Izuku Deserves Better - Tumblr Posts

Ugghh been consuming some bnha stuff and I'm reminded of why I largely prefer fanfiction over the actual story. I have so much hate and pettiness within me. Even so, I am never going to change my mind on how much I hate how bnha is just an amalgamation of wasted potention. Search the definition of wasted potential up and there's just an image of bnha.

I remember watching it as the first season was coming about because it was made by Bones and I just have to watch it in that case. I watched episode one and was so excited.

We have our mc, Midoriya Izuku, being powerless in a world full of quirks.

His childhood friend turned bully, Bakugou Katsuki, is shown to be favoured by literally everyone and this feeds into his ego.

All Might, the number one hero, is jaded and powerless for 21 hours of the day because of a fight nobody knew existed. Izuku is attacked and helpless, but saved by All Might. All Might tells him he can't become a hero. A much needed reality check because Izuku didn't work out a single bit before then and it's so incredibly hard to fight someone who has something you lack.

Then Bakugou is attacked and helpless. Bakugou, who is so much stronger and who people love, is left useless, only able to make the situation worse with his explosions creating a fire hazard. The pro-heroes can't do anything. All Might and Izuku both hate themselves for the part they played and how useless they are. Then Izuku sees how scared Bakugou is. He runs in, inspiring All Might as he mocks himself for breaking Izuku's dream yet forgetting the core of heroism.

Then, after all is said and done, All Might goes back to Izuku. And he tells him he can become a hero.

...

Then he offers him One for All. Now, when I was watching this for the first time, I was so disappointed. You set up a powerless mc in a world full of powers and you just give him the power of the strongest hero? Great. But, I kept watching.

I watched Izuku work to get his power, struggle even after getting a quirk. I watched as Izuku finally stood up for himself and win against Bakugou. I watched as the series went on and I... I started noticing more and more missed opportunities.

See, bnha is supposed to be a zero to hero story. It's supposed to be about the mc going from powerless to powerful. But it does it so quickly. Suddenly, it's not about Izuku finding his own form of strength, or realising how being quirkless may not give any advantages but it also has no disadvantages, or even any commentary on quirk discrimination or fantastic racism or anything.

It turns into a story about controlling your power. It's not what I signed up for.

That's just one missed potential. There's so many more. Horikoshi clearly tries to make some commentary on quirk discrimination and female heroes/sexism in the workplace and entertainment over peace. There's some effort put into making a comment on how heroes are glorified and people don't see them as public workers, they see them as celebreties.

But it's never delved into. We don't see how bad people with mutant or 'villainous' quirks are treated, and we don't see how people with weak quirks are treated, or how the quirkless are treated (because the only reason Izuku was treated so horribly was because of Bakugou). We don't see how female heroes need to have a bit of allure in their personas to have any sort of support.

Yuuei is literally a camp for making child soldiers, yet there's no controversy over it? There's no such things as heroes having to take lethal action and no moral dilemmas over it? There's nobody speaking out about how Midnight flirts with students?

We have literally no information about how heroes work. We don't know how their salaries are decided, how they're ranked, how undergound heroes work. if twilight heroes are a thing, how anybody but Rock Lock feels about bringing children into adult matters, (seriously, why do people hate Rock Lock for being rightfully worried about having 15 year olds in a raid against the yakuza), we don't know how villains work and how to decide if one's a criminal or a villain.

Heck, the only laws we know of are fanon, and the canon stupid idea that you can't use your quirk in self-defense.

It's just. Incredibly infuriating.

Also, analysis as a whole is so under-utilised. Both Izuku and Shigaraki are deemed creepy for their analysis, which is such a useful tool. I mean, Izuku accurately guesses Stain's quirk, which is useful because, otherwise, they wouldn't be wary about Stain licking their blood or cutting them. Shigaraki accurately guesses the time intervals between Aizawa's blinks, which helps him a shit ton.

But is it ever used outside of these situations? No. The thing is, quirks are scientific in nature, not magic. Therefore, they're not restricted like magic is. Fire doesn't always have to be fire, it can be smoke or just heat. Ice can be water or steam. Acid can melt through anything or just be used as a mario kart banana peel.

There was so much missed potential and that's exactly why there's so much fan content.

Horikoshi leaves so much out, and everything he misses tends to be the interesting parts. He willfully explains Bakugou's quirk in detail, but everyone else? Nah. Fuck them.

I mean, let's look at Ochako's quirk.

