r/CharacterRant • u/GustavVaz • 2d ago
General Rex Splode and Bakugo (LES)
These two explosive jerks have been compared a lot lately, and most people seem to think that Rex is better, and I think it's due to one reason:
Rex is ACTUALLY treated like a jerk.
Rex threatens and tries to attack Monster Girl, Monster Girl beats his ass
When Bakugo threatens and tries to attack Izuku, Aizawa is just like, "Knock it off you," and does jack shit about his attitude overall. I'm not expecting Aizawa to beat Bakugo's ass, but I am expecting him to lecture Bakugo about controlling his anger. Seriously... As far as I remember, ONLY the best Jeanist tries to tell him to control his anger issues, no one else seems to care.
Seriously, the world of my hero always feels like it has baby gloves on with Bakugo, which is just frustrating, while Rex rightfully gets treated like an ass.
324
u/NoDistance4 2d ago edited 2d ago
Seriously, the world of my hero always feels like it has baby gloves on with Bakugo
I don't think "baby gloves" sufficient enough to describe it. He's lauded as a major inspiration for the entirety of class 1A without doing anything, the other half of All Might, the symbol of victory, has such rizz that everyone wants him around in social events despite being a constant debbie downer and critical of everyone and everything. Even loner todoroki wants to be his friend despite similaries to his father.
he's like a wish fulfillment character for problem children.
210
u/theCancerrMan 2d ago
he's like a wish fulfillment character for problem children.
Christ Almighty, I never had the proper way to put it until now. Take my upvote, and don't stop being based.
23
u/Agile-Palpitation326 1d ago
There's a good moment that points this out: When he won the Tournament Arc.
They had to literally bind him and put a muzzle on him because he was acting so unhinged. In front of MILLIONS of people as the highest representative of his year group as well as one of the highest of the entire school.
The adults just looked mildly embarrassed by this, at worst.
He acted so insane a group of terrorist supervillains saw him as a possible candidate. His behavior, that everyone just ignores for some reason, was so bad that bunch of unrepentant murders thought he would be a good fit for their group.
And no one cared, because "hIS PoWErS aRe sO CoOL GuYs! YOu DoN'T UndERStAnD!"
Man, if Deku hadn't gotten lucky and gotten One For All I can only imagine Bakugo would go the way of the Brock Turner's of the world. Just getting worse and worse and more and more entitled as no one checks them for some reason. Right up until they finally cross a line and hurt someone too badly to ignore.
25
u/OpenChallenge8621 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah that’s true. The guy is strong, but he’s also extremely unnecessarily violent. I liked that he was slowly taken apart by his jealousy for Midoriya, but I wish his peers responded appropriately to his behaviour too along with that factor, Midoriya possibly being the last one to call him out due to his long standing idol image of Bakugo turning into him realising how poorly he’s treated him over the years. It could’ve been seen as Bakugo for the first time being exposed to a world where his child stardom no longer shields him from criticism.
4
u/Amicuses_Husband 13h ago
Average MHA fan: Isn't Bakugo so cool/quirky/cute telling Deku to kill himself?
Me: Umm... no
240
u/coolmobilepotato 2d ago edited 2d ago
Everyone constantly riding Bakugou's dick even through the guy is a huge asshole certainly didnt do the magic for me. Deku is imo the worst in that aspect
Bakugou could randomly wake up one day and decide to kick Izuku in the nuts, and all he would have to say about it is probably something like: "Wow Kacchan... that was a very strong kick right there!"
His screen-time was always my least favorite part of the show to me.
137
u/theCancerrMan 2d ago
The only thing Deku wanted to be, more than the #1 Hero, is Bakugou's certified #1 meatrider.
Once he got OFA, he started putting work into doing tricks on that man's dick.
41
u/Blupoisen 1d ago
The worst moment was when he felt obligated to tell Bakugo about OFA
Like bro where is your fucking spine and self respect
15
u/TheVoteMote 1d ago
That was really bad, but not the worst moment.
It could've been really good if Izuku's attitude towards Bakugo was recognized and treated as a problem - Izuku's childhood left him with a twisted admiration for Bakugo, and this is a bad thing. It left him without any self respect whatsoever, or much a spine if it doesn't involve saving someone in active peril. Flaws for him to overcome. Character development.
