this is a friendly reminder that you can meow like a kitten or woof like a dog, or make any sounds that you want to make. and you can make these sounds whenever you want
Please note: This headcanon is written exclusively for my interpretation of Dabi based on presented canon and is not meant to dismiss the views others may have on this character.
I need to pre-face this post by saying a couple of points really quick. First, this post may contain spoilers for the manga as I try to keep Dabi canon-compliant as much as I can. Second, my college background is in Psychology (specifically the study of trauma and the disorders that occur as a result of said trauma) so my viewpoints of Dabi as a character may be different than that of other people.
Dabi as a person clearly registers as someone with ASPD (Antisocial Personality Disorder) or "Sociopathy" (this is a use-term by society and not the name of the actual diagnosis). I'm not going to get into all of the nitty gritty details about it when other sources can explain it far better than I can (X,X,X,X), but I feel making note of this point is important for the following headcanon to have some weight to it.
Does Dabi care? Is he capable of caring? That's the basis of this headcanon. This is going to be a very long break-down of some key points in the manga, so scroll to the bottom for the actual headcanon. Its all necessary to express my point.
The manga has done a great job of setting up Dabi's personality to align with the common symptoms of ASPD, to the point that its arguable at best whether Dabi actually cares about the people surrounding him or not. Often throughout the manga before Dabi's reveal as Toya (and in the anime at this time) we see Dabi being dismissive and rude, making sniping comments about the people he comes across, and putting his viewpoints and personal goals over that of everyone else in the room. He has taunted heroes and villains alike, and has an air of being "better" than those around him. So far, we've seen a man who is willing to catch random thugs on fire in an alleyway and kill them because he saw them as "lesser" (chapter 115).
But what about the counter to that? In chapter 191 when Dabi is reminiscing about his meeting with Endeavour, he comments "Oh...Right! That Snatch! Ha ha...Overthought things and kinda snapped there!" while wiping blood off of his face. Its implied since Dabi can't cry that the blood is his stand-in for tears, and at first it seems maybe he's guilty or feeling remorse when remembering Snatch's words about Dabi not considering the loss the families of his victims experience. I don't believe this is the case at all, as Dabi has only been shown to cry in the series when he's being ignored by his father (and Dabi just encountered Endeavour who didn't recognize him as Toya at all, but as "that villain who killed Snatch"). We see some play of emotion here that up till this point, hasn't been expressed by the character.
When talking to Twice and Toga in chapter 220 (a panel left out of the anime), Dabi comments about how he's the only one actually out looking for recruits, smiling briefly when Twice comments that Dabi keeps roasting everyone he bumps into and hasn't brought anyone new in as a result.
"They were all worthless. Just trash, living day to day without any real ambition."
Toga comments to him that "Maybe you're just bad at judging others!" and Dabi responds with a classic pot calling the kettle black quote, "You, of all people, don't get to say that." This part of the manga seems to show Dabi bantering with the League in a more friendly manner, less dismissive and uncaring as he has been framed up until this point. The expression on his face when he smiles looks thoughtful about something, not the typical "unhinged" smile we've seen up till now.
In chapter 266 when Dabi rushes to save Twice from Hawks, he pep talks him about how he could handle all of the heroes down there, even high-fives him when Twice makes his attempt to escape, something that implies that he cares about Twice enough to rush to his aid and encourage him. But then, we go right back into the first aspect of Dabi not caring all over again. When Dabi reveals himself to Hawks in chapter 267, its prefaced with a monologue that pointedly implies he doesn't care that Hawks killed Twice, he only cares about the fact that Twice being gone meant his dream has less of a chance to come true.
"Hey, now!! That was rude! I haven't cried since my tear ducts got all burned! With Twice around, my dream had a better chance of coming true! So of course I'm sad he's gone!"
He even has his next panel saying "So, so sad!" as he incinerates Hawks. This flows into Dabi revealing who he is to Hawks and following with an even longer monologue about his feelings on the League of Villains.
"The League? Shigaraki? I never gave a crap about them. A single person with a single conviction has the power to change the world. There are no true heroes. I plan to make Stain's will a reality."
"See ya, Hawks. Your life's another thing I don't care about."
This is where we start to have some problems. Up to this point BNHA has painted Dabi to be cold and unflinching, not actually caring at all about what happens to the people around him as long as it fits into what his goals at the time are. We've had the implications and some statements here or there that maybe he does actually care, that Dabi isn't as heartless and dismissive as the canon keeps trying to push, but Dabi revealing this so casually to a guy he thought was going to be dead (aka can't repeat what he said) really frames up where his head is at. Openly admitting he only cared about Twice as a game piece and not at all about Hawks makes it a little more difficult to argue that he values the people around him when specific situations keep cropping up.
Let's skip ahead post-Toya reveal to a specific statement that All For One makes to Dabi in chapter 335 that, despite their similarities to each other, what Dabi lacks are friends to spare. Dabi in chapter 337 makes a dismissive if not annoyed face while saying, "Friends to spare, huh? HMPH! Aren't we screwed if one of your "friends" gets caught?" The thing All For One says to him next is very important:
"Not in the least. Say your 100-yen lighter fizzles out, what would you do? When my friends succeed, I rejoice. Should they fail, I think "Oh, what a shame," and after that disappointment...I set move on to the next viable route for my plan. They're less like friends and more like disposable tools. And I say hip hip hooray for any slight excitement they can inflict."
So why is this important? Chapter 341. We have Dabi following Toga to her childhood home, showing some signs of support for her when he burns down her old house to put the memories behind her, and offers her some solidarity when giving her a vial of Twice's blood he managed to save during the hero raid. Dabi gives her a pep-talk and encourages her to smile, that they'll take over the world, and seemingly bonding in a way that shows Dabi actually cares about Toga's well-being.
But. Does he? Or is he manipulating her?
Now the actual point of the post. Dabi is a character who codes with ASPD. He has been shown to be manipulative to multiple people already, even towards people who he seems to show concern for but later is revealed to not care. It would absolutely make sense that Dabi, who openly stated he needed Twice for his goals, would butter up the next best person for the job - a fellow villain with a closeness to Twice who can also become Twice to use his quirk - to further his goal. Some may argue if he didn't care that Dabi wouldn't have burnt Toga's house down or showed any sort of sympathy towards her, but if Dabi is supposed to be as manipulative as BNHA has repeatedly shown and implied him to be, there is no doubt in my mind that he would do what is viewed as necessary to get Toga on his side.
But what if it was both?
Personally, and here comes the actual headcanon part finally, I believe Dabi does care but not in the traditional sense of the word. One of the lesser discussed aspects of people who have ASPD and other similar personality disorders is the fact that their emotional bonds with people tend to be delayed. These emotions tend to express in alternative ways that are often unpleasant to deal with and difficult to rationalize. Instead of mourning the loss of a friend, we instead see someone lashing out with violence or going completely cold and unbothered; the emotions exist but the expression or output is not what is considered to be "typical" or "normal".
Did Dabi lash out at Hawks for killing Twice because he lost a game piece? Or did he lash out because Dabi actually viewed Twice as a friend but due to his compromised mental state, wasn't able to properly express that? Was Dabi claiming he only felt sorrow for Twice's death due to losing someone to advance his goal his conscious mind's way of rationalizing emotions he didn't understand? Was Dabi claiming he didn't care about Hawks' life his way of trying to forcibly disconnect himself from an inner turmoil of losing a friend and being betrayed by someone he was trusting, even if Dabi claims he wasn't? If the conscious active part of the brain can't express or grasp subconscious emotions, Dabi lashing out with violence makes perfect sense. To someone who's mind isn't grasping emotions correctly or not at all, finding an excuse to make sense of the emotions is the most logical thing to do. I don't feel sad my friend died, I feel sad I lost a chess piece from my game board.
