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 former disciple of Bang, but was kicked out from his dojo for going on a rampage. Because of his fascination of monsters and his hatred of heroes, he is commonly called the Human Monster and the Hero Hunter. Sitch of the Hero Association views him as a grave threat to the organization despite being only human.

Appearance
Garou is a young man with sharp features, yellow eyes, and long silver hair that spikes upwards in two large spikes. While not being a particularly large person, he is shown to be quite muscular. He wears a tight black long-sleeved shirt and loose fitting white pants, similar to his former master Bang.

Personality
Garou is introduced as an evil character with a hatred for heroes and has a confident, vindictive personality. He hates being insulted and will attack any 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.

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 Busaiku in the park, or when he stops fighting Metal Bat after Zenko shows up. When Busaiku 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 strong sense of morality 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 is an ordinary person with no fighting technique. Furthermore, Garou can enjoy the feeling of losing in order to improve himself to become stronger in most of his fight, while Saitama desires to have a worthy opponent to find the rush of excitement he once had while he was training.

In battle, Garou is extremely arrogant, often mocking his opponents and calling them "amateurs".

Garou hates the popular, as he believes the popular 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 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.

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 with 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".

As a monster, Garou intends to change the world through absolute evil. He views justice as being biased and unfair, as it is simply people doing evil things to others they deem to be "evil" and get praised for it—whereas absolute evil is unbiased and fair, affecting everyone the same way. Garou wants to become the fairy tale–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.

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 with the S-Class heroes, and also when Garou is faking a threat to kill Busaiku 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 Garou's 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 Busaiku tell everyone how he saved the boy's life twice. His current status is unknown.

Abilities and Powers
Garou was once Bang's best disciple, although he was expelled from the dojo after crippling the other students. Despite being kicked out by Bang, Garou starts his own personal training and becomes incredibly powerful. Equipped with a powerful range of abilities and physical attributes, Garou is able to fight on par with many S-Class heroes.

Garou possesses a strong aura of fear around him, which can cause his opponents to lose confidence in themselves, and sometimes even make them pass out.

He is able to overpower the entire Tank Topper Army. This includes Tanktop Vegetarian, a former A-Class hero, and Tanktop Master, an S-Class hero and one of the strongest men in the world physically.

Garou is also able to fight the S-Class hero Metal Bat, and compares him to an amateur fighter. However, Garou admits that if any of Metal Bat's strikes connects, he would lose instantly.

Garou was easily overwhelmed by Watchdog Man, despite seeing his fighting style and employing his Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

Physical Abilities
Immense Strength: Garou's strength is superhuman and roughly on par with S-Class heroes. He is capable of ripping Blue Fire's arm off without too much difficulty. Using one arm, he can throw a sewer lid at great speeds. He is able to heavily injure Tanktop Master with a barrage. He is shown easily breaking Heavy Tank Fundoshi's arm and knocking out multiple A-Class heroes with one strike, each. He is also capable of punching holes through Senior Centipede, a Demon threat monster (webcomic-only).

Immense Speed and Reflexes: Garou is able to quickly dodge a vast amount of Golden Ball's bullets from multiple directions. He can also dodge the bat swings from Metal Bat. However, he admits that he would lose to Flashy Flash's speed.

Immense Durability: Garou also possesses inhuman durability. He's able to take multiple attacks from Tanktop Master and remain standing. He even survives an all-out assault from three Demon level monsters: Royal Ripper, Bug God, and Senior Centipede (webcomic-only).

Immense Endurance and Stamina: Garou possesses an inhuman pain tolerance. He is able to continue fighting after suffering injuries which would normally incapacitate normal people, such as a beat-down from Tanktop Master. He does not flinch when Spring Mustachio's sword stabs through his hand.

Enhanced Senses: Garou is able to effortlessly 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.

Advanced Growth Rate: Garou's main attribute. In Garou's first appearance at the Hero Headquarters, he admits that an S-Class hero would be too much for him to handle. Shortly afterwards, he is capable of fighting against and defeating the S-Class hero Tanktop Master.

Fighting Styles
Genius Combatant: 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 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. He also shows this unique ability in his fight with Metal Bat, where he comments that Metal Bat's attacks are getting predictable and weird. While fighting his opponents, Garou gains access to their fighting styles and techniques, simply by witnessing them once. Moreover, when fighting Garou aims for the vital points and joints to make his opponents lose the ability to fight back very quickly.


 * 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.
 * 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 after spinning to build up momentum. He uses this against Flashy Flash.
 * Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist (旋風鉄斬拳, Senpū Tetsuzan-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed from Bomb.
 * Heart-Blast Release Fist (爆心解放拳, Bakushin Kaihō-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Tiger Fang True Fist (虎牙烈真拳, Torakiba Retsu Shin-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Fire Dance Bullet Trail Fist (炎舞弾道拳, Homuramai Dandō-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Purgatory Abyss Fist (空虚深淵拳, Kūkyo Shin'en-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Lake-Breaking Ice River Fist (湖割氷河拳, Mizūmi Wari Hyōga-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Mountain Cordillera Road Fist (愚道山脈拳, Gudō Sanmyaku-ken): 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): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Pressure Point Killer Fist (圧迫面殺拳, Appaku-men Ya-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Poisonous Ogre Fist (空鬼未毒拳, Sora oni mi Doku-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.
 * Lone Fist of Takanori (引弧隆盛拳, Hikuko Takamori-ken): A martial art Garou absorbed through battle. Has not been shown yet.

Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist (流水岩砕拳, Ryūsui Gansai-ken): 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 an S-Class hero. Garou avoids using this style if possible, because it reminds him of Bang. Charanko describes the martial art as "leading enemies around the nose by moving like a calm stream, only to finish them off with a punch strong enough to smash great rocks like a raging river", implying that the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist parallels real-life Tai Chi. 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.