Gravity negation. Or is it? See, if it were just gravity negation, then two things, in particular, would happen. First of all, Izuku would have fucking died when she saved him from falling. Second of all, she would not have been able to get infinity in the ball throw.

Negating gravity does not negate the forces. Therefore, when she saved Izuku from falling, he would have still been affected by the force of his fall. It would have been no different from hitting the concrete. Additionally, when she threw the ball, it kept going. Air drag would have made it so that she couldn't possibly get an infinity.

More accurately, rather than force negation as some fanfics suggests, she's telekinetically accelerating whatever she touches. She telekinetically accelerates Izuku's body to stop him falling, and does the reverse for the ball, making it so that it continues to accelerate after she throws it.

See what I mean? Because Horikoshi gave Bakugou's quirk a scientific explanation with him sweating a nitroglycerin-like substance and being able to spark it, you have to look at every quirk with scientific knowledge. He could have said 'oh, yeah, I store energy from my quirk in these gauntlets' but Hori just had to be a smartass.

By the way, because of Bakugou's explanation, it's possible that his quirk is not what is named. Yes, it's possible to have two sides of a quirk, as we see in Shouto, but Bakugou's quirk isn't explained in the same way.

Rather than his quirk being creating explosions, his quirk is more like creating sparks in his palms. Why? Well, you see. Bnha never delves into actual quirk theory, but there's more than enough canon evidence that you have one main quirk and then one or more quirk mutations. For example, Ashido Mina's quirk is secreting acid that she can manipulate the acidity and viscocity of. Her appearance is not related to her quirk at all, meaning it's a quirk mutation from her parents. Same with Tokoyami Fumikage. Quirk is Dark Shadow, so there's no need for the bird head.

Why does this relate to Bakugou? Let me explain: Bakugou explains that he recieved a mutation from his parents with his mother secreting glycerin and his father sweating acid with combustive properties. In other words, Bakugou inherited nitroglycerin-like sweat from his parents, but his actual quirk is being able to create sparks.

His quirk is 'Sparks'. Not Explosions.

Why am I ranting about this? Because bnha completely misses all of this! It makes no sense which is a shame because the concept is so interesting! But then it throws away any scraps of potential left when it becomes 'My Kacchan Academia'.

Seriously, why do people and why does Horikoshi love abusive pieces of shit so much? Why did he throw away the potential to look into Shouto and his siblings' feeling about Endeavour? Why did he make Dabi's plot all about Endeavour instead of Shouto?

It's so easy to compare the ways Dabi and Shouto handle their trauma and their ways of revenge. It's so easy to look at Dabi and think about how easy it would have been for Shouto to become like him.

Shouto was transfixed on Endeavour. Everything he did related back to his hate for Endeavour. Using his quirk, fighting, grades, social interaction, everything. His only reason for becoming a hero is to spite Endeavour. It's only because Izuku reaches out to him and saves him from his own toxic mindset that he's able to move one and do things for himself.

Dabi, or Touya, on the other hand, doesn't get that. He doesn't get that person who recognises how far he's gone, how, in trying to spite Enveavour, he's living a life centred on him. How he's jealous of his little brother for being abused and tormented.

While Shouto became a hero to spite Endeavour, Dabi became a villain.

They're both full of hatred at first, but Shouto is saved from that spiral. Izuku helps him. Dabi doesn't have that. It would have been so interesting to see these two face of as parellels, but nope. It's all about Endeavour. Shouto is nothing more than an accessory.

I understand Dabi being hung up on Endeavour, but to outright replace Shouto with the abusive flaming trashbag? No.

Also, if Horikoshi wanted Dabi to be seen as sympathetic or redeemable, don't make him kill innocent people. Don't make it so that he unlocks an ice aspect to his quirk in a life-or-death situation because all that means is that Endeavour was right to hurt Touya the way he did. All that says is Endeavour should have hurt him more.

AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON BAKUGOU.

This piece of shit bullied Izuku relentlessly for years, used his quirk on him (yes that is canon), told him to end his life, tried to assault him in Yuuei, tried to kill him, threw a tantrum at an abused kid for not being magically okay with using a quirk that reminded him of his abusive father, assaults Izuku when he tries to work together but still magically gets a pass for being carried out unconcious which Sero was failed for, and the list just keeps growing.

Oh, but my bad. He has a sad backstory. You see, he fell in a river.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done until now."

For a moment, there was nothing. Nothing but the pitter patter of rain striking the ground, coating his weary body, exhausted beyond belief.

