"Dabi is Touya Todoroki" is kind of a "no shit" kind of twist, but the character's identity wasn't the focus of the twist. The other characters reactions to said twist was what made it work so well. The audience may have figured it out, but Shoto didn't. Endeavor didn't. Over time the Dabi question changed from "who is he?" to "When and how will Shoto/Endeavor find out, and how will they react?". We may have known the twist going in, but we still have reason to be excited for it.

Dabi outdid “Shig for One” as a villain. He’ll do it again as a burnt Armin cosplayer.

This reveal was just phenomenal, easily one of the best moments in the series

As a manga reader I would just say one thing - My man Dabi is now single-handedly carrying the entire manga on his back; meaning whenever Dabi shows up, shits get actually heated-up (no pun intended). Cause later in season 6, we'll get Dabi's backstory from the Todoroki family's POV but what happened to Dabi after he 'died' in that forest fire incident comes up later which will be animated in season 7. And OMG! That other half of his story is just so tragic! Now I get why he hates father so much and him being a fan of Stain.

The "And, um" over Compress made me laugh and cry, both in pain

Kinda realized, at the sports festival endeavor seeing midoria break his limbs while fighting shoto might have reminded him a bit of tooya because he too was using his quirk at the expense of his body

I feel like dabi is like the perfect villain anyone would want to make and watch: having a singular goal focused and obsessed to achieve it by any means Shigaraki, and All for One are good but man, dabi is a beast

When all for one took tomura from us, touya saved the show. I have a trusted source saying that dabi was hospitalised from backache after handling the entire manga all by himself.

i just wanna say that dabis voice actor did an immaculate performance easily one of the best speeches out the on par with that one demon from demon slayer season 2

This is why I hate plot twists in movies, mainly Disney. For most of them we have no clue at all about them being evil or any possible build up or investment in those characters. Dabi on the other hand was made out to be a theory of being one of the Todoroki family and we all felt like Dabi's true identity would be revealed eventually. Despite us being able to see it coming, the execution is what makes this reveal so good. It's not like your traditional "haha I was evil you fools" type of twist. It's more like that the characters should've seen this coming and now Dabi not only tears down the heroes reputation, but literally makes a fool out of both sides of the war.

I mean twice DID in fact want to protect the league he sees him as family after all So TECHNICALLY he isn’t wrong-

A character that even the Joker would look upon and say, "Now THAT'S funny..."

I am really glad that Dabi was revealed to be Toya and not retconned into some random dude. For me it was always about when he would be revealed to other characters in the story and how that bombshell would shake up the world and not so much who Dabi was

What's crazy is that Touya is basically the main antagonist of the entire final chunk of Season 6, because he not only crushed Endeavor, but turned the entire public on its head and plunged Japan into anarchy all by exposing his father.

Dabi is the sole reason I continued reading the manga

Manga Spoilers ahead: The part about dabi imitating other peoples techniques after witnessing them like endeavors flash fire fist and his flight makes me feel like him figuring out shotos cold fire technique after being hit by it much more believable. Plus dabi's basically just concentrating his flames to his heart while doing that move

Very good analysis. Dabi is such an intriguing character, and it often feels like his words, actions, and thoughts all contradict in one way or another (especially with things we learn later in the manga). His hatred of and singular focus on Endeavor is absolutely real, as this reveal showcases quite well, but I feel as though there is still an element of the broken child Toya was before he became Dabi. Doesn't mean he's savable or anything, but it does add a layer of irony to his view of "the past never dies" I'm still excited to see where he goes from here, despite my other reservations for the future of MHA

4:10 man pulled a Horikoshi and forgot about Twice 😪

Dabi’s reveal being so obvious but he didn’t care because he knew how hard it’d drop on the todoroki’s.

one of if not my favorite reveals period. I always get chills down my spine when i reread the chapter

The first time I saw Dabi, I thought he was related to Todoroki somehow because of his eyes, but then I brushed the idea off until he used fire, and then I knew he was definitely related to Todoroki lol Regardless, the reveal was amazing

This is less a "twist" and more of a "dramatic reveal".

I actually don't think Toya's thoughts about Stain and his ideology are inconsistent at all. I believe Toya full heartedly believes that heroes should be less like Endeavor was and more like All Might/Stain. But Toya isn't a hero, and he knows and is perfectly okay with that at this point in time. Therefore, the proper way to go about things as Stain preached doesn't apply to Toya because he's not a hero. But if his dad had been a real hero to him, maybe he could've been. But that Toya was killed long ago in heart and soul by the person who should'vesupported him the most. That's the real tragedy.

Another great Asa video. Man, am I glad they've did the Dabi reveal justice

Toya’s back must be heavy for carrying the burden of being the obligatory most interesting villain after Tomura had his entire character uprooted by All for One

And then after this amazing moment we get, "Blackwhip Froppy-style" 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

This episode is definitely in my top 5 favorite MHA episodes.

4:12 No one attending his magic shows as a kid.

