Boros (ボロス, Borosu), also called Lord Boros (ボロス様, Borosu-sama) by his subordinates, was the leader of the Dark Matter Thieves, a group of alien invaders responsible for the destruction of A-City. Like Saitama, Boros faced a self-imposed existential crisis, having become so powerful that no battle thrilled him. His intergalactic travels in search of a worthy opponent led him to Earth, where he was killed by Saitama.[4]
Boros was a very tall cyclops-like alien with light-pink, spiky hair and bangs that fell over his face. He had sharp teeth and pointed ears lined with a row of gold earrings (silver in the animated adaptation). He had one large blue eye and light blue skin with dark blue crack-shaped markings that started from his eye and covered most of his body. He wore a set of armor with spikes on the shoulder and forearms and wore a pair of matching curved boots. In the manga, his skin in his sealed form was purple with darker purple stripes on his face. He also had a red orb on his chest with purple markings on his stomach and arms. In the manga, the red orb on his chest is seemingly an eye protector and is part of his armor. He wore a pair of white harem pants, held by a magenta-colored sash with silver-lined purple blades hanging from it.
After Saitama destroyed his armor, Boros's appearance changed into a second transformation. His muscle mass increased, and his body grew spiky plates and his spine and the surrounding tissue became exposed, while his skin changed to a navy blue color with light blue markings that emitted energy. He was shown with an additional yellow eye under his chest which moved in sync with his original, now yellowish-green eye and his hair was completely spiked up becoming slightly darker in color.
In his Meteoric Burst form, his appearance changed drastically. His hair grew, reaching his back, his eye became completely white, though at times a black pupil became visible, and his body got engulfed in white energy, while his markings returned to their original, dark blue color.
Boros's appearance when wearing his armour.
Boros's second transformation.
Boros in his Meteoric Burst form.
Personality[]
Boros excited to meet Saitama, who he sees as a worthy opponent.
Because of his incredible power, Boros was both arrogant and prideful. Driven by his love for battle and his inability to find anyone capable of matching his strength, he roamed the universe seeking worthy opponents. He was also extremely callous, indifferent to the destruction and loss of life his invasion caused to A-City, and the destruction of his ship and the death of most of his crew while fighting Saitama. Despite this, he displayed moments of courtesy and respect, reassuring Geryuganshoop when he expressed concern about their ship and warmly greeting Saitama upon his arrival. As their battle progressed and Saitama continued to withstand his attacks, Boros increasingly respected him. After being defeated, he seemed to be at peace with his imminent death, discounting the prophecy but feeling fulfilled by the exhilarating fight he had with Saitama, regardless of the outcome.
In battle, he was shown to have a very cautious and serious behavior, attempting to end fights quickly and make sure his opponent doesn't have any chance to surprise him.
History[]
An alien seer foretold to Boros that he would find an opponent on a distant planet who could match him in strength and provide the thrilling battle he sought. After traveling the universe for 20 years, he finally arrived on Earth.[5]
The Dark Matter Thieves appear above A-City and bombard it with shells, destroying 99.8% of the city in an instant.[6] The only structure left standing is the Hero Association headquarters.[7] Saitama, who was in the building, breaks into the spaceship and kills Groribas[8] and Geryuganshoop, two of Boros's top subordinates, much to the alien's surprise.[9] Saitama then confronts Boros.
Boros unleashing his power.
Face to face with Saitama, Boros explains that he traveled to Earth because of a prophecy that foretold of a worthy opponent there.[10] He attempts to goad Saitama into fighting with him. Suddenly, Saitama punches him into a pillar and berates him for destroying A-City for a stupid reason. Boros, much to Saitama's surprise, survives the hero's punch and stands up. With his restraining armor now destroyed, Boros unleashes his true strength and prepares to fight the hero.[11]
Boros punches Saitama after activating Meteoric Burst.
Boros and Saitama engage in a fierce battle. When Boros realizes that Saitama is unaffected by his attacks, he resorts to his ultimate technique, Meteoric Burst, intensifying his assault. He concludes his attacks with a knee strike that launches Saitama to the Moon.[12] Shortly after, Saitama leaps back from the moon, landing directly on the spaceship.[13] Boros, surprised yet excited at Saitama's return, charges at him with a flurry of attacks. Initially unmoving, Saitama eventually counters with a single punch that sends Boros flying back, followed by his Consecutive Normal Punches, which tears Boros apart. Nevertheless, his regenerative abilities allow him to re-form almost immediately.[14]
Boros lies defeated by Saitama.
Eager to end the fight, Boros decides to use his final attack, Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon, to annihilate Saitama and the planet itself. Before the blast hits the planet, Saitama uses his killer move, Serious Punch to repel it and critically damage Boros. Defeated and incapable of regenerating from the heavy damage, Boros compliments Saitama for the splendid battle.[15] Although Saitama agrees with him, Boros replies that the hero was lying and that he had strength to spare, stating that the prophecy he had gambled on was unreliable as Saitama is too powerful. Boros then passes away while a victorious Saitama leaves the ruins of the spaceship.[16]
It is revealed that Boros's body was taken by Bofoi along with his giant spaceship. When Genos arrives at one of Bofoi's laboratories in search of him, he discovers an unconscious Boros inside a medical machine filled with a healing liquid. Genos remarks that Boros's brain activity has ceased and questions whether he is a mindless weapon designed solely for combat. Preparing to destroy the container and eliminate Boros, he is interrupted by two robots resembling the Metal Knight Unit. Genos swiftly defeats them before demolishing the entire laboratory and leaving. It remains unclear if Boros is still alive after this.[17]
Boros is one of the various characters able to be summoned. He is a powerful dark unit.