Then.

"No."

Izuku watched as Kacchan's head shot up, his eyes wide with disbelief, as if this was shocking. There were no tears left for him to cry, so he settled for taking steps back.

"Y-You don't get to say that...!" he screamed, hands clutching the sides of his head. "For years, a decade, I-I put up with everything! I just watched as e-everyone kissed your feet, as if you've changed at all!"

"De- Izuku-"

"Shut up!" This wasn't fair, it wasn't! Nothing about it! Why!? "You don't get to call me that!"

Why can't anything ever go right!? For so long, he lied to everyone and to himself, pretending he was fine with Kacchan just getting everything he ever wanted. People loved him, despite his violence, despite that damn name, despite being his bully.

Iida reached out, "M-Midoriya-kun..."

He cast a forlone look towards his friend. At least he tried to talk to him more than fight or capture him. At least someone was trying to reach out to him. But then, why did he agree to let everyone come? Why did nobody think that maybe this would be a bad idea?

Why was nobody mad at Kacchan for hurting him...?

...

Oh.

"You didn't tell them, did you?" The realisation struck, and it struck hard. Kacchan- no, Bakugou's eyes widened. Confusion swept across the rest of 1-A, and Izuku knew he was right. "Go on. Tell them. Tell them what you did to me. Why you're apologising. Tell them." Silence. "Tell them!"

He marched forth, anger keeping him from collapsing.

"Tell them how you beat me black and blue! Tell them how you burnt me for the crime of existing! Tell them your advice! What was it: 'go take a swan dive off a roof and pray for a quirk in your next life'? Tell them!"

"You said what." The temperature clashed. Izuku glanced back, and there Todoroki was, cold steam billowing off one side, smoke from the other.

"No way..." Uraraka gasped, fists clenching. "You... You bastard...!" She threw herself at Bakugou, her fist colliding with his cheek. He fell to the floor, holding his reddening cheek, staring at her with wide eyes, as if it was out-of-nowhere.

Izuku looked down, teeth worrying into his bottom lip.

"Midoriya-kun." A hand clasped around his wrist, and he nearly threw the person over his shoulder. But that was Iida's voice. "... I understand that you wish to not return to U.A. Would you like to eat?"

Abruptly, he was reminded of how he rejected Toshinori. How, when his mentor reached out, he kicked off, running without a single explanation.

"..." This wasn't helping. He's just going to be too exhausted to fight back. "Y-Yeah..."

"Everyone," Iida faced the others, tired though he didn't fight much, if at all. "Please return to U.A. We shall look after Midoriya-kun."

Kaminari bristled, "B-But-!"

"Kaminari-kun." Yaoyorozu held her hand up, arm stretched in front of Kaminari. He paused, then stepped back, head low. She turned to them with a smile, "Of course, Iida-kun. Take care of him for us."

"We will," affirmed Uraraka, as she and Shouto walked to his side.

Safe. Surrounded by three of his friends, he felt safe.

It was enough for him to fall, and it was fine.

His friends were there to catch him.

Chapter 319 spoilers (AKA Bakugou Chastising and concerns. It’s Long. You’ve Been Warned)

I first want to say this. This will probably be the only time I do a reaction like this. And to any mutuals that see this that are fans of Bakugou, I will not judge you or tell you to block me on that principle alone. I have come across wonderful people that do like him, and were not rude at all in their explaining of why they like him.

It’s just for me personally, given what’s happened in the past along with his past actions, nothing will convince me he is a good character, and this chapter in particular drove me insane that I had to vent out my frustrations.

Because how I’m seeing it, he plays a large chunk into causing the coming conflict.

(If you come at me with ‘OMG READ THE MANGA DUMBASS’ or ‘LOOK UP THIS THING CALLED CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!’ Consider yourself blocked. Not interested.)

Yes. You certainly know Midoriya best.

You, who thought that the quirkless nobody was looking down on you when you fell in a creak and was simply wishing to help you out.

You, who thought that the quirkless nobody actually HAD a quirk all along and was simply hiding it just to make you look stupid.

You, who is seen to “socialize” with two or three individuals “normally”, and none of them were Izuku. And even then, they’re the ones that are force to initiate contact.

You, who when you interact with Izuku, is only for your benefit of learning all about his quirk, or to belittle him, and never to try to know him as a person.

Yes, you CERTAINLY know Izuku best.

