My Hero Academia offers a great deal of emotional depth not only for its protagonists, such as the kind Midoriya Izuku and his good friend Uraraka Ochaco, but also its villains. In many cases, a villain's schemes are personal, and Shigaraki Tomura has been emotionally scarred since his boyhood. He's a surprisingly complex villain.
Tomura was once an ordinary kid who looked up to his heroic grandmother, Shimura Nana, until his Decay Quirk awakened and disaster struck. Now he is a vicious and ambitious young villain and the heir to All For One himself, and his personality can be summed up with his MBTI personality type to provide insight into how he operates.
Shigaraki Tomura's MBTI Type: INFP-T, The Mediator
The sixteen MBTI personality types are intended to describe ordinary, real-life people, but they can also be used to describe superheroes and villains in works of fiction, such as in My Hero Academia. These characters are often twisted versions of the original personality types, including Shigaraki Tomura, who can best be described as a Mediator. The four-letter code for this personality type is INFP-T, or Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving, while being rather turbulent and sometimes insecure on the inside. Ordinarily, INFPs live up to their Mediator title with their empathy and idealism, but villainous people can use these traits for other purposes.
Mediators, by default, are people-oriented while being quiet and withdrawn, making them roughly similar to the Defender personality type. INFPs are deeply attuned to their own emotions and needs, and they are equally perceptive of the emotional state of the people around them, which makes them natural helpers. Such people are also fond of self-expression, such as through poetry and art, and their internal lives are much more vibrant and lively than their modest and quiet exteriors would suggest. Mediators spend a lot of time pondering human nature so they can find better ways to help others and figure out their own lives as well. They will never stop imagining new ways to help others and express themselves through art.
INFPs are non-judgmental and accept others for who they are, and they'll even give troublemakers or wrongdoers a second chance. Mediators believe that everyone can and should be helped somehow, and they create a world where everyone has a place where they can be happy and successful. They are idealistic and compassionate, meaning they feel like they're on a mission to save everyone around them, and they are flexible and creative thinkers who can brainstorm crafty ideas to implement for the benefit of others.
Then again, INFPs may become unfocused and dream too big, burning themselves out by trying to accomplish too much or helping people who refuse to accept help. They might also be insecure and criticize themselves too heavily, and they react badly if anyone rejects their help or invalidates them. Thus, Mediators tend to be emotionally vulnerable.
Shigaraki Tomura As A Mediator In My Hero Academia
At first, the cruel and childish supervillain Shigaraki Tomura seems like the opposite of an emotionally sensitive peacemaker, but in his own bizarre way, he is indeed an INFP Mediator. To begin with, Tomura was born as Shimura Tenko, an optimistic boy who adored superheroes and wanted to be one himself. The problem was that his emotionally scarred father Kentaro despised his mother for abandoning him, and Kentaro's strict ways caused a great deal of resentment in his son.
One night, Tenko was pushed over the edge, and he accidentally killed his family and dog with his Decay Quirk before killing his hated father on purpose. He was now alone and homeless until All For One found him and molded him into a young villain in the making, filled with murderous hate and aggression.
However, even as Shigaraki Tomura the villain, this character is an INFP in some unexpected ways. He may be hostile to heroes, but he is deeply committed to his fellow villains and their personal plights, such as the mentally anguished Twice and certainly Spinner, who suffered discrimination for being a heteromorph who looked like a gecko. Shigaraki knows how it feels to be burdened by being different and unwanted, and even if he wouldn't say it aloud, Shigaraki empathizes with them deeply and has committed himself to making a world where Spinner, Twice and the yandere Toga Himiko are free to be their true selves. To that end, Tomura is always plotting new ways to transform the world for the sake of villains, and he has risked his life more than once in that pursuit.
As an INFP, Tomura likes to think big and ponder the possibilities since he is dissatisfied with the world the way it is now. He and All For One have already created the perfect villain-friendly world in their minds, and Tomura will say or do anything he must to make that possible future a reality, including fighting the Meta Liberation Army before joining forces with them later. In the eyes of the League of Villains and social outcasts everywhere, Tomura is a savior and a dreamer who will make all their wishes come true, and he hopes that one day, society will never again label Spinner or Himiko as freaks or rejects. That makes him a Mediator of the darkest kind.