My Hero Academia: Why It Had To Be Bakugo Who Saved All Might

Bakugo Katsuki and many others aspire to be heroes like All Might or surpass his achievements. However, unlike other heroes, Bakugo was the only one considered to be the person who ended All Might after his sickly form was broadcast to the world. Although Bakugo could keep his feelings under wraps, after mounting failures, Bakugo collapsed under his bottled-up feelings.

In the Final War in My Hero Academia, Bakugo saved All Might from being killed by All For One. Although no other hero had been in the area or in commission to save him, Bakugo saving All Might had more significance behind the action. Not only was Bakugo able to squash his previous doubts, but he was also acknowledged by the hero he admired the most.

What is Bakugo’s relationship with All Might?

Bakugo Admired and Aspired to Surpass All Might When he Became a Pro Hero

Similar to many aspiring heroes, Bakugo Katsuki views All Might as his idol and the ideal hero. From a young age, Bakugo and Midoriya Izuku would purchase All Might merchandise to show their respect and admiration for the Number One Pro Hero.

Due to Bakugo’s impressive Explosion Quirk, those around him knew that Bakugo would become a Pro Hero once he was of age. As a result, Bakugo strives to become the best in every task or project, whether schoolwork or practical exams. Bakugo always believed that All Might was the perfect Hero; thus, this influenced the kind of Hero Bakugo strove to become.

As mentioned above, Bakugo believed All Might to be the best hero. To Bakugo, this would mean All Might was a hero who gained a perfect victory in every battle and always saved everyone without fail; anything less than that would be a failure. Although Bakugo has an explosive personality, when working hard, he tries his best in everything he does.

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However, Bakugo’s perception of All Might changes after the League of Villains kidnaps him. During the Forest Training Camp arc, Bakugo is kidnapped by the League of Villains after Tomura Shigaraki believes Bakugo would become an asset to the League. However, they are surely mistaken when Bakugo declines acceptance into the League.

Midoriya and company and the Pro Heroes begin the search and rescue operation to save Bakugo in the Hideout Raid arc during this time. It was after the battle with All For One and All Might that Bakugo and the entire Japan learned of All Might’s condition. Although the rescue was a success, All Might’s sickly form was not one that All Might wished the world to see. All Might wanted to retire with Japan and the rest of the world, still knowing his muscular form. However, due to how his sickly form was showcased to the world, the loss of the Symbol of Peace gave the villains their chance to take advantage of Japan’s crumbling hero society.

Unfortunately, at this time, Bakugo was once again at the forefront of newspapers as All Might’s sickly form was believed to be the result of saving Bakugo from the League of Villains and All For One. While All Might confirmed to Bakugo that this was not the case, many UA High School students and the general public believed Bakugo was why All Might had to retire.

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Although Bakugo seemed as if the comments did not affect him, during the Provisional Hero License Exam arc, Bakugo’s true feelings on the matter surface during the confrontation with Midoriya at Ground Beta. During this confrontation, Bakugo confesses that he feels responsible for ending All Might and blames himself for All Might’s retirement. However, this is far from the case, and All Might had already been on the path to retirement, given his condition and having passed One For All to Izuku.

However, All Might soon intervenes with the confrontation and reassures Bakugo that he is not responsible for his retirement. All Might also confesses that it was a lack of oversight on his part as he believed this type of thing would not affect Bakugo to the extent of what it had. Although the situation had been resolved, Bakugo still felt some lingering resentment about the issue and had not truly overcome his feelings. He thus felt accountable for what had occurred, although not to the extent before.

Why Bakugo had to Save All Might

By Saving All Might, Bakugo Was Finally Able to Let Go of His Lingering Guilt Due to All Might’s Retirement

After Bakugo had been let in on the secret held between All Might and Midoriya, he felt the need to keep them in line as the two had been gaining attention from the other students. Bakugo also felt the need to assist Midoriya with training One For All in secret, as he was the only one who, at the time, knew about Midoriya’s additional Quirks.

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During this time, Bakugo and All Might would speak in length about Midoriya’s training progress and Midoriya’s overt accountability regarding the battle with All For One and Shigaraki. While Bakugo still admired All Might, he also began to see his flaws and was less starstruck by the previous Number One Hero. However, Bakugo still held All Might in high regard and wished to surpass him as a Pro Hero.

It was during the Final War that Bakugo was able to defeat All For One and save All Might. All Might was slowly losing the battle with All For One at the time, although he had his mechanized suit and Stain to assist him. Unfortunately, All For One was able to overpower All Might and thus was about to kill him, and no other Pro Heroes were nearby to stop him.

Thankfully, at that moment, Edgeshot revived Bakugo, and Bakugo quickly understood their situation. Just as All For One was about to deal the final blow, Bakugo stopped him with a boost by Midoriya using Gear Shift. Although the odds were against them, and it seemed Bakugo could not make it in time, Bakugo could save All Might.

There was more meaning behind Bakugo saving All Might. Not only was Bakugo able to save the fan favorite Hero, who had given many hope, but Bakugo could also quell his feelings of being the one who ended All Might. In this way, Bakugo could redeem and forgive himself for what had occurred. Bakugo had always wanted to be acknowledged by All Might in the same way Midoriya had. By saving All Might, Bakugo was finally on the same playing field as Midoriya, and being acknowledged by All Might in Chapter 405 gave him even more motivation to defeat All For One.

My Hero Academia is now available to stream on Crunchyroll.

In My Hero Academia, some humans have superpowers called quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and since he was a child, he has always wanted to be a hero. However, his lack of a quirk has always held him back, but a chance encounter with All Might after discovering a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers around Deku and a class of heroes-in-training at UA. This school shapes young quirk users into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-tempering tasks. With young Deku inheriting the “One-For-All” quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while facing off with dastardly supervillains.

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Seasons

7

Studio

Bones

Number of Episodes

159

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