The Truth About Toya Todoroki! Does Shoto Know Dabi Is His Brother?

Just when we thought the Todoroki family couldn’t get any more tragic! The revelation of Dabi’s true identity as Toya Todoroki sure was a shocker– most of all for the Todoroki family.

Toya was believed to be dead for around ten years. Everyone thought he’d burned himself to cinders with his own quirk, but it seems Toya survived by some twist of fate and took on the persona of Dabi, a villain.

Shoto was only around five when Toya died. Coupled with Enji’s obsession to surpass All Might, Toya’s death was the last straw that ultimately drove a wedge in the family.

Despite running into Dabi several times, Shoto did not know he was his brother, Toya. Everyone believed Toya was dead until Dabi revealed his identity in Chapter 290.

When Did Todoroki Find Out Dabi Is His Brother?

Dabi revealed that he was Toya Todoroki in Chapter 290 while Shoto, Endeavour, Deku, and the heroes were fighting Shigaraki and Gigantomachia. He revealed himself by washing off the black dye on his hair and revealing his true name.

Just when Endeavour and Shoto were having a tough time fighting Shigaraki, Gigantomachia appeared with the League Of Villains in tow, making things much harder for the heroes.

Despite the poor condition of his lungs, Endeavour proclaimed he would deal with Gigantomachia since he was the number one hero of the nation.

Just then, Dabi spotted Endeavour and Shoto and stepped into view on Gigantomachia’s back. He greeted Shoto, saying it’d been a long time since he last saw him.

Endeavour called out Dabi’s name to which he responded by washing off the black dye on his hair, revealing the same white hair as Rei Todoroki, his mother.

Dabi then asked Endeavour not to call him by his villain name– not when he had a much more respectable name: Toya.

The revelation stunned both Shoto and Endeavour as Dabi then said he had hoped his family would recognize him despite his face looking different from the burns.

Dabi then revealed he had been biding his time for years, watching Endeavour from afar, thinking about how to maximize the destruction of his career.

He revealed that a pre-recorded clip of his life story, exposing Endeavour, was being broadcasted at that very moment. His initial plan had been to kill Shoto, Endeavour’s ‘little doll,’ once he became a famous hero but Endeavour conveniently became the number one hero.

Not wanting Endeavour to live his dream, Dabi confessed he tried to kill him– first by sending villains like the one that had kidnapped Natsuo and unleashing the high-end Nomu Endeavour fought in Kyushu.

Dabi then taunted his father by asking him if the praise from the public had purified his heart or his recent vigor as a father made him feel like he was developing familial bonds.

As Shoto and Endeavour watched in horror, Dabi reminded Endeavour that no matter how much he tried, the past would not forget itself, and he was there to teach him that very life lesson.

In the broadcasted clip, Dabi revealed the burns on his body and his identity as Toya Todoroki, the eldest son of Endeavor. He confessed that he had killed over thirty people and wanted everyone to know how he’d ended up committing such hideous acts.

He exposed Endeavour’s long history of being power-hungry, leading to him entering a quirk marriage to have a child with a powerful quirk. He revealed he was created for his father’s selfish dream but was deemed a failure and abandoned.

Dabi resented his father for pushing his dream of becoming the number one hero onto him and then casting him aside for Shoto when Toya proved to be inept.

Through the broadcasted clip, Dabi effectively ruined Endeavour’s reputation as a hero.

Does Dabi Hate Shoto?

Although Dabi resented Shoto for replacing him and attacked him, both when he was younger and as a villain, Dabi doesn’t hate Shoto.

Dabi only hates his father Endeavour and harms Shoto only to make his father despair. He doesn’t care about Shoto or his other siblings.

As children, Toya initially resented Shoto since Shoto was very much his replacement. Toya constantly pleaded with his father for attention, wanting to fulfill his dream, but Endeavour told him to give up and moved his focus to Shoto.

Filled with fury, Toya even attacked Shoto. He did later regret attacking him, acknowledging that he was just a baby and had done nothing wrong.

However, as a villain, Dabi never hesitated to attack Shoto– not when kidnapping Bakugo, nor during the Paranormal Liberation War.

In Chapter 292, Dabi didn’t hold back as he pushed Shoto back with a wave of flames, stating that he no longer had feelings for anyone. He didn’t care that the villain he sent after Endeavour nearly killed his other brother Natsuo.

He gleefully attacked Shoto musing that he would finally get to kill Shoto– that Endeavour’s ‘greatest doll’ and masterpiece would die by the flames of one of his ‘failures,’ Toya.

However, Dabi only thought of harming Shoto to make his father suffer. He stopped attacking Shoto once Endeavour was unconscious, stating that there was no point in breaking his ‘doll’ if Endeavour wasn’t watching.

Despite claiming indifference, a part of Dabi probably does resent Shoto to an extent. Resents him for taking his place since they were young; for accepting Endeavour after all that he has done and still trying to become a hero.

Hatred would be too intense of a word and is clearly a feeling Dabi has reserved for Endeavour alone.

Dabi possibly even pities Shoto to an extent for becoming his father’s ‘doll,’ as he likes to call him, for being used and manipulated for Endeavour’s own selfish dream, for becoming exactly what his father wanted him to be.

About My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected in 37 tankōbon volumes as of February 2023.

It follows a quirkless boy Izuku Midoriya and how he backed the greatest Hero alive. Midoriya, a boy who has been admiring heroes and their ventures since the day he was born, came into this world without a quirk, where almost everybody is born with one.

On one fateful day, he meets All Might the greatest Hero of all time and discovers that he was quirkless as well. With his diligent attitude and unwavering spirit about being a hero, Midoriya manages to impress All Might. He is chosen to be the heir to the power of One for All.