My Villain Academia’s Himiko Toga is Deku’s Dark Opposite

As My Hero Academia enters its darkest arc yet, Himiko Toga has proven to be Deku’s dark opposite as the conclusion of My Villian Academia expands further on the character’s backstory. Her hidden past now revealed, Toga’s purpose for villainy fairs deeper than just her yandere personality and crush on Deku.

My Hero Academia’s quirk-based society might have brought in the new age of heroes, but it also gave rise to new villains set on destroying it. Himiko Toga is a 17-year-old high school student and resident member of the League of Villians (now the Paranormal Liberation Front), a villain organization group under the control of All For One. The group is led by All For One successor Shigaraki and fellow group members Dabi, Twice, Spinner, and Mr. Compress. Like every villain ostracized from hero society, Toga is a massive fan of the hero killer Stain and has taken on the villain’s teachings as her own.

All Might’s explosive rise to number one was an inspiration for many young aspiring heroes such as Deku, who, like All Might, was born quirkless. However, on the opposing end with villains like Stain, who’ve seen firsthand what hero society can do to people with different quirks, is set on correcting it by killing unworthy heroes. The notorious villain’s reputation is what led Toga to embrace her quirk and—ultimately become Deku’s dark opposite as her idolization of Stain is what drives her to grow further.

Toga wants to be like Stain (and kill him) by growing more vital as part of Shigaraki’s League of Villians. Toga looks up to Stain- as Deku does to All Might- as both villains share similarities in quirks. For example, Stain’s quirk Bloodcurdle can paralyze a victim upon consuming their blood, whereas Toga can drink a person’s blood and transform into an exact copy of them. She also adopts Stain’s use of knives in her combat and collecting blood samples, but during the Forest Training Camp arc, she upgrades to new support gear that allows her to cut her victims with needles that drain and store away blood to help her transform frequently. 

The conclusion of My Villian Academia further leaves readers with an understanding of Toga’s backstory and how society rejected her quirk, causing her to turn to villains like Stain with similar quirks for inspiration. Deku’s mistreatment by others for not having a quirk could have driven him down a dark path if not for All Might’s influence in his life. Stain’s influence on Toga helped her push past her trauma by realizing why she enjoys using her quirk to turn into the people she likes, resulting in her new ability to copy a person’s quirk after using Ochaco’s Zero Gravity. Deku has also undergone a quirk evolution as he learns to master One For All’s new allotted quirks like Black Whip. However, Toga might prove to be a worthy adversary to Deku as both have grown in their afflictions which may cause an emotional final battle between the two characters.