Were it not for the protagonist, Saitama, One-Punch Man would probably not be as popular. And while Saitama might, objectively, be a gag character, he is still special enough for us to actually discuss his powers and abilities seriously, which is why we often compare him to other characters. In this article, we are going to compare Saitama to Garou once again, but this time – it is going to be Cosmic Fear Garou, Garou’s most recently awakened form. The two are currently fighting in the manga, as of the time of writing this article, and we are going to tell you who should be winning that fight and why.
Saitama should be able to defeat Cosmic Fear Garou, despite the latter’s power boost. The two of them have already fought twice, and the bald-headed protagonist has managed to defeat Garou on both occasions. With that much experience, and all of his powers and abilities, Saitama should be winning this one as well, despite the fact that Garou is much stronger now.
The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we are going to compare Saitama and Cosmic Fear Garou in more detail. Through several categories, you are going to see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Saitama should ultimately be able to defeat Garou in this encounter as well.
Strength and durability
Saitama possesses disproportionately large physical strength and is thus able to effortlessly defeat powerful monsters and villains with a single blow. One punch from Saitama is so powerful that many enemies simply explode or disintegrate when hit. He is also shown to be able to effortlessly destroy large structures.
An example of this offensive power is when Saitama launches himself from the top of a building to head to hit the Giant Meteor. A “normal” punch from him has proven fatal to a being as durable as Boros. Saitama has also shown that he is capable of controlling the force of his attacks, but still tends to overdo it on occasion, causing massive devastation.
After transforming again under the influence of “God,” Garou’s strength reaches an even more absurd level. He was able to encounter suppressed Saitama punch after punch in a fist collision, unlike before when he was overwhelmed by the hero’s consecutive normal punches. Later during the fight, after Garou copied Saitama’s strength and deadly movement, he was even able to outrun the hero in a collision from his Serious Punch, resulting in an extremely powerful blast of kinetic energy that seemed to be on the order of thousands to millions of light years in space, destroying many star systems in its path in a matter of seconds.
Garou’s exceptional resilience is even more greatly increased in this form, as he was able to withstand consecutive normal hits from Saitama in a trade. He also escaped relatively unscathed after taking a powerful punch to the face from the underdog Saitama. Garou was also able to withstand Blast’s Gravity Knuckle Punches without any visible damage. During their fight on Io, Garou could survive a few direct hits from Saitama, who began to fight him in earnest.
And while Saitama generally wins points in this category, so far – Garou was able to withstand all of his blows and while we do think that Saitama will come out as the winner in this fight, in the end, we have to divide the points for now.
Points: Saitama 1, Garou 1
Speed
Saitama was able to complete a 1,500 meter race in an instant three times in a row during his hero trials. He has been shown capable of maintaining a much faster speed than Sonic, who is capable of moving at hypersonic speeds. Even Genos’s computerized location systems have a hard time tracking him due to how fast he moves.
Saitama has also shown the ability to run down a building to save a piece of salmon he had for lunch and jump back up to said building without anyone noticing that he had done so.
He was able to easily dodge some of Boros’, Gouketsu’s and Orochi’s extremely fast attacks, and even managed to dodge some of Garou Monster’s attacks, as well as being able to face the powerful Golden Sperm. Ironically, despite his incredible reflexes and speeds he still has trouble swatting a simple mosquito or picking up an object like a helmet or hammer when playing rock-paper-scissors.
Garou’s incredible speed and reflexes are additionally enhanced in this form, as he could keep up with the underdog Saitama and match him in an exchange of blows. Surprisingly, when an enraged Saitama threw a serious punch at Garou, knowing that the Hero Hunter had apparently killed Genos, Garou could hit back at him, immediately mimicking his killer move and using it to try to counter the hero’s.
In this form, like in the previous category, it seems that Garou is a match for Saitama. Again, we do think that Saitama is going to come out as the winner, but at this point, the two of them are on the same level, it seems.
