Garou

The popular will win, the hated will lose. It's such a tragedy. Then I won't lose to anyone. I will become the strongest monster ever and change this scenario.

Garou (ガロウ, Garō; Viz: Garo) is a villain, a martial arts prodigy, the self-proclaimed "Hero Hunter," and a major adversary of the Hero Association and Monster Association. He is a former disciple of Bang but was expelled from his dojo for going on a rampage. Because of his fascination with monsters, he is commonly called the "Human Monster." Sitch of the Hero Association views him as a grave threat to the organization despite being only a human.

Appearance
Garou is a young man with sharp features, yellow eyes, and long silver hair that spikes upward in two large prongs, giving a feeling of a young wolf. He has a lean muscular build. He wears a tight, black, long-sleeved shirt, loose-fitting white martial arts pants, a yellow sash around his waist, and tai chi slippers on his feet.

As Garou fights further in the Human Monster Saga, his appearance becomes more monster-like over time. After being kicked by Saitama, he removes his shirt and wraps his upper body in bandages as he recovers. While fighting Genos, his right eye turns red and bloodshot, and his hair becomes red after he rubs his own blood into it.

Next, he is given a long-sleeved black shirt and tight black pants by the Monster Association. He retains a large diagonal scar across his face after being brutalized by Royal Ripper, and his right eye remains severely bloodshot. His clothes are torn and two strands of fabric flow behind him like scarves due to his encounter with Overgrown Rover, and after being defeated by Orochi his entire body is black with soot. The soot is blown off when Garou blocks Superalloy Darkshine's Superalloy Bazooka, and the force of the attack also shreds his remaining clothing into a spiral pattern around the hole Orochi put in his torso.

After his fight with Darkshine and the subsequent destruction of the Monster Association base, Garou begins transforming, with his hands turning into claws, his teeth transforming into fangs, and his skin hardening. When he emerges aboveground, Garou has hardened, armor-like skin and hair, razor-sharp claws, and glowing veins running along his body. His back also grows several holes that begin glowing a colour and his torn clothes are tied around his shoulders and waist as a makeshift cape. After his fight against Bang, Garou's left eye's armor is shattered as a result of his former master's final blow, exposing his eye in the left. As Garou's monsterization progresses through several other battles, his glowing veins become more bright and noticeable while his muscle mass seems to increase slightly. Later, when beaten by Saitama during their fight, Garou's body, in response to his rage, undergoes a mutation that greatly increases his size and stature. His jawline becomes sharper, his mouth becomes more pronounced and filled with razor-sharp teeth. The spikes on his body lengthen and multiply, with his overall appearance becoming much more monstrous and intimidating than previously. Soon later, when attempting to catch up to Saitama, Garou develops into an even more demonic form that grows greater in size, a pair of wings on his back as well as a pair of longhorns on his head, with flames on the back of his neck and both sides of his thighs.

In the original webcomic, when Garou emerges from underground, the sides of his hair have transformed into horns and his clothes have seemingly fused with his body. After the beginning of his fight with Golden Sperm, his face hardens and transforms to match the rest of his body. Midway through his fight with Saitama, Garou transforms again, becoming larger and bulkier with spikes growing out of his back. His new form then mutates, growing even larger and gaining a pair of wings. After Saitama breaks apart his monster form, Garou emerges from the shell with his former appearance, but with shorter hair.

While working for Beaver Movers, Garou wears a cap and work clothes.

Personality
Garou is introduced as an antagonist with a confident, vindictive characterization driven by a deep hatred for heroes. He hates being insulted and will attack anyone who offends him. He thinks highly of himself and uses that assertion to threaten high-ranking personnel such as heroes and Sitch. He will also attack low-ranked heroes and Hero Association staff members if he encounters them.

Garou hates those who are popular, as he believes the popular ones will always win in the end. This is because as a child, he had no friends and the popular children at school enjoyed abusing him both physically and verbally, particularly a boy named Tacchan. They forced him to play Heroes, where Tacchan ("Justice Man") would beat up Garou ("the monster"). Garou noticed how everyone liked Tacchan but hated him. After watching his life repeat over and over again on the basis of the Justice Man TV show, he grew a distaste of heroes in general and believed that in the end, the majority will always want him ("the monster") dead. However, this mentality also leads him to have a soft spot for victims, even his enemies. This is seen when fighting Superalloy Darkshine; when he begins attacking the hero's ears, he recalls moments when he and Tareo were bullied in a similar fashion and stops his attack.

Although Garou is a villain and considered evil by most, he possesses a sense of morality; he fights heroes in a way without killing them, but he is okay with others killing heroes. He has a soft spot for children, as shown when he converses with Tareo in the park, or when he stops fighting Metal Bat after Zenko shows up. When Tareo calls him "Mister" after Garou told him not to, he does not get angry at the child. Later, he rescues and protects the boy from the Monster Association, even risking his own life to do so.

In some ways, Garou can be considered a foil to Saitama. Both of them have their own strong sense of honor and justice, albeit manifested in different ways. While Saitama wanted to be like a hero from his childhood who fought villains, Garou wants to be a monster who defeats heroes. While Garou is a genius fighter and a prodigious martial artist, Saitama fights through improvisation, with no tactics and a rudimentary fighting technique. Furthermore, Garou can enjoy the feeling of losing in order to improve himself and become stronger in most of his fights, while Saitama desires to find a worthy opponent to get the rush of excitement he once had while he was training. In battle, Garou is very arrogant, often mocking his opponents and calling them "amateurs". He derided Death Gatling and the group of A and B-Class heroes he assembled, calling them all pathetically weak and that despite their smart idea of ganging up on him together, they were still nothing in comparison to S-Class heroes. Despite this, he does give credit to his opponents when it is due, as seen when he commented on Glasses' endurance throughout their battle.

