Nana Shimura/Synopsis

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• Synopsis
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Overview	Gallery	Synopsis	Relationships

History

Nana Shimura sees a young Quirkless boy wanting to lend a hand.

Nana Shimura was born during a troubled era where villainy and chaos reigned over people's lives, and her family was killed. Like most people, Nana was born with a Quirk of her own, Float, and she went on to become a Pro Hero. During her career, she was a close friend of the Pro Hero Gran Torino. At some point in her life, she accompanied the hero En, who was the sixth user of One For All, in his battle against All For One. He was sliced in half, but in his last moments, was able to give Nana some of his hair, transferring the Quirk over to her, as she was able to escape.

Shortly after inheriting One For All, Nana had a strange dream, where she encountered one of the previous users shrouded in dark fog telling her "It's not time yet..." Nana was mystified and decided to tell her friend Gran Torino about this strange experience.

One day, after easily dispatching a group of Villains causing trouble, she turned around to see a young boy holding a lead pipe. She notices the boy looking up at her with admiration as she floats above the thugs, and asks him if he was planning to defeat them all with just a lead pipe.

Nana during her time training Toshinori.

Fascinated and astonished of Nana, the boy, Toshinori Yagi, follows her while she floats ahead, asking her to please take him on as her pupil, but she coldly refuses telling him he doesn't even have a Quirk. She tells him to stop following her and to take his pipe to defend somewhere else. Toshinori responds that his family was killed a long ago, with Nana simply responding so was her's and she doesn't have time to help seek revenge. Toshinori says that he just can't accept a world where those who take from others come out on top, the grief of those who have been stolen from turns to hatred in an endless spiraling cycle.

Asking for his solution, Nana turns around and is surprised as Toshinori explained his ideals to her, that he wanted to create a world where everyone can smile and live happily together. For that to happen, the world needed a "Symbol of Peace" to inspire a new age of harmony. Toshinori believed he could become the pillar that inspires people everywhere. He points toward the destruction nearby noting that even with new buildings and restoration efforts, people have been living in fear for a while, with their hearts and minds shrouded in darkness. Nana asks if he would put on a grand display of power, and he responds that everyone has it tough with their own problems so he would step up, because a Quirkless guy like him has no role otherwise.

Despite her initial feelings, Nana ended up having second thoughts as she liked Toshinori's strong sense of justice. She decided to take him on as her student and became his mentor. Entrusting him with One For All, Nana took it upon herself to train All Might and she was assisted by Gran Torino.

Nana leaving her son at a foster home.

During her lifetime, Nana married and had a son, Kotaro Shimura, with whom she had an excellent relationship. At some point, her husband was killed by a villain. To spare her son from the same fate, Nana left her son in the care of a foster family, telling Gran Torino and Toshinori to never come into contact with him under any circumstance.

To protect Kotaro from All For One, Nana had to cut off anything connecting her to her son, to the point where she even doctored the family register, so Kotaro couldn't be tracked back to her, knowing that All For One was out there watching and waiting for the opportunity to strike. Still, separating herself from her son was a heavy emotional blow for both of them, as she was forced to declare that she "has no son". Nana left a letter to Kotaro explaining the reason for this, but Kotaro grew bitter by this abandonment, despising anything related to heroes and harboring a certain grudge towards his mother.

Unfortunately, Nana's efforts to protect her son would end up backfiring very badly. While Kotaro went on to become a successful businessman, getting married to a woman named Nao Magi, having two children named Hana and Tenko, and building a house for them and his parents-in-law to live in, his hatred for heroes did not disappear. Kotaro forbade any talking about heroes in his house and became emotionally and physically abusive towards his children whenever they broke this rule, especially Tenko.

One day, Hana ended up finding a photo of Nana and a young Kotaro in the latter's office and excitedly showed it to Tenko, who was overjoyed to learn that there was a hero in their family. When Kotaro found out about this however, he snapped and physically punished Tenko in a fit of anger, condemning his mother's memory while stating that heroes only hurt the ones they love just to help complete strangers. Despite this, he would later read his mother's letter, wishing she didn't love him so it would ease the pain he felt. After being confronted by his wife and parents-in-law, Kotaro expressed remorse for his actions and admitted he went too far, saying that things weren't supposed to be like this.

