💣 Personality

[blastedass]

Personality

Katsuki is a crude, arrogant, short-tempered, and aggressive person, especially at the beginning of the series. Katsuki tends to come off as unheroic, if not downright villainous for those not familiar with him. Many people’s first impressions of him are fear, wariness, discomfort, or antagonism. This problematic behavior goes all the way back to his early childhood days when he was known to bully a young Izuku Midoriya for being Quirkless. Katsuki showed to be extremely arrogant and condescending to those around him, often bragging of his Explosion Quirk's power, and even boasting that he would take on his entire middle school class. He was openly hostile towards Izuku, mainly because of Izuku’s Quirkless status back then, and would frequently put down Izuku’s dream of becoming a Hero despite lacking a Quirk. Katsuki further gave Izuku the insulting nickname "Deku" (meaning ‘useless’ and unable to achieve anything). He even threatened Izuku not to apply to U.A. High School and became angry upon both of them passing the Entrance Exam, wanting to be the only person from his middle school to make it there.

However, after being accepted into U.A. and experiencing several personal, humiliating defeats, one of them even coming from Izuku, Katsuki has gradually matured into a less antagonistic person, albeit still retaining a lot of his unpleasant traits. While often portrayed negatively, Katsuki's fierce character and competitive drive have actually granted him an important role among Class 1-A, as a sort of inspirational mood-maker.

Determined and thirsty for victory, Katsuki smiles eerily when in the middle of a battle. He is incredibly focused on achieving his own authentic victories and has learned to never underestimate his opponents. Katsuki is not only very athletic and talented at fighting, but also very intelligent and extremely perceptive, capable of strategic planning and quick improvisation. Moreover, Katsuki's grades are among the highest of his class (ranking 3rd place out of 20) and he already knew how to read perfectly by the age 4, evidence that he treats studying seriously. Katsuki also possesses surprising talent in other areas, such as cooking and music, even though he doesn't show a particular interest in them. His mother mentions that Katsuki is one of those people who succeeds at everything he put his hands to. Overall, Katsuki is considered a natural-born genius with the potential to be one of the best Pro Heroes around.

While a rather volatile hero-in-training, Katsuki is smart enough to discern who his enemies and allies are. He is not particularly nice or open with people who are on his side, or anyone else for that matter, but will act less unfriendly and sometimes even kind to those that manage to earn his respect. Because of his attitude and vulgar language, Katsuki's U.A. classmates often react negatively to him, although they have come to appreciate his skills and warm up to his personality. Katsuki matures slowly through his time at U.A., coming to befriend some of his classmates and willingly engaging in social interaction with them, though remaining aloof and solitary for the most part.

Like with Izuku, Katsuki has a habit of bestowing insulting nicknames upon others, such as calling Tenya Ida "Four Eyes" because of his glasses, Denki Kaminari "Dunce-Face" because of how his Electrification Quirk dulls his thinking, Shoto Todoroki "Half and Half" or "Icy-Hot" because of his dual Quirk and appearance, and so on. He’s not above giving nicknames to Pro Heroes, such as calling Best Jeanist "Denim Head" because of his jean costume and fiber-based Quirk, though throughout the series, this seems more habitual and immature rather than outright insulting towards the Pros he respects. Likewise, Katsuki rarely if ever uses honorifics or titles of superiority to his seniors, only doing so with utter disrespect and insult towards older opponents when he feels like it. Despite this, he can address others properly when it matters, such as when he's serious or in the heat of battle. Katsuki also refers to people he doesn't know as "extras" and treats them as little more than fodder or stepping stones to his victory until he faces them head-on.

Katsuki tends to disregard the notion that Quirks shouldn't be used in public and will activate his Quirk for a number of reasons, such as to intimidate someone, to punctuate a point, to vent out frustration, or even if he just feels like showing off. Overall, Katsuki doesn't seem to care very much about what others think of him, barely containing himself from violent behavior (although he avoids other typical delinquent practices like underage smoking). Katsuki values honesty highly and never lies, to the point his brash candor is seen by some as rude and insensitive. He is never afraid of speaking what's on his mind and will notice when people are not being truthful to him. This shows that, despite his anti-social habits, Katsuki is actually an excellent judge of character, making it hard to deceive him.

Due to the constant praise of his abilities and achievements as a child, his talents in many areas, and his powerful Quirk, Katsuki has developed a superiority complex along with his overconfidence and set unrealistic expectations of himself, which he wasn't able to live up to. As a result, he became arrogant and condescending to others and their Quirks, regarding himself as beyond their level in order to cope with his feelings of inferiority. Because of that, he desires to be the first and best at everything, further bolstering the prideful, somewhat-childish attitude that he retains even as a teen. As pointed out by many people, Katsuki loves to win above all else and cannot stand it when he doesn't, leading him to lose his already short temper or, less often, sulk.

