Every time Deku gets stronger, I grit my teeth to keep from falling behind. Even at this 30 percent speed of his... I ain't gonna be left behind. I'll take his growth and make it my own, all to rise higher. Even higher than him - the "chosen one". I'm not gonna lose... I can't afford to stay a loser!!
Katsuki Bakugo (爆豪勝己,Bakugō Katsuki?), also known as Kacchan (かっちゃん,Katchan?) by his childhood friends,[4] and his hero name Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight (大•爆•殺•神ダイナマイト,Daibakusasshin Dainamaito?),[5] was a student in Class 1-A at U.A. High School, training to become a Pro Hero. He is the deuteragonist of My Hero Academia.
Eight years after the Final War, Katsuki has graduated from U.A. High School, becoming a high-ranking Pro Hero with an insatiable appetite for crushing his foes.[6]
Katsuki is a young man of above-average height, with a slim, muscular build, and a fair skin tone. He has short, spiky, sandy blond hair with choppy bangs that hang over his eyebrows. His eyes are sharp and bright red in color.
During his time in AlderaJunior High School, similar to Izuku, he wore a plain black gakuran uniform with yellow buttons, accompanied by brown loafers. While at home, he wears a green jinbei over a white shirt and gray sweatpants.
At U.A., he wears the standard U.A. uniform without the customary red tie, a few buttons undone at the top of his white collared shirt, and his pants are worn loosely, sagging at his ankles, despite him wearing a belt with them. After the Paranormal Liberation War, Katsuki's school uniform is worn in a much neater fashion and includes the red tie he previously forwent.
His hero costume is composed of a tight, black, sleeveless tank top, with an orange "X" across the middle, forming a V-neck. There are two dots along the left line of his collar, indicating the support company that designed his costume.[7] His costume also has a metallic neck brace worn with rectangular ends that have three holes on each side. His black sleeves reach from within his large grenade-like gauntlets to his biceps, with a thin orange tip at the end. A green and orange belt, which carries grenades, holds up his baggy pants with green straps and knee guards. He sports black, knee-high combat boots with orange soles and eight eyelets, and straps on the top. His mask is jagged and black, and as it goes around his eyes, a large, orange-rimmed flare shape protrudes from each side.
While interning under Best Jeanist, the Fiber Hero attempted to teach Katsuki the importance of maintaining a positive appearance. To that end, he took the liberty of making some changes to Katsuki's outward appearance to make him look less intimidating. During this tenure, his wild spiky hair was combed into a neat side part. Best Jeanist also made changes to Katsuki's Hero costume; he got rid of Katsuki's mask and grenade gauntlets and had him wear a pair of smart blue denim jeans in place of his usual baggy pants.
In the winter months, he wears a large jacket with a high collar and four orange eyelets on the collar and two on each shoulder, rather than the usual tank top, although it does maintain the same orange "X" design, the purpose of which he can still sweat a sufficient amount in the cold weather, given how his Quirk works.
For Mission: Humarise, Katsuki and his fellow internees at the Endeavor Agency are given special advanced stealth costumes by the World Heroes Association for their mission to Otheon. Based on the winter variant of his costume, Katsuki designed his stealth costume to be all neoprene black with the exception of orange "X", the soles of his boots, and his gloves while retaining the metal kneepads and his metallic neck brace has two holes on each side instead of three. The Grenadier Bracers were redesigned to be shaped like flashbang grenades rather than frag grenades. He also has two silver plates on his shoulders with the letters "WHA" and two straps coming down from his neck brace with a red button on the left.
Due to the injuries he sustained during the Paranormal Liberation War, Katsuki has two scars on his body: one on his left shoulder and one on his lower stomach area.
By the time of the Final War, Katsuki now wears his Winter Costume to maximize his sweat production, increasing his need for condensed explosions from his nitroglycerin. During his final battle against Tomura Shigaraki, he utilizes a support gear called the Strafe Panzer, which consists of six barreled heavy cannons and two shoulder-pad smaller cannons as aim sights; the cannons are loaded with a belt feed containing nitroglycerin stored in each capsule, giving Katsuki more sweat ammunition or for bigger explosions.
In the fight, the Strafe Panzer is destroyed and his right arm is badly crushed by the villain, while the right side of his face is heavily scarred. After a near death experience due to his heart being ruptured by an attack from Tomura, said hole now has a suture scar thanks to being resuscitated back to life by Edgeshot. To mend his broken right arm, All Might gives him his remaining equipment from his Armored All Might suit, the "Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight", acting as a splint.
In the aftermath of the battle, Katsuki's right arm is all stitched up, and despite the surgery is unable to move again. Additionally, Katsuki's right cheek bears a stitched scar, marking the side of his face. He reverts to his standard hero costume, now modified with a long black sleeve that envelops his entire right arm and shoulder. During the rest of his school years, Katsuki has consistently rehabilitate his right arm until he was able to move his arm again, restoring its normal functions.
