How One-Punch Man Became So Strong - Every Theory Explained

Warning: contains spoilers for the One-Punch Man manga

Popular manga and anime series One-Punch Man follows Saitama, a hero who's able to defeat any villain in a single punch. While the concept proves to be a fascinating exploration of ennui and what it means to be the best, it still begs the question of how Saitama got so powerful in the first place?

The question has dominated the minds of many a character from the series. Saitama's protege Genos asks this first, and the explanation that Saitama offers is simple: he performed 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats, and ran 10 kilometers each day for over a year. Genos, as well as the scientist from the House of Evolution who overhears, finds this explanation to be outrageous, noting that it's not even a particularly strenuous routine. While Saitama insists this is the secret, even blaming the routine for the loss of his hair, Genos is convinced from this point forward that Saitama has no idea about the origin of his power.

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Extreme training does seem to be a way to obtain superpowers in this universe; characters like Superalloy Blackluster and Puri Puri Prisoner have superhuman strength, and Blackluster literally started out as a bodybuilder. However, their bodies reflect the amount of training that has gone into them, with massive visible muscles, while Saitama doesn't look particularly strong at first glance. Even if his routine is the source of his strength, Saitama has several other abilities that can't simply be explained with exercise, like withstanding the heat of fireballs or being completely unharmed by an enemy's volley of attacks.

A few characters, including the aforementioned scientist and Psychos, the secret mastermind behind the Monster Association, have formulated a theory of "growth limitation" to explain the increasing power of Saitama, Garou, and a few others. The idea is that there are natural limits on what should be possible for a person (or monster) to achieve and that once this limit is reached, no amount of training or experience will allow for further growth. However, in rare cases, it seems to be possible for individuals to shatter through this limit, achieving seemingly endless growth and power. Psychos believed that close calls with death were the most effective way to break through the limit barrier, and put this theory to the test with both Monster King Orochi and, later, Garou. Saitama does emphasize that he often "felt like he was going to die" while performing his routine, so it's possible he managed this entirely by accident.

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The most unique and interesting theory for Saitama's power, however, involves God himself. It's shown in One-Punch Man that superpowers can have a divine origin as well. Homeless Emperor, one of the lieutenants in the Monster Association, appears to be a totally ordinary human but possesses incredible powers of energy projection and control. He says these powers were a gift from God while he contemplated suicide, and that his mission is now to wipe mankind from the face of the Earth. Interestingly, he's not the first to make such a claim: the first villain in the series, Vaccine Man, says something similar, comparing humanity to a virus.

Upon coming in contact with a mysterious cube found within the Monster Association's headquarters, Saitama, Flashy Flash, and the monster Oculette actually communicated with this god-like being, so it's definitely more than a delusion. God offered the three of them a chance to test whether they were worthy of greater powers, or deserved to have theirs taken away. None of them took up the offer before the number one hero Blast arrived, and God recognized him. Blast immediately stated that he was collecting these cubes and that he had some familiarity with this God, although he did not elaborate. Blast was shown with a similar cube in the past, during a flashback to Tatsumaki's childhood.

The theory suggests that, either through coming in contact with a cube or by some other "blessing," Saitama obtained his formidable strength and invulnerability. While Homeless Emperor and Vaccine Man both suggest that God shares their view of humanity, it's possible that Saitama gaining some portion of this power was a complete accident. God might also be nondiscriminatory in how it distributes these powers, giving them to anyone who can pass its test without regard for their motives. If this is the case, though, why doesn't Saitama remember it, and why doesn't God appear to recognize Saitama the way it does Blast?

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Blast's interference seems to support the idea that this God being is incredibly dangerous and should be avoided, so it does look unlikely that it would give power to Saitama, someone actively fighting against its goal of eliminating humanity. Saitama could be drawing on this God being's power unknowingly, although that may mean his power could be revoked at any time. It's also possible that this "God" is not the only being of its kind, and that another similar being intervening on behalf of humankind provided powers to Saitama instead. Since the source of Blast's power is also a mystery, it may well be that Blast is the emissary of God's nemesis, specifically tasked with preventing this being from interfering in the affairs of Earth by collecting these cubes, which would explain why he's always so difficult to reach. In that case, Blast and Saitama would share the same source for their power--and perhaps even Tatsumaki and Fubuki as well.

Despite all the fan theories, the true explanation for Saitama's incredible strength has yet to be confirmed, and it's likely to remain that way until the series begins to draw to a close. In a traditional superhero tale, it would be appropriate for a revelation about Saitama's power to act as a plot point, and the series may yet do that. However, if there's one thing One-Punch Man isn't, it's traditional, so it's almost as likely that his strength will never be properly explained, if only because that's just not what the series is meant to be about.

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