Summary

The following article contains spoilers forMy Hero Academia, including a few events of the Final Saga.

One thing we learn inMy Hero Academiais that things are not always like they seem, and the Todoroki family is a good example of that. Shoto Todoroki’s arc inMy Hero Academiais mostly about him dealing with his traumas, especially those inflicted on him by his father.

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Being the son of Hero Number 2 would probably not be easy in any way, but Enji Todoroki (Endeavor) made things harder than they needed to be for his children, creating a highly dysfunctional family.

The Family Of Hero Number 2

The Todoroki family includes Enji Todoroki, best known as Flame Hero: Endeavor, his wife Rei Todoroki (born Rei Himura), and their children: Toya Todoroki (Dabi), Fuyumi Todoroki, Natsuo Todoroki and Shoto Todoroki.

23 years old

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22 years old

19 years old

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Shoto Todoroki

16 years old

While many would think that this is a happy family, as it is the family of the Hero who has solved the highest number of cases,this family is actually very dysfunctional, mostly because of Endeavor himself.

A Quirk-Arranged Marriage in Search of the “Perfect Child”

First of all, themarriage between Endeavor and Rei was arranged. It was aQuirk marriage, a practice that emerged a while after Quirks appeared. Just like arranged marriages usually have to do with status or something like that, Quirk marriages are generally about trying to improve Quirks — since Quirks also have a genetic component that can be inherited, the idea is usually to combine two Quirks and thus produce powerful children (which is a new form of eugenics).

Endeavor’s goal was to have a child who wouldinherit both his fire abilities and Rei’s ice abilities, so he would be able to train them to become Number 1 and surpass All Might. However, it took a while before they finally had such a child, Shoto.

The Children of An Obsessive Hero

Except for Toya, their oldest son, and Shoto, their youngest son, the other two were born with a Frost Quirk. Toya was born with the Blueflame Quirk (fire ability) and Shoto was finally born with the so-desired Half-Cold Half-Hot Quirk.

As Toya was the oldest and had a fire-related Quirk, Endeavor initially thought of making him his successor. However, he mistreated his children, and put them through rigorous and intensive training, which led them to hate their father.

It was not just the children. Rei would attempt to intervene and to stop Endeavor from overstressing their kids, and she would also end up as a target of his abuses as well. Rei eventually had a mental breakdown because of all of this, which is how the accident that burned a good part of Shoto’s face happened.

Endeavor gave up on making Toya his successor when he discovered that he had no fire resistance despite his fire ability. However, this made Toya angry andgot even worse after Shoto was born, since Endeavor saw his other children as failures and neglected them. Because of that, Toya eventually became a Villain to get revenge.

As the story advances,Endeavor finally realizes what he has doneand is ashamed of how far he went to get what he wanted and how he treated his family, and the consequences of his actions, especially regarding Toya, Shoto and Rei, the ones who seem to have suffered the most.

A few years after the events of the Final Saga, Shotohas become Hero Number 2, but, unlike his father, he doesn’t seem to be too worried about claiming the top spot.

A “Fallen Hero” Regretting Past Mistakes

Unfortunately,Toya dies at the endof the story. After everything, Natsuo still hates his father, and Shoto has a mixed opinion of him (he takes over his office anyway). Unlike her brothers, Fuyumi is the one who has the best relationship with him, but she admits that she sometimes feels like them, and that Endeavor was not a good parent.

Despite everything, Rei never left Endeavor, and helped him with his injuries, even after he lost his ability to walk in battle. Endeavor hopes to one day make up for what he did, but he doesn’t really expect his family to forgive him.

My Hero Academiaisavailable to stream on Crunchyroll, subbed and dubbed in many languages.

My Hero Academia

Cast

In My Hero Academia, some humans have superpowers called quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and since he was a child, he has always wanted to be a hero. However, his lack of a quirk has always held him back, but a chance encounter with All Might after discovering a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers around Deku and a class of heroes-in-training at UA. This school shapes young quirk users into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-tempering tasks. With young Deku inheriting the “One-For-All” quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while facing off with dastardly supervillains.