#dabi todoroki theory

[haine-kleine]

dunno if I should call this a headcanon or a theory and I know Horikoshi just went with what looked cool but the more I think about Dabi's initial design when he came to the League in the context of what we learned about him and what we saw happen to him during the second war, the less sense it makes that his body was already in that state.

according to the anime, he was learning by watching Endeavor's videos online. before Sekoto, he wasn't learning from any source at all and went about his training intuitively, but after Sekoto I strongly doubt he would be actively practicing his quirk, for a multitude of reasons. his body was still healing from the skin transplantation, the trauma associated with accidentally burning himself to death, plainly not having a place to train a fire quirk, which tend to be flashy and to use your quirk in public, having a provisional license is required, otherwise he risks getting arrested. he did a very good job staying out of the public's eye for the 7 years since he escaped AFO, who was also implied to be unaware of Touya surviving for so long.

so as far as we know, all he did for those 7 years is lay low and be very online. which makes his remark to Spinner hilarious ngl, at least Spinner sprung up to action as soon as he saw something that had inspired him, while Dabi had spent 7 whole years sitting on his very personal trauma and not going to therapy.

when Giran brings him to Shigaraki, he doesn't share any information about Dabi save for him being very invested in Stain's ideology. no criminal records, maybe, but not even a word of his absurdly strong quirk? no mentions of arson at all? they did discuss Toga making it to the news, so Dabi being left out like that was a bit weird in the context of the conversation, like him seeking out Stain's contacts was enough reason to let him join the League. he won't be useful to you, Shigaraki, but he's got the spirit. please take him in, he has nowhere else to go?

if you really look at the way Dabi uses his quirk until MVA, it's noticeable how he seems to have no idea what he is doing. there's no technique, no finesse to his moves, just throwing out huge blasts of fire with his hands and hoping for the threat to leave him alone.

when Shigaraki attacked him (fully provoked) his reaction was too slow to summon any flames at all, and if it weren't for Kurogiri, that would have been it for Dabi.

When he is fighting Geten and starts going beyond his limit, he scares himself with the increased fire output. because, yup, overusing his quirk by accident was the source of his trauma.

the databook puts his technique as the weakest of his stats. his power is huge and eventually allowed him to become the strongest fire quirk user in the BNHA universe, but his technique was extremely lacking.

all of the above just doesn't paint the picture of someone who has been consistently mastering his quirk for 7 years. rather, it gives the picture of someone who had just started using his quirk for the first time in years, having background training from his childhood.

it's not even that Dabi isn't hardworking as hell or doesn't have the potential to be trained, because he's a complete opposite. continuously going beyond his limit, despite his own body getting in his way, mastering Enji and Shouto's complicated techniques they have worked for weeks/months/years on in a matter of minutes after just observing it. surely, he has been watching Enji and learning the way his father uses his quirk for years, but putting theory to practice? i doubt he even had the chance, before joining LOV.

he had to wait, because starting to actively use his quirk sets the clock into motion, counting down the time he has left. he is like a candle, destroying himself with his fire, until nothing is left at all. he had to make sure his plan of revenge will have a chance to succeed before fully committing to the 'Dabi' route, a slow and agonizing process of cremating himself by continuously using his quirk. because when he really starts using his quirk for long stretches of time? this is what happens to him.

to conclude this post, I know why the final design was chosen (because it's cool as fuck) but after analyzing the crucial points of Touya's story and his relationship with his quirk, I really think him joining the League with post-coma design would have made more sense. once he had started really using his quirk, his body would slowly degrade to the state Dabi's was in, because his fire literally melts his skin. but his body already having 40% surface third degree burns, when he didn't even use his quirk the entire time, perfectly holding up up until the first war arc and then quickly starting to burn down? idk, seems a bit inconsistent?..

anyway, i love the concept of Dabi's skin slowly and inevitably burning down after he had joined the League. him losing more and more skin until there's barely anything left, when he reveals himself to his father and is bitter at the lack of recognition, because burning himself to the point of being unrecognizable was one of the many sacrifices he had made to be finally seen by Endeavor.

also, more of this. because this was bittersweet as hell

[autumnmobile12]

A question that occasionally plagues my mind: After everything he's gone and done to himself, how the hell does he have perfectly straight, white teeth?

