Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo are about as different as it gets. Though they're both striving toward the same goals, attend the same school, and share very similar quirk attributes, they really couldn't be more separate. Bakugo has a violent, dare we say firey personality, while Todoroki is rarely ever phased and is fair... well, cold-blooded.
Neither are infallible—in fact, they usually seemed more prone to failure than success, and they both have different strengths and weaknesses which, in theory, would offset well were the ever to team up. Here are five things My Hero Academia's Bakugo can do that Todoroki can't (and vise versa).
10 Todoroki Can: Overcome His Family Issues
A fairly major aspect of My Hero Academia's second season revolved around Todoroki's troubled home life. His father, pro hero Endeavor, never managed to achieve his dream of surpassing All Might for the number one hero spot, and, as a result, essentially forced his son to one day take up that mantle.
Endeavor certainly doesn't come across as a kindhearted person, and its hinted that he abused both his son and wife in his desperate pursuit for personal glory. That said, though Todoroki spent years dealing with these issues, he eventually reconciled with both of his parents (well, in a way), which is something that the eternally angry Bakugo has yet to do with his dysfunctional family.
9 Bakugo Can: Use His Quirk Freely
Though he more or less overcame his qualms by the end of the second season, Shoto Todoroki had some serious hangups regarding the part of his quirk which he inherited from his father. Such was his disdain for Endeavor that he vowed to never use his pyromancy abilities, despite their incredible usefulness.
This was never an issue for Bakugo, as he was shown to be extremely fond of his quirk from the moment it first manifested. Bakugo uses his quirk with wild abandon, sometimes incurring some pretty disastrous results. That said, he never held himself back, and it gave him a major advantage over his classmates early on in the anime.
8 Todoroki Can: Learn From His Mistakes
For all his faults, Todoroki is a contemplative, placid sort who accounts for every detail before jumping into something. His moral hangups may have held him back early on, but he has since been able to reflect upon his mistakes and improve himself.
This isn't something of which Bakugo seems capable. A hothead both literally and figuratively, he has absolutely no constraint or capacity for self-reflection. His brashness has gotten him in trouble before and almost certainly will again, and it seems like he's totally incapable of learning from his mistakes. It's definitely a concern for a fledgling hero-to-be.
7 Bakugo Can: Charge Up His Attacks
Bakugo and Todoroki may appear to have similar quirks, but they function a bit differently. As far as we know, Todoroki just shoots fire from his fingertips, while Bakguo actually excretes a combustive substance into his hands, which he can then ignite.
However, with the aid of his hero suit, he can also store that substance and unleash it all at once. The results, as we've seen, can be devastating, and it's a nice addition to his quirk that gives him yet another leg up on Todoroki. Shoto may be able to do something similar, however, as the anime has yet to explore the full extent of his powers.
6 Todoroki Can: Ignore His Fire Quirk Entirely
We've ragged on him already for putting himself at a disadvantage, but the fact of the matter is that Todoroki's quirk is so incredibly powerful that he still manages to be one of Class 1-A's most impressive students when only using half of it.
The ice portion of his fire-and-ice schtick comes from his mother, and it's something Bakugo can and will never have. It's more or less what makes Todoroki arguably more powerful than Bakugo, though he did lose to him during the season two sports festival. Really, it's like having two quirks in one, which, unless you're All For One, is basically cheating.
5 Bakugo Can: Keep A Secret
One of season three's major twists was that Bakugo finally managed to figure out what was up between All Might and his longtime rival Izuku Midoriya. In reality, he didn't so much "figure it out," as All Might eventually spilled the beans after he caught the two fighting. That said, he's sworn to keep this knowledge a secret, and, so far, he's lived up to his word.
Though Todoroki seems like the sort who could easily keep a secret, he simply couldn't be trusted with it. Endeavor was All Might's greatest rival, and, given his kinship with the number two hero, he simply wouldn't be given the information, even if, like Bakugo, he demanded it.
4 Todoroki Can: Keep His Cool
Pun intended. This goes beyond Todoroki's natural proclivity for self-reflection. In all aspects of his life, he's a calm, collected individual who only resorts to violence when necessary and always makes an effort to keep his wits about him.
That's something Bakguo seemingly can't do. Todoroki's classmate is always spoiling for a fight and will make any excuse to fly into a fit of rage. It's really not a good look for a hero, and Todoroki could probably teach him a thing or two about keeping a level head, not that he would be inclined to listen.
3 Bakugo Can: Have A Legitimate Rivalry With Deku
The first half of My Hero Academia's second season tried to establish something of a rivalry between series protagonist Izuku Midoriya and Shoto Todoroki, though the beef was eventually squashed. The two may have been powerful adversaries, but, at the end of the day, they were both far too good-natured to form a rivalry.
Bakugo, however, seemingly came out of the womb with a deep-seated hatred for Deku. Though we eventually come to realize that it stemmed from jealousy over All Might's compassion for Midoriya, the two remain steadfast rivals, and the added competition only helps to spur them on in their quests to become pro heroes.
2 Todoroki Can: Go On The Defensive
While a UA education will doubtlessly provide both students with more than enough knowledge to fulfill any combat role, Todoroki seems far more primed for defensive maneuvering than Bakugo. We've seen Todoroki get out of tons of bad situations thanks to his ice quirk, and he can seemingly block just about anything sent his way.
The same can't exactly be said for Bakugo. Though he's also a skilled fighter, he can't simply conjure ice walls out of thin air. As a result, he has to rely on his speed and wits, neither of which he has in spades.
1 Bakugo Can: Be Close With All Might
Bakugo probably won't ever be able to establish the same level of rapport with All Might as Midoriya has, but he's still managed to learn quite a bit about his all-time favorite hero and establish himself as an exemplary student in the number one hero's eyes.
That's something Todoroki can never really do. He may be All Might's student, just like Bakugo, but his relationship to Endeavor sort of prevents them from ever getting to close. All Might doesn't seem to have taken much of a shine to the young pupil despite his potential, and that's likely because of his complicated relationship to the number two hero.