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| “ | This is gonna be nothing more than a warning shot. We'll pull those false heroes down from their shining pedestals...And, in doing so, we'll create a bright new future for this world. | „ |
| ~ Dabi to the Vanguard Action Squad. |
| “ | The League? Shigaraki? I never gave a crap about them. A single person... with a single conviction... has the power to change the world. There are no true heroes. I... plan to make Stain's will a reality. | „ |
| ~ Dabi to Hawks revealing his true nature. |
Dabi (in Japanese: 荼毘, translated as Cremation), also known as Blueflame (in Japanese:蒼炎 Sōen), is a major antagonist in the manga/anime series My Hero Academia. He is affiliated with the League of Villains and the leader of the organization's Vanguard Action Squad. Like Himiko Toga and Spinner, he was inspired by Stain and his ideology and decided to join the League, which was believed to harbor the Hero Killer's cause.
It is later revealed that Dabi is actually the eldest son of the Todoroki family, Toya Todoroki (in Japanese 轟 燈矢), who was long thought to have been deceased. His father, Enji Todoroki, sought out to make him his successor due to his powerful Quirk, but because of his weak constitution, his training was abandoned entirely. He is his youngest brother Shoto Todoroki's arch nemesis.
He is voiced by Hiro Shimono in the Japanese version, and by Jason Liebrecht in the English dubbed version, who is best known for voicing Zeke Yeager in Attack on Titan and Rob Lucci in One Piece.
Appearance
Dabi is a tall, slender young man with spiky black hair and blue eyes. His most noticeable features include a set of burnt, purple, scarred skin that are present underneath both his eyes (which cannot cry due to his tear ducts being burned up), on his ears and below his jawline all the way down to his collarbone, as well on his torso and all the way down both of his arms, and on his legs as well. These scars are attached to the remainders of his skin with metallic staple piercings.
His outfits seem to vary from time to time. In his initial debut, he had more of a rough and baggy appearance, wearing a loose belt, a torn jacket and pants that barely reach to his ankles. In later appearances, he seems to wear a slightly different jacket that appears to be stitched together with coattails and rolled up sleeves. He also wears boots now and baggier pants.
When he was his younger self as Toya, he possessed red hair that gradually turned white during his childhood, and it was wavier than it was spiked. He also appeared to be shorter than his younger siblings Natsuo and Fuyumi, but roughly the same height as Shoto. Dabi later reverts back to his white hair color by removing the black dye from it with a bottle of water after revealing his identity.
Personality
Dabi is a rude and argumentative person who has no sense of respect. He introduced himself to Tomura informally, and refused to give out his real name. Nevertheless, he is a calm-minded person, who is always focused and determined to complete his given tasks.
Like Toga, Dabi admires Stain and his ideology. He views himself as the one who is destined to fulfill Stain's view of the world, hence his reasoning for joining the League of Villains. However, even though he does not display any psychotic intentions, it appears that he is still just as deluded as Toga as he seems to be unaware of what Stain was actually trying to accomplish. While Stain was trying to bring back the meaning of being a hero, Dabi is simply interested in destroying the current society of humanity as a whole. Despite this, Dabi believes himself to be the true manifestation of Stain's will, believing that "real heroes" are not a thing. It is clear from his actions that he is only using Stain's ideology as an excuse for his actions and that he despises heroes entirely because of how he was raised among them.
Dabi commonly shows sadistic tendencies, as he takes pleasure in taunting Pro Heroes and those that seek to be heroes, while attempting to murder them at the same time. He's also observant and ruthless, willing to endanger the lives of others, including U.A. students and even his own allies, while also commonly exploiting a hero's tendency to save people from danger. Despite this, it appears that he can relate to families that have suffered from the society of heroes and villains due to his own pain from Endeavor's actions, hinting that he may be capable of feeling remorse.
Dabi can also come across being very derisive and contemptuous towards his teammates, who he finds crazy as he proclaimed Himiko insane, called Tomura freaky and insulted Spinner's driving skills. While he acknowledges the League's capabilities, he ultimately does not care about any of them, and only values them for their capacity to bring his goals into fruition. Despite this, Dabi ensured that Twice would make it out alive and claims that his death saddened him, though it seems that he valued Twice's abilities to help his goals over any bond the two villains had. Rather than showing any sadness, Dabi expressed a crazed expression of gleeful sadism saying that he hasn't cried since his tear ducts got burned up.