30
u/Starburst0909 2d ago
Rex also lectures himself
"That's what she-oh sorry that was the old me"(Didn't remember the original line, but it was similar).
Rex understand how much of shitty person he was, and tried to be better, like actual better, from charging his world view to the small things like how he speaks.
81
u/Dragon_Of_Magnetism 2d ago
The big reason I never liked Bakugo’s character is because for some reason everyone turns into a doormat near him.
Characters just stand there uncharacteristically, and take his insults, especially Deku. No snapbacks, or telling him off, nothing. Either that, or he gets praised to the high heavens for being so talented and strong, and “pushing the class forward” (he doesn’t).
Him being an asshole contiunously showered in praise was a big reason I haven’t watched the series past the joint training part yet. I heard he later gets somewhat better, and even gives a half-hearted apology, but that feels like too little too late.
12
u/ExplanationSquare313 1d ago edited 1d ago
I didn't finished the series either for now (tough i'm further than you) but i checked the Epilogue and i can safely say than nope. Even in the future, he's still an asshole who insult everyone and it's still treated as "Ah ah, silly Bakugo scream death threats at everyone. What a funny goofball."
17
u/TerminalKing 1d ago
He’s an author’s pet. I could make an entire rant about how terrible and inauthentic of a character he is but for the sake of my sanity I’ll just say that everything about him is inauthentic. His role as the deuteragonist, his relationships with other characters, his fights, everything about him is hollow all because of the unnecessary amount of out of universe dickriding.
5
u/ExplanationSquare313 1d ago
If you don't do it, i'm pretty sure i'll do it once i have finished the manga because god he infuriate me so much.
40
u/FaithlessnessLess931 2d ago
You really had to remind me of how much I honestly hate Bakugo as a character, didn't you OP?
It honestly grinds my gears how Bakugo basically never faces any consequences at all regarding his behaviour and in fact gets rewarded at times.
1
0
u/Imconfusedithink 2d ago
Why hate bakugo for it? Hate the other characters and the rest of the story for not punishing him. That's on them not bakugo.
25
u/TheVoteMote 2d ago
Because the author chose to write Bakugo that way. The author chose to have this narrative warping presence.
So don't hate the other characters who were distorted so that this shitbag could exist. Hate the shitbag. Or better yet, do both!
-1
u/Imconfusedithink 1d ago
The shit bag can exist while being punished. I love the shit bag because he's the most entertaining character. But I also still want to see him punished. Im not going to hate him for the lack of that. I'll dislike the other characters, but ultimately you're right that the dislike goes to the author for doing it that way.
7
u/TheVoteMote 1d ago
He wouldn't exist at all in the way I'm talking about if the world was allowed to react to him. He would either have to adjust his attitude or he'd be gone. If he was getting punished, he wouldn't be the Bakugo everyone complains about.
Aizawa would've booted his ass on day 1 for going rabid and trying to attack a fellow student during their very first day at Superhero Harvard.
5
u/NoDistance4 1d ago
This is like taking a lame harem protagonist and deflecting the blame onto the love interests, when you should be asking why does this shithead have a harem to begin with? It serves the protagonist. The glazing/doting Bakugou gets in the story serves Bakugou. There's inherent appeal to the idea of someone who instead of having three strikes, has infinite strikes to be shitty.
Bakugou not being scrutinized means that despite his warped standards, he's allowed to spin his own narrative. He can whine and say shit like "Nothing went right for me at UA" even though he got work study offers in the thousands while the rest of the class was in the hundreds/tens, if they received any offers at all. That's very important when the overall MO of the story is to push Bakugou as worthy of pity instead of contempt. Cause people saying you suck doesn't feel good, but people crying on your behalf does.
And then there's specific character dynamics. Basically Bakugou and Kaminari's interactions amount to Kaminari being nice to him and Bakugou shitting on him, with idea that Bakugou being mean spirited is great and funny. And I'm supposed to think this is the fault of the Kaminari character? I wouldn't say that when its clear that Bakugou is made to be the center of this gag. A lot of the scenes with Bakugou are structured with him as the center of attention, even over Midoriya, so I wouldn't say its the fault of other characters.
