When it comes to unique characters, My Hero Academia has no shortage of distinct personalities, and Katsuki Bakugo takes the cake when it comes to complexity. When the anime begins, Bakugo is certainly an antagonist to Midoriya, but the series doesn’t build him up to be a villain. Instead, it gives him opportunities to grow and allows him to do so at his own pace.
And, because Bakugo is such a complex character, he has plenty of ups and downs over the course of the anime. He's done a mixture of good and bad, making him one of the more relatable U.A. students we meet. Here are 5 of the worst things Bakugo's ever done, along with 5 of the best.
10 Worst: Told Deku Not To Apply To U.A. High
If viewers think high school Bakugo is a jerk, let’s take a trip back to the first episode of My Hero Academia—because middle school Bakugo is a real monster. (Which we guess makes sense because, well, middle school.)
Not only does Bakugo go out of his way to bully Midoriya (some things never change), but he’s particularly vicious when the time to apply to high schools arrives. He goes as far as to tell Midoriya not to apply to U.A. High, belittling and laughing at the other kid’s dreams and making a very bad first impression on viewers. Plus, there's the line about Deku throwing himself off a building to consider. Bakugo's outbursts tend to be comical later on in the series, but there's nothing funny about telling another classmate to kill themselves...
9 Best: Kept Midoriya's And All Might's Secret
Most of the students and teachers at U.A. High deduce that something is off about Midoriya's quirk, but Bakugo is the only one who gets confirmation that it's a borrowed power. Midoriya tells the other boy this early on in the series, regardless of how risky sharing the information is. While Midoriya doesn't tell Bakugo who he borrowed his quirk from, Bakugo manages to put two and two together as the anime continues.
Even with his disdain for Midoriya and jealousy over his rival having All Might's power, though, Bakugo never reveals what he's realized about One for All—not even after Midoriya confirms his suspicions.
8 Worst: Looked Down On All Of His Classmates
Bakugo's character growth is a slow one, and he spends a lot of the anime's earlier episodes looking down on his classmates at U.A. High. While it's true that most of their quirks don't hold a candle to his own, his constant insistence that the rest of Class 1-A (and especially Class B) are "extras" is pretty off-putting.
As the series continues, however, it's obvious that Bakugo begins to develop a begrudging acceptance of the other members of Class 1-A. (Dare we say he's even actually friends with some of them?)
7 Best: Gave Uraraka A Fair Fight
Mineta can call Bakugo sadistic all he likes, but it would have been incredibly disappointing if Bakugo had held back against Uraraka during the Sport’s Festival just because she’s a girl. Modern anime series don’t have time for that kind of sexism, and we’re glad Bakugo doesn’t either.
Not only did Bakugo’s refusal to treat Uraraka as anything less than his equal give viewers an intense fight to watch, but it also gave her a true opportunity to prove her strength—even if she didn’t pull off a win in the end.
6 Worst: Became A Sore Winner
Even if his fight with Uraraka was admirable, Bakugo’s character takes a turn for the worse with his next opponent. When Todoroki doesn’t use his left side during their battle, Bakugo perceives this as Todoroki not giving the test his all and more or less throws a tantrum—even though he wins the first place medal.
As if being a sore winner isn’t bad enough, Bakugo takes his win so poorly that he needs to be restrained when receiving his medal. It’s meant to be a comical exaggeration of his character, but it's not a good look for Class 1-A's #1 student.
5 Best: Turned Down The League Of Villains
Okay, maybe turning down the League of Villains isn’t that impressive of a feat. But, given Bakugo’s penchant for bullying others and self-centered motivations for becoming a hero, we could easily see how he might have been tempted by Shigaraki’s offer. So, the fact that he never even considered joining the League's ranks is pretty amazing—and it makes his character that much more interesting.
Pride aside, there's got to be a reason that Bakugo is so hellbent on becoming a hero—and a reason that he looks up to All Might. It's possible that reason is that, beneath all the insults and rage, he's actually a decent person.
4 Worst: Failed To Say Thank You... Like, Ever
The phrase "thank you" doesn't seem to be in Bakugo's vocabulary, something his character demonstrates repeatedly over the course of the anime. When his friends rescue him from the League of Villains, he can't even admit that it was, in fact, a rescue mission, and that isn’t the first time his stubborn pride shows up where gratitude should be.
When Kaminari saves Bakugo and Kirishima during their Provisional License Exam, Bakugo also fails to thank their friend—and, well, we all know how Deku’s childhood attempt to help Bakugo after he fell into a river went.
3 Best: Paid Kirishima Back For His Night-Vision Goggles
Kirishima is one of the few people Bakugo actually seems to tolerate, something Midoriya picks up on and uses to their advantage when attempting to rescue the latter from the League of Villains.
As we've said, “thank you” doesn’t seem to be part of Bakugo’s vocabulary — so, while he clearly appreciates the interference, he won’t own up to the fact that his classmates saved him. He does, however, pay Kirishima back after discovering that his friend bought expensive night-vision goggles for the rescue mission, and that’s about as close to a thank you as anyone’s going to get from Bakugo.
2 Worst: Failed His Provisional Hero License Exam
Bakugo’s tone is usually “wildly inappropriate,” so it’s not like we expected anything different going into Provisional Hero License Exams. When the judges announced they’d be grading the rescue portion on how well the students handled the situation, it was obvious that students who are more skilled in combat than empathy would struggle—and Bakugo is at the top of that list.
And honestly, it’s not even that viewers feel so bad that Bakugo was rude to the people he was supposed to rescue—his attitude is half the reason we love him—but it was a really dumb thing to fail his licensing exam over.
1 Best: Gave Midoriya Feedback On His Shoot Style
Saying that Bakugo and Midoriya have a messed up relationship is probably an understatement, but their dynamic is part of what makes My Hero Academia so interesting. Midoriya tends to be a punching bag for Bakugo’s pent-up rage, but that changes toward the end of the third season.
After their second fight with one another—and thanks to a much-needed intervention from All Might—the two begin to view one another as genuine rivals, shedding some of their previous perceptions of each other. When Bakugo actually gives Midoriya feedback on his shoot style, it’s a big moment for his character. Three seasons ago, he would never have helped Midoriya become a better hero.