Characters / My Hero Academia - Endeavor

My Hero Academia Main Character Index
U.A. High School Students: Class 1-A (1-10, 11-20, Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki, Ochaco Uraraka) | Class 1-B | Students From Other Classes
Pro Heroes: School Faculty and Staff (Shota Aizawa | All Might) | Other Heroes (Endeavor) | One For All and Its Torch Bearers
Villains: Known Villains [Stain] (League of Villains [All For One, Tomura Shigaraki, Dabi, Himiko Toga, Vanguard Action Squad, Artificial Humans], Shie Hassaikai, Meta Liberation Army, Paranormal Liberation Front, Villain Army)
Others: Police and Government Workers | Civilians (Main Characters' Families) | Other High Schools
Characters From Other My Hero Academia Media: Video Game Characters | Movie Characters
Vigilantes: Main Characters | Villain Factory | Supporting Characters
Team Up Mission

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Enji Todoroki — Endeavor

Flame Hero

^{Click here to see his first hero costume} "Just Watch Me."

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English), Manuel Bastos (Latin American Spanish/TV series)

Debut: Chapter 28 (Manga), Episode 17 (Anime)

Playable in: My Hero One's Justice, My Hero One's Justice 2

Quirk: Hellflame

"I have no intention of asking for forgiveness after all that's happened. It may well be too late, but... all I can do is atone. That is the only path forward."

Shoto Todoroki's father, the 2nd-highest ranked hero in Japan. As a pro hero, he's one of the best, beating out even All Might in the number of cases he's resolved. As a father, though? He leaves a lot to be desired.

At the start of the series, he was obsessed with surpassing All Might and becoming the top hero of Japan, which he planned to do through Shoto, whom he "made" with those specific intentions in mind. After All Might retires, however, Endeavor is thrust into the number one spot, unprepared to deal with the pressure that holding such a position brings, and unsatisfied with how he got the position in the first place. This sudden change causes him to reflect on his life, how he presents himself, how he treats others, his feelings toward his family, what it means to be a symbol, and who exactly he wants to be as a hero.

He possesses the fire-based Quirk "Hellflame", a simple ability that allows him to produce and manipulate intense fire at will. While his Quirk does give him a natural resistance to heat, he can still overheat himself by using too much of his power at once.

