Saitama

Saitama (サイタマ Saitama) is the main protagonist of OnePunch-Man, and the most powerful hero alive. Having apparently trained himself to superhuman condition, Saitama faces an existential crisis as he is now too powerful to gain any thrill from his heroic deeds.

He is registered with the Heroes Association as a C-Class Superhero and is tasked to defend Z-City against Mysterious Beings.

Appearance
Saitama is a bald man with a thin, but well-built physique and of average height and weight. He claims to have lost all of his hair suddenly and prematurely as a result of the toll taken on his body by intense hero training. Three years before the storyline, Saitama had spiky, black hair. Saitama's eye color is unclear, as his eyes are usually represented by dots.

Saitama is usually deliberately drawn in a simpler style than other characters, with a very rounded head and only a simple mouth and eyes. When drawn in a more 'action-oriented' style with more detail, Saitama is revealed to have sharp features, dangerous looking eyes, and a chiseled musculature. His costume is a plain yellow jumpsuit with a short zipper at the collar and a belt. The costume is finished out by a red ensemble of boots, gloves and a cape.

Personality
For a superhero, Saitama is rather laid back. Because even the mightiest foes pose no challenge to him, he doesn't take his hero work very seriously. In spite of this, he is constantly searching for an opponent that can challenge him, since his superhero work is beginning to bore him because it's too easy. The combination of his attitude, unstoppable strength, and distinctively simple and 'unimpresive' appearance often cause his battles to become anticlimactic. Saitama will usually allow his opponents to rant about their motives and power up into their strongest forms before suddenly and nonchalantly obliterating them with one punch.

A running gag about Saitama is his inability to remember people's faces and names, seen when he forgot Sonic's name and could not remember who Tanktop Tiger was.

History
Three years before the current storyline, Saitama was an unemployed 'salaryman' on a job hunt. One day, after yet another failed interview, a nihilistic-feeling Saitama was wandering the streets and encountered Crabrante. Saitama's total apathy toward the situation impresses Crabrante, who claims to share a similar outlook, prompting him to spare Saitama and move on. Crabrante tells him that his real prey is a child with a cleft chin anyway.

Walking on, Saitama spots the child Crabrante was talking about. He decides that he doesn't want anything to do with the matter but after Crabrante suddenly arrives, Saitama impulsively saves the child from Crabrante's attack. He urges the child to run away and demands to know why Crabrante wants the boy dead. While Crabrante explains the prank the boy pulled on him, Saitama chuckles and notes aloud how the monster resembles one from an anime Saitama watched in his youth. This enrages Crabrante, who pummels Saitama even after the latter resolves to live out his childhood dream of being a superhero by fighting back. As Crabrante turns from the apparently defeated Saitama to finish the cleft-chinned boy, Saitama lassoes one of his eye stalks with the loop of his removed tie and tears it out. The monster is defeated and the child saved.

Resolving after this encounter to become a mighty superhero, Saitama started a daily training schedule which consisted of 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 squats along with running 10 km every single day. He ate three meals a day, but only a banana as breakfast and also didn't use the AC, to strengthen his mental resistance. These daily activities were extremely tough and caused his body excruciating pain; muscle aches and internal bleedings. However, Saitama didn't give up and continued his training day after day. After a year and a half, he had become strong. But as a side-effect, Saitama had also lost all of his hair. He continued his training for another year and a half before starting his (initially amateur) superhero career.

Magicicada Larva Attack
Some time between when Saitama started training and when he started to lost his hair, Z-City experienced a Mysterious Being attack by the 170,000-Year Magicicada Larva, prompting the citizenry to evacuate to the state-of-the-art Shelter Nr. 7. The three low-ranking heroes sent to defeat the Magicicada were defeated, but survived and managed to find some straggling evacuees on their way back to the shelter, among them being Saitama.

When Saitama discovers that he has been lead to a shelter, he becomes upset, stating aloud that he thought that following the heroes would lead him to the Mysterious Being. Saitama attempts to leave so he can find the Mysterious Being, but is restrained by the citizens, thinking he's become suicidal. The guards attempt to explain that the doors can't be opened while the disaster is still ongoing, but reassure the public that the shelter is able to withstand any sort of attack. While she praises the structure's perfection, Saitama confronts one guard again to ask where the bathroom is, only for her to reply that the 'perfect' shelter was nevertheless designed and built without bathrooms.

