My Hero Academia: How Dabi and Deku Share More Than Meets the Eye

From both good and evil, most characters want to prove themselves in one way or another. This is what sets MHA's Dabi and Deku on their unique paths.

With a childhood filled with disappointment of being born with no Quirk yet a desire to be better, Deku from the My Hero Acadmia franchise pulled the heartstrings of all viewers when they saw in the first season that Deku was devastated to be born quirkless. However, during his encounter with All Might, Deku showed his desire to become a true hero. Conversely, Dabi was born with his father Endeavor's Quirk. He too had a strong desire to prove his usefulness to his father. Having known Endeavor's goal was to breed the perfect Quirk combination child, Dabi only wanted to prove to his father that he was what Endeavor wanted out of a child.

From then on, Dabi's and Deku's decisions to move toward proving themselves are what set them on separate paths. Dabi's motivation to become his father's "model child" eventually turned to simply a desire to prove Endeavor wrong. Dabi no longer wanted to prove anything to Endeavor; his only goal now is to haunt him. Dabi's face is a painful reminder to Endeavor of what he did wrong as a father.

Had Endeavor attempted to work with Dabi further, they could have possibly created a support item to counteract the overheating from his lack of ice Quirk. Dabi now sees Todoroki as his main rival and even his cause for going onward. Dabi solely wants to haunt Endeavor and show him what "the failure" can do to his prized model child in shoto.

Why Deku and Dabi Took Separate Paths

Dabi's accident was the event that set him down his path of evil to haunt the Todoroki family. Dabi's motivation to become the best hero possible was twisted by his lack of attention from his father. Deku, on the other hand, was born without a Quirk and was beyond committed to somehow obtaining one. The day that All Might passed on the powers of One For All, Deku swore to make use of his ability to save everyone around him. Where All Might was the catalyst for growth in Deku, Endeavor was the catalyst for the downfall of Dabi's hero mentality.

The differences in these two characters' paths were brought on by many story-driven events. However, through breaking down their lives, viewers can discern why their paths diverged. The encouragement provided by All Might and the push to make Deku better is why Deku is the hero he is today. Meanwhile, Endeavor's failure in parenting was all it took to turn his son, Dabi into a villen persistant only on wreaking havoc