Gouketsu

The martial arts world has fallen... Well, what do I care.

Gouketsu (ゴウケツ, Gouketsu; Viz: Goketsu) was a Dragon-level Mysterious Being and an executive member of the Monster Association. He was killed by Saitama.

He is the main antagonist of the Super Fight Arc.

Appearance
Gouketsu was a large monster with a muscular body and spiky arms and shoulders, donning a ripped black shirt and black pants. Gouketsu had four vertical red eyes with mulberry and bright yellow pupils, sharp teeth (with two large lower sabertooth), a defined jawline, pointy ears, and spiky black hair. He also had a dark, cross-hatched marking on his forehead and upper ears and X-shaped scar-like marks on his chin and neck due to injuries during monsterification.

Gouketsu's human form bore a resemblance to his monster appearance. His face and hairstyle were similar, with the major difference of his two sharp eyes.

Personality
For a Mysterious Being, Gouketsu was exceptionally calm, composed, and calculating, similar to a human. However, he also showcased the trademark cruelty and arrogance of a monster, as seen when Gouketsu looked down on the contestants of the Super Fight tournament, stating that their consumption of Monster Cells would only make them mediocre, rather than ones comparable to himself. As demonstrated in his fight against Suiryu, Gouketsu was confident in his abilities. Gouketsu also lusted for power, as was evidenced in his pride in his monster transformation.

Despite this, Gouketsu was not without appreciation for individuals who impressed him with their strength. For instance, he gave Suiryu a second chance and expressed the possibility of him becoming an executive member of the Monster Association after witnessing him defeat all the newly transformed martial artists. Furthermore, he was also perceptive enough to realize that no matter how strong a monster became, they will be eventually hunted down and killed if alone. As a result, despite his cockiness, he expressed cautiousness. After Bakuzan transformed into a Mysterious Being, he arrogantly attacked Gouketsu believing himself to be the strongest, but Gouketsu did not kill or injure him. He empathized with Bakuzan for being drunk on his newfound power, and calmly demonstrated his superiority by blocking all of Bakuzan's attacks in order to calm him down and make him realize that there will always be stronger monsters.

Gouketsu displayed a dark sense of humor, when he kicked both Max and Sneck into the air while wondering if they both died, stating that he just simply poked them. This is furthered when he viciously toyed with Suiryu to humiliate and torture him before feeding him to The Three Crows.

Gouketsu strongly followed the philosophy of Social Darwinism where the strong would weed out the weak and powerless through blood and violence and rule the world.

Gouketsu's personality as a human is largely unknown; however, he was shown to be confident enough to challenge the intimidating Orochi to a one-on-one fight only to end up losing to him and getting captured. The role his torture played in his willingness to become a Mysterious Being is unknown.

History
Gouketsu was a martial artist and the winner of the first Super Fight tournament eleven years before the events of the series. He was later challenged by Monster King Orochi to a fight, in which he was thoroughly defeated, then taken to the lair of the Monster Association alive. There, he was offered a chance to stay alive if he ate a monster cell and joined the Monster Association. He submitted to them and became a Mysterious Being. He was presumed dead by the public.

At some point before Gouketsu's transformation, The Three Crows were his disciples. They transformed into monsters and lost their egos due to their weak will.

Super Fight Arc
Gouketsu swiftly takes out Genos on his way to the C-City Super Fight Stadium. He arrives at the stadium and catches Benpatsu, who was fleeing from the Three Crows. He then orders every martial artist to eat a monster cell and become a Mysterious Being.

Max and Sneck attempt to fight Gouketsu, but the monster defeats them with a swift kick. He then offers the contestants a chance to either eat the monster cells and become monsters or die. Rosie, Choze, Benpatsu, Volten, and Hamukichi yield and become monsters. Gouketsu expresses satisfaction with the results of the transformation, especially Choze's.

After Suiryu refuses Gouketsu's offer, he orders the newly-transformed martial artists to kill him. He silently watches the fight between Suiryu and Choze. After Suiryu wins, Gouketsu offers him a second chance to join the monster's side and even offers an executive position in the Monster Association. Suiryu refuses and immediately jumps to strike Gouketsu, but the monster strikes Suiryu with a downward punch, heavily wounding him.

Gouketsu then toys with Suiryu, showing the difference in their strength. After easily beating down Suiryu, he lets The Three Crows attempt to finish him off. As Bakuzan consumes the remaining monster cells, Gouketsu notes that Bakuzan was being greedy and that his body would not withstand numerous monster cells. He is initially proven correct when Bakuzan collapses instead of initiating his transformation. To Gouketsu's surprise, Max and Sneck reenter the stadium, bruised but mostly unharmed, to help Suiryu fight The Three Crows. The Three Crows are quickly killed by the trio, and Gouketsu confronts the heroes, knocking them unconscious while Suiryu attempts to escape. To Gouketsu's surprise, Bakuzan's transformation initiates, and he viciously pummels down Suiryu. Gouketsu assesses the newly monsterified Bakuzan as a success and rates his disaster level as Dragon, like him. Bakuzan, drunk with power, declares himself to be the strongest monster and battles Gouketsu. Gouketsu effortlessly handles Bakuzan, lectures him on the Monster Association and the wealth of strong monsters, and intimidates Bakuzan with a powerful punch launching shock waves that leave a large hole in the stadium. He then gives Bakuzan a firm warning about the danger taking on the whole Hero Association alone and heads to the ruins of Z-City, the meeting point of the Monster Association.

Along the way, Gouketsu is confronted and killed in a quick exchange by Saitama after Suiryu informs the latter on Gouketsu's strength. After hitting Saitama at least twice, which seems to have no effect, his head is ripped off by Saitama's punch and flies up into the atmosphere before landing in the Super Fight stadium in front of a shocked and beaten Suiryu.

Abilities and Powers
Its presence was of an intensity I've never felt...it's power level is likely higher than any monster I've fought so far. The impression I had was of an endless reserve of strength...it was almost like facing master Saitama.Gouketsu is an executive member of the Monster Association. He was strong enough to win the first Super Fight as a human; and effortlessly defeated an S-Class hero(Genos), two A-Class heroes (Sneck and Lightning Max), a five-time Super Fight champion Suiryu, and a dragon level threat in Bakuzan, as a Mysterious Being.

As Gouketsu is threat level Dragon, he is extremely powerful. Moreover, he is able to effortlessly demonstrate his overwhelming strength over Bakuzan, another Dragon level threat by his own observation. Genos even stated that Gouketsu's strength was in another dimension, exceeding all monsters he had encountered (including powerhouses like Carnage Kabuto and Pluton) and that even Saitama would be impressed by Gouketsu's strength and claimed that the S-Class Heroes should team up with Saitama in order to defeat him. Genos even states that facing Gouketsu reminded him a little of facing Saitama himself. Although as seen later, Saitama was able to effortlessly defeat him.

It is implied and probable that Gouketsu's human form outclassed martial artists like Choze and Bakuzan, as his monster form was far stronger than the monster forms of the latter two. Furthermore, Suiryu states Gouketsu is an elite martial artist, superior in skill compared to himself as well. This suggests that as a human, Gouketsu was strong enough for the S-Class ranking of the Hero Association.

Physical Abilities
Immense Strength:  Gouketsu was extremely strong, even more so than his stature demonstrated. A seemingly casual punch was able to send shock waves that blew an enormous hole in the Super Fight Stadium, and a punch that made physical contact with Saitama created large condensation clouds. Furthermore, Gouketsu was able to easily smash Genos into the pavement with a single strike, disabling him, creating a sizeable crater, before the S-Class could even properly react, and causing him to remark that Gouketsu is far above himself and a coordinated attack of the S-Class and Saitama would be the safest way to take him down. Gouketsu was also able to heavily injure Suiryu with a single punch and break Suiryu's left arm with another. He was also able to block Suiryu's strongest attacks, the Void Shaking Tiger Fist with just two fingers. He was able to casually block all attacks from the transformed Bakuzan, another Dragon level monster, with only one arm, and effortlessly pinched Bakuzan's spiked elbow strike. When approached by Saitama, Gouketsu demonstrated his power. Each one of his strikes produced shock waves that could be felt throughout the city, and he was able to slightly ruffle up Saitama, but ultimately he was unable to damage the invulnerable hero. Genos mentioned that Gouketsu was stronger than any monster that he had fought previously.

Immense Durability: As his stature demonstrated, Gouketsu had incredible defense. He was able to effortlessly withstand Suiryu's Void Sky Dragon Fist directed toward his eyes without batting an eyelid or showing any signs of pain.

Immense Speed and Reflexes: Gouketsu was fast enough to attack Genos before he could act, even when the latter sensed his approach and was fully prepared for battle. Gouketsu was able to follow Suiryu and Choze's immense speed during their fight whilst most of the other martial artists present could not. He was also able to appear behind Suiryu in an instant, with Suiryu even remarking that Gouketsu was far faster than himself. In his fight with Bakuzan, Gouketsu effortlessly blocked his attack with one arm, despite Bakuzan using all four of his arms for the attack.

Fighting Style
Master Martial Artist: After transforming into a monster, Gouketsu seemed to have retained his martial arts prowess he had as a human, when he won the first Super Fight tournament. This was evidenced in his fight against Bakuzan, when he casually deflected the latter's attacks with a single arm. Moreover, Suiryu remarked that Gouketsu was more skilled than himself. After becoming a monster, Gouketsu seemed to toy with opponents that he held some respect towards, and gave glimpses of his true power, as was the case in his fights with Suiryu and Bakuzan. However, Gouketsu had also been shown to quickly finish fights when on a schedule, as he did not toy with Genos when he was headed toward the Super Fight arena.

Miscellaneous Abilities
Keen Perception: Gouketsu was able to identify the strength of others. He identified the transformed Bakuzan as a Dragon Level Threat, and noted that Suiryu could be an executive member of the Monster Association if he consumed a monster cell.

Quotes

 * (To Bakuzan) "There's always someone greater."


 * (Referring to Orochi) "The leader of the Monster Association. I can say with certainty that there is no monster more powerful than him."


 * (To Bakuzan) "No matter how strong a monster is, it will be hunted down if it's on its own."

Trivia

 * The name Gouketsu can also mean hero (豪傑).
 * Gouketsu was originally designed without the black marking on his forehead and chin. His teeth were larger and sharper, while the redrawn version looks more human.
 * "I guess the reason why Frieza's final form looked strong despite its simplicity was that in contrast to the forms to that point, it looked (intelligent/calculating/rational). Being able to feel the intelligence is scarier (than not)." - Yusuke Murata
 * Gouketsu could very well be a homage to Street Fighter. He seems to have a combination of the names Gouken and Goutetsu of the Street Fighter series, and holds a physical resemblance to many of the characters, wearing a Gi outfit with torn sleeves.

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