Points: Saitama 2, Garou 2
Stamina and endurance
Saitama has never been shown to tire from fighting villains. Even when he unleashed a punch more powerful than a planet-destroying attack, Saitama showed no signs of fatigue. The only time Saitama was shown to be panting and out of breath, he recovered only a few seconds later.
Garou also possesses inhuman durability. He can withstand multiple attacks from Tanktop Master and remain standing. He even survives an all-out assault from three Fiend-level monsters: Royal Ripper, Bug God, and Elder Centipede (webcomic only). Even when he was severely weakened by Saitama and Watchdog Man’s combined attacks, he was still able to fight off the group of Class A and B heroes and withstand the pain.
Even Shooter’s poison arrows and Gun Gun’s bullet hole didn’t slow him down, as noted by Goggles. His durability also increases exponentially as he evolves, during his fight with Orochi, Gyoro watches and comments on how Garou is able to withstand Orochi’s fire breathing attacks and punches like it’s no big deal.
Since both of them are still standing in this fight, we have to divide the points. Sure, Saitama is probably going to win this one in the end, but they’re both still on their feet, so we have to give them credit for that.
Points: Saitama 3, Garou 3
Fighting style
Due to his incredible superhuman physical condition, Saitama is an extraordinarily powerful and dangerous fighter in close combat. After three years of intense training and fighting countless criminals, Kaijin, and evil organizations, he not only gained unparalleled power, but also developed a wealth of combat skills through combat experience.
Due to his boredom, he often uses poor attacks that lack finesse or flair; However, once serious, he becomes a very competent and cunning fighter.
Saitama uses basic fighter moves and street fighting techniques to grab and knock down his enemies, having excellent battlefield awareness, and is able to read the moves of highly skilled warriors such as Boros and Garou, the former being a universal emperor, with centuries of experience and the latest a martial arts prodigy.
A completely new, totally different martial art that Garou developed after receiving powers from “God” is the All Life Eradication Fist. After gaining a revelation of how energy flow works through his teachings, which he received while studying under his former master Bang, combined with the “God-granted” knowledge of energy flow and behavior of everything in the universe.
This new martial art skill allows the Hero Hunter to concentrate and harness the natural flow of energy from the universe itself in conjunction with its internal channeling of power, allowing the simulation of universal natural phenomena through pure physical abilities. Garou can use his energy manipulation coupled with his incredibly fast and powerful punches to create nuclear explosions, creating large mushroom clouds and being strong enough to be detected by nuclear detection tools.
Now, hear us out on this one. Sure, Cosmic Fear Garou managed to kick Saitama about in this form, but a lot of that is just mimicking Saitama. There’s not much original and new in Garou’s new form and even with it, he still hasn’t been able to surpass Saitama, which is why the final point goes to the protagonist.
Points: Saitama 4, Garou 3
Saitama vs. Garou: Who wins?
Now, in these cases, we usually give you a rundown of the fight from the manga (or anime), but since the manga fight between Cosmic Fear Garou and Saitama is not yet over, we are going to skip that part here and just give you our classic analysis, referencing some events from the actual fight. We might update this article once the fight is over, so definitely keep following us for more.
The main premise of One-Punch Man is that Saitama is unbeatable. No one has been able to defeat him in a fight and ultimately, he ends up either defeating or killing all of his opponents. This hasn’t really been explained in a proper way, but it’s how the series works and it is why people love it as they do. This makes things difficult from time to time, but we can live with it.
Now, having said this, we do have to acknowledge that some opponents really did push Saitama to his limits but he managed to defeat each and every one of them. From this perspective, it just seems that each villain is there only to affirm that Saitama can beat anyone, however powerful they might be. This means that Cosmic Fear Garou is just another guy in a line of villains who’ll eventually succumb to Saitama.
And while the manga does keep things interesting, we still think that Saitama is going to come out as the victor in the end and that after this, his powers will be even greater than before.
