#The Todoroki Family

[mettywiththenotes]

We're gonna get a second hospital talk with all the Todoroki's and Shouto is just going to have his head in his hands because his dad and his big brother lost their arms and he's gonna think its his fault for being the Hand Crusher

He's gonna think his ability has evolved to the Arm Taker or something

[nortsauce]

HERE COMES NORT, YAPPING ABOUT FANDOMS THAT I’M NOT EVEN IN!

(And i’ll be typing the rest here because there are too many slides so read bellow)

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️

My LONG ASS rant on how MHA (among other things) fails to present its ab*se victims in a good way,

Starring the todoroki family

So, i know literally no one cares but i feel like it needed to be said: but MHA has a BIG issue with victims of abuse being treated kinda shittily, to making whole arcs about their abusers.

This isn’t a HUGE thing, as the lack of sympathy for Hawk’s abusers was definitely there, but they still were portrayed in a semi-sympathetic light. This is not the main focus however.

I’m sure many could go on and on about Bakugou and Midoriya’s relationship, but thats not what i’m focusing on.

I’m focusing on the most OVERLOOKED and ABHORRENTLY handled dynamic of the Todoroki family

I will be going over each of the characters and why they suck in some way, but as a whole i have to talk about this: Each one of the characters of the family are all victims of abuse in some way, and represent the different ways that trauma affects the victim, i understand that.

All in all, they do a good job of portraying the different ways in which the people handle abuse,

Endeavor being one who never dealt with his past egotistical superiority complex and threw his baggage onto his family/children to live vicariously

Rei being the one who is emotionally/physically damaged to the point of a mental break

Touya being the ex-golden child, and the one who continued the cycle of violence (and misogyny but thats another topic for another paper)

Fuyumi being the one who holds onto an idealized version of a family that possibly only existed in her dreams, being codependent and longing/working to get those “happy times” back with her family, clinging onto smth that was possibly never there

Natsuo being the one who is (justifiably) angry at his abusers, cuts his family off and goes to pursue his own life/dreams

and finally shoto

the one who realizes his role as the golden child is only for his parents to live vicariously, breaks his cycle and is trying to figure out who he is.

These are all great representations of how people cope/handle trauma, and i believe that was on purpose, considering that it also speaks on abuse of children on baselines of being in a famous family.

However, certain aspects are clearly not handled properly; allow me to explain.

Shoto, the youngest of the family, is often seen as the architect of the abuse, as the family was actually quite “fine-living” (i’ll come back to this) before shoto was born.

There were obviously cracks in their family from the beginning, Touya being the golden child despite not being able to physically handle his own power without hurting himself (an allegory i’ll discuss), the fact that Enji (endeavor) basically bought his way into marrying Rei, and of course enji’s complex of being less than All-might.

However, many characters seem to blame the birth of Shoto for breaking the camel’s back, and starting the domestic violence that had already threatened to spill through.

It’s shown through the anime that shoto has a kind heart and never liked enji, due to the fact that he would harm him, his siblings, and his mother,

but for being the tritagonist of this show, we never get to see how he really feels. In all of this, perhaps we could see him feeling guilt for being the reason his family is broken, the possible resentment yet dependency he has for his father, the thoughts on how he feels conflicted yet guilty about his mother and continues to blame himself.

Its interesting how he never stops blaming his father, but regardless we only get his apathetic views on his father and no one else. Its saddening to see the sideline of the victim of abuse while his abuser gets a whole arc. But i’m not there yet.

Moving on we have Natsuo and Fuyumi. I grouped them together because they both have opposite ways of dealing with their trauma, as Aforementioned: Natsuo tries to cut all ties while Fuyumi tries to be a “normal” family with her remaining members.

Both of them have valid ways to why they act this way, and its tragic, however, the way they deal with their youngest sibling, shoto, is disheartening to say the least.

Both of them understand how Shoto was physically abused since he was 5, and neglect to form any sort of connection with him despite his better efforts in natsuo’s case, using him as leverage against his father and nothing more, while in fuyumi’s case, basically presents him in her fantastical version of him in their fantastical “perfect” family life, causing him to have multiple meetings with his abuser and forcing him to relive the trauma so she can have peace of mind.

In hindsight, this is all interesting heavy topics to explore in a character, and i was honestly curious to see how it would be handled

however it all faltered as soon as I saw the hospital scene.

SPOILERS:

After Dabi’s Dance, the todoroki family comes to visit Shoto and Endeavor in the hospital, both of whom are heavily bandaged and bed-ridden.

Despite this all, Rei, Fuyumi, and Natsuo force todoroki, who is burnt and recovering his voice, to get up and walk over to his father’s ward to speak to him.

Shoto, despite being unable to form full sentences, makes it FULLY CLEAR he does not want to be there, by closing the door to his ward, and attempting to leave. Despite his clear efforts, his family makes him go in to talk to him.

this 16 year old boy being forced out of RECOVERING, fully bandaged and barely able to talk, forced to visit his abuser to hear him cry about not being able to fight his own son, depsite also being his son and physically harmed by him since childhood.

In my opinion that wasn’t a good move on any of the family’s part.

Rei is a difficult subject to discuss. She is clearly a victim and has been for. while. She is mentally distant after being harmed for so long and spent time in a psyche-ward to handle herself.

Saying that she was a bad mother would be too far in my opinion, as she did her best to provide a nice life for her kids as well as defend them from her husband.

Not much is said about her, but from what we can tell she loved her kids very much, until the abuse started.

I feel the blame for shoto began with her, not being able to face her own son after the “death” of her first and the fact that his face reminded her of the abuse she’s faced from endeavor.

Her character is honestly an interesting one, but she is not safe from my scrutiny of the hospital scene. She was very brave for facing her abuser like this, however, she did not have to drag her bedridden youngest into the fray.

She is the DIRECT reason shoto has a scar on her face, (indirectly endeavor’s fault)

But i will never blame her for the abuse she faced for her children, by her husband and to an extent, her own son touya, which leads me into my next point

SPOILERS

Touya, aka Dabi, is the “Late” eldest brother who was originally Endeavor’s ticket into living vicariously to defeat all-might and be the number 1 hero.

I could go into the psychology of his character but he is ultimately very interesting. In all honesty the way he is presented as being the consequences of endeavor’s actions is palpable and honestly quite raw. At a young age, he was handling the pressure of being his father’s perfect creation, and the fame and fortune that followed as he sought his father’s approval. Soon, his quirk began to burn him every time he used it, a fact that endeavor ignored to pursue his goal. Touya’s power became self-harm at some point, an allegory for his disregard for his own life and well-being for his father’s dream which ultimately (literally) exploded on itself.

Touya’s story is interesting, from his abuse causing him to act like his father craving his approval, which lead him to act put against his mother and shoto, while laying his baggage onto his younger siblings, to losing his mind and realizing that he wanted his father dead and continuing the cycle of abuse further.

This is all a deep and interesting way to look at abuse and how the abused may become an abuser, HOWEVER.

MY critique here, is how sidelined his whole arc is, as his story is more portrayed of Endeavor’s past coming to haunt him, all for the watcher to sympathize with endeavor rather than understand how the abuse endeavor put onto touya made dabi. This whole arc was framed to be sympathetic towards endeavor, and to fear Dabi. Don’t even get me started on how Shoto’s feelings meant nothing in this arc, as well as being immediately cut off by a surprise cameo of a character that possibly discredited Dabi’s expose video on his abuser.

Finally, we get to talk about the elephant in the room: Enji Todoroki, endeavor himself.

What is there not to say about this man.

I feel I should start eith the obvious:

The forgiveness/sympathy arc for endeavor was quite possibly the worst thing to ever happen in the anime, and this is not subjective.

The whole arc is based around how Endeavor is a victim of his own mind and is trying his hardest to make up for being a terrible person.

Personally, i love to see character arcs of villains becoming a better person, but thats the very thing: Endeavor is trying to ask for forgiveness from his family, who he abused for 15 YEARS. This is no exaggeration as Shoto is now 16, and his cracks started forming as soon as he was born.

Endeavor had illegally married a woman that he basically bought his way into,

was illegally “breeding” (eugh) for quirk benefits,

Treated one of his son’s like a vicarious version of himself

Physically abused his son (age 5+) his wife, and verbally abused the rest of his children

isolated his son

treated his son like a weapon

and finally felt too prideful for any sort of meaningful apology.

This all adds up to a character who only felt sorry for his actions after the consequences started hitting him in the face, as he only felt remorseful when Shoto refused to be associated with him.

Now, some of you may be thinking: “A lot of characters are forgiven for more, why would he be the exception? It’s fictional why do you care?”

There are several reasons to why I care but i’ll speak in terms of framing for now. This show is highly influential to not only kids (as it is a KIDS SHOW) but to adults as well. May i direct your attention to the man who saved a woman from a murderous ex-boyfriend by blocking his machete hits all because My Hero Academia inspired him to take action and be a hero?

Or how about a murder that took place because the accused was inspired by an invader zim episode (the dark harvest)

Whether you like it or not, fiction HAS an affect on reality. Yes, we can determine what is real and what is fake, but you cannot deny that a lot of what media we consume helps us be who we are.

