My Hero Academia/Recap/Battle Trial Arc

The Battle Trial Arc encompasses chapters 8 to 11 of the manga and episodes 6 (the latter half) to 8 of the anime.

The next day, Class 1-A has a regular class up until Hero Basic Training - a subject taught by All Might. The number-one Hero declares that today, they'll be able to wear their first Hero costumes, because they'll be having combat training. The class is split into 10 pairs - half of which will act as "Hero teams" and half of which are "Villain teams". All Might has arranged an exam scenario: the Villains are tasked with guarding a nuclear warhead they intend to deploy, whereas the Hero team is tasked with securing the weapon and stopping the Villains. If the time runs out or the Heroes are captured, the Villains win. If the Heroes manage to touch the bomb, they win.

The first face-off is between teams comprised of Midoriya and Uraraka (Hero) versus Bakugo and Ida (Villain). Bakugo is still in disbelief about Midoriya having a Quirk, and immediately goes rogue. While Midoriya is quite nervous about the matchup, he declares that he mustn't lose because of that fear and he and Uraraka press on.

As Midoriya and Uraraka advance through the building, they're ambushed by Bakugo. When Bakugo attacks again, Midoriya counters his right hook (which he predicted from studying his moves earlier in childhood) by throwing him down. He declares that he's no longer the "useless Deku" Bakugo sees him as, but the "Deku who always does his best", echoing Uraraka's opinion on the nickname. Midoriya draws away Bakugo's attention and orders Uraraka to head to the bomb on her own. Fueled with rage, Bakugo gives chase and forsakes his goal, thinking Midoriya's been lying to him all the while and underestimating him.

Uraraka's manages to find Ida, who's cleaned the whole space of touchable objects, knowing Uraraka's Zero Gravity can make any of them float. Meanwhile, Bakugo's finally caught up with Midoriya and attacks him with an incredibly powerful blast from his gauntlets, which he reveals are designed to collect more of his explosive sweat than usual. The blast sends Midoriya flying away, and All Might warns Bakugo not to use the attack again, lest he and Ida be disqualified. Frustrated, Bakugo takes on Midoriya up close and is superior. He is frustrated with Midoriya not using his Quirk, claiming that Midoriya feels too good about himself to do that. Irritated, Midoriya retorts that he always thought Bakugo was better and that he wants to overcome him. As both youngsters charge at each other, Midoriya uses One For All to smash the ceilings above them. This creates just enough debris for Uraraka to use as weapons against Ida, before she secures the bomb. As time runs out, All Might declares the Hero team winners. Bakugo is terrified of Midoriya's newfound power and temerity and begins to hyperventilate, but All Might calls him back.

The rest of the battle trial goes down according to plan, with Shoto Todoroki and Mezo Shoji shown emerging victorious against Mashirao Ojiro and Toru Hagakure. Just in time, All Might visits Recovery Girl's office to check on Midoriya (as well as take a break in his true form), but the nurse chides the Hero for being too forgiving of Midoriya's recklessness just because he's his successor, showing that she's one of the select few who knows about One For All.

Midoriya is released later that day and is congratulated for his fight by his classmates, but he notices that Bakugo isn't among them. Before the latter can leave, Midoriya catches up with him and tells him that he got his Quirk from someone else. Bakugo refuses to believe him, and concedes defeat, noting how seeing Todoroki's power and hearing Yaoyorozu's critique made him realize that he still has a long way to go. His pride clearly damaged, he angrily bays at Midoriya that he's just getting started and that he'll never lose again. All Might then arrives to console Bakugo and offer him advice, but the teenager rejects him before vowing to surpass him and become number one without his help.

Elsewhere, a mysterious person reads a news article about All Might becoming a teacher...


 * Always Someone Better: After losing to Midoriya, Bakugo is further humiliated to realize that Todoroki, who has the power to freeze an entire building, could have flattened him just as easily.
 * Appropriated Appellation: Midoriya is so moved by Uraraka's reading of the formerly derisive nickname "Deku" that Bakugo christened him with that he declares it outright that he's owned up to it because of that.
 * Arc Villain: "Villain" is pushing it, but Bakugo is, for all intents and purposes, the antagonist of this arc.
 * Ax Crazy: Bakugo behaves in a very bloodthirsty manner when trying to take Midoriya down, even going so far as to launch an enormous blast towards him. In hindsight, Horikoshi himself considers this and his Suicide Dare a case of Early Installment Weirdness.
 * Badass Cape: All Might appears on his first class in his Silver Age costume, which features a notably long blue cape.
 * Berserker Tears: During his fit at the end of the arc, Bakugo cries in anger as he declares to surpass everyone.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Invoked by Ida; as he winds up for participating in his battle trial, he puts on a stereotypical cartoon villain persona, complete with over-the-top inflections and hammy dialogue. Uraraka can't help but laugh.
 * Cheap Costume: Compared to the more finely made costumes his peers have, Midoriya's first costume is an ordinary green jumpsuit with a rabbit-like hood, a mouth guard, gloves, elbow and knee pads and his trademark red sneakers. It doesn't offer any substantial protection and is very easily damaged by Bakugo.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Midoriya's "Hero Analysis For The Future" notebooks, including the one Bakugo burned, prove to be vital for him in this battle trial; he accurately predicted Bakugo's reflexive battle moves and used that to his advantage on multiple occasions. He also deduces that sending Uraraka up alone while he distracts Bakugo is a better idea.
 * Conveniently Empty Building: Averted; the U.A. kids are taught from the very beginning to avoid property damage whenever possible because this trope isn't in play. As such, both Bakugo and Midoriya lose points for firing off massive blasts while fighting indoors.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Shoto Todoroki easily defeats Ojiro and Hagakure by freezing the whole interior of the building and having them rendered immobile, as he approaches the bomb completely casually.
 * Evil Is Easy: Or rather, easier, something the test reflects. The "hero" team is under a time limit which doesn't impair the "villain" team; the heroes also have to use strategy to reach a room which the villains simply have to guard. That's the idea - bad guys don't play fair.
 * Foreshadowing: The scene at the end of this arc suggests some sinister new figures on the rise in the future.
 * Freak-Out: Bakugo's reaction to being defeated by Midoriya can only be summed up as this: he's consumed by a sudden fear of being beaten by his former bullying victim in an all-out fight and begins to sweat and hyperventilate. It's only when All Might arrives that he slightly calms down.
 * Heroic RROD: Uraraka's shown to become heavily nauseous every time she overuses her Quirk.
 * Hidden Buxom: Midoriya is rendered very uncomfortably aroused when he sees Uraraka's costume - it turned out to be a skintight bodysuit which shows off her figure a lot better than her civilian clothes.
 * Humble Pie: For Bakugo, being defeated by Midoriya and witnessing Todoroki's power was a brutal reminder that he's far from being the best in his class, and that there are many that are on equal footing with him. Needless to say that his former bullying victim had the temerity to stand up to him and fight back.
 * Mood Whiplash: In the minds of the students, having class with the chipper, hammy All Might takes some time to get used to after homeroom class with the frumpy, deadpan Aizawa.
 * Musicalis Interruptus: When All Might starts his speech about improving to Bakugo, his theme starts playing. However, when Bakugo interrupts him, the music stops with what sounds like a cymbal sound.
 * Nervous Wreck: Midoriya manages to be so nervous that he sweats through his own costume before facing Bakugo.
 * Psychologist Teacher: All Might tries to counsel with Bakugo, seeing how upset he was after losing, and noting his immense pride. It ends up backfiring because Bakugo is too stubborn to take any kind of advice.
 * Pyrrhic Victory: Even though Midoriya and Uraraka respect the stipulations of the exercise and use them to their advantage to win in the end, they would be losers in a real-life situation, with Uraraka having fallen nauseous and Midoriya severely injured by his own Quirk. On the other hand, Bakugo and Ida got away practically unscathed.
 * Secret Keeper: All of the U.A. instructors are aware of All Might's injury and weakened human form. However, only Recovery Girl, the Principal, a close friend, and now Midoriya know the true nature of One for All and it being passed to Midoriya.
 * Spit-Take: Uraraka does one as she snickers at Ida's hammy villain persona.
 * Then Let Me Be Evil: Lighthearted example; Ida is at first a little miffed at having to play the bad guy in the roleplaying exercise, but once he devotes himself to it - and his teammate - he manages to act like the typical hammy villain wonderfully.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Midoriya definitely Grew a Spine in this one; not only has he mustered up the courage to stand up to his childhood bully, but he also fought back against him without hesitation. He proves that he's overcome his fear of him by finding a way to defeat him.
 * Training from Hell: Students form groups of four, then each divides into two; one group of two is the "heroes", the other is the "villains". First team to successfully restrain the others (this involves fighting each other, naturally) wins. And this is just the first semester!
 * Underestimating Badassery: Bakugo is completely taken aback when he sees that Midoriya not only has the temerity to stand up to him after years of harassment and bullying, but also opts to fight back and makes him lose the match.