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| “ | YES SHOTO! Have you finally accepted your purpose? That's it, very good. This is the dawn of a new era for us. With my blood in your veins you'll surpass me. YOU WILL LIVE UP TO THE REASON I CREATED YOU! | „ |
| ~ Endeavor becomes over-excited after seeing Shoto finally use his fire quirk. |
| “ | Apart from what that novice tried to stir up... There is not much to say. Just watch me. | „ |
| ~ Endeavor's statement to the public. |
Enji Todoroki, or better known by his superhero name Endeavor, is a major character in the My Hero Academia franchise. He is the father of Shoto Todoroki and was the 2nd highest ranked superhero, before eventually becoming the 1st.
Endeavor is a hero that had one objective on his mind; to surpass All Might and claim his rank as the 1st ranked superhero of Japan. However, because of All Might's popularity, Endeavor feared that he would not get so far in his career. In order to continue his legacy, Endeavor arranged a marriage with a woman known as Rei Himura, the daughter of the Himura household. She had an ice Quirk, which was essential to Endeavor's goal and produced offspring with her, until his wife was able to give birth to the perfect child; Shoto Todoroki.
Ever since All Might's retirement from being a superhero, Endeavor was now on his way to becoming the 1st ranked superhero, much to his anger. However, after finding peace with himself and coming to respect All Might once more, Endeavor fully accepted his position and aimed to become society's new Symbol of Peace.
He is voiced by Tetsu Inada (who has also voiced Hajun in Record of Ragnarok) in Japanese and Patrick Seitz (who also voiced Dio Brando, Adamas from Record of Ragnarok, Kagemasa Toda, Scorpion, Raoh, Dante Zogratis from Black Clover, Dracula from Castlevania, and Garrosh Hellscream) in English.
Personality[]
As a child, Enji witnessed his father die at the hands of a villain while attempting to save a little girl. This incident gave him the resolve to become a powerful hero who could fight villains and protect others. Ever since the beginning, Enji has always yearned to be the best and he chose the hero name "Endeavor" to reflect all his hard work. While many heroes admired All Might from afar, Endeavor was one of the few who made attempts to surpass him as the Number 1 Hero. Because of this, Endeavor would become hellbent on usurping All Might, turning him into a cold, brutal, and almost unfeeling person who would do anything to achieve his dream, even if it meant passing it onto his children, as he begrudgingly came to accept over the years that surpassing All Might was an impossible task for him.
Despite his status as a hero, Endeavor lacked many heroic ideals. He is prideful of his fame, quirk and strength and it is this very pride that makes the public crowd view him as a fierce and scary individual, often filled with rage. Endeavor is more anti-heroic in the sense that he has little regard for the lives of villains, having little to no tolerance for their actions. At times, he will even resort to killing them, but this is more so only when facing dangerous threats and when absolutely necessary such as the Nomus.
He is envious of the fact that All Might has a higher rank than him. As mentioned prior, his ultimate goal was to prove himself the strongest, not caring about being the number one hero position for the fame, but more as proof that he was the strongest hero. In order to achieve this, he married Rei Himura, so he could produce an heir that could take All Might's spot as the Number 1 Hero. While their marriage was arranged and his intentions seemed selfish at first, he did very much care for her, as he acknowledged her to be a strong woman. This also extended to the rest of his family as he dedicated most of his time raising his eldest son, Toya, who genuinely looked forward to becoming his successor. It appeared that he maintained a healthy relationship with his wife and children, up until Shoto was born.
Only when Shoto was born was where Endeavor started to begin mistreating his family. His abuse towards his wife caused her to have a mental breakdown, yet he showed no concern for her when it happened. He would also abuse Shoto daily, believing that he must stand up for himself if he wants to get anywhere successful in his life. Endeavor also started to neglect the rest of his children, nor pay any mind and attention to them. This was seen when he forbade Shoto from interacting with them as a child. Because of this, this led to Toya indirectly putting himself in great danger, ultimately leading to his supposed death. Learning about Toya's training put Endeavor in great frustration that only made him more abusive towards Rei, blaming her for not stopping Toya. By the time Toya had supposedly passed away, all Endeavor could do was obsess over transforming Shoto into his successor. Instead of quitting his lifelong goal after it had costed him his son's life, he instead kept going, believing that he couldn't give up or take a step back after causing Toya's supposed death.