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# - G

• '90s Anti-Hero: While his reasons for becoming a hero have yet to be explained, Endeavor doesn’t give off the same altruistic and reliable aura that the other heroes in the story have. Instead, he is professional but very antagonistic towards other heroes, students, and even fans. He has absolutely no regard for anyone else, is always moody and surly, uses a lot of force when in battle, and is emotionally consumed by rage. His intimidating appearance and status as a Nominal Hero is only compounded by his red flames and black costume. He is particularly furious that All Might, an idealistic Silver Age-style hero, always seems to one-up him in the public eye. He has since become a father, bringing his anti-hero morality into parenthood. His son, Shoto, absolutely hates him with every ounce of his being, and refuses to use the powers he inherited from him to spite him before it finally gets through to him that he's not going to get far as a Hero if he intentionally limits himself to half of his available moves and that his father is the best person to learn how to use them properly from. He's also the only hero on-screen to kill the Nomus he fights, and only considered capturing Hood for information, but quickly threw that out the window when it was clear that if he didn't kill it there would be a repeat of the Kamino incident. Considering what Nomus are though, it could actually be seen as a Mercy Kill. In fact, Chapters 253-254 reveal that the Nomu can be freakish puppets with no soul of their own.
  • And also, many of these downsides are becoming a bit downplayed as the series goes on, showing that he can get along with other heroes in teamwork and does value his subordinates in his agency.
• Absurdly Youthful Mother: Implied and Gender Inverted. Endeavor is 45 (46 as of current) while his second oldest child, Fuyumi, is 22 (23 as of current) Given the age gaps between the rest of his children (being 24, 23, 19, and 16 in descending order), Endeavor became a father at twenty-two.
• Abusive Parent: As revealed by Shoto, Endeavor treats him like a tool to surpass All Might, even going as far as to have a Quirk marriage to produce a child with ice and fire properties. Shoto was isolated from his elder siblings and his father subjected to Training from Hell at the age of four. Endeavor was responsible for his wife's mental unstability, which caused her to splash scalding water on Shoto, scarring him. After All Might's retirement, Endeavor expressed remorse for his actions and begins to build a more positive relationship with Shoto. Flashbacks reveal that Endeavor wasn't always abusive. Although he did pursue a Quirk marriage, initially there was mutual understanding between him and Rei, and the first two of their children, Toya and Fuyumi, were born consensually. Endeavor originally wanted his eldest son Toya to succeed him and wasn't harsh towards him while training. However, after discovering that Toya's physical constitution was incompatible with his Quirk, Endeavor tried to discourage him out of concern. However, rather than properly communicate with Toya, Endeavor avoided training him, proceed to try for more children resulting in the birth of Natsuo and Shoto, and finally focusing on training Shoto instead. Toya felt abandoned, which resulted in a great accident where he was presumed to be dead. Unable to express sorrow, combined with his obsession to surpass All Might, Endeavor became harsher and abusive towards Shoto, which strained his family. Although Endeavor genuinely came to regret his behaviour, he was aghast when Toya emerged as the villain named Dabi. Toya broadcasted Endeavor's abusive past across the nation and promised to make him suffer.
• Action Dad: Maybe a bad one towards Shoto and his siblings but also a very powerful flame hero.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • The anime adaptation gives him some more scenes assisting the heroes at Hosu in fighting the Nomus, where he gets to show exactly why he's the #2 hero.
• Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. As the key scenes are already in the manga, just given more context.
  • For Chapter 301, the anime heavily implies that Enji forced Rei to have a 4th child (Shoto) with him, after their previous attempts of having "a perfect child" (Natsuo) failed. With Enji even giving her a Death Glare while news of All Might's victories played in the background. It's also possibly made to show that Endeavor is mentally ''really'' not well in his head. In the manga, this scene was not present, and instead a panel of Endeavor seemingly frustrated with All Might's achievements followed by a panel of Rei looking somewhat calm before immediately cut to a panel of her with a horrified look.
  • For Chapter 302, the anime actually shows, by audio cues, that Enji did hit Rei while he yells at her for not dissuading Toya from training. In the manga, it was only implied through Shoto's cries of "Stop bullying mom!!" and Rei being on the floor.
• Always Second Best: He's always second to All Might even after trying for decades to surpass him, something Endeavor can't stand. He's obsessed with knocking All Might off the position — even using his own son as a tool to do so. Even after achieving the very thing he sought for so long via a technicality, the public opinion makes it clear he's still second-best to All Might, something Endeavor himself admits in Chapter 164. Rather darkly the only person to consider him on the same level of All Might is All For One. As his injuries worsen in battle he grimly applauds Endeavor for making him feel fear, something that only All Might had ever done.
• Always Someone Better: As mentioned above, All Might is this to him.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Shockingly so in the Remedial Course Arc. He tries, in his own way, to encourage Shoto to pass the remedial exams. Unfortunately, Shoto preferred not to make eye contact with his father.
• An Arm and a Leg: Endeavor sacrificed his right arm from All for One's Rivets Stabs while using his body to shield Hawks, Tokoyami, and Jiro from most of it.
• Anti-Role Model: As a husband and a father, he's a pretty big failure, having put his family through emotional and physical abuse for his own ambitions though the scale of it remains unknown. As a professional hero, he's very skilled at his job and even applies detective work to it. It's why even Shoto admits there's something to be learned from him. Over time, it becomes evident that for his abysmal personal life, he is a very competent professional.
• Ascended Extra: From a secondary character in the first chapters, he gets much more focus when he becomes officialy #1 Hero starting from The Pro Hero arc.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The anime and Vigilantes show that he's the #2 hero for a reason, mopping the floor with most villains and even taking on a Nomu single-handedly that several other pros struggled to handle, establishing that he's second only to All Might in terms of raw power. This trope is played much more straight when All Might loses his powers and is forced to retire, making Endeavor the strongest hero by default.
• The Atoner:
  • He strives to live up to his status as a hero while also to make up for what's he done to his family ever since circumstances and major events made him have a Heel Realization. Deconstructed since while he's genuinely willing to atone, he has possibly too much to make up for. Several years of emotional and physical abuse on his family are nowhere near easily forgivable, if at all. Out of his family, only his daughter, Fuyumi, is willing to give him some sort of benefit of a doubt; his wife, Rei, recognizes his efforts but still can’t see him due to the emotional and mental scars he left on her; and his remaining sons, Natsuo and Shoto, still don't want anything to do with him, and Natsuo, in particular, is quick to call him out the first chance he gets. Shoto, is dead set in the middle, wanting to see him improve, but can't forgive him for causing his mother so much stress. He's painfully aware of all of it, yet continues to try and atone anyway, as it's the only thing he can do. Even moreso, he genuinely wants to do his best to make up for causing the death of Toya, his oldest son, and felt regretful for it happening long before his Heel Realization. After the fight with the villain Ending, he concludes that the only way that he can help his family is to take himself out of the equation, living by himself in their old abode while Fuyumi and Natsuo move into a new house with Rei.
  • Reconstructed in the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War upon facing Rei for the first time in a decade, where Rei and he agree to put aside their differences in a joint effort to prevent Toya/Dabi from completely destroying the last remnants of the family, both acknowledging their roles in what Toya/Dabi has become. In the bargain, Shoto, Fuyumi and Natsuo also agree to call it a truce and close ranks for the time being. Whether or not this will produce lasting effects on the family remains to be seen.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Endeavor is a practitioner of situational awareness, and wants his trainees to learn that skill.
• Bad Powers, Bad People: Zig-zagged. A Quirk that gives the user the power to generate high-temperature fire called "Hellflame" seems pretty terrifying at first glance. However, Endeavor uses this power to be an extremely competent pro hero who earned his position as #2. It's just in his personal life that this is played straight, as his abuse caused his son Shoto to think of his Playing with Fire side as a 'bad power'. Then he gets his Jerkass Realization and tries to be solely a force for good, but runs into Reformed, but Rejected.
• Baritone of Strength: He is a tall, muscular, and extremely powerful Pro-Hero who has a deep and intimidating voice to match.
  • Also Authority Sounds Deep, since he is a high ranking Pro-Hero and runs his own Hero agency.
• Base-Breaking Character: In-universe. Some people love him for being a steely tough guy and a formidable force as a pro-hero and gloss over his negative qualities, but there is also a sizable camp of detractors with intense hatred of him, and for good reason. Endeavor later recognizes this status when he becomes the #1 hero and tries to better himself to get on the good side of people... Ironically, that effort actually loses him one disappointed fanboy who actually liked him more as a jerk.
• Becoming the Mask: Played with. He tells Deku and Bakugo outright he's only mentoring them because they don't really interfere with his work. Though it's indicated he grows to have genuine respect for their Hero pursuits and isn't a bad teacher.
• Berserk Button: Like Bakugo, he really hates cheapened victories or achievements. Accomplishing the title of the new Number 1 on account of technicality pissed him off so badly he destroyed his training room in a rage.
• Big Good: Officially becomes this after being promoted to the top hero as a result of All Might's retirement. A significant part of the story's later half is how he adjusts to this role and the effect it has on the people around him, particularly his family.
• Birds of a Feather: Endeavor shares a trait with each of his three trainees. All four of them have one thing in common: the ambition to surpass All Might.
  • In Midoriya's case, both have Quirks that seriously harm them if they go overboard. Additionally, both of them are highly intelligent and analytical people. In fact, Endeavor is the first person so far who can follow Midoriya's Techno Babble without any visible confusion. Bizarrely enough, this makes Endeavor a much more effective teacher to Izuku than All Might because he can understand him better.
  • Both Bakugo and Endeavor share the same aggressive temperament and similar Quirks. Both of them value strength over everything else, but are trying to become better people as well. Both of them try to assert their egos in petty ways. After getting a dose of Humble Pie and Jerkass Realization, both try their hardest to make amends to the people that they offended in the past.
  • Shoto may disdain being compared to his father, but they do have similar personalities, at least in the sense of being serious and solemn people (to the point of being the Comically Serious whenever they are teamed with goofier people) and not being very sociable (even when Shoto warms up, he is still pretty awkward.)
