How Strong is Saitama in One-Punch Man?
The story of One Punch Man follows Saitama, a human who gains godlike power and the ability to defeat any opponent with a single punch, no matter how strong or powerful they are. Saitama wanted to be a hero who protects people, so he decided to train to become the strongest. However, he had no idea just how powerful he would become.
Saitama was able to break his limiter by following a near-impossible training regimen: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run every single day for three years straight. As a result, the limit placed on all beings was broken, allowing Saitama’s strength to grow without bounds. A limiter is a theoretical barrier that restricts the physical growth and strength of a being, placed on them by God. God made a growth limitation on every being to prevent them from losing purpose. Eventually, everyone reaches this upper limit, where they can no longer develop more strength, no matter how hard they try. However, Saitama broke through his limiter, resulting in immeasurable strength.
Saitama's Ultimate Training
Saitama is often described as an end-of-series protagonist placed at the beginning of the series. In the world of One Punch Man, monsters are categorized into different tiers based on their threat level and overall power: Tiger, Demon, Dragon, and the most powerful of them all, God. God-level threats are incredibly rare and capable of causing unpredictable levels of destruction, posing a threat to all of humanity. However, for Saitama, it doesn’t matter. He is able to defeat Dragon-level threats, such as the Deep Sea King, who can take out multiple S-Class heroes with no difficulty. Yet, Saitama defeats him with just a single punch.
Facing Dragon-Level Threats
Among the stars, there is another being who is bored of fighting weak opponents and seeks a challenge—Boros, an alien from space known as the Dominator of the Universe. Boros targets Earth, looking for a prophecy to be fulfilled. When Boros and Saitama finally face each other, Boros comments on Saitama’s power, saying he can sense no bottom to his strength. Up to this point in the series, Saitama has defeated every monster with a single normal punch. However, Boros is different. Although Saitama punches Boros and shatters his armor, which was limiting his immense power, Boros survives. Boros’s strength continues to rise as he transforms and attacks Saitama, but Saitama seems unharmed.
The Battle with Boros
Boros’s species can regenerate even from a pool of blood, which comes in handy as Saitama’s consecutive normal punches obliterate his body. Boros manages to kick Saitama to the moon, and Saitama performs an incredible feat by jumping from the moon back to Earth, moving at nearly the speed of light. Boros decides to finish the fight with his most powerful attack, the Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon, which he claims can destroy the entire planet’s surface. Finally, Saitama uses his Serious Punch, and the shockwave from this punch alone is enough to obliterate Boros’s attack and even split the Earth’s atmosphere. Boros admits that Saitama was still holding back, and once again, Saitama finds himself alone in the universe as the strongest.
Confronting the Monster Association
Saitama later faces even more powerful monsters from the Monster Association, defeating Elder Centipede, Overgrown Rover, and even the King of the Monsters, Orochi. Despite these victories, it still only takes Saitama a single punch to win.
Garo: The Rise of a Monster
Speaking of Garo, his goal is to become a monster himself. His passion to achieve this goal literally changes his biology, transforming him into Monster Garo. In his fight with Platinum Sperm, Garo’s movements are so fast that they occur within fractions of a second, with their speed being calculated at 200 times faster than light. We also learn more about the most mysterious and possibly the strongest character in the entire show—God. God is the creator of all existence and everything within it, having control over time and space. The number one hero, Blast, has studied God and even encountered him face-to-face. God uses deception to get mortals to do his bidding, often taking the form of their most influential person.
Cosmic Garo: Power Beyond Limits
When Garo encounters God, he is offered some of God’s power. All Garo has to do is take his hand. Garo refuses, but even that slight touch between God and Monster produces something interesting. When Garo returns to Earth, he is no longer a monster—he is a god. Cosmic Garo is the most powerful character so far, excluding God himself. He now has knowledge of all the energy in the universe and possesses mind-blowing new abilities. As a human, Garo could copy anyone’s techniques, but now he can do more. He puts this new power on display by copying Blast’s space manipulation abilities, using nuclear fission, and even creating his own subspace gates. He defeats all the heroes, and Saitama arrives on the battlefield just in time to see Garo punch a hole through Genos’s core. This pushes Saitama to his limit, and he decides to stop holding back.
The Epic Clash: Saitama vs. Cosmic Garo
Saitama attacks Garo with his most powerful punch, but Garo manages to survive by copying Saitama’s strength. Garo calls this ability “Saitama Mode” and winds up his own serious punch. Blast senses the energy they are about to release and uses his subspace gates to contain their clash in space. He even needs the help of others to redirect the attack from Earth. The energy released repels Garo and Saitama to deep space, landing them on one of Jupiter’s moons. Their punch, labeled Serious Punch Squared, seems to destroy stars within its radius, generating multi-galaxy levels of power.
Saitama tells Garo that he is glad he can finally use his full power against someone who can stand up to him. However, Saitama is not excited, as he was in his dream, because of the death of his friend. Garo tries to use his abilities against Saitama, but none of them work. He attempts to use his subspace gates, but Saitama just kicks them away. Saitama then grabs the surface of the moon and tears it off using a Serious Table Flip. Garo acknowledges that Saitama’s strength is limitless and tries to copy him limitlessly. However, for some reason, it doesn’t work.
A Strength with No Limits
We get a look at how Saitama’s strength works, shown on a graph in comparison to Garo’s. Saitama’s strength has finite jumps but keeps growing higher and higher so fast that characters who can copy abilities just by looking at them can’t keep up. Saitama grows so exponentially fast that Garo can’t copy his strength. Saitama becomes bored with the fight again. He catches one of Garo’s punches, and what happens next is crazy—Saitama sneezes, and the force of his sneeze alone is enough to destroy Jupiter. Garo realizes that this is enough and tries to escape.
Garo kicks Saitama to the other end of space and uses one of his subspace gates to return to Earth. However, Saitama uses a Serious Fart to move faster than light and catches up to Garo. Saitama punches Garo back to Earth, and when he sees that the kid he befriended has died, he decides he’s done. Garo tells Saitama that it’s up to him to fix his mistakes and teaches him an ability he hoped to master if he had obtained God’s power. However, it still wasn’t enough. Saitama, however, is a completely different story.
Garo shows Saitama how to reverse particles and anti-particles. As Saitama’s particles do the same, God decides to take Garo’s power away. Before Garo dies, he tells Saitama that if anyone can master God’s power without taking his hand, it’s him. Saitama is launched backward in time, witnessing all the past events. When he sees Garo in the past, Saitama does what he does best—he balls up his fist and punches, reversing causality itself, creating an attack that ends the fight with zero punches.
Can Saitama Defeat God?
Saitama’s strength continues to grow, with no end in sight. But seeing that Garo could temporarily match Saitama’s strength by barely touching God’s hand, one question remains: Can the creation defeat the creator? Can Saitama defeat God?