Saitama slowly becomes more and more distressed, as he doesn't know if his bladder can hold until the situation ends. After overhearing that two A-Class heroes were defeated by the beast, and that it will take three hours for a Heroes Association squadron to arrive, Saitama can't take it anymore. He walks to a wall of the shelter and breaks a hole in it with a single punch before the stunned onlookers, and runs off stating that he's going to the convenience store. Just as he is about to reach the store to use the bathroom, the 170,000 Year Magicicada Larva appears in front of him, which he promptly kills.

Introduction Arc
Saitama first appears watching a news report on Vaccine Man attacking Z-City. Seeing the destruction, he remarks, "I should go...".

Saitama appears at the scene just in time to save a young girl from being killed. The monster is angered and asks who Saitama is, and he replies that he is "just an average guy who serves as an average hero". After reluctantly listening to the monster's angry monologue and watching its transformation, Saitama kills it with an effortless punch. After this, he screams out in frustration at another easy victory; a pattern which will be repeated in future battles.

Some time after, Saitama hears about a Demon-level disaster emergency, stemming from the Brain and Brawn Brothers destruction of D-City. After finding the duo, Saitama leaps onto the monstrous Beefcake's shoulder and tells him to put some pants on. Oldface, Beefcake's brother who is on his other shoulder, is shocked by Saitama's sudden appearance and orders his brother to swat him. However, Beefcake absentmindedly swats at the wrong shoulder, instantly killing his brother. Enraged, Beefcake grabs Saitama and throws him into the ground. Saitama is unaffected, but Beefcake continues with a frenzied assault of massive stomps and punches, creating a large crater. Believing he has killed Saitama, Beefcake moves away, only for the completely unfazed  Saitama to dash out of the crater and crumple the giant's face with a single punch. Saitama states that having an overwhelming power is boring as hell, as the dying Beefcake topples over. Unfortunately, Saitama's blow causes him to fall on top of B-City and the town is destroyed.

House of Evolution Arc
Saitama later is shown lamenting his lot in life: how every fight ends with a single punch and goes on to compare all his battles to swatting insects. As if to illustrate the point to himself, he delivers a mighty swat to a mosquito that has landed on his hand, but when he lifts up his hand the mosquito flies away unharmed. After unsuccessfully swatting at it several more times, it flies off and Saitama is left in a rage. The mosquito is then shown to fly off to Mosquito Girl. Afterwards Saitama sees a news story about a mass mosquito outbreak that is headed towards Z-City.

When Mosquito Girl raids the city, Genos makes his first appearance and starts to fight her and performs well for a while, but then she begins absorbing all the blood gathered by her mosquitos. Saitama suddenly comes running around a corner on to the battlefield, in pursuit of the mosquito he'd been trying to kill. At that moment, Mosquito Girl finishes her blood-fueled evolution and sends her mosquitos crashing down on Saitama and Genos, the latter of whom obliterates them all with a gout of flame. When the smoke clears Saitama is standing there naked and only slightly singed, thanking Genos for killing the mosquitos.

The newly empowered Mosquito Girl starts attacking Genos and tearing him apart with her claws. Just as the heavily damaged Genos is about to resort to a self-destruct, Saitama suddenly slaps Mosquito Girl, sending her flying through a nearby building and into the sky. Dusting off his hands, Saitama remarks, "Man, I hate mosquitoes".

After witnessing Saitama's incredible power, Genos begs Saitama to make him his apprentice. At Saitama's house, Genos gives a long explanation of his past and motives, but Saitama is completely uninterested. Saitama agrees to take Genos on when he explains that he simply wants to be taught to become as strong as Saitama.

Meanwhile, the House of Evolution, having become interested in Saitama after he defeated their warrior Mosquito Girl, sends more of its creations to attempt to capture him. Manty arrives at Saitama's house first, crashing through the ceiling and immediately has his head punched off for the trouble. Saitama and Genos then go outside to meet the threat where they are confronted with Frog Man and Slugerous. Saitama promptly buries their heads in the ground complaining about how they made a hole in his ceiling. Suddenly, a hand emerges from the ground by Saitama's foot, grabbing his leg and dragging him underground, until only his head protrudes from the sidewalk. Genos begins to rush to Saitama's aid but is intercepted by Armored Gorilla. While Genos is fighting Armored Gorilla, Saitama is approached by Beast King.