1. Your catchphrase as a hero is “DIE!” and you howl and snap at the slightest thing that annoys you. You have NO room to judge on who’s insane.

2. You’re correct, Deku doesn’t have any self worth.

And who’s to blame for that, again? Do you even have the slightest clue?

3. I mean he trashed-talked Deku, he trashed-talked the other OFA users, HEY why not trash talk All Might too??? And while we’re at it, REDIRECT THE BLAME OF IZUKU’S LACK OF SELF-WORTH ONTO YOUR SUPPOSED IDOL!

Jesus, he’s keeping that entire stupid name. You literally took Jeanist and Midnight’s advice and said “Fuck that”, didn’t you?

And thank you Horikoshi, for making sure that Yaoyorozu is never allowed to have a spine.

Jirou? Kaminari? Todoroki? You gonna tell this asshole to not shout at someone who’s been nothing but supportive to you? No? K.

Truly, he’s had a plethora of Character Development. A far cry from how he was at the start of the series.

God you’re an asshole.

This.

This is unacceptable.

Midoriya’s first two friends blindly siding with his abuser.

This is hurtful to see.

Again, Bakugou, you have no goddamn room to mock Deku about being an All Might wannabe when your cringy ass name has “Might” in it. Sit down and shut the fuck up.

Also Iida, change his mind on what?!?!? No one asks him WHY he’s distanced himself or allowed him to explain! You all just showed up, with no indications that any of you are actually happy or relieved to see him alive, and essentially allowed Bakugou to turn it into an ultimatum!

This chapter’s name is called Friends. From the tone that I am seeing as of now, the title is false advertising.

Literally, how is it that we aren’t allowed to see anyone from 1-A happy to see Midoriya? Why isn’t anyone voicing a push to simply allow him to explain himself? Why is everyone on board for attacking a bruised and exhausted person, who they all called their friend? Why is no one acting like a goddamn hero and stepping in to help someone who clearly needs help?!?

Todoroki?!? Tokoyami?!? Asui?!?! Ashido?!? Shoji?!? Kirishima?!? Iida?!?

URARAKA?!?!?!?!?

Jesus, maybe 320 will prove me wrong but this looks like it’s meant to simply serve as Deku vs Bakugou 3 featuring all 1-A students. And that’s so stupid that NOW is the time to do it.

Whoever wins or loses, Midoriya will be betrayed by the ones he’s struggling so hard to protect. If he wins, there’s nineteen people that will be wounded and in need of medical care while out in the rain. If loses, then he’s reliving his entire childhood again, only this time, with his ‘friends’.

With fucking Bakugou leading the charge again.

I’m sorry but this chapter highlights why Bakugou continues to remain a stagnant character despite what so many people claim. And he once again shows he has no regard for anyone other than himself, especially Midoriya.

You know how he could have shown he was concerned for Midoriya? By not getting involved directly. Deku joined the others in saving Bakugou, but he prompted Kirishima to be the one to reach out and save him, the one person who Bakugou had an iota of respect for.

Bakugou could have prompted something similar. Either not be with the group at all, or join but only to be there on the off chance things go sideways. And he would allow only Iida, Todoroki and Uraraka to be the ones to talk to him, to reach out for him, to help him. Because he is self-aware that he is not good with emotions and that Deku needs help.

But fuck that! Get the whole gang to go after one person to attack, apprehend and drag him back with them against his will.

Sound familiar?

How no one else realizes this is a mystery.

Again, maybe 320 will prove otherwise, but all I can say is…I am not happy with how this turning out. And given how anything with Bakugou as the main focus usually twists in whatever way possible to make sure HE looks good, I will only continue to hate him even more.

If you are at this point, thank you for putting up with this. I am just… tired of this character. He continues to warp and ruin so many aspects of the story and he doesn’t bring anything important or interesting to the table. He destroys his own character development by himself. And he continues to prove why he has NO real business in being a hero or a main character.

To this day, he remains a spiteful, narcissistic, condescending bully that gets joy in harming others, especially Midoriya.

Fuck this character, Hori should’ve killed him when he had the chance.

Hi! I'm not exactly a fan of BNHA and most of my knowledge about it came from fics and your blog. Curiosity about Bakugo's "death" led me to read the last 3 chapters, and the newest one confused me. I'm hoping you could shed some light on it?

Why is it important to the heroes that Bakugo lives? To the point an older, more experienced hero is prepared to sacrifice himself to revive Bakugo? Does he have some kind of secret weapon the heroes can use? What makes him /that/ important and vital to the current crisis?

