Of Course There's More To It Than That - Blog Posts

@kacchanbiased

This is a really good point and I probably could've phrased it better! I was trying to say, it's less that the people around him are influencing him now and more that he was in an echo chamber in middle school. And I do believe he was in an echo chamber. Throughout the flashbacks to his and Midoriya's past, I don't believe we ever see any adult standing up to him. In fact, I don't think we see ANYONE standing up to him other than Midoriya himself (which is important, because it's one of the main foundations of Midoriya's character).

When Bakugou gets to UA, one of the first interactions he has with his classmates is someone telling him off! Iida yells at him for being impolite and having his feet on the desk iirc. And then it happens again: Tsuyu and Kaminari both criticize him for his cruelty and general assholery on the bus to the USJ. And even if Bakugou's classmates don't hate him, even if after a certain point they start to like him, the one thing they never do? They never shut up when he acts like a dick. There's pretty much almost always a snide comment or an objection from one of them— and this extends to their teacher, too! Mr Aizawa may not care so much about Bakugou hurting people's feelings, but he'll sure as hell step in when his temper gets in the way of his schoolwork (which it often does; emotional dysregulation is almost never useful in any meaningful way).

I won't say I think Bakugou never would have changed if not for 1-A, or Aizawa. I truly believe that he is a good person at his core, and wouldn't have turned villain or whatever, maybe he would've even eventually shown some of the growth he has now if left to his own devices. But to be surrounded by a posse of morally absent yes-men, and to be in a school environment in which none of the teachers seem willing to check you, is not conducive to personal growth, especially when you're literally just a dumbshit middle schooler with way too much power (no offense lol)

All this to say, you are absolutely right for thinking he made a conscious effort to be better, and I hope you agree with my analysis as well!

drew this helpful diagram for mha fans who don't understand what a character arc is