Endeavor deserved a worse ending than My Hero Academia gave him

Modified Nov 09, 2024 12:59 GMT

Endeavor deserved a worse ending than My Hero Academia gave him — Endeavor as seen in the My Hero Academia anime (Image via BONES)

It has been some time since the My Hero Academia manga ended. While the series handled the ending of several characters well, Endeavor's ending has been a topic of discussion for fans. While many fans believe that his ending was just right, there is reason to believe that he received a much better ending than he deserved.

As fans might remember, Endeavor was responsible for effectively destroying his own family. While he reflected on his actions and tried to do the right thing later on, manga creator Kohei Horikoshi may not have treated his ending in the way that would have fit his actions. Let's take a look at why Endeavor deserved a worse ending than what he got.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the My Hero Academia manga and reflects the author's opinion.

How was Endeavor's ending in My Hero Academia much better than what he deserved?

Rei as seen in the anime (Image via BONES)

As fans might remember from the manga, Endeavor was married to Rei in a Quirk Marriage, i.e., they had only married each other to produce a child who could potentially be born with both of their Quirks. For this, he had Rei carry his children repeatedly, hoping for one of the children to be born with both Fire and Ice Quirks. Rei was visibly exhausted but was put through the ordeal four times despite sharing no true love between them.

On top of that, as evident from the manga, Endeavor used to abuse Rei for failing to keep their children in check. This was especially evident when Endeavor could be seen shouting at Rei after Toya went to practice with his Quirk alone.

Toya Todoroki as seen in the anime (Image via BONES)

As for his children, he did care for them but was completely consumed by his goal of creating a hero who could surpass All Might as the No.1 Hero. This saw him put Toya and Shoto through rigorous training.

Such a household saw Rei lose control of her emotions and pour boiling water on Shoto's face as he resembled her husband. The sheer fact that Rei did such a thing due to her fear of her husband Enji speaks volumes about what she must have gone through while being with him. This incident also saw her get admitted to a hospital. Following that, the household effectively broke down.

Rei, Shoto, and Enji as seen in the anime (Image via BONES)

As for Toya, while Enji did have some responsibility over his transformation to Dabi, it was later revealed that he only ignored Toya because his Quirk was starting to harm him. Enji was horrified at the possibility of losing his son; hence, he refrained from having him get involved in hero-related things. Unfortunately, this backfired on the hero.

As for his atonement, while the hero wanted to make things right with his family, he only made such a decision after he was named the new No.1 Hero. This suggests that had All Might not retired after his fight against All For One, Endeavor might have continued abusing his family and could have never decided to atone for his sins.

Toya and Endeavor as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

This is why, it is very difficult to say if Endeavor's ending was just right for him or not. Looking at the end of the manga, it can be said that the manga creator did not leave Enji without options. While he was forced to retire as a hero, his relationship with his family had become far better than what it was at the start of the series.

Rei, his wife, had got back with him, possibly to look after him after he could no longer stand. This development does not sit well considering that Rei was previously abused by Endeavor. Hence, she could be experiencing a gist of Stockholm Syndrome.

Shoto Todoroki as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

As for Endeavor's family, all of them effectively stepped away from him but their relationship was much better than what it was earlier. Toya was set to interact with Endeavor daily, Natsuo simply moved away, Enji apologized to Fuyumi, and Shoto reassured his parents that he would be okay. As far as Enji's ending is concerned, he was dealt a much better way out than what he deserved. So, yes, Endeavor deserved a worse ending than what My Hero Academia gave him.