BakuDeku

BakuDeku is the slash ship between Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya from the My Hero Academia fandom.

Canon
"''From kindergarten to elementary school, to middle school and high school. The two of us have been together as long as I can remember, and yet... we've never exposed our true feelings and talked things out...not even once." ''- Izuku Midoriya, Chapter 119, Manga.

Izuku and Katsuki have known each other since they were very young, The show and the manga tells us that their relationship goes as far back to when they were both younger than four years of age. Due to a series of misguided instances, their relationship rapidly deteriorated and became practically non-existent after many complications from their childhood. This included an incident from their distant past where Katsuki and his friends including Izuku were playing heroes and marched across a river over a fallen tree. Katsuki slipped and fell head first into the water. His other friends only look onto the scene while Izuku rushes to help his friend. Due to Katsuki's complex of being praised as strong and powerful viewed this act of 'kindness' as nothing more than contempt or in Katsuki's words 'looked down upon' from Izuku. There were numerous other instances from then on where Katsuki teases Izuku about not being able to do anything like skip stones or read kanji which is when Izuku receives his nickname "Deku" (useless). This can be read from the last part of Izuku's name in kanji.

Interestingly enough, Izuku continues to call Katsuki by the childhood nickname "Kacchan", whilst receiving no objections. The suffix '-chan' is often used to refer to children, females or people in general of a cute nature, therefore contradicting Katsuki's image. Despite this, as shown explicitly throughout the series, if Katsuki has a problem with someone or something he is the first person to say it; only fuelling the theory that Katsuki allows Izuku to call him this childish nickname as it is one of the precious fragments left from when their relationship was untainted. The only other instance where "Kacchan" has been used was by Kaminari in chapter 163 of the manga, seemingly in a teasing way, to which Katsuki disregards and leaves the room to go to bed.

Ever since Izuku failed to develop a Quirk, Katsuki has seen Izuku as someone below him in terms of ability and general worthiness, reinforced when Katsuki developed his own Quirk and was constantly praised by his teachers and classmates for it, whilst Izuku was reprimanded for his lack thereof. Being an easily influenced child at the time, Katsuki noticed this dramatic difference in the way they were both treated, realising that Izuku was essentially a nobody in a world where Quirks so heavily define someone as a person. Holding onto the belief that he was going to be the best, Katsuki continued to view Izuku as nothing but a 'pebble' in his path towards becoming a hero, his intense attachment to victory manifesting itself into somewhat of a superiority complex.

Katsuki bullied Izuku for a number of years after this event, using Izuku as an outlet for his anger towards his strive to become the greatest hero. After finding out that Izuku also wants to enter U.A's hero course, Katsuki becomes aggressive and mocks his choice, stating that he has no chance in becoming a hero and should instead "take a swan dive off the roof". Whilst this was said in an enraged stupor in front of his friends, Izuku still concerns for Katsuki's impulsive actions, stating that he could have gotten into trouble if Izuku actually listened to his tormenting.

On his way home, Izuku sees a crowd surrounding what appears to be another villainous incident, and soon discovers that Katsuki has been captured by the same slime monster that All Might saved him from. As his limbs are constricted and his mouth is covered, he is unable to break free, causing him to stare on wide-eyed in despair. Izuku sees this and rushes forward towards the scene, throwing his backpack and clawing at the slime to no effect, until the monster frees up slightly and allows Katsuki to gasp for air. This then spurs All Might and other onlooking Pro Heroes to intervene, eventually ending up saving the pair of them and defeating the villain. Izuku later says that his feet moved on their own once he saw Katsuki in danger, proving his ability to save efficiently as a hero. Upon their next meeting, instead of Katsuki harassing Izuku as per usual, he instead dismisses him, acknowledging that Izuku's bravery saved his life. Izuku also mentions that ever since this incident, Katsuki never physically harassed him again.

After receiving One for All from All Might, their relationship becomes even more complicated through Katsuki's misunderstandings of the Quirk's origin.

During their first training session, Katsuki felt betrayed when he saw Izuku activating his newfound quirk during the ball throwing portion, believing Izuku had been keeping his quirk a secret since they were children. He had to be restrained by Aizawa as he understandably demanded answers from Izuku. Having promised All Might that he would keep One for All a secret, Izuku had to leave Katsuki in the dark about the situation, unknowingly making Katsuki all the more upset about being supposedly mocked and betrayed by his childhood friend.

Later on, after the Hero vs. Villain fight with All Might, Izuku wakes up to find that Katsuki has left and rushes to find him. Izuku confronts him, assuring that he has never deceived him and spills the fact that his Quirk is a 'borrowed' power, deciding to not mention All Might's involvement just yet. He states that he will however make this borrowed power his own and eventually surpass Katsuki by becoming stronger. This causes Katsuki to cry out in frustration, tears spilling from his cheeks as he yells at Izuku to buck up and train hard as well, determined that he will be number one. This is the first time we see Katsuki open up to Izuku despite their tainted past, and this theme continues under the influence of their now shared secret.