Secret Combination: Cross Fang Dragon Slayer Fist (連携奧義 交牙竜殺拳, Renkei Ōgi: Kyōga Ryūsatsu-ken): 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.

Military Martial Arts (我流武術, Garyū Bujutsu): Based on Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, this fighting style evolves freely during combat.

Awakened
"Awakened Garou" (覚醒したガロウ, Kakusei shita Garō) is what Black Sperm calls Garou after his Limiter starts to break and he transforms. The transformations are divided into stages. With each stage, Garou's appearance becomes more demonic and his power is augmented. However, these transformations are short-lived, as Garou reverts back to normal after his defeat from Saitama.

First Form
After being defeated by members of the Monster Association and nearly being beaten to death, Garou's evolution initiated. During his battle with Superalloy Darkshine, Garou's Limiter starts to break, and he feels like his "spirit" is released from his body. He gains some notable appearance changes, like his hair is much more spiky than before, resembling horns. He proclaims himself to be Disaster Level "God", and the bringer of the ominous future predicted by Shibabawa.


 * Limitless Growth: As a result of appearing to break his Limiter, Garou's strength can increase seemingly without limit.


 * Augmented Strength: Garou in this state is capable of defeating the likes of Royal Ripper, Overgrown Rover, and Puri-Puri-Prisoner with a single strike. Although at first, Garou is unable to significantly damage Superalloy Darkshine, eventually his strength increases enough to defeat the hero. Later on, he could destroy nearly 100 Black Sperm cells with a single uppercut, and greatly injure 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.


 * Augmented Speed and Reflexes: Garou is able easily dodge Overgrown Rover attacks. By the time he fights Golden Sperm, he is faster than what an S-Class hero like Zombieman can see.


 * Augmented Durability: Garou is able to endure a tackle from Superalloy Darkshine, although not without great injury. As their battle rages on, Garou's endurance increases to the point that he can catch Superalloy Darkshine's full-power Superalloy Bazooka bare-handed, without any difficulty or damage.

Second Form
Quickly after his physical warfare against Golden Sperm, Garou completes his transformation. His appearance changes drastically: 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 best several S-Class heroes simultaneously.


 * Monster Calamity God Slayer Fist (怪害神殺拳, Kaigai Shinsatsu-ken): 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): Garou delivers a powerful rising slash with one of his arms.
 * God Slayer Instant Attack (神殺瞬撃, Shinsatsu Shungeki): 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 Lightspeed Fist, which only took 2 centiseconds 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.


 * 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 Satiama's Consecutive Normal Punches with only a broken horn as a result, and an exchange with Saitama's Two-Handed Consecutive Normal Punches.


 * 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.


 * Enhanced Vision: Garou is capable of seeing in the darkness of night, and uses this to his advantage when threatening to kill Busaiku while secretly moving away from him.

Third Form
After being pushed into a corner by Saitama, Garou transforms once more. Unlike the others, this transformation is intense enough to change the wind, and convince Saitama that something serious is coming. His body becomes much more bulky, 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.


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


 * Augmented Durability: Unlike anyone else before him, Garou can take a normal punch from Saitama without even getting pushed backwards. He can also 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 once more. His appearance becomes even more demonic, and his muscles grows 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.


 * Regeneration: When entering his final form, Garou regenerates the damage he sustained from Saitama's Serious Headbutt.


 * 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.

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 Superalloy Darkshine) " ' Monster Play ' Did you just say that? Then aren't you ' playing hero ' as well? Huh? It stinks... It reeks of hypocrisy, it makes me wanna puke. So what you're doing now is also part of conducting ' conducting justice and punishing evildoers ' ? As long as you're doing ' the right thing ' you gain immense power, is that so? That is powerful indeed. Humans conducting violence with no regret or guilt, they can beat anyone. If needed, just throw all that kindness overboard. You heroes are shit. Supported by the called mass society, I'm not going to lose to that. That's why I have to fight. Betting my life on it, in order to crush this justice. You cannot end this monster play!"


 * (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?!"

Trivia

 * Garou is ranked 14th in the character popularity poll.
 * Garou (餓狼, Garō) means "Hungry Wolf". During his participation in the Martial Arts Tournament, he disguised himself with a wolf mask.
 * In French, loup-garou means "Werewolf".
 * Murata references Bruce Lee's back when drawing the back of Garou, full of muscles.
 * In an interview where ONE is questioned about who would win in a fight between Boros and Garou, ONE says that Boros in a fight against Garou in his perfect form would be "one hell of a battle". However, ONE believes that Garou is stronger in close combat.


 * Awakened Garou is the first monster to go easy on Saitama.
 * Awakened Garou is the third monster to survive a punch from Saitama, after Boros and Evil Natural Water. However, unlike the former two, who survived because of their regenerative abilities, Garou's body is simply able to endure the force.
 * Awakened Garou is by far the most durable opponent of Saitama, surviving at least 7 of Saitama's normal punches,      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, numerous body slams,  an assault 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.
 * Surprisingly, at the end of their battle, he remains relatively unharmed and is still capable of fighting. He only stops because of broken morale, rather than succumbing to damage.
 * Awakened Garou is the only monster shown to block, dodge, escape, and counter Saitama's attacks. Furthermore, he is the only monster that has Saitama utilize something other than a punch.
 * Awakened Garou is so far the only character that has Saitama actively participate in battle. In most of Saitama's other fights (e.g. Carnage Kabuto, Boros, and Tatsumaki), Saitama usually receives hits but rarely hits back.

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