One-Punch Man Revealed The Secret Behind Saitama's Power - CBR

One-Punch Man's Saitama is unrivaled, his power absolute. With one punch, he can end the career of a god-tier villain without breaking a sweat. Since his introduction in One and Yusuke Murata's One-Punch Man manga, the biggest question regarding Saitama has always been: what, exactly, is Saitama, and where does his power come from?

Is the self-proclaimed "hero for fun" merely the strongest hero on the planet? Or is he something more, something less than human? One theory suggests that the shocking secret behind Saitama's power is that he is the very thing he defends against -- a monster.

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Why Is Saitama So Strong?

There are a lot of potential explanations for Saitama's preposterous strength, but one of the most intriguing concepts was originally suggested by Dr. Genus, the genius villain of the House of Evolution. According to Dr. Genus, Saitama is no mere superhuman, but actually a monster. He theorized that there exists an artificial limit to which humans can grow stronger, dubbing it the “Limiter.” Put in place by God himself, the very existence of the barrier prevents humans from entering “the realm where we lose all purpose and reason.”

“No matter how much effort one puts in, every living being has an intrinsic limit to its growth,” said Dr. Genus in Chapter #88 of the One-Punch Man manga. “Too much power becomes unbearable and overwhelms its host, turning it into a mindless, rampaging monster.” Therefore, any being surpassing said limits would be, by definition, a monster.

Saitama has long since surpassed this so-called, God imposed Limiter. This suggests there's definitely something inhuman about his power, but does that actually make him a monster?

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Genus theorized that the limiter can be removed through various trials, a concept shared by Psykos, the Monster Association's military advisor. Through multiple near-death experiences in battle, the theory suggests that one can break their own limits and return stronger, having undergone a mental and physical transformation. This would result in body modifications to suit the newfound power, giving monsters their, well, monstrous appearance, as well as unimaginable abilities.

By Saitama's personal account, becoming a hero simply meant performing 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and running 10 kilometers on a daily basis -- far from fighting to the brink of death. Is this enough to remove a limit on one's potential power put in place by God? His appearance did, in fact, change -- from that of an ordinary salary man to the “caped baldy,” though being hairless is far removed from growing scales and a tail.

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Did Saitama Break His Limiter?

There is evidence that the limiter can, in fact, be surpassed and even broken. Garou, who is often referred to as the “Human Monster,” has shown that the limiter is not impenetrable, having become a half-monster himself. Following his battle with the Monster Association's Royal Ripper and Bug God, Garou, on the brink of death, does just the opposite: he powers up.

Pushed to the limits of his abilities, Garou's entire being transforms -- half of his body becoming a monstrosity. His powers increase exponentially and his threat level skyrockets as Garou realizes his true potential. Garou is only half-monster, however, suggesting that his limiter may not have been entirely broken, and if Dr. Genus' theory holds true -- that those who break their limiters become mindless -- then Garou is certainly not a monster; seemingly fully aware of his new abilities and in control if only loosely. When compared to Saitama, Genus' theory doesn't seem to apply at all.

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Not all in the world of One-Punch Man can be explained away via science, however. Dr. Genus's theory that Saitama removed his limiter does not account for him being a perfectly ordinary human being, one who experiences boredom and has an affinity for video games. If a prerequisite for breaking the limiter requires a rampage, Saitama does not fit the bill.

Sci-Fi author Arthur C. Clarke, in his speculative writings on what the future would hold, suggested that any highly advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic -- the third of Clarke's Three Laws. Perhaps Genus, in the face of Saitama's unfathomable strength, merely assumed that the hero had broken his limiter because he couldn't imagine a human so powerful. Faced with Saitama's power, Genus merely assumed that Saitama broke his limiter. After all, if Saitama hadn't broken his limiter and still managed to defy every law of reality that Genus imagined to be true about humans, well, that would make him something more -- a monster, even.