The Truth About Dabi
Warning: This contains spoilers for the My Hero Academia manga that have yet to appear in the anime. To understand the pain and the cause of Dabi’s scars, fans have to talk about Dabi’s true identity. Dabi’s actual name is Toya Todoroki. He is the oldest son of Enji Todoroki, also known as the Pro Hero Endeavor, and he is the result of Endeavor’s terrible experiment.
Endeavor has always lived under All Might’s shadow, becoming a source of deep frustration for him. In order to surpass the number one hero, Endeavor embarked on an attempt to create custom children. So he married a woman with an Ice quirk and hoped to get children that can harness both powers at the same time. It is basically a quirk-based marriage.
As the eldest son, Toya’s head was filled with nothing but his dad’s ambition to be the no. 1 hero. Toya loved and admired his father very much, so he would often push himself over what his body can actually handle. And yet his father only ever sees him as a failed product and never gave him the love that he desperately wanted.
Why is Dabi Scarred?
Endeavor married his wife with the sole intention of having a child with mixed quirk. Unfortunately, Toya got the worst mix that nobody ever thought about. Rather than a quirk that allowed him to use both elements, Toya received the stronger version of his father’s fire quirk, but with a body that can withstand freezing temperature, just like his mother, not a heat-proof body like Endeavor.
This means Toya can produce a bigger flame than his father, but his body can’t handle that much heat. Once Endeavor found out about that, he was devastated. Though his parents forbid Toya from using his quirk, at that point Endeavor had already planted the idea of being a strong hero that can surpass All Might so deep into Toya’s head that he would often train in secret.
But then Shoto was born, becoming the child that embodied Endeavour’s dream. His experiment had finally succeeded. Toya painfully felt that the meager attention that he got from his father disappear entirely. Desperate for that recognition and love, Toya kept pushing on even though he began to suffer some minor burn damage to his body as a result.
When Endeavor found out about it, he lashed out at Toya and his wife for not listening to him. That was pretty much the last straw for Toya. Frustrated, he ran out to a secluded forest on the mountain near their house. Sitting there alone, Toya broke down, and the blue flame started to burst uncontrollably to the point it engulfed not only Toya’s body but also the entire mountain as well.
What is Dabi’s Impact on The World of My Hero Academia
There were a lot of deaths and an unprecedented amount of damage during the Paranormal Liberation War arc. But the biggest damage, by far, is dealt by Dabi. In the midst of all the carnage in that war, Dabi set a video to be broadcasted nationwide where he talks at length about his childhood and the truth about what Endeavour has done to his family.
That one video alone sparks so much distrust and disappointment not only in Endeavor, but also in the hero community at large. Sure, All-For-One and the rest of the villains in the Paranormal Liberation Front wreak havoc during the war, but it is Dabi’s shocking confession video that plants the seed of doubt and distrust into the minds of the people.
There’s chaos happening everywhere after the Paranormal Liberation War. Numerous dreadful events have to collide at the same time in order to create such disorder. Dabi is one of the biggest contributors to that mayhem. He does it not through his intimidating looks or his destructive power, but by speaking his truth. Even in the world of My Hero Academia, words really do cut deeper than a knife.
More: My Hero Academia: The Biggest Differences Between Season 5 & the Manga