This can also be argued when Dabi revealed himself as Toya to Endeavour and Shoto. Having to already deal with the fact Endeavour didn't recognize him on their first meeting (something Dabi openly expresses frustration about when he taunts his father for not recognizing him), Dabi's emotional state seemed to be frantic and overly-excited in his actions, something we didn't get to see from him even when he was dealing with Hawks and Twice. High emotions for someone who isn't supposed to handle them normally, expressed as fanatical violence, is exactly the tell that I personally look for in that situation. Emotional breakdowns disguised as erratic behavior isn't uncommon, especially for someone who is already teetering.
With Toga, I believe both things are coming into play. Consciously its a decision to be manipulative - Dabi has his goals and thanks to All For One's statement, I feel he's moving Toga into Twice's empty spot - but subconsciously, I believe Dabi does actually care about the League and its members but doesn't express it in ways we as an audience would consider to be "normal". Burning her house down can be argued to be a play, but it also could be argued that the sentimental attachment to his actions and the words he says to her while doing it, come from something deeper than "villain is doing villain things".
I don't believe for a second that Dabi is an emotionless-asshole out here trying to ruin the world. I do believe he has emotions and the ability to care, but I also believe if he is someone with ASPD, his expression of those emotions are stunted. Dabi needs the time as a character to grow into a bond with someone else, and when he does manage to get there, it still has to come with how his mind is able to rationalize and unpack those emotions (we can't separate someone from their trauma or their disorders after all). If that means he has to tell someone he's only sad to lose a game piece and not sad to lose a friend, that requires us as a reader to understand the words between the lines. Dabi does care he lost a friend, he does care about the League, but he also cares about his goals and drives. It is possible to have both angles in the same person without cheapening the experience that both sides of the coin brings to the table.
This is a point I have often found myself refuting during my many (and sometimes painful) debates with MHA readers. When I talk about a peaceful way to solve the conflict with Shigaraki, by talking to him and offering him help, I am often told that talking to him would not work, that it's impossible. I think a clarification is necessary : Shigaraki has never been closed to dialogue and the heroes have never tried any other way than repression by violence. Let's look at the facts now.
The USJ attack. Yes, he is the one who attacks the heroes but when All Might arrives, Tomura criticizes him for the brutality of the heroes, a criticism that All Might rejects without listening. Obviously, he doesn't have to listen to the criminal who comes to kill teenagers, I am well aware of that, but it's one of many examples that show that heroes have never tried anything other way than to respond with violence.
The shopping mall where Shigaraki came to meet Deku to express his frustration and exchange with him on what differentiates him from Stain. Even when Deku irritates him by telling that Stain doesn't run away from difficulties unlike him and that he says that Tomura is not fighting for any ideal, the latter remains relatively calm, listens to what Deku tells him and learns from it.
After kidnapping Bakugo, he tries to put him at ease and make him understand that society despises and rejects those who differ from the norm, in order to propose him to join the League (which is literally a refuge for rejected people with nowhere to go and who want to destroy the system that oppresses them). Bakugo doesn't listen to him of course, it's hard to argue with the one who just kidnapped you and put your comrades in danger, but while Shigaraki talks, we can see that his point is relevant. Look at this journalist who publicly insinuates that Bakugo's aggressive temper would make him a potential super-villain.
And I answer right away to those who say that it was an attempt of manipulation from Tomura : Not at all. It would be totally out of character, Tomura having nothing of a manipulator. On the contrary, it's him who is victim of them and who must be saved by the protagonist. We have also this panel which shows us that he was quite serious when he spoke to Bakugo.
And next, we have this :
This scene where as Twice gets hysterical and Toga threatens him with a knife to the throat after Tomura tells them they're going to associate with those who killed Big Sis Magne, he chooses to calmly explain his decision and show the trust he has in them by revealing his face, instead of getting nervous and trying to kill Toga like at their first meeting.
Same here, Spinner gets legitimately angry when he sees that they have no solutions to improve the society and gets upset against Shigaraki who tried to explain himself without violence but is interrupted by the arrival of Machia.
And here we have the best example. After almost getting killed in his sleep by the "heroes", Shigaraki is lectured by Endeavor about his presumed lack of ideals (lol, that's so ironic), to which Shigaraki (whose scorched body is cracking and still regenerating) responds with a speech about how criminals like him are only the consequence of the intentional neglect of heroes and civilians, that this is a systemic problem and that he's now fighting to destroy this toxic system that always rejects him. A powerful speech that Endeavor doesn't care about and answers with another murder attempt.
It will be pointed out to me that in some situations, Shigaraki attacks first to try to discuss later. Yes indeed, but when you have been traumatized as a child several times, brainwashed since the age of five by a sadistic psychopath who also exploited your traumas to make you an emotionally unstable weapon of mass destruction and cut you off from the outside world for more than a decade, it's rather logical that you are not very good at establishing a healthy discussion. However, it can be noted that from the arc on Overhaul, his social skills have become much better, as evidenced by his interactions with the League.
It's not possible to say that one cannot reason Shigaraki because we can see here that talking with him is possible, but also because heroes never tried. Even when All Might found out the truth about Tomura's identity and he wanted to find him to help him, he was quickly dissuaded by Gran Torino who told him not to see Shigaraki as anything other than a villain (when he is mostly a victim, but okay...) and that this kid, who is just the descendant of his dead best friend for whom AM and him were responsible, is only a bastard beyond all redemption. So please stop pretending otherwise and try to consider that violence is not the most effective solution to a conflict, either in the short or in the long term. Because even if the heroes kill Shigaraki, it won't change the status quo. Through its negligence, the system will create new victims who will rebel again and again against the source of their repression.
This is something we’ve all known for a long time, but today marks the one-year anniversary of everyone’s favorite theory being officially confirmed in the manga. So what better time to revisit this incredible reveal than today?
I’ve been asked about the line of his name reveal as well as his speech to Endeavor, which is why this post is going to focus on that, but I won’t be talking about the broadcast (maybe one day) since those are two separate speeches and it would get too confusing to have both in one post. And let’s be real, his speech to Endeavor is a lot more fun and you’re about to see the many many reasons why this is even more entertaining in Japanese than in the English translation.
「おーういたいたこっから見るとどいつも小っさくてお！？焦凍もいンのかこりゃいいや！」
「おーう ; oooh 」-> Oooh
「いたいた ; ita ita 」-> there you are
「こっから ; kokkara 」-> from here (casual version of ここから)
「見る ; miru 」-> to see; to look
「と ; to 」-> when
「どいつも ; doitsumo 」-> everybody*
「小っさくて ; chiissakute 」-> small
「お ; o 」-> Oh
「焦凍 ; shouto 」-> Shouto
「も ; mo 」-> also; too
「いン ; in 」-> to be (casual version of いる)
「のか ; noka 」-> question marker particle seeking an explanation
「こりゃ ; korya 」-> this (casual version of これは)
「いい ; ii 」-> good
「や ; ya 」-> sentence ending particle; shows reluctant acceptance
=”Oooh, there you are. When you look from here, everyone (derogatory) is s-maaall- Oh!? Shouto is here too, isn’t he? Whatever!”
To start things off, you’re gonna see a lot of "(casual version of X)" in this. Technically, everything in this speech is casual, but some words are just extra casual.
Doitsumo is the ruder version of daremo meaning everyone. This word has a negative nuance, though, so it often gets translated as “bastard” or similar.