In season 2, episode 37 (Chapters 61-65), Izuku was paired up with Katsuki for their final exam. Katsuki comes off as more cold-hearted and angry as he recalls Izuku for "stealing" his moves. Izuku follows Katsuki down the street as he desperately tries to suggest that the two should pair up and try to escape and avoid fighting All Might. Katsuki responds by shouting that he'll score higher if he defeats All Might. Obviously, the pair lacks communication, but Izuku still attempts to talk to Katsuki regarding his plan. This resulted in Katsuki smacking Izuku to the ground and angrily demanding Izuku to stop speaking to him. As Katsuki walks away, Izuku asks him to wait and reconsider his plan. Irritated, Katsuki yells at Izuku and says he doesn't need his power to pass the exam and can win it all by himself. Izuku yells back at him and tells him that shouting is why they never have normal conversations.

All Might then attacks by using "Texas Smash" down the main street, blowing off Izuku and Katsuki away. All Might menacingly walks through the dust towards his students. He warns them to take the exam seriously or else they'll be sorry. Izuku and Katsuki are both surprised at how intimidating their teacher can be. Thus, the fight begins. Although, Izuku and Katsuki were still unable to communicate with one another, causing the two to sloppily attack and, at one point, clash into one another mid-fight. They carry on with the battle, resulting to All Might pinning Izuku down with a fence and gut-punching Katsuki into the air which also caused him to vomit. All Might realizes that Katsuki is infuriated by the massive improvement Izuku has gained, advising him that he still has so much room for him to grow as a hero. Katsuki then says, "If you're saying I gotta rely on his help, then I'd rather lose."

As All Might prepares to crush Katsuki, Izuku breaks away from the fence in anger and punches Katsuki in the face and proceeds to call him a "jerk", following with Izuku saying "You'd rather lose? That doesn't sound like you!" and carries Katsuki away to an alleyway away from All Might and admits he can't think of a plan to pass the exam. Izuku continues to angrily talk to Katsuki, saying "Don't say you're okay losing! You're you because you never give up on winning, right?" this scene follows with a flashback to when the two were younger, showing Katsuki successfully scaring off two fourth graders and claims that he didn't bump into them but that they bumped into him, continuing by saying that "The most amazing hero always wins in the end.". Katsuki, annoyed by being reminded by his own words, blasts the wall next to Izuku's shoulder and saying that in order to escape they have to fight All Might. Katsuki then comes up with a plan to use maximum firepower on All Might and then create distance between them. He runs out of an alleyway and distracts All Might. All Might is unimpressed and believes it's a sneak attack. Although, Katsuki then cries out to Izuku, yelling for him to "shoot" as Izuku appears behind All Might pointing to him with one of Katsuki gauntlets. He fires and blasts the gauntlet at All Might, catching him off guard. It appears that the two boys all had it according to plan, that was until All Might appeared and broke both of Katsuki's gauntlets. Another fight with All Might begins, making Katsuki weaker as he progresses into the battle as he uses his quirk without his gauntlets. All Might then uses New Hampshire smash to impactly clash into Izuku's back, making the boy unable to move effectively. Katsuki, in anger, tells Izuku to make the escape. When All Might attempts to stop Izuku, Katsuki comes in to defend his teammate and blasts All Might. All Might avoids this attack and drags Katsuki to the ground, telling him to "go to sleep" and that "As a teacher, it's traumatizing when you destroy your own body to fight."

Izuku could have easily left Katsuki behind and gone through the gate by himself, but instead went on to save his friend, successfully delivering a finishing blow to All Might and sweeping up an unconscious Katsuki under his arm so that they could pass together. This is one of the first instances of foreshadowing the pair as a hero duo, demonstrating their ability to work as a team and cancel out each other's weaknesses.

Despite their relationship had become strained due to various misunderstandings, Izuku still admires Katsuki for his strong quirk, natural combat capabilities, his tenacity, confidence, and ability to win. Izuku strives for the day when he is able to stand on Katsuki's level. It was stated in the show and manga that to Izuku the image of victory is and always has been Katsuki. Katsuki often pushed Izuku away and greatly feared his spirit and heart, which led both of them to drift away from each other. However, after the manga’s 119th chapter, Kacchan vs Deku 2, it has been strongly foreshadowed that both of them will eventually work as a hero duo.

In season three, Izuku pulls together a quick team after a harrowing fight with Muscular that left both of his arms shattered and furiously pursued the villain Compressor, who was holding onto the compressed forms of both Tokoyami and Katsuki. They rescue Tokoyami but a portal opens up and pulls Katsuki in and Izuku desperately tries to reach him. He falls short with the portal closing and Katsuki's broken words being "Don't come, Deku." Deku falls to the ground and lets out a loud scream of anguish before passing out.

