what do you think of dabi’s character?

bloodycarnations:

Well, going by the assumption that he’s definitely a Todoroki, he’s a really interesting character. He adds that something to the story that Stain couldn’t, even though their ideology was the same. The new perspective Stain brought into the narrative was thematic to bnha as a series, but he needed to be defeated easily, to cater for Iida and Todoroki’s character arcs, so in the end, even if the points he raised about corruption and lack of actual heroic values in the hero society were spot on, they were mostly lost. His arc was too early on, and too fast to really have an impact on the story as whole. Sure, he was charismatic and that showed when suddenly, people were selling villain merch; but his message didn’t stick, because we didn’t know Stain long enough to start to feel any empathy towards him. In the end, he was just another enemy the shounen manga protagonists had to defeat. 

Dabi’s case is different. 

I’m gonna assume that he’s a Todoroki, because if he wasn’t, he would be just another Stain. But if he’s indeed Todoroki’s missing brother Touya, that’d totally change everything. He wouldn’t be “just another villain to defeat”, because this time, his backstory would ring personal to the readers. Just as Shouto’s backstory makes the audience feel empathy towards him, the same would be true of Dabi. So that emotional power already brings more to the story than Stain ever could. Both were wannabe heroes who became villains because they were let down by their society, but Dabi would truly make Stain’s ideology stick and ring truer than ever could before, because he’d be a prime example of the corruption Stain was trying to address in the hero world. He’d have suffered that corruption first-hand, unlike Stain. He would make it all the more evident, and impossible to dismiss as easily as before. 

Basically, he would bring consequences into action. He would be the catalyst for a real change in the hero world, reaching a goal that Stain wasn’t able to on his own. 

The way things are set up right now, with Endeavor defeating the Nomu and replacing All Might not just as the number one hero, but more importantly – as Hawks put it – as someone with a back broad enough to put everyone at ease (the same way All Might could with just a smile, and isn’t that comparison incredibly ironic?), is the set up for a redemption arc. I’m not saying that’s what Horikoshi wants to do with him, I’m merely pointing out that from a narrative perspective, that’s how you redeem a character. But, still from a narrative perspective, it makes no sense to reward a character for something he hasn’t actually done. 

Now, before everyone starts complaining. Let me explain. 

Endeavor’s mindset has not changed. His temper doesn’t flare as much as before, but he’s still embodying the mindset of toxic masculinity that brought him to abuse his children. He still thinks that being someone who’s strong enough to punch up the bad guys is enough to be a complete hero and can make up for the nastier sides of his personality. He still doesn’t treat his peers or his subordinates with kindness, still thinks far too much about his image, and still thinks of Shouto as his heir. It’s true that he’s realized that he hurt Shouto, but feeling guilty and being a better person are not synonyms. He’s not asked Shouto for forgiveness because he wants the best for Shouto, but because he wants to be able to forgive himself. His concept of justice is still self-serving. He didn’t think for a second that forcing himself on Shouto when Shouto never wanted to have anything to do with him was still selfish, and frankly, unheroic too. Moreover, he still thinks that Shouto and Rei are the only ones he hurt and needs to make amends to, when he still had three more kids he blatantly neglected and abused, too. 

So, what I’m trying to say here is this: sure, he might have not been able to defeat All Might as he wanted, but he still got the number one position in the end, so that doesn’t make for a great narrative punishment at all. It’s more of a narrative reward, actually. Bakugou’s been punished over and over a lot more for a lot less. 

Not only that, but if he were to be forgiven by his family, his crimes would go completely unpunished, because no one else would be in the know about them. Let’s think about it for a sec: 
1. Shouto just wants to be indipendent from him, but doesn’t wish him any harm. So I frankly doubt that he’d ever press charges against him.
2. Deku, Natsuo and Bakugou wouldn’t, either, because they feel like it’s not their place. Plus, Deku and Natsu support Shouto in his decision, so they wouldn’t act unless Shouto wanted them to, and Bakugou is an outsider in this conflict, so he’d be in no place to do anything, really. 
3. Fuyumi is already set on sweeping everything under the rug if it means they can have a shot at being a family again.
4. Rei is still hospitalized, has no agency whatsoever, and has never moved the plot before, so I doubt she would now. 

That only leaves Dabi as the only other person who knows and who has good reasons to want to expose Endeavor. 

Moreover, Endeavor’s multiple and reiterated crimes being publicly unveiled would bring the exact kind of media attention and social change that – thematically – bnha as a story needs.

There are a lot of metas expanding on why a society that idolizes strength and encourages competition is BAD, so I don’t think I need to repeat it all, but let me just mention a few fucked up things in the bnha universe for argument’s sake: 

1. The entire existence of the hero rankings is what made Endeavor idealize strength to the point of villanizing himself and traumatizing his own family.

2. it is also the reason why Bakugou bullied Midoriya.

3. Nothing good has ever come from the existence of the rankings, like, ever. They’re the reason why the mindset of toxic masculinity exists, but they’re only a symptom of the sickness of their world, not the cause. 

4. the true cause is Quirk Elitism. The outbreak of quirks made the hero profession something that was open to everyone, but it also made the novelty of quirks real old real fast. To stand out, you needed to be exceptional.
This is a conflict that’s thematic to bnha as a story. It’s been addressed times and times again, through different characters: Shinsou, Kirishima, Deku, to name a few. 

So Dabi being a Todoroki would not only address point 1, but also get at the root of points 3 and 4. 

Consider it. A hero (the number ONE at that) who was so obsessed with brutal strength, who so desperately wanted to stand out and be the best that he ended up giving birth to one hell of a villain. The implications to that would be endless. It would be even more impactful, narratively speaking, BECAUSE Endeavor is the number one hero. It would make his shortcomings all the more apparent and inexcusable. It would expose the fundamental wrongness of privileging unequaled strength and flashiness over true heroic disposition and values. Additionally, it would also shed light on all the other things that heroes overlooked, like the fact that painting everything black and white, light and shadows, makes everything else that doesn’t fit in either place fall through the cracks, opening up a path of villainy. Which is, you know, also thematic, as shown by characters like Shigaraki, Twice, and again, Shinsou. 

So yeah. I think I got across why I think Dabi is a key character, and why I find him so interesting :’D he’d bring so much to the story tbh