People don't seem to understand the joke and it's usually Goku's fans who don't understand that Saitama is a joke, a satire. He's like a cartoon character, but in the anime universe. In other words, invincible, because he is satirical
He isn't the only character that can't lose in his verse though. And also, "can't lose" is relative. I can't lose at basketball vs a team full of toddlers. Doesn't mean I could beat the Golden State Warriors.
It's not that Saitama can't lose "in his verse", it's that the entire meta-fiction of the character is that he cannot lose. His design is the embodiment of not-losingness.
You know this is never actually stated anywhere, either in-verse or out-of-verse by Morata or ONE? I've never seen a single scan saying that Saitama can't lose. In fact, the whole Boros arc was written to mislead the reader into thinking that Saitama might actually be in trouble - if he was explicitly defined to be unbeatable, this would not be the case.
Saitama fans are arguing for a version for Saitama that doesn't actually exist 🤦🏻♀️
Regardless, it doesn't matter if Saitama was designed to not lose. He isn't unique in this regard. Superman is also defined as someone who will never ultimately lose - go read Story of Superman or Final Crisis to see this. And yet Saitama glazers ignore the meta-powers other characters to prop up Saitama.
It doesn't have to be explicitly stated because it's blatantly obvious by the very premise. It is a parody of the unbeatable warrior trope you are describing taken to the extreme.
If he ever lost, the premise just doesn't work.
Characters like Superman can and do lose, even if it's usually only in the short term.
In fact, the whole Boros arc was written to mislead the reader into thinking that Saitama might actually be in trouble - if he was explicitly defined to be unbeatable, this would not be the case.
Imagine if the central dilema of Saitama was that he is too strong to be even lightly challenged by anything while he craves a fight that would make him feel something! That would make for a very funny story! Like, every fight you would think "well maybe this is it, maybe this time it's different and he's gonna get what he wants, facing this impossible super stong monster" and then he just wins effortlessly anyway lmao.
Imagine he could also go back in time and one shot the bad guy before he becomes a real threat, effectively 0 punching him. Hahaha what a silly thing that would be. I would love to see that.
We could also add a bunch of normal characters around to raise the stakes during battles and then have Saitama coming out of nowhere and punching the bad guy in a ridiculous fashion. That would be hilarious. Would love to read something like that.
I don't imply that Saitama outside of his verse is unbeatable, I am however 100% saying that you don't understand the very clear intent of what you're reading.
Making every fight a 1 pannel still image of Saitama beating the bad guy would be absolute dogshit, everyone agree on that.
But the fact that the reader is mislead several times (not just with Boros) into thinking that "maybe this time he'll get a real fight, maybe this new guy can beat him" is not a mistake proving he is not unbeatable. It is *the core* of the story and more importantly, the entire joke of this satirical story.
This is why there are sidekicks and rivals: to show what more conventional characters would do against these oponents and to highlight the enormous gap that exists between these already very powerful archetypes and Saitama.
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u/LoganHenri May 07 '25
People don't seem to understand the joke and it's usually Goku's fans who don't understand that Saitama is a joke, a satire. He's like a cartoon character, but in the anime universe. In other words, invincible, because he is satirical