The Todorokis: Lost in Darkness and Distance
“Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?”
-Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
I’m by no means the first person to point out Frankenstein references in Dabi’s character (see @linkspooky and @findingoutwhodabireallyis for more), but I am gonna talk a l’il more about it.
Dabi, just like the creature in the novel, is not just a monster: he is a lost child, a portrayal of the lost innocence of all of mankind.
Dabi paints himself as a monster of Endeavor’s creation, and the tragic irony of this is that by seeking revenge, Dabi is thereby perpetuating his own abuse and becoming more like Endeavor. Dabi is a mirror, a reflection of Endeavor, who is a reflection of society. To redeem himself, Endeavor has to first save Dabi; to save their family, the Todorokis have to save Dabi; to save hero society (which basically just went up in a pile of blue flames), the kids are gonna have to save Dabi, Shigaraki, and Himiko.
The Todorokis, for all their genuine mourning for Touya, do not recognize him when he literally appears in front of them. That’s pretty hurtful, and explains more about why Touya assumes Shouto is Endeavor 2.0 (since Endeavor and Shouto are the two who have seen him in person). Touya’s wrong–he and Shouto are/have been a lot more alike than he would guess (both wanting to prove their worth through becoming strong but without their father’s training)–but he doesn’t know that, which is tragically ironic.
In order to actually heal and move forward as a family, the Todorokis are all going to all have to be able to see clearly, to see and acknowledge their flaws and what’s been swept under the rug (Link talked more about this in her excellent meta here).
Touya starts off the chapter mentioning that he’s been watching Rei from afar and presumably sent her something personal (referencing the room number). He doesn’t seem like he hates her, and that’s good. However, also remember that as much as Rei is a victim (she is), her situation is complex. Abused mothers who are afraid to stop their husbands from abusing their kids is a painful subject best dealt with without moral declarations, but suffice to say that it is valid and reasonable for many children to hold resentment at these mothers, who chose their own fear and self-preservation over their children’s safety. Not all kids feel this way and that is very valid too! But many do. It doesn’t appear, assuming that translation is accurate, that Dabi harbors resentment against her. However, Rei quite possibly still blames herself for projecting Endeavor into Shouto in a moment of insanity, a moment that has left him forever scarred. Now she has another son, a son she thought she lost forever, who is terribly burned by Endeavor’s and/or his own doing, committing atrocities and threatening others. What will she want to do? To redeem herself in her own eyes, my guess is she will want to save Touya.
Fuyumi, the peacemaker, is going to have to face the fact that two of her family members want to literally kill each other, which offers her some potential complexity. So much for Natsuo not forgiving Endeavor as the main conflict source. Will she want Touya redeemed? If she forgave Endeavor, you’d think so, but he would likely want her to choose between Endeavor and himself.
However, Touya doesn’t mention Fuyumi this chapter. He does mention Natsuo as his confidant, and based on past chapters, we can assume Natsuo and Touya were quite close. It’s to Natsuo that Touya asked the question of his arc: why do I exist? However, by sending Ending after them, we the audience realize Touya actually risked Natsuo’s life–which quite possibly wasn’t his intention. Narrative consequences don’t only exist for Endeavor, Touya.
The thing is, Dabi is still the child kneeling on the floor emotionally (yes he’s an adult, I’m not arguing he can’t be held responsible, please don’t come for me). He’s still asking the same question he claims to have asked Natsuo: “Why do I exist?”
Touya still doesn’t know what the purpose of him existing is. Right now all he has is assuming it’s just to destroy Endeavor, a destruction that will destroy himself with his tormentor, because he’s unable to think about his existence without torment and abuse and pain. He defines himself by his firepower just as Endeavor defined him.
Compounding this, Dabi has some seriously self-harm issues. I mean, we already knew that because of his quirk harming him, but it extends beyond the physical (though we’ll return to the physical in a moment). Dabi is fully aware that what he’s doing is wrong. Unlike Endeavor, he doesn’t even try to justify himself. Essentially, this is emotional self-harm. He thinks bringing down Endeavor and the society that created his pain is worth harming every part of himself for.
Back to the physical. “Dance with me in hell” kinda implies Dabi doesn’t intend to survive his revenge (I’m not particularly concerned about him though; he frankly should survive). Again, we should have already been clued into this, because back in chapter 191, Dabi was ready to fight and die just to destroy Endeavor.
The Todoroki family’s healing entirely depends on saving Touya from “Dabi.” But he has little reason to trust most of them right now. However, there is another family around him now who can help him learn to trust: the League. I know Dabi says he doesn’t care about them, but his rage when Twice died kinda suggests otherwise. Not only that, but Himiko asked him how his hand was, expressing concern for him. They genuinely care about him, and not just for his quirk and certainly not for his name.
The League itself is, obviously, made up of lost children. We have Himiko, whose parents ditched her instead of getting her help and who was villainized for her quirk; we have Shigaraki, who stumbled through the streets after accidentally hurting his family, begging for help, and only a villain came. Sweeping them underground, killing them and/or ultimately defeating them in a grand final showdown, won’t fix anything. Touya has been defeated his whole life.
What Touya’s never gotten is love and safety just for existing, is acceptance that he’s enough just as he is. What Shigaraki’s never gotten is someone believing in him. What Himiko’s never gotten is acceptance and understanding. Which they can and will likely all find somewhat in the League, but also should find through their heroic counterparts (Deku and All Might for Shigaraki; Ochaco for Himiko, Shouto and the other Todorokis for Touya).