• Blood Knight: He clearly enjoys the thrill of a good fight. Such as when he gets jealous of Edgeshot rushing into the fight against the League of Villains.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: At the climax of his battle against the High-End Nomu Hood, Endeavor falls back on the motto of U.A., his alma mater, and shouts "Plus Ultra" in a parallel to All Might's battle against the first Nomu at the U.S.J. and as a sign of his desire to continue the legacy of the Number One Hero by going back to the heroic ideals he once scorned. Fittingly, he also mimics All Might's pose after his victory over All for One to similarly inspire the onlooking crowds, though Endeavor consciously raises his right arm to draw comparison to but not directly copy All Might.
• Break the Haughty: Not exactly “haughty”, but still an incredibly selfish and self-serious man. By the conclusion of the Hideout Raid Arc, he undergoes a very gradual and rather poignant version of this as his “ambitions”, worldviews, and self-image all come crashing down bit-by-bit as he is forced to confront how unheroic he has been. It culminates in the epilogue to the Paranormal Liberation War arc where the revelation of Dabi being his long-lost son, Toya; as well as his role in indirectly causing the collapse of Hero Society (and, to an extent, Japan’s infrastructure) break him to the point he is a sobbing wreck who has lost the will to live. He is humbled even further when his wife - whom he abused to the point of insanity - presents herself and gives him a very stern, but encouraging pep-talk to help him overcome his DEH.
• Broken Base: In-universe. Endeavor's sudden rise to the #1 spot caused him to become a controversial figure in society, between those supporting him, which goes on to spawn a positive meme called "Can't Ya See-Kun" with people trying to express their positive opinions and trust in Endeavor, and those who think he pales in comparison to All Might, both as a symbol and as a hero.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Endeavor's sole purpose in life was to stand beside or even exceed All Might. He even went so far as to use his family to achieve that goal. In the end, this is subverted as he still respects All Might and views him as better then him even after his initial rage at his retirement and weak form.
  • It's all but shown how Toya used to idolize him as a child and wanted to be just like him. However, once Endeavor all but rejected and emotionally neglected him, due to Toya's quirk lacking a resistance to fire, in favor of Shoto who had a better quirk with no drawbacks to fulfill his ambition, Toya felt betrayed by his father. It wasn't long until he almost died but his family presumed he did.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": Endeavor's costumes both prominently feature the Kanji for fire,(火) stylized in the flame patterns on his chest, the first more directly, and the second through negative space. Additionally, his belt in the second costume has a buckle with a stylized Kanji for flame (炎).
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: A twisted example in which the expected quirkiness of this is instead replaced with pure selfish Jerkassery that somehow doesn't affect his effectiveness as a hero. Though his jerkass behavior and lack of charisma are stated in-universe why he has no chance at being the #1 hero over All Might, and was only able to achieve it on a technicality. At the same time, he does have a fanbase, some of which seem to like that he's a jerk or at the very least, that he is a '90s Anti-Hero.
  • On the other hand, he is still a very effective hero. He has mastered his Quirk to its limit, is a proactive and intelligent hero with a keen analytical mind and can be a surprisingly good teacher. He is able to follow Izuku's explanations quite well and relate because of their dangerous Quirks.
• Byronic Hero: Played for Drama. While Endeavor is committed to being a hero, his personality and actions are anything but heroic. The latter half of the series explores this as he now has to confront the results of his selfish and self-destrctive actions and how they have impacted those around him, while still staying true to his heroic nature. Chapter 356 reveals his personality was the result of watching his father die protecting a young girl, and how Endeavor did not want to die in such a way.
• Character Check:
  • He starts changing in an attempt to become a better hero after assuming the title of #1 hero. In the Pro Hero Arc, a scene of Natsuo and Fuyumi visiting Rei is meant to remind the reader of what he has done to his family after Natsuo grimly reminiscences about it. Natsuo is almost certain to not forgive him, Fuyumi seems ready to (her wanting her family back), Rei implies she may eventually forgive him and Shoto is all but explicit that while he may in the future, he isn't ready. As for Toya, he is deceased as far as the family knows with anything about his personality being an engima. Actually, Toya ended up becoming an infamous supervillain, Dabi and he declares that he will never let Enji escape his sins.
  • The Endeavor Internship arc also reminds the viewer that while Endeavor is Japan's best hero, as well as a surprisingly good mentor, he's still a jerk. He tells Bakugo and Midoriya that he only took them on as interns because Shoto asked him to, and mentions in passing that their success or failure won't affect his work as Endeavor.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: He does not possess Super-Strength as a Quirk at all, and despite that he has performed feats of physical power that while pale in comparison to what All Might and Deku are capable of, are very clearly superhuman in nature. The only explanation is that he's just natually that strong. It does help that he's built like a body builder.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Introduced way before his son and the dramatic plotline that involves them.
• Chest Insignia: It's subtle, but his costume has the Japanese character "火" for "fire" emblazoned across it. His first costume has it flaming with his Quirk, while his second costume has it in black, reflecting his newer, calmer attitude.
• Combat Pragmatist: When he fights a Nomu with regenerative powers, he boosts the temperature of his flames until its cells have carbonized and can't regenerate anymore.
• The Comically Serious: His first attempts at trying to become more approachable to others are played for laughs when he tries to do it with a die-hard fan of his, who thinks playing foul makes him cooler.
• Convection, Schmonvection: Subverted. While his Required Secondary Powers makes him resistant to his own fire, using especially hot and compressed flames raises his internal body temperature and weakens him physically. This is why he chose Rei as his wife, as her Ice Quirk would allow their children to counterbalance this lowering their body temperature. This is also why he tries to end all of his fights in one hit, since extensive use of his finishing moves will wear him down.
• Costume Evolution: Part of his new costume includes fingerless gloves.
• Create Your Own Villain: As the result of his obsession to surpass All Might and become the Number One hero at all costs, his biggest failure as a father and a hero turns out to be his accidental creation of Dabi, who is one of the nation's worst serial killers and mass terrorists and Endeavor's own long lost eldest son, Toya Todoroki. While Shoto did grow up bitter and detached, he was able to recover thanks to his friends. However, Toya was driven utterly insane by Endeavor's extreme abuse and neglect. The result is a violent, cruel man hell-bent on not only destroying hero society completely but on making sure that his father remains haunted by his past mistakes for the rest of his days.
• Daddy Didn't Raise No Criminal: During the Paranormal Liberation War Dabi reveals himself as Toya Todoroki, his eldest son whom everyone assumed dead. When faced with this revelation Endeavor claims Toya is dead and that Dabi take back that "despicable lie" about his son only for Dabi to throw the truth back at him.
• Darwinist Desire: Likely subverted. Word choice gave the interpretation that he only married Rei to have a child with Combo Platter Powers who could be strong enough to surpass All Might as the greatest superhero. However, it's later revealed he chose her to have someone balance his Quirk's weaknesses. Furthermore, the revelations of everyone's ages (except for Toya's who could still be speculated mathmatically), reveals Endeavor was barely out of adolescence when he became a father, subverting this. Further evidence lies in how the film Two Heroes shows us All Might's early years took place in America, so he wasn't known to Endeavor up until at least Fuyumi was born and possibly even Natsuo.
• A Day in the Limelight: He becomes the protagonist of The Pro Hero Arc, and it focuses specifically on his dynamic with #2 hero Hawks, and how he adjusts as his new role as the top hero and trying to reconnect with his family.
• Death Glare: As Yoarashi bitterly reminisces, his eyes are full of hatred, and he's rarely ever seen not scowling. It's capable of putting fear into the fearless. The change in his eyes after the talk with All Might shows that he is probably truly changing for the better.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype:
  • Deconstructs Unknown Rival. Endeavor is motivated by being the best and initially sought to become equal to surpass All-Might. Unfortunately, the physical limitations of his Quirk inhibit him, even after All Might's own crippling. He eventually turns to his children in the hopes they will surpass him and All-Might later on. His wife undergoes Sanity Slippage, injures one of her children and gets put into a mental institution; their eldest son, his initial successor, is seemingly dead due to gaining flames hotter than Endeavor's while inheriting his mother's lack of fire resistance, causing his body to be unable to handle his own Quirk; two middle children suffer from Parental Neglect (with the older of the two getting Promotion to Parent and becoming the only force that holds the remnants of the family together); and the youngest one, Shoto, is subjected to Training from Hell and isolation from his peers since he was 5, which in the long run leaves him with PTSD and No Social Skills. And to top it all off, Endeavor does become a #1 Hero... not due to his own accomplishments, but solely because All Might is forced to retire, thus making everything he subjected his family to All for Nothing.
  • Immediately afterwards, he deconstructs The Atoner. After winning the #1 Hero spot on a technicality, a heart-to-heart with All Might convinces Endeavor to reevaluate his life and attempt to fix his mistakes regarding his family. However, Endeavor quickly learns that there are some things that are impossible to reconcile. His wife still fears him, Natsuo still hates him, Fuyumi is willing to be civil for the sake of the family, and Shoto is still on the fence about actually forgiving him. It all boils to a head when Natsuo is attacked by the villain Ending. Endaeavor realizes that the damage done to his family is irreparable and decides the best way for them to heal is to cut himself out of their lives. To that end, he moves his family to a safer location while he lives at their old house alone. But then things take a turn for the worst during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc where he learns that his son Toya is still alive... and has become the notorious villain Dabi. And worse still, Dabi has broadcasted all of his family's dirty laundry for all of Japan to see, effectively tarnishing Endeavor's reputation. A brutal demonstration that no matter how much Endeavor wants to atone for his mistakes, the consequences of his actions will follow him wherever he goes. Reconstructed later in that, instead of breaking the family apart for good, Toya's actions have glued the family back together, if only for the time being, given that neither Rei nor Endeavor wish to deny their joint responsibility in Toya's neglect and descent into madness, and even Natsuo also reckons that he could have given more time to his brother.
  • He also deconstructs the Satanic Archetype. At the start of the series, Endeavor pretty much fits this archetype to a T: has flame-related powers (double points for being called Hellflame), suffers from the cardinal sins of Pride and Envy, has a cruel and ruthless personality unbefitting of a Pro Hero and his whole hero career is based around his petty, one-sided rivalry with All Might. He subjected his family to hell (driving Rei to suffer an emotional breakdown, scarred Shoto both literally and figuratively, neglected his children which led to the creation of Dabi) all because he wanted to one-up All Might. After he becomes the #1 Hero and has a heart-to-heart with All Might, Endeavor starts to realize the errors of his ways and works to atone for his past misdeeds by working to become a better person, both as a hero and a father. Despite his efforts towards his family, Natsuo outright hates him, Rei is still terrified of him, Fuyumi acts civil for the sake of her family and Shoto, though he admires his father's hero skills, cannot truly bring himself to forgive Endeavor for his abuse. This forces him to face the reality that even though he's working to atone for his cruelty, there are some things he simply cannot fix.]