Abilities and Powers[]
As the leader of the alien invasion force, Boros had absolute authority over his armada and was exceptionally powerful. According to Boros, his species developed the most advanced regenerative abilities in the universe to adapt to the harsh conditions of their home planet. Additionally, he could sense people's energy, which appeared as an aura around them. He was the first on-screen opponent to withstand a punch from Saitama, a remarkable feat, considering all previous adversaries had been defeated, while Boros only lost his armor from the first punch.
Saitama even remarked that fighting Boros was "almost like a real fight."[18] During their battle, Boros endured three normal punches, a Consecutive Normal Punches attack, and the shockwave from Saitama's Serious Punch. Saitama acknowledged Boros's strength, considering him the most powerful foe he had faced at that point.
Expand to see original webcomic information. Beware of spoiler content.
Upon discovering Boros still recuperating in a recovery chamber at one of Bofoi's laboratories, Genos finds himself unable to estimate the disaster level posed by Boros due to an overwhelmingly high energy reading.[19]
Physical Abilities[]
Boros was gifted with superpowers from birth, which vastly increased his powers with time and experience. He claimed that he, in particular, possessed regeneration, physical prowess, and latent energy that far surpassed all other members of his race.
Boros sends Saitama crashing through several pillars.
Immense Strength: Boros has displayed extreme amounts of physical strength during his fight against Saitama. He was able to knock Saitama through several pillars of his ship with only a single punch, with the alien's various strikes easily damaging the place.[20] He was also capable of busting through the outer hull of his spaceship with apparent ease,[21] the same hull that was durable enough to even withstand the immense impact caused by Saitama leaping on it all the way from the Moon, with the jump being powerful enough to leave a massively huge crater on the natural satellite.[22]
Boros clearing the massive surrounding smoke cloud with a single punch.
Shockwave Generation: Boros can generate powerful shockwaves with the force of his punches. His punch had so much power behind it, that the sheer pressure of the collision of his fist drove away an immense smoke cloud created by his energy blast with a powerful shockwave.
Immense Durability: Boros was incredibly resilient, becoming the first on-screen opponent to survive a direct hit from Saitama's normal punch. Despite having his full power sealed by his armor, he endured the attack with only mild surprise from the hero. Even after taking a punch in his Meteoric Burst form, he remained intact, though he was bleeding and injured.
Boros and Saitama fighting at immense speeds.
Immense Speed and Reflexes: Boros possessed incredible speed and agility, as he was able to keep up with a suppressed Saitama. He used the latent energy shunted from his body as a means of propulsion, making him incredibly fast. Even at high speeds, he was very agile. While battling inside the giant space ship, Boros and Saitama were so fast that normal human eyes would have been unable to follow their fight.[2]
Immense Endurance: Boros possessed remarkable endurance. Even after losing an arm in battle, he showed no signs of pain.[23] Despite completely exhausting his energy with his final move and nearly being obliterated by the shockwave from Saitama's Serious Punch, he remained conscious long enough to speak with the hero before passing away.[24]
Boros regenerating his arm.
Regeneration: Like the rest of his species, Boros had an extraordinary regeneration rate, surpassing all others of his kind. He regrew an arm instantly by focusing his energy. Even after being torn apart by Saitama's Consecutive Normal Punches, he quickly regenerated his entire body. However, his regeneration had limits; after exhausting all his energy, he could not recover from Saitama's Serious Punch and ultimately perished.
Boros fires an energy blast.
Energy Projection: Boros could harness his body's latent energy to fire devastating blasts from the eye in his chest, capable of incinerating parts of the highly durable spaceship. His attacks had a massive area of effect, with one energy blast spreading flames across the ship's surface upon impact.[25] He also combined energy projection with physical strikes, creating shockwaves and blasts capable of destroying city-sized areas.[26] According to Boros, these attacks were so powerful that weaker beings would be instantly vaporized.[24]
Flight: By releasing energy from his body through his use of energy projection, Boros was able to propel himself through the air at incredibly high speeds.
Energy Bullets (エネルギ弾, Enerugi-dan): Boros condenses the energy in his body and shoots through his eyes.[2]
Power Release (パワー解放, Pawā kaihō): Boros wore an ornate suit of armor that was designed to keep his immense powers in check. When the armor was removed from his body, it became black and spiky and began to glow from the released energy. Boros praised Saitama for being the first to last as long against his power in that state, suggesting that even in that form, Boros was immensely powerful compared to other enemies.
Fighting Style[]
Experienced Combatant: Boros was presumably a skilled fighter with decades of experience and not a single loss in combat.
Boros activating Meteoric Burst.