Bones disintegrate after 1100°C (add that to my list of suspicious Google searches, I swear I'm a writer) and blue flames have a temp of 1400°C-1600°C, so his teeth should be blackened powder by now.

So my new headcanon: Dabi does in fact have a resistance to fire...but it's super localized to his teeth. That or Giran was hooking him up with a dentist who was freakishly good at their job.

...

Side note: The perfect teeth theory is weirdly reminding me of the book Dealing With Dragons where one of the characters is a princess who was instructed by her parents to take a loaf of bread into the forest and give it to the first beggar she finds in hopes they'll be a fairy in disguise and give her a blessing of some kind. It works, a beggar woman she finds does turn out to be a fairy, but instead of eternal youth or luck in love or the usual things fairies are known for blessing people with, this fairy goes and blesses her with perfect teeth.

Which has gotta be one of the most practical gifts a fairy can give.

[gamergirl-niffler]

What if... there is more to Dabi?

Sometimes I sit and think about stuff because of that I often have weird ideas, theories, headcanons, etc.

For the last few days, I was thinking about Touya and Dabi. How he was super fixated on revenge, EVEN if there were less aggressive ways to solve all of this...

And came to the conclusion:

"What if Touya suffers from DID and Dabi isn't just a way to hide his true identity, but a personality that developed to protect him and seek justice for his harm?"

It's probably super wrong approach but hear me out!

(From what I read on Wikipedia)

Early childhood trauma, places someone at risk of developing DID.

Traumas like: childhood abuse, violence, neglect, or severe bullying, dysfunctional family dynamics were reported in people suffering from DID

We all know "hellish" Todoroki family and the way stuff went there.

Touya was a child "created" for greatness by Enji.

From the very being, Enji put into Touya's head that "HE will be the one to suppress All Might himself" and since he was just a child he believed in this.

He believed his father, he wanted to learn, he wanted to achieve this goal, make his father proud, proof he is worth his love and attention because his other siblings were no threat.

Then Shoto was born, and BAM, everything burst like a bubble.

THAT'S WHEN DABI'S DEVELOPMENT COULD START.

Once loved boy with SO many expectations put into him was thrown aside like a rag doll for the sake of little brother.

Neglectful and selfish actions of his own father, mixed with Touya's obsession on being THE CHILD his father once said he was, led him to that cursed mountain and when Enji didn't show up...

That's when Dabi came out.

When we see him wake up after 3 years - it's not Touya, but Dabi.

Dabi - The personality developed to protect Touya, to prove that Touya can be the very thing Enji told he will be, a personality made to PAY BACK for all the harm that child had to go through because of bastard father.

He is like an older brother stepping in front of the younger sibling to take all the harm on himself.

It's not TOUYA doing all those bad things while chasing Enji and going against Shoto - It just Dabi.

Dabi who wants desperately show what Touya is capable of while Touya is just tucked away from all the harm, just waiting to be again acknowledged but not out of pity or because his father feels bad for his own actions but because of what he can be.

Of course, Dabi is so fixated on achieving this goal that he takes EXTREME measures - but it's all for Touya's happiness that he deserved ever since he was born.

This may make no sens, but this was a train of thoughts that went through my head very recently. The post is probably messy because I am not the best at making such things and putting them 'on paper"

Feel free to comment and tell me what you think about this, BUT please don't be mine or anything. I didn't mean to insult anyone with my limited knowledge.

