APPLICATION ( GEOSURGE ).

[incinerates]

Player
Name: Pax
Contact: forzare @ plurk

CHARACTER
Character Name: Katsuki Bakugo
Canon: My Hero Academia ( Boku no Hero Academia )
Canon Point: Post!chapter 114, roughly a week after the results of the hero licensing exam. At this time, Bakugo has failed the licensing exam and will be taking on supplementary lessons. It occurs soon after his kidnapping by the Villain League and All Might's retirement as a professional hero.

Age: 16 years old ( 20 April )
Appearance: School Uniform, Hero Costume

Background: Story Arcs, Character History

Personality:

Needless to say: I'll be a hero that surpasses even you.

Equipped with an ego that has been fed praise since childhood, Bakugo is a young man on the cusp of developing into something genuinely heroic. Fed praise since his youth, he grew from a confident and talented child, to a bona-fide bully given no reason to curb his treatment of his childhood companion and current rival ( Midoriya Izuku ), to a deeply insecure and angry young man.

In his youth, Bakugo was -- as stated by his own mother -- a child who “ended up able to do most anything without trying, and [he] got blessed with talent too”. A natural-born genius, he was routinely lauded and supported for even the most miniscule talent by his peers and the adults who oversaw his growth ( ie. teachers ). As a boy, he was able to read before his classmates were, able to perform physical acts of strength and dexterity with ease, and displayed a natural abundance of magnetism that attracted a particular type of youth: the kind that kissed his ass, and assisted him in his bullying of childhood companion, Midoriya. Much of his recent development as a young adult stems from Midoriya’s own development, which will be touched upon later, as the relationship is far too essential to his personality to overlook.

Oversaturated with the adult’s praise and idolized by the other children, it was no wonder that Bakugo developed an ego that was both immense, and fragile. When his Quirk developed, it solidified his view of the world and those who lived in it: naturally, he was the best, and everyone else wasn’t. That was that, and without a doubt, he had absolutely no reason to believe otherwise.

Throughout his youth, this is his absolute truth, and these beliefs ( that he is the best, the most gifted and the one most worthy of becoming the number one Hero ) remain unchallenged until his admittance into U.A. High School - the top academy for young, aspiring heroes, and he meets new classmates. Classmates who are as talented, if not more talented than he is, and who do not know who he is or have any reason to kiss up to him, the way others had before. Among new peers ( and his foil, Midoriya, on a more meta level ), he begins to hit new limits within himself, and he hits them hard. Bakugo is a young man who has been inundated by society and people in positions of power ( ie. teachers, the actions of pro heroes, etc. ) with his own innate superiority, and winds up internally struggling under the weight of his ego -- in fact, his superiority is physically ( and violently ) stripped from him, almost as if the narrative is seeking ways to punish and humble him.

Rather than be humbled, he fights back. He fights back more, and harder, because he is fixated more on the state of victory than how he presents himself; there’s little room for self-reflection in him, as he’s filled with the heroic ideal of victory, of winning, and of being number one due to his true talent, his true strength and his true successes. Not something shallow, draped upon him by sycophants, but something earned under his own might. And this presents a challenge to him, as he suffers under the weight of his own ego. With a distinct inferiority complex, he violently and vehemently rejects the compassion and aid of most people, viewing their good intentions as insult -- that they are treating his moments of vulnerability as weakness, and he cannot tolerate or accept that about himself. Bakugo’s world is built around being a winner, or being nothing.

Despite his rejection of most personal ties and a surprisingly asocial personality, he is not incapable of recognizing his peers’s right to exist and strive towards the ultimate goal: becoming the number one hero. Among others, his motivations would result in the same sort of thing -- recognizing their right to challenge and strive, resulting in his single-minded drive to become stronger, and stronger, without being held back by interpersonal relationships. He’s not a compassionate person, nor is he a very empathetic young man -- as seen during the practical examination to earn a provisional hero license, one of the most recent events in his history: he declines to participate in the rescue section of the exam, resulting in his failing the examination and being placed in remedial classes. Bakugo exists as a creature driven by physical and mental challenges, in a state of perpetual momentum rather than self-reflection and consideration for others.

I will win. That's what heroes do.

Really, he’s a teenager.

A hormonal ( YIKES! ), prideful teenager who is re-learning his place in the world while simultaneously trying to maintain his status as the best and brightest. While staunchly dedicated to becoming a hero, his approach is distinctively centered around “winning”, rather than “helping” - and in this way, he is best characterized by his relationship with Midoriya. Which, I’ll talk about in brief, because there’s a lot to it and without an actual Midoriya in-game right now, much of the nuances fall through the cracks. It comes down to: Midoriya is focused on saving people, Bakugo is focused on being victorious, on winning and being the best, and that simply won’t change just because he’s no longer in his canon universe. He feels that heroism is about never losing a fight, never stopping when it comes to battle and never giving up.

While he faces most fights head-on, relentlessly, he’s not incapable of tactical thinking or strategizing. In fact, one of his canonically overlooked traits is his intellect. He is quickly able to pinpoint weaknesses that can be exploited in his opponents, perhaps as testament to his own more subtle, mental machinations -- an unconscious overview of himself, as he looks for gaps and holes in his own offenses and defenses -- both physical and psychological -- that need to be plugged and adjusted and mended, until he’s a fortress of might. He’s book-smart as well, having placed third out of the twenty students in his class.

