Deku vs. Shigaraki: Who Won the Fight (& Is He Really Stronger)

Since the beginning of My Hero Academia, when Shigaraki started having a specific interest in Izuku Midoriya, fans have been eagerly waiting for the moment both of them would finally duel against each other. This battle eventually happened during the Paranormal Liberation War arc, which is getting its anime adaptation in Season 6. So who won the fight, Deku or Shigaraki?

In the end, neither Deku nor Shigaraki won the fight. The battle is interrupted by One For All’s vestiges, trying to interfere and prevent Shigaraki from taking their quirk for himself. After this, Deku eventually becomes incapable of fighting, and Shigaraki is fatally injured and flees.

This duel is still not over, as we’ll see them battling each other again in the most recent chapters of the manga. But it is worth getting a deeper look into how their first fight actually happened and who is the stronger of the two.

The Paranormal Liberation War

Those who are currently watching the new season of the anime are already familiar with the Paranormal Liberation Front and the ongoing raid planned by the heroes. This raid is happening in two places at the same time, one at the Jaku Hospital, where Endeavor, Mirko, Eraser Head, and other top heroes are trying to capture All For One’s doctor and the asleep Tomura Shigaraki. The other invasion is happening at the Gunga Mountain Villa, the base of operation of the villains, where Fat Gum, Edgeshot, Hawks, and many heroes plan to restrain every enemy posted there.

These two groups of heroes are also accompanied by students, who are in charge of providing backup, and assistance, and evacuating any civilians in Jaku City. Deku was put together with his close friends Katsuki Bakugo and Shoto Todoroki as a backup for Endeavor’s team.

Even though the heroes responsible for capturing Shigaraki try their best, they eventually fail and he wakes up. Now, stronger than ever due to possessing All For One, he uses his quirk to decay to destroy the whole hospital and its surroundings, killing heroes at the same time. This starts a battle between Tomura Shigaraki and all remaining heroes, but he only has eyes for Izuku Midoriya.

Shigaraki uses one of his new quirks, Search, which was originally pro hero Ragdoll’s power, to locate One For All. Deku learns about this through a vision One For All gives him and by listening to Endeavor through an earpiece, which makes him and Bakugo leave their group so that Shigaraki won’t get close to civilians. Shigaraki eventually gets close to them and just as is he going to attack and decay them, Gran Torino shows up and saves Deku and Bakugo.

In order to further protect the kids and take control of the battle, Eraser Head, supported by Manual, who is watering Eraser’s eyes and Rock Lock, uses his quirk on Shigaraki, making him unable to use his newfound power. Meanwhile, Endeavor and Ryukyu try to fight him. Even though, Shigaraki has his quirks deactivated, he still an immense strength due to the doctor’s enhancements, a strength comparable to All Might’s. Besides this, some Near High-End Nomus are also stalling the other heroes, which leads to Deku and Bakugo joining the fight to protect their teacher.

All of this eventually leads to Deku taking Shigaraki into a one-on-one battle, while he protects the other heroes and uses all of his newfound quirks to defeat Shigaraki as soon as he can.

Izuku Midoriya Vs Tomura Shigaraki

Enraged by what Shigaraki has been doing to the pro heroes who are his mentors and people he loves, Deku jumps as high as he can carrying everyone with one of his new quirks, Blackwhip. He does this because Shigaraki no longer has his quirks erased and could kill everyone with his Decay ability if they were touching the ground. Deku also reveals another quirk he just recently started using, Nana Shimura’s ability, Float. This makes it so neither he nor anyone he is holding with Blackwhip will fall to the ground. While floating, Deku gets close to Shigaraki and states that he will finish him off right now as the battle should not extend any longer.

As destruction would come upon them if Shigaraki touched the ground, Deku also uses Blackwhip on him and tries to fight him in the air for as long as he can while going all out. This leads to his control of Blackwhip getting weaker, so he releases the other heroes, trying to focus only on Shigaraki, leaving the others frustrated for not being able to do anything. As dangerous as it is, Deku is the only one capable to keep the villain on air so he is the one who needs to fight him.

While Deku is going all out and hitting him with 100% blows, Shigaraki is able to somewhat endure these hits with his Super Regeneration quirk. But the damage Deku is dealing is stocking up and interfering with Shigaraki’s durability, so he attacks him at full power, not caring for the effects these attacks have on his body. As Shigaraki tries to hit Deku back, Deku doesn’t let it and gets the upper hand. Deku’s attacks eventually start dealing more damage than Shigaraki’s body can take and he starts to think about which quirks might work against Deku, while Deku continues to destroy both their bodies.

Even though Deku is enduring this battle, Bakugo thinks he will eventually lose and his body will give up, leading him and the rest of the heroes to come up with a plan to interfere with the battle. In the end, their plan does not work, with Bakugo getting severely hurt due to protecting Deku from Shigaraki’s attempt to steal his quirk. This situation makes it so Deku turns blinded by pure rage.

Deku goes rampage and attacks Shigaraki with his whole body, using even his teeth to destroy Shigaraki’s quirks. But this only leads to Deku leaving himself open to Shigaraki’s touch, who takes this opportunity to steal One For All from him. They end up in Deku’s mindscape, where they have a long discussion with One For All’s vestiges and All For One. This ultimately ends their fight.

Both of them leave extremely injured, with Shigaraki trying his best to retreat as he runs from the other heroes. But later, both of them would join each other in combat again at their best during the Final War arc, currently happening in the manga. With his six new quirks, Izuku Midoriya can definitely stand aside Tomura Shigaraki and All For One, but they do seem to have tricks up their sleeves.

So in the end, we can’t be sure which one of them is stronger than the other, since their battle is not yet finished and both characters possessing many quirks. We can only hope our protagonist, together with his friends and mentors, will surpass My Hero Academia’s strongest villain and save the day.