I think the reveal that Toga vs Ochako is gonna end up one of the best parts of the story was a great plot twist as well. The use of Shigaraki vs Deku as a red herring was a bit strange, but it paid off in the end. #TogaVsOchakoSweep

I don't get mad at spoilers so I knew who Dabi was and the "dance" existence, but still watching the episode hit me like a bus, so, so good.

Jason also sold the scene as dabi i loved his performance

Honestly I was spoiled that Dabi is Toya Todoroki, but it had me waiting for the reveal and it was absolutely amazing. Big props to the voice actor too.

This was just beyond words phenomenal and godly the this scene and adaptation was just amazing this twist was built up and has made Dabi my second favorite villain behind Shigaraki he's menacing and just amazing this scene is so iconic literally a scene worth rewatching all the time:)

Dabi’s plot twist was something I knew about before I even STARTED watching MHA, and yet I felt physically sick while watching it. A lot of people have talked about how incredible it was; the foreshadowing, the music, the voice acting, the way other characters reacted, etc but one thing I think not enough people mention is the characterization of Dabi himself. Here’s someone who has been mostly apathetic and calm for 6 seasons suddenly having a huge, terrifying grin while beating up Hawks, and then when confronting Endeavor he’s suddenly DANCING AND SCREAMING. The sudden switch makes the scene even scarier, Dabi is actually terrifying. Also I would like to point out that Dabi is an incredible fighter, a recruiter for the League, a highly intelligent and opportunist considering his ability to use Skeptic on the fly (and take advantage of the unease Shigaraki and the LOV has been building up) and a careful planner who was able to find Hawks’ real identity and hold onto that information in secret. Dabi is easily one of the most versatile, efficient, and frightening characters in the show and I feel like people don’t give him enough credit for that. A lot of people talk about him, sure, but most people talk about his trauma and not how freaking scary he is

I wish it was a bigger reveal to me (like it would’ve been if I went into it blind w/o manga spoilers) but sadly, despite how much I tried to avoid spoilers, I came across plenty of strong hints online that gave away his family connection. So when his reveal popped up I was moreso just thinking: “oh. Ok. I was wondering when that would come up.” Which kinda sucks. Sure I might’ve put it together on my own, but I was told so early on…

What made this twist work wasn't the twist itself but the context. It was guessed from the get-go that this guy had some connection to Shoto but that misses the point. At this point in the story with the Heroes validity constantly in question and Dabi's reveal along with his numerous crimes, the circumstances regarding his and his sibling's birth, and Endeavor being sold to the public as All Might's replacement is the final nail in the coffin as far as the public perception of Heroes are concerned.

Dabi would have been a great theater kid

The Dabi reveal is a top 5 MHA episode/chapter for me. Right up there with (in no set order): 1. Deku vs Todoroki (Season 2) 2. All Might vs AFO (Season 3) 3. Deku vs Bakugo II (Season 3) 4. Tenko Shimura: Origin/Tomura Shigaraki: Origin (I decided to lump these two together as they are both techinally focused on Shigi)

This was sick and probably the best episode of my hero academia

4:13and um.... Yepp... That's the perfect description of Compress.. Don't spoil him yet, but I'd argue that he'a been the most utilised member after kurogiri.. with his ability compress things...

This was a really good video!

This reveal was just incredible, the way we went from knowing nothing about dabi to them slamming off his motive and backstory in one episode it was brilliant. Also just the drama that dabis character had made it ten times better

Dabi is my favorite villain boy. I love him, I know he did terrible things, but I still want to hug him, even if it kills me. My boy needs a hug! I was so excited about the official Dabi is Toya reveal, I was pretty down, because I don't like war arcs, but this was so hype.

That was quite the reveal, and the quote from that I think I love the most is when dabi says to endeavor, “come dance with me in hell won’t you?!”

My coworker spoiled Dabi's reveal literally a day before the episode released and said, "It's obvious can't you tell he's Endeavor's son Toya" I wish I could've been shocked when it happened but it was still an amazing episode!

Videogames tend to do this type of plot twist too by letting players put together the pieces over installments, such as what Guilty Gear did involving Sol and Dizzy or what it looks like the Bayonetta games are doing with Madama Butterfly.

This is very well explained.

Implying that Dabi was just a punching bag for heroes.

The fact this episode of the Dub came out on or near Christmas was incredible.

I be on twitter alot so I already knew. But when I did my mha binge a few months ago that reveal episode was still AMAZING

The reveal being predictable definitely didn't ruin it for me at least, considering I've been in the "dabi is touya" camp for years, even when we had less information. I remember sharing a theory from a video I'd watched discussing how the flames in endeavor's hero costume were in similar places to touya's burns, which could show a connection between teh two with a professor I had in 2018 or 2019. So despite being a firm believer for years, I was still excited for the reveal, because it's more about the *how* than the *why*

We kind of knew from the jump but it was still good. Look at him, he looks like an older, evil Shoto. He had elemental powers like the Toodoroki’s, his eyes are blue which only the Todoroki’s have in the show. Shoto had an older brother who “died”. It was all there but that doesn’t take away from the reveal.

