zukuthehero

[zukuthehero]

Hey so while scrolling through your old posts… did you ever do anything with the glitter AU?

Midoriya Izuku was four when he learned not all people were created equal. He was four when he learned the cruelty of the world, when teachers stopped being kind to him and kids started being mean.

He was five when he lost what he thought was his best friend. He didn’t know why Kacchan started hating him then and he cried often as his words got meaner and meaner, no one caring when he used his Quirk to scare Izuku. Or hurt him, but that stopped when another kid got hurt and the teacher explained how dangerous explosions were.

They hadn’t cared when Izuku was the one hurt. And it truly proved to the little boy life wasn’t fair.

The only good thing in his life was his mother who hugged him and cared for him and never let anyone say anything bad about him. She would always take his side. She tried to fight with the school and often won when it came to his grades by bringing in a friend of hers who could see lies and had a license that let him use it for things like that. Catching teachers lying about him cheating really had them stop being mean about his grades.

But he was six and he had to do that. It wasn’t fair.

Izuku ended up spending a lot of time by himself. No one liked him and Kacchan would hurt anyone who wasn’t too mean. So he turned his focus to watching hero fights and writing about them, as well as other things. One such thing was crafts, making cute things or just building models. His mother encouraged him, sad her son spent so much time alone but more than willing to help him smile.

It was this way that this life changed for the better.

-0-

Izuku knew better than to play with so much glitter but he had just gotten the special All Might Glitter that his mom let him save up for. He’d been so excited to play with it, that he’d well…

“Oh my God Izuku,” his mother covered her face, looking like she was trying not to either laugh or cry, seeing her child covered in glitter. “How much glitter is that?”

“Umm… a lot?” He admitted. Inko laughed some more, studying her son. He had put the large bucket- and it was a bucket- of glitter too close to the edge of the kitchen counter, and hadn’t thought about the fact it was a bit too heavy to lift when he’d gone on his tiptoes to grab it, not using his stool like he was supposed to. He ended up showering himself with the glitter, the particles everywhere now. His entire body and hair shone.

“Yes, it is baby.” Inko shook her head and sighed. She was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to clean it off him well enough.

And she was sadly right as two baths later he was still shiny. “We’re going to have to just wait honey.”

“At least it’s All Might colours.” Izuku said with a smile. Inko chuckled at him and ruffled his still glittery hair.

The next day he woke up still covered in glitter, a fact his mom found funny as she handed him his breakfast and got his bag together. Izuku walked to school nervously.

People were already mean to him lots thanks to the fact he was Quirkless. It kinda stopped a bit when his mom learned that the toe joint test was way out of date and she’d sued the doctor and practise for the false diagnosis but it had picked up again when he still showed no signs of a Quirk.

And Kacchan was still the worst, taunting him and mocking him. Izuku wanted to punch him so badly but heroes didn’t beat up other people for no reason so he tried his best to ignore him.

Walking into class, Kacchan saw him right away, including the glitter in his hair.

“Hey Deku! Finally got a Quirk?” Sneered the blonde. “Is it glitter?” He sneered and the kids around him giggled. Izuku scowled at Kacchan, not feeling too happy.

“And if it is?” Izuku snapped back, not really thinking about his words. He was just tired of Kacchan being mean. He stomped off, not noticing the surprised looks from the other kids or the fact a teacher had heard.

During the day though he noticed the teachers all being nicer, much to his confusion. Their math teacher seemed the biggest change, instead of sneering and muttering about Quirless freaks he had actually smiled at Izuku. Izuku felt so confused, at least until he overheard someone.

“He finally got his Quirk! That’s good. Guess the doctor misdiagnosed him.”

“He probably relied on the pinky toe joint. I think that’s being disputed as being fake.”

“Producing glitter is a weird Quirk but hey, we have a kid who can pull his eyeballs out of his skull. That’s freaky.”

“You’re not supposed to say that about children’s Quirks.”

Izuku walked away from school, staring at nothing. When he got home, his mom was staring at the phone like it was an alien.

“Mom?” Izuku asked.

“Your school called,” she said.

“It was a joke! Kacchan was being really mean and I said ‘what if it is’ about Glitter being my Quirk and people were NICE to me and I don’t understand!” Izuku let out in a rush.

“They’re not nice to you normally,” Inko said. Izuku froze, realizing he'd blurted out something he'd desperately wanted to be secret, shame warring with the fear his mother would side with them. Tears bubbled up and he shook his head. “… Izuku… how about a game of pretend?

[zukuthehero]

The fact that in this scene he yells this is the reason he 'created Shouto,' effectively declaring on camera that he had a child for the purpose of creating an ideal Quirk hybridization to succeed him, and nobody had anything to say about that baffles the mind.

And everybody heard it because the guy is loud as hell and Present Mic awkwardly reacted to what he said.

And I think this might be the biggest tell in the ‘shut your eyes, shut your mouth, the Pros can do no wrong’ corruption narrative that had so much potential for exploration in the plot.

But since there wasn't much in the way of exploration, I'll just console myself with the headcanon this was the moment that set Dabi off more than Stain's final stand. I like to imagine he was drinking at a bar and watching the UA Sports Festival out of morbid curiosity to see where his brother was at, and then choked on his drink when Endeavor started yelling this freakishly controversial statement.

"Fucking yells it in front of everyone? Did anyone else think that was strange?!"

Cue the war path.

[zukuthehero]

⭐️TOMORROW!⭐️

Leftover sales open TOMORROW at 12PM CST! Take a look at all the darkness has to offer... 🌑

Sharing into the void is appreciated 🖤🤍🩶

Pricing info will be released when shop opens! Thanks for understanding!