Things would go from bad to worse however when Kotaro's son, Tenko, ended up accidentally killing his whole family when his Quirk manifested for the first time, his mind finally snapping from his father's abuse and destroying their entire household. Since both Gran Torino and Toshinori kept their promise to Nana, having no idea about any of the events that occurred, Tenko was left lost and alone, eventually being found by All For One who would raise him to become a villain, rechristening him under the name of Tomura Shigaraki.

Nana Shimura entrusts All Might and Gran Torino to keep on the fight against All For One.

Throughout Toshinori's high school years, she would continue on to train Toshinori alongside Gran Torino. During Toshinori's final year, he and the two Heroes would eventually battle against All For One. However, the villain was proven to be way too powerful for all three of them. Nana was wounded in the battle, and soon, Toshinori and Gran Torino were defeated by All For One as well.

Realizing they wouldn't be able to win and how All For One was prepared to kill all three of them, Nana decides to do what is necessary and forcibly pushed Toshinori out of the way. He calls out to his master as Gran Torino swoops in and flies him away. Nana says she's leaving the rest to Toshinori and asks her friend to make sure his dreams come true. With her back turned, Nana points to Toshinori, signaling his time has come to take her place. Nana turns to her successor and with one last smile, reminds him that she's counting on him to save the world.

Nana's final stand in her battle.

Toshinori tearfully screams for his master as Gran Torino flies away filled with grief. Knowing in her heart that All Might will rise to take her place, Nana turns to face her nemesis. The evil mastermind thanks her for entertaining him and brutally defeats her. As All For One chokes Nana to death, in her final moments, she smiles confidently telling him that All Might will be the one to defeat him, because he is even more unhinged and crazier than All For One himself. With that, All For One sets off a powerful explosion created from a surge of black lightning, which destroys the entire island.

At some point later, All For One got a hold of one of her hands, and gave it to her grandson Tomura to replace one of his father's hands that he accidentally destroyed.

Synopsis

U.A. Sports Festival Arc

The manifestations of the previous users appear to help Deku.

During the fight between Izuku against Hitoshi in the tournament of the U.A. Sports Festival, Izuku is brainwashed by Hitoshi's Quirk, who orders him to walk out of bounds. Although Izuku tries to resist, he cannot disobey the order, but when he is about to cross the edge of the ring, Nana and the rest of the previous users appear to Izuku as shadowed mental figures. They uncloud his mind and allow Izuku to use One For All in his fingers, allowing him to escape the trance and win the fight.

Pro Hero Arc

The One For All predecessors will help Izuku.

After Izuku Midoriya falls asleep after an exhausting training session, he experiences the vestiges of One For All. Nana Shimura and the other users of One For All appear in his dream. While Izuku doesn't recognize her, he later identifies her as All Might's master. After the dream concludes, she is seen with the other predecessors blessing Izuku.

The next day, Izuku narrates his dream to All Might. All Might remembers what Nana had told him about the vestiges of One For All. She had speculated that the Quirk stores the will and memories of the previous users in order to activate its power. She had found it romantic that even after her death, all One For All users will meet each other.

My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising

During a devastating battle between a villain with a copy of All For One's Quirk, in a last-ditch effort to defeat him, Izuku transfers One For All to Katsuki Bakugo, even at the cost of rendering himself Quirkless once more. Through the dual power of the One For All's, the two manage to take the villain down, even as the remaining embers of One For All seemingly disappear from Izuku. However, Nana and the other users of One For All, wanting Izuku to continue to harness the power, and recognizing his heroism of being willing to sacrifice his power to save everyone, only temporarily transferred the power over to Katsuki, while the full essence of One For All remains within Izuku. Toshinori tearfully thanks his master and predecessors for staying with Izuku.

Paranormal Liberation War Arc

"Don't forget us."

Despite being long deceased, Nana and the Shimura family contiunes to linger on within Tomura Shigaraki. He voluntarily undergoes a complex and painful four-month operation carried out by Kyudai Garaki to inherit the All For One Quirk. However, the heroes storm the Doctor's labs by interrupting the process with weeks left to complete, and destroying the capsule containing Tomura.

Since his heart is not beating, Tomura is considered dead. However, mentally he is in a mental landscape, where a shadowy version of All For One appears and tells him to come to him. The memories of Tomura's dead family members appear, all desperately trying to stop him from following All For One's footsteps. The last one to appear is Nana Shimura, who grabs the back of his head and telling him to not forget them.

Nana appears before Izuku to help fend off against Tomura and All For One.

Tomura destroys them all without hesitation, telling them not to reject who he is. The crumbling face of Nana watches her grandson walk into his Master's darkness, embracing the path of villainy. During his fight with Tomura, Izuku manifests Nana's Quirk, Float, and uses it to contain Tomura in the sky while pulling his allies to safety using Blackwhip before he goes all out and viciously attacks Tomura with everything he's got.

The Heroes succeed in defeating Tomura, but unfortunately during the course of the fight, the vestige of All For One manages to gain control of Tomura's body and attempts to steal One For All from Izuku. But instead something unexpected happens and Izuku and Tomura are transported into the vestige realms of One For All and All For One. As Izuku struggles to move, he sees that All For One and Tomura are fused together, and they fight to be in control.

Nana meets All For One once again.

Suddenly Nana appears beside Izuku and tells him "they" will help him. She then speaks to All For One and expresses her disgust at seeing him again even after death. All For One is amused with Nana's appearance, taunting her as he explains to Tomura that she is his grandmother.

All For One explains to Nana, as well as Izuku and Tomura, the reason why the vestiges are present in the users of All For One and One For All. When finished, he "invites" Nana and Tomura to greet each other. Nana recognizes him as the child of her son, but Tomura replies that it doesn't matter, with Nana sombrely listening as Tomura admits that no matter how they ended up in this situation, he still hates her and begins eroding the Vestige world away.

Nana and Yoichi help Izuku resist Tomura and All For One.

In order to protect Izuku, Nana resists Tomura's crumbling of One For All, as All For One gloats Tomura's power born of his hatred, even when he himself is affected as well, but considers that it is still not enough when he suddenly sees that Nana is accompanied by his little brother and the first user, Yoichi Shigaraki.

Between the two of them, Nana and Yoichi start to reject Tomura's power, so All For One decides to use his in combination with Tomura's to seize One For All. The villain derides Izuku, claiming to his brother he made a mistake in selecting him. Yoichi refutes his big brother's words, telling him that Izuku is the most suitable heir for his Quirk, and together with Nana they reject All For One, resulting in Izuku and Tomura falling away from each other in the real world, knocking both of them out and stopping Tomura from stealing One For All.

Nana and the other predecessors meet Izuku in the vestige world.

In the aftermath of the battle, while Izuku is in a comatose state, Nana and the other predecessors speak to him about the true nature of One For All. After this discussion, she approaches him and asks if he can kill her grandson, Tomura. She clarifies that it isn't a request, but a question of his resolve. Because of One For All, she reminds him that they were able to telepathically sense his emotions, and they could also sense that he saw him as someone who needed saving. The users all agreed that one must have an incredibly strong will and overbearing emotions in order to override the basic principle of One For All, which means All For One is using Tomura's hatred to complete the job.

Nana asks if Izuku has what is necessary to defeat Tomura, even if it means killing him.

Nana confronts Izuku, confirming to him that Tomura is her grandson, and that the reason he became this way is because she left his father at a young age to fight All For One, feeling all this is her fault. She knows how unfair it is to force this burden onto a young boy, but reminds him that if "that thing" ever reaches its potential and becomes the ultimate evil, no one will be able to stop him. She says that it won't be enough to forgive and understand him because some people cannot be saved, and that if Tomura is one of them, a person who looks like they need saving but can't, does he have the resolve to stop him at all cost?

