My Hero Academia: Dabi recognizes Shoto in a way Endeavor and other Todoroki family members failed to

My Hero Academia chapter 426 has been recently leaked and it mainly focuses on the Todoroki family subplot, with the likes of Endeavor and Shoto making peace with Toya (aka Dabi) to some degree. While it is very likely that the character of Toya would die without fully embracing his family, he shares one moment with Shoto that shows that they have a unique bond.

A huge percentage of Dabi's character arc throughout My Hero Academia has been centered around his father Enji Todoroki, most commonly known by his hero alias of Endeavor. Moreover, Dabi is also a dark mirror image of his brother, Shoto.

Initially, they were both poised to be Endeavor's successor because of their father's input but Dabi slowly descended into insanity because of it. However, in the latest chapter, Dabi manages to humanize Shoto in a way no one in his family has done before.

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

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Explaining how My Hero Academia chapter 426 sees Dabi connecting with Shoto in a way no one in his family has ever done

Chapter 426 is heavily focused on the Todoroki family, specifically Dabi and Endeavor as the former has only a few days left to live after the final war arc. Meanwhile, Endeavor wants to be by his side while also retiring from the hero business. However, there is a moment when Shoto and Dabi have a small conversation about their favorite food. The latter starts crying and apologizing to the former after they leave him alone.

While it is a very small moment, it marks one of the few scenes in the series where a member of the Todoroki family treats Shoto as a normal person instead of viewing him as a child prodigy. From the moment he was born, he has had expectations on his shoulders of becoming one of the best heroes out there. He was also expected to keep his family together, with a lot of people forgetting he was merely a teenager.

Meanwhile, Dabi is an extremely flawed individual who has committed a lot of awful acts, but he is still Shoto's older brother. In chapter 426, Dabi shares a moment with Shoto that no one else in his family has ever had. This serves as a way to highlight how the likes of Rei, Fuyumi, and Natsuo have struggled to connect with Shoto, even if Endeavor is cast aside in those scenarios.

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The Todoroki family conflict

Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Shoto eating together in the anime (Image via Bones)

The conflict within the Todoroki household in the My Hero Academia series has always revolved around Endeavor's desire to have a child who could eventually compete with All Might. That is how he got into an arranged marriage with Rei because of her ice Quirk. He hoped that the combination of Rei's ice power and his own fire-based abilities could create a hero who is strong enough to achieve that goal.

However, both Endeavor and Rei proved to be incapable of dealing with the roles of being parents, often being negligent in their own ways. Endeavor didn't show proper care to their children after Toya's downfall and Rei abused Shoto by pouring hot water on him, even though some fans tried to put the blame on her husband's issues.

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Final thoughts

Even if it is a short-lived moment, Dabi manages to treat Shoto for what he is (a young man in a conflictive family) in chapter 426, especially when no one else in the Todoroki household does it in My Hero Academia. That doesn't justify Dabi's actions in the story but adds to the complexity of their situation.

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