Katsuki Bakugo

Katsuki Bakugo, also known as Kacchan (かっちゃん) by his childhood friends, is the deuteragonist of My Hero Academia. He is a student training to become a Pro Hero at U.A. High School.

Appearance
Katsuki is a young man of average height, with ash blond, spiky hair, and sharp red eyes. At school, he wears the standard U.A. uniform save for the customary red tie. Underneath his blazer, he wears a white button-up shirt with the first couple buttons undone. Despite wearing a belt along with the uniform's green pants, Katsuki does not pull them up all the way, giving his pants a baggy appearance.

His hero costume is composed of a fitted black sleeveless V-neck tank top with an orange X with the top half borders his shirt collar. His costume also has a seemingly metallic neck brace fashioned and used as a collar with three holes in both sides. His sleeves reach from within his large grenade-like gauntlets to his biceps. His belt, which also carries grenades, holds up his baggy pants with knee guards. Underneath those guards are black, knee-high combat boots with orange soles and eyelets. He occasionally wears his hero mask that has large, flare-shaped cloth. In the winter months, he trades the tank top in place of a dark coat with a large neck collar.

While interning under Best Jeanist, he wore a pair of blue jeans along with his hero costume rather than his usual baggy pants. His hair was also combed during this tenure.

Personality
Katsuki is a crude, arrogant, and aggressive person, especially at the beginning of the series. Katsuki tends to come off as an anti-hero, if not downright villainous for those not familiar with him. This problematic behavior goes all the way back to his early childhood days when he was known to bully a young, Quirkless Izuku Midoriya. However, after being accepted into U.A. High School and experiencing several personal defeats, one of them even coming from Izuku, Katsuki has gradually changed into a less antagonistic person, albeit still retaining a lot of his unpleasant traits.

Determined and thirsty for victory, Katsuki smiles eerily when in the middle of a battle. He is incredibly focused on achieving his own authentic victories and has learned to never underestimate his opponents. He's quite talented in fighting, using his Quirk in various ways besides attacking. Katsuki is very intelligent and extremely perceptive, capable of strategic planning and holding some of the highest grades in his class, to the point that some even consider him a natural genius.

Katsuki tends to disregard the notion that Quirks shouldn't be used in public, and will activate his Quirk for a number of reasons, such as to intimidate someone, to punctuate a point, out of frustration, or even if he just feels like showing off. It is implied that Katsuki thinks little of the laws regarding public Quirk usage, as he once berated Izuku for not using his Quirk to defend himself in public.

While a rather volatile hero-in-training, and seen as villainous by many outside of his class, Katsuki knows who his enemies and allies are. He is not known to be particularly warm and open with his allies but will act less unfriendly and sometimes even kind to those that manage to earn his respect. Because of his attitude and vulgar language, Katsuki's U.A. classmates often react negatively to him, although they have come to appreciate his skills and warm up to his personality. Katsuki matures slowly through his time at U.A., coming to befriend some of his classmates and willingly engaging in social interaction with his fellow classmates, though remaining aloof and solitary for the most part.

Due to the constant praise of his abilities and his powerful Quirk, Katsuki developed a superiority complex, and because of that, he desires to be the first and best at everything. As pointed out by many people, Katsuki loves to win above all else and cannot stand it when he doesn't, leading him to lose his already short temper or, less often, sulk. As such, he is fiercely competitive and will never settle for less than the number one spot. However, Katsuki also values hard work and fair play and will refuse to acknowledge a winning result if he feels that his victory was not earned fairly. He detests being looked down by others, which normally angers him, and will hold contempt towards those that don't take him seriously while recognizing the effort of those that manage to put up a challenge against him.

While his inspiration for becoming a hero was the same as Izuku's, the Symbol of Peace, All Might, their beliefs differ: Katsuki feels a hero should never stop fighting or give up, regardless of the threat they face, and that always winning is the mark of a true hero. Furthermore, because of his arrogant and conceited behavior, various heroes, civilians, and even villains have commented on it. However, Katsuki is unwavering in his aspirations of heroism, having outright refused Tomura Shigaraki's offer for him to join the League of Villains, even after being offered power and the ability to 'win'. Katsuki values honesty highly and never lies, to the point his brash candor is seen by some as rude and unsympathetic. He is never afraid of speaking what's on his mind and will notice when people are not being truthful to him. This shows that, despite his anti-social habits, Katsuki actually has great judgment of character.

Katsuki is immensely prideful, as he hates the idea of having to rely on others to assist him unless he is acknowledged as the leading figure within a team. Katsuki dislikes partaking in teamwork, claiming he can do whatever he's assigned on his own. His pride has cost him victories on numerous occasions, like the Battle Trial and the Provisional Hero License Exam. His pride is so intense that, when pitted together with Izuku against All Might, he outright refused his partner's help, saying that he'd rather lose than work with Izuku to pass the exam using Izuku's proposed plan. However, after realizing the true difficulty of the exam and confronted by Izuku, Katsuki was able to put his pride aside temporarily in order to cooperate with Izuku effectively.