If the show promotes more sympathy towards an abuser than their victims, then people may find themselves sympathizing real world abusers over the voices of victims.

I wont speak on delicate subjects but I can already see affects of this happening, as people rally to defend famous people accused of being abusers rather than listen and provide support to the alleged victims.

In conclusion, These topics are definitely not easy to write, and I, for one, am NO expert and my word should not be used as gospel truth or a guideline on how to write these characters.

This is all simply my opinion on how the bias towards abusers in the show leads for the message to be skewed and marred in action.

I understand that no one is perfect, but if we only reward and sympathize with those who only seek redemption after they face scrutiny, then we lose the meaning of what makes someone worthy of forgiveness.

These topics are deep and interesting, but the way they are handled in this show is simply bad writing.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk and again: no shade towards the writers. Just critiques!

[animekpopsimp]

Being The Oldest Todoroki Daughter

You're Toya's Twin Sister

The two of you had always been close ever since you were younger

Both of you felt pressured to be good enough for your father, pushing yourselves beyond your limit during training

You two were each other's support

However, things only seemed to get worse

Fuyumi and Natsuo being born made you both happy and worried

Then Shoto came along and your father focused on him, calling Shoto his masterpiece

Both you and Toya felt Jealous since you wanted your father's approval

You didn't hate Shoto, but Toya held more resentment toward the youngest of you all

You tried to make him realize that it was all your father's fault, but he didn't listen

Even comfort from Natsuo didn't help you feel completely better

You, Toya, Fuyumi and Natsuo didn't see Shoto very often, since your father kept him busy with training

You barely saw your mother either

Then came the incident when Rei had enough of the way she had been treated by Endeavor

She ended up pouring boiling water on Shoto's face, which caused her to be sent to a mental hospital

Things became even more tense in your home after that

And one day, Toya died

You were heartbroken, since out of all your siblings you felt closest to him

It was at that point that you distanced yourself from your entire family, even Natsuo and Fuyumi

You hadn't been that close to Shoto, but at that point you barely even went near him

You swore to yourself that you would become a better hero than your father ever could be

Not to make him happy, but to spite him

When you grew up, you made it as a hero, moving out of the home you had grown up in for some long

Deep down, you felt bad for your sibling, but you didn't know how to form a proper relationship with them

You wouldn't even consider trying to fix things with your father

Some time later, you finally found the bravery to visit your mother

Though it was awkward at first, you did end up mending things with her a bit

It made you happy to know she didn't hate you, considering how much you look like your father

She was glad you had moved out and started your own life, and she was proud of you for being such an amazing hero

After visiting your mother, you finally gathered the courage to talk to your siblings again

Fuyumi was the most willing, having missed you since you left the home

Natsuo was a bit hesitant, but came around after a short while

The two of you bonded over the anger you felt toward your father

Shoto was a different story

At first, he didn't really want to see you

Part of him resented you for leaving, and the fact that Endeavor wasn't as tough on you as he was on him

But, after some time, the two of you slowly became close

He really started to feel close to you when you stood up to your father how he was hurting Shoto

He started admiring you after that

He even picked your agency to intern with instead of your father's, which Endeavor wasn't too happy with that

Though, neither of you cared

It felt nice to be close to your siblings after all the time that you had spent barely being around them

You watched as Shoto made his way through UA

And despite all the dangers he faced along the way, he always persevered

During one of your patrols, you met Dabi

There was something familiar about him, but you just couldn't figure it out

It bothered you for a while, until you were given the answer

During what could only be called a war, Dabi was spotted on top of the giant villain

At that moment, you got your answe

Dabi was actually Toya, your twin brother

And he followed through with his plan of exposing your father and all that he had done

You tried your best to stop him, even if he was your brother

You knew your father wouldn't be up for.the task, so you would step up

There was no more Toya, only Dabi

[thingsoverheardatua]

Endeavor: Oh my god!! What is wrong with you?!

Dabi: Everything.

Dabi: Except for the way I dress.

[kiritouyadeku96]

Look at baby Touya 🥺 he’s so tiny and small!

[compil]

9 Favorite Dynamics for BNHA's 9th Anniversary!

[sparkles-and-trash]

This is tje worst thing I’ve ever done

[creatively-storm]

!!WARNING: SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR MHA SEASON 6, READ AHEAD AT YOUR OWN RISK!! I don't know much about Rei, but I do know this. She is a queen.

Yes, I do remember what she did to Shoto, and I do remember that was caused by mental unstableness and fear due to Enji. BUT, she's done so much better, and she's even here now standing up to her abuser for her family. She agreed to marry Enji to help her family with financial struggles, even if she knew she wouldn't be happy. And, let's face it, being with an abuser day in and day out sometimes makes you lose your cool, especially while worrying if your kids/siblings will turn out like your husband/father.