It is later revealed that Dabi's main goal is to ruin his father's career as revenge for the pain and agony he endured as a child. He relishes in the fact that Endeavor's past is exposed to the world while gleefully dancing, telling his father to dance with him in Hell. In spite of his relationship with his father, Dabi was very close with his two younger siblings, as well as with his mother when he was still Toya, as his supposed death only added more emotional pain to his mother's mental health, as well as grief for Natsuo. Natsuo in particular was very close to him, as Toya would always come to him in tears after dealing with their father's abuse, seeking for comfort. Fuyumi also wanted him to stop overusing his Quirk because of the burns he got from it. However he showed no remorse when learning that Ending, the villain he sent nearly killed Natsuo and only remarked that if he died then Endeavor would have really suffered.
His relationship with his youngest sibling, Shoto, is more ambiguous, since the two were kept separated from each other for a long period of time. Dabi claims that he views Shoto as nothing more than their father's "little puppet" and that he planned to kill him during his hero career, but this was only because this was part of his plan of ruining his father's legacy, until his father became the No. 1 Pro Hero. The fact that Dabi ended up abandoning this plan seems to suggest that he doesn't truly hate Shoto, but he thinks very little of him. Dabi later makes it clear to Shoto that he's lost any feeling for not just him and his family, but for anything in general, as everything he's done to this point is to ensure their father suffers for it.
In his youth, Toya was originally a very energetic and positive boy who enjoyed spending time with his father and was very eager to learn Endeavor's strongest technique. However, his father's shift of focus towards Shoto and subsequent abandonment of Toya as his successor caused him to spiral into a state of sadness and depression, experiencing an existential crisis and wondering his purpose in life. As a result, his determination on achieving his father's goal became an unhealthy obsession that made him act more hostile and dangerous, as well as putting his own life at risk for the sake of being acknowledged.
Biography
Background
Young Toya Todoroki
Toya Todoroki was the first child to be born in the Todoroki household. He inherited his father's Quirk, but to a more powerful degree, as his Quirk allowed him to cast hotter, blue flames. Toya was close to his father and strived to become a hero like his father and hoped he would be able to perfect his father's technique with his Quirk. Due to this, his father, Enji, made it his task to train his son as his successor who would surpass him and All Might. Unfortunately for him, however, Toya inherited his mother's weak constitution and as such, Enji decided to abandon his training. Toya refused to let go of this, however, believing he is destined to surpass All Might and so he would continue on his training on his own time.
Toya suffering from his father's abuse.
Toya slowly began to feel despair for himself when his parents had two more children into the family, as he felt that he was being neglected. Despite this, Toya would still interact and play with his siblings when he had time to spare. When Enji learned that Toya was still trying to master his technique, he pleaded for him to stop as he was constantly getting burns on his skin. Toya refused, before lashing out towards Rei and Shoto.
Five years later, Toya is seen playing with siblings, but they are prevented from interacting with Shoto, as he was being subjected to their father's constant, harsh training. Toya could only watch as his little brother was being dragged away by their father. Toya later spoke with Natsuo about how he was in the wrong for putting Shoto in harm, but was greatly upset over their father neglecting them. Natsuo was not interested in talking, however, as he tried to go back to sleep, causing Toya to be upset.
Later on, Toya went on to train at Sekoto Hill once more, with the intention of continuing his training once more. Before he could leave however, Rei tried to stop him, as she suggested for him to go play with friends and to stop thinking so much about his father. Toya was frustrated with this and accused his mother of not knowing anything, saying she came from a poor family that sold her. Toya eventually went back to the hill and felt great accomplishment of handling his Quirk, with tears of joy coming from his eyes. He later went to his father and asked for him to visit him at Sekoto Hill, with the intention of surprising him with his newfound techniques, as he believed he'll compete with Shoto and that he wasn't a mistake. However, this only added more stress and frustration to Enji, when he discovered the recently new burns on Toya's body.
