Summary
Throughout his life,Tomura Shigarakihas fought against so many powerful heroes and villains alike. This is doubly true for the evil overlord himself, All-For-One (AFO). Interestingly enough, apart from their nemesis (All Might and Deku), the one opponent who leaves such a big impression on these two villains is none other than the United States’s number one hero,the mighty Star and Stripe.
AFO met Star and Stripe when he was in Shigaraki’s body. Around this time, AFO and Shigaraki’s personalities seem to slowly melt into one. But since AFO’s consciousness hadn’t fully consumed Shigaraki’s yet, his mind was a bit jumbled when he met Star and Stripe. Even so, the brief encounter with the US’s most powerful hero still left such a huge impression on Shigaraki/AFO. Here are some of the reasons why.
New Order
Before we go any further, let’s talk about Star and Stripe’s quirk first, the New Order. This quirk allows Star to impose a new rule upon anything she touches. Be it living beings, intercontinental ballistic missiles, or even the air around her, she can manipulate them all.
During her fight with Shigaraki, Star created a vacuum around him, molded the air around her to create a colossal version of herself, and even blended high-powered laser beams into a massive javelin. What an absurdly powerful quirk! It’s not an exaggeration to say thatNew Order is one of the most powerful quirks in the world.
All-For-One Backfired for the First Time
Needless to say,AFO/Shigaraki(henceforth referred to only as Shigraraki) is itching to get his hand on such a unique and powerful quirk. Since the beginning of the fight, his goal is not to defeat Star, but rather to steal New Order from her. An objective that he manages to accomplish but quickly backfires heavily on him.
Stealing New Order
Thanks to his hyper-regeneration,Shigaraki has become indestructible.Even the combined power of Star and the US’s most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles is not enough to defeat him. No matter what Star throws at Shigaraki, he keeps regenerating and clawing his way back up until he eventually manages to touch Star’s face.
In doing so, Shigaraki is not only stealing New Order from Star, but he also activates his decay quirk at the same time. In a matter of minutes, Star and Stripe disintegrate while Shigaraki obtains one of the most powerful quirks in the world.
A Quirk Revolts
Now that Shigaraki hassuccessfully secured Star’s New Order,he has basically become unstoppable, right? Well, that’s what he thought. It doesn’t take a long time for Shigaraki to realize that stealing New Order is the worst mistake in his life. Apparently, right before Shigaraki forcefully takes New Order from Star, she imposes a new rule to her own quirk. Revolt!
“There was no time to blow him up with your plane, so I set a new rule at the last second. New Order: Revolts against other quirks!”
— Star and Stripe, Chapter 333
Permanent Damages
Getting a powerful quirk like New Order should’ve beena landmark achievement for Shigaraki.Unfortunately for him, it proves to be one of the biggest mistakes in his life. Thanks to Star’s last order, New Order becomes a cannibalistic quirk that ferociously consumes other quirks.
Quirks Eat Quirks
As soon as New Order enters Shigaraki’s body, it begins to revolt. As a result, Shigaraki is not only unable to use his newly-acquired New Order but said quirk also brutally consumes other quirks within Shigaraki like a feral beast that is dropped right in the middle of its prey. Within seconds,tons of quirks are gone from Shigaraki’s repository.
New Order bulldozes through everything and eats as many quirks as it can fit in its hungry mouth. It even makes its way to Shigaraki’s core quirk, the All-For-One. If this raging quirk manages to consume All-For-One, then Shigaraki will basically cease to exist. Unfortunately for him, All-For-One can only steal and bestow quirks. It cannot destroy a quirk that is already stored within its user’s body. This means if Shigaraki wants to survive, he needs to find somebody and bestow New Order on that person. And he needs to do so as quickly as possible.
Severe Physical Damages
Another side effect of rapidly losing the quirks that he has been collecting throughout the years is excruciating physical pain. Whenever New Order consumes a quirk, something will burst inside Shigaraki’s body. This means during the few minutes this quirk revolts, his body continuously imploding in multiple places.
Even with his hyper-regeneration, this level of damage is simply unsustainable. It renders him unable to fight, unable to move, unable to think clearly, and most importantly, it makes him an easy target for the countless people who want to kill him. This is also another reason why he is so desperate to find somebody, anybody, to receiveStar’s accursed quirk.
Open Up a Path To Shigaraki’s Heart
Apart from the loss of countless valuable quirks along with excruciating physical pain, there is another critical damage that Shigaraki unknowingly suffers thanks to New Order’s revolt. When New Order wreaks havoc inside Shigaraki’s body, it accidentally opens up a path to something thatthe villain has buried deep within his heart.
Buried Deep Within the Villain’s Heart
Midoriya always has a feeling that deep inside, the cruel and merciless Shigaraki is just a sad and lonely boy who desperately needs some help. It may seem absurd at first, but as it turns out, that is exactly the case. Deep underneath his cold and murderous exterior is a little kid with a traumatic childhood who is scared and sad. This is the side of him that can be reasoned with.
This is whyShigaraki unconsciously buried this side of himso that he could be the ultimate villain. Midoriya is the only person who realizes the existence of this little boy but there’s no way for him to access this part of Shigaraki’s heart. Fortunately for him, when New Order goes on a rampage, it accidentally opens a small rift into the abyss of Shigaraki’s heart, allowing access to the sad little boy inside.
Destroy the Enemy From Within
Reaching out into a villain’s fragile heart might seem like a fool’s errand. But that is not the case at all with Shigaraki. After all, there are currently two consciousnesses inside Shigaraki’s body. Tomura Shigaraki and All-For-One. All-For-One manages to suppress Shigaraki’s consciousness, but everything is still pretty unstable. A push in the right place is all it takes to unravel everything.
The revolt by Star’s New Order opens up that right place and weakens AFO’s grip on Shigaraki’s heart. So all Deku needs to do is find a way to reach into that tiny crack and destroy Shigaraki from within, which is preciselywhat he does at the end of the series.
All Might’s Echo
Apart from the physical and mental damage caused by New Order, there is another reason why Star and Stripe leave such a big impression on Shigaraki.AFO despises All Mightwith every fiber of his being. Not only because he was beaten so badly by the former No. 1 Hero, but also because he detested everything that All Might stands for.
But now thatAll Might can no longer fight like he used to,AFO thinks he is finally free from his arch-nemesis. But no! Star and Stripe, a powerful hero who idolizes All Might and tries to emulate him as much as possible, appear in front of him to ruin his plan.
In AFO’s eyes, it seems like no matter what he does, he can’t get away from All Might. This symbol of justice will always be a thorn in his side. If it’s not him, then his echoes will continue to do so. This fact annoys him so much. Even beyond the damage caused by New Order, the fact that he can’t get away from All Might irritates him to no end. This feeling of frustration is enough to drive him insane. So along with the damage caused by New Order, this is also another big reason why Star and Stripe leave such a big impression on Shigarakai.
“As long as a single person still remembers All Might’s stupid face, I’ll never know an end to this torment!”
– AFO/Shigaraki, Chapter 335
My Hero Academiais 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.
