My Hero Academia: What if Tenko Shimura had met this Vigilantes character as a child?

My Hero Academia has given us some of the most heartbreaking villain origin stories in anime. Tenko Shimura's transformation into Tomura Shigaraki stands out as one of the darkest. After accidentally killing his family with his newly manifested Decay quirk, five-year-old Tenko wandered the streets alone, traumatized and covered in blood. People walked past him. They looked away. No one stopped to help. That's when All For One found him and molded him into a weapon of destruction.

But what if someone else had found Tenko first? Specifically, what if Koichi Haimawari from My Hero Academia: Vigilantes had been there that day?

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The Nice Guy Who Actually Helps

Koichi is known for being genuinely kind. Before becoming The Crawler, he was literally called "Nice Guy" by the people in his neighborhood. His whole thing was using his quirk to help with small tasks. Picking up trash, returning lost items, giving directions, and helping people onto trains. Nothing flashy or heroic by traditional standards, but real help that made a difference.

The thing about Koichi in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is that he doesn't hesitate when someone needs help. He's not calculating the risks or worrying about his image. He just acts. When he sees someone in trouble, his body moves before he can think. It's literally shown in the series as one of his defining traits.

So if Koichi had seen a bloodied, terrified five-year-old Tenko on the street? He's stopping. No question. No fear. He's asking if the kid is okay and getting him help immediately.

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Why Koichi Would Make the Difference

Here's what makes this scenario interesting in My Hero Academia. Koichi doesn't have the hang-ups that stopped everyone else. He's not a Pro Hero worried about jurisdiction or protocol. He's just a college student who can't ignore someone in need. The old lady who walked past Tenko later said she thought a hero would come. But heroes never showed up. Koichi wouldn't have that same mentality because he never saw himself as important enough to wait for someone else.

Plus, Koichi has experience with people society rejects. In My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, he befriends villains and helps them despite their past actions. He protected Soga even after Soga had bullied him. He showed kindness to former criminals. He doesn't see people as lost causes.

Tenko needed someone to see him as a scared child, not a monster. Koichi would have done exactly that.

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The Brutal Reality Check

Now, here's where things get complicated in My Hero Academia. Even if Koichi had helped Tenko, All For One was watching. The villain orchestrated everything about Tenko's life from birth. He gave Tenko the Decay quirk specifically to create a villain. He wanted Tenko alone and broken.

So realistically? All For One would have intervened. Maybe Koichi gets Tenko to safety, calls the authorities, and stays with him until help arrives. But then what? All For One has connections everywhere. He broke into U.A.'s systems. He had spies in multiple organizations. In the world of My Hero Academia, this ancient villain had centuries to build his network.

All For One might have killed Koichi to tie up loose ends. Or he could have let Koichi leave and then manipulated the situation anyway. Taken Tenko from whatever facility he ended up in. Erased records. Made the boy disappear into his care regardless.

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A Different Path Forward in My Hero Academia

But let's imagine the best-case scenario in My Hero Academia. Koichi gets Tenko's help, and somehow, All For One doesn't immediately interfere. Tenko gets therapy. He's placed with people who understand his trauma. He grows up knowing that someone cared enough to stop.

That single act of kindness could have changed everything. Not because it erased his trauma, but because it showed him people do help. Heroes aren't just symbols on TV. Sometimes they're random college students who see a kid in trouble and refuse to walk away.

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Conclusion

The whole tragedy of Tomura Shigaraki in My Hero Academia stems from that moment when no one helped. All For One used that abandonment to fuel Tenko's hatred of hero society. If Koichi had been there, that core wound wouldn't exist the same way.

Of course, we'll never know for sure. But the fan discussion around this "what if" scenario shows something important about both series. My Hero Academia asks us to think about who gets saved and who gets left behind. And sometimes the answer is as simple as one person choosing to care.