KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 3
DABI DANCED AND SO DID WE DEVON NGUYEN
Writer
3rd Year, Anthropology
I Have Yet to Experience a Mystery Reveal as Exhilarating as This
SPOILERS FOR MY HERO ACADEMIA The Paranormal Liberation War arc of My Hero Academia is often hailed as the ongoing series’ best arc. Its fast paced action, meaningful character development, and the utilization of the greater Class 1-A cast are just a few of its notable qualities. A lot happens within the walls of the fifty-three chapters that this arc encompasses, but no moment stands out to me the most other than the reveal of Dabi as Touya Todoroki, the deceased older brother of Shouto Todoroki. Paired with the carefully placed trail of breadcrumbs that author Kohei Horikoshi had left, alongside the ever increasing fanfare of the curious connections between Dabi and the Todoroki family, the unraveling of this all-consuming mystery was nothing short of extremely satisfying. Everything started during the Forest Training Camp arc, when the League of Villains ambushed the unassuming students of Class 1-A at their training camp. During an attempt to save his incapacitated classmate, Todoroki is intercepted by Dabi, who then mutters something that would send fans into a theory-crafting frenzy for the next couple years: “That’s sad…Shouto Todoroki”. Four simple words that would carry so much weight. From there people began to wonder, why did Dabi’s taunting words feel personal? It sounded as if he knew Todoroki, as if he had known of all the abusive training he had gone through as a child and expected him to be stronger–to be better. I vividly remember the collective shift in the community once the anime covered this moment. People who once scoffed at the idea of a connection were now admitting that they could see what people were talking about. Acknowledgements of how they both had bright turquoise colored eyes and near identical fire quirks were made, and before anyone knew it, the idea of Dabi being related to Todoroki spread like wildfire. Admittedly, I remained skeptical about this theory for a while. It just seemed too good to be true. Dabi was probably just interested in Todoroki because he was the son of the number two hero at the time and also had a fire quirk, there wasn’t anything else to it. My skepticism gradually melted away though, replaced by wholehearted agreement as over the course of the multiple arcs that led up to the Paranormal Liberation War arc, it became more apparent
to me that Horikoshi just might have been setting up something bigger than I could’ve ever imagined. We witness another tense and fiery moment between Dabi and another member of the Todoroki family, this time with the patriarch, Endeavor, who Dabi also seemed to have been unusually familiar with. We also learn that Todoroki had a deceased older brother who was a rather painful sore spot amongst everyone in the family. We then see how familiar Dabi is with Hero Society during his interactions with Hawks, when the pro-hero was undercover within the League of Villains, coming off as much more knowledgeable than his fellow League members. Things just kept building and building, and fans only became more and more adamant that their theories would be proven true. I was convinced that if Horikoshi had decided to go nowhere with this escalation of connections, then he would’ve lost the faith of thousands of earnest fans. And then it finally happened. Before the 2020 United States presidential election could even be confirmed, Chapter 290: Dabi’s Dance was released, confirming four agonizing years of fan theories and skepticism. With a feral grin, Dabi stood in front of a battle-worn Todoroki and Endeavor, then proceeding to dramatically pour a clear-looking liquid onto his head. While his jet black hair faded into snow white, Dabi urges Endeavor to refer to him with a more respectable name, Touya. The next couple panels can only be described as exhilarating, as Dabi tells his father and younger brother, as well as excited fans, everything. Just like that, the entire My Hero Academia fandom erupted into cheers across the world. ‘Dabi’ and ‘Touya Todoroki’ were trending higher than any of the political and sports hashtags on Twitter that night. r/BokuNoHeroAcademia crashed because of the influx of traffic and the sheer amount of posts being made. Even comic book sites started covering the reveal. Horikoshi had actually done it–he had pulled off one of the craziest and most satisfying reveals in recent shounen history. Three years later, fans still look back on the Dabi reveal as one of the series best moments. Horikoshi played into expectations, instead of subverting them, leaving everyone speechless when he actually went through with the reveal. The surprise sibling trope can be found in dozens of shounen titles, ranging from well executed to completely out of nowhere. The Touya Todoroki reveal is arguably the best surprise sibling reveal I’ve had the pleasure of reading. In a world where subverted expectations are the norm in fictional media, Horikoshi reminded us that a good plot twist doesn’t have to surprise the audience. It just has to surprise the characters in the story and change the course of the plot.