Thanks for the help. I hope you have a fabulous day! (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡

I think you already know the answer to your question.

More seriously, I have waited quite a while before answering this ask because I wanted to see what the next chapters would deliver and also so I was sure not to be instantly proven wrong after unleashing a vast quantity of salt. But I don't want to wait longer so here are the usual warnings: this is going to be a salt post, this is my opinion and not some absolute truth, and I accept the risk of being disproved.

Bakugou's death and everything that happened afterwards was pointless and cheap.

I personally found Bakugou's "death" very underwhelming because, especially for such a popular character, there are far better ways to bring one incredible death scene. The manga tried to show us that he went Plus Ultra and how much he had changed but the way it was brought made it underwhelming. His death could have brought more damage to Shigaraki. Or, one could have gone in the opposite direction and shown that yes, he didn't stand a chance against ShigarAFO but put more emotion into it to show that he fought for every additional second. Or he could have "died" protecting someone, which would nicely tie-in with his character arc of learning to be a hero who saves people.

Instead, the result was lukewarm. And the fact that pretty much everyone knows he isn't really dead doesn't bother me. But the last chapters did, especially when Bakugou already got seemingly killed by ShigarAFO during the war arc (and got away with only a couple of cool scars).

But what was a "Ah! That happened! Pretty cool quirk application moment and I like the change we see in Bakugou once he is waiting in purgatory with Flame Might!" moment because a clusterfuck of epic proportion with what is done to try to bring Bakugou back.

The asspulls of all asspulls. The most "WTF" moment of the entire manga and I am saying that while fully aware that Mirio twerked in front of Shigaraki one chapter later.

Edgeshot decides to kill himself on the off chance of bringing Bakugou back to life. He intends to fold himself à la Plus Ultra to become Bakugou's new heart, performing one of the most WTF open-heart surgeries ever on the middle of the battlefield while ShigarAFO is stomping on the remaining members of the Dream team.

How does he know how to do that? Is that how one of his parents die? Why is he doing that? Because his generation failed Bakugou's so he must atone and as an adult, he must save the kid.

The sheer troll logic one must attain to decide something like that is beyond my comprehension.

Edgeshot isn't dying at the time. It's not a "At least, my death might save him" moment. No, this is a top hero, who decided that he had to die to save one kid while the Big Three are fighting for their lives. In the time it took him to pull that not-so-life-saving procedure, Miruko has now lost all of her limbs, now channeling the Dark Knight of Monthy Python but hey, at least, she is certainly doing a better job than Edgeshot at trying to stop Shigaraki from killing them all and destroying UA, which is, in case I need to remind someone, FULL OF PEOPLE WORKING TO KEEP THAT THING IN THE AIR.

To answer your question, not only was "saving" (because, again, Edgeshot doesn't even know if it will work) Bakugou detrimental to the whole operation because they sacrificed a top hero during a situation where all hands on deck were required but it might have been for absolutely nothing.

Even if Bakugou, now part jeans and part ninja, starts breathing again, no one sane of mind would expect to get back to his feet and to fight again. 

Now, I will hazard a guess as to why this so-called death was necessary. I could be wrong. But I feel that this was a desperate attempt for Bakugou’s character to have an excuse not to do anything while Izuku is fighting Shigaraki.

Because there has been kind of an elephant in the room for several arcs now.

The manga doesn’t want to outright say that by now, Izuku is stronger than Bakugou. Not just stronger, as in “in a fight, Deku would win”. I am talking about Izuku being in a league on his own by now.

Because here is the thing: you have Bakugou who is a really popular character, who rose to the rank of deuteragonist, and who is defined by two things: he never stops fighting and he never loses. And now that he is fighting the big bad (well, one of them), it’s a problem because if Bakugou wins, that means the entire hero society is incompetent, so is the villain (since he got beaten by a first year) and the MC and OFA is useless. But if he loses or just shown not to be able to keep up with ShigarAFO and Deku and has to stay on the sideline, it’s almost out of character for him because one of the things he keeps repeating to Izuku is “Don’t try to do things alone.” (The Jakku battle and the solo arc, in case you’re wondering.)

I disgress but that’s another thing the solo arc could have been useful for. Really setting up the fact that Izuku can fight with Shigaraki on his own and that he was now in a different power category than his classmates. Instead, we got the “This is the story of how we all become heroes” and the plot must now bend over backwards to justify it.

