My Hero Academia has fans on the edge of their collective seat after chapter 362 of the manga. Katsuki Bakugo literally has his heart broken in the final battle with All For One-Shigaraki, and the final panel made it look like ambitious would-be hero may be gone from the world – or is he? There are a lot of My Hero Academia fans that don’t (want to) believe that Bakugo is really dead – and there are equal amount of theories about whether or not Kohei Horikoshi intends for death to be the end of Bakugo’s arc.
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So does Bakugo need to die for My Hero Academia’s story to be complete?
Bakugo’s purpose in My Hero Academia was always to serve as a foil to main character Izuku Midoriya. While Deku had the heart of a true hero but no superpowers, “Kacchan” had all the power in the world, but none of the compassion or heart that a “hero” should have. My Hero Academia’s story began with the twist of a powerless Midoriya jumping in to save Bakugo from a villain that was about to kill him; it’s always been theorized that Bakugo’s arc had to end with him coming full-circle to be in Midoriya’s position.
In that sense, if Bakugo were to truly die now, in this way, it would be in perfect step with where his arc began. Bakugo jumps up to save U.A.’s top student trio The Big 3 (Mirio, Nejire, and Tamaki) from AFO-Shigaraki’s assault, and is seemingly fatally wounded in the process. Just before that pivotal moment, Bakugo took a severe beating from AFO-Shigaraki, who also made sure to get in the boy’s head by both showing and telling Bakugo how little all his formidable superpower actually mattered. Bakugo took that hit but didn’t let it break his spirit – far from it, in fact. Throwing himself in front of Shigaraki and The Big 3 was Bakugo fulfilling everything that Deku’s example taught him about “true” heroism: Bakugo is now free to earn a noble death – a loss that will forever inspire Izuku and the other Class 1-A students that worship Bakugo, as they enter the adulthood era of being full-fledged superheroes.
On the other hand, the thematic climax of Bakugo’s story (as described above) doesn’t need to end with his death, at all. In fact, it could ultimately be much more powerful to have Bakugo live.
Fan theories are already spinning numerous ways that Bakugo can survive his missing heart – from Best Jeanist or other heroes creating a new one for him, to any healers getting to him in time. If Bakugo survives, his physical body and superpowers will not likely ever be the same – certainly up to the challenged fo being the world’s no. 1 hero. And that’s okay!
My Hero Academia would be poetic in its resolution if Bakugo ends up crippled and/or powerless, while Deku becomes a hero with the greatest superpower in the world (One For All). A “diminished” Bakugo could still serve great purpose in the hero world as a teacher at U.A. (for example), and him accepting a life of not fighting as a superhero – and supporting Izuku in his hero career – would be the kind of maturation and growth that Bakugo always needed. Bakugo always wanted to be like All Might: if he ends up being more like Toshinori Yagi, well, that’s still something.
How do you want Bakugo’s story in My Hero Academia to end? Let us know in the comments!
