Summary
Since thebeginning of the series, Shoto Todoroki has always been one of the strongest students in Class 1-A. After all,he possesses two high-powered quirks; fire and ice.One of those quirks is enough to help somebody make a name for themselves, such as Endeavor who thrives with a fire quirk, or Geten who terrorizes the heroes with his terrifying ice quirk.
However, rather than using his unique quirk to its full potential, Todoroki moves like a man consumed by rage and vengeance. His journey has barely started and he is already heading to a dark path. Thankfully for him, Deku is there to wake him up and nudge Todoroki toward the right path. This is the story of how Deku changed Todoroki’s life forever.
Blinded by Rage and Vengeance
To most people, being the son of the No. 2 hero in the country and inheriting two powerful quirks from his parents are a huge blessing. But that is not the case at all with Todoroki. To him, those things are a curse. To understand his mindset, it’s important to understand what it means to be the son ofthe second most powerful hero in Japan, Endeavor.
Endeavor’s Creation
Despite being the No. 2 Hero in the country, Endeavor has always been filled with bitterness because he knows that he could never beat All Might, be it in terms of strength or popularity. Not only that, Endeavor knows that even though they are the top two heroes in the country, the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is massive. However, that doesn’t mean he gives up on defeating All Might. If he can’t do it, then he needs to produce offspring with powerful quirks who can beat All Might for him.
To achieve that goal, he marries a woman who possesses an ice quirk in the hope of getting children who can have hybrid quirks. Since he has nothing but unbridled ambition in his head,Endeavor becomes very abusive to his wife, and to his childrenwho were born with a regular fire or ice quirk. When their fourth child, Shoto Todoroki, is finally born with the hybrid quirk, Endeavor focuses on training him as hard as he can even though Shoto is just a toddler. In the process, Endeavor fully neglects the rest of his family. In his mind, there’s nothing more important than to ensure Shoto, whom he considers his greatest “creation”, surpasses All Might.
“Grow up, stop rebelling like some petulant child. Remember, your duty is to surpass All Might. Understand? You’re different than your brothers. You’re my greatest creation!”
– Endeavor, Chapter 34
Terrible Childhood
Because of his father’s blind ambition, Shoto suffers an inexplicably terrible and traumatic childhood. Needless to say, the same thing applied to his siblings and his mother as well. Nobody is happy in Endeavor’s household. What’s worse, even Shoto’s own mother begins to avoid him because he starts to look like his father as he grows older, especially whenever he uses his fire quirk.
So on the one hand he hasan abusive father who only cares about fulfilling his ambition,and on the other hand, he has a mother who can’t bear to see his face. It’s no wonder Shoto grows up to become a bitter present who is blinded by rage and vengeance.
Limiting Oneself
Due to his resentment towards his father, Todoroki refuses to use his fire quirk. He still wants to be a hero, specifically one who is stronger and better than his father. Buthe doesn’t want to rely upon his father’s poweror teachings to do so. So Todoroki knowingly limits his own ability, throwing his biggest competitive advantage out of the window.
Ice Only
Since Shoto doesn’t want to have anything to do with his father, he is determined to only use the quirk that he inherited from his mother, the ice quirk on his right side. As a matter of fact, he fully intends to become a pro hero and even climb the ladder of popularity through his right side alone. As a result, he becomes extremely proficient in using ice. From freezing half a stadium in one move to restricting the opponents’ movement by freezing their feet to boosting his speed by creating a path made out of thin ice, it’s not an exaggeration to say thatShoto Todoroki is one of the best ice users in the country.
A Self-Sabotaging Decision
However, the more proficient he is at using ice, the less he knows about the quirk that he inherited from his father, the fire quirk on his left side. In his mind, using his fire quirk is akin to accepting his father and forgetting about theyears of abuse and hurt that Endeavor has put his family through.
While this conscious decision may seem quite commendable at first, it quickly becomes clear that all he’s done is basically sabotaging himself. His biggest competitive advantage is the fact that he can use fire and ice. This means depending on the opponent and the situation at hand, he can either use his left side or his right side to defeat his opponent or at least make the fight so much more difficult for them. And yet he decided to abandon this huge advantage and becomes a regular ice user instead.
Be Yourself!
So what is Deku’s role in this family drama? Well, during the Sports Festival, Deku accidentally overheard Todoroki’s conversation with his father. Later on, he also gets the chance to talk to Todorokiand Endeavor separately.This is when Deku understands the big picture of what’s going on with Todoroki and decides to save him from himself.
You Look Down on the Other Contestants!
Although Deku rarely talks to Todoroki at this point in the story, he knows that Todoroki is a stubborn person. Once the young man makes a decision, he will stick to it no matter what. Not only that, but he also often gets tunnel vision. He can’t see anything else but his own personal objectives. It gets so bad that even when in the middle of a battle Todoroki rarely thinks about his opponent and only about how to maximize his ability.
So the first thing that Deku decides to do is to forcefully open Todoroki’s eyes so that he can properly see everybody around him. Deku makes Todoroki realize that he is not the only one suffering and he is not the only one who has a dream and a purpose that are bigger than them. Ida wants to live up to his brother’s name,Uraraka is trying hard to be a pro hero so that she can help her family financially,and even Deku himself is struggling with his new power and the heavy burden that comes with it.
Furthermore, Deku also points out to Todoroki that the fact that he deliberately chooses to only use half of his power is akin to looking down on other contestants who pour everything they have into this competition. His decision to only use his right side is not a proof of his determination, but rathera testament to his arrogance.Without realizing it, Todoroki has adopted a part of his father that he hates the most.
“Everyone’s giving it your all. To win, to achieve their goals, to make it to the top! And you’re gonna win with Half your power? I still haven’t put a scratch on you! Gimme everything you got! Come at me!!”
– Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, Chapter 38
You Are Not Your Father!
As if that is not enough to shock Todoroki to his core, Deku also points out something that is obvious but seems to be invisible to Todoroki all this time. You are not your father! Todoroki is not Endeavor, just like Deku is not All Might. So there’s no need for Todoroki to follow in his father’s footsteps or reject him completely. He just needs to be himself. He just needs to forge his own path.
The fact that Todoroki inherits his father’s quirk doesn’t mean he owes the man anything. It also doesn’t mean that using his fire quirk is the same as admitting defeat to his father. No, that fire is his fire,not Endeavor’s fire.So whatever he decides to do with it, it has nothing to do with Endeavor. So stop focusing so much on the No. 2 Hero and worry more about himself. Because he is not the only one in their class who is determined to be the best hero.
Todoroki ends up beating Deku in that fight, but what All Might’s successor says to him during the fight is a huge wake-up call for him. Deku may only intend to let out his frustration to Todoroki, but it becomes a huge turning point that not only helps Todoroki move on from his obsession with defeating his father but also helps him reconnect with the rest of his family and forces him to reevaluate his way of life. Without realizing it,Deku has changed Todoroki’s life forever.
My Hero Academia is available to stream onCrunchyroll.
My Hero Academia
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.
