We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
If you’ve been keeping up with the One Punch Man manga, then you may know by now that Garou has reached a level of strength that may rival Saitama. I emphasize the word “may” as it’s never really clear how much effort Saitama is applying in battle. Even when Saitama uses a Serious Series of moves, it’s always implied as though Saitama was still never in any real danger or really applied much effort. Now that Garou has achieved his new and maybe final form it’s time to ask the question: is Garou now a true rival to Saitama, and most importantly has Garou achieved the seemingly impossible Disaster Level God?
In this article, I’ll be breaking down some of the most recent issues of the One Punch Manga and discussing some of the many disaster levels, so this is your official spoiler warning if you are not caught up with the story thus far.
What Is A God-Level Threat?
In order to accurately assess Garou’s level, I think it best to explain what is disaster Level God. This way we have the best chance of understanding if Garou has indeed reached this tier. According to the One Punch Man Fandom Wiki, A God-level threat is “a threat endangering the survival of humanity”.
As of the date of this article, there hasn’t been a character that specifically received a Disaster Level God dialogue box in the manga or One Punch Man webcomic, but we’ve had several characters that have displayed what we’d classify as disaster level God feats of strength and power. One such example is Psykos, who shot a beam so strong at Tatsumaki that it cut off a huge portion of the earth. If it went unchecked it’s possible that Psykos could’ve risen to this level.
Dragon versus God
I’ll also define the disaster level just below God as this may also be of importance in our analysis of Garou, and that is disaster level Dragon. Dragon is a “threat endangering multiple cities”. So far in the story, we have seen many disaster-level Dragon beings such as Boros, Monster King Orochi, Psykos, and the Monster Association Cadres. All of these monsters had varying degrees of strength, and if the heroes had not interfered, could have caused the destruction of multiple cities. Some of the Monster Association Cadres such as Homeless Emperor, Evil Natural Water, Fuhrer Ugly, and Black Sperm arguably have the strength to really cause massive damage if they were never stopped. Even though these characters were absurdly strong none of them successfully earned the title of Disaster Level God.
It’s clear from the story and definition that Disaster Level God is on a strength tier all its own. It’s possible if the entire Monster Association went unchallenged that collectively they may have been considered a God Level threat, but this is still very unlikely.
Garou’s Evolution
We’ve seen Garou evolve throughout the story in many ways. He’s gone from a simple man with the strength to challenge some of the bottom tier S class heroes such as Tank Top Master, to someone that is able to copy Saitama’s consecutive normal punches. Garou is a character that constantly pushes himself to reach the next tier of strength in hopes to bring about his ultimate goal of World Peace.
We’ve seen Garou start early in his monster transformation by sprouting red hair and red eyes. With each new opponent, Garou is badly beaten and receives an increase in pure strength and speed. It’s not until he fights with the hero Dark Shine, that we begin to see Garou really take on some monster characteristics. Over time he gains the ability to heal from wounds instantly, he gains super speed, the strength to defeat other dragon-level opponents in one strike. But Garou’s biggest leap came when he accidentally accepted powers from a being known as God.
Garou Obtains Some Of God’s Power
Garou has now evolved again, and this time his evolution is on a much more cosmic scale. Garou is now able to punch someone so hard that he causes nuclear explosions. The Manga does a really great job here to highlight how crazy Garou’s strength has become. Even his new form includes galaxies to highlight how vast Garou’s strength and comprehension have become.
If you add on top of this the super strength, speed, and regeneration at this point Garou would seemingly now fit the definition of Disaster Level God. As of yet, we STILL have not received an official dialogue box from the creators.
My Thoughts
Garou has had the most impressive fight with Saitama. Even though he wasn’t able to really get any kind of emotional reaction from him, I do think Garou has at least scratched the surface of Disaster Level God. Clearly, Garou could realize his vision now if Saitama was not present.
He has reached a level that no hero can challenge, and yes, I am including Blast in that. I don’t think he’ll fight Blast, but I could be wrong, the way this Manga is going. If he does, I still think Garou will come out on top as Garou’s nature to climb to the top can only be stopped by the number one hero, Caped Baldy.
Now I’d like to hear from our readers. We know quite a few of you follow the One Punch Man story so we’d like to know what you think of Garou’s strength. Even if Garou doesn’t receive the official title of Disaster Level God do you think he’s reached it? Let us know by leaving a comment below this post.
