Is Bakugo Connected to One for All? (Could That Save Him)

Katsuki Bakugo is one of the main characters of My Hero Academia. Of course, despite his brash behavior, Bakugo’s heart is in the right place because he was always willing enough to be the best hero he could be. But, speaking of his heart, he did lose it quite literally in the battle against Tomura Shigaraki in chapter 362 of the My Hero Academia manga, as fans are now wondering whether or not he would ever come back. This is where his possible connection with One For All comes in. So, is Bakugo connected to One For All, and could that save him?

Bakugo was connected to One For All after Izuku Midoriya supposedly passed the power to him during the events of the Heroes Rising movie. However, the transfer was never completed as Deku still has One For All. But Bakugo’s connection with One For All could be a deciding factor in the character’s fate.

At this point, fans are still wondering whether or not Bakugo’s death is a permanent one or if he would ever come back to life through some sort of a miracle. Regardless of what may happen, it seems like My Hero Academia is setting up a possible event where Bakugo’s connection with One For All could set up a great ending to the climax of the manga. That said, let’s look at what we know.

Is Bakugo Really Dead In My Hero Academia?

The Final War arc of the My Hero Academia manga is continuing to heat up as fans have experienced one of the most surprising moments of the entire storyline during the battle against Tomura Shigaraki, who now possesses the incredibly powerful All For One quirk that the villain of the same name used to possess. And Katsuki Bakugo, who is one of the main characters of the storyline, was in the middle of a battle against one of the strongest characters in My Hero Academia.

Chapter 362 of My Hero Academia allowed us to see Bakugo giving his all against Shigaraki in one of the greatest moments of the character’s entire story. While fighting alongside some of the best pro heroes in the business, Bakugo actually held his own against Shigaraki as they were trying to hold the lines long enough until Izuku Midoriya arrived to tip the scales of battle to their favor. 

Shigaraki, meanwhile, realized that Bakugo was going to give him a lot of trouble, especially when Midoriya arrived, because of the fact that he was quite proficient in the use of his quirk. Knowing that Bakugo was going to be a threat, he entered serious mode and released an attack strong enough to put the young hero out of commission despite Bakugo revealing a new power that we thought was going to be enough to push the villain’s back against the wall.

But the attack injured Midorya. It also seemed like his heart was destroyed, as it is quite possible that perished by the attack. Best Jeanist, one of the most prominent heroes in the series, screamed out about Bakugo being injured. As such, it does seem like Bakugo died in chapter 362 as fans of My Hero Academia have been dealt a fatal blow that was surprising as any other surprise we have seen.

Is Bakugo Connected To One For All?

As it has become apparent that Bakugo died from the attack from Shigaraki in chapter 362 of the manga, we cannot help but think about the fact that this wasn’t the first time that the character was placed in a difficult situation that nearly killed him. In fact, in the Heroes Rising movie, we did see both Bakugo and Midoriya placed in a situation that could have seriously injured both of them had it not been for one of the biggest decisions that Deku made in his life.

In the act of desperation, Deku shared his DNA with Bakugo through the blood on his hand as he passed One For All to his friend so that they could even the odds against Nine, who possessed incredible powers thanks to the fact that he had a version of All For One’s quirks. In that fight, Midoriya thought that it was best if he could make Bakugo the new possessor of One For All while he burned through the embers of the quirk to defeat Nine.

The tactic did indeed work as the combined efforts of two One For All users were able to defeat Nine. But as Midoriya was lying on the ground, he told All Might that he passed the power to Bakugo, who was already out cold after defeating Nine. However, All Might noticed that the power hadn’t been completely transferred to Bakugo, noting that it could have been because he passed out before the transfer could be completed. But he eventually came up with the conclusion that the vestiges of One For All created a miracle that allowed Deku to temporarily allow Bakugo to possess the power.

While neither the anime nor the manga has referenced this event as canon, it isn’t rare for My Hero Academia to make its movies canon. After all, the first movie, Two Heroes, was referenced a few times and is now considered canon. In that regard, there is a good chance that Heroes Rising is indeed canon, depending on what will happen in the next chapters of the manga, as this is where Bakugo’s connection with One For All might enter as a way for the storyline to progress.

Will One For All Save Bakugo?

At this point, Heroes Rising is yet to be made canon, and that means that we don’t know whether or not the manga will reference Bakugo as a former possessor of One For All or as a person with a connection to the quirk. Nevertheless, if he indeed becomes a canon possessor of One For All, the power could be used as a turning point.

As of this writing, we already know all but one of the quirks of the previous possessors of One For All, and all of them are offense-oriented. Meanwhile, we know that the main power of One For All is the ability to stockpile energy, and that is why the ones possessing it to have super strength and enhanced muscles due to the fact that the energy stockpiled within the quirk gives the user a massive power boost.

In that regard, we don’t know if any of the powers of One For All are capable of reviving a person from the dead or healing someone. But what we also know is that the quirk of the second user is still unknown. The only thing we know is that it should only be used as a last resort.

The fact that Bakugo used to be a possessor of One For All, as far as the second movie is concerned, could be a way for him to be able to make use of it to keep himself alive or, at the very least, to revive himself. And because the quirk of the second user is supposed to be used as a last resort, there is a possibility that this quirk is something related to reviving the user from death.

This explains why we are yet to see the quirk of the second user, as Midoriya is yet to be placed in a situation wherein he has to use it. And considering that Bakugo has a connection with One For All, he might end up gaining the ability to use the last resort quirk as a way to return from the dead, if ever the quirk does indeed have the ability to do that.

But if Bakugo is indeed dead and will never come back again, fans are now looking at his connection with One For All as a way for Deku to become strong enough to defeat Shigaraki. And this goes back to the fact that Deku has been the only one capable of using the quirks of the previous owners of One For All.

Considering that Bakugo used to be a possessor of One For All and is now dead, there is a good chance that his vestige will appear to Deku in a vision and will allow him to use his Explosion quirk, which we have seen is strong enough to give Shigaraki some problems. And we all saw how strong Bakugo was when he used Explosion together with One For All in the Heroes Rising movie.

So, if Deku does indeed gain the ability to use Explosion, he could shift the tide of battle to his favor. And it is going to be a poetic way for him to pay tribute to his friend, as he could use Bakugo’s quirk to defeat Shigaraki.

Doing so will not only allow Midoriya to give Bakugo the justice he deserves but will also allow him to give his childhood friend the last laugh when it comes to their bet of who is going to become the better hero between the two of them. Defeating Shigaraki with Explosion would be a good way for Deku to recognize Bakugo postmortem as the better hero and as the one who won their bet.