I am curious of your thoughts

[touyatodoroking]

I think abt the progression of dabi's burns a lot. he's already burned pretty badly when he joins the league, but even with mild use of his quirk, they stay the same up until the touya reveal.

his burns at the beginning match where he had his skin graphs after his coma, so I feel like that skin was just less heat resistant than his original skin he had there. Just being exposed to that kind of heat, even just from his hands and body was enough to burn the skin on his lower face and neck.

his arms don't show to have replaced skin on them, but that still makes sense to me since they get the most exposure to the flame. I assume that's the same for different burns on his body and legs. wherever the flames are coming from take the most damage.

in the pictures above, he has some mild burns under his eyes, but those are explained by him crying flames right before the incident.

in his first appearance, however, the burns under his eyes are a lot bigger and worse. I theorize that dabi had a really hard time coping (obviously omg poor bby has been through enough) and always found himself crying. with no one to talk to and being alone on the streets, he burned away his tears every time he would cry until he no longer could. in the times he went off to train alone in Sekoto Peak he would get upset at himself for crying, and I feel like he carried that into adulthood and he has the idea that it serves him no purpose (bc nobody ever cared that he was crying😢) and it makes him weak. so yeah, he intentionally burned under his eyes so he wouldn't cry anymore.

as the series progressed, dabi uses his quirk and doesn't get any more burns. I feel like this is bc he knows what his body is capable of handling and doesn't go all out with temperature or duration. he's careful not to damage himself more so he can be in as good shape as possible to face endeavor. he doesn't let loose until his reveal, using hotter flames and recklessly coating himself in fire. he wants to show off and doesn't feel the need to hold back for once, but he also explains that his emotions are directly tied to his firepower, so I don't think he could've held back if he wanted. after this fight, his body and face are burned past what they had been at for the duration of the series and it tells me that, yeah, his skin started burning past the skin graph areas bc he wasn't trying to be careful.

omg he looks so yummy

I feel like he must've had replaced skin around his torso where he would secretly practice his quirk, bc that's the only thing that would explain the clean lines from his burns.

there's more I could go on abt but I just wanted to get the general idea out there ehehehe!

[shehsart]

It's so funny to me that dabi decided to play "guess who" with Shoto back at the training camp but conspiracy theorist Shoto didn't suspect a thing.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

Toga’s Love/Quirk Theory;

‘I love Tomura-kun and Touya-kun too, but their quirks won’t come out like Jin-kun’s or Ochako-chan’s. I also tried it before this battle...and they wouldn’t come out! Even though I love him... Even though I can become someone I ‘love’... Even though Jin-kun could make them come out... ‘

Translations made in here by @pikahlua​.

Recently in chapter 382, we see Toga’s unable to become people she loves (Tomura and Dabi), despite the fact that she became Ochaco and Jin and used their quirks and i would argue that problem is not that she didnt love them enough. (This scene also remind me of the time La Brava gets depressed when her love quirk isnt powerfull enough and she questions her love, kinda parallels.)

But i dont think thats the case. Not after Shigaraki became the first person who believed in her, gave a place she belong to her and everything he did for her and not after Dabi and Toga recently connected through Jin’s death and we even get a official art of him imitating Dabi, more details in here.

I believe in you, Toga, that your love for them is geniue too.

So what’s the problem?

I think its no coincidence that the people whom she couldnt use their quirks happenned to be Shigaraki and Dabi. Suicidal brats who is full of hatred and have personal agenda in league the most, unlike Toga who wants to live, even if its her own way and she is living for love.

Toga cant fully become them because she cant understand them. She doesnt understand whats going on their head. She cant relate to their hatred and she doesnt understand their thoughts.

Compared to this;

Uraraka is Toga’s foil. She is someone who is just like Toga. This is exactly why Toga ran away to talk with her. Because they are similar. Their feelings, the way they tried to shut their feelings down because Toga did the same in the past, the good girls who repress their needs and they both want to become their crushes. This is why Toga thought if its Ochaco, then she can understand her and they could talk about love.