Beast King congratulates Ground Dragon on incapacitating Saitama but notices that the distinctly un-terrified hero is falling asleep due to how pleasantly temperate he found it underground. Beast King starts to get angry and threatens to scratch Saitama's eyes out, at which point Saitama simply steps free out of the ground. Beast King then attacks Saitama, who easily avoids his claws and slicing air currents, one of which kills Frog Man and Slugerous. Beast King is enraged that none of his attacks are hitting and goes berserk, sending a flurry of attacks at Saitama, who dodges them all before striking back with a short combo of punches. The attack obliterates Beast King's entire upper body, prompting a terrified Ground Dragon to run away by digging underground, but Saitama appears in front of him through a hole of his own making and punches Ground Dragon through the earth and up into the sky. When Saitama gets back to the surface, he finds that Genos has defeated Armored Gorilla and is questioning him. After Saitama shows Armored Gorilla the remains of Beast King he tells them all they want to know.

Roughly four hours later, Saitama and Genos have climbed a forest path to arrive at the House of Evolution's base. Wasting no time, Genos destroys the above-ground portion of the base with an energy blast, surprising Saitama slightly with his ruthlessness. In the rubble they nonetheless find a metal door which leads to the basement. As they enter the subterranean portion of the lair, they are attacked by Asura Rhino, who discards his former 'master' Dr. Genus before embedding Genos into a wall and incapacitating him with a single, thunderous blow. Saitama is angered because Asura Rhino turned Genos into "modern art" and agrees to Asura Rhino's request for a fight.

The fight is about to start when Genos re-appears and attempts to fight Asura Rhino, but is beaten down again causing Saitama to step in to fight. Asura comments on how he can feel that Saitama is really strong, while Saitama tells him not to disappoint him, as he expects Asura to be the strongest being from the House.

Suddenly moving with tremendous speed, Asura Rhino appears behind Saitama and is about to strike him, but suddenly becomes extremely intimidated and leaps, back thinking to himself that if he had attacked at that moment he would have been killed. He explodes with rage and fear and orders Saitama to tell him how he got so strong. Saitama agrees to tell them and explains his method of 100 sit-ups, push-ups and squats and 10km of running every single day. Genos is outraged, stating that Saitama's strength would be totally impossible to achieve with that kind of routine strength training, while Asura Rhino is angered, thinking Saitama is mocking him.

Enraged, Asura Rhino enters "Asura Mode" and states that he'll stay in this form and go on an uncontrolled rampage for a week, "until next Saturday". Asura then begins to pummel Saitama, sending him flying around the room, while this is going on, Saitama comes to the horrifying realization that if "Asura Mode" lasts for a whole week ending on a Saturday, then it is in fact Saturday today and that he missed "special sale day". Suddenly overcome with despair, he cries out and obliterates Asura Rhino with one punch.

Paradise Group Arc
Saitama is first seen waking up frantically from a dream involving someone pointing a snotty finger at him. Realizing it was just a dream he then turns on the news and finds out that the criminal Hammerhead and his terrorist organization known as the Paradise Group, consisting entirely of bald, dangerous looking men have arrived and started wreaking havoc. The news warns everyone to avoid any bald men with a dangerous aura. This angers Saitama who states that this group will ruin his image as everyone wil mistake him for a villain. He resolves to  destroy the Paradise Group to protect his image.



On his search for the Paradise Group, Saitama finds himself lost in a forest. Trying to find a path out, he is halted when Hammerhead, recently defeated by the powerful ninja Sonic, appears rushing towards him. Hammerhead mistakes Saitama for someone wanting to join up with the Paradise Group, and Saitama tells him that he actually came to destroy them. Hammerhead swiftly attacks Saitama with a vicious punch but Saitama is unfazed and unimpressed. Enraged, Hammerhead charges up to full power and executes his windmill attack. Upon seeing this Saitama notices it looks much like an 'attack' he used to perform as a kid and wonders if Hammerhead is similar to him. He then stops the attack with little effort and shatters Hammerhead's battle suit with a quick punch.

After making him promise to never do bad things again, Saitama allows Hammerhead to flee. Shortly after, Sonic arrives demanding to know where Hammerhead has gone. Saitama points in the direction that Hammerhead fled and says, "He went that way. Naked." Sonic then attacks Saitama, mistaking him for a member of the Paradise Group, with a shuriken thrown at lightning fast speeds. However Saitama effortlessly catches both the shuriken and Sonic's subsequent attack with a sword and then proceeds to break the sword in half. Saitama then frantically explains that he is not a member of the Paradise Group and asks Sonic whether or not he recognizes him as the man who has saved the world many times. When Sonic says, "Nope, don't know you" Saitama becomes severely disheartened. Sonic then proceeds to attack Saitama, stating that the real problem here is that Saitama was able to see two of Sonic's attacks and that his pride cannot allow for Saitama to live. Upon hearing this, Saitama accuses Sonic of being a liar stating that Sonic just wants to test his attacks on him, indicated by the childish smile on Sonic's face.