Leftovers open until December 14 or while supplies last!

Digital zines available until December 14!

[zukuthehero]

I am browsing Reddit Dot Com

[zukuthehero]

if someone writes me an afokudoyoichi sandwhich I'll continue these shenanigans

I need it to be Exceptionally Unsettling, that's my only stipulation

[zukuthehero]

I don't think Bakugou's actually that good at fighting.

He does get better throughout the series, but the fucking ass kissing is constant from the get-go, including when his biggest accomplishment was bullying a quirkless kid for a decade.

He's a close-ranged brawler with no real training, and telegraphs every single move he makes to the point where anyone with basic training would be able to see through everything he does, but his hands explode and that's basically a cheat code against anyone that doesn't have the durability to tank the blasts.

Even before Midoriya had any kind of training or control over One for All, he could read Bakugou like a book because he did everything the same every time, which might work when the target can't fight back, but should've gotten his ass whooped repeatedly if he wasn't the author's pet.

[zukuthehero]

Let's Talk About Bakugou's Apology

Jfc, I swear this wasn't meant to be an MHA blog but whatever. Let's get into this.

I wanted to give Bakugou stans the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to think that they would only hype something up if it was groundbreaking. I wanted to believe that Horikoshi was a halfway decent writer and would put actual effort into such a pivotal, revered moment in the series.

I was left sorely disappointed for multiple reasons.

1) A List of Excuses To be completely fair to Bakugou, he does take some accountability which was more than I expected. He does acknowledge that what he did was wrong a few times during his little speech. I have to give him credit for that. However, it's overshadowed by the narrative making sure to stress that it was the people around Bakugou who were at fault for that behavior. Which isn't true because even before he got his quirk, he still treated Izuku like garbage. He gave him the name Deku and acted like he was above everyone way before Izuku was deemed quirkless.

(I'd also like to add that the only thing that literal pre-school teacher said was that Bakugou's quirk could make for a fine hero. He was the one who ran with it and decided that it made him better than everyone and that he would be the best)

There's also the fact that every time he does point out what he did was wrong, there's always some kind of justification behind it. "I did... because I felt..." It undermines what's supposed to be a genuine apology because it's not about Bakugou's feelings, he wasn't the one hurt (more on this later).

2) Timing

So many people have brought this up and they're absolutely right; that was the worst possible time for this to happen. Izuku was injured, starving, and dirty. Not to mention his mental state is practically in shambles. He's been isolating himself for weeks in his attempts to walk a selfless, lonely path. The absolute last thing he needed was this shitty apology.

This was supposed to be an effort for Class 1A to show Izuku that they care about him and to convince him to share his burden and come back to UA with them and rest and heal. Instead that genuine effort is highjacked by Bakugou rambling on about something entirely unrelated. He could have done this during the bath scene or even right after that. Instead, it's shoehorned into Izuku's actual friends trying their best to help him.

Iida's words should have been the final ones. They had enough impact and were way more powerful. There was no reason for Bakugou's apology to be the finishing lines.

3) The Insults

It's wild to me that Bakugou apologized for insulting Izuku... right after purposely insulting Izuku.

This is something that has been detrimental to Bakugou's entire character "redemption". "Oh, he's changing!" Except he's still doing the same shit he's always done. It undermines the entire point of redeeming him.

(I hate to be pro Endeavor in any way, but at least when he decided to change he made the genuine effort to stay that way and didn't relapse into old habits)

Not only did him mocking Izuku do absolutely nothing to change his mind, it's just so shitty to do to someone who's clearly struggling. If you are incapable of showing empathy and kindness at a time like this, shut up and sit down because there's no reason for you to open your mouth. You're not helping, you're only making things worse.

And then he says, "I don't expect this to change things between us." Like bro, that's completely on you. All you have to do is not be a dick and act like your apology actually meant something by refraining from hurling insults at someone who did nothing to deserve it. But even after this apology, he continues to yell at and insult Izuku. Sato and Tokoyami even call him out on this, only it's just played for laughs.

Word to the wise kids, an apology means nothing if just keep repeating your bad behavior.

4) No Autonomy for the Victim

Not once do we get to see what Izuku's thinking. Not once do we ever see things from his point of view.

This moment is entirely about Bakugou. It's only a plot device to develop his character and make him come off better. And Izuku who was the victim gets no attention. He doesn't even get to respond, he just faints by the end of it.

In fact, the closest thing we ever get to an insight into Izuku's feelings is All Might saying that he wouldn't hold what Bakugou did against him. That's such a copout considering a) nothing Izuku did ever indicated he felt that way and b) another person is speaking for him. He doesn't even get to say this himself.

Horikoshi does this consistently. Izuku is never allowed to voice how he feels. We never get to see how things are affecting him. The only time he's ever permitted to show strong emotions is when it's in favor of someone else. You would think that by this point in the story that would be rectified. But no, everything has to be about Bakugou. Not even in his own rescue story can Izuku ever be the center of attention. No, it's all about making Bakugou better.

(Again I hate to be pro Endeavor, but at least Shoto, Fuyumi, and Natsu get to respond to Endeavor's attempts at atonement on their own terms. Natsu is allowed to be angry. Fuyumi gets to make the choice to forgive him. Shoto is allowed to ponder the decision. Both cases are terrible abuse narratives, but at least the Todoroki kids have a say in how they feel and are allowed to express it. Izuku doesn't even get that)

It feels like Izuku isn't even allowed to be a victim in any way, shape, or form. He's just there to prop Bakugou

[zukuthehero]

I knew I wasn't going to like the ending, but I wasn't expecting it to be so underwhelming and just ugh.

