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Years ago, my friend recommended My Hero Academia when it first came out. He told me the series is like Harry Potter, but the school is for superheroes instead of wizards. I was initially hesitant because there are tons of anime series that came before with similar premise, such as Ao No Exorcist. Despite my hesitations, I watched it anyway because I was curious about why it became so popular.
Today, I am now a fan of the series. The reason why the show is so appealing to a wide audience is because of the characters. I was drawn to them because of their likable personalities and relatable struggles. It is not a ‘generic’ Shonen battle anime; each fight is loaded with emotions and personal conflicts.
One of my favorite parts of the show is the Todoroki Family. This particular family is loaded with so much drama that sometimes I wonder if the show can be called ‘Keeping Up with the Todoroki’. It is packed with different elements, from estranged members, to controlling parents, and mental breakdowns.
Like all other popular anime, My Hero Academia also spawned thousands of fanfictions on the internet. Many people began creating original characters or ‘OCs’ that interact with the Canon cast and share it with other fans.
One of the most notable OCs is Teka Todoroki, the supposed mother of Enji. She was described as ‘toxic’ and ‘narcissistic’, who was responsible for why Enji grew up to become what he is now. Of course, fans wanted to add another character that could add more tension within the family to make the narrative spicier.
Bottom Line Up Front
Teka Todoroki is an original character made by the artist, Ackers. It means she is not part of the Canon cast as much as we wanted her to be. This does not stop her growing popularity among fans; she is definitely on my radar.
Teka is often nicknamed the ‘lava woman’ because of her quirk that turns her hair into lava. According to her creator, she is the mother of Enji Todoroki, which makes her the grandmother of Toya, Natsuo, and Fuyumi. She is described as a narcissist who constantly thinks of herself; even the creator called her a ‘toxic’ person.
Who is Teka?
Teka Todoroki is the mother of Enji Todoroki, known as Endeavor,, making her the grandmother of Toya, Natsuo, Shoto, and SPOILER. She is nicknamed the ‘Lava Woman’ due to the quirk that allows her to turn objects into lava, including her hair.
She is described as narcissistic, hot-headed, and neglectful. Teka’s interaction with her husband and son is fun to follow – until you realize that Teka’s awful parenting is why Enji is the way he is. If you follow the series, you know that Enji’s actions have caused emotional drama.
Teka is an original character made by the artist called Ackers. This means that she is not part of the series canon cast, but her popularity made it seems that she is.
Teka: Appearance, Personality, Quotes and More
Appearance
There is no doubt that Teka is a beautiful woman. They say that appearance does not reflect their character, but Teka is certainly an exception. Based on her appearance alone, I could say that the girl has an attitude, and you better not try to cross her.
Teka is also known for her hot-headedness – literally. Her most defining feature is her lava hair. Yes, you heard it right, lava. If you ever have a catfight with Teka, your hands will burn before you can grab her hair – provided that she won’t murder you first.
On occasions when she is not using her quirk, her lava hair will harden into dark obsidian. An obsidian hair would certainly be uncomfortable if you are going to sleep; that explains why she is always cranky – who won’t? Teka has icy blue eyes that made a nice contrast to her lava hair. Her eyes completed her resting b-word look. It made her look cold and intimidating. Like her son, her stare could pierce right to your soul.
I would have second thoughts about fighting if I was a villain because she looks like a person who will not hesitate to use her quirk to turn me into barbeque. Teka’s beauty sometimes makes us forget that she is way older than she appears; you have to remember that Enji was already 45 when he first appeared on the show.
According to the creator, she is using a special drug that allows her to stop aging at 36, which makes her look way younger than her own son. If you look at the fanarts, you might even mistake her as his daughter! Teka is currently 67 years old, but it is best not to tell her that fact if you know what is best for you.
Personality
Teka has an attitude problem, a massive one. Teka surrounded herself with luxury at a young age due to being a successful model. Because of it, she thinks highly of herself, believing she is the essence of perfection. She is also incredibly unapproachable and standoffish, never letting anyone get close to her – unless you have a Rolls Royce as a car.
Teka is human, which means that despite being mean to the core, she is still capable of loving someone, no matter how much she says that she despises affection. Teka might have agreed to have a date with Yoshino simply because he is a billionaire but quickly enjoyed his eccentric personality.
Teka initially struggled to make sense of her feelings but eventually accepted them and married him. However, not all of Yoshino’s hobbies were tolerated by Teka, as shown when she burned the Hentai T-shirt that he intends to wear for an anime convention.
Teka’s love for Yoshino is genuine, and she really wants to make him happy in her own way. She even went as far as letting herself bear a child because she wants to fulfill Yoshino’s lifelong dream of being a dad – at the cost of her dream to compete for Ms. Universe.