Eight years after the end of the Final War, Katsuki has become taller, more muscular, and leaner. His hero costume still retains the same design as he wore from U.A., but the Grenadier Bracers have been redesigned to be more streamlined, giving the shape of a smoke grenade instead of the usual grenade design, featuring silver sights fastened to every knuckle. In addition, he wears two braids at the back of his head, designed to look like lit fuses.
Katsuki is a crude, arrogant, short-tempered, and aggressive person, especially at the beginning of the series. Katsuki tends to come off as unheroic; this problematic behavior going all the way back to his early childhood days when he was known to bully a young, Quirkless, Izuku Midoriya. He showed to be extremely arrogant and condescending to those around him, often bragging of his Explosion Quirk's power, and even boasting that he would take on his entire middle school class. He showed open hostility towards Izuku, mainly because of his former Quirkless status, and would frequently put down his dream of becoming a Hero, despite lacking a Quirk, and also gave him the insulting nickname "Deku" (meaning useless and unable to achieve anything). He even threatened Izuku not to apply to U.A. High School and became angry upon both of them passing the Entrance Exam, wanting to be the only person from his middle school to make it there.
However, after being accepted into U.A. 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. While often portrayed negatively, Katsuki's fierce character and competitive drive have actually granted him an important role among Class 1-A, as a sort of inspirational mood-maker.[8]
Katsuki's usual fighting expression.
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. Katsuki is not only very athletic and talented at fighting, but also very intelligent and extremely perceptive, capable of strategic planning and improvisation. Moreover, Katsuki's grades are among the highest of his class and he already knew how to read perfectly by the age of four, evidence that he treats studying seriously.[9][4] Katsuki also possesses surprising talent in other areas, such as cooking and music, even though he doesn't show a particular interest in them.[10][11] Overall, Katsuki is considered a natural-born genius with the potential to be one of the best Pro Heroes around.
Eijiro's first impression of Katsuki.
While a rather volatile hero-in-training, Katsuki is smart enough to discern who his enemies and allies are. He is not particularly nice or open with people who are on his side, or anyone else for that matter, 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.[12] Katsuki matures slowly through his time at U.A., coming to befriend some of his classmates and willingly engaging in social interaction with them, though remaining solitary for the most part.
Like with Izuku, Katsuki has a habit of bestowing insulting nicknames upon others, such as calling Tenya Ida "Four Eyes" because of his glasses, Denki Kaminari "Dunce-Face" because of how his Electrification Quirk dulls his thinking, Shoto Todoroki "Half and Half" or "Icy-Hot" because of his dual Quirk and appearance, and so on. He also refers to people he doesn't know as "Extras" treating them as little more than fodder or stepping stones to his victory until he faces them head-on. Despite this, he can address others properly when it matters, such as when he's serious or in the heat of battle.
Katsuki trying to intimidate Shoto with Explosion.
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. Overall, Katsuki doesn't seem to care very much about what others think of him, barely containing himself from violent behavior (although he avoids other typical delinquent practices like underage smoking).[13] Katsuki values honesty highly and never lies to the point his brash candor is seen by some as rude and insensitive. He is never afraid of speaking his mind and will notice when people are not being truthful to him. This shows that, despite his anti-social habits, Katsuki is an excellent judge of character, making it hard to deceive him.
Katsuki unhappy with his first place at the Sports Festival.
Due to the constant praise of his abilities and powerful Quirk, Katsuki has 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. He is fiercely competitive and will never settle for less than the number one spot, having a compulsive need to always strive for victory and also prove people who doubt him wrong. However, Katsuki also values hard work and fair play, to the point of refusing to acknowledge a winning result if he feels that his victory was not earned by actual merit. Along with that, he detests being pitied or looked down on by others, 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, like, for example, Ochaco Uraraka and Eijiro Kirishima.
Because of his Quirk and talents, Katsuki is very confident and brave to where he is willing to go against anyone who challenges him. He never backs down from a fight and will go out when facing such a powerful opponent. From taking on several villains at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, Katsuki knows when dealing with someone that is out of his league, as he let All Might face off against Nomu. During the First Term Final Exam, Katsuki wasn't afraid to go up against All Might, even though he knew he had a low chance of taking him down head on.
Katsuki saving his allies from danger.
Katsuki is immensely prideful and prefers to act alone, as he hates the idea of being protected or having to rely on other people to assist him unless, in the latter's case, he is recognized as the unquestionable leading figure within a team. At the beginning of the series, Katsuki's cooperativeness was nothing short of atrocious, often ignoring his partners' ideas and suggestions for his own very direct approaches. His teamwork skills gradually improve as the series progresses, even if Katsuki keeps coming off as condescending through his usual tone. However, it's clear he now acknowledges their importance, protecting them from harm while expecting them to do the same for him in return. As a leader, Katsuki is a merciless perfectionist, and will only become satisfied with complete, indisputable victories.
Katsuki refusing Izuku's help once more, reflecting their childhood.
Katsuki often has difficulty accepting his mistakes and shortcomings, and will fiercely deny them whenever they are pointed out by others, regardless of who does it. That doesn't mean, however, that Katsuki doesn't listen to advice, having come to realize his faults and how to somewhat improve on them thanks to the words and actions of other people like All Might and Best Jeanist, but he will never outright admit due to his pride. He prefers to self-reflect in silence and solitude, becoming a bit more brooding during those periods. Katsuki's unchecked pride and aggression has cost him victories on numerous occasions, like the Battle Trial or the Provisional Hero License Exam, and it tends to worsen whenever Izuku is involved. Both characters share a sensitive history with each other, with Katsuki, in particular, being unable to completely overcome his issues with Izuku, although this has not stopped them from working together many times.[14]
Katsuki's wounded pride.
Katsuki has a more vulnerable side, having been led to tears due to damaged pride a few times. After the Battle Trial, Katsuki admitted that when he saw Shoto Todoroki's power, he couldn't beat him head on and called out how Momo Yaoyorozu was right about how reckless he was during his fight with Izuku. 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. Still, due to years of misunderstandings, tension, and pride, Katsuki has difficulty doing the same thing towards Izuku.
By the time of the Remedial Course, Katsuki had started to mature enough to the point that he was able to advise a kid, who acted similarly to him, that if he continued to look down on others then he would not realize his own mistakes. Despite this growth, he has certain personality traits that he doesn't immediately get over, like joining the Class 1-A band during the U.A. School Festival under the pretense of "beating the other classes through music", or calling his classmates in the Joint Training Battle "underlings". During his internship at the Endeavor Agency, he also berates Burnin for speaking so loudly in the morning, despite having been scolded by his mother for doing the very same thing.
Katsuki also has an honorable side to him. While he didn't believe about Izuku's Quirk belonging to someone else as well as falsely assuming that Izuku had been hiding it from him the entire time, when he learned of All For One and his Quirk, he started to believe Izuku's words and pieced it together after seeing All Might's true form, confronting the former about his assumption. After All Might confirmed his deduction, Katsuki vowed to keep One For All a secret, being one of the initial few people to know about the true power of the Quirk.
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, various heroes, civilians, and even villains have commented on his arrogance and conceit. However, Katsuki is unwavering in his aspirations of heroism, having outright refused Tomura Shigaraki's proposal for him to join the League of Villains because he views the villains as people who lose and not win like heroes.
It is later revealed that Katsuki decided to help Izuku train One For All to atone for his actions. During Katsuki's discussion with All Might about his connections to Izuku, Katsuki admitted that he bullied Izuku as an outlet for his own insecurities and how he couldn't understand why Izuku would put others before himself. In truth, Katsuki really cares for Izuku despite how he acts, and wishes for him to continue improving his strength and Quirks, unlike before where he ridiculed Izuku's efforts and told him how he wouldn't amount to anything. His caring and protective side is further proven when he heard that Tomura was targeting One For All, immediately realizing that the villain leader would be going after Izuku and made attempts to keep Tomura away from him.
After Izuku left U.A. in order to face All For One alone, as well as to protect his friends and family from danger, Katsuki, along with his classmates, departed from the school in order to bring him back. Following a battle to get Izuku to come to his senses, Katsuki genuinely apologizes to the former for his actions while calling Izuku by his first name, displaying his regret over trying to usurp Izuku's strengths by putting him down and for bullying him in the past. This proves that Katsuki is repentant over his own faults, with him willing to face them in order to atone for his past actions, and now seeing Izuku as a true ally, friend, and rival figure.
Following the Final War, Katsuki accepts his injuries and shows his willingness to go ahead with rehabilitation, not wishing to have his broken right arm amputated and limit his Quirk. However, Katsuki becomes truly shocked upon learning that Izuku has been rendered Quirkless after his final battle against Tomura, recalling how he once bullied Izuku and his growth during their time at U.A. High School. This news was enough to reduce Katsuki to tears, with him confessing that he thought he would be chasing after Izuku for the rest of their lives, demonstrating how Katsuki has come to truly support Izuku from all the years of conflict between them.
Eight years later, Katsuki has graduated from U.A. High, becoming a notoriously strong Pro Hero. His aggressive and unpleasant personality has remained though, causing some issues with his popularity rankings. Even so, Katsuki's bond with Izuku has remained intact, to the point where he lead a funding for Mei Hatsume and Melissa Shield to create a mechanized suit for Izuku, which all of Class A contributed to. With their efforts allowing Izuku to become a hero again, Katsuki offers his hand to him as they all leap into action.
Abilities[]
Katsuki's combat prowess.
Overall Abilities: Katsuki has proven to be one of the strongest students in Class 1-A, earning third place in the Quirk Apprehension Test, while placing first in both the U.A. Entrance Exam, having the most villain points, and the U.A. Sports Festival. Katsuki's fighting style is an all-out offense, using his Quirk's propulsive abilities to close the distance between him and his opponents, followed by a bombardment of close-range attacks that often start with a powerful right hook. Katsuki is able to use his Explosion to propel himself through mid-air, blind opponents, and release long-range blasts, among other applications. Explosion is a versatile Quirk, especially for battle situations, as the recoil caused by the blasts can be exploited by Katsuki for mobility purposes.