- Izuku and 1A fell out of contact once they graduated... but the "Deku Squad" goes and makes their own hero team while Izuku's over here talking about how LONELY it is that he's not a hero while everyone else around him is. Then when he gets to be Iron Izuku, they get back in touch. Yeah, found family my ass.

- The hero ranking system hasn't changed at all, despite it causing so many problems in the story. In fact, it's even WORSE now that heroics is solely concentrated on those with strong Quirks due to the low crime rate. Again, anyone can be a hero, but only if they have not just A Quirk, but a strong one at that. Eventually, another AFO or Shigaraki will rise up, and they're back to square one.

- Bakugou dropping in the ranks due to his aggression and attitude is both surprising and welcomed. I'd been dreading him being #1, but again, it shows that he's received NO character development in 8 fucking years. He'd be in his twenties at that point. Grow the fuck up.

- I guess Aizawa's "apology" to Izuku amounted to absolutely nothing, and Midnight might as well have never been Mic and Aizawa's friend, given how they don't acknowledge her death.

This series had so much potential and a lot of things that I liked about it, but I'm glad it's been put out of its misery. I just wish it could have been told by a better author.

[zukuthehero]

"how come you ship monodeku but you hate bakudeku? they are the same thing" NO THEY ARE NOOOOOTTTTTTTTTT SCREAMS AND RIPS MY HAIR OUT.

I've had to deal with the Monoma being viewed as some off brand Bakugo issue for so long now, it's time I complain about it.

the only reason people compare the two is because Monoma is blonde and mean. but they are so different from each other and its insane that people don't acknowledge that.

Monoma actually cares about and gets along well with his classmates. he is soley rude to 1-a BECAUSE of Bakugo. even though Bakugo is better in the more recent arcs about teamwork and such, he didn't get along with his class (because he didn't want to.) another thing is how Monoma is / was a victim of quirk discrimination while Bakugo WAS A QUIRK DISCRIMINATOR. Bakugo had no reason for the things he did / the way he acted, he was canonly spoiled as a child. meanwhile Monoma actually has issues linked to his behavior (ex: getting bullied).

and monodeku being "the same thing" as bakudeku is a stupid claim. Bakugo bullied and abused Izuku for a decade. Monoma just shits on 1-A.

Monoma is basically what the fandom THINKS Bakugo is. someone who got hurt as a child and now takes it out on others to feel better about themselves. because Monoma does not think he is better than 1-A. he doesn't think he is strong. he was told that he will always be stuck on the sidelines and even though he says different that feeling is still there.

[zukuthehero]

i don’t think i’ll ever truly get why mha is so popular. it’s mediocre. what lessons did we learn from it?

hero society is ass? but if you try to acknowledge that… you die? uh. the hero commission makes child soldiers, will we dismantle it? well… um! oh! izuku wants to be the number one hero! wait, no? he cant be a hero anymore? oh. shit. um. female heroes are awesome! even though we use them as plot devices and actually wont make them super strong or give them spotlight! and the only characters who really die are female!

definitely! not sexist! oh! we also oversexualise the teenage girls (fictional characters so idgaf. but why make them complain then do nothing about it?)! uhhhh… oh! eri isnt a weapon! then we ..use her like one! ummmmmm….. most of the class is useless tbh. but keep going! oh… uh! oh! that child that betrayed his class! yeah! we’re going to detain him like he’s a violent criminal and not a scared sixteen year old who was forced into this position by his parents and didnt want to die! 🩷🩷

mha is painfully awful at writing. especially when they set up the hero society as flawed. oh, yeah, we’ll also ignore the bigotry towards mutants. uh. yeah, our transfemale character? we’ll kill her! our TWO visually black characters? theyre both super angry! and we oversexualise the black woman. again.

what was hori even.. doing. like what was the lesson? 😭

even the queer characters are written badly, you couldnt even bother to write society as a whole. the war. exists!

mha is BAD. especially the fights. it was my first anime and the reason i stopped watching any anime, it wasnt good. izuku is boring as hell. bakugo never gets consequences for his actions (tried to murder izuku. but ok.), shoto is thrown to the side.

i only gaf about rodydeku atp. the one good thing. 😭 as izuku actually learns shit here. also what happened to saving tenko. wtfff.

[zukuthehero]

Let's Talk About the Bakugou Problem

I've been enjoying the Bakugou slander here on Tumblr, but I haven't come across anyone that gets to the root of the problem with Bakugou's character yet. I think it goes further than him having anger issues, being annoying, or even how violent and abusive he is. Why I think Bakugou is a bad character is due to the effect he has on the plot, world-building, and the rest of the characters. There's a lot of layers here, so I'd like to take the time to talk as in-detail as I can while typing on mobile.

*Note: I'll be following the anime as it's easier for me to follow and pick specific examples. Manga readers if you have anything to add I'd love to hear it, even if it's against what I've listed here*

*Note: Bakugou fans you're more than welcome to read, though I warn you might not like what you see. I tried to keep this as constructive as I could without letting my own biases seep in (whether I succeeded is up for debate) so that everyone could read it whether you like Bakugou or not. I'm fine with criticism towards my points, I only ask that you remain respectful. I won't engage with anyone who disrespects me or other users*

1. Consequences

This is a big one among Bakugou critics, so I think it's a pretty good place to start. Bakugou has almost never faced actual consequences to his actions (there's a difference between something bad that happens to happen to him and the world around him not accepting his behavior). There are two instances that I can think of that there was a direct ramification to something Bakugou has done. The first was during the Deku vs Kacchan fight where Bakugou does get suspended for four days while Izuku gets suspended for three days. The other is when he and Todoroki fail the provisional licensing exam. However, there's a problem with these two instances I mentioned.

