Shoto Todoroki, also known by the mononym Shoto, is a superhero and one of the main protagonists of the manga series My Hero Academia, created by Kōhei Horikoshi. Being the only child who inherited both Endeavor and Rei’s Quirks, Shoto was often separated from his siblings.
Shoto is a tall and rather well-built young man. He has long hair that splits between white (on his right side) and red (on his left side). He has heterochromia iridium, with his right eye being gray and his left being turquoise in color.
He also has a burn on the left side of his face which reaches halfway down his cheek. Appearance-wise, he is regarded as quite handsome by girls such as Mina Ashido and Camie Utsushimi.
His initial hero costume consisted of a plain white shirt, with matching pants and boots. He wears an ice-like material on the left side of his body, which is detachable from neck upwards as a way of rejecting the fire side of his Quirk.
Shoto’s costume is later updated to a dark blue, short-sleeved jacket and pants with two gold-colored straps over his shoulders. A metal plated combat vest with white boots, he also has a brown utility belt that contains medical supplies.
- Half-Cold Half-Hot: Shoto’s Quirk grants him both pyro and cryokinesis, essentially allowing him control over fire and ice (from his left and right sides). Although with him rejecting his fire abilities, Todoroki shows more finesse with the ice side of his Quirk, he is able to instantly generate large constructs of ice, while unable to manipulate it he can use his power in a myriad of ways, including him freezing opponents, creating pillars and shields of ice to block attacks.
After accepting to use his flames, which he only used beforehand to melt his ice, Todoroki has shown to have difficulty learning how to control them but soon manages to get a better handle over his fire abilities. Todoroki has also been able to use both powers at once, although this proves to be difficult and perhaps unwise given that it dulls his movements.
By using both halves of his Quirk, Shoto is able to create super-heated blast by first using his right side to cool the air then quickly switches to his left side to heat the air creating a heated blast. By using both halves throughout his body he is able to merge the two halves creating an “X” shaped flame on his chest. This allows him to create both a flame that is both Hot and Cold.
If Shoto overuses either his ice or fire, then he will come to suffer from either frostbite or heatstroke, meaning that Shoto must regulate his temperature between the two. A reason that Endeavor was thankful for Shoto being born with both his and Rei’s Quirk was that they could be used to counter each other’s weaknesses.
At first, Shoto exhibited a cold and aloof attitude, often preferring to keep to himself rather than socializing with his peers and commonly focusing on the task at hand. Despite seeming cold, however, Shoto isn’t openly cruel, mean or rude, and his distant behaviour is likely a result of his complicated home life, as well as growing apart from his siblings. Shoto detested the fire half of his Quirk, given that his fire abilities were inherited from his abusive father Endeavor.
He goes as far as to completely reject his fire powers by refusing to use them completely (save for only when he has to melt his ice), as well as designing his first costume by covering his entire left side with ice. Shoto hates his father for having abused him, keeping him separated him from his siblings, as well as abusing his mother to the point of facing a mental breakdown. He refuses to serve as his successor to usurp All Might’s position as the No. 1 hero.
After the events of the Sports Festival, however, Izuku Midoriya convinces Shoto that his Quirk is his own power, including his fire abilities. From here, he develops a willingness to use his flames, no longer seeing them resembling his father. Furthermore, he also slowly becomes more sociable with his classmates, albeit still retaining something of a distant attitude.
It’s very possible that Shoto is socially inexperienced, and does show to be somewhat dense with him not understanding social cues, such as Camie Utsushimi asking for his number. He is also shown to have a close relationship with his mother, the one who encouraged him to grow up and be the best he can, with him not being bound by his father’s bloodline. He commonly visits her at the hospital during his time off.
In the battle, Shoto has a composed and well-grounded attitude, but he also has a habit of sudden brutality whenever angered, as shown by how he completely froze Hanta Sero during their match in the Sports Festival, although he did apologize to him afterwards for having gone overboard. He also demonstrates that he’s a focused and smart individual, with him working together with Momo Yaoyorozu during the Final Exams and encouraging her despite the latter’s lack of confidence at the time. It is also revealed that Shoto voted for Yaoyorozu to be Class Representative, believing that she would be good at managing and leading the classroom.
While Shoto admitted that he wasn’t able to forgive his father after Endeavor has a change of heart and tries to atone for his past wrongdoings, he does appear to have come to respect his father for his new attitude as No. 1, which was shown after Endeavor defeated Hood on live TV. Shoto still remains rather cold towards his father, however, making it clear that he can’t easily forgive him, but appears to be taking a cautious, yet hopeful approach to Endeavor’s attempt at making amends with him and his family.
Despite this, he still remains rather hostile towards his father: during the work studies program, Shoto openly admits to Endeavor that he wants to become a hero like All Might, and that he only came to his agency to use him as a means of getting stronger and gaining experience.