A self-professed “hero-for-fun,” Saitama is one of the strongest people in a world that’s brimming with superpowered folks and monsters. He calls himself the ‘One-Punch Man’ because, as the name implies, he is able to defeat his enemies with a single punch.
One-Punch Man burst onto the scene as a manga in 2009, created by artist One, and it ended up being such a hit, that it was adapted to an anime in 2015. Like the manga, it quickly became apparent that One-Punch Man was one of the best anime series ever. Throughout its two seasons, the anime character Saitama has encountered many adversaries, with more coming in One-Punch Man season 3. But did any of these anime villains ever end up beating him?
The general premise of both the One-Punch-Man manga and anime (which is easily of the best TV series of all time) is that Saitama is bored of beating his enemies so easily and so has gone to find a new, more challenging opponent. Across two seasons in the anime, Saitama has come across a number of enemies and definitely had his fair share of fights — but he always came out on top.
However, a bonus chapter of the manga, which looked at Saitama’s past, revealed that he lost two fights back when he was in middle school.
The first fight happened when a couple of bullies, known as the Ripped Uniforms, tried to take Saitama’s money. He tries to refuse and even attempts to fight them but is quickly beaten. And if that isn’t bad enough, he gets his butt kicked shortly after as well by Piggy Bancon — although Saitama didn’t know it was him at the time.
This is because after the Ripped Uniforms took his money, Bancon subsequently took their money — but ever the hero, Saitama felt compelled to step in when he overheard the bullies saying they needed the money to pay for their brother’s lunch. So, Saitama tries to confront Bancon but is quickly floored by him.
It’s important to note that Saitama was 12 years old at the time, so these losses probably happened before his strength was classed as ‘limitless.’ Still, this double defeat undoubtedly influenced him to start his daily regime of 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 squats, and a 10km run.
Who knows, maybe we will see him get defeated in the anime when new episodes arrive, too.
But while we wait for season 3, be sure to check out our guides to the best anime movies, new anime, best romance anime, and best Netflix anime. Or, if you want to check out other popular Netflix projects, here’s what we know about Wednesday season 2.