Theory: Dabi is literally Frankenstein’s Monster, both in his appearance and origin story
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I previously discussed my thoughts on Dabi’s character, IF he indeed is Touya Todoroki (this has NOT been confirmed!), being based on Frankenstein’s Monster a few months back on a post by _Hireath_. I’d thought that I’d post it again here and further expand the discussion and see what other people think of the comparisons.
I believe that not only does Horikoshi draw inspiration for Dabi’s appearance from pop cultural depictions of The Monster but his origin story also parallels the themes of the novel.
Endeavor/Enji Todoroki = Victor Frankenstein
Dabi/Touya Todoroki = The creature (Frankenstein’s monster)
APPEARANCE
The Monster’s appearance varies in popular culture, but he is often portrayed as having a body that appears to be stitched together and seen wearing dark, tattered clothes with heavy boots. When we’re first introduced to Dabi, his clothes are tattered. His clothes later change with the addition of boots and metal-like arm bracers, which could be homage to the bolts in the Monster’s neck
And as u/_Hireath_ pointed out, in Chapter 191 we see Dabi do a pose that is pretty much the exact same as Boris Karloff’s portrayal of the Monster, who played him in the 1930s Universal Picture films.
Dabi’s pose versus Boris Karloff’s pose
NOVEL THEMES
First let’s look at the name of the novel in question, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
For those who don’t know, Prometheus is the Titan/Culture Hero who created humans from clay and gave them fire. Right off the bat, we see the parallels between the Flame Hero Endeavor and Victor Frankenstein/Prometheus.
The BritLit blog has good analyses on some of the themes in Frankenstein, some examples are:
Sins of the father
Loss of innocence
Dichotomy of fire
Responsibility and culpability
Society and isolation
Revenge
1. SINS OF THE FATHER
Vitanza, D. (2018 September 5). Sins of the Father [blog post]. BritLit: Frankenstein. . Retrieved from blogs . baylor . edu/britlit/2018/09/05/sins-of-the-father/
Victor’s lifelong pursuit to create his creature filled him with purpose and drove a series of feverish attempts to fulfill his dream. There is never mention of why he has chosen to do this other than for self-serving reasons.
We see Endeavor’s ambition and fallibility in “creating” his children.
Endeavor (speaking to All Might): “I’ll mold him (Shoto) into a Hero who surpasses you. That’s the only reason I created that kid.” (Ch 31)
Shoto (speaking to Midoriya): “My dad… he’s a powerful bastard who only thinks of becoming stronger. Yeah, he’s gone all out to make a name for himself as a Hero but he’s always seen that living legend, All Might, as a roadblock and an eyesore. My father could never beat All Might on his own. So he came up with another plan… Raising me as a Hero who could exceed All Might, just to fulfill his own ambitions.” (Ch 31)
Once the fruits of his labor are realized, he immediately becomes the prototypical absent father. The ultimate sin of the father is irresponsibility and selfishness.
Endeavor was an absent father to Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo because they were seen as “failures”. The three older children were raised separately from Shoto.
Endeavor (talking about Touya & Natsuo): “Don’t look at them, Shoto. Your brothers… they belong to a different world than you.” (Ch 39)
Natsuo (talking about Endeavor): “I don’t remember him well. At this point, he basically feels like a complete stranger.” (Ch 187)
Natsuo (talking to Endeavor):“‘Say it’…? That’s rich, coming from the guy who wouldn’t even look me in the eye for all these years. You’ve got some nerve, you know that? It’s funny, I had no idea soba was Shoto’s favourite food until today. You took special care to never let us, your "failures” into his life after all. You completely neglected us, and left us to listen to mom screaming and Shoto crying.” (Ch 192)
Possible Predictions?
The creature’s construction is not the genesis of his evil, it is Victor’s failure to fulfill his duty as a father.
Victor only dabbles in acknowledgement of his fatal flaw. It isn’t until he is near-death that he finally acknowledges that he is ultimately responsible for all the death that resulted in his creation.
Will Endeavor end up the same way as Victor Frankenstein? Acknowledging when he’s on his deathbed that Dabi/Touya is the way that he is because he failed as a father and that he is ultimately responsible for his actions?