• Deer in the Headlights: Happens more than once, though for slightly different reasons. First was due to seeing the look in Natsuo's eyes, it freezes him enough that Deku, Bakugo, and Shoto detain Ending and rescue Natsuo instead. He explains it as sudden fear that if he tried to save his son as a hero, Natsuo would never speak to him again. The second time was when Dabi revealed himself as Touya, it freezes Enji in a mix of shock, denial, and despair, as Enji essentially relives his grief of losing his firstborn. The moment also doubles as an Unreliable Narrator flashback, since it doesn't show the full situation of what happened to Touya. He snaps out of it eventually at external prompt/encouragement but the two incidents are shown for different reasons. His hesitancy with Natsuo is because he wants to atone and to try to repair as much as possible their relationship- however fruitless that may be and however bad the timing is. With Dabi, it's moreso a Heroic BSoD where he can't process that the son who died and he could never forgive himself for causing was actually alive and had turned into a villain out to hurt others, including his own brother and Enji, because of Enji's failings as a father.
• Depending on the Writer: In Smash!!, a lot of his characterization is Played for Laughs, and therefore, most of his actions come from him being a "Well Done, Dad!" Guy that eagerly wants Shoto to start respecting and looking up to him. He even bends himself backwards trying to get into Shoto's good side by taking a vacation and taking Shoto to the beach, even though Shoto avoids spending time with him by inviting some friends over.
• Destructive Savior: Defied. His incredibly hot flames would make him incredibly liable for property damage, especially since his strongest attacks can vaporize entire office buildings. But his control is so refined that even when he creates a massive twister of fire, it deals minimal damage to area surrounding his intended target. In fact, one of his agency's specialties is rapid evacuation, ensuring that no innocents will be caught in the crossfire.
• Determinator: In the words of his daughter, "he's the worst at giving up out of anybody". This is whether it's trying to surpass All Might, or in a much better light, fighting Hood. He gets thrown through multiple buildings, has his eye nearly stabbed out, and overclocks his Quirk so much he overheats badly, and with Hawks' help he still manages to land the finishing blow.
• Dirty Coward: Rei calls him one when he tells her she has to take care of Toya from now on and he won't have a hand in raising him, rightfully claiming he's acting the opposite of a hero by running away.
• Domestic Abuse: His marriage to Rei, the origins of said relationship and their history together remains unknown for the most part, though by the present day, it's in total shambles. Initially, it was assumed he married her in the hopes of having a child with both their Quirks that could be strong enough to surpass All Might, this is dispelled when he notes that he married her to cover his weaknesses (alongside the revelations of their ages meaning they were quite young). However, by the recent times, he smacks her around when she interferes with the training of Shoto and eventually Rei snaps and she ends up hurting Shoto in an emotional breakdown. He ends up having her put away in an institution. It's implied the worst of it started after what happened to his oldest child Toya. Initially chosen to be Endeavor's successor, his promising career was ended via a horrible accident caused when Endeavor had him to learn one of his Dangerous Forbidden Techniques. The problem was that despite Toya possessing a superior Fire Quirk than his father, he inherited his mother's lack of resistance to heat, meaning his own power (seemingly) killed him.
• Doting Parent: Which is lampshaded by Present Mic at his reaction to Shoto finally using his flames in the Sports Festival. It takes on a much darker context however, because that was the point when Endeavor saw Shoto as nothing more but an extension of himself and his ambitions. After his character arc, he starts playing this straight, much to Shoto's embarrassment.
  • Chapter 291 implies that he used to be this way with all his kids and loved them just the same. He was even incredibly proud of his oldest, Toya. Unfortunately, his desire to surpass All Might eventually took priority over their well being.
• Driven by Envy: The root of all his problems is his burning jealousy of All Might indeed, the one person he could never overcome and who gets all the praise and recognition that Endeavor feels he's being denied.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He appears on a TV screen in Chapter 1 and in an ad for U.A. in Chapter 3.
• Elemental Eye Colors: Inverted. He has Icy Blue Eyes but his Quirk is fire-based.
• Elemental Hair Colors: His beard and mustache are literally Flaming Hair (he does it on purpose and can turn it off if he so wishes), but his actual hair is red and spiky, fitting his fire Quirk.
• Elemental Hair Composition: His beard's made of fire! Also, it can be turned on and off.
• Elemental Personalities: He's a Hot-Headed Blood Knight with fire-based powers.
• Elemental Punch: Endeavor's Signature Move, Flashfire Fist, condenses his flames and raises their temperature to the maximum limit before unleashing it either as a powerful punch or as a prerequisite for another attack.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • He's a dick, but when he becomes the #1 hero, he pretty much admits that he didn't earn it because of a technicality.
  • Even before he started making attempts to atone for his abusive parental treatment of his kids, it's implied through Shoto, that the death of his eldest son was something he could never forgive himself for. This is reflected later when Shoto thinks back on why he refused to use both sides of his power at their fullest capabilities; even Endeavor was horrified by it happening.
  • He may be a jerk, but when Hawks gives an extremely condescending speech at the hero rankings announcement, he confronts him immediately afterwards and says not only does he hate people who treat heroism like a game, but that for his attitude, Hawks owes the other heroes in the top ten an apology.
  • In fact, one could point out that he's a dick partially because he has standards. Turns out he has high standards for everyone, especially himself.
  • Endeavor may have wanted his child to surpass All Might, but when he realized that Toya's quirk was actually burning the boy, he outright tried many times to discourage his son from being a hero.
  • He also shows genuine fear around the idea of confronting his own son Toya after it has been revealed that he is Dabi of the League of villains, meaning that fighting a family member and possibly killing them is something Endeavor cannot live with.
• Eye Beams: Can shoot beams of concentrated fire from his eyes. Rather ironic, given All Might is the Superman Substitute, but lacks this power.
• Eye Scream: In his battle against the High-End Nomu, Hood, in Chapter 188, Endeavor gets hit in his left eye by an attack. He keeps the eye only through a combination of good doctors and luck, though he's heavily scarred as a result.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Envy and Pride, both of them connected. Out of pride, Endeavor holds himself and everyone around him to unbelievably high standards and refuses to accept anything less, with no consideration for anyone else’s well being, usually being contemptuous and callous towards the people he's supposed to protect (i.e. civilians). Out of jealousy for All Might's better style, he sacrificed his own family to mould them into the perfect weapon to depose his "rival" who never thought of him as inferior in the first place. Both of these brought nothing but misery and strife to his life.
  • Stubbornness. Even though Endeavor acknowledged his own shortcomings and accepted that he couldn't surpass All Might, he simply couldn't let go of his ambition. His inability to stop stubbornly pursuing his desire to surpass All Might by any means turned his goal into a dark obsession, one that drove him to do whatever it takes to see it achieved. He would abuse his family, especially Rei and Shoto, because he stubbornly refused to let go of his obsessive desire despite the pain he was causing. Only when All Might retires and he has a heart-to-heart with the Symbol of Peace does he begin to start reflecting on his poor choices.
  • Coldness. Endeavor was renowned for having a rude, selfish and callous personality towards others, even those he was sworn to protect. His skills as a Pro Hero couldn't be questioned, but his personality was a major source of controversy for his career. Ironically, it was because of Endeavor's cold and callous personality that played a major factor in him being unable to surpass All Might as in contrast to the warm and friendly Symbol of Peace, the Flame Hero only concerned himself with his own desires while showing no regard for the welfare of others. When All Might retires, people are unsure about Endeavor due to his prickly and unpleasant personality. It comes to an absolute head when Dabi exposes his cruel abuse of his family and people are quick to turn on the Flame Hero for such a damning revelation.
• Fiery Redhead: And not just literally. He does have a nasty temper at times.
• Fire/Ice Duo: The fire to Rei's ice.
• Flaming Hair: Subverted. He can create a flaming beard and mustache to look intimidating, but he does have regular facial hair behind them
• Freudian Excuse: It's implied that the death of his firstborn, Toya, really did a number on his psyche. Endeavor internally admits that had Toya become a pro hero, he would have replaced his obsessive desire to surpass All Might with a desire to see his son become the best he could be. Later on, it was revealed that Toya's apparent death was the result of Enji inadvertently poisoning his mind with his own obsession for surpassing All Might. In trying to avoid the same mistake with Shoto, he became much more abusive.
  • In chapter 356, it’s revealed that when Enji was a kid his father died. He attempted to protect a girl from some perpetrator. Unfortunately, all 3 ended up dying in what’s implied to be an accident. The last time that Enji saw his father, it was as a corpse. According to Enji, this incident is one of the sources of his inferiority complex. To him, losing his dad and not being able to do anything about it just emphasized how weak he really was deep down, which started his long obsession to prove himself to be better. Unfortunately, this would be the same obsession that led him down a destructive path for years.
• Genius Bruiser: Endeavor didn't just get his position as #2 because of his (admittedly impressive) Quirk and physical strength; he's also quite intelligent and applies detective skills to his work. Midoriya's internship highlights this, as Endeavor is able to follow his Techno Babble with no trouble whatsoever.
• Glory Hound: Deconstructed. His relentless pursuit of the first spot on the top Hero list alienates and repels his children from him and drives his wife to madness. Ultimately, it all ends up being completely in vain when Endeavor does become the number-one Hero, but due to a technicality, which, to him, means he didn't earn it.
• Good Costume Switch: Zigzagged. Endeavor started using a new suit when he officially became the top-ranked hero and embraced the title and the values one needs to resonate with to live up to it, at last putting to bed his feud with All Might with him no longer able to rival Endeavor.
• Good Is Not Nice: At first, this was his most defining aspect. When Character Development started kicking in, it began to be highly deconstructed, in that while he was a competent hero (and far from being a sociopath), his proclivity to always be intimidating, and his disregard for the emotional and psychological welfare of everyone around him made him anything but heroic. And that's without getting into how he treated his family. After acknowledging this glaring flaw, strives to change for the better, and slowly shed this trope, though he was still pretty grumpy and prone to anger fits. After the Paranormal Liberation Arc, he’s a borderline Nice Guy compared to his portrayal in earlier chapters.
• Good Powers, Bad People: In the sense that there's nothing inherently evil about his Quirk, per se (the name indicating more the dangerous potential of heat). He's just really nasty for someone that's supposed to be a high-ranking hero. Granted, his rank is more indicative of him being very skilled at his heroics and his Quirk.