Chiissakute would normally be chiisakute. The っ creates the so-called glottal stop, meaning there is a small pause, with the sound coming before being almost cut off. Here, Dabi uses the っ for emphasis to show that everyone is really, really small, maybe even ant-sized. Additionally, the standard form of the word is actually chiisai. Replacing the last i with kute turns it into an adverb which is done either to list things or connect it to another sentence or word. But then the “Oh!?” follows, so once he notices Shouto there, he essentially stops mid-sentence and changes the topic to acknowledge his younger brother’s presence.
Notice the n in いン (the “n in in” what a great string of words) is written in katakana? You can’t exactly italicize words in Japanese so that’s when writing words in one of the other three writing systems that are being used comes in really handy. While it doesn’t change the meaning, it shows that he’s emphasizing the word. So yes, he used three different ways to emphasize words here, keeping everyone on edge. Maybe Endeavor can’t be proud, but Compress sure is proud of this incredible entertainer!
Ya is a particle at the end of a sentence that often attaches to ii, like in this sentence. It shows indifference or reluctant acceptance, so kind of the opposite of what his facial expression would lead you to believe, basically him sarcastically saying “Shouto, it’s great that you’re here” when in reality it’s more of a “Urgh, I guess, if you have to be here…” which I was actually surprised about cause I figured he really was excited to get to see both Endeavor’s and Shouto’s reaction, but I guess this means that his dance really was only for Endeavor’s eyes and Shouto’s present was indifferent to him at best cries in youngest sibling.
Next, we get Endeavor’s one line during this whole speech:
「荼毘！！！」
「荼毘 ; dabi 」-> Dabi
= “Dabi!!!”
【T/L: Dabi means Dabi】
And back to Dabi:
「酷えなア。。。そんな名前で呼ばないでよ。。。」
「酷え ; hidee 」-> cruel; heartless; harsh (casual version of 酷い)
「なア ; naa 」-> sentence ending particle; used to seek confirmation
「そんな ; sonna 」-> such
「名前 ; namae 」-> name
「で ; de 」-> by; with
「呼ばないで ; yobanaide 」-> don’t call
「よ ; yo 」-> emphasis particle
= “Cruel, isn’t it… don’t call me by such a name…”
As you may have noticed in the very first sentence we looked at, there are a lot of casual versions Dabi uses, and he continues doing so here, as you can see with changing the hidoi into hidee. This isn’t just a casual way of saying the word cruel, but notice how it’s also changing the oi sound into an elongated e sound, which is once again done for emphasis.
And the emphasis doesn’t stop there - in the standard form, naa is actually just na. But you can elongate it to really dwell on what you’re saying. Additionally, the a at the end of なア is once again in katakana instead of hiragana for emphasis. So here, Dabi wants Endeavor to know that it is really, extremely, absolutely, undeniably, painfully cruel to be calling him “Dabi” there. How dare he!? Anyway, imagine not loving this absolute drama king! Couldn’t be me.
Another thing worth looking at is the yobanaide, as there are different ways to tell someone to do/not do something in Japanese. The polite way of asking someone to (not) do something is to conjugate the verb to its te-form and then add -kudasai, so in this case, the polite way to request Endeavor not to call him Dabi would be to say “yobanaide kudasai” - however, the kudasai can be dropped in casual speech. While this might not be surprising, the reason I’m bringing it up is that there is also a command form in Japanese, which isn’t really a thing in English. So while in English, “Don’t call me by such a name” could have multiple tones to it from begging to commanding, in Japanese there is a clear difference. Here, he’s basically just requesting for Endeavor to not call him Dabi. Which, of course, to Endeavor would seem strange. Why shouldn’t he call him Dabi when that is his name? What else should he call him if not that? Well, that’s when we get to everyone’s favorite part of this chapter - the reveal!
「燈矢って立派な名前があるんだから」
「燈矢 ; touya 」-> Touya
「って ; tte 」-> quotation particle
「立派な ; rippa na 」-> splendid
「名前 ; namae 」-> name
「が ; ga 」-> subject marker
「ある ; aru 」-> to be
「ん ; n 」-> explanatory particle
「だから ; dakara 」-> because; therefore
= “Because I have the splendid name ‘Touya’.”
First things first, this seems like an incomplete sentence in English. Keep in mind this sentence is basically connected to the preceding sentence of “don’t call me Dabi.” In Japanese, you would also usually have that sentence come first - start with the cause and then proceed with the effect. But you can switch it around like here for suspension. After all, the alternative order of “Because I have the splendid name ‘Touya’, don’t call me Dabi.” would have nowhere near the same effect, while “Don’t call me Dabi” and then pausing as he turns his hair white gives Endeavor and the others at least a few seconds of going through the possible reasons why they shouldn’t be calling him by the name he’s known for until everyone is finally hit with the one reason no one (in the bnha universe) would’ve been able to foresee: Dabi is Touya Todoroki.
「顔はこんななっちまったが。。。身内なら気付いてくれると思ったんだけどなぁ」
「顔 ; kao 」-> face
「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle
「こんな ; konna 」-> like this
「なっちまった ; nacchimitta 」-> to have become fully/regrettably (なる+しまう)
「が ; ga 」-> but
「身内 ; miuchi 」-> relatives; one’s family
「なら ; nara 」-> if
「気付いてくれる ; kidzuitekureru 」-> to recognize for the speaker
「と思った ; to omotta 」-> thought
「んだ ; nda 」-> explanatory particle
「けど ; kedo 」-> however
「なぁ ; naa 」-> used to say something emotionally when looking back on the past
= “My face has completely/regrettably become like this, but… I had thought if it’s my family, they would recognize me, however...”
The shimau - or in this case chimatta - addition to a verb expresses that something happened fully, unintentionally, or regrettably. While this may sound like him being insecure, it kinda goes with his dramatic performance here overall, almost as if he went “Oh, what a shame!! Look what has become of me! Oh! What a tragedy!” or something similar to that.
The kureru at the end of kidzuitekureru is used to say that something was done for the speaker. So in a very literal translation this would be “doing me the favor of recognizing me” - so adding to the list of things Endeavor failed to do as a parent for his kid, recognizing him now goes on the list, too! Father of the year, we love to see it<3
Finally, this may sound like an incomplete sentence, ending it with kedo, but you can actually use this at the end of the sentence to express your emotions better. In this case, it shows his frustration/disappointment of not having been recognized by his own father.
「でも俺は忘れなかった言われなくてもずうっとおまえを見ていた」
「でも ; demo 」-> but
「俺 ; ore 」-> I
「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle
「忘れなかった ; wasurenakatta 」-> didn’t forget
「言われなくても ; iwarenakute 」-> even if someone isn’t told
「ずうっと ; zuutto」-> continuously; all along
「おまえ ; omae 」-> you
「を ; o 」-> direct object marker
「見ていた ; miteita 」-> have been watching
= “But I didn’t forget. Even though you weren’t told, I’ve been watching you continuously.”
The zuutto is usually just spelled as ずっと (zutto), so with a small pause between the zu and the to without the additional u. But here, Dabi elongates the u sound first. Emphasis, once again. I’m beginning to wonder how long it took him beforehand to decide how to emphasize each word best. Either way, it really highlights the fact that this continuous watching has been going on for a long, looong time.
「皆が皆清廉潔白であれとは言わないおまえだけだ」
「皆が皆 ; minna ga minna 」-> every single one; everybody
「清廉潔白 ; seirenkeppaku 」-> to be upright and cleanhanded; selfless and pure, without greed
「であれ ; de are 」-> should
「とは ; to wa」-> adds emphasis to the prior word/phrase
「言わない ; iwanai 」-> don’t say
「おまえ ; omae 」-> you
「だけ ; dake 」-> only
「だ ; da 」-> be
= “I’m not saying everybody should be selfless and pure. Only you.”
The term seirenkeppaku refers to someone selfless with a pure heart and without greed. And while it’s great if people are that way, it’s okay to not be that way 100% of the time. However, considering Endeavor has pretty much only ever been the exact opposite of seirenkeppaku, Dabi just really needs him to finally be that way because anything else wouldn’t help Dabi (or the rest of the Todofam for that matter). Anyway, I think these are some wise words we should all live by: only Endeavor needs to be selfless, the rest of us can go wild.
I also still find it incredible that, despite Dabi being the one saying this and the fact he’s talking to and about Endeavor, the panel shows Shouto. This is the first time he gets advice from his big bro! How adorable! But also I think that that whole call-out is an important thing for Shouto to hear, especially since the public started to approve more of Endeavor as the Number One so he's even more surrounded with people praising the person that caused so much pain in Shouto's life.
「事前に録画しておいた俺の身の上話が今全国の電波とネットを走ってる！」
「事前 ; jizen 」-> prior; beforehand; in advance
「に ; ni 」-> at
「録画しておいた ; rokuba shiteoita 」-> prepared a video recording in advance (録画する+ておく)
「俺 ; ore 」-> I
「の ; no 」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe
「身の上話 ; mi no uebanashi 」-> life story; personal narrative; story of one’s life
「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle
「今 ; ima 」-> now
「全国 ; zenkoku 」-> the whole country
「の ; no 」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe
「電波 ; denpa 」-> radio wave
「と ; to 」-> and
「ネット ; netto 」-> internet
「を ; o 」-> direct object marker
「走ってる ; hasshiteru 」-> spreading
= “I prepared a video recording of my life story in advance that is now spreading across the whole country’s radio waves and internet!”
When he says internet, do you guys think he made his own little website or did he upload it to, I don’t know, YouTube? Twitch? I mean it’s probably similar to the Stain video, which constantly got taken down and then reuploaded by random people again, but the idea of Dabi having his own website/social media account is immensely funny to me. Just imagine if the LOV suddenly received one of those YouTube plaques because Dabi got thousands and thousands of subscribers.
「いけねえなんだか愉しくなってきた！！」
「いけねえ ; ikenee 」-> oops; no good; bad (casual version of 行かない)
「なんだか ; nandaka 」-> a little; somewhat
「愉しなくなってきた ; tanoshikunattekita 」-> have come to enjoy (愉い+なる+てくる)
= “Oopsie, I’ve come to somewhat enjoy it!!”
A couple of things to note about the tanoshikunattekita. First of all, the kanji used here is not the common way to write tanoshii, that would be 楽しい. In fact, if you look up tanoshii in a dictionary, you’re most likely not even going to find it written with the kanji Horikoshi used here. After doing some research, apparently, this kanji is more commonly found in novels and self-help books (remember when Touya asked his mom if she read some enlightening books? Guess he’s read them, too lol).
Anyway, this way of writing tanoshii generally refers to joy due to a clear mind free of anxiety, as well as referring to a joy that comes from your own thoughts and feelings. So here, Dabi is referring to the joy he gets from his plan finally coming to fruition. I mean, waiting ten years to get back at Endeavor - talk about patience! So much like the rest of us that had been anticipating his reveal finally taking place, Dabi is having an absolute blast here.
「どうしたらおまえが苦しむか人生を踏み躙れるか。。。あの日以来ずうううううううっと考えた！」
「どうしたら ; doushitara 」-> how can one do something
「おまえ ; omae 」->you
「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle
「苦しむ ; kurushimu 」-> to suffer
「か ; ka 」-> question marker particle
「人生 ; jinsei 」-> life
「を ; o 」-> direct object marker
「踏み躙れる ; fuminijireru 」-> can crush with a foot; can trample underfoot
= “How can I make you suffer? How can I trample on your life? ...I have been continuuuuuuuuously thinking about it since that day.”
I don’t think I need to point out that the zutto is emphasized here. Anyway, the English official translation didn’t bother in the slightest to translate this (or any of the other words he emphasized) so it really doesn’t become notable just how dramatic he really is here.
「自分が何故存在するのか分からなくて毎日夏くんに泣いて縋ってた事知らねぇだろ」
「自分 ; jibun 」-> myself; I
「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle
「何故 ; naze 」-> why
「存在する sonzai suru 」-> to exist
「のか ; noka 」-> question marker particle seeking an explanation
「分からなくて ; wakaranakute 」-> don't understand
「毎日 ; mainichi 」-> every day
「夏くん ; natsukun 」-> Natsu-kun
「に ; ni 」-> to
「泣いて ; naite 」-> to cry
「縋ってた ; sugatteta 」-> was clinging to; was hanging onto; was relying on; was depending on
「事 ; koto 」-> nominalizes the preceding sentence
「知らねぇ ; shiranee 」-> don't know (casual of 知らない)
「だろ ; daro 」-> probably
= “You probably don’t know that I was crying and clinging to Natsu-kun every day because I didn’t know why I existed.”
In order to combine two sentences in Japanese, you put the verb that’s at the end of the first sentence into its te-form. While this can be simply used for that purpose or to list several things, it can also be used to mean that the second sentence is a result of the first sentence. So here, as a result of Touya questioning the reason for his existence, he always went to Natsuo for support.
Sugaru, meaning to cling, is just one way to say that you rely on someone else. However, this word has a negative connotation in that it specifically means you’re relying on someone else because you cannot help yourself. It's the same word used to say 藁にも縋る - wara nimo sugaru (lit. to grasp at straws) meaning even if something couldn't possibly help, this is better than nothing. With that, Dabi is showing that he fully understands that going to his little 8-year-old brother for help wasn't a proper solution, and yet it was better than the alternative, which was to bottle all his emotions up instead, possibly turning himself into an empty shell in the process since none of the adults responsible for him ever gave him actual help (trying something and then giving up after it doesn’t work because “well, at least I tried my best” is not, in fact, enough).
「の ; no 」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe
「人形 ; ningyou 」-> doll; puppet
「の ; no 」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe
「焦凍 ; shouto 」-> Shouto
「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle
「大成した ; taisei shita 」-> completed; accomplished
「頃 ; koro 」-> time; around; when
「に ; ni 」-> at
「焦凍 ; shouto 」-> Shouto
「を ; o 」-> direct object marker
「殺そう ; korosou 」-> will kill
「と思ってた ; to omotteta 」-> was thinking
「でも ; demo 」-> but
「期せずして ; kisezushite 」-> unexpectedly; accidentally; by chance
「おまえ ; omae 」-> you
「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle
「Ｎｏ１ ; nanbaa wan 」-> Number 1
「に ; ni 」-> to
「繰り上がって ; kuriagatte 」-> to move up in rank
「俺 ; ore 」-> I
「は ; wa 」->topic marker particle
「おまえ ; omae 」-> you
「を ; o 」-> direct object marker
「幸せにしてやりたくなった ; shiawase ni shiteyaritakunatta 」-> wanted to make you happy
= “At first when your doll Shouto was completed, I thought I’d kill Shouto! But, unexpectedly, you moved up to Number One, and I! Wanted to bring you happiness.”
Korosou is the volitional form of korosu. This form is usually used to say “let’s do~” in order to suggest plans to someone but when speaking about your own solo plans, it shows your will to do something. So it’s not like “I’m thinking of maybe, possibly killing him” but instead it’s far more determined. Which makes sense, for the drama, since it wouldn’t sell as well to just write it off as a fleeting thought. In a way, it’s him saying “I was dead set on killing Shouto!” to shock the audience before revealing that he has actually changed his plans since.
