so. i’ve gotten a lot of messages and asks about this, so i figure i’d address it.
Bakugou was not abused. Bakugou knows he was not abused.
Bakugou overheard Todoroki’s story of how Endeavor abused his family, and the expression he had on afterward says that Bakugou’s never been presented this this sort of situation before. it caught him off guard. it’s not- right. it isn’t normal.
Bakugou wasn’t prepared to hear it.
and later on, he confronts Todoroki (trying to rile him up to fight him at full strength), and brings up his past. Bakugou says he doesn’t care about it. he’s trying very hard to convince Todoroki that hearing his past didn’t mean anything to him, except it clearly does. that’s why he’s bringing it up.
he does care. he does care about Todoroki’s home life. he does care about what Endeavor did to him. he wants Todoroki to let go of that and accept his powers as his own, just like Izuku did, but in his own, round-about, angry, rough way.
and if he were abused, he would’ve had a different reaction to hearing Todoroki’s past. he would’ve felt kinship, or a connection, maybe flashback to something Mitsuki did to him and think something like “That’s what happened to me!” or show some sort of recognition to the similarities between their pasts and history.
but he doesn’t. instead, he was caught off guard. he’s unprepared. he probably knows home abuse happens, but he’s never been so close to it- never known someone it actually happened to.
he wasn’t sure what to do, because he’s never been in this situation before.
Bakugou lived a sheltered life. he was constantly praised, constantly rewarded, constantly told how awesome he was and always got what he wanted, and always got away with doing shitty things. even by his own mother’s admission, they praised him too much, and it gave him an overblown ego.
he was a big fish in a small pond, and he knows it. it’s why he struggled so much at UA after getting in, because he was forced to realize that he wasn’t as awesome as he thought, and it was a big blow.
later on, we see Bakugou suggest violence to corral the kids, citing his upbringing. which, for Bakugou, probably means smacking the kids lightly on the back of the head, because that’s what Mitsuki did to him whenever he made a smart remark or got himself into trouble.
that isn’t abuse. i’m not saying it’s right, either, but it’s far from abuse. it’s something common that happens in many households, and is especially common in japanese culture. it’s not abuse, and it’s not meant to be taken seriously.
look at the difference between Todoroki’s reaction to his father’s violence, and Bakugou’s reaction to Mitsuki’s slap. Todoroki looks absolutely terrified, crying into his mother’s shirt because his father hurt her, begging not to become like his father, and then pure anger at what Endeavor’s abuse did to his mother.
meanwhile, Bakugou threatens to send Mitsuki into the ceiling, in a completely comedic, not-serious manner. clearly, the slap didn’t bother him that much if he’s yelling such silly, hyperbolic statements back at his mother.
his reaction is much closer to one he has whenever his classmates mess with him than it is a reaction towards abuse.
not to mention, All Might and Aizawa would have done something if it were something serious. they’re two of the characters who care about children’s wellbeing the most.
back to my earlier point, when Todoroki vetoes Bakugou’s idea, Bakugou gets angry, but then he flashes back to when he learned about Todoroki’s past. he remembers what Endeavor did to Todoroki and his mom. he remembers his own horrified reaction to learning about it.
that’s exactly the kind of reaction someone would have when complaining about something, and then remembering someone else around you had it way worse.
so Bakugou immediately drops it, under the guise of taunting Todoroki, but mostly because he doesn’t wanna push the issue when Todoroki’s had a bad history of violence from his own father since he was a child. he’s being conscientious of Todoroki’s home situation and upbringing, because he knows it was Bad.
Bakugou knows Mitsuki was rough on him. but he also knows that what he grew up with was completely different than what Todoroki lived through, and he, very clearly, drops the idea when he remembers this.
Bakugou respects Todoroki’s veto against the idea, because he knows about Todoroki’s personal history, and he’s being conscientious about Todoroki’s personal feelings on the issue. because he knows their personal experiences towards this are different, and Todoroki had it far worse, and he deserves to have that opinion on this subject respected and honored because of what he lived through.
Bakugou is suggesting smacking them on the back of the head, at most, because they’re being unruly and little smartasses, and that’s what his mom did to him when he was being an unruly little smartass. Bakugou knows Todoroki was abused, however, and drops the idea when Todoroki disagrees with it.
Bakugou was not abused. he knows he was not abused. he knows Todoroki was abused, however. and that’s enough for him to respect Todoroki’s voice on the matter.
How Bakugou isn’t ready to apologize for what he did to Izuku, but the narrative is working towards that
A meta about how Bakugou shows kindness, how he tried to help Todoroki during their fight, and how he felt guilty about how his actions lead to All Might’s retirement
A meta about Bakugou and Izuku’s relationship throughout the series and how it was abusive
A meta about Bakugou’s development and how he’s starting to feel guilt about what his actions led to and may begin to regret what he did towards Izuku
A meta about Bakugou’s building guilt about what his actions caused
A meta about how Bakugou has feared Izuku and his potential for most of his life
Bakugou is giving Izuku his support in a round-about way after his and Izuku’s fight
A meta about why Bakugou has already been punished by the narrative over and over again for his actions towards Izuku, and why Aizawa punished Bakugou (and Izuku) by giving them chores
A meta about why the narrative keeps pushing for Bakugou and Izuku to reconcile and why it would be better for the both of their mental/emotional health
A post about why Bakugou’s parents likely don’t know anything about his personal issues and problems
A meta analyzing Bakugou and Todoroki’s relationship in the manga so far