H - R

• Hair-Trigger Temper: While Endeavor is nowhere near as explosive as the likes of Bakugo, he's very easily angered when faced with something he dislikes, and you can tell by the scowl. This was played both for horror and drama as this unchecked temper made him an abusive father and husband.
• Handicapped Badass: Losing his right arm did not slow him down one bit against All for One. In fact, the latter acknowledges him as being just as dangerous as All Might and Endeavor came this close to killing him for good.
• Hate Sink: Subverted. At first, Endeavor was one of the most unlikable characters in the series, being an Abusive Parent and husband, as well as an egotist obsessed with him being an Unknown Rival towards All Might. However, his Jerkass Realization in the Hideout Raid arc has him reevaluate his behavior thoroughly: he vows to become a better hero and father, which consequently leads to him being painted in a more sympathetic light.
• Hatedom: Shoto implies that he has an in-universe one. Yoarashi was openly a part of it and absolutely loathed him and considering that Dabi just revealed his abusive past as Toya Todoroki that hatedom just grew exponentially.
• Heel Realization: Endeavor never realized how badly he hurt his family until he gets called out on it by his son Natsuo, and then he faces off Dabi, one of the League of Villains' most dangerous members, who at that moment reveals his real identity as Toya Todoroki, his presumably deceased son. After that battle, in chapter 300, it is implied Endeavor watched his son's recording of their family revelations thus making Endeavor realize how much he has truly hurt Toya and how he badly he abused his family for it to make Toya an insane mass murderer.
• Hellfire: His Quirk is named Hellflame because his flames are as hot as Hell, but don't seem to burn him while active. In the anime, his flames are shown to be hot enough to melt stone easily. He summoned flames on his feet so he could climb up the side of a building to rescue someone, the flames melting the spot to create a foothold. Furthermore, when he released flames from his feet to decrease his and the person he was saving's velocity and land safely, it melted and burnt the road.
• Heroic Build: He may be only a hero on technicality, but he most definitely has the muscles. He constantly pushes himself to his physical limits in his goal of surpassing All Might, and while it might not have been enough it definitely bore some fruit. To boot, he's a giant - one of the few people tall enough to look All Might in the eye.
• Heroic Resolve: Endeavor just won't stay down. After suffering a savage beating, he wills himself to continue the fight. Using the pain to stop himself from backing out and launches himself at Hood using his flames when his body starts to fail. Despite the fact overusing his Quirk will kill him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Very downplayed Sacrifices his arm to save several heroes from a special attack by All For One.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Played with, in that he deserves a lot of it. After Dabi's broadcast revealing his past of domestic abuse against his family, along with his indirect contribution to creating the villain Dabi, Endeavor's reputation as a hero is forever tarnished.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Despite being the #2 hero, he actually lives in a pretty simple but spacious Japanese-styled home, when someone of his social standing could easily afford more than that.
  • He's pretty formal, albeit in a cold sort of way, to people he talks with. He calls Gran Torino "honored elder" when interacting with him for example.
  • During the Hideout Raid Arc, it's heavily implied he actually looks up to All Might.
  • Before his Despair Event Horizon, he also valued effort above everything else when striving to be the best he can be. It's also a sore point about All Might's retirement. Then again, one could say he never lost this, but his inability to overcome the physical limitations of his Quirk along with "being the worst at giving up" meant he would turn to making a Superior Successor.
  • The leitmotif that plays for him in the anime is called "Just Another Hero." The lyrics offer potential insight into Endeavor's motivations. This is the first verse:
    I was a dropout and a coward
    Sick and tired of my weakness
    More I buck for the power
    More I'm broken, more I'm frightened
    But that's the time I must be strong
    Why damage myself again and again?
    Is simply for the victims of sorrow
    I'll be the man even if I'm just another hero
  • He's quite intelligent and it's implied that he's solved so many cases partially because he acts as a detective.
  • In Chapter 164, he finally gets to speak with All Might and notes despite all the cases he is solving, he is able to sense that everything All Might has done as the Symbol of Peace is beginning to fall apart. Besides showing remarkable perception, it also shows some surprising humility, knowing he is not good enough. He reinforces this when he asks All Might what it meant to be a Symbol of Peace.
  • A flashback right before the end of his fight with Hood reveals he chose his wife Rei because she had the ability to balance out his weaknesses, which means that on some level, he has some attachment to her and really does care about her.
  • Another is when the kids are visiting Rei and she informs them that Endeavor has actually been visiting her, at least where she's staying though not actually meeting her in person. She even notes how he would leave her her favorite flower despite only mentioning it once to him several decades ago. This shows both his attention to detail and the fact he cared to remember such a thing shows that there may have been legitimate courtship and sentimentality in their relationship at some point.
  • Hawks points out that Endeavor was the only one actually trying to surpass All Might. All the other heroes viewed the gap between All Might and the rest of them as insurmountable, except for Endeavor. While Hawks initially thinks of this as envy, he realizes during the fight against Hood that Endeavor was doing it to better himself, and that his resolve to do so is admirable.
  • When placed in a mentor's position, he proves to be an incredibly effective teacher. When Midoriya, Bakugo and Shoto are interning at his agency, he asks each of them what their goals are and what they hope to take away from their time with him. From there he individualizes his teachings to help them reach their goals in a way that best suits their personalities, from stoking Bakugo's competitive nature and his drive to be the best by one-upping him on their patrols, pairing Shoto with Bakugo since they have similar goals and Shoto doesn't want to interact with Endeavor heavily, and giving a very thorough and detailed explanation to Midoriya on how he should build upon his powers so that using them becomes second nature to him.
  • With his age revealed to be 45 along with how old his children are, it reveals that he was barely out of adolescence when he married Rei and started a family. This means that many assumptions about him in the beginning are thrown out the window and thus, many early moments have to be recontextualized.
  • Despite these, the trope is deconstructed as the manga makes a point that even with these subtle depths, his treatment of his family was such an awful thing to do that it’s a stain on his “legacy” (even he acknowledges that).
• Horrible Judge of Character: He thinks All Might looked down on him, which fueled his one-sided rivalry against the paragon, when in reality, All Might held him in high enough esteem to try and get tips on training junior Heroes from him. It turns out that he may have been just projecting his own insecurities on All Might, viewing the differences in their capabilities as a chasm that kept growing no matter what he did.
• Hot-Blooded: Endeavor is easily riled, heavily determined and unsurprisingly of short temper.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The cover for Chapter 166 shows that Endeavor was One Head Taller than Rei, as well as about twice her width, when their son, Shoto, became a kindergartener. The last page of Chapter 388 takes this to the extreme by showing that Rei's height barely reached Enji's chest.
• Hyper-Awareness: He didn't reach the top position on his strength and Quirk mastery alone. He's also known as the best detective amongst the heroes, hence having the highest number of resolved cases, beating out All Might. Amongst other things, he's a very detailed person, such as remembering his wife's favorite flower even though only mentioned it once decades ago, and picking up on Hawks' hints and coded messages. He's also one of the few people to fully decipher and sum up Midoriya's Techno Babble without any visible confusion.
• Hypocrite:
  • Endeavor constantly told Toya to give up trying to be a hero due to how his Quirk damaged his body, yet he himself was obsessed with trying to surpass All Might and refused to move on from his own goals.
  • In Chapter 302, Endeavor orders Rei to keep a strict watch on Toya after he attacked an infant Shoto, unprovoked, and claims that all that he can show any of their children is the life of a hero. In return, Rei points out that he's fleeing the responsibility of being a hero/father to his son.
• I Hate Past Me: He outright states this in a monologue he holds before blasting the High-End Nomu with the brunt of his Quirk's power.
  "Villain, I see it... you... are me, from the past, or another future. Burn up... be at rest."
  • Taken to a more literal extreme in Chapter 356 Where he metaphorically chokes out his younger self as he reflects on his past.
• Icy Blue Eyes: He's an aloof man with turquoise eyes. Ironically, he has fire powers instead of ice ones usually associated with blue eyes of the "piercing, icy" variety.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Toya's "death" was something that Endeavor could never forgive himself for since he indirectly caused it due to neglecting his son's needs and never teaching him how to regulate his fire. To make matters worse Toya didn't die but became the villain Dabi who has dedicated his entire existence to making Endeavor suffer for his past sins.
• I Should Have Been Better: After becoming the #1 Hero, Endeavor starts to realize that he neglected his family in the pursuit of a position that he's not even that good at, mostly because he never really considered what it would imply. His inner monologues and his interactions with his kids from then onwards often contain this line, and he outright admits it to them in tears when he meets them in the hospital after learning Dabi is Toya.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: It's implied that his need to surpass All Might, and the horrific treatment of his family that happened as a result, are rooted in his low opinion of anyone who's not the best, himself included. Furthermore, he's hampered by the physical limitations of his Hellflame Quirk; he risks overheating if used extensively, which is why he tries to finish fights quickly in single shots lest he burns himself out. This is why he banks on Shoto to become his successor, since Shoto's Ice and Fire balance each other and thus are not prone to the weaknesses that hamper him or which wound up apparently killing his oldest son and original successor, Toya, whose lack of resistance to heat made his problem toward his own superior fire Quirk worse than his father, during a training accident. He has a mental breakdown when he becomes the top-ranked hero on a technicality due to All Might's retirement because he believes he is unworthy of the recognition and responsibilities. It takes a personal talk with All Might to finally understanding what it really means to be the Symbol of Peace and try and fix what and who he damaged over the years.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: He has no qualms about calling his older children "things" because he considers them no better than failed experiments due to being born without a fusion of their parents' Quirks like he desired, and even refers to his personal favorite, Shoto, as "that boy he made." In Chapter 192, Natsuo refers to himself and Fuyumi as "his failures" when shouting at him.