With the D vs K fight, Bakugou was the one who goaded Izuku out of the dorms and instigated a fight. Izuku was trying to get him to go back to the dorms so they could settle their "issue" under adult supervision. He was trying to do the responsible thing. For Izuku to only receive a day less of punishment seems unfair. Though, you could make the case that he should have ignored Bakugou, it's still very clear that one was way more at fault than the other and there was barely a difference in their punishment.

The provisional licensing exam actually did well with failing Bakugou. It was almost a great lesson; that he can't say and do whatever he wants and expect the world to roll over for him. Unfortunately, it's undermined by Todoroki failing as well. Yes, Todoroki failed because of Inasa. But a) Inasa attacked him first which should have resulted in disqualification (what was Todoroki supposed to do, not fight back when he was being assaulted?) and b) Inasa's entire character seems shoehorned into the story. He doesn't really add anything to Todoroki's character as most of his problems with Todoroki were already resolved back in season 2. He also contributes nothing to the overall story. Shindou, for example, has a hand in testing 1A and forces them to work together congruently. Inasa seems like he was put in the story simply to make Todoroki fail. Why does Todoroki have to fail? Because Bakugou does.

It seems like Horikoshi always softens the blow for Bakugou in a way, if he's dealt any blow at all. By not allowing Bakugou to face consequences on his own, he might as well not be facing them at all.

Why are consequences so important? Because Bakugou's privilege is a problem.

I don't think I've seen anyone address this. The root of Bakugou's behavior comes from the fact that he was allowed to do all those terrible things because the world around him was tolerant of it. Teachers turned a blind eyes when he bullied Izuku because he had a great quirk and Izuku was quirkless. He's allowed to do and say whatever he wants because he has a great quirk. While people seem to be harder on Izuku because of either having no quirk or not being able to fully control his quirk. This is a huge part of the story that was set up in the beginning, but was almost never addressed despite being persistent throughout. And it's the most present with Aizawa.

Bakugou attempts to attack a fellow student the first day of class? Simply restrained, no repercussions. Bakugou uses excessive force against a classmate despite his teacher telling him to stop? Nothing more than a few not-so-nice words. Bakugou assaults his partner and refuses to cooperate? No words at all.

Now look at Izuku. Doesn't have full control of his quirk? His teacher attempts to humiliate and expel him in front of his classmates on the first day of class. Saves a classmate in an admittedly risky rescue mission? Said teacher proclaims he lost his trust and labels him a problem child (despite the orchestrator of said mission- Kirishima- being in the same room and not getting spoken to at all).

(I don't know if Aizawa's projecting, but pandering to the kid with the strong quirk while simultaneously disliking All Might isn't a great look.)

Even before UA, Bakugou is praised by the heroes for his strong quirk against the sludge villain despite the fact that his quirk made everything worse while Izuku is scolded even though they were the ones who did nothing while he did what he could to save someone.

"All men aren't created equal." That's one of Izuku's very first lines and a central point of the story. It's something you expect it to address multiple times, especially in regards to Izuku and Bakugou. But Bakugou being spared from consequences every single time he does something terrible means that the statement is validated, but the problem still persists and is never rectified or solved. Even if you think Bakugou "changed," that doesn't make his privilege go away.

2. Plot Compensation

The story goes out of its way to make Bakugou seem like a better person than he is.

My first example is the Sports Festival, specifically his fight with Uraraka. In this fight, Bakugou is met with booing from the audience for not going easy on her. And right off the bat, this is weird. Because not only have we never seen this attitude toward women heroes before or after this, the show is trying to tell us something when Aizawa tears the crowd down. Almost as if saying, "The crowd is dumb and wrong and if you think like the crowd, you're dumb and wrong." Aizawa claims that Bakugou is treating Uraraka like a real opponent by not going easy on her.

...is he though?

Because we never see Bakugou stand still in a fight like he does with her. Bakugou's fighting style relies a lot on mobility. During his fight with Tokoyami, who he knew he had an advantage over because of the light from his quirk, he isn't standing still. During his fight with Todoroki he isn't standing still. He only does this with Uraraka. Because this isn't Bakugou showing respect, it's him still looking down on her. He doesn't see her as a serious opponent, just an obstacle in his way.

And I know this sounds like a bold claim. But if you recall, Bakugou immediately confronts Izuku after the fight and accuses him of giving Uraraka the idea she used during their match. He assumes it was a ploy from Izuku, implying that he didn't think Uraraka capable of coming up with a plan with the potential to work against him. This isn't respect for an opponent.

(Note: the only thing in Bakugou's favor is it's probably not because she's a girl. He just naturally looks down on everyone who doesn't immediately stand out to him with a show of power like Todoroki)

Then we have the revered scene with the League or Villains.

This scene is praised because it "subverts expectations." That the violent, angry kid doesn't want to be a villain. He wants to be a noble hero. Aizawa- again- silences claims against Bakugou, citing that he wants to win and he knows he can't do that if he's a villain.

My thing is, however, the League targeting him in the first place. Why would they do this? Bakugou clearly has a heroic quirk. He scored first on the entrance exam. If they did any research at all beforehand, they would know that Bakugou was at the top of his class before UA and is in the top five currently. And they'd know he has wealthy parents.

(You would think Dabi especially would draw parallels to Endeavor and would be aware that Bakugou's ambition and heroic quirk don't make him similar to the League who have been discriminated against, shunned, and abused for most of their lives. Even with his behavior at the Sports Festival, Endeavor isn't the noble and kind type like All Might and most other heroes. So I'm not sure why Bakugou's behavior immediately screamed villain potential)

Nothing about him suggests he's had a hard life like most of the League. Nothing about him suggests he'd want to leave his comfortable life and secured future to become a villain.

