Why do rivals tend to be more popular than the heroes of the story?

>I want him as a little brother
>I wish he was my big brother
this is what happen when people don't breed enough, Abe was right

>shoto
>rival

They're allowed to have more of a personality.

It started earlier than that.

Because they are more interesting by not having the same absurd amounts of narrative plot armor bolted on them as the bland main. The protag WILL win. That's fucking inevitable and obvious. Good writers can make getting to that win interesting, but the winning is happening all the same.

The rival isn't immune to losing. They'll have to eat humble pie sooner or later, and (this is the most important part) *live with it*. Someone else will simply be better than they are and neither Fate, nor Destiny, nor any of that nonsense will give a single shit about it. Coming to grips with that and the fact that their universe simply won't bend over backwards to have them win and come out on top is interesting.

This.

But Deku loses constantly. And Bakugo in particular gave him a gigantic L.

>bakugo
>not having absurd amounts of plot armor
the absolute state of bnhafags

>Because they are more interesting by not having the same absurd amounts of narrative plot armor bolted on them as the bland main. The protag WILL win. That's fucking inevitable and obvious. Good writers can make getting to that win interesting, but the winning is happening all the same.
This is Bakugo though?

because people with taste aren’t normalfags

I don't give a single solitary fuck about BnH. Rivals, in general, get their shit kicked in more so than the protags and don't have Fate/Destiny/Plot on their side to force a rematch and secure a win. Even in BnH, Deku was a fucking normie and is now hanging with the likes of Bakugo and Scarface. He'll surpass them soon enough, if he hasn't already, and he'll be 'the very best'. It is simply the way of things. The rival will face defeat, and more than that, will have to absorb that failure and learn to live with it. Their victory is not inevitable, and their philosophy is not unassailable.

They are not the protag and are not afforded all the protag's special narrative privileges. That makes their struggle, if there is one(shit writers being shit is a known fact), more interesting.

so you admit you don't know anything about bnha but still try to apply your retarded generalization to a series it obviously doesn't fit, thanks for confirming it

Isn't the opening to BnHA a narration by future Deku telling us that this is the story of him becoming the world's greatest hero? Seems like a decent generalization to me

Those poor Leoriobors

OP asked about rivals, not 'why is Bakugo and HotnCold more popular than Deku?'

Unless Bakugo goes the way of Sasuke and basically hijacks the manga/anime, he'll lose and he'll lose hard. He'll lose again, and likely a few more times after that. Him trying his best, giving it his all, never giving up, etc, won't be enough. Sentimental flashbacks won't be enough. He'll fail and live with that failure.

We the audience don't know when it'll be, but we do know it's a real possibility for the rival and not just the transparent delaying tactic it would be when the protag 'loses'.

But Todoroki and Midoriya are friends.

The damn anime opens with Deku telling you how this is the story of how he became the greatest.

deku is an unreliable narrator

it's almost guaranteed at this point he'll share the n°1 spot with bakugo

Didn't he actually only say how he became "the strongest hero"? It was never brought up that he was #1.

The power escalation for bakugo would have to be rather ridicules to compete with him. Todoroki has the better chance most likely.

because shounen heros are usually shit and boring moral fags like dekeku

bakugo is a gag manga character, he doesn't follow the same narrative rules as other characters

Rivalries can be friendly.

maybe overwhelmingly-strong rivals are a lost art

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>bnha
I don't know, manchildren? every character in this series was lousy and cringe to me

The modern shounen protag is to much of the self insert for the push ovet.

*blocks your path*

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Goku Naruto and Deku (ignore the brigaded polls) are more popular than their rivals. Only Killua is above Gon really.

fp&spb

BNHA has the worst example, the hero is given the best power at the beginning of the series by the #1 hero. All tension is evaporated when you make it clear that he is destined to surpass everyone. And this is RIGHT AFTER you create some sob story about how he could never achieve his dreams.