Highlights
- In the world of My Hero Academia, there are two villains who call themselves “Hero Hunters.” One is Garou, a powerful fighter who seeks to defeat heroes to prove his strength and show that he’s not like the monsters and villains he once empathized with as a child. The other is Stain, a ruthless killer who believes that many so-called heroes are corrupt and needs to be purged from society.
- When comparing the two, there are three main categories to consider: reasons for fighting, combat prowess, and the hero hunting itself.
- In terms of reasons for fighting, Garou’s motivation stems from childhood bullying and a desire to prove himself. Stain, on the other hand, has a deeper and more dangerous ideology, believing that many heroes are corrupt and need to be purged.
Compared to other villains in One-Punch Man, Garou is unique because he is the only villain who purposely goes around looking for a hero to beat. He is not interested in causing chaos, harming civilians, or God forbid, garnering fame or money. He only wants to beat those self-righteous heroes to the ground. That’s why he proudly calls himself the Hero Hunter.
Unfortunately for Garou, he is not the only Hero Hunter in town. There is a villain in My Hero Academia who is given a similar moniker. His name is Stain, and he is just as ruthless as Garou, if not more. Well, he is technically called the Hero Killer, but the job description is pretty much the same, so we’ll refer to Stain as Hero Hunter in this article.
There cannot be two suns in the sky, so who is the better Hero Hunter between the two? Let’s compare them both in three different categories and see who comes out on top.
Reasons to Fight
Let’s start this comparison with the most basic category. What is their reason for taking on the name of the Hero Hunter? What is the motivation behind their decision to go against the heroes? And what are they trying to achieve by becoming a Hero Hunter?
Standing Up Against the Bully
When he was a little boy, Garou was often bullied by his friends who forced him to play a monster while they were the heroes. From that point on, he started to empathize with the monsters and villains more than the heroes. That’s why growing up, there’s nothing else that he wants but to become a villain and defeat those smug heroes that he considered as a bully.
To that end, he dedicates his life to learning one of the deadliest martial arts in the world, the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. Once he mastered this powerful martial art, he began to beat up every hero that he met on the street until he finally earned the nickname Hero Hunter.
“Popular guys winning and unpopular guys losing is a tragedy. Then I won’t lose to anyone! I’ll become the strongest villain and change the story.”
– Garou, Chapter 41
Creed and Ideals
Chizome Akaguro has always idolized All Might and considered him the No. 1 Hero as the epitome of what it means to be a true hero. Unfortunately for him, Chizome’s quirk is not suitable to be a top hero so he had to be content with being a mere vigilante under the name of Stendhal. But the more he encountered these so-called heroes, the more he realized they were so far removed from what a true hero should be. Worse, some of them are only in it for fame and money.
That’s when Chizome concluded that, rather than villains, the real problem for this society is these fake heroes. So he decided to put down his mask and took on the name Stain instead, because he fully intended to stain this world with the blood of these second-rate heroes. As Stain, Chizome becomes much more ruthless and dangerous. He methodically stalks those he considers to be fake heroes and kills them one by one.
“Both this sham-filled society and the criminals who wield their power in the name of petty mischief are targets of my purge all for the sake of a better society.”
– Stain, Chapter 55
Winner: Stain – His creed and ideals are so much more powerful and dangerous compared to Garou’s childhood trauma.
Combat Prowess
Ideals without the power to back it up are useless. So let’s take a look at what Garou and Stain are capable of. Are they strong enough to make their creed and dreams come true? How powerful are they compared to the heroes that they regularly hunt?
Martial Arts and Adaptability
The Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist was developed and perfected by “Silver Fang” Bang, a former S-Class Rank 3 hero. Garou is one of the few people who has mastered this martial art. The Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist allows its user to slip through the opponents’ attacks and strike them multiple times in a matter of seconds. Since he continuously uses it against an increasingly stronger opponent, Garou has basically risen to the same level as his master, the Silver Fang. He can even deflect a torrent of bullets from a machine gun without taking any meaningful damage.