In Jin’s case, he is Toga’s bestie and someone she cares as big brother. They have many similarities, they both live for the connections. They both felt lonely. They both were abandonded by society and they wanted to live easier life. They saw league as home and they wanted to do their best to help people they care about.

Basically, Toga can understand their inner thoughts and relate to their inner feelings. I dont blame Toga for this really. Shigaraki and Dabi are too complicated to understand, especially if you dont know their story and inner thoughts. And they dont even talk about their past to connect with league so it makes sense why Toga cant use their quirks.

Well, you could say Toga cant become them because she doesnt want to become them? But i kinda disagree with that. There is a theory made in here by me and several people already mentioned that Toga is imitating Shigaraki and she seems to wanting to be more like him. I would even argue that when she says ‘Even though I love him... Even though I can become someone I ‘love’’, she is talking about Shigaraki.

‘I loved people’s happy faces. That’s why, for that girl, I won’t turn a blind eye to her tears.‘

Toga is a character who geniuely want to connect with people she care about but key point of love is understanding the person you love. I guess it happens to be good time to talk about love. And last panel with Uraraka and Toga is parallel with Deku’s last panel with Shigaraki, that they wont turn a blind eye to crying face, even though they are villains, they want to save them. So good luck, Toga and Ochaco.

[totallycorrectlovquotes]

Midoriya, looking at Dabi: What’s wrong with him?

Todoroki: Everyone has a different theory.

[eddies-spaghetti]

y’all who wants to hear my theory about touya being a preemie and the effects it may have on his quirk and quirks in general??

[tonberry-yoda]

really sad MHA theory for you?

spoilers under the cut

So, because we didn't see Dabi in the final chapter, I have some theories.

Doctors taking care of Toya told the Todoroki family that it was insane that he was alive and to be sure not to do too much in order to not hurt him

Well...

I think that after the Todoroki family left after the heart to heart with Toya that he didn't make it. Either that or he didn't make it later.

But lets say that after the heart to heart and after Enji said he would visit Toya every day to talk to him, that instead, he would go to his grave to talk to him every day

It's just something I've been thinking about that shatters me into a thousand little pieces, but it would also make sense - at least to me

Let me know what you think though. I love Toya to death and have been sobbing over him <3

[yokai-girlie]

MHA Chapter 426 Manga Spoilers Under the Cut

I’m playing a bit of compare and contrast with these images and trying to decipher what it all means. I’m really bad at putting my thoughts into words so i’m sorry if this makes no sense lol

This first one in my opinion is authentically Toya. That’s who he should’ve been is the best way I can describe it. Bright smile, fluffy hair, a family that is present and paying attention to him. They are happy to see him. They are proud of him. Why isn’t Shoto there? Because in a different reality, Shoto wasn’t necessary. Toya didn’t “fail”. This is a reality where Shoto being born was never necessary to begin with. Enji didn’t fail Toya in this reality.

But this is is the Reality of the situation.This is what has actually happened. This is what Too Late looks like. But Enji Todoroki is a stubborn man that refuses to give up. So he’s going to try anyways, even though he’s already failed. He’s going to make the most of the last moments he has left with his son.

Instead, he’s choosing to see someone that is authentically Dabi. A reality where Enji did fail, yes but he’s not too late. He’s choosing to cling to the hope of a reality where he can atone. He’s going to apologize for the rest of his life. He’s promising Toya his undivided attention because that is what Toya needed before it was too late.

Enji does this because this is all he can offer. And it will never be good enough and it will always be too late but it’s all he can do because he can’t change what he did in the past.

Where are Toya’s arms in all the pictures?

Well, that’s the source of the quirk. Enji spent his entire life focused on his children’s quirks. Now is not the time for that. Now is the time to focus on what really matters.

[quirkwizard]

You've talked a lot about Shoto's Phosphor before. Why do you like it so much?

Why is Shoto's super move called Phosphor? All my brain could come up with was that it sounds like frost fire.

For the sake of this, I'm ignoring surface-level stuff like how gorgeous the power is or how cool I think the names of all the attacks are. I just want to cover the ability as is.

I like Phosphor because of how much is going on with it. To the point I think Hori had this planned for Shoto's character since day one. For starters, Phosphor is a shorthand for phosphorus, and that's where a lot of the meaning comes from. Phosphorus has the atomic number of fifteen on the periodic table, the same seat number as Shoto in the Class 1-A line-up. Then there is the fact that phosphorus comes in both red and white variants, which fits with Shoto's hair color. White phosphor reacts to the cold while red reacts to heat, aligning with his power. Phosphors can be used for both ignitors and flame retardants, specifically red phosphor, fitting with how they're being used against Dabi to both overpower him and cool him off simultaneously. Then there is the part where Shoto is using his own heart to combine the two, the very center of his being and either side of his body. He's basically making a chemical reaction, combining two distinct elements and changing them into something new. The Phosphor is something free from both parents and wholly his own, down to his very core. It fits really well as this middle ground between either halves of his power while still being unique. It's part of the reason why I like Phosphor so much for Shoto. It just clearly has a lot of thought put into it and how much it ties into his story.

[haine-kleine]

Fulfilling my quota of Touyadoomposting by going back to this theory and expanding it. This is mostly a crack theory except instead being funny everything is just horrible lololol

Ok so as silly as the Tenko's entire life being orchestrated by AFO pretty much since he was born reveal was, it also gave us the fact AFO used to have drinking dates with his father specifically for the purpose of making him as abusive to Tenko as possible.

Combine this with the weirdly OOC fact that Enji gave up on achieving the number one place at the ripened age of 20. Sure, Allmight's shining beacon of hope and strength may have been a source of great jealousy for a young and upcoming number two pro hero but come on now. 20 is still a teenager, why are you giving up without even trying.

Enji's admirable hero quality is determination.

No matter how insecure he secretly was, giving up at 20, with a perfectly healthy body, and putting all of his determination into making a kid with a quirk stronger than his own and making that kid achieve his dream in his place, is not even backwards logic, it makes absolutely no sense. Enji is not even one of the quirks obsessed characters, he has never been interested in anyone's quirk besides his own and his sons'. Despite his weakness (overheating), he is all about pushing through and overcoming it. To put this shortly, Enji is dumb as a shoe a very single-minded person. This is simply not someone who would entertain such concepts as perfect quirks or eugenics.

You know who does though? Yeah, this guy.

Enji is ruled by his emotions and has tragically low emotional intelligence. This makes him very susceptible to manipulations. And AFO is one hell of a manipulator. A villain obsessed with destroying Allmight and the number two hero who dreams of throwing Allmight off his pedestal. Why wouldn't AFO seek him out? If he saw that seed of self-doubt and carefully nurtured it, Enji giving up despite being so young would start making sense. Enji seeking out a quirk marriage would also make sense (I refuse to believe this man is the only one who came up with this idea in the entire manga). He clearly didn't know what he was doing.

Even choosing a Himura as a candidate for his little eugenics experiment would start making sense if it was actually AFO's suggestion. The Himuras are famous for their strong ice quirks, and Enji's goal was creating a heir whose heat tolerance would be higher than his. This is basic logic. Having babies with a woman who has an ice quirk and is vulnerable to heat won't land you any kids with a fire tolerance higher than your own. He set himself up for failure, they all came out like Touya

Granting Enji's logical thinking abilities the benefit of doubt, we look the other way and spot Garaki being involved in this case. AFO wanting to see what would come out of genetically combining strong ice and fire quirks just for the sake or his curiousity makes so much more sense than Enji being unable to comprehend his choice for the quirk marriage wasn't even fit for his goal. Touya did eventually end up in AFO and Garaki's child laboratory, which was the purpose of Garaki fronting as a quirks doctor for kids. And Enji was in contact with Garaki since Touya was 4 years old.

Also makes for such an evil irony that Touya's trauma stems from him seeking a reason for his existence and not finding one. And the entire reason for his very birth is just AFO being a cold-blooded quirkist manipulator

[autumnmobile12]

Horrifying Theory:

This wasn't an accident.

Manga spoilers below.

I say it wasn't an accident because we find out in a later chapter that All For One was lurking around on the mountain.  Since I don’t think he’s the type to be out for a casual stroll just because, this would imply heavily that someone, either himself or one of his underlings, was keeping tabs on the situation in the Todoroki house.  Given that he has his 'friends' everywhere, this is not beyond the realm of believability.

However...he just happened to show up on the very night Touya’s Quirk went out of control and nearly killed him?  Sure, we can be allowed a coincidence for plot convenience but…

Also recall that All For One did (and still does?) have a Quirk that forced other people to use their Quirks.  He used it on Kurogiri and Magne back in the Kamino Ward Arc so the LoV could make their escape.

He could have started Touya’s fire.  He had the means.

And he has a motive.

Because in Touya's flashback after waking up from the coma, AFO essentially tells him his body was destroyed and his Quirk is significantly weaker, but they may be able to restore him and asks if he's interested in 'joining their family.'

May be able to restore him?

Okay, we have seen AFO and Ujiko accomplish some pretty terrible but, scientifically speaking, impressive feats in biology and modifying Quirks. I'm calling bs on them not being able to put a physically broken teenager back together in the three years he was in a coma. That 'join the family' offer was a caveat and a manipulation of the ‘I will hurt you so I can help you,’ variety. It was supposed to foster a sense of gratitude and loyalty in Touya so as to make him a potential candidate for the whole vessel thing if Shigaraki didn't work out.

Except that plan went awry when AFO seriously underestimated Touya's obsession for his family/father's attention. Touya rejected the offer and ended up fleeing, and they let him go as a lost cause because they believed he'd be dead in a month anyway.

Touya didn't burn himself. All For One did.

[lgbtlunaverse]

My baby sister has heard of bnha and apparently watched some clips but only some tidbits from the 6th season (mainly the fight with Nagant, who is her favorite) And she very confidently told me that she knows all about keigo, who is hawks. I asked if he knew who dabi has, and she rolled her eyes and told me that yes, she knows he's touya, and that he used to be friends with keigo as kids!

She was very confused when I told her that... no, they weren't. They didn't know each other until adulthood. She insisted that she'd seen a video of them as kids together. I told her it was probably a fan animation, because a lot of people thought Dabi and Hawks knew each other as kids, since Dabi was the only one who knew hawks' real name. But it turned out he just tracked his mom down in secret. She insists that this is stupid, once again confirming that the "dabihawks secret childhood friends/rivals" theory is the only time fanon has ever been better than canon.

[seri-41]

Coming from an Endeavor Simp: Thinking more deeply about how Endeavor is an abuser and a hero-

So imagine in the past 20ish+ years of his career how many domestic violence and child abuse cases he came across and worked on, especially as the No. 2 hero (later No. 1) with the highest number of cases solved.

He must have put so many disgusting people behind bars, yet he himself was going home to beat his wife and neglect/physically abuse his own children and Shoto.

As if Hero society couldn’t be more fucked up.

[featherstorm2004]

Honestly this chapter has renewed my faith that somehow Hori is going to save his story's ending as this was honestly what I wanted for the Todoroki family; not the Dabi slowly dying part but even then I'm side-eyeing that part hard, especially with the 'I can't cry I've burned by tear ducts' Dabi actually shedding a tear that sounds like regeneration to me.

Which is INCREDIBLY suspicious when you factor in Shigaraki's quirk is canonically the same a Overhaul's you know the man who's famous for taking something apart and then healing it by putting it back together. And yes I do believe the figure we saw last chapter was Shigaraki/Tenko.