Toya later went back to Sekoto Hill during the holidays, but was greatly upset when his father did not show up to see him. As Toya began to tear up, he eventually burned himself and the entire area around him. With the flames of his Quirk exceeding two-thousand degrees, it was presumed that Toya was completely incinerated from this incident, as only remains of his lower left jaw were found. His death alone had a great, negative affect on his family. A small altar was made by his father and placed in his room, who would often go there to pray, expressing his regret for the loss of his son.
In truth, Toya had survived this incident, but presumably suffered with terrible burns. He would hold extreme disgust and disdain to his father who slowly became the No. 2 hero. He would later dye his hair black and take on the alias, Dabi.
Vs. Hero Killer Arc
Dabi first appears in The Aftermath of Hero Killer: Stain, where he is shown to be watching a news broadcast about Stain's capture.
Final Exams Arc
Later on, Dabi and Himiko Toga are recruited by Giran to join the League of Villains. The two then meet Tomura Shigaraki, who Dabi comments on about his gross appearance. Displeased, Tomura immediately demands Kurogiri to get rid of them, but he refuses as he wanted Tomura to at least hear them out. Giran then begins the introductions. After Himiko's introduction, Giran introduces Dabi as a criminal who hasn't committed any major crimes and that he follows Stain's ideology. Dabi was not on board with the League of Villains, questioning about the league's motivations and was displeased of seeing the possibility of Himiko Toga joining.
Tomura asks for him to introduce himself, in which he does, but refuses to give out his real name. When Dabi brings up Stain's ideology, Tomura becomes extremely frustrated and attempts to kill him and Toga, as they prepare for him but Kurogiri managed to prevent this from happening. Tomura then leaves the building, who Dabi comments about how sickening he is.
Forest Training Camp Arc
Dabi blasts Aizawa.
Together with the Vanguard Action Squad, Dabi observes the campsite of U.A. While Toga bickers about her mask and Muscular wishing to rush in, Dabi tells everyone to remain silent and wait for everyone to arrive. Once all ten members arrive, Dabi begins to take the lead by burning down the forest.
Dabi then takes on Shota Aizawa, catching him off guard. Aizawa was able to evade his attack, however and was able to successfully capture him after a quick battle. He then begins to interrogate him, but Dabi begins to turn into liquid and dissolves away. It is later revealed that was a clone and that the real Dabi was with Twice, who had made a clone of Dabi to keep the heroes occupied for the time being. Dabi then orders him to make two more clones to keep Aizawa busy again.
Dabi taking his leave.
After Mr. Compress captures Katsuki Bakugo, Dabi waits for everyone to arrive before making their escape. Eventually, everyone arrives, including Toga, bringing back one sample of blood from one person, much to Twice's disappointment. Dabi eventually spots the remaining heroes chasing after them and attempts to hold them off once more while Toga and Twice battle them. Mr. Compress eventually reaches to him, but without the marbles.
Kurogiri then begins to open a portal for the Vanguard Action Squad to make their escape. They ultimately failed at capturing Fumikage Tokoyami, but successful in capturing Bakugo.
Hideout Raid Arc
Tomura introducing Bakugo to the League of Villains.
Dabi and the rest of the league are later present in the hideout, where they observe Tomura welcoming Bakugo to the team. The group of villains watch U.A.'s public apology regarding the villain attack on the camp. While Tomura explains to Bakugo that the League of Villains are aiming for a just society, Dabi sends Twice to free Bakugo from his restraints under Tomura's orders.
Once Bakugo is freed, he immediately attacks Tomura, refusing to accept their delusional ideology. Despite this, the villains are not afraid of him, with Dabi even thinking that he's a fool. Eventually, All Might, leading a group of heroes and the police charge into their hideout and restraint the villains. However, the villains are suddenly saved by All For One, who uses Kurogiri's Quirk to create a warp gate for them to escape.
Hero License Exam Arc
Dabi killing the thugs.
After All For One's defeat in the hands of All Might, Dabi begins searching for recruits for the League of Villains. He comes across a group of low life thugs that act hostile towards him, only for him to kill them, thinking of them as nothing but trash.