What makes Garou so dangerous is not only his mastery of this deadly martial art, but also his remarkable adaptability. He can find new ways to incorporate the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist to suit his opponent’s fighting style. If that’s not working, then he can mimic the fighting style of other heroes or martial artists and add it to his repertoire. During his fight with S-Class Rank 12 Genos, he famously copies S-Class Rank 10 Hero Watchdog Man’s erratic and unpredictable movement, which caught Genos off guard. At this point, he can confidently beat most A-Class heroes and stand his ground against some of the S-Class heroes.
Quirk and Athleticism
Stain’s quirk is called Bloodcurdle. This quirk allows him to paralyze his opponent momentarily. In order to activate his power, however, Stain has to ingest the target’s blood first. As if that’s not a hassle enough, the paralyzing effect will only last up to 10 minutes at the longest and the effect will vary depending on the target’s blood type. So, as you can see, it is a highly inconvenient quirk, which is why he gave up on being a hero in the first place.
Credit to Stain though, he managed to make this annoying quirk work to his advantage by honing his strength, speed, agility, and overall athleticism. He carefully picks his target and lures them into a battlefield that is advantageous for him. Thanks to that, most of his fights usually end in a couple of minutes with his target unable to do anything against him. Even if the situation is not ideal for him, Stain’s athleticism and relentless drive will still make him an incredibly difficult opponent for most heroes. In fact, Deku, Todoroki, and Tenya were only able to defeat Stain thanks to Endeavor and Gran Torino’s intervention.
Winner: Garou – His sheer destructive power and remarkable adaptive capability allow Garou to not only defeat most heroes but also hold his ground against S-Class heroes.
The Hero Hunting
We’ve seen how they compare when it comes to their ideals and their combat ability. Now it’s time to see how they use those powers to fulfill their ideals and make their childhood dreams come true. This part is all about Garou’s and Stain’s approach to hunting a hero.
A Duel
Garou is not one to strategize before he fights. He’s not even the type of person who goes out of his way to determine a target and find ways to take them down. He simply challenges every hero that he comes across during his daily walk and figures things out as he fights them. After all, his martial arts prowess may give him the strength to stand toe to toe with most heroes, but it is ultimately his ability to adapt to different situations that allow him to come on top of his opponents.
So when it comes to Hero hunting, Garou treats it like a duel between two fighters. Interestingly enough, Garou never killed his opponents. His main goal is to prove that he is stronger than those pesky heroes, not to kill them. So the moment he knocks them down to the ground, he has accomplished his objective and will move on to the next heroes. Make no mistake though, they will suffer some major injuries that require hospital time, but they are still alive.
A Purge
Although Stain and Garou are both Hero Hunters, their hunting method couldn’t be more different. Stain puts a lot of effort into his hunting because, unlike Garou, Stain does not hunt heroes indiscriminately. He focuses solely on those who he deems to be crooked heroes. Impure individuals who don’t deserve to bear the title of a “Hero”. To him, it’s not a killing but rather a purge. That being said since his standard is All Might, a lot of heroes inevitably end up on his list, even the good ones like Ingenium.
Stain usually stalks his target first and waits for them to be alone before eventually killing them. His usual hunting ground is a dark alleyway, so he either waits for the target to enter this secluded area or lures them in. Once the target is away from the public area, Stain will attack them with the sole purpose of making them bleed. Once he ingested their blood, then the fight was pretty much over. Stain will paralyze them and kill them. If Garou is a fighter, then Stain is an assassin who patiently waits to kill his target as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Winner: Stain – Garou’s method is no different than sentient monsters while Stain’s approach is not only highly methodical but also way more ruthless.
Conclusion
When it comes to pure physical power and combat instinct, Garou is better than Stain. Unfortunately for him, Stain has a deeper and much more sinister motivation behind his action and his hunting method is also way more fascinating than Garou. So based on this straightforward and subjective comparison, we can safely conclude that Stain from My Hero Academia is the best Hero Hunter out of the two.
One-Punch Man and My Hero Academia are available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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