Some anime heroes often take themselves too seriously, leading to stories filled with intense drama. Then there’s Saitama from One Punch Man, a protagonist unlike most others in the genre. While many shounen leads endure trials that test their strength and willpower, Saitama’s biggest struggle is simply finding an actual challenge.
His daily life is filled with trivial concerns and mundane frustrations, making his character all the more amusing. Saitama has become instantly recognizable thanks to his round, expressionless face and his desire to find a worthy opponent.
From deadpan to dramatic, Saitama’s reactions steal the show (Photo: One Punch Man/Madhouse)While he continuously seeks an adversary capable of pushing him beyond his limits, his biggest problem is often boredom. His plain yet exaggerated facial expressions have also cemented him as a goldmine for meme culture.
10. The Many Expressions of Saitama
With a design as simple as his, it might be easy to assume that Saitama lacks emotional depth. However, his expressions are anything but limited—his exaggerated reactions have made him a fan-favorite character for memes.
Beyond just his facial features, his movements and body language add even more layers to his comedic personality. From flailing wildly to shifting between deadpan and over-the-top animation, Saitama continues to provide endless material for hilarious moments.
9. More Than Meets the Eye
At first glance, someone unfamiliar with the series might mistake Saitama for the sidekick and Genos for the true hero. This unexpected dynamic is a prime example of why appearances can be misleading.
While his hero costume and vacant expressions make him look unassuming, Saitama possesses immense power that no opponent has been able to match. Meanwhile, Genos may have a fierce appearance and high-tech abilities, but he still has a long way to go before reaching his mentor’s level.
8. One Punch Bad
The unlikely connection between One Punch Man and Breaking Bad makes for an amusing yet surprisingly accurate crossover. Though Saitama and Genos live by a very different moral code than Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, their mentor-student bond has some striking similarities.
Even their appearances share a resemblance, though Saitama and Genos undoubtedly have a much healthier and more positive dynamic compared to the infamous meth-making duo.
7. Strength Comes With a Price
Leading the story in an anime isn’t always about glory—more often than not, it comes with immense hardships.
Many protagonists endure loss and suffering, each handling their struggles in their way. Shinji from Evangelion expresses his pain through tears, Eren from Attack on Titan becomes emotionally numb, and Guts from Berserk channels his rage into battle.
Meanwhile, Saitama takes a different approach, masking his emotions with a blank stare and carrying on with his routine. While his method may seem less self-destructive, fans still hope for all these characters to find peace.
6. Mentor and Cyborg Disciple
A well-known moment from Into the Spider-Verse has inspired countless memes, and its One Punch Man adaptation is just as fitting. Much like how Peter B. Parker in Spider-Verse stumbles through his role as a mentor to Miles Morales, Saitama isn’t exactly a picture-perfect teacher for Genos.
The younger heroes admire their mentors with awe, not realizing that their supposed guides are often improvising as they go.
5. A Hair-Raising Transformation
Anime has long embraced the idea that a character’s hair is linked to their strength, but Saitama completely flips that trope on its head. While Goku from Dragon Ball gains power when his hair grows and Deku from
My Hero Academia inherits his abilities by ingesting a strand, Saitama reached his peak strength by going completely bald. Losing his hair became a symbol of his intense training, though it also contributed to his simple and comical design.
4 A Low-Budget Adaptation
Among the many meme trends that fans have embraced, the “Netflix Adaptation” joke remains a popular one. The way some adaptations handle iconic characters has led to plenty of laughs, and Saitama was no exception.
Expressionless yet hilarious, Saitama is meme material for life (Photo: One Punch Man/Madhouse)Instead of casting a bald actor who resembles him, this meme imagines a budget version where someone simply wears a paper bag with his face scribbled on. Perhaps this was a safer choice—replicating Saitama’s unique expressionless face in live-action would have been quite the challenge.
3. The Unlikely Face of Dental Care
One of Saitama’s most memorable moments involves effortlessly dodging Sonic’s katana by biting down on it. This scene humorously suggests that his immense power extends even to his teeth. If a toothpaste company ever needed a spokesman, Saitama would be an unexpected but highly effective choice.
He may not take hero work seriously, but if nothing else, he’s at least setting a good example for dental hygiene.
2. A Dramatic Change in Mood
One of the most amusing aspects of Saitama’s character is how his expression can completely alter the tone of a scene. His blank stare is often used for comedic effect, contrasting sharply with his moments of intense determination.
This meme perfectly captures that contrast, comparing his sudden change in appearance to the way a social media filter changes someone’s look in a selfie. Whether in his comical or serious form, fans appreciate both sides of Saitama.
1. A Familiar Face From the Past
Some viewers may have noticed a strange sense of familiarity when first seeing Saitama’s character design. After some thought, it becomes clear—he bears a striking resemblance to Caillou, the childhood cartoon character.
With their identical bald heads and similar color schemes in their outfits, the comparison is hard to ignore. This meme jokingly suggests that the much-maligned children’s show protagonist toughened up over the years and transformed into the unstoppable One Punch Man.