Meteoric Burst (メテオリックバースト, Meteorikku Bāsuto): Boros's trump card which he resorted to when he wished to settle a fight quickly. He used his latent energy to boost his body to speed and power beyond normal limits, at the cost of putting an immense burden on his body and thus shortening his lifespan. This also completely changed his appearance, the color of his body changing to cherry pink and his hair growing longer.
The augmented speed offered by Meteoric Burst melts parts of the ship within Boros' vicinity
Augmented Speed: Boros's speed was also shown to increase drastically with the activation of Meteoric Burst. He moved so quickly that he appeared as just a purple streak and caused the durable ship around him to melt just by moving within its vicinity.[24] In this form, Boros's movements were fast enough that even Saitama seemed mildly impressed.[27] Boros's movements are propelled by energy, not his limbs.[28]
Augmented Strength: Along with his other attributes, Boros's strength grew to preposterous levels. The first punch he threw at Saitama in this state devastated a section of his ship. One of Boros's kicks had so much strength behind it that its force was enough to send Saitama rocketing through space, all the way to the moon. The kicking technique envelops the opponent in energy and moves them at almost the speed of light.[29][30]
Boros unleashing Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon
Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon (崩星咆哮砲, Hōsei Hōkōhō): Boros's ultimate attack. While in his Meteoric Burst form, he could launch a massive beam of energy from his mouth which was much larger than his average energy beams. The color was also different; instead of being only blue, it had golden tones to it. Boros stated that he needed to concentrate and release the entirety of his latent energy to perform this technique. The beam was stated to be powerful enough to destroy the planet's surface (the entire planet in the anime).
Equipment[]
Restraining Armor: Boros wore a set of armor that restrained his power. It was shattered by Saitama's first blow.
(To Saitama) "There exists a prophecy. I was once a traveler, exploring the universe, ravaging everything in sight. But I was too strong; eventually, I found there were none left that could face me. I came to know the torment of utter, all-encompassing boredom. Then one day, a great seer told me somewhere on a faraway planet, a being exists who is my match; one who could rekindle my passion for battle. That was nearly 20 years ago; have you any concept of the distance I've traveled to get here? My men thought the prophecy was a ruse, a fairy tale meant to focus my attention and lure me away. But now I am certain it was true! Come, and give stimulation to my existence! That, is why I am here!"[31]
(Referring to Saitama) "This state... It burdens my body immensely, similar to anaerobic exercise. It's supposed to be a trump card I only use to settle a fight quickly... but this man, makes me wanna go all out!"[32]
(To Saitama) "That's the way, Saitama. You are indeed worth defeating!"[33]
(To Saitama) "You lie. You had strength to spare. I never stood a chance. It wasn't even a battle. So much for prophecies. You were too strong... Saitama..."[34]
Trivia[]
Boros is ranked 11th in the character popularity poll.[35]
Boros' original design (left) and redesign (right)
In the first release of the manga, Boros looked more human and had a steel-plated looking armor with a skull ornament. His design was later redrawn by Yusuke Murata in order to look more alien.
Boros was the first on-screen opponent of Saitama that survived after getting punched, much to the hero's surprise. In fact, he is the very first of Saitama's opponents that took more than one punch to kill; Saitama even considered him to be the strongest opponent he had faced so far.
The origin of Boros' name is from a game ONE played.[36] It could be a reference to Ballos, the true antagonist of Cave Story, who shares the same Japanese name.
In an interview, when asked who would win in a fight between Boros and Garou, ONE stated it would be a "good match" but noted that Garou is superior in close combat.[37][38] However, this statement was made long before the introduction of Awakened Garou: Cosmic Fear Mode.
ONE has stated that Boros' disaster level is "Dragon or higher," but did not outright say God. A similar statement was also made about Orochi's disaster level by Murata.[3][39]
"Dragon or higher" later became an official disaster level in the manga for Byakko and Genbu.[40]
Boros is one of the few opponents that has deduced Saitama's immense power without first underestimating him based on appearance,[41] the other two being Carnage Kabuto and Orochi.
Boros is actually an allusion to one of ONE's previous works that was never officially released, Taiyo Man (Sun Man). In the story, the final boss was too strong for the plot to progress, so ONE had to scrap it.[42]
Murata states that Boros and Deep Sea King are his favorite monsters due to the impact they have had on the series.[43]
Scrapped concept for a transformation past Meteoric Burst
Murata wanted to give Boros another transformation past Meteoric Burst before unleashing Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon. The idea was abandoned because that would imply Boros was still holding back in Meteoric Burst, which was not the case, as he was already going all out.[44]
In the 2017 One-Punch Man Halloween cover, Boros was depicted as Great King Enma (閻魔大王, Enma Dai-Ō) with the kanji 王 (King) on his hat.[45]
In the anime, Boros' fight against Saitama presents many similarities with Saitama's dream fight against the Subterraneans in terms of poses and the heartbeat, creating a connection between the first and the last episode of the season. This further highlights how Boros can relate to Saitama's existential crisis and felt the exhilaration of a real fight like Saitama in his dream.
One of Blast's companions bears a strong resemblance to Boros and may be the same species as him.
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