How Strong is Saitama And Is There Anyone That Could Beat Him?
If you know anything about the anime series One Punch Man, then you know there is no real limit to Saitama’s powers. The name pretty much says it all; Saitama is so powerful that he’s been able to defeat many of his opponents with a single punch. Not only that, Saitama has also proven that he is virtually indestructible; while showing on many occasions that even characters moving at supersonic speed have a difficult time keeping up with him. The man is so strong that he can even punch a moving asteroid and explode it into smithereens with just one strike. And the crazy thing is Saitama has only used 1% of his strength…so far. Simply put, the man is pretty much unbeatable.
But in the world of anime, there are plenty of overpowered characters and though Saitama may be unbeatable in his anime, he may have to use more than one punch to defeat these opponents. Many anime fans would still argue that Saitama would overcome the odds regardless; since he has yet to use his full power and what we’ve seen from him so far is comparable enough to an overpowered character that’s going all out in a fight.
However, there are some super characters whose otherworldly abilities would definitely give Saitama’s brute strength the challenge of a lifetime.
Doctor Strange – Marvel Comics
Most people would look at this as an uneven match up, but even in One Punch Man, there are no rules for what is allowed in a fight. Whereas Saitama relies on hand to hand combat to physically decimate his opponents, Stephen Strange has a vast skillset in the mystic arts to deal with unstoppable foes.
Strange could trap Saitama in an alternate reality or dump him off somewhere in the Quantum Realm where he could never escape. Or he could twist reality to confuse Saitama before using the Time Stone to immobilize the One Punch Man and destroy him. Yeah, there’s not much any martial arts fighter can do when they’re getting tossed around by magic.
Light Yagami -‘Death Note’
So what if Light Yagami was to write Saitama’s name down in his Death Note, would the OP be able to escape the jaws of a supernatural death? Although Light Yagami doesn’t have the astounding physical attributes as Saitama, his possession of the Death Note makes him the most dangerous of the two. All that Yagami would have to do is lift his fingers, jot down Saitama’s name with a pen, and within seconds, the Bald Crusader would be dead.
And it doesn’t have to be right away, either. Light Yagami could write Saitama’s name down in their first meeting and designate it so that Saitama does while he’s in his apartment eating lunch. Basically, Light could kill Saitama and the poor guy wouldn’t even be aware of it to defend himself.
Accelerator -‘A Certain Magical Index’
If you’ve seen A Certain Magical Index, then you know that there aren’t too many characters that can keep up with an esper. And there certainly aren’t too many who could keep up with the show’s number one esper, Accelerator.
With the ability to control vectors, Accelerator can do anything he pretty much puts his mind to. Whether it’s making volcanoes erupt, completely changing the topography of the landscape, or erasing memories from people’s minds, Accelerator has limitless capabilities that even he has yet to fully master.
His impenetrable psychic barrier has the ability to reverse any attack aimed towards him; so even if Saitama attempted to knock out Accelerator with his famous “one punch,” the superhero would find himself being repelled back.
Saiki Kuso-‘The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.’
One of the strongest psychics in anime, Saiki Kuso may be even more powerful than Accelerator. The character has so many powers that even the series itself was unable to list all of them. But even a few of the abilities out of Saiki’s vast arsenal would be enough to give the One Punch Man some trouble.
Saiki’s ability to teleport, control minds, alter memories, and curse people with misfortune would be enough to throw Saitama off of his game. Even if Saiki wasn’t able to kill Saitama, he definitely would make sure that the character wouldn’t even get close enough to spar with him.
Rimuru Tempest–‘That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime’
Even though Saitama is monstrously strong, it would be difficult to face off against a character like Rimuru Tempest. In terms of powerful characters, Rimuru may actually be the strongest; despite spending most of their time as a slime. And that’s probably because Rimuru is literally a god.
As a god-like entity, Rimuru can move through time and space, freeze time, and destroy the universe before recreating it to their specifications. Even with all of his blinding speed, Saitama might as well be standing still in the eyes of a god like Rimuru. Unless Saitama ascended to godhood himself, there wouldn’t be much he could do against an opponent of this type.
Goku–‘Dragon Ball’
One of the few physically inclined characters to truly give Saitama the battle he’s always wanted, Goku is the first and possibly only martial artist with access to power that could defeat the One Punch Man.
Over the course of the series, Goku has proven on several occasions that you can never assume the depths of his power. All of Goku’s various Super Saiyan forms would give him the speed and strength to go toe to toe with Saitama, and anything in the Super Saiyan God realm would be strong enough to actually defeat him.
And then there’s Ultra Instinct. Goku’s mastery of the godly form has even frightened actual gods and we’ve seen what it’s capable of. Using Ultra Instinct, Goku would be leagues faster and harder to defend against in a fight; making it difficult for an OP character like Saitama even if he was using 100% of his power.
Let’s not forget that Goku always has a tendency to unlock more power levels during epic battles against a stronger foe. If he and Saitama were to go all out, it’s a good chance that the battle would only force Goku to level up. Basically, the fight between these two would either end in a tie or in a drastic ending where Goku blows Saitama to smithereens with a Kamehameha.
Superman–DC Comics
On the other half of the comic spectrum, we have Superman. Though it is true that Saitama is fast and quite strong, Superman has a multitude of abilities that will clearly overpower Saitama in a fight. The Last Son of Krypton not only has super speed and strength, but heat vision and flight. Then he has other abilities like ice breath and impervious skin. Unless Saitama is walking around in a Kryptonite lined super suit, he really has no chance against the Man of Steel.