My Hero Academia: Midoriya and Bakugo, the "True Rivals"

Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo have known each other since they were kids and had developed a good relationship. However, after Bakugo prospered his Quirk and Midoriya, on the other hand, was unable to show any quirk, their relationship began to fall apart.

From there on, Bakugo looked down on Midoriya and bullied him, giving him the derogatory nickname “Deku”, which he always calls him.

Later on in the story, Midoriya valiantly tries to save Bakugo from a Sludge villain. Ironically, this incident became the reason why All Might, is likely to choose Midoriya to be his successor of One For All, intertwining the fates of these two rivals.

After inheriting One For All, Midoriya joins U.A. High leaving Bakugo to wonder if he had hidden his quirk on purpose. During the training battle Bakugo directly challenge Midoriya & lost for the first time.

This incident further fueled their rivalry which made Bakugo seek the source of Midoriya’s newfound quirk. Upon discovering that Midoriya is the successor of All Might, Bakugo made it his goal to defeat Midoriya at any cost.

This fight made Bakugo realize that Midoriya is no more a weak little kid he could bully whenever he wanted. Rather, a rival has to defeat before he fulfills his dream.

An interesting feature of their rivalry is that both of them have the same dream, and look up to the same hero. They dream to become the greatest hero, surpassing the hero they both admire, All Might.

Despite the two having such a tense relationship, Midoriya still respects Bakugo for his quirk, confidence and his physical powers. Midoriya consistently risks his life for the sake of Bakugo. It was clearly seen during his attempt to save Bakugo from the Vanguard Action Squad.

Later on in the story, Bakugo and Midoriya have an emotional fight which ends up in Bakugo’s favor.
Since the fight, the two improved their understanding of each other and have become more resonant about a proper ‘friendly’ rivalry.

We hope in the future, their rivalry gets to the same league as other legendary rivalries, just like Naruto and Sasuke. What’s your take on this? Drop a comment and share it with us.

Due credits for writing this story: Alazare Shiferaw
Image credits: Viz.com/ fandom.com

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