One Punch Man: Superman vs Saitama, who would win?

Saitama, the protagonist of the acclaimed series One Punch Man, has often been compared to the comic icon Superman. This is due to the strength of both characters, who rank among the most powerful creatures in their respective universes. These comparisons have also been the cause of many debates revolving around the idea of a battle between the two.

While Saitama is known for being a limitless hero with the potential to be the strongest, Superman has always been an icon of power and strength. If they were to ever face each other in a battle, who would come out victorious? The illustrious Superman or One Punch Man’s Saitama? Keep reading to find out more.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s opinion and contains spoilers for the One Punch Man manga.

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Would Superman be able to win against Saitama from One Punch Man?

How powerful is Superman?

Clark Kent as seen in the comics (Image via DC Comics)

For decades, Superman has been the icon of what a true hero should be. Not only is he outstandingly strong, but he also has a pure heart that always pushes him to do the right thing. Because of this, we do not see Superman’s full power often in the comics, as he knows he needs to pull his punches against humans.

Nonetheless, when he unleashes his power, his foes tremble before his might. A single punch from Clark can obliterate entire cities, if not countries. He also has a plethora of powers that give him the edge in any battle he is involved in, like heat vision, freezing breath, and flight.

Superman saving civilians (Image via DC Comics)

All of these powers come from the yellow sun that illuminates the Earth. As a Kryptonian, Superman is empowered by the yellow rays our sun envelops him with. The longer and closer he is to the sun, the more powerful Superman becomes.

Besides being extremely strong, Superman is also one of the fastest heroes in the DC Universe. His speed alone is enough to reverse the flow of time on Earth, making him capable of appearing at any moment in time he wants.

He has also been known to be able to move entire planets without help, as well as prevent giant meteors from destroying the Earth. In terms of raw power, few characters in the comic universe have the capability to win a fight against Krypton’s first son. Unless Kryptonite comes into play, Clark could easily win against many powerful opponents.

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How powerful is Saitama?

Saitama as seen in One Punch Man (Image via Studio Madhouse)

After training day and night for many years, Saitama was able to destroy the limiters humans inside the One Punch Man universe have had since birth. This means that Saitama’s power is virtually infinite, as it will never stop growing. This power was already powerful enough to destroy any opponent with a single punch at the start of the series.

As the series progressed, Saitama demonstrated that he possessed many more abilities than just powerful punches. His skin is strong enough to resist attacks that would destroy planets; he can take a bath in lava without complaining, and he is capable of breathing and talking while in space.

Saitama can be a scary opponent (Image via Studio Madhouse)

In the latest arc of the One Punch Man manga, Saitama’s power and potential were revealed to be far superior to what fans believed he possessed. Saitama completely destroyed Jupiter with a single sneeze. All this without even trying to cause damage to the planet.

This incredible power boost comes from Saitama’s lack of limiters. It was recently revealed that the stronger an opponent is, the faster Saitama’s power will adapt to surpass the enemy. The first being to notice this fact was Garou, who realized that Saitama’s power was increasing exponentially the longer their fight went on.

This means that if Saitama is not defeated during the first few moments of combat, he will eventually have the power to defeat any opponent with a single punch. And judging by the feats he has achieved during One Punch Man, it is almost impossible to beat Saitama before his power increases.

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Who would win in a fight?

Both Clark Kent and Saitama have proven to be not only incredibly strong, but also resilient and ingenious. During a fight, it is likely that Superman would have the highest power level during the first few moments of combat. Still, as stated before, One Punch Man has proven that the longer Kal-El fights with Saitama, the stronger the bald hero will get.

Clark likes to hold his power against humans to prevent himself from killing them. This means that Saitama will most likely get enough time for his limiters to help him reach or surpass Superman’s power. After that, the fight would become an endurance contest, with the most resistant fighter being declared the winner.

Until now, we have never seen Saitama get tired during a fight in the One Punch Man manga. However, we have seen Clark get outmatched by beings with more stamina than him many times in the comics.

In the end, unless Clark is capable of defeating Saitama in the early stages of their fight, Saitama will be the clear victor. Not only does his limitless potential help him surpass Clark’s power, but he could also last longer in combat.

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Final thoughts

Saitama is the winner for now (Image via Studio Madhouse)

One Punch Man is a series created with the idea of what would really happen if someone became the most powerful being in existence. Saitama’s lack of limits is what makes his character so dangerous, as there is no limit to how powerful he can get. As we have seen in the comics plenty of times, Superman is also incredibly strong, but he has limits to what he can do.

At the end of the day, both One Punch Man’s Saitama and Clark Kent are simply heroes who want to make the world a better place. Making them fight is a fun experiment, but no matter who the winner is, they are still both amazing and iconic figures that represent what being a hero is truly about.