During the U.S.J. Incident, Katsuki was able to single-handedly overpower and immobilize Kurogiri, a highly capable villain. At the U.A. Sports Festival, he defeated Fumikage Tokoyami and Shoto Todoroki, who were considered the two other strongest students in Class 1-A at that point. Many notable Pro Heroes, such as Shota Aizawa and All Might, have praised Katsuki's prowess, noting the sheer amount of potential he carries. The League of Villains also took notice of Katsuki's strength and went as far as trying to kidnap him so he could be converted to their cause, even if it meant sacrificing members of the Vanguard Action Squad as his potential membership would have far exceeded the risk.
Pushing pass his limits, Katsuki successfully defeats the Trigger-enhanced Serpenters.
Katsuki is strong enough to fight toe-to-toe and even overpower Izuku when he's using 5% of One For All, though was pressured and nearly defeated once Izuku began using 8%. During the Joint Training Battle, Katsuki displayed that he can still fight efficiently despite his Quirk being weakened by the cold weather conditions of the winter season. Katsuki also became less insubordinate when paired with people and developed exceptional camaraderie, as he utilizes his abilities to repel opponents that overpower his comrades. When Katsuki discards his pride, his comradeship proves pivotal against any formidable adversaries they face.
Not willing to let Izuku get ahead of him and never taking his intended goal of surpassing All Might lightly, Katsuki is always building up his power, improving his technique, and looking forward to knowing what he is currently unable to do, with the intent of being able to do so in the future. Katsuki's unstoppable drive to win is perhaps his biggest strength, with all of his classmates, including Izuku, having faith in his ability to earn victories.
By the time of the Paranormal Liberation War, Katsuki's overall abilities and proficiency have significantly increased, evidenced by him singlehandedly defeating the Trigger-enhanced Serpenters after a drawn-out battle, and even matching the speed of Izuku using One For All at 30%. Like Izuku, Katsuki has also grown to the point he can fight side-by-side with world class pros, such as Endeavor, Gran Torino, Best Jeanist, Mirko, and Edgeshot. After his near-death experience upon being stabbed by Tomura's Rivet Stabs, Katsuki was the first of his class to undergo an Awakening, which causes his Quirk to become stronger, faster, and more condensed than usual, resulting in the development of a new technique called Cluster. In the aftermath of the war, Katsuki has been training more consistently to improve his Cluster, and he was able to utilize his Quirk to new heights when he and Class 1-A manage to catch up to the rogue Izuku who was using Fa Jin to reach Faux 100 Percent.
After Izuku returns to U.A., Katsuki still keeps improving his Quirk, and this time, wearing only his Winter Costume so he can produce more sweat and condense his nitroglycerin, focusing on saving up a bunch of sweat. So rather than one big Explosion, he can create a barrage of explosions at once to power his new Cluster technique.
In the Final War, Katsuki improved so much that he was able to fight alongside other Heroes such as three of the Top 5 Pro Heroes, The Big 3, three of the strongest U.A. Hero Course students, and against the now complete Tomura whose abilities have increased to the point where his can conjure a blob of fingers as the result of the Quirk Singularity. Despite his improvement, Tomura still bested him and ultimately fatally injured him by landing a devastating punch right on his chest, causing his heart to burst. However, thanks to his intense training with his Quirk, the nitroglycerin in his sweat helped to jumpstart his heart back to life, as well as then allowed him to utilize said beads of sweat stored in his palms to shoot through his whole body, using the pain of the intervals where they explode to give him better handling on the timing of his backup blasts, making even more ginormous explosions three times its normal size.
His overall abilities have drastically improved over the course of the war, enabling him to, not only to make him startle even Tomura, but also fend off a more younger All For One, whose body was being rewinded to his prime thanks to a reversed-engineered Quirk-Destroying Drug, until he was eventually re-wound out of existence. His proficiency of his Quirk also improved to the point he can discreetly explode his nitroglycerin sweat beads from long distances, greatly disrupting All For One's attempted retaliation.
Enhanced Speed: Initially, Katsuki's speed relied on constant shockwave explosions of his palms, which gives him semi-flight capabilities, but he was fast enough to keep up with some of the fastest students in U.A. such as Tenya Ida, Shoto Todoroki, and Izuku. Thanks to his technique of utilizing the back-blast and shockwave of his Quirk, Katsuki was fast enough to catch up to Tenya during the Kamino Incident. Katsuki has been constantly improving his speed to the point where he can catch up to some of the top Heroes such as Endeavor, and save Natsuo Todoroki from certain death from a speeding car. By the time of the Paranormal Liberation war, Katsuki's speed has improved drastically over the span of a few months, enabling him to keep up with Izuku at 30% of One For All Full Cowling. After his Quirk Awakening, his explosions have condensed, enabling Katsuki to now have stronger explosions, which would later be essential to his Cluster technique. With his new Cluster, Katsuki was so fast that he can keep up with Izuku in his Fa Jin with the aid of his classmates to catch him. By the time of the Final War, Katsuki's speed has increased even more, enabling him to not only fight Tomura on even grounds, but also fast enough that Tomura couldn't keep up for a moment. After being resuscitated back to life, he demonstrated another increase in his speed, to the point he was able to catch up to All For One, who was performing at his own near peak level of speed.
Enhanced Strength: Katsuki possesses a high-caliber physical strength, confirmed by his ability to use his Grenade Bracers without sustaining effects from recoil, whereas Izuku nearly dislocated his arm trying to do so. He's also strong enough to casually pick up and throw people of Izuku's size considerable distance with one arm. His physical power is even enough to draw blood from Izuku at 5% of One For All with a kick. During the course of his internship with the Endeavor Agency, his overall strength has greatly improved, enabling him to withstand a condensed explosion, which creates bigger shockwave blasts upon release. His strength contributes to the evacuation of the Jaku Hospital Raid during the Paranormal Liberation War, as he was able to carry an old lady, and three kids while also doing his Explosive Turbo at the same time. His dedication to improving his Quirk enables Katsuki to withstand increasingly greater explosions, especially during the Final War, when Katsuki was able to inflict so much damage on Tomura by unleashing his Howitzer Impact: Cluster, which caused the entire U.A. Flying Fortress to rock and reverberate from the inside and the surface. After his near death experience at Tomura's hand, he demonstrated his other ability to not only increase the volume of his explosions, but also enhance his muscles to handle further explosions that were able to keep up with All For One's ultimate attack.
Enhanced Reflexes: Perhaps Katsuki's greatest physical trait is his fantastic reflexes and reaction time. Initially, his reflexes are on human levels, but decently sharp. He's shown on several occasions overwhelming his foes with his speed or completely evading all their attacks while striking back such as in his battles with Ochaco, Cider House, and Izuku (even when the latter was at 5% of One For All). Once Izuku began utilizing 8% of his true power, Katsuki was quickly pushed back and nearly unable to keep up at all. His superb reflexes even allow him to evade a jet of carbonated water strong enough to cleave a streetlamp in two. Evading such high-speed water attacks is an impressive feat on Katsuki's part, as jets of water can cut through metal when travelling at 760 m/s (1700 mph), which is over twice the speed of sound. His reflexes have been refined during the Joint Training Battle, as he was able to not only save Kyoka Jiro from an attack, but at the same time take out Togaru Kamakiri, one of Class 1-B's most agile opponents. During his internship at the Endeavor Agency, following through Endeavor's advice, his reflexes have become sharper, giving him split-second decision-making skills, enabling him to not only obliterate attacks from a Trigger-induced Ending, but also save Natsuo from being hit by a speeding car. By the time of the Paranormal Liberation War, Katsuki was able to react quick enough to save Izuku from getting attacked by Tomura's Rivet Stabs, at the cost of getting impaled in the process. Nonetheless, his reflexes continue to improve up to the Final War. Katsuki's reflexes have become even sharper than before when he was facing death and pushed to the brink as he reacted to Tomura's swift counterattacks, which even caught the super-powered villain off guard. During his final battle with All For One, Katsuki's reflexes have greatly been enhanced to the point he could react to All For One's lighting fast speed and keep his eyes on the target.
Enhanced Durability: Katsuki is shown to possess above average endurance and durability. He's tough enough to withstand the blowback of his explosions regularly with only moderate pain. He blocked an 8% kick from Izuku without his arm breaking as well, though received a major scratch because of it. He was even proven to withstand attacks from All Might (while restraining himself), Nine, and the Serpenters, but not without large amounts of pain. As the Paranormal Liberation War was occurring, Katsuki's durability has been refined and toughened, enabling the boy to withstand against multiple stab wounds from Tomura's Rivet Stabs. As Katsuki continues to improve on his Quirk, he also improved his Cluster technique, increasing his durability to withstand even more bigger explosions. The results of his improvements was shown during the Final War when Katsuki's durability has given the boy the ability to create enormous explosions from his Cluster and decimated his opponents. Despite being nearly overpowered by Tomura's raw strength, his durability still managed to keep Katsuki alive long enough even after being fatally wounded by Tomura, and after being resuscitated back to life by Edgeshot, still able to keep up with All For One.
Enhanced Stamina: Katsuki has conditioned himself to fight on for long periods of time even when heavily injured. When inflicted with sword wounds by the Serpenters' (before and after becoming Trigger-enhanced) Sword Kill Quirks, Katsuki continued to fight on par with them, and only collapsed from his injuries after defeating the twin duo. During the Paranormal Liberation War, Katsuki suffered stab wounds from a 75% augmented Tomura Shigaraki's Rivet Stab Quirk but could still hold his own against several Near High-End Nomu with aid from other heroes. Katsuki continues to increase his stamina to the point where he was able to keep up with Izuku in his Faux 100% state. By the time of the Final War, Katsuki still keeps on fighting, showing a more longevity of his stamina, even when his arm was crushed and after being fatally injured by Tomura when his heart was ruptured. His stamina was able to let Katsuki keep fighting against the younger All For One, despite his critical injuries, and even when he was about to pass out, Katsuki still remained steadfast to stand his ground until his victory was secured.
