Warning: Contains spoilers for My Hero Academia chapter 359
One of the most beloved characters of My Hero Academia was just humiliated by the series' most vicious villain. Bakugo, the friend and rival of protagonist Izuku Midoriya (Deku), has seen his efforts to put down Shigaraki completely dismissed as the powerful villain mocks the hero by calling him completely irrelevant.
Bakugo is My Hero Academia's anti-hero character. His relationship with Midoriya has always been controversial, as young Izuku looked up to Bakugo while the latter often humiliated him to discourage his apparently pointless dream of becoming a hero despite having no quirk (special power). After Midoriya inherited One for All and entered U.A. High, his relationship with Bakugo evolved further, and the two became genuine friends and rivals, pushing each other to become stronger. During the final battle between the heroes and the villains led by All for One, Bakugo is part of the group tasked with holding off Shigaraki until Deku arrives, but things do not go as the young hero expected.
In chapter 359 of the manga created by Kohei Horikoshi, Bakugo tries to bring down Shigaraki for good, using his most powerful attack, Howitzer Impact: Cluster. However, when the dust settles, Shigaraki is unfazed, and he has also destroyed Bakugo's right arm completely. What is even worse, the villain openly mocks Bakugo, saying he has no interest in him, except for the fact that he is Midoriya's best friend. When the pro heroes Best Jeanist, Mirko, and Edgeshot, run over to help Bakugo, they are also caught by one of Shigaraki's devastating attacks and are apparently taken out of the fight.
Shigaraki's words must hurt Bakugo way more than his overwhelming strength. The boy had to overcome his jealousy for Deku when he inherited one of the most powerful quirks on Earth, One for All, and was picked up by All Might, who is Bakugo's idol, as his chosen successor. Seeing Midoriya quickly overcome him in of power gave Bakugo conflicting feelings, but in the end he was able to pull through and get over his arrogance and pride to become a real team player. However, when Shigaraki mentions that Bakugo's only value is being Midoriya's best friend, all those conflicting feelings undoubtedly come flooding back, and the young hero must feel once again like the ing character in someone else's story.
Despite My Hero Academia's huge cast of characters, Horikoshi has still been able to develop a good number of them to be just as interesting as the main heroes. Bakugo, in particular, is really popular with fans due to his brash attitude and loud, no-nonsense behavior. The humiliation suffered in this chapter will surely rile up Bakugo fans, as it looks his only role was to gain time for the real protagonist, Deku, to arrive, proving that My Hero Academia will not step away from the main clichès of the genre.