He is very observant in and before battle, always preparing himself to combat his opponent and never fighting without prior knowledge. An example of this is when the group of A and B-Class heroes assembled by Death Gatling arrives to take him to the Hero Association. When he sees them, he asks Tareo if he could look through his Hero Association book with all of the heroes' listed powers, weapons, ranks, and abilities. He uses this to make sure he avoids the attacks that would inflict great damage upon him, specifically Shooter's poisonous arrows.

Garou is also shown to have a massive appetite, especially during his gradual transformation into a monster. He seems to especially favor drinking Coke, expressing his desire to have one while enduring Overgrown Rover's energy blasts and being shown holding a bottle of Coke in official artwork by Murata.

Garou intends to change the world through absolute evil. He views justice as being biased and unfair, seeing it as people's doing evil things to others they deem "evil" and getting praised for it, whereas absolute evil is unbiased and fair, affecting everyone the same way. Garou wants to become the fairytale-like monster that everyone fears so that they are forced to unite against him to survive. By doing so, he aspires to end conflict and war and achieve world peace.

Garou wants to become a monster, as explored through his title the "Human Monster". However, his vision of a monster is an absolute existence that does not belong to anyone and is a symbol of fear to all, not a mass murderer. As a result, he is disgusted by the monsters in the Monster Association as they do not follow his "monster policy".

Although Garou has no qualms about killing monsters, he never kills a single human. The Monster Association notices this, which leads to them betraying him. Saitama also notices this when Garou is going easy on the S-Class heroes, and also when Garou is faking a threat to kill Tareo while actually moving away from the kid. When it is their turn to fight, Garou's attacks are only meant to injure Saitama so he would stop being a hero, not to kill. This prompts Saitama to call Garou "soft" and "not serious".

According to Saitama's diagnosis of his character, Garou actually wants to be a hero but decides on the much easier role of a monster. After hearing this diagnosis, Garou's monster persona shatters, and he is left not knowing what to do. He even accepts death, but his will to live returns after hearing Tareo tell everyone how he saved the boy's life twice.

After escaping, Garou gives up on his former goals and adopts a much calmer and more restrained mindset, deciding to work a part-time moving gig. When attacked by Suiryu and his squad, Garou only defends himself to the extent necessary and walks away after the situation is defused.

Abilities and Powers
Prior to his hero hunt, Garou was Bang's best disciple and was able to defeat all of his fellow students before being expelled by Bang. Garou's combination of genius martial art intellect and heightened physical attributes allowed him to defeat numerous heroes from the Hero Association as well as many hardened criminals. During the ambush led by Death Gatling, Garou claimed to have defeated nearly a hundred heroes.

He was able to defeat the Tank Topper Army single-handedly early in his hero hunt, including the A-Class hero Tanktop Vegetarian and even the S-Class hero Tanktop Master, who was overwhelmed by Garou's superior technique.

Garou later challenged and defeated the S-Class hero Metal Bat, comparing him to an amateur fighter but privately admitted to himself that had a single one of Metal Bat's strikes connected, he could have lost.

His advanced martial arts, which he learned from his former master Bang, grants him an advantage when fighting humans. He can use targeted thrusts at joints and vital spots in order to incapacitate physical functions and return counterattacks after anticipating his opponent's movements. However, as a result of that, his fighting style becomes far less effective against beastly tactics and non-humanoid forms. This is proven when he is easily overwhelmed by Watchdog Man despite previously defeating two other S-Class heroes.

Physical Abilities
Immense Strength: Garou's strength is superhuman and on the level of an S-Class hero, he is capable of defeating A-Class heroes with little to no effort. He was able to rip Blue Fire's arm off and break Heavy Tank Loincloth's arm without difficulty, knocking him out with a single strike. He was also able to heavily injure Tanktop Master, an S-Class hero, with a barrage of strikes and defeat him after getting serious. He has shown able to knock out a grown man with a casual fillip to the face, pushing him back with enough force to also incapacitate another one right behind the first. Even in his weakened state, Garou was still able to defeat a group of A and B-Class heroes with either a short barrage of punches or a single strike.

Immense Durability: Garou is very resilient. He was able to take multiple attacks from Tanktop Master and remain standing, despite coughing up a lot of blood. Even when he was severely injured by Watchdog Man and later Saitama, he was still able to combat the group of A and B-Class heroes and tough out the pain. Even Shooter's poison arrows and the bullet hole in his leg from Gun Gun didn't slow him down, as noted by Glasses. He also survived an assault from two Demon-level monsters: Royal Ripper and Bug God, though he was put in a near-death state.

Immense Speed and Reflexes: Garou possesses an extreme amount of speed and reflexes, far surpassing that of average heroes. He was able to effortlessly dodge a fire-based attack from Blue Fire and rip his arm off before the hero could even realize what happened. He also managed to react to and dodge, albeit barely, a point-blank bullet from Golden Ball despite being caught by surprise, as well as being able to quickly dodge a vast amount of the latter's bullets from multiple directions and redirect them into each other at the same time without difficulty after adapting to the dim-light environment. His amazing speed was once again shown when he was able to easily dodge and deflect all attacks from the S-Class hero Metal Bat, even moving faster than the latter could see. Even in his weakened state, Garou was still fast enough to outmaneuver the group of A and B-Class heroes and keep up with S-Class hero, Genos, in their fight.

Immense Stamina and Endurance: Garou possesses inhuman pain tolerance. He is able to continue fighting after suffering injuries which would incapacitate normal people, such as a beat-down from Tanktop Master, or when Spring Mustachio's sword stabs through his hand, without him so much as flinching. Moreover, after being weakened by multiple fights from the day before and suffering a fever, he managed to continue fighting multiple heroes at once and, in fact, defeated all of them using smart tactics and enduring all of the continuous pain. Even when being battered to a bloody pulp by both Bang and Bomb, arguably the two most powerful martial artists on the planet, slipping in and out of consciousness, and losing feeling in his arms, he was still able to persevere and create tremors in the ground, uproot a tree, and spin it at amazing speeds, to the utter shock of both Bang and Bomb. When electrocuted by power lines, Garou showed little to no pain, demonstrating high resistance to electricity.

