If there is one thing My Hero Academia is good at, it’s introducing powerful and compelling villains to counter our beloved heroes. There’s certainly no shortage of villains in this world – despite all of the heroes doing their best to stop them.
When we think of villains from MHA, two iconic characters come to mind. Tomura Shigaraki and Overhaul. Both threatened our leading characters, but in completely different ways. In all likelihood, each and every fan out there has a favorite out of these two, and with good reason. So we’re going to talk about what makes Tomura the best villain, and what makes Overhaul the best. Then it’s up to you to decide.
This list contains spoilers from My Hero Academia's manga.
10 Why Tomura Is The Best: He’s Cunning
Tomura Shigaraki is more often than not a quiet character. So it might be easy to assume that he's just following All For One's lead. But that is far from the truth. Tomura is actually very sharp, and a decent tactician. Yes, he has allowed his emotions to get the better of him a time or two. But there's no denying that he's a cunning character.
The number of times he's gotten the League of Villains access to the students of U.A. should be proof enough about that. We're dreading (and looking forward to) his next series of plans. The manga has already revealed what he has been up to – and it is good.
9 Why Overhaul Is The Best: He’s Vicious
When asked to picture a vicious villain from MHA, the odds are petty good that you're going to think of one of two characters. The first is Stain. The second is Overhaul. Just look at all of the things he's done, and any doubt of that fact will be swept away.
He injured the man he respected more than anyone in the world, and all because of an ideology debate. He tortured and cut apart Eri, for access to her quirk. He's done so many heartless things, and all in the name of his endgame. So yes, there is no doubt that Overhaul is one vicious villain.
8 Why Tomura Is The Best: His Quirk Is Getting Stronger
Tomura's quirk, known as Decay, is actually quite terrifying. This quirk allows him to disintegrate anything that he touches. Originally, he needed to make full contact with five of his fingers in order to do so. But lately (in the manga) we've been seeing a change in that.
The truth of the matter is that Tomura's quirk is getting stronger. Given all of the experimentation going on, that's probably no surprise. The League of Villains have been working on enhancing their quirks, so this was actually more of an inevitability, albeit a terrifying one.
7 Why Overhaul Is The Best: His Quirk Is Terrifying
Speaking of terrifying quirks, Overhaul's quirk is another powerful and harrowing one to be up against. His quirk, which is villain name takes after, allows him to assemble and disassemble a person or thing at will. This is a quirk that could be used for good or bad. We all know what way Overhaul opted to use his.
Kai's quirk is terrifying enough on a normal level. But when enhanced (by the very drugs he's been working on making) his quirk becomes even more terrifying. The most recent battle in the anime provides proof enough on that front.
6 Why Tomura Is The Best: He Cultivates Talent
Tomura is a character capable of acknowledging talent when he sees it. He has a tendency to collect those that are talented and think along the same vein. Look at the rest of the League of Villains, and you can see what we mean. He's got loyal followers such as Dabi, Twice, Mr. Compress, and Toga, just to name a few.
We've also seen him spot and go after talent. The whole reason the League of Villains attacked the summer training session was so that Tomura could get his hands on Bakugo. Granted, that didn't end up working too well in the long run. But there's no denying his ability to spot potential.
5 Why Overhaul Is The Best: He’s Created A Loyal Following
Overhaul is also a man capable of spotting and using talent. He somehow manages to create this sort of undying loyalty in his men. The type that makes them willing to throw their lives away in exchange for his.
Just look at the Eight Bullets, and you'll know exactly what we mean. These eight characters were a massive threat during the most recent encounter. They were made all the more dangerous because of their loyalty – and the access to the drugs that Overhaul had created.
4 Why Tomura Is The Best: His Instability Makes Him Unpredictable
Tomura is admittedly not the most stable of characters. He's got a conflicted past, one that directly resulted in him being so loyal to All For One. He's brilliant and intense. But he's also a bit unstable.
That instability makes him unpredictable. The heroes never seem to know what he's going to do next – or who he's going to target. Every time it seems like he's backing off, he ends up going another route. A good example of this: the heroes truly thought that he would have nothing to do with Overhaul, thanks to the fight that had occurred. So him sending reinforcements was quite a shock. Nobody saw the endgame he had in mind.
3 Why Overhaul Is The Best: His Grand Plan
Overhaul had a grand plan he was working towards. In his mind, the overwhelming presence of quirks was ruining society. He felt this very strongly thanks to his connection to the Yakuza, but it was also more than that as well.
As such, Overhaul sought to remove quirks from play. He had a long-running plan, in which he would pit heroes and villains against one another and profit off of it. His plan may seem a bit counterintuitive since it involved the use of quirks. But it also sorts of fits, when you think about it.
2 Why Tomura Is The Best: His Targets
Tomura Shigaraki is a terrifying antagonist. He's got everything going for him. A powerful quirk, an even more powerful mentor, determination, and loyal followers. But it's perhaps his obsession with All Might that brings him to a whole new level.
The fact that his attacks almost always pull in U.A. Students certainly doesn't hurt either.
1 Why Overhaul Is The Best: His Determination
You cannot deny this; Overhaul had determination in spades. He was terrifyingly focused on his goal, and he didn't much care who he had to go through in order to see it done. That made for one powerful – and dangerous – antagonist.
The most recent confrontation in the anime was probably more than enough to prove that fact to most of the fans. Just look at everything he did in order to get to this point.