The ~teyaritakunatta means that Dabi wants to do this for Endeavor. However, this ~teyaru is a rude form that you would only use to someone you don’t respect and can additionally show you’re trying to mess with their situation (we’ll see this a couple of lines below again). In other words, while “I wanted to make you happy” sounds nice in theory, it’s said with absolutely zero respect and with an ulterior motive, obviously so considering Dabi wanted to see Endeavor succeed for once so that his downfall would be so much worse.
「死んじまわねえ ; shinjimawanee 」-> don’t drop dead (しぬ+neg. casual てしまう)
「か ; ka 」-> question marker particle
「肝を冷やした ; kimo o hiyashita 」-> was struck with terror; was scared to death; was terrified
「星のしもべ ; hoshi no shimobe 」-> Starservant
「や ; ya 」-> and
「エンディング ; endingu 」-> Ending
「を ; o 」-> direct object marker
「誘導して ; yuudou shite 」-> to guide; to lead
「次々; tsugitsugi 」-> in succession; one by one
「おまえ ; omae 」-> you
「に ; ni 」-> to
「あてがった ; ategatta 」-> allotted with; supplied with; applied to
= “Won’t he drop dead in Kyushu? I was scared to death! I had led Starservant and Ending and one by one gave them right to you.“
Shinjimae is actually an insult meaning “drop dead” (lit. it is the command form of the verb to die + shimau meaning doing something completely so you’re essentially commanding someone to fully die), though it’s not exactly used as an insult here. Instead, it’s more to show that he’s not worried about his sweet papa passing away (I could have phrased this worse, just so you know, be grateful), but man would it fuck up his revenge plans should the old man drop dead.
Ategatta can be used in the sense of assigning someone something without them asking for it, like giving a kid a toy or assigning someone a job. So without Endeavor asking for Starservant and Ending to appear, Dabi decided to send them his way.
「の ; no 」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe
「Ｎｏ１ ; nanbaa wan 」-> number one
「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle
「さぞや ; sazoya 」-> surely; certainly
「気分 ; kibun 」-> feeling; mood
「が ; ga 」-> subject marker particle
「重かったろ ; omokattaro 」-> was probably heavy (重かった+だろ)
「世間 ; seken 」-> world
「から ; kara 」-> from
「の ; no 」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe
「賞賛 ; shousan 」-> praise; admiration
「に ; ni 」-> by
「心が洗われた ; kokoro ga awareta 」-> to feel refreshed; to feel soothed
「だろう ; darou 」-> probably
= “Your biggest wish of Number One, it surely felt heavy, right?! You probably felt soothed by the admiration from the world!?”
‘What? The Chicken Soup For The Soul line isn’t the proper translation?’ I hear you say in shock. Indeed, he doesn’t say that at all (although I guess the meaning is kinda the same). Dabi sure has a funny way of performing his speech, but there are better ways to show that than by inserting weird English expressions.
「子どもたちに向き合う時間は“家族の絆”を感じさせただろう！！？」
「子どもたち ; kodomotachi 」-> children
「に ; ni 」-> to
「向き合う ; mukiau 」-> to face
「時間 ; jikan 」-> time
「は ; wa 」-> topic marker particle
「家族 ; kazoku 」-> family
「の ; no 」-> possessive particle; similar to an apostrophe
「絆 ; kizuna 」-> bond
「を ; o 」-> direct object marker
「感じさせた ; kanjisaseta 」-> made to feel
「だろう ; darou 」-> probably
= “The time you faced your kids made you feel the “bond of family”, right!!?”
You might have noticed it already, but aside from finding all kinds of ways to emphasize words, Dabi also loves to end his sentences with darou. This word is pretty much used when you want confirmation from the person you’re speaking to. And him ending several sentences in a row that way is him trying to get inside Endeavor’s head, kinda like the bad cop in an interrogation constantly pressing the person being interrogated with questions in hopes of the pressure eventually pushing down on them in order to get a confession.
「未来に目を向けていれば正しくあれると思っただろう！！？知らねエようだから教えてやるよ！！！」
「未来 ; mirai 」-> future
「に ; ni 」-> to
「目を向けていれば ; me o muketeireba 」-> if you shift your attention
「正しくあれる ; tadashikuareru 」-> to be able to exist correctly/proper (正しい+ある)
「と思った ; to omotta 」-> thought
「だろう ; darou 」-> probably
「知らねエ ; shiranee 」-> don’t comprehend (casual of 知らない)
「ようだ ; you da 」-> seeming/appearing to be
「から ; kara 」-> therefore
「教えてやる ; oshieteyaru 」-> I will teach you
「よ ; yo 」-> emphasis particle
= “You probably thought ‘if I shift my attention to the future, I’m able to exist correctly’!!? I will tell you, since you seem to not comprehend!!!”
Tadashikuareru consists of the words tadashii (correct; right) and aru (to exist) with the latter being in the potential form. The areru part can be used to show that there is more of a conscious effort to be a certain way. Instead of just being more right, he is consciously being that way (or at least he thinks he can be that way).
Once again, we have Dabi emphasize a word, shiranee, by having it in its casual form and with the e at the end written in katakana.
The oshieteyaru is one of those constructions that mean one person is doing something for someone else as we’ve already seen a few lines ago. But remember that Japanese is all about social hierarchy, especially when considering how to talk to others. So the standard way to have the speaker say they will do X for the listener would be to use ~teageru. ~teyaru, as used here, on the other hand, would only be used when speaking to someone who is inferior to you and often to say that you’re doing something to stand in their way/mess with their situation. In other words: negative respect from Dabi to Endeavor. He's not about to teach him something to do him a favor but to give him a much needed, traumatizing, life lesson
Now for the final part. The last sentence is something I actually already translated last year when the chapter came out, in fact, it was my first translation post! So now we’re really coming full circle here.
「消えない ; kienai 」-> doesn’t disappear; doesn’t go away
「ザ ; za 」-> emphasis particle
「自業自得 ; jigoujitoku」-> paying for one’s mistakes; reap what you sow
「だ ; da 」-> be
「ぜ ; ze 」-> emphasis particle
「さァ ; saa 」-> emphasis particle
「一緒に ; issho ni 」-> together
「堕ちよう ; ochiyou 」-> let’s fall down; let’s descend
「地獄 ; jigoku 」-> hell
「こっち ; kocchi 」-> here
「で ; de 」-> in
「息子 ; musuko 」-> son
「おれ ; ore 」-> I
「と ; to 」-> with
「踊ろう ; odorou 」-> let’s dance
「ぜ ; ze 」-> emphasis particle
= “The past doesn’t go away!! You reap what you sow. Well, let’s fall together, Enji Todoroki!! You shall dance with me here!!!”
That za is one of many sentence ending particles that really just add a bit of emphasis and emotion to the sentence, however, normally this particle is written as sa. Changing it into za adds even more emphasis. And, of course, this is written in katakana to - you guessed it - add emphasis! Are you tired of the word emphasis? Well... that’s not the end of Dabi adding emphasis (but don’t worry, we’re almost done) -
shortly after, we have the saa written with katakana at the end for emphasis to really bring attention to what he says next.
The ze sentence ending, which we see twice here, obviously also adds emphasis, but with a sort of inviting, yet commanding, tone, which makes sense considering he is, in fact, inviting Endeavor to something.
