The Psychological Development of Katsuki Bakugo: Maladaptive Schemas, Perfectionism, and Post-Traumatic Growth

This paper will provide an in depth analysis of Katsuki Bakugo from My Hero Academia written by Kohei Horikoshi using three psychological frameworks: Hewitt and Flett’s Multidimensional Perfection Model, Jeffery Young’s Schema Theory, and Tedeschi & Calhoun’s model of Post Traumatic Growth. This study will explore how early reinforcement during childhood created a performance based self-worth governed by unrelenting standards and superiority, known as Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS). The paper examines how Bakugo's aggressive mechanism shielded him from the underlying fear of being inadequate until key traumatic events and intense internalized guilt caused him to collapse. Ultimately, the paper studies his cognitive transformation, the synthesis of “winning” and “saving” as heroic archetypes, and the formal renunciation of defensive superiority on his part, and assesses his journey as a clinical reflection of teenage psychosocial development amidst trauma and intense pressure to perform.