Katsuki has a more vulnerable side, having been led to tears due to damaged pride a few times. It is thought by some that he has even had panic attacks in the series due to his superiority complex and inability to always be the absolute number one as he wishes to be. Katsuki has also shown moments of fear and guilt, the latter due to viewing himself and his own weakness as the cause of All Might losing his remaining power and retiring as a hero. Katsuki has shown himself to be capable of gratefulness and has gone out of his way to repay or reimburse those who've helped him. Still, due to years of misunderstandings and tension, Katsuki has difficulty doing the same thing towards Izuku.

Abilities
Overall Abilities: Katsuki has proven to be one of the strongest students in Class 1-A. He was able to defeat Fumikage Tokoyami and Shoto Todoroki during the Sports Festival, who are considered to be the two other strongest students in Class 1-A (although they had disadvantages respectively in their fights against Katsuki, despite these limitations, they still proved to be strong). Many notable Pro Heroes such as Shota Aizawa and All Might have praised Katsuki's prowess; even the League of Villains have taken notice of Katsuki's strength and went as far as kidnapping him even if it meant losing members of the Vanguard Action Squad, as his potential membership would have far exceeded the risk. He was able to defeat Izuku during their second fight when the latter was using 8% of One For All despite being fairly injured from the fight.

Enhanced Strength: Katsuki possesses an above average physical strength, as he was able to fight on par with Izuku even when the latter is using his Quirk. He was also able to pressure and overpower Shoto Todoroki, a powerful combatant, during their battle. He is able to use his Grenade Bracers without any recoil due to his strength, whereas Izuku nearly dislocated his arm just from using one.

Keen Intellect: Despite looking like he'd just be a punk with no brains, Katsuki has proven to be extremely smart and strategic, as he was able to figure out Kurogiri's Quirk weakness and Fumikage's weakness in a short period of time. During the Cavalry Battle of the Sports festival, he formed a strategy of using the quirks of his team to get the headbands of Neito Monoma and was successful in obtaining them. Additionally, he quickly assessed which of the attacking villains in USJ was the most dangerous threat in the long term. Even Pro Heroes (such as All Might) have mentioned several times his great potential and battle-sense. Shota Aizawa stated that in battle Katsuki shines his brightest. Further proving his intellect is that Katsuki had the 3rd highest score in the midterms from 1-A, being even higher than Izuku's, who scored the 4th highest. Katsuki was also able to piece together the truth of Izuku's quirk after being kidnapped by the League of Villains and seeing All For One steal quirks which coincided with Izuku's words of getting a quirk which he correctly deduced came from All Might, with whom he noticed Izuku had a connection to. This is why he is considered a natural born genius.

Musical Talent: As shown during the U.A. Cultural Festival Arc, Katsuki is highly skilled at playing a drum kit, having gone through classes in the past.

Quirk
Explosion (爆破): Katsuki's Quirk allows him to secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from his palms and detonate it at will to create explosions. The more Katsuki sweats, the stronger his explosions become. As stated by Best Jeanist, Katsuki has a strong grasp on the applications of his Quirk.

Katsuki usually uses small, powerful explosions from his hands to not only blast his opponents but to propel himself and navigate through the air as well. He can keep up his explosions long enough to negate Shoto's Giant Ice Wall and even break through Eijiro's hardening Quirk. The blasts are powerful enough to send Katsuki flying at his opponents without much time for them to react, and he can use them swiftly enough to evade incoming attacks, even in the air.

Katsuki's most powerful explosion so far (without the need of the Grenadier Bracers) was used to completely destroy Ochaco's meteor shower, and blow her away with the resulting shock wave rocking the entire Sports Festival stadium. Non-enhanced explosions of similar strength were used against All Might during the practical exam. These explosions, especially when used repeatedly in rapid succession, were actually shown to have a negative impact on Katsuki's arms.

Katsuki suffers somewhat from the impact of his explosions due to recoil but the overall effect is minimal given his physical prowess. He is able to set off constant explosions around him without feeling any negative repercussions even after many powerful blasts. However, overuse can result in Katsuki hurting his arms from the recoil of powerful explosions. This is shown in the practical exam when All Might notices the damage Katsuki is inflicting on himself and decides to knock him out to prevent him from permanently damaging his arms.

Another drawback of Katsuki's Quirk is that he is unable to use his explosions in areas filled with flammable gas as his explosions would ignite the gas and spread it further. Additionally, because his Quirk relies on his hands sweating, it is more difficult for his Quirk to work in colder climates. Without sweat from his palms, he cannot use his Quirk to its fullest potential.

