I know dabi is distant with the rest of the Lov but the way he interacts with them he’s always visible irritates with them and when ever someone’s comments are on point with dabi he would comeup with a clever comeback
When dabi has the upper hand he would taunt others when he’s conered like with geten he doesn’t have is taunting phase that’s when you know he’s conered Dabi who always comes with ways to taunt his opponent is cornered by geten
Hey! Sorry for the late reply! Life got a little busy.
Anyway, about that... The main difference about those two examples imho is the different relationship Dabi has to those people. With the lov, he does act snappish and is rude on purpose on certain occasions, but even when the other lov members make fun of him, it’s never quite done with the explicit purpose of undermining him as a person, or his worth as a leader. It’s never actually malicious. They’re not looking down on him, or assuming that they know everything about him based solely on what they can observe from his behaviour.
So we have Twice making fun of his tendency to burn down everything without really accomplishing anything useful for the rest of the lov, but then a few chapter later Twice includes Dabi in his group of friends and genuinely banters with him; or we have Toga telling him that he’s bad at recruiting or that he’s sore about being uneffective against Machia, but we know that it’s just meant as lighthearted teasing because she still follows his orders when he’s the one leading them.
All in all, we’re not meant to take their jabs (and Dabi’s biting responses) seriously, but just as lighthearted banter between friends. If I were to compare their dynamic to someone else’s to better explain this point, I’d say that Dabi and the lov interact with each other in much the same way Kaminari and Bakugou do. They won’t actually kill each other. They just like to roughhouse a little too much.
On the other hand, we have Apocrypha/Geten. Those taunts were meant to hurt and belittle Dabi.
It’s not just that, either. Apocrypha admitted to having spent a good portion of his life training. He boasts about his strength with the self-assurance of someone who believes in the survival of the fittest:
If you have a weak quirk or a body unsuited to handle your own power, you’re worthless. That’s what Apocrypha believes, and has devoted himself to.
It’s basically spelled out in Dabi’s expression and his entire demeanor from then on, how intimately aquainted he is with that sort of bullshit, and how he despises that sort of rethoric. Dabi, with extensive burns over a good half of his body and his intolerance for high temperatures, is essentially a disabled character. Even without taking into account the todobroki theory, those words definitely hit a huge sore spot. They’re no lighthearted banter. They’re straight up discrimination.
But since it’s canon that he’s Touya by now, we can also talk about the other implications. Dabi reacts with barely concealed disgust at Apocrypha’s words because the latter’s mindset almost directly parallels Endeavor’s own. Endeavor is someone who also believes that a person’s worth is dictated by the strength of their quirk:
Touya was “almost” perfect because he had an overwhelming firepower, stronger than Endeavor’s own. But Touya also had a handicap, his lack of tolerance to heat. So he was worthless, and was ultimately discarded for a younger, improved version that was in possession of a better balance between ice and fire, Shouto.
It’s not only the same mindset, but also the same extremely unempathetic view of people as objects. Either they’re ‘useful’ to your goal, or you can toss them away without a second thought. Again, something Dabi has huge issues about.
Then there’s the aforementioned fact that Apocrypha has been ‘honing’ his quirk for literal years.
Sounds familiar yet?
Jeez, I wonder why.
Apocrypha was brainwashed into thinking that he had no inherent worth until he proved himself stronger than the average person. So he trained tirelessly to reach the elite represented the group of executives that got to sit at Re-destro’s table.
Similarly, Enji believes that the only indicator of being the best hero is physical prowess, because he never cared about anything else, and never even tried to reach the top by playing nice because to him, that wasn’t the point at all:
Again, as long as you’re not the strongest, then you’re worthless. That’s what both of them are saying.
It’s not so much that Dabi can’t come up with a clever reply to Apocrypha’s taunts, imho. It’s just that he just remembered how much he despises his father, and that made him incredibly homicidal
look at that chilling fury. He’s out for blood and in his shoes, I’d be too