The core of “One Punch Man” revolves around Saitama’s unrivaled might, a concept so overpowering it eclipses the abilities of other characters. Although Saitama’s powers are humorously exaggerated, the series fits comfortably within the seinen anime genre, which is known for its powerful and often violent characters. Yet, even in a universe brimming with such formidable figures, Saitama’s strength remains unmatched. To fully appreciate the sheer level of power present in “One Punch Man,” it’s worth exploring the top 10 most powerful characters in the series.

Among these formidable figures is Pig God, an S-Class hero whose fighting prowess isn’t defined by conventional means. Unlike traditional combatants, Pig God’s strength lies in his unique and eclectic ability to consume virtually anything. While he may not always come out on top in direct confrontations, his ability to devour opponents provides an edge that few can counter in the saga.

Beyond his eating prowess, Pig God also showcases remarkable strength, durability, and unexpected agility given his size. Intriguingly, the series hints that Pig God may possess even greater abilities than he’s shown, suggesting he reserves a hidden power-up for especially dire situations. If he ever taps into this potential, Pig God’s standing on the list of the series’ most powerful characters might need reconsideration.

On paper, Pig God’s devouring abilities give him an edge against just about anyone he chooses to use them against. He has some pretty impressive chops, too. His crowning moment of glory in the series so far is arguably gulping down the extremely overpowered and borderline invincible villain known as Evil Natural Water – a mindless monster who could take over any body of water, up to and very much including an entire ocean. Handily, Pig God also has the ability to control his digestive system, so he can essentially use his own body as a bottomless (if presumably gross) storage room that can be used to transport nearly anything…  including people. 

Apart from his eating power, Pig God has displayed amazing feats of strength, durability, and surprising speed despite his bulk. What’s more, it appears that he’s still hiding a considerable amount of his powers; “One-Punch Man” has dropped hints that Pig God is hiding a hitherto unrevealed power-up, which he saves for situations that are even more dire than what we’ve seen so far. Should he ever unleash this power, we may have to revise his ranking. 

Psykos and Orochi are both among the most terrifying villains “One Punch Man” has introduced, and the climactic fusion of the two is a truly major threat. Psykos is a powerful esper — a character with some form of psionic powers — who’s the power behind the Monster Association throne and one of the many antagonist associates of the mysterious being known only as God. Together with Orochi, the association’s nominal but nevertheless dangerous leader, the pair pose a major threat to everyone and everything around them.

The power dynamics between Psykos and Orochi are murky, to say the least. Things don’t get any easier during their fusion, when the badly beaten Orochi attempts to absorb Psykos to regain strength. Psykos is strong enough to fight back, and the end result is a massively powerful (and honestly somewhat NSFW) fusion character that proves to be an even bigger problem than the two Monster Association leaders ever were separately. 

Tatsumaki is the strongest esper in the series and she knows it. Like Saitama, the “Terrible Tornado” is usually so powerful she struggles to find motivation to truly apply herself. Unlike Saitama, however, she’s a massively arrogant and brash figure who suffers no fools … which is a problem because from her point of view, most people are fools. 

On the other hand, Tatsumaki has the power to back up her prideful attitude, and she’s a terrifying threat to just about any monster out there when she decides that it’s go time. She’s the one who ultimately brings down the aforementioned Psykos-Orochi fusion, which alone is a testament to her might. Her vast psychokinetic powers manifest as an array of abilities that effectively amount to things like large-scale telekinesis, force field-like barriers, flight, and even the ability to manipulate the life force itself of other entities. 

Despite her intense power, Tatsumaki has one major weakness. Because her ability depends on her ability to use her brain, exhaustion and head injuries can severely hinder her performance.  

“One Punch Man” takes its sweet time to introduce the Sage Centipede. The heroes have to go through multiple other centipede monsters before this gigantic creature enters the mix, each of which are already a level boss in their own right. By the time the Sage Centipede tags in, we already know the score: This is not just the ultimate centipede monster, but pretty much the toughest known monster on the whole planet. 

And what a monster it is. A gigantic kaiju version of the centipede beasts that came before, the Sage Centipede’s very movements can reshape the landscape. It’s protected by a nearly impregnable exoskeleton armor, and its combination of sheer size and speed allows it to use its own body as a deadly weapon. As is all of this wasn’t enough, the creature can also regenerate from almost any harm. All in all, the Sage Centipede’s power arsenal and its ability to provide opponents a wild giant monster fight are more than enough to earn this massive monstrosity a place on this list. 

Most battle-happy franchises can benefit from a cool ninja character, and there are no cooler ninjas in “One Punch Man” than Empty Void. The legendary founder of the Ninja Village is a hugely powerful figure simply because he sits right at the top of the series’ assassin pyramid. In addition to the sheer sway this dangerous position gives him, Empty Void’s personal powers are also remarkable, to the point that he’s commonly considered to be the strongest ninja around. As an impossibly speedy swordsman, he’s danger personified.