Shie Hassaikai Arc
Dabi later accompanies Tomura, Spinner and Mr. Compress in capturing Kai Chisaki. The Pro Hero, Snatch, attempts to fight them off, but is eventually trapped in a marble by Mr. Compress, containing his fire. Mr. Compress asks Dabi if he is going to die. Dabi claims that only his upper half was composed of sand and was unsure whether he'd die or just be heavily injured. After Tomura finishes humiliating Chisaki and taking his Quirk bullets, he takes his leave with the rest of the villains.
Pro Hero Arc
Dabi confronts Endeavor.
Dabi is first seen giving out orders for High-End to accomplish. After High-End was defeated, Dabi eventually confronted Endeavor himself, surprised by the results of the battle. With his vision blurred out, Endeavor can barely recognize him, but from his voice, he can tell that Dabi is the one responsible for killing the Pro Hero, Snatch. Dabi unleashes his flames, trapping him, Endeavor and Hawks in a wall of flames. With the two heroes weakened, Dabi takes the opportunity to kill them, but he is stopped by the No. 5 Pro Hero Miruko. With her being present, Dabi forces himself to flee the area by calling out for Ujiko, but not before he calls out Endeavor's full name, planning to talk with him another time.
Some time later, Hawks meets with Dabi, revealing himself to be associated with the League of Villains (in reality however, Hawks was a spy sent from the heroes to gather info on the villains). Hawks is mad to find out that the Nomu, High-End, attacked today at the city and not tomorrow at a nearby factory. On top of this, he noticed that High-End was much different compared to previous Nomus. Dabi told him he changed his mind and that he wanted to see High-End's capabilities. Dabi tells him that it's not wise for him to place his trust on him and he was testing to see if Hawks was truly on his side. Eventually, the two depart their own way, with Dabi saying that though he won't let Hawks see the boss yet, he plans to contact him again.
Dabi is later seen at a dock nearby and begins to remember who Endeavor was talking about. He rubs his eyes which begins to drip out blood as he recalls when Snatch asked if he ever thought about the families of his victims, stating that he thought about them so much it drove him crazy.
Meta Liberation Army Arc
Prior to the events of the Hero Billboard Chart JP, Dabi continued his search for more recruits to join the league, only to kill them back and forth as he struggled to find those that had any value. Making no progress, he eventually returned back to the hideout, in which he questioned why everyone was gathered up here instead of searching for new recruits, only for Toga and Twice to mock his actions at recruiting people. He later participated in battling Gigantomachia with his fellow league, only for them to lose.
Dabi and the rest of the villains were then transported to the doctor's hideout and noticed the amount of Nomus contained and how different they looked. Soon, the doctor revealed himself and introduced himself as Daruma Ujiko. After hearing Tomura's motive, Ujiko agreed to help him, as long as he can tame Gigantomachia. Dabi refused to take part and was more invested on searching for recruits instead, only for Ujiko to request for Dabi to test out the High Ends, though Dabi showed no interest in that either.
Dabi battles with Geten.
Dabi later accompanied the league after Tomura received a call from Rikiya Yotsubashi to challenge the Meta Liberation Army and rescue Giran from their clutches and took part in the battle. During the battle, Dabi engaged in conflict with one of the Meta Liberation Army's warriors, Geten and held his own against him for an extended period of time. Following the events of the battle, however, the Meta Liberation Army submitted themselves to Tomura's command. As a result, this allowed the League of Villains and Meta Liberation Army to unite as one. Dabi became one of Tomura's nine lieutenants.
Following this, Dabi later had a private meeting with Hawks, in which Hawks decided not to share his true thoughts regarding the formation of the Paranormal Battle Front.
Endeavor Agency Arc
Dabi was one of the nine lieutenants present during a meeting with Hawks, who informed them about Endeavor and how he's taken on three students on an intern. Dabi commented on how they haven't changed ever since the Training Camp Incident.