Indomitable Will: Katsuki's willpower is one of his greatest traits, following through his notion of an absolute flawless victory no matter what. His willpower may even rival that of Izuku's in terms of determination and his strong hothead tendencies shows some display of that trait. Katsuki has displayed fearless drive to fight the villains and win no matter how strong his opponents may be such as Tomura, All For One, or Nine. Even when he was being grievously injured before being fatally injured by Tomura, his willpower was so immense that his fighting spirit made Tomura have sudden flashbacks of the Second User of One For All: Kudo. Even All For One acknowledged that Katsuki's aura is comparable to Kudo's, as if Kudo's willpower had transcended across time and space into Katsuki to finish the fight long ago. Because of Katsuki sharing the same stubbornness as Kudo during their final battle, All For One mistook Katsuki to be Kudo in blind rage. In his final battle against All For One, even when faced with complete exhaustion, and several life-threatening injuries, recently having his heart repaired, and vomiting out blood, Katsuki stubbornly held his ground, refusing to settle for anything less than a complete victory over the Demon Lord.
Keen Intellect: Katsuki has proven to be fairly intelligent and strategic, but his short temper and overinflated ego often gets the best of him, causing him to overlook crucial details and make several mistakes. While he occasionally doesn't have preemptive strategies like most people, he does analyze his opponent's weaknesses such as when he realized Fumikage's weakness to light during the U.A. Sports Festival in the midst of battle and can anticipate worst-case scenarios. Even when fighting the weaker villains during the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, Katsuki quickly assessed which of the attacking villains were the most dangerous threat in the long term, and eventually figured out a way to incapacitate Kurogiri, one of the invasion's leaders. Katsuki also identified that Kurogiri's neck armor as weak point and bound the mist villain's body to hinder his escape, effectively trapping the League of Villains in the U.S.J. until Nomu intervened. When being warned of a monster attack by Katsuma Shimano, Katsuki was able to deduce that it was merely an illusion cast by Mahoro Shimano because it lacked a shadow. On the first day of the Remedial Exam, Katsuki realized that one of Masegaki Primary School students was secretly acting as the mastermind behind the children's misconduct, and soon identifies the perpetrating student towards the end of the day.
Even outside of battle, Katsuki is incredibly perceptive, having deducted the truth about One For All by just piecing together comments and interactions surrounding Izuku, All Might, and even All For One. Katsuki can seemingly detect when people are lying to him by just reading into their behaviors and expressions, such as discerning Yo Shindo's congenial facade. During his final battle with All For One, Katsuki realized he would never be able to overpower him directly, so he opted to defeat him instead with some cunning and timed explosions.
Leadership Skills: Katsuki has always been criticized for his lack of cooperativeness, usually as a result of his overwhelming ego that prevents him from following the lead of others. However, thanks to Katsuki's very own determination, perfectionism, and intelligence, he is a capable leader should others decide to follow him instead. During round four of the Joint Training Battle, Setsuna Tokage admitted that even if her team had attacked him all at once, they stood no chance of victory. In the end, despite Class 1-B's exceptional teamwork and Setsuna's strategic planning, they failed to capture a single member of Class 1-A, mostly thanks to Katsuki's efforts, adaptability, and superior skills. More impressively, Katsuki's judicious forethought, allowed his team to secure victory in less than 5 minutes. Though he may not realize it, Katsuki is one of the main motivators of Class 1-A alongside Izuku, thanks to his power and indomitable drive to win.[8]
Cooking Skill: Katsuki is surprisingly adept in culinary practice, being able to cut vegetables very quickly and with ease, as well as spotting how Shoto hadn't cut chives properly and scolding him for it.
Musical Talent: Katsuki is highly skilled at playing the drums, having gone through classes in the past.
Technical Skill: Katsuki possesses some degree of technical skill. He pinpointed the location of the Humarise base by combining the two digital world maps of Trigger Bombs and narrowing it down to a location that wasn't specified by Humarise, as well as finding the Trigger Bomb control system.
Quirk[]
Katsuki employing his Quirk's versatility in his fighting style.
Explosion (爆破,Bakuha?): Katsuki's Quirk allows him to secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from the palms of his hands and ignite it on command, allowing him to create strong explosions.[4] The more Katsuki sweats, the stronger his explosions become.[15] If Katsuki overuses this power, his forearms will start to ache.
Katsuki has a strong grasp on the applications of his Quirk, something that was acknowledged by Best Jeanist, a top Pro Hero; not only can Katsuki use the explosions for attacking, he can also use them to propel himself and navigate through the air at high speeds, allowing him to fly at his opponents without giving them time to react,[16] as well as evade incoming attacks, even while in the air.[17][18] The shockwave from an explosion can even be used as a shield.
Katsuki can keep up his explosions continuously, long enough to break through Eijiro's hardening Quirk[17] and negate Shoto's "Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall" for a short while before being overwhelmed.[18] As part of his training, Katsuki submerged his hands into boiling water to expand his sweat glands, then created chain explosions toward the sky to increase the scale of his attacks.