Yoshino’s death left a hole inside Teka’s heart so big that not even four more marriages could ever fill it again. Teka is also not fond of children, I know, because one illustration shows her kicking a young girl. This dislike was also extended even to her own son, Enji, who she occasionally calls a ‘rat’ and ‘demon’. She is clearly not a hand-on-mom, happily contented on the role as ‘milk supplier’ while her husband did the mothering.
Enji and Teka are not exactly close due to her neglect. She imposed a very high standard on Enji simply because he is her son, pressuring him to be on top of everything. This strained their relationship to the point that Enji never looked at her when she visited during his wedding. Teka wants to forget her son as well, but she can’t because he is the only thing that Yoshino left before he died.
Many concluded that she is a horrible person and an awful parent who was indirectly responsible for all the problems faced by the Todoroki Family down the line – and I agree. Heck, even her creator, agrees that Teka is far from a nice person, calling her a ‘toxic’ person. However, there are also a lot of people who also liked her because she is very entertaining to watch – and I also agree.
It is completely okay that a character is both loved and hated by fans because it shows that she is a complex character with a lot of depth.
This was intended by the creator because Mary Sues are boring, a 100% goody-two-shoes, and 100% Evil characters are not necessarily great ones to watch. All of us are humans, and we are all aware that not everybody likes us – and that is okay.
Quotes
Teka is insensitive and not afraid to speak what she thinks. She is a divisive character because some people hate her for being rude and an uncaring mother, while others believe that she is entertaining to watch. For me, I could say that she is a well-rounded character who has a lot of depth. Here are some quotes that I find that let you know who she is:
“It could be a cold day in hell before I’m seeing my husband wearing this! Besides you don’t need Hentai when you have me.”
“I quit yesterday, there’s no point in participating if I will be like a cow by that time. Besides, its just another stupid crown, no big deal. Also, you said that your life dream was to become a dad so I thought.”
“Ew affection. No thanks. I’m staying just as the milk supply.”
“You see, last time I saw him, was on his wedding, he didn’t look at me the whole day, not even once, and he made it clear that he didn’t want me on his life anymore.”
“This is weird but I usually don’t give a crap about anything. It hasn’t changed, even after all these years that I trained myself to forget him. After all the times I remarried expecting someone… someone…ugh!”
“Now that I remember it, some people say that you don’t know what you have until its gone. Oh boy. I can’t believe how true that turned out to be. Our son Enji is the only thing he left behind and loneliness along with the pain. I wish I hadn’t given birth to Enji. I wish hadn’t found love. I wish I hadn’t met you. Yoshino.”
The last quote pretty much humanizes Teka. She is still unapologetic and callous, but we could see how much she loved Yoshino. It is really great to watch their relationship blossom despite Teka only going on a date because of his money.
The last quote also shows that she is now experiencing the consequences of her actions, and she accepts it, which is actually a very mature thing for a shallow character like her.
Abilities: Lava Quirk
Teka is not a professional hero but a famous model; this does not mean you can just push her around. Like many characters in the show, Teka is born with a quirk that allows her to generate heat that melts objects into lava and manipulate it at her own will.
Her quirk usually manifests with her hair being made of molten lava. Once she deactivates her quirk, her hair will cool down and become obsidian. Teka’s quirk also has weaknesses like the others in the series. Although the lava does not harm her, everything in her surroundings will burn because of the intense heat of the lava.
That is the reason why she made sure that all her clothes were fireproof, and she had to wear a fireproof hair cap while she slept in order to avoid burning her husband.
Another weakness of Teka’s quirk is that she suffers from constant back pains. Teka’s spine serves as a reactor and the main source of her heat. Too much, and her spine will deteriorate along with the possibility of other organ failures. However, this does not stop her from burning things when she’s mad.
Teka is a hot-headed (get it?) person, and it is really easy to anger her for a pointless reason. She is not a hero, so she usually applies her quirk for other reasons, such as heating up the tub to clean her hair. Woe to those who were the subject of her jealousy, for they will find themselves blasted to the sky by her lava.
Relationships
Yoshino
Teka initially doesn’t care about Yoshino when they first met, dismissing him as another man who wants to have sex with her. Teka only agreed to have a date with him after she saw him driving a Rolls Royce car. However, as they began to spend time together, Teka began to like his quirky personality, which greatly confuses Teka because she usually doesn’t care about others.
Teka came to genuinely love Yoshino to the point that she is willing to sacrifice her career to fulfill Yoshino’s dream of becoming a father. It was really sad to know that Yoshino died very early because the two are really meant to be together.
After Yoshino’s death, Teka remarried four times, and none of them made her happy as Yoshino did. There were times when her loneliness and regret made her wish that she did not meet him due to how his death affected her.
