Deku’s Carnage Form: My Hero Academia’s Spider-Man Inspiration

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Learn about the symbolism behind Deku’s villainous looks

Co-authored by Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: November 21, 2025 Fact Checked

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Carnage Form Explained

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“Carnage Deku” Name Explained

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Appearance Symbolism

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Other Spider-Man References

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My Hero Academia is a story about a world of heroes and villains, and Deku’s “Carnage” form toes the line between said heroes and villains. But what exactly is the “Carnage” form, and why does it look so villainous in the first place? In this article, we break down Deku’s “Overlay” ability, more commonly known as “Carnage Deku,” explain why it’s called “Carnage Deku,” and more! Read on to learn all about this villainous-looking form (and the symbolism behind Deku’s villainous looks).

What is Deku’s “Carnage” form?

Deku’s “Carnage” form is a form he takes on after activating his “Overlay” ability. With “Overlay,” he uses his Blackwhip Quirk to force his body to move. Not only does this give him black undertones under his skin and jaw, but it also causes him to sprout tendrils and claws, just like the Marvel villain, Carnage.

Section 1 of 4:

Deku’s “Carnage” Form Explained

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Deku’s “Carnage” form is the result of him using Blackwhip to move. In My Hero Academia’s final battle against Tomura Shigaraki, Deku’s body is immobilized by the Gearshift Quirk. To force his body to move, Deku wraps the Blackwhip Quirk (basically ropes of energy he controls) around his muscles and tendons. This results in a villainous look, with claws, four tendrils sprouting from his back, two more from his torso, some underneath his skin, and more around his jaw.^{[1]
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- This move is officially known as “Overlay,” but fans of My Hero Academia have dubbed it “Carnage Deku.”

Section 2 of 4:

Why is “Overlay” called “Carnage Deku?”

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The “Overlay” form resembles the Marvel villain Carnage. Like Carnage, Deku’s “Overlay” form grants him tendrils that he can control at will. Not only that, but the Blackwhip underneath his skin resembles the dark undertones on Carnage’s character design. This has led to many fans referring to the form as “Carnage Deku.” Even the series creator, Kohei Horikoshi, calls the form “Carnage,” acknowledging the comic-book inspiration.^{[2]
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- Unlike Deku, Carnage is a bloodthirsty villain who is hellbent on causing destruction. He’s a symbiotic creature with red skin and black undertones.

Section 3 of 4:

Symbolism of Deku Looking Villainous

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In season 6, Deku looks villainous because of his mental state. During the “Vigilante Deku” arc, Deku isolates himself from the people around him to protect them from All For One and Shigaraki, the villains after his quirk. During this isolation, he only focuses on protecting others. As he fights and evades villains, his costume gets dirty and torn, his other Quirks manifest, and he continues to ignore his own needs, which reflects in his villainous look.
- As a result of his appearance, citizens begin to acknowledge how he doesn’t look like a hero at all, and many even start to fear him.
- This was during an especially tumultuous time in Deku’s life, as he was still recovering from Shigaraki laying waste to the city and felt like he couldn’t stay around his friends without putting them in danger.
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In season 8, his appearance challenges people’s beliefs about heroes and villains. Although Deku has the heart of a hero and is willing to do anything to protect others, the lengths he goes to do so (like using Overlay) make him look like a villain. This challenges a long-held belief in the My Hero Academia universe: that you can judge a person by their Quirk. This belief has put many people, including Shigaraki and Himiko Toga, on the path to villainy, and Deku’s villainous appearance challenges it head-on.
- Even when Deku is using his Overlay technique, he is trying to save Shigaraki from his own villainy, showing how deep his heroic heart goes despite his villainous appearance.

Section 4 of 4:

More Spider-Man References in My Hero Academia

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Blackwhip refers to Spider-Man’s webs and legs. Aside from the color differences, the two abilities function exactly the same, and with Horikoshi’s admitted inspiration from Spider-Man, it makes sense. Once Deku unlocks the Blackwhip Quirk granted to him by One For All, he uses it to swing around areas, trap villains, catch debris, and connect to allies for combo attacks, just like Spider-Man uses his webs.^{[3]
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Danger Sense refers to Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense. Just like Spider-Man has the ability to sense any danger coming his way, Deku’s Danger Sense alerts him to any dangerous intentions coming his way. This makes it so he’s extremely hard to hit, as he knows when danger is coming before it can reach him, just like everyone’s favorite webhead!^{[4]
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The villain Muscular was inspired by Venom. Venom is one of Spider-Man’s archenemies. He’s a hulking maniac who is hellbent on taking down the webhead. Horikoshi was such a fan of Venom that he modeled one of the first major villains, Muscular, after him. The two share the same hulking appearance, are both determined to crush their enemies, and can wrap themselves in pounds of flesh (both muscular and symbiotic) to increase their durability.^{[5]
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- The two also don’t care about much besides ruining the lives of others, making them both captivating villains in their respective series.
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Spider-Man appears in the first chapter of My Hero Academia. In the first chapter, when Deku is explaining how Quirks work, a few heroes appear on the page. Among them are silhouettes of Superman, Moon Knight, and most notably, Spider-Man. While the web-slinger doesn’t appear anywhere else in the series, his appearance is nostalgic for readers and shows how much Horikoshi values the hero.^{[6]
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