Also, there is a 75% chance that Bakugou wakes up at some point, with Edgeshot’s quirk, and helps finish ShigarAFO.

So, to answer your question, no, there was no reason for Edgeshot to kill himself over the possibility of reviving Bakugou. Bakugou and Edgeshot had no prior interaction that could justify this. And if Izuku arrived ten seconds later, this sacrifice would have been for nothing.

That ask you submitted about NO ONE being happy/giving encouragment to Izuku during the interview exercise made me way angrier than I thought.

Like you said, it would have been one thing if a few of 1A didn't (Sero and Kota since they're canonically not as close with Izuku, maybe Jirou since she just don't give af), but for EVERYONE including Tokoyami and the Deku Squad? Absolutely not.

Like Jesus fucking Christ, Hori can't just throw Izuku a win every once in a while? All Might's the only one who consistently praises him and gives him encouragment, and the narrative likes portraying as this being wrong because it "encourages Izuku's self-sacrificing tendancies."

It's bad enough that Izuku has no other talents or hobbies to speak of, he can't even have his friends in his corner?

All this does to me is paint Hori as indecisive about what he wants to do with these characters that aren’t named Midoriya or Bakugou. And it’s absolutely infuriating because Hori wants us to think 1-A is a complete unit and family together yet scenes like this tarnish that idea.

Moments when Midoriya rallies the bulk of 1-A during the provisional license exam and they all back him up with NO hesitation, and Iida and Todoroki wanting to let him know if he needs someone to talk to when they see him stressed about something during the Overhaul arc. I LOVED those scenes because they demonstrated how high of an opinion most of 1-A had of him. At the bare minimum, even those who didn’t canonically interact with him a lot or at all, like Sero or Koda, they trusted and respected him. That’s why, while I understand the feeling and can get where people are coming from, I can’t get behind the notion that Midoriya doesn’t have friends. They are simply acting out of character for dumb reasons, such as, like I said in my post, a very cheap laugh.

Honestly, it’s like the entire dynamic between Midoriya and the majority of 1-A shifted by the time you know who started to get more and more unnecessary screen time.

Let's Talk About Izuku and Bakugou's Relationship

Happy New Year, everyone! Thought I'd kick 2024 off with a new post. I haven't written an in-depth analysis in a while, so I figured now was a good time.

So, I've touched on this before, many times in fact. If you've seen my other posts, you know that I think that the BKDK relationship is a clusterfuck of codependency, abuse, and toxicity. But I don't think I've ever analyzed it frame-by-frame, so here's an attempt.

Childhood

The lake scene has the most focus than any other flashback in the series. It's meant to show us why Bakugou hated Izuku; he assumed Izuku looked down on him and saw him as weak. It's supposed to support the idea that Bakugou has an inferiority complex that's been present since he was a kid and that's why he lashes out at Izuku and wants to be rid of him. Because Izuku makes him feel weak.

But this isn't true. Or, it doesn't paint the whole picture.

One thing the lake scene seems to gloss over is the fact that Bakugou was always mean to Izuku. Maybe he wasn't as harsh and could be written off as just a kid being a kid, but he still made fun of him. He still went out of his way to make him feel bad about himself and humiliate him. He called him "Deku" way before either of them were (or weren't) given a quirk.

And he only ever did this to Izuku, not the other kids part of his posse. He, even at such a young age, saw Izuku as an easy target, someone he could easily shove around because he knew Izuku wouldn't fight back (this would persist for the next ten years).

It's important to note that there's only one instance where Bakugou's behavior towards Izuku turns violent. It's when Izuku defends a kid that Bakugou and his posse are picking on. This is the moment where Bakugou becomes physically aggressive; not when he found out Izuku was quirkless, during the lake, or any time before. It's here, when Izuku stops being the defenseless wimp who won't stand up to him. He doesn't like that Izuku stepped out of the mold he had confined him to (I'll come back to this later).

The truth of their childhood together is that Bakugou was always inherently awful to Izuku. It wasn't like he experienced one bad moment that flipped a switch, Bakugou liked picking on Izuku from day one.

Middle School

There isn't much to say about their days at Aldera other than it's just a progression of escalation from their childhood. They've settled into their roles as abuser and victim. Bakugou knows he can say and do whatever he wants and Izuku won't defend himself because it's been the status quo for a decade.

