My Hero Academia may be a relatively light-hearted superhero story that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike, but this series actually contains a lot of surprisingly dark moments. This is even more evident in the original manga, where Kohei Horkoshi’s detailed but grotesque art really shines. It should be no surprise that he has already confirmed he’s interested in making a horror manga next.
Throughout its ten-year-long run, the My Hero Academia manga has repeatedly shocked its readers with some of the most disturbing panels ever drawn for an action shōnen manga, but the following eight are the most noteworthy examples. Needless to say, most of them revolve around the series’ villains and their tragic backstories.
Stain Falls Unconscious
The Infamous Hero Killer Finally Shows His Real Face
- Chapter 56: Conclusion
The Hero Killer, Stain, was a mysterious character who intentionally hid his face with a mask. But, when said mask finally fell off at the end of his titular arc (just when he fell unconscious), both the other characters and the readers could finally get a glimpse at his real face, and it certainly wasn’t pretty.
Much to their surprise, Stain was missing part of his face, including his entire nose, and he was drawn with so much impressive detail in this panel that he looks very intimidating and ominous. This is a legendary scene that cemented him as a terrifying character, and patient fans would later find out what exactly happened to his face in the spin-off manga, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
Shigaraki’s Wicked Smile
Proved Shigaraki Was Much Creepier Than Expected
- Chapter 69: Interview with Midoriya
The fateful encounter between Deku and Tomura Shigaraki at the mall is definitely one of the most suspenseful moments in the entire series. Just when the main character thought he had an opportunity to relax, his villainous rival silently approaches him, puts his hands on his neck and basically keeps him hostage while they have a conversation.
If this scene wasn’t already intense enough, at one point Shigaraki confesses that he finally understands why Stain and Deku piss him off so much: it’s because of their connection to All Might. The wicked smile he gives while he says this is incredibly unnerving, and Horikoshi did an amazing job at drawing every single wrinkle and scar on his face to make him look as creepy as possible.
Twice Stabs Himself
One Of The Most Messed-Up Backstories In The Series
- Chapter 115: Unleashed
Chapter 115 of My Hero Academia kicks off with a mysterious unnamed man narrating his life, until it's suddenly revealed that this is none other than Jin Bubaigawara, better known as the villain Twice. He details his own backstory, and explains how he used to use his Double quirk to make clones of himself and carry on different crimes, until a certain incident took place in his apartment.
The clones began developing their own sense of self and tried to overthrow Twice as their leader, which led to them killing each other and one of them stabbing him in his forehead. This panel flawlessly depicts one of the many psychological horror elements of the series: since this part of the story is being narrated in the first person, readers can’t help but imagine themselves being stabbed and/or killed by their own replica, and the thought alone is enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine.
Toga Drops Her Façade
The Face That Changed Toga’s Life Forever
- Chapter 226: Bloody Love
Horikoshi has brilliantly used Himiko Toga’s unnerving smile to make creepy panels on multiple occasions, with one of her standout moments being during her own backstory. After being told by her parents to hide her “creepy face” for many years, a teenage Toga finally dropped her façade and began drinking one of her classmate’s blood with a straw.
Toga’s blood-lusted eyes, the tears running down her face and the extremely wide smile made her look really frightening, and it’s important to point out that this smile is supposed to be creepy in-universe, as several other students witnessed this moment and reported her. However, there’s also some obvious tragedy behind her eyes, because this is the first time in years Toga has actually felt like herself, and it sadly ended up changing her life forever.
Tenko Disintegrates His Mother
The Horrible Moment That Sealed Shigaraki’s Fate
- Chapter 236: Tenko Shimura: Origin, Part 2
Tomura Shigaraki has what is arguably the darkest and most tragic backstory in the series, which is impressive considering that all the members of the League of Villains have dark backstories as well. After being physically abused by his father due to his dream of becoming a hero (like his grandmother), a young Tenko Shimura was crying in the backyard while petting his dog, Mon, until the poor pup suddenly got destroyed into pieces.
This was already stomach-turning enough at is, but things got even worse when the rest of his family approached him, and he ended up killing them all by accident. Unbeknownst to Tenko at the time, his Decay quirk had just been activated, and he could now disintegrate anybody or anything he touched with his hands in seconds. This entire scene is disturbing in and of itself, but the shot of Tenko trying to reach his mother and her suddenly disintegrating before his eyes is incredibly shocking and heartbreaking. It's even followed up by another creepy panel, in which Tenko smiles in ecstasy while he intentionally murders his father.
All For One Takes Over Shigaraki’s Body
The Inevitable Return Of The Big Bad Of The Series
- Chapter 286: The Ones Within Us
Needless to say, Horikoshi is a master of using disturbing imagery to convey shocking and/or important narrative elements, and this was especially evident in the climactic scene in which All for One finally takes over Shigaraki’s body during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc.
Seeing the uncanny face of the Symbol of Evil coming out of Shigaraki’s own face is not only extremely bone-chilling, but it also says a lot without a single piece of text. All for One has been exploiting and manipulating his young apprentice for many years, and in this panel he’s destroying Shigaraki’s body (both literally and metaphorically) in order to come back into the limelight and finally put his lifelong plan of destroying Hero Society into action. And the worst part of it all is that Shigaraki can’t help but stay there and witness his own body being taken over by the literal embodiment of evil.
All For One Finds Dabi
The Charred Remains Of A Boy Who Wanted To Impress His Father
- Chapter 350: Bound to a Fiery Fate
Dabi has been the star of many disturbing panels throughout the manga’s run, as his ruthless pyrokinetic abilities have allowed him to burn bodies to a crisp, regardless of whether it was his own or other people’s. But most shots of Dabi’s burned body in the series effectively made him look inhuman, which brought down their creepiness a bit. There is one obvious exception, however, and it takes place during his backstory.
After repeatedly trying (and failing) to strengthen his own quirk while he was training at Sekoto Peak, a young Toya Todoroki lost control of his power and he burned his entire body with his own flames. Chapter 350 eventually reveals that All for One found his charred remains, with a terrifying shot that’s hard to look at. After all, Toya was an innocent (albeit problematic) kid who was trying to impress his father, and seeing his body in that state is both disturbing and heartbreaking.
Monster Toga Vs Child Ochaco
This Is How Toga Actually Saw Herself
- Chapter 394: Ochaco Uraraka vs. Himiko Toga
Due to societal pressure, Himiko Toga saw herself as a blood-lusted monster for her entire life, and she was forced to confront these feelings in her climactic final confrontation against Ochaco Uraraka in the Final War Arc. The young heroine tries to talk to her and find out what she really thinks and feels, which leads to this horrifying but emotional panel.
In her mind, Toga sees herself as a creepy monster that’s undeserving of love and this one illustration conveys that sentiment perfectly: her uncanny muscle-like body, her eerie wide smile and the fact that she’s holding a knife on top of a child make her look absolutely terrifying. However, this panel is also filled with hope, as the image of Ochaco’s child version standing in front of her while offering her body says everything it needs to: Toga deserved to be loved, and she was there to help her.
My Hero Academia
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2016 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- TBS, MBS, Nippon TV
Cast
-
Daiki YamashitaIzuku Midoriya (voice) -
Kaito IshikawaManga Fukidashi (voice)