• It's All About Me: All he cares about is becoming the #1 hero, even if he has to live that dream through his son. In Chapter 86, he complains about having to rescue Bakugo because of his busy schedule. After attaining his dream through a technicality, he starts to introspect, leading him to move away from this as he actually thinks about bringing happiness back to his family, even if it's at his own expense.
• It's All My Fault: He openly acknowledges that Toya's fall from grace and transformation into Dabi lies on his shoulders. While the rest of the family note that they also played a part in what happened, in that they didn't do enough to force Endeavor to talk to Toya and be the father he needed to be, they also agree that the lion's share of the blame does belong to him.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: Dabi has a very, very personal issue with him, since he is Toya, Endeavor's long lost eldest son who took the biggest brunt of his Abusive Parents behavior in the past.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Realizing that his family couldn't be truly happy so long as he's also in the picture, Enji decided to build a new home for them and Rei to rebuild their lives, while he himself stays behind in the old house.
• I Work Alone: At first he seems to be this, though with later chapters it's revealed he has his own agency, where a lot of assistants help him in various parts of hero work. He's also capable of working with other heroes in his job, as War Arc and Team-Up Missions series shows.
• Jerkass: He's cold, aloof, does not work well with others, and his ambitions have damaged and traumatized his wife and children. It's gradually implied that, at least with his oldest son, it may be a bit more complicated, though. He gets a bit by bit better when the story goes.
• Jerkass Realization: Suffers one during the Kamino incident when he sees All Might's true form, finally understanding that for so many years he'd been desperately trying to surpass a man who had long since been reduced to a shell of his former self and destroyed his family for nothing. Somewhat downplayed as the story elaborates that, deep down, Endeavor always knew what he was doing was terrible. He just kept on doing it anyway due to a combination of Pride and Sunk Cost Fallacy.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being his foul, relentless ambitions in wanting to surpass All Might, Endeavor, deep down, cares for his loved ones, even if he can't articulate it properly. He fondly recalls Rei's favorite flowers, and has them sent to her before she's released from the clinic, and even tries to reason with Toya so he stops hurting himself over an unachievable dream. Even though he Took a Level in Jerkass again when he started training Shoto, this trope resurfaces when he repents for his mistakes and resolves to atone for them.
• Large Ham: Normally, he tends to be soft-spoken and collected, but when the situation is opportune (and especially when Shoto is concerned), Endeavor will become hammy enough to rival All Might.
  "Shooootoooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!"
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • His abusive nature ended up causing his wife to splash boiling water on the left side of Shoto's face. Years later, he would have the same side of his face and his eye on top of that blown off by a Nomu. While it does get restored by Recovery Girl, he's still left with a deep scar in the same place as Shoto's.
  • His "forcefulness" in trying to beat Shoto into becoming the strongest hero by forcing him to perform very near suicidal techniques as a child had the opposite effect and actually made him weaker, because Shoto is traumatized by the experience and holds back as a result. He knows very well how hard this bit him in the ass, and is desperately trying to get his son to talk to him about it so that he can learn it the right way this time. Note that this is after doing the same thing to his first child Toya, who seemingly died from it. Needless to say, he's not making up for this easily with any of his family. That said, he keeps being proven right, especially since Shoto's own Quirk functions differently than either his father's or oldest brother's.
  • Although he tries to make amends for his abusive past, he's met with strong resistance from his children. Still, that would pale in comparison to Dabi, actually his long-lost eldest son, Toya Todoroki, rubbing even more salt into his family's wounds by broadcasting Endeavor's abuse story on television. It is a tragic affair, but one can't deny that he had it coming.
• Leitmotif: The anime gives him one in his first big scene. It appears to be some sort of punk rock song. Fascinatingly enough, not only are there lyrics, but they're in English to boot.
• Logical Weakness: Chapter 188 shows that overusing his Hellflame Quirk will cause his body temperature to overheat, which weakens his physical functions. His inner thoughts imply that this part of why is why he chose to be with Rei, that her ice powers balanced his fire. A flashback of Shoto's in Chapter 202 states that this is why Shoto was selected to be Enji's successor after his eldest brother, Toya. While Toya could generate flames much hotter than even Enji's, he inherited his mother's lack of heat resistance, meaning that his own Quirk is much more dangerous and riskier to him than even Endeavor's is to himself. It's implied this is what damned Toya when Endeavor tried teaching him a Dangerous Forbidden Technique.
• Locked Out of the Loop: As he doesn't know the nature of All Might's Quirk, he doesn't realize that his goal of surpassing All Might is futile (since One For All is a Quirk that will continuously get stronger and stronger over time, and can be passed down forever). That said, it's at least implied that he realizes deep down that the gap between his and All Might's strength is too vast to cross, but he's come too far to stop trying.
• Lonely at the Top: His ambition and drive to one day surpass All Might got him what he wanted, even if it's on a technicality rather than overcoming his competitor. And now that he's #1 indeed, he realizes that people still don't appreciate him much, that fellow heroes interact with him only for business and that his family doesn't look up to him either since they just can't forgive the abuse, cruelty and neglect he put them through for the sake of his ambition of seizing a position he's not as good at as All Might was. All of which climaxes when he eventually faces the nasty but inevitable truth that he went too far on his wife and kids and that the only way to expiate might be to completely separate himself from them and living on his own.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Loses his right arm in Chapter 357 in the battle against All for One. This doesn't slow him down one bit.
• Manly Man: Bulky, tall, stoic and a fearsome fighter, he makes a classic way of representing aggressive masculinity.
• Manly Tears: Upon reuniting with his kids minus Toya now Dabi and seeing Rei for the first time in 10 years in the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation Front War, Enji is reduced to tears and cries openly in front of everyone present, as he sincerely apologizes for everything he has done to his family out of selfishness and stubbornness and how he fled from his responsibilities as a father and husband, especially after the truth about Toya's disappearance and apparent death is being revealed.
• Marital Rape License: Alleged by the audience but eventually partially averted. It's initially implied that Endeavor married Rei to create a child with a combination of their Quirks to have Shoto be the end result, all against her will. However, it is later shown that their relationship was far more amicable than originally suggested. In Chapter 291, it was stated by Enji that Rei did want more children after the birth of Toya, meaning that she consented to the conception of Fuyumi.
  • The same should not be said for Natsuo and Shoto. Chapter 301 explicitly shown that Rei voiced her unwillingness on having more children once the point of having children becomes "to discourage Toya from pursuing his dream instead of actually helping Toya with his issues". The situation at best would be she was coerced into having more children.
• Meaningful Name:
  • His hero name reflects his lifelong ambition to surpass All Might, an epic endeavor.
  • His Quirk is a more terrifying example, as it encapsulates his burning wrath.
  • His given name, Enji, is written with characters meaning "flame boss".
• The Mentor: Endeavor looks forward to train his son in the Flashfire move. Later, he reluctantly agrees to train Deku and Bakugo as well during the winter internship after learning of the incoming threat in the form of the Paranormal Liberation Front from Hawks. He's surprisingly an effective mentor when he wants to be, especially to Izuku of all people.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Has this upon learning Dabi is his oldest son and realizing his abuse drove Dabi/Toya to what he became.
• My Greatest Failure: While his Jerkass Realization has made him immensely regret what he put his family through, there is one incident he regretted the most beforehand. Originally, his eldest son Toya was posed to be his successor because Toya's Quirk gave him flames hotter than even Endeavor's. As such, Endeavor tried teaching him one of his secret techniques, but Toya's lack of resistance to heat (something he got from his mother) meant that his body couldn't handle it and seemingly ended up dying. Toya's death destroyed Endeavor, and precipitated the worst of the Domestic Abuse he put his family through, as Endeavor felt he couldn't give up on his goal when it ultimately 'killed' his firstborn. Years later, after Endeavor began his path to atonement, the guilt returns with a vengeance when Toya reveals he survived and became the mass-murdering villain Dabi, who Endeavor can't even bring himself to fight after learning the truth.
• No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: He's very disappointed with finally becoming the #1 hero, because it only happened due to All Might's retirement. Justified since the entire pursuit was to be the best and that receiving the spot as a technicality renders all of his efforts and painful actions to nothing.
• No Place for Me There: As of around Chapter 250, he reveals that he plans to make a house for Shoto, Natsuo and Fuyumi to live with Rei once she's discharged from the hospital, while he stays at their old place. The painful revelation being that Endeavor has chosen to cut himself from his family for their sake. Fuyumi, his daughter and second oldest child, is dissapointed upon hearing this.
• Nominal Hero: He's the second-highest ranked hero in Japan, only surpassed by All Might. He's also a petty bastard with an obsessive desire to become Number 1, and abused his wife and children in order to reach that goal through his "favorite son", Shoto. Of course, most of the world is blissfully ignorant of his failings as a husband and father, so they just see him as an extremely efficient superhero with a giant stick up his ass. That said, his status as the #2 hero is one reason why Shoto opts to intern him; as much as Endeavor is a horrible father and husband, he has the instincts of someone befitting his rank and thus has a few things his son can legitimately learn from. Additionally, whenever he isn't scowling, he has either a Death Glare or a wicked smile on his face. After his Heel Realization, he tries acting more heroic for both the public and his family, refusing to back down after Hood grievously injured him so as not to repeat the fight at Kamino Ward, though the results are mixed. His original fans don't even recognize him, his Hatedom doesn't trust his change of heart, and his family is not willing to really forgive him.
