My Hero Academia: Can THAT Hero Survive the Manga’s Deadliest Cliffhanger?

My Hero Academia knows what it takes to make fans do double take. From last-minute reveals to secret identities, the superhero series has done it all. In fact, the story’s wild twists have made the manga one of the best in the industry, and millions of readers keep up with Kohei Horikoshi’s title each week. But after its most recent cliffhanger, fans are left wondering whether a certain favorite is dead.

The whole thing came to light in chapter 352 as My Hero Academia did its best to break hearts. The update checked in on Shigaraki as he continued his assault on U.A. High School as the Big Three fought back. When their attack failed, Bakugo Katsuki managed to evolve his quirk at the last minute to fight on even with his fatal wounds. And by the chapter’s end, the battlefield was left stunned as Bakugo seemingly died and met with All Might’s vestige in the afterlife.

As you can imagine, this revelation just about broke the fandom, and netizens are still not over the whole ordeal. It isn’t everyday a shonen series kills off one of its main two characters, you know? Bakugo has led popularity polls for My Hero Academia in recent years, so his death is shocking to put lightly. Of course, this means many fans are convinced Bakugo will survive this ordeal, and the fandom’s theories range from sound to silly.

READ MORE: My Hero Academia: Why Kohei Horikoshi’s Love of Comics Will Keep Bakugo Safe

When it comes to the most popular theories, fans are leaning into Bakugo’s quirk as an out. The character is able to make explosions thanks to his new cluster ability, so that kind of force could manually beat his heart. Obviously, that is far-fetched, but My Hero Academia has brought back favorites from worse odds. Gran Torino and Dabi survived their fatal wounds, and that isn’t even to mention how All For One is alive after his battle with All Might.

Other theories suggest that Bakugo’s nitroglycerin could be used to help restart his heart. There are more suggestions floating around the Internet that could save the day. Kaminari could help shock Bakugo into a heart rhythm, or there is a chance Monoma copied Recovery Girl’s healing abilities. The more out-there theories all involve One For All’s interference which could very well happen at this point. We still don’t know what quirk the Second User was packing back in the day. And since Bakugo is seeing a vestige right now, there could be some supernatural power inside the boy leftover from his All For One state on Nabu Island.

What do you think about My Hero Academia‘s latest cliffhanger? Do you feel like Bakugo is going to make it out of the manga alive? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.