After his near death experience by Tomura's hand, his Quirk underwent an Awakening. This allowed his Explosions to be stronger and more condensed, allowing Katsuki to reach higher speeds. He was later able to achieve a level of Explosion power allowing him to create ginormous explosions that are strong enough to contest against All For One.
Temporary Quirk[]
Katsuki and Izuku using One For All.
One For All (ワン・フォー・オール,Wan Fō Ōru?): Transferred to him by Izuku, One For All allowed Katsuki to stockpile an enormous amount of raw power, allowing him to significantly enhance all of his physical abilities to a superhuman level. This resulted in unbelievable levels of strength, speed, agility, and durability. It also provided an exceptional strength boost to his given Quirk, Explosion.[19]
At the end of his and Izuku's fight against Nine, Katsuki lost One For All and the Quirk remained in Izuku's body. Toshinori initially suspected that Izuku kept One For All because Katsuki lost consciousness prior to the transfer's completion, but later theorized that the Quirk kept itself inside of Izuku due to his willingness to protect others, even if it meant losing One For All.
Ultimate Moves[]
Explosive Speed (爆速ターボ,Bakusoku Tābo?): 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.[20] The first time he used it to fly was during the Obstacle Race.[21]
Stun Grenade (閃光弾,Sutan Gurenēdo?): 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.[22]
Point-Blank Stun Grenade (ゼロ距離閃光弾,Zero Kyori Sutan Gurenēdo?): A variation where Katsuki fires off his Stun Grenade at point-blank range of the opponent to immediately stun and immobilize them with little lasting damage.[23] This variation was first used against Setsuna in the fourth round of the Joint Training Battle.
Howitzer Impact.
Howitzer Impact (榴弾砲着弾,Hauzā Inpakuto?): This move is the strongest move in Katsuki's arsenal, which involves Katsuki taking to the air, and then using 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 target, 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.[18] He has also shown that he can release the fueled explosion in midair, without having to make contact with the target.[24]
AP Shot (徹甲弾,Ē-Pī Shotto?): 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 (徹甲弾機関銃,Ē-Pī Shotto Ōtokanon?): A rapid-fire version of his AP Shot Technique. The explosion power is reduced in order to avoid dealing severe damage to human targets.[25] This variation was first used against Seiji Shishikura in the first stage of the Provisional Hero License Exam.
AP Machine-Gun (徹甲機銃,Ē-Pī Mashingan?): A stronger version of his AP Shot: Auto-Cannon where Katsuki fires larger, rapid-fire explosions.[26] This technique was first used against Tomura in the Paranormal Liberation War Arc.
Explode-A-Pult (爆破式カタパルト,Ekusu Kataparuto?): While in mid-air, Katsuki grabs an opponent with one of his arms, then propels himself in a spinning motion by firing explosions with his free arm. Once he gains enough momentum, Katsuki forcefully throws his opponent with the aid of another explosion. He first used this technique against Togaru Kamakiri in the fourth round of the Joint Training Battle.[23]
Land Mine Blast (爆風地雷,Bakufū Jirai?): Katsuki places his Grenadier Bracer on the ground and lets of a massive explosion into the ground, blowing back any obstacles surrounding him. This technique was first used to dissipate Mahoro Shimano's Hologram.[19]
Katsuki using Cluster.
Cluster (クラスター,Kurasutā?): Katsuki condenses his explosions to become stronger and faster, allowing him to unleash a flurry of bursts that can be used in a variety of ways. He first uses this, inadvertently, to save Izuku from "Tomura".[27]
Explosive Speed: Cluster (爆速ターボ クラスター,Bakusoku Tābo Kurasutā?): Katsuki employs the Cluster technique to propel himself forward in a similar fashion to his Explosive Speed, but at a much faster rate, allowing him to catch up with extremely fast targets.[27][28]
Howitzer Impact: Cluster (ハウザーインパクト クラスター,Hauzā Inpakuto Kurasutā?): Katsuki employs the Cluster technique and the Strafe Panzer support item to empower his Howitzer Impact by creating larger explosions to propel himself with, as well as launching explosions in all directions.[29]
Full Cowl - 100% (フルカウル 100%,Furu Kauru 100 Pāsento?): Katsuki activates One For All to its fullest extent throughout Full Cowl, granting him a tremendous boost in speed and strength. Katsuki's first and only use of this technique was against Nine to defend Nabu Island. The power increase caused orange energy to trail out of Katsuki's eyes and his pupils and irises to distort. His hair also became spikier, and his entire body glowed a yellowish hue with orange electricity crackling around it. When fused with Explosion, Katsuki's original Quirk became so powerful that standard blasts from it could create enormous craters. The temperature of the explosions also increased to the point where it could melt through solid rock in a similar manner to lava as Katsuki came into close proximity to it.[19]
Katsuki using Detroit Smash in tandem with Izuku.
