Most impactful part of Toya's transformation into Dabi in My Hero Academia is what fans didn't see

Modified Jan 29, 2025 09:30 GMT

My Hero Academia didn't show a key period of Dabi's development (Image via Bones)

My Hero Academia has several popular characters. and the villain Dabi— Endeavor's strained son and Shoto Todoroki's evil older brother— is one of the most beloved because of his backstory and actions throughout the story. However, author Kohei Horikoshi didn't explore a key period of the character's development, which is probably crucial to understanding his growth into a villain.

Most My Hero Academia fans know that he disappeared after burning out in Sekoto Peak, and was in a coma for years under the care of Dr. Garaki and the looming shadow of All For One. But the story never explores the seven years he spent on his own before joining the League of Villains in the manga, which is probably the most important period to understand how he became the villain he is today.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a publication.

Explaining why Dabi's seven-year gap is monumental to understand his character in My Hero Academia

Dabi as seen in the anime (Image via Bones)

As mentioned earlier, once Toya Todoroki woke up from his coma, he was taken care of by Dr. Garaki, with All For One supervising his every move, but author Kohei Horikoshi also mentions how he spent seven years on his own before joining the League of Villains in the main story.

That is important because there is a considerable gap of time in this character's life that was never explored and probably strengthens his role as a villain.

What happened to Toya during these seven years is anyone's guess, but he likely had to fend for himself, which is why he seems to have experience as a villain when he joins Tomura Shigaraki and his men. Moreover, there is a good chance he spent those years researching Endeavor and his family for his plan to work, although how far he went is not fully explored in the series.

This is important because while Toya was a flawed person when growing up in the Todoroki family, his jump to villainy mostly happened offscreen before turning into Dabi. He probably committed a lot of crimes during that seven-year time gap, which hardened him to the point of having no problem taking people's lives.

More details about this time gap

Dabi when he had black hair in the anime (Image via Bones)

The most likely reason why Kohei Horikoshi didn't add this portion of Dabi's life in the My Hero Academia manga was probably that he didn't think it was necessary to explain his motivation and origin story as a villain, while also believing that it would have stretched this character's flashback even further.

However, while there is an argument to be made that he took the right path with this decision, it does feel like a wasted opportunity.

It is true that what is shown in the manga already explains Toya's descent into insanity and evil, but this seven-year gap would have helped to explain his development as a fighter and as a villain, working his way to his current version. It could have also shown more of his plans against Endeavor, although Horikoshi possibly felt that wasn't necessary, either.

Final thoughts

Dabi's time on his own would have been an interesting era of his character to explore in My Hero Academia, but Horikoshi likely thought other aspects were more important. Be that as it may, this is a period of Toya's descent into villainy that is never explained.

Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay