My Hero Academia should have made Toga's family a bigger part of her origins

Modified Oct 10, 2024 09:00 GMT

My Hero Academia should have developed Toga's past (Image via Bones).

My Hero Academia is a series that tried to create a lot of empathy for most of its villains and Himiko Toga is a prime example of that, although her backstory could have benefitted from more development. It is clear that Toga was rejected by her family because of the nature of her Quirk but very little is shown of her parents, to the point they are just black silhouettes, and that probably wasted her backstory.

It is also emphasized during the final My Hero Academia arc that she is the oldest daughter of her family, which means that she probably has siblings and they played no role despite her sister becoming a terrorist. Ultimately, it feels that author Kohei Horikoshi didn't think Toga's family was very important to the plot but this could have made her ensuing conflict with Ochaco Uraraka even more interesting.

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

Why developing Toga's family would have elevated her character in My Hero Academia

Toga as seen in the anime (Image via Bones)

While Himiko Toga's past is explored during the My Villain Academia and final war arcs, particularly during her battle with Ochaco Uraraka, there is no denying that her family could have played a bigger role throughout the story. Toga's family was a huge reason why she ended up joining the League of Villains and could have shown the reality of normal parents dealing with a child with a dangerous Quirk.

Dabi's issues with the Todoroki family were more related to the hero business and Tomura Shigaraki's problems with the Shimura had All For One's influence, so Toga was a perfect way to depict a normal household dealing with this situation. However, her parents are portrayed as just black silhouettes, simply serving as a narrative tool to describe how judgmental the society of the series is.

However, the lack of context for Toga's family and why they were so quick to toss her aside and demonize her is something that did her character a disservice. Especially considering that she was described as the oldest daughter in her household, which means that she probably had siblings and they were not a factor in her backstory.

How this could have helped with the battle with Uraraka

Toga's family could have helped with Uraraka's conclusion too (Image via Bones).

There is also an angle in My Hero Academia where Toga's parents could have been a way to inspire Ochaco Uraraka's program to help people with Quirks. She could also have a scene where she told her parents about her death and perhaps they could have a change of mind while feeling that they were responsible for their daughter taking the wrong path.

A lot of fans have pointed out that Uraraka lost a lot of prominence during the latter portion of the series and could have used more time perhaps doing research on Toga and finding out about her parents. This could have led to Ochaco having more of a personal investment in Toga's issues, thus making their final battle a bit more personal and explaining why the former was so focused on saving her.

Final thoughts

All in all, Himiko Toga is a fan-favorite in My Hero Academia but a greater development of her backstory and her family could have elevated her character. This could have also helped Uraraka's character in terms of making their conflict and conclusion a lot more personal and satisfying.

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Edited by Tiasha