Nana moved to tears by Izuku's new profound resolve.

After a moment of silence, Izuku says he knows that countless people died and many of his precious friends were hurt because of Tomura, but he stands his ground believing that One For All is a Quirk meant to save lives, not kill; that All Might taught him that, and that he and all the other users who have helped grow and cultivate the power, have in the process saved and brought hope to countless people. He accepts the real possibility that Tomura can only be stopped by killing him, and he doesn't know how he will deal with everything exactly yet, but he still wants to try and save "that little boy", all the while briefly transforming into his child self.

Moved to tears, Nana cries hopeful over Izuku as the first user comforts Nana. She apologizes for testing him like this, telling him to give her best to Gran Torino when he wakes up, admitting that while they made the wrong choice, their successors are determined to make things right.

Dark Hero Arc

Nana and the vestiges are ready to support Izuku.

In the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War, All For One has escaped from Tartarus, and proceeded to break into several more maximum security prisons, liberating the inmates. Due to the chaos inflicted by Gigantomachia and the mass breakout of prisoners, the whole country entered a state of total chaos and anarchy. In addition, many heroes resigned and called it quits because of the massive criticism of their work, and the destruction spreading unchecked.

Izuku decides to leave U.A. and his friends behind in order to protect them so he can hunt down the Villains, with all the users on his side ready to back him up.

Nana expresses concern of Izuku pushing himself to the brink.

However, over the course of about a month, Izuku starts to tire out as he becomes increasingly obsessed with solving every problem all on his own, even ignoring the other Heroes' suggestions to take it easy. Nana and the other inheritors of One For All try to convince him to rest themselves before Danger Sense warns him of another threat and heads off, ignoring their words. In the vestige world, Nana fears that her emotions are getting the better of Izuku, while the other inheritors assure her that by going over his limit, he's acting like a true hero would do. Eventually, it is all through his former classmates that Izuku is finally able to rest easy knowing that they still got his back.

Final War Arc

Nana and the rest of the users unite to confront All For One and Tomura.

As the final battle between the heroes and villains commence in the Final War, Izuku prepares for his final encounter with Tomura. While a snag in the plan delays his arrival, he eventually makes his way over to the U.A. Floating Fortress designed to contain Tomura to fight him. After regaining his bearings upon the initial shock seeing the other Heroes' comatose bodies, Izuku confronts Tomura, who over the course of the battle has transformed himself into a hulking beast covered in fingers, and addresses him as "All For One", asking if Tomura is still within him.

"Tomura" claims that he no longer exists, as he and All For One's psyches have melded together into a perfect new being. However, Mirio Togata reveals that during their battle, the villain reacted to one of his taunts like that of a child, believing them not to be as melded as he thinks. The spirit of Nana looks towards Tomura's left hand, which is comprised of the faces of the deceased Shimura family, including that of her son, Kotaro. Seeing him look at her, she tells Izuku that he is still in there, sparking the battle to resume.

Izuku activates the Quirk of the Second User, Gearshift, and now with all the Quirks unlocked, unleashes the full power of One For All upon Tomura, overpowering him, with Nana and the other predecessors right there behind him. After Izuku destroyed Tomura's absolute defense Form, Tomura releases the pent-up damage in an explosion which weakens All For One's influence over him, allowing Tomura to regain control of his body. Izuku drags Tomura out of the U.A. Floating Fortress to fight him now that all his Quirks have returned.

Over the course of Izuku and Tomura's battle, the real All For One attempts to reach them and retake control of the body, but fails, and is rewound to death due to the effects of a special drug he took. With him now out of the picture for good, the users discuss amongst themselves in the vestige world, with Yoichi telling them not to cling to sentimentality, as now the fight has passed on to the successors, and bringing down Tomura is their entire reason for existing.

Nana and the vestiges are attacked by Tomura.