Empty Void also benefits from his share of power-ups over the course of his storyline. Most notoriously, he spends some time serving franchise villain God as a monstrous Mysterious Being, which grants Empty Void even further power. Even so, the fact that this character has losses in his fight record is enough to keep the elite ninja out of our top five. 

Blast is the strongest conventional superhero “One Punch Man” has in store, and pretty much as overpowered as you’d expect. Apart from classic “flying brick” powers of extreme strength, durability, and flight, he has an impressive array of powers that use energy and basic physical forces to various effects. Blast can summon teleportation portals so obscenely powerful that they can traverse dimensions. He can also manipulate gravity in a variety of ways. His less physically dangerous but nevertheless handy powers include telepathy and the ability to estimate how powerful other characters’ attacks are. 

This eclectic power set enables Blast to move fast, hit hard, and assess the battlefield in ways that few other characters can aspire for. He’s particularly adept at unleashing his powers as imaginative energy-themed attacks that can maim, mutilate, or trap the opponent in a number of ingenious ways. It’s saying something that a hero with Blast’s extreme abilities ranks this low on the list … but it’s also extremely understandable when you see what kind of power the characters above him wield. 

Unlike many other monsters, Boros isn’t interested in terrorizing planet Earth. He just wants a fight. As an invincible alien faction leader who visits Earth specifically to find a warrior who could provide a decent battle, Boros is fully capable of destroying the entire planet by his lonesome. What’s more, he actually survives multiple punches from Saitama himself, which is testament to his prowess and regenerative abilities. 

It’s not a spoiler to say that Boros loses to Saitama. Everyone loses to Saitama. Still, the one-eyed alien is an utter menace, and his amazing performance against the guy who tends to ends fights with a single punch is more than enough to put him at the number four spot on this list. Boros’ meteor-themed powers and his ability to repeatedly enhance his physical attributes make him a feared presence all across the galaxy before he encounters Saitama, and his name does deserve a measure of respect. 

Considering how far down the ladder he started, it’s a testament to Garou’s sheer willpower that he makes it so close to the top of the list. The lupine man who’s known as the Human Monster begins his storyline as a martial artist whose fight IQ enables him to threaten many low-level superpowered figures. This isn’t exactly impressive when you look at some of the other powers on the “One Punch Man” playing field, but Garou’s will to become truly monstrous and his absolute refusal to stop lead to a number of power-ups and upgrades, all of which make him more dangerous. By the time his final clash with Saitama comes, Garou is in full Cosmic Fear Mode — a massive, shadowy God-powered entity swirling with whole galaxies. 

Since Saitama is so ridiculously overpowered, it befalls on other characters to carry out the traditional story arcs of learning new abilities and fighting constantly stronger opponents. Garou is the character who does it the best, and his development is arguably the most impressive in the whole franchise. 

It takes a lot of guts to deploy a version of God as the ultimate antagonist of the narrative. On the other hand, who else could match — let alone surpass — the extreme powers at play in any given story arc of “One Punch Man”? This version remains fairly mysterious, but we know a few things about it. It seems hostile and thrives on chaos. It has been known to drop by in various arcs to provide the central villain just enough power to make them a match for the heroes … though, thus far, its indirect efforts haven’t been quite enough to win the day. 

God is the ultimate antagonist of the franchise, and considering the sheer power level of the environment it operates in, it’s probably fair to say that the character would stack up against some of the scariest anime villains of all time. While much of God is still mysterious, it’s clear that its powers are extreme, to say the least. In almost any other universe, this might leave God sitting pretty on top of the power mountain. Unfortunately for it, this particular franchise is “One Punch Man,” which means that there’s still one character to go.

The whole point of Saitama is to be invincible — so invincible that almost no one poses any kind of challenge to him, which makes him the most powerful hero out there. Yes, there are others who surpass him in the power rankings, but the story makes it clear over and over again that Saitama is the man … whether he likes it or not. 

The very premise of Saitama’s powers on “One Punch Man” is that he’s always, always the strongest guy on the field by default, and that there are literally no stakes for him in virtually anything he does. He’s a superhero just for fun, and fighting eldrich abominations because maybe one of them will eventually be a challenge. He’s an invincible joke character, a commentary on overpowered manga, anime, and superhero media heroes, and a complex character in his own right. 

When Saitama enters the battle, the game is effectively over, and the stories rarely pretend to hide this. Let the other heroes fight tense battles with risks; with Saitama, the real stakes are whether he bothers enough to apply himself, and how long it takes for him to throw the punch that ends the game. He’s a character that shouldn’t work, and perhaps precisely because of it, he works like a dream.