Warning: SPOILERS for My Hero Academia episode #157
My Hero Academiaanime season 7, episode 19 shows theclimax of the Todoroki family and Dabi’s storyline, specifically the villain’s last resort to get his revenge on Endeavor, and the reunion with the rest of his family. Although Toya Todoroki is one of the characters inMy Hero Academiathat has suffered the most, since in the end he only wanted the attention and love of his family to the point of being consumed by hatred and revenge,a moment in the manga, cut from the anime, makes Dabi’s story even more tragic.
My Hero Academiaepisode #157is not only considered one of the best episodes for its masterful direction and animation, but also for having one of the most emotional scenes of the series, the final clash of the Todoroki, where, just as Dabi is about to explode, he awakens the quirk of his mother Rei, which starts to freeze him from inside to keep him alive. This is attributed by Endeavor to be because he was in a life-or-death situation, buta conversation inMHAchapter #387 confirms that Dabi had the ice quirk from the start.
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Shutting Down Toya’s Dream of Being a Hero Wasn’t Necessary
Dabi awakening his mother’s quirk can be explained by a conversation inMHAchapter #387where Geten, the front lieutenant of the Paranormal Liberation Army, tells Mr. Compress about his family history, revealing he is also a Himura, which means he is a relative of Shoto’s mother Rei, and that their ancestors married between distant branch families to maintain their power and status, so their blood runs thick, which causes some to have a dormant quirk within them. This makes Dabi’s outcome even more tragic, as he had the potential from the beginning to use both his parents’ quirks.
With each generation, meta-abilities grow more complex. Deeper and richer, like layered sediment in a body with some powers lying dormant, unbeknownst to the user - Geten
This is also reinforced by the fact that Toya shows his mother’s features, such as white hair, a physical trait of the Himura.This means that Toya didn’t have to stop trying to be a hero.If Endeavor had investigated Rei’s family background and helped Toya embrace that nature and develop the ice quirk instead of ignoring his feelings and just telling him to stop, the Todoroki family fallout wouldn’t have happened. Dabi was too focused on using his fire to be stronger than Endeavor, so he may never awaken his ice quirk in any other way than in a survival situation.
Shoto Todoroki Wasn’t Endeavor’s Masterpiece
Dabi Was Stronger Than Shoto
Dabi’s potential was also acknowledged by Shoto in a line in the originalMHAchapter #390 from Shōnen Jump, which was later cut in the volume release and also from the anime adaptation, where Shoto said that Dabi’s flames reach an even higher heat than he could ever achieve and that maybe he wasn’t the masterpiece of his father after all.
He reached uncharted territory where I can’t tread. Maybe… I was never actually the masterpiece creation. Shoto Todoroki
However, the reason this line of dialogue was removed and redrawn inMy Hero Academiavolume 39 could be to give the chapter a more hopeful conclusion, notfocusing on Endeavor’s mistakesbut on his apology to his family and the fact that Shoto was able to stop Dabi thanks to the support of his family. While Toya could have been the successor that his father wanted, Endeavor’s mistake was failing to look properly at his son and attempt to understand his feelings. This way,Dabi grew up to become stronger than Shoto, due to his dream to take revenge on his family.
Dabi’s power was enhanced by his hatred but was also destroying him, but Shoto’s true strength was his drive to not give up on saving othersand being able to rely on others like he was supported by Ida. Ultimately, Dabi and Shoto’s clash wasn’t about who was the best masterpiece but how being blinded by greed and obsession leads to an abusive cycle and how Shoto was able to break free and stop the tragedy. Nevertheless, as Toya had the ice quirk dormant within him and only awakened when his body was already beyond repair, that makes Dabi’s story even more tragic.
My Hero Academia
Cast
Anime series My Hero Academia follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without superpowers in a world where most have them. Despite his lack of abilities, he enrolls in a prestigious hero academy, striving to learn the true essence of heroism and fulfill his dream of becoming a hero.
