The Japanese manga series One-Punch Man contains a number of fictional characters created by One and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series follows a superhero named Saitama and his disciple Genos who join the Hero Association so they can be recognized as such when they fight various monsters and supervillains. The Hero Association ranks all of its members by a Class and a ranking within that class. The following characters listed are ones noted by the author in the manga profiles, ones that were highlighted in the anime character list, and ones that recur over several story arcs.
Main characters Saitama
The title protagonist, , is a 25-year-old man who has become bored with fighting because he can defeat most opponents with a single punch. Three years prior to the start of the series, Saitama was job hunting and lacked a sense of purpose when he defeats the monster Crablante while protecing a child. Fllowing this encounter, he decided to become a hero "for the fun of it". Saitama possesses superhuman strength, speed, and durability. He attributes his abilities to a three-year daily training regimen consisting of 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, a 10 km run, although he does not otherwise know the origin of his power. Early in the series, Genos becomes his disciple and roommate.
Saitama enters the Hero Association with a score of 71. Despite achieving exceptional results in the physical portion of the entrance examination, his poor performance on the mental exam results in a low initial ranking. He subsequently rises through the Association's ranks, although some of his achievements are credited to other heroes or go unrecognized. In the webcomic, he is eventually promoted to A-Class rank 39 and becomes a leader of the Hero Name Victim Association, a group that campaigns for its members to receive different hero names. Throughout the series, Saitama develops relationships with several other heroes, including Mumen Rider, Bang, King, Genos, and Blizzard. His registered hero name is .
Saitama is voiced by Makoto Furukawa in the original Japanese version and by Max Mittelman in the English dub.
Genos is a 19-year-old cyborg who becomes Saitama's disciple after bearing witness to Saitama's easy victory over Mosquito Girl. Four years prior to the start of the storyline, his family was killed by a rampaging cyborg known as Mad Cyborg. Genos was nearly killed in the attack and his body was destroyed, so to keep him alive, a scientist named Dr. Kuseno took Genos in and modified his body to make him a cyborg with destructive capabilities. Ever since, Genos has been obsessively searching for traces of Mad Cyborg, vowing vengeance. Immediately prior to the main story, Dr. Kuseno argues that Genos should move on from his obsession with Mad Cyborg, but Genos remains steadfastly convinced that justice demands the destruction of the cyborg. His perfect score on the entrance exam for the Hero Association places him in the highest class, S-Class, far above Saitama's placement in C-Class, but he still considers Saitama to be his master and goes with him whenever he is not summoned to other missions. Saitama often has to save him, as Genos's headstrong personality causes him to jump into action without thinking. He lives with Saitama after offering a sizable down payment for his share of the rent. His superhero name in the Hero Association is
Genos is voiced by Kaito Ishikawa in the original Japanese version and by Zach Aguilar in the English dub.
Hero Association The is a superhero organization founded by the multi-millionaire Agoni in order to fight monsters, criminals, and various threats. It uses a Hero Registry to indicate which characters are recognized as professional heroes, with anyone who is not registered to be considered "a pervy freak who spouts irresponsible nonsense". Agoni created the association after his grandson was saved from the monster Crablante by an unknown bystander (who turns out to be Saitama). It is also financed by donations from citizens. The association is made up of four tiers from the lowest C-Class to the highest S-Class. The heroes within each class are ranked numerically, with the first ranked hero of each class being eligible to advance to the next tier if they so desire. The new heroes must take an exam in which 50% is a physical test, and the other 50% is a written exam and an essay. A passing grade would be 70% or higher and directly placed in a class from 70% being barely C-class to 100% being eligible for S-Class. They are then placed at the lowest ranking for that tier. Heroes can ascend or descend in their rankings depending on their deeds.
S-Class Heroes
S-Class is the highest hero rank in the Hero Association. Those who have gotten a perfect score on the entrance exam, as well as the top candidate from A-Class, are eligible to enter this class. Besides Genos, the S-Class heroes in the series are, in rank order:
Blast is the top superhero in the Hero Association who can also use a teleportation suit. His whereabouts are currently unknown and it is said to make himself known when a threat to humanity arises. He is revealed to be part of a group of universal guardians who had for years been hunting down a series of mysterious God cubes which scattered across the universe including planet Earth, in order to prevent people from coming into contact with the cubes and becoming Mysterious Beings. Among the members Blast team-up with resembles one of Saitama's past foes, such as Boros and Beast King. The reason behind this ongoing hunt for the cubes is because of his partner and brother in-law, a would be ninja village founder at Saitama's world, Empty Void ends up being manipulated by God, following the death of latter's sister, Maya, whom Blast married. Terrible Tornado and Sitch were some of the first people to know who he is and what he looks like. Blast once fought Centichoro, a powerful, giant centipede, and brought it to the brink of death. He fought his former partner Empty Void and rendered him comatose 15 years ago and, also, massacred most students who already being influenced by their masters in self-defense. He also saved Amai Mask and became his idol. He first met his fellow member and a would be brother in-law, Void when one of his disciple turned into a monster by the God's cube. After falling in love with Void's sister, Maya, Blast and Maya got married and gave a birth of a son named Blue. Suddenly, Maya died in a certain incident, and Void ended up being manipulated by God as well, leaving a widowed Blast raised Blue alone prior both father and son begun to have strain relationships at some point.
