Discussion Characters / MyHeroAcademiaDabi

So....what's the issue?

The issue is that several tropes are claiming something that didn't happen. He didn't have fun with his siblings, he doesn't appear to care for his family, and that the idea he only turned nasty after immolating himself doesn't work when he was already shown to have something wrong with him as a kid.

• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Played with in regards to the Todoroki family, with the exception of Endeavor and Shoto. In flashbacks, he was shown as a happy child playing with his siblings Natsuo and Fuyumi in the courtyard of their house. Chapter 290 implies he might still hold some lingering affection for them since he refers to his brother as Natsuo-kun. His feelings regarding his mother have yet to be addressed, though he does specifically mention in his video that he believes that she was forcibly married and impregnated by Endeavor, hinting at some sympathy for Rei as well. However, when Shoto angrily confronts him about sending Ending after Endeavor and how the villain threatened Natsuo's life, Toya only expresses disappointment he was only "almost killed" since the death would have hurt Endeavor more, making it abundantly clear any real feelings he has for his family have long since dried up.
  • This right here is flat out false. He wasn't playing happily with Fuyumi and Natsuo, he was glaring at Enji dragging Shoto away for training, and when the two of them came by later to invite him, he didn't want to play with them. His calling Natsuo "Natsuo-kun" is more accurately Terms of Endangerment, and the flashback showed he hated Rei and derided her for giving him weak genes.
• Mirror Character: Dabi is also one to Shigaraki, both come from wealthy and heroic backgrounds, both had an abusive father, both had close relationships with their siblings, both came to hate hero society (for different reasons), and both wish to ultimately destroy the pillars of hero society to prove there are no true heroes.
  • This one is more debatable, but still leaning towards false. The only one you can argue he was "close" with was Natsuo, and that "closeness" only seemed to extend to using him as a soundboard for venting as the flashback depicted. Contrast that with Tenko who actually was close with Hana. If anything, Tomura feels less like a Mirror Character to Dabi and more a flat out foil: loved his mother and sister, killed his father in a moment of passion, his quirk awakening destroyed everything but him, he wants to destroy Hero Society because thats what AFO made him be meaning he is actually a successor to his father figure, etc.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: The flashbacks involving the Todoroki's show him playing with his siblings Fuyumi and Natsuo and the way his family speaks of him indicates Toya was a sweet child that loved his siblings especially his little brother Natsuo. When he was presumed dead Natsuo never forgave their father for Toya's death.
  • That sounds more like Unreliable Narrator, since as the flashback showed, he was dismissive of Fuyumi when she was concerned about him, he largely only used Natsuo as a soundboard, berated Rei and said it was her fault he couldn't handle his flames, and if anything he was shown as mentally unhinged even when he was a child, going as far as to attack Shoto in anger while ranting about how Enji lit a fire beneath him, and pretty much mutilating himself out of an obsession with becoming Enji's successor no matter how much Enji told him no, even begging at one point. If anything, he sounds like he had a case of Ambiguous Disorder.

• Arch-Enemy: Fancies himself Endeavor's, as he's gleefully dedicated to ruining his father and eventually kill him. His animosity also extends to his little brother Shoto, whom he sees only as Endeavor's "puppet". He outright attacked him in the midst of a mental breakdown as a young child when Shoto was only a baby, with it being clear that Endeavor's reluctance to allow Shoto to play with his siblings growing up was fear that Touya would cause an 'accident' against his younger sibling ^note Which it turns out was very justified, as Touya is seen shooting Shoto a Death Glare when Endeavour drags him off for training, showing his animosity hadn't diminished in the years growing up and his various comments make it clear that whilst he hates his father, he wants him to die last so he can witness everyone he cares about burned by his son's flames. Touya wants to kill Shoto to prove he's the superior inheritor of their father's fire powers and also to mock Endeavour by destroying his masterpiece, and is always trying to kill or harm his younger sibling or his allies with gleeful sadism.
  • I'm adding this section to discussion despite it being removed out of claims that Toya felt bad about attacking him because i would argue that Dabi definitely does and always has seen Shoto as his enemy, or at least a target he must eliminate to get what he wants. His first reaction to seeing his kid brother being born was crushing existential despair, realising that he's effectively been 'replaced' in his warped perception by his sibling's mere existence, and he redoubled down on his self-training in order to make Endeavour 'look at him' afterwards. When Endeavour refused to accept his desire to be a hero because of the risk to him, Toya attacked Shoto, who wasn't even part of their discussion and was merely nearby. Whilst he apologised to Natsuo for his behaviour afterwards, it's presented in a context that makes it clear he's only playing lip service to his 'mistake' so Natsuo will listen to him and he can continue venting at him, and he doesn't truly regret trying to harm shoto. The scenes before showed him giving a death glare at shoto, and it's clear that if they were playing together, then Toya would have tried something to remove his 'enemy' so endeavour would focus on him at last. Such a twisted desire showcases that there was something deeply wrong with Toya as a kid and he was quite willing to harm others to get what he wanted, and developed enmity against Shoto just for existing. Whilst his motivations have changed from getting endeavour's approval to tearing everything about the man down around him, he still maintains a noticeable animosity towards Shoto in particular, referring to him with his full name in an impersonal manner when they 'first meet' like he does with Endeavour, when it's later shown that he has no problems referring to natsuo and the rest of the family in faux-affable first names in a more glib, friendly manner. He outright states that if possible he wants to burn shoto to death right in front of his father's eyes, explicitly wanting to kill him first before he kills his father, despite shoto having done absolutely nothing to him personally. it's pretty clear that whilst Endeavour serves as toya's overall target, shoto is a necessary 'priority target' that Dabi's determined to eliminate first 'before' settling things with his father.