Detroit Smash (デトロイトスマッシュ,Detoroito Sumasshu?): Katsuki performs an uppercut in order to create an increase in air pressure. Katsuki's only use of this Ultimate Move was against Nine during the villain's assault on Nabu Island. Performed during the temporary transfer of One For All between him and Izuku, this move was used to dissipate Nine's enormous and destructive tornado. Using his left arm, while Izuku used his right, they both punched toward the sky, where a powerful rush of air blew up the tornado.[19]
Katsuki's stats, according to the Ultra Archive Book
Power
5/6 A
Speed
5/6 A
Technique
5/6 A+
Wits
5/6 A
Proper Language
1/6 E
Katsuki's stats, according to the Ultra Analysis Book
Equipment[]
Grenadier Bracers (籠手,Kote?): A pair of arm mounted storage tanks 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 focused 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.[4]
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 may be used as regular grenades at a later time. These were first used during the Provisional Hero License Exam by Denki.
Knee Pads: These are very blunt metallic attachments to Katsuki's knees. They are designed so that he can "kill with his knees," but he has not yet displayed any such use for them.
Suppressive Heavy Mobile Unit: Strafe Panzer (面制圧重装機動 ストレイフパンツァー,Men Seiatsu Jūsō Kidō Sutoreifu Pantsā?): A number of retractable machine guns that can extend from the back of his hero costume and mount over his shoulders. Like his Grenadier Bracers, they use his nitroglycerin-like sweat as ammunition.
Katsuki, back when he was designed as a "nicer" character.
Early design concept for Katsuki's hero costume.
Originally, Katsuki was a very kind and gentle character who spoke without thinking and unintentionally insulted others. Horikoshi, however, found this original draft to be boring and decided, while still keeping him a natural born genius, to make him an unpleasant character instead.[30]
In later concepts, Katsuki would adopt the hero name "Ground Zero" at some point. In the series proper, Katsuki's hero name is Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight.
Katsuki's surname contains the kanji for "bomb" (爆,baku?) and "powerful" (豪,gō?), and his first name contains "to win" (勝,katsu?) and "self" (己,ki?).
The first kanji used to write Katsuki's surname is also the first kanji that's used in the word "explosion" (爆破,bakuha?).
Katsuki's known 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.
His fifty-meter dash record is 4.13 seconds. His previous record was 5.58 in middle school.
His softball throw record is 709.6 meters, updated from 705.2 meters during the Quirk Training Camp. His previous record was 67 meters in middle school.
Winner of The U.A. Sports Festival First-Year Stage.
Katsuki received a total of 3,556 nominations from Pro Heroes for his U.A. Sports Festival performance, making him the 2nd most nominated student of Class 1-A despite winning the competition.
Since he failed the Provisional Hero License Exam, he scored below 50.
Katsuki's old, Quirkless 50-Meter Dash record is the same as Tsuyu Asui's current, Quirk-using record (5.58 seconds).
Katsuki ranked 1st in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth Popularity Polls.
Katsuki ranked 5th in the first US Popularity Poll.
Katsuki ranked 1st in the second, fourth and fifth US Popularity Polls.
With his birthday taking place on April 20, Katsuki is the oldest student in Class 1-A, as everyone was fifteen when they started U.A.'s school year in early April. This would make him sixteen around the U.A Sports Festival and seventeen somewhere along the Final War, as its associated events delayed the start of the second year for his class.
Katsuki and Ochaco share the same costume designer.[7]
Katsuki's voice actor in the VOMIC, Yuichiro Umehara, also voices Sidero.
As a child, Katsuki is voiced by Kate Oxley in English, who also voices Fuyumi Todoroki.
Katsuki's English voice actor, Clifford Chapin, is engaged to Kristen McGuire, who voices Tatami Nakagame and Tamashiro.
According to the Ultra Analysis, Katsuki's personality is described as an "abusive egotist".
Katsuki overall shares many parallels with Endeavor:
Both possess ignition-based Quirks, such as Explosion for Katsuki and Hellflame for Endeavor.
Both aim to be the number one hero.
Both have a rivalry with a One For All user, such as Katsuki to Izuku and Endeavor to All Might.
Both are known for their hot tempers and aggressive attitude.
Both were known for their lack of cooperative skills, having improved them throughout the story.
Both acted abusively toward a major character, such as Katsuki to Izuku and Endeavor to Shoto.
Both express their remorse after understanding All Might's words, with them both taking steps to becoming better people.
Both also lose the ability to use their right arm after the Final War, with Katsuki's being broken by Tomura and rendered immobile, and Endeavor losing his right arm to All For One in combat.
Quotes[]
(To Izuku) "You wanna be a hero so bad? I've got a time saving idea for you. If you think you'll have a Quirk in your next life… Go take a swan dive off the roof!"[32]
(To Izuku) "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!"[33]
(To All Might) "Needless to say… I'll be a hero that surpasses even you!"[33]
(To Shoto) "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?!"[34]
(To Izuku) "Stop talking. I will win. That's… what heroes do."[35]
(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!"[36]
(To the leader of the kids at the Remedial Course) "If you keep looking down on everyone… you're never gonna notice your own weaknesses."[37]
(To Izuku) "Because being a hero means protecting everyone."[38]
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