Half-Cold Half-Hot is the Quirk used by Shoto Todoroki.
Description#
Half-Cold Half-Hot grants the user the power of fire and ice on each side of their body, generating ice, frost, and cold from the right side of their body, and fire, flames, and heat from the left. However, the user can only create and manipulate either element from their body, being unable to utilize either element produced from an external source.
The Quirk's power is perfectly divided between the right and left sides of the user's body, [1] giving the user two powerful, separate methods of combat that they may use regardless of the other.
Half-Cold Half-Hot stems from the fusion of the Hellflame Quirk of Shoto's father, Enji Todoroki, and the Frost Quirk from his mother, Rei Todoroki, through a Quirk Marriage.
As part of his training, Shoto submerged himself in a barrel of water and alternated between his ice and fire abilities to regulate the temperature of the water. His body becomes accustomed to the cold, and he learns to control the power output of his flames.
This training also helped him learn to use both sides at the same time,[2] which Shoto acknowledged he initially could not do so reliably due to having used and becoming better accustomed to his right side's ice abilities than his left side's fire abilities.
Shoto's later development of Half-Cold Half-Hot has allowed him to combine the two halves into one ability, creating a "cold fire" that simultaneously burns and freezes opponents. This development has effectively merged both sides into one ability, as well as giving protection from even the most intense of flames.[3][4]
Weaknesses#
The user needs to constantly alternate the use of both elements, heating themselves with the left side after creating a great volume of ice or cooling with the right side after generating strong flames. Overuse of either side without the other to regulate their body temperature could lead to either frostbite or overheating, affecting their whole body, with possibly fatal consequences.
When Shoto uses Phosphor, this weakness is eliminated for the duration of the technique, as he circulates both heat and cold simultaneously through his body.
While powerful, Half-Cold Half-Hot's fire and ice can easily be countered with enough brute strength or by directly countering their elemental properties, the result of which often backs Shoto into a corner and forces him to fight defensively. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu was a particularly troublesome opponent for Shoto due to this drawback, as he could effortlessly both shatter his ice and resist the temperature of his flames with his Steel Quirk.
Usage#
Right-Side#
Using the right side of his body, Shoto can generate ice to drastically lower temperatures and freeze anything he touches, as well as create solid structures for offense or defense.
Shoto's able to swiftly freeze entire buildings,[5] as well as create large waves of ice instantaneously.[6] Despite its incredible raw power, Shoto possesses great control and direction over his right side. He can restrict the ice to avoid fatally freezing someone, or use precision attacks to freeze only certain portions of a target's body.[7][8][9] If fighting alongside others, he is capable of covering enemy territory with ice while simultaneously preventing it from getting in his allies' way.[10]
Shoto is capable of molding the ice and frost into certain shapes to support himself, such as protective barriers, stairs to elevate himself[11], or a moving wave of ice for him to surf through.[12] Shoto has many mobility options too, like stacking ice shards behind his back to propel himself forward[13] or freezing the ground to skate on it.[14] Shoto has also shown the ability to shape his ice to an extent, as shown with a wall and ramp[15], and even a jet with the assistance of Tenya Ida.[16]
Shoto has also shown himself to be able to use his ice to freeze and contain fire in order to neutralize explosions in a large dome-like area of cold that quickly extinguishes the flames before dissipating.[17]
Prolonged usage of his right side will lower his body temperature to dangerous levels. When this occurs, Shoto's body gets covered in frost, and his ice attacks lose their effectiveness.[18] His maximum output brings him to his temperature limit almost immediately.[6]
As Shoto is far more used to his right side than his left, he instinctively begins attacks with the former. This can be disadvantageous against an opponent that possesses a Quirk that is able to counter it.[10]
Similar to his father's ability to raise his heat to its maximum level, Shoto decided to follow this lead and lower his ice temperature to its coldest level. This was first demonstrated when Shoto froze Chimera by drastically dropping the temperature of his ice, and while it was successful in freezing him, Shoto's body could not handle overexerting himself, resulting in frostbites spreading all over his body and knocking him unconscious.[19]
Left-Side#
From the left side of his body, Shoto can generate fire to drastically increase temperatures and burn anything he touches.
