Is Shigaraki Tomura a Spoiled Brat?

Key Takeaways

• Tomura’s troubled upbringing and manipulation by All For One led to his entitled and impulsive personality.
• All For One’s spoiling of Tomura resulted in a lack of consequences for his actions and a sense of entitlement.
• Tomura’s evolution from a spoiled brat to a power-hungry and vengeful character parallels his journey in My Hero Academia.

Shigaraki Tomura had a less-than-pleasant upbringing. Although his home life was filled with discontent, he still loved his family and wanted life to improve. Unfortunately, disaster struck at the hands of All For One, and Tomura quickly began to hate everything about the hero society for failing him as a child.

To nurture Tomura’s villainous personality, All For One meticulously paved his future to get his ideal vessel. However, handing Tomura whatever he wanted also spoiled Tomura and gave him an arrogant and impulsive personality. So, is Shigaraki Tomura a spoiled Brat in My Hero Academia, and does this change near the end of the series?

Does Shigaraki Tomura Have an Entitled Personality?

Tomura is Arrogant and Impulsive, With the Inability to Handle Failure

Shigaraki Tomura had a tragic past in which he faced neglect by his family. Unfortunately, much of this was attributed to All For One manipulating the Shimura family to nurture Tomura’s personality. As a child, Tomura faced numerous backlash from his family, as he also dreamed of becoming a hero. Unfortunately, due to sibling rivalry, Tomura’s older sister enjoyed placing the blame on him or getting him into trouble; this made Tomura feel isolated with no one to comfort him.

When Tomura was a child, all he wanted was his family’s love and acceptance. However, this would not be the case, as All For One had been manipulating the family unbeknownst to them. After Tomura’s Quirk Decay awoke and killed his family, his personality became twisted. Initially, Tomura was confused after the killing of his family and thus wandered the streets seeking help from heroes or other civilians.

However, the hero society was never perfect, and no one reached out their hand to help him. This was all part of All For One’s master plan, as he knew how the hero society operated and used that to his advantage. The killing of the Shimura family and the failure of the public and heroes to assist Tomura these events ultimately changed Tomura’s view of society, with All For One nurturing this perspective.

With Tomura’s new outlook on life, he also becomes immensely entitled. All For One needed to nurture Tomura to believe everything existed for him and that the world was his oyster. This led Tomura to act on all his impulses, with All For One paving the way. One thing that was clear since the start of My Hero Academia was Tomura’s love for video games. As Tomura always got whatever he wanted handed to him, he always referred to situations from a gamer’s perspective. As he believed he could “clear” situations quickly, he did not take any situation seriously, as with the USJ arc.

As the situation becomes dire, Tomura quickly realizes he is losing the battle. Soon, he blames his failures on everyone else besides his own faults, once again showcasing his entitled and spoiled personality. Due to Tomura’s impulsive personality, he also acts without regard for anyone other than himself. Additionally, if others annoy him, he will attempt to kill them, similar to the first meeting between Himiko Toga and Dabi in Chapter 68.

I want to break everything I don’t like.

When meeting Midoriya Izuku at the shopping district in Chapter 68, Tomura primarily acts on his own impulses and only wished to do whatever he wanted at the time with no ultimate goal. However, after meeting Stain, Tomura realized he needed a goal or ideology to live by; this was also when he decided to create a world without All Might and expose the hero society for its fragile justice. This was partly due to how the hero society failed to save him when he was younger.

During his interaction with Stain, Tomura’s impulsive and childish personality is showcased, as he immediately wants revenge on Stain for injuring and disrespecting him. During this time, Tomura’s spoiled brat personality can be seen as he orders Kurogiri to help him and bring out the Nomus’ to create chaos. At this point in the series, Tomura barely has to lift a finger to do dirty work; however, this changes when All For One and Kurogiri are detained.

Is Shigaraki Tomura a spoiled brat?

His impulsiveness led him to behave childishly without consequence

Shigaraki Tomura can easily be called a spoiled brat. This personality trait was primarily nurtured by All For One as he needed to groom Tomura to become the ideal vessel for him. At the start of the series, Tomura could be seen as a lost cause without much purpose and primarily doing whatever he wanted with no regard for human life.

Although All For One adopted Tomura, he did not outright give him a purpose or goal to work towards. However, he had manipulated numerous instances to steer Tomura in the correct path. As Tomura did not have a goal, he often failed the tasks he set out for himself. Tomura could be seen as a spoiled brat because, at every failed task, All For One would encourage Tomura to keep trying again and often gave him whatever he needed on a silver platter.

It was likely that All For One would give Tomura whatever he wanted without question at every whim. Nurturing this personality type led Tomura to believe he could live without consequences, and when his plans were foiled, Tomura would react violently. There are numerous instances of Tomura behaving like a man-child, and when Tomura does not get his way or feels stressed, Tomura scratches his scars in irritation.

Try as many times as you’d like. That’s why I’m here. Everything is for your sake.

As mentioned, Tomura was nurtured to believe he could act on impulse without rhyme or reason; he also believed that everyone would follow him as long as he said so. This was one of the reasons why he kidnapped Bakugo Katsuki, as he believed Bakugo would easily follow his lead as the League of Villains had grown. However, Tomura misunderstood Bakugo’s ambitions and determination to become a hero.

Another instance was his spat with Overhaul during the Shie Hassaikai arc. Tomura dislikes being messed with, and after Magne is killed and Mr. Compress injured, Tomura, although Tomura does begin to act like a leader, is fueled by revenge and pettiness. Ultimately, Tomura was similar to a child who would not get what he wanted and often acted out in retaliation. Due to this personality trait, Tomura is also vindictive and petty, disliking when he is undermined and thus seeking retribution when he is wronged, similar to the instance with Overhaul during the Shie Hassaikai Arc.

Due to everything being handed to Tomura by All For One, he often could not cope with situations that didn’t turn out how he wanted them to. This was primarily due to All For One and Kurogiri babying Tomura; however, after All For One and Kurogiri had been imprisoned, Tomura needed to learn how to become a leader and thus take care of himself. While Tomura’s character has improved from being a spoiled brat, he ultimately becomes more power-hungry and vengeful, like All For One.

My Hero Academia is now available to stream on Crunchyroll.