He is fiercely competitive and will never settle for less than the number one spot. having a compulsive need to always strive for victory and also prove people who doubt him wrong. However, Katsuki also values hard work and fair play, to the point of flying into a rage and refusing to acknowledge a winning result if he feels that his victory was not earned by actual merit, as seen in his battle with Shoto Todoroki. Along with that, he detests being pitied or looked down by others, and will hold contempt towards those that don't take him seriously, while recognizing the effort of those that manage to put up a challenge against him, like Ochaco Uraraka and Eijiro Kirishima.

Because of his Quirk and talents, Katsuki is very confident and brave, to where he is willing to go against anyone who challenges him, even taking on several villains at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. He never backs down from a fight and will go all out when facing a powerful opponent. However, Katsuki has been shown to know when he’s dealing with someone out of his league, and will stand down unless he’s fighting for his life or there is no other choice, as he let All Might face off against Nomu rather than tackle the opponent himself. However, during the First Term Final Exam, Katsuki wasn't afraid to go up against All Might, even though he knew he had a low chance of taking him down head on, as he recognized there were other winning objectives rather than only defeating All Might.

Katsuki is immensely prideful and prefers to act alone, as he hates the idea of being protected or having to rely on other people to assist him unless, in the latter's case, he is recognized as the unquestionable leading figure within a team. At the beginning of the series, Katsuki's cooperativeness was nothing short of atrocious, often ignoring his partners' ideas and suggestions for his own very direct approaches. His teamwork skills gradually improve as the series progresses, even if Katsuki keeps coming off as condescending through his usual tone. However, it's clear he now acknowledges the importance of his teammates, protecting them from harm and helping them if they are truly in danger, while simultaneously expecting them to do the same for him in return. As a leader, Katsuki is a merciless perfectionist, and will only become satisfied with complete, indisputable victories.

Katsuki often has difficulty accepting his mistakes and shortcomings, and will fiercely deny them whenever they are pointed out by others, regardless of who does it. That doesn't mean, however, that Katsuki doesn't listen to advice, having come to realize his faults and how to somewhat improve on them thanks to the words and actions of other people like All Might and Best Jeanist, but because of his pride, Katsuki never outright admits it. He prefers to self-reflect in silence and solitude, becoming a bit more brooding during those periods. Katsuki's unchecked pride and aggression has cost him victories on numerous occasions, like the Battle Trial or the Provisional Hero License Exam, and it tends to worsen whenever Izuku is involved. Both characters share a sensitive history with each other, with Katsuki, in particular, being unable to completely overcome his issues with Izuku, although this has not stopped them from working together many times.

Katsuki has a more vulnerable side, having been led to tears due to damaged pride a few times. After the Battle Trial, Katsuki admitted that when he saw Shoto Todoroki's power, he couldn't beat him head on and called out how Momo Yaoyorozu was right about how reckless he was during his fight with Izuku. Katsuki has also shown moments of fear and guilt, the former due to a humiliating and traumatic abduction by Sludge Villain early in the series, and the latter due to viewing himself and his own weakness as the cause of All Might losing his remaining power and retiring as a hero. Still, while he can and does feel anguish over believing his rescue was what led to All Might’s retirement, due to years of misunderstandings, tension, and pride, Katsuki has difficulty doing the same thing (feeling guilt or admitting respect) towards Izuku and how he’s treated him over the years.

By the time of the Remedial Course, Katsuki had started to mature enough to the point that he was able to advise a kid, who acted similarly to him, that if he continued to look down on others then he would not realize his own mistakes. Despite this growth, he has certain personality traits that he doesn't immediately get over, like joining the Class 1-A band during the U.A. School Festival under the pretense of "beating the other classes through music", or calling his classmates in the Joint Training Battle "underlings". During his internship at the Endeavor Agency, he also berates Burnin for speaking so loudly in the morning, despite having been scolded by his mother for doing the very same thing.

Katsuki also has an honorable side to him. While he didn't believe Izuku about his Quirk belonging to someone else, as well as falsely assuming that Izuku had been hiding it from him the entire time, when he learned of All For One and his Quirk, he started to believe Izuku's words and pieced it together after seeing All Might's true form, confronting the former about his assumption. After All Might confirmed his deduction, Katsuki vowed to keep One For All a secret, being one of the initial few people to know about the true power of the Quirk.

While his inspiration for becoming a hero was the same as Izuku's, the Symbol of Peace, All Might, their beliefs differ: Katsuki feels a hero should never stop fighting or give up, regardless of the threat they face, and that always winning is the mark of a true hero. Furthermore, various heroes, civilians, and even villains have commented on Katsuki’s arrogance and conceit. However, Katsuki is unwavering in his aspirations of heroism, having outright refused Tomura Shigaraki's proposal for him to join the League of Villains because he views the villains as people who lose and not win like heroes, even after being offered the power and ability to "win" from their hands.

