Why Does Shigaraki Wear Hands After His Quirk Evolution?

I’ll be blunt: the hands are still there because they do more than look awful — they keep him tethered. After his quirk evolves into total decay on contact, Shigaraki could theoretically go full-disaster all the time, but the hands give him control and identity. They act like gloves, trophies, and talismans rolled into one: a physical barrier to prevent accidental touch, a psychological reminder of the people and events that made him, and a deliberate aesthetic to terrify enemies.

I also see them as a social tool — when you’re leading a villain force, your look matters for loyalty and fear. Those hands say, "this is who I am, remember what I’ve done," which keeps his followers obedient and everyone else on edge. So even as his power grows, the hands remain useful in lots of non-magical ways, and that stubborn, theatrical choice makes the character even more interesting to me.

What fascinates me about Shigaraki is how the physical costume — those grotesque hands — keeps working as storytelling long after his quirk changes. To me they’re not just a creepy fashion choice; they’re a walking museum of trauma, identity, and control. The hands began as literal reminders of the awful accident that shaped him, and even when his decay becomes something far more devastating and hard to contain, he keeps wearing them because they anchor him to the “Tomura” persona that All For One helped forge. They’re memorials and trophies at once: reminders of who he was, who he lost, and who taught him to direct his rage outward.

On a practical level, the hands also function like restraint and camouflage. After his quirk evolves into the instantaneous, widespread decay that makes him a walking weapon, he still needs ways to limit accidental contact with allies, civilians, or the environment. The hands can be worn in layers, tied down, or used to cover his real skin, creating a buffer between him and whatever he touches. They also let him pick and choose when to activate that terror; if everything were bare and exposed, he’d be a walking hazard to anyone nearby — including his own troops. In battle choreography and animation, that physical restraint helps explain moments when he hesitates or targets deliberately rather than just annihilating everything in sight.

Beyond utility and symbolism, I think there’s a theatrical motive. Villains in 'My Hero Academia' often cultivate an image, and Shigaraki’s image of clinging hands is unforgettable and nightmarish. It announces his philosophy: the world is broken, human touch is death, and history clings to you. Even after gaining terrifying new power, he keeps the hands because losing them would mean losing the story everyone has already accepted about him. For me, that mix of psychological scar, crude safety device, and brand-building is what makes him one of the more chilling characters — the hands are both his wound and his weapon, and that duality sticks with me every time I rewatch or reread his scenes.