2. LOSS OF INNOCENCE
Castillo, B. (2018 September 5). “I Ought to be Thy Adam”: The Theme of Lost Innocence in Frankenstein’s “Monster” [blog post]. BritLit: Frankenstein. Retrieved from blogs . baylor . edu/britlit/2018/09/05/i-ought-to-be-thy-adam-the-theme-of-lost-innocence-in-frankensteins-monster/
When I think of innocence, the first group of people that come to mind are children. Children come into this world knowing nothing, and the way they view the world is heavily influenced by their early experiences, their education, and the culture they live in.
We see this loss of innocence in the Todoroki children due to Endeavor’s intense training and abuse of their mother.
In a flashback in Chapter 39, we see Endeavor training a young Shoto to the point that he’s in tears and vomiting on the floor with Rei trying to intervene:
Endeavor (to Shoto): “Get up. You won’t even be able to defeat third-rate villains, let alone All Might, if you get knocked down by a hit like that…
Rei (to Endeavor): "Stop it, please! He’s only five years old…”
Endeavor (to Rei): “Yes, he’s already five! So get out of my way!” (slaps Rei)
The creature’s moral decline parallels that of Adam and Eve’s eating from the fruit of the tree. As he gained knowledge about humanity, there was no turning back. While I find the creature’s decisions to be questionable, I feel they bring a few questions to mind: If the creature had been given the same opportunity to develop the way a healthy child would, how might the story be different? Although we would deem the creature’s actions as monstrous in nature, can we hold this “monster” completely accountable for his actions?
When Giran introduces Dabi to the League of Villains, he “has no outstanding criminal record to speak of”. He wanted to join the League because he wanted to make the Hero Killer Stain’s will a reality. After he joins he begins committing murder - there’s no turning back. But if he was given the same opportunity, say as Shoto, would his story be different?
3. DICHOTOMY OF FIRE
Strong, T. (2016 September 26). Lightning and Fire [blog post]. BritLit: Frankenstein. blogs . baylor . edu/britlit/2016/09/26/lightning-and-fire/
The monster and Victor both have first memories in the natural world that shape them quite profoundly – Victor has his lightning storm, with the complete destruction of a tree, and the monster has his fire, which warms him while it destroys and burns.
The monster’s fire is a different matter, though it affects him similarly. He came upon his first fire during his wandering days, when he was discovering his senses and vulnerabilities. He came upon a fire “which had been left” by humans (Vol. II, Ch. III), so a human tool left in nature. He was “overcome with delight” and joy, but touching it brought him pain. “How strange, [he thinks], that the same cause could produce such opposite effects!” He has learned the dichotomy of flame – to save and to hurt.
Endeavor’s flames save (he is a Pro Hero, after all) whereas Dabi’s flames hurt, both himself and others.
Dabi (talking to a group of unnamed villains): “Don’t need… types like you… begone. I guess trash like you is… good fuel for my fire.” (Ch 115)
Higawara (to Dabi): “All those burnt corpses that’ve turning up here and there lately…” (Ch 160)
Dabi (referring to Higawara): “Looks like only his top half can turn to sand. He’s probably dead.” (Ch 160)
Geten (to Dabi): “You’re the one who’ll be dying here, wielder of blue flames. Your body has been reeking of burnt flesh for a while now.” (Ch 230)
Geten (to Dabi): “Judging by that peeling, burnt skin or yours… you can’t fight for very long, can you? Your body can’t stand your own flames.” (Ch 230)
4. RESPONSIBILITY AND CULPABILITY
Rima, L. (2018 September 5). On the topic of responsibility and culpability [blog post]. BritLit: Frankenstein. blogs . baylor . edu/britlit/2018/09/05/on-the-topic-of-responsibility-and-culpability/
The topic of responsibility can be a difficult one to explore, because “responsibility” may heavily affect the view of one’s culpability for his or her actions – despite responsibility, one may be condemned or condoned. How deeply, therefore, must we take into account context and history when determining a sense of “blame” for these characters? Does an abusive childhood at all excuse, or at least contextualize, a serial killer’s actions? Does it lessen the blow of the gavel, and by extension, the punishment? If so – just how harshly should a reader judge the monster and his violent actions, and Victor Frankenstein for creating him?
