#or 'oh yeah thats gonna be a sweet angel from birth to death'

[mettywiththenotes]

I don't think people are really taking into account the baby Bakugou flashback. Because a couple of chapters ago we had the baby AFO flashback and I think it tells us a lot more about the people in this battle in that comparison

AFO was born into this world with no one to take care of him. His mother died in labour, no father there to help and his brother was born weak and fragile. Whereas Bakugou was born with love, both his parents alive and already in a position to take care of him

That's not me saying "AFO was born with no one to take care of him so of course he's the villain in this battle" and "Bakugou was born with love so of course he's the hero in this battle"

But throughout their lives, we're shown how one character has changed and the other hasn't. The circumstances of birth don't necessarily matter for how a person turns out

AFO was born without anyone to take care of him, and while Yoichi did care for him and tried to convince him to stop, hoping that he could become a kind person who wields a powerful quirk, AFO didn't change. His love for Yoichi was always something twisted, possessive. He never learnt to be better and frankly didn't want to. Of course part of that is due to the world he lived in at the time, a world that punished him for having powers, but even as society got better about quirks, he still didn't change. Even after he died and came back to life again, he still continued to do horrible things

Bakugou was born with love and care, but he was a bully. He hurt Izuku and pushed him away and told him to jump off a roof and couldn't stand to see Izuku progress despite it all, undeterred from his dreams with a new advantage. But the point is Bakugou did change. He took a good look at himself and decided he didn't want to be like that anymore. He recognized his own weaknesses and decided to get better, that meaning that he couldn't be the kind of person who always looked down on people anymore if he wanted to be an actual hero. We see evidence of this throughout the rest of bnha, with how he motivates Izuku as a rival and helps him train with One For All, how he pushes Izuku aside to sacrifice himself, but especially and most importantly so when he finally apologizes to Izuku. The courage he had to face the victim of his bullying and say he's sorry and explain why he did the things he did but emphasize it was wrong is something Early Bakugou would not have had or resolved to do

And though there's the connection with Izuku, there is also very noticeable development with how he treats others, shown in the A vs B joint training and the class band and many more. Even as he delivers the blow to AFO in the last page of 409, he does not take the credit for himself. "This is OUR story. I could have never done this on my own.", also something Early Bakugou would not have said, which shows how far he has come

The dedication he has to look at himself and actively improve how he looks at being a hero and a person to others is what makes him an admirable person

Point of this post being that whether they were loved from birth is not a necessary factor to look at in their roles, even when you compare both flashbacks. As you grow older, naturally, you change. Maybe you used to do bad things, unforgivable things. Maybe you were just trying to survive in your environment, or maybe you were wrestling with your own emotions regardless of your circumstances. Whether you acknowledge it or not, we as people are supposed to change at some point in our lives

AFO has not changed. Has had an incredibly long life enough to have that choice to stop doing bad things and hasn't. He is the villain of this battle. Not because of birth, not because of circumstances, but because he chooses to be

Bakugou has changed. He's 17 years old and has already reflected enough to know there's no excuse for his behaviour back then, has set himself and apologized roughly a year after being aware of that fact. He is the hero of this battle. Not because of birth, not because of circumstances, not just because he is the only one who can physically fight right now, but because he chooses to be. He chooses to be better than he was before

In conclusion, I believe showing AFO's birth and Bakugou's birth one after the other is an intentional contrast and what follows in their lives shows the differences in their characters to this point