Can Shigaraki Decay Himself? (or Is He Immune to His Quirk?)

As far as Quirks are concerned, the villain Tomura Shigaraki has one of the most intriguing ones in the world of My Hero Academia. His Quirk, Decay, is an immensely powerful Quirk with destructive abilities that are completely amazing. And while Shigaraki can destroy any solid object he touches, including people, fans are wondering whether he can decay himself in the same manner. In this article, we are going to tell you whether Shigaraki can Decay himself in My Hero Academia.

Decay is the Quirk used by Tomura Shigaraki. It is the result of a rare genetic mutation that no one knew about until it actually showed up, much like Eri’s Quirk Rewind. Shigaraki’s Quirk causes the imminent decay of everything he touched that is solid, but he is somehow – although it hasn’t been explained – immune to the effects of his own Quirk and cannot decay himself.

The rest of this article is going to focus on the Quirk used by the My Hero Academia villain Tomura Shigaraki. You’re going to find out what it does and how it has been used, as well as whether Shigaraki can actually use his Quirk on himself. We’re also going to elaborate on all of the facts, which means that there might be spoilers in this article, so watch out!

What is Shigaraki’s Quirk?

Decay is the Quirk used by Tomura Shigaraki. It is the result of a rare genetic mutation that no one knew about until it actually showed up, much like Eri’s Quirk Rewind. Very powerful, this Quirk allows Tomura to destroy anything he touches with his hands, turning his targets into dust. Whether these are organic or not, Decay will never fail.

As a result, this Quirk is extremely deadly against living beings, their flesh beginning to decay if simply touched by the Quirk. The rate of disintegration can be slow or almost immediate, eventually spreading throughout the body if the victim does not amputate the part of the body that is breaking down. Decay stays permanently on the target once it has been hit and every part of it will be infected as well, even if Tomura is no longer hitting the target.

Pro Hero Shota Aizawa, also known as EraserHead, had to use his Quirk to be able to temporarily erase Tomura’s Quirk to prevent the infection from spreading further. Through vigorous training via weeks-long fights with Gigantomachia, Tomura seems to have enhanced his Quirk’s power. Decay works almost instantaneously now, with targets breaking down over just several seconds.

Thus, it was shown that Decay’s effect extends beyond what Tomura touches; all he has to do is hit a target and the disintegration spreads to people or objects around the person hit, creating a chain reaction of disintegrating victims. At the end of his fight with Re-Destro, Tomura evolved his Quirk even further, having been able to destroy an entire city.

Tomura mainly activates his Quirk with his fingers but it has been seen that it can also trigger through his feet. Tomura needs to be in contact with a target to use his Quirk, indicating that the activation is unintentional, or that Tomura’s control is clumsy. Since the Quirk requires Tomura to touch a solid object, it can be countered with Quirks that allow manipulation of fluid or particles, which Tomura cannot properly touch. The Quirk does not work if the user is wearing gloves.

How does Shigaraki use his Quirk?

Decay first broke out in Tenko when Shigaraki was five years old, while playing with his dog, Mon. Tenko felt something like a pain in his left arm before being punished by his father. As he was cuddling Mon, the effects of Decay first manifested, with Tenko unfortunately and accidentally killing the family dog, before killing his sister.

Eventually, Tenko, who held a grudge against his family, had intentionally killed them, as well as caused the destruction of the family home, but did not recall his memories, due to having erased them from his memory intentionally, until much later in his life. All For One used this event to recruit Tenko, now named Tomura, as a student and eventual successor when the latter was left to his own devices, totally confused.

With the help of Daruma Ujiko, All For One was able to retrieve the hands of Tomura’s family members he had killed, using them as a way for Tomura to overcome the loss he experienced, simultaneously increasing his feelings of rage and hatred, which All For One thought was necessary for Tomura and his Quirk to become more powerful and further his plans.

Decay is Tomura’s primary combat technique. It forces him to engage in hand-to-hand combat with his opponents, however this requires only one contact with his enemy in order to kill him or at least seriously injure him. Tomura seems to have upgraded his Quirk since first appearing in the SCA, with the disintegration speed increasing dramatically when he had the opportunity to use it.

Tomura is very often careful with his hands when touching objects he doesn’t want to disintegrate, raising at least one of his fingers when holding objects. Tomura employs a similar method when he holds people hostage, threatening to disintegrate them if they don’t obey or cooperate with him. If Tomura is frustrated or angry, he tends to drop his caution.

Can Shigaraki Decay himself and is he immune to his Quirk?

From what we could gather in both the manga and the anime, Shigaraki cannot actually Decay himself. He can Decay his clothes and other accessories, including the severed hands, but he cannot Decay his own body. We see him touching his hands together on numerous occasions without any consequences, which means that he is immune to his own Quirk.

Why? Well, the reasons for this have never actually been explained so we don’t know why exactly he is immune, but it makes sense that he is. Shigaraki’s Quirk is his own inherent genetic mutation, so it makes sense that he himself is immune to its effects. His body probably recognizes the effects of the mutation and has developed a defensive mechanism against it.