One-Punch Man’s self-styled human monster Garou shares several parallels with Vegeta of the famed Dragon Ball franchise. Introduced in One-Punch Man season 2, Garou is a human who identifies as a monster, leaving behind the ways of his own kind in pursuit of raw strength. Garou launches attacks on the S-class heroes of the One-Punch Man world, defeating some while coming up short against others. Although he’s one of the many figures that has no clue about Saitama’s real power (for now at least), the Caped Baldy has effortlessly defeated Garou, though he’s largely unaware that the battle even occurred.
Throughout its existence, One-Punch Man has reveled in parodying and referencing other famous anime and manga properties, and Dragon Ball has been a common target. Some of the most notable examples of One-Punch Man paying homage to Akira Toriyama’s iconic franchise include the Piccolo-esque Vaccine Man and the mirroring of the World Martial Arts Tournament trope. There are plenty of other parallels to be found from the likes of Attack on Titan, Hunter X Hunter and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but the beauty of Saitama’s story is that it excels on its own merits, in addition to poking fun at familiar Shonen elements.
Since his debut in One-Punch Man, it could be said that Garou essentially acts as the Vegeta to Saitama’s Goku. One major parallel is the way in which both represent the opposite side of their protagonists’ respective coins. Vegeta is Goku under different circumstances; the prince was blessed with raw natural strength, royal lineage and a Saiyan upbringing, whereas Goku was a low-class Saiyan with no natural power, raised by a human on Earth. Fundamentally, however, both characters are driven by the same goals and share more personality traits than either would perhaps like to admit.
In a similar way, Saitama and Garou’s origins also highlight a difference in circumstances. One-Punch Man’s protagonist sought to become a hero as a hobby, and accidentally become the strongest person on Earth, whereas Garou diligently studied martial arts and betrayed his master in order to attain a higher level of power. Furthermore, while Saitama seeks to fight monsters to find meaning in life, Garou opts to become one instead. Just like Vegeta and Goku, however, these characters share a similar core. Saitama and Garou were both rejected by society (one via job rejection and the other childhood bullying) and looked to the stories of their youth for inspiration. But while Saitama was influenced by his manga heroes, Garou took to the villainous characters.
As well as directly mirroring their protagonists, Garou and Vegeta also share a similar position within their respective franchises as the cool antiheroes who begin as outright villains and then gradually find redemption as the story progresses. After their climactic fight, Goku and Vegeta team up in the face of a common enemy, while the arrival of the Monster Association triggers a more heroic side to Garou. Both characters are incredibly prideful and the way in which Garou rejects using monster cells to gain strength can perhaps be compared to how Vegeta accepts and then fights off the Majin power gained from Babidi - attaining power has to be on their own terms.
In typical One-Punch Man fashion, the power dynamic between Saitama and Garou can be seen as a parody of the Goku/Vegeta rivalry. Despite his best efforts, Goku always ends up overtaking Vegeta as a fighter. Similarly, Garou takes training and combat deeply seriously, only to get flicked away immediately by the series’ protagonist - an exaggerated example of the relationship between Goku and Vegeta.
On an entirely surface level, Garou and Vegeta also have some consistent visual qualities. Both antiheroes rock the dramatically pointed hair, widow’s peak and sharp facial features look, while also sporting a permanent scowl, and their slight but muscular frames are the opposite of the traditional bulky villain types. With the likes of Vaccine Man, the Colossal Titan lookalike and Silver Fang, One-Punch Man has a history of visual references to the wider anime world, so the comparison between Garou and Vegeta, in terms of visuals, personality and story, simply has to be intentional.
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