• No Social Skills:
  • He's a lot like Bakugo in that his first instinct when something annoys him is to start yelling or give a Death Glare. Hawks intentionally tries to get a rise out of him because he knows this will happen, despite Enji's best attempts to stay calm and friendly with the public. Trying to tame his anger in his everyday life is one of the first hurdles he tries to get over to be a better person, and even then Shoto has to point it out to him that all of those efforts are meaningless at home unless he apologizes first.
  • It applies to him even as a parent; when Toya was still young, Endeavor didn't do the due diligence of actually talking to him about the repercussions of his powers. It only led to the child to insanity, and eventually evil.
• Not Quite Flight: His new hero costume allows him to hover by emitting fire from his feet, but he can't actually maneuver in the air. Lampshaded in a dialogue with Hawks — he's not falling, rather than outright flying. In other words, he can only slow his descent or keep himself afloat and cannot ascend higher without outside help. Subverted during the Final Battle, where is able to use his fire to boost up from the ground fast enough to intercept All-For-One's Rivet Stabs.
• "Not So Different" Remark: He remarks that Midoriya is "one of us" when he arrives at Endeavor's agency for an internship. It's clear that he sees Midoriya as a kindred spirit in how his Quirk has caused him to suffer great anguish, much like how Endeavor's own Quirk-related ambitions caused anguish to his family as well as the drawbacks of his Quirk. Midoriya, for the most part, is left baffled at this statement.
• Old Shame: His treatment of his family is his single biggest source of regret and shame and what pushes him toward being The Atoner. Even after taking numerous strides in being a better hero and father, Endeavor can never forgive himself for what he did and accepts that his family may never forgive him either.
• One Head Taller: The cover for Chapter 166 shows that Rei only reached Endeavor's shoulders when their son, Shoto, became a kindergartener.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: He's always referred to by his hero name, Endeavor. There are absolutely no mentions of him as Enji Todoroki by any characters, not even his own family. Likewise, the civilian/papa side to him is barely there. Endeavor is practically his only identity, which says a lot. The only person to call him otherwise is Gran Torino, as his senior (seniority privileges), but only by his surname of "Todoroki", as a warning not to engage Stain. Yet, quite some time later, Dabi would be the first to invoke his full name in the hope to get a rise out of him, finding commonalities between them both.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War arc, when confronted with the fact that he'll have to face his mass-murdering son, Dabi/Toya, he completely breaks down as all of the guilt and regret of his past actions hits him all at once, to the point of crying. It's enough to make Natsuo and Shoto visibly uncomfortable.
• Outside-Context Problem: Endeavor is faced with this when Dabi, a nefarious member of the League of villains, reveals himself as his long lost son Toya Todoroki during the Paranormal Liberation War. This revelation causes Endeavor to freeze and experience a complete shock that he is unable to move or even act in battle. Later on when he is recovering at the hospital Endeavor breaks down about his eldest son becoming a villain and realizing it's because of him. This troubles Endeavor because he never would have imagined his own son becoming a... villain. Endeavor will have to face a monstrous villain he cares for and dreads the idea of facing Toya again.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: The reason he's initially the number two hero is that All Might is the number one, and no matter what he could not surpass him. Once he's out of All Might's shadow, it becomes blatantly clear that he's head and shoulders above virtually every other hero in Japan in terms of strength, speed, skill, and intelligence.
• Papa Wolf: Zigzagged. While he has yet to actually save one of his children from danger, he still cares deeply for them as shown upon learning All For One abducted Toya and had a hand in turning him into Dabi. Endeavor goes into a blind rage and tries to kill him head on, but this sadly compromises the strategy Hawks had come up with to chip away at All For One slowly. His recklessness earns him a good chunk of flesh taken out of his side since All For One was trying to make him angry enough to open himself up to attack.
• Parents as People: Enji had first encouraged Toya to follow his footsteps, setting up some rather large expectations of the boy that he couldn't reach without risking his health or potentially dying. When he decides that his son's safety is more important, he tries to quietly quell the flame to be a hero, and when it seems like nothing he's saying it getting through, he avoids the topic (and his son) all together.
• Parental Favoritism: He put Shoto through Training from Hell, believing that Shoto is the only child he has sired who has the potential to surpass All Might. Meanwhile, his older children were more or less discarded for not turning out how he wanted, but it also means they missed out on the horrible "training". This wasn't always the case, however. Originally, his oldest son, Toya, was his favorite because his fire Quirk surpassed his father's. Unfortunately, Toya also ended up losing his resistance to fire and thus when he tried to learn a secret technique from Endeavor it wound up seemingly killing him.
• Parental Neglect:
  • He pretty much abandoned Shoto's older siblings since they lacked the potential to surpass All Might in his eyes. Flashbacks in Chapter 39 show that this actually worked out in their favor, since they were spared the abusive training that Shoto was forced to endure. This did not stop Natsuo from hating him even more than Shoto does, to Shoto's surprise.
  • At first it seems that he also was very neglectful towards Toya following trying to teach him a Dangerous Forbidden Technique, but later on we learn the reason for Endeavor having no contact with Toya was because he's dead, at least as far as the Todorokis' know.
  • Flashbacks reveal that after learning of Toya's low heat resistance, Endeavor tried to dissuade him and stopped training him, refusing to spend time with him for five years of his life. This neglect led to Toya's Sanity Slippage.
• Parental Substitute: It's implied Hawks sees him as a father figure combined with his admiration of him from childhood stemming from feeling saved by his abusive father when Endeavor arrested him. This explains why he's so loyal to him.
• The Patriarch: A thoroughly negative version, being tyrannical, cold and downright cruel towards his wife and kids whom he sees as nothing but a means to his own ends. However, it's reconstructed much later in the series, in that he eventually realizes the error of his ways and the harm he did to his family, to the point of understanding that he has too much to atone for and that the only way to help his family is to live separately from them and pursue redemption on his own, at least until his wife and kids reckon that he has proven himself to their satisfaction, if that is even possible. Consequently, he sets about building a house for Fuyumi and Natsuo where they can live with their mother when she gets out of the hospital.
• Perpetual Frowner: He usually has a scowl on his face.
• Playing with Fire: His Hellflame Quirk allows him to generate and control fire. He's able to do a surprising fair bit with it when compared with his son's capabilities. The anime expands on this; he's even able to shape his flames and control their temperature. For example, he carbonized a Nomu by making his flame so hot, they turn blue.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: It's subtle but he derogatorily calls All Might "that American", clearly implying that he sees him as a foreigner, which is quite the insult in Japanese culture when talking about a native Japanese and alludes to Endeavor's latent xenophobia.
• Poor Communication Kills: Endeavor didn't want Toya to follow in his foot steps because his son's life was more important to him than his ambitions. Unfortunately, he chose to handle it by pushing his son away and yelling at him and Rei whenever he caught him trying to train his quirk, giving Toya the impression that his father had thrown him away.
• The Power of Hate: Deconstructed. The burning hatred and jealousy for All Might that consume him are aptly symbolized by his quirk of perpetual fire. But at the end of the day, his drive to operate on pure hate to achieve his goal of becoming #1 amounted solely to a Pyrrhic Victory and having completely destroyed his relationship with his wife and kids who just don't want to have anything to do with him anymore.
• Progressively Prettier: Initially, Endeavor was drawn with very sharp and exaggerated facial features to highlight his initial impression as an Anti-Hero and an Abusive Parent. As his Character Development for the better progresses, however, Endeavor is drawn with more conventionally attractive facial features.
• Psychotic Smirk: Gives an impressive one, bordering on Slasher Smile, when in Chapter 39, he sees Shoto finally activating his fire powers in battle.
• Reformed, but Rejected: Zigzagged. He still has a ways to go regarding his quest to become a better hero and father, but he is genuinely taking the time to fix his flaws and isn't shying away from all of the damage he's done to his family. As far as his family is concerned, Fuyumi is supportive of his change in personality and is interested in hopefully bringing the family back together, while Natsuo is still understandably adamant about not wanting him anywhere in his life. Shoto, meanwhile, is somewhere in the middle, accepting that Endeavor truly is changing for the better and acknowledging him as a great hero, but still not able to forgive him for what he did to Rei or himself. Rei notes that while she isn't ready to face him yet, there's the implication she does seem willing to forgive him eventually. When Fuyumi attempts to organize a get-together and start some dialogue, things go south in a matter of minutes. When she tries doing it again when Shoto invites Izuku and Bakugo to dinner, it also goes south (which is lampshaded by Bakugo.) After dinner, Izuku notes Shoto has no obligation to forgive Endeavor while also observing that Shoto eventually wants to forgive Endeavor, but is not ready. It is eventually known that Toya, the oldest son, brutally despises Endeavor to the core. In fact, Endeavor seems to recognize this and notes that despite Fuyumi's hopes, the dreams for a unified family is possibly irreparable and plans to have Fuyumi and Natsuo move in with their mom somewhere and more or less cut himself from their lives to make them happy.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: He sends his wife Rei to a mental institution after she splashed boiling hot water on Shoto's face, but it was only because she damaged Endeavor's "masterpiece", rather than how legitimately insane Rei became, no thanks to him.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • After the battle with Hood, Endeavor is heavily scarred along his face in a manner eerily similar to Shoto's.
  • His fight with All For One features a panel that is a shot-for-shot recreation of All Might's final attack.

