#taiga samejima

Starting off with Gabu, can I just say that when we did Conduct disorder in class, I couldn't help but think that Gabu might have this?? Now, I'm not diagnosing him, but a lot of his behaviour does fit the symptoms and tendencies seen in Conduct disorder, which include a disregard for rules, harming people, physical violence and violating others' rights.

Drawing from this, I also want to point out that Gabu also seems to have issues with authority. This is canonically implied with scenes where, when Taiga tells him they should just go back to their world, Gabu says "What's there to go back to? We'll go home and have to listen to our parents and go to school."

This scene is actually the basis for my major headcanon that is the Samejima family's situation. Although it is never addressed in the show, I deeply suspect that Gabu comes from a low ses family, and part of why I think so is because of this scene where they have come back from X Zone and Gabu's clothes look like this:

now, idk what the fashion was like in 2005, but maybe this is supposed to indicate something.

So basically my theory is that Taiga and Gabu's father died soon after Gabu was born, and their mom remarried because she couldn't raise them both by herself. Except their new step-father is abusive, and their mom has basically just given in to the whole situation where she as a victim cannot get out, and can't even protect her children like she is supposed to.

I think Taiga did have a fairly loving and stable childhood with their parents, but because he knows that Gabu is especially the target of their step-father (cause maybe Gabu looks like their dad, while Taiga looks like their mom) he tries to do whatever Gabu wants. He acquises to Gabu's demands in his own way to try and make him happy.

Gabu has been shown to be a mischievous kid since very young, and one reason for such attention-seeking and willful behaviour is when parents neglect their kids (re: his mom, who turns a blind eye to the abuse they both suffer from) but also, it's an act of defiance on his end because Gabu reacts to stressors with the "fight" response, rather than flight.

Acting out of order gives him a sense of freedom, and Gabu clearly has a desire to have control over everything. Such a strong desire from control is likely to emerge especially because someone doesn't have any control in their early life or other roles in life. I think that because Gabu cannot control his home situation, he displaces his anger, resentment and other feelings onto weaker people he can have control over. These include his friends, and the people of X Zone when he obtains Bloody Fang.

I also think that Gabu fundamentally has an Avoidant attachment style, which likely developed from the situation where his father died soon after his birth and his mother probably wasn't able to provide enough attention or love to build a secure relationship. This can be seen when he discards Taiga, and repeatedly insists that he doesn't want or need friends.

Gabu has said many times a statement that really made me think of this whole theory, which is the line "The strong ones have it all. The weak have no place here." I think it's very indicative of an abusive home he grew up in, where power (both in status and physically) decides who gets to have control. And because he is the weak one there, it doesn't fit his own self-image, because Gabu believes himself to be amazing.

This belief is what makes me think he has Conduct disorder, because his high self-esteem is probably rare in such an environment.

I also have a separate headcanon that Gabu is actually quite smart. Maybe he is not super good at book smart stuff, but I think he's actually pretty good at languages. I mean, he only speaks Japanese so I have no clue about English, but his handwriting is canonically quite legible (and in my personal opinion, fairly casual and pretty in style) and he is good with kanjis, because he pointed out to Taiga how Koei's name is written.

Moving onto Taiga, I love this guy so much. I cannot put it into words. So of course the backstory I designed for him will reflect my personal projections, lol.

So I think that Taiga had a fairly loving and normal childhood, which is why he grew up pretty okay compared to Gabu's defiance. But because he has lived both the good life and the bad one, I think he has a strong sense of doing things fairly and rightly. He is straightforward and respectful and I think all of this is because he was forced to grow up a little when his mom remarried and he had to protect her at times.

The reality is that he couldn't do much which is why I think Taiga harbours a lot of guilt. In the initial half, he seems to listen to Gabu a fair bit, which I think is his way of trying to make up for Gabu's shitty childhood by trying to be a kind brother for him to lean on. Unfortunately, Gabu has the habit of pushing away the people around him because of an inherent fear of relying on anyone since he has an Avoidant style.

Taiga knows that what Gabu is doing is not right but it takes him a while to get to the point where his sense of fairness and justice outweighs the guilt he feels towards Gabu, and then he asks Sho to help stop Gabu because he doesn't know what to do. I think because Taiga loves Gabu deeply and has always let him have his way, he cannot truly fight him beyond scolding. He also never resorts to physically stopping Gabu, most likely because he doesn't want to hurt Gabu like their step-father does.

Unlike him, Gabu has no problems hurting others and he is likely displacing his anger and hurt at the violence by hurting others. It gives him a sense of satisfaction, and possibly it is what he sees as "fair" because why must only he suffer?

I think this theory/headcanon makes a lot of sense because Gabu, as a 10 year old who lived in a whole different world, never once wanted to go home. Although Taiga did, he also never mentions their parents or home life. In fact, Gabu refuses to leave X Zone, and when he gets back, he immediately tries desperately to go to X Zone again.

All of this makes sense if we consider that X Zone is the one place where Gabu can truly be the strongest, where he is the one in control, and where he can do what he wants. He is free in X Zone, which is why he has no desire to go home to a neglectful mother and abusive step-father.

Also, biking is something Gabu excels in and racing probably is one of the things that makes him feel powerful and free. All of this blows up when they reach X Zone, a place where MTBs are the measure of strength and power, not your physical strength.

My lighter headcanons for Taiga include the idea that he is one of the types who look scary but rescues kittens by the roadside. I especially like to think there is a black cat that he once saved that sometimes follows him around. Idk man, he seems like the type to feed stray kitties and accidentally carry one home.

I also think he is pretty average at school, but wants to hurry up and finish so he can get a job and escape their family life with Gabu. He also wants to protect their mom, which is probably harder to do because victims of abuse become helpless and are affected mentally in self-defeating ways.

I like to think that towards the end of the show, where Team Sharktooth is with Sho's gang, Gabu actually starts learning to rely on others, builds friendships and actually build a solid social support system for himself.

That's all for this long post, folks! If you actually read the whole thing, colour me surprised, but I wrote this just because I had a lot of thoughts and ideas about the Samejima brothers and their family life. I have more to say on the Shidou siblings and their family life too, but that will be a separate long post on its own lol;;

NOTE: these are just my headcanons/theory, this is not canonically said!! although my idea is based on canon implications, it is just my personal opinion and I am not claiming this is reality in any way. I would love to read and hear other ppl's hcs on these characters!