Looking at their relationship in a family perspective, Victor holds as much responsibility for his creation as a parent does his child. This creature is a blank slate, confused and ignorant just as a newborn, and Victor plays the stereotypical role of absent father immediately by running away, “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] created, [rushing] out of the room” (84). This instantaneous rejection is certainly not lost on the creature, who will be experiencing this rejection for the rest of his life. It is, after all, what spurns the creature into exacting revenge upon Victor. In this way, Victor is directly responsible for the creation of the monster – of course – as well as the monster’s desire for violence towards the Frankenstein family and friends. Responsibility for this creature, however, is not culpability for this creature’s actions. Frankenstein’s monster has the gift of free will, which means that ultimately, his actions are his own and therefore he himself is responsible for them. This son’s sins cannot be solely blamed on the father! Those in connection to Victor, after all, are not the only ones who receive the monster’s wrath.
Endeavor is responsible for creating Dabi/Touya but is he culpable for his crimes? How harshly should the audience judge Dabi for his actions? How harshly should we judge Endeavor?
5. HOW MIGHT DABI’S STORY END?
So, if Dabi/Touya is based on Frankenstein’s Monster, how might his story end?
Well, in the novel, after Frankenstein dies, the Creature jumps off the boat in the arctic to go kill himself and is never seen again. Hopefully that doesn’t happen. A more interesting take is a potential, what could have been, redemption.
(Captain Robert) Walton’s Responsibility to Frankenstein’s Monster
Adams, D. (2016 September 26). Walton’s Responsibility to Frankenstein’s Monster [blog post]. BritLit: Frankenstein. blogs . baylor . edu/britlit/2016/09/26/waltons-responsibility-to-the-monster/
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s critique of the criminal justice system’s consistency, her critique of retributive justice, and the death of Victor leave Walton with the responsibility to deliver justice to the monster. He is responsible for counseling the monster and restoring him to human society.
However, Walton is not responsible for killing or exiling the monster. The retributive system of punishment (matching punishment to crime) only results in more death and pointless suffering. Shelley emphasizes this through the monster’s murder of William, Elizabeth and Henry as he tries to retributively serve justice to Victor. Yet the monster reveals at Victor’s death that retribution is not satisfactory. The monster ends up wanting forgiveness*; “what does it avail that I know ask thee to pardon me? I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst” (217).* Retributive justice only destroys everyone involved; there is neither healing nor consolation. It only leads to more destruction and is therefore not just.
Walton instead has the responsibility to help the monster process his existence so he can best live for himself and for human society. The monster believes that his creator Victor is responsible for preparing him for a virtuous and happy life: “‘Remember, I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam…I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy and I shall again be virtuous” (118-119, 119). Victor did not befriend him nor guide him so the monster never learned how to live virtuously. It is fair to the monster that he be helped in this way and Walton is the last one who can help him.
So, if Dabi/Touya does eventually get a redemption, who will take up the role of Captain Walton? Shouto? All Might? Hawks? Another Pro Hero? Another family member perhaps, such as Fuyumi or Natsuo?
It’s interesting to note that Natsuo’s major in college is medical welfare,
which deals with sociology and mental health, among other things. Those who major in it can become counselors, social workers, and psychiatric social workers.
From Suzuka University of Medical Science, Department of Medical Welfare, Clinical Welfare Course page: “In this course students… acquire the skills of counselling for clients and their families and combine them with other medical services and health and welfare specialists.”
However, this redemption would require detention. First, it would provide the opportunity for Walton to peacefully restore his feelings, for the monster lost some ability to empathize after killing Elizabeth: “then I was not miserable. I had cast off all feeling, subdued all anguish to riot in the excess of my despair” (218). Regardless if he lost all feeling or not, he would need guidance to learn how to feel sympathy, respect, and love. Second, it would help appease his fellow humans as they could see him “pay his debt to society,” helping them process his existence as well, though preferably in a monastery or small town where people could interact with him but stay away from large groups of people.
It would be a bittersweet ending if Dabi/Touya ended up being institutionalized, just like his mother.
or dabi could commit suicide after endeavors death like the frankensteins monster for I think shigaraki who touya is paralleled with is going to die of course I think a big difference between Dabi (if he is Touya) and Shigaraki is that he still has a family to help him heal.
(a comment from reddit post )
this theory adds to the dabi is a zombie theory given that frankensteins monster was created from corpses fuzzypastaangelfreak . tumblr . com/post/186925080336/bnha-theory-for-all-intensive-purposes-dabi-is-a/embed
part 2: megashadowdragon . tumblr . com/post/188008382847/embed
@hamliet
