User blog:Lover of the Muse/Katsuki Bakugo part 1: Shounen Formula

Katsuki Bakugo is this series Shounen Rival and the deutertagonist. As such he serves as the most recurring foil to the protagonist Izuku Midoriya. Katsuki Bakugo's role in the story is so great that I've decided to split my analysis up into multiple parts.

First Chapter Characterization
In the very first scene in the series we see Izuku Midoriya trying to defend a kid who was being hurt by a trio of bullies led by Katsuki Bakugo, the three boys bring out their superpowers and kick Izuku's ass for trying to be a hero. After that the series flashes forward ten years and when we see Bakugo as a teenager he's just as obnoxious. He brags about how great he is and berates his entire class for thinking they could even compare to him, then he destroys Deku's property and tells him to kill himself.

Although Bakugo's introduction establishes him as a thoroughly hateable character and somebody we want to see taken down a peg, during this same chapter he receives several brief moments of characterization that hint at him being more than just a cliche 1-dimensional bully.

The first of these moments actually happens during Bakugo's self-aggrandizing speech when he reveals he aced the mock test. This is probably comparable to getting a perfect score on an SAT or ACT. Other male anime bullies, and male bully characters in general, tend to be characterized as dumb muscle-heads. Bakugo breaks with this convention even while reinforcing what an asshole he is.

The next moments is after school when Bakugo is walking home after school and talking to his friends. After Bakugo kicks the bottle, releasing the sludge villain, Bakugo turns around and sees one of his friends smoking. Bakugo yells at them for it, saying "if you get caught it'll go on my record too".The corresponding anime scene in episode 2 doesn't show anyone smoking but one of Bakugo's friends suggests they do something illegal (it's kind of vague) and he says "Idiots if we get caught there's no way UA will let me in". Bakugo's ambitions are the same as Izuku's and Bakugo cares more about getting into U.A than he does about having fun.

After the sludge villain attack is over. We see pro heroes standing over both Izuku and Bakugo and while one of them is reprimanding Izuku another is praising Bakugo for his strong quirk. Instead of lapping up the praise and attention Bakugo looks sullen and unsatisfied.

Later on Bakugo catches up to Deku only to declares that he doesn't need to thank Deku, that Deku didn't do anything, and he'd have been just fine on his own. Then Bakugo storms off. This tsundere moment is played for comedy but it tells us something about Bakugo's character; his pride is fragile and was wounded by Izuku trying to help him.

Insecurity
One of the keys to understanding Bakugo's character is his inferiority/superiority complex.

Like a lot of Shounen Rivals, Bakugo starts out privileged relative to the protagonist. Bakugo was born with a powerful quirk and after it manifested everyone praised him for it, told him he was special, and that he was destined for greatness. He kept succeeding with little effort and getting praised for every little thing he did and it went to his head. Because of that however Bakugo sets high expectations for himself, holding himself to unrealistic standards. Katsuki Bakugo sustained his self-esteem by comparing himself to his peers in particular seeing Izuku's inferiority as the ultimate proof of his own natural superiority. Izuku however was unwilling to accept the role Bakugo had mentally assigned to him and continued tot try and be a hero and would continue to try and help Bakugo; to Bakugo this felt like a personal insult. Bakugo even says during his second fight with Deku that he felt like Izuku was looking down on him.

The Sludge villain incident parallels the moment in Izuku and Bakugo's childhood that ended their friendship. When they were kids Bakugo fell off a log into a pool of water, and Izuku went down to help him. Midoriya is supposed to be a quirkless loser; Bakugo isn't supposed to need his help.

The Sludge villain incident is worse because he was overpowered and captured and a large crowd of people saw him powerless to break free. The scene afterward where Bakugo is being praised for his strong quirk despite not doing anything heroic is a microcosm of how he was treated his entire childhood; except now the praise feels empty to Bakugo because he knows he doesn't deserve it.

Entrance Exam to Battle Trial
Bakugo's belief in his innate superiority over Izuku was continually reinforced by the society around him until the moment when it was revealed that Izuku passed the U.A Entrance Exam. This isn't how the story is supposed to go, Izuku is supposed to be left in the dust but now there's something tangible saying that he and Izuku could be equals.

When Bakugo confronts Izuku about this, accusing Izuku of cheating/tricking the school, and demanding that Izuku drop out; he is unable to intimidate Deku into submission. During the Quirk Apprehension Test, Bakugo is allowed to let loose with his quirk but he also sees definitive proof that Izuku has a quirk. At the end of the test Bakugo isn't even the one who scored highest; Momo and Shoto both scored above him. Bakugo goes into the battle trial intent on proving he can still beat Izuku even with Izuku's new power and Izuku tries his hardest to win without using One for All, but at the end neither of them proves what they want to prove.

It's probably worth noting that the ways Bakugo and Izuku pass the Entrance exam illustrate the contrast between their ideals of heroism. Bakugo wants to be the hero who always wins so he gets the highest number of villain points but no rescue points. If the Entrance Exam illustrates the contrast between their ideals then the Battle Trial shows the flaws in each perspective. Bakugo's single-minded focus on defeating his opponent blinds him to the bigger picture, so that while he wins the fist-fight he loses the match. And now the first the first time there is something tangible telling Bakugo that Izuku could be his superior.

Chapter 11/episode 8, appropriately titled "Bakugo's starting line", is where Bakugo's character arc begins in earnest. After being defeated by Deku, he goes on to hear Momo Yaoyorozu's keen analysis of their fight and witness the overwhelming power of Shoto Todoroki. The conversation Bakugo shares with Izuku after school that day is a turning point for Bakugo's character. Several important things happen in quick succession.

The first is that Izuku confesses that he "got his power from someone else". Bakugo doesn't believe/understand what Izuku is saying but he doesn't forget about it either. The second important point is that for the first time we see Bakugo acknowledging the virtues of his peers, specifically Shoto's power and Momo's intelligence. Bakugo even confesses that he doesn't believe he could beat Shoto in a fight. Thirdly Bakugo acknowledges that Izuku defeated him, he doesn't try to argue that Izuku's win was illegitimate or didn't count.

Bakugo doesn't give up however, he uses this defeat and the strength of his rivals to motivate him further. Finally when All Might shows up and starts delivering platitudes, Bakugo pushes him away and declares his intention to become a hero who surpasses even him.