Summary

• Eri's backstory parallels Shigaraki's, as both are accidental destroyers of their families & manipulated by villains.
• Hero Society succeeds with Eri's rescue, while Tenko was abandoned, showcasing the system's failures.
• Eri's guidance in a heroci environment prevents her from going down the villain's path, highlighting the impact of kindness.

There are a lot of My Hero Academia characters who fans can draw parallels between, due to the similarities in their character arcs, but one of the most surprising is actually for Shigaraki. While a lot of characters could be compared to Shigaraki due to their pasts, there's one character whose story is almost a perfect parallel to his: Eri.

Eri is a character who first appears in the Shie Hassaikai arc, one of the longest and most intense arcs in the series. Eri is just a small child when she's introduced, and becomes the focus of a massive operation designed to put an end to the Shie Hassaikai's villainy and rescue the young girl. That might sound completely different from Shigaraki, who's introduced as an adult and is immediately villainous himself. However, the connection between the two characters has more to do with Shigaraki's origins as Tenko Shimura.

Eri's Story is a Direct Parallel to Shigaraki's Origin

Eri and Tenko Have a Shared Tragedy

Tenko Shimura, the child who would grow into Shigaraki, begins his story as a boy with an abusive father, but he seems to have a loving mother and a typical relationship with his sister. Tenko's problems arise when his Quirk power, the deadly Decay, first manifests, killing the family dog, and then his sister, and then his mother, until finally Tenko makes a choice to touch his father, knowing exactly what will happen. Without a family, Tenko is left at the mercy of the world, and no one comes to help him--until All for One makes his appearance.

Eri's past is revealed to be quite similar. She was the granddaughter of the boss of the Shie Hassaikai, born to his own daughter. However, when Eri's Rewind Quirk manifested, it accidentally rewound her father out of existence, causing her mother to abandon her and leaving young Eri without parents. As the boss "fell ill" due to Overhaul's actions, Overhaul came to be the one responsible for Eri, and immediately put her incredibly powerful Quirk to work as part of his grand plan.

Both Eri and Tenko destroyed their own families with their Quirks by accident, and as a result, they each fell into the hands of a megalomaniacal villain, who intended to use their power to accomplish their goals. This is where their stories begin to differ, however. Eri is eventually spotted by Izuku Midoriya and Mirio Togata, and the two report the existence of this scared child under the villainous Overhaul's control to the other heroes, who formulate a plan to put a stop to Overhaul and rescue Eri. Tenko, on the other hand, is never found by a hero.

Eri's Fate Shows Hero Society Working Properly

Hero Society Exists to Save Children Like Eri

While Tenko was in desperate need of help, people often dismissed him, assuming a hero would come to save him, but that never happened, showcasing the flaws in a society so dependent on heroes. Eri's story, on the other hand, shows what might've happened if someone had spotted the troubled young Tenko and reached out to help him, even if it was after All for One had staked a claim to the child. Tenko wasn't an inherently evil child or anything like that; he was just as innocent as young Eri is when she's spotted, and only became evil due to All for One's influence.

It's not hard to imagine a timeline in which Eri isn't saved by heroes, and becomes spiteful towards them for not doing so. One could even imagine Eri becoming so desperate to get away from Overhaul that she deliberately erases him from existence, much like Tenko choosing to kill his own father. Eri already struggled to understand the concept of a hero, as someone being so selfless is so removed from her personal life experience that it was almost beyond her capacity to accept.

But that's not what happened with Eri. As a result of Deku spotting her and recognizing she was in trouble, a massive effort was put together to rescue the girl, involving dozens (if not hundreds) of heroes and police officers. While stopping the Shie Hassaikai's operations was a major goal, the heroes made it very clear that saving Eri was the top priority. Eri's story in My Hero Academia is one of the world's Hero Society actually working the way it should, going to great lengths to save even just one suffering child.

Eri Gets the Help that Shigaraki Never Received

Eri's Guidance Prevents Her from Falling Down Tenko's Path

Of course, Eri's story doesn't end with her rescue. She's adopted by Aizawa, one of the few people in the series who can help her learn to control her Quirk, thanks to his own Erasure. Eri is given the chance to grow up in a loving environment, surrounded by friends at UA who all care for her immensely. As a result of this, Eri is able to gain some control over Rewind, to the point where she's able to restore Mirio's Quirk by rewinding him a very specific amount.

Tenko never got that help, and was left in the clutches of All for One, who did teach him to control his Quirk, but only as part of his grand scheme to turn him into the vessel of hatred known as Tomura Shigaraki. Tenko never had a loving environment, instead winding up in an orphanage full of All for One's other potential vessels. While All for One convinced Tenko that he cared, it was an abusive sort of caring, an isolating, possessive form which taught Shigaraki that only All for One could be trusted.

Eri's life makes for an excellent parallel to Shigaraki's past, showing how much of an impact just one moment of kindness at the right time can have. An Eri who was left in Overhaul's hands could've grown into a villain just as bad as Shigaraki, but she was saved by heroes in a way that he never was. This connection between Eri and Shigaraki helps strengthen the Shie Hassaikai arc's connection to the rest of My Hero Academia, and draws a powerful connection between one of its most innocent characters and one of its most evil.

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