Though there are many strong young heroes that have entered UA’s hero program along with Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki is likely the student most ready for the responsibilities of a professional hero.
Though he has some serious trauma to get over when it comes to the events of his childhood and his training with his father, the number two hero, Endeavor, Todoroki is often illustrated to be the strongest member of class 1-A. But just what has young Todoroki been forced to overcome in order to become the bright young hero he is in when first introduced in the series?
10 He Is A Victim Of Abuse
Although My Hero Academia is a series populated by victims of abuse on both the side of the heroes and the villains, it is Todoroki’s story that fans have become most familiar with. During his battle with Midoriya at the UA Sports Festival, fans get an up-close and personal look at the truly traumatic series of events that led Todoroki tow where he is in the series. After illustrating to his father that he is the “perfect” combination of his parents’ abilities, Todoroki becomes the sole focus of Endeavor’s quest to become (or create) the world’s greatest hero. His power leads to abuse of all kinds from his father. From a very young age, Todoroki is beaten by his father among other things.
9 Isolated From His Family
Like with many abusers, Endeavor strove to isolate the young Todoroki. From a very young age, Todoroki was not only isolated from the possibility of making any new friends as all young children should be allowed, but Endeavor even went as far as to isolate Todorki from his own family.
After Todoroki become the focus of Endeavor’s eye, he was no longer allowed to associate with his siblings, the children that his father viewed as failures. Not only was Todoroki forced to take the brunt of Endeavor’s rage, but he was forced to so all alone, which makes it even worse.
8 His Scar Came From His Mom
Though he was isolated from his “failure” siblings, Todorki’s one saving grace was found in his caring mother. Though Todoroki repeatedly expressed his hatred for his father and contempt for becoming a hero anything like the “hero” his father was, Todorki’s mother was always there to lift his spirits and remind him that though his father may not be the hero they needed, there were other heroes, heroes like All Might, that could be looked up to as an ideal. However, feeling more and more pressure and dismay in regards to Endeavor’s training of Todoroki, his mother eventually has a mental breakdown and pours boiling water all over Todoroki’s left side, the side that reminds her of his father.
7 Bred To Succeed
The fact that Todoroki is so incredibly powerful is not a mistake, at least not as far as Endeavor was concerned. After coming to terms with the fact that he would never be able to close the gap between All Might and himself, Endeavor came up with a plan to dethrone the number one hero.
The plan he formulated involved finding a suitable ice quirk user who he could make his wife. After which, with any luck, they would bare children that contained the best of both of their abilities and Endeavor would finally be able to stand proud knowing that he had finally unseated the number one hero, All Might.
6 His Quirk: Half-Hot, Half-Cold
Though his siblings were viewed as “failures” in his father’s eyes, Todoroki himself had, unfortunately for the young boy, manifested the best aspects of both of his parents’ quirks. With his quirk, Half Hot, Half Cold, Todoroki was granted both pryokinesis and cryokinesis (or the ability to control both fire and ice). Being granted both abilities, Todoroki’s quirk is essentially one of the very few flawless quirks in the series, as both aspects of his quirk work in tandem to balance each other out.
5 A Student Of All Might’s Heroic Message
Despite being the son of the number two hero, Endeavor, Todoroki learned from a very young age that his father was no man (or hero for that matter) to be looked up to. Though Todoroki knew that he wanted to become a hero one day, so that he could save people like his mother and the rest of his family, he knew he never wanted to be anything like his father. So rather being driven to dethrone the number one hero as his father had wanted for so long, the young Todoroki found comfort in the number one hero, All Might’s valiant effort and his ability to smile through any situation.
4 Parallels To Prince Zuko
Though it has never been officially confirmed, fans have long since expected that mangaka Kohei Horikoshi took his inspiration for Todoroki form another famous fire-bender in pop culture, Prince Zuko.
It’s a hard comparison to miss. They are both the sons of an abusive and violent father. They both have burns covering their left eye that they received due to their parents. They both wield fire are a weapon under their control. There are almost too many parallels for it to be a coincidence.
3 What’s In A Name?
Any fan of Horkoshi’s work knows that he takes very careful consideration when it comes to naming his characters. More or less all of his characters have names that either directly relates to their quirks or some aspect of their personality. For Shoto Todoroki, that is a pattern that follows suit. His first name Shoto is composed of two parts “Sho” from the Japanese word “Nensho” meaning burning, and “To” from the Japanese “Toketsu” meaning freezing. A perfectly suited name for someone with a quirk like Half Hot, Half cold.
2 His Possible Villain Connection
Ever since Dabi first appeared in My Hero Academia, fans have long theorized that the flame-wielding villain is actually one of Todoroki’s older brothers. While it is rather presumptive to assume that any hero or villain showing up with fire powers much be related to the Todoroki’s there’s actually a bit more evidence than that to support this theory. Many theorists point to the fact that Dabi, Endeavor, and Shoto all have the same eye color, an eye color that appears to be unique to the Todoroki clan.
1 His Equipment
Though Todoroki is not very flashy, like his father is, when it comes to his equipment, he does have some particularly helpful equipment nonetheless. For starters, Todoroki, much like Batman and many other great heroes, has a utility belt with houses metal canisters containing water, pain medication, disinfectants and more. The suit he wears is also made out of special material which is meant to regulate his body temperature and help stave off the effects of using either side of his quirk for too long. Pretty useful features for such a bland costume.