through more than three seasons of My Hero Academia, one of the biggest remaining mysteries revolves around Shigaraki, the origin of his powers, and what all those hands on his face are actually about.
Well, after watching the most recent episode of MHA, I've got a theory as to how Shigaraki's power works, and it's actually very similar to One for All, believe it or not.
At the end of this past episode, Shigaraki's mask was knocked off of his face and, in a weird and twisted version of a cliffhanger, he looked down at the hand and said, "Father." So theoretically, that hand either belonged to, or is representative of his dad, whom manga readers know was killed, most likely by Shigaraki himself.
This got me thinking, "What if Shigaraki got his quirk from his father?" I'll explain.
One for All is a quirk that can be passed from person to person. Shigaraki's exclamation at the end of the episode had me thinking that maybe, just maybe, his quirk works in a similar fashion.
The biggest piece of evidence to support this is the naming of the hand. This moment makes it seem as though each and every hand that Shigaraki wears on his face and neck at one point belonged to someone who has since died. Odds are that his mother's hand is also among the accessories.
Here's where things start to get a little crazy. What if the hands are all of previous bearers of the quirk, and they hold the decaying power within them?
This idea would explain why Shigaraki only wears a lot of hands when he's in a bigger battle. He would need more power from multiple past hosts of the quirk. This is why, when he first appeared to attack the students in Season 2, he was wearing a multitude of hands.
When Shigaraki is just hanging at his hideout, he only wears one, and it makes sense that it's the one previously belonging to his father. However, if this theory were true, wouldn't that mean that he wouldn't have to wear any hands when not in battle?
I thought about that, too.
As we've seen throughout the series, Shigaraki has a nasty habit of scratching his neck, often resembling an addict going through withdrawals. Let's assume that each hand gives him a little more power. It wouldn't be difficult to believe he somehow became addicted to that power, and he craves it all the time. This is why he only wears one hand when he's not engaging in a battle. He is addicted and needs to get a fix, but the single hand acts as a slow drip. It's not as much has he craves, hence the scratching, but it's enough to get by.
Since last week's episode ended with Shigaraki's only hand being removed from his face, I'd wager the next installment will give us a little more understanding of how he operates without them. Maybe, just maybe, the episode will go a little farther toward proving my theory.
What did you think of this Shigaraki theory? Will My Hero Academia ever actually address the nature of his mysterious powers? Let us know what you think by sounding off in the comment section!