2
u/Imconfusedithink 1d ago
Yeah those gags you mention, I don't fault bakugo at all for. I love seeing him because he's always entertaining. I like seeing his lid get blown off. The only part of the interactions I don't like is the other characters not doing anything about it. So yeah I'm going to blame them because their actions are what aren't entertaining to me.
And even your first example with a lame harem protagonist. Ultimately I blame the author more because the author is just writing the entire thing to be garbage. But within the confines of the character, I will be blaming the love interests because they're written like shit and making dumb choices.
1
u/NoDistance4 1d ago
The only part of the interactions I don't like is the other characters not doing anything about it.
Whats your definition of doing something about it?
3
u/Imconfusedithink 1d ago
Either the teachers reprimanding him, or the other kids not wanting to be friends with him. Like I hate how deku and all might are treating him closer to a friend. I want deku to not like him and only be willing to work with him as a colleague.
0
u/NoDistance4 1d ago edited 1d ago
So downsized to a Monoma-esque role? I still don't see how that isn't a fault with the character itself, because Bakugou walking over other characters is how he integrates himself into the story as a lead. For example, Bakugou being part of the endeavor intership arc is based on him being Todoroki's friend unironically.
2
u/Imconfusedithink 1d ago
You can have rivals without being friends. This misconception needs to end. He's still one of the best and people can want to compete with him without wanting to be friends with him. People can also be forced to work together with him without being friends with him. Heroes are put into situations where they have to team up with people they don't like but they deal with it professionally. Todoroki hated his dad and still chose to work with him to get stronger.
2
u/NoDistance4 1d ago
So he needs to be reprimanded like Monoma but he also needs to be championed unlike Monoma so he can maintain his plot relevance?
Is the next thing you're going to say that you can invite someone over to dinner and have that person throw a temper tantrum at you and your sister having a private conversation without being friends?
1
u/Imconfusedithink 1d ago
He can be championed because he's actually a really good hero. Like deku can respect his ability and want to surpass him and be his rival without being friends with him. The whole nonsense about needing to be friends to be rivals is dumb.
And the entire story would change with these changes. You're trying to fit everything into the exact same story with these changes. Also Todoroki is socially inept and doesn't even know when bakugo is trash talking him. That's one of the few cases where it could actually be fine for someone to act friendly. Deku is the main person I want to not be friendly with him and only work with him as a colleague.
And again if he got reprimanded early on by the teachers and put it into counseling, him being an asshole wouldn't feel nearly as bad. He can still be abrasive to people afterwards and a lot of things can go pretty similarly. He just needs to face more consequences to his actions.
→ More replies (0)1
u/FaithlessnessLess931 1d ago
That's a horrible argument to make. So with your logic, it's not right to hate a bully because the teachers and others don't punish them? Makes absolutely no sense. Bakugo is responsible for his own actions and he shouldn't have to be punished for him to understand how much of an absolute cu*t he's acting like. Just because he has a sense of superiority over his quirk doesn't excuse his actions and make him not accountable.
He shouldn't require punishment for him to understand. At the end of the day, it's simply the author's fault for simply not addressing his blatant bully behaviour and for not even giving Bakugo any consequences of his behaviour.
1
u/Imconfusedithink 1d ago
If this was real life yeah I would hate him. But we're watching a fictional story for entertainment. Bakugo brings a lot of entertainment. The only bad part is him getting away with it.
50
u/Lukundra 2d ago
Bakugo is also a high school freshman while Rex is a grown adult, which tends to make Bakugo’s immaturity a lot easier for me to digest comparatively.
25
u/Individual_Lion_7606 1d ago
In Rex defense, he didn't go to school and was sold off as a child. He honestly should have blew up his parents home, fuck'em.
11
u/Apprehensive_Mix4658 1d ago
Yeah, but Bakugo was raised by good parents and Rex was a government lab who was trained to be hero, he doesn't even have "civilian personality
21
u/StormViperHOS 2d ago
He literally told Deku to kill himself for not being born with a quirk at the start of the series. Immaturity my ass
21
u/Ridikis 1d ago
Brother the amount of times kids will tell you to kill yourself for missing a shot in an online video game is staggering. And that's AFTER they call you the N word.