When Shoto ignites his flames, the resulting blaze covers his arm and the left side of his head. He is able to shoot out consuming streams of fire or protective short waves of it.[20] After upgrading his costume to help him control his temperatures, the flames only ignite on Shoto's hand, displaying more command over his left side.[21]
Due to Shoto's animosity towards his father, Enji Todoroki, he held off on using his left side offensively for most of his life, activating it only for thawing victims of his freezing attacks.[1] After battling Izuku Midoriya during the U.A. Sports Festival and talking with his mother, Rei Todoroki, Shoto finally began to accept and embrace his left side, becoming able to produce large-scale fire attacks like walls of flames.[22]
However, despite Enji teaching Shoto from a young age that the flames his son can produce are unrivaled, Shoto still prefers to use his ice more. As a result, his manipulation of flames is still rather poor in comparison to the finesse of his right side. His lack of control made adjusting to the high temperatures of his flames difficult for him as well.[23]
During the Joint Training Arc, when confronted with Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, who could resist extreme temperatures and was unaffected by freezing attacks, Shoto found himself having to go past his limit and unleash the full might of his left side. Shoto's strongest flames are hot enough that they threatened to melt Tetsutetsu's Steel body, while nearly setting all of Ground Gamma ablaze. It's possible that Shoto can increase his fire's temperature even higher, but Juzo Honenuki prevented him from attempting so. According to All Might, Shoto's flames at full power are as strong as Endeavor's own flames.
Overusing his fire can cause his body to overheat and induce dizziness that can render him unconscious if not kept in check, a weakness he shares with his father. Endeavor even stated that even though Shoto's flames have the potential to surpass his own, Shoto using his flames at full power is still dangerous, especially if he can’t control them.[24]
Fortunately, Shoto is capable of using his other side to counteract the dangerous effects of whichever one he happens to be overexerting.[11] Activating both sides simultaneously is possible as well,[2] but lack of practice has made this awkward for him, as it dulls his movements.[25]
By chilling the air using his ice and then heating it in an instant through his fire, Shoto can release a huge super-heated blast of flame that devastates anything on its path.[26] Overall, Shoto's strongest attacks tend to be of a very impressive scale, although that's not always a good thing, with Katsuki Bakugo once noting that Shoto loses some of his precision when attempting to overwhelm his enemy. By the end of the war and after training with the Pussycats, Shoto has managed to gain an almost equal mastery of his left side to his right side, bridging the gap of inexperience with his left side due to his animosity towards his father.[3]
Ultimate Moves#
Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall: Shoto uses his freezing powers to generate a giant, glacier-like wave of ice. He first used this move on Hanta Sero in the U.A. Sports Festival.[6] It remained unnamed until the Final Exams, when Momo Yaoyorozu dubbed it. Shoto used a smaller variation of this move against Katsuki,[27] and the largest version was used to attack Mr. Compress. Shoto again used this move against Izuku to prevent his escape from the rest of Class 1-A.[15]
Wall of Flames: Shoto uses his burning powers to generate a burst of flames that covers a large area. He first used this move on Tetsutetsu in the third round of the Joint Training Battle.[22]
Flashfreeze Heatwave: Shoto first cools the air around him with his ice before switching to his fire and rapidly heating and expanding the air around him. This allows him to release a super-heated blast. He first used this move against Izuku when the two battled at the U.A. Sports Festival.
Flashfire Fist: Endeavor's signature technique, later passed down to Shoto himself.[28] The user increases the temperature of their flames to their maximum and compresses them to a white-hot point, maximizing their power.
Hell Spider: Shoto concentrates his flames into white-hot points on his fingertips and emits beams of fire to slice through his target.[29]
Jet Kindling: Shoto concentrates his flames into a white-hot point on his fist and punches his opponent. On contact, a violent explosion of flames burst out of Shoto's arm, severely burning his target.[30]
Phosphor: Shoto circulates both halves of his Quirk throughout his body, merging the fire and ice into one ability. This Ultimate Move also serves as a basis for other moves Shoto uses.[4]
Coldflame's Pale Blade: Shoto gathers Phosphor's cold flames on his fists to conjure large pieces of conjoined ice and fire into his hands, which he blasts together at his opponent. He then loosely shapes this conjoined ice and fire into a "blade" before striking with it in a large arc.[31]
Great Glacial Aegir: Shoto, while rushing his opponent, builds up his fire and ice on his right fist before punching them and unleashing a massive wave of cold fire, able to extinguish the hottest of flames, as well as cover a tremendous section of terrain completely in ice.[31]