Dabi's off-screen death in My Hero Academia is a perfect choice for his character
My Hero Academia featured several villains that fans loved, with Dabi being one of the most prominent due to his actions throughout the story and his connection to the Todoroki family. While his character ultimately concluded in a way that was quite satisfying to many fans, his off-screen death is a perfect way for his character to end.
Many Dabi fans didn't appreciate that his character died off-screen when All For One, Tomura Shigaraki, and Himiko Toga had their own death scenes. However, it makes sense when considering his journey in My Hero Academia. He was the villain who craved attention the most and wanted to go down in a blaze of glory, but he ended up with the least dramatic death in the series.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a publication.
Explaining why it makes sense for Dabi to die off-screen in My Hero Academia
As mentioned earlier, the likes of All For One, Tomura Shigaraki, and Himiko Toga got the chance to die memorably, and their deaths had a lot of focus. At the same time, Dabi's happened off-screen, with the extra content of volume 42 of the manga having his brother Shoto Todoroki confirming it. While this may have rubbed the character's fans the wrong way, it makes a lot of sense when considering his role in the story.
When Dabi was a kid, originally named Toya Todoroki, all he wanted was the attention of his father Enji, most commonly known as the hero Endeavor. As he grew up resentful, all he wanted was for his existence to ruin the lives of his family. Moreover, he wanted to use this attention to soil Endeavor's name in shame and for his own death to be an eternal tragedy in the heart of his father.
However, Dabi didn't die because he was killed by his family but rather due to him overheating himself by his fire Quirk. He lived his final days connected to a machine and withered away off-screen, which goes against everything he wanted in the story and is a perfect conclusion for arguably the most selfish villain in the series.
Dabi and the rest of the Todoroki family
Dabi's existence as a villain in My Hero Academia was connected to the Todoroki family subplot, which involved Endeavor's mistakes as a father and husband manifesting in his strained son. He also served as a direct parallel to Shoto Todoroki, as the latter managed to let go of his resentment and become a better person. At the same time, his older brother ultimately died because he couldn't move on.
While the topic of family abuse is a very delicate one, author Kohei Horikoshi has been praised for dealing with this subplot with taste and commitment. Endeavor ultimately becomes a better father, husband, and man but still has to deal with the consequences of his actions and doesn't come out of the series unscathed, suffering massive injuries and losing one of his sons in the process.
Final thoughts
My Hero Academia had one of its best villains in Dabi, and his conclusion was probably the best one, despite how ironic it is. He was willing to die if it meant that his death was at his family's hand, but he died because of his own selfish actions and without any glory, which is fitting for his actions.
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