Paranormal Liberation War Arc
Four months later, Dabi is assigned the role as the leader of Vanguard Action Guerilla Warfare Regiment: Violet, alongside Geten. During the raid led by the Pro Heroes, Hawks confronted Twice in a private room. He was about to kill him, until Dabi interrupted the scene by firing his blue flames. Hawks rescues Twice from Dabi's attacks, causing the latter to commend that Heroes are always willing to save lives. When Twice breaks free of Hawks' grip, Dabi joyfully encourages him to go wild and that the others are waiting, yet Hawks kills Twice as he is too much of a threat to keep alive.
Dabi unleashes his fury on Hawks.
Dabi is enraged at Twice's death and burns away Hawks' feathers in retaliation. Hawks asks him if he cares about Twice being killed. Dabi admits that he does care about Twice's death (though only because he needed Twice to make his dream come true), and that he can't cry because his tear glands are all burned up. Hawks asks Dabi who he is, and the latter tells him his real name, though it is censored to the readers. Afterward, Dabi explains his motivations to Hawks: he claims that there are no "real" Heroes and he is the ultimate manifestation of Stain's will. Before Dabi can finish off Hawks, Fumikage arrives to defend him.
From there on, Dabi reveals to Fumikage that Twice was killed in battle by the hero he's defending, Hawks. Dabi asks why he bothers to show up here, claiming that the Pro Heroes are no better than they are. Fumikage states he's here, simply to protect his mentor, in which Dabi then accuses him that he's stopped thinking for himself. He then proceeds to attack Fumikage, in which Fumikage manages to avoid, thanks to Dark Shadow. Dabi continues to taunt both him and Hawks, while Fumikage awaits for Hawks's orders, who insists that he must leave the area, now. Fumikage proceeds to do so, resulting in a chase between him and Dabi, who attempts to finish him and Hawks off. He is interrupted by Geten's ice attacks, however, from his battle with the other Pro Heroes.
Dabi later rejoins with Mr. Compress, once Gigantomachia sensed Tomura's calling. Upon arriving, he asks Mr. Compress where the other lieutenants are, in which Mr. Compress tells him that he was suppose to be with them together. He then senses that Twice was killed and explains to them that he tried to calm down Himiko, but failed as she has gone ahead and entered in a state of berserk against the Pro Heroes. The two observed both her and Gigantomachia from that point on, unleashing their wrath upon the Pro Heroes.
Dabi alongside the other villains.
Eventually, Dabi and the other lieutenants managed to get together and head off to Tomura's direction with Gigantomachia. Dabi believes that Tomura has finally awaken from his slumber and is currently battling the Pro Heroes on the other side, explaining to the villains why Gigantomachia has suddenly made his move. While Gigantomachia continues to battle against the heroes, Dabi prevents Skeptic from leaving, ensuring his safety. Dabi and the others play their part in creating obstacles for the heroes as means to prevent them from stopping Gigantomachia.
Gigantomachia manages to defeat the Pro Hero, Mount Lady, but he is then stopped by the group of heroes from U.A., who are working together to put him to asleep. Dabi and the other villains then work together once more to prevent them from doing so, in which they managed to defeat the heroes, allowing Gigantomachia to continue his rampage.
The villains eventually arrived to the scene where Tomura is at, in which Gigantomachia manages to rescue him before the Pro Heroes could do any more damage to him. From this point on, Dabi reunites with the Pro Hero, Endeavor and spots that his son is accompanying him, Shoto Todoroki. This allowed Dabi the opportunity to reveal to them on who he truly is. As he proceeds to wash away the black dye from his hair, he reveals to them that he is the long lost eldest child of the Todoroki family, Toya Todoroki.
Dabi reveals his actual hair color, confirming that he is indeed Toya Todoroki.
He was disappointed to see that his own family couldn't recognize him at first, but nonetheless, he explains to them why he's committed the acts he's done as a result of the abuse he's lived under his father's selfish desires and dreams. He also brings up how he was deemed unworthy to carry on his legacy. He then reveals to them that all of this has been pre-recorded and is currently being broadcasted across Japan by Skeptic, with the rest of his family learning of his survival. Dabi then reveals that his plan was to originally kill Shoto some time after he succeeded his father, but changed his approach when he learned that his father managed to actually become the No. 1 Pro Hero instead.