Ochiyou is not written with the standard kanji here (that would be 落ちる). When the word is written with the kanji used here, it’s specifically referring to more of a metaphorical falling and generally to say there has been a moral failing and loss as a result of it. So while a lot of people are reading this to mean “let’s die together” it’s far deeper than that. They’ve been already corrupting themselves and created a lot of loss (no, this isn’t about Dabi’s infamous 30+ victims, but rather the fact that he created an entire villain persona and had his family believe that he died all so that he could avenge his kid self - he’s not wrong in doing so, but there are undeniably many losses because of this both in his and his family members’ lives).
As you may have noticed there are two words in the last sentence where I added something in brackets. Those are the furigana, which are used to tell you how to read the kanji. However, in writing sometimes those furigana don’t match how those kanji are actually read. This is done when one character says one thing but means something different. When this happens, the furigana represent what the character says, while the kanji represent what is actually meant.
This means that Dabi doesn’t actually say this iconic line of dancing in hell out loud, but it is the true meaning behind his words.
The son / I part itself is obvious: Dabi is Touya and thus Endeavor’s son, making these two words synonymous. So why bother with the two versions? The reason that Dabi says ‘I’ but means ‘son’ is to underline the fact that this isn’t the villain Dabi inviting the hero Endeavor to face him; it’s Touya inviting his father. In other words: it’s personal.
What about the hell / here part, then? Dabi says ‘here’ - referring to the battlefield around them. His invitation isn’t for later; he wants to do this right here, right now and with the broadcast showing at the same time, the dance has essentially already begun, anyway. But does ‘hell’ as the true meaning refer to the battlefield, too? Should it just be to emphasize the scene around them? It could also be that Dabi already sees the world and life as hell and now he’s simply going to share it with Endeavor. How sweet of him!
If we take the two parts together, it could also imply that Touya is in hell, either in the sense that his upbringing was hell or because he metaphorically died as a result of Endeavor’s obsession. And now, that very same obsession is going to be Endeavor’s own downfall. Having someone decide Touya wasn’t good enough and thus being tossed aside and replaced by someone else was hell for him, and now it’s Touya’s turn to decide Endeavor isn’t good enough and has to say goodbye to his future as hero. Unfortunately, one year later, Endeavor still hasn’t faced any real consequences and is, in fact, still the Number One Hero.
And this concludes our revisiting of the iconic Touya reveal! I think the main takeaway is that in the original Japanese version, Dabi is a lot more dramatic by emphasizing words wherever and however possible, repeating words to make Endeavor sweat, and just the way he speaks, of course, and it all comes together to an epic performance, which, unfortunately, doesn’t have that full effect in the English translation despite the fact that a lot of it could’ve been included.
Even after one year, I think this part of the story was done so well and is such a fun read that really shows what kind of character Dabi is and just how funny his presence and this particular appearance are.
Anyway, this was probably another long read so thanks for reading if you’ve made it this far, and hopefully, you have an even better idea of Dabi now. I guess the conclusion of this whole post is that, if Dabi had to be summarized in one word, it would be:
u know whats wild. everyone on here like 20 and when i first joined everyone was like 14 15. u ask anybody n they been here for years. nobody new on here. staff locked the doors n were all Stuck Inside
In chapter 321 we're reminded once again of the reoccurring motif of hands reaching out to save someone in need, especially with the double spread close-up of Iida's hands reaching for Deku's hands. I couldn't help but think how this could apply to the league of villains. Hand symbolism has always been associated with Shigaraki (duh), both in the fact that his hands destroy everything they touched, and also his reason for being a villain stems from the fact that not a single hand reached out to save him that day. However, we've also had another character in the league with hands drawn up close and personal reaching out to save the others: spinner.
1. Just an Empty Cosplayer
I'm not the first one to make this observation. @codenamesazanka pointed this out long before me, especially in regards to Spinner's importance to the league, but basically, Spinner's role is that despite being a teenage mutant ninja turtle he's also the everyman of the league. He's not connected to the main conflict of the story by bloodline or legacy, the way Shigaraki, Dabi, and Compress are. He's not someone with an incredibly powerful or deviant quirk like Twice or Toga. He is a victim, but he doesn't have the elaborate villain backstories of Twice, Shigaraki, Dabi, and Toga.
He literally is just some guy with a lizard quirk. He has the weakest quirk in the league and the weakest reason for why he joined the league. Spinner faces societal abuse because of his quirk, but what spurred him to action was seeing Stain appear on TV, and a desire to be a less empty person than he was before. Spinner was pushed, he was rejected by society, but I would say as an inverse to the league who are driven by extraordinary circumstances, Spinner is basically an every man who drives himself to keep up with the rest of the league despite seemingly lacking everything "special" they have.
And I believe this every man quality, and this drive Spinner has is what's going to be the key to piecing the league back together. It's because Spinner sees himself as so far behind the rest of the league, and so much less special than they are, that he's driven to try to understand them.
Not only is Spinner a member who has tried to understand every member of the league in one way or another, Spinner is also someone who similiar to Sihgaraki foils every single character in the league despite just being an everyman.
2. Spinner and Toga
While Spinner and Toga may not have the same level of development to their interactions as Twice and Toga, Spinner reaches out to her once but not twice, and there are a lot of parallels you can draw between the characters.
Both Spinner and Toga joined the league for the same reason, an empty admiration for Stain, without really caring about Stain's ideals. Toga admires Stain because he's covered in blood and fighting for something and she wants to become more like the people she admires, Spinner because he saw himself as pathetic for hiding in his room all day and when he saw Stain taking a stand trying to change the whole world on his own he wanted to become that way too. Which means both of them have a tendency to want to become more like the people they admire, because their own sense of personal identity is so weak.
Himiko and Spinner both define themselves by the way society has rejected them. Spinner has internalized the idea that he's an empty person who can't accomplish anything on his own, every terrible thing other people said about him due to his heteromorph quirk he accepted it. At the same time, Toga was somebody born with a "dangerous quirk" who was told to repress it and then did that living under a fake identity as a normal school girl that would please her parents and the people around her for as long as she could. Both Toga and Spinner are taught by the society around them to be self-loathing and to repress themselves because of their quirks. They're also characters who are both defined by a desire for release.
When Spinner asks if Toga still wants to be in the league because of Stain and she responds, Now I wanna become everyone I love. Spinner comments, "You're so free."
Spinner and Toga both claim they joined the league because of love for another person, they both loved and admired some aspect of Stain, but their real reason for joining, or at least the reason they stay is that deep down both of them desire the freedom to be themselves. Toga wrapping her desires up in language like love for other people, and wanting to become them, is because deep down she believes because of her quirk there's no one who would accept her for herself, as the normal girl she believes she is, no one will let her live as Toga thus she tries to become other people. It's the same for Spinner, who believes he can't be anything other than the Lizard Freak, so he too tries to dress himself up and become a Stain Cosplayer. It's only through the league's acceptance that Toga and Spinner slowly begin to learn that they are good enough on their own, just as themselves, and their priorities begin to shift.
3. Spinner and Twice
Twice and Spinner have several backstory parallels already. They are both characters affected by poverty, Spinner lived in a backwater town plagued by old views of heteromorph quirks, Twice lost his parents and began working to support himself at a young age before becoming homeless. Spinner and Twice were also both labeled in a way that stuck with them, after Twice got a criminal charge in an accident on his permanent record he couldn't find another job after being labeled deviant. Spinner was labeled as a deviant because of his quirk and the idea that he's a lizard freak has always stuck with him the same way that Twice has internalized the idea that "bad people don't get saved."