All of this would change following All Might's retirement, after defeating All For One. Because the former retired, it meant that Endeavor's position would inevitably shift to the number one position. However, he was greatly enraged by this, as he believed that his hard work was pointless and had no meaning if it all led to this. Eventually, Endeavor decided to settle matters with All Might, in which the two had a conversation about the future for himself. After his conversation while witnessing his son make up for his Hero License Exam, Endeavor has come to realize the error of his ways and plans to turn over a new leaf. Rather than seeking fame, Endeavor now seeks to become a new Symbol of Peace that many can look up to. As a result, he is joyful in seeing Shoto doing well on his exam and appreciated Inasa's support for him.
In addition to shaping himself as a better hero, Endeavor also appears to be focusing on becoming a better person to his family. He is said to have visited the hospital often to see how his wife is doing and left her a flower she liked, showing that he does care for her, despite his abuse towards her. Rei also noted that Endeavor remembered very well since the first time they met, showing that he is able to remember even the smallest detail of things. It is later revealed that one of the reasons Endeavor married Rei was not out of pure selfishness, but to counter the limitations of his Quirk, hence why he believed Shoto had the perfect Quirk, so that he wouldn't experience these issues.
Despite his rough reunion with his children, Endeavor still tries his best to stay in touch with them and see how they are doing. This is notably shown when he tried to get in contact with Shoto via phone and notify him about a technique he's been training him to perform for awhile now. Endeavor also understands their feelings towards him and blames himself for it, as he noted Natsuo's cold behavior towards him and told him that he's trying to atone himself, something that surprised his son. He also stated to his daughter Fuyumi that he could have worded himself better and could be seen leaving, presumably to speak with Natsuo. He's extremely grateful to her daughter for everything she's tried to do to reunite their family, but despite this, he's come to the conclusion that his family would better off without him. As a result, he ultimately decides that in order to try and fix their family, he must remove himself from the equation.
After he discovered that his son, Toya was alive and has become the villain known as Dabi, Endeavor was speechless and called it a despicable lie before realizing it was true. He throws up at this revelation and would’ve been killed by his vengeful son but his youngest had to defend him. He gains a temporary comfort when his protégé Izuku Midoriya tells Dabi that he still believes that Endeavor is still capable of changing, causing Endeavor to break down into tears. After a conflict with the Paranormal Liberation Front, he broke down in tears at the revelation that his abusive treatment let his son to become a mass murderer stating because of it he couldn’t fight his own child. When his family spotted this, he profusely apologized for everything he ever did to them after seeing the terrible result it had with Toya.
With support from his family, Endeavor gain strength and in his speech to the media he confirmed everything that Toya said accepted the full responsibility for the latter's destructive actions. He also made it clear that he will redeem himself by being a hero at the public need him to be in this time.
Following the Final War, having been forced to retire due to permanent injuries which had left him in a paraplegic state, Endeavor decides to devote the rest of his life to making amends for the horrible way he previously treated his family, which also includes making regular visits to Toya inside the prison, no matter what anyone else thinks of him.
Powers and Abilities[]
In general, Endeavor is a very powerful hero. He is the No. 2 ranked hero in Japan, right behind All Might, and later ended up being No. 1, after All Might retired from crime fighting. His fights against the League of Villains and the Nomus have proven his ranking very well. Combined with his Quirk and intellect, he is a very capable fighter that can achieve great feats.
Powers[]
- Hellflame: Endeavor's Quirk allows him to manipulate and control fire at his will. He is able to use his flame abilities in a variety of different ways, such as creating fire spears and fire balls and melting walls with his feet, which allows him to run on walls. He can also control the temperature of his flames, to the point of creating blue flames.
- Flashfire Fist - Jet Burn: With this attack, Endeavor shoots flames from his wrist to speed up the momentum of his fist to create an incredibly powerful punch.
- Flashfire Fist - Hell Spider: Endeavor shoots out flames in the forms of ray beams that slice through things like butter.
- Prominence Burn: Endeavor releases a huge blast of flames that is powerful enough to burn away massive parts of his opponent away.
- Enhanced Strength: Although Hellflame is his only Quirk, Endeavor is very strong, as he was able to send a Nomu flying back with one punch, as well as breaking its skin off with said punch. He is also able to hold down a Nomu long enough for him to decapitate it.
Abilities[]
- Keen Intellect: Endeavor is extraordinarily intelligent, as he has used his intelligence to tally up the most resolved criminal cases in history. He has keen deductive skills, as shown when he noticed how Izuku Midoriya's Quirk was not only was very powerful, but it was similar to All Might's, only after seeing it briefly. In combat, he swiftly decided that the best way to defeat a Nomu was to carbonize its cells, so it wouldn't regenerate.