At the hospital, Izuku regains consciousness and begins to cry at how he couldn't reach him in time. Izuku and a few other classmates sneak out to go rescue Bakugou. While they are actually performing the rescue, Izuku seems to understand how Katsuki felt about the situation and was able to construct a plan that worked perfectly.

The episode "Deku Vs. Kacchan 2" revolves around Katsuki confronting Izuku about his quirk and how he got it from All Might. He then attempts to fight Izuku, who refused to resort to violence until he sees that he's "the only one who can accept Kacchan's feelings". During the battle, Izuku becomes aware of how Katsuki has felt all this time when he sees Katsuki cry and screaming out his feelings and the burden he had been holding, how he saw Izuku looking down on him and exposing how weak he truly was. To Izuku It's 'the first time the two have had an honest conversation' in a long time. The battle also included flashbacks to when the pair were younger, giving the viewer an understanding of their relationship in the past. The two battle for the rest of the episode, ending in Katsuki's victory and All Might interfering afterwards. He tells Katsuki about the origins of one for all and his successor is Izuku and Katsuki promises to stay quiet. This becomes a secret the three of them share. All Might proclaims that the two have now become proper rivals after they've sorted out their feelings. Katsuki even gives advice to Izuku after he asks how his shoot style was. The bond between them slowly rekindling.

The My Hero Academia: Two Heroes movie, although non-canonical, provides one scene where Katsuki is shown to truly care about Izuku's wellbeing. At the end of the final fight, there is a scene where it becomes unclear as to whether Izuku will make it out alive - showing the class onlooking in fear, including Katsuki. Once Izuku is shown to be victorious, we are shown Katsuki smiling as he makes his appearance. Shouto notices this and makes a knowing face towards him, to which Katsuki scoffs in response and looks away, walking off from the rest as if further covering up his relief.

Fanon
In the Eastern side of the fan base, BakuDeku is the most popular ship amongst fans due to their complex and interesting relationship.

In the Western community, the pairing is still widely appreciated, however many believe the two have an abusive relationship and they should never be romantically involved with one another - despite Katsuki maturing and learning to respect Izuku as the story continues. Due to Katsuki's personal issues surrounding his inability to express himself without using anger and Izuku's past inability to defend himself, some view their interactions as inherently toxic due to the past that Izuku has endured as a result.

There is somewhat of a divide in the fandom due to this discourse, but those who do ship BakuDeku continue to enjoy their relationship evolving as the series develops, whether people are against it or not.

On April 20th 2018, A fan of the pair bought a whole acre of the moon and named it after Bakugou on his birthday as a present for Horikoshi. Not long after, a star was named after Bakugou too, along with a star named after Izuku. At chapter 106 of the manga, the two were also described as the "Twin Stars of Class 1-A".

On July 20th 2018, a Twitter announcement on the My Hero Academia: Two Heroes account told all My Hero Academia fans to vote for their favorite pair in the show and the duo that wins will get their character colors shun on the Kyoto tower for promotion to the release of the movie. The poll ended on August 1st, crowning Bakudeku first place with over a whopping one million votes. Izuku's vibrant green and Bakugou's fiery orange lit up Japan's evening sky as their colors proudly glow on Kyoto Tower.

In [https://bokunoheroacademia.wikia.com/wiki/My_Hero_Academia_Smash!! My Hero Academia Smash!], one comic shows the Bakugou family and gave us another insight into Katsuki's relationship with his family. Katsuki and Mitsuki are having an argument, which resulted in fighting. Katsuki then turns to his father and asks why he married his mother. Katsuki's father claims that "She (Mitsuki) approached me to fiercely, I didn't realize we were on the track to getting married.." which follows with Katsuki's reply of "So you just weren't able to reject her."

Whilst some have argued that this incident hints at Katsuki's parents' dynamic being similar to Kacchako's (Ochako supposedly being unable to reject Katsuki), BakuDeku fans argue that this would be more of a fit for their pairing, providing a panel in Kacchan vs. Deku 2 as evidence where Izukusays to himself, "It's not like I could just go and refuse [Katsuki]. Thinking back, our relationship was always weird."

Trivia

 * Season 2's second ending, Datte Atashi no Hero (or Because You're My Hero in English), was written by LiSA, who confirmed that the song's lyrics are written to represent Izuku‘s genuine feelings towards Katsuki.
 * Some of the song's lines translate to "you give me courage," "when I see those eyes, I can start running too!" and "I want to try and look at the goal that's only yours and mine."
 * The "when I see those eyes" line plays as the ending shows Izuku and Katsuki looking at each other before teaming up to fight, originally against working together; metaphorical for their relationship growing in the series.
 * The term 'Wonder Duo' comes from a mistranslation where All Might calls Izuku and Katsuki the same name before they team up to fight him in chapter 61. It has since become a popular ship name due to its simplicity.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Screenshots and Gifs
KatsuDeku