Most importantly, at his current canon point, it’s arguable that he is at his lowest and most fragmented, emotionally and psychologically. Having just been rescued from the League of Villains by a combination of professional heroes and several of his classmates, he is reeling from his weakness, the inability to extract himself from the situation -- above all else, he hates being framed in a light that highlights what most people naturally need in their life: help. Furthermore, because of his kidnapping, his idol -- All Might -- was forced into retirement: a crippling blow to the balance of the world, and Bakugo canonically takes the full weight of that downfall onto his own shoulders. He is festering inside, plagued by guilt and confusion over a great many things -- his place in the world, and the question of whether the way in which he was pursuing his goals was right or wrong**.

Neither of which leave him in a very good state.

All Might, the former number one hero, is perhaps the most formative influence when it comes to shaping Bakugo’s character and mindset from a young age. He states before the amassed League of Villains, who kidnap and attempt to recruit him, that he would never so much as look their way, because he’s already enraptured with the way that All Might looks when he wins. For Bakugo, he’s built his image of what a hero is and should be on the back of All Might’s physical victories. The former number one hero is an undisputed champion who has never lost a battle, and for Bakugo: THAT is what it means to be number one and how someone like him becomes number one. The truth that he’s coming to learn, even now, is that the life of a hero is more than just defeating villains and reigning as an undefeated champion -- heroism is not a MMA match -- it’s about being an unyielding, undying symbol of security and hope, and he has yet to conceptualize that.

What he has conceptualized, is that something in him could be lacking.

Yet, it cannot be lacking, nothing about him is lacking, he simply has to do better, try harder. The constant struggle within him -- the push-pull of nearly becoming self-aware with his adamant denial of that self-awareness is a consistent trait of his. If he becomes self-aware of his wrongdoings and weakness, he will likely shatter. There are already cracks in his ego, ones that he has been gingerly avoiding until he cannot any further -- Bakugo undeniably has an inferiority complex, built up in his youth and coming to fruition in his current state. He is uncertain of himself, especially in comparison to others, and naturally, his mind compensates with an exaggerated sense of self, power and grandeur in the form of a superiority complex -- the perfect self defense.

** This revelation is revealed AFTER the canonpoint I'm taking him from, during his cathartic brawl with Midoriya. However, it's something that has been eating him up for a while, by that point, so it's reasonable to assume he's long since come to that conclusion. TL;DR I'm justifying my use of an image and editing this literally to add that. U love me!!!

Canon Abilities/Skills:

ACTIVE //

✦ QUIRK ( EXPLOSION ) ; Bakugo secretes nitroglycerin from his skin, which he is able to detonate at will - creating explosions. The more that he sweats, the stronger the explosion - as would be expected of higher volumes of nitroglycerin. He is exceptionally knowledgeable about unique applications and usage of his Quirk, utilizing it not only for raw offensive power, but for increased mobility, physical maneuvers ( ie. speed, aerial movement ) and few forms of defense. Prolonged use will wear away at his skin, and damage his muscles as he braces against the recoil.

✦ COMBAT PROWESS ; He is noted for his sheer power, speed, technique and martial adaptability. In combat, he literally shines the brightest out of all of the Class 1-A students, as noted by his teachers. While not focused on defense or rescue, his sheer might and savagery is enough to keep would-be opponents at bay. Despite his behavior, he also displays exceptional calm and focus in dangerous situations, as seen during the Unforeseen Simulation invasion by villains, where he was able to pick out weaknesses in his opponents and act upon them quickly.

✦ PHYSICAL FITNESS ; An avid hiker. Experiences routine combat and Quirk training in school.

PASSIVE //

✦ INTELLECT ; Class rank 3/20 for his first year final. The kind of jerk student that doesn't study and gets all A's. During the villain invasion at the Unforeseen Simulation training grounds, he was able to quickly discern which villains would cause the most trouble and dispatch them, as well as deduce Quirk weaknesses through his observations. Arguably, it's because he's used to looking for weaknesses in everyone.

✦ TENACITY ; He's an animanga boy, you bet this is some sort of superpower. Canonically, people have failed to take his overwhelming, obsessive desire to be "the best-or-nothing-at-all" into account and either underestimate him, or write him off as a kid destined for a bad end in situations ranging from combat to his technical education.

✦ EDUCATION ; Heroically-trained for a variety of situations and scenarios, including extreme weather and other unforeseen disasters ( blizzard, fire, earthquake ), creative application and use of individual Quirks, combat training ( with attention paid to the psychology of villains ), and various on-site internships with current professional heroes.

Game Power: N/A
Suitability: Hero hero hero training. I answered this on the official app and forgot to copy it over.
Inventory:

✦ His complete Hero costume; Grenadier bracers, four (4) grenade-like containers.
✦ A pair of hearing aids*.
✦ A wallet containing a Student ID, dormitory key card, some yen.

* Due to prolonged use of a very LOUD Quirk, possibly without proper protective equipment, it's likely that Bakugo is at least partially deaf.

Sample: FROM STATION 72: Two Teenagers, Exactly Alike, Have It Out

TDM actions: I didn't thread this out, but Nott's player ( Melissa! ) and I agreed that the two of them met, put their wily little brains together and wombo-combo'd an alcohol-fueled boom by combining her bottomless flask ( woe to Nott, for dealing with this bully boy ) to reach the top of the wall without putting strain on Bakugo's arms, preserving them for the downward trip as well.