#monsterization

That is just a theory though, something that might get visited in the future, but what we really know and what makes manga Garou different from his reserved webcomic self is how he got a glimmer of hope in the form of heroes after ominous future had been averted, that the world is not as bad of a place as it seems and even the heroes are not as bad as he thought they would be when the senseless beating was interrupted by King and he got thanked by Saitama and spared, despite his ruthless actions. We also do not know how exactly future Garou has affected his mentality, only that it made him accept the beatdown.

WC Garou has no such luxury of hope when his whole outlook was brutally struck down.

What I also gather from the latest chapter, after what he said to Mad Devil Yankee aka Shinya, that he's done a lot of self-reflecting during his rehabilitation (most likely under the waterfall where Bang found him) and concluded that hard work will surely be noticed and get him the changes he needs. Not that he has forgotten his goal to renounce the kind of peace where humans aren't punished for their misdeeds, far from it. He has simply chosen to play the good boy now and willingly staves off from beating random heroes he comes across.

(Chapter 170 - What was gained)

Another difference that is noticeable is that Garou has a legitimate support circle now like Bang, the dojo and even the drivers from the rehabilitation program he's currently on, something wc Garou simply does not have and when he's not under massive amount of duress, he's capable of being more freely like himself and express himself in ways he thought he could not in the past, when he thought it was him against the world. He even talks about Sentai, his favourite cartoon, to Bang with excitement because he wants to connect with his master in ways he hasn't before.

Lets note here that stress brings out the worst in people.

(Chapter 234 - Guardianship)

Yes Garou seems to be a little shit, stressing out his co-worker like that. Shinya would have a heart attack if he knew Garou was the hero hunter that terrorized the population. I would argue that the Garou we're seeing now and the Garou we saw during Metal Bat teamup against Sage centipede were more whole and healthier than the angry and violent young man we saw before. Garou is now able to express himself in more different ways than before and definitely seems like 18 years old in his current iteration.

That is not to say that he still does not harbor traumas, he just does not allow said traumas to affect his outlook in life or better, he's masking a lot because we've not seen him truly open up to anybody about his traumatic past yet and not be truly vulnerable about what makes him tick. So there's still a road ahead of him in terms of character progression. But he has progressed past the rigid mold of angry and violent young man into someone who has wisened up and capable of socializing and being jolly. As much as a tsundere he is at times, he has always wanted Bang's acceptance and deep down, acceptance from others as well. It was him who approached Tareo after all and formed that connection and kept saving him. Even in his childhood, he came back to his tormentors to challenge them instead of avoiding them.

(Chapter 170 - What was gained)

It has taken the readers a lot of time for Garou to get to this point, which may also be one of the reasons why ONE chose to hasten his character development more than the other characters who's changes are more gradual like Saitama and Genos, but personally it is nice to see some new dimensions to Garou's character where he is more true to himself when he's not so burdened, something we've seen glimpses of in the past.

What are the roots of monsterization? There are many, but one of the most recurring ones is obsession. 

What seemed to be played off as a joke initially is becoming part of the in universe lore.

And it’s not just monsters that have obsessions. We’ve seen heroes like Darkshine and  arguably Saitama drastically change their bodies through their obsessions.

But there’s one hero who has one of those weirder obsessions more akin to the monsters above. An almost religious obsession.

It could be a plot twist hiding in plain sight disguised as a joke, not unlike the origins of monsterization.

Also kinda weird that Tanktop Master is included in the “scary” heroes. This one is more of a stretch and could be just a coincidence but stay with me here as it leads to our next point.

One of the main reasons for the redraws was to develop potential future plot point regarding something known as “costume monsters” Watchdog Man is listed as an example.

Now what do Tanktop Master, Watchdog Man, and Phoenix Man have in common? Some strange attachment to an article of clothing.

Tell me that the way Phoenix Man talks about the Birdbrain costume doesn’t somewhat mirror the way Master thinks of his Tanktop.

Now some might argue that “a tanktop technically isn’t a costume” and I guess that’s fair but all the other boxes are checked.

Tanktop Master's “final words” could be another clue. “The tank top is invincible.”

Maybe...just maybe Tanktop Master cannot die as long as the tanktop itself is in tact? Similar to Phoenix Man before the redraws.

In summary: