At this point, no matter what happens to Shigaraki, it would be out of character for Deku.
Manga spoilers ahead!
Summary:
- Fans are arguing how the theme of forgiveness in MHA is going to affect Shigaraki’s future.
- Deku doesn’t really forgive most villains, but he seems to show compassion to Shigaraki.
- No matter what happens, it would contradict some of the earlier examples of this theme being brought up.
The My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia) manga is in its final arc right now. As such, many fans are wondering what is going to happen to Tomura Shigaraki, the final antagonist of the series.
Some fans are thinking that Midoriya is going to forgive him — at least in some way — and spare his life. Others think it’s unlikely. Both sides, though, are pointing out how forgiveness has been one of the major themes in My Hero Academia, but some villains were beyond it.
Still, the theme had many issues, and one of them was how inconsistently it was applied.
Deku doesn’t really forgive his enemies
Let’s assume that Shigaraki is spared by Deku. And then what? He’s way too powerful to be realistically imprisoned, and the only way to deal with him forever is to kill him — or imprison him after sealing his Quirks. Even though he has a sad backstory, even if he changes his views, he still has to be punished.
Still, the manga tries to bring up the theme of forgiveness at this point, and having Midoriya forgive Shigaraki would be completely ridiculous. He hasn’t really been forgiving enemies like All For One or Muscular. He didn’t show compassion for Dabi, whose actions were caused by his own hatred of his family.
It’s applied inconsistently
Deku did, however, forgive Yuga Aoyama for spying in U.A.. He also forgave Bakugo for bullying him, and forgave Endeavor for his horrible treatment of his family. He even gave Overhaul a chance to see his boss one last time — while this wasn’t exactly forgiving him, he still showed some compassion for him.
This is why some people expect him to forgive Shigaraki. That, however, would prove to be complicated — as Shigaraki is by far one of the evilest and most cruel villains in the series.
The fact that he had a troubled past won’t save him here, or at least, isn’t supposed to: many of his choices were still his own, even before he was merged with AFO and then retook control of his body.
If Dabi wasn’t forgiven by Deku, why would Shigaraki be? The fact that Deku can look into the mind of the latter and experience his sad story shouldn’t realistically be a ground for forgiving him.
As such, many fans point out that no matter what happens, it will not be in line with the themes of the series. Perhaps Deku should not have seen Shigaraki’s past at all.