He revels in that power he has over him, likes to remind Izuku of his "place." And if he steps out of line, Bakugou exerts that power over him to shut him right down, stressing his inability to do anything about his situation. It's a cycle of abuse.

Battle Trials

I've already talked about this scene before, but this is also another example as to what I was alluding to above.

As @delawaredetroit pointed out in a post from a while ago, Bakugou isn't feeling betrayed here. He himself has said time and time again that he and Izuku weren't friends. He cares about the fact that his victim now has power of his own.

All their lives, Bakugou had the power and Izuku was powerless. That was the dynamic they were used to and the one that Bakugou was aware and repeatedly took advantage of. But now, Izuku isn't powerless or defenseless. He no longer fits the mold that Bakugou had tied him to since childhood. That's why Bakugou is so upset; not because Izuku kept something from him but because the power imbalance between was shifting.

And it's why he tries to use guilt-tripping here. He wants Izuku to feel bad, wants to reestablish some of the control over him he just lost. And it works, because Izuku tells him he inherited his quirk completely unprompted after the fact. Bakugou knows he has the power in their relationship and has no issues abusing that power.

Sports Festival

I don't have much to say here, but I would like to point out something very inconsistent concerning Bakugou's interpretation of his relationship with Izuku. He claims that Izuku kept following him around and that he couldn't get rid of him, which attributed to his dislike. But even if that was true when they were 5, it's actually the opposite at least from middle school on.

Bakugou went out of his way to target Izuku in the first chapter/episode. He also tracked him down after the Sludge Villain incident. He's initiated every one of their confrontations in UA. And here, he deliberately eavesdropped on Izuku's conversation with Todoroki.

I don't know whether to call it hypocrisy or ignorance, but Izuku was content to leave Bakugou alone. Bakugou's the one who's constantly harassing and obsessing over him.

Final Exams

Izuku daring to display confidence and competence invokes immediate physical violence in Bakugou. He doesn't like that Izuku is talking to him like he's an equal, he doesn't like that Izuku dares to step outside of his role as a victim. Bakugou wants Izuku to act like he's below him and gets agitated when he doesn't do that. He, in this moment, cared more about putting Izuku in his place than his own grade.

Deku vs Kacchan Part 2

I mentioned that BKDK is codependent in the beginning of the post. This is what I mean.

Bakugou can't cope with the fact that he isn't the best and takes it out on the only target he has. Izuku had nothing to do with his shortcomings, but he still felt the need to establish superiority over him; a grasp for some measure of control.

Like I said above, he's well aware of the power he has over Izuku. Do you think he would have tried this with Todoroki? Or Tokoyami? Or Iida? No, because he knows that none of them would have even dignified him with a response. But he knows he can control Izuku in a way he can't with other people. He feels comfortable treating only Izuku as his emotional and physical punching bag.

Dark Hero Arc

It's interesting that prior to apologizing for treating him badly, Bakugou proceeds to treat Izuku badly.

This interaction is important because it's their first major conflict after Bakugou's "redemption." We're supposed to be at the point where he's changed. But he still resorts to insults and goading. His first instinct is still to put Izuku down.

I've said most of what I needed to about the apology. But I do want to mention that coming from Bakugou's mouth, it grossly understates what happened during those ten years. Because the abuser is the one telling the story, his transgressions don't seem that bad. He's the one controlling the narrative, so his classmates- Izuku's friends- don't know the full story. They don't know what Bakugou put Izuku through. Bakugou comes off looking sympathetic to their peers by speaking "his truth."

Was this his intention? Probably not as Bakugou doesn't really care what others think about him. But it does raise the point that this is the extent as to how Bakugou sees his past self; as a stubborn, overzealous child and not the abuser that he was

When I'm in a "My character got pushed aside for Bakugou" contest and my opponents are any of the Dekusquad

Wow, what a nice picture of the MC and his good friends, I sure hope they aren't ignored or lose complexity in favor of the MC's childhood abuser

In addition to my last post, I would like to add that I wish people would stop trying to make Izuku and Bakugou's canon relationship this super special intricate bond that we couldn't possibly comprehend because we don't understand their characters.

Because it isn't. Bakugou doesn't understand Izuku better than anyone else, he literally (CANONICALLY) spent a decade misinterpreting his intentions. Bakugou doesn't know what's best for Izuku, every time he "helped," he didn't actually help he either did nothing or made things worse (Blackwhip). Bakugou doesn't have Izuku's best interests at heart, he used a moment that was meant to help Izuku to redeem himself when it wasn't about him.