After Sonic jumps around for quite some time, Saitama intercepts him and asks if he can go home now. Surprised, Sonic retaliates with a lightning fast kick, but Saitama attempts to interrupt his attack by placing his fist directly in the path of Sonic's genitals. However he accidentally moves his fist too far and taps Sonic's testicles. Sonic, clearly in pain from this accidental nut-shot, states that he will train day and night for their rematch and then flees. Later, Saitama is seen at his house going over the day's events with Genos. Saitama asks Genos to leave, stating that he is in shock due to a certain event that occurred that day. Genos, worried about anything that might shock Saitama, asks what it was and Saitama explains that he can't believe that Sonic had no idea who he was despite all his previous exploits. Genos then asks if Saitama was a registered superhero, to which Saitama replies in the negative. Genos then goes on to explain that anyone who hasn't registered with the Heroes Association will never be recognized for their feats. Saitama then resolves to become a licensed hero so he can achieve the fame he deserves.

National Superhero Registry Arc
Saitama arrives at the 6th Official Superhero Certification Exam Center and begins a series of physical tests. Saitama does so well on physical tests that he awes the examiners and disheartens the up and coming superheroes from taking the tests altogether. Later in the waiting room, Saitama meets with Genos and the two discuss the easiness of the superhero qualification tests and state that there is no way they didn't pass. When the results of the tests arrive it is revealed that Saitama barely passed, having achieved a score of 71 when the required minimum was 70, and recieces the C-class hero designation. Later it is revealed that Saitama achieved a perfect score in all the physical test and broke every record of the Superhero Association and the only reason his score was so low was because he did poorly on the written test.

Later during a lecture from an A-Class hero named Sneck, Saitama is seen slacking off. This angers Sneck and, along with hearing the news that Saitama could quickly surpass him, causes Sneck to later ambush Saitama but Sneck is quickly and non-lethally dispatched.

Sometime later Genos apparently requests a sparring match with Saitama. Saitama having earlier agreed to take Genos as his disciple officially, under the condition that Genos register as a superhero as well, accepts Genos' challenge. The battle begins when Genos fires a massive energy attack which Saitama dodges with ease. Genos then proceeds to attempt to attack Saitama physically but eventually discovers he was chasing an afterimage the whole time. After an extremely close-range energy attack in which Genos believe he finally landed a blow on Saitama. Saitama, having dodged the attack and poking Genos' face, declares himself the victor, but Genos reminds him that the match cannot end until one of them is unable to continue. Upon hearing this Saitama appears in front of Genos and delivers a devastating blow that stops inches from Genos' face. Genos is unharmed but the landscape behind him is obliterated. Saitama and Genos then return home.

5 days later Saitama is seen lounging around his house reading a magazine. He then notices Genos, carrying a huge backpack full of contents unknown, who then requests to live with Saitama. Saitama declines but eventually allows Genos to stay with him. Genos later informs Saitama that all C-Class heroes must defeat at least one opponent every week or they will be removed from the official registry. Saitama, realizing he only has two days remaining, sets out to find a villain, only to discover that Z-City is completely peaceful. Saitama decides he will check again the next day and returns home. Upon discovering that Z-City is peaceful for the second day in a row, Saitama becomes greatly distressed. All of a sudden, a shuriken is thrown at Saitama, who catches it, and discovers that his would-be assailant is none other than Sonic.

Saitama tells Sonic that he is busy and begins to walk away but Sonic rushes to intercept him. Frustrated, Saitama bites Sonic's sword, shattering it in the blink of an eye. He then explains again that he is busy and threatens that, if Sonic gets in his way again, he will punch him. At this time a woman from the crowd observes Saitama and states that he is a "Suspicious Person". Saitama, thinking that the woman was referring to Sonic, begins to lecture Sonic for being so violent. Then a C-Class hero, named Tanktop Tiger, explains that the woman was referring to Saitama. Saitama attempts to explain that he is also a registered hero but Tiger states that he has no idea who Saitama is and thinks that he should leave as he is ruining the reputation of other heroes. Saitama becomes increasingly annoyed but, before he has a chance to attack, Sonic launches a surprise assault on Tiger, who is defeated instantly.