Despite his power and success, as pointed out by All Might and Ochaco, Katsuki is actually jealous of Izuku's growth and the potential to become stronger than him, as well as his childhood friend’s popularity with the rest of the class. Katsuki, however, has furious denial issues, and refused to affirm these statements, as he can neither stand admitting he was wrong or that someone (particularly Izuku) is growing stronger than him, as both risk his intense determination to be the best number one there is, revealing his intense underlying inferiority complex in relation to Izuku. But his second fight with Izuku would prove that these statements are indeed true, and that Katsuki begrudgingly acknowledges he's been jealous of Izuku's quick growth.

Still, it seems that, no matter how much he hates it, Katsuki does at least acknowledge Izuku's abilities, and at least respect Izuku as a fighter and a rival. He learns to see just how fearful he is of Izuku's rapid development and how much they could accomplish if they were to work together, and from there, he begins to openly express more respect towards Izuku, going as far as to point out a weakness of the latter's Shoot Style. Although he still sees him as a rival, he has become less aggressive towards him than before after their fight.

It is later revealed that Katsuki decided to help Izuku train One For All to atone for his actions in their childhood, showing how much he regrets his cruel treatment towards Izuku in their past. During Katsuki's discussion with All Might about his connections to Izuku, and later in his apology to Izuku himself, Katsuki admitted that he bullied Izuku as an outlet for his own insecurities and weakness and how he couldn't understand why Izuku would put others before himself. This reveals that deep down, Katsuki truly feels remorse for bullying Izuku and is now attempting to make amends with him in his own way.

In truth, Katsuki really cares for Izuku despite how he acts, and wishes for him to continue improving his strength and Quirks, unlike before where he ridiculed Izuku's efforts and told him how he wouldn't amount to anything. His caring and protective side is further proven when he heard that Tomura was targeting One For All, immediately realizing that the villain leader would be going after Izuku and made attempts to keep Tomura away from him. During the Paranormal Liberation War, Katsuki shows open concern for Izuku for the first time, understanding that Tomura is now coming after Izuku and immediately rushes to help Izuku get away from him, even swearing to destroy Tomura. When Tomura attacks Izuku, in that moment, completely parallel to what happened back in middle school, Katsuki, without even thinking, knocks Izuku out of the way and takes the full force of the attack himself. As he describes it, his body moved on its own to save his friend. Although he claims he is acting out of wanting revenge against Tomura, this shows that Katsuki cares about Izuku's well-being, and what animosity remains is habitual from childhood and more out of rivalry than hate.

After Izuku left U.A. in order to face All For One alone, as well as to protect his friends and family from danger, Katsuki, along with his classmates, departed from the school in order to bring him back. Following a battle to get Izuku to come to his senses, Katsuki genuinely apologizes to the former for his actions while calling Izuku by his first name, displaying his regret over trying to usurp Izuku's strengths by putting him down and for bullying him in the past. This proves that Katsuki is repentant over his own faults, with him willing to face them in order to atone for his past actions, and now seeing Izuku as a true ally, friend, and rival figure.

Quotes

"From here on, I..! From here on..! Y'hear me?! I'm gonna... beat you all! Enjoy your win. It'll never happen again! Dammit!"
     --- to Izuku Midoriya

"Needless to say... I'll be a hero that surpasses even you!"
     --- to All Might

"You'll regret making a fool of me! I'll freaking kill you! I'm taking the first to end all firsts! There's no point in winning against some half-assed punk! No point if I can't do better than Deku! So if you're not trying to win, get the hell outta my face! Why're you even here, you bastard?!"
     --- to Shoto Todoroki

"Stop talking. I will win. That's... what heroes do."
     --- to Izuku Midoriya

"Can't stand morons like you who can't get to the damned point! Basically you're saying, 'we wanna cause trouble, be our pal!' What a joke! I've always admired All Might's triumphs. No matter what any of you jerks say... Nothing's ever gonna change that!"
     --- to the League of Villains

"If all you ever do is look down on people, you won't be able to recognize your own weaknesses."
     --- to the leader of the kids at the Remedial Course

"Every time Deku gets stronger, I grit my teeth to keep from falling behind. Even at this 30 percent speed of his... I ain't gonna be left behind. I'll take his growth and make it my own, all to rise higher. Even higher than him - the "chosen one". I'm not gonna lose... I can't afford to stay a loser!!"
     --- to All Might and himself

"Because being a hero means protecting everyone."
     --- to Izuku Midoriya