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My Hero Academia is home to many different portrayals of real life issues. From parental abuse, bigotry, and societal neglect, the series has hit upon many issues that can mess up a person's psyche and turn them into a recluse or even a criminal/villain.
Himiko Toga is one such character. While other villains in My Hero Academia hit upon other aspects that can turn someone vengeful against society or their own parents, Toga's backstory appears to be a realistic one for children.
Given the revelations from My Hero Academia Chapter 392, Toga's childhood seems to spell out how being different is frowned upon by society and what effects it has on someone.
This article will delve into the twisted, and yet ultimately realistic, life of Himiko Toga and what made her into the person she is today.
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Disclaimer: This article will contain major My Hero Academia spoilers, up to and including chapter 392. Any and all opinions are exclusive to the author.
My Hero Academia chapter 392 sheds further light on Himiko Toga's tragic tale
What audiences know so far
The tragedy of Toga is that she's so young and committed many crimes already, out of a sense of not being understood. As the fight against the Meta Liberation Army happened, Toga hasn't had a good life. She had developed a love of blood and dead things that her parents harshly tried to repress, due to her Quirk.
As it turns out, repressing one's true self like that isn't mentally healthy. She seemingly attacked a classmate she had become infatuated with and was driven out of her school and home life. Her parent's house was vandalized, her parents publically disowned her and called her a "demon", her identity was erased, and she's been on the run ever since.
Dabi burning the house down during the prelude to the Final War arc was majorly appreciated, as it helped burn away all of her horrible memories. Her siblings, it seems, likewise disowned or otherwise lost touch when she went on the run.
This doesn't make for a great childhood, as a lack of support can lead people to extreme actions.
My Hero Academia chapter 392's revelations
My Hero Academia chapter 392 is an expansion of Toga's backstory. It reveals all the things her parents said about her as a child: that she "came out wrong", that she was "inhuman", and that she just needed to "act right" and "be normal". The only real aid she ever got was a therapist telling her parents that "deviant" behavior like hers was normal.
There's also a flashback to Curious telling her she put on a mask to act and seem normal, which seems to be true given the happy drama mask that appears in the flashbacks.
Despite Toga insisting otherwise during the Meta Liberation War, she spits it all out here: her opponents had otherwise livable and stable lives and she didn't.
As Toga's mental state continues to deteriorate, the Sad Man Parade is seemingly unending. The besieged heroes of 1-A continue to fight valiantly against this tide, though Toga herself seems keen on focusing on Froppy and Uravity.
Though it ends with Ochaco being stabbed, the majority of the issue focuses on Toga's ever-deteriorating mental state.
What can readers take from this?
One thing My Hero Academia does exceptionally well is humanizing the villains and showcasing all manner of awful things that happen to people. In Toga's case, it's emotional abuse, verbal abuse, forcing someone to repress themselves and wear the masks people wear that are practically stapled on them by society.
In other words, Toga snapped after years of being neglected and repression. It's frankly no wonder she became a villain. She was a little girl practically labeled a lost cause from the start. What readers can take from this is an exceptionally realistic portrayal of childhood trauma and where it can lead.
Dabi's may be more immediate, given the physical abuse he goes through. Tomura's may be a little more tragic, given that he was abandoned by society after accidentally killing his family.
But Toga is a much more realistic take on what emotional and verbal abuse, not to mention forcing someone to repress themselves, can do since she's still a child.
The realism factor
As an expanded comment on how My Hero Academia shows its villains as victims, it's not just the villains that are like this. Even heroes like Izuku went through plenty of verbal abuse, Hawks went through parental neglect likewise since his father was a criminal.
The point is that Toga's example is one of the more realistic examples for one key reason: she never had any support, except the League of Villains.
One thing that My Hero Academia drills into the audience is that if someone is hurting and doesn't receive adequate support, they can and will snap under pressure.
It's likewise incredibly relatable and realistic because plenty of children, teens, and adults do suffer various traumas and afflictions if not given support.
This goes double for marginalized people like ethnic and racial minorities, women, disabled people, LGBT+ people, and others. If they don't snap from their treatment, more grisly things can happen, like self-harm.
To summarize Himiko Toga's entire thing with regard to how realistic her portrayal of being different is: Toga is a child and children are far more susceptible to the trauma inflicted upon them that has everlasting effects. The fact that Toga is an older teen doesn't negate this.
My Hero Academia already shows that adults struggle with the trauma inflicted upon them as children, especially without support. The fact that Toga's family was either rich or at least well-off, adds to that blow because they literally could've gotten her proper support and didn't.
If any readers have any other comments about My Hero Academia chapter 392, please leave them in the comments.