Compress is just there for the fun of it man, I love that guy, best mha character imo

This is my fav part in mha and i havent even watched it 🧿👄🧿

4:11 He may not have a big purpose, but I still like him :)

Quick correction at 8:10 - Stain never recognized shoto as a true hero it was only Deku and All Might who were stated to be recognized by Stain

Dabi is a smart character

I would also want to mention that Dabi's meeting with Endeavor and Hawks after the High-End fight on season 5 was a red herring. It COULD'VE been the moment where it confirms Dabi is Touya, but then we were met by the knowledge that Dabi was working with Hawks at the time, making the audience overlook that large piece of foreshadowing and instead avert our attention to Hawks's "supposed" attachment to the League.

broo, ikr?! This was such a DAMN GOOD reveal bro

I figured out Dabi was Endeavors son the first time he was introduced when he didnt give Shigaraki his real name

As someone who hasn’t watched the anime or read the manga until recently (as in the recent chapters) and only knew of stuff from out of context clips or character research on wikis/forums, I assumed Dabi was Touya based on his power. I know blue flames are hotter flames but most of me was going “ice is blue, his fire is blue, he’s related to the ice fire spilt one”. So if that counts as a form of foreshadowing hell yeah

Coming from the very biased perspective of someone who comes from an abusive family, I can 100% understand Touya's desire to hurt Endeavor in the worst way imaginable before killing him. Of course, it doesn't justify anything Touya's done, except for outing Endeavor to the world as a child absusing, wife beating, piece of shit. Despite that, I kinda hope Touya does get to kill Endeavor before the end of mha. If it does play out that way though, I'm betting Touya will die almost immediately after he succeeds in killing Endeavor to prove true the saying 'When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging 2 graves, one for your enemy and one for yourself.'

Community is nice and all cause of course, but I also sort of wish I could’ve let it play out and see the reveal for myself and enjoy at least somewhat of a surprise that the story was building up

The Dabi pieces to his identity must have been a 10 piece puzzle.

Dabi story is really carring this season...

I recognise that silent hill music

The Dr. Dre in the background is goated.

I literally predicted Dabi being related to Shoto in some way back in like Season 3.

Is it me or does Pornography by Travis Scott suit Dabi? I was listening to the song whilst staring at a picture of Dabi.

I think the craziest thing about this twist was the fact it trended the day of the 2020 election🤣

felt my toes curl when i watched it

The REAL plot-twist is still coming. 😅

Ford’s reveal as Stan’s brother Gravity Falls is another example of good twists like Dabi’s reveal

Agreed

I found this channel now and I want to say everything I know that can make mha better. (It's about the former videos). 1) All for one controlling tomura ruined it for sure. 2) for redeeming tomura and giving him hope,horikoshi made a mistake by killing his family and he should have gave him and his former family a meeting.If his family were somehow alive and tenko just ran away by accidentally destroying the fence and only killing the dog,it would work.That family meeting will be awkward and dumb,but it's a way better talk no jutsu than the hero that knows nothing form his past. 3) heroes stopping villains because they also had that trauma is a problem,because the problem won't go away. Shoto saying dabi being a villain is his own fault is funny,cause shoto couldn't be a villain if he wanted to. 4) The mha ending is important. If the hero society wins,there would be more abused and broken people just to get arrested because of life didn't gave them a choice. 5) the entire traitor reveal chapters were dumb. 6)anime adaptation doesn't help a lot.

i really wanted to see dabi’s prominence burn that shit looked like it was bouta be sooo mean. bro

I think you might be referring to last jedi, not force awakens

Episode?

nah, it was super on the nose already

No flame in the human psyche burns hotter than Hatred

I'm glad this season has been good, a lot better than the previous 2

since we first saw dabis power i new it was endevors son and then they start talking about how one of their brothers died hmm guess what i was thinking

Endeavour gets cancelled, the arc

4:12 thanks for not revealing it yet m8

Sadly, i was spoiled for this

W Lisa theme in the background

so predictability and foreshadowing although grouped together are separate things if there was nothing leading to the twist but you can still guess it that is predictable because it falls into tropes that can be boring if overused if there is something leading to it it is foreshadowing but bad criticism has led people to believe these are one in the same

I wish they made a series from dabis pov 😶

Shit! I keep hearing Dobby...

In the manga sure

unrelated but Toya is one letter away from being soy sauce (soy sauce in Filipino is toyo)

So true, when a story is well written with correct foreshadowing Pretty Little Liars ruined it’s twist so bad. People guessed a lot and crafted answers that made sense, motives, proof and all of that was useless because it was a totally new person, we have never met

Me who get spoiled of a twist of aot after watching only season 1

...................Um, it's THE LAST JEDI that was the divisive "subverting expectations" movie, not The Force Awakens.

I'll be honest... I never saw Dabi's reveal coming

This isn't really a reveal I kinda already knew even without reading the manga

w vid

Dabi’s mysterious persona TO ME always made him seem like the least interesting character in the series, i didnt feel anything about him. Then he pulled that and he and now one of my favorite characters

Is this an alt account for Soggy Moist cr1tikal Charlie??

My question is does he really care at all about Stain's message just in a perverted form like this video suggests, or did he never give a shoto and just used it as plausible enough, low-investment cover story until he could pull the curtain on everything My interpretation has been the latter