During the fight, Tomura goes on the offensive and attempts to touch Izuku's face, but he is just barely able to dodge using Danger Sense to slice his fingers off. However, in that brief moment of near contact, Tomura managed to successfully invade the vestige realm. Hikage is the first one to sense the sudden danger, as he turns around to see Tomura's giant hand appearing above, about to consume them. As everyone rushes to evade it, Hikage stands in the way and is caught. As the hand retreats, Hikage tells the others that the Ninth is in their hands, before disappearing. Soon after, his chair crumbles too, with Tomura now in possession of Danger Sense.

With Tomura now effortlessly able to dodge all attacks, Izuku is forced to go on the offensive and takes several blasts from Tomura, being knocked all the way to Mt. Fuji. Bruce warns Izuku about Gearshift being over soon and to focus on surviving until he's recovered, but En anxiously asks why he isn't trying to escape, since now that Tomura has the willpower to steal One For All, without Hikage and Danger Sense, if Izuku gets touched again, he will snatch them all up all at once and it will be the end of everything. Tomura overhears the vestiges speaking to Izuku, declaring that he intends to destroy everything before they can even think about escaping. As he gleefully dances amongst his own destruction, the vestiges realize that he chased them to Mt. Fuji on purpose, as the mountain will erupt when he decays it, and realizing he is no successor to All For One; he only delights in destruction, being "ruin incarnate". Despite this all, Izuku stands his ground, declaring that despite the villain's own insistences on the matter, he is a person.

Izuku constricts his Blackwhip into his muscles to make him move manually and unleashes a massive Delaware Smash to destroy Tomura's Decay area. Despite that, Tomura is still attacking Izuku mercilessly, and with Gearshift's time up, the recoil blowback is kicking in, making him unable to breathe. Just like how Tomura is able to see the One For All vestiges inside him, Tomura tells Izuku to take a deep look inside himself, where there exists a visage of crumbling buildings melded together. He declares that he overcame and buried the crying little kid a while back, that he's gone and his worldview has taken over; only "Tomura Shigaraki" is left and he's doing fine.

With the sight of Tomura's evil maniacal smile, Nana tells Izuku to give up on Tomura because there are some people just can't be saved, and that in the face of the ideals he carries as a hero, he represents an impenetrable wall he doesn't need to overcome. She yells that his only option is to kill him in a single blow to leave nothing behind, to accept it and unleash a strike mightier than before. However, Izuku refuses, wondering why he can't let go of the sad, lonely past of his, knowing he just put a lid over his feelings, and until he shatters the lid completely, he won't stop smashing away at it.

In the vestige realm, Kudo tells the other users that was why he opposed Izuku as a successor, believing his desire to save one's archenemy a delusional madness that will disrupt their destined path. He says it's arrogant thinking born of a naivety, however having observed from within, he knows the truth, Izuku clings to one driving notion; that anyone, whether the most vile among them or the Quirkless, each one of them has an innately human heart, which he wants to believe.

Suddenly, a vestige hand of Star and Stripe points to something at Tomura's warped core, which Kudo and the All Might vestige notice. They realized where she was pointing at: a large mental scar left behind during Tomura's battle with Star and Stripe. Realizing what this means, Kudo has come up with a plan to defeat Tomura.

As Tomura pushes Izuku back to the mountains, Kudo appears before him, explaining what they are going to do. He states that the dark mass within Tomura is as solid as a ball of lead, made up of every piece of anger and frustration inside him, all drawn together into a single mass that represents his unshakable resolve and spirit solidified by raw hatred. However, there is a scar from his fight against Star and Stripe, a mental wound that can't be healed with his Regeneration. Izuku asks what it has to do with One For All, and Kudo explains that after absorbing All For One, Tomura has become so powerful he doesn't stand a chance, so to defeat him they must attack from within, and that by transferring One For All, they can break through the scar, to give his soul a good beating.

Many users protest to this because if the Quirks of One For All get stolen, then Tomura can use them just like Hikage's Danger Sense. Kudo admits there's no guarantee it'll work, but if he goes first, the Gearshift's recoiling backlash will be transferred to Tomura, so Kudo wants Izuku to throw him hard enough into Tomura that he'll shatter into nothing, serving as an attack without giving him control of his power.

