Anime all-stars · Cosmic
Garou vs Homelander
A man who hunts heroes finally meets a hero who deserves it.
Tale of the tape
| One-Punch Man | Universe | The Boys |
|---|---|---|
| Cosmic | Tier | City to planet |
| Copies every technique he sees and grows stronger after every beating | Strength | Flight, heat vision and invulnerability |
| Secretly protects the weak while pretending he is a monster | Weakness | Never trained, never tested, and desperate to be adored |
| 1–0 | Record on Versus | 0–3 |
The Arena
Garou had spent his whole life hating heroes: the smug, popular ones who beat up monsters for applause. When he stumbled through a strange rift into a world where the most famous hero on the planet was a smiling man in a flag cape, he watched the news for exactly ten minutes and recognised everything he had ever hated.
He walked into the middle of Homelander’s press conference in a city square, in front of the cameras and the crowd, and said, “You. You’re a fake.” Homelander kept smiling. “And who might you be, son?” Garou cracked his neck. “The Hero Hunter.” The crowd laughed. Homelander laughed with them, and his eyes began to glow.
He fired his heat vision at Garou’s chest, intending to end it before the ad break. Garou was not there.
Round One
Garou had dodged with Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist, a martial art built to turn any attack aside, and closed the distance faster than the cameras could follow. His palm strike hit Homelander’s chin and snapped his head back. The crowd gasped. Homelander touched his lip and found blood. Nobody had made him bleed in years.
Furious, he punched Garou across the square and into a building. Garou came out bleeding, grinning wildly. Every time Homelander hit him, he got a little stronger. Every technique he saw, he copied. When Homelander flew at him, Garou caught his arm and threw him using his own momentum.
The cameras kept rolling. For the first time in his life, Homelander was looking bad on live television.
The Turn
Homelander dropped the act. He beat Garou with everything he had, punches that cracked the earth, heat vision that melted the square, and Garou took it all and kept getting up, each time stronger, each time faster. His body began to change, his skin darkening, a strange glow spreading over him.
Then the glow became light, the swirling light of stars and galaxies, and Garou’s power rose to a level that made the air itself tremble. Cosmic Fear Mode. He had copied the movement of atoms. He could see the energy in Homelander’s body, every weakness, every flinch, every fear.
Homelander stared at him, and his face did something it had never done on camera before. It showed fear.
The Finish
Homelander tried to fly away. Garou caught his cape, dragged him back down and hit him with a single punch that cracked the square in half and sent the hero tumbling across the ground like a doll. Homelander lay in the rubble, his face swollen, his cape torn, too stunned to get up.
Garou stood over him, cosmic light swirling around his fists, and saw the crowd behind them, watching in silence. A little boy in a Homelander T-shirt was crying. Garou looked at the boy for a long moment, and something in his face softened.
He let the glow fade from his fists. “You’re not worth it,” he said to Homelander. Then he turned to the crowd. “Stop worshipping guys like this. Real heroes don’t need you to clap.” He walked out of the square, and nobody dared to stop him. The little boy took off his Homelander T-shirt and dropped it in the rubble.
The verdict
Garou wins
Homelander is stronger and faster at the start, but Garou grows stronger with every beating, copies every technique he sees, and his Cosmic Fear Mode eventually leaves Homelander far behind.
- GrowthGarou gets stronger every time he is hurt.
- Martial skillHis fighting style turns Homelander’s brute force against him.
- Mental collapseHomelander crumbles the moment he is genuinely threatened.
How the rematch could go differently: A Homelander who killed Garou with heat vision in the first second, before he could adapt, would win the only way he could.
Who do you think wins?
Who would win in a fight between Garou and Homelander?
Garou wins. Homelander is stronger and faster at the start, but Garou grows stronger with every beating, copies every technique he sees, and his Cosmic Fear Mode eventually leaves Homelander far behind.