This scene sets up Bakugou's redemption, right? It leads us to the Deku vs Kacchan fight and All Might's advice is what makes him take on his "save to win" mentality.

But not only does this seem like a convenient plot device, it decidedly ignores the uglier part of Bakugou's decision.

Bakugou rejected the LOV because he saw them as losers. But what if they hadn't been losers? What if they had been doing as well as they were at the end of season 5? Merging and becoming the MLA front, organized teams, wealthy, successfully recruiting members right under the heroes' noses.

Maybe Bakugou wouldn't have outright joined them. But at this point before shifting his perspective, his answer might have been very different.

But the story goes out of its way to hammer in Bakugou's scarce good traits to take your focus away from his overwhelming bad ones.

3. Bakugou's Character Shift "Development"

The way Horikoshi wrote Bakugou in the beginning is very different to how he is portrayed later in the show. No, I don't mean his development. I mean the major shift in his character between seasons 1/2 and season 3/4.

Bakugou in the beginning of the show is cruel, meanspirited, and violent. And he's still all of those things throughout the show. The one difference is that it's played for laughs in later seasons.

Bakugou's actions and words in seasons 1 and 2 are portrayed a lot more serious than in later seasons. He's an antagonistic force, one that Izuku has to strive to overcome not just to be a good hero, but for himself as Bakugou has been one of the most prominent obstacles in his strive to become a hero.

Look at his behavior during the battle trials. It's something serious, something that has even All Might worried. Bakugou knew he could have very well killed Midoriya and didn't care. It's brutal and almost hard to watch because at this point in the show Midoriya is weak and tiny (visually, we know he's never really been weak) compared to Bakugou and can really only outsmart him to win.

We never see Bakugou display anything close to this level of violence in later seasons. Not in the Sports Festival or 1A vs 1B or D vs K or the licensing exam or even against literal villains. Season 1 went out of its way to show Bakugou's cruel behavior even using it as something Izuku has to learn how to overcome even if he has to risk everything.

By season 3, the perspective has changed. Bakugou name calling people, belittling people, yelling, and his acts of violence are now exaggerated for comedy. None of his actions are taken as seriously as they were before, despite some being almost or just as bad.

(It's worth mentioning that this was also around the time Bakugou began to get popular among fans)

A great example of this is in season 5 when he throws his headpiece at Izuku and makes him bleed. His casual act of his aggression towards his lifelong victim is present to make the audience laugh, despite the fact that Izuku was bleeding and the 1A boys are (rightfully) horrified.

(I'd like to add that there was no real reason to do this. Nothing he was saying would have exposed OFA and even if it had, he was done talking by the time Bakugou threw it)

If Bakugou had really changed at this point, this would have never happened in the first place. I can't call this changing or development, I call this his actions shifting into comedic relief and away from the serious connotations they previously held. By taking that away, it allows Bakugou to continue to do the same things he has all his life while under the guise of development. It undermines what's supposed to be his redemption arc.

4. Other Characters

Bakugou isn't the only one who gets a character shift. It's approximately the moment that Bakugou begins to get more attention that the other characters lose the substance they had at the beginning of the show.

The ones hit most notably by this are obviously Uraraka and Iida. They were Izuku's first friends, his original trio. More than that, they are set up as interesting characters with their own arcs and paths for becoming great heroes.

Even though I did have my complaints about her fight with Bakugou in the Sports Festival, it does turn Uraraka onto improving past her goal of becoming a rescue hero. She wants to become better in other aspects of being a hero so that she can succeed and keep up with her stronger classmates. She proved herself capable of this during her fight with Bakugou and it was the catalyst of her character development.

Iida was not only resolving himself with caring for Midoriya as a friend as well as being his rival and wanting to surpass him. There's also this darker side to him that no one expects from goody two shoes, straight-laced Iida that had so much potential for exploration.

Both of them are tossed to the side in favor of Bakugou. I would even go as far as to say that after season 2, they're almost irrelevant until season 6 and even then they're limited (before season 6 Uraraka's only character trait is that she ignores he feelings for Midoriya to become a better hero, which came out of nowhere and does nothing for her character). And they barley ever get moments with Izuku during time despite being his first friends.

Todoroki is a similar yet very different case. At the beginning of the show, he was intense and has strong feelings. (An interesting parallel is that if Iida was his friend becoming his rival, Todoroki was his rival becoming his friend and both relationships speak to Izuku as a character) Even if he didn't express them, we as the audience knew they were there. But as times passes he becomes flat and dull. Even though he's supposed to be part of the new trio, he's barley present (the dynamic between the three of them is uninteresting all around as it's basically Bakugou yelling at Izuku with Todoroki in the background. They never have any deep or heartfelt moments nor do they have good chemistry) and barely gets any one-on-one interaction with Izuku despite them being very good friends.

(I can't blame this all on Bakugou as the show also shifts from focusing to Todoroki to focusing on his own abuser which is part of the issue with his lack of character, but Bakugou's character does contribute to this problem of making the abusers more sympathetic than the victims)

Most if not the rest of 1A fade into the background after this, save for a few who have notable moments sprinkled in throughout the show. You can take this as a Bakugou prevalence problem, or it can be seen as Horikoshi just not knowing how to balance characters.

However, the character that suffers the most because of this is Izuku himself.

