Bakugo is a very polarizing character. Half of the fandom likes how he’s relatable, is flawed and gets amazing character development while the other half hates him for previously having been a bully to the main character. In a lot of ways, he’s similar to what Sasuke was to Naruto. Theories regarding Bakugo are also equally polarizing with the famous Bakugo Time Travel theory being one of the most hated theories in the fandom. However supporters of the theory claim that it’s a very strong one especially due to the mystery surrounding the entities the theory is connected to!
THE GIST OF THE THEORY: BAKUGO AND THE SECOND USER’S CONNECTION!
The theory started circulating in the fandom around the time when Horikoshi revealed the previous users of the all powerful quirk, One for All. We see a bunch of them including All Might’s teacher and Tomura’s grandmother Nana Shimura.What left readers baffled was the fact that the second and third users were not revealed. But their silhouettes were. Storywise, it was explained away as Deku not being able to access them since he hadn’t unleashed the full power of the One for All yet. But readers started speculating that there might be a more interesting reason behind keeping those users a secret and that involves Bakugo.
After the reveal of the previous users in chapters 193 and 194, readers started speculating that Bakugo is in fact the second user of One for All. According to the Bakugo time travel theory he did just that. Travel through time, into the past. And ultimately he ended up being the second user of One for All.[9:28 PM]Why do fans think so? It’s because of the second user’s vestige silhouette that looks very much like Bakugo.
The hair style is nearly identical and the elements of Bakugo’s hero costume also seems to be present in the silhouette especially his neck guard and gauntlets. A lot of fans, even some famous youtubers loyally subscribe to this theory stating that this could also be the ultimate character development for Bakugo and his ultimate act of redemption and sacrifice towards Deku. As to time travel, fans of the theory believe that Eri could be the one sending Bakugo back in time after learning to control and expand the powers of her powerful and dangerous quirk.
TIME TRAVEL AND PLOT HOLES!
While this is an interesting theory in many ways, the Bakugo time travel theory is one that could open a Pandora’s box of potholes. This is not to say that time travel is a bad plot point to include in a story. No, not at all. Mangas like One Piece and Attack on Titan managed to work time travel into the story wonderfully. But this might not be the case for the Bakugo time travel theory Bak U Go which will deal with Bakugo in the past, almost a century before the current events take place. Why would Bakugo go back to be the second user if he could go back in time and kill AFO before he got powerful or maybe he could go back and kill or stop Shigaraki from killing his family and turning into what he is today.
There are numerous locations and possibilities where Bakugo should go to, in the past. Yet he chooses to be the second user? There’s also the case of how AFO comes face to face with Bakugo when he’s kidnapped by Shigaraki. Why didn’t AFO, who personally fought and killed all the previous OFA holders recognise him as the second user? There are way too many plot holes to even mention here in this post of this theory is to be considered feasible like for example, the true nature of Eri’s quirk and how it’s not really a time travel quirk.
Time travel is indeed a possibility in because the manga does have metaphysical elements in it but the truth is that we haven’t yet seen any character with an influential time travel quirk. Add to this the fact that Bakugo being and OFA holder will take away his identity as a character due to how powerful and imposing a stroryline the OFA inheritance is.
WHY ARE THE VESTIGE DESIGNS HIDDEN?
This is actually a very good question. We know what all the OFA holders look like except the second and third holders. Horikoshi has kept them hidden. This doesn’t mean that they are time travellers from the future. Maybe the vestiges are hidden because Horikoshi never really finalised a design for them.
Or they are more like anti heroes in the scope of the story and are hidden from Deku for now so that they do not affect him negatively. Or maybe they are ancestors to some of the characters we know now. Whatever be the reason fans are eagerly waiting for their reveal. Ultimately the theory is an interesting one.
But unfortunately it’s built up on too flimsy a foundation for it to be positively incorporated into the story. So what do you guys think of the Bak U Go theory? Do you think Horikoshi will incorporate this into the story? Why do you like this theory if you do? Share your thoughts in the comments below!!