My Hero Academia Almost Killed Off Its Top Hero Before the End

My Hero Academia may have set off to the sunset this past summer, but fans are still discovering new things about the series. Shonen Jump celebrated the series’ end with a lengthy video covering the top 100 characters as voted by fans. The video was hosted by voice actors Yamashita (Izuku Midoriya) and Nobuhiko Okamoto (Katsuki Bakugo), with Neki Matsuzawa serving as the MC. The trio offered commentary during the video and shared info from the manga’s author, Kōhei Horikoshi.

The commentators shared answers given to them by Horikoshi. The answers are based on common questions he’s asked about the series, and one of them was, “Which character turned out differently from how you imagined?” Horikoshi surprised Yamashita and Okamoto with plans for Enji Todoroki, also known as Flame Hero: Endeavor, which he highlighted in his response: “There were many. I’d planned for Endeavor to die,” Horikoshi said.

Top Hero Endeavor Was Meant To Die in My Hero Academia

Horikoshi revealed that Endeavor was one of the characters who turned out differently than he had imagined. His initial plan for Endeavor was to die. He doesn’t go over what was his initial intention for Endeavor beyond that, leaving Endeavor’s original fate up to fans’ imagination. Insstead, Endeavor became greater than Horikoshi had ever imagined.

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What Happened to Endeavor Instead?

Endeavor has one of the most drastic character arcs in My Hero Academia. He was initially introduced as Shoto Todoroki’s ego-driven and hard-edged father. It was established early on that Endeavor had children to groom them to be the perfect hero. Endeavor was also obsessed with surpassing All-Might to be number one on the Hero Billboard Charts in Japan. With a large cast that included literal supervillains, Endeavor initially came across as the most despicable of how callous he treated his children.

However, the character went through a redemption arc in My Hero Academia. After All-Might’s retirement midway through the series, Endeavor became the number-one hero in Japan. He took his responsibilities seriously and began trying to make amends for his past actions. His past mistreatment of his children would later come back to haunt him when it was revealed the supervillain Dabi was secretly his son.

Endeavor ends up surviving the events of the Final War arc but sustains serious injury. He ends up peacefully retiring and spending the rest of his life hoping to make amends for all the bad stuff he did in his life. His ultimate redemption is one of the series’ main themes, making him a fan favorite hero among fans. Endeavor ranked sixth in the 100 Characters fan poll, showing how much fans’ opinions of the character have changed.

While Horikoshi doesn’t discuss how Endeavor would die, the author likely didn’t intend for the character to have a deep and enduring redemption. What Endeavor presented himself as at the beginning of the series was probably how Horikoshi intended to portray him throughout the manga.

As part of the Top 100 Character Ranking video, Shonen Jump announced a “Final Fan Book,” which will include more answers to fan questions from Horikoshi and the results of the last four Super Poll events. An original art exhibition commemorating the end of the manga will also be featured at the Creative Tokyo Museu in Kyobash, Tokyo, from June 21st to August 31st, 2025. A final extra chapter for My Hero Academia was also released that made one popular relationship canon.

H/T: Shonen Jump on YouTube