During the Hero Association's assault on the Monster Association's headquarters in the present, Blast finally appears to take one of God's cubes which Saitama found at a collapsing underground location where Saitama is trapped alongside Flashy Flash and a one-eyed female monster named Manako. Blast helps the two heroes and the small monster out of the rubble. When God attempts to corrupt Tornado by mimicking Blast's appearance, Tornado is able to resist it as the real Blast is nearby, which causes God to retreat. Because his mission hunting the cubes is very important, Blast had been rarely available during the Hero Association's tasks.
After Garo's redemption on the same day of the beginning of Neo Heroes' rises, he and Sitch are working to revert surviving monsterized humans back to normals while explaining to Saitama and his allies about his ongoing hunts for the cubes, starting from his former partner. By luck, his reunion with Void went smoothly, when he witness Saitama is able to return his partner's humanity, easily. Ahead God's bigger moves, both Blast and Void are planning to recruit Saitama when needed against their true enemy.
Blue, Blast and Maya's son also becomes a co-founder of Neo Heroes and wants to surpass his father, ever since losing his mother, when he was a child. Should be replaced as number one by Saitama.
Tatsumaki , at rank 2, is the top female superhero in the Hero Association. She is a 28-year-old woman with emerald green hair that curls at the ends. Her youthful appearance and short stature leads others to confuse her for a lost little girl. As an esper, she can perform psychic maneuvers such as telekinesis and levitation. She has a younger sister named Fubuki. In the battle with the Dark Matter Thieves, she easily turns a multitude of shells shot from a large alien ship back onto itself, dealing tremendous damage. Other espers are generally dwarfed by her overpowering telekinesis, and she has an extremely short temper, often lashing out at people. Blast is the only individual who Tatsumaki sees in high regard and she awaits his return. She owed Blast for saving her life and renewed her motivation to protect her only family, Blizzard.
Tatsumaki is voiced by Aoi Yūki in the original Japanese version. In the English dub, she is voiced by Marieve Herington in Season 1 and Corina Boettger in Season 2 onwards.
Bang , who goes by the hero name , at rank 3, is an expert martial artist who runs a dojo in City Z. Back when he was young, Bang used to utilize a forbidden martial arts style and used it selfishly until his brother, Bomb, redeems him. Inspired by his brother's fighting style, Bang abandoned the forbidden style and invented with a similar caliber as the style Bomb uses, and joins Hero Association in the present prior to Saitama's registration to the organization. Thanks to Bomb, Bang becomes wise and displays a great deal of patience when compared to others in S-Class, and often scolds other heroes for being haughty or selfish, just as he was back in his youth. His sole student is Charanko, as he had a former disciple named Garo who beat down his other students including Sourface until they quit, and Bang was too late to stop Garo from learning his former fighting style. The incident of Garo walking a similar path as Bang had is a painful memory for the latter, and as a result, he constantly looks for new disciples to pass his martial arts on to, as Charanko is fairly incompetent. He is one of the first heroes to recognize Saitama's true power, witnessing him destroying a meteor that would otherwise destroy Z-City. After Future Garo sends Future Saitama to stop the former's past-self and successfully redeems him, Bang reconciles with his former student, and helps his rehabilitation while retiring from the association, at the same time that his dojo is also re-opened once again.
Bang is voiced by Kazuhiro Yamaji in the original Japanese version and by Will Barrett in the English dub.
Kamikaze , who goes by his hero name , rank 4, is a samurai hero who sports a kimono with an atom symbol on the back of it, as well as a member of the Council of Swordsmasters. He initially refuses to shake Saitama's hand as he isn't S-Class. When Saitama calls him "middle-aged", he replies that he is only 37. Atomic Samurai is highly skilled with his katana, being able to cut enemies down into millions of pieces in an instant. Within confined spaces, he wields his sword with such precision and speed that enemies are deatomized. He has several students who fill A-Class ranks 2, 3, and 4. He is part of a group called the Holy Order Of The Sword, along with Nichirin, Amahare, and Zanbai, each an exceptionally skilled sword-wielder. After the deaths of previous swordsmen trios at the hands of a toxic form of a monster Fuhrer Ugly, Kamikaze is entrusted by a dying Nichirin with one of the two Sacred Blades, the Sun Blade, and becoming a new leader of the order, with a mission to search Moon Blade, once the war against Monster Association is over.
Atomic Samurai is voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda in the original Japanese version and by Kyle Hebert in the English dub.
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