Warning: SPOILERS for My Hero Academia Season 6 episode #130.The My Hero Academia anime has recently exposed the past of one of the series’ most vicious villains, Dabi, who is actually Toya Todoroki, the son of the no.1 Pro Hero, Endeavor. Dabi’s disturbing appearance and his powerful flame Quirk, which surpasses even that of his father, have an explanation that is rooted in the tragic past of the Todoroki family.
Dabi was originally introduced as a member of the League of Villains, a group of young criminals trying to destroy the so-called “hero society”. Dabi’s skin is stitched up and burned, which he explained by saying that he is not immune to the flames produced by his own Quirk, Blueflame. Dabi’s flames are actually so powerful that they surpass even those of Endeavor’s Hellflame Quirk. In the first clash between Dabi and his brother, Shoto, the latter was utterly defeated, despite having inherited his father’s flames and his mother Rei’s ice-based Qurik, which was Endeavor’s goal in order to create the perfect power that would surpass All Might.
Endeavor’s Abuse Made Dabi’s Powers Stronger Than His Owm
Episode #130 of My Hero Academia reveals more details about Toya’s tragic past, explaining his hideous look and powerful flames. Toya was Endeavor and Rei’s first child. He failed to inherit both his parents’ Quirks, but he was born with a flame power stronger than Endeavor’s, which satisfied his father, who began training Toya to become the top hero. However, soon Endeavor discovered that Toya had not inherited his resistance to heat, but his mother’s resistance to cold, which made him vulnerable to his own flames. To stop him from hurting himself, Endeavor forced Toya to give up on becoming a hero, but it was already too late because the boy had already taken the full burden of his father’s frustrated ambition.
After asking Endeavor to meet him at their old training spot in the mountains to showcase his new blue flames, Toya loses control of his powers due to the emotional turmoil when his father refuses to show up, burning down the entire mountain. Toya is caught up in the fire but miraculously survives (the reason why he survived and turned into the villain Dabi will be explained later in the anime). However, he has serious degrees of burns all over his body, which explains his look. Dabi’s powerful blue flames are also a result of his father’s twisted behavior. When training, he never taught Toya how to control his flames, but only how to increase the heat, obsessed with his ambition of having his son surpass All Might. Together with his hatred and resentment, this makes Dabi’s flames more powerful than Endeavor’s or Shoto’s.
Dabi is one of the most tragic characters in My Hero Academia. He bears his scars as a mark of his father’s abusive behavior, while the strength of Dabi’s rage fuels his Blueflame, making it one of the most destructive Quirks ever seen. Every time that Dabi uses his flames he destroys his own body, but he doesn’t care because his only motivation is to make Endeavor suffer, dismantling his reputation in the eyes of the world and destroying his “favorite toy”, his brother Shoto.
Season 6 of My Hero Academia is streaming on Crunchyroll.
