No doubt, One Punch Man is in its most exciting phase and fans cannot stop reading the manga chapter. The series is inching towards the conclusion of the Monsters Association arc and Garou seems to be getting stronger as the chapters progress.
Ever since chapter 163 made its debut, fans have been wondering if there are characters in the series who can take on this character who attempts to become an entity representing absolute evil. Let’s look at some of the characters and see how they fare against Garou.
This article contains major spoilers from the One Punch Man manga series.
Characters that Garou can beat in One Punch Man
1) Silver Fang
Silver Fang is one of the best martial arts practitioners, and Garou was his protege. However, things took a turn and Garou went rogue to become the epitome of evil.
Fans were hyped to see the two duke it out during the Monsters Association arc of One Punch Man. Pre-awakening, Garou was able to beat Silver Fang, and since then, he progressively gained strength and his physical abilities were enhanced drastically. This was a canon fight and Garou was the winner of the matchup.
2) Atomic Samurai
Atomic Samurai is one of the top S classes heroes and he is extremely skilled with a sword. However, his performance against Black Sperm gave us a bit of an idea with respect to how he scales compared to some of the members of the Monsters Association.
He struggled against Black Sperm and would have died if not for Tatsumaki's intervention. Garou, before awakening, was so strong that he was able to blitz through Platinum Sperm in a blink of an eye. Garou would overwhelm Atomic Samurai and there is no way the latter can win.
3) Tatsumaki
Tatsumaki is ranked second in the Heroes Association and is one of the strongest espers in One Punch Man. However, in his awakened state, Garou is powerful and has also perfected his God Slayer Fist. Garou was so fast in chapter 163 of the manga series that Saitama missed his punches, which is odd.
Being acknowledged by the Caped Baldy says a lot about his strength and his latest move, God Slayer Ascending Attack, would put Tatsumaki out of commission. Garou’s sheer speed and strength will be too much for her to deal with and she will not have the time to react to his moves.
4) Watchdog Man
During the second season of One Punch Man, Watchdog Man was able to beat Garou and forced him to flee the battlefield. While the fight was quite brief, Garou was visibly injured and admitted that the hero was far stronger. But given his current state, Garou is highly capable of beating this hero in one shot.
If Garou beat Sage Centipede in one shot, that was a high dragon threat level. Given how he was able to beat Platinum Sperm with ease, Watchdog Man does not stand a chance against him in his current state.
Characters that can beat/stand a chance against Garou in
One Punch Man
1) Saitama
The Caped Baldy is the strongest character so far and there hasn’t been a single character that was able to challenge him. His strength is so high that the fans have no clue of his true strength simply because no one has been able to push him to an extent where he revealed his true powers.
Even in the current chapter, Garou tried his best to inflict damage on Saitama, but the chapter ended with Garou being on the receiving end of Saitama’s punch. Saitama didn’t look like he was trying and it seemed like he could comfortably beat Garou.
2) Boros
Boros was the strongest villain introduced in the series and his strength was acknowledged by Saitama as well. He certainly had the strength to bust a planet if he wanted to. During the fight, he also sent Caped Baldy to the moon. Some might argue that Garou has surpassed Boros in One Punch Man. However, Garou might be slightly weaker or just as strong as Boros.
The latter has better offensive abilities, while Garou would outperform Boros in close-range fights, and the creator admitted this in the series ONE. Boros can beat Garou at the moment, but there is no doubt that Garou will be able to surpass him in the future.
3) God
There is no feat to demonstrate God’s true strength in the One Punch Man series. However, the fact that he could take away Homeless Emperor's life from the moon gave the entire fanbase a glimpse of his strength. Moreover, Blast mentioned that he, along with some of his comrades, had come in contact with it and barely managed to keep up with the entity.
Based on the direction in which the series is heading, God could be one of the main antagonists in another story arc. All signs point towards the entity being stronger than Garou at the moment.
4) Blast
Blast is the strongest S-class hero in the One Punch Man series. He is so strong that he only intervenes when monsters are at a God-level threat or higher. In chapter 156, fans got a glimpse of Blast’s powers and he was capable of opening portals to other dimensions.
It’s safe to assume that Blast harnesses his abilities to open interdimensional portals and incorporates them into his combat style. It’s hard to say since we haven’t witnessed this character’s true potential, but given that he only responds to God threat level beings, he would be able to beat Garou at the moment.