S - W

• Satanic Archetype: Despite being Japan's #2 Pro Hero, Endeavor could easily fit into this for a good chunk of the story. His Quirk is called Hellflame, allowing him to control fire of intense heat and has several Super Moves involving the world 'Hell' in it, such as Hell Spider and Hell's Curtain. He suffers from the flaws of Pride and Envy, which drove him to become cruel and ruthless towards others, especially his own family. He resents All Might for being the #1 Hero and based his whole career around his petty one-sided rivalry with the Symbol of Peace. He's even indirectly responsible for his son, Toya, becoming the villain Dabi. Luckily, this is ultimately averted as Endeavor strives to atone for his past and become a true hero worthy of holding the position of #1 and his character arc revolving around his desire for redemption for his atrocious actions.
• The Scapegoat: Endeavor becomes the chief blaming stock for all the problems with Japan's heroes after Dabi's broadcast. However, he chooses to shoulder the blame as part of his journey towards atonement, regardless of whether or not it was his own fault.
• Scars Are Forever: After fighting Hood with Hawks, Endeavor is left with a massive scar on the left side of his face. It's very similar looking to Shoto's, which Shoto and Natsuo jump on the opportunity to remind him of:
  Both sons: That's a nice scar you got there. [loudly slurp soba in unison]
• Secret-Keeper: After One For All is exposed to the public, All Might decides to clue him (along with Hawks and Best Jeanist) in on the specifics. Now aware of the true severity of the conflict, Endeavor feigns ignorance about it in public in order to protect both Midoriya and All Might, and aids the two during their hunt for All For One in the League.
• Self-Serving Memory: His memory of his first son Toya is rosy, remembering that he was very excited to train with his father. When Dabi reveals himself to be Toya and aires out the family's dirty laundry, Endeavor is incredulous at the idea that his son turned out to be a murderer and villain because of him.
• Shadow Archetype: Determined, talented, and intelligent, but also abrasive and ruthless, he seems to represent what Bakugo could have become if he did not face his character flaws.
• Sketchy Successor: He becomes the new #1 hero after All Might's retirement, but his reputation and personality are not capable of holding the hero community together with the way All Might did. It's even lampshaded in-universe that there's a huge gap between them that Endeavor would never fulfill, a sentiment that Endeavor himself admits to All Might is very much true.
• Slasher Smile: He grins from ear to ear when Shoto finally unleashes his left side which is the side of the fire that Shoto tries to repress because of his hatred of Endeavor.
• Smug Super: For all his selfishness and negativity, Endeavor is excellent at his Hero work. There's a reason he's number two, after all.
• So Proud of You: Of Shoto several times in the story. First one when he finally uses his left side in School Sports Festival.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: He can shape his flames into weapons like javelins that he can throw with lethal accuracy. One of his most powerful Super Moves, Flashfire Fist - Hell Spider, shapes them into incredibly long Razor Floss that can shred apart an entire building to limit the collateral damage caused by falling rubble.
• Stern Teacher: Endeavor minces no words when mentoring interns and sidekicks under his care, expecting them to keep up with him no matter what and not accepting any excuses for poor performance because people's lives are on the line. But any advice he does give is incredibly helpful and insightful thanks to his experience and own hellish training to reach his current point.
• Stock Shōnen Rival: He is this to All Might, being the #2 hero of the previous generation. His rivalry with All Might parallels that of Bakugo and Deku. He's a pessimistic Foil to the All-Loving Hero who constantly pushes himself to be better and stronger, but to no avail.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: Briefly forms this dynamic with Hawks, from the quiet and level-headed straight man to his eccentric and youthful wise guy.
• Strong and Skilled: He has a powerful Quirk and is accomplished in its use. Endeavor also has an analytical methodology towards his work and explains its fundamental principles to his trainees, instructing them to adopt his methods.
• Sunk Cost Fallacy: Implied; one possible interpretation of him is that after his attempts to raise Toya as his successor seemingly led to his son's death, Enji became even more obsessed to create the perfect successor out of a desire to justify what he had done, leading to his even worse treatment of Shoto.
• Technicolor Fire: His flames are normally the usual red-orange, but one of his techniques concentrates the flame into a blowtorch-like effect that turns the flame blue.
• That Man Is Dead: he says the Endeavor he was is dead, after learning what he drove his oldest son to become.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Destroys a Nomu by making his flames hot enough to turn blue and carbonize the head off. Given their regenerative capabilities, it's justified.
• Token Evil Teammate: Though he eventually went through a Heel Realization and became The Atoner, he was easily the most antagonistic of the Pro Heroes at first, willing to do anything to achieve his goals, especially putting Shoto through hell just to surpass All Might. Some would be surprised to know how he even got so close to the top of rankings.
• Too Dumb to Live: In Vigilantes, he let his temper dictate his actions in a crisis and thought it would be a wonderful idea to sic his flames on someone with a suicide bomb Quirk that literally had a fuse-ignited bomb for a "head". Thankfully, Midnight was there to intervene and put the villain to sleep, avoiding a catastrophe.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In tandem with his Break the Haughty trials, he incrementally becomes a more approachable, empathetic, and friendly human being as his inflated ego is chiseled away bit by bit. In the earliest phases, he has completely stopped trying to force Shoto into being his tool to surpass All Might, genuinely wants to atone for what he's done to his family, even if he understands and accepts that they may never forgive him after everything that's happened, and eventually comes to care about the well-being of the other heroes he works with. After the devastating horror of Dabi revealing himself as the thought-to-be-dead Toya Todoroki as well as being put on blast for his past mistreatment of his family, Enji truly wants to help keep civilians safe as the Number One hero; as well as make the world a better place for the sake of future generations.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: After Dabi reveals himself to be Toya. Endeavor initially tries to deny it, but upon realizing it's true and seeing how insane his son has become because of his abuse, he goes into psychological shock and can't even bring himself to move, let alone fight.
• Tragic Hero: Endeavor was obsessed with surpassing All Might and becoming the number one hero. He went as far as trying to have a child that would be able to help him attain this lofty goal. This led to him neglecting and abusing his family. Although he eventually did become number one, this was only because All Might was forced to retire. On top of that, his long-lost son Toya, who was neglected by Endeavor for not being seen as the perfect child he wanted, reveals himself to be Dabi, exposing Endeavor's abuse to the whole world, shaking the public's trust in him and heroes in general.
• Tsurime Eyes: In congruence with his aggressive, fierce disposition, his eyes have a sharp slant that helps make him look more menacing.
• Unfit for Greatness: Discovers this the hard way after being crowned the Number 1 Hero after All Might's retirement. Trying to fill All Might's shoes amidst widespread suspicion toward the hero community would've been a thankless, Herculean task for anyone, but the population is immediately skeptical that a brutish Antihero attempting to become the Symbol Of Peace. He does attempt to adjust to his new role, acting less harsh toward the public and trying to live up to the public expectation for someone of his rank. But for someone with his dark past this turns out to be too little too late; once his public becomes aware of his history as an abusive parent who reared the supervillain Dabi they lose faith in him and by extension the entire Hero community that he represented.
• Unknown Rival: He holds a deep grudge over being Always Second Best to All Might, and when he found himself unable to surpass him, he turned to his children in the hopes they would surpass him and All-Might later on. Despite All Might's best efforts to be friendly and demonstrate the contrary, Endeavor is convinced All Might looks down on him, thus he feels nothing but contempt for All Might.
• Unreliable Narrator: Comes with his nostalgia filter of only remembering the good times of training a young Toya. Then comes chapter 300 where we see a more accurate depiction of Toya in his childhood where he is crying and pulling on his hair. While Endeavor knows he mistreated his son he didn't know how badly until he is faced with confronting Dabi on the battlefield and it is implied he also saw his son's recording of him.
• Unstoppable Rage: His character is pretty much this, later he learns to control it.
• Vicariously Ambitious: Despite his considerable capabilities, he would be unable to surpass All Might, due to his own physical limitations of his Quirk even after All Might got wounded. He resorted to putting his youngest son, Shoto, through Training from Hell to surpass both him and All-Might. Originally, he chose his oldest son, Toya, as his successor because he possessed hotter flames than even himself, but lacked the constitution to go full out just like his father, which seemingly wound up killing him.
  Endeavor: With my blood pumping through your veins, you will surpass me...you will fulfill my ambitions!
• Visual Development: He has a different outfit as of Chapter 184, with more flames and support items in the form of shoulders and gauntlets. This is noted in-universe to make him look more powerful and heroic. Alternatively, when he is in a domestic environment in Chapter 192, it's shown he has stopped using his flames on his face at home and around his family, which was previously mentioned that he keeps lit at all times to intimidate those around him. He's shown later to turn them off around even his subordinates, something he would've NEVER done before. He also has a huge facial scar after the battle with Hood.
• Wall Run: Unlike most examples of this, he simply melts footholds on walls with his feet in order to achieve this.
• "Well Done, Dad!" Guy: As of Chapter 167, in which he declares that he wants to become a Hero his son can be proud of. This later applies to his other children as well, as he shows to want to make amends to them for the way he mistreated them for years on end. He seems eager to start some sort of bond of trust with Shoto in the Joint Training Arc and teach him a technique he had hidden from him so far.
• We Want Our Jerk Back!: In The Pro Hero arc, a number of Endeavor's fans grumble that they liked him better when he was a Jerkass after he tries shaping up and acting more like All Might (such as offering autographs and genuine words of encouragement) following the latter's retirement.
• What You Are in the Dark: As exppained in Hidden Depths above, he's much more noble than one can think he is.
• Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: He had this attitude towards his wife when she didn't prevent Toya from training and thus would strike her when she failed at the one thing he asked of her.
• Wreathed in Flames: His hero costume has special areas that allow him to cover part of his body in flames, with focus on his broad shoulders and his feet, which allow him to slow his descent through the force. He also gives himself a mask of flames, not to mention his beard made of flames.
• Would Hurt a Child: Is an abusive parent to Shoto even if he's a child. Thankfully both this and Would Hit a Girl get subverted later.