Character Analysis - Blog Posts

Erasermic builds

Shouta obviously needs to be able to use his capture weapon to hold his own body weight, and also needs to be able to brace landings between buildings so his arms and thighs gotta be WHAM. While hizashi is a bfg, he still needs to fight because no hero is a one trick pony, but his fighting style is more like mina's, so he's still got muscle, but alot less than shouta and alot more lean in general.

Luna my favorite gal❤️❤️❤️

Luna is such a way more complex character than people give her credit for aurghhh

She is so idealized and has so many expectations placed on her by society that she feels like she needs to find a partner that is equally or more smart than her so the pressure isn't fully on her, she's constantly forcing herself to do things so she lives up to people's expectations and she still is able to be genuinely kind to those around her. AND FANS STILL HATE HER!!

She is, objectively, a great person. She's smart, she's kind and she's beautiful. Of course she's a little selfish and has a big ego, after all who doesn't? But she still forces herself to live her life according to what other people think she should live. People expect her to still be awake after being petrified for 3700, so she does. People expect her to be resourceful and help Stanley, so she does. The moment she decided to help Senku wasn't just the narrative twisting the gears so the story would work, it's the moment she's true to herself and goes against what she's expected to do and helps Senku. Not because she wants him to date her, no. She would do it regardless of him accepting her conditions or not, if he wanted her to wait she would too. She was doing it because she wanted to, not because she was expected to.

I will NEVER forgive these fake stoners for hating on our girl just because she gets in the way of gay ships, she's a STAR and you're NOT ready for her.

I've talked once before about how Xeno needs Stan yet holds him back, but today I want to look at how much Stan's presence is also a detriment to Xeno and how his dependence on him leads to aggressive and (frankly) self destructive behavior.

Stanley is very put together, strategic, and calm until Xeno is taken away from him. While everyone else understood that Xeno wasn't in any real danger, and Stan out of everyone knew the connection of mentor / mentee guaranteed a safe and even healthy and stimulating environment for Xeno, he still snapped.

He immediately lost composure and fell for the stupid medusa trick, letting them pass unharmed. He made brash decisions when trying to take Xeno back, and eventually lashed out and murdered everyone with more force and violence than necessary to get him back.

Because of all this, I always see Xeno as an anchoring stone for Stan. And I like to imagine that they both see Stan as an emotional anchor for Xeno, even though, historically, he very much is not

Stan allows Xeno to tip into the dictator mindset and feeds into that wish. He would kill anyone who gets in his way and will hold Xeno on a pedestal, away from everyone who has hurt or undermined him, only further allowing the detrimental mindset of "us vs them" to grow and separate him more. Honestly, Stan doesn't notice it, but his presence in Xeno’s life is largely a bad thing. Instead of letting Xeno vent his frustrations in a healthy way, then return to humanity as a part of it, he allows the disillusion of being the only person able to lead the world to fester in his mind. Stanley is an enabler of sorts, allowing Xeno to check out from reality and from the consequences of his actions.

It isn't until Xeno is forced to live without him and strike his own balance in the KOS that his mentality changes. He softens again, finds faith and hope in humanity and creates lasting relationships with others who value science and truth just like him.

This is further proven when the people he's closest to in the Kingdom of Science go missing and he immediately starts to revert back to the mentality of "us vs them" when dealing with others. That same mentality crept up when he addressed the scientific committee and it was GEN who stopped and calmed him where Stan was content to stand back and allow his brash action to continue.

Their relationship can be seen as fairly simple and straight forward, even sweet at first glance. But the more one looks at it, the more layers of toxicity reveal themselves. There's always something new to focus on.

Not - Big Thief + 431 bakugo

(bkdk mentioned)

It's not the room : the room where all of class 1-A is during the reunion

Not beginning : bakugo and deku have a rough beginning, hell the whole start of bakugo’s hero career was rough.

Not the crowd : the crowd being 1A

Not winning : he won’t be competing with izuku for the rest of his life, izuku didn’t join his agency, deku isn’t number one + he’s super low on the charts in his eyes

[ skip a few lyrics ]

Not what you really wanted : this isn’t what bakugo wanted his life to be at all. he wanted izuku by his side and to be competing for the rest of their lives, to be heros together. he also wanted to be number one, nothing went according to his plan.

Nor the mess in your purse : i like to think of the purse as bakugo’s head, god knows what’s going through his mind. i mean he DIED for this dream just for it to be destroyed.

Nor the bed that is haunted : the hospital bed, or the war grounds he died on. [bkdk bonus : bakugo’s bed because he’s alone in it and izuku isn’t there.]

With a blanket of thirst : another bkdk bonus, the thirst for izuku. he wanted him. he DEPENDS on izuku. yet he’ll never have him.

[skipping a few]

Nor the hand that is healing : bakugo’s scarred hands after all he’s been through final getting a chance to heal. [bkdk slip of dekus hands finally healing now that his hero work has come to a rest.]

Nor the nameless grave : do i even have to elaborate why this could relate to bakugo.

(MK1/12) Kitana and Mileena Headcanons

Kitana:

-Kitana likes Raiden but doesn’t want to pursue a relationship because of their different lifespans.

-She was unintentionally compared to her sister because she wasn’t as interested in combat and was weaker than Mileena.

-She had a small crush on Liu Kang for a couple of years (nothing came of it).

-Kitana is interested in traveling to Earthrealm and experiencing the culture, especially after watching some movies Johnny recommended.

-Kitana chose the fan as her weapon because it matched her more defensive fighting style, but added the blades on the ends for offensive purposes.

-She is very apprehensive of Tanya because she comforted and helped Mileena through her breakups. Kitana sees how much her sister loves Tanya and doesn’t want to see her get it hurt.

-After Jerrod’s death, Kitana became the mediator of Sindel and Mileena’s arguments. She often wonders how he did it so well.

-Her and Sindel had a closer relationship because there was no pressure to train Kitana to be the next Empress and their different personalities matched well. They would often have tea or plant flowers in the gardens.

-The idea of Kitana being Empress became more favorable after her frequent visits to the cities and helping citizens when needed. Her compassion became well renowned.

-As children, Mileena would call her “Kitty”.

Mileena:

-Along with Li Mei, Mileena was trained by General Shao since their brutal fighting styles matched. The two were close when Mileena was a child and young teen but it faded when Shao grew resentful towards Sindel and Jerrod’s rule.

-She’s had multiple secret affairs throughout her teens and early adulthood. They usually ended after Mileena learned she was being taken advantage of or a mutual break up because betrothment was not possible.

-Mileena was a troublemaker and would sneak out multiple times without anyone knowing until she contracted Tarkat from one of those outings.

-Her relationship with Tanya began after Jerrod’s death and Tanya comforted her during the grieving process.

-Mileena came out to Kitana first since she trusted her sister would be there for her and not tell their parents before she did. Kitana and Mileena hugged and the former told her that nothing would break their sisterly bond. She was nervous about coming out to her parents because she didn’t want them to view her differently and the idea of producing an heir weighed heavy on her. She was happy when they assured her that they still love her and nothing would change that. Mileena cried during both instances.

-Mileena chose the sai as her weapon since it matched her aggressive fighting style and made her focus on defensive fighting.

-Mileena chose Kitana to replace Shao because of her sister’s compassion and wish to unite Outworld, something Shao lacked.

-Her and Jerrod had a closer relationship because she could vent to her father about her worries and frustrations with being the future empress without judgment. They also spent time walking in the gardens and having picnics.

-After Sindel started training Mileena, their relationship soured since it became the basis of it and led to many disagreements.

-As children, Kitana would call her “Milly”.

Anybody Else Disappointed With How Hawk’s Been Written Lately?

(Exclaimer: I still really like MHA & Hawks)

WARNING RECENT MANGA SPOILERS Personally, ever since he killed Twice, Hawk’s character has slowly gone downhill.

It started when there weren’t any moments where Hawk’s feelings on killing Twice weren’t shown. I know he didn’t want to, but seeing Hawks feel the guilt would coincide well with the hero society’s corruption.

Another thing that would’ve been interesting is Hawk’s having mixed feelings on Endeavor after learning about how the latter treated his children. For a long time, Hawks saw Endeavor as a role model like Midoriya and Bakugo with All Might, so I think learning that his hero isn’t so different from his own father would be good character development. Hawks would feel confused on how he should feel about Endeavor for a bit, but will learn to see Endeavor as human after seeing him wanting to atone for what he did. It would be good for the plot too since it’s a parallel to how civilians heavily admire and rely on the heroes while forgetting that they aren’t perfect people.

I don’t like Hawk’s ending. Instead of becoming the new HC president, I would’ve preferred Hawks taking a break from the hero life and learn to live as Keigo Takami. Hawks lived most of life training to be a hero and a tool for the Hero Commission. He deserves to step back. Also, with the Chapter 429 leaks, I didn’t like Hawks new idea with the hero rankings. It doesn’t change the core issues with hero society. I’m going to be hopeful that the last chapter will show positive changes.

Something else I didn’t like was Hawks saying he abandoned his family and should’ve helped. That couldn’t be further from the truth. His parents abused him and his mom abandoned him to the hero commission. Hawks was just a kid. It was also in bad taste when Hawks commended Shoto for forgiving Endeavor when Hawks couldn’t with his parents. This makes it seem like not forgiving your abuser is a bad thing, which it’s not. The main point of moving on with your trauma is to heal from it, not forgive your abuser. If Hawks couldn’t forgive his parents, that’s okay.

I still really like Hawks, but I feel like he wasn’t written to his full potential.

i really liked your headcanons about johnny cage and general shao. could you write one for bi-han?? that would be most interesting

Thank you for the kind words! I’ve had a lot of fun making headcanons for MK1 characters. Compared to Johnny, I don’t have that many headcanons for Bi-Han, but I do have some on his childhood and familial relationships. Sorry if this turns out really long. Hope you enjoy!

Bi-Han was very close to his mother. She would comfort him whenever his father was very harsh towards him during training and reassured him that he would be a great leader and makes the Lin-Kuei strong. Her death was the catalyst for Bi-Han believing his father was unfit to lead the Lin-Kuei since she was killed by a vengeful former member. 

His father loved and cared for Bi-Han but his duty to train him to be the rightful heir to the Lin Kuei overshadowed that. He would train his son until near exhaustion, which led to Bi-Han being mostly isolated from the rest of the family in his early and late teens. He would tell him a great leader has to be strong and perceptive enough to lead. Bi-Han admired his father as a leader though rarely considered him his father- mostly calling him “Grandmaster” compared to “father.” His admiration turned to anger after his mother’s death and realizing how involved Liu Kang is in Lin-Kuei’s business. Bi-Han saw this as a weakness since Liu Kang wasn’t an official leader and perceived it as against his training and philosophy. Years later, his father was suffering a terrible illness. His father’s death occurred during a battle against rogue Lin-Kuei members who believed him to be too weak to continue as Grandmaster. By the end of the battle, Bi-Han found his father under rubble with a stab wound to the abdomen. Bi-Han decided to leave him to die so his father wouldn’t suffer from the illness and his belief that he is capable of succeeding as Grandmaster. 

Bi-Han and Kuai Liang were very close as little boys. There’s a headcanon where Kuai Liang was born too weak to wield cryomancy- he was even close to death. Liu Kang healed Kuai, giving him his fire powers. Being two years old at the time, Bi-Han was unaware of the situation’s severity though felt protective towards his little brother when he held him. Before mastering his pyromancy, Kuai’s body couldn’t handle cold temperatures or the frequent colds he’d get. Bi-Han would sleep with his sick brother to make sure he didn’t overheat or in case he needed help. While their parents were anxious about letting Kuai Liang fight, Bi-Han saw his potential to be a great fighter and his right-hand man when he became Grandmaster.

Although Bi-Han was very harsh towards Tomas, he saw his adoptive brother as family. The reason why he sometimes treats Tomas badly is because of resentment and jealousy. Bi-Han resented Tomas since his father gave him “leniency”- welcomed Tomas to the Lin-Kuei almost immediately- and acted more fatherly. He was also jealous of Kuai Liang and Tomas’s growing brotherhood during the bulk of his intense training. In a way, Bi-Han felt like he was being replaced. He tries to not hold it against Tomas though his unresolved anger gets in the way. 

I forgot to say in my last reblog that I don’t think Liu Kang was at fault for everything that had gone wrong. Though he’s a god, Liu Kang is capable of making mistakes like a human. I do believe that there are events that can’t be changed such as the clans fighting, Tarkatans, etc. I actually wrote a theory post a while back on why I think Tarkatans couldn’t be erased. Basically, I believe Liu Kang tried getting rid of Tarkatans but couldn’t due to Time Keeper rules. So, he changed it into a disease that is pretty hard to contract. I think that Liu made a bad call giving Shang Tsung and Quan-Chi meaningless lives (as he put it in the story mode). I wish he specified his intentions with Shang and Quan-Chi’s life. It’s hard to tell if he gave them hard lives in hopes they’ll grow kinder or he gave them average lives and, unfortunately, he had no control with their lives getting worse (Quan-Chi being in the mines and Shang having a hard time making a living). Liu Kang definitely didn’t have a hand on Bi-Han’s betrayal because he didn’t expect the cyromancer to betray his brothers for his own interest. General Shao’s arrogance returned because of Shang’s manipulation. 

I’m the type of fan who sometimes overanalyzes things, especially when things aren’t explicitly explained. Because of this, I question which occurrences in the New Era are due to Liu’s interference or if it's meant to happen (a canon event). For example, Liu Kang interfered in Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn and Quan-Chi’s lives to make sure they didn't become their previous selves. He made sure Mileena was Kitana’s blood sister and not a clone. He also had the Lin-Kuei act as Earthrealm’s defense instead of continuing their assassination system that was for their own interest. That’s Liu interference. A mix of Liu’s ability to manipulate outcomes and his cryptidness definitely leads to questioning what else he’s done, at least for me. Time is a very complex matter so it leads to more questions than answers. I hope in the next story there will be an explanation on Liu Kang’s limits and what he specifically did to create the timeline. 

I don’t think I explained my reasoning on why I think having Kuai and Harumi together makes me feel like Kuai is kind of like “Hanzo with a different name” very well. 

My main reason for saying this is because they got together during a Tower Ending instead of the story. It feels rushed to add this relationship in 90 seconds so it feels like the writers did this to fulfill a checklist (have a Scorpion and Harumi together). I think I would like this relationship if the expansion story focused on them and I see why and what made Harumi and Kuai love each other. They could be in the beginning of their relationship and seeing their dynamic would be enough. But they are married so it wouldn’t happen exactly like that. I guess I’m the type of person who only really feels for a ship if I see their growth. From what I remember, all that has been mentioned about their relationship is that they are childhood friends and have mutual respect for each other, which is a good starting point though not enough for me to feel anything other than neutral. I’m very for the “Show don’t Tell” idea of storytelling.

I am looking forward to seeing Harumi in the story and what you listed about her makes me interested in her as a character. I hope she’s a badass who will be added to the main roster in future games. We need more female fighters.

I see your points on why you think Hanzo is an adult, but I still think Hanzo is underage. Not by a lot though, I think he’s at least 16-17. 

His arms are bigger than most teens but he’s been training and before that he had the minimum amount of skill to steal. Smoke stopped him because he’s trained longer but I am certain an average person would not defend themselves as well. In the image I added, you can see his muscles are smaller compared to the images you included. This shows that training and eating more (like you said Hanzo was starving before joining the Shirai-Ryu) were major reasons his muscles are larger, not age. What I’m trying to say is that it’s possible for a slightly underage guy to look like an adult due to physical fitness and eating right (I expect the Shirai-Ryu to have a healthy regiment). I think a time skip happened between my image and yours, but they are probably at least a few months to a year apart since Bi-Han doesn’t seem like the person who would wait very long. After all, he hunted Kuai and Tomas after Titan Shang Tsung was defeated.

Also we have to consider some things. Compared to a front view, a side view of muscles will look larger because of perspective (the second image you added proves it since his arms are slightly slimmer compared to the first image). Hanzo is flexing as well which makes muscles look larger. I also searched up what muscular guys (16-17 years old) look like and they look very close to Hanzo’s physique. 

With his voice, I agree that it’s deep though guys in my high school sounded very similar when they were 16-17 because of puberty. A deep voice doesn’t always equal being an adult. Also, it hasn’t been confirmed if the voice actor that did those grunts will be Hanzo’s in future appearances. They could’ve been another va who’s voicing another character that did those grunts because NRS didn’t want to hire a new va just for grunts. I’m going to wait for the voice actor hired for Hanzo’s official appearance in the games to see if Hanzo is a late teen or adult. 

I agree with you about adults being born shorts. Everyone grows at different rates and it doesn’t physically show someone’s maturity. I still somewhat considered it (though not as much as other points I mentioned) because the media usually use height to show age, especially in animated projects. Short adults or tall teens/kids are rarely shown unless for comedic reasons. I’m not saying Mortal Kombat is like that but I still keep it in mind in case they do use height = age formula. 

Although I see your points on why you think Hanzo is an adult, I’m going to assume he’s underage until the game confirms his age or at least gives strong enough hints to make an educated guess. 

Thank you for replying back to me! I appreciate your pov because it evolves mine at the same time. I enjoy our conversations. I apologize for taking the expected, life got a little hectic. Sorry for going into crazy specifics near the end. It was the only way I could think of to better explain my points. Also, I noticed in your tags that you don’t like being a Liu Kang apologist or something along those lines. I’m curious as to why. 

My Thoughts on MK1 Hanzo

(Spoiler Warning: Smoke’s Tower Ending is discussed)

I saw Smoke’s tower ending and was surprised to see Hanzo in the new timeline, let alone as a child. Although I’m open to how the writers will handle his character, I’m kind of disappointed that they went this route. When I learned that Kuai Liang would be Scorpion in the new timeline, I expected Hanzo to either not even exist or live a nice life with Harumi and their son. Instead, Kuai Liang is married to Harumi and Hanzo is much younger than them, which is so weird. I really hoped Hanzo would have a happy life and only be involved in the games through mentions at least.  Also, this decision paints Liu Kang in a bad light. It’s no secret Liu Kang made sure his allies had a good life while making some of his enemies’ lives (Shang Tsung and Quan Chi) insignificant to prevent them from turning into their past counterparts. So, it makes me wonder why Liu Kang didn’t think to give Hanzo a good life or at least watch over him. It’s shown that Hanzo is a starving orphan forced to steal for essentials. I have no doubt Liu Kang knows about Hanzo’s past since he met the older and kinder Scorpion in MK11 and Raiden has disclosed Hanzo’s past in MK 9. Plus when Liu Kang fused with the Hourglass, he most likely became aware of what happened in MK9 and MKX. He gave Shao Kahn the chance to be a better man by being the Kingdom’s general- a risk that didn’t pay off, yet didn’t give Hanzo what he always desired- his wife, son, and the Shirai-Ryu. It feels so out of character for Liu Kang to not make sure Hanzo had a good chance at life. 

If I had the opportunity to write Hanzo’s character, it would’ve been very different. I would’ve made him a former Lin Kuei member(he would be 5 or more years older than Bi-Han) who held the Scorpion title until he retired to Japan- where met Harumi and had their son. Hanzo would’ve also been the one to train Kuai Liang in his fire powers in the latter’s childhood. In his honor, Kuai would take the Scorpion mantle after Hanzo retires. Hanzo could also help Kuai and Smoke form the Shirai-Ryu but Harumi helps in recruiting and training while he takes care of their young son. 

Though, I still hold some faith that NRS will write the new Hanzo well. I guess I’m just disappointed because I wanted Hanzo to finally live a happy life where his family stays alive. He was one of my favorites in the MK9-MK11 era so I can’t help but feel a connection towards him.

General Shao (Childhood) Headcanon 

Warning: mentions of child abuse, bullying, terrible parent

Ever since General Shao’s backstory was revealed on the website I’ve believed he had a terrible (borderline hellish) childhood. 

To recap, Shao had the enthusiasm and brilliance to be a great warrior, but his body was too sickly to handle the physical training. Shao’s father did not like this and decided to design a strenuous program to build Shao’s strength. On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong but I believe Shao went through awful circumstances that made him the man he is. 

In Outworld, especially in professions that involve fighting, strength is considered the most important thing for a person. No doubt Shao’s father, a renowned Outworld general, would express these ideals and hate the reality of one of his children being considered weak. He would do anything to ensure his legacy was considered strong, which he did by ignoring Shao’s physicians and crafting a training program that could potentially worsen Shao’s condition. 

Because of his family’s reputation, Shao would be tormented by other children. Being pushed around and called worthless or a “sorry excuse to his family tree.” This would fester Shao’s anger and his drive to become stronger like his father, so he’s willing to go through the program. 

In other people’s eyes the program would be considered abusive, but Shao saw it as his father caring about him. He would excuse the days long training, survival training alone in the woods, his father’s harsh words, and not letting Shao eat or drink until he perfected his moves. 

Shao would also inherit his father’s demented beliefs in what being a warrior is and what Outworld needed. He would hear his father complain about the kingdom’s alliance with Liu Kang, hearing him call the fire god a “scoundrel” and “the bringer of Outworld’s downfall.” He’d be taught that domination is the true way to live rather than peace, compassion is considered weakness, death in battle is the greatest honor, and the only way to fight is on your terms. 

(Some of Shao’s intros inspired this headcanon, such as one of his intros with Liu Kang where he admits that he’s wanted to kill Liu Kang all his life, and an intro with Reiko where he tells him, “fight on your terms or don’t fight at all.” Also, Shao’s disgusted reaction to Raiden offering to help him to his feet after their fight inspired the part about Shao being taught that compassion is weakness.) 

Unfortunately Shao never learned that his father’s behavior was abuse since the bullying he faced stopped after being able to defend himself, instead he continues this cycle with Reiko. When it comes to his relationship with Reiko, I believe Shao cares about Reiko like a son but only learned how to express love through his father. He saw his old self in Reiko and wanted to share his feelings of strength with the young boy. He trained Reiko the same way as his father did to him and the results were the same- Reiko became a great warrior. I don’t think he’s manipulating Reiko to tame Onaga; Shao genuinely believes that his young ward is capable of doing the task, but thinks Reiko dying would be okay since his father taught him that dying in battle is an honor. Hopefully if Reiko dies taming Onaga (it’s highly possible with how powerful and rabid Onaga is), Shao lowers his guard and shows genuine care for Reiko. At least a sweet goodbye or a burial scene where we see him mourning his lost ward/son. 

I don’t think Shao would be redeemed if my headcanon turned out to be true, but I would hope that other characters would learn about his past and use it as a cautionary tale on how striving for strength is not worth losing your humanity. The possible tragedy Shao’s story could take would be interesting, especially when Liu Kang somewhat created the beginning of Shao’s life to give him the chance for redemption, yet it’s someone Liu never considered that turned Shao into the person he is. 

Thank you for adding your thoughts to my post. One of my favorite things to do in fandoms is to discuss with other fans about the story, characters, etc.

I see your point about Liu Kang and his abilities but I think Liu Kang had a hand at Smoke being orphaned. In one of his intros with Liu Kang, Smoke asks him if he intended for his family to die. Here’s a link to the video: https://youtu.be/z-r4UecW7PM?si=sHMb4gmKGddNA9oY&t=485 (The intro is at 8:05). Liu Kang’s reply was a bit cryptic and can be interpreted in different ways but I believe it alludes to Liu having to make a hard decision to make sure the timeline went accordingly, such as Smoke joining the Lin-Kuei and befriending the brothers. Also, Liu made plans for Shang Tsung and Quan-Chi to live meaningless lives. I don’t think he would’ve risked letting them live freely without careful planning to make sure the plan kept its course, so I believe Liu Kang is capable of planning people’s lives but in varying degrees. Unfortunately, the game wasn't very clear on Liu Kang’s capabilities and restrictions so most fans have different interpretations of Liu Kang's involvement in how the new timeline turned out the way it is. I do give Liu Kang some slack since he gave up his powers decades (most likely centuries) before Hanzo was born.

Anyways, I should’ve been clear when I said Hanzo’s life seems bleak. I meant before being taken in by Smoke. I don’t think Hanzo not being the leader of the Shirai-Ryu is a bad life. My critique was about how Liu Kang made sure Shao Kahn didn’t have extensive capabilities to become emperor and have Mileena, who was his enemy in the old timeline, be Kitana’s blood sister- a change he must have done before relinquishing his powers- while Hanzo’s life before the Shirai-Ryu was hard. I had that expectation that Liu Kang would give Hanzo what he truly desired- his family- since he did that for Mileena- her MK11 ending hinted at her wanting to be a part of a family. I’m fine with Kuai having the Scorpion mantle because it gives the Scorpion/Sub-Zero a bit more depth and new intrigue. Right now, I’m neutral with MK1 Hanzo. There isn’t anything to go by about his character so I’ll be waiting until future installments to give my full thoughts. I do have some faith that NRS will write MK1 Hanzo well. All I hope is they don’t kill off Kuai Liang only to make Hanzo Scorpion again. It would make the change kind of pointless.

I wanted to be clearer on why I don't like Harumi and Kuai together so far. It's not because I see Harumi as only Hanzo's life. I've grown to like Kuai being Scorpion since it gives the Sub-Zero/Scorpion rivalry more depth, and he still feels like Kuai Liang but with a different title. Going as far as to have Harumi and Kuai get married feels like a tamper to that balance. With that decision, he feels like Hanzo but with a different name right now. I'm still open to changing my mind once new story content is released.

Sort of a side note, but I don't think is a young adult (I searched online and a young adult is usually a range between 18 and 25 years old). Based on his height and appearance, I think he is 14-15 years old (adolescent/early teens range). It is possible for 18-year-olds and above to be short but, in MK1, most male characters are around the same height. If NRS wanted Hanzo to be in the same age range, they would've made him closer to Kuai and Tomas' heights. However, I could be wrong since I'm basing this on the tower ending's art style instead of the game's 3D modeling.

Thank you for reblogging my post and adding your opinion. My favorite part about fandoms is to see fans’ different perspectives on story elements. I enjoyed reading your post. Btw, your art is really good! Your Scorpion Harumi’s design is my favorite.

My Thoughts on MK1 Hanzo

(Spoiler Warning: Smoke’s Tower Ending is discussed)

I saw Smoke’s tower ending and was surprised to see Hanzo in the new timeline, let alone as a child. Although I’m open to how the writers will handle his character, I’m kind of disappointed that they went this route. When I learned that Kuai Liang would be Scorpion in the new timeline, I expected Hanzo to either not even exist or live a nice life with Harumi and their son. Instead, Kuai Liang is married to Harumi and Hanzo is much younger than them, which is so weird. I really hoped Hanzo would have a happy life and only be involved in the games through mentions at least.  Also, this decision paints Liu Kang in a bad light. It’s no secret Liu Kang made sure his allies had a good life while making some of his enemies’ lives (Shang Tsung and Quan Chi) insignificant to prevent them from turning into their past counterparts. So, it makes me wonder why Liu Kang didn’t think to give Hanzo a good life or at least watch over him. It’s shown that Hanzo is a starving orphan forced to steal for essentials. I have no doubt Liu Kang knows about Hanzo’s past since he met the older and kinder Scorpion in MK11 and Raiden has disclosed Hanzo’s past in MK 9. Plus when Liu Kang fused with the Hourglass, he most likely became aware of what happened in MK9 and MKX. He gave Shao Kahn the chance to be a better man by being the Kingdom’s general- a risk that didn’t pay off, yet didn’t give Hanzo what he always desired- his wife, son, and the Shirai-Ryu. It feels so out of character for Liu Kang to not make sure Hanzo had a good chance at life. 

If I had the opportunity to write Hanzo’s character, it would’ve been very different. I would’ve made him a former Lin Kuei member(he would be 5 or more years older than Bi-Han) who held the Scorpion title until he retired to Japan- where met Harumi and had their son. Hanzo would’ve also been the one to train Kuai Liang in his fire powers in the latter’s childhood. In his honor, Kuai would take the Scorpion mantle after Hanzo retires. Hanzo could also help Kuai and Smoke form the Shirai-Ryu but Harumi helps in recruiting and training while he takes care of their young son. 

Though, I still hold some faith that NRS will write the new Hanzo well. I guess I’m just disappointed because I wanted Hanzo to finally live a happy life where his family stays alive. He was one of my favorites in the MK9-MK11 era so I can’t help but feel a connection towards him.

My Thoughts on MK1 Hanzo

(Spoiler Warning: Smoke’s Tower Ending is discussed)

I saw Smoke’s tower ending and was surprised to see Hanzo in the new timeline, let alone as a child. Although I’m open to how the writers will handle his character, I’m kind of disappointed that they went this route. When I learned that Kuai Liang would be Scorpion in the new timeline, I expected Hanzo to either not even exist or live a nice life with Harumi and their son. Instead, Kuai Liang is married to Harumi and Hanzo is much younger than them, which is so weird. I really hoped Hanzo would have a happy life and only be involved in the games through mentions at least.  Also, this decision paints Liu Kang in a bad light. It’s no secret Liu Kang made sure his allies had a good life while making some of his enemies’ lives (Shang Tsung and Quan Chi) insignificant to prevent them from turning into their past counterparts. So, it makes me wonder why Liu Kang didn’t think to give Hanzo a good life or at least watch over him. It’s shown that Hanzo is a starving orphan forced to steal for essentials. I have no doubt Liu Kang knows about Hanzo’s past since he met the older and kinder Scorpion in MK11 and Raiden has disclosed Hanzo’s past in MK 9. Plus when Liu Kang fused with the Hourglass, he most likely became aware of what happened in MK9 and MKX. He gave Shao Kahn the chance to be a better man by being the Kingdom’s general- a risk that didn’t pay off, yet didn’t give Hanzo what he always desired- his wife, son, and the Shirai-Ryu. It feels so out of character for Liu Kang to not make sure Hanzo had a good chance at life. 

If I had the opportunity to write Hanzo’s character, it would’ve been very different. I would’ve made him a former Lin Kuei member(he would be 5 or more years older than Bi-Han) who held the Scorpion title until he retired to Japan- where met Harumi and had their son. Hanzo would’ve also been the one to train Kuai Liang in his fire powers in the latter’s childhood. In his honor, Kuai would take the Scorpion mantle after Hanzo retires. Hanzo could also help Kuai and Smoke form the Shirai-Ryu but Harumi helps in recruiting and training while he takes care of their young son. 

Though, I still hold some faith that NRS will write the new Hanzo well. I guess I’m just disappointed because I wanted Hanzo to finally live a happy life where his family stays alive. He was one of my favorites in the MK9-MK11 era so I can’t help but feel a connection towards him.

Crowley/Nanny Ashtoreth Headcanon

After rewatching the show and focusing more on the character(mostly Aziraphale and Crowley) instead of the plot. I realized that Aziraphale and Crowley switched jobs that they would presumably do much better. Angels are usually perceived as kind, loving, and nurturing so it would be assumed that Aziraphale would do well taking care of a child. While Crowley, whose hobby is taking care of plants, would work well as the gardener. That made me wonder why their roles were switched. Maybe Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett thought it would be a funny thing to write or if there was something deeper.

Personally, I think Crowley made the decision to be the nanny because he had a natural connection with kids. Compared to most demons, Crowley is more mischievous with his work, similar to children that play pranks. I also headcanon that Crowley has unresolved trauma from his Fall because he saw God as a parent. This further convinces me of my opinion. Maybe Crowley sees himself in children- innocent and curious who are susceptible to “bad crowds” and suffering. With Aziraphale, I think he likes kids but would feel uncomfortable taking care of them because he seems to prefer being on his own reading books or enjoying a meal with Crowley. Plus, taking care of plants would be easier since he can miracle them to be healthy if he messes up.

I really enjoy connecting music with characters and I feel like this song (All That Matters by Casey Lee Williams & Jeff Williams) fits well for Pepa and Julieta’s feelings towards Bruno disappearing and coming back.

For me, I think “All That Matters”(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CSQ8onIioiE) is about someone who is angry with a loved one for disappearing without a word, but still loves them.

These lyrics remind me of Julieta and Pepa not caring about their issues in their relationship with Bruno and are just happy to have him back.

“You're lost, you're found

You're hard to pin down

I never know if you'll come through

Then you appear

Together we're here

And that's all that matters

Somehow”

These lyrics are mostly based on a theory I have. I think Julieta tried to help and connect with Bruno but couldn’t and has regrets for failing after he disappears.

“Thought that I could pull you from the shadows

Maybe help you find your wings and fly

But you're a path the longer that I travel

The more I'm just defeated

My past mistakes repeated

I'll risk it once again to have you near my side

Another chance to let you just destroy my pride”

Hope you guys like my mini analysis! Let me know your thoughts. 😁

I do know why, but I think the Suicide Squad 2016 soundtrack reflects ‘91 Negaduck as a character, especially “Sucker for Pain” and “Wreak Havoc.” Its hard for me to explain without you guys listening to the songs, but I’ll try.

Negaduck seems like the type to not only enjoy others’ pain but also his own. In his head, pain is pleasure. Which is basically what ”Sucker for Pain“ is about.

”Wreak Havoc” is about someone who enjoys causing chaos and loves being bad. There‘s a few lines from the song that resonates Negaduck vibes for me, “The only reason I’m here is to wreak havoc, everybody prayin that I’ll change, yeah, Maybe one day but tomorrow I’ll be back at it,” & “Go against me & you’ll die hard.” The first line explains all the fun has chasing destruction, while the latter line implies that he’s not afraid to kill anyone who goes against him.

What do you guys think? What other songs do you think fit Negaduck?

Ny-ok here I go again, But this time it’s Enji!!!. I noticed in a panel his Bottom lip stuck out so here we go again!

This was the panel, (and theres the same in Anime, if anyone’s curious)

now here’s other panels/sceans that kinda contribute somthing to this,

Now this is probably just his resting B/grumpy face and nothing particular but I’m gonna use myself as an example for a moment, when I’m focused I tend to pout and jutt out my lips or bottom jaw kinda like both Enji and Touya, and seeing as the Todoroki kids all made This face as babies/little kids, I don’t think it’s out of the picture

I’m curious if it was a habit they adopted from their dad of him just having the habit of putting his bottom jaw forward as a resting face. .. or a genetic thing the Todoroki kids tend to take after their mom but they could have adopted some genetic form their dad, lets use Touyas smile at the end of the original post as an example, their making the same face, he got Enjis cocky smile with his own touch due to His genetics, it could make since eather way you put it, (and it’s more likely a genetic thing)

but then again Enji seems to just be jutting his bottom jaw/lip out as he frowns, it may be an underbite or just a habit, but in three pictures it certainly looks like an underbite However other times again it just looks Like a resting Grumpy face, it’s honestly hard to tell but he much like Touya he has Somthing going on,

the strange part is if it’s an underbite then that makes Touyas situation a little more strange since his top lip is the focus wall for Enji it’s his bottom if Touya has an overbite (which I don’t think he does) for this to happen there’d have to be other genetics at play.

And then I found this out, wall trying to find Some kind of connection between Touyas and Enjis different features I found out that if one parent has an underbite it’s actually more likely for their kid to have a gummy smile which Touya seems to have. so it all works out!

Basically Enji probably has a small underbite and a Habit wall Touya has a gummy smile due to how the genetics of unaligned jaws work and possibly a hyperactive lip. (Which may or may not be due to his burns) And I think the other Todoroki kids probably had the same as Touya and mostly grew out of it, (I say mostly because Shoto may have a pout going on to, his mouth does the same thing a Dabi’s . . .could be a habit to tho)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

anyway, this next part is not That important, just an extra bit I thought I’d add! The kids Take after their mom Rei, (it’s obvious)

I hope this isn’t to hard to read/understand but basically, Enjis features are surprisingly less dominant then you’d think, Rei’s softer more kind features came thru on All of her kids, unlike Endeavors, whos are just kinda there in the background. . .

Touya (Dabi) (technically I should have used the picture of him when he woke up form the coma as reference but. . .eh ) hes got his moms face shape with a hint of his dads edgey features/ face shape, a mix, his eyes are header to pin down and this is why I say I should have used fresh out of the coma Touya, his eyes seem to be a mix as well Maby more on his dads side? But also round like his mom? It’s hard so I’ma just say Mix, he also has his moms nose

Fuyumi, mom's eyes, moms nose, and moms face shape, Maby theres a hint of her dad Somewhere in there but basically just a copy of Rei, like Natsuo being mostly a copy of Enji,

Natsuo, he’s got his dads jaw and general face shape, Maby just a bit softer, and he seems to have a mixture of both of his parents eyes leaning more on his dads, he’s also got his moms nose but it’s bigger. . .(dounno if it’s really a mix tho?)

aaaand Shoto, (I am not using time skip shoto because he scares me, I just don’t like it) so generally Shoto did take after his mom as well, her eyes with a hint of Enji (being the angle on them and sharpness) moms nose and moms jaw/general face shape, (but technically speaking it’d be better if Shoto looked more like both of his parents equally as the ‘perfect mix’ child he is)

I also just a funny thing I want to note: I had the Headcanon that the baby todorokis made that face as a thing thay got from their dad and he made that same face as a kid to or Maby even as an adult because I thought it’d be funny, so seeing something like this come to light for me is hilarious!

also I hope I don’t repeat myself to much I was basically writing this as I went and it was. . . .complicated to say the least. . . .it was still fun Tho!!! I love picking at small details like this!!!

Nya-Ok, I reeeeealy think Touya/Dabi has a Gummy smile/Overbite, or Something! Going on with his mouth.

I noticed in a video his gums kept showing a lot when he spoke and stuff and this interested me and I looked in to it and noticed, Yeah He Shows His Gums A Lot, especially when he’s having a manic Episode or just high emotions (Maby because he can’t cry? which is what he seems to have done a lot with strong emotions as a kid, or Maby it’s just exaggerated expressions and he needed some other way to express his emotions because he can’t cry)

In The pictures it eather show his gums or his top lip going up a lot, and (again) yes his facial expressions are exaggerated, and yeah some of these are the same scean and/or scenes close together but still. It’s interesting at least Also it seems to be more prominent in the manga, which tends to look way better detail wise and stuff (I love both anime and manga tho theirs both beautiful in their own way)

(the last picture in the line up is what makes me think of an overbite specifically, theres just something about how it looks)(. . . Also, I Hate that picture. . .)

now what I’d like to note is many things can cause a gummy smile, one of which is a hyperactive upper lip, another is overbite, genetics, medication, and other such things as well.

the hyperactive upper lip is interesting to me because he’s got burns on the lower half of his face/jaw which would probably have severe nerve damage, wall the description of this is actually having stronger muscles in the upper lip, or it’s where the upper lip moves excessively when smiling and such, revealing more gum tissue. I just think that bits interesting because of his burns. . . . .(does that even make since? . . .)

theres another thing I’d like to note as well

The face he makes here, it’s kinda like a pout but not, I have a gummy smile and I tend to make similar faces a lot . . . .just something I wanted to note, baby Touya along with the other todo babies made a similar face to (he’s so cute when he makes that face)

other photos:

(That face is Adorable, Especially when paired with his Japanese laugh)

Enji also makes a similar face, which makes me think I’m rong about all’a this and it’s just some face

All-en-all he seems to have something going on with his upper lip, and I’d say going off of the face him and his siblings made as little kids it may have been an overbite that never got corrected, especially since he was assumed dead in his teens which is when you’d typically get braces which can help correct such a thing, or it could a hyperboile upper lip because it seems to go up a lot even if it’s not showing his gums, eather way, I love his smile Touya. . .he’s cute. . .and insane. . . . I wrote all of this for fun, feel free to make a counter argument or whatever, I’d like to hear other opinions! (but be nice about it!), I thought it was a neat and kinda cute detail and I wanted to touch on/share it!. . . . But seriously it’s probably just his exaggerated expressions due to his manic episodes and such. . . . (Bakugo and Enji doing a similar thing helps that honestly. . .)

also this was my first time making an analysis(-ish) thing and actually DOING Somthing with it! I had fun! And I love making this type stuff! I also enjoy seeing all these pictures of Touya in one spot he’s so cute :> also sorry I repeated myself so much!

. . . .I do kinda get the feeling I’m completely rong and no one else sees this tho. . . Someone tell me I’m not entirely rong

@foundouthatdabiistouyatodoroki it’s not good, awful really but it was fun at least :>

Nya-Ok, I reeeeealy think Touya/Dabi has a Gummy smile/Overbite, or Something! Going on with his mouth.

I noticed in a video his gums kept showing a lot when he spoke and stuff and this interested me and I looked in to it and noticed, Yeah He Shows His Gums A Lot, especially when he’s having a manic Episode or just high emotions (Maby because he can’t cry? which is what he seems to have done a lot with strong emotions as a kid, or Maby it’s just exaggerated expressions and he needed some other way to express his emotions because he can’t cry)

In The pictures it eather show his gums or his top lip going up a lot, and (again) yes his facial expressions are exaggerated, and yeah some of these are the same scean and/or scenes close together but still. It’s interesting at least Also it seems to be more prominent in the manga, which tends to look way better detail wise and stuff (I love both anime and manga tho theirs both beautiful in their own way)

(the last picture in the line up is what makes me think of an overbite specifically, theres just something about how it looks)(. . . Also, I Hate that picture. . .)

now what I’d like to note is many things can cause a gummy smile, one of which is a hyperactive upper lip, another is overbite, genetics, medication, and other such things as well.

the hyperactive upper lip is interesting to me because he’s got burns on the lower half of his face/jaw which would probably have severe nerve damage, wall the description of this is actually having stronger muscles in the upper lip, or it’s where the upper lip moves excessively when smiling and such, revealing more gum tissue. I just think that bits interesting because of his burns. . . . .(does that even make since? . . .)

theres another thing I’d like to note as well

The face he makes here, it’s kinda like a pout but not, I have a gummy smile and I tend to make similar faces a lot . . . .just something I wanted to note, baby Touya along with the other todo babies made a similar face to (he’s so cute when he makes that face)

other photos:

(That face is Adorable, Especially when paired with his Japanese laugh)

Enji also makes a similar face, which makes me think I’m rong about all’a this and it’s just some face

All-en-all he seems to have something going on with his upper lip, and I’d say going off of the face him and his siblings made as little kids it may have been an overbite that never got corrected, especially since he was assumed dead in his teens which is when you’d typically get braces which can help correct such a thing, or it could a hyperboile upper lip because it seems to go up a lot even if it’s not showing his gums, eather way, I love gummy smile Touya. . .he’s cute. . .and insane. . . . I wrote all of this for fun, feel free to make a counter argument or whatever, I’d like to hear other opinions! (but be nice about it!), I thought it was a neat and kinda cute detail and I wanted to touch on/share it!. . . . But seriously it’s probably just his exaggerated expressions due to his manic episodes and such. . . . (Bakugo and Enji doing a similar thing helps that honestly. . .)

also this was my first time making an analysis(-ish) thing and actually DOING Somthing with it! I had fun! And I love making this type stuff! I also enjoy seeing all these pictures of Touya in one spot he’s so cute :> also sorry I repeated myself so much!

. . . .I do kinda get the feeling I’m completely rong and no one else sees this tho. . . Someone tell me I’m not entirely rong

@foundouthatdabiistouyatodoroki it’s not good, awful really but it was fun at least :>

Inside Man mini review

So I just finished watching inside man (the one by Steven Moffat) and I have been reading all the reviews of it on here and on other sites.

and I honestly loved it (mostly because of the actors but still), the suspense was pretty great, acting was terrific, plot was decent, relatively likeable (and if not, at least semi relatable) characters.

the one thing though is that I found, which lots of people seem to disagree with, is the way that Mary Watling and Harry Watling were portrayed throughout the whole ordeal and how they were shown to deal with their emotions. I found it incredible

the way that Mary reacted; trying to find a sense of normalcy in a situation that was the opposite of normal, keeping what seemed like a calm exterior to try and keep them all from imploding with everything going on. The occasional emotional explosions when she couldn’t take it anymore.

I found it to be a very true show of what extenuating circumstances can do to someone (ie. having your sons math tutor locked in your cellar because she thinks your son is a p3d0) and the lengths people will take to have some kind of control over their lives (doing normal things to alleviate guilt and terror)

The same goes with Harry Watling (aka the vicar), though his is shown more as a delayed reaction.

it’s almost as if he doesn’t truly realize what he’s done and what’s happening, or atleast he’s ignoring it pretty damn well. He doesn’t try to keep it normal (he knows it’s nowhere near normal) or keep peace so to speak; more than anything he just shuts down.

he barely speaks with anyone and when he does he shuts them out just as quickly. Using his title as vicar as moral high ground, saying “I couldn’t have done this, I’m too good for that”, using it as a shield against the reality of the situation. And comforting others (mostly), to again show the moral high ground that he has claimed.

It shows a different approach people can sometimes take when dealing with such things (though similar to the other ways); which can lead to people entirely shutting down and avoiding the world to try and alleviate guilt (and any other emotions they may be feeling), leading to lashing out at anyone who tries to help (no matter how misguided).

No one in this show is truly a good person, but they are still people and people will react in a million different ways to different scenarios.

Katsuki and Izuku character analysis

this is very unformatted and ugly and apart of a larger essay i wrote a while back but i really wanted to share my thoughts on bkdk

this is also largely?? speculation (as i’ve been told by some) but i believe it has a fair bit of canon backing it up

Ok now Katsuki on the other hand had to step into Deku and get closer to grow. He never hated Deku, he was envious of how naturally heroic Deku was. Katsuki hated himself, never Deku, and he felt weak because he was weak, mentally.

Deku just happened to be the physical representation of that weakness because while he was physically weak, Deku was stronger mentally than Katsuki will ever be. That’s why he called Deku useless, it was him projecting. That’s why he was so shaken at Deku vs Kacchan 1, because Deku was overcoming their physical disparity and Katsuki was still left in the dust feeling weak, which is why Deku vs Katsuki 2 happened after All Might fell. He felt his weakness was responsible for the end of All Might and hated himself even more for that, and in turn he fought Deku even more. But at Deku vs Katsuki 2 he learned to embrace that weakness and deal with it WITH Deku, because Deku was the original source of where that initial weakness feeling came from, it only makes sense for him to be the “cure” for it too. Katsuki also doesn’t understand his own emotions or knows how to deal with them, so that’s why he masks it all with anger because he sees anything else as weakness because Deku was constantly expressing everything but anger and he saw Deku as weak (physically) so he associated most emotions with weakness. Thats also why it’s so important his first action of pure heroism with no ulterior motives was for Deku, jumping in front of OFA/Shigaraki’s creepy finger thingies to prevent Deku from being stabbed. Doing this was him getting over that weakness (also why people say Katsuki grew softer while Izuku grew angrier). Him nearly dying for Deku was the ultimate show of character growth because it proved he could get over himself, his mental weakness, and his feelings surrounding Deku to throw himself away to save him. It’s also why Katsuki’s “death” is PEAK KATSUKI. He 100% went into that battle knowing it was most likely a suicide mission you CANNOT TELL ME OTHERWISE, he was completely focused on stalling for Deku because he finally realized he could accept Deku’s help and he didn’t have to do everything by himself. That’s also why he was so upset when he learned Deku lost OFA, because since he was a baby Deku has been the one thing consistent in his life, every major milestone Deku was there watching From The Sidelines (hehe), whether he liked it or not. Deku is his constant, and he kind of has trouble functioning without him. In short he really needs therapy.

also Katsuki never stopped being friends bc of Deku’s lack of a quirk, he stopped being friends because even though Deku was powerless he was still everything Katsuki wasn’t, a true genuine hero, and he took his help as mocking because that was the one thing he could never beat Deku in, or understand about him. That’s also why Katsuki has wet dreams about that god forsaken river scene because it literally changed his life

also he hated Deku at the river scene bc blah blah weakness he hates weakness blah blah Deku was the personification of Katsuki’s own weakness blah blah gay shit inferiority complexes

He LITERALLY needed to get closer to Deku to flourish because Deku is his weakness

And overcoming his “hatred” for Deku was him overcoming his self loathing and inferiority complex

Katsuki is also Deku’s weakness. Deku also really needs Katsuki. For most of his life Katsuki was the dream he could never have, complete power, confidence, and amazing. That is genuinely the only reason he sat watching From The Sidelines (im so funny i know) for so long, despite all the bullying and hurt Katsuki caused him. That’s also why it was really important for him to prove to Katsuki that he could for once hold his own against him in Deku vs Katsuki 1, it was like him coming out and saying “you have to acknowledge me now.” It’s also why Katsuki being taken by the LOV was just literally the worst for Deku, because Katsuki is also Deku’s constant. He’s been watching him for forever, and been in every major milestone in HIS life. Removing Katsuki from the equation is like having carpet pulled from under his feet, breaking all his bones in the fall, and being told to walk again. That’s also why he repeatedly looses control when it comes to Katsuki. First when Monoma insulted him, it was also like insulting Deku because that was someone he looked towards and followed and rooted for, and it was an insult to everything Katsuki stood for and because Deku is the ultimate hero he just couldn’t sit by and stand for that. When he lost control again at Katsuki’s death it was Deku seeing (again) everything he rooted for, strength and victory personified, literally dead. He also relies on Katsuki in the same way Katsuki relies on him, and having that taken away from him was like removing all his bones. Deku is the heart, the lungs, the brain, and Katsuki is the muscle, the bones, the cartilage. They help each other function

Katsuki is Deku’s drive to win, and Deku is Katsuki’s drive to save

Deku’s first true act of heroism was Katsuki

Katsuki’s first true act of heroism was Deku

please be gentle with me this is the first time i’m posting my thoughts like this

Time to yap about the cover

First we see the red, which symbolizes sacrifice, danger, courage.activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love, and joy. (Damn that's a lot) And white, which symbolizes purity, perfection, honesty, cleanliness, and beginnings.

The red is inside white, the white is more obvious.

I think that it means how even though William started a new life, a new beginning, more "clear" life, he still holds his old feelings.

In the 1st Volume, the background is red and he is holding a gun against his head. showing how he is ready to put himself in danger and sacrifice himself. (And also how he is "active" as the LoC)

On this cover, those things are subdued by white, but they are still here. Even though he is now "clean" and started a new life, he still has those feelings, or subduing them with his "perfection"

English isn't my first language so I am sorry if there is anything that doesn't make sense

“Will is my friend.” This “Will I’m your friend.” That. We get it Hannibal. This is your first time carrying for another person and it’s so heavy that the only possible explanation you can think of is friendship because no one’s ever shown you the slightest morsel of love yet you find yourself caring about the way this unstable man thinks of you. A feeling so foreign for you that that’s what you think friendship is like even though you have the sneaking suspicion that it’s something more; willing to break the very thing you’ve found yourself needing to breathe in an attempt to understand it.

I need to rant about Ivan guys guys I neeed to rant about Ivan (<--- keeps trying to write fics of him but Never finishes him) like God this man is so gay and so in love it genuinely hurts it Hurts and I am Injured by it and the imagrey is Sooo Good (and Yes this is probably me just parroting stuff Everyone has already said before but shut up it's my turn now!! (aka please I've been holding in these thoughts for Months now I must let them out of their cage before one of them Dies)) [Edit I am Not fucking proofreading this I spent 2 hours on it if there is a mistake you Imagined it </3]

Just like,

You can see it in the way he sees the stars in Till. His own hopes for freedom and the only real light in this world that he lost sight of in Till. He is the hope and wish for freedom that he has shut away and repressed and it makes him fall So Hard

Or how you only really see that red in his eyes (after. Almost Dying) when he's with or singing/thinking about how Till has Inspired him, like a fire has been lit inside him. A fire lit in the darkness. . hmm...

even at the end of the song, where he knows full well that he absolutely Crushed his opponent and also knows full well that Till is his next one. I'm sick. I'm so sick.

Or like. When he frees Till and everything is just Engulfed in that red now. How Till has that same fire in his eyes, he and Ivan are on the same page now. They see that same hope for freedom and they both share it. They're running towards the light (like the sky's lighter there, more on that in a sec), hell, the corners of the right side of the screen are literally tinted in LIGHT GREEN. Till's color. God dammit the whole scene is tinted in red and green. They are literally Complementary Colors. I'mmm soooooooo (God these scenes are soo pretty too I was genuinely Stunned when I first saw this)

DID YOU EVEN NOTICE I ONLY NOTICED NOW the Stars are fucking green. You can see it better in some of the Later Images but they are Literally Green because Ivan sees the stars in Till and uuuughsdfbshb

OR LIKE WHEN TILL TURNS BACK?? AND. And that red is no longer in his eyes and before The Realization hits Ivan his eyes are just Glowing with red. Because he was just Filled with that hope. Freedom was, potentially, Right There

Did you guys even notice in that like. 5 frames in the half-second animation of Till turning away he's totally engulfed in his shade of green. Like of Course. That's such a Till thing to do because of Course he's running back he never actually liked Ivan that way in the first place.

And also the lighting of the sky Flips. Because the light has always been with Till. And Ivan's left in the darkness. In the. Haha. Ha. Black Sorrow. Aha *sits down cries*

And Again with this mf's stupid eyes how they revert to just black because that hope's been stripped away again, how it's even reflected in his present self singing as he reminisces on it. Fucking. Ivan's Expression when Till runs away.T here's so fucking much like the irony. Like did he even see Till hesitate or did he just see him turn and run away.

Like the irony that the guy who's always breaking the rules and fighting and defying and clearly hating living in a world like this won't run away with him, who has always been passive and obeying the rules and just accepting captivity and has been repressing his desire for freedom is so Bitter and Awful but also he always Knew this would happen what the Hell was he thinking this was such a stupid idea like

this man gets No Breaks No Breaks Ever oh yeah btw they're facing off against each other in a literal Death Match. That they might've had a Chance of avoiding if they ran away. Ahah. Hh *sob*

Also this art brings me so much Joy as much as it hurts me on a visceral level like. Ivan Always has his eyes on Till but it goes from a fond smile. Like So Fond flat out lovestruck affectionate gaze because he loves this man and loves spending time with him to a grimace once they're on stage. How Till never really changes or really Has Changed, and that's why Ivan loves him as much as he is resentful towards him. How that's what brought them here, to the stage. How Ivan changed for Till and Because of Till but still Till is like a god damn immovable object with how he stubbornly sticks to his ways. There's such resentment but isn't he himself also stubborn for always sticking to Till anyways? Hell, he's singing all about him in Round 3 and loses control over his own emotions and expressions during it I'mmm Guhhh

Also the first image is titled Observation while the second one is titled Decision(? I think). Like mf What are you deciding. What happened Last Time you decided to do something I'm going to punt you into the next planet

Speaking of observing,

Just. How Ivan's Always Observing. I saw one person point out he's like a background character and it's like he sees himself as one too. He is a passive observer in his Own Life. How he watches all the other children in Anakt garden play. How his childhood leading him to Anakt Garden just kind of. Happens around him while he watches indifferently.

How he's always trailing behind Till. Or how he tends to just. Observe quietly and is portrayed as such.

Not to mention how he doesn't appear in the memories of Anyone else's rounds, not even Till's, even when he literally (temporarily) freed him from the city. He doesn't even appear At All in Luka's round even though we get a clear shot of Till getting his hopes and dreams shattered (though it Does parallel another shot of him from Round 2)

And then the One Times he tries to take action. Or start something. It gets rejected and he's resigned to just. Trailing behind again. Because of Course he'll always follow after Till. And of Course he's fucking bitter about it and bitter about himself because he Knew this would happen and Till is Always looking at someone else and that Never Changes but. He just thought for a moment that he could change something. Man.

Oh I forgot to talk about the competitions themselves huh? Wellll, (and I'll Attempt to keep it brief because I've been writing this post for Much too long but)

Till spends his first round singing completely devotedly to Mizi. Hell, his song wasn't even in the program, it's likely- no, almost definitely something he wrote entirely for her, and Ivan has no part in it, just watches bitterly as he passes out after his, er, stunt at the end

And continues to be passed out for almost the entirety of Ivan's song

Oh but he woke up for the emotional/musical climax at least, going over Ivan's most important memory of them together, that's cool at least right?! Surely Till felt something from that

Maybe they can talk something out, or at least acknowledge their relationship in Some way. Maybe Ivan could at least be seen by Till-

Aaand Till's Actual love interest Supposedly gets shot and now he probably thinks she's dead. His attention is turned to her once again, like it's always been from the start. He never really changes huh?

Better luck next time Ivan--

Just. This mf Never Wins and it makes me Laugh as much as it makes me So Sad

Gets hopes and dreams and future crushed by aliens (standard stuff). Sold off in an auction. Put in prestigious singing school and up to that point he hasn't really cared about Anything and has simply been going through the motions.

Meets boy that basically embodies the freedom and hope he used to have. Falls badly in love. Boy loves someone else. Tries to free him and give him the thing he'd surely want most. Rejected. Back to school you go loser.

Oh btw this school is to train you for a competition to the death. Btw you're facing off against that boy you love in the semi-finals of said death competition. And you might kill him or he'll kill you. Because you didn't run away when you had the chance.

Also he didn't sing or think about you at all during his round. In fact I'm pretty sure he wrote a whole ass song that wasn't even registered in the Alien Queue or whatever for someone else. Also he probably has hardly looked at you. Also he was unconscious for almost the entirety of your song. Except for the part where you lost control of your emotions.

Oh but that doesn't matter now because now he thinks the person He likes was just killed. So he's kiiinda gonna be distracted by that. And that might fuck up your round with him. Sorry man

This was Originally a rant about how much I love Black Sorrow's imagery and the portrayal of Ivan's love because this man clearly has Complex Emotions and then Kinda derailed into me just ranting about how many L's he's being handed before getting the executioner's blade. Uhhhhh oops. Congrats on sticking to the end though?

I just love Ivan very much. He is So Bitter and so Horribly In Love and looks up to and is inspired by Till So Much and I wish people explored him on a deeper level/more personally.

I wish I saw more deep looks at Ivan/Till, there's clearly Complicated Things going on there. Hell, we don't even know what Till's pov on the whole thing is aside from that One scene of him hesitating before running away from Ivan. As much as I love fluffy interpretations of them, I (did I mention that I'm an angst addict btw. Could You Tell) wish all their Complexities could be acknowledged. Like how Ivan Clearly puts Till on such a spotlight and it is Such a downfall for him through and through and he Kinda knows it but also What Else does he Have and he really looks up to him Sooo Much (just. Look at them in that official art of them in Anakt Garden !!!) and deep down just wants to run away from this horrible place and wants to run with Till, the Light of his life the fire in the darkness the fucking stars the universe his black sorrow just. Oh My God I need to end this post already I was supposed to be studying but spent those 2 hours Writing instead

But anyways yeah uuhhh long story short? This guy is a gay loser. He tries to look sooo cool and smooth but he is suuuch a gay lovestruck loser and his rose tinted glasses are so thick he can't see shit (I'm pretty sure I quoted that from something (but also no genuinely when I first got into alnst after just watching the first 3 rounds videos and saw Ivan in official art I was So Surprised like "Oh he's actually That kind of mf that tries to look Cool and Hot but is actually just Pathetic and Sad and Gay I thought he was Just Sad and Gay")) he's probably also touchstarved as hell idk and his love is doomed by the narrative (unless Hyuna saves his and Till's asses. Buuut we'll see </333)

Love ya Ivan keep taking L's <3333 mwah

I suddenly got hit with Kano Brainworms and now I have this Completely Unorganized post and it's gonna be your guys' problems now !! Just saying there is no flow to this whatsoever I just slapped all my points on and called it a day

Just. god I will Never stop thinking about the Tateyama siblings relationship with their younger selves and changing and growing and learning to accept themselves and Kano's. Not doing that. Remaining stagnant.

Like it's Everywhere . (Unfortunately it's been Sooo long since I've read light novel 5 so I don't have any sources to pull from there but I'm sure there's a ton okay)

Yobanashi Decieve is spent tearing down Kano's layers throughout the entire song and what do you find at the end? When he finally admits that he hates all this? Hates himself? What do you find at the center of the Kano Onion? His crying child self. At his core he still believes he is that crying boy, even says it himself "Ah, you never change", he's sneering at his current and past self, because they're the same, they're all the same. He's never moved on from his past habits and weakness. He looks at him and all he has to say is "Ah, you never change" and "Whoops, I screwed up"

Oh but we're not Quite done peeling the Kano Onion yet !! There's still a liiitle more left...

Close-up shot time !! Now you can see in its fullness his weakest moments, he's mocking his own suffering. He smiles and mocks himself, closes his eyes to his own pain and just bows. Throws my laptop

There's also this official art !! I think about this a lot but have never voiced it out before so here we go~

Just. Everyone showing off the wounds that led to their deaths, either with a smile/some enthusiasm or indifference at worst, with a pretty character-telling pose as well. And then fucking Kano, not even focusing on the photoshoot but staring directly at the evidence of his weakest moment, holding it limply, detachedly. Maybe saying that he's starting at it with scorn is too strong a word, his face looks slightly bitter at best, but I'd bet everything that that's what he's feeling.

I don't know just. Everyone around him, whether it's his siblings or the whole god damn Dan, being shown with some form of acceptance of their pasts and traumas, meanwhile Kano's still staring it in the face. Damn, you really don't lie when you say you haven't changed huh?

God my favorite example though, the one that makes me Scream.

Thank you Sidu for this art! I am now on the ground crying.

I'm too lazy to grab them right now but Kido and Seto also have art of themselves with their past selves. Kido fondly pats the head of her younger, insecure self, having growing confident and comfortable in her own skin. Seto holds his past self's hand in something liks solidarity. He doesn't have to be scared anymore. He's becoming the stronger person that he wanted to be.

And Kano?

Ah. well~. He's clinging to his past self, sobbing into his lap while his past self attempts to comfort him. Hm. With growing up you should become someone that your younger self can be proud of, right? Like Kido and Seto. They overcame their shortcomings so they could become proud of who they are today, right? Kano's collapsed in front of his past self.

Guess he didn't really do that, huh?

If anything, he's putting himself even lower than his past self. Maybe he hasn't grown, maybe not even stagnated but rather became worse, just with the same flaws that he had in the past. He didn't change at all, he just sank lower.

Your younger self can attempt to comfort you but didn't you hate yourself back then, too? So what does that make you now? Your younger self looks hunched over and dejected. He's probably just as disappointed as you are.

Ah, and there's text too, right? What does that say?

Mm. (I might have written an incorrect character but this sounds about right I think?) I feel like this was said somewhere else in kagepro, also in regards to Kano, but to be completely honest I totally forgot where. Still though. Uh.. fun! Kano says to himself not words of comfort but assurance that the future will only be more miserable, that he will only hate himself more as time goes on. As if you couldn't already tell with the art itself.

In Yobanashi Decieve, present Kano sees his other self suffering and jeers scornfully. They never changed. Here, past Kano and present Kano suffer together, with present Kano openly suffering if only to himself, clinging to his past hurt for comfort. Together they think, they never will change, they'll only get worse. It'll only get more painful.

Ahem. Just. Ugh! This one piece says so god damn much, and even more when you put it next to Kido's and Seto's. It killed me when I first saw it and still kills me to this day !!! God !

Also I don't have any funny images for this one but. Thinks about. (And I might have some details wrong because again, it's been a while since I've read light novel 5) How he thought he was useless as a child, wondered why he wasn't discarded like a functionally useless object (pretty sure he thought this while his mom threw away a broken tv remote or something?). And then in manga route 2 how he gives his life away as a tool to preserve the others' lives. He has a "use" and he's expending his whole life on it. Like I mean they're gonna die anyway but do you Really have to be like that I Hate you I hate you I h

Like once he has an objective purpose like that he faces it with an easy smile on his face. Bittersweet, yeah. But he does it so god damn willingly. Maybe he's just pretending to take on the role so easily, but still, I can't help but think that he found some comfort in having a direct "use" like this. Even if it just meant his death, for a hopeless cause. If he could just fulfill this purpose, then....

Just the way he smiles at his own demise during that Whole Sequence, even when the remainder of the Dan is Right There.

Just man. Collapses.

Kagepro is all about change and growth and growing up and realizing change and the future really isn't too scary. Meanwhile Kano's stagnant, still sees him as unchanged from his younger self, is too scared to change his manners even if it may help him. No wonder he hates himself. I'm just. Guh, shoves the themes of the narrative in his face Kano Please I'm begging

Like mf he looks content like everyone else in Summertime Record but Are You Really. Are you Really happy yet. Have you really found it within yourself to accept change. Accept yourself. Accept Everything. Do you really think that you'll be able to finally make your younger self smile?

Buries my face in my hands God this man will never Not haunt me for the rest of my days. Get him therapy. I'm normal about him.

I was supposed to be working on assignments but here I am, with my stupid little Kano essay at 1 in the morning. I doubt anyone's gonna read this but if you did I hope you enjoy? This man is very silly in all the worst ways. I love him, I hate him, I want to shove him into a microwave. I want to put him under a microscope. I have multiple times. This man is like a fundamental character that will never Not be a part of my life even when I thought the kagepro hellhole was somewhat behind me for the meantime. He just. Man! He's a lot. And I hope you're in pain with me now too over it ! Okay that's all bye byee~

Rick is my spirit animal i love him with all my heart!! Hes such a nice depiction of an asshole its bordeline giggle inducing. His reasons and motivations to be the way he is are so nuanced its insane. Rick is such a complicated yet simple character. He loves people but pushes them away for their (and his) own good. Being able to read rick (body language, speech, being able to differentiate when he's serious about smth or when hes not) is its own art.

I can seriously rant about r&m alllllll damn day but the more i go on the more incomprehensible everything becomes.

something to add with the whole food motivation, yknow the ark when the crew are on an island full of bounty hunters that are literally tricking them and trying o kill them?

He legit fights his own second in command...because they fed him. Like, he full on ignores anything zoro is saying and is fighting him and getting all pissed off because they gave him food so they definitely cant be trying to hurt them.

i dunno if thats because luffy is just oblivious or what but he is definitely motivated by food lol

Luffy not wanting to be viewed as a hero is actually so important to me. Because while the first reasoning we get for this is him not wanting to share his food

We also learn later on that Luffy also doesn't want to be viewed as a savior, nor does he ever want to present himself as such. He doesn't want to be placed on a pedestal or (ironically) be deified by the people he helps.

At the end of Fishman island, he was fully ready to leave without fanfare because he did not want to be treated by the people in that way, and only agrees to stay because he is promised food. The same thing happens at the end of Wano, where he refuses to take any credit for the downfall of Kaido and instead simply enjoys the festival with everyone else.

I cannot overstate how much I love this decision for Luffy as a character. It is incredibly common for stories like Fishman Island and Wano to have the main character swoop in and save the oppressed people, with said character being to sole person to rally them and "teach" them how to fight back. We don't get that with Luffy.

In Fishman Island, he tells the people that its up to them to decide whether or not he is their friend or foe instead of swooping in playing the role of the hero. In Wano, he understands to importance of who begins the fight with Kaido, and stands back to let the Red Scabbards (Wano natives) get the first major hit on Kaido

Even in the prison when Luffy gives his speech, he is asking the people to let him help, to have faith that they and their country can be free again, to fight for the freedom that had been cruelly stripped away from them. And even then, it is Momo and members of the Red Scabbards that fully restore the Udon prisoners faith.

Hell, we even see this all the way back in Arlong Park, where Luffy waits to take action until Nami asks him for help. He doesn't come in guns blazing and save her like some sort of white knight, but instead waits for Nami's go ahead, placing the power in her hand.

It's just such a refreshing way of seeing a protagonist in this type of story be portrayed. To have him understand the importance of the people he fight's side by side with, and not place himself as the fixer of all problems, but rather as an aid to these people (often times an aid that they explicitly asked for). It actively rejects the white savior/white knight trope(s) and allows for the people native to the island to have agency in these large battles instead of being sidelined. It is their lives and stories that are centered as being the most important in these moments, and Luffy is simply there to help them.

Character analyses' are so fun to read because people have so many different thoughts about a single character and how that character has changed and will change in response to the environment and people around them.

Take Dazai Osamu for instance-there are so many different interpretations of his character and they figure all of that out from minute details in the novel/manga he's in. Like no, I wouldn't have figured out the connection between his ability to control his heartbeat and his humanity but thank you for taking the time out of your day to point that out.

Or someone from a completely different fandom, like say, a similar detective character who also goes around solving cases because they've inherited that trait from a mentor they deeply respect. MaoMao from Apothecary Diaries! There are numerous analysis' about not only her and how her past (being raised in a brothel) deeply affected her emotional regulation, but also posts about other people in the fandom and the symbolism behind every scene and visual metaphor used.

But in both fandoms, their respective members won't always agree with each other.

And it's just such a joy to see what people's thoughts are and their feelings about a character/characters/anything really that they're incredibly passionate about. Even if I don't always agree with them. It's just so nice to see for me. So this is a post for all who write analysis' on character's. You're doing gods work keep it up!!!

Shit, this open my mind

First time posting my analyses here !!! It’s Fyodors cultural representation & symbolism in general !

Endeavor: Physical Strength vs Emotional Strength

Or The Total Mess that is the Todoroki House.

*Note:  The following is not a defense of Endeavor nor is it excusing his actions.  It is a deep-dive analysis into the complexities and nuances of his behavior and how it affected his life and everyone else in that family based on observations I’ve made throughout the series. There are also comparisons with other objectively violent characters from other series.

Trigger Warning for domestic and child abuse.

...

We're gonna start out by looking at what happened to his character over the available time frame. Endeavor did not start out as a violent person to his family. We can see that in the flashbacks of the family's early days.

Starting here, note that he’s not cold toward Rei in this scene.  The way they’re walking around out here in the garden gives the impression that negotiations between him and Rei’s family are going well so far, but they’re out walking and talking in private just to make sure this arrangement is going to work and making sure further negotiation isn’t going to be a waste of everyone’s time.  I say this because if he was dead set on ice powers for this Quirk marriage, Rei probably wasn’t the only option.

It's also important to remember Rei did choose this. She chose for her family rather than herself, but it wasn't her parents' end all be all decision. (And maybe there was familial pressure on her side, but it's not explicitly stated in canon so exactly how much free will Rei actually had is up for interpretation.)

However what I think shows here is they weren’t really talking all that much. Specifically, he is not ‘talking down to her.’  He is not treating her with any particular disrespect or putting her down as inferior.   He doesn’t have the arrogance he later exhibits. This also isn’t him being aloof and ignoring her either.  Look at his face, specifically his eyes.  That is the same blank, deer in the headlights, “I have one brain cell dinging around in my head that is struggling to find a way to interact with people,” stare he shares with Shouto.

He has no idea what to say to her. 

So finally, Rei turns off to the side to admire the garden, and he asks, “Do you like the flowers?”  It’s a small thing, but it does show that in some capacity, he did show some interest in Rei and making her happy.  He’s just stupidly awkward about it at this point. (Even if his ultimate goal was…well, we’ll get into that.)

But this trait of never knowing what to say is a massive defining part of Endeavor’s character that has manifested in a myriad of disastrous ways throughout his entire arc.

Now I don’t think there’s enough shown about Endeavor and Rei’s relationship that we can conclusively say they ever loved each other at any point, but I do think they were, at the very least, cordial in the beginning.  They got along, they loved their children, and that in their minds was good enough for them. If you look at the scenes that are Touya and Fuyumi's early childhood, the family seems content. There's no sign of the abuse we see later.

The other big indicator that Endeavor was not originally a violent person to his family is the two very different ways he approaches training with Touya and Shouto. His motive for training them hasn't changed, but compared to the warmth and pride extended toward Touya we see in the above picture, Shouto’s experience with training in the second screenshot is harrowing and traumatic.

So why the difference?

A big reason is it has to do with age.  When Rei defends Shouto, telling her husband that, “He’s only five!” and Endeavor is still pushing their son to achieve the standards of an older child, yes, this does show his impatience. However, the other unspoken sentiment here is he himself is not getting any younger.  When Touya was born, Endeavor was twenty-two and had his whole life, career, and all his hopes with it ahead of him.  His kid has a greater Quirk than his, his legacy is secure, nothing to worry about.  But then they learn about the genetic issue with Touya’s Quirk.  He can’t use his fire safely, he’ll never be able to use it safely, and he will never be a hero in the way Endeavor can.

Touya:  Failure

Fuyumi:  Failure

Natsuo:  Failure

Shouto was probably viewed as his last chance.  Endeavor was getting older and running out of time.  If Shouto didn’t work out, then this legacy was dead in the water. At least, I hope Shouto was the last chance, otherwise he might've tried getting another kid out of Rei, divorced Rei and married someone else for the same reason, or attempted securing his successor through a grandchild.

Which is some freaky medieval way of thinking.

Anyone else getting Henry VIII vibes here?

Remember what I said about him never knowing what to say? The most obvious example of this is his complete and total inability to control the situation with Touya.

The tragedy of both Touya and Fuyumi's characters is they are the only two kids in the house who remember the happier childhood, and they both cling to that in their own way. It's why Fuyumi is so determined to 'fix things.' She's trying to regain the family they lost. For Natsuo and Shouto, things have always been bad in the house, hence why Natsuo bailed as soon as he could.

Then we have Touya. His flashbacks start with him at a toddler age. It is very common and normal for a child that young to prefer one parent over the other, but usually it's the parent they're most familiar with: The one that stays home with and takes care of them. Remember, to a toddler, everything is new and potentially scary, and that can also include a parent that is not always present: The parent that's working. In the Todoroki house, Endeavor has his career as a hero, so we have the indication that Rei was the parent who stayed home. In that situation, the probability of Rei being the 'familiar parent' was more likely, so for Touya to prefer his father over his mother shows just how close he was to Endeavor. Or because Fuyumi was the new baby and needed more attention, he could have gravitated away from Rei and gone to his father instead. He didn't see his father's ambitions for him. He didn't see that he was a successor as opposed to a son.

What he, through a child's innocence, saw and understood was that his father loved him and wanted to spend time with him.

Cue the genetic disparity of his Quirk: Where Endeavor failed as a parent was him never talking to Touya about what had happened. He didn't sit down with him and explain it wasn't safe for him to use his Quirk.

The My Hero world has a social problem of Quirks defining one's worth. It's not just the PLF's philosophy. Having no Quirk is viewed with pity and having a Quirk that can't be used could be viewed as a disability by this society, regardless of the fact it's completely possible to live a healthy life without having a Quirk. So Touya's 'issue' required compassion and understanding, especially from a parent. What Endeavor needed to say and what Touya needed to hear was, "This is a path that is blocked to you, it isn't your fault this happened, and I will love you regardless."

Instead, he just dropped him completely. (Given his character, I doubt he's even the one who broke the news to him.) In Touya's eyes, he didn't have the adult nuance to understand why he was being ignored; he just had the child innocence of, "I don't want to hang out with Mom and Fuyumi, I want to be with Dad. Why is he ignoring me? Why won't he train me anymore?"

What Touya learned from this is he only has value in his father's eyes as a hero. So he began training himself to be a hero because he was desperate to get that love and affection back. When Endeavor discovers the fact he's been training and burning himself, Touya never apologizes for disobeying him. He just repeatedly says variations of, "I can do this, then maybe you'll finally be proud of me."

Fuck, dude, just tell the poor kid you're already proud of him. That's all he needed to hear.

And Rei does call Touya out on this. She asks him, "Do you want to be a hero because you want to be a hero or are you doing this because it's what your father wants?"

In order words: "Are you doing this because you think it will make your father love you?"

And we come full circle to the 'death' of Touya where he realized, "I was never a son. I was a product."

...

Endeavor never addresses the problem going on under his roof. He handed the problem off to Rei. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know (and still doesn't) how to be a parent, and instead of confronting that lapse in his character, he instead made a coward's retreat back into the safe and familiar territory of being a hero.

This was the catalyst for his violence to his family.

Being a hero means fighting villains.

Fighting villains is often solving problems with violence.

Because he never knows what to say, he didn't know how to properly navigate a complex emotional situation, so he resorted to the only method he knew that worked:

Beat it into submission.

And since we have the previously mentioned signs they were once a happy, normal family, I have a feeling the violence began very suddenly and without warning.

...

To back this up, I'm gonna give a little personal insight here. I used to work in an orthopedic clinic and a lot of injuries that came through were hand injuries due to someone punching a wall out of anger/frustration.  You may think this is fine since they didn’t hit another person and only hurt themselves, but the issue with taking your aggression out on even an inanimate object is you are unwittingly training your brain to associate anger with violence and make it all the more likely for you to lash out violently against another person.

Throughout his career, Endeavor has conditioned himself into this same mindset of repeatedly forging and reinforcing the physical connection of violence with the mental/emotional connection of anger.

Look at this scene from Arcane.

If you haven't seen this series yet, 1.) Get on that. You're missing out. (Don't worry, there's not too many spoilers below.) and 2.) This is Vi and this screenshot is from a scene where she, in a moment of anger and grief, strikes her little sister hard enough in the face to knock her to the ground.

Look at the horror in her eyes when she realizes what she’s done.

Now before and after this moment, we see Vi undoubtedly loves her sister and would die for her. (Season 2 pending...) The first thing she does when they're reunited is hug her and tell her how sorry she is. But Vi has also been a fighter all her life. The sisters grew up in the rough part of town, they had to fight to survive, and they've experienced a violent atmosphere from a young age. We also see that when Vi gets frustrated or angry, she punches/slaps inanimate objects, so she too subconsciously associated violence with intense emotions, and in a moment of blind rage/grief, she failed to dissociate and she hurt her sister.

It wasn't a conscious decision, but it happened nonetheless.

What follows is she walks away from Powder. She doesn't go far, she just puts some distance between herself and her sister to calm down and process what's happened and hopefully find a way to move forward. Only, for unrelated reasons that don't pertain to this topic, she is apprehended by authorities and spends the next 6-7 years in prison, obsessing over her regrets and finding her way back to Powder.

She is never going to forgive herself for this.

I bring this scene up because as far as fiction is concerned, we as the audience do often excuse a character losing their temper and hitting a loved one once. What Vi did was not okay, but because it only happened that one time, nobody is labeling Vi as 'abusive.'

...

So consider the first time Endeavor hit Rei. We don't see it in canon, but with all the indicators of a relatively happy home, I believe that first act of violence was the culmination of these factors:

Endeavor's ongoing inferiority complex with All Might and the frustration in his inability to surpass him, and then projecting that frustration onto his family.

The career of solving problems with violence.

The subconscious association of anger with violence resulting from that career.

I'm also going to throw out the possibility of multiple head injuries incurred from his career playing a role. Traumatic brain injuries can and often do lead to behavioral changes where an individual has trouble managing emotional responses, experiences anxiety, has a shorter temper, etc.

Obviously, none of the above should be treated as excuses (not even the TBI possibility because there's therapy options for that), but they are potential contributors to the pivotal moment of frustration and impatience where Endeavor, like Vi, failed to dissociate and did something he couldn't take back.

Striking Rei is his tea kettle incident. Think back to the awkward moron who didn't have a clue what to say to her when they first met. That young man never thought he would do something like this. That first moment when he hit Rei, I really don't think it was a conscious decision and it may have taken him off guard as much as it did Rei. Like Vi, he probably acted out of blind anger and may have been just as horrified by what he'd done, and I can imagine Endeavor walking away from that to calm down and process that he crossed a line he thought he would never cross.

Unlike Vi, who was going to return to Powder after calming down so she could apologize, beg forgiveness, and move forward, Endeavor is an emotional coward who never knows what to say or how to confront a complex emotional hurtle. So he did the same thing he did with Touya: He retreated from the problem and pretended it didn't exist, and because it was never addressed and he was never held accountable, it only got worse. The lid was off and there was no getting it back on.

I'm not saying there was a definite chance he could have come back from that (that ball was in Rei's court as much as it was Powder's) but Endeavor had a choice:

He could have addressed what he'd done and made amends by submitting to whatever consequence Rei set down for him.

Or he could have rationalized his own twisted justifications for what he did.

He chose wrong.

For another comparison of the violence aspect, I’m also going to bring up Shizuo Heiwajima from Durarara!!, a character who I think flies off the handle far more frequently than Endeavor does.

If you haven't seen Durarara!!, same as above with Arcane.

The nuance of Shizuo is the intense rage he experiences, the violence that follows, and his own inner turmoil. He associates violence with anger, but these are traits that he fully recognizes as detrimental to himself and his personal relationships with other people. He has a temper, he gets violent, he lashes out with abnormal strength and has seriously injured many people.

But the people he's attacked are usually people who provoked him, whether it's thugs who opted to harass him on the street or he heard that a friend was in trouble and rushed off to help them. Not that violence is the answer, but they were people who arguably deserved a beating. More importantly, though, is the way Shizuo treats his relationships with caution. He's a loner by choice. He does want to connect with other people, but he keeps his distance because he legitimately fears harming someone he cares about. Because of his caution and self-awareness, he is a complicated and likable character that I think anyone with a short temper who has said or done things they regret can relate to.

If he didn’t have that level of control on himself and was violent with everyone regardless of who they were to him, he would be despised by the fandom as much as Endeavor is.

This is how Durarara!! can get away with presenting a violent character in a comedic fashion. Shizuo, despite his temper, is an absurdly strong guy, a little bit of an idiot, and fiercely loyal to his friends. All three of those are endearing qualities.

And in the right framing, Endeavor's violence is also presented as comedic.

This scene is funny, but grabbing Hawks like that and lifting him off the ground is technically assault and it is intimidation. Replace Hawks with Rei and this scene changes drastically from funny to very unsettling. Replace him with Touya and it's a fight.

...

Where Endeavor really differentiates from Vi and Shizuo is marked by two important factors:

Shizuo, for all his claims at being unable to control his anger, has it very much under control around the people he cares about. He really only lets loose against a perceived threat.

Vi mostly has that same control even though she lost it for a moment, but she was also separated from her sister in an indirect punishment for her actions.

Endeavor does not have Shizuo's restraint nor did he face any immediate consequences like Vi.

Which brings us to Rei.

I have mixed feelings when it comes to Rei, and the absolute harshest opinion I have of her is that she is pathetic and she failed her children. And I know that's a very black and white, cold-hearted view, but hear me out because it's a lot more complicated than that.

Endeavor is ultimately responsible for his own actions, but Rei also had the option to deal with the problem when it started. When he started hitting her, she could and should and have taken the kids and run as fast as she was able and not looked back. No amount of financial security, family appearance, or whatever justification one finds in this scenario is worth it. She should not have tolerated that abuse against herself and she definitely should not have subjected her children to that. While there's nothing conclusive to say Endeavor was physically harming any of the kids aside from Shouto, not fighting for her autonomy/safety was inadvertently teaching all four of them this is how men treat their wives, women are supposed to tolerate this treatment, and a marriage like this is 'normal.'

And in the end, she straight up abandoned her children. We see from Shouto's point of view right before she attacked him with the tea kettle. She's talking to her mother on the phone, saying she 'can't take it anymore' and she just wants to 'run away from this life.' Well...considering she goes on to spend the next ten years in a psych ward and left her children to her abusive husband...she did get what she wanted. Ten years and she really didn't put any more effort in trying to get back to them? She knew Endeavor was hurting her youngest. Going home and protecting her babies should have been her priority. For a long time, I legitimately thought she was in Fujiya because she was considered unsafe to rejoin society whether she was a danger to herself or to others. When she shows up in Endeavor's hospital room, I stared at the screen and thought, "The fuck? She could discharge herself at any point?"

All right, now that I've gone over my hard-line point of view, let me dial back the judgment and consider what else is going on here:

Rei is a refrigerated character.

She has very little characterization beyond her abuse and being the victimized mother in Shouto's story, so we don't know all that much about her. In all fairness, her oldest son suddenly dying while she was hospitalized certainly would have contributed to her downward spiral and account for her prolonged hospitalization.

She tolerated her abuse longer than she should have, but it is possible:

She learned that from her own parents. Tolerating abuse is often a byproduct of generational trauma. Maybe her father treated her mother the same way and she grew up thinking this was normal.

Maybe the first time Endeavor hit her, she rationalized it into a point of acceptance where she told herself that everything was fine and that it was only the 'one time' and it wouldn't happen again, a sentiment she kept repeating every time it happened.

Maybe she was raised to believe ‘the man of the house is always right,’ and that is a mindset that is hard to break if instilled from childhood.

Her parents certainly didn’t seem all that supportive with what was going on, but we also don’t know how much she told them. We don't even know if that one phone call she had with her mom was the first time she reached out for help after years of pretending everything was fine or if this was was something she was repeatedly updating her parents about and those parents chose to be aloof to it.

Maybe she really did grow up in a loving home and just didn't know what to do when confronted with the violent relationship she found herself in.

Maybe she was gaslit into believing it wasn't abuse.

Maybe she really did report the abuse and the godforsaken, root-of-all-evil Safety Commission told her, "Your husband's a hero. Stay quiet and don't ruin that public image." Basically told her to suck it up. That is also a possibility, and one I think could be the most likely, but the series doesn't really go into just how corrupt the Commission was, so we're in headcanon territory.

Maybe she did try to take the kids and run but failed to get away. (Unlikely since it’s never mentioned in canon.)

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have an upbringing that instills the belief, 'if your partner hurts you, they are dead to you' and not everyone has the good fortune of a reliable support network that can help them recognize a bad situation and get them out of it.

Given how well-known Endeavor is to the public, maybe Rei was afraid no one would believe her about the abuse. "A hero would never do such a thing. She's making it up for attention. Her family was poor, so she must be a gold-digger trying to screw over her hero husband in the divorce proceedings."

There is also the important fact that Japan has a social stigma against divorce. Persevering for the sake of family stability and maintaining an ideal appearance is a deeply ingrained cultural norm, which does introduce a troubling power imbalance between a husband who works and a housewife who doesn't have her own independent income. We also have to remember that Rei and her family were financially dependent on Endeavor, so she may have feared the monetary fallout at the prospect of leaving him. Also, with the popularity of the hero ranking system, the No. 2 Hero's wife divorcing him would have been very public and potentially humiliating for all involved.

And we can’t ignore the fact that Endeavor systematically broke her down into a shell of a person who couldn't see a way out of her situation and was tormented to the point she had a psychotic episode and attacked Shouto, the very child she tried to protect. And this too could have contributed to her prolonged hospitalization if this was the final straw and she viewed herself as a failure of a mother.

Maybe it was a combination of two or several of the above factors.

At the end of the day, abuse is a multi-faceted beast, and just as the abuse comes in many forms, the victim can have any number of reasons for staying in their situation.

So even though I have my harsh opinion of Rei and I think she should have done more to protect her children, I do 100% sympathize with her. She is a victim and she in no way deserved what she went through.

But while her inaction wasn't the cause of the crisis in her family, it was definitely a contributor to how badly it got out of hand because whatever the reason Rei didn't expose Endeavor or try to take the children and leave him, that lack of accountability opened up the opportunity for him to rationalize his own twisted justifications for his actions.  “It’s fine. She deserved it because ______. She was 'acting out.' She was overreacting. She doesn't know what she's talking about.”  Whatever he needed to tell himself to believe he didn’t do anything wrong even though he knew he wasn’t fooling himself or anyone.

She didn't stand up to him. Their children couldn't stand up to him.

So he continued the physical abuse unchecked.

...

Moving on into the redemption arc.

After the Kamino Incident, Endeavor finally, finally, finally got that vaunted No 1. Hero spot he'd been chasing for two decades. But he didn't earn it the way he wanted to by proving he's the best of the best. All Might retired, so he won by default.

And then he finds it's just one spot further up on a ranking system that means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. So he looks back at what's really important and he sees the charred skeleton frame of a house he burned down.

One institutionalized wife

One dead son

One daughter who clings to the memories of a happier home

One estranged son

One son who only has a use for him as a teacher and not a parent and will probably drop him the second he no longer needs him

In spite of everything, I do genuinely think the man deserves some credit for at least being willing to make an attempt at reconciliation. Not a lot since he dug that hole himself, but let's face it, a lot of lesser people would have looked at that mess and thought, "Fuck it, no going back now," and continued business as usual. So the question becomes:

Is Endeavor trying to redeem himself out of a need to make himself feel better about everything he's done or is he truly doing it for the benefit of the people he's hurt?

I tentatively think/hope could be a mix of both--I believe there is a part of him that cares about his children--but it definitely skews more toward making himself feel better because there's never a moment before the redemption arc begins where he's isolated, thinking back on everything, and just has the appropriate, "What have I done?" revelation. If his remorse was genuinely all about his family, we would have had that 'crying in the hospital scene' a whole lot sooner.

I think if Horikoshi wanted to portray Endeavor's redemption as genuine remorse for what he did to his family, I think he would have put more of a focus on Endeavor actually seeing the impact of what he'd done and feeling the inner turmoil and regret. Not just Natsuo's anger but also seeing firsthand Shouto's isolation and complete lack of social skills as a result of his training or having a conversation with Fuyumi where she admits she never wants to marry or have children because she doesn't 'want to risk ending up like Mom.' Seeing the effects of his behavior, realizing it's his fault.

So no. While there may be a part of Endeavor that loves his children (or he tells himself that he does), his wanting to atone is inspired mainly by his self-worth. He realized the ends did not justify the means and he tries to fix it.

But either way, how does he go about it?

The biggest change he makes toward earning forgiveness is to his hero career, which tracks with his character. That's familiar territory, so it's easier for him to navigate. He takes a significantly gentler method of teaching/mentorship with Shouto and he tries a kinder approach with his fans. That's progress, but it's still avoidance of the main issue that is the rift he caused with the other members of the family.

His relationship with Fuyumi doesn't have much friction. Fuyumi clings to their family's happier memories. With Touya gone, she was the only child who could remember a childhood without fighting parents, abuse, and suffering siblings. In a twisted way, this is something she and Touya have in common. So it makes sense that she would be the one who's the most receptive to Endeavor's attempts to be a better father. She sees this change as their best chance at being a normal family again. Like Touya, she wanted her father back.

Natsuo is different. He was 3-4 years old when the toxicity in their household really began to spike and when the violence started. Incidentally, this is also when memory cells in the brain start to fully develop and form concrete memories. Compared to his older siblings, the abuse is all he knows and that is why he's the child who left and went low-contact. The only thing Natsuo's really done wrong is start family drama when there's company over for dinner. I mean, c'mon. That's just rude. Don't do that in front of guests.

While Endeavor makes attempts to better his training methods/fan interaction, what he doesn't do is call a family meeting to discuss things, not that this would have resolved anything by a long shot, but it would have established a baseline of where everyone in the family was at and whether or not forgiveness was even on the table at all. It is an extremely arrogant thought for Endeavor to think forgiveness for something of this magnitude is possible, and if he wanted to seek forgiveness (or to atone, whatever the hell that means) for the lifelong mistreatment of family, he should have been more prepared for the most abject, humble groveling to the people he wronged that he could manage.

He should have admitted to his mistakes and faults, laid out everything he'd done wrong, apologize for that as best he could, then express he wanted to repair their relationship and be a family again while also acknowledging that he understands if that is not possible. Lay down that groundwork, maybe be open to family therapy so that a professional third party can act as a mediator and provide impartial guidance, figure out where the boundaries are, acknowledge he can't give them back their ruined childhoods but he can *insert anything Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shouto ask as recompense, even if it's just leaving their lives forever*, and listen for once to what his family is saying.

Instead, he tries to have normal conversations with his children as if nothing bad ever happened. He offers to come watch Shouto's remedial training like that's a totally ordinary thing for him to do. He tells Natsuo during the family dinner that he would like to try his cooking some time. That is a good olive branch! There is nothing wrong with saying that, but without that prior baseline conversation, it comes off as contrived and that's how Natsuo interpreted it. He sends flowers to Rei, also a good signal to send, but he should have done the the uncomfortable thing and contacted her through her physician to see if she's open to meeting with him for a conversation or sending her a letter she could choose to open at any time (or send back unopened.) That would have established that same baseline and helped move forward towards the atonement he wanted.

But he does the same thing he always does: He pretends the real issue just doesn't exist and he tries to control the situation to suit him.

Why?

Say it with me: He never knows what to say! He can't navigate complex emotions!

He doesn't try to find out if his family is even willing to forgive him, frankly because he's an emotional coward who doesn't want to hear the answer.

However, we cannot say he has no character development at all.

There is one thing worth noting around this point in the plot that I think is important to recognize. If Endeavor ever had any character development that was in favor of his redemption, it was when Natsuo was kidnapped and nearly killed, and it's not because he ran and hugged him in the street.

In this scene, he admits to Natsuo that his actions might as well have killed Touya.

This is a small thing, but it's also huge because you have to consider that up until this time, Endeavor has been gaslighting himself into believing it was Touya's fault for getting himself killed or Rei's fault for not doing as she was told and watching him. He could even have been irrationally blaming All Might for just being a barrier to his goals. Any warped excuse and justification he could think of to escape the blame.

It's not a lot, but he did finally give voice to the guilt that he is the reason he failed and his child died. He finally acknowledged that the blame lies squarely with him and no one else, and acknowledging he drove Touya to his own death means way more than just talking about his intentions to atone.

He took accountability here, at least within the family.

That is one point he's earned. We as the audience can begrudgingly concede that one.

But this progress is again stalled when Endeavor makes the decision that it would be best for his family if he distances himself from them. He chooses to build another house for them where they can all live together with their mother and away from his shadow.

The initial reaction I had to this decision was, "Okay, your solution is kicking them out of the only home they've ever known?" But then I considered that having those kids leave a house where they lived through a traumatic and stressful childhood was a good call. Natsuo already bailed, after all. And then there's Fuyumi... Yeah, you know what, maybe a conversation would have been appropriate here. Instead of finding out what they want, he goes and decides it for them like he always does.

Touya has a genetic disparity that prevents him from using his Quirk safely? Endeavor decides he shouldn't be a hero, disregarding any possibility of finding a potential workaround.

Shouto finally uses his fire at the Sports Festival? Endeavor has his whole speech that pretty much shows he has Shouto's entire life planned out after graduation.

He wants to do what's best for his family? He decides what's best for them.

And we're back to the big dumbass never knowing what to say and still running away from the main issue by making assumptions and decisions without actually considering the thoughts/opinions of the people around him and controlling the situation to his benefit.

He may have his intention to do better, but he has no idea what he's doing. He doesn't know how to relinquish his authority role.

And then we have Touya with his, "Bitch, you thought!" grenade. Or is it a nuke?

It's important to note is that failure to articulate emotion in a healthy way is a trait that is shared by all of the Todoroki family members.

Endeavor - the emotional coward who resorts to violence when confronted with an uncomfortable situation

Rei - the passive mother

Fuyumi - the peacekeeper and people-pleaser

Shouto - the child who was systematically deprogramed into an angry husk imitating his father that he has only recently started to recover from

Touya and Natsuo are the only two who actually have some pushback against the bullshit in their family. Touya's a whole kettle of insane fish who's warped psyche deserves a character analysis of its own, but the point is, even as a kid, he doesn't creep around his father or try to make peace with him. Natsuo also has no problem calling out Endeavor for everything that went wrong in his childhood, plus he moved out and went to college as soon as he could.

Touya - the unstable sociopath who shares his father's tendency to violently lash out while stuck with the mental fragility of his mother

Natsuo - the traumatized avoidant

Neither of them have a functional way of dealing with their issues. (In fact, Touya is so unhinged about it that the door has peaced out and is halfway down the street.)

Endeavor wanted to atone for what he did...by burying and not actually taking any real accountability until the unavoidable moment Touya is screaming down to him, "Is it because you became No. 1 that you finally paid attention to your family?"

Touya has a warped view of the world brought on by years of trauma, but he hit the nail on the head.

Endeavor's main motivation for atonement is for the self-satisfaction.

So we have the symbolism of Endeavor, who has always used his physical strength to solve his problems by beating them into submission and used his intimidating height to glare down at everyone beneath him, and then we have Touya standing on top of a mountain, shouting down. Endeavor's in a position where he's looking up at his dead child, who is arguably the broken bough, elephant in the room, core unavoidable reason a full atonement was never going to be possible, bringing about a twenty-year overdue reckoning.

And he once again doesn't know what to say.

As the story ends, this is where we leave him: Crippled, looking up at his dying child, and confronted by one of the lives he ruined. By choice, he's going to sit here and face what he did. These talks are not going to be pleasant. I doubt Touya is so burned out and exhausted that he doesn’t have the heart to spit out more of the lifetime of vitriol he’s built up.

I know a lot of fans were disappointed Horikoshi didn’t kill Endeavor off in the end, but I personally prefer to look at it this way:

Some characters deserve death.

But some deserve to live in despair.

...

To revisit Arcane, I think this quote neatly sums up Endeavor.

Endeavor: Physical Strength vs Emotional Strength

Or The Total Mess that is the Todoroki House.

*Note:  The following is not a defense of Endeavor nor is it excusing his actions.  It is a deep-dive analysis into the complexities and nuances of his behavior and how it affected his life and everyone else in that family based on observations I’ve made throughout the series. There are also comparisons with other objectively violent characters from other series.

Trigger Warning for domestic and child abuse.

...

We're gonna start out by looking at what happened to his character over the available time frame. Endeavor did not start out as a violent person to his family. We can see that in the flashbacks of the family's early days.

Starting here, note that he’s not cold toward Rei in this scene.  The way they’re walking around out here in the garden gives the impression that negotiations between him and Rei’s family are going well so far, but they’re out walking and talking in private just to make sure this arrangement is going to work and making sure further negotiation isn’t going to be a waste of everyone’s time.  I say this because if he was dead set on ice powers for this Quirk marriage, Rei probably wasn’t the only option.

It's also important to remember Rei did choose this. She chose for her family rather than herself, but it wasn't her parents' end all be all decision. (And maybe there was familial pressure on her side, but it's not explicitly stated in canon so exactly how much free will Rei actually had is up for interpretation.)

However what I think shows here is they weren’t really talking all that much. Specifically, he is not ‘talking down to her.’  He is not treating her with any particular disrespect or putting her down as inferior.   He doesn’t have the arrogance he later exhibits. This also isn’t him being aloof and ignoring her either.  Look at his face, specifically his eyes.  That is the same blank, deer in the headlights, “I have one brain cell dinging around in my head that is struggling to find a way to interact with people,” stare he shares with Shouto.

He has no idea what to say to her. 

So finally, Rei turns off to the side to admire the garden, and he asks, “Do you like the flowers?”  It’s a small thing, but it does show that in some capacity, he did show some interest in Rei and making her happy.  He’s just stupidly awkward about it at this point. (Even if his ultimate goal was…well, we’ll get into that.)

But this trait of never knowing what to say is a massive defining part of Endeavor’s character that has manifested in a myriad of disastrous ways throughout his entire arc.

Now I don’t think there’s enough shown about Endeavor and Rei’s relationship that we can conclusively say they ever loved each other at any point, but I do think they were, at the very least, cordial in the beginning.  They got along, they loved their children, and that in their minds was good enough for them. If you look at the scenes that are Touya and Fuyumi's early childhood, the family seems content. There's no sign of the abuse we see later.

The other big indicator that Endeavor was not originally a violent person to his family is the two very different ways he approaches training with Touya and Shouto. His motive for training them hasn't changed, but compared to the warmth and pride extended toward Touya we see in the above picture, Shouto’s experience with training in the second screenshot is harrowing and traumatic.

So why the difference?

A big reason is it has to do with age.  When Rei defends Shouto, telling her husband that, “He’s only five!” and Endeavor is still pushing their son to achieve the standards of an older child, yes, this does show his impatience. However, the other unspoken sentiment here is he himself is not getting any younger.  When Touya was born, Endeavor was twenty-two and had his whole life, career, and all his hopes with it ahead of him.  His kid has a greater Quirk than his, his legacy is secure, nothing to worry about.  But then they learn about the genetic issue with Touya’s Quirk.  He can’t use his fire safely, he’ll never be able to use it safely, and he will never be a hero in the way Endeavor can.

Touya:  Failure

Fuyumi:  Failure

Natsuo:  Failure

Shouto was probably viewed as his last chance.  Endeavor was getting older and running out of time.  If Shouto didn’t work out, then this legacy was dead in the water. At least, I hope Shouto was the last chance, otherwise he might've tried getting another kid out of Rei, divorced Rei and married someone else for the same reason, or attempted securing his successor through a grandchild.

Which is some freaky medieval way of thinking.

Anyone else getting Henry VIII vibes here?

Remember what I said about him never knowing what to say? The most obvious example of this is his complete and total inability to control the situation with Touya.

The tragedy of both Touya and Fuyumi's characters is they are the only two kids in the house who remember the happier childhood, and they both cling to that in their own way. It's why Fuyumi is so determined to 'fix things.' She's trying to regain the family they lost. For Natsuo and Shouto, things have always been bad in the house, hence why Natsuo bailed as soon as he could.

Then we have Touya. His flashbacks start with him at a toddler age. It is very common and normal for a child that young to prefer one parent over the other, but usually it's the parent they're most familiar with: The one that stays home with and takes care of them. Remember, to a toddler, everything is new and potentially scary, and that can also include a parent that is not always present: The parent that's working. In the Todoroki house, Endeavor has his career as a hero, so we have the indication that Rei was the parent who stayed home. In that situation, the probability of Rei being the 'familiar parent' was more likely, so for Touya to prefer his father over his mother shows just how close he was to Endeavor. Or because Fuyumi was the new baby and needed more attention, he could have gravitated away from Rei and gone to his father instead. He didn't see his father's ambitions for him. He didn't see that he was a successor as opposed to a son.

What he, through a child's innocence, saw and understood was that his father loved him and wanted to spend time with him.

Cue the genetic disparity of his Quirk: Where Endeavor failed as a parent was him never talking to Touya about what had happened. He didn't sit down with him and explain it wasn't safe for him to use his Quirk.

The My Hero world has a social problem of Quirks defining one's worth. It's not just the PLF's philosophy. Having no Quirk is viewed with pity and having a Quirk that can't be used could be viewed as a disability by this society, regardless of the fact it's completely possible to live a healthy life without having a Quirk. So Touya's 'issue' required compassion and understanding, especially from a parent. What Endeavor needed to say and what Touya needed to hear was, "This is a path that is blocked to you, it isn't your fault this happened, and I will love you regardless."

Instead, he just dropped him completely. (Given his character, I doubt he's even the one who broke the news to him.) In Touya's eyes, he didn't have the adult nuance to understand why he was being ignored; he just had the child innocence of, "I don't want to hang out with Mom and Fuyumi, I want to be with Dad. Why is he ignoring me? Why won't he train me anymore?"

What Touya learned from this is he only has value in his father's eyes as a hero. So he began training himself to be a hero because he was desperate to get that love and affection back. When Endeavor discovers the fact he's been training and burning himself, Touya never apologizes for disobeying him. He just repeatedly says variations of, "I can do this, then maybe you'll finally be proud of me."

Fuck, dude, just tell the poor kid you're already proud of him. That's all he needed to hear.

And Rei does call Touya out on this. She asks him, "Do you want to be a hero because you want to be a hero or are you doing this because it's what your father wants?"

In order words: "Are you doing this because you think it will make your father love you?"

And we come full circle to the 'death' of Touya where he realized, "I was never a son. I was a product."

...

Endeavor never addresses the problem going on under his roof. He handed the problem off to Rei. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know (and still doesn't) how to be a parent, and instead of confronting that lapse in his character, he instead made a coward's retreat back into the safe and familiar territory of being a hero.

This was the catalyst for his violence to his family.

Being a hero means fighting villains.

Fighting villains is often solving problems with violence.

Because he never knows what to say, he didn't know how to properly navigate a complex emotional situation, so he resorted to the only method he knew that worked:

Beat it into submission.

And since we have the previously mentioned signs they were once a happy, normal family, I have a feeling the violence began very suddenly and without warning.

...

To back this up, I'm gonna give a little personal insight here. I used to work in an orthopedic clinic and a lot of injuries that came through were hand injuries due to someone punching a wall out of anger/frustration.  You may think this is fine since they didn’t hit another person and only hurt themselves, but the issue with taking your aggression out on even an inanimate object is you are unwittingly training your brain to associate anger with violence and make it all the more likely for you to lash out violently against another person.

Throughout his career, Endeavor has conditioned himself into this same mindset of repeatedly forging and reinforcing the physical connection of violence with the mental/emotional connection of anger.

Look at this scene from Arcane.

If you haven't seen this series yet, 1.) Get on that. You're missing out. (Don't worry, there's not too many spoilers below.) and 2.) This is Vi and this screenshot is from a scene where she, in a moment of anger and grief, strikes her little sister hard enough in the face to knock her to the ground.

Look at the horror in her eyes when she realizes what she’s done.

Now before and after this moment, we see Vi undoubtedly loves her sister and would die for her. (Season 2 pending...) The first thing she does when they're reunited is hug her and tell her how sorry she is. But Vi has also been a fighter all her life. The sisters grew up in the rough part of town, they had to fight to survive, and they've experienced a violent atmosphere from a young age. We also see that when Vi gets frustrated or angry, she punches/slaps inanimate objects, so she too subconsciously associated violence with intense emotions, and in a moment of blind rage/grief, she failed to dissociate and she hurt her sister.

It wasn't a conscious decision, but it happened nonetheless.

What follows is she walks away from Powder. She doesn't go far, she just puts some distance between herself and her sister to calm down and process what's happened and hopefully find a way to move forward. Only, for unrelated reasons that don't pertain to this topic, she is apprehended by authorities and spends the next 6-7 years in prison, obsessing over her regrets and finding her way back to Powder.

She is never going to forgive herself for this.

I bring this scene up because as far as fiction is concerned, we as the audience do often excuse a character losing their temper and hitting a loved one once. What Vi did was not okay, but because it only happened that one time, nobody is labeling Vi as 'abusive.'

...

So consider the first time Endeavor hit Rei. We don't see it in canon, but with all the indicators of a relatively happy home, I believe that first act of violence was the culmination of these factors:

Endeavor's ongoing inferiority complex with All Might and the frustration in his inability to surpass him, and then projecting that frustration onto his family.

The career of solving problems with violence.

The subconscious association of anger with violence resulting from that career.

I'm also going to throw out the possibility of multiple head injuries incurred from his career playing a role. Traumatic brain injuries can and often do lead to behavioral changes where an individual has trouble managing emotional responses, experiences anxiety, has a shorter temper, etc.

Obviously, none of the above should be treated as excuses (not even the TBI possibility because there's therapy options for that), but they are potential contributors to the pivotal moment of frustration and impatience where Endeavor, like Vi, failed to dissociate and did something he couldn't take back.

Striking Rei is his tea kettle incident. Think back to the awkward moron who didn't have a clue what to say to her when they first met. That young man never thought he would do something like this. That first moment when he hit Rei, I really don't think it was a conscious decision and it may have taken him off guard as much as it did Rei. Like Vi, he probably acted out of blind anger and may have been just as horrified by what he'd done, and I can imagine Endeavor walking away from that to calm down and process that he crossed a line he thought he would never cross.

Unlike Vi, who was going to return to Powder after calming down so she could apologize, beg forgiveness, and move forward, Endeavor is an emotional coward who never knows what to say or how to confront a complex emotional hurtle. So he did the same thing he did with Touya: He retreated from the problem and pretended it didn't exist, and because it was never addressed and he was never held accountable, it only got worse. The lid was off and there was no getting it back on.

I'm not saying there was a definite chance he could have come back from that (that ball was in Rei's court as much as it was Powder's) but Endeavor had a choice:

He could have addressed what he'd done and made amends by submitting to whatever consequence Rei set down for him.

Or he could have rationalized his own twisted justifications for what he did.

He chose wrong.

For another comparison of the violence aspect, I’m also going to bring up Shizuo Heiwajima from Durarara!!, a character who I think flies off the handle far more frequently than Endeavor does.

If you haven't seen Durarara!!, same as above with Arcane.

The nuance of Shizuo is the intense rage he experiences, the violence that follows, and his own inner turmoil. He associates violence with anger, but these are traits that he fully recognizes as detrimental to himself and his personal relationships with other people. He has a temper, he gets violent, he lashes out with abnormal strength and has seriously injured many people.

But the people he's attacked are usually people who provoked him, whether it's thugs who opted to harass him on the street or he heard that a friend was in trouble and rushed off to help them. Not that violence is the answer, but they were people who arguably deserved a beating. More importantly, though, is the way Shizuo treats his relationships with caution. He's a loner by choice. He does want to connect with other people, but he keeps his distance because he legitimately fears harming someone he cares about. Because of his caution and self-awareness, he is a complicated and likable character that I think anyone with a short temper who has said or done things they regret can relate to.

If he didn’t have that level of control on himself and was violent with everyone regardless of who they were to him, he would be despised by the fandom as much as Endeavor is.

This is how Durarara!! can get away with presenting a violent character in a comedic fashion. Shizuo, despite his temper, is an absurdly strong guy, a little bit of an idiot, and fiercely loyal to his friends. All three of those are endearing qualities.

And in the right framing, Endeavor's violence is also presented as comedic.

This scene is funny, but grabbing Hawks like that and lifting him off the ground is technically assault and it is intimidation. Replace Hawks with Rei and this scene changes drastically from funny to very unsettling. Replace him with Touya and it's a fight.

...

Where Endeavor really differentiates from Vi and Shizuo is marked by two important factors:

Shizuo, for all his claims at being unable to control his anger, has it very much under control around the people he cares about. He really only lets loose against a perceived threat.

Vi mostly has that same control even though she lost it for a moment, but she was also separated from her sister in an indirect punishment for her actions.

Endeavor does not have Shizuo's restraint nor did he face any immediate consequences like Vi.

Which brings us to Rei.

I have mixed feelings when it comes to Rei, and the absolute harshest opinion I have of her is that she is pathetic and she failed her children. And I know that's a very black and white, cold-hearted view, but hear me out because it's a lot more complicated than that.

Endeavor is ultimately responsible for his own actions, but Rei also had the option to deal with the problem when it started. When he started hitting her, she could and should and have taken the kids and run as fast as she was able and not looked back. No amount of financial security, family appearance, or whatever justification one finds in this scenario is worth it. She should not have tolerated that abuse against herself and she definitely should not have subjected her children to that. While there's nothing conclusive to say Endeavor was physically harming any of the kids aside from Shouto, not fighting for her autonomy/safety was inadvertently teaching all four of them this is how men treat their wives, women are supposed to tolerate this treatment, and a marriage like this is 'normal.'

And in the end, she straight up abandoned her children. We see from Shouto's point of view right before she attacked him with the tea kettle. She's talking to her mother on the phone, saying she 'can't take it anymore' and she just wants to 'run away from this life.' Well...considering she goes on to spend the next ten years in a psych ward and left her children to her abusive husband...she did get what she wanted. Ten years and she really didn't put any more effort in trying to get back to them? She knew Endeavor was hurting her youngest. Going home and protecting her babies should have been her priority. For a long time, I legitimately thought she was in Fujiya because she was considered unsafe to rejoin society whether she was a danger to herself or to others. When she shows up in Endeavor's hospital room, I stared at the screen and thought, "The fuck? She could discharge herself at any point?"

All right, now that I've gone over my hard-line point of view, let me dial back the judgment and consider what else is going on here:

Rei is a refrigerated character.

She has very little characterization beyond her abuse and being the victimized mother in Shouto's story, so we don't know all that much about her. In all fairness, her oldest son suddenly dying while she was hospitalized certainly would have contributed to her downward spiral and account for her prolonged hospitalization.

She tolerated her abuse longer than she should have, but it is possible:

She learned that from her own parents. Tolerating abuse is often a byproduct of generational trauma. Maybe her father treated her mother the same way and she grew up thinking this was normal.

Maybe the first time Endeavor hit her, she rationalized it into a point of acceptance where she told herself that everything was fine and that it was only the 'one time' and it wouldn't happen again, a sentiment she kept repeating every time it happened.

Maybe she was raised to believe ‘the man of the house is always right,’ and that is a mindset that is hard to break if instilled from childhood.

Her parents certainly didn’t seem all that supportive with what was going on, but we also don’t know how much she told them. We don't even know if that one phone call she had with her mom was the first time she reached out for help after years of pretending everything was fine or if this was was something she was repeatedly updating her parents about and those parents chose to be aloof to it.

Maybe she really did grow up in a loving home and just didn't know what to do when confronted with the violent relationship she found herself in.

Maybe she was gaslit into believing it wasn't abuse.

Maybe she really did report the abuse and the godforsaken, root-of-all-evil Safety Commission told her, "Your husband's a hero. Stay quiet and don't ruin that public image." Basically told her to suck it up. That is also a possibility, and one I think could be the most likely, but the series doesn't really go into just how corrupt the Commission was, so we're in headcanon territory.

Maybe she did try to take the kids and run but failed to get away. (Unlikely since it’s never mentioned in canon.)

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have an upbringing that instills the belief, 'if your partner hurts you, they are dead to you' and not everyone has the good fortune of a reliable support network that can help them recognize a bad situation and get them out of it.

Given how well-known Endeavor is to the public, maybe Rei was afraid no one would believe her about the abuse. "A hero would never do such a thing. She's making it up for attention. Her family was poor, so she must be a gold-digger trying to screw over her hero husband in the divorce proceedings."

There is also the important fact that Japan has a social stigma against divorce. Persevering for the sake of family stability and maintaining an ideal appearance is a deeply ingrained cultural norm, which does introduce a troubling power imbalance between a husband who works and a housewife who doesn't have her own independent income. We also have to remember that Rei and her family were financially dependent on Endeavor, so she may have feared the monetary fallout at the prospect of leaving him. Also, with the popularity of the hero ranking system, the No. 2 Hero's wife divorcing him would have been very public and potentially humiliating for all involved.

And we can’t ignore the fact that Endeavor systematically broke her down into a shell of a person who couldn't see a way out of her situation and was tormented to the point she had a psychotic episode and attacked Shouto, the very child she tried to protect. And this too could have contributed to her prolonged hospitalization if this was the final straw and she viewed herself as a failure of a mother.

Maybe it was a combination of two or several of the above factors.

At the end of the day, abuse is a multi-faceted beast, and just as the abuse comes in many forms, the victim can have any number of reasons for staying in their situation.

So even though I have my harsh opinion of Rei and I think she should have done more to protect her children, I do 100% sympathize with her. She is a victim and she in no way deserved what she went through.

But while her inaction wasn't the cause of the crisis in her family, it was definitely a contributor to how badly it got out of hand because whatever the reason Rei didn't expose Endeavor or try to take the children and leave him, that lack of accountability opened up the opportunity for him to rationalize his own twisted justifications for his actions.  “It’s fine. She deserved it because ______. She was 'acting out.' She was overreacting. She doesn't know what she's talking about.”  Whatever he needed to tell himself to believe he didn’t do anything wrong even though he knew he wasn’t fooling himself or anyone.

She didn't stand up to him. Their children couldn't stand up to him.

So he continued the physical abuse unchecked.

...

Moving on into the redemption arc.

After the Kamino Incident, Endeavor finally, finally, finally got that vaunted No 1. Hero spot he'd been chasing for two decades. But he didn't earn it the way he wanted to by proving he's the best of the best. All Might retired, so he won by default.

And then he finds it's just one spot further up on a ranking system that means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. So he looks back at what's really important and he sees the charred skeleton frame of a house he burned down.

One institutionalized wife

One dead son

One daughter who clings to the memories of a happier home

One estranged son

One son who only has a use for him as a teacher and not a parent and will probably drop him the second he no longer needs him

In spite of everything, I do genuinely think the man deserves some credit for at least being willing to make an attempt at reconciliation. Not a lot since he dug that hole himself, but let's face it, a lot of lesser people would have looked at that mess and thought, "Fuck it, no going back now," and continued business as usual. So the question becomes:

Is Endeavor trying to redeem himself out of a need to make himself feel better about everything he's done or is he truly doing it for the benefit of the people he's hurt?

I tentatively think/hope could be a mix of both--I believe there is a part of him that cares about his children--but it definitely skews more toward making himself feel better because there's never a moment before the redemption arc begins where he's isolated, thinking back on everything, and just has the appropriate, "What have I done?" revelation. If his remorse was genuinely all about his family, we would have had that 'crying in the hospital scene' a whole lot sooner.

I think if Horikoshi wanted to portray Endeavor's redemption as genuine remorse for what he did to his family, I think he would have put more of a focus on Endeavor actually seeing the impact of what he'd done and feeling the inner turmoil and regret. Not just Natsuo's anger but also seeing firsthand Shouto's isolation and complete lack of social skills as a result of his training or having a conversation with Fuyumi where she admits she never wants to marry or have children because she doesn't 'want to risk ending up like Mom.' Seeing the effects of his behavior, realizing it's his fault.

So no. While there may be a part of Endeavor that loves his children (or he tells himself that he does), his wanting to atone is inspired mainly by his self-worth. He realized the ends did not justify the means and he tries to fix it.

But either way, how does he go about it?

The biggest change he makes toward earning forgiveness is to his hero career, which tracks with his character. That's familiar territory, so it's easier for him to navigate. He takes a significantly gentler method of teaching/mentorship with Shouto and he tries a kinder approach with his fans. That's progress, but it's still avoidance of the main issue that is the rift he caused with the other members of the family.

His relationship with Fuyumi doesn't have much friction. Fuyumi clings to their family's happier memories. With Touya gone, she was the only child who could remember a childhood without fighting parents, abuse, and suffering siblings. In a twisted way, this is something she and Touya have in common. So it makes sense that she would be the one who's the most receptive to Endeavor's attempts to be a better father. She sees this change as their best chance at being a normal family again. Like Touya, she wanted her father back.

Natsuo is different. He was 3-4 years old when the toxicity in their household really began to spike and when the violence started. Incidentally, this is also when memory cells in the brain start to fully develop and form concrete memories. Compared to his older siblings, the abuse is all he knows and that is why he's the child who left and went low-contact. The only thing Natsuo's really done wrong is start family drama when there's company over for dinner. I mean, c'mon. That's just rude. Don't do that in front of guests.

While Endeavor makes attempts to better his training methods/fan interaction, what he doesn't do is call a family meeting to discuss things, not that this would have resolved anything by a long shot, but it would have established a baseline of where everyone in the family was at and whether or not forgiveness was even on the table at all. It is an extremely arrogant thought for Endeavor to think forgiveness for something of this magnitude is possible, and if he wanted to seek forgiveness (or to atone, whatever the hell that means) for the lifelong mistreatment of family, he should have been more prepared for the most abject, humble groveling to the people he wronged that he could manage.

He should have admitted to his mistakes and faults, laid out everything he'd done wrong, apologize for that as best he could, then express he wanted to repair their relationship and be a family again while also acknowledging that he understands if that is not possible. Lay down that groundwork, maybe be open to family therapy so that a professional third party can act as a mediator and provide impartial guidance, figure out where the boundaries are, acknowledge he can't give them back their ruined childhoods but he can *insert anything Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shouto ask as recompense, even if it's just leaving their lives forever*, and listen for once to what his family is saying.

Instead, he tries to have normal conversations with his children as if nothing bad ever happened. He offers to come watch Shouto's remedial training like that's a totally ordinary thing for him to do. He tells Natsuo during the family dinner that he would like to try his cooking some time. That is a good olive branch! There is nothing wrong with saying that, but without that prior baseline conversation, it comes off as contrived and that's how Natsuo interpreted it. He sends flowers to Rei, also a good signal to send, but he should have done the the uncomfortable thing and contacted her through her physician to see if she's open to meeting with him for a conversation or sending her a letter she could choose to open at any time (or send back unopened.) That would have established that same baseline and helped move forward towards the atonement he wanted.

But he does the same thing he always does: He pretends the real issue just doesn't exist and he tries to control the situation to suit him.

Why?

Say it with me: He never knows what to say! He can't navigate complex emotions!

He doesn't try to find out if his family is even willing to forgive him, frankly because he's an emotional coward who doesn't want to hear the answer.

However, we cannot say he has no character development at all.

There is one thing worth noting around this point in the plot that I think is important to recognize. If Endeavor ever had any character development that was in favor of his redemption, it was when Natsuo was kidnapped and nearly killed, and it's not because he ran and hugged him in the street.

In this scene, he admits to Natsuo that his actions might as well have killed Touya.

This is a small thing, but it's also huge because you have to consider that up until this time, Endeavor has been gaslighting himself into believing it was Touya's fault for getting himself killed or Rei's fault for not doing as she was told and watching him. He could even have been irrationally blaming All Might for just being a barrier to his goals. Any warped excuse and justification he could think of to escape the blame.

It's not a lot, but he did finally give voice to the guilt that he is the reason he failed and his child died. He finally acknowledged that the blame lies squarely with him and no one else, and acknowledging he drove Touya to his own death means way more than just talking about his intentions to atone.

He took accountability here, at least within the family.

That is one point he's earned. We as the audience can begrudgingly concede that one.

But this progress is again stalled when Endeavor makes the decision that it would be best for his family if he distances himself from them. He chooses to build another house for them where they can all live together with their mother and away from his shadow.

The initial reaction I had to this decision was, "Okay, your solution is kicking them out of the only home they've ever known?" But then I considered that having those kids leave a house where they lived through a traumatic and stressful childhood was a good call. Natsuo already bailed, after all. And then there's Fuyumi... Yeah, you know what, maybe a conversation would have been appropriate here. Instead of finding out what they want, he goes and decides it for them like he always does.

Touya has a genetic disparity that prevents him from using his Quirk safely? Endeavor decides he shouldn't be a hero, disregarding any possibility of finding a potential workaround.

Shouto finally uses his fire at the Sports Festival? Endeavor has his whole speech that pretty much shows he has Shouto's entire life planned out after graduation.

He wants to do what's best for his family? He decides what's best for them.

And we're back to the big dumbass never knowing what to say and still running away from the main issue by making assumptions and decisions without actually considering the thoughts/opinions of the people around him and controlling the situation to his benefit.

He may have his intention to do better, but he has no idea what he's doing. He doesn't know how to relinquish his authority role.

And then we have Touya with his, "Bitch, you thought!" grenade. Or is it a nuke?

It's important to note is that failure to articulate emotion in a healthy way is a trait that is shared by all of the Todoroki family members.

Endeavor - the emotional coward who resorts to violence when confronted with an uncomfortable situation

Rei - the passive mother

Fuyumi - the peacekeeper and people-pleaser

Shouto - the child who was systematically deprogramed into an angry husk imitating his father that he has only recently started to recover from

Touya and Natsuo are the only two who actually have some pushback against the bullshit in their family. Touya's a whole kettle of insane fish who's warped psyche deserves a character analysis of its own, but the point is, even as a kid, he doesn't creep around his father or try to make peace with him. Natsuo also has no problem calling out Endeavor for everything that went wrong in his childhood, plus he moved out and went to college as soon as he could.

Touya - the unstable sociopath who shares his father's tendency to violently lash out while stuck with the mental fragility of his mother

Natsuo - the traumatized avoidant

Neither of them have a functional way of dealing with their issues. (In fact, Touya is so unhinged about it that the door has peaced out and is halfway down the street.)

Endeavor wanted to atone for what he did...by burying and not actually taking any real accountability until the unavoidable moment Touya is screaming down to him, "Is it because you became No. 1 that you finally paid attention to your family?"

Touya has a warped view of the world brought on by years of trauma, but he hit the nail on the head.

Endeavor's main motivation for atonement is for the self-satisfaction.

So we have the symbolism of Endeavor, who has always used his physical strength to solve his problems by beating them into submission and used his intimidating height to glare down at everyone beneath him, and then we have Touya standing on top of a mountain, shouting down. Endeavor's in a position where he's looking up at his dead child, who is arguably the broken bough, elephant in the room, core unavoidable reason a full atonement was never going to be possible, bringing about a twenty-year overdue reckoning.

And he once again doesn't know what to say.

As the story ends, this is where we leave him: Crippled, looking up at his dying child, and confronted by one of the lives he ruined. By choice, he's going to sit here and face what he did. These talks are not going to be pleasant. I doubt Touya is so burned out and exhausted that he doesn’t have the heart to spit out more of the lifetime of vitriol he’s built up.

I know a lot of fans were disappointed Horikoshi didn’t kill Endeavor off in the end, but I personally prefer to look at it this way:

Some characters deserve death.

But some deserve to live in despair.

...

To revisit Arcane, I think this quote neatly sums up Endeavor.

Natsuo is more like his father than he wants to admit...and it is both tragic and unsettling.

He does what he wants without regard for what the people around him want.

Sure, he'll go along with certain requests, like going to the family dinner because Fuyumi asked him to.

However, rather than be a polite host, he decides he'd rather embarrass his sister by being angry at their father all through said dinner and making things awkward for their guests. He didn't have to be there. Whoever he's talking to on the phone after the fact, maybe the girlfriend, he apologizes for bailing on their plans. He didn't even have to white-lie to Fuyumi. He straight up had other plans that night. So there are two ways you could look at this:

He conceded to a request to support his sister...then half-assed it.

Or he canceled his plans and went out of his way to be a prick.