Weaknesses[]
It should be noted that Endeavor does indeed have limits to his Quirk. If he tends to use it recklessly, his body temperature will overheat, causing his physical conditions to weaken. In order to counter this, he relies on Rei's ice Quirk to cool him down. It's also one of the main reasons why he's glad at how Shoto turned out, so that he doesn't have this problem in the future.
Quotes[]
| “ | Ignore them, Shoto. They live in a different world than the one I'm training you for... | „ |
| ~ Endeavor telling a young Shoto to stop viewing his older siblings. |
| “ | It's time to stop this childish rebellion of yours... You have a duty to surpass that imbecile All Might... Do you understand what I'm saying? You're different from your siblings, you're my greatest masterpiece. | „ |
| ~ Endeavor to his son Shoto. |
| “ | I don't accept it... not like this...! I should've earned it myself. Not by him failing! | „ |
| ~ Endeavor furious upon All Might's retirement and being handed the No. 1 Hero position that he always wanted. |
| “ | If I’d only wanted the title of No. 1, I could’ve acted friendly towards everyone like you did. But no, I actually wanted to be number one. | „ |
| ~ Endeavor reflecting on his past and actions. |
| “ | Shoto. Long time no see. You've changed a lot. (Shoto: I don't want to hear it.) I'm proud of you, son... So I'll become... a hero that you can be proud of, too. Proud that your father is the number one hero... |
„ |
| ~ Endeavor telling his son that he will change. |
| “ | Villain, I see it. You, are me, from the past, or another future. Burn up, be at rest... (I've always hated that damn school motto, but it seems appropriate...) I'LL GO PLUS ULTRA!!! PROMINENCE BURN!!! | „ |
| ~ Endeavor defeating Hood. |
| “ | Welcome-!! To Endeavor's Hero Agency! Psyche. As if I'd be that friendly. I only accepted you guys because Shoto asked me to!! But to be honest, I wanted Shoto to come alone. | „ |
| ~ Endeavor "warmly" welcoming his new interns before dropping his new nice-guy act. |
| “ | It's alright if you never forgive me. It's not like I want your forgiveness. I just want to make up for everything I've done. | „ |
| ~ Endeavor to his resentful son Natsuo. |
| “ | Endeavor: My son is dead... these are disgusting lies! Dabi: Oh, I'm very much alive. You're just a broken man who refuses to accept the truth! |
„ |
| ~ Endeavor after Dabi reveals his true identity. |
| “ | (I couldn't move. It was just like before. My child was going to die in front of me. And I... I froze. Jeanist showed that Dabi was wrong about some things, but the truth about me is undeniable. Everything I did in the past, has come back to haunt me... and others.) Even if I survived the fight, the hero I was... Endeavor, is dead. I can't fight my own son... | „ |
| ~ Endeavor realizing the end of his career as a hero. |
| “ | Sorry, I'm... so sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't realize until now... This regret... This guilt... It's too late to matter! My heart, it's... | „ |
| ~ Endeavor apologizing to his family |
Trivia[]
- Endeavor seems to be a representation of what Katsuki Bakugo could become in the future: a hero filled with pride and ambition who strives to be at the very top. Both he and Bakugo have also shown to have violent and aggressive tempers.
- Endeavor's name means "attempting to achieve a goal", which is very fitting for his character.
- Despite being a controversial character among the fandom, Endeavor was placed 8th in the fourth Japanese popularity poll, which is a huge improvement to his last placements. This is likely due to his recent character development in the Pro Hero Arc.
- Endeavor was originally intended to be a teacher at the U.A. High School, but the concept was scrapped as the idea of having both the No. 1 (who at the time was All Might) and No. 2 Pro Hero on the protagonist's side would result in their conflicts being dealt with more easily.
- Similar to Kotaro Shimura, Endeavor was the cause of his own son choosing to be a villain and eventually regretted it. The difference however, whereas Kotaro utterly resented the idea about heroes and died a monster in Tomura's eyes because of it, Endeavor harshly groomed his son Toya into his successor at the expense of the latter's well-being and lived long enough to eventually regret it.
- Controversial it might be, Endeavor's story ultimately serves as a cautionary tale in which those who committed terrible things like him can change to better if they willingly choose to all while understanding damages they done won't be easy to mend.
External Links[]
- Endeavor on the My Hero Academia Wiki
- Endeavor on the Heroes Wiki
