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
As a human, Gouketsu was very muscular and donned a ripped black keikogi with a black belt. He had a strong and chiseled jawline and a scar on the left side of his upper lip, his eyes were sharp and with forked eyebrows, and he had spiky hair reminiscing a sea urchin.

During monsterification; his original eyes were sealed and replaced with a set of four vertical bloodshot eyes with mulberry and bright yellow pupils; the X-shaped scars on his chin and neck and the blood on his forehead and upper ears, from his fight with Orochi, fused with his skin to form dark, cross-hatched markings.

After becoming a Mysterious Being, Gouketsu grew to an enormous size. He gained large spikes on his arms and shoulders as well as smaller spikes on his knuckles, wrists and toes. His skin tone became dark brown, his ears and teeth became pointy, and he obtained two large lower sabertooth.

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 he 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. He 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, Gouketsu 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 had 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 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 shockwaves 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 a Dragon-level threat, Gouketsu 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 previously, 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 remarks that facing Gouketsu reminded him of facing Saitama himself. As another testament to his strength, even after witnessing Saitama blow off Bakuzan's upper body with a single punch, Suiryu still expressed that even Saitama wouldn't be able to beat him. However, as seen later, Gouketsu was effortlessly defeated by the bald hero.

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. Due to his status of executive and being much stronger than fellow Dragon-level threat Bakuzan, he can be considered one of the strongest monsters to be born through the ingestion of a monster cell.

Physical Abilities
Immense Strength: Gouketsu was an immensely powerful Dragon-level Mysterious Being, even more so than his stature demonstrated. One of his punches was capable of producing shockwaves that blew an enormous hole in the Super Fight Stadium, and the punch that made physical contact with Saitama created large condensation clouds due to the powerful shockwaves generated as well. Furthermore, he was able to easily smash Genos into the pavement with a single blow, disabling him, creating a sizeable crater, and causing the cyborg to remark that Gouketsu is stronger than any monster that he had fought previously and a coordinated attack of the S-Class and Saitama would be the safest way to take him down. Gouketsu was even strong enough to easily toy with Suiryu, a five-time champion of the Super Fight tournament, stopping one of his strongest attacks, Void Shaking Tiger Fist, with a mere three fingers. Suiryu even remarked that he was like a baby compared to Gouketsu. He was capable of comfortably blocking all attacks from the transformed Bakuzan, another Dragon-level monster, with only one arm, and effortlessly pinched Bakuzan's spiked elbow strike with just two fingers. When approached by Saitama, Gouketsu demonstrated his power, with each one of his blows producing shockwaves that could be felt throughout the city, and he was able to slightly ruffle up Saitama, but ultimately could not damage the hero.

Immense Durability: As his stature demonstrated, Gouketsu possessed amazing toughness. He was capable of taking a barrage of punches from Suiryu and even his Void Sky Dragon Fist directed toward his face without batting an eyelid or showing any signs of pain.
 * Shockwave Generation: Gouketsu was capable of creating powerful shockwaves from his punches that could cause great destruction.

Immense Speed and Reflexes: Despite his large size, Gouketsu moved incredibly fast. He was quick enough to attack Genos before he could act, even when the cyborg had already sensed his approach. 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 much faster than himself. In his fight with Bakuzan, Gouketsu effortlessly blocked a barrage of punches from him with only one arm, despite Bakuzan using all four of his arms for the attack. Uncoupled Eyes: Each of Gouketsu's four eyes are capable of moving independently from each other. He was able to switch freely between synchronous and uncoupled saccadic eye movement. This enabled Gouketsu to track faster individuals that other persons otherwise wouldn't and to observe different objects in different directions simultaneously, similar to a chameleon. He demonstrated this ability when observing the battle between Suiryu and Choze.

Fighting Style
Master Martial Artist: Even after transforming into a Mysterious Being, Gouketsu still 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 and skillfully deflected the latter's attacks with a single arm. Moreover, Suiryu, who is a highly accomplished martial artist in his own right, 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.

Longevity: Gouketsu, like any human who had eaten a monster cell, gained a longer life span.

Quotes

 * (To Suiryu) "If you become a monster... you could be a big shot in the Monster Association. You might like it. This world is going to belong to monsters. The time will come when all will change. It will be a world of blood and violence! Money, laws, government and authority won't matter. The strong will rule a world where we rampage, kill and satisfy your desires."
 * (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

 * Gouketsu's last fight was skipped because ONE specifically told Murata so.
 * The term Gouketsu (豪傑) refers to a man who is larger than life.
 * 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
 * In a bonus page from Volume 14 depicting his fight with Saitama, Gouketsu is seen using a side kick known as Sokuto-Geri (足刀蹴り).
 * 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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