Enhanced Senses: Garou is able to sense the trajectory of bullets from Golden Ball's Golden Breakout, even in the dark. He can predict the movements of Metal Bat's Savage Tornado attack. He is also able to sense that people are watching him, as he realizes he is being watched by two monsters despite being engaged in battle against Metal Bat at the time, as well as being able to sense killing intent very clearly. Moreover, he dodged Chain'n'toad's Ear Cutter, despite coming from a blind spot, just by instinct. It is also shown that his sense is sharp enough to enable him to deflect a barrage of shots from a Gatling gun flawlessly without letting a single shot hit him.

Accelerated Development: Garou's main attribute; in his first appearance at the Hero Association headquarters, the human monster admits that S-Class heroes would be too much for him to handle. Shortly afterward, however, he is capable of fighting against and defeating the very same S-Class heroes, such as Tanktop Master, in physical combat. This ability is shown to be at work mid-combat too, as seen when he was on the verge of defeat at the hands of Bang and Bomb but was able to turn the tables quickly on them despite his extreme injuries and exhaustion.


 * Enhanced Adaptability: As a result of his increased growth rate, Garou shows remarkable adaptability in battle. Though his eyes were initially unable to track Golden Ball's projectiles in the dark alley where they fought, Garou's eyesight quickly adapted to the point where he could handle a barrage of ricocheted projectiles and deflect them with ease.


 * Poison Resistance: Garou shows resilience against being poisoned as seen when he was hit with two poisoned arrows that would have ordinarily knocked him unconscious within minutes. Instead of succumbing, he continued to fight against the team of heroes facing him, and then went on to fight Genos, Bomb, and Bang in rapid succession without showing any significant signs of being hampered by the poison in his system.

Fighting Style
Master Martial Artist: Garou is an extremely skilled fighter, who adapts to combat and uses the advantage of the opponent's weak spots to give himself the upper advantage in fights. His super learning ability (超学習能力, Chō Gakushū Nōryoku) allows him to learn countermeasures for other people's fighting styles while making their fighting styles his own. He shows this ability against Tanktop Master, where he attacks his weak spots and quickly turns the tables. Moreover, when fighting, Garou aims for the vital points and joints to make his opponents lose the ability to fight back very quickly. Furthermore, through analyzing his opponent's line of vision, posture, muscle tension, breathing, energy, movement patterns, and center of gravity he can effectively predict their next movements. Garou is even talented enough to acquire a martial art fighting style with only a single reading, specifically the Exploding Heart Release Fist.
 * Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist (流水岩砕拳, Ryūsui Gansai-ken; Viz: Fist of Flowing Water, Crushed Rock): A martial art Garou learned from his former master, Bang. It is composed of a series of extremely fast and powerful punches that can take out strong enemies. Garou avoids using this style if possible because it reminds him of Bang. The martial art can repel the attacks of his opponents, nullify them, or redirect them with twice the power. Furthermore, if in a crisis, the martial art has his body move on its own. However, this art is incomplete as Bang did not teach Garou how to fight against animal-like fighting styles, such as Watchdog Man's. Initially, Garou's command of the art is far inferior to his master's, as noted by Genos and Superalloy Darkshine. He must make a conscious effort in order to utilize the techniques, but for Bang, it has become part of his very being. Despite this, Garou has managed to sharpen it through battles, able to fight on par with his former master later in his evolved state.
 * Awakening Breath (剛醒呼法, Gousei Kohou): A breathing technique that draws out the body's maximum potential. When used, Garou's mobility, agility, and maneuverability are heightened. He is seen utilizing this technique against Death Gatling's group of heroes, and later against Orochi.


 * Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist (旋風鉄斬拳, Senpū Tetsuzan-ken): A martial art Garou copied from Bomb. This martial art style involves a powerful hand movement technique to create a razor-sharp whirlwind pressure that chops the opponent into tiny pieces. The martial art then pushes the opponent back with various degrees of force depending on the proximity towards the eye of the whirlwind. The cutting pressure is also used in the martial art's kicks and is sharp enough to cut through stone. Garou first uses this against Royal Ripper.