They also both chose to isolate themselves because of the circumstances they faced. Twice's first response to homelessness was to decide to never trust anybody but himself, and he became a criminal who pulled off heists with only clones of himself as team members until that stopped working for him. Spinner's response was also to shut himself away in his room and become a NEET. They both cut themselves off to the society that labeled them as unacceptable, but in the process they also cut themselves off from other people and became unable to trust others.
While they have major backstory parallels, I believe the greatest parallel between them is going to be that Spinner will inherit that role that Twice had for the league. While Shigaraki is the leader, Twice more than anybody else believed the League to be a family, and encouraged everyone to be friendly with one another.
It's Twice more than anyone else who emphasizes the bond of the league, that they're all strays, that they need to take care of each other and save each other. It's Twice who urges Shigaraki to save Giran because he's one of them. He makes the unspoken bond of the league as a group of miscreants into a spoken one, because Twice wants those things, he's well aware of the fact that he wants trust and acceptance and came to the league to find those things. This is the greatest thing that ties Spinner and Twice's characters together, because they both view themselves as worthless, they define themselves by how they help the other members of the league.
Twice's death so far isn't something that has been really capitalized on by the plot, Hawks has yet to face consequences, we haven't gotten to see much of the league's reaction because they were scattered soon afterwards. However, if Twice's death is going to cause development eventually I believe it will be in the vacuum in the league created now that Twice is gone. There is no longer someone who is urging all of them to be together. Twice's death causes most of the league to become less stable. Toga goes on a killing spree, Dabi attacks Hawks, Compress tries to kill himself in a heroic sacrifice, Shigaraki hasn't gotten the chance to react yet but he's also gotten worse considering he's currently possessed. You could even say that Twice's death has caused other characters to double down on their worst habits.
Dabi's worst habit is that he acts separately from the league and refuses to participate in the group dynamic, believing himself to be a solo avenger. Dabi not trusting or telling the league what he was planning on doing with Hawks, as a consequence of his decision to play solo avenger, caused Twice to trust Hawks which led to his death. Hawks was the one who killed him but Dabi played a part, and when Twice dies Dabi obviously reacts to it, but also his decision is to double down on his bad habit, insisting he's only using the league and he doesn't care about the rest of the group. Toga also doubles down on her bad habit, she runs away from the rest of the league and insists she's only doing this for the freedom to do whatever she pleases, not because you know Twice got killed right in front of her. Compress's arc is less pronounced, but he also does, in fact, try to kill himself in a grand heroic sacrifice for the rest of the league.
When twice dies the league begins to fall apart and everyone acts on their individual worst flaws, ignoring that they were always stronger together as a group. However, there is still one person who wanted the exact same thing Twice did, to be trusted, to belong to a group. This is most likely the role that Spinner is going to grow to, someone who is trusted by everyone in the group.
Notably, when Toga is about to run away it's Spinner who reminds her that the league is a place for them to come back to. Toga who was probably the closest to Twice and spiraling the worst because of his death, and Toga and Twice's friendship was the first time we really saw how much of a "bond" the league had formed with one another, because in the camp arc they barely cooperated, only begrudgingly. It's Spinner who who emphasizes that even though everyone in the league is doing this for individualism "doing what they want" that they are also together as a group. Spinner is set to inherit Twice's role as the heart, because one he tries to understand other people in the league making the effort to reach out, and two Spinner is aware of what he wants just like Twice he wants to be trusted by the rest of the group.
4. Spinner and Dabi
This one is a little bit harder because Dabi's character arc really hasn't started yet. We have just now gotten to the reveal of who he is and what his motivations are, after it being a mystery for so long. However unlike the rest of the league, we haven't really seen how Dabi has reacted and changed by becoming a part of the group. Even if his motivation isn't "I'm only using them" and deep down he really does care, I don't think he's even realized yet that he does care or that he's not just using them. Dabi still believes himself to be alone, and therefore he's still isolated from the rest of the league and flying his revenge quest solo even though he's really not.
In that case, the biggest parallel between Spinner and Dabi is that they both had to be won over by the league. They both joined because of admiration for Stain, probably because Dabi genuinely believed in Stain's ideals of taking down impure heroes because it fit his own agenda so well, whereas Spinner is a self-proclaimed empty cosplayer.
Spinner, however, has already gone through an arc where he was dissatisfied with his reasons for joining the league and didn't believe he belonged with the rest of the group. He didn't have anything to love like Toga. He didn't know yet he wanted friends he could trust like Twice already did. He doesn't have a strong backstory motivation like Compress, or Dabi or even knows what he wants out of society. However, the entirety of MVA is Spinner letting himself be changed because of his interaction with the group.
Spinner failed at life, his quirk is worthless and only good for sticking to walls. He also internalized the idea that he himself was a failure, and locked himself inside believing he couldn't accomplish anything on his own. Spinner says he has nothing he loves, and nothing he wants to do. Not only that he feels unloved and unwanted. However, Spinner finds something to love in Shigaraki, even if he can't find a strong sense of individualism and still believes himself to be worthless he becomes motivated to help others. Spinner, the most normal person in the group with the most worthless quirk, becomes the greatest help to Shigaraki, basically once he gets over himself and his preconceived notions of himself. Because, you don't actually have to be a special person or have a strong quirk to be a hero, you have to reach out a hand.
The same way Spinner was won over by the League, Dabi has yet to be won over. However, if that does happen, it's probably going to look like Spinner's arc. Dabi antagonizes Spinner a lot, but they actually have more in common than they do differences. They both have failure quirks, while Dabi has an overwhelming fire quirk he wasn't allowed to use, Spinner is literally just a gecko. They both also were labeled as disappointments and given up on, Enji gave up on Touya, Spinner never had any potential from the start and locked himself away in his room. However, their paths so far have been opposites, Spinner let Shigaraki reach him and became a part of the group, Dabi at every possible opportunity insists he's doing this all alone. He takes every chance he can to separate himself from others. If Dabi's arc is going to be a mirror to Shoto's arc eventually, then someone has to reach him and convince him he can't do this all on his own, and Dabi can only truly find himself when he's part of the group once more. After all, so far Dabi is the one most resistant to change. Toga's goal has changed, Shigaraki's changed, Spinner has changed, even Compress now admits that while they're just a gang of thieves that he cares more about everyone else's dreams than his own. Dabi is still nursing a ten-year grudge against Endeavor and doing everything he can to take him down on his own because he hasn't let the group in. And he won't improve or change until he does let others in.
5. Spinner and Shigaraki
I love Compress but I'm skipping over him because his arc hasn't been elaborated on yet. If you want a quick summary though, both Spinner and Compress didn't believe the group to be anything more than a gathering of selfish criminals, however, both of them changed because they wanted to see Shigaraki's dream come true. Not only was Shigaraki the one who inspired both of them to change, but also Compress is the one who first sees how close Spinner is to Shigaraki more than anyone else in the group was.
He also sacrifices himself BECAUSE he's come to realize that what he wants more than his own dreams is to see everyone else's dreams come true. I know Compress's backstory is rushed as all hell, but it almost... almost... works because Compress isn't actually doing this because he's Oji Harima's grandson. His motivation changed a long time ago, he just didn't realize it until he was about to lose the league.
