Feelings Towards Shōto Part 2: Saving or Destroying?
If you guys read Chapter 159, you’ll have seen that Dabi! Is! Back! And honestly him being back makes me wonder if we could get the Todoroki Dabi arc we’ve been dreaming of soon (honestly probably not but..) Anyway! Another week, another too long probably boring theory post.
What if instead of hating Shōto, which was the main point of my theory here, he pitied him, thinks he’s been brainwashed, and wants to save him? On another note, what if he thinks he is too far gone and wants to destroy him? These ideas totally go against what I said before, but I honestly see these ones as being a little more plausible? I’m not really sure. Let me know what you think!
Note: This is just theory. You don’t have to agree or disagree. I really don’t mind! Just please don’t be mean.. I spent a lot of time writing this out and just wanted a place to share my ideas. I don’t even believe all of it, it’s just thoughts I had.
Another Note: Since I’ve gained some new followers since I first started this theory series, I think it’s about time I re-refrence the theory master post for anyone who is just starting to read the Dabi garbage I spew out here. If anyone is interested, here it is!
Stain’s Anti-Hero Ideals
Honestly, this applies to all of the theories I’ve written about so far, as we know Dabi does have Stain’s Anti-Hero ideologies, but it fits in really well with this thought in particular, so I decided to write it out here.
Endeavor is praised as the #2, now #1, Hero. A hero is supposed to be someone that protects people, that helps people, that you can lean on and trust. Endeavor is none of these things. He is a power hungry man who sacrificed his family for his own form of success. He is an abuser who worked his son to the core on top of physical, mental, and verbal abuse, and beat his wife into insanity. In Dabi’s eyes. Endeavor is the opposite of what a hero should be, yet he is praised. To Dabi, Endeavor is probably the definition of a villain… Yet he’s #1 Hero. The system is backwards, and Dabi wants to change that.
Side note: We don’t know exactly how evil Dabi really is. He’s killed people, yeah. And he’s working with the League of Villains.. But up until recently, Dabi was only a petty criminal- he was breaking the law. He was committing crimes. He was immoral and wrong.. But to our knowledge, he didn’t do anything completely terrible before deciding to follow Stain. I think this provides some insight into his character.
Like the man who’s ideals he follows, the line between good and evil is a little vague. Was Stain, a hero murderer, really the same level of evil as a killer with no reason other than to kill? Was there some righteousness to his motives? Looking at this from a more Dabi point of view- would killing Endeavor really be wrong? Is Endeavor really justice? Asking these questions can help evaluate Dabi and where he lies on the villain scale. Hopefully, we’ll see more of him and learn where he falls.
Opposition
Unlike what I suggested before, perhaps Dabi never wanted to be a hero. Perhaps he was never jealous of Shōto and the training and attention he received at all. Even if he did when he was younger (as it would make sense for a young boy growing up in this world), the current Dabi could completely look down on heroes in general, or at least those like Endeavor. Dabi’s entire focus right now is probably on wanting to destroy the current hero system. On stopping the cycle of quirk marriages, on preventing more victims like his younger brother and his mother, and on eliminating “heroes” that care more about glory than actually helping people. To restore heroes to true heroes and stop idolizing monsters like Endeavor.
Shōto is Trapped in this World
Once removing himself (or being removed… I’ll probably write about this later) from the Todoroki family, Dabi was free to follow his own beliefs. Shōto, on the other hand, was not.
Shōto was and still is being brought up by the society that Dabi hates. Rather than hating Shōto, he could see him as a victim of the damned hero society that he is rebelling against. He could pity him, and think his situation is unfortunate, especially if he was aware of the horrors his younger brother was forced to live through. When he looks at Shōto condescendingly during the summer camp arc (How sad, Todoroki Shōto), it may be because he thinks he’s a foolish child who has been brainwashed to believe in Endeavor’s world. He may have hoped that with age, Shōto would develop ideas like his own, and is disappointed that the brother he met was “good”. I doubt he understands Shōto or his motives. He doesn’t know how much Shōto has grown, what’s he’s learned. He may not know the absolute hatred Shōto has for his father, and how he wants nothing more than to be the hero he’s not.
He may think Shōto is a product fulfilling his father’s wishes- he started using his left side recently, and this was televised. Dabi would have seen it, and depending on how much audio was broadcasted (AKA how much of what Izuku said to him the world was allowed to hear), he probably doesn’t know the full story behind it. It’s most likely that all he saw was his brother using his old man’s power, as Shōto used to call it, and this would probably lead him to believe Shōto currently aligns with his father.
Future of This?
What could this mean for the future? In response, he may attempt to “save him” from this world- help him see his current views and the world that he sees. A world without Endeavors. I’m talking about a relationship similar to what Zeke seems to have towards Eren, or at least appeared to have at the end of Return to Shiganshina, if you know what I mean (Chapter 99 asdfghjkl)
There could be a moment, perhaps during battle, where Dabi tries sway Shōto to join him. To take him away from the awful world that he’s currently living in. To take revenge on their father together as brothers. He could try to convince him that all of their problems are because of Endeavor (as if he doesn’t think that already…) and by working together against him and his world, they could save their mother. Dabi could do this out of the goodness of his heart and love for his sibling and mother, or only in order to gain Shōto strengths on his side, or maybe a combination of both. Like mentioned before, we don’t know enough about Dabi to know exactly how evil he really is. I’m not sure how big of an ordeal this would be, but I can honestly picture Dabi trying this. I don’t think Shōto would take the bait, of course, but man, this would really pull at Shōto’s heartstrings and could be a tempting- the saving his mother part of it especially. I think in the end, Shōto would reject Dabi’s offer with a statement like “I want to be a true hero” or something else along those lines. Even so, it would still be a very emotional move to make on the part of Horikoshi.
Too Far Gone?
Following these same concepts, I also think it is likely that Dabi will run these in a totally different direction. Rather than saving him, or trying to sway him, he may think that he needs to be destroyed. Shōto is apart of the society he despises. He’s been consumed by his father’s desires, and is going to grant him them. He even started using his flames- he’s playing directly into Endeavor’s hands, or so Dabi may think. To prevent Shōto from completing his father’s goals, he may want to destroy him. Stop him from giving Endeavor what he wants. Shōto could be a huge future target for Dabi. It would be Dabi’s form of revenge against his father, as well as a step towards ending the society the Todoroki children grew up in; kill his father’s perfect creation. Kill everything he worked for. Stop him from ever obtaining his dream. Endeavor too could be a huge target for Dabi. Killing Endeavor would stop him from hurting anyone ever again and serve as warning message to others who may be like him.
Conclusion
These two branches off the same base idea are really really different, but I think either of them could be possible- I can see both playing out relatively smoothly. Both would be highly emotional, and allow for lots of development.
Anyway! I hope you enjoyed these theories! This one got so long, so I’m really glad I ended up separating it from the Hate one.
I have way too many ideas to honestly give my concrete opinion on what ones I think are the most likely. That’s why I’m interested to hear what you guys think. So please feel free to shoot me a message or ask or something and let me know your thoughts.
I have a lot more left I want to write about, but I’m having a hard time tackling how to go about formatting them… A lot of them (sort of like this one) are based on a general idea but have a lot of branches growing off of them. More branches than this one, somehow. Because of this, I can’t preview which one is next yet. I do know I’m going to make a mini thought thing soon though, but it’s not really a theory (or at least it’s not one yet, who knows how long it’ll get once I actually write it…)