 * Self-Styled Martial Arts (我流武術, Garyū Bujutsu): Based on Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, this fighting style evolves freely during combat. This was first seen used against Heavy Tank Loincloth.
 * Watchdog Man's movements: During his fight with Genos, Garou is shown to have been able to mimic the movement of Watchdog Man, moving around on all fours similar to a wild animal, in which he uses to catch Genos off guard and rip off his right arm.
 * Tanktop Blow (タンクトップブロー, Tankutoppu Burō): Copied from Tanktop Master. Garou unbalances and distracts his opponent by striking the ground with tremendous force. He first uses this against Bang and Bomb.
 * Dual-Wielding Martial Arts: After fighting against multiple heroes and due to his immense training, Garou is able to utilise two styles of martial arts simultaneously such as Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist and Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist, as seen during his fight against Orochi and Darkshine.
 * Whirlwind Water Stream: Cross Fang Dragon Slayer Fist (旋風流水 交牙竜殺拳, Senpū Ryūsui: Kōga Ryūsatsu-ken; Viz: Whirling Wind Flowing Water: Fist of Biting Fangs, Killing Dragons): A combination of the martial arts of Bang and Bomb. This technique is usually only achievable with two users, but Garou manages to reach a degree of mastery that allows him to use the combination without needing a second person. Garou first uses this against Darkshine.
 * Whirlwind Water Stream: Roaring Aura Sky Ripping Fist (旋風流水 轟気空裂拳, Senpū Ryūsui: Gōki Kūretsu-ken; Viz: Whirling Wind Flowing Water: Fist of Roaring Qi, Rending Air): An advanced technique that combines both Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist and Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist. Normally, two users are required to utilize this technique. Both perform their respective martial arts and strike their opponent simultaneously, sending powerful shockwaves through their entire body and ultimately reduces them to dust. While Bang and Bomb together are only barely able to utilize this technique, Garou eventually becomes capable of using it by himself during his fight with Bang. Despite only grazing Bang, the shockwave from Garou's blow was still powerful enough to seemingly wreck Bang's body and incapacitate him.
 * Exploding Heart Release Fist (爆心解放拳, Bakushin Kaihō-ken; Viz: Fist of Exploding Heart, Liberation): A martial art focuses more on brute strength and destructive force, opposing to the defensive martial art Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. Garou first came across this technique when he broke into a safe that contained the scroll of this fighting style at Bang's dojo. Though he only took a glimpse of it, after becoming a half-monster, Garou was capable of mimicking this fighting style, albeit Bomb noted Garou's usage of this martial art was still incomplete.
 * Tiger Fang True Fist (虎牙烈真拳, Koga Retsu Shin-ken; Viz: Fist of Tiger Fangs, Biting Truth): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Purgatory Abyss Fist (空虚深淵拳, Kūkyo Shin'en-ken; Viz: Fist of Abyssal Emptiness): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Lake-Breaking Ice River Fist (湖割氷河拳, Kogatsu Hyōga-ken; Viz: Fist That Parts Lakes and Glaciers): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Fool's Path Mountain Range Fist (愚道山脈拳, Gudō Sanmyaku-ken; Viz: Fist of Foolish Paths, Mountain Ranges): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Ultimate Fist of the Yatagarasu (八咫烏極拳, Yatagarasu Kyoku-ken; Viz: Ultimate Fist of the Three-Legged Crow): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Pressure Point Killer Fist (圧迫面殺拳, Appaku Mensatsu-ken; Viz: Killing Fist That Crushes Faces): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Poisonous Ogre Fist (空鬼未毒拳, Kūki Midoku-ken; Viz: Fist of the Nonpoisonous Sky Demon): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Lone Fist of Prosperity (引孤隆盛拳, Inko Ryūsei-ken; Viz: Fist of Lonely Prosperity): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Garou's Monster Calamity God Slayer Fist.pngMonster Calamity God Slayer Fist (怪害神殺拳, Kaigai Shinsatsu-ken; Viz: Killing God Fist of Monster Destruction): The culmination of many styles Garou has learned, copied, and absorbed through battle. He first uses it in his fight against Platinum Sperm and Flashy Flash.
 * God Slayer Instant Attack (神殺瞬撃, Shinsatsu Shungeki; Viz: God Killer Swift Strike): Garou throws a volley of punches and different hand-strikes at the opponents. In the original webcomic, this attack was enough to encourage Saitama to use Two-Handed Consecutive Normal Punches to counter it, instead of just Consecutive Normal Punches.
 * God Slayer Ascending Attack (神殺昇撃, Shinsatsu Shōgeki; Viz: God Killer Rising Strike): Garou strikes opponents hard several times before sending them flying with his final blow. When using this attack against Saitama, he is seen aiming for the hero's abdomen, starting with a straight punch and following with a knee. In the original webcomic, when used this technique, Garou delivered a powerful rising slash with one of his arms.


 * Fire Dance Bullet Trail Fist (炎舞弾道拳, Enmai Dandō-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Tanktop Tackle (タンクトップタックル, Tankutoppu Takkuru): Copied from Tanktop Master. He charges at his opponent, bulling them over with folded forearms. He uses this against Flashy Flash.


 * Great Power Attack ( 大発勁だいはっけい, Dai-hakkei; Viz: Massive Fa Jin): A powerful martial arts strike that allows Garou to target and damage an opponent's internal organs, thus incapacitating them. Upon using this technique, Garou, with both of his hands seeming to glow, hits the opponent's abdomen with his open palms, creating strong shockwaves that pulverize whatever behind the victim as side effects. According to Garou himself, this attack should work regardless of how tough one's bones and flesh are.


 * Extreme Power Attack ( 極発勁ごくはっけい, Goku-hakkei): Garou places both of his hands on the opponent and pushes them through the Earth. This attack is astonishingly strong and is the most powerful attack Garou has demonstrated so far, capable of generating intense shockwaves potent enough to pass through Earth's core, move tectonic plates, make a continent raise up from the other side of the planet, messing with the magnetic and gravitational fields and subsequently causing the planet to bulge.

Miscellaneous Abilities
Indomitable Will: One of Garou's defining traits and a factor that allows him to keep fighting, even when on the brink of death, is his sheer willpower. This will is evidenced throughout several battles between S-Class heroes, such as during his battle against Genos, Bang, and Bomb. His ideal of becoming a "genuine" monster and spreading fear across the world plays a big role in his incredible willpower, motivating him to accomplish his goals no matter how many difficulties he may face. After being badly beaten by Watchdog Man, Garou feels frustrated but quickly recovers his confidence, simply getting excited and expressing that there is still more room for improvement in his capabilities. Furthermore, even against an overwhelming opponent such as Monster King Orochi, Garou shows little to no signs of fear and continues trying to best him regardless of the sheer difference between their strength at the time. Through his strong will, he was able to overcome near-death experiences and gain explosive growth without losing his mind, unlike many others, who had become mindless and incapable of further progress after doing so.

Massive Appetite: Garou is shown to have a massive appetite, as he can stuff himself with the full list of items on the menu of a restaurant in order to rejuvenate himself. Despite his toned body and slim physique, he is able to stuff down large meals and even chug an entire pitcher of water with a single gulp, showing his enhanced metabolism.
 * Carnivorous Consumption: Garou can consume flesh from monsters in order to regain his energy and vitality without any ill effects.

Monsterfication
After being pushed to his limits in a series of fights against a team of A-Class and B-Class heroes, followed by Genos, Bang, and Bomb, Garou's evolution begins to skyrocket. Later, after being almost killed in his fight with Royal Ripper and Bug God, his power explosively increases and his clothes merge with his body causing him to slowly transform until only his face remains untouched.

As a result of being pushed to the brink of death and overcoming it, his limiter starts to break and he is identified by Gyoro Gyoro as being a "Half-Monster". His senses and abilities increase so that even while he is asleep, he's still extremely dangerous and able to fight enemies. Even though he admits he's not a pretty sight while he's asleep, he was strong enough to easily defeat Puri-Puri Prisoner.

Garou was able to put up a good fight against Superalloy Darkshine, although he suffered great injuries from his attacks. As their battle rages on, Garou's abilities increase to the point that he can match Superalloy Darkshine's full-power Superalloy Bazooka with his own attack without any difficulty or damage. His strength eventually increases to the point where he was able to pressure and harm the hero both physically and mentally before Tatsumaki interrupted their battle. Though it should be noted that this victory has more to do with the hero's underlying psychological insecurities than any significant advantage in power on Garou's side. After experiencing Garou's exponential rise in power firsthand, Darkshine comes to believe that nobody may stand a chance against him by the time he makes it to the surface.

Explosive Growth Rate: As a result of appearing to break his limiter, Garou's abilities can increase immensely in a very short period of time. He likens this to the Fighting Spirit (気合い, Kiai) ability Metal Bat has. Garou's growth rate allowed him to easily kill Royal Ripper, who before with Bug God had defeated Garou. He later went on to fight far more powerful foes such as Overgrown Rover, Gyoro Gyoro, and Orochi in rapid succession before being defeated by the latter. Garou demonstrated his escalating fighting skill in his battle with Superalloy Darkshine by continuously improving his strength and refining his skills against the S-Class hero until he completely overwhelmed him. During his fight with Bomb in his evolved state, the latter was also surprised by Garou's escalating fighting skill and commented that through his battles, Garou has combined various techniques and refined them into his own style, prompting the elder martial artist to wonder if that was a result of his monsterization. During his fight with Flashy Flash and Platinum Sperm, the battle was initially an even exchange between the three until Garou refined his fighting style and was able to gain the upper hand against both other fighters. Although initially unable to deal any notable damage to Sage Centipede's tough armour, when working in-tandem with Metal Bat and accidentally creating a combo attack with the hero, Garou overcame a charge from the giant monster, damaging its entire body and cracking its durable shell.

During his and Metal Bat's fight against Sage Centipede, the two's individual powers, despite the difference in strength, were considered so extremely similar that fighting together caused a "resonance and amplification" between them. Not only did this allow them to inadvertently coordinate together to form a combo attack, but it caused Metal Bat's destructive power to exhibit an explosive increase "as if Garou was lifting him up", which in turn, by that same resonance, caused Garou's power to increase as well. Garou eventually became so powerful by this resonance that he was able to punch straight through Sage Centipede's body, leaving a large hole in the monster's body.


 * Augmented Adaptability: Garou's ability to adapt to his opponent's fighting style is increased even further. After encountering Super Mouse, Showerhead and Unihorn, Garou was able to counter each of their individual attacks with ease and his experience from fighting Stinger allowed him to effortlessly deflect their combined attack. In his battle with Orochi, although Garou initially had difficulty in evading just one of Orochi's horns, he quickly grew in speed allowing him to dodge all of Orochi's horns at once while maneuvering between the different levels of the Monster Association headquarters. After mastering Bomb's Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist fighting style, Garou was able to use it to perfectly counter Bomb's own techniques after briefly fighting him one-on-one.


 * Psychic Resistance: Garou is capable of adapting to and overcoming Gyoro Gyoro's psychic powers, slowly breaking free of their restraints.
 * Heat Resistance: Garou is able to withstand Overgrown Rover's energy blasts at point-blank range and was noted by Gyoro Gyoro to be able to endure the intense heat of Orochi's attacks that melted and exploded solid concrete.
 * Acid Resistance: In his evolved state, with him having armor-like skin, Garou was shown able to kick a hole through Fuhrer Ugly's acidic body without any injury, despite the acid being potent enough to melt Superalloy Darkshine's highly durable skin and Atomic Samurai's specially forged sword immediately upon contact.

Augmented Strength: Garou in this state is capable of defeating Royal Ripper with a single strike. After being awakened by Puri-Puri Prisoner, Garou could easily break the chains holding him and seriously injure the hero with a barrage of strikes, penetrating his bristle armor as well as effortlessly defeating him shortly afterwards. It should be noted that Garou did this while he was sleep-fighting and wasn't right in his senses. Garou's enormous strength convinced Puri-Puri Prisoner that even a fellow S-Class hero like Superalloy Darkshine would have difficulty facing him. During their fight, Garou's attacks caused the hero to briefly cough up blood and pulverize the surrounding stone, reducing it to sand, with just the shockwaves from his blows.

After his fight with Darkshine, Garou's monsterization increased his strength further, allowing him to defeat Bomb and later Bang, his own former master, all while still in his unconscious/sleeping state. Once awakened, he was capable of killing Fuhrer Ugly and sending Platinum Sperm flying, the former being a powerful Dragon-level threat while the latter being the ultimate fusion of Black Sperm, another Dragon-level monster, with a single attack each. Soon, Garou was strong enough to engage in a fight against a held back Platinum Sperm and Flashy Flash, and after the S-Class hero was defeated, he fought one-on-one against the fusion monster on equal footing and eventually evolved enough to defeat him completely. Once defeating Platinum Sperm, he fought against Sage Centipede, a centipede-like monster vastly more powerful than Elder Centipede. He was capable of seriously damaging Sage Centipede's human face, causing the monster to remark that Garou was strong. In the climax of the fight against Sage Centipede, Garou's strength increased enough that he was not only capable of throwing the monster's regeneration core into outer space, but also managed to split the space-reaching monster in half vertically with a single karate chop. Later, in his fight with Saitama, Garou demonstrated his immense levels of physical strength when he was able to cause great destruction to a landmass just by kicking the hero crashing into ground. As he evolved further during the fight, Garou has displayed an exceedingly impressive feat, capable of moving tectonic plates and raising a continent through shockwaves produced from his Extreme Power Attack. The attack was exceptionally powerful to the point that it could even distort the space around Earth, messing with its magnetic as well as gravitational fields and ultimately causing the planet to bulge.

Augmented Speed and Reflexes: Garou is able to keep up with Overgrown Rover and escape from its sight despite being bombarded with energy blasts. Over the course of his battle with Orochi, Garou was noted by Gyoro Gyoro to continually increase in speed allowing him to dodge Orochi's attacks and blitz through weaker monsters with ease. Superalloy Darkshine observed that Garou's movements continually increased in speed as he attacked him, even after suffering serious injuries, to the point where Superalloy Darkshine felt like he was being attacked by dozens of martial artists at once. During his one-on-one fight with Bomb, Garou moved so quickly that Fubuki was completely unable to follow his movements. After his battle with Bang, Garou was able to swiftly combat and overwhelm three Dragon-level Mysterious Beings in a fraction of a second. Later, he was capable of keeping up with Flashy Flash and Platinum Sperm in combat, the former being an S-Class hero well-known for his extraordinary speed, and all three of them were so fast that a geometric structure of light was created from the speed of their fight. After Flashy Flash's defeat, Garou engaged in a one-on-one battle with Platinum Sperm and increased his speed even further. He was soon able to react in fractions of a millisecond, exchanging seemingly hundreds, if not thousands of blows with the foe within only 1.3 milliseconds and even creating another geometric structure of light which was much more dense than the one before.


 * Afterimage Creation: Due to Garou evolving through fighting, his speed drastically increased to the point where he could leave afterimages of himself as he moved at high speed.

Augmented Durability: Garou can survive several point-blank attacks from both Overgrown Rover and Monster King Orochi, albeit the latter was trying not to kill him. He was able to survive a powerful tackle from Superalloy Darkshine, which he believed it would be instant death if he was hit by it, although he suffered critical injuries with his ribcage shattering. Later during their fight, Garou evolved to the point where he could withstand Superalloy Darkshine's much stronger attacks, such as his Superalloy Bazooka, and Superalloy Double Bazooka, without seemingly any serious injuries.

Later, in a more evolved state, Garou proved capable of taking many blows from Bang and eventually defeating him after a relatively long battle. Soon, he was capable of seemingly enduring hundreds, if not thousands of blows, from Platinum Sperm, an extremely powerful monster who is the ultimate fusion of the Dragon-level threat Black Sperm, in their short yet intense battle. Further evolving, Garou was durable enough to survive attacks from Sage Centipede and Evil Natural Water, the former being a monster superior in size and strength to Elder Centipede and the latter having absorbed the entire ocean and increased its water cannons' destructive capacity to a vastly higher level than before.

Augmented Stamina and Endurance: As his monsterization progressed, Garou's stamina and endurance were further improved. In his fight with Overgrown Rover, Garou was able to endure a brutal assault from the Dragon-level monster and advance through the Monster Association Headquarters, eventually confronting Gyoro Gyoro and Orochi without rest. During his fight against Orochi, his body was pierced by one of the latter's horns but the injury did not slow him down and stop him from continuing fighting, despite the visible hole in his torso. Later, in his fight against Superalloy Darkshine, he showcased his amazing endurance when he was capable of fighting with increasing speed and ferocity even after his entire rib cage was shattered by the S-Class hero.

Even later, after emerging from underground, Garou, in his further monsterized state, was capable of overcoming many battles against extremely powerful opponents such as Bomb, Silver Fang, Platinum Sperm, and then Sage Centipede, in quick succession and with no rest in between. Despite all of his fights against them, Garou still showed little to no signs of fatigue in the aftermath.

Enhanced Instincts: Garou is able to quickly discern the strength of his opponents by listening to the instinctual warning signals that his body sends him. He was able to intuitively determine that Overgrown Rover was a very dangerous monster, which led him to retreat.

Regeneration: Garou can heal very quickly, as he fully recovered his life-threatening injuries from Royal Ripper in only a few hours. He also regenerated getting pierced through his stomach after Orochi's extremely fast and flexible horn struck and left a big hole; the bleeding soon stopped, and at the time Puri-Puri Prisoner ran into him, the hole already fully regenerated. Garou's regenerative ability evolves even further during his fight with Superalloy Darkshine, to the point of completely healing mere moments after injury. His body absorbs black matter from the air to close any wound and manifests on his body as a spiraling black mark. Later, during his fight with Saitama, Garou's regenerative ability heightens even further, able to regrow his forearm almost instantly after it was completely obliterated by a headbutt from the Caped Baldy.

Flight: In his fight with Saitama, Garou undergoes a transformation that grows a pair of wings on his back, allowing him the ability to fly.

Energy Projection: Garou used his two hands to form energy beams that were used as a jetpack to throw Saitama through a mountain.

Awakened
"Awakened Garou" (覚醒したガロウ, Kakusei-shita Garō) is what Black Sperm calls Garou after he transforms into a monster.

Eventually, he nears his Completed Monster state, with most to all of his body morphing except for his face. Later on, he destroyed nearly 100 Black Sperm cells with a single uppercut, and injured the likes of Golden Sperm with a single punch. According to Golden Sperm, his punch is many levels higher than what humans are capable of.

By the time he fights Golden Sperm, he is faster than what S-Class heroes like Zombieman and powerful A-Class heroes like Sweet Mask can see.

First Form
Shortly after his battle against Golden Sperm, Garou completes his first transformation. Devilish horns are where his hair had been and his clothes are reduced to only his pants, shoes, and scarf. According to Genos, not a single trait of his former face remains. In this form, Garou is able to easily best several S-Class heroes simultaneously while only toying with them.

Monster Calamity God Slayer Fist (怪害神殺拳, Kaigai Shinsatsu-ken; Viz: Killing God Fist of Monster Destruction): The Monster Calamity God Slayer Fist is Awakened Garou's personal fighting style, created after absorbing the other fighting styles he had within his arsenal. According to Garou, it is Disaster Level God, and has no weak spots. Garou is capable of holding his own against Saitama while using this style.
 * God Slayer Ascending Attack (神殺昇撃, Shinsatsu Shōgeki; Viz: God Killer Rising Strike): Garou delivers a powerful rising slash with one of his arms.
 * God Slayer Instant Attack (神殺瞬撃, Shinsatsu Shungeki; Viz: God Killer Swift Strike): Garou throws a volley of quick punches with both hands. These punches are enough to encourage Saitama to use Two-Handed Consecutive Normal Punches to counter it, instead of just Consecutive Normal Punches.