He's not wrong for hating his father, that is 100% a normal reaction to an abusive parent, but he is wrong for not establishing his own concrete boundaries or respecting Fuyumi's.

Like Endeavor, Natsuo is pretty isolated within the family.

Mom’s out of the picture and contact with her is limited.

We all know what his relationship with his father is like.

His closest sibling 'died' when they were kids, but even then, Touya and Natsuo's relationship wasn't a good one. We know Touya spent years trauma-dumping on Natsuo, and little bro took it like a champ. Supporting one's siblings like that is admirable, but it does highlight a key difference between the brothers. Touya has memories of a happy childhood with their father. Natsuo does not. So he had to listen to his older brother crying for a past he knows nothing about, which had to have brought on a little resentment. "At least Dad loved you once. I never even got that much."

As stated above, Natsuo doesn't see eye to eye with Fuyumi. At least not enough that he respects her decision to forgive their father. Whether he supports that decision or not, he should love his sister more than he hates their father, and starting shit unprovoked over a dinner she asked him to be at is not a supportive decision.

His relationship with Shouto is hard to gauge. They were raised apart, sure, but they lived in the same house. So the fact that he didn't know Shouto's favorite food until he was fifteen is...odd. Natsuo never tried to have a conversation with him in passing? But I have a theory about that. With how Shouto behaved in the very beginning of the series, the mirror-image of their arrogant father, I think Natsuo had a, “Fuck, now there’s two of them," moment and actively avoided association with his younger brother. This may have contributed to him moving out even though he attends a college that's close enough that that he can casually stop by for dinner.

He Actually Does Get Violent.

Not with other people, thankfully, but he does slam his fist against the door in this scene, which is an act of aggression.

This makes for an intense moment in animation, sure, but if you saw a person do this in real life, you’d be nervous about where that fist is going next.

I already went over this in the Endeavor analysis that I made a few months back, but the gist of it is taking out your anger on inanimate objects is unhealthy because you're training your brain to associate anger with violence, which has the potential to make it harder to dissociate in the long run.

In his own way, he did abandon his family.

Fuyumi tells him to leave the family circumstances to her....and he just left her to it? She went to college to become a teacher and made a career work in spite of living in a volatile home. The series doesn't say where Natsuo is a student at, but he clearly lives close enough to home that he can drop by for a visit, so it's not like he went to some prestigious university out of town.

So yeah. Left his remaining brother and sister to their father.

The other point, though, is he's canonically studying medical welfare.

Medical welfare is the consideration of patient wellbeing, preserving individual dignity, promoting quality of life, and taking a holistic approach to healthcare that applies mental and emotional care to a patient, not just physical.

So it's ironic this is where his brother ends up and he says absolutely nothing about it. Nothing about promising to come see him, nothing about asking the staff if this really the best arrangement they could come up with, no promises to Touya that he'll figure something out. He just ghosts and, like their father, that is really hypocritical.

In the end, he puts his own hate and feelings above everyone else’s.

This one's pretty closely related to my first point, but it does bear reiterating for the finale. Natsuo's decision to never see his father again is ultimately going to hurt his family more than it's going to spite Endeavor.  Going no-contact is a healthy choice and I don’t fault him for it at all.  But if he sticks to it, it’s going to lead to some serious ramifications down the road.

If he's strict enough to refuse to be in the same vicinity as Endeavor:

He won’t attend Touya’s funeral and support his grieving mother and siblings if Endeavor will be there.

Since we see in the epilogue Rei stays with Endeavor, Natsuo visiting her is going to be complicated.

If Fuyumi gets married, she might want her father at the wedding. Is Natsuo going to skip his sister’s wedding out of spite?

If Shouto gets married and decides to let their father be there, same story.

If Endeavor outlives Rei, will Natsuo miss her funeral?

And finally, Natsuo might have to come to terms with the fact his own children may want to meet their grandfather, which is a decision he can only control until they’re legal adults.  He can tell them how much of a monster Endeavor was all he wants, but those kids may still be curious about meeting the man in person, especially if they hear stories from other family members and know the former No. 2 and No. 1 is their grandfather.

I’m not saying Natsuo should forgive Endeavor, or even stop being angry with him because he has every right to his anger. But if he still wants a relationship with the rest of the family, he is going to have to exercise some form of compromise.  Especially with his children because he unfortunately has all the hallmarks to become the next Kotaro Shimura. This is a society where kids want to be heroes, and then there's Natsuo who has a history with the dark side of hero society, no matter the good Shouto does.

Rei Todoroki: The Unintentional Enabler

TodoFam Discussion, you know what to expect. Pardon my rambling.

We know Enji Endeavor Todoroki is bad and abused his family, which includes Rei. Nobody is arguing that. Rei Todoroki, as the mother of the family is no better; NOT because she had ill intentions, but because being not good enough runs rampant in the entire Todoroki family. Rei Todoroki, for all her good intentions, failed as a mother.

As she takes and accepts her share of the blame in the story, I want to explore that! Rei is a really interesting character that is martyred by the fandom (understandably) but I want to explore her wrongs and shortcomings more. I love to do that with Enji, so his better half gets the same treatment.

Unreliable Narrators; throughout the series, the kids give their insight on the situation of their parents. All of which unreliable, because kids never know the full story. Least trustworthy of all is Dabi, a liar who will do anything and everything to get back at Endeavor, at the expense of his own siblings. He’ll twist the truth into something that benefits him (Hawks killing Twice) and hurt everybody in the process. The only person, therefore, that I am going to take at face value with what happened to Rei is Rei herself. The kids' perspectives are valid of course but they’re not Rei, so she’s the only one I’m listening to.

“Eugenics”; People love to throw the word around without realising what it actually means when referring to Enji wanting a child with both ice and fire, but let’s run with it for this thread. Rei comes from a family of, by this logic, eugenicists who have tried to keep the bloodline pure, at least since Quirks made an appearance because of their distaste of heteromorphs and general superiority complex. The concept of marrying people for status, genetic reasons and money is the norm to her, every corner of the Himura family does that. If she hadn’t married Enji, she would’ve either married the next person fit for her or be married to a distant relative. Thus, she is just in as much fault for agreeing to a Quirk Marriage as Enji is for even thinking of it.

“She had no choice”; Incorrect, Rei says as much. She had every choice, and Enji was the best choice when it comes to the Himura standard. Powerful Quirk, self-made high status as Endeavor and a lot of hard-earned money to provide a financial comfortable life. Rei was fully aware that she was agreeing to a Quirk Marriage, and had absolutely no problems with it, despite them being frowned upon by society, because all the Himura do this sort of thing. Rei and Enji had a miai/omiai, which is incorrectly translated as an arranged marriage. It’s a formal, traditional way of meeting someone with the serious consideration of marriage, which includes the parents/guardians. Like matchmaking. It is NOT a forced marriage, it’s a cultural difference that the west doesn’t have, so this set up is NOT coercive/weird. There are different steps to it, and one of them is ‘kotowari’, a refusal. Rei had that option but she didn’t take it “for the sake of her family”. Enji never forced her into it, her family did pressure her, but at the end of the day, it was her choice to accept or refuse.

Rei too wanted a child for a purpose; A second child was her desire that Enji agreed to, so that Touya and Fuyumi could support each other. A natural desire for siblings of course, but in the end, Fuyumi was conceived with the intent to be a child for her siblings to depend on her, which led her to being the older sister desperately trying to fix a family she once had, something she takes from Rei (‘smile through it’). Just as Touya, Natsuo and Shoto were conceived for a purpose, so was Fuyumi, and as unintentional as it was, Rei placed that heavy burden on Fuyumi, which Enji acknowledges and apologises for.

“Rei didn’t want more kids”; We don’t know if she didn’t want more kids, but we know that she was worried that more kids would negatively affect Touya because he now knew what Enji was aiming for. You can still want more kids while not acting on that want for various reasons. All we know is she was worried (rightfully so), but she saw that Enji wasn’t thinking rationally anymore (yippee mental health).

“Enji raped Rei”; I see why people think and interpret it that way. I don’t, for the simple fact that Rei herself never accuses him of such. Horikoshi is VERY show AND tell (emphasis on tell) storytelling style; if he doesn’t hold back on showing little kids getting beaten up (Deku, Tomura, Toga, Shoto, Shoji), he’d have no qualms in making Rei say that that’s what Enji did. Again, the kids are unreliable narrators and don’t know what happened between their parents, Natsuo doesn’t even know Enji as a father or person. Enji became terrifying to Rei because he was spiralling into insanity, and anybody who’s had a mentally unstable relative in their household will tell you, that’s terrifying. You end up walking on eggshells unless you’re willing to confront and deal with the problem, and until after Shoto’s birth, Rei simply didn’t.

Smile and pretend it’s all okay; Rei, seeing that her husband was spiralling into insanity because of Touya’s injuries, his inability to beat All Might and general stress, saw that emotion was taking over his rationality (yippee mental health). Instead of pushing back against Enji and try to make him see reason (cough cough like Touya cough cough), she decided to fulfil her duties as a mother and wife best she could while smiling through it. In her desire to keep her family together instead of confronting the problem at the very beginning (very hard but necessary thing to do), she enabled Enji, and by the time he started training Shoto and things got violent, it was too late. That’s where Fuyumi gets it from.

When Enji couldn’t do it anymore, neither could Rei; Up until Touya’s attack of Shoto (who Rei was holding), it seems and is my interpretation that only Enji ever tried to dissuade Touya from using his Quirk. Enji is always the one shown to try and talk him out of it, encourage him to make friends, and Rei never seems to be the one having those conversations with Touya. After Touya attacked Rei and Shoto and Enji had to stop him, he decided to seclude Shoto from his siblings. Rei (rightfully) points out that he’s running away from his fatherly responsibilities. Touya just wants Enji to look at him, but Enji is scared of enabling his behaviour further. All Enji knows is the hero world, he only knows what he's self-taught ever since his father died. He has no knowledge on how to deal with this situation. He can’t deal with it anymore, so he tells Rei that he’ll hire someone to help her with the house and kids, and to keep an eye on Touya. The one single time we’re shown her trying to do this, she fails horribly, which was always going to happen; Touya calls her out on her bystanding, enabling and being complicit in the entire thing (a reoccurring theme in MHA) but is incorrect about the details of what happened (as kids typically are). Nonetheless, Rei is unable to stop her preteen son from harming himself, and after that single scene, we have no idea if she tried ever again. Rei never had a chance to stop Touya. Unlike with Shoto, Fuyumi or even Natsuo, we are never shown a scene of Rei being tender to or holding Touya, not as a baby, not even growing up. The most tender we see her is when he’s Dabi and literally burning them all to death. Enji was and always will be Touya’s entire world, and Rei quite simply never could replace him. If Touya wasn’t going to listen to Enji, he certainly wasn’t going to listen to Rei. This is its own topic, but Touya is never shown smiling at nor looking for Rei’s attention, only ever Enji’s.

Always at home, yet never there; Rei is a stay-at-home mother, an important and demanding role that's severely overlooked and underappreciated. However, in that, even with help from the matron, she fails at, especially when Shoto is born. Enji is the breadwinner; he needs to be out and doing his job as a Pro-Hero because that’s his responsibility and that’s what how he provides for his family. And considering that he’s never around (shown by how Touya says he’s always waiting for him to have a day off) if it’s not training Shoto, Rei is the primary influence on the kids. But because she was always focusing on Shoto (like Enji), she ended up unintentionally neglecting Touya, Fuyumi and Natsuo (just like Enji). In School Briefs, Natsuo even reflects on how he started disliking Shoto for taking their mother away (because he’s a kid and didn’t know what was going on) and wanted his father’s attention too, who is a stranger to him. Just like Enji, Rei unintentionally neglected her other kids because she was focusing on Shoto (for obvious reasons).

“Enji was always violent and beat his family”; Again, no. He started becoming violent at home when beginning Shoto’s training. No other instance is shown. Still absolutely horrendous, let’s not minimise that. In the early days, Rei watched Enji and Touya train, which was their way of bonding, and she’s peaceful. He only got brutal with Shoto, and by this point, it was too late to make Enji stop. The one of two times we’re shown Enji hitting Rei, he’s pushing her out of the way that turns into a slap because she’s trying to make him go easier on Shoto. Different topic but, “he’s already five” in my interpretation is because Touya was further ahead than Shoto by this point. Rei was blindsided by Enji’s brutality with Shoto, because he wasn’t like that before. She tried smiling and going with the flow until it was too late. Based on the hospital scene after the Touya reveal, it’s clear that they never spoke in a way that mattered. The two times she tried, Enji was already spiralling and it was too late.

No communication; Enji is a mentally unwell man with heaps of unresolved trauma and issues. Rei was born into an old money family that had lost its influence and prestige a long time ago, that comes with a heavy sense of duty. They’re also traditionally Japanese to a fault. I remember seeing a thread discussing how the Todoroki are a criticism of the traditional Japanese family. Point is, both Rei and Enji leaned into their gender roles so heavily that instead of being a team, they had absolutely no communication, to the point that when Rei was unable to stop Touya, she didn’t even tell Enji. Understandably so, she would’ve been afraid of his anger and his blaming of everyone around him for his own shortcomings (inferiority complex go brrrr). Due to that, as far as Enji was aware (not at all), Rei was being successful in stopping Touya from training at Sekoto Peak. He could just focus on being a Pro-Hero and training Shoto. So when he realised that Rei had failed (like him), he snapped and projected his anger unto her for failing as a mother (like he failed as a father). His frustration is valid, his anger and violence is not. His anger would be valid if it was healthy and correctly managed, but it’s not, so he slaps her in front of Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shoto. That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back, and after that, the incident with Shoto happens.

“Rei should’ve left with the kids”; Rei was never going to leave, with or without the kids. Rei was brought up with a sense of duty as a wife and mother. She didn’t leave until Enji literally sent her away for injuring Shoto (which she instantly regretted). In her desperation to uphold her family values, she stayed. If she tried to leave, the only children willing to go with her would maybe be Natsuo and Shoto. Touya would rather burn alive than be taken away from his father, Fuyumi would be desperate to keep the family together even at that young age, and if Touya and Fuyumi aren’t going, Natsuo wouldn’t. Shoto is shown to desire a happy family as well, and he’s the only one at this point in time that Enji wouldn’t let be taken away. I’ve already talked about before if Rei could’ve left (I think she could’ve, but Enji would’ve been angry at her while letting her leave), but she simply never would have.

Too little, too late; We don’t know Rei's relationships with her parents. It’s distant for sure, and based on traditional values, she was most likely brought up by her mother more than her father (thus she tried to do the same). When she realised that she couldn’t deal with the kids anymore because they were all looking too much like Enji, she called her mother. We have no way of knowing if her mother knew what was going on or if this was the first time Rei reached out to her. Based on what we’re shown, I’m assuming she never spoke about it. But it was too late at this point. Just like Enji, Rei didn’t notice herself spiraling until this very moment, and it ended up with her reacting to Shoto and hurting him, just like how Enji reacted to Rei’s failure and hurt her (although Rei instantly regretted it, and it took Enji a whole freaking decade to realise; mental health is weird like that).

Gone for an entire decade; This was the best thing for Rei so she could get the help she needed, but her being gone for a decade with little contact with the kids, as necessary as it was for herself, made them feel abandoned. Shoto and Natsuo rightfully blame Enji, Touya kinda, well, died, and Fuyumi filled Rei’s role by ‘smiling through it’ and sweeping the problems under the carpet. The kids were never barred from seeing Rei by Enji as far as we’re aware, probably the hospital let the family know when they’d be able to visit her, which Fuyumi and Natsuo do, Shoto doesn’t until after the Sports Festival, and Enji does very often to bring her flowers but never visiting her (obviously). Only then, distanced from the fire, can she reflect and attempt to understand how all of this happened without getting hurt. That’s why the hospital scene is even possible.

“She recognised Touya during the reveal”; Personal pet peeve. She did not. Nobody did. They all thought him dead (even Enji who had obsessively looked for him; again, lots of telling, Horikoshi, not much showing), he looks and sounds completely different, fire is a common Quirk. Rei realised it was Touya after he LITERALLY SAID THAT’S WHO HE WAS. Neither Rei nor Enji realised he was their firstborn until he revealed himself as such.

Conclusion (it’s just me rambling at this point); Rei is half of the problem.

Take her out of the image and the TodoFam timeline doesn’t happen. It takes two to tango and Rei enabled Enji by knowingly agreeing to a Quirk Marriage and the two never getting to understand each other. Rei says as much, she doesn’t understand how his mind works, they never talked about their pasts or got to know each other on a deeper basis. Rei was in an impossible situation, and there’s a million ‘she should’ve’ statements, but none of them are relevant because she simply didn’t. She’s a victim as much as she is an unintentional abuser and enabler. The road to hell is paved with good intentions while the road to heaven is paved with good action; Rei tried her best, but like with the entire TodoFam, it wasn’t enough.

Rei is such a fascinating character, and the western fandom doesn’t allow her the depth and nuance she deserves. There’s no such thing as a perfect victim, and Rei is by no means perfect. She tried, but in the end, she wasn’t a good mother. She wasn’t present (for obvious reasons) until the Touya reveal, and even then, she puts the weight of being the family’s hero on her youngest. Enji was absolutely terrible and an abuser, Rei was one of his victims, but she unintentionally enabled him and became an abuser in her own right.

That’s why she takes her half of the responsibility as one of the two parents, that’s why she stops having good intentions and ACTS instead by trying to cool Touya down from exploding. Enji didn’t want her to die, and she didn’t want either of them to die neither. Instead of avoiding the problem like she and the family had for years, she finally ACTED when she was needed, her and Enji finally working together as the parents for a moment in their direst moment. Enji knows he’s the problem, that’s why he builds a new house for them to live in while he stays at the Abode, that’s why he always has that dream where his family is happy without him, and he wants them to be happy. And despite that, despite telling Rei she doesn’t need to bear this, she makes the choice to be present and strong, just like how Enji has stopped running away.

TL;DR, Rei is a deeply flawed, imperfect character that is wonderfully nuanced, like the rest of the TodoFam.

Trying her best but never good enough.