Sonic then begins to wreak havoc on the surrounding civilians. During this chaos Saitama saves a small boy's life by effortlessly moving a tree in place to intercept a falling car that would have otherwise killed the boy. Saitama, angered both by the fact that he can't find a bad guy to fight and that civilians are in danger, realizes that Sonic is now considered a bad guy and decides to retaliate. Saitama appears behind Sonic and dispatches him with a single swift chop.

Rumored Monster Arc
Saitama, apparently returning home from shopping, happens upon a scene where a monster has just dispatched two A-Class heroes in battle. Saitama remembers that he forgot to get kombu at the store and notices that this monster appears to be made of it. Later, Saitama is seen cooking kombu that was apparently taken directly from the monster's body. Genos reveals later that Saitama wanted to eat kombu to see if it could make his hair grow back.

Abilities
Saitama is the titular One Punch Man - by far the strongest character in the series. No enemy has so far been able to injure him in any way, or to survive even one of his punches. Saitama's 'power' is that his body is far beyond human limits, allowing him to achieve astounding physical feats. His strength is so great that it vastly eclipses even artificial beings designed or bred specifically for superhuman combat, such as the cyborg Genos or the warriors of the House of Evolution. Notably, since no enemies have yet posed any challenge to Saitama, the upper bound of his strength is likely even higher than it appears. However, his power is notably limited to heightened human traits; Saitama cannot fly or fire energy blasts, for example.

The origin of Saitama's unbelieveable strength is mysterious and unclear. Although he tells everyone he got his incredible power through mere strength training, no one believes him. According to Saitama, after a  year and half of 100 daily push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, plus ten kilometers daily running, he had achieved some level of superhuman strength. This training was apparently so intense for Saitama that he at times felt as if he might die, and claims it is what caused all of his hair to suddenly and prematurely fall out. He apparently continued training for another year and half before beginning his hero career. Genos believes that Saitama doesn't actually know or understand how he gained his power, and hopes to learn the secret to it by sparring with and observing him.

Super Strength: Saitama is capable of effortlessly defeating any enemy, even ones many times his size, with a single, nonchalant punch (although this strength is not limited to punches). Saitama's punch is so powerful that many enemies simply explode when struck by it. He has also been known to effortlessly destroy walls and buildings with his attacks. An example of this casual, yet overwhelming offensive power occurs when Saitama inelegantly 'swats' Mosquito Girl through a nearby building and into the sky, killing her. His dialogue implicitly likens the attack to swatting an insect. His jaw is powerful enough to bite through and shatter Sonic's sword.


 * Super Leap: His inability to fly is somewhat compensated for by his ability to use his strength to leap tremendous heights and distances. This can be shown by him smashing his head through the ceiling of a gymnasium during the hero tryouts.

Super Speed: Saitama was able to complete a 1500 meter dash in an instant during his hero tryouts. He has proven able to effortlessly keep up with Sonic, whose main ability is super speed. Even Genos' computerized targeting systems have difficulty tracking him.


 * Afterimages: He is so fast that he leaves afterimages when moving at high speeds, and is agile enough to dodge Beast King's rapid-fire Limbcutter attacks while moving in for the kill.

Extreme Senses: Saitama's senses are far beyond the human norm, being able to keep track of extremely fast opponents (such as Sonic) easily. He also seems to have developed a sixth sense, being able to dodge danger even though he hasn't seen it. Nevertheless, Saitama's senses do not have the same degree of 'resolution' as some of Genos's sensors, which can detect and distinguish foes at a greater distance.

Invulnerability: Saitama can withstand blows from extremely powerful beings such as Asura Rhino without taking a scratch or apparently feeling any pain. Indeed Saitama has only been seen to bleed from a blow during a dream in which he imagined facing opponents close to his level. When Genos created a huge, spherical blast of flame to kill Mosquito Girl's mosquitoes with Saitama standing right next to him, Saitama was totally unharmed and unperturbed, although his civilian clothes were incinerated. It is worth noting that mosquitoes seem to be able to penetrate his skin, and that Saitama seems to prefer to dodge or block attacks using edged weapons rather than take them head on, as he sometimes does with strikes from fists or blunt objects.

Quotes

 * (To Beefcake) "Having an overwhelming power is boring as hell."