— Vaccine Man[1] |
Vaccine Man (ワクチンマン, Wakuchin Man) was a Mysterious Being supposedly born from the release of excessive pollution and waste generated by the industries made by human beings. He claimed he was created as an incarnation of nature's wrath and was tasked to wipe out humanity and thus effectively "vaccinate" the Earth against future "infections." He was killed by Saitama.[1]
Appearance[]
Vaccine Man was a large, purple hairless humanoid with two rounded antennae on his head. He had a bare muscular body. Vaccine Man also demonstrated the ability of shapeshifting, he could transform into a bigger and complex form, armed with large teeth, claws, and fangs.
Personality[]
Acting as the anti-villain antagonist, Vaccine Man set out to extinguish humanity for the sake of his interpretation on the status of the environment being poor, as he considered humans to be an "infection" that wither the environment into a polluted, tainted mess of machinery; and carcasses of organisms. The thought of opposition enraged him for he believed he acted out the wishes of planet Earth.[3]
History[]
Vaccine Man was supposedly created as a response to the industrial reign over nature. Conceived by nature, in his own words, he has been formed to serve as the apostle of Mother Earth and under the wishes of such. He believes the Earth as a single living organism that is in need of protection and relief of pain, so Vaccine Man has set out to carry out the deed in extinguishing humanity so nature can prosper completely once more. To do this, he has tasked himself to attack the areas where humans are known to live in an infrastructure of technology and artificial order.
Plot[]
Introduction Saga[]
Vaccine Man appears next to A-City, creating a crater as a result of his travels. He conceives multiple balls of energy that cause further destruction to the city. Lightning Max and Smile Man were sent after Vaccine Man but are defeated easily.[4] He then notices a crying schoolgirl and proceeds to try to grab and crush her. She is saved by Saitama, whom Vaccine Man questions regarding the hero's identity. Saitama says that he is just an average hero doing average hero things as a hobby.
Offended at Saitama's casual attitude, Vaccine Man launches into a diatribe about his name and purpose while transforming into his second form. Saitama quickly defeats him in a single punch, the staple of the latter's heroic deeds for the rest of the series.[1] Credit for defeating him ultimately went to King, who was passing by and accidentally tripped onto Vaccine Man’s remains.[5][6]
Appearances in Other Media[]
Video Games[]
One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows[]
Vaccine Man is a playable character in the video game, One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows.
Abilities and Powers[]
Vaccine Man was a creature of great strength and size, enough so to be classed a threat level of "Dragon." He could destroy a large part of a big city quickly. He breezed through 31 heroes, some of which included passing by a couple A-Class heroes and making them retreat without even noticing them. He was also said to be perhaps the greatest mysterious being that appeared till that point in time.[6]
Physical Abilities[]
Immense Strength: As a Dragon-level Mysterious Being, Vaccine Man was presumably very powerful, although the depths of his strength were never seen. He was strong enough to defeat two A-Class heroes and several other heroes with apparently little to no effort.
Transformation (変身, Henshin): Vaccine Man can transform into his true, more advanced form, bearing longer claws & teeth, a darker coloration, solid luminescent red eyes, tusks, and scales and spikes.[7] He can even revert just one part of his body to preserve energy,[2] as was shown when he was about to crush a schoolgirl.[8]
- Augmented Strength: Vaccine Man got an extreme power-up by transforming from his normal body to his true form, drastically increasing his fighting strength.[2] However; the extent of this form's power is unknown, as Vaccine Man was killed by Saitama after adopting it.[1]
Supernatural Abilities[]
Energy Balls (エネルギー弾, Enerugī-dan): Vaccine Man was capable of shooting energy balls which caused large-scale explosions upon cities.[9] His energy balls are said to be the accumulation of "biological" energy present naturally on Earth.[2]
Flight (飛行能力, Hikō nōryoku): Despite not having any wings, Vaccine Man possesses the ability to fly.[2] When he does, he is surrounded by an aura that's similar to his energy balls and takes off several feet in the air.[9]
Major Battles[]
Participants | Chapter(s) | Episode(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Vaccine Man vs. Smile Man and Lightning Max (Off-Screen) | Witness | 1 | Win |
Vaccine Man vs. Saitama | 1 | 1 | Vaccine Man is killed |
Quotes[]
- (To Saitama): "What kind of ridiculous backstory is that?! I exist because of humankind's constant pollution of the environment! I am Vaccine Man! The Earth is a single living organism! And you humans are the disease-causing germs killing it! The will of the Earth gave birth to me so that I may destroy humanity and their insidious civilization! But you do this for fun?! That's the reason you dare to oppose me, the Earth's apostle!? Then indeed I must wipe humankind from existence!"
Trivia[]
- Vaccine Man's normal form bears a strong resemblance to the character Piccolo from the popular manga series Dragon Ball. Coincidentally, the character happens to share the same English voice actor, Christopher Sabat, and the same German voice actor, David Nathan.
- Vaccine Man happens to be a parody of the character Baikinman, the primary antagonist of Anpanman, given that One Punch Man is a reference to Anpanman. The way Saitama defeats him (a single punch) is also an exaggeration of how Anpanman effortlessly dispatches Baikinman with his "An-Punch". Vaccine Man also shares the same Japanese voice actor as Baikinman, Ryusei Nakao.
- Nakao himself is also known for voicing Frieza in the Dragon Ball series (DBZ and DBS).
- Murata stated that the energy balls Vaccine Man uses are the same as Choze and Homeless Emperor.[10]
- Murata stated jokingly in an interview that because there's no way to measure Saitama's strength, it can't be excluded the possibility that Vaccine Man is the strongest monster of the series, as ONE breaks the storytelling mold of introducing monsters that are subsequently stronger.[11]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 One-Punch Man Manga and Anime; Chapter 1, and Episode 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 One-Punch Man Encyclopedia; One-Punch Man: Hero Encyclopedia, page 102-103
- ↑ One-Punch Man Manga; Chapter 1, page 15
- ↑ One-Punch Man Anime; Episode 1
- ↑ One-Punch Man Manga; Chapter 38, page 3-5
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 One-Punch Man Manga; Witness
- ↑ One-Punch Man Manga; Chapter 1, page 16
- ↑ One-Punch Man Manga; Chapter 1, page 9
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 One-Punch Man Manga; Chapter 1, page 5
- ↑ One-Punch Man Stream; 24/2/2017
- ↑ One-Punch Man Interview; One Punch Man Notes: Secret Compus Vol. 2