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Enji Todoroki, known professionally as the Flame Hero: Endeavor or simply Endeavor, is a major character in the 2014 Japanese superhero manga series My Hero Academia and its 2016 anime television series adaptation of the same name. He acts as the anti-heroic main antagonist of the U.A. Sports Festival Arc and the main protagonist of the Pro Hero Arc. He also appears as a minor anti-heroic character in the 2016 spin-off prequel manga series My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. Additionally, he is a minor character in the 2019 anime film My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising.
Enji was the No. 2 Pro Hero of Japan, with the highest tally of resolved cases in history. His quirk is called Hellflame, which allows Enji to produce and manipulate incredibly intense flames at will.
Endeavor was the anti-heroic rival of All Might who resolved to surpass the Symbol of Peace no matter the cost. To this end, he sired children with a woman named Rei, who possessed a powerful ice quirk. Enji and Rei's fourth child (and third son) was born with a desirable quirk that Enji believed would allow him to one day one-up the No. 1 Pro Hero.
Endeavor mercilessly trained the boy (named Shoto) to master his quirk from a young age. He abused his wife and children in this pursuit, eventually putting Rei in a mental hospital when she snapped from the abuse and ended up (accidentally) harming Shoto.
All Might retired before Shoto could surpass him, making Endeavor the new No. 1 Pro Hero of Japan. With his dream taken away from him, Enji began to reflect on all of his past wrongdoings as a hero and a family man. Eventually, he resolved to atone for his sins and become a hero his family could be proud of. However, during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc, Endeavor's hero career gets destroyed by hands of Dabi, who is revealed to be his eldest son Toya Todoroki, by broadcasting a pre-recorded video to the public about his abusive childhood.
He is voiced by Tetsu Inada in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Patrick Seitz in the English version of the anime. Seitz has also voiced Jiren in Dragon Ball Super, Dio Brando in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and Franky in One Piece.
Appearance
Enji is a tall man with a muscular physique. He has short and spiky, red hair with turquoise eyes. His beard and mustache appear to be made of fire, but when he turns off his flames on his face voluntarily, his stubble shows.
Endeavor's Hero Costume is comprised of a navy blue bodysuit with flames streaming across his chest, arms, and most prominently his shoulders. He uses his flames as a make-shift domino mask, and his boots appear to be made of flames as well. He sports white bracers styled in a cage pattern and a black belt with a white pouch attached to the side. After officially becoming the No. 1 Pro Hero, Endeavor's costume has been upgraded. His bracers have been redesigned to look more sharp and armor-like, and they now completely encase his arms. On the back of his hands, are grill hand guards which have a set of holes to flush a torrent of flames out the back of his hands if needed, & his fingers are exposed from the base knuckles. His bodysuit now has large stripes running across his torso, which are completely engulfed in his flames. Endeavor also added shoulder pads and a new belt, which appear to be made of the same material as his bracers. His belt is a stylized kanji for "Flame".
Personality
Enji has been described by his son as a prideful and ambitious man driven by his goal to surpass All Might. His desire to surpass the number one hero has driven him in family matters too, having "created" his children in hopes of having an offspring that could surpass All Might.
This drive has followed him his entire life, and repeated failure has plagued him from a young age. He had no interest in the title or the fame of the position, instead wanting to have earned it on merit and ability. Because of this, he is furious when he becomes the number one hero after All Might retires because he feels that all his efforts were wasted, since he only won the spot from a technicality and not because of his strength. This divide in ability and ambition influenced his adult life and decisions regarding his family. Some signs of regret are shown when he contemplates on how his ambition drove his family life into pressure and abuse. Even so, he constantly pushes Shoto to try and surpass both himself and All Might so he can achieve his own goal of becoming the best. This ambition can be seen in how he ignores the rest of his children and focuses only on Shoto while preventing him from interacting with his siblings.
He appeared proud of Shoto when he used his flame side during the U.A. Sports Festival, and when he chose Endeavor's agency for workplace training.
Enji has a bad temper which has been demonstrated on several occasions such as when he saw All Might's true form and shouted in rage at the number 1 hero for hiding such a state, angered that his lifelong goal seemed so pitiful. This was shown again after All Might was forced into retirement and Endeavor would be given the No. 1 spot by default he destroyed his training hall, furious he was being put into the no. 1 spot without having earned it. Then storming off and demanding Hawks foot the bill for the meal they shared. after believing he had wasted his time .
Endeavor's behavior does not go unnoticed by the public, his dismissive and aggressive behavior being a selling point to his fans. While he is a hero and possesses an amount of supporters, there are those in the public who recognize his less charismatic nature and comparing him to All Might brings doubt to the position of No. 1. According to Present Mic, Endeavor is usually not a sociable person. Despite this, his competence at solving crimes and defeating villains is unquestioned, with Endeavor having dedicated his life to studying and training to attain the top spot of the Hero rankings.
During Shoto's retake of the Hero License exam, Endeavor asks All Might for advice on what it means to be a Symbol of Peace, showing a rather calm expression towards the former No.1 Hero instead of dismissing him and his advice as usual. After hearing All Might's response, Endeavor accepts this information, and resolves to work towards that ideal. After Shoto gets his hero license, Endeavor tells him how he is proud of his son and vows to become a proper father and a better hero, and while Shoto initially brushes this off, he smiles to himself once his father leaves. He is also shown to be more respectful of Shoto's boundaries, having backed down from physical contact after Shoto knocked him away.
Endeavor fully understands the gravity of his crimes against his family and the horrible pain he put all of them through. As such, he accepts whatever criticism comes from his family members and the hatred they hold against them. When his son, Natsuo, explains that he'll never forgive him for what he did to their family and to his brother, Toya, Endeavor replies by saying it's alright if he doesn't forgive him, and the only thing he wants to do is atone for his crimes. He becomes determined to do whatever it takes for his family, and he eventually decides to take himself out of the equation by creating a new home for his family where they can all spend time together without him.
During the Hero Ranking Ceremony Endeavor is shown to be more dedicated to the goal of becoming worthy of the No. 1 rank and the new symbol of peace. Despite his determination to become a better father and someone worthy of being the new symbol of peace, Endeavor still retains traces of his old personality, openly stating to Izuku and Katsuki during their work studies that he only wanted Shoto to come and had no real interest in teaching either of them. In spite of this, he still does his best to teach all three students about the fundamentals of heroism and compliments them when they manage to take out a villain faster than he could.
Theme
Just Another Hero by Yuki Hayashi
See also
 Heroes
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U.A. High School Pro Heroes Other Schools Movies Other One For All Users Vigilantes | ||