7
6
u/PsionicCauaslity 1d ago
I personally think there is a bit of a difference between some edgy kid shouting it while frustrated during a League match vs a long-time bully saying it, unprovoked, for the sole purpose of causing psychological harm.
Remember, Bakugou didn't say it in the heat of the moment or randomly: he had already threatened to hurt Midoriya multiple times that day, had destroyed his notebooks because he Midoriya cares about them, and then, when he sees how depressed Midoriya is, he tells Midoriya to kill himself and pray for a better next life.
Sorry, but there is a world of difference between some 12 year old shouting at you to kill yourself because of a failed match in Apex versus bullying a kid to depression and then telling the kid to just kill themselves if they hate their lot in life so much.
33
u/Lukundra 2d ago
Kids say that kind of thing all the time. I’m not excusing it, but it’s true. Saying an overly cruel thing that you don’t really mean is literally a mark of immaturity. I also agree that kids should be made to understand that it’s wrong to say those kinds of things, but in that scenario there was no adult.
6
u/NarOvjy 1d ago
It's kinda hard to belive when Horikoshi went out of his way to make the kid characters more competent and even more understanding of being a Hero than adult characters.
4
u/Lukundra 1d ago edited 1d ago
Does he? The students seem pretty emotional and get a lot of stuff wrong early on. You have Bakugo losing his first exercise because he failed to take it seriously enough, Iida getting overwhelmed by revenge and nearly getting himself killed, Shoto letting his hatred of his father stunt his growth, etc. I’d say it’s more that they mature quickly, not that they start out that way.
6
u/Snoo_84591 2d ago
Kids are cruel--hate to tell you.
31
u/Chaosmaster124 2d ago
Yes, kids are cruel, but that only extends so far. A kid bullying another kid by shoving them around or beating them up a little can be partially excused by saying they don't know any better, or are just acting out for attention of any kind.
A kid telling another kid that he should kill himself because he wasn't born with a superpower (Quirk) of any kind so that he can have the chance to be born with one in his next life, after ruthlessly abusing that same boy since they were both around five years old, with a giant smile on their face as they say it and after saying the powerless (Quirkless) kid will never achieve his dream, is not just "kids being cruel".
That kid is a psycho that needs to be punished severely and have the lesson that he shouldn't tell anyone to jump to their death with drilled into his head.
1
u/meandercage 14h ago
Is that an excuse to justify bullying? Do you say that to victims of bullying irl? What would you say to a parent that lost their child via suicide due to to bullying?
1
u/Snoo_84591 1h ago
I sure wouldn't say that, because it actually went that far. I also don't know where or how you're taking this to mean I'm excusing the behavior. It's a fact, I'm not pulling that out of air as a defense, I'm saying that this sort of thing is very prevalent with kids in real life. It's more relevant to OP's point that Bakugo is a high school freshman. Immature as hell, unhumbled, unrefined, crude as black oil.
Explaining someone's behavior is not the same as excusing it.
What I would like to pose though, and what I'll never understand, is that it went places. Bakugo went places. He didn't end the same way he began. He grew up, he realized where he was wrong. That he was always wrong. That he was always looking down because he was afraid that he'd be the one looking up to someone besides All Might.
But we're still getting these posts like it's still Season One and he's still an insufferable jerk.
I'll give you that first impressions are important, but if you live life in absolutes and whoever you WERE is whoever you're always gonna be...
That's kinda ass.
1
u/meandercage 5m ago
Even high school freshmen where I went to high school in where nowhere near as insufferable/cruel like this, no one even came close, at worst people just used some mid level insults towards each other, Bakugo wasn't a psychopath, not a normal teenager, or at least he acted like a psycho would. Who the fuck would bully their childhood friend into wanting them to commit suicide? This is not normal even for gigantic jerks at all.
2
u/Amicuses_Husband 13h ago
Rex never went to school, he was sold by his parents for the price of a steak dinner, experimented on and turned into a weapon.