I don't think it's a bad thing that Izuku admires or looks up to Bakugou. I don't think it's a problem that he doesn't see anything wrong with Bakugou's behavior against him. Izuku grew up in an environment where that was normalized. That he's worthless because of his lack of quirk and Bakugou deserves to be on top because of his great quirk. Of course he internalized that, even though he knows that a quirk doesn't determine someone's worth. He was never given the tools or the means to beat that mindset.

What I despise is the fact that everyone around him enables it.

As I stated above, Aizawa is definitely the worst when it comes to this. Not only shoving Bakugou and Izuku together and making it Izuku's job to get Bakugou to cooperate, but hardly if ever condemning Bakugou when he lashes out against Izuku. Even without their history, what Bakugou does is wrong and should be treated as such.

Unfortunately and even though I love All Might, he's also guilty of this. It's true that he might not know the full extent of their toxic relationship, but All Might sees Bakugou instigate a fight with Izuku and decides it's okay to tell Bakugou about One For All. Bakugou did nothing to earn this honor: he hasn't shown Izuku support and hasn't been a reliable ally he could depend on. But even disregarding that, Bakugou had just been captured by villains who work for All For One. He was the last person on Earth who should have been entrusted with this secret.

The adults in Izuku's life enable and reward Bakugou's bad behavior and urge them into forming a relationship and partnership that frankly shouldn't exist (and only does to make Bakugou a better person and hero, it does nothing for Izuku). It's to the point where almost Izuku's entire character revolves around his relationship with Bakugou and how he improves because of it and how he helps Bakugou improve. And he further projects this when he "subtly" implies that Todoroki should forgive Endeavor, which feels like a justification towards the audience of his own feelings towards Bakugou.

5. Accountability

I mentioned consequences as my first point. But what many who want this miss, it goes hand-in-hand with accountability.

Unlike consequences, Bakugou more or less does take accountability in the form of his apology. But the apology was lackluster for a couple of reasons. The main thing is that it feels like a list of excuses rather than simply owning up to the fact that he was shitty and there's really no good reason for it. But simply explaining why you hurt the person you hurt isn't giving them the apology they deserve. It's making it about you.

Another thing, though, is that the apology is very scarce. It skips over the worst of Bakugou's actions. Nothing he said was anything 1A didn't already know. They don't know about the s*icide baiting which is one of the worst things he's done to Izuku (and that's only what we saw, who knows what Bakugou's been saying for years?). It also ignores everything he did in UA, which was a very big part of the problem. He treated Izuku poorly months prior to the apology and that shouldn't be ignored.

As far as accountability goes this apology isn't that great. But it's something. No, what's worse is that the other characters don't hold Bakugou accountable.

The other characters more often than not turn a blind eye to Bakugou's behavior. We've already covered Aizawa, but the rest of 1A is guilty of this too. No one says anything about the Battle Trials. Hardly anyone condemns Bakugou when he attacks or insults Izuku. Sometimes they'll chime in like Uraraka or Kirishima, but other than that no one outright tells him off. This is out of character for Iida in particular because he's such a stickler about rules and courtesy for others (he literally told off a six year old when he punched Izuku and tried to stop Mineta from perving on the girls, why wouldn't he do the same when it comes to Bakugou?). It's almost like the characters are blind to Bakugou's behavior.

What's weirder is that Mina and Kirishima- who were both stated to hate bullying- are friends with him. Why would the show go out of its way to tell us this only to saddle them into the "BakuSquad?" It doesn't make sense.

It's hypocritical that everyone in 1A is so tolerant of Bakugou but get annoyed with others; like Monoma for example. Or even Mineta because as much as I dislike him he's constantly being called out by 1A. It means that they know certain behavior is wrong and/or shouldn't be entertained, so we know they aren't completely unaware. But the fact that they largely ignore Bakugou's behavior and condemn Monoma's is so weird. You can't excuse one and not the other.

Conclusion

There's certainly more than this to my dislike of Bakugou. But I think I've mostly covered his negative impact on the story. Doing a deep dive into his awful personality is something I wouldn't wish on anyway. Many others have done that anyway, so I'm content to leave it out. But I hope you liked my little breakdown!

[zukuthehero]

I will FOREVER be salty about how Hori paints his characters with valid criticisms against the status quo as in the wrong:

Monoma - hates Bakugou, therefore hates 1A by association and is painted out to be some over the top arrogant asshole who freaks out every time they so much as breath (Monoma's not my favorite, but he's 100% right when it comes to Bakugou).

Rock Lock - doesn't want the first years (maybe also the third years, idk?) involved in the Shie Hassaikai raid due to how dangerous it is and due to having recently had a newborn son, is painted as someone who's being overprotective and unfair to these heroes in training.

Inko - isn't comfortable with Izuku continuing at UA after the Forest Camp Attack, is painted as being overprotective (I have my issues with Inko, but she had an incredibly valid point here).

The media - rightfully criticizes UA's utter inability to protect their students and reign in Bakugou's behavior (the hill I will die on), is painted as trying to unfairly persecute UA/Aizawa.

Present Mic - uses common sense to deduce that there's a traitor in UA's midst, is portrayed as being a shit stirrer who's quick to distrust his colleagues and students (another hill I'll die on).

Gran Torino (a minor one) - calls Aizawa's high expulsion rate as what it is: nasty (showing that even he has standards), is immediately corrected by Present Mic that the expulsions are "only on paper" and Aizawa truly cares deep down (which actually makes it WORSE since it stays on their permanent records regardless).

Other students taking the Provisional Exam - call out Bakugou for being an obnoxious asshole, are immediately painted as "not understanding how hard he works."

