User blog:No9ah10/(MANGA SPOILERS) Dabi possibly being Toya Todoroki

First of all I'm certainly not the only one to bring up the theory, but I've followed it since the Camp Arc (when it wasn't super strong), so I've been putting this copy pasta together for awhile.

So basically I got tired of copy pasting my entire theory copypasta on the discord, so I just decided I work write a blog post on the wikia asking for opposing points and opinions. Before reading please remember that some points are only "evidence" from a narrative perspective, in a way that it wouldn't be evidence in real life, but evidence because it would work to tell a good story.

1. We have yet to see the face of one of Shoto's older brothers (Toya). Everytime Toya appears in a manga panel his face is either turned away from the reader or his hair is covering him up. Such as in Todoroki's flashback in the sports festival, where his face is directly turned away from us, or in Chapter 188, where Enji is remembering all of his kids, yet Toya's face is hidden.

'''Addendum 1. 'As of Chapter 249 we've come to know Toya's face, however there are more details to unpack later on as to why it took so long to reveal this, such as the fact the Todoroki Family presumes he's dead, and Natsuo thinks ''Enji killed him.

2. Dabi refuses to reveal his real name to anyone, even when Shigaraki demanded it of him. I find it very hard to believe there isn't a good reason for him not revealing his real name at any point. Even when they broke into the LOV Hideout during the Hideout Raid Arc and addressed most of them by their real names, Dabi's name still wasn't known. There has to be some significance to this narratively, it doesn't necessarily mean his name is important, but in other cases like Shigaraki's (Who ended up being Tenko Shimura), it was important.

'''Addendum 2. '''In Chapter 267, when Hawks asks Dabi "Who are you?", he answers. The problem is that the text bubble is blacked out. They pulled a silent reveal on us. Which basically confirms his identity is important, of course Hawks' reaction backs this up. It's also important to note Hawks was carrying a recording device on him. So he recorded Dabi's silent reveal.

3. Dabi's Quirk produces Blue Flames (which are naturally hotter than normal flames). So far this is the only flame quirk we've seen with flames like this. In Chapter 202, we get a flashback from Todoroki where Enji says Toya was blessed with a quirk that had "Greater Firepower" than his own. Which means this could only be possible if he was Enji's son, UNLESS he is the son of someone with a powerful fire quirk that we've never heard of, or the product of a quirk mutation like in the concept of quirk singularity.

4. This point is technically part of the last one, but in that same flashback during Chapter 202 Enji says it's simply unfortunate that Toya inheritied Rei's weak constitution, so he was almost perfect. In Chapter 230, Dabi's opponent Geten mentions that they can see that Dabi's body cannot handle his own flames, and that the more he fights the more he burns himself. This means Dabi has a weak constitution, just like Toya was stated to have. Not to mention when we see the fight break off in Chapter 238 Dabi looks like a burnt piece of bacon.

"Keen observation of the enemy's meta ability is fundamental. And your festering skin looks ready to slough right off... You can't fight for long, can you?! Not when your own flames eat away at you!" - Geten (Chapter 230)

5. Dabi's eye colour matches the eye colour of Enji's eyes and Shoto's left eye. This is a pretty basic point, it's just that he shares a genetic trait with other Todorokis. His face has also been pointed out to be shaped similarly to young Enji. But his hair is something I'll get to later.

6. Whenever he meets a Todoroki, he always seems to call them out by their full name. In the camp arc while taking Bakugo from him, he looks at Shoto and says "How sad for you... Shoto... Todoroki...". He also addresses Enji by saying "Just keep doing your thing and don't go dying on me, 'kay?! Enji Todoroki!!" when he's leaving the scene in the Pro Hero Arc. This wouldn't normally be evidence, but it was brought back up again when Shoto saw Dabi on TV, so narratively it's likely this was brought up for a reason, like him holding a grudge against the Todoroki family. I mean, it is confirmed at the end of the Pro Hero arc that Dabi was the one who sent the Nomu "High End" in the first place.

'''Addendum 6. ''' In Chapter 266, when Hawks speeds back into the room Dabi yells "Too fast, Keigo... Takami!!". Adding on to this narrative is that Hawks is shocked Dabi knows his real name, prompting him to ask the question "Who... are you?". Considering Hawks is tied to the Todoroki family in terms of Hawks having looked up to Endeavor, it seems there might be a deeper mystery here. (Might write a blog about my speculation).

7. Dabi has made many modifications to his body, including stitching burnt skin to his body, face, and extremities. Plus if this theory is to be correct, Dabi would have to have dyed his hair at some point in time. Which isn't completely unheard of, as Kirishima is naturally black haired with his hair down, but red haired and hair up after he had his hair dyed.

8. We never get an explanation for why Toya was missing from the Pro Hero Arc, we even get an explanation for why Shoto wasn't present at the hospital, but Toya isn't even so much as name dropped until the end of the arc. Adding on to this point, Natsuo implies there was another victim of Enji's abuse when speaking to Rei about why he can never forgive his father. This is confirmed at the end of the arc when Natsuo name drops Toya and expresses how he was a victim as well. This would explain his absence and theoretically explain why he would become a villain if he is Dabi.

'''Addendum 8. 'In Chapters 249 and 250 it's revealed to us that Toya is presumed'' dead by the Todoroki family and that Natsuo believes it was Enji's fault. This explains why he was not present at the hospital visit, and gives implications for a possible backstory of abuse to Toya, eventually leading to some event that would have them believe he was dead.

9. In Chapter 191, Dabi admits that he could never stop thinking about what Snatch said. Implying that he empathizes with what it feels like to have a broken family.

'10(Credit to Discord User Yulaxxy for this one.)''. '''Dabi's name seems to be a kanji puzzle. Quoting Yulaxxy: "The da in Dabi is 荼. The To in toya is 燈. However the To in toya can be changed to 荼. The same as Da. 火 is “bi” meaning fire. 火 can also be Ya. Which is also fire.". Basically, Dabi's name is a kanji puzzle that can be changed to Toya.

Situational Evidence: Strong

Narrative Evidence: Very Strong

Chekhov's Gun: Yes

If you want to make counter arguments, I encourage them, I want to know if there's something I missed, I'd appreciate it. (As long as it isn't completely autistic like: "lol stop with your headcannon.")

Also the anime made a mirror between the way Dabi and Shoto activate their quirks:

https://imgur.com/CmQ21aP