He expresses his frustration over how his father refused to die during his battle with Hood in Kyushu, how Ending and Starservant had failed to kill him while reminding him that he never forgot what he did to him, stating that he intends to bring him down to his demise with him.
In disbelief, Endeavor denies that Dabi could really be Toya due to seeing him die, but the latter says that he is Toya and taunts his father for being unable to suspect him, despite having so much fire-based heroes in the Endeavor Agency. As his pre-recorded video continues, he shows the audience his DNA test results to prove that he indeed has Endeavor's blood, and talks about Shoto being his final successful creation, but even then Endeavor abused Shoto many times from what Dabi had seen. He claims that Endeavor doesn't have an empathetic bone in his body and he's obsessed with his self-importance and being in the limelight, which is anything but what a hero should be. Dabi also talks about Hawks and shows how he killed both Twice and Best Jeanist apparently without remorse, which makes sense since his father was a criminal so Hawks' origin had to be kept secret, and Endeavor captured that criminal and it was fate that caused them both to meet. Finally, Dabi gives a speech to the crowd that heroes are dishonest people who only care about their reputation to the public in order to hide their sins, as part of his goal to make the civilians lose their faith in heroes, who would be stupid if they didn't. Dabi thanks Endeavor for staying strong until now, so he could finish him off. However, his words come back to bite him when Best Jeanist turns out to be alive and restrains the villain, proclaiming his return to hero duty.
Dabi is in disbelief, claiming that he was sure that he saw Best Jeanist dead, but the hero says that Dabi has overreached and he'll come apart like inferior denim. Dabi says that him being alive won't change the Todoroki family's past and addresses Shoto, who is crying in anger. Nejire Hado attempts to strike at Tomura and Spinner, but Dabi blasts her with flames, taunting Endeavor that another child's bright future has been burned by his flames. Shoto attacks him and tells Dabi that he was responsible for Ending nearly killing Natsuo, even though Toya used to come to him for comfort when he was younger. Dabi only reacts that it was shameful since Natsuo's death would've really hurt Endeavor. Shoto calls him insane, and Dabi confirms that he has no feelings anymore and he will kill Shoto too, with a sadistic grin.
Izuku confronts Dabi, saying that he will protect both Shoto and Endeavor because Shoto is his friend and Endeavor was his mentor who made him better, and has the potential to change for the better. Endeavor is encouraged by Izuku's forgiveness and gains the resolve to fight back against Gigantomachia, while Dabi taunts Izuku about how he was only trying to show his truth towards the young hero and even then society is starting to accept it. After the end of the war, Dabi ultimately succeeded in his goals: turning the public against heroes via his video and ruining Endeavor's reputation as the No. 1 Hero. Dabi returns to the escaped villains' new headquarters, where he talks to himself about how Endeavor can't die without making a public statement about the mess he created, while celebrating his victory to himself and wishing for the rest of the Todoroki family to meet him in hell.
After recovering from the hospital, Endeavor realizes that he caused his son to become a mass murderer and he can't fight him, causing him to break down into tears and apologize to his family for everything he'd done to them. Rei comes in to talk to her husband about Toya, recalling how he used to idolize Endeavor and had an obsession with achieving his father's goal of surpassing All Might to the point where he would harm himself physically and emotionally while training. In concern, Enji tried to make Toya live his life normally, but his son says that with Endeavor as his father, he has ignited a flame within him and rushes towards his mother and infant siblings with his fire Quirk so that his father will finally notice.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Dabi setting a forest on fire.
- Cremation: Cremation allows Dabi to control and manipulate extremely hot blue flames, which are able to set forests ablaze and can burn large groups of people to a crisp. He can also use his flames to propel himself upwards and hover in the air. Dabi's Quirk is said to allow him to produce flames even stronger than Endeavor's.
Abilities
- Keen Intellect: While not very strategic, Dabi is very observant to everything around him. With just a glance, he easily identified Tomura's instability and effortlessly saw through Aizawa's stoic nature, even knowing that Hawks was a traitor from the moment he met him. Had it not been for Twice stopping him, he would have found and killed Aoyama. Later he identified Snatch’s quirk, and understood it’s limits.