Pro Heroes and Present Mic - call out Bakugou for not taking Ochako seriously in the Sports Festival, are told to RETIRE for not understanding how Bakugou clearly works harder than anybody else to be a hero (but then Bakugou proceeds to get the second highest amount of internship offers, so idk what the fuck point Horikoshi was trying to make here).

Vlad King is a weird one because while his one-sided rivalry with Aizawa/1A is obnoxious and unprofessional, he IS a better teacher than Aizawa is and it's a point not focused on aside from an off hand comment by Aizawa. You'd think this would make him examine whether or not his beliefs are truly benefiting his students or have Nedzu call him up and say, "what's up with your class consistently underperforming against 1B?"

Best Jeanist is perhaps the ONLY Pro-Hero to see Bakugou's behavior for what it is and takes him as an intern to rectify it... but proceeds to focus on all the wrong things (his style being the main one) and not really get to the core of his goal.

Society as a whole doesn't trust heroes for a myriad of reasons (some unreasonably, some for extremely valid reasons) and are painted as being unfair and incredibly biased against heroes as a whole.

Izuku leaves UA due to AFO having Ragdoll's Quirk, is essentially ganged up on and beaten/shamed into submission by Class 1A who completely disregard his POV (I don't agree with him putting himself in this position, I'm just pointing how it makes sense narratively).

Me, trying to make sense of all of this -

Like... how is your story supposed to be nuanced and your characters three-dimensional if you paint the complainer as always in the wrong?

[zukuthehero]

Ray-Ray, it seems really petty, especially since this is a fictional character, but there are no words to describe just how much I do not like Katsuki Bakugou

This guy drives me nuts and I hate the plot armor that is happening with him. Like we are told that One For All is one of the most powerful Quirks in existence and it makes Izuku insanely, to the point of literally breaking himself, powerful. This kid has had this quirk for a year at most and had managed to gain a hold on it thanks to his dedication to the training various mentors have helped him with.

Yet I am expected to believe that Bakugou can keep up with and is on the verge or beating him because he is more dedicated to becoming stronger????

And how he treats other people!!! Not just Izuku either!!!

Just arrgghhh!!! He drives me nuts, which sucks because he is normally a prominent character in most BNHA fics

I have made no bones about how much I dislike Bakugou so I feel you. Like with all characters I dislike I send no shade to anyone who loves him, I get it, and to each their own.

But for me?? I dislike the way he interacts with the narrative, how the narrative interacts with him, how the characters who should/would treat him one way based on their established personalities just Don't, etc etc

Just, my dream would have been a MHA that focused on Izuku, Todoroki, Uraraka and Iida.

[zukuthehero]

I don't need to, but I'll explain my Bakugou hate because I want to.

Long post. Beware

When I started reading the series I was the same age as the characters. Looking at my interests you can probably guess that I was bullied, but instead of getting all sad, I got angry at the people treating me poorly.

So as soon as Bakugou was introduced, I didn't like him. Seeing someone my age verbally threaten and physically attacking people without being punished just really put me in a bad mood whenever he showed up.

Then certain parts of the fandom got incredibly toxic, and suddenly the author is pandering to the worst of them

But the problem keeps getting worse. The entire world warps to kiss his ass. He got everything he wanted at every turn. He deserved nothing and got everything.

Immediately established as a long-term bully. His bullying is then retroactively justified by the world itself saying that Midoriya is worth less than Bakugou as a person.

Why did Aizawa, who was famous for expelling students, not so much as give Bakugou detention for trying to attack Midoriya on the first day of school?

Why didn't All Might punish him for using that gauntlet in the Battle Trials?

Despite all of his actions so far, just since being accepted into UA, the other students still want to be friends with him. They actively choose to spend time near him.

Why is it never mentioned how him(and Kirishima) attacking Kurogiri and getting in Thirteen's way is a large part of why the USJ played out how it did?

His speech at the Sports Festival

Everyone wanting to be on his team, but he doesn't know any of their names or quirks.

Trying to make an unconscious Todoroki fight back in the finals

Aizawa constantly excusing all of his behavior, circling back to my point about the world itself justifying Bakugou's shitty behavior

Attacking Midoriya in the Final Exam.

How did Sero fail his exam by being carried out but Bakugou passed?

At the Training Camp, he actively tried to go fight the villains that have openly stated were trying to capture him. Making himself an easy target and hindering the people trying to protect him

During the Rescue Operation he somehow managed to hold his own against the majority of the League of Villains on his own? Really?

He forced Midoriya to break curfew and just starts attacking him until Midoriya fights back. It's caught on camera and Midoriya somehow gets in the same amount of trouble?

And for some reason he gets let in on the secret of One for All after being such a monumental asshole since forever, despite the fact that even Inko doesn't know? Or literally anyone who would be, like, supportive of Midoriya?

He failed the Provisional License Exam, but don't worry there's a special make-up class just for the people that made it into the second half. Everyone who failed in the first half will have to wait for the next exam.

Oh wow, flawless victory in the Joint Training Arc by displaying teamwork out of thin fucking air that was really just him barking orders at the others.

For a while we just get his usual brand of egotistical asshole-ery and now being needlessly shoved into places where Midoriya's actual friends should be. Or even any of the other side characters. Horikoshi, give them some screen time

But then the war arc and the vigilante Deku arc all just get down on their knees to suck his dick so hard that his quirk evolves and his heart explodes. And I finally get a glimmer of hope for the series to finally stop shoving him down our throats, but no.

Edgeshot decides that this one kid is so important that he will sacrifice his own life to save Bakugou specifically and no one else is on his level of importance.

Going back a step; That apology was pure fucking lip service. Not a single goddamn thing changed in the way he acted afterward. He had a couple of "soft" moments when he wasn't actively screaming and cursing, but that's it.

