While it may not have stakes nearly as high as many of the series' later arcs, My Hero Academia's Sports Festival arc is lovingly remembered by fans, as it provides much-needed development for quite a few interesting characters. Uraraka's true motivations as a hero-in-training are revealed, along with her more fierce, competitive side. Many of Class 1-B's characters are given proper introductions in this arc, as well, as many of them are pitted against 1-A students.
However, no character comes close to getting the amount of development that Shoto Todoroki does during the Sports Festival. His tragic family past is not only revealed, but thanks to Izuku, he's able to start making steps towards separating himself from his father's influence and living for himself. One of the largest steps in this journey is making up with his mother, Rei - and while she hasn't been seen much, there's still a lot the show reveals about her in that time.
This article contains spoilers for the My Hero Academia manga.
9 Her Maiden Name Is Rei Himura
Not much is known about Rei's initial family, other than the fact that they're overjoyed when Enji comes to them requesting to take their daughter's hand in marriage. Her parents are never pictured, nor are they given names, but it's revealed that Rei's maiden name was Rei Himura.
It's also implied that Rei has a good relationship with her family, caring for them deeply. Rei herself isn't thrilled about the prospect of entering into a Quirk marriage, she only does so for the sake of her family.
8 She Has A Fondness For Flowers
After agreeing to marry Enji for her family's sake, Rei's demeanor becomes much more cold and distant. She likely began guarding her true emotions in an attempt to protect herself as best she could - but Enji is able to spark something in her while the two are walking through a garden.
He notices that she's fixated on a certain flower, and she agrees that she likes it when he questions her. While this is an incredibly short interaction, Enji remembers it more than twenty years later, as he sends that same type of flower to her room in the psychiatric facility.
7 Originally, Her Family Life Is Relatively Happy
Essentially, everything that viewers are told about the Todorokis' home life is through the lens of Shoto. While his perception of events is entirely valid, it also completely ignores the relationship that Enji and Rei had at the start.
Neither of their first two children were born with the desired Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk that Enji is looking for, but it's revealed that they're happy, regardless. It isn't until after Toya's Quirk begins burning his body, and Enji completely dismisses him to instead try to have more children, that things begin to fall apart.
6 She Immediately Tries To Heal The Burn She Gives Shoto
When the origin of Shoto's burn is first revealed to the audience, it cuts out immediately after the damage is done. While it's still a horrific act on Rei's part, her immediate actions afterward speak volumes about the kind of person she really is.
Immediately after he gets burned, Rei is seen rushing to Shoto's side, frantically trying to heal the burn she'd caused using her Ice Quirk. While doing so, she can be seen repeatedly questioning how she could do such a thing to her son.
5 She Has Faith In Enji Despite The Abuse He Subjected Her To
As My Hero Academia progresses, Enji begins trying to own up to his past mistakes and change himself, little by little. Even so, it would be completely understandable if Rei decided that she's completely unable to forgive him for his treatment of both their children and Rei herself.
Despite their past, Rei chooses to keep hold of some faith regarding Enji's true nature. He begins sending her thoughtful gifts, and clearly wants to make things right with her, but doesn't push her boundaries as she's still too afraid to see him in person. These actions make her realize just how much of an internal struggle he must be going through, and she has confidence that he'll work things out for the better in the end.
4 She's Strong-Willed Enough To Handle The Truth About Dabi
Rei is shown to have an incredibly strong will, as she's able to stop herself from falling into despair when she learns that Dabi has become a mass-murdering villain. Instead of taking the news negatively, she uses it to solidify her resolve to try to work her family situation out with Enji and the other children.
Rei gains the courage to speak to Enji face-to-face for the first time since she'd been sent away, and he is immediately overwhelmed with guilt. Rei reminds him that the rest of their family has suffered far more than he has, but also that the guilt he felt wasn't his alone to bear, as Rei herself is also partially responsible for what happened to Dabi.
3 She Only Appears A Dozen Times, Including Flashbacks
As of the end of Season Five, when it comes to present-day scenes, Rei has only appeared a total of three times. There's her debut appearance in Season Two, and then she doesn't appear again until the very end of Season Four and the start of Season Five.
Even when factoring in flashbacks, the amount of episodes Rei can be seen in only increases to 12 out of 113. She has three flashback appearances in Season Two, one in Season Three, and five in Season Five.
2 She Genuinely Wanted A Big, Happy Family
Before Toya's Quirk backfires against him, Enji and Rei are shown to have a relatively happy life. While it's true that the reason Enji wants more children is to attempt to birth a successor with both of their powers, Rei wants to do so for a more wholesome reason.
Rei wants to have more children because the prospect of having a large, happy family is one that genuinely makes her happy. There's also the hope in the back of her mind that, by having more children because she willingly wanted to, she might be able to get Enji to stop focusing so much on training a successor.
1 She Holds Herself Responsible For Dabi's Actions
If Rei decided that she was going to put all of the blame for Toya's downfall on Enji, it would be incredibly hard to blame her for doing so. After all, when Toya's Quirk begins hurting his own body, Enji is quick to dismiss him entirely and attempt to have a better-suited successor, instead.
In actuality, it turns out that Rei feels immense guilt and self-blame for what happened to Toya after she learns the truth. She feels responsible for the actions he takes as a villain, feeling as if she failed to stop him before.