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In theOne Punch Mananime, Garou has been long set up to be a series powerhouse. During Season 1, he was briefly mentioned by S-rank hero Bang as more powerful than all of his other students at once. When we are properly introduced to Garou in Season 2, he puts up some impressive performances against the world’s strongest heroes, sometimes even while severely injured.
One of Garou’s major abilities seems to be to keep growing progressively stronger in every encounter. This might lead one to wonder just how strong Garou really is at this point, and if the build-up around him is real and he might actually havethe strength to contend with Saitamain a later fight. This article will attempt to figure out just how strong Garou is in the current anime release, estimating how far up in the power tiers he has grown.
Garou’s Scary Potential
Strength That Isn’t Obvious on the Surface
Garou’s strength can be deceptive and tricky to calculate in the world ofOne Punch Man.When giant monsters capable of wiping out entire cities are just walking around every day, Garou seems small by comparison. After all, he’s merely a human being and basically just some guy who is good at martial arts, right?
Did I hold back too much because he’s human? No. This guy… is he even human? -Tanktop Master talking about Garou.
However, as stated by Bang, although he isn’t the height of multiple skyscrapers, Garou’s powerset makes him the ideal candidate to eliminate heroes. Instead of using raw physical stats to overwhelm opponents like many monsters do, the human monster Garou’s ability to copy any fighting style once he sees it makes him a scary counter to themostly human roster of heroes.
Although often the underdog in a fight against heroes at first, he has adapted to every situation he has been in so far, overcoming them and growing stronger in the process. Using the water stream rock smashing fist fighting style,Garou reflects the attacks back at opponentswho may outclass him in strength like Tanktop Master. As he continues to absorb additional techniques from fighting more opponents, Garou can masterfully combine them together to create his own unique fighting style and attacks. This means even though Garou might not be the strongest fighter in terms of raw stats, any hero who goes up against him would find him an incredibly difficult match if the fight continues to drag on.
Where Does Garou Rank at the End of Season 2?
Figuring Out Where to Place Him
When trying to figure out just how high in the power tiers Garou is at the current moment in the show, we must examine his most recent fights. He was able to overpower and nearly defeat S-rank hero Metal Bat before their fight got interrupted, despite the hero taking attacks from the dragon-level monster Elder Centipede. If Garou is evaluated on the Hero Association monster scale, this puts him in at least the realm of dragon level.
Garou also displays his strength when hebattles multiple strong A-class and S-class heroesdespite being injured and wrapped in bandages. He held his own against the demon cyborg Genos, and was able to fight against #3 S-rank hero Bang and his brother Bomb at the same time without succumbing to their attacks. Although Garou was on the back foot for much of these fights, the fact that he was able to persist despite being ambushed and extremely injured speaks volumes about his level of power.
Even conservatively estimating Garou’s strength at this point in the show, he must at least be equivalent to his former master Bang’s level while at full strength. Bang found it necessary to recruit his brother Bomb to fight Garou, suggesting that even he knew he would struggle against his former disciple alone. This would mean if Garou were evaluated in the hero rankings, he would be a top-tier S-rank hero at the minimum.
Despite his high ranking, it seems unlikely that a Season 2 Garou would be able to stand up against the next highest ranked hero, Terrible Tornado. Her esper powers were capable of effortlessly stopping a city-destroying barrage from Boros’ ship in Season 1. These mental powers are also a good counter to the human monster who relies on physical martial arts. She could pick him up and hold him in the air, removing his ability to use his martial arts prowess while he would be unable to copy her fighting style since she doesn’t use one.
All in all, Garou is extremely strong at the current point in theOne Punch Mananime, onlyoutclassed by the universe’s highest-tier monsters, heroes, and, of course, the single punch man Saitama himself.