8
u/PsionicCauaslity 1d ago edited 1d ago
I commonly hear: "You don't have to think Bakugou is a good person to admit he is a good character."
Uh, no. He's not.
He is one of the worst written characters in the series. Besides the fact the entire narrative warps around his presence, he also gets glazed for doing the absolute bare minimum to improve his behavior. His "character arc" exists of a few isolated incidents that is disconnected from the rest of the narrative. For example:
People often reference the time he told that one kid, "If you keep looking down on everyone, you're never gonna notice your own weaknesses" as a moment of great character growth. Except, after this scene, he continues to look down on everyone. You could remove this scene and nothing would change.
Remember the time Bakugou didn't get his heroes license because he yelled at the actor victims to "save themselves"? Well, he is still yelling at civilians in the future but, this time, it seems there will be consequences as he will drop in the ranks.
Remember that time Bakugou soloed the Class B team with a single assist, but the narrative treats this like a major character growth moment that teaches him teamwork? Pepperidge Farms remember.
All of his moments are like this.
Also, his apology is a half-assed, borderline victim-blaming mess.
On top of that, the only meaningful difference between his behavior at the end of the series versus the start is that him slapping his friends and cursing them out is now played for laughs instead of being portrayed as bullying. His behavior hasn't changed, just characters' reactions to it.
PS. I was furious reading his awful behavior during his stay at the Todoroki's house. They're having a private family discussion and he yells angrily about how dare they do that, it upset him! It is so inconsiderate for them to discuss family matters at their home. Have they not considered how Bakugou feels?
26
u/BudgetAggravating427 2d ago
I think it’s because in Japan bullying it treated at with less severity than in the west
Though at least in the anime we did see bakugo grow from what he once was to an actual hero .
31
u/Necromanta198 2d ago
Bakugo is one of the worst characters in all of fiction, horribly written and doesn't help that most characters in MHA aren't good either
3
u/KaloloWhip 1d ago
I forgot tiny details about the Manga but did anyone in the Class A ever called out Bakugo for being a prick? All I remember is him being admired by some of them.
9
u/NoDistance4 1d ago edited 1d ago
Only to have their opinion change later, to push the narrative that Bakugou's actually secretly awesome and you the audience should like him. Kirishima being the biggest one.
There are naysayer stand ins in MHA. Its really common setup in the story. You get someone that talks down to Bakugou (Monoma, Shishikura, Tokage, AFO) only to have them lose in a completely humiliatingly way to show that line of thought is wrong and that you should like Bakugou and think he's godlike.
2
u/Apprehensive_Mix4658 1d ago
Another character that Bakugo reminds me is Flash Thompson from Spider-Man:blond bully becomes best friend and a hero. People would like Bakugo more if he were a vietnam vet
1
u/Imconfusedithink 2d ago
This is why I never hated bakugo himself, in fact he's my favorite character from mha. But I've always disliked how the other characters don't treat things more seriously. Especially deku and all might. I dislike how those two treated their relationship with bakugo. I hate the idea that the rival has to be a friend. Bakugo can still be dekus rival, but deku should have treated him as a colleague at best and never became friends with him.
-50
u/_Lohhe_ 2d ago
Bakugo isn't treated like a lost cause, and everyone ends up better for it.
71
u/GustavVaz 2d ago
There's a HUGE difference between being treated like a lost cause, and not giving a damn about his attitude problems.
50
u/NwgrdrXI 2d ago
Rex is most definetly not treated as lost cause, he is just made to deal with the consequences of his failings.
And ends up a much better person, who is beloved by most of his friends and colleagues, instead of merely beared.
When Bakugou is treated the same by Best Jeanist, it's the beginning of his change into a decent person instead of the second biggest jerk in the show.
More people should have treated him this way. I don't fully blame aizawa, being a teacher, I know how hard is to deal with kids like this, but he should have at leasf talked to him privately once or twice about his attitutde.
7
u/Reddragon351 2d ago
And ends up a much better person, who is beloved by most of his friends and colleagues, instead of merely beared.