Augmented Strength: Garou's punches are powerful enough to shatter the ground without connecting. He is capable of incapacitating many S-Class heroes with a single hit while going easy on them. He is also shown to lift and break large boulders without difficulty.

Augmented Speed and Reflexes: Garou moves faster than what top S-Class heroes like Atomic Samurai can even register. In his fight against Tatsumaki, he destroys the rubble surrounding him in hyper-speed to the point that it looks like the rocks are missing him. He is also shown surpassing Flashy Flash's speed, casually blocking the hero's Flashy Fist, which only took 0.02 seconds to complete. Even after Flash increases his speed, Garou comments that chasing him down would be no problem; he later proves it, earning a comment from the hero that Garou is too fast. Even more impressive, Garou can read and dodge Saitama's normal attacks, and unlike anyone else before, can instantly counter them, surprising the hero. He also manages to escape from Saitama's grasp twice. During their battle, he moves from behind Saitama to in front so quickly that falling rubble does not appear to move, and even Saitama loses sight of him (though he wasn't fighting seriously).

Augmented Durability: Most notably, Garou gains an immense boost in durability, capable of even taking Saitama's normal punches without too much injury. While restrained by the esper Tatsumaki, he endures a multitude of hits from Sweet Mask and Child Emperor to no effect. Garou is not fazed when thrown into the air by Saitama's Serious Table Flip. He even survives a direct assault from Saitama's Consecutive Normal Punches with only a broken horn as a result, and an exchange with Saitama's Two-Handed Consecutive Normal Punches.

Augmented Psychic Resistance: Garou is capable of adapting to and overcoming Tatsumaki's Psychic Binding, albeit the esper's brain is heavily injured at the time.

Augmented Senses: Garou is capable of seeing in the darkness of night and uses this to his advantage when threatening to kill Tareo while secretly moving away from him.

Second Form
After being pushed into a corner by Saitama, Garou transforms again. This transformation is intense enough to change the wind and convince Saitama that something serious is coming. His body becomes much bulkier, and his demonic features are much more noticeable: the horns on his head are curvy while four other horns appear on his back, and his clothes seemingly disappear. Garou's teeth become larger and his eyes give place to a black void. While in this form, he appears to lose most of his sanity. Furthermore, he remarks that he would kill Saitama, whereas he only intended to mortally wound Saitama in his first transformation, although this could be interpreted as another one of Garou's bluffs.

Augmented Strength: Garou's strength increases as his punches devastate the surrounding land. A spin punch in this form encourages Saitama to counter with a Serious Headbutt. Although his strength increases, Garou's attacks become more brutish and animalistic.

Augmented Durability: Unlike anyone else before him, Garou can take a normal punch from Saitama without even getting pushed backward. He can survive his body getting blown apart from Saitama's Serious Headbutt.

Augmented Speed and Reflexes: In this form, Garou is able to rush Saitama in a similar fashion to Boros in his Meteoric Burst state.

Final Form
After receiving a Serious Headbutt from Saitama, Garou regenerates and evolves one more time. His appearance becomes even more demonic, and his muscles grow to the point he is several times larger than Saitama. His horns make sharp curves now while the horns on his back mutated into large wings. Unlike the previous transformations, this one eventually crumbles and Garou starts to lose power.

Augmented Regeneration: When entering his final form, Garou regenerates the damage he sustained from Saitama's Serious Headbutt, completely regrowing his arm in seconds.

Augmented Strength: It is implied that this form increases Garou's power, but the battle is not shown. In the end, he is still no match for Saitama.

Flight: Given that he grew a pair of wings with this final transformation, it's presumed that he gained the ability to fly, although he was never actually shown using this ability.

Quotes

 * "Time to conduct evil."
 * (To Tanktop Master) "Stay right here and watch as the monster Garou goes on to kill off all of your comrades."
 * (To Tareo) "Just become strong."
 * "If he was just a little stronger he would've won... it wasn't fair for him..."
 * (To Death Gatling) "Watch carefully. Witness the moment the monster is victorious!"
 * (To Tareo) "Only you can protect yourself now!"
 * (While attacked by Overgrown Rover) "I'm gonna die! There's no way out. I lost because of that ugly brat. Damn it... at a place like this. God I want a Coke. I said I wanted to fight a monster-class hero, who said anything about fighting a monster? I haven't even started yet! It's over..."
 * (To Orochi) "The difference in our physical strengths, I'll make up for with my technique"
 * (To Superalloy Darkshine) "Yea, of course they're strong. If you're able to unleash violence on others without ever questioning whether it's right, like they are, you can win any fight. It means you've thrown away your kindness. It all stinks. The stench of hypocrisy is making me sick. Is this situation supposed to be a part of your morality play, too? The protagonist is filled with strength because of the good cause he's fighting for, huh. You were saying some bullshit about me "playing monster". Do you really think you aren't playing "hero"? All you heroes are shit, and what really grinds my gears is that the shittier you are, the more the public loves you. That's why I fight. I will put my life on the line to crush justice. You'll never be able to stop this monster play!"
 * "Now I'm confident that I can reach threat level God! And then... I'll cast the human race into an abyss of fear! I will be the very Incarnation of Despair! Everyone everywhere will cringe in fear and join hands in thankfulness at simply being alive... Injustice and those responsible for it will disappear... In a world where mere survival is a struggle, evil deeds will vanish, bullying and discrimination, and even war."
 * "What the world needs isn't biased justice! It is Absolute, Unbiased Evil."
 * (To Flashy Flash) "My name is Garou. I'm the one who's gonna rise to disaster level "God" and straighten this world out."
 * (To Flashy Flash and Platinum Sperm) "I'll take on anyone who wants a fight. Absolute Evil is unbiased, you know. Heroes, monsters, I will slaughter every last one of them, and rise up to become the ultimate symbol of fear... Disaster level "God". Come get some."