Overall, Dabi is one of the more powerful members among the league. His quirk has shown to have a destructive nature and he is skilled enough with it to hold his own against Pro Heroes. Shota Aizawa, a powerful Pro Hero, struggled against a clone of Dabi for a considerable amount of time (which did not have the same power as the original). Later, in conjunction with Mr. Compress, they managed to both seal and kill Snatch, a strong Pro Hero. On top of this, he managed to fight evenly against and later pin down the extremely skilled No. 2 Pro Hero, Hawks, while overpowering the latter with the brute force of his flames.
Weaknesses
Despite his Quirk's power, Dabi's flames begin to eat away at him and burn his body should he use them for too long, which prevents him from fighting prolonged battles. To counter this, Dabi tends to rattle his opponents and engage in psychological warfare in order to buy himself time to cool down. He is also capable of saving firepower for more devastating attacks.
Quotes
| “ | The kids at school all say they wanna be heroes! I can't understand that. Because I've got you as a father. You lit this fire in me, Dad... and it's not going out! I can't just pretend it's not there! Look at me! ENDEAVOR!! LOOK... ...AT ME!! | „ |
| ~ Toya having a mental breakdown back when he was a child. |
| “ | (Thug #1: What the hell are you? Your face makes me wanna puke!) (Thug #2: Keep lookin at me like that and I'll kill ya!) Pity, you're not what we need... Stay down, you make good fuel, allow my flames to consume you. |
„ |
| ~ Dabi killing the criminals who wished to join the League. |
| “ | Looks like your concern has you distracted Eraser... You Pros ought to lay off, we haven't come here for any of you so just stay out of our way! | „ |
| ~ Dabi attacking Eraserhead. |
| “ | Why not get cocky? You're playing right into our hands. The second you lost the initiative signaled your defeat. You've got the top hero-training academy, U.A., and the Symbol of Peace, All Might... the two most trusted foundations of our hero-based society. But now one mess after another is shaking that trust... don't you think that loss of faith will spread like wildfire throughout society? Think about it... how your careless administration keeps allowing attack after attack... you're so weak... you couldn't even stop a criminal organization from abducting your students. | „ |
| ~ Dabi taunting Vlad King. |
| “ | (Hawks: Is that... the face of a man who just watched a friend die?!) Hey, now!!! That was rude! I haven't cried since my tear ducts got all burned! With Twice around, my dream had a way better chance of coming true! So of course I'm sad he's gone! |
„ |
| ~ Dabi upon witnessing Twice's death. |
| “ | More than Twice... More than anyone... You should've been keeping both eyes on me. | „ |
| ~ Dabi after revealing his true identity to Hawks. |
| “ | Ouch... Is that any way to address me...? I have a great name. Call me Toya. You're that dumbstruck? Really...? I know my face ain't exactly what it was... But I was sure my own kin would've figured it out. | „ |
| ~ Dabi reveals his true identity to Endeavor and Shoto. |
| “ | I am Toya Todoroki. The eldest son of Endeavor. To date, I've killed over 30 innocent people in cold blood... And today, I'd like everyone to know exactly what drove me to such despicable acts. Once upon a time, Endeavor yearned for nothing but power. But when he found himself unable to surpass All Might, he despaired. To concoct even stronger Quirks, my father forced the woman who would become my mother to marry him. That's when my father created me, in pursuit of his selfish, egotistical dreams. But alas, I was a failed creation. It didn't take long for him to reject me. I was tossed aside and forgotten. | „ |
| ~ Dabi exposes Endeavor's abusive history to the public. |
| “ | How could I make you hurt?! How to best stomp all over your life?! I've been pondering all this ever since that day! I couldn't figure out why I even existed, and every day... I'd crawl to Natsu, crying my eyes out. Not that you ever knew, right?! My blood ran cold when I thought you might bite the big one in Kyushu! Then, I led Starservant and Ending straight to you, one after the other! You were finally number one! It's all you ever wanted! But it must've weighed on you, right?! Or was all the praise and admiration like chicken soup for your soul?! When, at long last, you could stare your kids in the eye... didja finally start to feel the warm and fuzzy bonds of family?! You must've thought, "As long as I face the future, I can be better!" I can tell you're at a loss for words, so here's the answer! The past never dies! Get it, yet?! Y'reap what you sow! So let's tango, you and me - Enji Todoroki!! A dance with your son, here in Hell!! | „ |
