One Punch Man manga did justice to Garou in a way the webcomic couldn't

One Punch Man was originally a webcomic series written by ONE, which eventually received a manga adaptation. Following the manga’s success, the anime adaptation was announced, which really skyrocketed the series’ popularity.

One of the most popular characters among those who have read the source material and the manga adaptation is Garou. He is one of the most important characters in the Monster Association arc, and fans will finally witness him in all his glory in the third season of the anime series.

The manga diverged from the source material and took a different route with his character development. If we compare the two approaches, the manga did Garou justice in a way the webcomic couldn’t.

Disclaimer: This article contains massive spoilers from the One Punch Man source material and the manga adaptations.

Understanding why One Punch Man manga’s approach was better for Garou’s character development

Garou, as seen in the One Punch Man webcomic series (Image via ONE)

The differences between the manga and the original webcomic weren’t drastically different. In the webcomic series, Garou reached a state of absolute despair because the Caped Baldy completely shattered his beliefs. Given Garou’s backstory, he wanted to change the world. While he wanted to become a hero, it was in a rather twisted way.

The sheer power that Saitama displayed drove Garou to absolute despair. The person who once wanted to change the world in his own way finally knew he could no longer do that. The webcomic showed a side of Garou that fans never anticipated. He was psychologically affected by this to such an extent that he gave up.

Garou felt like there was nothing he could do, and upon further introspection, he realized his hypocrisy. The bullying had a lasting impact on Garou, and he wanted to change the world. While he wished to be a hero and lead by example, he changed along the way, and his efforts manifested in Garou presenting himself as a monster to this world.

The Garou shown in the webcomic continued to live every day with absolutely no hope. It was quite clear that he completely gave up on himself.

Garou in the One Punch Man manga was slightly different. He had similar issues in the manga because the backstory was not altered. However, Saitama was less of a bully in this scenario. While Saitma continued to showcase his overwhelming strength, Saitama also managed to highlight Garou’s delusions.

The slight shift in his demeanor changed how Garou and the fans perceived the Caped Baldy in the manga. Another thing that was different in the manga was Bang’s involvement in Garou’s life. He was his master and nurtured his talent from a young age. In the webcomic, Bang just pretended to go all out and beat Garou, hoping the heroes would look at his state and deem it a severe enough punishment.

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However, in the One Punch Man manga, Garou beat Bang. This was one of the biggest changes. But Garou was shattered after losing to Saitama. This time, however, Bang managed to find him and fulfilled the role of a mentor. Instead of portraying Garou as someone who has lost hope, he reunited with his mentor and started working on himself. Not only did he not lose hope, but he also went around to every single person apologizing for everything he did.

His bond with his mentor strengthened, which injected a sense of hope into him. He was willing to train harder and become stronger without any monsterization. Bang also adopted Garou and became his official guardian. Seeing Garou turn his life around in the manga was the best possible ending to the Monster Association arc.

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