The Ogre’s gauntlet · Cosmic · Mismatch
Yujiro Hanma vs Garou
Two martial arts monsters who learn by fighting. One of them never stops getting stronger.
Tale of the tape
| Baki | Universe | One-Punch Man |
|---|---|---|
| Superhuman | Tier | Cosmic |
| Raw, terrifying strength and a back muscle that forms a demon’s face | Strength | Copies every technique he sees and grows stronger after every beating |
| Arrogance: he toys with every opponent | Weakness | Secretly protects the weak while pretending he is a monster |
| 13–11–1 | Record on Versus | 2–0 |
The Arena
Yujiro Hanma came to a world of heroes and monsters looking for the strongest martial artist alive. Everyone told him the same name: Garou, the Hero Hunter, a man who copied every technique he saw and grew stronger after every beating. Yujiro found him sitting on the rubble of a destroyed city square, bandaged and grinning.
“You’re the Ogre,” Garou said. “Heard about you.” Yujiro grinned back. “And you hunt heroes.” Garou shrugged. “I hunt the ones who think they’re strong.” Yujiro laughed. “Then you will enjoy me.” Garou stood up, cracking his knuckles. “Yeah,” he said. “I think I will.”
They looked at each other for a long moment, two predators who recognised each other instantly.
Round One
They met in the middle of the square, and it was the purest martial arts fight either of them had ever had. Yujiro’s overwhelming strength and instinct against Garou’s Flowing Water Rock Smashing Fist, a style built to redirect any force. Garou turned Yujiro’s first punch aside and countered with a palm strike to the jaw.
Yujiro laughed and hit back, and Garou was thrown across the square. He got up, smiling, his split lip already healing. He had copied the punch. Five exchanges later, he threw it back at Yujiro, perfectly, a Yujiro Hanma punch from someone else’s fist.
Yujiro stared. Then he roared with delight. “You stole my punch!” Garou grinned. “I steal everything.”
The Turn
Yujiro beat Garou down. Garou got up stronger. Yujiro beat him down harder. Garou got up stronger still, his body changing, his skin darkening, his movements growing faster and stranger. He was copying everything Yujiro did and improving on it, and every beating only pushed him further past his limits.
Yujiro had always been the one who grew stronger in a fight. Now he was fighting someone who grew faster. He hit Garou with the strongest combination he had ever thrown, and Garou took it, absorbed it, learned from it, and got back up with a glow beginning to spread over his skin.
Then the glow became light, the light of stars and galaxies, and Yujiro felt something he had never felt in a martial arts fight: outmatched.
The Finish
Garou entered Cosmic Fear Mode, his body swirling with cosmic light, his power rising beyond anything in Yujiro’s world. He could see the movement of atoms, the flow of energy in Yujiro’s body, every muscle before it moved. He dodged Yujiro’s final punch by a hair and countered with a single strike that dropped the Ogre to his knees.
Yujiro knelt in the rubble, blood running from his mouth, staring up at the glowing figure, and laughed. He laughed so hard he could not stop. “Finally,” he gasped. “Finally, someone who learned faster than me.” Garou let the cosmic light fade and sat down beside him.
“You were the best fight I ever had,” Garou said. “Before the cosmic stuff, anyway.” Yujiro wiped his mouth and grinned. “Then come back without it. We will see who is stronger then.” Garou laughed. “Deal.” They sat in the ruins of the city square, two monsters, completely happy.
The verdict
Garou wins
Yujiro and Garou are evenly matched martial arts monsters, but Garou copies Yujiro’s own techniques and grows stronger after every beating, until Cosmic Fear Mode lifts him beyond Yujiro’s reach.
- CopyingGarou learns and improves on Yujiro’s own techniques.
- GrowthEvery beating makes him stronger.
- Cosmic Fear ModePower beyond anything in Yujiro’s world.
How the rematch could go differently: A Garou without Cosmic Fear Mode, in a pure martial arts duel, would be a genuine coin toss.
Who do you think wins?
Who would win in a fight between Yujiro Hanma and Garou?
Garou wins. Yujiro and Garou are evenly matched martial arts monsters, but Garou copies Yujiro’s own techniques and grows stronger after every beating, until Cosmic Fear Mode lifts him beyond Yujiro’s reach.