One-Punch Man started as a comic take on various superhero tropes frequently found in pop culture, especially those embodied by characters like Superman and Goku. The titular hero of the show, whose actual name is Saitama, is a hero who is so powerful that he is able to demolish every opponent who challenges him with only a single punch.
With a slew of fascinating side characters and villains, the show has gone much beyond being a simple parody. Here are 10 details relating to the main characters from the webcomic turned anime you might not have known.
10 Tribute To Anpanman
There is a reason Saitama's costume looks the way it does. The creator of the character designed the outfit as a tribute to Anpanman, a beloved children's show character from Japan who has a jelly pastry as his head.
Anpanman has a distinguished past and holds the Guinness Book of World Record for the most characters in an animated franchise. Another thing that Saitama and Anpanman have in common is that they both have names that clearly explain their powers.
9 Saitama May Be Faster Than Light
To date, there has been no discernible limit to Saitama's abilities. On the other hand, he keeps achieving feats of power that broaden the horizons of his potential even further. One such feat might well mean that Saitama is faster than light itself.
During his fight with Boros, Saitama gets punched to the moon. He jumps right back up and returns to Earth with a single leap, in less than two seconds. Considering Earth's distance from the moon, Saitama must have been traveling at 159,136 miles per second, which is faster than light speed.
8 He May Not Need To Breathe
Let's go back to the moon trip that Saitama took. For a few moments, Saitama was all alone in the vacuum of space. After the first few seconds of being stunned by the force of the punch that sent him to the moon, Saitama remembers that he needs to hold his breath until returning to Earth.
So until that moment, Saitama was not breathing, and apparently did not need to, since he seemed to suffer no ill effects from the fact. So it might very well be possible that Saitama no longer needs to breathe and simply goes through the motions of breathing as a reminder of his humanity.
7 The Reason For The Baldness
The fact that Saitama is a bald, inconspicuous looking guy is no accident. The creator of the anime is famed manga author who goes by the name ONE, and he wanted to create a hero who was completely ordinary in appearance. Since the world was full of cool superheroes, ONE wanted to make a hero whose coolest feature was his personality, despite an unassuming appearance.
Thus Saitama has a look that stands in stark contrast to other flashy anime heroes. Even within his own show, Saitama's lack of physical features to allow him to stand out has been frequently remarked upon.
6 Genos Takes Training Way Too Seriously
Genos wants nothing more than to learn to become more powerful through Saitama's teachings. As a means to this end, Genos carries around a notebook with him at all times, quickly scribbling down any words of wisdom imparted by Saitama to memorize later on.
Among the pearls of wisdom that are written down in Genos' diary are such gems as "How to properly hold and read manga while slouching on a futon' and how to hang laundry on the washing line." So not exactly ground-breaking research.
5 Genos Is A Wonderful Housekeeper
While Genos is a powerful hero in his own right, he spends most of his time keeping house for Saitama. And it seems that his cyborg body is uniquely suited to the task. His right hand has a built-in vegetable peeler, while the android's palms contain ports to blast hot air on dishes to dry them.
At other times, Genos has been shown to have a drink bottle opened in his right shoulder and a host of other accessories that would make him a top-class housekeeper. It is yet another amusing inversion of the 'dangerous cyborg' trope frequently seen in comic books.
4 King Is Saitama's Only Worthy Opponent
King is the guy who everyone gives credit for Saitama's victories, which makes him a bit of a fraud. Nevertheless, he is still good friends with Saitama. The two often hang out together and play video games. King is inordinately good at video games and beats Saitama soundly at every game they play.
This makes King the only worthy opponent Saitama has ever encountered. Saitama has often spoken of his longing to find a foe who can make him fight at full strength. He has only ever been able to do that with King, albeit in video games and not actual combat.
3 The OP Man
Ever wondered why Saitama is called One-Punch Man? Sure, it's a direct reference to his ability to take out any opponent with a single punch. That being said, it's hardly a very catchy title. And people in the story call Saitama by his actual name or 'Caped Baldy.' So what is up with the title of the show?
One-Punch Man can be shortened to just OP Man. If you're new to comics, OP means over-powered and is a derisive term used to refer to heroes like Superman or Goku. Since Saitama's whole purpose is to be the most overpowered hero in his reality, his hero name doubles as a clever reference to the theme of the show.
2 Genos' Flip Phone
Considering that Genos is an incredibly advanced cyborg with the most cutting edge AI known to humanity, it is rather surprising to see him using an old flip phone. As it turns out, there is a practical reason why Genos does not use smartphones.
Since smartphones make use of fingerprints to read what the user wants to show up on the glass screen, Genos would be unable to use such a phone, since he lacks human hands which can be sensed on the surface of a smartphone screen.
1 King Has A Queen
To properly appreciate this point, think of the One-Punch Man in terms of a chess game. Then the character of King would be his namesake in the board game as well. Despite being the most important member of his team in chess, the King is actually very weak, needing the queen and other players to achieve a victory.
Similarly, Saitama is the Queen in this chess game, the most powerful member of his team, whose importance is nevertheless overshadowed by King in the eyes of the public. However, Saitama still fights to protect his King and is usually the sole reason for his team's victory over opposing forces.
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