[soanywayimscreaming]

Shoto: What was living with Touya like?

Natsuo and Fuyumi: *getting war flashbacks*

[delawaredetroit]

Is it silly that I think that quirk marriages could get a bit more explored? The whole concept kinda feels like it doesn't stray much outside of the Todoroki's plot, we don't hear much about it from other characters

I kinda think that it's something that really would affect personal relationships in BNHA a lot, or maybe even create some of the weirdest outcomes when combined with hero idol culture

I don't think it's silly at all. There's a lot of potential worldbuilding there, but canon doesn't attempt to touch it outside of the Todorokis and the Himuras.

Now do I think canon will do that? No. Primarily because that would require a focus on romantic/marital relationships and SJ is a magazine with a teenage boy audience.

The other issue is that their society previously outlawed quirk marriage and it's unknown how long ago. Endeavor broke the law by choosing to marry Rei to produce stronger quirks and the oldest child of that illegal scheme is in his mid twenties. So the generations that lived when quirk marriages were commonplace are likely older and aren't the focus of the manga.

[mettywiththenotes]

Are you kidding me, of course Geten is related to Rei and therefore the Todoroki’s. He sat in a cell next to Compress and said “okay I’m going to tell you everything about myself, specifically my families dark secret and the reason I ran away. chime in whenever you want”

We always knew the Todoroki’s had a “tell random people about our drama” gene. It was the HIMURA gene and if Geten ever interacts with the family, he is going to ENCOURAGE it and make it worse

Next thing you know, Shouto is telling the customer in the waiting line behind him at the store how he saved his long lost villain brother and got a terrorist uncle out of it as well. Geten will join him and start talking about the liberation army. Natsuo is trying to drag them both away. Touya is helping Rei put the shopping in the bags while Fuyumi apologizes to the person in line. Endeavor is paying and wondering why he can’t ever get some peace and quiet in this family

[kozuwhore]

touya and shoto todoroki are the perfect examples of the eldest being the experiment and the youngest being the final product; the perfect product

[dabikillmygroove]

I’m going to say this, but there are many factors to why Enji was never going to train Fuyumi as a hero, but it’s NOT because he’s a “Misogynist”!

I wish I took screenshots now, but there are people who are bent on the he’s a misogynist man and they use the fact he wouldn’t train Fuyumi as one of the proofs! However, I repeat there are many factors to why he wouldn’t train her, and it’s not because of misogyny!

Factor 1: Fuyumi was born in a time period where not only was the family ok, Enji was “happy” with his two children despite the lack of his desired quirk. Enji then went on to start training Touya, who had a fire quirk.

Factor 2: Fuyumi was never a runner up to be trained, unlike her brother who all three were runners up for training. Touya the first born and the first child trained, Natsuo whom was a runner up but didn’t achieve the spot and finally Shouto whom became the one chosen to be trained. Fuyumi was never a runner, she was born as I stated above during a time period when times were ok, and she was born to support Touya to be a sibling.

Factor 3: This ties in with the top two, but basically she was also not born with the desired quirk. Neither was Touya, but he at least had a fire quirk Fuyumi did not and so she wouldn’t of been trained. Fuyumi was never a runner up due to her time period of birth, and due to her lack of desired quirk.

These are the main factors to why Enji Todoroki never trained Fuyumi, it has nothing to do him being a misogynist or a man with old traditional thoughts. It was all about the desired quirk, and obviously this is a “what if” type of scenario but if Fuyumi had a fire quirk. Enji may have very well decided to train her next, and I don’t think the gender of any of his children would have changed the outcome! Shouto very well could have been a girl, Enji would have still trained her!

[thingsoverheardatua]

Bakugou: You have issues!

Todoroki: Well of course I have issues. [points at Endeavor] That’s my freakin’ father!

[kiritouyadeku96]

Enji when he realised that children are complex human beings, whom you can’t just bond with and then run away when going gets tough:

[tootysweetcheeks]

Endeavor peeps on Twitter are a whole different breed I swear to god 😫 this is why I stay in the BKDK tags instead of the Todofan tags I swear to god:

A reply to said tweet😭:

I hate it here, I HATE IT HERE 😤! I get thinking he had a right to be frustrated at Rei for not stopping Touya, and to a degree I would say I understand. However, him being frustrated does not give him a right to hit her, and grab her by the scruff of her shirt screaming at her. Let alone right in front of their 5yr old child, which is just as traumatic for a child as other horrible events!