Super Moves

 * Blast Rush Turbo (ターボ): Katsuki throws his hands back and uses explosions to propel himself. He uses this both on the ground to increase his speed and through the air to achieve a pseudo form of flight. He first used this technique on the ground during the Quirk Apprehension Test. The first time he used it to fly was during the Obstacle Race.
 * Stun Grenade: Katsuki starts by creating a sphere of light between his hands that explodes into a large scale flash. Similar to the effect of an actual stun grenade, the flash of light blinds anyone close by. He first used this technique to defeat Fumikage Tokoyami.
 * [[file:Howitzer Impact.gif|220px|thumb|Howitzer Impact]]Howitzer Impact: Katsuki takes to the air and uses explosions to propel himself in a circular motion to create a tornado. This tornado builds up oxygen to fuel the incoming explosion. After colliding with the ground, Katsuki releases the powerful aforementioned explosion. Present Mic compared the effectiveness of the technique to that of an actual missile. Katsuki first used Howitzer Impact in the final match of the U.A. Sports Festival Finals.
 * AP Shot: Katsuki's special move. Katsuki stretches out one of his hands and uses his other hand to form a circle on the palm of his outstretched hand. Katsuki then fires an explosion through the circle, which creates a concentrated blast beam. By focusing the path of his explosions into a single point instead of around his whole palm, Katsuki creates a concentrated blast with reduced area of impact, but with enough power to successfully pierce solid concrete.
 * AP Shot: Auto-Cannon: A rapid-fire version of his AP Shot Technique. The explosion power is reduced in order to avoid dealing severe damage to human targets.

Equipment
Grenadier Bracers (籠手): An adjustment added to Katsuki's hero costume that stores his nitroglycerin-like sweat. Once filled he can pull the grenade pin in order to release a large blast, as shown when he fought Izuku in All Might's Heroes vs. Villains test. It has enough explosive power to destroy all parts of the building within its blast radius. This equipment was first used during the Battle Trial.

Improvised Grenades: Around the belt of his Hero costume are several containers made to look like hand grenades. These can store Katsuki's nitroglycerin-like sweat, and be used as regular grenades at a later time. These were first used in a practical way during the Provisional license exam by Denki.

Knee Pads: These are very blunt metallic attachments to Katsuki's knees. They are designed so he can "kill with his knees", but he has not displayed such use for them as of yet.

Battles & Events
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Battle Trial Arc

 * Izuku Midoriya & Ochaco Uraraka vs. Katsuki Bakugo & Tenya Iida

Unforeseen Simulation Joint Arc

 * Katsuki Bakugo & Eijiro Kirishima vs. Villains
 * All Might, Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki & Eijiro Kirishima vs. League of Villains

U.A. Sports Festival Arc

 * Team Bakugo vs. Team Monoma
 * Ochaco Uraraka vs. Katsuki Bakugo
 * Eijiro Kirishima vs. Katsuki Bakugo
 * Fumikage Tokoyami vs. Katsuki Bakugo
 * Katsuki Bakugo vs. Shoto Todoroki

Final Exams Arc

 * Izuku Midoriya & Katsuki Bakugo vs. All Might

Forest Training Camp Arc

 * Katsuki Bakugo & Shoto Todoroki vs. Moonfish

Provisional Hero License Exam Arc
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 * Katsuki Bakugo, Eijiro Kirishima & Denki Kaminari vs. Seiji Shishikura
 * Izuku Midoriya vs. Katsuki Bakugo

Trivia

 * Originally, Katsuki was supposed to be a natural born genius, a very kind and gentle character who spoke without thinking and unintentionally insulted others. The author, however, found this original draft to be boring and decided to make him an unpleasant character, while still a natural born genius instead.
 * Katsuki's name is composed of "baku" (爆) from "bakuha" (爆破) and "ka(tsu)" (勝) from "katsu" (勝つ).
 * Katsuki likes spicy food and mountain climbing.
 * Katsuki's academic data at U.A. is as follows:
 * Student No. 17 in Class 1-A.
 * Ranked 1st during the U.A. Entrance Exam.
 * Ranked 3rd during the Quirk Apprehension Test.
 * Ranked 3rd in Class 1-A's mid-term grades.
 * Winner of The U.A. Sports Festival First-Year Stage.
 * Katsuki's rankings in the Popularity Polls are as follows:
 * Katsuki ranked 3rd in the First Popularity Poll.
 * Katsuki ranked 1st in the Second and Third Popularity Polls.
 * With his birthday taking place in April 20, Katsuki is the oldest student in Class 1-A, as everyone was 15 when they started U.A.'s school year in early April.

Quotes

 * (To Izuku Midoriya) "From here on, I..! From here on..! Y'hear me?! I'm gonna... beat you all! Enjoy your win. It'll never happen again! Dammit!"
 * (To All Might) "Needless to say... I'll be a hero that surpasses even you!"
 * (To Shoto Todoroki) "You'll regret making a fool of me! I'll freaking kill you! I'm taking the first to end all firsts! There's no point in winning against some half-assed punk! No point if I can't do better than Deku! So if you're not trying to win, get the hell outta my face! Why're you even here, you bastard?!"
 * (To Izuku Midoriya) "Stop talking. I will win. That's... what heroes do."
 * (To the League of Villains) "Can't stand morons like you who can't get to the damned point! Basically you're saying, 'we wanna cause trouble, be our pal!' What a joke! I've always admired All Might's triumphs. No matter what any of you jerks say... Nothing's ever gonna change that!"

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