Even at the point where Bakugou is supposed to be redeemed, he still perpetuates his role as an abuser. The relationship is still catered to him and his feelings and what he wants. And as a result, Izuku is cast aside almost entirely.

So no, their relationship isn't this deep bond of mutual understanding and trust. It's a toxic, co-dependent relationship that caters to the abuser while constantly stripping the victim of his autonomy

Someone made an animatic of Bakugou and Shoto going to visit Izuku at his fast food job under the guise of "cheering him up." But they both just went there and laughed at him. And of course the comments were full of "I saved the world-" "Put the fries in the bag."

And I get they're supposed to be jokes, but I can't help but feel like the fandom has a tendency to make fun of Izuku's trauma. Everything he's ever gone through is always swept under the rug or ridiculed. And it's always by Bakugou fans who claim to like Izuku (they actually don't, they like Izuku being a prop for Bakugou)

Hi @sapphic-agent 👋

Honestly Iam really not surprised at all.

The MHA fandom has this very weird thing of never actually paying attention to the main character and just making fun/bullying everything that happens to him.

The McDonald's worker Izuku gag is horrible and it's not even the first time that the fandom has done something like this. Personally I just stay in MHAs critical Tumblr corner so I had to do some research into the things you mentioned and this is what I found. Both are honestly horrible.

Like I said this isn't new as the fandom has made memes of izuku and his pain multiple times.

1) either call him a crybaby and edit him crying

2) the whole hospital bed x Izuku gag ship

3) the hate that izuku has been getting by other fans (I have seen a post on Tumblr showing a screenshot of a twitter post saying that they wish izuku commits because he killed tomura)

I can't tell you the amount of times I have seen BKDK shippers romanticise bks abuse and severe bullying towards izuku whether that be using canon material or their own fanon material.

Also there's something weird about MHA fanfiction making izuku go through a hell ton of trauma (a lot are very exaggerated in times)

Tldr: Izuku's trauma is either made fun of, ignored or simply romanticised.

In addition to my last post, I would like to add that I wish people would stop trying to make Izuku and Bakugou's canon relationship this super special intricate bond that we couldn't possibly comprehend because we don't understand their characters.

Because it isn't. Bakugou doesn't understand Izuku better than anyone else, he literally (CANONICALLY) spent a decade misinterpreting his intentions. Bakugou doesn't know what's best for Izuku, every time he "helped," he didn't actually help he either did nothing or made things worse (Blackwhip). Bakugou doesn't have Izuku's best interests at heart, he used a moment that was meant to help Izuku to redeem himself when it wasn't about him.

Even at the point where Bakugou is supposed to be redeemed, he still perpetuates his role as an abuser. The relationship is still catered to him and his feelings and what he wants. And as a result, Izuku is cast aside almost entirely.

So no, their relationship isn't this deep bond of mutual understanding and trust. It's a toxic, co-dependent relationship that caters to the abuser while constantly stripping the victim of his autonomy

MHA spoilers Final chapter

I’m starting to wish Shigaraki finished him off too at this point. Ungrateful, miserable dick.

Tokoyami: (Blatantly insults Bakugou)

Bakugou: (Angry at the disrespect) You don’t have a filter, do ya, Bird Boy?

Tokoyami: Actually, I do. (Points behind him) HE, however…(Dark Shadow is smirking wickedly at Bakugou)

Iida and Tokoyami are so funny because you know neither one of them can stand Bakugou's ass but Iida will hold his tongue for Izuku's sake and Tokoyami will openly insult Bakugou for Izuku's sake

Yep. This is it. I need to continue rewriting this series from scratch.

The heck you mean your MC is a gag character, Horikoshi!?

IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!!!

IZUKU IS SUPPOSED TO BE A FREAKING GAG CHARACTER!!!

Ah yes, the infamous page.

There are many things about this that piss me off. Not that Izuku isn't a pretty boy, idc about that. He's as cute as a button, but I wouldn't call him a "pretty boy." But the AUDACITY to a) call him a gag character when he's literally the protagonist, b) put Bakugou in the same category as Todoroki for looks, c) call Aoyama a gag character and Bakugou a pretty boy. Like, what???

Aoyama is 10x prettier than Bakugou, tyvm. Furthermore, Horikoshi didn't even bother to make Bakugou look pretty. *cough* ugly ass rat *cough*

He should have at the very least switched Bakugou and Aoyama. But seriously, why does Horikoshi hate Izuku?