Summary
- Bakugo learned to overcome his flaws by setting aside his ego and embracing empathy and teamwork.
- Despite his initial arrogance, Bakugo began to feel left behind by Deku, leading to self-reflection and growth.
- Bakugo’s true heroism shone through in a moment of crisis, revealing his desire for acknowledgment and growth.
My Hero Academia is a tale of heroes and villains. On the surface, it’s easy to tell that heroes depict hope and selflessness while villains represent ambition and selfishness. But a complex character like Bakugo escapes this evaluation. He had always aspired to become a hero who was powerful and stood on the good side, but often his emotions had kept him away from the essence of being a “hero”.
Bakugo, being gifted from a young age, became arrogant and inconsiderate of others. But as the anime went on, Bakugo started getting left behind, making him feel like a failure. This sparked a change in him, and he finally walked down the path of being a real hero. What path did Bakugo follow to overcome his flaws?
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Bakugo Started As a Bully
My Hero Academia is a world where quirks define people. Acquiring a powerful quirk “Explosion” made Bakugo the center of praise and expectations at a very young age. The constant praise made him believe that he was better than everyone around him. But during an incident, Bakugo fell into a river and Deku came rushing to help him. Deku saw himself and Bakugo as equals and wanted purely to help him as a friend. But Bakugo considered Deku weak and beneath him. He was offended by the idea that a weakling like Deku tried to save him and even assumed that he was looking down on him. This gave birth to his initial hatred towards Deku and also the constant bullying.
But even at this point, just like Deku, Bakugo too admired All Might. He dreamed of becoming a powerful hero who would defeat all evil, just like All Might. While Deku admired All Might’s ability to save lives with a smile, Bakugo admired his strength and ability to defeat anyone. But he kept these desires buried deep inside him and one could only see his rude and aggressive personality.
He Started to Slowly Fall Behind
Bakugo never saw him and Deku as equals. But as early as Episode 2, Deku started to shift this dynamic. When Bakugo was trapped by the Sludge villain, Deku ran to his rescue without a second thought. This already made him possess the qualities of a hero which Bakugo, despite his powers, didn’t have yet. Furthermore, after receiving One For All, Deku slowly started to reach the same level as Bakugo. In Episode 8, Deku defeated Bakugo in a practice exercise which deeply impacted Bakugo. But Bakugo lost not because of his power but because of his arrogance and inability to act as a team.
Here on, Deku kept getting stronger and Bakugo did his best to keep up. Even though they were at similar levels of power, Bakugo felt like he was being left behind. Deku was able to grasp the qualities of a hero, like empathy and teamwork, while Bakugo failed to do the same. Despite winning the U.A. Festival, Bakugo did not feel satisfied because he compared his fight to Deku’s and felt Shoto did not do his best against him. His growth was invisible to himself because of his godly expectations of himself.
When he got kidnapped by the League of Villains, he further started questioning his strength. He even held himself responsible for All Might’s retirement. In Episode 61, he found out the truth about Deku’s quirk. But instead of blaming Deku for using attained power. He instead started questioning his own admiration for All Might. He was frustrated that though both of them admired All Might, All Might acknowledged Deku over him. It made him feel that his desire to become a hero was weaker than Deku’s. But this battle between them helped him realize his true feelings, and he started accepting that he still had a lot to learn.
Bakugo’s Moment of True Heroism
Throughout the show, Bakugo seemed like a tough and arrogant teenager who did not put much thought into emotions. His only objective felt like becoming stronger. But in Episode 149, Bakugo revealed his true feelings. After being beaten down by Shigaraki, it felt like all hope was lost. But Bakugo stood back up and fought with new-found power and speed. Though his powers were hurting him, he continued to fight to protect others.
During the fight, we see Bakugo’s internal monologue. Despite what he said, Bakugo was still a kid inside who dreamed of becoming an amazing hero like All Might. The expectations laid on him made him arrogant and ambitious. But his continuous failures made him understand others around him and helped him realize his flaws. He realized that everyone around him was trying equally hard, and he started acknowledging them, especially Izuku. In the end, it seemed like Bakugo simply wanted to be acknowledged for his strengths and endless efforts.
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Bakugo was a major character during the final war of MHA. Despite all that, he never became the Number 1 Hero.
My Hero Academia is available to watch on Netflix and Crunchyroll.