 * (Referring to Saitama) "This strength doesn't make any sense. It's not fair. It's like he's made up of the world's unfairness. As if he's the personification of justice...of course. Didn't I already know? This world is unfair. Justice and Evil are decided by others. That's how the world is. To oppose the unfair power known as justice, I have to obtain the unfair power known as evil. To defeat the unfair beings known as heroes...I HAVE TO BECOME AN UNFAIR BEING MYSELF!!"


 * "This is what I feared most. Expelled by the power of justice without even a say. But I won't let it."


 * "All of you...all of you...all of you!! The people! The world! None of you see anything. Anything! You act like heroes even though you can't save one child. You're all insane! Yet people rely on you madmen. They make the mistaken assumption that of course you'll save them. No matter what happens, someone will do something. It's not their problem if a monster appears. It's not as if most people's lives will change. And so, in a small part of their heart, it will have room to grow. Evil will be born. But still, the evil of people will never be judged. That's the difference between them and monsters. The phony peace that heroes create will dye people with evil. That's why I'm doing this. I will be the Count Devil that plunges humanity into terror!! In a world with no room for survival, evil will disappear. And so will bullying, and discrimination, even war! WHAT THIS WORLD NEEDS IS NOT BIASED JUSTICE! BUT UNBIASED ABSOLUTE EVIL! I'm fighting for world peace. No justice will be able to overthrow me. I will be stronger than anyone! I will be...AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER!"


 * (To Saitama) "If you weren't here, I would have become the world's absolute evil. Unbiased terror scattered throughout the world...that can establish real peace. Don't think that all children are waiting for heroes. There are even kids around the world waiting for a great monster to take the stage. Can you save them!? Can you follow the ugly kid being picked on in the park!? I can! I can save the whole world with terror! While humanity is fearing Garou the Monster, everyone's hearts will unite to survive. Is there any peace other than this!? Can you create peace? Can you unbiased save the world with that flimsy cape? Do you have the means to stop the unseen tragedies? You're strong but so what? You may defeat me, but can you handle it?! THE RESPONSIBILITY!!! WELL!? IF YOU'RE GOING TO DEFEAT ME, THEN ANSWER THE QUESTION! WHAT WILL YOU ACCOMPLISH? Why will you kill me now? Do you have a sense of duty like mine? WHY...ARE YOU...A HERO?!"


 * (To Saitama after he hears Saitama's motivation to be a hero) "No, you're not a hero! You can't...You can't call that a hero!


 * (After hearing Saitama breakdown Garou's true motivations) "What should I do?

Trivia

 * Garou is ranked 14th in the character popularity poll.
 * Garou (餓狼, Garō) means "Hungry Wolf." During his participation in the Super Fight Tournament, he disguised himself with a wolf mask.
 * In French, loup-garou means "Werewolf."
 * Garou is also a pun on the Japanese pronunciation of "Growth".
 * In one of his tweets, Murata revealed that working on Garou "felt like destiny", after working as a reed for a manga called Garou.
 * In the One-Punch Man Encyclopedia, Garou's threat level was ?.
 * One-Punch Man manga illustrator Yusuke Murata references Bruce Lee's back when drawing Garou's back muscles.
 * Murata stated Garou bathes in a public bathroom.
 * Garou and Saitama shared similar unpleasant childhoods. Both were bullied as children and were outcasts in the classroom. However, unlike Garou, Saitama overcame all of this and became a hero while Garou descended into the role of monstrosity.
 * In an interview where ONE was questioned about who would win in a fight between Boros and Garou, he replied it would be a "good match," and he is uncertain on the victor, although he does believe that Garou is stronger in close combat.
 * ONE originally made a mistake on the webcomic version of Chapter 85 that is 「善悪の立場を否定してやるたい！」 where やるたい normally would be やりたい. The mistake led to a Hakata dialect (Hakata-ben/Fukuoka/Kyushu dialect), which is a dialect of speakers from the Kyushu region, and it seems to give off a rural or rough impression. Some stereotypes about Kyushu guys include “macho, stubborn, and warm-hearted.” (Japanese people know these are only stereotypes, so this is just for fun.) ONE noted that the stereotype coincidentally fits Garou quite well.
 * Sketch of Garou's Monster Association design. Which was finally fully revealed in the manga almost 2 years later in Chapter 126.


 * Awakened Garou is considered to be a "near-perfect monster" by ONE.
 * Awakened Garou is the first monster to go easy on Saitama, as Garou never aims to actually kill any humans.
 * Awakened Garou is the fifth monster to survive a punch from Saitama, after Boros, Overgrown Rover, Orochi, and Evil Natural Water. However, unlike Evil Natural Water, who survived because of its regenerative abilities, Garou's body is simply able to endure the force. He is also the first monster to survive a Serious Series attack, although the attacks were not with the intention to kill him.
 * Awakened Garou is by far the opponent who has taken most hits from Saitama so far, surviving at least 7 of Saitama's normal punches, numerous body slams, a direct hit from Saitama's Consecutive Normal Punches, an exchange with Saitama's Two-Handed Consecutive Normal Punches, a fall from Saitama's Serious Table Flip, a counter from Saitama's Serious Headbutt, and a smash from Saitama's fist. The battle against Saitama in his final form is not shown, so the actual amount of attacks he survived is unknown.
 * Awakened Garou is so far the only character that has Saitama actively participate in battle. In most of Saitama's other battles (e.g. Carnage Kabuto, Boros, and Tatsumaki), Saitama is usually receiving hits but rarely tries to hit back. Also, he is the only monster shown to block, dodge, escape, and counter Saitama's attacks.
 * In the 2017 One-Punch Man Halloween cover, Garou was depicted with blonde hair and disguised as a werewolf, a reference to Garou pretending to be a monster.

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Garou 餓狼 Garoh Garou Гароу