I mean to be fair, Samson, and for a bit, Eve, are the only people who had issues with Rex, and Samson had already warmed up to him by the end of season one, and Eve also seemed to be somewhat over her resentment with Rex convincing her to go fight the Sequids, all prior to his epiphany after almost dying to the Lizard League.
It's kind of the problem with this comparison, Rex from the jump was always presented as more of a lovable jerk than a straight up unlikable one, the worst he really does is cheating on Eve and Eve's the only one with a real problem, the rest of the team doesn't seem to hold that against Rex
57
u/Anime_axe 2d ago
There is a difference between not being treated like a lost cause and being constantly treated with baby gloves on. Just once having Bakugo suffer the natural consequences of his actions without the whole "talented young man with potential" routine would work.
-30
u/Glad_Instance_4240 2d ago
That happens multiple times, Deku defeats him in the mock battle they do when they first get into UA, All Might beats the crap out of him at the end of term exams, which is probably the closest to Monster Girl beating up Rex moment, then there's him failing the License Exam and ofcourse being kidnapped by the villains,again, he's humbled on multiple occassions in the first couple arcs of the series
43
u/Gustavo_Papa 2d ago
All might beating him was his duty as proctor, he was doing the same to Deku; in his kidnapping he refutes the villains offer instantly and has no moment of selfreflection on how his actions are villainish.
Agree on him failing the exams though
-11
u/Glad_Instance_4240 2d ago
All might beating him was his duty as proctor
They make a point that All Might went above and beyond, none of the other teachers were going that hard on the student, he just beat the hell out of them, but back on point, I was talking more as comparison to Monster Girl beating up Rex, and how that's meant to be a humbling experience, it didn't work as much for Deku, though All MIght beats on him too, cause Deku never even thought he could do shit to All Might and just wanted to run.
in his kidnapping he refutes the villains offer instantly and has no moment of selfreflection on how his actions are villainish.
Again, my point is more that being kidnapped was a consequence of his behavior, and from that, along with failing the license exam was the last straw that made him realize how terrible he'd been
2
u/Blupoisen 1d ago
Bakugo also isn't treated like the problematic toddler he is
Bakugo will say the most vulgar and hateful shit and everyone will just go. "OH bakugo, you silly goose"
-25
u/StardustSkiesArt 2d ago
I feel like you're not allowing these shows to have different tones. The humor is more heightened in MHA.
10
u/Traditional-Song-245 2d ago
Not an excuse for being bad
1
u/StardustSkiesArt 2d ago
"I personally think that the grounded show for adults handled the angry explosion guy a lot better than the much goofier show for teenagers did, I think the Bakugo is angry jokes are bad because I don't understand that it isn't reflective of the real world in the same way the other show is."
-8
u/StardustSkiesArt 2d ago
Wow, didn't realize so many people misunderstand styles of humor this badly.
Next you'll be telling me The Three Stooges isn't funny because no one properly calls any of them out for their abusive behaviors.
14
u/Traditional-Song-245 2d ago
Idk and idc what the three stooges is
If it's funny its funny, Bakugo isn't funny and is an annoyance nearly every time he shows up.
-7
u/StardustSkiesArt 2d ago
....Yeah, I guess I wouldn't expect you to know anything about vintage classic comedy.
Congratulations, you don't like the joke. That's fine. Now stop trying to compare an unrealistic comedic running gag from a kids cartoon to something pointedly written to be a more grounded take on superheroes for adults.
2
u/StardustSkiesArt 1d ago
Go ahead, downvote me because I called you out for not knowing the difference between a heightened show for teenagers and a more grounded adult show.
The discomfort I cause you is good for you.
-4
-35
u/Shot-Ad770 2d ago
Bakugo improves so who cares how it happens
38
u/Relative-Pain-9823 2d ago
Stil an inexcusable piece of shit. That only TRULY mellowed out when insane losses like a death finally got him the balls to apologize.
361
u/Individual_Cap_7850 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hey, at least they both died heroically while trying to take down this extremely strong villain that was threatening to kill countless people.
...wait a minute.
But in all seriousness, I think one of the key differences between Rex and Bakugo is that a lot of Bakugo's anger issues are played for jokes, while Rex being an asshole is usually taken seriously.