Izuku struggles to process all the information, as Nana states she knows he's not reluctant to relinquish power or fear death, no matter how daunting the mission he's charged with is, and that even after coming this far, he still values One For All as an irreplaceable gift from the hero he admires the most. As Tomura starts to rush toward them, Izuku makes his decision and retaliates with a hoard of Blackwhips to consume his body, allowing him to move once again.

As the two charge toward the ground, Izuku blows a large volume of Smokescreen, but Tomura pushes through and touches the ground. Suddenly, Izuku uses a barrage of Blackchains to rip the earth from underneath Tomura, lunging them into the air and preventing Decay from spreading. Izuku uses his cape as a decoy along with a Blackwhip tendril holding Kudo's vestige, distracting Tomura for long enough for Izuku to close in and charge at him with his fist.

Tomura's body begins to instinctively re-enter its "absolute defense" form as fingers start to form around him, and before Tomura can touch him, Izuku executes a point-blank punch right at Tomura's stomach, successfully transferring Gearshift along with Kudo's vestige. Before Tomura can make use of him, Kudo sacrifices himself by successfully hitting the scar in Tomura's soul, causing Tomura to react in shock and pain from Gearshift's recoil.

With Tomura's absolute defense form struggling to adapt, Izuku charges at Tomura once again. Yoichi notices how their memories are blending together, figuring that because One For All and All For One have already been rapidly resonating with each other, Kudo's transfer has caused it to reach a critical point. As Izuku and Tomura scream each other's names, Izuku executes another point-blank punch into Tomura's stomach. Imbued within his fist, Nana and the other users try to transfer into Tomura, but through sheer willpower alone, Tomura rejects the transfer. However, En was the only one who managed to get through and sacrifices himself by successfully piercing right through the scar, inflicting more damage on Tomura.

Nana and Izuku have finally reached Tomura's origin.

After much struggle, Izuku manages to plow through the endless horde of fingers from Tomura before he executes another powerful punch right into Tomura's chest, with seemingly all the remaining vestiges transferred into his body, severely damaging the leaden soul. However, Nana was unable to get through, looking around to see Yoichi, Bruce, Daigoro, and All Might gone, realizing she was the only one who got repelled. Remembering Tomura's words about hating her too, as well as Kotaro crying for her not to leave, she realizes it's not because he hates her, but it's her own weakness to blame.

Izuku finds himself within Tomura's core, facing the Shimura Family household. She reappears before Izuku, informing him how they are now deep in Tomura's subconscious, and as a successor himself, his thoughts take solid form and can affect each other physically within the vestige realm. She apologizes for being the only one to get repelled, but Izuku says he's glad she's still there with him. She continues to explain how this place is Tomura's core and his origin, where he's at his most vulnerable and fragile, so Izuku will have to reach out and strike at that origin directly.

Upon opening the door to the house, they are faced with a photo of Nana and Kotaro that Hana showed Tenko, as that memory plays, surprising Nana and Izuku. They enter the house where they witness Kotaro slapping a silhouetted Tenko, shocking the both of them, and in particular horrifying Nana. Izuku tries to rush toward Tenko, but is blocked by a force field, worried that he's being rejected again despite being so close. Nana breaks down in tears when she hears Kotaro call her a monster that abandoned her child, realizing he didn't keep the photo because he wanted to, but because it served as a constant reminder of what she had done and how it hurt him so much that he couldn't move on from it. As he states that Heroes are just people who hurt their own families to help strangers, Nana thinks about all that time he couldn't bear to abandon it, and the scars and pain she inflicted on him were passed down to Tomura, wondering if she had taken down All For One and returned to him.

Apologizing to Kotaro for being a weak mother, Izuku calls out to Nana and the both of them lunge at the Shimuras, with Nana stopping Kotaro and Izuku touching Tenko. Nana apologizes to Kotaro for not making it back home to him, and to Tenko saying she's to blame just as she fades away, and transferring herself into Tomura as the leaden soul is finally completely destroyed.