i have seen a lot of bkg antis, also in the bnha universe, criticize bakugou on why he’s against saving people as the way to win, or to save in general.
We’ve already established that this may have come from trauma, him being forced to save himself and not being properly checked on when he has encountered villains (ie. sludge incident, USJ, kidnapping) when people like Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Deku are comforted by their teachers and mentors, Bakugou has never had a single person do that for him.
But then again, there are still people that doesn’t validate glaringly obvious trauma, so I am going to state another reason why, in the terms of common sense.
This. This panel is criminally underrated unless people are laughing about it and it’s about time we see the implications here.
Bakugou Katsuki, hero student with his explosions igniting in his hands as his only line of combat and defense power wise, simply cannot save as much as other people can due to his quirk.
Unlike Deku, whose quirk ignites in his whole body, he can use his legs for fighting while using his hands to grab or catch people. But remember when he was still using his arms, for example, when he saved Kouta, what price did he pay? His arms were bloody and out of commission and he couldn’t save others after. Bakugou is seen flying in the picture with his two hands as means to escape because it’s the only way he can. No matter what theory you say with BNHA characters having more life/danger resistance, carrying a child between your teeth is hard. Saying that, I doubt people will be willing to be saved by either being grabbed by Bakugou’s legs or teeth.
It’s not practical, it’s counterproductive. What if he accidentally blows them up because he used his hands? What if they get caught by wayward explosions? What if they’re escaping and a villain comes, how will he fight when his hands are occupied? His power was initially made to destroy, no matter how you put it. It’s explosions, what more can I say.
This is backed up by Thirteen saying that Bakugou will be a “pretty great hero when he gets older” in an OVA saving exercise where he was forced to sit out and not help because his quirk was not needed. Them explaining that if Bakugou tried to butt in, he’ll be causing more harm than good. What’s canonically said is that Bakugou knew and did this by himself. No one told him to stop trying to win because he took initiative, meaning he’s thought about this before. Meaning he understands what he can and cannot do.
Now you might counter that why can’t he just get support items to help? Yes but what items and how will they help? Do you understand how liable that is? To leave/break the item helping you to save when there are lives on the line. You can also say that he’s not powerless when his hands are taken but I disagree, in a world where they fight villains with quirks and he cannot use his quirk, then he’s as good as caught.
The last counter is “why can’t he just protect the people?” But that’s just it, you’re validating my point. By protecting, it’s a play of defense or offense. Go ahead and ask a chess player what strategy is better and they’ll tell you it depends on the situation. You can’t win everything by protecting, the same way you can’t with fighting. When he “protects the people,” he can either fight or defend, but not outright save.
When Bakugou Katsuki wins to save, he is doing the best he can do, the most he has to offer, and the greatest strategy to him for winning and saving.
WARNING: Major Spoilers for BNHA Anime watchers! I will be going over things in the Manga and MAJOR SPOILERS for Chapter 285. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
If Bakugou did die this chapter, I think Bakugou will be turned into a Nomu.
It’s not like the League of Villains haven’t or wouldn’t do it. Just look at Aizawa and Present Mic’s childhood friend, Oboro, now Kurogiri. Not just did All-For-One say UA has the best quirks but he was okay with this group targeting Bakugou for mainly his quirk. Yeah they thought he was easy to convert but they absolutely targeted him mostly for his quirk.
Because of this, I think(if it does happen) 1 out of three things could happen.
Bakugou stays a Nomu for the rest of the show and becomes the last villian, ending up helping Deku get all the powers in One-For-All in their last battle where Deku ends up killing him to save lives. This leads to Deku learning as a hero sometimes you have to kill to save lives. This will crush him. However, he is able to grieve for Bakugou and give his lay him to rest.
Bakugou is a mindless Nomu and fights his classmates but after his classmates say out loud his memories ending with Deku revealing his last, Bakugou remembers and fights along side them once again. This will teach Deku that people can be saved morally. However I also think this is where Bakugou would lay rest to his Hero dream as he will believe he doesn’t deserve it and will just help out behind the scenes. or
When Bakugou turns into a Nomu he remembers everything and is able to break away. He goes and finds heroes for help but ends up being attacked for being a Nomu. Only Aizawa figures it out and stops the fight. Bakugou cries to Aizawa. This will give Aizawa and Present Mic hope to cure their friend and ends up helping the heroes defeat Nomus all together as they learn how to fix them.
So, that is my theory. I can see it happening but I’m not sure if it will happen. Bakugou could just die or be badly injured and may never fight again.