Enji
Enji and Teka’s relationship is not great – and that is an understatement. Her parenting is the sole reason why the Todorokis is a dysfunctional family is because of her. Teka never really liked being a mother because she only did have him for the sake of Yoshino. She is happily contended with being a milk supplier.
When Enji became a child, she was very neglectful. She often calls him a ‘rat’ or a ‘demon’ whenever she is annoyed by him. Although the comic was played for laughs, it shows us how damaging her neglect and apathy in Enji’s development. I hope that these ‘moments’ will be explored in a more dramatic way.
Teka’s narcissism made her impose a very high standard on her son, which made a lot of pressure on Enji’s part. It was no surprise that Enji would eventually reject her and resented her. Teka told her second husband that Enji never looked at her and never saw her grandkids because she recognizes that Enji doesn’t want her to be part of his life.
Interesting Trivia about Teka
She is an Original Character
Teka is an original character, also known as ‘OC’, that was made by the Artist Acker. She is fun and entertaining, but she is not part of the ‘Canon’ cast.
There are also plenty of OCs scattered throughout the internet, but she is the one who garnered popularity amongst the fans of the series. You can actually find her comics on Acker’s Tumblr account and Patreon if you want to see more of her misadventures.
She Married Five Times
Yoshino and Teka are happily married with a child. Unfortunately for Teka and Enji, Yoshino died young, leaving the two dysfunctional people to themselves. Teka wanted to make up for the loss by marrying and divorcing four times, but none of them captured her heart as Yoshino.
Her constant dating became the final straw that destroyed her relationship with Enji. The consequences of her neglect and apathy became obvious when Enji beat up her boyfriend for trying to replace his father. This was really tragic because Enji is much closer to his father than his mother. Enji and Teka never really met eye-to-eye because of his mother’s neglect.
Teka would eventually realize years later how much she really cared for Enji, but she does not pursue reconciliation because she believes that it is too late. I hope that the creator will give us a satisfying closure and reconciliation between the two characters – Teka deserves to atone just as much as Enji.
She is a Famous Model
Teka is a famous international model at the age of only 19 years old as such, she was surrounded by luxury and rich men who wanted to be with her. This is the reason why Teka dismissed Yoshino as another creepy man who wanted to have sex with her and was taken aback when Yoshino cheekily asked for a date instead.
Teka initially tried to block Yoshino’s number, but she changed her mind when she saw him driving a luxurious car. I agree with Teka; if someone driving a luxurious car is asking me for a date, I would surely say yes!
FAQs
Question: How did She Control her Powers?
Answer: Teka’s quirk is generating enough heat from her spine to turn things into lava which she can control. Teka’s weakness is that she will constantly feel back pain because her spine is deteriorating due to intense heat.
Since her hair is lava, it is really dangerous to hug or approach her because of the heat – not to mention her ‘pleasing’ personality. She made sure that all of her things were fireproof so that they won’t burn, but that didn’t stop Yoshino from injuring himself because he wanted to hug her.
I admire Yoshino because he never left her (except when he died) despite her being extremely unapproachable – both personality and quirk. Maybe that is the reason why she is devastated by his death because no one would ever be willing to be with her like Yoshino.
Question: What is Her Relationship with Enji?
Answer: Enji and Teka are not on good terms. If your son never looked at you during his wedding day, I think it’s a clear sign that he doesn’t want you there. Teka knew it, so she never bothered to be in touch with him for decades. She doesn’t even know her own grandchildren.
This is the part where I feel bad for Teka. I know it was her fault for being neglectful and toxic to her son, but at least she knew what she had done. Teka is a perfect example of an imperfect parent; it is rare to explore parents’ regrets, especially in the Shonen series, which is why her character is a breath of fresh air.
Question: How Old is Teka?
Answer: Teka is 67 years old, but she still looks like 36 because of a special drug that she used to slow down her aging. If that drug is canon, maybe we could see Midoriya’s mom in all her glory – not saying her current shape is bad, though.
Teka Todoroki Guide: Conclusion
Teka is a flawed person, but that is okay. I believe that parents should be depicted as people who also committed a lot of mistakes. We all know that Enji was a flawed character, and we still root for him to win his children’s love.
Flaws add an obstacle to the characters that they need to overcome, which makes their interaction with other characters more nuanced and entertaining. It is really inspiring to see people overcoming their flaws and becoming a better version of themselves – which is actually one of the themes of the series.
I know that Teka is not a Canon character but kudos to the artist for making a compelling character that could easily be inserted into the series. Teka is a headstrong and fierce woman who has to deal with the consequences of her neglect. She is an excellent foil to her son and actually made Enji much more sympathetic than he is now.