And Horikoshi keeps fucking doing it.

Somehow each and every thing has to include Bakugou or be about how it's effecting Bakugou or has to mention Bakugou.

The majority of the (much more interesting) cast has been completely forgotten, and Midoriya's characterization got taken out back, given three rounds to the head, skinned, washed in bleach, and hung out to dry, but Oh Wow! BAKUGOU'S HERE!

I said it before and I'll say it again, I'd throw a brick at him.

These are only the broadest strokes of what happened too. If I reread the entire series I could write a massive in-depth character analysis, but that's too much even for me.

[zukuthehero]

How appropriate.

[zukuthehero]

you know what i just fucking realized today?

Monoma is just fanon Bakugo. like he is CANONLY how the fandom / Bakugo fans see Bakugo.

He has a serious underlying issue that's the cause of his rude behavior. he respects women, ie, defending Uraraka when EVERYONE was doubting her during the sports fest, and literally looking the opposite direction when that stupid fuckwad tricked the 1-a girls into wearing those cheerleading outfits. he's extremely insecure, and he's actually nice to his classmates.

Bakugo on the other hand was canonly spoiled as a child. he had a god complex that was shattered and that's the closest thing to a reason for his behavior. he simply refused to go easy on Uraraka just because she's a girl but for some reason the fandom makes it waaayyy more than it actually was.

but for some reason the fandom decided that Monoma was the bad one out of the two just because "he's annoying", and writes him as this homophobic, sexist bully who, in reality, is a good fucking character.

[zukuthehero]

Thoughts on Bakugou’s Arc:

I maintain that his entire character arc should have been:

A) Some people shouldn’t be heroes. I think it would have been interesting to explore the idea of someone just not being able to be a hero because of their attitude. My more recent Drabble discussing the idea of some conditions automatically denying someone a place in the hero course comes to mind. But also- some people just do not have the right aptitude. And the idea of exploring Bakugou as a character who is so focused on the societal view of heroics (fighting and being the best) he fails at every other aspect leading to his removal from the hero course? That’s attractive as hell as a concept. It also drives home the theme of ‘society has commodified heroics and not has become an entire popularity game’ if we follow this idea. Because we get told he is ‘perfect’ for heroics with his Quirk. We watch as he struts about with his head in the air- and bang! He shows he isn’t right for heroics. UA is the best of the best. We know top heroes come from it. Is it that weird that maybe a kid who isn’t right for heroics just washes right out?

Plus this is also a way for Izuku himself to realize he is a good hero. His bully, the guy held up above all else, had failed where he succeeded. Izuku gets to be raised up and realize he has heroic potential, a true ‘hey Quirks don’t matter’ moment. Because OFA is useful but Izuku has always been heroic.

B) Ego is the downfall of man/Average fish from a small pond moves to a big lake. Bakugou is forced to realize he isn’t the best of the best. This would have been so nice to see. Bakugou’s entire character was/is built on being the best. Izuku looks up to him in canon because he was the best- in their shitty middle school Bakugou chose to have the ‘perfect’ hero story. (It’s canon it’s a third rate school. It means that for someone who is dedicated to studying/working out as Bakugou is canonly it’s not HARD to be at the top) So when they go to U.A… Bakugou is suddenly scrambling to keep up. And at first he doesn’t notice. He’s fine. Then he begins getting his ass kicked. Because working out enough to be at the top at a third rank school? Easy. Working hard enough to compete with people training to be heroes since they were kids? Harder. Even more so since his Quirk isn’t actually as versatile as others. Explosions pale in comparison to Creation or Half Hot-Half Cold. Even Engine is more versatile then explosions from his hands. Animal Voice, Pop Off- all these have more use then his. (sure he can fly but his only skill is in fighting which isn’t everything about heroics)

Bakugou tries to comfort himself with the idea at least he is the best in school but… well, again- average fish in a small pond. He finds himself struggling. The topics are more advanced then he’s used to, suddenly he is expected to follow an incredibly fast paced curriculum (because UA hero course focuses more on heroics, it makes sense the classes are fast paced to focus on heroics) and he can’t. He isn’t used to it, his way of studying fails him.

Bakugou finds himself in the bottom fourth of the class with no idea how he ended up there. And he’s angry. Unfortunately for him, his attitude isn’t doing him favours. He is told to sit down, to knock it off, stop yelling and blaming others. So when he fails his final exam for hitting Izuku (because he should have and I will die on that hill) he is so desperate to prove he is the best. So he goes out, ignoring orders to stay put, during the camp and…

He gets expelled/killed.

This would have been so cool to see. Just the idea of Bakugou being shown again as a way society fails people by propping them up for their Quirk even if they don’t deserve it. So good.

C) He learns that he doesn’t need to be the best. In a world where his redemption actually is one, I would love to have seen him perfectly content with being a mid ranked hero as long as he was saving people. This would feel so good to see, that he has realized that power isn’t everything, that being the best isn’t all that. Just Bakugou being ranked like 500, working at being the best hero he can but not participating in the rankings because he knows it’s garbage and he doesn’t need it.

That feels like so much more of a natural progression of his character. He starts as an asshole who is only in it for himself, to be the best. He wants to be number one. But he actually realizes to be a hero it’s not about that.

I think that would have been perfect. It’s showing that the hero system is busted and your rank shouldn’t matter. It’s showing actual change in Bakugou as a character as he works through his shit. He doesn’t need to be the best- he’s happy just being a hero.

Instead we got ‘oh yeah Bakugou is a top hero and doesn’t change at all’.

Freaking boring.