The latest My Hero Academia not only tested the young heroes-in-training’s ability to become professional heroes, but it also tested Todoroki on a very sore subject: his father Endeavor.
As Todoroki started clashing with his newest rival, Shiketsu’s Inasa Yoarashi, he realized just how much Endeavor’s actions still have an effect on his life all this time later as the series revealed more of Endeavor’s bleak hero legacy.
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As fans know, Endeavor abused his family in order to somehow reach and overcome All Might’s place on the top. This naturally had an effect on the way Todoroki carried himself in the early moments in the series, but he was able to reach a level of understanding with himself during his battle with Midoriya during the Sports Festival.
But while he was able to get beyond this terrible emotional pain for now, Todoroki realized his actions placed him in the same boat as his father with Shiketsu’s Yoarashi. Yoarashi once worshipped Endeavor, and was once frightened of his kind of hero because when he looked into Endeavor’s eyes, Yoarashi saw someone who was full of hate.
When Yoarashi first met Todoroki, he saw the same hate filled eyes in Endeavor’s son. It’s here when Yoarashi first developed his beef with U.A. High School and Todoroki, and thinking back to this moment helped Todoroki realized just how much Endeavor still has an effect on him and his relationships with others.
Because of how he acted, as a result of his father’s abuse, Todoroki now has an enemy of his own that he can’t just overcome with pure willpower like usual. And this is just Endeavor’s legacy with Todoroki and Yoarashi without even bringing up his legacy as the Number 2 hero.
When the examiners were discussing why the Hero License Exam was made harder, it was because there was such a gap between All Might and Endeavor that a tougher regimen for future heroes in necessary in order to make up for it. It’s like they don’t have confidence in Endeavor’s abilities, and it’s hard not to blame them seeing what his actions have done to two future heroes.
My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has super powers but he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he’s eventually scouted by the world’s best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been collected into 19 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.