| ~ Dabi's monologue to Endeavor. |
| “ | I couldn't let that stand! These twisted people with skeletons in their closets... they cover it all up with masks of justice! But they don't stop there! They keep calling themselves "heroes" and keep fooling everyone! I just want everyone to stop and think! The only ones these "heroes" protect are themselves! With all that ugliness inside, they use you people to give them protection! Approval! Admiration! | „ |
| ~ Dabi's speech to the people to break their faith in heroes. |
| “ | Thanks for going strong up until now, Endeavor! | „ |
| ~ Dabi before he prepares to kill his father |
| “ | (Shoto: You really sent those villains our way?! One of them almost killed Natsu! Remember him? The brother you cried to every day?!) Almost killed? What a shame. That would've really hurt Endeavor. (Shoto: Are you freaking insane?!) Sure am, Shoto. See, your brother's not so big on "feelings" anymore. (Shoto: Toya...) And now I get to kill you after all. |
„ |
| ~ Dabi expressing his lack of feelings for anyone. |
| “ | Aw, your friends are having a blast down there. Poor Shoto... No fun for you. Just pain. (Shoto: But... you're... burning up... too!) Seriously, it's great that you were raised with love. I'm fine, because I'm really happy right now. 'Cuz look at that face. The guy's about to watch his puppet masterpiece burn up and die in the fire of his failed experiment, and he can't do anything! Ngh... I said look! He's totally broken inside!! Hahahaha!! Shoto!! Once my fire burns you to ash... I wonder... what kinda face dad'll make?! |
„ |
| ~ Dabi to Shoto Todoroki. |
| “ | Hahaha! Way to state the obvious!! But still - you gotta pity me, right? That agent of justice did some vile stuff, and I'm the result. Evil is thriving! Justice is losing this war! All I'm doing is showing you sentimental dopes who's to blame for that! The future coming down the pipeline... is one where all that schmaltz and lip service is gonna get blown away by the chaos! | „ |
| ~ Dabi to Izuku Midoriya. |
Trivia
- While Dabi's Quirk has no official name, it has been widely labelled as "Cremation" due to the word being translated directly from Dabi's name.
- Before the release of Chapter 290, a popular theory among the fandom was that Dabi may actually be a relative of the Todoroki family. One of the reasons that the fans use is the fact that his flames are blue, in which Endeavor is also capable of producing blue flames, though this is something that was only shown in the anime. Other reasons included his similar eye color to Endeavor and Shoto.
- With more recent chapters hinting towards this theory, Dabi was generally speculated to be Toya Todoroki, the oldest son of the Todoroki family, who was revealed to have an unnamed fire Quirk and implied to have went through harsh training with Endeavor regarding his Quirk and appeared to have a strong resemblance to him. This theory was eventually proven true when Dabi revealed his true identity and what drove him to become a villain.
- Dabi and Shoto shared the same abuse and harsh treatment from their father's strict teachings. However, unlike Dabi, Shoto started to let go of his grudge towards him while Dabi is consumed by his hatred to where he became villain to destroy his father's reputation.
- In a way, the two contrast one another, as Chapter 301 revealed. Despite being molded by his father to surpass him, Shoto admired All Might's acts of heroism and wanted to become a hero with similar ideals, whereas Dabi was obsessed with surpassing him and making his dad proud. While Shoto had no choice but to endure Endeavor's vigorous and harsh trainings, Toya was enthusiastic about furthering his abilities and was frustrated when his dad didn't make time for him. And while Shoto was forced to perfect his abilities at his father's commands to become the number one hero, Enji tried to get Toya to stop using his quirk altogether and give up on his dreams.
- As such, Dabi serves as Shoto's dark reflection of what he would have become if he let his hatred consume him. Shoto himself noted this similarity, which is why he believed that it was his responsibility to handle Toya.
External Links
- Dabi on the Boku No Hero Academia Wiki Wiki.