There are a few more parallels, they're both dropouts. It's implied that Compress was literally just a retired and failed stage magician before he decided to become a villain. Hopefully we'll become more on that later because the idea of Compress sucking in showbiz so he decided to follow his grandfather's legacy is really awesome. Spinner was a Neet before he saw Stain on television. They also both have more minor quirks, Compress just shrinks people, Spinner sticks to things. They both also are characters who don't seem important at first, but consistently hover around in the background constantly making sure everyone in the group is okay. Compress calls to check up on people, he talks to Dabi a lot, he tries to keep up with everybody in a melee, it's the little things he does that make Compress same for Spinner. They're both cosplaying as legendary villains who are greater than they are, Stein is cosplaying his grandfather, Spinner is cosplaying Stain, but it's unknown whether Compress really cares that much about his grandfather's ideals, I think he cares about the league more. Compress and Spinner are also people who question and try to understand things, Compress lectures the kids that they had their ideals handed down to them for adult, Compress realizes Spinner's importance to Shigaraki before Spinner even did, Compress and Spinner also both try to understand other people's dreams because they're lacking in their own. Spinner doesn't even have a dream, but he's the one who listened to Shigaraki's dream first.
Now it's been directly said by canon that Spinner and Shigaraki's connection is the most developed, and they are the closest to one another. By developed I mean, it changed over time, when it started out they had almost nothing to do with one another. Spinner was just a rank and file league member that Shigaraki used on the hideout raid. They didn't even get a character introduction scene like Shigarki did with Dabi and Toga.
However, Spinner and Shigaraki's characters are extremely closely tied together. Shigaraki's like the main character of the league, his backstories parallel everyone else's, including the main character of the entire story Deku. He's the one who makes the plans, goes through training arcs, he's the one who the league unites around. However, Spinner actually has all of that too. I just spent a very long time showing how Spinner despite not having an overly complicated backstory has strong parallels to everyone in the league. If Shigaraki is the main character, then Spinner is the everyman / the perspective character, hence why he's the narrator of MVA. Shigaraki is a person of extraordinary circumstance, the symbol of society's oppression who everyone in the league deepy relates to because he's suffered the same way that they have and he accepts them. Whereas, Spinner has suffered because of Hero Society too, he's more like a normal guy who makes an effort to understand everyone around him.
However, Deku wasn't saved by his love interest, or even his childhood friend who is apparently his destined rival, he was saved by Iida trying his best to keep up with him.
Spinner and Shigaraki are both the emotional core of the league in different ways. The league all respects Shigaraki, they rally around his ideas, his dreams are what inspire everybody. However, more and more it's looking like Spinner, ordinary, average, Spinner is working to build emotional connections to everyone in a much more normal way. He talks to Toga and tries to understand her love. He even consoles Toga when twice is gone. He challenges Shigaraki directly to his face. Compress who is always sort of watching the league in the background and checking up on them in little ways notices how hard that Spinner is trying to take care of Shigaraki.
Shigaraki accepts people at their worst and gives them a place to belong, but I think by Spinner's efforts to get to know and understand others, we as an audience are shown how humanizing of a presence that Spinner is on everyone else. Spinner, just being a normal guy, brings out the fact that the rest of the league despite their extraordinary circumstances are deep down just normal people to, who want to be loved normally, and live normally. Spinner literally wakes up Shigaraki, because he remembered the one time that he opened up in front of all of them, and cares enough to try to understand Shigaraki's hurt feelings and what he cares about.
If anything from the last arc in the manga, we're shown at great length, how understanding, reaching out, it all takes effort and it's not as flashy as defeating a villain or rescuing someone from a natural disaster.
Spinner is so important to Shigaraki, because while Shigaraki has given everyone in the group a place where they can be individuals, Shigaraki hasn't realized he himself can be an individual yet. He ultimately, shares the same character flaw as Deku. It's because he's decided that he's going to carry out his dreams for the sake of the league and to create a better future for them, that Shigaraki no longer cares what happens to himself, or about his own future. Everyone talks about Dabi's suicidal nature, but this is something that Shigaraki is challenged on over and over again. What are your motivations. What are your reasons. What do you want to accomplish. He always responds with nothing. There's nothing that he wants, there's nothing worth living for, he only wants to destroy and make a better world for the people who are around him. Shigaraki is the most thoroughly dehumanized character, to the point where he just straight up accepts "god of destruction" because that is at least an identity. Shigaraki needs Spinner and his normalizing influence, because Shigaraki can't see himself as a normal person.
Shigaraki shares the same character flaw as Deku, he does everything for the sake of others, with no regard to himself, which leads to extreme bouts of self-harming and fighting alone. Shigaraki faced off against Endeavor, and basically all the heroes alone even though he did call for backup. However, even before that Shigaraki made the decision to get dangerous risky surgery that would be like hell, because he believed deep down he wasn't good enough alone. Shigaraki just does not care about himself and is unable to see himself as an individual, which is exactly why he needs someone to care for him and see him that way.
Shigaraki's greatest challenge to date is that he's been dehumanized so thoroughly, and lost sight of himself to the point where he's lost even his own body autonomy. When Shigaraki is battling for possession of his body as AFO attempts to take total control and make him into a symbol again, denying him his personhood, we're set up directly with Spinner being the one who reminds us that Shigaraki is just a person, who likes video games, and gets along with his friends. It's Spinner who notices right away that AFO is different from Shigaraki and challenges him the same way that he challenged Shigaraki directly in the My VIllain Academia arc. This is all set up most likely, for Spinner being the one to reach out a hand the same way IIDA did, because what Shigaraki needs the most right now, is not a hero who will save him, but rather a normal person who will understand him and remind him that deep down he was just a normal kid too before all of this happened. What Shigaraki is most in need of is a hand that will reach out to him, and Spinner has already done this once putting Nana's hand back on his face when he couldn't wake up, but what he's failed to realize is that it's his own scaly lizard hands that should be doing the reaching out.
Are you really wondering why so many people like the League of Villains while totally failing to acknowledge that they are a welcoming group whenever you like it or not?
Magne is a confirmed trans character in bnha / mha.
Twice has mental issues and no one ever questioned him or rejected him for it.
Toga is a teenage girl and they never even once commented on her looks or sexualized her. Even more, they worried over her but never underestimated Toga in no way.
Mr. Compress lost his arm and they never treated him like he was less or anything.
Dabi has a bunch of issues but no one questions him or asks him about anything. He's free to come and go as he want, always.
Shigaraki never forced them to do anything. He himself never rejected someone that wanted to join the League. With Stain and Overhaul, they refused to follow him and stayed away themselves, they also looked for a fight with Shigaraki.
They never made fun of Spinner for his quirk.
Most of them are not useful to society standars and they don't care. They don't push anyone into being more than what they are.
You have at least two characters with chronic psychological and physical issues. No one rejected them or though less of them for that.
They represent minorities. Not all of them, but some of them. They are a tiny group of powerless people getting together to do something big, contrary to organizations like the Hero Comission or the Meta Liberation Army (who were people in power).
They never pushed anyone to reveal their identities. I can't stress how important this is. They never asked for anything the others were not ready to give.
They never blamed Twice for taking Overhaul to them. Shigaraki gave him the opportunity to fix it but only because he was feeling guilty, not because Shigaraki himself was blaming him on it.
They support each other a lot. They are each other's priorities.
If someone hurts any of them, they get revenge, oh boy if they didn't. Overhaul, the Meta Liberation Army and Hawks are some examples of what happens when you mess with a member of the League.
And finally, they'd gladly sacrifice themselves to protect each other. We have many, many examples of this.
*Dabi is an exception to some things over here but he's a separate case, mostly because he is very protective of the League, for whatever reason he has.
But there it is. They are a welcoming group.
I'm not saying they are a picture perfect family and I'm not excusing their behaviors. Stop seeing things in black and white. They can have good things without being romanticized and still have many many things wrong.
They are still very disfunctional and dangerous to each other, but there are also some important topics and representations in here.
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
yousharknotpass
dededos
jacobvanloon
baratheonpilled
areudirty
