Few anime villains have quite the reputation of terror as My Hero Academia’s Tomura Shigaraki. With a horrifically nightmarish Decay Quirk that allows him to disintegrate everything he touches and a staunch hatred of heroes due to Shigaraki’s tragic past in My Hero Academia, he is an evil force to be reckoned with. His uniquely unforgettable appearance is difficult to recreate, but one fan has wonderfully designed a cosplay of the terrifying villain.

Instagram user @luzanlorenzi has unveiled a cosplay of Shigaraki that perfectly captures the sheer evil he embodies. They are wearing the character’s usual and relatively simple outfit consisting of a black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants. Their hair is long, messy, and a mix of light blue and gray in color, matching Shigaraki’s signature hairstyle. The most noticeable and petrifying elements of the entire cosplay are the light blue hands that rest in different spots all over @luzanlorenzi’s body. These appendages are not just a chilling detail of the look, they have a heartbreaking backstory.

The Hands on Shigaraki’s Body Have a Devastating Origin Story That Explains His Hatred of Heroes

Shigaraki’s Decay Quirk Activated in His Youth and Killed His Family, so He Wears Their Hands in Remembrance

The hands that appear on Shigaraki’s body actually belong to his deceased family members. This morbid detail of his appearance evolves from a tragic childhood incident. When Shigaraki was young, his Decay Quirk activated suddenly, in such an uncontrollable way that it killed his entire family and left him completely alone, as a young child no less. After All For One found Shigaraki and turned him to evil, he instructed the boy to wear his family members’ hands as a stern reminder of the goal he is working towards: to take down heroes.

Shigaraki has already had some incredible displays of power within the series, but his latest threat puts him on a completely different level.

@luzanlorenzi’s cosplay flawlessly recreates this twisted and sorrowful part of Shigaraki’s character design. They have also used makeup to give their skin a very flaky and dry appearance in certain areas, such as around their neck and next to their mouth. This careful detail is also related to Shigaraki’s Quirk in My Hero Academia, because Decay unfortunately caused him to develop extreme itchiness, that increases when he feels stress or anger. This subtle facet of the cosplay reveals intricate details of Shigaraki’s character, demonstrating that the cosplayer understands even the lesser known parts of who Tomura Shigaraki is.

Since Shigaraki Was Failed by Heroes, He Has Devoted His Life To Taking Them Down

He Blames Heroes for His Traumatic Childhood Accident, Since, Sadly, No Hero Came To Save Him

The cosplayer is smiling eerily under the hand covering their face, making them appear quite creepy. Their sinister smile fits well with Shigaraki’s personality. Because of his childhood trauma regarding heroes, he has devoted his life to attempting to kill and defeat as many heroes as possible. His objective is to retaliate against all the heroes who let him down by not rescuing him when he was abandoned as a child. Because of his complicated backstory, Shigaraki is a complex villain and one of My Hero Academia’s most interesting and most evil characters, and @luzanlorenzi has captured his true wickedness in this photoshoot.