Katsuki Bakugou of the manga/anime My Hero Academia has managed to become the crowd favorite, as seen by his winning streak in both Japan and the US popularity polls, despite his disagreeable character. How is this possible? In my previous blog post, I examined why Bakugou is so well accepted in a cultural perspective, but this is only one of the many reasons why Bakugou continues to be number one. In most stories, the main character is the one with a set goal in mind who will do anything to see this plan come to fruition. A common protagonist characteristic is undying will power and enthusiastic determination, as we can see in the main characters Gon in Hunter x Hunter, Naruto in the manga/anime by the same name, and Luffy in One Piece. The side character, on the other hand, usually only has one purpose and that is to support the main character. A side character can fulfill this objective in two ways. First, this character can be an encouraging friend or mentor who helps the protagonist accomplish his or her goals throughout the story. Second, the side character can be the rival to the main character, aiding in his or her development physically or emotionally. Bakugou is indeed a side character, but the author Kohei Horikoshi does not write him as your typical side character trope. Instead, he gives Bakugou his own goals and makes him the character with the strongest drive in My Hero Academia. He isn’t just a character there to support the development of Izuku Midoriya, the main character, but also is there to add depth to the story. Horikoshi didn’t create a one-dimensional rival, but gives Bakugou complexity. However, Horikoshi wisely allows this complexity to unravel slowly. Joyita Faruk, a writer for The Dhaka Apologue, explains her disappointment at Baukgou’s debut, admitting she didn’t like him as a character at first, not because of his personality, but because he was the bland, stereotypical rival character there to make the protagonists look good. It wasn’t until the story progressed and she was able to see more of Bakugou’s character that she began to grow fond of this rival. She explains, “Horikoshi made his debut so lackluster because he was meant to subvert those expectations.” Therefore, Bakugou is different then what we expected, which leads the audience to appreciate him as a character.
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