Kohei Horikoshi has always worked towards making captivating villains. My Hero Academia has its fair share of antagonists and some hit the mark while others do not. Many of them have an impact that is worth remembering while others get left behind. The range is never-ending and while the series may be awaiting the release of the final chapter there are just some villains who cannot be felt bad for.
The means to make a good villain often come with a good backstory. Moreover, it also becomes integral that the antagonists have strong motives that help their cause. If a villain, no matter how sad their story may be, is badly executed, there is little to no chance that fans would respond well to it.
Kohei Horikoshi’s Sympathetic Villain
Spinner or Shuichi Iguchi is one of the members of the League of Villains and also the only one to survive the final war. In most cases, if a sad backstory is given to antagonists, fans usually tend to sympathize with them, and as their popularity grows, so does their reliability. Oftentimes many of these characters either get redemption or repentance.
Spinner is a character who starts out in the world of My Hero Academia as someone who is alone and secluded and also ends up alone despite the many friends he made. His friendship with Shigaraki is one that many fans cherished and to see that despite the growth he saw, his fate was tied in a tightrope with no escape.
After the events of the final battle, he alone stands alive, as everyone else he learned to care for was either imprisoned or killed. It was a fate worse than death yet inescapable at the same time.
Some Fates Cannot be Undone
While the formula works in most cases, it cannot always be the same pattern. A sad ending or a tragic past alone does not define an antagonist’s repentance no matter how bad it may be. Shuichi Iguro’s case was no different. He may have no one else left in the world but that isn’t enough to make the fans feel as if Kohei Horikoshi was too harsh on him. Sympathy doesn’t necessarily mean that what happened was wrong.
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The deeds committed by Spinner weren’t something that could be easily forgiven. He was a villain who committed horrible crimes. His story may have been heartbreaking and tragic but that isn’t enough to let fans melt their hearts for him either. Many of them even believe that the fate he got, no matter how bad, was something he should have anticipated seeing how he also deserved it.
In fact, it is more so that his entire journey came a full circle, starting the same way and ending the same. If anything, it is poetic instead of being unjust. While it was a harsh fate to be tied to, there is nothing that can be done about it at the end of the day.
My Hero Academia is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
