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In the One Punch Man series, we are introduced to the hero known as King. King is the S Class Rank 7 hero, and is also known world-over as the ‘strongest man’. Monsters will shutter at just the sound of the ‘King Engine’ as King stands near the battlefield. For those of us that have seen the anime or keep up with the latest manga issues, we know that King is not truly strong and only is receiving credit for monsters defeated by other heroes, and mainly Saitama.
After writing my latest review of the One Punch Manga chapter I decided to write this article to explain the character of King, his potential abilities which are rumored throughout the One Punch Man fan community, and what I think King represents in the series. In order for me to fully talk about King, I’ll need to talk about his appearances in both the One Punch Man webcomic, the manga, and anime so this is your spoiler warning.
Who is King?
King really feels like two different people as we learn more about his character. On the one hand, King is just a regular guy that enjoys playing video games, talking lengthy walks, and is immensely scared when even being approached by a Monster.
To the outside world or hero community, King is the strongest man on earth. Other heroes have so much confidence in King’s abilities that they will let him go into fight Dragon Level threats alone. An example we see in the latest chapter is King approaching the Dragon Level monsters of Black Sperm, Golden Sperm, and Homeless Emporer. Metal Bat is close by and hears of this potential standoff and chooses to take a back seat since King is near. Normally several Dragon Level monsters would be tough for anyone, even some of the higher level S class heroes, but King’s name just sparks so much confidence that many heroes know that somehow the monster will be defeated.
What are King’s Powers and Abilities?
This leads me to my next point. What exactly are King’s powers and abilities? Well, at the time of this article King has no known powers or special abilities. He’s just a regular guy that has taken credit for other heroes’ work. Now there are rumors in the One Punch Man community that believe King has what is called a ‘meta luck’ ability or simply called a ‘luck’ power.
What this means is that no matter what circumstance King is in, he will undoubtedly win, and we see some evidence of this both on and off of the battlefield. There are several examples, but one that many of us will be familiar with is in the early episodes of the One Punch Man season two. A robot monster stands to challenge King, which King calmly states he must use the restroom before fighting otherwise he cannot use his full power. This monster allows King to walk away but threatens to kill people until King returns to fight him. King cowardly runs away and sees some internal dialogue about how sorry he is, but Genos steps in to defeat the monster which gives Genos another victory against a very strong opponent.
Another example, which may or may not be representative of this, but I don’t see anyone mentioning is how good King is at video games. You can say he may be good just because he plays all of the time, but as many gamers know there is a difference between someone that is genuinely good at games, and an MLG or professional gamer.
Throughout the series, we see King literally destroy Saitama at Video Games, and King even goes so far as to only use two fingers. King also mentions that he’s won many tournaments, and simply does all of this with relative ease. Many of us may throw this away as simple comedic humor by the creator of the One Punch Man series, but when it comes to storytelling many elements aren’t just thrown in without any afterthought.
I think this may be an example of King’s true ability showing itself, almost hiding in plain sight. King has attempted to reveal his shortcoming to heroes such as Silver Fang, but no one ever truly believes him.
What does King Represent?
I have taken some time to evaluate King and what he represents to the story. I think King is really only there to back up Saitama. Saitama has been a hero for some time now and has defeated many incredibly strong Monsters in public view. Saitama doesn’t wish to receive any credit for his feats and is more in it to have a good time.
Now in the world of One Punch Man if many Monsters were defeated that terrorized a city or town I’m sure the hero association would investigate to determine who or what defeated the Monster, and this is why King was sent an S class hero certificate. He just happens to be physically present at all of the major events we see in season one of the anime.
As the story progresses I’d like to see King come to learn of his power and see how this ability can be used when King is aware of it. I think this will add an extra depth and growth opportunity for his character. Even if King’s true power is never revealed I do think that King will continue to be a friend to Saitama, and at the end of it all Saitama will get his ‘real fight’, and King will take all or most of the credit.
King’s Potential Disaster Level
Now that you know more about King, let’s wrap up this article by discussing King’s potential disaster level. If what I said in this article happens to be true and King has an ability where he will win no matter what then King is one of the strongest characters in the series if not the strongest. So if this is the case, then King’s disaster level would be God. Now if all this turns out to be just a comedic story element written by the creator of One Punch Man, then King’s disaster level is so weak he wouldn’t even make the list.
Now I’d like to hear from our readers. What do you think King’s abilities and powers are? I’d also like to know what you think King’s true disaster level is?
If there are any other One Punch Man characters or theories you’d like me to explain, please let me know by leaving a comment below.
